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Richard Hoagland's Dark Mission: Coverups, Lies, and Calling for a New World Order!
Glenn Canady
www.project.nsearch.com
Before We Broke This Story, We Had Always Admired Richard Hoagland
Before this story broke, Michael Vara and I admired Richard Hoagland and had even asked him to be on the “Late Night in the Midlands” radio show. We didn’t share all of his views but we still thought that he was pushing for the truth in his own way. All that changed however during our subsequent research of this story. By the time we got finished with our investigation we knew that Richard Hoagland was definitely a liar who hides data, manipulates people and most likely also still works for NASA and other government agencies as a gatekeeper to steer the herd away from the truth and into whatever fantasy he is pushing next. Examples of these fantasies were when he told everybody that Elenin was not a comet but a spaceship and that YU-55 would actually hit the moon after it flew by the Earth according to his secret sources! Of course nothing Richard Hoagland says ever comes to pass and he never shows evidence for his most outrageous claims! You’ll understand why when you finish this article.
Why Is Everything About Money With Richard Hoagland?
Everything about Richard Hoagland seems to revolve around money. That’s why each time he appears on “Coast to Coast” he tells people that to get the REAL truth, they must buy his book or attend some conference where he will spill the beans! He even charges people on his Enterprise Mission website just to chat with lord Hoagland! Why does Richard Hoagland charge money for even participating on his website anyway? Why does he control the flow of information on the website and ban people who disagree with anything he says? It will all make perfect sense as you look at all our evidence!
Most In the Truth Movement Have Blindly Followed Hoagland
Of course, most in the truth movement have never heard any the things we are exposing about Richard Hoagland in this article and on our upcoming radio show. It’s is our sincere hope that everyone seriously researches what we are saying for themselves and quit following him like a bunch of sheep to the slaughter. We will be happy to provide any information you need to make up your own mind about Richard Hoagland.
Ask Richard Hoagland About All These Issues For Yourself and Listen To The Show on November 26th!
We encourage everybody to pepper Richard Hoagland with the tough questions that we will bring up in this article and our upcoming world exclusive interview about this subject matter on November 26th at 9pm EST on Radio Nsearch. Word of this show has already gone mega viral and we expect a huge turnout! Make sure you have joined the site so you get an email prior to the start of the show! You may listen to the show using the player at the top of www.project.nsearch.com and www.latenightinthemidlands.com
Richard Hoagland Refuses To Answer The Charges Against Him
We have broken the story that nobody else had the guts to do because we feel that is our duty to share what we have found with the world. A man is not judged by how many times he appears on the “Coast to Coast” radio show – this means nothing! A man is judged by his actions and Richard Hoagland certainly has a lot to answer for regarding his actions as you will soon see! Anybody in the truth community that refuses to ask Richard these tough questions that are presented here is now a part of the problem also! If this was a court of law, Richard Hoagland would certainly be found guilty because he has refused to appear to answer these serious charges against him! He was given many times to respond to these questions but has refused to do so at every turn and in fact banned Michael Vara from his facebook page rather than answer his questions! Why would he do this if he had nothing to hide?
Richard Hoagland Calls For a New World Order and Loves NWO puppet, Barack Obama!
I think one of the most disturbing things our research uncovered was when we found out that Richard Hoagland had actually called for a new world order in a speeech to the UN! He was grubbing for money from the UN in the mid 90s and we have the clip in the attached video. Of course the UN is the main force of the new world order and is being used to establish their one world government! The UN has killed millions of innocent people in their quest for their new world order but Richard Hoagland LOVES the UN!
Not only does Richard Hoagland not rebuke the UN as he should but he actually panders to them and calls for a new world order himself! How can any serious person in the truth community even have Richard Hoagland on their show after he’s been caught calling for a new world order? There simply is no bigger crime against humanity than calling for a new world order that is totally against humanity. George Bush called for a new world order, Barack Obama called for a new world order and Richard Hoagland called for a new world order!
How Can You Believe A Man Who Admits He Hides Data and Has Been Caught in Many Lies?
On a recent radio show, the host asked Richard Hoagland if he has ever intentionally hidden data and he answered “Of course I have!”. He went on to excuse this by saying that he only presents data when he is sure about it! But if this was the case then why did he recently say that Elenin was a spaceship but present no images or other data that proved it?
Personally, I don’t like people who lie and distort the truth because then I can never trust anything else they tell me! In my own experience, I’ve found that if a person lies about one thing then they will lie about many other things too! How do you know when they are lying again? Can you ever believe them? When you look at the data we’ve collected there is no question that Richard Hoagland is lying on several fronts. There is no question that Richard Hoagland has hidden important data and has refused to talk about it! There is no question that Richard Hoagland tried to silence and destroy a man for getting too close to the truth! And there is no question that Richard Hoagland has called for a satanic new world order!
Richard Hoagland Loves Obama And Says He Is There To Save Us!
You will hear many disturbing things in the video attached to this article. These are real clips right from the mouth of Richard Hoagland including his sickening lovefest with new world order demon, Barack Obama! To listen to this collection of clips we have assembled for you, just click the video below. It’s common knowledge that Barack Obama is the EXACT SAME bloodline as all the rest of our puppet Presidents but on the clip you will hear Hoagland tell us that Obama is different than all the other puppet Presidents and is not from the same royal bloodlines! He says Obama is just like all of us! Richard says that Obama will basically save us all! What a joke! Obama has repeatedly called for the same satanic new world order as Richard Hoagland has done. I guess that’s why Richard Hoagland loves Obama so much. He’s on the same new world order team!
How This Story Started
Michael Vara and I first became involved in this amazing story when Gary Leggiere (aka Gary the Mad Martian) appeared on the “Awake with Peter Kling” show carried by Radio Nsearch on August 14th, 2011. On the show, Gary told the incredible story about how Richard Hoagland had filmed a TV show called “Ufo Diaries” back in 1993 that contained many new faces on Mars that have never been released before by Richard Hoagland.
Gary Got a Mystery Package in the Mail That Changed His Life Forever
Gary worked directly with Richard Hoagland researching Mars on his website, Enterprise Mission and they got along great for a long time. Then out of the blue in 2003, Gary received a burnable CD in the mail of an old television show called “UFO Diaries” along with a cryptic note that said to carefully look at this video and he would find the answers he was looking for about Mars. There was no return address on the package and Gary has never found out who sent it. Whoever sent this package to Gary wanted to expose the truth about Mars and the deception of Richard Hoagland! Thank God they did because this mystery package started Gary on his amazing journey!
“UFO Diaries” Contained Many New Images of Other Faces on Mars Never Before Seen!
Gary looked at the images in the program and realized that he had never seen many of them before but something inside Gary made him want to put the video on the shelf for a while and not confront Richard about them just yet. It wasn’t until 3 years in June of 2006 that Gary got the intense urge to take the video off the shelf and begin deep research into the mysteries contained within.
When Gary brought the images to the attention of Hoagland in 2006, he was given a surprising response. At first, Richard told Gary that the images might be fakes! Then he said he didn’t know how to reach the producers and basically said he wouldn’t lift a finger to help find them! Why would Richard Hoagland have fake images on his TV show? And then you’ll notice that he doesn’t want to do any of the work to actually find the producers who might have more info on these incredible images! Here’s what he said in emails to Gary and the rest of the crew at Enterprise Mission.
And I’ll trust that Gary has correctly measured the “bit hits” and found that they DON’T correlate with our familiar friend at Cydonia … but that doesn’t mean much anymore; with Photoshop, ANYTHING is possible…If we’re serious we HAVE to find the NASA original.
So if someone can dig up the actual producer’s name (I’m just too swamped at present), I’ll try to call or send an email (as one of the shop’s participants) and get some info.
But someone ELSE will have to do the serious “legwork” ….
(message from Richard Hoagland on the Enterprise Mission website)
Then Richard starting telling Gary that he was sure that those mysterious images of Mars were just props that the producer had used for the show. Richard told Gary that this was how all TV shows were done!
I find it very strange how Richard Hoagland wants Gary to do all the legwork but then HE will take over and ask the producer about the Mars images. We find out WHY he wanted to talk to those producers when Gary actually finds them!
Richard’s response to the images seemed strange to Gary, but he began the long task of locating the people responsible for the “UFO Diaries” program. Gary eventually finally found the two men that were responsible: Chuck Sellier and Lee Shackleford. When Gary tracked down Chuck Sellier and asked about the images, he got a surprising response! You can read his actual email on the “Richard Hoagland” menu option on the sites but I am reproducing the exact email from Chuck Sellier here.
Gary,
All of these images were licensed from others at the time we did the production. These files came from Richard Hoagland, why would he be needing them from me?
Chuck
(email from Chuck Sellier to Gary)
So Mr Sellier was really confused as to why Gary would be asking him about these images when they belonged to Richard Hoagland! It doesn’t make any sense to him because he knew that everything in “UFO Diaries” had been provided by Richard Hoagland!
The Producers For “UFO Diaries” Were Heavy Hitters In Hollywood!
I want to add a side note to the story here about Chuck Sellier and Lee Shackleford. Chuck Sellier is actually famous for producing the “Grizzly Adams” television show that many of you are familiar with! Mr. Sellier was a good Christian man that helped Gary financially to keep his family alive when Richard Hoagland destroyed Gary financially later on in our story. Mr. Sellier also encouraged Gary to continue his investigation on Mars right up until his death on January 31st 2011 at the age of 67. Lee Shackleford is a playright and screenwriter with over 150 scripts produced to his credit. He is well known for his controversial stories for the Star Trek: the Next Generation television show! Mr. Shackleford has also been supportive of Gary’s investigation into Mars the entire time also.
Once Gary Finds the Producers of “UFO Diaries”, Hoagland Offers Him a Job and Says He Won’t Have To Worry About Money Again!
Once Gary discovered that the images seen on “UFO Diaries” were the property of Richard Hoagland, Richard seemed to get a lot nicer to Gary. In fact, Richard told Gary and his wife that they didn’t need to worry about money anymore because Gary would be soon working directly with Richard researching Mars. Richard even promised Gary that through his connections with George Noory at the “Coast to Coast” radio show that he would greatly expand Gary’s own radio show he was doing in Florida called, “The Martian Revelation Radio Show” in Melbourne Florida
Richard Hoagland Says to Gary, That Someday He Maybe Will Show Him His Secret Images of Mars!
Gary had mentioned to us that a couple of years prior to him bringing this video to Hoagland’s attention, he and Hoagland had a conversation once where it was brought up by Richard that he had many other images of Mars that he hadn’t released to the public! Gary was really surprised Hoagland told him that and of course Gary was very excited and being respectable to Hoagland said, “It would be an honor if you were to show me them one day!” Whereas Gary said his reply was a happily sounding Hoagland saying merely… “MAYBE… MAYBE!” Then that ended of that part of their conversation and they continued talking about other things. Hoagland admitting that he had a treasure trove of hidden images on Mars that have never been released is SHOCKING to say the least!
But unfortunately, nothing ever materialized for Gary in that regard to Hoagland’s promise of “MAYBE”! Gary was convinced at least that the images seen in “UFO Diaries” must have been a part of the images Hoagland hinted at that he had and not shown anyone.
After Many Broken Promises, It Becomes Clear to Gary That Richard Hoagland Has Been Stalling and Lying to Gary
It soon became clear to Gary that Richard had no intention of giving him a job or getting him any kind of financial help. There would be no job from Richard Hoagland, no deal with “Coast to Coast” and Gary was never shown those secret images that Richard promised him that he would maybe someday be able to see! It seems that all these promises were made to stall Gary and to set him up for financial devastation and to cause Gary, his wife, his son, and his animals to become homeless! Hoagland took advantage of Gary’s circumstances. Gary absolutely believes Hoagland acted to create the financial ruin of Gary and his family. Hoagland also caused the destruction of Gary’s “Martian Revelation Radio Show”!
As we will see, a string of tactics and deeds were done to silence Gary and to silence his radio show. Being the h ost of a radio show gives a certain level of power and provides a conduit to the public perception and public belief. Especially being aired on the Florida Space Coast on NASA’s front door step on “The Talk To Me” station on AM 920 WMEL!
Gary’s radio show, “The Martian Revelation Show” created a strategic position for Gary and Hoagland especially, for new information about Mars and in influencing the public to get involved in these issues and generate activism for our Space Program. Gary feels very strongly about the United States success in space and is a visionary to say the least! Gary dreams about what our space program could yet be! Dreams and visions are exactly what our Nation was founded upon! This is to be encouraged and not destroyed in America!
Hoagland had to take away that conduit for Gary in order to silence the truth about the images seen in “UFO Diaries” that Gary was investigating. Gary had now become a person trying to bring forth the truth and an investigation that Hoagland did NOT want! Hoagland did not want to answer anyone’s questions about “UFO Diaries”, or his connections to those Faces on Mars images! Hoagland wanted the whole issue to be closed and swept under the rug! Hoagland wanted Gary to appear as just a LONE NUT and so Hoagland’s slanderous smear campaign against Gary went into full force!
The Case Against Richard Hoagland Goes Much Deeper Than Hidden Images and Calling for a New World Order!
As if it wasn’t bad enough that Richard Hoagland is working to establish a new world order with his mason brothers, he really shows the evil in his heart by his actions toward Gary! These actions clearly show the character of Richard Hoagland, the Man. How Gary responded to Richard’s actions allow us to see the character and the nature of Gary Leggiere,.. The Man,… THE MAD MARTIAN!
Gary’s decision to pursue this investigation regardless of the terrible things done to him, his family and his radio show demonstrate that Gary only cares about bringing out the truth! Hoagland certainly has seriously underestimated the resolve that Gary has in his heart to seek and fight for the truth! It is clear that Gary is literally fighting for us all! Hoagland did the things he did to Gary, his radio show and his family to prevent Gary from helping us all in learning and knowing about the real history and mysteries of Mars! There is certainly no excuse for this!
Look where Gary is at today and look at his case. It is an epic tale of what fighting for the truth really means sometimes. SACRIFICE! Gary and his family have sacrificed greatly and still continue to sacrifice and suffer from this ordeal! Hoagland literally ripped their lives apart and they are trying to keep their family together regardless. Gary has not given up and obviously will NOT give up!
Richard Hoagland Tries to Get Gary’s Wife to Divorce Him!
Richard Hoagland and his sidekick Robin, were also talking to Gary’s wife while all this drama was going on and Gary says they tried to turn his wife against him because of the poor financial shape they were in and told her that Gary was crazy and needed help! Gary and Robin told her that they were willing to help them. They told Gary’s wife that she should help herself and leave Gary because of how mentally sick he was. They even told her to take away his son and divorce him!
Richard Hoagland Attempts to Have Gary Committed to a Mental Hospital!
Richard’s sidekick, Robin spoke to his wife over a long period of time behind Gary’s back as yet another attempt to cause Gary problems and shut him up. This happened before and during the time when Gary and Richard had their falling out. Before Gary realized this was happening he was still under the impression that he and Richard Hoagland were friends. So Gary, being close to Richard and Robin called them while he was at the hospital waiting to get a routine checkup. Gary wanted to speak to Hoagland about a new lead he was following that led to a guy named Vladamir Avinsky – a Russian!
Gary was asked where he was because of the noise and Gary told them he was in the hospital and they asked Gary why. Gary told them he needed to get a medical checkup. A year before Gary had been in a serious car accident where he was hit head on. He actually believes he may have died and came back because there was a 45 minute period of time lost that he can’t fully remember. He suffered what can be likened to PTSD of the brain from the impact and blows to his head. His brain showed swelling and he suffered partial seizures for a time and sometimes is still affected. Gary couldn’t account for this 45 minutes of time that seemed like 10 minutes to him and began to have weird feelings that made him want to go get a check up. Certainly anyone in the same circumstances would also want to get a checkup to make sure everything was okay. Gary says that when he needed to speak with his doctor, Gary and Robin hung up and that is when Gary’s wife received the call from “Dr. Robin” asking about Gary’s hospital visit. She wanted to know which hospital he was in and who was his doctor.
It must be pointed out at this point of the story that when Gary arrived to the hospital for his checkup everything seemed to be fine at first but about an hour into the visit things began to get weird. About an hour into the visit, Gary’s doctor returned to see him with 2 big aides who were posted to Gary’s hospital room doorway. His doctor entered the room and speaks strangely to Gary, letting him know that they are going to be sending him to a facility in central Florida, a mental facility for a period of 6 months. Gary got very scared at this point and thought what now? He asked the doctor, ”Do I have a brain tumor or something? Am I going to Die?” He became shaky, frantic and scared as these thoughts raced through his mind. His doctor replied, “No! You’re not dying as far as we know, you do not have a tumor, but we have spoken to your Dr. and we decided that the best thing for your mental health is to be observed closely for 6 months in a lock down mental facility.”
At this point, Gary freaks out and says, “The Hell I will”! Gary claims the guards posted to the front doorway came in to grab Gary. But something told Gary to play this cool. Hey said, “Hey Doc, What’s this about You Spoke To My Doctor”. Gary asked him if he was talking to himself since HE was his ONLY doctor. One of the guards then grabbed Gary by the arm hard and Gary spit in his face and was promptly subdued by the two guards. Gary then screamed out loud to demand an answer from his Dr., “What do you mean…We?? What Dr. of mine have you spoken with and How is it you decided to send me to a nut house for 6 months!” Again, another valid question by a very concerned man!
The Dr. came back in the room and spoke calmly to Gary informing him that he had just gotten off the phone with his Dr. Robin!!! Dr. Robin had told the doctor of Gary’s history of being in her care and about his MENTAL CONDITION! Robin told Gary’s doctor that he was a threat to himself, his family and to others. It turned out that this is when Gary’s wife and son arrived to the hospital to see Gary. They began crying when they saw the guards trying to keep Gary down and they were both scared as they saw Gary yelling and giving them an excuse to lock him up. Gary was not happy that day! Thinking he was going to be sent away because of something wrong health wise in his mind, stemming from the accident a year prior, only to learn that he was ok health wise but now being told that he was mentally unstable and would be sent to a mental facility for six monhs! The doctor was telling him all of this and the guards were there to force Gary to comply. Gary would not comply and this is understandable!
Gary immediately stresed to his Doctor, his REAL Doctor at the hospital in Palm Bay Florida that he had no other doctor besides HIM! Gary knew how close he was to be being put away for nothing and realized he was being set up by Dr. Robin and thus by Richard C. Hoagland!!! Gary convinced the Dr. to let his wife and son enter the room and speak with them and ask them if Gary had any other doctors. They said No and when Gary’s wife heard the story from Gary’s REAL doctor, she said, “That Bitch!”. Gary asked her what she meant. His wife said Robin had just spoke to her about 45 minutes earlier and she relayed to Gary and Gary’s doctor the conversation she had with this Dr. Robin. When Gary began putting the pieces together on how he was setup by Robin and Richard Hoagland, he was furious but trying to keep his cool because those guards had their eyes on him looking for an excuse to pounce on him again!
This is when Gary spoke up and pointed his finger to the Dr. and said, “Listen up Doc! You are my ONLY Doctor and I have no other Doctors but you! These Guards and these nurses here are a witnesses to my words to you here and now! Your my Doctor, My ONLY Doctor and if you listen to this IMPOSTER and send me to anyplace, I will sue your ass!”
The doctor then left the room and reposted the guards outside the door to watch Gary closely. Gary and his wife began to cry unbelieving the situation they were facing. Gary was in total shock and knew he was absolutely being setup by Richard Hoagland and Robin now. It was not hard to connect the dots. This was an attempt to get rid of Gary and his investigation and to stop him from being a threat to Richard Hoagland.
The Doctor came back in a short while later apologizing. He kept one guard at the door and sent one away. He then said, “Gary as it stands since we gotten this report from a Dr., although a homeopathic Doctor in the state of Florida, Florida, her word counted.” He said that they would not send Gary away though and would instead keep Gary for 3 days in an observation ward to ensure that he was not a threat to himself or to anyone else and to test his sanity. Gary had no choice but to comply. He knew that if he reacted angrily he would be be sent off for sure and maybe even put in jail. So Gary took the bitter pill and waited for those 3 days to come and go which they did without incident. Gary now knew how close he had come to being destroyed and having his family ripped apart because Dr. Robin and Richard Hoagland wanted to shut him up. Robin aided Hoagland, using her status in Florida to try to put Gary away where he was no longer a threat to Hoagland. If Gary’s doctor had not told him about Robin, he would have been sent off to a mental ward for at least 6 months! And of course once at the facility his mind would have been destroyed by Big Pharma psychiatric drugs as is the standard proceedure in such facilities!
Why Would Richard Hoagland Do Such Evil Deeds?
The actions by Gary and Robin really beg the question – Why would they do such an evil thing? Especially to someone so close to them that had even worked with them. The answer was obvious. During that last week before Gary went into the hospital for the check up, Hoagland and Gary had a falling out. Gary even kept the personal emails from Richard that showed Richard was obviously becoming very angry that Gary would not drop his investigation into the images seen on “UFO Diaries”. Richard told Gary to do something else relating to Mars and that he wouldn’t help him at all in his investigation into “UFO Diaries” images.
Then a couple of days later later after the incident at the hospital as Gary was at the hospital, Dr. Robin and Hoagland were at the Enterprise Mission Conference Center BBBS (pay to say forum) speaking false well wishes for Gary and his family, telling everybody that Gary was taking a much needed break and trying to imply that he was mentally breaking down! Meanwhile while this was going on, Gary was waiting for his 3 day evaluation to be over.
It’s very easy to connect these dots when see the facts and evidence and if we follow the data to show Hoagland’s intent and purpose. It’s not far fetched to see that Hoagland and Robin obviously set Gary up from getting us the truth about Mars! After the 3 day evaluation was over, Robin and Richard were quite surprised to see Gary on the Enterprise Mission Conference Center BBS lashing out at Richard and Robin for their actions. Gary was scolded by Robin viciously and Gary was banned from Enterprise Mission with cover stories made public by Robin and Hoagland spreading again more false information about Gary!
As it turns out, Gary has NEVER been admitted to any psychiatric hospital in his life but that didn’t stop Richard Hoagland from telling people on Facebook that Gary had been in two different psychiatric hospitals in 3 years! This is Libel and Defamation of Gary’s character! There is no excuse for these outright lies about Gary. Instead of answering the questions brought up by Gary, Richard Hoagland has resorted to spreading lies – a clear sign of a disinfo agent if there ever was one!
Many people have confronted Richard Hoagland and Robin about their lies against Gary and have suggested he seek legal counsel in response to their actions but Gary cannot afford it as he and his family are still suffering and scared about what Richard and Robin might try to do to them next especially since Gary’s story is now getting out!
So Richard Hoagland is also guilty of outright lying about Gary to try to discredit him. This is always done by disinfo agents. Richard would have never done this unless he was hiding something. Which in the least we intend to prove by showing you all the evidences and testimonies given by Gary and the producers of “UFO Diaries” themselves. Hoagland needs to answer for this all. NOT Just for the images of Mars in “Ufo Diaries” but also for the deeds done to Gary and his family to keep him quiet! Gary has literally uncovered a conspiracy! That conspiracy Gary is obviously involved in, leads straight to Richard C. Hoagland! Richard could not convince Gary to quit no matter what bribes, offers, or gifts he would try to make to make Gary say “OK, I will stop andshut up”! Far from it. Richard has awakened a New York fighter that just won’t quit!
Hoagland’s Actions ONLY Make Sense If He’s a New World Order Gatekeeper for NASA
All these strange and evil actions don’t make any sense if Richard Hoagland is just like all the rest of us trying to get to the truth about Mars and many other things. I certainly would never do any of these things and I know that those reading this article would never do these things either! These actions make perfect sense though if Richard Hoagland is a mason gatekeeper for NASA that was put there to sow disinformation and keep people from the truth about Mars! Then of course, just like all masons, Richard would do ANYTHING to keep the secrets away from the masses.
Richard Hoagland Never Discussed the Secret Space Program Until After it was Undeniable!
Another thing that points to Hoagland being a gatekeeper was how he was very late to the party talking about the secret space program. He only began even saying it was possible after so many whistle blowers had come out through Project Camelot and others that it was basically undeniable. If Richard Hoagland hadn’t changed his tune, he would have been completely exposed as an agent of disfo so just like a chameleon he changed his color when he was forced to and said the secret space program probably existed. Earlier he said that the secret space program did not exist because he would have known about it from his NASA connections! He also never wants to discuss current Mars bases as have been seen on the Google Mars data such as the video titled, “Bio Station Alpha”.
Richard Hoagland Says Andrew Basiago Is a Liar Even Though He’s Never Made a Dime on the Story!
Richard Hoagland has been caught again and again saying that Andrew Basiago’s testimony on Mars and Project Pegasus is a complete fabrication when Andrew Basiago has never made a dime on his story. Conversely, Richard Hoagland continues to hawk his disinfo at expensive conferences all over the world! Everything seems to cost money with Richard Hoagland.
We have interviewed Andrew Basiago several times and he was was happy to come on our show repeatedly while Richard Hoagland wouldn’t because we didn’t have a million listeners yet! We found Andrew Basiago to be VERY credible and quite intelligent. Richard Hoagland basically called Andrew Basiago a liar but the reality is there is simply no way Richard would even know about Project Pegasus through his duties as NASA’s public relations guy! This shows that Richard Hoagland is likely being used as a gatekeeper to steer people away from the truth about life on Mars and the Project Pegasus teleportation technology. He wants to keep people away from that knowledge and tries to discredit it whenever he can! In short we believe Andrew Basiago’s testimony that there is life already on Mars as well as numerous bases and a teleportation system to get from Earth to Mars. This has all been confirmed by many other whistleblowers also but Richard Hoagland says they are all liars too! Apparently only Richard Hoagland knows the truth about Mars and anybody else that says differently is promptly discredited instead of being carefully researched and given their chance to speak!
Hoagland’s Masonic Connections
The episode of UFO Diaries that clearly shows never before seen images of Mars was filmed in a masonic lodge and Richard Hoagland is PROUD of it! It’s common knowledge that the masons are a mid level organization of the satanic new world order. In fact, there’s isn’t one masonic lodge in the world that fights against the new world order like we do at www.project.nsearch.com and www.latenightinthemidlands.com
NASA is filled with masons of course but is Richard Hoagland a Mason? I can’t say for certain because he’s never had the courage to admit this but from the evidence I would say the chances are about 99% that Richard Hoagland is in fact a Mason. You’d have to be a mason or be in bed with the masons to get permission to film inside a masonic lodge. I urge Richard Hoagland to admit to the world his connections to the masons. If you are a mason and think you are doing great things for humanity then you should proudly admit it! The sad reality is that the masons are of course serving the goals of the new world order which is to enslave humanity in their hellish new world order. There isn’t one masonic lodge on the planet that is fighting against the new world order!
The Masons Will Do ANY evil and vile thing to protect themselves or another Mason.
One of the very first things I learned about the masons when I studied them is that the first thing they teach you in the masonic school of evil is to attack anybody that attacks a mason. In fact, they even tell the masons that they can do ANYTHING to another human being that tries to harm another mason. “The means justifies the End” is the standard motto of pure evil and is exactly how these disgusting masons operate. Their history is full of examples of men who were killed or destroyed by masons for daring to expose their little club that pushes for a hellish new world order slavery system! It has happened throughout history and is still happening today!
I also know there are good masons out there that are not serving evil and only joined because they were trying to get ahead and thought the masons could help them in some way attain power, wealth or just important new friends. I know this personally because I have had family members who were in the Masons and I know they weren’t evil. The innocent masons are men that are completely ignorant of the evil that goes on at the very top of the organization and how the masons are actually helping the satanic new world order in every way possible to enslave humanity. The good men in the masons are basically used as useful idiots for the masons to use to push forward their agenda. In fact, there isn’t a mason alive that can tell you about even one masonic lodge that exposes the evils of the new world order system in any way. You won’t find masons handing out Alex Jones DVDs on the street corners or campaigning to End the Fed with Ron Paul because THEY serve the new world order! This is a fact that cannot be denied by any mason alive!
Richard Hoagland proves that he is most likely a mason also by filming his TV show, “UFO Diaries” in a masonic lodge, by calling for a new world order and even by his disgusting worship of one of the puppets of the new world order, Barack Obama. This man LOVES Obama and says how he will lead us out of the darkness! What a joke!
It’s NEVER wrong to ask questions, it’s only Wrong when you RUN from the Questions!
We know the CIA and the Masons are heavily involved in infiltrating the truth movement and sowing disinformation to stop people from asking the important questions and learning the truth. It’s NEVER wrong to ask questions of people in the truth movement. When people refuse to answer these questions and try to destroy or discredit those asking the questions, that’s when you know you have a REAL problem! Richard Hoagland has refused all attempts to get answers about these images and other aspects of the case with Gary. There is no question that Gary was devastated financially and emotionally through the actions of Richard Hoagland.
The Truth Must Come Out No Matter How Many Times You’ve Been on Coast to Coast!
Our purpose for exposing Richard Hoagland is because the truth must come out no matter where it leads. I don’t care if you’ve been on Coast to Coast 1,000 times, if you are hiding data, calling for a new world order and worshipping an evil puppet like Obama then you are a total FRAUD!
As Richard is so fond of saying, we must follow the data no matter where it leads! Our ultimate conclusion based on the evidence is that Richard Hoagland is a new world operative that has been put in a high rotation position on the “Coast to Coast” radio program to sow disinformation and keep the truth about Mars and many other things from the masses. We will make sure that George Noory is informed about this information to see what if anything he decides to do about it also. George Noory’s actions or lack of actions will show what side he is on also. Hopefully he is just ignorant of the truth about Richard Hoagland and will do the right thing now and make Richard answer for these allegations fully on his popular radio show, “Coast to Coast”. We will be all be watching this when Richard appears on the show next week!
See All The Evidence In the “Richard Hoagland” menu area of our Sites
We have created a page that shows all the evidence and you may review it all by clicking the “Richard Hoagland”menu option on www.project.nsearch.com or www.latenightinthemidlands.com There is far more evidence located there that can be discussed in this article. The purpose of this article is to give you a brief summary of some of the more disturbing evidence against Richard Hoagland. However, I urge everybody to review in full the full evidence on the “Richard Hoagland” menu options on the websites because there you will find many of the emails directly from Richard Hoagland to Gary that clearly show that he is NOT interested in talking about these images and actually did his best to convince Gary to not pursue this further!
You will also see Richard Hoagland admitting in an email that he is broke at one point but begging Gary not to tell anybody because he says that basically people only believe you when you have money! This shows how out of whack Richard Hoagland really is. Clearly, Richard thinks that you must have money to have credibility in the truth movement! This is completely false of course but shows you how concerned with money Richard Hoagland actually is and it makes sense why he is constantly hawking his disinfo but never actually doing good things with the money such as releasing information on Free Energy or Natural Cures for cancer as we do on our websites at no cost I might add!
We have never been given a wide audience and vast sums of money as Richard Hoagland has but yet our sites have given away over 40,000 ebooks on Free Energy that show how people all over the world are using free energy to power their homes and vehicles right now! You can see this information in the “Free Energy” section of our websites. We have also shared with tens of thousands how anybody can be cured of cancer in the “Dr. Coldwell” section of our websites! Richard Hoagland has erased mention of free energy and Dr. Coldwell from his facebook page when we posted it there for his fan to see so obviously he isn’t really trying to help humanity by giving them free energy and cancer cures. Why won’t Richard Hoagland share real solutions like free energy and cancer cures? Ask him yourself to see what he says!
In fact, Richard even stooped so low as to get an account on our website under the name of “Truth Sword” and then proceeded to tell us how dare we attack him and that nobody would listen to us because our sites were “rinky dink” and not as big as “Coast to Coast”! What’s really funny is that www.nsearch.com has a lower Alexa ranking (more traffic) than Enterprisemission.com alone and when you combine both sites together it pushes FAR more traffic than Richard Hoagland’s site that has been supported by his mason brothers and “Coast to Coast” almost from the very beginning of the Internet. EnterpriseMission.com has also been on the Internet for about 10 times longer and he hasn’t shared the cures to cancer or free energy with anybody! All it’s done is run people around in circles with worthless disinfo that doesn’t help anybody. And he says people that don’t agree with him like Andrew Basiago are nothing but liars!
Please Get This Information Out About Richard Hoagland to Everybody You Can So He Can’t Get His New World Order!
When you see all the evidence we have assembled, I’m sure you’ll also conclude that there is simply no excuse for the actions of Richard Hoagland. You’ll see much more evidence on our upcoming radio show with Gary on November 26th. Again, make sure you join at least one of our websites at www.project.nsearch.com or www.latenightinthemidlands.com and that you visit the “Richard Hoagland” menu option for all of the evidence also including the images. And please get the word out about the show so that Richard Hoagland will never get his disgusting new world order that he and his buddy, Barack Obama so dearly want. It’s up to all of you to spread the word about this information virally through Facebook and any other means you have at your disposal. There are many questions that Richard Hoagland must now answer! Don’t let him run away from you! Make him answer the questions about “UFO Diaries” and those images he admitted to Gary that he has hidden from humanity!
My Final Words For Richard Hoagland
We want those images on Mars from “Ufo Diaries” Richard! You have no right to hide them from humanity as you admitted to Gary! Your love for new world order puppet, Obama betrays who you really are and who you work for!
Oh and one last thing Richard, you will NEVER get your new world order that you called for to your UN masters! God and all of awake humanity stand against you and those helping you! To hell with your new world order and to hell with all those like you that serve it! This is your final chance to redeem your very soul Richard! Will you join God and those good people that truly stand against Obama’s new world order or will you continue to serve it by keeping your masonic secrets? We shall soon see! |
Astronomers have used NASA's Hubble Space Telescope to take the most detailed picture to date of a large, edge-on, gas-and-dust disk encircling the 20-million-year-old star Beta Pictoris.
Beta Pictoris remains the only directly imaged debris disk that has a giant planet (discovered in 2009). Because the orbital period is comparatively short (estimated to be between 18 and 22 years), astronomers can see large motion in just a few years. This allows scientists to study how the Beta Pictoris disk is distorted by the presence of a massive planet embedded within the disk.
The new visible-light Hubble image traces the disk in closer to the star to within about 650 million miles of the star (which is inside the radius of Saturn's orbit about the Sun).
"Some computer simulations predicted a complicated structure for the inner disk due to the gravitational pull by the short-period giant planet. The new images reveal the inner disk and confirm the predicted structures. This finding validates models, which will help us to deduce the presence of other exoplanets in other disks," said Daniel Apai of the University of Arizona. The gas-giant planet in the Beta Pictoris system was directly imaged in infrared light by the European Southern Observatory's Very Large Telescope six years ago.
When comparing the latest Hubble images to Hubble images taken in 1997, astronomers find that the disk's dust distribution has barely changed over 15 years despite the fact that the entire structure is orbiting the star like a carousel. This means the disk's structure is smoothly continuous in the direction of its rotation on the timescale, roughly, of the accompanying planet's orbital period.
In 1984 Beta Pictoris was the very first star discovered to host a bright disk of light-scattering circumstellar dust and debris. Ever since then Beta Pictoris has been an object of intensive scrutiny with Hubble and with ground-based telescopes. Hubble spectroscopic observations in 1991 found evidence for extrasolar comets frequently falling into the star.
The disk is easily seen because it is tilted edge-on and is especially bright due to a very large amount of starlight-scattering dust. What's more, Beta Pictoris is closer to Earth (63 light-years) than most of the other known disk systems.
Though nearly all of the approximately two-dozen known light-scattering circumstellar disks have been viewed by Hubble to date, Beta Pictoris is the first and best example of what a young planetary system looks like, say researchers.
One thing astronomers have recently learned about circumstellar debris disks is that their structure, and amount of dust, is incredibly diverse and may be related to the locations and masses of planets in those systems. "The Beta Pictoris disk is the prototype for circumstellar debris systems, but it may not be a good archetype," said co-author Glenn Schneider of the University of Arizona.
For one thing the Beta Pictoris disk is exceptionally dusty. This may be due to recent major collisions among unseen planetary-sized and asteroid-sized bodies embedded within it. In particular, a bright lobe of dust and gas on the southwestern side of the disk may be the result of the pulverization of a Mars-sized body in a giant collision.
Both the 1997 and 2012 images were taken in visible light with Hubble's Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph in its coronagraphic imaging mode. A coronagraph blocks out the glare of the central star so that the disk can be seen. |
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10. Louisiana
> Hate groups per 1 million: 3.2
> Number of hate groups: 15 (21st most)
> Adults with at least bachelor’s degree: 22.5% (5th smallest)
> Pct. pop. identifying as white: 62.9% (6th lowest)
There are 15 active hate groups in Louisiana, or 3.2 per 1 million state residents, the 10th highest proportion nationwide. The Aryan Nations Knights and the Loyal White Knights — each chapters of the Ku Klux Klan — are among the 15 groups. Many of the groups are known for promoting racism towards blacks, with Aryan, neo-Nazi, and Skinhead groups making up a bulk of Louisiana’s hate organizations. New Orleans and Shreveport, however, are each also home to chapters of Nation of Islam, a group with its own racist, anti-Semitic, and anti-gay overtones. Segregation, which manifests along physical and economic lines, is often both the result and the cause of hatred. Like nearly every other state where hate groups are the most prevalent, white and black Louisiana residents tend to earn very different incomes. A typical white household earns $32,200 more than a typical black household annually, the largest such gap nationwide.
ALSO READ: 20 Cities With the Widest Gap Between the Rich and Poor
9. Virginia
> Hate groups per 1 million: 3.3
> Number of hate groups: 27 (9th most)
> Adults with at least bachelor’s degree: 36.1% (6th largest)
> Pct. pop. identifying as white: 69.3% (15th lowest)
Roughly 20% of Virginia residents identify as black, well above the national proportion of 12.6%, as is the case in most states on this list. Unlike most states with the highest concentrations of active hate groups, Virginia residents are relatively well educated. More than 36% of state adults have at least a bachelor’s degree, the sixth highest attainment rate in the country. The state’s median household income of $62,666 is also unusually high compared with other top states for hate groups, although the gap between white and black household incomes is still among the largest nationwide. White supremacist groups such as Creativity Alliance, the American Nazi Party, and Aryan Nations, are among the most common organized hate groups in Virginia. Anti-immigrant, anti-Muslim, and anti-LGBT groups are also among the state’s active hate organizations.
8. Kentucky
> Hate groups per 1 million: 3.6
> Number of hate groups: 16 (18th most)
> Adults with at least bachelor’s degree: 22.6% (6th smallest)
> Pct. pop. identifying as white: 87.7% (11th highest)
Racist white supremacist organizations, including neo-Nazi group Aryan Nations, several Ku Klux Klan chapters, and the neo-Confederate Southern National Congress, make up a bulk of the state’s hate groups. Black residents tend to make up larger shares of the populations in states where hate groups are most prevalent. However, 8% of Kentuckians identify as black, lower than the national proportion of nearly 13%. In most southern states with a high number of racist organizations, a legacy of slavery has contributed to a high concentration of black residents. In Kentucky, however, just 8% of the population identifies as black. |
Preventive health care is a powerful tool for keeping medical costs down. Contraception is cheaper than pregnancy and childbirth; a cholesterol test is cheaper than a triple bypass. It is therefore in society’s interest to encourage the use of preventive health care services like cancer screening, especially for elderly people in aging populations. Increased use of preventive health care also leads to healthier, longer-lived people.
Unfortunately, people aren’t particularly good about preventive health care; not even half of all people over the age of 65 in the US are up to date with recommended preventive services. How can we do better?
A recent PNAS study identified one factor that could help: the more that people feel like they have a purpose in life, the more likely they are to use preventive health care. Purpose was also found to be associated with a lower likelihood of needing overnight hospital visits—possibly as a result of improved health care.
Why am I here?
Purpose—feeling a sense of meaning in life and having goals to strive for—is one facet of psychological well-being. Purpose and other measures of well-being are associated with improved physical and mental health, including a better waist/hip ratio, higher levels of ‘good’ cholesterol, and even enhanced expression of antiviral response genes. It isn’t clear what drives this improved health, but we do know that people with more purpose engage in healthier behaviors like resting and exercising.
Some previous research has shown that people with purpose use preventive health care more, but sample sizes were small and possibly biased. To explore the question with a more robust sample, the recent study tracked more than 7,000 US adults over the age of 50 for six years, keeping records of their health care usage.
The participants also took part in a survey that measured purpose on a six-point scale, along with other psychological factors like depression and anxiety. Confounds that could influence the results were also taken into account, including: religiosity, geographic factors like rural or urban living, chronic illnesses, current health behaviors like smoking, and sociodemographic factors like wealth and ethnicity.
After adjusting for these potential confounds, the results showed that higher purpose resulted in a significantly higher likelihood of getting a cholesterol test or a colonoscopy. For females, it was also related to a higher chance of having a mammogram or pap smear; for males, it was associated with a higher chance of a prostate exam. (However, flu shots were not among the benefits of having purpose.)
People with higher purpose also spent less time in the hospital: after adjusting for sociodemographic factors, each point increase in purpose was associated with 17 percent fewer overnight hospital stays.
Why does it work?
It’s not clear why purpose is associated with preventive health care. The researchers suggest that people with a stronger sense of purpose may have more motivation to stay healthy and therefore feel “more incentive to take preventive measures that seem time consuming, costly, fear inducing, or painful.” Although this is a convincing explanation, more research is needed to confirm it. After all, it is possible that another mechanism could be at work or even that causality could be working in the other direction, with improved use of health care services somehow resulting in a stronger purpose in life.
Although this study is a significant improvement over previous work, it does have limitations. Most notably, the data on health care use was self-reported, which isn’t always reliable. Although self-reported health care has been shown to agree with medical records, future research will likely use a different source of data to corroborate the results.
Can we actually use these results to improve healthcare? There is reason to think that the right kinds of therapy can improve people’s sense of purpose. Some small, randomized control trials on cancer patients and survivors indicate that meaning-based therapy could (as its name suggests) improve feelings of meaning and purpose. Interventions such as volunteer programs for older people could have a similar effect. Future studies may test whether these ultimately result in improved preventive health care use.
In a society that expects to see double the current number of adults over 65 by 2050, resulting in Medicare costs doubling from 3.7 percent of GDP to 7.3 percent, tactics to increase preventive health care use and lower medical costs are an important avenue to pursue. Reducing strain on the nation’s medical budget while helping people become happier with their lives would be a resounding victory for quality of life.
PNAS, 2014. DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1414826111. (About DOIs). |
With Donald Trump’s election to the White House, accusations are now being thrown around every which way by progressives seeking to blame anyone apart from themselves for America’s collective decision. Rather than looking inward, the media’s progressive left has turned once again towards the ever-reliable bogeyman of GamerGate.
Depending on who you ask, GamerGate could be described as completely ineffectual, responsible for Trump’s ascent, literally worse than ISIS, the greatest threat to women on the Internet, or deader and more irrelevant than it ever was since its stillbirth in late 2014. In short, it’s anything and everything you want it to be — a strawman for millennial social justice warriors.
Some of those slinging virtual Molotov cocktails at the wicker man argue that gamers aren’t responsible for themselves. No — they argue — it is the games that they play that cause them to support Donald Trump.
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“For decades, developers have focused on making games fun. It’s about time we started working toward other kinds of emotional responses than instant gratification,” “For decades, developers have focused on making games fun. It’s about time we started working toward other kinds of emotional responses than instant gratification,” argues Tim Gruver for the Daily UW. “Games like ‘Gone Home’ and ‘Papers, Please’ have spoken up for LGBTQIA+ communities and immigration reform. Games can teach, debate, and argue points rather than just entertain. And that need can directly translate to gamer culture at large.”
“Games have the chance to create disarming experiences that disassemble our worlds and tell truths,” says Gruver.
But only if the truths are consistent with the approved SJW narrative, I suppose. When games allow players to But only if the truths are consistent with the approved SJW narrative, I suppose. When games allow players to make their own moral choices , someone is bound to have a hissy fit.
On GamesIndustry.biz, the site’s Editor-in-Chief On GamesIndustry.biz, the site’s Editor-in-Chief James Brightman claims that a segment of the gaming population—one that he equates to GamerGate supporters—does not want to see any games being made that aren’t traditional Hollywood-budget shooters. Worse still, he claims that the games and the culture surrounding them are inextricably tied to the “exclusionary thinking” he says gamers exhibit towards certain kinds of games.
“That’s just faulty thinking – the Call of Dutys and Battlefields and so on will still be made,” argues Brightman against an imaginary foe. “And to demand that other types of games for people who aren’t ‘gamers’ not be made is flat out exclusionary and wrong.”
“And that’s just it, isn’t it? The same undercurrent in society that produced Gamergate, the alt-right movement, Brexit and now a Trump election (bigotry, misogyny, xenophobia, homophobia, religious persecution, fear mongering, etc.) are what led to exclusionary thinking in the game-playing populace,” adds Brightman. “’How dare you change my games?’ they’ll say. But they aren’t ‘your’ games; just because the industry has catered to the 18-34 white male audience over the last two decades doesn’t give you some special claim to the medium. Just like movies, books and TV, games are for everyone.”
Thank you for that wonderful bit of virtue signaling.
Most gamers have no problem seeing the market grow with the release of titles that aren’t military-themed shooters. Some of the most popular games out right now include Rocket League, RimWorld, Stardew Valley, Planet Coaster and Civilization VI, and a host of other titles that don’t fall easily within the small box Brightman describes. And titles like Pokémon Sun & Moon and a new Phoenix Wright are at the top of everyone’s Christmas wishlists.
Games are already for everyone, but judging from what Brightman wrote, he’d be happier if games were no longer made for those who play them the most.
The idea that everyone’s only interested in playing Call of Duty is a fantasy that exists only in the minds of game journalists unable to hide their disdain towards their audience. What’s certain is that the only people who have a real problem with certain types of games are not gamers, who are blessed to have such a wide variety of experiences to choose from.
You can’t help liking what you like. When the argument put forth by Brightman, Gruver and so many others are taken to its logical conclusion, it falls to game developers to create the kinds of titles that push their viewpoints because no one will willingly play them if there is any other choice. We can only speculate on what will happen to those who refuse to comply with the fun police.
Much as Wasteland 3 game developer Brian Fargo said in my interview with him, Much as Wasteland 3 game developer Brian Fargo said in my interview with him, game developers are here to entertain people , not change the world. Creators are under no obligation to promote any social or political agendas, and they sure as hell shouldn’t be shamed into doing so.
Ian Miles Cheong is a journalist and outspoken game critic. You can reach him through social media at Ian Miles Cheong is a journalist and outspoken game critic. You can reach him through social media at @stillgray on Twitter and on Facebook |
Researchers have developed a new material that demonstrates 'three-way shapeshifting' behaviour, changing its form in response to heat or light.
This is the first time scientists have achieved a single material that combines several smart capabilities – earlier efforts were limited to one function at a time.
The multifunctional material can fold and unfold itself based on the external stimulus, and can even heal itself when damaged.
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Researchers have developed a new material that demonstrates 'three-way shapeshifting' behaviour, changing its form in response to heat or light. In a video demonstrating its capabilities, the smart material can be seen unfolding from a box-shape when light or heat is applied, and then returning to its original form
SHAPE-SHIFTING MATERIAL The researchers used a class of long-chain molecules known as liquid crystalline networks (LCNs) and synthesized three functional building blocks. The resulting LCN was found to demonstrate shape memory behaviour and light-activated movement. Not only can it remember its shape, but the LCN can heal itself – if scratched with a razor blade, the application of ultraviolet light will fix the wound. Researchers say this new material is the first which has the ability to perform multiple tasks at once – and it can even be tailored to add more.
To create the unique substance, researchers at Washington State University and Oak Ridge National Laboratory used a class of long-chain molecules known as liquid crystalline networks (LCNs) and synthesized three 'functional building blocks.'
These included azobenzene molecules, liquid crystals, and dynamic ester bonds, which allowed the team to 'program material responses to external stimuli at the molecular level,' the researchers explain in a paper published recently to ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces.
When combined, the resulting LCN was found to demonstrate shape memory, light-activated movement, and self-healing behaviour.
'We knew these different technologies worked independently and tried to combine them in a way that would be compatible,' said Michael Kessler, professor and Berry Family director at the School of Mechanical and Materials Engineering (MME).
According to the researchers, its movements can be pre-programmed and properties can be tailored for unique abilities.
Not only can it remember its shape, but the LCN can heal itself – if scratched with a razor blade, the application of ultraviolet light will fix the wound.
In a video demonstrating its capabilities, the smart material can be seen unfolding from a box-shape when light or heat is applied, and later returning to its original form.
Scientists have long shown interest in smart materials, but they haven't yet emerged for widespread use due to limitations in function.
The resulting LCN was found to demonstrate shape memory behaviour, light-activated movement, and self-healing behaviour
The team usd a class of long-chain molecules known as liquid crystalline networks (LCNs) and synthesized three 'functional building blocks.' These allowed them to 'program material responses to external stimuli at the molecular level'
Now, researchers say this new material has the ability to perform multiple tasks at once – and it can even be tailored to add more.
'On the basis of this approach, LCNs can be further advanced,' the researchers wrote.
'For example, a fourth functional building block may be incorporated into the system, e.g., magnetic-responsive or infrared-responsive blocks, which can be achieved by incorporating magnetic nanoparticles or single wall carbon nanotubes, respectively.'
These new capabilities could make smart materials more feasible for practical use rather than just novelty. |
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check for the [?] help buttons in each page to read the step by step guide.
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Known Bugs or Dysfunctions
Browser tab can stop emit sound and must be closed if the synth exceeds some unspecified limits
Synths might sound different on different browsers
Each time you attach a modulator might emit a little different sound |
Trade unionists fighting the French government's labour reform, as well as sectoral disputes, targeted refuse incinerators, railway stations and power supply on Thursday as 16 of France's 19 nuclear power stations were on strike. Protesters picketed the company of bosses' union chief Pierre Gattaz in protest at his description of strikers as "terrorists" in an interview.
As strikes on the railway and in the power sector continued and floods hit parts of the country, protesters hit targets for flash protest Thursday:
Power was cut off to 125,000 homes in Saint-Nazaire in western France on Thursday morning as strikers took over a high-voltage substation;
Consumers in the Paris region may have preferred the unions' action there - 1,100,000 subscribers were charged at lower rates;
Rail strikers occupied a signal box at Paris's Gare de Lyon, stopping departures for about an hour, and sat on the rails at the Channel port of Caen for thre-quarters of an hour;
Refuse collectors staged mass pickets at three out of four of the Paris region's incinerators, one having been hit by strike action since Monday;
Mass pickets and selective blockades took place at various sites, including power stations, rail stations, the Saint-Nazaire shipyard and the Renault factory near Rouen, with eight police officers reported slightly injured while clearing a picket at Toulouse in the south-west;
Several thousand people demonstrated at a factory in Lyon as Economy Minister Emmanuel Macron visited it;
About 100 occupied the local headquarters of bosses' union Medef in Aude in the south of France and others briefly blocked entrance to the company owned by Medef chief Gattaz;
Rallies against the labour reform bill took place in a number of provincial cities, ahead of a national demonstration in Paris on 14 June;
A strike on the Paris metro had little effect but the national rail strike continued, with the SNCF rail company saying that 15 percent of staff were taking part;
An air traffic controllers' strike scheduled for three days starting Friday was called off after employers promised not to cut jobs, although Air France pilots may strike for their own demands on 11 June.
The war of words continued, too.
Gattaz issued a statement saying that his use of the word "terrorist" had been "misunderstood" and admitting that it "could shock", while going on to slam the "thuggish methods used by the CGT", the main trade union leading the protests.
CGT leader Philippe Martinez insisted that he and his allies were ready to talk to the government and that they had no intention of disrupting the Euro 2016 football tournament, due to start in eight days' time.
Labour Minister Myriam El Khomri said that "my door has always remained open", while calling on the union to "create a spirit of discussion".
But scrapping the law "is not an option", she went on.
Prime Minister Manuel Valls decried the "waste" caused by the protests.
"This conflict is weighing on our economy at a time when the actions of the government are allowing a recovery, growth and a fall in unemployment," he told parliament on Wednesday. |
DetroitPlanner said: First tier suburbs are in a real pickle. . Click to expand...
My personal view is that maybe this is changing. Think of Denver.. or San Diego. The infill redevelopment of the inner ring is practically the only thing going on in those two cities right now. They are denser, more transit accessible, already have infrastructure that municipalities don't have to force developers to build for them, and they have the programs and tax base that go with being part of the larger city (as opposed to a suburban municipality). They also offer some of the benefits of "suburbia" while still feeling "urban" to the younger families who want live in a 'burb but still have a hip urban lifestyle.The outer suburban rings in San Diego are essentially dead. 50%+ declines in property values, nobody can afford the gas to commute 30+ miles into the center each day, and their schools are no longer a differentiator since the state and the increasingly fiscally constrained munies out there have been forced to slash programs and school funding into oblivion. There was a time not too many years ago when people would be willing to sell their limbs to live in some of those outer burbs just so their kids could go to the local schools. Now, with class sizes in outlying areas pushing 35-40+, after mass teacher layoffs, the vast inner city SDCS isn't looking that bad anymore. And for those who can afford it, who cares about the local schools if you feel you have to send your kids to private schools anyway. And the private schools are all in the city and the inner ring. Many a planning consultant working for these strapped burbs have been asked to run future growth projections for new subdivisions based on "zero children" assumptions. Asked how they intend to keep kids from moving in, the municipal officials just shrug. They have no clue. All they know is that they absolutely cannot afford to issue building permits if children comes with the homes associated with them.The outer burbs have finally realized that, without vast state subsidies, they're financially unviable as going concerns, with residential-only tax bases incapable of supporting public services. Now that those subsidies are long gone, some of them are quickly becoming the new ghettos. They're shutting down schools, ending police protection, consolidating fire stations, in some cases firing virtually their ENTIRE city staffs. Roads are going unmaintained, capital highway-building projects are cancelled or postponed, the landscaping is going untended, graffiti is going unremoved, and crime is going up. To give you an idea of how bad things are, between 2007 and 2011, San Diego's estimated metro population increased by the same absolute amount of people as the city proper... in other words, the city absorbed virtually all of the (net) growth, and almost all of that growth was absorbed into the core neighborhoods (defined as centre city neighborhoods + the inner ring suburbs).Outer ring suburbs only work if somebody else pays their bills or when their entirely residential ad valorem tax base is inflated by a property bubble. Without such a bubble.. or massive infrastructure and public employment subsidies, single-use residential doesn't pay for much at anything short of penurious tax rates. Therefore, when the gravy train stops, such places fail, victims of their location and their historical NIMBYistic desire to bar virtually all land-use diversity. |
A fun, quick listen for fans of Doctor Who
Audiobook: I was unfamiliar with Kevin T. Collins prior to listening to this book, but I'll be keeping an eye out for him in the future. He reads clearly at good volume and does a few voices as well. Tom lucked out with a good narrator who added a little something extra to the book.
Story Review
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For what it's worth, I've been a member of Tom's online book club Sword & Laser for nearly 5 years, and helping to moderate the group for the last 2.5 years.
Tom might be better known for his work as a tech blogger and podcaster, but to me he's always been someone whose opinions on Science Fiction I've come to value. I picked this book up once I saw that I could get it in audio because I wanted to support Tom, but I seem to have very little time to read lately.
I know Tom has dabbled in writing on and off, especially during Nanowrimo, and that shows here. I haven't read any of his previous works, but this book is well written. Tom does a good job of showing and not telling, which is especially important to me in a book this short.
There are some big ideas about Time Travel, and he is consistent within his own rules for how it works, without spending too much time getting into the "science". This is the kind of big idea, little detail story I tend to associate with older Science Fiction stories.
Oddly, I don't tend to enjoy much classic Science Fiction because I tend to prefer more detailed world building. However I felt this book does a good job in packing in world building as the story progresses. There is a lot of room for imagination, but you're provided enough detail for framing the story he's trying to tell.
The one place I felt was a bit lacking was the characters. There isn't a ton of character development with Pilot X, and apart from the ship Verity and maybe the Secretary, most of the characters feel thin/disposable. I would have liked to read more about the after math of Pilot X's decision than we got.
The book has a bit of a Doctor Who feel, which isn't surprising as Tom has discussed how his inspiration for this book stemmed from that show's own Time War. However Pilot X doesn't feel like the Doctor. Or at least not any of the Doctor's I'm familiar with.
This book does a good job at borrowing an idea from Doctor Who while being it's own thing. I'm glad that I picked it up, and figure that I'll be able to tell people I followed Tom Merritt before he became a successful writer.
16 of 19 people found this review helpful |
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Looking for the inventor of head-carry devices and techniques is like asking who invented shoes. No single origin story exists for a piece of leather, fabric, or rope that is knotted, looped, or buckled around a load and worn across the top of the head. The tumpline precedes even the backpack. It has been used across every populated continent. Congolese women use tumplines to carry charcoal and firewood. Sherpas, perhaps the most famous tumpline users today, have been known to eschew modern packs even when they are offered, preferring the simple strap when carrying gear in the Himalayas. They call tumplines namlo and carry up to their own body weight in baskets called doko.
The English word “tumpline” is thought to be a shortening of the Algonquian words mattump or metump, and it entered the Western lexicon alongside trade. Fur-trapping voyageurs and coureurs de bois learned the method from their Native allies in the 17th and early 18th centuries. It was the only feasible way to carry large bundles of furs and gear through the dense forests between navigable bodies of water in what is now Canada and the northernmost United States.
In 1882, the French Canadian shoemaker Camille Poirier brought the tumpline to the North American masses when he created the Duluth pack. This pack kept the familiar shape of the backpack, with shoulder straps and a fixed-volume storage compartment, but added a tumpline attachment that allowed for the pack to be weighted on the shoulders, the neck, or both. The Duluth pack quickly became a classic; it is still manufactured in Duluth, Minnesota, and imitated by outdoor outfitters around the world.
By the early 20th century, the tumpline’s influence had spread from outfitters to the military. During World War I, in the trenches of the Somme, Staff Captain F.R. Phelan formed the 11th Canadian Brigade Tumpline Company after showing how much manpower and time could be saved if resupplies of the muddy trenches were conducted by tumpline. Phelan had learned the technique while hunting and fishing in the wilderness of Quebec, mirroring the journeys and challenges of the voyageurs.
Phelan’s men were issued an oiled leather tumpline with two long tails. The tails could be tied around larger loads than would fit in a backpack or in the hands. It also could be worn without interfering with their helmets. The men were trained in knots and proper posture, and they slowly increased the weight of their loads until they were carrying twice what had previously been possible, and with equal or greater efficiency. The tumpline made the dangerous process of resupplying the trenches faster and safer.
By 1944, tumpline companies had become standard across the Canadian ground forces. A Popular Mechanics article from that year shows Canadian soldiers using tumplines to carry medical supplies, machine guns, and even to pull sled-style stretchers designed for moving casualties while under fire during World War II. |
Clinton and Sanders at the debate in January. (REUTERS/Randall Hill)
For all of their comments about having been colleagues in the Senate, Bernie Sanders and Hillary Clinton spent about as little time there together as is possible. Clinton was first elected in 2000, leaving at the beginning of 2009 when she was appointed secretary of state. Sanders won election to the senate in 2007 — right as Clinton started her first bid for the presidency.
During 2007 and 2008, as she was in her first protracted battle for the nomination, Clinton missed nearly a third of the votes the Senate took.
As has been noted elsewhere (including by us), when Sanders and Clinton were both there and were both voting, they generally concurred with one another. According to data from Govtrack, the two voted the same way on legislation about 93 percent of the time.
The two disagreed 31 times, on votes ranging from the final approval of bills to motions to cut off filibuster. They’re indicated on the chart below, and listed at the bottom of this article.
(Split votes by a party are those in which neither Yea nor Nay got at least 60 percent of the vote.)
Among the most significant disagreements was on the “Paul Wellstone Mental Health and Addiction Equity Act of 2007” — the legislative vehicle for the Troubled Assets Relief Program, or TARP. Sanders was one of 25 senators to oppose the measure, bucking the majority of both the Democratic and Republican caucuses.
Of course, Sanders wasn’t a Democrat until he decided to run for president. It’s not a surprise, then, that Sanders went against the party majority three times as often as did Clinton.
“I have said many times, you know, sometimes in these campaigns, things get a little bit out of hand,” Sanders said during the most recent debate. “I happen to respect the secretary very much, I hope it’s mutual. And on our worst days, I think it is fair to say we are 100 times better than any Republican candidate.”
Not a shocking statement. After all, the two agree more than 90 percent of the time.
The times the two disagreed: |
According to the independent pollster, the latest decline in Najib’s support was rooted in Malaysia’s lagging economy, as well as the impending implementation of the GST in April. — File pic
KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 27 — Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s approval rating as prime minister fell again in the latest Merdeka Center survey, dropping four percentage points to 44 per cent in January.
According to the independent pollster, the latest decline in Najib’s support was rooted in Malaysia’s lagging economy, as well as the impending implementation of a new consumption tax in April.
“The negative sentiments were largely driven by economic factors, such as concerns over high cost of living, the general condition of the economy, as well as concerns over the impact of the upcoming implementation of the Goods and Services Tax (GST) on the public,” Ibrahim Suffian, who heads Merdeka Center, said in a statement accompanying the survey results.
In the previous edition of the survey last October, Najib recorded a positive rating of 48 per cent, down from 54 per cent in August and his personal best of 72 per cent in May 2010.
According to the latest poll, the Chinese were the least satisfied with Najib, recording an 18 per cent approval rating, while the Indians and Malays registered approval ratings of 44 per cent and 58 per cent respectively.
A total of 43 per cent were dissatisfied or angry with the government, while 38 per cent said they were happy with its performance.
Only about one in 10 Chinese respondents, or 11 per cent, expressed happiness with the government, compared to 34 per cent of Indians and 52 per cent of Malays.
Almost half of participants, or 47 per cent, believed that the country was headed in the wrong direction, citing high living costs and an unfavourable economy.
“Other reasons driving negative perceptions about the country’s direction includes perceived poor administration and continued racial polarisation in society,” said Ibrahim.
The 39 per cent who felt Malaysia was on a positive track based their views on a sense of security, favourable economic conditions and infrastructure development, as well as continued government welfare.
According to the poll, voters were most concerned about the economy at 62 per cent.
The survey, which was conducted from January 21 to 30, sampled 1,008 voters aged 21 and above across peninsula Malaysia. |
There’s nothing Hollywood loves more than a wildly popular book that’s ripe for adapting—except, of course, for a wildly popular series of books that’s ripe for adapting. Today The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 1 hits theaters, the third of four planned movies based on Suzanne Collins’ best-selling young-adult trilogy. Taking a page (sorry) from the producers of Harry Potter and Twilight, the franchise’s final novel will be stretched into two films. In his Los Angeles Times review, Kenneth Turan dismissed Mockingjay the first as a mere “place-holder,” its primary function being “to smooth the transition from its hugely successful predecessors to a presumably glorious finale one year hence.”
When it comes to milking a story for all it’s worth, director Peter Jackson sets the standard, notoriously squeezing three films out of J.R.R. Tolkien’s 310-page The Hobbit. These feats of rationing are borderline miraculous—like a tiny supply of oil burning for eight nights, or a crowd of thousands fed with only five loaves of bread and two fish, depending on which flavor of religious simile you’d prefer.
We looked at seven book-to-movie franchises—The Lord of the Rings, The Chronicles of Narnia, The Hobbit, Harry Potter, The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo, The Hunger Games and Twilight—comparing the total page count with the cumulative duration of the films to determine how many pages per minute each series covers. For better or worse, which movies most aggressively condense their source material, and which are guilty of watering down the vodka?
As expected, Jackson’s Hobbit series boasts the lowest pages per minute, with a figure of only 0.6, while the four forgettable Narnia movies come in a distant second at 1.4. But we were surprised to discover that—even with a two-part finale—the five Twilight movies sprint through Stephenie Meyer’s four long-winded novels at a healthy clip of four pages per minute. (If you’ve ever read Meyer’s prose, you’ll agree that this was a smart call on the filmmakers’ part.)
A few boring but necessary methodological notes: Wherever possible, we used the page counts from the original hardcover editions of each book. We considered the original Swedish film adaptations of the Dragon Tattoo series—only the first book has been made into a movie in the United States—but stuck to the novels’ English translations, for consistency’s sake. Because the final Hobbit and Hunger Games installments have yet to be released, we extrapolated their run times based on those of their prequels. The Hobbit film series technically borrows some of its source material from appendices to the Lord of the Rings novels, but shh. |
Independent grocery chains affiliated with the Centrella cooperative are in negotiations to buy as many as 10 Dominick's stores, sources familiar with the talks said.
Grocers affiliated with Centrella, the brand name used by Joliet-based Central Grocers Inc., are looking to purchase stores as a group in both the city and suburbs, sources said. It's unclear which Dominick's locations Centrella would buy on behalf of its member firms.
The group has hired food industry investment banker David Schoeder to negotiate the package deal with Dominick's parent, Pleasanton, Calif.-based Safeway Inc., which announced it would leave the Chicago market.
Mr. Schoeder, a principal with Food Partners LLC in Washington, declined to comment. A Centrella executive could not immediately be reached this evening.
Centrella grocers looking to open stores in soon-to-close Dominick's around the region include Tony's Finer Foods, Treasure Island and Strack & Van Til, among others, according to the sources. The co-op has more than 150 members.
Tony Ingraffia, president of South Barrington-based Tony's Finer Foods Inc., did not return calls. Christ Kamberos, vice president of development at Treasure Island Foods Inc., declined to comment. An executive with Highland, Ind.-based Strack & Van Til did not return a call.
Jewel-Osco, meanwhile, is suspending plans to snap up additional Dominick's on the market here. The firm, owned by private-equity firm Cerberus Capital Management LP, is no longer looking to buy additional Dominick's stores that are currently open, said an Itasca-based spokeswoman for Jewel.
When Safeway announced in October that it would leave the Chicago market, the firm operated 72 stores across the region. No more than 55 remain.
Earlier this month, Milwaukee-based Roundy's Inc. announced a $36 million deal for 11 Dominick's. Jewel-Osco has purchased four. And Dominick's leases are expiring at properties in Matteson and Morton Grove and the landlords there are pursuing other options.
A Safeway spokeswoman did not return a call.
Jewel announced its Dominick's acquisitions in October, stores at 1340 S. Canal St. and 2550 N. Clybourn Ave. in Chicago, and in Homer Glen and Glenview. It's currently operating those outlets as Dominick's, with plans to convert them into Jewel stores by mid-January, according to Jewel spokeswoman Allison Sperling.
The grocer won't buy any more operating Dominick's stores, Ms. Sperling said. Instead, Jewel will wait to see what's left after Safeway shutters its chain Dec. 28.
“In the near future, we will consider any opportunities that arise” to take over closed Dominick's, said Ms. Sperling, who declined to elaborate further.
Chicago Tribune first reported on Jewel-Osco's decision not to pursue Dominick's that are currently open.
In other Dominick's developments, Safeway did not renew its lease for its store at 4233 W. Lincoln Hwy. in south suburban Matteson. A spokesman for Indianapolis-based Simon Property Group, which owns the retail property that Dominick's is leaving, said in a recent email that Simon is trying to find a new tenant for the space.
In Morton Grove, Dominick's lease is expiring in April, a source said, and the landlord plans to pursue a retail-focused redevelopment project there. |
Now, all the political engagement around heroin has helped create what Timothy Rourke, the chairman of the New Hampshire Governor’s Commission on Alcohol and Drug Abuse, says is an impetus for change, not unlike the confluence of events that finally produced a response to the AIDS epidemic. “You have a lot of people dying, it’s no longer just ‘those people,’ ” he said. “You have people with lived experience demanding better treatment, and you have really good data.”
A More Forgiving Approach
Among recent bills passed by the New Hampshire legislature in response is one that gives friends and family access to naloxone, the anti-overdose medication. Mr. Griffin, a few months after his daughter died, was among those testifying for the bill. It was set to pass in May but would not take effect until January 2016 — until Mr. Griffin warned lawmakers that too many lives could be lost in that six-month gap. At his urging, the bill was amended to take effect as soon as it was signed into law. It went into effect June 2.
Other parents like him have successfully lobbied for similar measures across the country. Almost all states now have laws or pilot programs making it easier for emergency medical workers or family and friends to obtain naloxone. And 32 states have passed “good Samaritan” laws that protect people from prosecution, at least for low-level offenses, if they call 911 to report an overdose. A generation ago when civil rights activists denounced as racist the push to punish crack-cocaine crimes, largely involving blacks, far more severely than powder-cocaine crimes, involving whites, political figures of both parties defended those policies as necessary to control violent crime.
But today, with heroin ravaging largely white communities in the Northeast and Midwest, and with violent crime largely down, the mood is more forgiving.
“Both the image and reality is that this is a white and often middle-class problem,” said Mr. Mauer of the Sentencing Project. “And appropriately so, we’re having a much broader conversation about prevention and treatment, and trying to be constructive in responding to this problem. This is good. I don’t think we should lock up white kids to show we’re being equal.”
So officers like Eric Adams, a white former undercover narcotics detective in Laconia, are finding new ways to respond. He is deployed full time now by the Police Department to reach out to people who have overdosed and help them get treatment. |
The news Wednesday that Portugal is repealing four of its national holidays to spur greater economic growth has gotten people thinking about what the balance should be between free time and the need to keep the economy going.
And apparently Canada leans towards keeping the economy going -- more so than any other developed country.
PHOTOS: THE 10 COUNTRIES WITH THE MOST HOLIDAYS
PHOTOS: THE 10 COUNTRIES WITH THE LEAST HOLIDAYS
According to a study from Mercer Consulting, released late last year, Canada has fewer government-mandated holidays than any developed country, including even the United States.
Canada has 19 mandated days off, including calendar holidays and minimum vacation requirements, and excluding some provincial holidays.
By comparison, the United States has about 25 days, the survey found. That compares to 36 days in the United Kingdom, 30 in Australia, and 29 in Germany.
(The U.S. number was calculated differently. Because the U.S. is the only developed country not to mandate any paid vacation time, Mercer calculated the number using the typical minimum given by companies.)
While Canada may be worst off among developed nations, employees still get considerably more time off than in the developing countries of Asia, the survey found. China offers a minimum 10 days off annually, while Thailand and the Phillippines have the least, with six and five days off, respectively.
At the other end of the spectrum were European countries, offering the most generous holidays. Austria tops the list, with 38 days, followed by Greece at 37 ... perhaps an indicator that too much holiday time may not be a good idea?
THE 10 COUNTRIES WITH THE MOST HOLIDAYS
Photo gallery The 10 Countries With The Most Holidays See Gallery Vacation Time In Canada Is Less Than Any Developed Country, Survey Finds 1 / 10
The 10 Countries With The Most Holidays 1 / 10
THE 10 COUNTRIES WITH THE LEAST HOLIDAYS |
In interviews with House Oversight Committee investigators, Cincinnati IRS employees said that they believed that targeting of conservative groups came from Washington, not from a couple of “rogue agents. “
Sunday the House Oversight Committee released partial transcripts of Oversight Committee investigators’ interviews with unnamed Cincinnati IRS employees, which contradicts the line coming from the White House.
“It’s impossible,” an IRS employee responded to an investigator’s question about the allegations that the targeting of conservative groups was due to “two ‘rogue agents.” “As an agent we are controlled by many, many people. We have to submit many, many reports. So the chance of two agents being rogue and doing things like that could never happen.”
Answering a question about the employee’s reaction to news reports that the targeting was contained in Cincinnati and the fault of the Cincinnati office, the employee said that Washington has been throwing them under the bus.
“Well, it’s hard to answer the question because in my mind I still hear people saying we were low‑level employees, so we were lower than dirt, according to people in D.C. So, take it for what it is,” a Cincinnati IRS employee said. “They were basically throwing us underneath the bus.”
The employee further noted that it was a supervisor who requested they do a search for tea party and similar applications in March of 2010.
“Did [your supervisor] give you any indication of the need for the search, any more context?” an investigator asked.
“He told me that Washington, D.C., wanted some cases,” the employee responded, going on to answer that by April 2010 the group was handling fewer than 40 cases and had sent seven cases to Washington, D.C.
When asked for the reason behind the request that cases be sent to Washington, D.C. the employee responded, “He said Washington, D.C. wanted seven. Because at one point I believe I heard they were thinking 10, but it came down to seven. I said okay, seven.”
The employee explained that the Cincinnati office sent the first seven cases that had come into the system.
The employee further noted that Washington, D.C. had additionally requested the applications or parts of the applications for two specific groups.
Investigator: “But just to be clear, she told you the specific names of these applicants.”
IRS employee: “Yes.”
Investigator: “And she told you that Washington, D.C. had requested these two specific applications be sent to D.C.”
IRS employee: “Yes, or parts of them.”
According to the partial transcript, the employee noted that this was an unusual request.
The employee added that the Cincinnati IRS employees were just following orders and that the employee believed those instructions came from Washington, D.C.
Investigator: “So is it your perspective that ultimately the responsible parties for the decisions that were reported by the IG are not in the Cincinnati office?”
IRS employee: “I don’t know how to answer that question. I mean, from an agent standpoint, we didn’t do anything wrong. We followed directions based on other people telling us what to do.”
Investigator: “And you ultimately followed directions from Washington; is that correct?”
IRS employee: “If direction had come down from Washington, yes.”
Investigator: “But with respect to the particular scrutiny that was given to Tea Party applications, those directions emanated from Washington; is that right?”
IRS employee: “I believe so.”
Another interviewee, described by the Oversight Committee as a more senior IRS employee, complained about micromanagement from Washington, D.C. that ultimately led the employee to apply for another job in July 2010.
“It was the whole Tea Party. It was the whole picture. I mean, it was the micromanagement. The fact that the subject area was extremely sensitive and it was something that I didn’t want to be associated with,” the more senior IRS employee told an investigator who was asking about his decision to find another job.
The more senior employee added that what was going on was “inappropriate.”
Investigator: “Why didn’t you want to be associated with it?”
IRS employee: “For what happened now. I mean, rogue agent? Even though I was taking all my direction from EO Technical [Washington, D.C], I didn’t want my name in the paper for being this rogue agent for a project I had no control over.”
Investigator: “Did you think there was something inappropriate about what was happening in 2010?”
IRS employee: “Yes. The inappropriateness was not processing these applications fairly and timely.”
Sunday, Committee Chairman Darrell Issa unveiled that committee’s findings on CNN, promised that the full transcripts will come out, and called White House spokesman Jay Carney a “paid liar.”
Follow Caroline on Twitter |
Kentucky political blogger Jim Higdon reports on a response from the Rand Paul campaign to a question about his stance on the construction of an Islamic community center at a location in Lower Manhattan formerly occupied by a Burlington Coat Factory:
Given all the bad crazy going around regarding allegedly small-government conservatives trying to dictate New York City zoning laws in regard to the proposed lower Manhattan mosque, which has been intentionally mislabeled as the “Ground Zero Mosque” for greater effect upon the ignorant and willfully ignorant — MCL wondered how the Kentucky senate candidates feel about it.
Dr. Rand Paul’s new spokesperson, Gary Howard, sent us this quick note:
We are focused on this race and the issues affecting Kentucky. We don’t want New York intervening in our local Kentucky issues, and we don’t look to interfere with New York’s local issues. |
Every local authority in Scotland will ignore the terms of the Government’s contentious Trade Union Bill, making the legislation unworkable north of the border.
The Independent on Sunday can reveal that all 32 Scottish councils will refuse to implement the conditions of the bill when it becomes law. Those conditions include removing the process of check-offs whereby union subscriptions are deducted from the salaries of workers who are members of a trade union.
Unions have complained that this is a cynical ploy to reduce their funding and will waste their resources in renewing subscriptions. They are also infuriated that the bill constrains the amount of paid time off that public sector union representatives can take for those responsibilities, a move the authorities will also oppose.
We’ll tell you what’s true. You can form your own view. From 15p €0.18 $0.18 $0.27 a day, more exclusives, analysis and extras.
Labour, which has nearly one-third of Scotland’s 1,223 councillors, is worried that other provisions in the bill would cut off much of the party’s crucial union funding. Under the current system union members have to opt out of paying an affiliation fee to Labour; the change would require them to opt in, making payment less likely.
Union leaders believe the move could help turn opinion against the bill across the country, in a repeat of Margaret Thatcher’s Poll Tax debacle. Opposition to the hated levy started in Scotland, where trials were run in 1989, before it was dropped and replaced by the Council Tax four years later.
Councillor Billy Hendry is the human resources spokesman for the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities, which represents 28 of the 32 Scottish councils. He said: “We already have very effective and constructive arrangements which allow us as employers to negotiate pay and conditions with the trade unions, collaborate where we can on issues of joint interest and that allow us to resolve local or national disputes.
“This works for the people of Scotland and works for us when delivering vital public services. This bill, if enacted, would endanger all of this and may even lead to more industrial unrest. No one benefits from this.”
Renfrewshire Council leader Mark MacMillan said: “We recently agreed to oppose legislation which is a cynical political attack by the Tory Government on the ability of trade unions to represent working people effectively. We will continue to support arrangements that enable trade union representatives with the time and resources to represent their members.”
In a letter to the Business Secretary, Sajid Javid, Mr MacMillan added: “I believe that the bill undermines ordinary working people and their right to a voice at work. I would urge you to reconsider the bill and reflect on the negative consequences of seeking to implement the provisions of the bill.”
Edward McAvoy, the leader of South Lanarkshire Council, said: “I don’t think the bill will happen, and I hope it doesn’t, in Scotland.”
Unions have demanded that the Scottish Government refuse to implement the bill, which sets a far higher threshold for validating ballots on industrial action, so that strikes would become extremely rare. Unions would have to secure the support for a strike of more than 50 per cent of those entitled to vote, rather than a straight majority of those who actually vote.
There are suggestions that the Scottish Government should tell Police Scotland, which has devolved powers, that violations of the new law would be a low priority, meaning breaches would be largely ignored. Strikes that would be illegal in England or Wales could then go ahead in Scotland.
Gary Smith, the GMB union’s acting secretary in Scotland, said: “This is an assault on civil liberties. The Tories are trying to smash one of the last bastions of opposition to inequality and social injustice. The Scottish Government needs to say clearly that they will not apply the bill in Scotland. This is a new generation’s poll tax moment.”
A Scottish Government spokesman said: “We have set out our clear and strong opposition to the proposals in the Trade Union Bill, which we regard as a totally unjustified attack on workers’ rights. We will continue to oppose these plans in the strongest possible way, and we urge the UK Government to look again at these deeply flawed proposals.”
But a senior Conservative backbencher warned that the SNP, which is in government north of the border, was using the issue in its push for a second independence referendum. The source said: “This all plays into the wider dynamic of the way the SNP’s continuous independence campaign is going. The more the SNP can create irritation and division, the more it plays into their hands.”
A business department spokeswoman said: “Once secondary legislation is made, we expect local authorities and public bodies to comply with the law.”
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Anonymous said: remember the episode cat fingers when the gems went out to sea in a tiny boat? that was ridiculous and kind of adorable. when are they gonna do that again
The Gem sloop is like my favorite thing. It’s so tiny
Like it just barely fits the three of them. It’s only as big as it needs to be so they gotta sit on top of each other. There’s something really adorable about that. And, like, they must’ve had the boat for a while since Amethyst just says “the Gem sloop” like its a thing they normally have. So did they have it when Rose was around? Did they ever all go on the boat with Rose? They couldn’t all possibly fit then, did Amethyst and Pearl sit in Rose’s lap? That would be adorable.
They don’t use it anymore, its like Steven’s raft ended up being bigger than the boat so they were like “Why are we using the tiny boat when we have that nice raft?” so they just used the raft from now on. I want the tiny boat to make a comeback, though. I want them all piled into the tiny boat, struggling not to tip it over. I want more adventures in the tiny Gem boat |
THE PROJECT
Kentucky 120 is the culmination of my 10-year quest to make landscape photographs of every county in Kentucky.
This on-again, off-again journey on the back roads of Kentucky produced nearly 10,000 images. After culling down to a few hundred images, I enlisted artist friends to select the strongest image from each county.
This body of work is the foundation for the book "Kentucky 120."
THE BOOK
Designed as an art book, the 160 page hardback coffee table book features 120 photographs by Ed Lawrence. Each 8" x 8" page frames one square photograph from each county, with a thumbnail index in the back. The book will be printed on heavy weight, bright white, matte paper.
While the photographs do not intentionally represent each county, collectively the 120 landscapes paint a beautiful portrait of Kentucky.
The book is fully designed and just about ready to go to the printer. I'm just waiting to add your name to the acknowledgement page and raise at least $12,000 to pay for the first printing.
THE PUBLISHER
I established ZEDZ press® as a vehicle to publish books about regional culture, art and photography. "Kentucky 120" will be the first book published with the ZEDZ press mark. As a publisher, I hope to take on projects by other Kentucky artists and photographers in the future.
THE EXHIBIT
A selection of 36 photographs from the Kentucky 120 collection are on exhibit at Alfalfa Restaurant, 141 East Main St., Lexington, Kentucky . The show runs from September 20 (Gallery Hop night) through the end of October.
KICKSTARTER ENERGIZER PARTY
There will be a celebration on Sunday, September 29, 2013 from 5 to 7 p.m. at Alfalfa Restaurant featuring Kentucky home-style refreshments and a fiddle jam session. If you've got a fiddle; bring it! We'll just see what happens. |
Houston rodeo removes offensive Disney cartoon begin sold at its fairgrounds
A display at the NRG Center during the Houston Rodeo features bootleg versions of the movie "Song of the South". The movie is widely considered offensive by today's standards.
Keep clicking to see other cartoons that are considered offensive or have been banned. Song of the SouthA display at the NRG Center during the Houston Rodeo features bootleg versions of the movie "Song of the South". The movie is widely considered offensive by today's standards.Keep clicking to see other cartoons that are considered offensive or have been banned. less
A display at the NRG Center during the Houston Rodeo features bootleg versions of the movie "Song of the South". The movie is widely considered offensive by today's standards.
Keep Song of the SouthA display at the NRG Center during the Houston Rodeo features bootleg versions of the movie "Song of the South". The movie is widely considered offensive by today's standards.Keep ... more Photo: Camilo Smith Photo: Camilo Smith Image 1 of / 45 Caption Close Houston rodeo removes offensive Disney cartoon begin sold at its fairgrounds 1 / 45 Back to Gallery
Some cartoons and movies made in the 1950s and 1960s don't hold up today mainly because of stereotypes. While the Warner Bros. character Speedy Gonzalez, a stereotype of Mexican immigrants, has stood the test of time, other characters from television and movies haven't. Take for instance Uncle Remus and the animated characters from "Song of the South."
"The film's live-action depictions of Uncle Remus and his fellow smilin', Massah-servin' black folk are embarrassingly racist," according to an article on Slate.com. The movie has never been released on DVD, but is available in underground bootleg networks online and in some stores. The movie was on display and available for purchase on DVD at this year's RodeoHouston. However, once rodeo officials were contacted about the movie by La Voz, it was later removed.
"The Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo was made aware today that one of its vendors was selling copies of a movie that has not been released for home viewing in the United States," according to a statement from rodeo Officials. "The copies have been removed from the vendor's booth."
Click on the slideshow above to learn more about cartoons that have racial stereotypes or have been banned. |
Premier League: Villas-Boas insists he has the confidence of Spurs board and players
Andre Villas-Boas denies reports of a rift between himself and the Tottenham players and boardroom. Andre Villas-Boas denies reports of a rift between himself and the Tottenham players and boardroom.
Newspaper reports claimed Villas-Boas was on the brink of being sacked following Sunday's 6-0 thrashing at Manchester City.
After a flurry of bets, one bookmaker made Villas-Boas odds-on favourite to become the next top-flight manager to lose his job, but the Portuguese is adamant his position is secure.
The former Chelsea manager, who spent almost £110m in the summer, admits the Spurs board aired their misgivings about the defeat at the Etihad Stadium to him in a meeting after the game.
However, Villas-Boas bristled at suggestions he was on the verge of the sack at a tense press conference ahead of Thursday's Europa clash with Tromso, 200 miles inside the Arctic Circle.
"I have the confidence of the board. I have the confidence of my players and I have to move on to do a proper job," he said.
"The only conversation (the board and I) had recently was two or three days ago.
"The board is of the same opinion that everything went wrong and we hope to get some response in the future.
"It was an ordinary meeting. We only spoke very briefly about the game."
Spurs chairman Daniel Levy has not come out to publicly back Villas-Boas, and the Portuguese coach does not want him to either.
"No. No. That's not his style, and neither do I ask for things like that," said Villas-Boas, who says he has become used to rumours and gossip since moving to England for his ill-fated spell with Chelsea.
"I am immune (to criticism) right now," he added. "I used to read a lot into situations like this, into pressure points when I was at Chelsea, but not anymore. I am very indifferent.
"There is only one (area) that I come under pressure from, which is the press."
When queried about alleged problems with his players, the Spurs boss said: "That can only come from creative minds."
Tottenham are three points better off than they were at this stage last season but Villas-Boas admits he is concerned by their form in front of goal.
The north Londoners have had 168 attempts at goal this season, more than any other side in the top flight, but they also have the worst conversion rate - 5.4 per cent.
"The only thing that we can hold on at the moment is the reality that we don't score enough and we are worried about it," said Villas-Boas.
"We have to promote situations where we can do better with our chances. Obviously this is something we are working on and going to continue working on in the future.
"It doesn't mean that problems like this can be solved because sometimes you go through periods, although you try and you create so many chances, you don't actually score.
"We have great scoring ability in our team; we are the team that creates the most chances in the Premier League, so the chances are there but we are not finishing them off.
"We don't put into doubt the quality of our strikers but we haven't found the finishing touch yet. The only thing that we can do is continue to work."
Villas Boas does not expect to sign a striker in January and has no intention of letting Jermain Defoe leave.
"(Roberto) Soldado, Jermain Defoe and (Emmanuel) Adebayor are all proven goalscorers, so we can't really get much better than these three.
"The only thing that we have to do, if we are not scoring from the opportunities we are creating, is making sure that we double the amount of opportunities we create to make sure a couple of them finish in the back of the net." |
The Ontario government will announce details this morning of its plans for high-occupancy toll lanes — and what it will cost drivers to use them.
The announcement is scheduled for 9:30 a.m. ET Monday. CBC.ca will live-stream the announcement.
The so-called HOT lanes will allow motorists without passengers to pay to use High-Occupancy-Vehicle (HOV) lanes, which were designed to encourage carpooling.
The plan is to create HOT lanes only where there are existing HOV lanes, which are free for any driver with at least one passenger — but carpooling and toll lanes could also be created on any new or expanded highways.
"On the provincial highway network, we will not be taking out general purpose lanes for the HOTs," Transportation Minister Steve Del Duca said early this fall.
Opposition at Queen's Park
Del Duca has also said that the province would be willing to work with any municipality that wants to add tolls to existing roads under their jurisdiction, such as Toronto's Gardiner Expressway and Don Valley Parkway.
He has also said he wants to use the lessons learned from the temporary HOV lanes set up on Toronto-area highways last summer for the Pan Am Games to develop the plan for toll lanes.
The two opposition parties at Queen's Park have already gone on record denouncing the plan.
"We shouldn't be taxing existing roadways," said Progressive Conservative Leader Patrick Brown.
"People have paid for those roads through their taxes, and that shouldn't be an option that the government looks at," he said.
The New Democrats, meanwhile, have linked the HOT lanes with the name of a high-end automaker, calling them 'Lexus lanes' — and something that only the wealthiest of motorists would be able to afford.
"The Lexus lanes are not something I think is the right way to go," NDP Leader Andrea Horwath said in the past. |
OTTAWA—The Harper government’s decision to grant Bell Helicopter Canada a special weight exemption for one of its aircraft strained relations between Transport Canada and aviation safety regulators in the U.S. and Europe, federal documents show.
A Bell 429 helicopter lands on a hospital landing pad following a test flight on Aug. 16, 2011, in Farmington, N.M. The Harper government's decision to grant Bell Helicopter Canada a special weight exemption for one of its aircraft put a severe strain on relations between Transport Canada and aviation safety regulators in both the U.S. and Europe. ( Brandon Iwamoto / THE CANADIAN PRESS file photo )
The declaration, involving the Bell model 429, was made over strenuous objections from the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration and the European Aviation Safety Agency EASA, which complained that Transport Canada kept them in the dark about the significant regulatory change. The adjustment, also the subject of a court challenge, increased the maximum weight gross weight limit to 3,400 kilograms, and allowed Bell to enter and recently win a $172-million contract to provide 15 light helicopters to the coast guard. Documents obtained by The Canadian Press under Access to Information showed both international agencies felt sandbagged prior to the easing of the weight restriction in December 2011.
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“EASA expressed disappointment that we had not given them a heads up about this exemption and about our intention to consider it,” said a June 17, 2011, email from Transport Canada’s director of policy and regulatory authority. Emails between the agencies say the exception has also given the Mirabel, Que.-based company, a subsidiary of U.S. conglomerate Textron, a competitive advantage in more than a dozen other countries around the world. Days after the complaint, the department’s director of national aircraft certification wrote to the FAA that Canada have every intention of being “as transparent as possible” on a decision “we know may have repercussions on the rotocraft industry world.” U.S. and European officials were deeply skeptical, worried about the impact on safety and wondered whether Canada was making the change to just please Bell. They were also uneasy about the secrecy and urged Canadian officials to bring the discussion out of the back rooms. “We must also consider whether this is an industry-wide concern, or a single companies (sic) business concern,” said a U.S. official, whose name was censored from an email, dated July 7, 2011.
“In other words, what’s good for Bell may or may not be good for the industry. If it is an industry wide issue, we would welcome a public debate with industry and regulators to consider the need for future rulemaking.” One day later, the Europeans added their voice saying: “It would be more beneficial to consider an open rule-making process.”
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Bell president Barry Kohler said his company is not the only one that has been granted weight exemptions at one time or another. He said the manufacturer is currently working with the FAA, EASA and the industry to modernize the regulations that govern this issue. The intent is to have rules that “more accurately meet the needs of modern rotorcraft operations in a way that will more efficiently introduce newer technologies that can improve safety,” he said in an email. The added weight is critical for commercial clients, such as helicopter ambulance and law enforcement, “who need the increased range and load for emergency services, and is increasingly important in remote (and) rural areas.” Editor’s Note: This article has been edited from a previously published version to correct the date of an email. |
SAN ANTONIO (July 11, 2016) – San Antonio Spurs forward Tim Duncan today announced that he will retire after 19 seasons with the organization. Since drafting Duncan, the Spurs won five championships and posted a 1,072-438 regular season record, giving the team a .710 winning percentage, which is the best 19-year stretch in NBA history and was the best in all of the NBA, NFL, NHL and MLB over the last 19 years.
Originally selected by the Spurs as the first overall pick in the 1997 NBA Draft, Duncan helped San Antonio reach the playoffs in each of his 19 seasons and became the only player in league history to start and win a title in three different decades. The Silver and Black won at least 50 games the last 17 seasons, the longest streak in league history, and posted at least a .600 winning percentage in each of Duncan’s 19 seasons, an all-time record for most consecutive seasons with a .600 win percentage in the four major U.S. sports.
The 40-year-old Duncan comes off of a season in which he led the NBA in Defensive RPM (5.41) and became just the third player in league history to reach 1,000 career wins, as well as the only player to reach 1,000 wins with one team. He helped the Spurs to a franchise-best 67-15 record and also became one of two players in NBA history to record at least 26,000 points, 15,000 rebounds and 3,000 blocks in his career (Kareem Abdul-Jabbar).
Duncan totaled 15 All-NBA Team selections (tied for most all-time) and 15 NBA All-Defensive Team honors (most all-time), garnering both honors in the same season 15 times, the most in league history. The 1998 Rookie of the Year was named NBA MVP twice (2002, 2003) and NBA Finals MVP three times (1999, 2003 and 2005).
In his NBA career, the 15-time All-Star appeared in a total of 1,392 games and averaged 19.0 points, 10.8 rebounds, 3.0 assists and 2.17 blocks in 34.0 minutes. He shot .506 (10,285-20,334) from the floor and .696 (5,896-8,468) from the free throw line.
The Wake Forest graduate is the Spurs all-time NBA leader in total points (26,496), rebounds (15,091), blocked shots (3,020), minutes (47,368) and games played (1,392), as well as third in assists (4,225). In NBA history, Duncan is fifth all-time in double-doubles (841) and blocks, sixth in rebounding and 14th in scoring.
As the only player in NBA history to play over 9,000 career minutes in the playoffs, Duncan ranks first all-time in postseason double-doubles (164) and blocks (568), third in rebounds (2,859) and sixth in points (5,172). For his career, Duncan appeared in 251 postseason contests (second all-time) and averaged 20.6 points, 11.4 rebounds and 3.0 assists in 37.3 minutes while shooting .501 (1,975-3,939) from the field.
Along with teammates Tony Parker and Manu Ginobili, Duncan is part of the NBA record for most wins by a trio in both the regular season (575) and postseason (126). Duncan and Gregg Popovich have the most wins by a player-coach duo in NBA history (1,001) and the Spurs forward finishes his career in San Antonio as one of just three players in NBA history, along with John Stockton and Kobe Bryant, to spend 19 seasons with one franchise. |
Panoramic view of the community of Chavez Ravine, circa 1952. Photo by Leonard Nadel , courtesy of the Photo Collection, Los Angeles Public Library.
Now fifty years old, Dodger Stadium has become a Los Angeles landmark, steeped in baseball nostalgia and traffic angst. But the Dodgers' recent change of ownership has brought new attention to the real estate possibilities associated with the team's hilltop perch, reminding us that before the land served as home to athletes in white-and-blue jerseys, it was the site of a thriving Mexican American community named Chavez Ravine.
Chavez Ravine takes its name from Julian Chavez, a native of New Mexico who arrived in Los Angeles in the early 1830s and promptly became a leading political figure. In 1844, Chavez acquired 83 acres encompassing a narrow valley northwest of the city center. We know little about what Chavez did with the land, but during Los Angeles' 1850 and 1880 smallpox epidemics, Chavez Canyon, as it was then known, was home to a hospital for Chinese-Americans and Mexican-Americans suffering from the disease.
Despite the land's proximity to downtown Los Angeles, its rough terrain prevented intensive development even as the city grew around it. Much of the land became Elysian Park in 1886, the same year that the Los Angeles Brick Company -- later joined by a rival operation -- moved into Chavez Ravine and began blasting into the hillsides.
By the early twentieth century, a rural Mexican-American community had taken root on the hilly land surrounding the ravine. Plenty of open space surrounded three distinct neighborhoods -- Bishop, La Loma, and Palo Verde. Goats grazed on hillsides, and residents raised a variety of domesticated animals, from pigs to peacocks.
Drawing of Chavez Ravine as it appeared circa 1870. Courtesy of the Title Insurance and Trust / C.C. Pierce Photography Collection, USC Libraries.
The Barlow Sanatorium in Chavez Ravine, 1915. Courtesy of the Title Insurance and Trust / C.C. Pierce Photography Collection, USC Libraries.
Animals graze in fields outside Chavez Ravine homes in this undated photo. Courtesy of the Photo Collection, Los Angeles Public Library.
Bridesmaids and best man at a wedding in a Chavez Ravine neighborhood, 1929. Courtesy of the Shades of L.A. Collection, Los Angeles Public Library.
The community's population boomed in 1913, when a progressive lawyer named Marshall Stimson subsidized the relocation of some 250 Mexican-American families to Chavez Ravine from the dangerous L.A. River floodplain. A local grocery provided for residents' everyday needs, Palo Verde Elementary schooled the local children, and regular religious processions through the village reinforced community ties.
A political fight in 1926 over the local brickworks demonstrated the strength of those bonds. Suffering for years from proximity to the brick companies' blasting, Chavez Ravine homeowners organized to shut down the manufacturers' operations. On August 20, 1926, the Los Angeles City Council unanimously adopted an ordinance prohibiting the blasting and zoned the area around Chavez Ravine for residential use.
The community's victory over the brick makers did not deter others other development. As capital flowed into Los Angeles and engineering methods advanced, the community's rough terrain presented less of an obstacle to new ventures. Even before plans for public housing and then a baseball stadium rang the community's death knell, Chavez Ravine was routinely targeted for a variety of public and private uses.
In 1937, regional boosters began planning the Pacific Mercado, an international exposition that would celebrate the 400th anniversary of Juan Rodríguez Cabrillo's voyage up the California coast. Their preferred site: the Chavez Ravine. The following year, the United States Navy foiled the boosters' hopes for a world's fair by announcing plans for a new $1 million armory in Chavez Ravine. The same year, the city engineering department proposed that a new limited-access highway -- modeled after the Arroyo Seco Parkway, then under construction -- through Chavez Ravine to cut travel time between the San Fernando Valley and downtown Los Angeles.
In the end, only the Navy's plan -- backed by WPA funding -- won out. During World War II the Naval Reserve Armory became an important West Coast military installation. Built in the canyon, below hillside homes, the armory did not displace Chavez Ravine's residents.
But while the Depression-era public works proposals may have spared Chavez Ravine, the city's postwar redevelopment mania eventually claimed the community in the name of the public good.
Two children walk up a dirt road in the Chavez Ravine area in 1950. Photo Leonard Nadel , courtesy of the Southern California Library for Social Studies & Research.
Children play outside the Palo Verde Elementary School. Courtesy of the Photo Collection, Los Angeles Public Library.
1951 view of the community of Chavez Ravine. Courtesy of the Photo Collection, Los Angeles Public Library.
Children play on a hilltop near Chavez Ravine with a smoggy Los Angeles skyline visible in the background. Photo by Don Normark , courtesy of the Photo Collection, Los Angeles Public Library.
The Chavez Ravine Naval Reserve Armory under construction in 1940. Courtesy of the Los Angeles Examiner Collection, USC Libraries.
In 1950, Chavez Ravine became the centerpiece of a plan -- made possible by funding under the American Housing Act of 1949 -- to bring 10,000 new public housing units to Los Angeles. Located just a mile from downtown Los Angeles, and with only 40 percent of its roughly 300 acres occupied, Chavez Ravine appeared to the city's well-intentioned public housing advocates to be an ideal site.
As initially envisioned by architects Robert E. Alexander and Richard Neutra, Elysian Park Heights would encompass 254 acres, 24 thirteen-story towers, and 163 low-rises, providing nearly 3,600 new low-cost apartments. The plan used Chavez Ravine's terrain to its advantage; lines of garden apartments would occupy terraced slopes, separated by lushly landscaped promenades that granted apartment dwellers privacy.
But Elysian Park Heights contained no room for the existing community of Chavez Ravine. Contending that Chavez Ravine was a slum -- an argument advanced by photographs that selectively depicted ramshackle structures and street patterns defying suburban norms -- the city called for the demolition of the entire community. Hills would be regraded, canyons filled, and access roads built through existing neighborhoods.
In July 1950, the city's housing authority sent letters to the current residents of Chavez Ravine, informing them that "a public housing development will be built on this location for families of low-income...the house you are living in is included."
"Later," the letter added, "you will have the first chance to move back into the new Elysian Park Heights development."
As Alexander and Neutra refined their plans, the city housing authority used its power of eminent domain to purchase residents' property, spending roughly $3 million in the process. Some resisted, fighting the city's actions in court, but by the summer of 1952 most of Chavez Ravine was abandoned.
Then, the political winds shifted. As Dana Cuff explains in her book, "The Provisional City: Los Angeles Stories of Architecture and Urbanism," a coalition led by the Los Angeles Times, private home builders, and a public interest group named Citizens Against Socialist Housing (CASH) played up early-Cold War fears of creeping socialism. Support for the government-run housing project collapsed.
Artist's rendering of Elysian Park Heights, the low-income housing development slated to replace the community Chavez Ravine. Courtesy of the Herald-Examiner Collection, Los Angeles Public Library.
Artist's rendering of an Elysian Park Heights garden apartment building. Courtesy of the Herald-Examiner Collection, Los Angeles Public Library.
The city housing authority sent this letters to residents of Chavez Ravine, informing them that they would soon be displaced. Courtesy of the Herald-Examiner Collection, Los Angeles Public Library.
Map of Elysian Park Heights. Courtesy of the Herald-Examiner Collection, Los Angeles Public Library.
Chavez Ravine homeowners stage a sit-in outside Mayor Fletcher Bowron's office in 1951. Courtesy of the Herald-Examiner Collection, Los Angeles Public Library.
Chavez Ravine residents and public housing opponents protest the Elysian Park Heights proposal in City Hall in 1951. Courtesy of the Los Angeles Times Photographic Archive, Young Research Library, UCLA. Used under a Creative Commons license.
Surveyors in a Chavez Ravine neighborhood, 1951. Photo by Leonard Nadel , courtesy of the Southern California Library for Social Studies & Research.
By 1957, only 20 families remained in Chavez Ravine. Courtesy of the Los Angeles Examiner Collection, USC Libraries.
The city promptly cancelled its redevelopment contract with the federal government, negotiating a scaled-down citywide plan that abandoned the two largest projects, including Elysian Park Heights. The housing authority sold its land holdings in Chavez Ravine to the city, on the condition that the land be used for public purposes only.
Chavez Ravine sat in limbo for several years. Bulldozers claimed many of the abandoned houses; others were given over to the fire department for use in training exercises.
As the city searched for a new use for the land, the community's final holdouts resisted eviction orders, challenging their property's seizure in court. By 1957, only twenty families remained.
Then the Brooklyn Dodgers, frustrated in their attempts to build a new stadium in New York, announced their move to Los Angeles. The previous fall, as the Dodgers played the New York Yankees in the 1956 World Series, Los Angeles Mayor Norris Poulson had met privately with Dodgers owner Walter O'Malley and floated the idea of a baseball stadium in Chavez Ravine. Now, enticed by this offer, the Dodgers struck a deal with the city. The team would purchase the minor-league Los Angeles Angels and transfer the 9-acre site of the Angels' ballpark, Wrigley Field, to the city. In exchange, the team would receive 315 acres in Chavez Ravine to build a modern baseball stadium.
O'Malley's team fought an uphill political battle, as the deal seemed to violate the city's earlier agreement to devote Chavez Ravine to public purposes. City voters were given the opportunity to weigh in and in June 1958 approved a referendum on the agreement by less than 25,000 votes. The following January, the California Supreme Court upheld the agreement.
On May 9, 1959 -- a day that came to be known as Black Friday to the community's former residents -- sheriff's deputies and bulldozers arrived to enforce the eviction orders against the few remaining families.
Dodger Stadium opened nearly three years later on April 10, 1962.
Much later, after the community had disappeared, artist Leo Politi described Chavez Ravine (as quoted in Cuff's "The Provisional City"): "It was a happy community where everyone knew and helped one another. At night there were lighted bonfires, and people gathered around and sang songs... In many ways, Chavez Ravine was living a life all its own. Horse drawn plows were still in use, and the hillsides were planted with corn and sugar cane... Though all this reminded one of a village in Mexico, nonetheless this was old Los Angeles with a charm all its own, a Los Angeles we will never see again."
Artist's rendering of Chavez Ravine Lake, an alternative proposal advanced in 1958 for the site in case legal challenges against Dodger Stadium prevailed. Courtesy of the Herald-Examiner Collection, Los Angeles Public Library.
Police carry Aurora Vargas, daughter of Manuel and Abrana Arechiga, from her Chavez Ravine home on May 9, 1959. Courtesy of the Los Angeles Examiner Collection, USC Libraries.
A bulldozer demolishes a Chavez Ravine home on May 9, 1959. Courtesy of the Los Angeles Examiner Collection, USC Libraries.
To build Dodger Stadium, construction crews reshaped the hills around Chavez Ravine, as seen in this photo taken on May 25, 1960. Courtesy of the Los Angeles Examiner Collection, USC Libraries.
Many of the archives who contributed the above images are members of L.A. as Subject, an association of more than 230 libraries, museums, official archives, cultural institutions, and private collectors. Hosted by the USC Libraries, L.A. as Subject is dedicated to preserving and telling the sometimes-hidden stories and histories of the Los Angeles region. Our posts here provide a view into the archives of individuals and institutions whose collections inform the great narrative—in all its complex facets—of Southern California.
Read more L.A. as Subject posts here at KCET.org, and follow us on Facebook and Twitter. |
Growing tensions in the book publishing industry have led Amazon to block pre-orders from Hachette, the publisher home to popular writers such as Malcolm Gladwell and James Patterson.
The move by Amazon is the culmination of an ongoing contract dispute between the two, with Hachette believed to be taking a stand against Amazon demands for better terms. Numerous upcoming books from the publisher are now listed as "currently unavailable" on Amazon, the New York Times found.
Amazon has come under pressure recently to generate greater profits from its massive revenue stream. One way to do this is to push companies that sell products on its platform to offer a greater share of the money generated from e-books. This puts publishers in a difficult position of relying on Amazon for sales while trying to negotiate revenue sharing.
The blocked titles include preorders for J.K. Rowling's upcoming novel The Silkworm, written under the pen name of Robert Galbraith, which is set to be released on June 24 in the United States.
Image: Screenshot
In some cases, prices have risen dramatically, with the audio version of the upcoming book from Anne Rivers Siddons, The Girls of August, now costing $62.99 on preorder. The hardcover and e-book are not available.
Authors took to social media to encourage customers to go through Barnes & Noble or independent booksellers.
I will note that when I pre-order books from any publisher, including Hachette, my local independent bookstore is happy to take my order. — John Scalzi (@scalzi) May 23, 2014
Amazon had been using various tactics to make Hachette offerings less appealing, removing discounts and allowing for shipping delays. The moves have drawn varied criticism as well as concern over the power that the company wields over publishers.
Amazon has a dominant position in the publishing industry, particularly in e-books. Amazon's Kindle e-books account for almost 20% of the U.S. book publishing industry and 65% of the e-book market.
Amazon's strength has been in scale. Being able to sell that many books has allowed Amazon to lower how much it earns on each sale. This means Amazon can sell a book for less than the competition because it only needs to make a tiny bit of money on each book.
Now that Amazon accounts for so much of the book market, it has the power to push harder in negotiations with publishers that rely on it for sales. Brad Stone, author of The Everything Store, a book detailing Amazon's business, found that the ecommerce giant did not hesitate to use its power during negotiations with book publishers.
The publishers, Stone recently noted at a conference, are seen by Amazon as gazelles, while Amazon considers itself a Cheetah.
Hachette issued a statement that acknowledged its preorder books had been labeled unavailable. "We are doing everything in our power to find a solution to this difficult situation, one that best serves our authors and their work, and that preserves our ability to survive and thrive as a strong and author-centric publishing company," the company wrote in a statement to Mashable.
Amazon did not respond to request for comment.
Editor's note: the original version of this story was published with the headline "Amazon Blocks Book Publisher as Industry Tensions Boil Over." This was changed because Amazon is not blocking all Hachette offerings. |
Her mother was not happy. “She said, ‘That’s ridiculous – don’t think about the money, think about your health!’ ” Mrs. Francis said. “And people were telling me horror stories about things they’d seen on TV. So I didn’t go on about it to my parents after that.”
She got sick and “felt rotten for about a week” with a 101-degree fever, headache and nausea.
“But I still went to work,” she said. “I felt a bit guilty about not going when I had an illness I’d given myself.”
Because her job is to distribute medicine on home visits, no patients were endangered, she said. (Mr. Duggan, the medical student, was also quick to say that he took part during a period when he was not assigned to hospital rounds.)
“They don’t let you do it if you’ve got preschoolers or children in nappies,” Mrs. Francis said. “And you’re not allowed to handle food, so my husband did all the cooking.”
During the worst week, “you feel sorry for yourself and you say ‘I’m never doing that again,’ ” she said. “And then it’s like childbirth – you get amnesia, and you do it again. I’ve just signed up for a second trial.” |
Tony Brown being injured led to an opportunity for one of Alabama's young defensive backs.
Brown missed some practice last week due to a pulled muscle, so freshman Shyheim Carter stepped in for Brown at nickel back.
He did well, according to Tide star defensive back Minkah Fitzpatrick.
Fitzpatrick was asked this Wednesday: Which young defensive player has been impressing behind the scenes? His answer: Carter, a four-star recruit who is Brown's backup at nickel back.
"He was supposed to have a bigger role this season, and then it didn't kind of work out for him, but he didn't let it get to him," Fitzpatrick said. "He's been working real hard this season and learning the playbook."
The 6-foot, 190-pound Carter was one of the four cornerbacks in Alabama's past recruiting class.
The Louisiana native was the No. 9 cornerback and No. 71 overall prospect in this year's class, according to the 247Sports Composite Rankings.
He has made seven tackles while appearing in seven games.
"He's getting better out there," Fitzpatrick said, "and he's been out there competing every day." |
Cubbington’s ancient pear tree - which is set to be destroyed by the proposed HS2 rail line - has been named as the winner of the 2015 England’s Tree of the Year.
The result of a public on-line ballot organised by the Woodland Trust was announced on the BBC 1 TV Countryfile programme on Sunday November 8.
The wild pear tree, believed to be more than 250 years old, growing in an old hedgerow near South Cubbington Wood beat nine other noteworthy trees to claim the title.
Peter Delow, chairman of the Cubbington Action Group against HS2, which nominated the pear tree, said: “It is most heartening that so many people care about the protection of our natural environment and agree with me that the loss of this tree is just not acceptable, particularly as it could be avoided by changing the design of HS2.
A feasible proposal has been made to tunnel under the tree, which would also protect the ancient woodland of South Cubbington Wood – an irreplaceable habitat that will also be destroyed, in part, by HS2.
“I hope that the crowning of the Cubbington tree will allow us to remind the Government of the obligation that it owes to our natural environment, and am very grateful to those who have given us this opportunity by voting for the Cubbington tree.” |
“Humor is a rubber sword – it allows you to make a point without drawing blood.”
-Mary Hirsch, Humorist
In perhaps his most famous sketch, African-American comic Dave Chappelle plays Clayton Bigsby, a blind white supremacist who has never learned that he’s black. In one scene, Bigsby rants about hating African Americans: “First of all they’re lazy, good for nothin’ tricksters, crack smokin’ swindlers, big butt havin,’ with their wide noses breathin’ all the white man’s air. They eat up all the chicken, they think they’re the best dancers, and they stink. Matter of fact, my friend Jasper told me one of them coons came by his house to pick his sister up for a date. He said ‘look here nigger, that there is my girl. If anyone is going to have sex with my sister it’s gonna be me!’”
Many people see comedy like this as merely funny, but there’s more there than just a laugh. Beneath the humor lies a rich layer of social commentary about race relations in the United States. While comedians will make everyone uncomfortable at some point, good comics are playing an important function in society by holding up a mirror and forcing us to confront realities that we would often prefer to ignore. For minority groups, humor also serves as a tool to neutralize the power of stereotypes that obstruct their path to equal participation in society. Stand-up comedy can give social critique and instigate transformation in a way that leaves many audience members wanting more.
Comedy, especially stand-up comedy, regularly draws criticism for being offensive and for perpetuating negative stereotypes. This, however, is a sign of a healthy comedy culture because it means that comedians are pushing social boundaries. Stories and expressions that are normally unacceptable are met with laughter and agreement when they are told on stage. The fact that the content is encrusted in humor is like a sugar coating to bitter medicine. The laugh takes away the sting.
“Comedy is a tradition with deep historical roots,” explains Dr. Cynthia Merriwether-de Vries, a sociology professor at Juniata College who specializes in humor, music and popular culture. “Evidence of jokes based on race and other groupings can be traced back at least as far as ancient Europe, with court minstrels mocking the stench of the Visigoths. We have memos from Medieval Europe warning that a certain jester’s jokes about the Habsburgs were going too far and beginning to affect political relations.”
In today’s America, the minstrel still performs his duty, only now his audience has expanded from kings and courtiers to the general public. Venues such as Comedy Central, a cable television station dedicated exclusively to humor, have gained an enormous viewership in recent years. Proof of the prominence of comedy in popular culture has been the enormous success of Dave Chappelle’s Show on Comedy Central, which has sold more DVDs than any television show in history.
Most of American comedy has its roots in the stand-up routine. Nearly all of the great comics of television, Jerry Seinfeld, Jim Carrey, David Letterman, and Jamie Foxx, to name a few, started their careers as stand-up comics. Characteristic of a stand-up act is its fast string of amusing stories, short jokes, one-liners, and the occasion of spontaneous interaction with the audience. Normally, the stage contains nothing more than the microphone, a stool, and perhaps a glass of water.
Pedophilia and Other Taboo Subjects
What makes stand-up comedians worthy of research is that their search for laughter leads them to seek out, explore, and articulate the unspoken taboos of society. Much like Adam Smith’s observation in the eighteenth century that “It is not from the benevolence of the butcher, the brewer, or the baker that we expect our dinner, but from their regard to their own interest,” it is through the comedian’s selfish pursuit of the laugh that society receives its social critique.
“Comedians don’t start out to change the world, but in the end, that’s what they do,” says Stephen Rosenfield, founder and director of the American Comedy Institute in New York City, where he teaches aspiring comedians the art of writing and performing comedy. “Comedians are aware of the power of jokes to change societies, but they’re not necessarily idealistic about it. A comedian’s first concern is to find funny material. That is his job.”
“A good joke provides tension, and then, release of that tension,” says Greg Giraldo, a Harvard Law School graduate turned comic who hosts Comedy Central’s Friday Night with Greg Giraldo show. “You build the tension by saying things that are controversial. The release is the laugh. The bigger the surprise or insight in your joke, the bigger the laugh.”
This anatomy of tension and release ensures that the comic is going to discuss material that is at the fringe of what polite society will talk about. There’s plenty of controversy to confront, says Giraldo, enjoying a meal of sushi after a Tuesday night appearance at the Comedy Cellar in New York’s Greenwich Village. “A lot of racially charged shit happens here in New York City. Yet mainstream culture likes to pretend that race issues don’t exist. Ninety-five percent of white people and ninety-five percent of black peole live on different planets. They don’t speak the same language. They don’t interact. They’re not comfortable around one another. That’s fucked up. It’s the sad reality of our culture. Unfiltered honest talking on race is rare, but comics are comfortable with race. Comics are honest.”
No taboo is too sensitive to talk about, no matter how controversial, as long as the comedian is funny, says Giraldo. “When I started doing comedy, people said: never do jokes on cancer or suicide. Well, as far as cancer goes, it’s not true. My dad died of cancer and I’ve made jokes about that. And pedophile jokes, I do lots of them. It’s like with pornography, you know a good joke when you see it. Nothing is off-limits if handled properly.”
Removing the Sting from Stereotypes
Minority groups have long used comedy to get the American mainstream to accept them for who they are. “There’s a pattern in stand-up comedy,” says Rosenfield from the American Comedy Institute. It starts with certain groups or minorities – immigrants, blacks, women, old people, Jews, Muslims, gays, Arabs, Asians – being the target of stereotypical jokes. In response, people from the target group will start doing stand-up comedy themselves. When the audience sees one of these new comedians on stage, talking about themselves with a sense of humor, they begin to recognize how dimensional the stereotyped group is. “If they know how to make us laugh, there’s a connection, a cultural cross-over. The original stereotype will start breaking down, making it harder to perpetuate.”
By playing on stereotypes, minority comics undermine the potency of the prejudices. “I know what the people in power sayabout my community and I’ll say it myself,” states Merriwether-de Vries. “This doesn’t give me power necessarily, but it destabilizes their power. It takes away their ability to use that stereotype against me.” Merriwether-de Vries points to Jackie ‘Moms’ Mabley, an African American comic popular in the nineteen-fifties and sixties. “She made fun of old black women and domestics, never wore a bra, accentuated her droopiness, and made fun of the fact that she had no teeth. In short, she played upon the stereotypes of what was wrong with black women.” Merriwether-de Vries goes on to argue that by making those jokes, Mabley was taking ownerships over the stereotypes. They had become a source of fun, instead of being a source of power over the African American community.
It’s a classic tactic, of course. Trip over a rug, and you better be the first to make fun of yourself. If you’re not, someone else will. Richard Pryor, the godfather of contemporary stand-up, used this brilliantly in his performance Richard Pryor Live on Sunset Strip (1982). Pryor jokes about the highly publicized incident in which he set himself on fire while freebasing cocaine, an event in later years he admitted was a suicide attempt. “Y’all gave me a lot of love when I was not feeling well,” Pryor says. “Also, y’all did some nasty-ass jokes on my ass too.” He then lights a match and waves it around. “What’s this?” he asks. “It’s Richard Pryor running down the street.”
No Laughing Matter?
Although comics might think any subject is fair game for comedy, there are critics who argue that jokes can seriously backfire. This critique even comes from within the comedy business itself. Comedian Bill Cosby, famous for his clean and gentle brand of comedy, is known to oppose the use of the word ‘nigger’ in comedy. He considers it ‘cheap linguistic pandering.’ Charles Grodin, an actor and former commentator for 60 Minutes II and host of the CNBC talk show The Charles Grodin Show, has criticized jokes about minorities, gays, and Jews. “They perpetuate stereotypes. If you don’t think so, just look at the anti-Semitism and racism still around. We can’t afford to laugh at certain things. Pedophilia jokes just aren’t funny.”
An often cited example of comedy perpetuating racial stereotypes is a routine from Chris Rock’s Bring the Pain (1996) show, called ‘Niggers vs. Blacks.’ “I hate niggers,” Rock says. “You can’t have anything valuable in your house. Niggers will break in and take it all! Everything white people don’t like about black people, black people really don’t like about black people. It’s like our own personal civil war. On one side, there’s black people. On the other, you’ve got niggers. The niggers have got to go. I love black people, but I hate niggers. I am tired of niggers. Tired, tired, tired.”
Giving weight to the claim that routines like Rock’s are damaging can be seen in the embrace of the jokes by racists. Stormfront.org, the world’s largest white nationalist website, has a thread dedicated to Rock’s comedy sketch. “It is just about good enough to be used by us,” says a user who identifies himself as Firestone. “It’s a lot more pc to be able to quote a racist black man than it is to quote a white man.” White supremacist groups view Rock’s routine as affirmation of their views on African Americans and the one-liners on ‘niggers’ from Rock’s routine are often quoted. “Everything he said about “niggers” was true,” says another post. “And all blacks in the hall were laughing their asses off. What morons.”
On one level, these remarks show that comedy can reinforce stereotypes. Not everyone is a white supremacist, but for those who are, maybe this sketch will strengthen their prejudice. But, on a deeper level, the sketch shows early signs of provoking the ‘cultural cross-over’ mentioned by Rosenfield. As questionable as Rock’s distinction between ‘niggers’ and blacks may be, at least these white supremacists are starting to appreciate the multi-dimensionality of a stereotyped group and experience the cognitive dissonance of quoting and appreciating the opinion of a black comedian.
Both Giraldo and Rosenfield are aware of the pitfalls comics face. “Just doing racial stereotype jokes is bad,” says Giraldo. “It’s making the joke to get the laugh for the wrong reasons.” Rosenfield argues that the material won’t be funny unless it rings true to the audience and consciously teaches his students not to bash. “If you say that men stink, that they really smell bad, that’s just bashing. It’s based on things that the audience knows aren’t true.” Instead, Rosenfield urges his students to be specific. “Don’t paint with a broad brush. Root it in specifics. Be real.”
The Cycle Continues
America needs its comedians to start conversations about taboo subjects it’s afraid to confront. We also need stand-up comedy as a venue for minorities to challenge the assumptions of mainstream society. What makes all of this work is the laugh. If it’s funny, people can treat heavy content lightly.
In the end, the only meaningful criticism a comedian faces is a silent audience. “If people are laughing, night after night, who cares?” says Rosenfield. “It’s a comedian’s job to go too far. Otherwise he’s not fulfilling his functions. Comics are the court jesters. There has to be that outlet for the unspeakable to be spoken in a way that’s acceptable. If you’re not offending someone, you’re not doing your job.”
The need for good stand-up comedy is ever renewing, as demographics and social concerns cause new rifts and stereotypes in American society. In response to the anti-Muslim climate in the United States since the September 11th terrorist attacks, several Muslim stand-up comedians have started touring the country. “They haven’t crossed over to mainstream culture yet,” says Rosenfield, “but they will transform the perception of American Muslims as a group. Think of it, people just don’t perceive Muslims as being funny. Now that will change.”
And they are pretty funny. Take the opening line of comic Azhar Usman, of the “Allah Made Me Funny” tour. “Assalam Aleikum,” he says. “For those who don’t know what that means, I’ll explain it to you. It means: ‘I’m gonna kill you.’” |
Dr. Warren Hern has been performing abortions in Colorado for 42 years and has been the target of many violent threats.
The first death threats came at 3 a.m. It was November 1973 and I had just started performing abortions at a small nonprofit clinic in Colorado. Now the phone was ringing at my home in the dead of night. I had built my small house deep in the mountains, in a place of solitude and beauty, where I could see the stars at night.
How did they find me here? I was terrified. I started sleeping with a rifle by my bed. I expected to be shot as I walked out the door in the morning or as I came home at night.
The terror of those days came back to me last week when a gunman — disconnected from society but bathed in anti-abortion propaganda — attacked the Planned Parenthood clinic in Colorado Springs, killing three and wounding nine others. Early news of this attack reached me as my son and I were about to start skiing down a mountain slope with fresh snow. A beautiful day began with horror in the pit of my stomach, and it was not the first time.
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That fear has been with me for 42 years and is constantly renewed.
When I started as the founding medical director of that nonprofit clinic in Colorado, shortly after the Supreme Court legalized abortion in Roe v. Wade, I faced hostility even from many members of the medical community. My request for hospital privileges was met with vociferous opposition, until one highly respected physician — an obstetrician who had seen too many women die of illegal abortion — backed me up. I got the right to admit patients to the hospital if needed.
That wasn’t the end of it, though. A group called Fight the Abortion Clinic told the Colorado Board of Health that we were running a butcher shop. I presented statistics from our first month of operation and explained the safety measures I had built into the medical procedures. The board dropped the subject.
The personal attacks continued. The next summer, the Denver chapter of the National Organization for Women decided to honor me for supporting women’s rights. As I was given my award, a group of anti-abortion demonstrators began screaming and calling me vile names, their faces contorted with hate. Their ferocity was terrifying. It made the hair stand up on the back of my neck. How could anybody be so opposed to what we were doing?
The patients were grateful. One woman in her 30s was trembling when I walked into the operating room to examine her. “Why are you shaking?” I asked. “What’s wrong?”
“It’s so different,” she said. “You’re a doctor. The lights are on. The place is clean. The windows are open. I feel safe.” She went on to explain that she had had an illegal abortion once under hideous circumstances and had almost died.
The patients were usually exuberant, healthy young women who wanted to live their lives, get an education, learn a profession, know themselves, and experience independence before they started a family. Many were women who already had families but who could not bear the stress of raising more children. Others had broken or abusive relationships. Some were sick from the effects of pregnancy. Their lives were in danger.
It was soon clear to me that performing abortions was the most important thing I could do in medicine. I started a private practice in Boulder specializing in outpatient abortion services. This had not been my plan. I was trained in public health and wanted to follow an academic career of teaching and research in epidemiology. But the patients and their needs were more important.
I was doing my part to make the Roe v. Wade decision meaningful, but much more than that, I was saving women’s lives. I was making a difference. The days of death from illegal, unsafe abortion were over, at least as far as I could do something about it.
Several times, I was invited to debate the abortion issue. At first, I enjoyed the debates and treated both my opponents and the occasions with respect. But the anti-abortion groups became more and more threatening and aggressive, calling me a “murderer” and “baby killer.” On one occasion, at the University of Colorado Denver, they started to climb over the front table at me and I had to be taken out a back exit under police escort.
I decided that showing up at my office to see patients was a sufficient statement of my side of the abortion “debate.”
I’d had an unlisted home phone number for years, since those first frightening calls at 3 a.m. But now I started getting innumerable death threats at my office. The man who had started the Fight the Abortion Clinic committee tried to run over me with his car in my parking lot.
In 1981, I married a young woman who understood and supported my work. I was in love, I wanted a partner in life, and I wanted to have a family. The threats and the attacks terrified her and caused us both a great deal of stress. Since we didn’t have a house in town and I needed to be near the clinic in case of patient emergencies, we stayed sometimes at a small apartment at the back of my office. The anti-abortion fanatics began showing up by the back door at dawn, praying, singing, calling my name, and screaming slogans. It was hideous and frightening. The constant stress was one of the reasons the marriage ended, and I was devastated.
Things got even worse after that.
In 1988, five shots were fired through the front windows of my office, narrowly missing a staff member. My patients and staff are now protected with bulletproof windows.
In 1991, anti-abortion leader Randall Terry gathered his disciples around him in the street in front of my office and prayed for my execution.
In 1993, Dr. David Gunn was assassinated in Florida. A few months later, my friend Dr. George Tiller was shot in both arms by Shelley Shannon as he drove out of his office in Wichita, Kan. That week, Randall Terry went on national Christian radio and invited his listeners to assassinate me.
In 1994, Dr. John Britton and his bodyguard were assassinated in Florida. Later in the year, Dr. Gary Romalis was shot in his kitchen in Vancouver and nearly bled to death. In December, John Salvi killed two abortion clinic workers in Brookline, Mass.
Shelley Shannon sent me a letter from the Kansas state prison telling me that I would be next. I knew she meant it.
An anti-abortion fanatic wrote me a letter telling me to forget wearing a bulletproof vest: They would go for a head shot.
In early 1995, the American Coalition of Life Activists held a press conference to unveil a hit list of 13 abortion doctors. I was on the list. So was Dr. Tiller. Their poster declared us guilty of “crimes against humanity.”
Within hours, federal marshals were protecting me. I wrote a letter to the New York Times in which I tried to describe what it felt like to be on that hit list, which included not just our names but our addresses. I wrote that it went “a long way toward destroying one’s life.”
In 1998, Dr. Barnett Slepian was assassinated in his New York home. I watched the news of this, horrified, as I was getting dressed to go to a professional meeting in Denver where I could be at risk. I was not sure I should go to the meeting, but I went anyway. I was wary and apprehensive, so after a short while, I left. I was afraid.
On May 31, 2009, Dr. Tiller was assassinated in his church by Scott Roeder. I was put under 24-hour armed guard at my office and at home by US federal marshals. Death threats against me continued. My wife, a physician from Cuba, was terrified. Our young son could not play outside with his friends.
My family could not even ride together to a memorial service in Denver for my friend, George Tiller. The marshals took me everywhere in a bulletproof truck. Our son was in tears at the service and clung to me after I spoke. My 92-year-old mother, who had worried for my safety for decades, was there — and was even more fearful that I would be next.
Why do I continue doing abortions? Because it matters.
The women need my help. A large proportion of my patients now are women with desired pregnancies who have learned late in pregnancy that the fetus is afflicted with a catastrophic anomaly or genetic abnormality. It is a wrenching personal tragedy for the women and their partners.
Performing safe abortions in a humane, dignified, and caring atmosphere matters for the health and safety of the women. It matters for the health of their families. It matters for the health of our society. And now, it matters for freedom. If women are not free to make decisions about their own lives and health, they are not free. And if women are not free, none of us are free. |
Oil prices may have moved up over the past three weeks, but that has not kept gasoline prices in some areas of the United States from staying just above $1. In one small section of Arizona, the price is $1.13, compared to the U.S. average per gallon of regular of $1.75.
Two stations in South Tucson sell a gallon of regular for $1.13. Some 23 stations have a price under $1.17. Of the 100 stations in the United States with cheapest gas, all are in Arizona, mostly around Tucson.
Gas prices are made up primarily of three things. The first is the price of oil. The next is proximity to refineries, and the last is state gas taxes and levies.
Although oil prices have recovered from under $29 a month ago to $36, they are still down by nearly half from just over a year ago. Lack of demand in major nations such as China may cap or drive prices down. Saudi Arabia continues to say it wants to maintain its market share of the global market. To do this, it will need to keep its production high. Oil from Iran has just hit Europe, after being blocked by years of sanctions.
Arizona does not have refineries of its own. However, it is relatively close to the huge cluster of refineries just south of Houston on the Gulf of Mexico, near to deepwater production platforms.
Arizona has the least expensive gas among all the states at $1.52 a gallon, according to GasBuddy. The state also has among the lowest amount for gas taxes and levies at $0.374 a gallon, compared to the national average of $0.480, according to the American Petroleum Institute. So, the contribution of the level of tax to total gas price is significant.
Based on all these factors, even if gas prices rise, Arizona’s will stay near the bottom. |
Headlines about virtual reality often focus on how it’s upending the world of gaming. But VR is also revolutionizing fields across everyday life — areas like medicine, architecture, education, product design and retailing.
A great example is Audi’s new virtual showroom, where you can explore each of their models in vivid detail through VR. The German automaker is using NVIDIA Quadro GPUs to craft a virtual showroom that lets you build custom configurations of any Audi model, and experience them in a number of environments.
Surgical Theater LLC is launching a new division focused on using their VR technology in surgery, such as for brain tumor procedures. They’re utilizing multiple NVIDIA GPUs and NVIDIA SLI technology to increase resolution and responsiveness. Surgeons, as a result, can “fly through” a patient’s anatomy prior to surgery.
And if the recent Hollywood hit “The Martian” got you pondering what it’s really like on the red planet, 20th Century Fox can help. They and partners are debuting The Martian VR Experience, an interactive, immersive VR adventure. It lets you fly onto the surface of Mars, steer at zero gravity through space, drive a rover and experience other key scenes from the film in a 360-degree VR environment. The CES demonstrations are powered by NVIDIA GPUs, delivering extremely high frame rates at high fidelity for the maximum visual experience.
These — and countless other initiatives — are coming onto the market now because of the confluence of new VR headsets and NVIDIA’s leading-edge graphics innovation.
GPUs are at the heart of VR, which demands refresh rates of up to 90 times a second for each eye. A truly immersive experience requires as much as 7x the processing power needed to display a game on a typical monitor. NVIDIA’s latest Maxwell architecture GPUs are optimized for VR performance with ultra-low latency, fast performance and new rendering capabilities specifically for VR.
Great software capabilities are also required for VR. And a number of companies are creating breakthrough new applications using NVIDIA CUDA, our parallel computing platform, and our DesignWorks VR software development kit. These innovators are merging the real world and the virtual world to create new experiences for consumers, educators, scientists and designers.
Jaunt partners with world-class creatives to produce and distribute premium cinematic VR content across a wide variety of experiences — ranging from narrative storytelling to music, travel/adventure, sports, documentary and more. Recently Jaunt has partnered with news organizations such as ABC News, SkyNews and Ryot to bring immersive 360-degree virtual reality journalism to consumers. Jaunt processes their content in the cloud using CUDA and NVIDIA GPUs, which is essential to their ability to scale and put VR content in the hands of people wherever they are.
Nurulize uses NVIDIA GPUs to process data from lidar scans to create highly detailed scene reconstructions used to bring real-world environments into the virtual world. Their Atom View technology allows vast point cloud data from the industry’s leading scanners to be imported and viewed without manual re-work or time consuming post-processing, allowing viewing within minutes rather than weeks or months.
And 8i is launching at CES their new 8i Portal VR player. They run CUDA-optimized implementations of their proprietary algorithms to maximize content throughput in creating stunning volumetric 3D videos of real people as well as using NVIDIA GPUs for high-performance VR playback.
In the areas of education and edutainment, Realities.io is providing virtual access to historical sites and inaccessible areas. Their larger-than-life journeys are created from photogrammetry, photos, videos, interactive elements and massive amounts of data. CUDA-based software from CapturingReality handles the processing and NVIDIA GPUs are used for visualization.
And in the area of product design, Ford is making VR central to their design process. With its Ford Immersive VR Environment (FiVE) capability — driven by two top-of-the-line NVIDIA Quadro M6000 cards — the automaker can evaluate vehicle prototypes in real time, in full scale and in context. It brings energy, emotion and accuracy to its immersive 3D visual environments. |
One of the greatest moral buzzwords of our age is “inclusivity.” It has become a favorite on the lips of politicians, executives, celebrities, academics, and pastors alike. Like “fairness,” “peace,” “dignity,” or “diversity,” it has quickly achieved the coveted status of moral obviousness: What kind of person could be against inclusion?
But like most obvious concepts, what inclusivity enjoys in widespread acceptance it lacks in conceptual clarity. What does it mean, specifically, to be inclusive, and how should it fit within any hierarchy of values?
What’s in a Word? Boring, but Important
Let’s start by noting some of the basic features of the concept. First, “inclusion” necessarily implies a “here” and a “there.” To include someone presumes a space exists that is already inhabited by a group that seeks to invite outsiders in. If this were not the case, inclusion would be moot.
This, of course, brings up the question of what defines “space,” the arena in which inclusion takes place. Since inclusion is usually used in reference to groups, “community” could be substituted in this context, which would mean that to include means to open one’s community to those who are outside of it.
Whatever else “community” might mean, it at least implies the existence of a collection of individuals who share some constitutive set of features that define the group as one thing rather than another: churches, political parties, fantasy football leagues, universities, etc., are all kinds of communities because they have characteristics that define them as one thing and not as another (more on this below).
The definition of inclusion could thus take this form: “I practice the value of inclusion by inviting you, who are outside of my community, into my distinctive community, which is different than any other community of which you are currently a part.”
Let’s take one more step. If inclusion is not only a value but my highest value, and, moreover, a value that I universalize, then I am furthermore committed to saying: “All people, in everything that they do, must seek to include everyone into their distinctive community with the ultimate goal of total inclusion.” This may sound innocuous enough, perhaps even morally praiseworthy. But does it pass logical muster?
Enter Aristotle
Although not the first philosopher to identify them, Aristotle neatly lays out the three foundational laws of logic in his “Metaphysics.” They include the following.
The Law of Identity: a thing is what it is. So, for example, when we point to any given thing in existence, we say that it has some constitutive feature or set of features that make it one thing and not another (like a “human being” or a “baseball bat” or an “Android phone,” etc.).
The Law of Non-Contradiction: a thing cannot both be itself and its opposite at the same time. So, for example, it would be illogical to claim that humans have some free will and no free will at the same time in the same way.
The Law of the Excluded Middle: something must either be or not be with regards to its essential characteristic or characteristics. So, to draw on the above example, there is no third option on the question of whether humans have free will or not. You cannot split the difference or take an average. It either is or it is not.
Now, Let’s Respect the Law
While “total inclusion in the community” may sound good as a fundamental moral principle, running it through the logic machine above yields some problematic results.
First, we have to recognize that defining a community requires specifying a characteristic or set of characteristics that constitute it as a particular community and not something else (the Law of Identity). For example, what makes a community of anti-war activists a community is its shared commitment to pacifism, notwithstanding any other differences among individual members. Absent this shared commitment, the community would cease to exist.
Second, we have to recognize that any given community cannot both be itself and its opposite at the same time (the Law of Non-Contradiction). For example, if the community of pacifists were to begin advocating for missile strikes in country X, they may still be able to call themselves a community, but not a pacifist community. To be a community, in other words, not only means being one thing rather than another, it also means not being able to be contradictory things at the same time, such as pacifist hawks.
Third, and similarly, we have to recognize that some features of the identity of any given community either are or are not (the Law of the Excluded Middle). Drawing on the previous example, a community cannot be “kinda pacifist” if we define pacifism as a commitment to total-nonviolence. Either it recognizes the licit use of force or it doesn’t.
In short, the three laws lead us to recognize that the whole concept of community (barring defining community as “everything in existence”) depends upon exclusion. Being a community at all requires having a unique identity that excludes other potential identities, particularly when those other identities would be contradictory or imply a degree when the reality is either/or (like a pacifist in relation to war).
This is precisely the problem with “inclusiveness” if it is defined as a community’s highest value. No matter what specific community you have in mind, a totally inclusive community—that is, a community that defines itself by the standard of inclusion—is incoherent and self-defeating.
An Example: The ‘Inclusive’ Church
To illustrate the point, let’s imagine (or think of) a Catholic church that seeks to define itself primarily according to the value of inclusivity. To achieve this goal, it not only hangs a bright “All Are Welcome Here!” banner over its entrance and invites everyone to Mass, it also invites everyone to write its liturgies, define its moral doctrines, and even to take turns being the priest, all with the goal of making everyone be and feel included in the community. Would we still be talking about a Catholic church, or even a “community” in any coherent sense?
To be an inclusive community one must be a community in the first place.
No, and one need not suffer the charge of being “non-inclusive” to say why. As the three laws illustrate, there are always some non-negotiables to the identity of any community at a definitional level, and insofar as these non-negotiables exist, the community cannot coherently welcome everyone if by “welcome” we mean “allow every individual to equally participate in” or, even, “feel comfortable in.”
In the church example, we can instructively ask whether a church that seeks to define itself as everything to everyone (a violation of the Law of Identity) is coherent; or whether a church that both recognizes all elective abortions as a sin while also recognizing the moral permissibility of elective abortions (a violation of the Law of Non-Contradiction) is coherent; or whether a church that recognizes the real presence of Christ in the Eucharist while concurrently recognizing the Eucharist as only symbolic (a violation of the Law of the Excluded Middle) is coherent.
The questions answer themselves, and the reason is because of, well, reason. To be an inclusive community one must be a community in the first place; and to be a community in the first place, one must have certain definitional criteria that follow the most basic laws of logic. Otherwise, the value of inclusion is, quite literally, nonsense, and, if followed to its (il)logical end, means demanding that communities include even those who would destroy their distinctive identities.
This is not only a bad idea from a strategic point of view, but also absurd: the “includers” would eventually become the “excluded,” and would therefore have grounds to demand that they be included in the community that now excludes them. And round and round the inclusion wheel would go.
Welcoming Exclusion for the Sake of Inclusion
It is crucial to emphasize that this is not an argument that inclusion is bad or to be avoided. The degree of balkanization we are currently witnessing in society—especially along political and cultural lines, where frictions among communities are increasing as “We are a community, therefore respect us!” claims proliferate—is also one of the great problems of our times. We have every reason to advocate for “big tent” political parties, welcoming universities, workplaces where people feel they can belong, and religious communities that extend hands to those who may feel left out.
But we have every reason to advocate for coherence, as well. Many characteristics of a community certainly are negotiable and can be flexible, even to the point of breaking, in the name of inclusion. But some things, or at least some thing, must be non-negotiable. So by all means, cast open those doors with warmth and enthusiasm. Just don’t forget that they need walls to hold them up. |
Introduction
If you develop AngularJS applications, then you have probably heard of Protractor. It is an end-to-end testing framework built specifically for AngularJS. It allows you to create tests that interact with a browser like a real user would. One of the greatest features of Protractor is its ability to “be smart” about waiting for a page to load, limiting the amount of waits and sleeps you use in your suite. Protractor is also incredibly flexible in that it allows you to incorporate different behavior-driven development (BDD) frameworks like Cucumber into your workflow. In this tutorial, you’ll learn how to implement the Cucumber.js framework with Protractor.
Protractor and BDD
Out of the box, Protractor supports Jasmine. Jasmine allows you to write your specs based on the behavior of the application. This is great for unit tests, but may not be the preferred format for business-facing users. What if your business team wants the ability to see a higher-level view of what your suite is testing against? This is where Cucumber comes in.
Cucumber is another BDD framework that focuses more on features or stories. It mimics the format of user stories and utilizes Gherkin. Cucumber provides your team with living documentation, built right into your tests, so it is a great option for incorporating with your Protractor tests. It also allows you to better organize suites of tests together with tags and hooks. Cucumber.js is the well-documented Javascript implementation of the framework and can be easily incorporated in your Protractor tests.
Prerequisites
There are a few things needed before you can work with Protractor. Make sure you have the latest versions of the following installed:
Protractor requires Node and the development kit is needed for the Selenium Server.
Starting with Protractor
Install Protractor by running npm install -g protractor . You can double- check your installation by running protractor --version .
Let’s take a look at the structure of a Protractor test. There are two core files needed for a suite to run — a spec file and a configuration file. The spec file contains the code needed to interact with the browser. The config file sets up the environment, framework, capabilities, and where to find your specs.
Below are examples of basic config and spec files:
//protractor.conf.js exports . config = { seleniumAddress : ' http://localhost:4444/wd/hub ' , specs : [ ' *.spec.js ' ], baseURL : ' http://localhost:8080/ ' , framework : ' jasmine ' , };
//test.spec.js describe ( ' Protractor Test ' , function () { var addField = element ( by . css ( ' [placeholder="add new todo here"] ' )); var checkedBox = element ( by . model ( ' todo.done ' )); var addButton = element ( by . css ( ' [value="add"] ' )); it ( ' should navigate to the AngularJS homepage ' , function () { browser . get ( ' https://angularjs.org/ ' ); //overrides baseURL }); });
The describe and it blocks within test.spec.js are specific to Jasmine, the default BDD framework for Protractor.
In order to run Protractor, you will need to first start the Selenium Server. Protractor includes a webdriver-manager tool that starts up your server. In a separate terminal tab, run the webdriver-manager update command. This downloads the necessary selenium server and chromedriver components. Then run webdriver-manager start to start up the server.
Then you can use protractor protractor.conf.js in the terminal to run the test spec. Now, let’s incorporate Cucumber features into your Protractor suite.
Cucumber Setup
Note: With the latest versions of Protractor (3.x), Cucumber is no longer included by default so you will use the custom framework option.
First, you need to install Cucumber with npm install -g cucumber . Make sure it is installed in the same place as Protractor. Next, you’ll have to install the protractor-cucumber-framework with npm install --save-dev protractor-cucumber-framework . This iteration is designed with Protractor 3.x in mind. When the installation completes, you can write out a feature. In the project, create a features folder with a test.feature feature file. All of your features will be housed in this folder.
Below is an example of a feature file:
#features/test.feature Feature: Running Cucumber with Protractor As a user of Protractor I should be able to use Cucumber In order to run my E2E tests Scenario: Protractor and Cucumber Test Given I go to "https://angularjs.org/" When I add "Be Awesome" in the task field And I click the add button Then I should see my new task in the list
Save the file and run cucumber.js to see how Cucumber processes the feature. Below is a snippet:
Feature : Running Cucumber with Protractor As a user of Protractor I should be able to use Cucumber In order to run my E2E tests Scenario : Protractor and Cucumber Test Given I go to " https://angularjs.org/ " When I add " Be Awesome " in the task field And I click the add button Then I should see my new task in the list 1 ) Scenario : Protractor and Cucumber Test - features / test . feature : 6 Step : Given I go to " https://angularjs.org/ " - features / test . feature : 7 Message : Undefined . Implement with the following snippet : this . Given ( / ^ I go to "( [ ^ "] * )" $ / , function ( arg1 , callback ) { // Write code here that turns the phrase above into concrete actions callback ( null , ' pending ' ); }); 1 scenario ( 1 undefined ) 3 steps ( 3 undefined ) 0m00 . 000s
Cucumber creates the necessary steps that your spec, called step definition, needs automatically based on the feature file.
this . Given ( / ^ I go to "( [ ^ "] * )" $ / , function ( arg1 , callback ) { // Write code here that turns the phrase above into concrete actions callback ( null , ' pending ' ); });
You can copy and paste those code snippets into a new step definition file. Save that file in a new step_definitions folder within the features folder. From there, you can write out your steps using Protractor functions and locators. Your step definition will look similar to this:
//features/step_definitions/my_step_definitions.js module . exports = function () { this . Given ( / ^ I go to "( [ ^ "] * )" $ / , function ( site , callback ) { browser . get (site) . then (callback); });
What is that .then(callback); for? It let’s Cucumber know it’s time to move on to the next step. However, asynchronous behavior sometimes isn’t needed, so omitting the callback parameters is acceptable. Read more on how Cucumber.js handles promises and asynchronous behavior in the project’s repository.
Now, in order to run these, you will need to make a few adjustments to the protractor.conf.js file. As mentioned before, Cucumber is no longer included by default for Protractor 3.x so you will pass in the custom option for your framework plus a few extras for the Cucumber framework itself.
//protractor.conf.js exports . config = { seleniumAddress : ' http://127.0.0.1:4444/wd/hub ' , getPageTimeout : 60000 , allScriptsTimeout : 500000 , framework : ' custom ' , // path relative to the current config file frameworkPath : require . resolve ( ' protractor-cucumber-framework ' ), capabilities : { ' browserName ' : ' chrome ' }, // Spec patterns are relative to this directory. specs : [ ' features/*.feature ' ], baseURL : ' http://localhost:8080/ ' , cucumberOpts : { require : ' features/step_definitions/stepDefinitions.js ' , tags : false , format : ' pretty ' , profile : false , ' no-source ' : true } };
The setup is still very similar to your original config file. To use Cucumber.js, you should update the framework and add a framework path to include the module downloaded earlier. Next, add a few cucumberOpts that specify where to find the step definition files, any necessary tags, the desired output format, and if a profile is needed.
You can now run the protractor cucumber.conf.js command and you should see a browser pop up and navigate to the desired URL. You have successfully coupled Cucumber with your Protractor tests.
Assertions: Chai and Chais-As-Promised
Since you’re using the custom framework option with Protractor you’ll need to add an assertion library like Chai — a popular choice. Chai allows us to write assertions in a simple, readable style — such as the familiar expect syntax in expect(element.getText()).to.eventually.equal('Name'); .
To install, you should run npm install chai chai-as-promised . Within the step definition file, add the following lines to the top of the file:
var chai = require ( ' chai ' ); var chaiAsPromised = require ( ' chai-as-promised ' ); chai . use (chaiAsPromised); var expect = chai . expect ;
You will now be able to include assertions in your tests. Let’s build out your previous test more to see Chai in action.
//features/step_definitions/my_step_definitions.js var chai = require ( ' chai ' ); var chaiAsPromised = require ( ' chai-as-promised ' ); chai . use (chaiAsPromised); var expect = chai . expect ; module . exports = function () { this . Given ( / ^ I go to "( [ ^ "] * )" $ / , function ( site ) { browser . get (site); }); this . When ( / ^ I add "( [ ^ "] * )" in the task field $ / , function ( task ) { element ( by . model ( ' todoList.todoText ' )). sendKeys (task); }); this . When ( / ^ I click the add button $ / , function () { var el = element ( by . css ( ' [value="add"] ' )); el . click (); }); this . Then ( / ^ I should see my new task in the list $ / , function ( callback ) { var todoList = element . all ( by . repeater ( ' todo in todoList.todos ' )); expect ( todoList . count ()). to . eventually . equal ( 3 ); expect ( todoList . get ( 2 ). getText ()). to . eventually . equal ( ' Do not Be Awesome ' ) . and . notify (callback); }); };
With this test, you should see a failed step in your output. You added “Be Awesome” to the task list, but are expecting to see “Do not Be Awesome” in the list. Your test fails as expected, with the following assertion error:
Failures : 1 ) Scenario : Protractor and Cucumber Test - features / test . feature : 6 Step : Then I should see my new task in the list - features / test . feature : 10 Step Definition : features / step_definitions / stepDefinitions . js : 23 Message : AssertionError : expected ' Be Awesome ' to equal ' Do not Be Awesome ' 1 scenario ( 1 failed) 4 steps ( 1 failed, 3 passed)
Now that Cucumber is incorporated, you can see which step failed along with the assertion error. This makes things a little easier when troubleshooting failures as it gives the context of the failure within the output. Changing “Do not Be Awesome” to “Be Awesome” should pass your test.
Tips and Tricks
Even though you have the core test structure set up now, there are a few enhancements worth considering.
Move the Chai and Chai-as-promised plugins to Cucumber’s world.js . This will keep you from having to add those to each step definition file. Check out the Cucumber.js repo for more information on support files.
. This will keep you from having to add those to each step definition file. Check out the Cucumber.js repo for more information on support files. Use Cucumber tags and profiles with protractor cucumber.conf.js --cucumberOpts.tags @tagName or protractor cucumber.conf.js --cucumberOpts.profile Name . Don’t forget to add your tags and profiles under CucumberOpts in your configuration file.
or . Don’t forget to add your tags and profiles under CucumberOpts in your configuration file. Use Page Objects in your tests. That will allow you to store each of your locators in one location, making them easier to manage. The Protractor wiki has a great resource for creating simple, efficient Page Objects.
Conclusion
To recap, you learned about the basic structures of both Protractor and Cucumber.js frameworks and how to build features that run seamlessly with the Angular testing tool. Incorporating Cucumber with Protractor is fairly simple and it gives you the opportunity to create tests that are readable for your team as well as build simple documentation for your application at the same time. Have you used Cucumber with your Protractor tests? Let us know! |
Adelaide United FC is pleased to officially announce that Spanish Forward Pablo Sánchez Alberto has signed with the Reds on a one-year deal, with the option for a second year.
Pablo Sánchez, began his football career for his hometown club, Cádiz CF. In 2004 he joined Sevilla where he spent four seasons. After a stint at Las Palmas, the 31 year old spent three seasons with Recreativo de Huelva and another season back with Cádiz CF. Last season, Pablo Sánchez played with Deportivo Lugo where he appeared 42 times in the Segunda A, and was the only player to do so.
Pablo Sánchez is a player that Head Coach Josep Gombau is excited by the level of experience and versatility he will bring to the club.
“We need a player that can play in front and also defend, a player also with experience, especially because the age of our team is so young,” said Gombau.
“In this moment we are looking for this player that can play number 9. He can also play in the middle and the wing if required.”
Pablo Sánchez has played over 200 games in the Segunda A division, playing in the style that Gombau has been trying to implement, “he is a player with experience. Last year he played 42 out of 42 games and he also played in a team that played the same style as us. All these things helped to make the decision of signing him.“
Gombau is hopeful that Pablo will be able to bring a lot to this team. He stressed the importance of bringing in experience to compensate the 5 – 6 youthful players we have. “When you have 1 or 2 injuries, you need someone who can step in and fulfil the role you need and help. He has played 329 games across both Segunda divisions so he comes with experience.”
Pablo Sánchez adds to the Reds already growing Spanish influence. Gombau has stressed the importance of signing a player who is already familiar and experienced with the style, “We are trying to play the Spanish style and to bring a player from another league who doesn’t play this style it makes it difficult. His previous coach played in the same style so it is easier for him to adapt.”
Gomabu went on to explain that, “Our club also wants to have this link with Spain. We want to build a relationship with Spain, especially through the recent Malaga game. We want to make it even bigger again next year and it’s a brand and connection we want to have and continue to grow.”
Pablo Sánchez arrived in Adelaide last night and will be joining the squad immediately to prepare for the Hyundai A-League 2014/15 season.
Adelaide United memberships for the 2014/15 Hyundai A-League season are on sale now! Click Here for more details.
Pablo SANCHEZ
Full name: Pablo Alberto Sánchez
Date of birth: 24 January 1983 (age 31)
Place of birth: Cádiz, Spain
Position: Forward
Club History
2013-2014 Deportivo Lugo
2012-2013 Cádiz CF
2009-2012 Recreativo de Huelva
2008-2009 Las Palmas
2006-2008 Sevilla Atlético
2004-2006 Sevilla B
2003-2004 Cádiz CF |
While Germany’s Rekordmeister have traditionally rolled on when first choice players were out, the absence of Bastian Schweinsteiger in the middle of the park could well prove to be devastating.
Philipp Lahm may be the captain; Manuel Neuer may be the best in the world protecting the ol’ onion bag; „Robbery“ may be the globe’s most electrifying duo with the ball at their feet; Mario Gómez may be a chance converting god amongst men; and Thomas Müller may be the team’s great hope for the future, but Bastian Schweinsteiger is the heart of Bayern München.
And with him out of the lineup until 2012, Bayern could find themselves in dire straits.
For proof, look no further than the game in which Schweinsteiger’s absence had the biggest impact.
In the first half of November 2nd’s Champions League clash, Bayern bossed Napoli in the Allianz Arena, retaining possession with ease, spraying passes all around the pitch and seeing chances created at will—culminating in a first half hat trick for the opportunistic Gómez. The Bavarians went into the break up 3-1, the only blemish coming via a free kick and the head of Federico Fernández.
Shortly after the restart however Schweinsteiger went down and the proverbial wheels came off.
Schweinsteiger’s central midfield partner, Luiz Gustavo and—his replacement—Anatoliy Tymoschuk could not sustain their club’s dominance of the middle of the park. They had trouble retaining possession; their passing was far from crisp, far from tidy; and the pair lost 50-50 balls with alarming regularity. The connection between the defence and the attack was severed and Bayern, seemingly impenetrable in the first half, were finally vulnerable.
Napoli sensed the lack of cohesion and pressed. While Bayern’s defenders held, they often resorted to fouls to keep the Italians at bay, leading to another set piece goal courtesy of Fernández’s aerial prowess in the 79th minute.
Bayern kept the chances from the run of play to a minimum though, and closed out the game for a shaky 3-2 result.
Similar symptoms ailed Bayern four days later, this time in a visit to Bundesliga minnows and Bavarian neighbors FC Augsburg.
Despite finding themselves with a 2-0 lead in the 28th minute owing to a converted corner kick and a dash of Ribéry’s class, Bayern did not boss the game as clear superiors should from there on out. Tymoschuk and Schweinsteiger replacement du jour, David Alaba kept up the disjointed midfield performance of post-injury Napoli. The defence was again isolated from the attack; passing was far from precise; 50-50 balls largely went the way of the hosts; and little fouls again became a go-to defensive tactic after Augsburg grabbed a goal back in the 59th. Bayern would hand Augsburg a golden opportunity to tie late on, but Manuel Neuer took charge and preserved the 2-1 score line, saving his club all three points.
While Bayern perhaps could be excused for performing unconvincingly after the sudden disappearance of their midfield anchor against Napoli, the chasm in talent between them and Augsburg is immeasurably vast—even without their iconic No.31, Bayern should have wiped the proverbial floor with their regional neighbors.
So far, the Schweini-less Bayern looks a far cry from the high flying side that took to Bundesliga and Europe like gangbusters to start the campaign. No combination of Alaba, Gustavo and Tymoschuk has looked the part. And let’s be honest, Augsburg is no worry for even mid table German sides. If manager Jupp Heynckes hasn’t found a cure over the international break, with the attack and defence operating on completely different wavelengths, the closeout to the year may be catastrophic.
In Germany, Bayern face Bundesliga challengers Borussia Dortmund and Werder Bremen, not to mention the quality, but streaky VfB Stuttgart and Köln. All four have the ability to make Bayern pay for midfield miscues on their day. Hell, if they put on the same show as screened in Augsburg, even the other side standing between Bayern and the holiday break, Mainz, can give the München men something to worry about.
With four teams within six points of Bayern atop the standings, these next four games without the stability Schweinsteiger brings to midfield can have huge implications in the title race.
And if that wasn’t enough, Bayern still need to snatch a point from their remaining two Champions League group stage games against Villareal and Manchester City before we all hang new calendars. Like the high caliber domestic competition that awaits, the Spanish and English challengers, too can pose a threat to Bayern’s championship hopes—these being the chance to hoist the hallowed Champions League trophy at their own Allianz Arena come May.
While we’re at it—and why not, really—there is also the matter of a DFB-Pokal date with VfL Bochum on the last match day of the year. Lose there, and another prize falls out of reach.
While betting the mortgage on it would be grounds for institutionalization, if Heynckes’ troops don’t get their act together in midfield, this year ending stretch of eight games has the potential see three separate championship dreams dissipate into the München air along with 2011.
Heynckes is confident club ambitions remain on track. Bayern faithful and interested observers, not so much.
If only the steady presence of Bastian Schweinsteiger could keep Bayern and its hopes alive… |
This app was removed from the App Store.
$2.99 was 0.99 Own Wish Buy Buy
"Now supporting iOS 4.0. Arr, the retina display be a thing o' beauty mateys."
More Pirates! More Adventure! More Monkeys! Relive the second hilarious swashbuckling misadventure of the wannabe pirate Guybrush Threepwood in signature special edition detail!
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Pocket Gamer: 10/10 “Adventure gaming doesn't get any better than this.”
Game Informer: “Monkey Island 2 Special Edition: LeChuck’s Revenge is a great addition to your downloadable library.”
MixNMojo.com: “…made me feel like I was playing Monkey Island 2 for the first time.”
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FEATURES:
Play it again for the first time with signature Special Edition features:
o Enhanced graphics: All new re-imagined contemporary art style.
o Voice over: Complete voice over using original Monkey Island franchise cast members brings the story and characters to life like never before, now available for both the Special Edition and Classic modes.
o Renewed music score: Re-mastered and re-recorded musical score using live instruments.
o Special Edition and Classic modes: Scene-for-scene hot swap lets you seamlessly transition between Special Edition and Classic modes at anytime during gameplay.
o Hint system: In-game puzzle hint system keeps the puzzles fresh and fun.
Plus, includes all new features:
o Direct control: Choose how you play -- use the classic point-and-click interface or the all new intuitive direct character control for a more interactive gameplay experience.
o Object highlighting: Interactive object highlighting provides quicker clues to finding hidden objects.
Show More...
What's New
"ARR! THIS BE THE SCURVY iPATCH YOU BEEN ASKIN FOR MATEYS!"
Version 1.1
- Added support for the iPhone 4 Retina display
- Adjusted timing delays for certain puzzles
- Added intro and outro credits sequences to the Classic version
- Fixed music synching issue with the Bone Dance sequence
- Added Intro Movie
- Updated front ends to use iPhone scrolling
- Classic Introduction fully viewable
- Stability improvements and other bugfixes |
If the first thing that comes to mind when you think about ants is "industrious," you might be in for a surprise. In 2015, biologists at the University of Arizona reported that a sizable chunk of the "workers" that make up an ant colony spent the vast majority of their day engaging in one task: doing absolutely nothing.
"They really just sit there," says Daniel Charbonneau, who dedicated his Ph.D. thesis to studying the behavior (or lack thereof) of these lazy ants. "And whenever they're doing anything other than doing nothing, they do chores around the nest, like a bit of brood care here or grooming another worker there."
Observing colonies of ants maintained in the lab, Charbonneau found that an average of 40 percent of individuals are mostly inactive, with some variation between seasons, colonies and species. And his ants, which belong to the species Temnothorax rugatulus, don't appear to be freaks of nature, Charbonneau says, as similar patterns can be observed in other social insects, even honey bees. Charbonneau and his doctoral adviser, Ecology and Evolutionary Biology Professor Anna Dornhaus, published those results in 2015. At the time, the researchers could only speculate over the purpose of keeping around hordes of inactive "workers."
In a new paper, published in the open-access journal PLOS ONE, authors Charbonneau, Takao Sasaki of the University of Oxford and Dornhaus show for the first time that inactive ants can act as a reserve labor force. When they removed the top 20 percent of most active workers, they found that within a week, they were replaced mostly by individuals belonging to the "lazy" demographic, which stepped up and increased their activity levels to match those of the lost workers.
"This suggests that the colony responds to the loss of highly active workers by replacing them with inactive ones," Charbonneau says.
"Serving as a replacement workforce is a long-held suspicion about the function of 'lazy' ants," adds co-author Dornhaus, "but it was just an assumption and never had been empirically confirmed."
Various functions — from storing food in their crops to laying eggs for consumption by their nest mates — had been suggested by other researchers, and Charbonneau investigated several of them through experiments involving marking individual ants in a colony and tracking their movements through video recordings.
"We apply tiny dots of paint to them," he explains. "One on head, one on thorax, and two dots on abdomen. The combination of colors and location identifies each individual, so we can track it in our video recordings."
In Arizona, colonies of this particular ant species are found at higher elevations — for example, on Mount Lemmon northeast of Tucson, where Dornhaus and her lab members go to collect them. Because the animals have rarely been studied in the wild, researchers don't know much about their life history, according to Charbonneau.
"We don't know how quickly their populations turn over in their natural habitat," he says, "but it doesn't take much for a colony to lose a bunch of workers. Since they can live for up to five years or more, they have to overwinter, and being snowed in claims many workers each season."
Analyzing the video recordings revealed that a colony breaks down into four main demographics, according to Charbonneau: inactive, lazy ants; so-called walkers that spend most of their time just wandering around the nest; foragers that take care of outside tasks such as foraging and building protective walls from tiny rocks; and nurses in charge of rearing the brood.
Charbonneau observed that the lazy ants tend to have more distended abdomens, hinting at the possibility that they could serve as "living pantries." Published in another recent paper, this observation awaits further testing to determine whether their larger circumference is a cause or a consequence of the lazier workers' lifestyle.
To see what would happen if the colony lost sizable amounts of inactive members, Charbonneau and Dornhaus did a separate experiment in which they removed the least active 20 percent. They found that those ants, unlike their top-performing peers, were not replaced.
"This suggests that workers are not switching from other task groups to replace the removed 'inactive' workers," the authors conclude, noting that the problem of adjusting supply to demand is not unique to social insects. From companies stocking supplies in warehouses to meet rising demand or employing contingent workers from external labor supply agencies, to computer systems performing better if equipped with reserve processing power, "the problem faced by all of these systems is how to optimally organize the supply or reserve workforce such as to minimize the costs of maintaining these reserves."
"My speculation is this: Since young workers start out as the most vulnerable members of the colony, it makes sense for them to lay low and be inactive," Charbonneau says. "And because their ovaries are the most active, they produce eggs, and while they're doing that, they might as well store food. When the colony loses workers, it makes sense to replace them with those ants that are not already busy pursuing other tasks." |
A Florida pastor says his church will never burn a Quran (Koran), even if a mosque is built near Ground Zero.
Pastor Terry Jones had threatened to burn the Muslim holy book on the anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks over plans to build an Islamic center near where militants brought down the World Trade Center nine years ago.
He flew to New York and appeared on NBC's "Today" show.
He says that his church's goal was "to expose that there is an element of Islam that is very dangerous and very radical."
He told NBC that "we have definitely accomplished that mission."
He says no meeting is planned with the imam leading the center but he hopes one will take place.
Complete Coverage: 9/11 Nine Years Later
Jones' Gainesville, Fla.-based church, the Dove World Outreach Center, had said it would hold an anti-Islamic demonstration on September 11, which they designated as "International Burn-a-Quran Day," in which church members would burn copies of the Holy Book. The announcement sparked denunciations and protests around the world, including warnings by U.S. officials, religious leaders, and military leaders, who warned such a demonstration could motivate anti-American violence and jeopardize U.S. forces.
President Obama referred to the planned book burning as a "stunt" that would endanger American lives.
Jones backtracked earlier this week, and renewed his assertions that his church would not burn holy books.
"Not today, not ever," he said on "Today." "We're not going to go back and do it. It is totally canceled. We would hope that through that, that will open up a door [to] be able to talk to the Imam about the 'Ground Zero mosque.'"
Jones arrived in new York City last night, hoping to meet with leaders of the Islamic center being planned several blocks north of Ground Zero.
Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf, leader of the planned center, said Friday that he was "prepared to consider meeting with anyone who is seriously committed to pursuing peace," but had no meeting planned with Jones.
"We have come here with the hopes of speaking with the Imam," Jones explained on "Today." "We feel that we have somewhat of a common denominator in the fact that most people do not want the mosque near Ground Zero, and of course I assume all Muslims do not want us to burn the Quran." .
He said there have been voice mails exchanged, but no meeting scheduled as of yet. "We have a couple of people who are working on it who are mediating."
When asked why he canceled the planned Quran burning, Jones said, "We feel that whenever we started this out, one of our reasons was to show, to expose that there is an element of Islam that is very dangerous and very radical. I believe that we have definitely accomplished that mission, even though we have not burned one Quran."
He said he has received death threats.
Jones likened his decision to pursue the plans to burn Qurans, and then cancel the event, with the Biblical story of Abraham. "Abraham was also called to do something very crazy, I mean God told him to go the mountain and sacrifice his son. Of course Abraham was much wiser than us, he told no one. So he got to the mountain. He started to do it, and God told him to stop.
"So we feel we have accomplished our goal," he said. "We're obedient. We feel that God is telling us to stop. And we also hope that with us making this first gesture, not burning the Quran - to say, 'No, we're not going to do it, not today, not ever. We're not going to go back and do it. It is totally canceled - we would hope that through that, maybe that will open up a door, [to] be able to talk to the Imam about the Ground Zero mosque."
He denied that he made the Quran-burning plans to court publicity.
"Absolutely not. We were 100% convinced that this was a type of a mission," he said. "I am of the opinion it is much larger than our politicians and our news media. . . . We have proved that point by the reaction worldwide."
More Coverage Marking the 9th Anniversary of 9/11:
Obama: 9/11 Victims Endure in Our Nation's Heart
President Obama Speaks at Pentagon Memorial
Biden Speaks on 9/11 at Ground Zero
Michelle Obama Remembers Flight 93
Laura Bush Speaks at Flight 93 Memorial
Gallery: Sept. 11, 2010
Islam Controversies Cast Shadow Over 9/11 Events
Proposed Islamic Center Divides 9/11 Families
NYC More Ready for Huge Disaster Than on 9/11?
Muslim Scholar: Don't Build Islamic Center
Obama Remembers Sept. 11, Calls for Unity
Rebuilding Ground Zero |
The anti-fascist movement, also known as antifa, has a long history of physically confronting white supremacist and neo-nazi groups, aiming to deny them a platform to speak and establish their hateful agendas within the realm of “legitimate” political debate.
Recently, the movement has seen a resurgence in response to the Recently, the movement has seen a resurgence in response to the massive uptick in racist violence and rhetoric that has followed Donald Trump’s campaign and election. In Berkeley, CA, anti-fascist protesters shut down a planned speech by right-wing hatemonger Milo Yiannopoulos, setting fires and smashing the windows of nearby corporate storefronts. And in Washington, D.C., groups of black-clad anti-fascists distracted from Trump’s inauguration by spraying graffiti, torching a limousine, and facilitating the now-famous video of neo-nazi leader Richard Spencer being punched in the face
Now, with the increased media visibility, activists aligned with anti-fascist and anti-racist movements face the need to ramp up defenses both online and in the streets, as right-wing trolls attempt to identify, harass, and infiltrate their ranks — so far, with limited success.
Over the weekend, Chuck C. Johnson, Over the weekend, Chuck C. Johnson, an infamous internet troll known for leading misogynist online harassment campaigns, published a list on his website GotNews that he claimed contained the personal information of everyone arrested during the Inauguration Day protests in Washington, D.C. The unconfirmed list gave the alleged names, age, and city of residence of the 231 people indiscriminately mass-arrested by the Metropolitan DC Police after some protesters set fires and smashed the windows of a McDonald’s and other storefronts.
Included on the list is Vocativ reporter Evan Engel, who was covering the protests along with several other journalists who were Included on the list is Vocativ reporter Evan Engel, who was covering the protests along with several other journalists who were previously reported to have been arrested. Despite that only a small group of protesters engaged in destructive acts, nearly all of those arrested at the demonstrations are facing felony rioting charges. (Engel’s charges were later dropped ).
The vast majority of the names could not be independently confirmed; an MPD representative told Vocativ that it would not confirm the authenticity of any documents that are not officially released by the MPD. Johnson is also a vociferous troll and conspiracy theorist known for The vast majority of the names could not be independently confirmed; an MPD representative told Vocativ that it would not confirm the authenticity of any documents that are not officially released by the MPD. Johnson is also a vociferous troll and conspiracy theorist known for outing an alleged rape victim and releasing false information to encourage the harassment of women and is not considered credible.
In another case last week, a website called antifascism.org briefly collected personal information from visitors before it was revealed as a hoax set up by a teenage troll. After it began featuring videos of Adolf Hitler speeches, several “alt right”-aligned Twitter accounts attempted to spread a false story claiming the site is an anti-fascist organizing hub that had been “hacked.” In reality, the site was only a few days old, and the domain name had recently been purchased by one In another case last week, a website called antifascism.org briefly collected personal information from visitors before it was revealed as a hoax set up by a teenage troll. After it began featuring videos of Adolf Hitler speeches, several “alt right”-aligned Twitter accounts attempted to spread a false story claiming the site is an anti-fascist organizing hub that had been “hacked.” In reality, the site was only a few days old, and the domain name had recently been purchased by one Alexander Beck , a teenage Trump supporter from Denver, Colorado. The site featured a form to collect email addresses from visitors, as well as “satirical” false information about the anti-fascist movement.
Anti-fascist groups quickly picked up on Beck’s not-so-elaborate ruse, posting several Anti-fascist groups quickly picked up on Beck’s not-so-elaborate ruse, posting several messages on social media warning that the site is a “honeypot” and that people should stay away. Beck later admitted the site is a hoax, but he claimed that “no data was collected” from visitors when contacted by Vocativ.
“I guess you’re a little dense too, haha. That seems to be the case with your type,” Beck told Vocativ in a Twitter message . When asked why he set up the site, and why he would include an email signup if he wasn’t collecting any data, he refused to answer. “I’m done talking to you,” he said. “You’re fake news.”
While these kinds of attacks are nothing new for them, anti-fascist and anarchist groups say they have anticipated a backlash to their movement’s recent high-profile actions — and they’re not taking any chances.
On Sunday, the anarchist news portal It’s Going Down On Sunday, the anarchist news portal It’s Going Down posted a guide to prevent doxxing , the act of gathering and posting personal information online such as names and addresses for the purpose of targeted harassment. The guide includes instructions on how activists can scrub their information on social media and “people search” sites like Spokeo and Family Tree, which aggregate personal data from public sources.
Many of these defenses have been employed by other groups who have faced online harassment in the past, including women and game designers targeted by the misogynist “GamerGate” movement in 2014. In some cases, victims whose information leaked have received physical death threats and were subjected to “swatting,” a dangerous practice where harassers call in false threats to the victim’s address to summon a heavily-armed SWAT team.
“The bad news is that many of the people they are getting information on are new to our movements and are more likely to have lax security,” It’s Going Down’s authors wrote. “Also, the ability of the Alt-Right to harvest information through online mediums like Facebook shows that we all need to tighten up the ship as we move forward in the current era under Trump, as well as incorporate these ethics into our daily routines.”
The doxxing won’t be limited to online spaces, if the past is any indication. During a recent meeting at an anarchist community organizing space in New York City, attendees were warned that police and far-right infiltrators will likely be reinvigorating efforts to get personal information from anti-fascist activists at events and protests, as they’ve done in the past, an attendee told Vocativ. Organizers are advising activists to form The doxxing won’t be limited to online spaces, if the past is any indication. During a recent meeting at an anarchist community organizing space in New York City, attendees were warned that police and far-right infiltrators will likely be reinvigorating efforts to get personal information from anti-fascist activists at events and protests, as they’ve done in the past, an attendee told Vocativ. Organizers are advising activists to form affinity groups and be wary of unknown parties soliciting personal details, information about organizing, or political views.
The backlash comes after anti-fascist demonstrations on college campuses shut down planned speeches from two prominent neo-fascist leaders: Former Breitbart editor and white supremacist Milo Yiannopoulos, and Gavin McInnis, a co-founder of Vice Media who left the company in 2006 and leader of the “Proud Boys,” an anti-feminist clique within the racist “alt right” identity movement. Activists defended the actions in Berkeley, which resulted in fires and property damage to nearby corporate storefronts, noting that Yiannopolous recently The backlash comes after anti-fascist demonstrations on college campuses shut down planned speeches from two prominent neo-fascist leaders: Former Breitbart editor and white supremacist Milo Yiannopoulos, and Gavin McInnis, a co-founder of Vice Media who left the company in 2006 and leader of the “Proud Boys,” an anti-feminist clique within the racist “alt right” identity movement. Activists defended the actions in Berkeley, which resulted in fires and property damage to nearby corporate storefronts, noting that Yiannopolous recently harassed a transgender student during an event at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. At another event at the University of Washington, in Seattle, an anti-fascist activist was shot by a Milo fan while protesting against his appearance on the campus.
Additional Reporting: Allee Manning |
New Delhi: In a move that will hit not just the export of buffalo meat and leather from India but also drastically affect the availability of buffalo meat (and cow meat in those states where it is legal) for domestic consumption across the country, the Modi government has banned the sale and purchase of ‘cattle’ from animal markets for slaughter with immediate effect.
The environment ministry on May 23, 2017 notified the stringent ‘Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (Regulation of Livestock Markets) Rules, 2017‘, issued under the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act. The new rules define ‘cattle’ to include “a bovine animal including bulls, cows, buffalos, steers, heifers and calves and includes camels.”
Harsh Vardhan, the minister placed in charge of the environment portfolio following the sudden death of Anil Dave earlier this month, said the new rules are very “specific” and aim to regulate animal markets and sale of cattle. Its provisions only apply to animals in livestock markets and animals seized as case properties, he said, adding these rules do not cover other areas.
While it would still presumably be legal for the owner of buffalos to sell his livestock for slaughter provided the sale is made directly ant not via an animal market, the new rules would effectively hit all large-scale trade in buffalos for slaughter since large slaughter houses are not in position to source buffalos from individual farmers.
Though the rules have been issued in the name of animal welfare, what is not clear is why cruelty to animals has been equated with slaughter but only for ‘cattle’ solid in animal markets and not for cattle that are slaughtered as part of a private sale wherever such sale is legal, or for other animals that are killed for food such as goats, sheep, pigs and chicken.
Blow to exports
According to media reports, India is a global leader in the export of buffalo meat, a business which has grown from Rs 3,533 crore in 2007 to Rs 26,685 crore in 2016. “The new rules of buffalo trade on which we were not consulted has come as a surprise and shock for the industry. It is not possible for individual farmers to sell their spent animals for slaughter (directly to us) without going to the nearest animal market,” Fauzan Alavi, spokesperson for the All India Meat and Livestock Exporters Association, the trade lobby of buffalo meat exporters, told Livemint.
PTI adds:
The new rules, which also also prohibit practices that are cruel to animals including painting of horns and putting ornaments or decorative materials on them, ban the establishment of an animal market in a place which is situated within 25 km from any state border and within 50 km from any international border.
These also bar people from lifting an animal off the ground, other than poultry for weighing propose, dragging it along the ground, suspending it clear of the ground or tie up or muzzle any calf among others.
According to the notification, the member secretary of an animal market committee will have to ensure that no person brings a young animal to the animal market. “No person shall bring a cattle to an animal market unless upon arrival he has furnished a written declaration signed by the owner of the cattle – stating the name and address of the owner of the cattle, with a copy of the photo identification proof.
“Giving details of the identification of the cattle and stating that the cattle has not been brought to market for sale for slaughter,” the notification said under the point ‘Restrictions on sale of cattle’. In the past, rumours of cow slaughter and the sale of beef have triggered violence in parts of the country.
The rules envisage the constitution of district animal market monitoring committee and an animal market committee. “Cruel and harmful practices shall be prohibited, namely animal identification methods such as hot branding and cold branding, shearing and painting of horns, bishoping in horses and ear cutting in buffaloes. “Casting animals on hard ground without adequate bedding, forcing animals to perform any unnatural acts, such as dancing, putting any ornaments or decorative materials on animals, use of any type of muzzle to prevent animals from suckling or eating food and others,” the notification said.
Choice of food?
Reacting to the ban, the CPI(M)-led LDF government and the Congress-led UDF opposition in Kerala, where beef is consumed widely, attacked the Centre. Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said, “It is not right that a government decides the choice of food of the people. With this decision, the Centre is destroying a sector which employees thousands of people.” The Centre should have consulted with the states and sought their opinion before coming with the notification, he was quoted in a statement as saying.
Echoing similar sentiments, Opposition leader in the state assembly Ramesh Chennithala said, “The Modi government’s effort from the beginning was to curb the constitutional rights and the ban was the latest example of the alleged fascist moves of the government.”
In Hyderabad, Mohammed Saleem, vice president of All India Jamiat-ul-Quresh, said, “The farmer sells cattle which are not useful to them and with that money they buy other animals.Poor people can’t afford fish or chicken. If the government brings this law, we will not follow it.”
The rules also said that the committee will retain every declaration for six months and also take an undertaking that the animals are bought for agriculture purposes and not for slaughter and also keep a record of name and address of the purchaser.
The committee will also verify that the purchaser is an agriculturist and “ensure that the purchaser of the animal gives a declaration that he shall not sell the animal up to six months from the date of purchase and shall abide by the rules relating to transport of animals made under the Act”. “The purchaser of the cattle shall not sell the animal for purpose of slaughter, follow the state cattle protection or preservation laws, not sacrifice the animal for any religious purpose, not sell the cattle to a person outside the state without the permission among others,” the notification said.c
It said during removal of cattle from the animal market, the proof of sale shall be issued in five copies, first handed to purchaser, second to seller, third to tehsil office of the residence of purchaser, fourth to the chief veterinary officer in the district of purchaser and last copy to be kept intact in the record by the animal market committee. “The district animal market monitoring committee shall take steps to ensure that no animal market is organised in a place which is situated within 25 km from any state border or which is situated within 50 km from any international border,” the notification said.
The rules also said that the local authority will make a list of animal markets functional prior to the commencement of these rules and every such market have to register themselves with the committee within three months.
Under the rules, the district animal market monitoring committee will have to ensure that the animal market has adequate housing, shade, feeding troughs, water tanks with multiple taps and buckets, lighting, ramps at the appropriate height of vehicles, enclosures for sick and infirm animals among other provisions. |
Introduction
After helping many people get started with the world of Arduino and electronics, we still find a small percentage of people who are turned off by the concept of programming or have trouble breaking larger tasks into smaller ones with regards to writing algorithms for their code/sketch.
So after being introduced to a new graphical programming tool called “Ardublock“, we were excited about the possibilities wanted to share it with our readers. Ardublock provides a truly graphical and non-coding solution to controlling an Arduino, that is an open-source product and thus free to download and try for yourself.
Installation
Ardublock is a Java application that runs from inside the Arduino IDE, which can be downloaded from here. It’s only one file, that needs to be placed in a new folder in the Arduino IDE. The folder names must be the same as shown below:
Once you’ve copied the file, simply open the Arduino IDE and select Ardublock from the Tools menu:
From which point a new window appears – the Ardublock “development environment”:
Using Ardublock
It’s quite simple – you simply select the required function from the menu on the left and drag it into the large area on the right. For a quick example where we blink the onboard LED on and off – watch the following video:
The following image is the screen capture of the program from the video:
As you can see the “blocks” just fit together, and parameters can be changed with the right mouse button. After a few moments experimenting with the Ardublock software you will have the hang of it in no time at all.
And thus you can demonstrate it to other people and show them how easy it is. And there is much more than just digital output controls, all the functions you’re used to including I2C, variables, constants, servos, tone and more are available.
The only technical thing you need to demonstrate is that the Arduino IDE needs to stay open in the background – as once you have finished creating your program, Ardublock creates the required real Arduino sketch back in the IDE and uploads it to the board.
This is also a neat function – the user can then compare their Ardublock program against the actual sketch, and hopefully after a short duration the user will have the confidence to move on with normal coding.
Conclusion
Ardublock provides a very simple method of controlling an Arduino, and makes a great starting point for teaching the coding-averse, very young people or the cognitively-challenged. It’s open source, integrates well with the official IDE and works as described – so give it a go.
And if you enjoyed this review, or want to introduce someone else to the interesting world of Arduino – check out my book (now in a third printing!) “Arduino Workshop” from No Starch Press.
In the meanwhile have fun and keep checking into tronixstuff.com. Why not follow things on twitter, Google+, subscribe for email updates or RSS using the links on the right-hand column? And join our friendly Google Group – dedicated to the projects and related items on this website. Sign up – it’s free, helpful to each other – and we can all learn something. |
India Ends Animal Testing for Household Products
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India is bringing in the “2” on a “1-2 punch” against animal testing. Last year India put an end to animal testing for cosmetics and now they’ve announced that there will be no more use of animals for the sake of household products.
The Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) made the decision after some input from PETA India’s science policy adviser, Dr. Chaitanya Koduri, the only animal rights rep to sit in on the committee.
The committee decided to end the skin sensitization test that consists of rubbing harsh chemicals into a guinea pig’s shaved skin. Instead, “non-animal testing methods” will be used, as well as skin patch tests on humans. That certainly makes more sense since it’s humans using household cleaning products, not guinea pigs.
India now joins Israel as the only nations in the world to end animal testing on both cosmetics and household cleaning products. Way to go, India! And big thanks to PETA India for their work in this matter. Their next goal is to urge India to ban the sale of all cosmetics and household cleaners tested on animals.
Related on Ecorazzi:
+Sao Paulo, Brazil Bans Animal Testing with Hefty Fines
+India Bans Animal Testing for Cosmetic Products
+Brazilian Activists Liberate 200 Lab Beagles
Photo credit: Shutterstock.com |
10 Feb 2014
No city in the United States faces as grave a threat from flooding, hurricanes, and rising seas as New Orleans, part of which lies below sea level. But New Orleans architect David Waggonner and his associates, learning lessons from the Dutch , have proposed a revolutionary vision for New Orleans that seeks to make an asset of the water that surrounds the city, remaking unsightly canals into an important and scenic part of the landscape and mimicking nature to store rainfall. Waggoner’s firm has been chosen to help develop a Greater New Orleans Urban Water Plan , a first step in what could be a multi-billion dollar project to redesign the ways in which the region co-exists with water. “To sustain the city in this difficult site in an era of rising seas and more extreme weather, we must convert our necessities into niceties, into desirable places that connect with people and culture,” Waggonner told Yale Environment 360. |
Yesterday, we reported on a strange article in which Fortune Magazine tried to make the case that Tesla should have disclosed the fatal Model S accident on Autopilot before raising capital through a secondary offering a few weeks after the fact. The publication claims that the accident was material to Tesla’s stock and therefore, it should have been announced when the company learned of the event and not when NHTSA decided it would launch a preliminary evaluation on June 30.
Elon Musk argued against it being material to Tesla’s valuation in an email to Fortune, but now the publication is somehow trying to use a boilerplate statement from Tesla to prove that Musk and the company previously considered the accident a material event, which is not necessarily the case.
The new article today called ‘Tesla Said an Autopilot Crash Would Be ‘Material’ Before Elon Musk Said It Wasn’t‘ doubled down on the publication’s claim. In this new report, the magazine is claiming that a risk disclosure statement in a recent SEC filing from Tesla is contradicting Musk’s claim that the event is not material to Tesla’s valuation:
“But back in early May, Tesla said exactly the opposite of what its founder is saying now in an SEC filing. The company warned investors that a fatal crash related to its autopilot feature, even a single incident, would be a material event to “our brand, business, prospects, and operating results.” The disclosure said that the company may face product liability claims due to “failures of new technologies that we are pioneering, including autopilot in our vehicles,” adding that “product liability claims could harm our business, prospects, operating results and financial condition.”
Fortune attempts to link the timing of this disclosure to the fatal accident:
“The company made the disclosure on May 10, just three days after the fatal autopilot accident, but likely after the company knew about the crash.”
But this is a boilerplate risk disclosure statement which has been part of Tesla quarterly and annual filings for a long time. It is also in this 10-K filing published on February 24 or months before the accident. Fortune either didn’t know this or conveniently left it out of the article.
Now there’s also a problem on how Fortune is interpreting the disclosure. You can read how Fortune dissected it above, but here’s the disclosure in full:
“Product liability claims could harm our business, prospects, operating results and financial condition. The automobile industry experiences significant product liability claims and we face inherent risk of exposure to claims in the event our vehicles do not perform as expected resulting in personal injury or death. We also may face similar claims related to any misuse or failures of new technologies that we are pioneering, including autopilot in our vehicles and our Tesla Energy products. A successful product liability claim against us with respect to any aspect of our products could require us to pay a substantial monetary award. Our risks in this area are particularly pronounced given the limited number of vehicles and energy storage products delivered to date and limited field experience of our products. “
To link this disclosure to the tragic Model S accident is to claim that the Autopilot didn’t “perform as expected” and caused the crash. Fortune is not claiming that in so many words, but it’s the only way for the description to fit and no one is currently claiming that the Autopilot caused the accident – only that the Autopilot was activated during the accident.
@alansmurray Yes, it was material to you — BS article increased your advertising revenue. Just wasn't material to TSLA, as shown by market. — Elon Musk (@elonmusk) July 5, 2016
It has been discussed and we write about it in detail in our report ‘Understanding the fatal Tesla accident on Autopilot and the NHTSA probe‘, but the Autopilot is not meant to prevent an accident like that one and the driver is responsible for monitoring the vehicle and to be ready to take action at all times. Additionally, The initial accident report from the highway patrol clearly highlights that the truck driver “failed to yield right-of-way.”
NHTSA did launch a preliminary evaluation into the accident, but until the results are made public, it wouldn’t be wise to place the blame on Tesla’s Autopilot and therefore to claim that the risk disclosure statement is contradicting Musk’s claim that the event was not material to Tesla’s valuation.
As we mentioned in our last article on this scuffle between Fortune and Elon Musk, the publication participated in the Koch brothers’ multi-million dollar PR offensive on electric vehicles by providing them sponsored articles in the magazine. It appears to be a huge battle between publications fighting for those big Koch/Oil dollars. |
NEW YORK (AFP) – Security scanners which can see through passengers’ clothing and reveal details of their body underneath are being installed in 10 US airports, the US Transportation Security Administration said Tuesday.
A random selection of travellers getting ready to board airplanes in Washington, New York’s Kennedy, Los Angeles and other key hubs will be shut in the glass booths while a three-dimensional image is made of their body beneath their clothes.
The booths close around the passenger and emit “millimeter waves” that go through cloth to identify metal, plastics, ceramics, chemical materials and explosives, according to the TSA.
While it allows the security screeners — looking at the images in a separate room — to clearly see the passenger’s sexual organs as well as other details of their bodies, the passenger’s face is blurred, TSA said in a statement on its website.
The scan only takes seconds and is to replace the physical pat-downs of people that is currently widespread in airports.
TSA began introducing the body scanners in airports in April, first in the Phoenix, Arizona terminal.
The installation is picking up this month, with machines in place or planned for airports in Washington (Reagan National and Baltimore-Washington International), Dallas, Las Vegas, Albuquerque, Miami and Detroit.
But the new machines have provoked worries among passengers and rights activists.
“People have no idea how graphic the images are,” Barry Steinhardt, director of the technology and liberty program at the American Civil Liberties Union, told AFP.
The ACLU said in a statement that passengers expecting privacy underneath their clothing “should not be required to display highly personal details of their bodies such as evidence of mastectomies, colostomy appliances, penile implants, catheter tubes and the size of their breasts or genitals as a pre-requisite to boarding a plane.”
FULL STORY: CLICK HERE |
When the summer weather finally starts to fade, and the crisp air brings the changing of the seasons, one thing is for sure – fall is finally here and the holiday season has begun. First up? Halloween and two of our favorite things: costumes and candy.
Whether you decide to get decked up and go all out for Halloween or want to keep it simple with your favorite scary movies at home, there's no denying the allure of some of our favorite and most nostalgic Halloween candies.
Of course, some of these candies can be a bit more controversial than others. While some are near-favorites by default, others are virtually dreaded and disgusted. You might know how you feel about Reese's Peanut Butter Cups, Snickers, and Butterfinger – but what about candy corn, licorice, or Raisinets? We surveyed over 2,000 Americans to see which were their favorites, and which ones they wouldn't touch with a 7-foot broomstick. Continue reading to see what people from your state had to say.
A Hard Pass
In almost two-thirds of the country, the award for the worst Halloween candy came down to one of two choices: candy corn and licorice. It's hard to know which one kids most hate finding in their bags after a long night of trick-or-treating, or which is most likely to show up on the clearance rack come Nov. 1 – but these two were a fairly safe bet.
In 21 states (including California, Georgia, and Maryland), candy corn came out on top as the most dreaded of all Halloween candy options. While there may be some debate online among a few candy corn loyalists, the reality is that these notorious orange, white, and yellow corn kernels aren't inspiring a lot of love among most Americans.
In 13 states (including Alabama, New York, and Nevada), licorice took the top spot as the worst candy option around. As it turns out, there may be a bit of science behind the hatred some people feel toward licorice. In the same way that people either love or hate cilantro, research suggests an aversion to licorice could be instilled into our very DNA. Of course, if it's the smell of licorice that puts you off, that's a learned preference and means you're among the many Americans who simply dislike it.
Other outliers that ranked among the least favorite candy options? Almond Joy, jawbreakers, Raisinets, Pixy Stix, Tootsie Rolls, Hot Tamales, and Necco Wafers.
I'll Take Two, Please
Now that we've gotten the nasty stuff out of the way, let's turn our attention to the best of the best when it comes to Halloween treats. The candy for which giving out full-size bars might make you a Halloween legend on your block.
The absolute favorite Halloween candy, according to Americans in 38 states (including Washington, D.C.)? Reese's Peanut Butter Cups. Available in a number of options, including holiday shapes (like a pumpkin, Christmas tree, or Easter egg), spreads, cakes, and even burger toppings, there's no denying Americans love their Reese's. Thankfully, all that creamy, delicious peanut butter actually makes them a fairly good source of protein, even if they shouldn't exactly be a staple in your diet.
Second place might also be the same as first loser, but in 12 states (including a tie in California, Michigan, and Rhode Island), Snickers was actually the favorite overall. The proof could be in the sales because Snickers bars outsold Reese's around the world in 2017. Those delicious layers of peanuts, caramel, and nougat all wrapped in milk chocolate can be hard to resist, so Halloween might just be the perfect time to indulge.
It would be hard to dethrone these two Halloween candy kings, but Almond Joy, Kit Kat, Twix, Nerds, Sour Patch Kids, and Butterfinger all managed to rank in a few states as people's all-time favorites.
Comforting (and Cursed) Confectionaries
In the battle between the best and worst Halloween candy, nearly all of the top-favorites across the U.S. had one thing in common: chocolate.
Chocolate may occasionally get a bad reputation, but studies have linked it to lowering cholesterol levels, preventing cognitive decline (including memory loss), and reducing the risk for cardiovascular problems. Its potential health benefits could be a bonus, but they don't exactly explain why Americans love chocolate so much. Scientifically speaking, chocolate can help us feel happier by releasing dopamine (the feel-good chemical) in the brain. In addition to triggering the receptors that make us feel good, dopamine can even help relieve stress –helping explain why Americans might enjoy it so much.
Nearly 1 in 5 Americans agreed – Reese's was the all-time best Halloween candy on our list. Following this, Snickers, Kit Kat, and Twix landed the top spots for chocolaty goodness. And the worst candy? Candy corn, licorice, and jawbreakers.
Sweets Spanning the Years
Even though Americans agreed on the Halloween candy they loved most, they had slightly different opinions on which were the worst.
Today, Halloween and candy go together like Thanksgiving and turkey or Christmas and pine trees – but that wasn't always the case. Trick-or-treating didn't really exist until the 1930s and wasn't really popular until the '40s and '50s. Until the 1950s, it wasn't uncommon to find nuts, cereal, or even homemade cakes in a Halloween basket. Even though the first Reese's (called "penny cups") were sold in 1928, and Snickers bars hit shelves just two years later in 1930, plenty of candies were popular years ago that you might not have heard of today (like Cherry Mash).
Baby boomers, Gen Xers, and millennials all agreed Reese's was the best Halloween candy, but baby boomers had a different opinion on which candy took the top slot for worst overall. While Gen Xers and millennials ranked candy corn as their least favorite, baby boomers gave that honor to jawbreakers.
Flavor Favor
Even though some of the best and worst Halloween candies could easily be referred to as classics, new candies and candy flavors are hitting the market all the time. Like the new caramel M&M's, hazelnut-flavored Snickers bars, and "Sweet Heat" Skittles coming out in 2017, even your favorites get a fresh new flavor and look now and then.
Not all flavors are destined to be a hit, though. Nearly 29 percent of Americans said banana-flavored candy was the worst, followed by lemon and grape. But not every candy has to be chocolate to be delicious, according to the people polled. Roughly 1 in 5 said they loved strawberry-flavored candy (pink Starburst, anyone?), while slightly more said cherry was the best hands down.
Sweet Smalltalk
We asked Americans across the country to describe the most celebrated and disgusting Halloween candies – the revered Reese's Peanut Butter Cups and condemnable candy corn.
People we polled didn't mince words when giving us their two cents on what it's like to actually eat candy corn. Besides "sugar" (the number one ingredient listed in candy corn), Americans called out the words "flavor," "eat," and "gross" which might tell us everything we need to know about what makes candy corn so reviled. Other common callouts included "wax," "texture," and "never."
On the other end of the Halloween candy spectrum, people described eating a Reese's with words like "chocolate," "best," "peanut," and "taste." Peanut butter and jelly should probably move over – the "flavor" and "texture" of peanut butter and chocolate could be America's favorite peanut butter combination.
Making Halloween Great Again
When it comes to kicking off the fall holiday season, Halloween gets first dibs. When the autumn weather starts to settle in, you know costumes and candy are on the horizon. If you're thinking about stocking up for your local trick-or-treaters, keep these tips in mind: Chocolate-based candy will generally go over better than anything else, and Reese's and Snickers are bound to be a smash hit. If you see a sale on candy corn – there's probably a good reason why. And if you're still on the fence for some reason, perhaps consider dressing up as candy corn rather than passing it out.
If you're looking to complete the rest of your Halloween necessities, Halloween Express has everything you need. From the best in costumes and accessories for kids and adults alike to all of the props, decor, and party supplies you'll need to throw the perfect Halloween celebration. Shop online today or find a local Halloween Express near you today.
Methodology
We surveyed over 2,000 Americans about their Halloween candy preferences. For statewide data, all states had a minimum sample size of 11 survey respondents.
Fair Use Statement
Want to treat others with the findings on this page? Feel free to share the images and content here for noncommercial purposes. Just don't pull any tricks when doing so and provide a link back to this page, so the authors receive proper credit. |
Story highlights Inmates built, transported and hid two computers in the prison's ceiling
A prison program employs inmates to disassemble old gadgets for recycling
(CNN) Lax security allowed inmates at an Ohio prison to build two computers and connect them to the state's Department of Rehabilitation and Correction's network, investigators found.
The computers were found hidden in the ceiling of the prison in Marion County in 2015, prompting an investigation by Ohio's Inspector General.
The computers contained applications for credit cards using another inmate's information, pornography, research on tax refund fraud, recipes for homemade drugs and message exchanges.
The Marion Correctional Institution inmates were also able to issue passes to gain access to multiple areas within the prison.
IT employees had received an alert about a computer using ODRC's computer network that "had exceeded a daily internet usage threshold." The alert also pointed out that the computers were being used with a former employee and prison contractor's stolen credentials.
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You read that right: ONE HUNDRED classic gaming backgrounds, prescaled and optimized for our favorite little handheld device. If viewing this article on your iPhone, simply save the image, view it in your Photos app, then hit the lower left button and select "Use as Wallpaper."
Above: Don't mind the empty spaces - We've done all the cropping and scaling for you!
Don’t own an iPhone? No biggie. They should work on just about any smartphone, Blackberry, etc. As for the rest of you, we’ve officially made good onthe promised from this Hateful article. Sorry... we only sort of meant it.
Read more: Best iPhone games 2017
1. Super Mario Bros. 3
2. Mortal Kombat
3. Bionic Commando
4. Chrono Trigger
5. Blaster Master
6. Mega Man 2
7.Aladdin
8. Day of the Tentacle
9. Street Fighter II
10. Super Castlevania IV
11. DuckTales
12. Earthworm Jim
13. Mickey Mania
14. Ninja Gaiden II
15. Sonic the Hedgehog
16. Pro Wrestling
17. Spacer Harrier
18. The Legend of Zelda
19. Toejam and Earl
20. Sonic the Hedgehog2
Head to the next page for Star Wars, Donkey Kong, Pac-Man and Punch-Out!! |
Almost a decade after Microsoft made an unsolicited bid to acquire Yahoo for $50 billion, moments ago Verizon confirmed recent rumors that it would acquire Yahoo operating business for approximately $4.83 billion in cash, far below initial estimates floated several months ago that the segment could sell for as much as $10 billion.
A brief history of Yahoo's tumultuous M&A history:
As the WSJ adds, the price tag, which includes Yahoo’s core internet business and some real estate, is a remarkable fall for the Silicon Valley web pioneer that once had a market capitalization of more than $125 billion at the height of the dot-com boom.
For New York-based Verizon, the deal simply adds another piece to the digital media and advertising business it is trying to build. The companies said the deal is subject to customary closing conditions, including approval by Yahoo’s shareholders, and is expected to close in early 2017. The sale doesn't include, among other things, Yahoo’s cash, its shares in Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. , its shares in Yahoo Japan, and Yahoo’s noncore patents, called the Excalibur portfolio. These assets will continue to be held by Yahoo, which will change its name at closing and become a registered, publicly traded investment company.
So how much does Marissa Meyer - who may soon be unemployed - collect for "creating value" at the company during her 5 year tenure? Somewhere around $300 million. In the press release the future role for Mayer was not outlined; however, she is unlikely to have a prominent role—if any—under Verizon, people familiar with the matter said. She stands to make more than $50 million in compensation if she is terminated as a result of the sale.
On the other hand, Bloomberg notes that she intends to stay with the combined company, although that remains to be confirmed.
“For me personally, I’m planning to stay... It’s important to me to see Yahoo into its next chapter,” CEO Marissa Mayer says in statement
From the press release:
Verizon Communications Inc. and Yahoo! Inc. today announce they have entered into a definitive agreement under which Verizon will acquire Yahoo's operating business for approximately $4.83 billion in cash, subject to customary closing adjustments.
Yahoo informs, connects and entertains a global audience of more than 1 billion monthly active users** -- including 600 million monthly active mobile users*** through its search, communications and digital content products. Yahoo also connects advertisers with target audiences through a streamlined advertising technology stack that combines the power of their data, content and technology.
Lowell McAdam, Verizon Chairman and CEO, said: "Just over a year ago we acquired AOL to enhance our strategy of providing a cross-screen connection for consumers, creators and advertisers. The acquisition of Yahoo will put Verizon in a highly competitive position as a top global mobile media company, and help accelerate our revenue stream in digital advertising."
Yahoo will be integrated with AOL under Marni Walden, EVP and President of the Product Innovation and New Businesses organization at Verizon.
Marissa Mayer, CEO of Yahoo, said: "Yahoo is a company that has changed the world, and will continue to do so through this combination with Verizon and AOL. The sale of our operating business, which effectively separates our Asian asset equity stakes, is an important step in our plan to unlock shareholder value for Yahoo. This transaction also sets up a great opportunity for Yahoo to build further distribution and accelerate our work in mobile, video, native advertising and social."
Mayer added, "Yahoo and AOL popularized the Internet, email, search and real-time media. It's poetic to be joining forces with AOL and Verizon as we enter our next chapter focused on achieving scale on mobile. We have a terrific, loyal, experienced and quality team, and I couldn't be prouder of our achievements to date, including building our new lines of business to $1.6 billion in GAAP revenue in 2015. I'm excited to extend our momentum through this transaction."
Tim Armstrong, CEO of AOL, said: "Our mission at AOL is to build brands people love, and we will continue to invest in and grow them. Yahoo has been a long-time investor in premium content and created some of the most beloved consumer brands in key categories like sports, news and finance."
Under Armstrong, AOL has invested in and grown global premium brands, including The Huffington Post, TechCrunch, Engadget, MAKERS and AOL.com, and market-leading programmatic platforms -- including ONE by AOL for both advertisers and publishers.
Armstrong added, "We have enormous respect for what Yahoo has accomplished: this transaction is about unleashing Yahoo's full potential, building upon our collective synergies, and strengthening and accelerating that growth. Combining Verizon, AOL and Yahoo will create a new powerful competitive rival in mobile media, and an open, scaled alternative offering for advertisers and publishers."
The addition of Yahoo to Verizon and AOL will create one of the largest portfolios of owned and partnered global brands with extensive distribution capabilities. Combined, AOL and Yahoo will have more than 25 brands in its portfolio for continued investment and growth. Yahoo's key assets include market-leading premium content brands in major categories including finance, news and sports, as well as one of the most popular email services globally with approximately 225 million monthly active users****. Additional technology assets in the advertising space include Brightroll, a programmatic demand-side platform; Flurry, an independent mobile apps analytics service; and Gemini, a native and search advertising solution.
The deal is subject to customary closing conditions, approval by Yahoo's shareholders, and regulatory approvals, and is expected to close in Q1 of 2017. Until the closing, Yahoo will continue to operate independently, offering and improving its own products and services for users, advertisers, developers and partners.
Verizon will generally issue cash-settled Verizon RSUs for Yahoo RSUs that are outstanding at the close.
The sale does not include Yahoo's cash, its shares in Alibaba Group Holdings, its shares in Yahoo Japan, Yahoo's convertible notes, certain minority investments, and Yahoo's non-core patents (called the Excalibur portfolio). These assets will continue to be held by Yahoo, which will change its name at closing and become a registered, publicly traded investment company. Yahoo will provide additional information about the investment company at a future date.
Yahoo intends to return substantially all of its net cash to shareholders and will determine and communicate a specific capital return strategy at an appropriate time.
LionTree Advisors, LLC, Allen & Company LLC, Bank of America Merrill Lynch and Guggenheim Securities, LLC are acting as financial advisors to Verizon. Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz, Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP, Covington & Burling LLP and Winston & Strawn LLP are acting as legal advisors to Verizon.
Goldman, Sachs & Co., J.P. Morgan Securities LLC and PJT Partners are acting as financial advisors to the Yahoo Board and its Strategic Review Committee. Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP, Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati and Weil Gotshal & Manges LLP are acting as legal advisors to Yahoo. Cravath, Swaine & Moore LLP is independent legal advisor to Yahoo's Strategic Review Committee. |
DALTONGANJ: A 25-year-old rape survivor from Palamu on Monday tried to make her point in the court of justice by ending her life.The girl, who was raped in 2011, was at the Palamu civil court for hearing in the case. After the principal district and sessions judge finished listening to her prosecution lawyer around 1 pm, the girl sought judge Vishnukant Sahay's permission to say something.Granting this, Sahay said she could do that through her lawyer. At that moment, the girl took out a small box of white powder, with sulphus written on it, from under her dress and consumed it.She was rushed to the hospital after lawyers and those present in the court noticed signs of unease in her behaviour. The doctor attending to the girl in the hospital, said she is critical and in shock.The rape survivor's lawyer NK Singh was also present.No relative has come to meet her yet. Debasis Mahapatra , registrar, civil courts said the girl had planned to end her life in the court. Mahapatra said the rape victim did this in a pre planned manner.The registrar said after PDJ heard her prosecution lawyer the victim told him that she wanted to say something more which the former granted by saying that she could do this through her lawyer.The rape victim pulled this surprise at this moment.The registrar said she did not take any tablet or capsule but it was some powder thar she consumed.The box bore the name of sulphas, a kind of deadly pesticide which farmers use.Sources said the rape victim did this in sheer desperation whereas the fact is that today was the day the argument in her case concluded. |
A new paper by Brookings Institution scholars and Tax Policy Center colleagues Bill Gale, Adam Looney, and Samuel Brown is generating lots of media buzz. Even Barack Obama has put his spin on it with a campaign ad that says if you are middle class, Mitt Romney wants to raise your taxes by up to $2,000 even as he cuts taxes for rich people like himself.
That is a powerful political message, but it isn’t how I read the Gale-Looney-Brown paper. To me, the study highlights something else: The deep contradictions embedded in Romney’s tax platform. Like most candidates, the former Massachusetts governor has made many promises. And like most, he cannot keep them all.
In this case, Romney has promised at least five big things. They are:
To start, he’d make all of the 2001 and 2003 tax cuts permanent but repeal the 2009 Obama tax cuts and the tax increases included in the 2010 health reform law.
After that, he’d cut tax rates by 20 percent across the board and eliminate both the Alternative Minimum Tax and the estate tax.
He’d eliminate taxes on investment income for couples making $200,000 or less (individuals making $100,000 or less) and keep current low rates for those with high incomes.
He’d do this without increasing the budget deficit (beyond the cost of extending the 2001-2003 tax cuts) by curbing some tax preferences.
He’d do it in a way that retains the progressivity of today’s tax system.
Romney’s problem is he cannot possibly achieve all of these goals. He is doomed by both political reality and simple mathematics.
Romney himself never says how he will make all this happen. Indeed, his tax platform includes a gaping hole. He says he’d finance these rate cuts by broadening the tax base--that is, by reducing some of the tax preferences that litter the Revenue Code. But he never says which of these deductions, credits, or exclusions he’d scale back—or how.
Thus, the real question is not whether Romney is proposing a huge middle-class tax increase (he isn’t). It is which of his ambitious campaign promises he will fail to keep.
That was the exercise that Brown, Gale and Looney engaged in. To show how hard it would be for Romney to achieve all of these goals, they assumed he’d keep his first four promises. If he did, they found it would be impossible for Romney to retain today’s levels of progressivity. Or, to say it another way, if Romney keeps the promises he has explicitly made, the middle class will pay higher taxes and the rich will pay lower taxes.
That’s because cutting rates this deeply without adding to the deficit or raising taxes on capital income would require massive cuts in those popular tax preferences that overwhelmingly benefit the middle- and upper middle-class. Brown, Gale, and Looney figure that tax breaks such as the deductions for mortgage interest and charitable giving or the exclusion for employer sponsored health insurance would have to be cut by as much as 65 percent for Romney’s plan to add up.
While their numbers are slightly different, their basic conclusion is the same as my TPC colleagues Eric Toder, Jim Nunns, Bob Williams and Hang Nguyen reached in their own paper a couple of weeks ago: You just can’t cut rates this deeply without either adding to the deficit or making steep, exceedingly painful cuts in tax preferences.
Of course, Romney doesn’t have to raise taxes on the middle class. He could fix this problem with less ambitious rate cuts on ordinary income, or by raising taxes on capital income. He could pay for his initiative outside of the individual income tax system by increasing corporate taxes—though he says he’d cut them. He could cut spending even more deeply than he’s already promised, though that would hurt low- and middle-income households too. Or he could just add to the deficit.
Thus, the right question to ask Romney is not whether he wants to raise taxes on the middle-class. The right question to ask is which of his campaign promises he will abandon. |
After weeks of speculation, Jimbo Fisher is leaving Florida State and will accept the head coaching job at Texas A&M:
The deal between Aggies and Jimbo Fisher has been done. Sources with knowledge of the process say 7.5 million /yr. For “Likely” 10 yrs. Negot. Began with at least 5 yrs..I am told he will arrive Sunday evening. Approval Monday followed by introduction @AggieFootball #Aggies — Randy McIlvoy (@RandyMcIlvoy) December 1, 2017
What makes this story a little bizarre is Jimbo seems to be trying to sneak out of Tallahassee in the middle of night according to Tomahawk Nation, who did some digging:
According to FlightAware.com, a Mitsubishi MU-2 will depart the Tallahassee International Airport at 4:45 on Friday morning. The MU-2 is a small twin turboprop private plane. Its destination? College Station, Texas, home of Texas A&M University. A&M, of course, has been courting FSU Head Coach Jimbo Fisher, and while we cannot confirm Jimbo Fisher will be on the flight, it has become common practice of fans and media to track flights from college town to college town in coaching search season.
According to the report, the private plane is owned by John E. Richardson, who’s a major Texas A&M donor. The flight is also set to return from College Station to Tallahassee after midnight early Saturday morning where Fisher would coach Florida State’s final game against Louisiana-Monroe, which is what Fisher claimed he plans to do. |
Looks like Google Street View cars may have been "officially" riding dirty and Google may get slapped hard for its Wi-Spy fiasco. A federal judge did not dismiss the case against Google; instead in the first such decision of its kind, the judge ruled that sniffing open Wi-Fi packets might violate the Federal Wiretap Act.
Remember when intelligence gathering ability was allegedly "going dark" due to the masses moving to VoIP like Skype and the feds had wanted CALEA to require a backdoor so law enforcement can intercept online encrypted communication? Microsoft's "Legal Intercept" patent to monitor VoIP may be the easy-access eavesdropping the feds were hoping for, but it also wasn't too long ago when the FBI was seeking Google's help in wiretapping. It's doubtful the kind of wiretapping help the FBI wanted would have included when the Internet search giant intercepted packets on non-password-protected Wi-Fi networks. But now Google may be legally liable for wiretapping in regards to the 600GB "payload" of MAC addresses, usernames, emails, passwords and other "private" data gobbled up by Street View mapping vehicles.
U.S. District Judge James Ware ruled, [PDF] "The court finds that plaintiffs plead facts sufficient to state a claim for violation of the Wiretap Act. In particular, plaintiffs plead that defendant intentionally created, approved of, and installed specially-designed software and technology into its Google Street View vehicles and used this technology to intercept plaintiffs' data packets, arguably electronic communications, from plaintiffs' personal Wi-Fi networks. Further, plaintiffs plead that the data packets were transmitted over Wi-Fi networks that were configured such that the packets were not readable by the general public without the use of sophisticated packet-sniffer technology."
Although Google argued the data was "readily accessible to the general public," because the networks "were 'open' and 'unencrypted'" and should not then qualify as a wiretapping violation, Judge Ware called that claim "misplaced." This case is important on many levels as it may determine if sniffing open Wi-Fi packets constitutes wiretapping. Sniffing open, unencrypted Wi-Fi is hardly rocket science these days; even the truly clueless can master automated tools like Firesheep and FaceNiff. Whether you leave your wireless network open and unencrypted, or sometimes use such a wireless network at a coffee shop, we should all be paying attention to this to find out if we could be sued for wiretapping.
Google had first claimed it didn't realize it was wardriving, sniffing and snarfing up data on unsecured Wi-Fi networks in about a dozen countries. Then it claimed the Street View car debacle was a mistake and apologized. Now Google claims the lawsuit is "without merit" as it argued that open Wi-Fi networks were like "radio communications." Since the judge is not letting Google wiggle off the wiretapping hook that easily, now the company is considering appealing and is "still evaluating our options at this preliminary stage." I wonder if we'll see Street View cars rollin' or if there are too many people hatin' now? |
We’ve all wanted to recapture that one great moment. From to day to day we will often think back on a specific time where we felt an explosion of emotion towards someone or something, but it can be difficult to properly recall it. There are some of us, however, who can masterfully parcel up that one significant memory and deliver it to the world. They are the artists, musicians, actors, and creators among us. One person in particular, GRsmash , has long been doing it for the Smash community, reawakening those feelings of grandeur within us and breathing life back into memories long since past.
The Youtuber’s name likely rings familiar. Since 2013, his content has touched the souls of upwards of 90 million total viewers, and not for no good reason. That’s because GRsmash’s top-ten-style videos are providing more than what their title solicits. Whether it be his “Top 10 Most Disrespectful Moments in Smash” or “Top 10 Most Awkward Handshakes”, everything he posts is always something the audience finds themselves reveling in. It’s that recapturing of moments, however hype or cringe-inducing, that reminds the viewers exactly what it means to be a part of the Smash community.
Competitive Smash was a relatively niche, grassroots faction of Youtube before the days of GRsmash. Around this time in 2013, not a lot of media populated the scene other than tournament VOD’s and combo videos, and subsequently content rarely ventured far from its intended audience. That stepping-stone towards larger outreach was absent and so the community lived inside its own little bubble, retracted from the mainstream.
As time went on, however, it was becoming increasingly apparent that Youtube could prove to be an excellent medium for showcasing the competitive scene to outsiders. Enter the ‘new-wave’ of Smash media: My Smash Corner , VGBootCamp , Rush Hour Smash , and GRsmash, just to name a few. These Youtubers pumped out Smash content on a never-before-scene systematic scale, helping the community break the mold and paving the way for a new era of connectivity.
By crafting content that presented the competitive scene in a easy-to-understand way, it became possible to bridge in that final gap towards growth. Although most channels were successful in their own right, in terms of sheer popularity GRsmash transcended all others. And there’s a valid reason for that.
One of GRsmash’s most popular videos, “Top 10 Falcon Punches”, has almost 2,000,000 views
To understand why, you don’t even need to be in the Smash scene. Stripped down to its core, his videos are something we can all relate to:
just people exuding passion for something that they love
. Whether it be a reaction to a sick combo with Falcon or a particularly unbelievable act of disrespect to the opponent, the viewer can instantly revel in whatever their watching because of the sheer excitement castors, spectators, and even competitors are displaying. It’s instantly likeable and relatable. To watch something as seemingly insignificant as a action in a video game and see it turned into something people literally scream over, that’s powerful. It’s something people want to be apart of, and it’s why I think GRsmash is responsible for a lot of growth in the scene. In his own words:
“ It's great to see just how much these commentators appreciate the sick plays that are being pulled off, or how much the crowd cheers after a crazy combo, or the laugh of an opponent after they just got completely styled on, or the pop off of a player that just clutched out a super close game. You can really see just how much each person absolutely loves the game and how much they enjoy watching/playing it. It really shows how truly awesome this community is. ”
The great thing about GRsmash’s videos is that he can make us relive moments we never experienced ourselves in the first place. We might click on a video expecting to find one thing, and we leave with something completely different yet all the more relevant. One video that does this particularly well is his “Top 10 Most Disrespectful Moments in Smash”. I started this video thinking I was going to see a couple of cool combos and I was proved thoroughly wrong as I finished it. Each clip in that video was entirely unlike the last: from Mango lasering Taj off stage in a twisted show of disrespect to BizarroFlame KO’ing his finishing a combo with uptilt as Ganon, every time I was wholly surprised and wondering how awesome the scene must appear if this was somebody's first time watching a video related to competitive Smash.
Some may think what GRsmash does is ‘easy money’ and he’s just leeching off other people's videos. Whether you think what he does is difficult or not is up for debate, but whatever the case may be, I definitely think there is an artistic element to what he makes. Anybody can compile a bunch of cool clips together and sit back to watch the views roll in. And sure, maybe that’s all some of GRsmash’s videos are at face value, but don’t be mistaken. There is legitimate effort that goes into finding just the right clip or perfect reaction even if it means skimming through hours of VOD’s and “doing better research”, as he put it. He also has a massive audience to constantly keep engaged with new and interesting ideas so that nothing grows stale. You would think it would’ve after 2+ years, but his uploads keep coming, with each one still obtaining a large amount of views.
A video of his that epitomizes his ability to craft a bunch of clips into something much more is his “M2K’s Marth is a Thing of Beauty”. It features a compilation of Jason “ Mew2King ” Zimmerman’s most remarkable combos with Marth. I suppose the clips in themselves make the video worth watching, but GRsmash thinks that isn’t enough. He adds a symphonic melody to sync up with each resolution of the combos, creating an resplendent, almost intoxicating atmosphere that illustrates to the viewer just how awesome M2K is. He reinforces the already sick d-airs, up-b’s, and dancing blade spikes with an extra layer of emphasis made possible by the careful placing of relevant clips together with his desired music choice. When people say Melee is like jazz, or poetry, or something similar, it can be hard to take them seriously. But GRsmash shows us that all the precise movements and tech-skill integral to competitive Melee have a striking beauty to it that makes the game worth playing. That’s art.
As for the future of Smash media, it’s hard to tell with certainty. But from here, it’s only uphill. “I feel like the content in general for the Smash scene has just been improving in quality nonstop” GRsmash told me in an interview. We’re in ‘The Golden Age’ of Smash media right now, and it shows: content has never been better. And whether it be GRsmash, VGBootCamp, ZeRo , or some other channel, media will continue to be disseminated for hundreds and thousands of Smash fans for here and to come.
“ For a long time, Smash had a huge lack of dedicated content creators. And due to the type of game that Smash is, and that it has a lot of secret tricks and techniques and things in general that aren't common knowledge, since the beginning of competitive Smash, top players and people interested in spreading knowledge have always been trying to get the word out and help develop the scene by developing guides, analysis, tutorials and just discussing the game in general. There are so many hidden tricks, match-ups, and stage choices etc in all of the smash games, and the community has always been trying to help develop the metagame and get that information out there. It's just due to the type of game Smash is. ”
On that last part GRsmash is right:
Smash is unique when compared to most fighting games
. We started from the grassroots out. Every game has an intriguing story-line, every scene a closely-knitted community, every match a showcase of the hours of practice and dedication puts towards the game they love. And it's because of people like him that the world is allowed to see this little idiosyncratic community. All the crazy combos, pop offs, and deafening screams that he broadcasts give us an opportunity to feel something we haven't felt in a while.
Maybe we are remembered of how hype we were when we watched that one combo as it happened live, or maybe we just want to see how other people reacted, or perhaps we simply want to see what makes this game great. Whatever your reason, behind the scenes there's somebody making it work and fitting the pieces together, somebody who has truly mastered the art of crafting content:
GRsmash
. |
Disclaimer: The following has not been scientifically proven nor has it been FDA approved. This advice is currently in the testing stages of development and has been known to backfire. Results may vary. Some see improvement in a few days, some a few weeks and for others, years. Seek immediate and professional help for the side effects this advice may cause. Side effects include (but are not limited to): rise in blood pressure, feeling as though your brain may explode, thoughts of vacationing alone on a secluded beach, rambling rants that make no sense at all, and questioning your decision to have children. And, like all advice, take it with a grain of salt and an ounce of laughter.
After someone finds out I am a mother to five children can you guess the first question I am asked?
“How do you do it?!”
Anytime I meet someone new and it is revealed that I have five kids, not two or three, I see the look. I am used to the look. Each and every new person I meet gives me the look. Being used to the whole five kid thing, I used to take the look personally. Now, I know better. Five kids is a shock to those who believe that after kid number three, all subsequent children added to the family are aliens. I can say with 100% accuracy, “although the kids may at times act like alien life forms, all five children are in fact, human beings.” After the shock of five kids sinks into the mind of my new acquaintance, I usually hear “OMG! I can’t handle my [insert number of children here]. How do you do it?!” Usually I give the same (but true) answer: “you get used to it and to be honest, it is easier when the five are together then it is when a member of the group is missing.”
What I have come to realize is, I am asked parenting advice all the time. I am not quite sure why I, but I am. Being the (self proclaimed) genius that I am, I have decided to put together a list of what I do or say to keep my four boys, two tweens and two teens, in line.
Remember, this advice is subject to change. No refunds will be given.
Call those boys out. When the boys would do one of their chores and it wasn’t done correctly, I used to keep quiet and fix whatever it was myself. Then I caught on. The boys were doing everything half assed, knowing I was going to do it correctly for them. Times have now changed and I no longer correctly put the dishes in the cabinets or go back and re-vacuum the floors. Nope. I call their tweeny, teenage butts out and make them redo whatever it was they had to do. It took a couple weeks on their part (and me letting go of the notion that tile can be spotlessly vacuumed by a ten year old) before our new arrangement worked. But once the kids knew I was onto them and once again in charge, they stopped half assing their chores and I found myself with a few extra minutes of spare time on my hands.
Joke, Joke, Joke. So. Talking about sex, drugs and rock n roll is not a fun or comfortable conversation to have with your kids. They are embarrassed. You’re not sure how much or how little you should be talking about. It’s awkward but something that needs to be had. To help ease into those conversations and to help keep that line of communication open, I joke a lot about the subjects with my kids. Now, I don’t turn sex into a joking matter but I do talk about it in a lighter tone. For instance, one of the teens was having a physical and the doctor didn’t give me a warning before he checked out the balls…it was awkward for me; my teen was dying. What did I do? “So, how are his balls doing? Seem ok? I want to be a grandmother one day…” Keep that line of communication open with your kids. Joke and make light of the tough situations. Just remember to not joke about things they will take personally, like their changing voice. Teenage boys do not like being told their voice is squeaking like Mickey Mouse. (Thank you darling 5 year old sister for that comment.)
Know Who Their Friends Are. I will not lie and say raising teenagers is easy. It is not. I am always worried about something. To keep an eye out on the kids and to ease my anxiety, we have turned our house into the place the kids want to hang out at. We have four xboxes set up so a large group of kids can play. We have a basketball hoop, an air hockey table, a bazillion and one footballs, baseballs, basketballs, whatever kind of balls. We have opened up our house to their friends so we can get to know them and their personalities. When they are here, they get their space. As long as they are behaved, polite and somewhat calm, we let them be.
Be Present at their Extracurricular Activities. I know people have to work and sometimes your schedule will not allow you time to sit through a two hour practice. But if you can, do it. I sit through practices, games, whatever. I don’t miss them. It is sometimes extremely tiring and boring but I do it. When your kid sees you sitting on the bleachers while they are in the batting cages or shooting 100 free throws, they aren’t thinking “haha, Mom’s butt must be so numb from sitting on that uncomfortable metal for two hours.” No. That is you thinking that. Kids notice what we do for them, whether they say something or not. They see you sitting there, night after night, game after game. They may not understand the devotion from you now but they will understand (and remember you sitting there) when they one day become parents.
Every once in awhile, shock the hell out of them. My kids are so accustomed to me telling them no that they are shocked when, every once in awhile, I say yes. The tweens have been asking me forever if they could stay up all night. My answer is always no. I don’t want to deal with the wrath of attitude that would follow the next day. One night, the boys half asked, half mumbled, knowing their attempt would fail. To their utter shock and amazement, I said YES! Well, you’d thought Christmas had come early. Sometimes dealing with the shitastic wrath of overtired kids is worth the shock and awe look on their faces.
Tell Your Kid(s) NO. Now that you have thrown an unexpected yes into their day, it’s time to reign them back into reality. Entitlement has become a big issue in our house. Major actually. They all want the newest electronic. They all want phones. They all want social media accounts. This entitlement factor is by far the hardest thing I have had to tackle as a parent. There is a fine line between balancing technology and kids. Don’t do it right, major problems and consequences can occur. You have to remember that you are the parent and have the right to say NO to any or all of these issues. Kids need to learn that things in life are not handed to you on a silver platter. Kids need to learn the meaning of the word NO. Kids need to remember that life occurs outside the screen of whatever electronic device they are staring at.(Barbara Greenberg wrote an excellent article on this topic. Click here to read it.)
Don’t Expect Them to be Perfect. Kids are kids. They are messy, loud, pain in the butts and far from perfect. Stop expecting them to be perfect little angels each and every minute of the day. Tweens and teens are a special group of human beings. They roll their eyes, forget how to speak, cop an attitude, and test their limits. They won’t ace every test or do every single homework assignment. I stopped expecting anything from them, instead telling them that I expect them to try their hardest at whatever it is (large or small) they are doing. If I see that they try their hardest and only get a C or score only one basket, I am happy. If I see that they got a C but they didn’t study, I have a problem.
Family Game Night. Family Game Night is a pain in the butt. I will admit it. Looking forward to it is hard. Inevitably someone ends up crying, someone ends up being picked on the entire game,and someone storms off before the game is over. Although Family Game Night is sometimes more hassle than it is fun, it is time spent together as a family. It’s the small moments that count sometimes more than the bigger ones. And one day we will all be able to look back and laugh at all the tears and torture that occurred…
Listen. Sometimes you have to be quiet, put down your iPhone, mute the television and listen to your kids. Your kids will talk to you as long as they know you are willing to listen to what they have to say. Let them speak. Save your opinions until they are done. Compromise with them if there is compromise to be had. Help them if they need help. Offer advice or tell a story of something you did that may help them relate to a situation. |
Should you visit Roald Dahl Plass on Google Maps, you will notice a jovial waving woman. She resembles a nanny who adheres to the philosophy that a small heap of sweetener allows medication to travel effortlessly down the gullet in a manner that most satisfactory. This appearance has not been lost to Tumblr user FireFlyAstoria, who has hypothesized a most supergallifreysticexpialidocious theory:
Do you know who that is? Yep, that's Mary Poppins.
Do you know where that is? Yep, that's Cardiff. Specifically, that's outside the Roald Dahl Plass.
Do you know what the Roald Dahl Plass is? Yep, the roof of Torchwood.
Do you know why Torchwood is there? Yep, that's because of the rift in Cardiff, specifically that rift for a specific reason.
Do you know where the Doctor re-fuels the TARDIS?
So tumblr was right.
Mary Poppins IS the Doctor. |
Paras Khadka: "We have an amazing fan following back home. The number of cricket fans that we have matches any Test-playing country." © AFP
Nepal captain Paras Khadka strode into the press conference room at a Dhaka hotel impressively. He stressed how Nepal have been working for more than a decade to get to this level, and not just to play in this edition of the World T20. They are among six teams to have made it to the first round of the World T20 from the Qualifier tournament held in the UAE last November.
"I think we are here to present Nepal cricket in front of the whole world," Khadka said. "It is a great opportunity for us. It is not like we have only qualified for this tournament and worked for three months. We have been playing for 10-12 years with hard work and playing continuous cricket. We are here to compete and play to the best of our ability. If we play to our potential, things should be good for us."
Khadka said that Nepal's participation in the tournament will boost cricket in the country, as the government has already taken interest. "I think we have been playing cricket since 1996. We have been part of the ACC (Asian Cricket Council) since then. CAN (Cricket Association of Nepal) is one of the oldest sporting associations back home. We are getting there.
"Football and cricket are the two most popular sports. Everybody follows us. Kids love the game. The game is really growing big time. It is very exciting. We have an amazing fan following back home. The number of cricket fans that we have matches any Test-playing country.
"For most people, Nepal came as a huge surprise to be playing at this level. This will be a breakthrough for the country itself. Once we qualified for the World Cup, the government is very keen to find out how to develop cricket further. I hope we can move forward from here."
Nepal shot to fame in the 2006 Under-19 World Cup in Sri Lanka where they became Plate champions, and Khadka said the senior team is now following up on the younger batch's impressive showing in that tournament over the years.
"There was always the criticism that we only do well at the U-19 level. But the national team is doing well in the last two years. You need the junior structure as well. What we need is a basic structure back home."
After Khadka, Rahul Vishwakarma said how he, like all his team-mates, had aspired to reach this stage since childhood. He met one of his heroes, Shakib Al Hasan, but didn't get a chance to talk to him. Like Shakib, he is a left-arm spinner and left-hand batsman and doesn't lack the confidence too.
"It feels great to be playing at this level, but we belong to this level," Vishwakarma said. "Hopefully we will do well in this tournament."
Mohammad Isam is ESPNcricinfo's Bangladesh correspondent. He tweets here
© ESPN Sports Media Ltd. |
How well I remember the sweetness of it. I was sit ting on a plane, reading a copy of The Spectator. Taki Theodoracopulos had written one of his “High Life” columns taking off after the sodomites of the Big Bagel (as he thoughtfully described the gorgeous mosaic of gay life in Manhattan). It was a spirited piece, made no less so by my growing conviction that I had read it before. By the time the plane landed, I had attained the “Gotcha” moment that is the Nirvana of the vengeful reader. It took me only an hour to get a fax of the “original article” (by Norman Podhoretz in the New York Post a few weeks previously), compare the sen tences word for word, and fire off an extremely contented and self-righteous letter to the editor of The Spectator. I knew that he would have no choice but to print it, and Taki and I were not get ting on very well at the time, so it was one of the most chore-free pieces of un paid writing that I have ever done. Dear reader, mark the sequel. Not many years later I wrote a strangely neglected book on the sculpture of the Parthenon. Reviewing this learned yet passionate text, *The Spectator’*s critic was good enough to notice a paragraph of mine about the arrangement of certain ancient stones. With a maddening loftiness, he com pared it to another paragraph, written by quite another author in quite an other book, and found it disconcertingly similar. Well, I mean to say, that was an entirely different matter. Once again I found myself writing (and once again, revoltingly, without any suggestion of payment) a letter to the editor of this irresponsible magazine. The case was quite clear and the misunderstanding laughably selfevident to any serious reader. Both I and Mr. William St. Clair—this was the name of the other author—had obviously drawn on the same original eyewitness de scription of the Acrop olis. What could be more natural than that both of us, committed scholars in our different ways, should have summarized the same source in much the same fashion? I need hardly say that that was the end of the story, except that I still wake up whimpering about it. Plagiarism. A nasty little word. In the world of classical antiquity (not that I have any great desire to bring that up all over again) the word plagiarius, which to Cicero meant manstealer or kidnapper, was used by Martial to denote a literary thief. Ever since, the crime has haunted writers of all calibers. Only a few weeks ago, Julian Barnes received a rather tepid review in The Times Literary Supplement of his new short-story collection, Cross Channel. The reviewer compared its style unfavorably with a “resonant image” in Barnes’s earlier novel Flaubert’s Parrot: “A pier is a disappointed bridge.” Then came one of those fearful letters, pointing out (doubtless to the discomfiture also of the reviewer, who hadn’t noticed it) that the line was from James Joyce’s Ulysses. So the question is: Did Barnes pick up this happy phrase subliminally, did he “annex” it for his own purposes, or did he simply assume that any litterate reader would spot the reference? I should say that this isone of the public questions most dreaded by writers of fiction, the other being the eqully knowing one about how much of their work is “autobiographical.”
An enterprising editor could probably appoint a special correspondent to cover plagiarism, and see the poor guy or gal worked nearly to death. Think only of monitoring Ruth Shalit, whose secret until recently was that she filched sentences from writers—such as Fred barnes and David Broder—whom she could be reasonably sure nobody else was bothering to read. Clever, but, as events have proved, not quite clever enough. *The New Yorker’*s February appreciation of Joseph Brodsky said that he had had a heart attack coming surely as next Christmas, a memorable line appropriated (honestly enough I thought) from Philip Larkin’s All What Jazz. Arianna Stassinopoulous Huffington, author of Picasso: Creator and Destroyer, put herself memorably in the debt of Ms. Lydia Gasman, who seems to have written an earlier study of Picasso which the divine Arianna did not acquire by transcendental means. And while we are on the subject of My Sweet Lord—a favored Huffington invocation—we find that not even the world of music is immune. George Harrison had to pay a tidy sum to the Chiffons, whose 1963 smash “ldquo;He’s So Fine” was ruled by a court to be the melodic ancestor of Geroge’s 1971 chartbuster. Experts have been retained on all sides to debate whether Sir Andrew Lloyd Webber ran out of inspiration and went with good old Puccini for some moments in The Phantom of the Opera. Many people believe that they could easily hold down a job on the plagirism desk. But if you think you know what plagirism is, you are making a very large claim—the claim that you know originality when you see it. Apart from being the small change, and occasionally the major currency, of arguments within the worlds of letters and journalism, what we call plagiarism is a subject with deep roots in our literature and huge implications for the crafts of writing and speaking. Let me start with a relatively shattering example: I looked at the man; I saw him plain; Like a dead weed, gray and wan, Or a breath of dust. I looked again— And man and dog were one, Like the wisps of a graying dawn … This comes from a poem called “Waste Land,” published in 1913. With the addition of a definite article to the title, T.S. Eliot published a rather more famous verse effort in 1922. Eliot’s poem which it would be trite to describe as the birth pang of poetic modernism, contained the imperishable line “I will show you fear in a handful of dust.” It also speaks of “the brown fog of a winter dawn.” See above. That’s what Robert Ian Scott, a Canadian scholar, has done. He has found a number of other “resemblances.” Aside from the title and the imagery, there is the matter of Eliot’s access to the earlier poem. Madison Cawein was a Cincinnati pool-hall cashier who died one year after his “Waste Land” was published. It was printed in a Chicago magazine of which Ezra Pound-Eliot’s friend and mentor-was European editor. Eliot had submitted a poem of his own to this very magazine. Moreover, in the self same issue in which Cawein’s “Waste Land” appeared, there was also an essay by Pound on poetry in London, which it is highly unlikely that Eliot would not have wanted to read. Hold whatever thought you have for a moment. Here is a quotation from Dr. Martin Luther King: In the course of its development western civilization has shifted from a colonial naivete of the frontier to the far reaching machination of nationalism and from an agrarian pattern of occupation to the industrial one. This comes from a seminary essay King wrote entitled “The Sources of Fundamentalism.” It compares with reasonable smoothness to an earlier text, which instructs the curious reader that: In the course of its development western civilization has shifted from a colonial naivete of the frontier to the far reaching machinations of nationalism and from an agrarian pattern of occupation to the industrial one. The missing s in the King version could even have been a misprint. Moving right along, we come to the great Scottish bard Hugh MacDiarmid. Here is his much-admired poem Perfect, published in 1939. I found a pigeon’s skull on the mach air, All the bones pure white and dry, and chalky, But perfect, Without a crack or a flaw anywhere. At the back, rising out of the beak, Were twin domes like bubbles of thin bone, Almost transparent, where the brain had been That fixed the tilt of the wings. And here is a passage from a book, The Blue Bed, by the Welsh writer Glyn Jones, published two years previously: On her palm lay the small frail skull of a seagull, white, and complete as a pebble. It was lovely, all the bones pure white and dry, and chalky, but perfect without a crack or a flaw anywhere. At the back, rising out of the beak were twin domes like bubbles of thin bones, almost trans parent, where the brain had been that fixed the tilt of the wings … These all look like pretty damning, not to say open-and-shut, cases. Reputations in politics and journalism have been drastically compromised for much less. (Think of poor Senator Joe Biden caught lifting a speech from the born loser Neil Kinnock.) But a second look discloses a lot of ambiguity. Take Eliot first. Did he derive “a handful of dust” from Madison Cawein? Or did he steal it instead from Charlotte Mew, who in a poem written in 1916 spoke of “a handful of forgotten dust”? Or did he per haps purloin the said handful from Virgil, Horace, Ovid, John Donne, Walter de la Mare, Alfred Tennyson, or Joseph Con rad, each of whom had employed the same phrase or something very close to it? And where had they taken it from? One might also want to make the point that Eliot’s verse’ is much more beautiful and powerful: And I will show you something different from either Your shadow at morning striding behind you Or your shadow at evening rising to meet you; I will show you fear in a handful of dust. Contrast that to the Cawein stanza above. What, then, about Dr. King? His various academic dissertations have been found to be honeycombed with other people’s property, and he seems to have had some very indulgent professors in college. It has even been alleged that part of the peroration of the “I Have a Dream” speech—the part about “from every mountainside, let freedom ring”—is lifted from, of all things, an address to the 1952 Republican convention by a black minister named Archibald Carey. But, of course, that line comes from “My Country, ’Tis of Thee,” which King quoted more or less completely. And do you know how the closing passage of King’s speech was sup posed to have begun? If he’d followed the typed script provided by a virtual committee of do-gooders King would have said, “And so today, let us go back to our communities as members of the international association for the advancement of creative dissatisfaction.” With the whole world watching, King realized that it wouldn’t do, threw away the text in mid stream, called on all he’d ever read, including the prophets Amos and Isaiah, and changed everything for the better and for good. He may have done a lot of borrowing in his life, but he synthesized the borrowings into something higher. MacDiarmid isn’t such an easy case. He didn’t dare advance the defense made by some friendly critics, such as Edwin Morgan, who argued that deft rearrangement of prose was itself a form of poetry. He took refuge instead in an old stratagem: “I either automatically memorized it and subsequently thought it my own, or wrote it into one of my notebooks with the same result.” When that didn’t work and he continued to be teased in print, he resorted to the argument from authority: “As Mr. T. S. Eliot said: ’Minor poets borrow, major poets steal.’” Actually, MacDiarmid got even that wrong. What Eliot had said was that “immature poets imitate; mature poets steal.” And Eliot may well have knocked that off from Coleridge, who had observed after a lifetime of cormorant like theft that “the Eighth Commandment was not made for bards.”
A good rule of thumb for young plagiarists starting out in life might well be the one set down by George Moore. “Taking something from one man and making it worse is plagiarism.” To “making it worse” one could add “or leav ing it exactly the same.” Nexis and various computer systems may be making the problem more acute, but nobody who either their own writing or their own plagiarism seriously can afford to go about the place saying that they “find” they have written something composed by somebody else. When Princess Michael of Kent, one of the Queen’s dimmer relatives, was shown to have nicked some material word for word for her biography of Empress Eugenie, she got a spokesman to tell the press, “It seems that, when she read her notes a long time after making them, she forgot that she had written down actual phrases from one of the books she was using.” Seems, madam! Nay, it is; I know not “seems.” We have a certain respect for the professionalism of the forger and the counterfeiter. For kleptomaniacs we entertain no such feeling, but rather resentment at their sloppiness-and the suspicion that in some pathetic way they hope, or need, to get caught. “Great literature,” wrote Robert Benchley, “must spring from an upheaval in the author’s soul. If that upheaval is not present, then it must come from the works of any other author which happen to be handy and easily adapted.” Matching this, Dorothy Parker remarked after some time on the West Coast that the only ism that Hollywood cared aboutwas plagiarism. Where would most of our culture be without borrowing, adaptation, and derivatives? Cineasts even have a fancy word for lifting, hommage. Why else would we require the copyright industry? Originality is a quality so rarely met with in humans that when it does occur it is often disputed. Sir Isaac Newton, for example, took great credit for pro pounding a law of planetary motion. This was to the outrage of his rival Robert Hooke, who maintained that Newton had drawn on his work as well as that of others. At that date—1678—the modern world of the scholarly journal and the patent was not yet formed. New ton made no direct admission, but did tactfully say that “if I have seen farther it is by standing on the shoulders of giants.” This is commonly known as Newton’s Aphorism, though it had appeared as recently as 1651 in a collection of proverbs by George Herbert. According to the magisterial Robert K. Merton in his labyrinthine book On the Shoulders of Giants, other claimants to the coinage of the phrase include Bernard of Chartres in about 1126, John of Salisbury, Henri de Mondeville, and Robert Burton (he of the Anatomy of Melancholy). And this is to cite only some medieval and postmedieval candidates, since the remark was probably first made in classical times. Among later imitators were Coleridge—as usual—John Stuart Mill, Friedrich Engels, Frank Harris, and Sigmund Freud, all of whom in their different ways had a right to it, and some of whom (though not Mill, who had read everything and had a conscience) may have believed that they were uttering it for the first time. Thus Newton’s most subtle and guarded admission of a possible “debt” is itself one of the phrases most frequently “borrowed.” A decade ago, watching Ronald Reagan give his famous speech on the night of the Challenger calamity, and wanting as ever to resist his sentimental appeal, I became convinced that I had heard his closing lines somewhere. If you remember, he spoke of the dead astronauts as having “slipped the surly bonds of earth,” to “touch the face of God.” The White House declined to help me in my search for the origins of this couplet. I finally discovered that the words came from a sonnet, “High Flight,” by John Gillespie Magee Jr., which was read out as the regular closedown on Washington’s Channel 9 TV station. |
Former US President Bill Clinton and his wife Hillary, the current Democratic Party presidential nominee, have attracted billions of dollars to their own foundation to trade power and influence, Wall Street investor and analyst Charles Ortel told Sputnik.
© AP Photo / John Amis After Hillary Criticises Comey, FBI Releases Documents on Bill Clinton Corruption Investigation
WASHINGTON (Sputnik) — Charles Ortel is a veteran Wall Street investment analyst who has carried out major studies into the operation of the Clinton Foundation and its legal status, and runs a blog monitoring its activities. Ortel was the whistleblower that blew the lid off the General Electric financial discrepancies in 2008.
"The Clinton Foundation has been a gigantic slush fund," Ortel said. "People can donate relatively small sums to the Clinton regime and get gigantic concessions worth hundreds of millions or even billions of dollars back."
During the four years that Hillary Clinton was secretary of state, hundreds of millions of dollars flowed into the Clinton Foundation from governments around the world, many of which then enjoyed favored treatment from the US State Department, Ortel noted.
"To the world at large, the Clintons are open for business," he stated.
The US corporate media always refused to subject the Clinton Foundation to any kind of serious or skeptical coverage, in part because of fear of alienating the Clintons, Ortel explained.
"This is such a big story that the US press is not doing its job. What we have in ‘Clinton Incorporated,’ is Tammany Hall on steroids," he said.
Tammany Hall was the corrupt Democratic political organization that ran New York City for most of a century after the 1861-65 Civil War.
"If you are in the US press, you have got to have access to the president of the United States and the federal government… I have little confidence that the US media would do the work necessary in investigating the workings of the Clinton Foundation as our media is in thrall to the Clintons," Ortel added.
Ortel maintained that the operations of the Clinton Foundation and the actions of Hillary Clinton as Obama’s first secretary of state from 2009 to 2013 needed to be understood as part of a long-term master plan to regain and exercise political power by the Clinton family.
"The Clintons put together a long-term plan decades ago. They were already planning when Bill Clinton stepped down at the end of his second term that Hillary would run for president and eventually Chelsea will too," he said.
Ortel welcomed the decision of FBI Director James Comey to reopen the federal probe into Hillary Clinton’s use of private server for official business while secretary of state, and said the manner in which it had been done suggested the federal investigators believed they would find important revelations.
"To reopen an investigation is a massive decision so there must be a massive set of reasons for doing so. If it were a small matter, they would have waited until after the presidential election. It is also significant that this decision was announced publicly," Ortel noted.
An FBI investigation proceeds very carefully and methodically, and is thorough and sweeping. Therefore, Comey’s decision to reopen the emails probe was a very serious decision, Ortel pointed out.
"To then reopen an investigation 11 days before a presidential election involving a major candidate and their family is virtually unprecedented," he said.
Ortel also predicted that if Republican nominee Donald Trump defeats Hillary Clinton in the presidential election next Tuesday, current President Barack Obama would likely be urged to issue a blanket pardon to Clinton before Trump took office.
"If Trump wins, there would be great pressure on Barack Obama to pardon the Clintons before Trump could enter office. … [However] I believe she will never be elected president," he said.
Ortel also noted that the Clinton Foundation had never made the legal preparations and commitments that US law requires of any charity before it can carry out international activities outside the United States.
"The Clinton Foundation is engaging in illegal activities around the world. The Foundation was only authorized to be a presidential archive and research facility based in Little Rock [in the US state of Arkansas]. Every activity other than that has been unauthorized by federal authorities," he explained.
In 2001, the Clinton Foundation started operating internationally even though they had not applied for or been granted the legal status to do so, Ortel recalled.
"That is illegal: A charity must get an international accounting firm to verify its results when operating internationally. The Clinton Foundation did not do that. They have declared that they have raised billions of dollars while making false and misleading statements to authorities," he stated.
Today, there are hundreds of millions of dollars in donations to the Clinton Foundation that remain unaccounted for, Ortel added.
"In 2013 an Indian company associated with the foundation initiative called Ranbaxy paid a$500 million penalty for such practices as inventing test results and adulterating (AIDS) medicines. Nobody still knows the true magnitude of this," he said.
None of the major initiatives that the Clinton Foundation had launched to uncritical and overwhelmingly favorable media coverage around the world remained valid when subjected to close scrutiny, Ortel maintained.
"The Clinton Climate Initiative is a fraud, the AIDS medicine initiative is a fraud. Everything is a fraud. No part of the Clinton Foundation is validly operated. I have suspected that this is a $100 billion fraud," he noted.
Ortel cited Doug Band’s 2011 email for the law firm of Simpson Thacher, exposed by WikiLeaks as proving beyond doubt the improper procedures under which the Clinton Foundation operated.
"There is $2 billion of declared donations at least. But the trick with a charity in dealing with a gullible public is to, first, trick — or divert — portions of the incoming revenue stream," he said.
Ortel also expressed concern about what happened to the billions of dollars that had been raised for the Clinton Foundation to help rebuild Haiti following the devastating 2010 earthquake in that country.
Bill Clinton is co-chairman with former Haiti Prime Minister Jean Max Bellerive of the Interim Haiti Recovery Commission to channel aid to help the country recover from the devastating earthquake of 2010.
"Estimates of the amount of money raised run from a minimum of $6 billion to as high as $14 billion. However Clinton and Bellarive refuse to account for the money and Haitians have not seen anywhere near $ 6 billion invested in their country," Ortel remarked.
Clinton Foundation websites fail to record key documents and disclosures and the entire enterprise has never been subjected to any serious government oversight, Ortel concluded.
Hillary Clinton stated during the third presidential debate with Donald Trump on October 20 that everything she did as secretary of state was in furtherance of American interests.
She also noted then that she is proud of the work of the Clinton Foundation and characterized the organization as a world renowned charity with highest ratings given by foundation watchdogs. She pointed out that the Foundation has enabled, among other pursuits, treatment for 11 million people infected with HIV/AIDS. |
Our quest this month is all about Nomad, and he has been a very, very, naughty man…
You’ll find yourself in the Underworld, leading an army of the undead, reuniting with old friends thought lost to Death’s touch, and laying siege to Nomad’s fortress as you try to stop another of his power-hungry schemes. Be prepared for one of the toughest fights yet, making your first experiences with Nomad feel like a walk in the park. The rewards are pretty sexy too, especially the new devices, including one that has the power to increase the XP you earn for teleporting Urns.
Requiring “Dishonour Among Thieves’” and “The Mighty Fall” to complete, this continuing storyline was one of the lore highlights of last year and is a critical part of the 6th age. It is the first of four quests that will bring about the conclusion of Sliske’s Countdown… so get involved!
Requirements RuneScape members only You must have completed the quests “Dishonour Among Thieves”, “The Mighty Fall”, “The Void Stares Back”, “Nomad’s Requiem”, “Throne of Miscellania” and “Heart of Stone.” You must have Level 75 in the following skills: Woodcutting. Mining. Construction. A high combat-level and good gear are highly recommended.
The God Scoreboard
Speaking of Sliske, he’s as hungry for attention as always and is slamming down his intentions for all to see. In a cruel parody of the Edicts of Guthix, the god he killed at the end of the 5th age, he’s embedded a massive sword in the centre of the Grand Exchange, acting as a giant scoreboard for tracking the antics of the gods.
To get your attention, he’s spread “Sliskelion” pieces around the game-world. These can be earned while you train, and you can cash them in at the sword for some decent XP rewards. The sword will be removed at the conclusion of his vicious game, so don’t hang about in finding those elusive pieces!
GameBlast | Double XP weekend
The 26th of February is a great time of year to commit to an entire weekend of playing RuneScape. It’s cold and windy outside for most of us, there are great opportunities in game to make money for a fantastic charity, and a double XP weekend to enjoy! It’s the perfect time to get in game!
The double XP boost will last all weekend, and during the week we’ll have our “Time to Train” promotion running, filling Treasure Hunter with all the useful training and skilling items you love to win.
Alongside the double XP weekend, we’ll be running GameBlast, a 24-hour livestream event, entertaining you with a digital cacophony of activity, with special guests, famous streamers, challenges, crazy events and generally making a fool of ourselves.
Gameblast is all about raising money for Special Effect - an amazing charity who help people with disabilities to enjoy playing games just like ours.
We’re also bringing back the Well of Goodwill so you can donate your in-game wealth and bonds to the charity, which we convert to real cash. You can also buy some special in-game cosmetic items too, courtesy of Solomon’s General Store, so keep an eye out for those!
It really is lots of fun, all for a wonderful cause!
RuneMetrics
RuneMetrics is an amazing new in-game feature that gives you access to a huge variety of advanced tracking tools. It shows you stats, graphs and additional website features to help you understand all the ins and outs of what your character is doing.
This feature really helps you to understand and experiment with your gear, running onscreen, updating as you train, working out the best possible XP, damage and wealth rates and analyzing what you’re doing, all of the time!
There’s advanced XP tracking including an ETA to your next level up. There is also an amazing drop log that tracks everything you’ve gained through combat, as well as damage calculators giving you your total damage EVER and your average damage per minute, and plenty more on top!
Many of these features are free, but if you’re the sort of player that wants ALL THE STATS and access to advanced tools that allow you to look at historical data, you’ll be able to spend a bond per month for the complete package.
Gold Premier Club members get all the features for free for the first 2 weeks, and half price for the rest of the year.
Invention 1.1 and 1.2
Keeping true to our promises about the new skill, we’re releasing more content for you to invent and experiment with this month, and we’re working on important tweaks and fixes based on your feedback so far.
We’re adding tools like the crystal pickaxe and hatchet to the list of items you can augment and adding a bunch of perks for skilling via the shiny augmentation table.
Perks include “not emptying resource locations when you gain resources”, consuming resources for XP and plenty more.
Zodiac Event | Chinese New Year
From the success that was last year’s Death Lotus Training, get stuck into our new Zodiac event for Chinese New Year 2016. The Zodiac event, which gives you a checklist of time-sensitive tasks that you can complete for great rewards, including the dragon zodiac costume. As with last year’s event, you can complete the list multiple times for even better rewards, and use stamps to auto complete any tasks you really don’t want to do.
Bumper Podcast | Seren, a song, and community helpers
Welcome to the bumper new RuneScape podcast, absolutely packed with content. This week, listen in for Mod Osborne taking to Lore Corner for a chat about Seren; Mod MattHe talking to Mod Krista about her favourite piece of RuneScape music, and finally for Mod Infinity sitting down with Player Support JMods to talk about all our Community Helper initiatives.
Listen now on YouTube, PodBean or iTunes.
In other news…
Our Ninjas have been sneaking about again, this time focussing their attention on some old favourites and on the free game.
God books will be able to be worn in the pocket slot and will give bonuses to all combat styles. (Even more so if it’s an illuminated god book.) You’ll also be able to charge up your god book by consuming pages, with fully charged books able to unleash a special attack themed around that specific god’s lieutenant, like Commander Zilyana’s lightning-cloud attack if you’re using the Saradomin book. It’s seriously cool.
You told us that in the free game, you’d love a way to sell your members’ items to help you buy bonds, so we’re adding it! We are also giving free players a taste of bossing by adding the giant mole and the KBD to their choices in combat, adding some combat abilities to help with your combat rotations, and even adding dual wielding.
RuneLabs | Vote now for Eastern Lands content!
Recently, you’ve voted in game for us to finally take you to the Eastern Lands! This is something I am particularly excited about, and we would now love to hear your ideas on the sort of content you’d like to experience out there. Whether it’s a quest, a skilling update, a minigame, a d+d… anything themed around these mysterious lands - we want to know about it!
Take your creative juices straight to RuneLabs and post, or simply “up vote” some of the current ideas to let us know what you like.
Treasure Hunter | Valentine’s Event 2016
On Treasure Hunter this month we’re bringing back the Valentine’s event. This time we’re giving you the chance to win petals that unlock all the previous rewards and funky new costumes and items, including the charming masquerade outfits, a goblin butler pet and the Sceptre of Enchantment, which can be charged with petals and gives everyone around you an XP boost! Petals are also earned via training and can be bought on the Grand Exchange.
New Boss| The Mimic
Finally, there will be a new boss hanging around for just one weekend, called the Mimic Boss. It’s like a massive treasure chest… but it’s alive, and it wants to eat you! There are 4 levels of boss you can fight, with the higher levels offering the best rewards. You can defeat the boss up to 5 times per day, deaths do not count as a failed attempt. More chances are available via Treasure Hunter and I hear there’s a new and rare tongue cape to be won! Disgusting.
Merch Store Sale | Last Call for 15% Off
Our 15 day Merch-Store sale is coming to an exciting climax this weekend. Every item that has been 15% off during the promotion will once again be discounted by that amount from 00:00 UTC on 30th January until 23:59 UTC on 31st January. Treat yourself to something nifty!
Have fun, and w00ters out! |
France is set to roll out over 1,000km (621 miles) of solar road that will deliver an eco-friendly way to produce enough energy to power millions of households. The project was announced by Ségolène Royal, the country's minister of ecology and energy, and will see these electric avenues hit highways over the next five years.
The Wattway photovoltaic solar panels, which have been five years in development by Colas, will be laid over the top of existing roadways and harvest energy to provide electric power to approximately one household per metre. It is understood the amount of power will be sufficient enough for most household needs apart from heating.
The proposal is all part of the "Positive energy" initiative with the target to lay 1,000km of solar road – enough to stretch all the way from the southern border of France to London – in a bid to power 5 million homes (or 8% of France's population) with cleaner, renewable energy.
Where and when will the solar roads be installed?
Locations of where the solar roads will be laid has not yet been revealed but it has been said that the first highways will see the cells in the first half of 2016.
With the panels only 7mm thick the cost and time to retrofit them to roads will be relatively inexpensive and quick, with minimal disruption to traffic. Wattway has developed the technology so cars and trucks are able to freely drive over them as well as providing the same traction as tarmac, eliminating the threat of slipping when it rains.
A number of other countries are already experimenting with solarising its roads, with a project in the Netherlands having 70 metres of solar road in operation since 2014 in the form of a bike path, as well as an American Indiegogo campaign that has raised over $2m (£48m) to see power-providing, snow-melting roads in the US. |
In Minnesota, Abandoned Wheelchairs Are Just Part Of The Landscape
Enlarge this image toggle caption Elizabeth Baier/MPR News Elizabeth Baier/MPR News
Anyone who has spent much time in Minnesota's "Med City" can't help but notice that wheelchairs are everywhere.
From city parking ramps and downtown sidewalks to park trails and the local mall, the chairs have an inescapable presence.
More than likely that has do to with the fact that Rochester is home to Mayo Clinic, visited by thousands of patients every day. Many of them use wheelchairs to get around. So it's not surprising that they exist in big numbers.
The big curiosity is how they end up all over the city with their users nowhere in sight — a fact that some local residents can be oblivious to.
Denny and Carol Scanlan say empty wheelchairs are just part of the Rochester landscape.
"I never even thought of it until just now," Denny Scanlan says over a drink at American Legion Post 92, where he is a member. "Well, I see them kind of everywhere we go, I guess — where you least expect them."
"Yes," says his wife, with a laugh. "At the mall. In a restaurant. " She adds, "We're so used to it that I don't even notice it."
But some people do notice the big blue chairs.
At the Blue Water Salon on the skyway level of the Doubletree Hotel, owner Shelly Joseph often sees them just outside her door, in a public stairwell largely used by hotel staff.
Enlarge this image toggle caption Alex Kolyer for MPR News Alex Kolyer for MPR News
"I don't know why they're in here, but randomly they're in this stairwell," she says. "It's a fire exit, basically."
At the Starbucks across the hall, manager Dawn Lee-Britt sees wheelchairs outside the employee entrance at the back of the coffee shop at least a couple of times a week.
"Sometimes we can't get out," she says. "I'm getting used to it because we see them so often." She adds: "It's like they don't need it anymore or it's time to go.
Mayo Clinic has 1,180 wheelchairs in its Rochester fleet, largely for patient transport. It loses up to 150 chairs each year, says general services manager Ralph Marquez, who oversees patient equipment.
At $550 each, that could be as much as $82,500 a year.
"Yes, it's a financial burden to us from that standpoint, but it's also a service we provide," Marquez says. "And if the patient, you know, truly comes first, sometimes that's the expense of the business."
Because the clinic does not want to keep patients from leaving the campus, the clinic's courier service rounds up wheelchairs weekly, mostly from hotels and other places that alert them.
But the chairs can travel much farther than that.
"We've gotten calls from Orlando Airport. Goodwill up in Duluth had one of our chairs and luckily we were able to retrieve that one. We've had them in Denver, out east in a few airports," Marquez says. "They get back to us dirty and needing to be cleaned. People may take them home for a while. They wind up everywhere."
Enlarge this image toggle caption Alex Kolyer for MPR News Alex Kolyer for MPR News
That includes the Rochester Public Library, where communications manager John Hunziker considers wheelchairs normal.
"I'm sure if you aren't used to Rochester, seeing somebody going down the skyway, you know, pushing an IV on a rolling stand looks kind of weird," he says. "But it's just part of living in Rochester."
And on some days, part of Hunziker's job is to let the Mayo Clinic know there's a blue chair to pick up in the lobby. |
As the dust settled in Paris on Sunday following the adoption of a landmark global climate agreement (pdf), the question remains, what happens next now that the world has reportedly reached the "end of the fossil fuel era?" And for many, the answer is simple: Kick the big corporate polluters out of the policy-making process—once and for all.
Among the COP21 pact's many shortcomings, according to environmental campaigners, is that it sets the aspirational goal of limiting temperature increase to 1.5°C without providing any "meaningful" direction to how that is achieved.
Countries have essentially been left to their own devices to meet their individual greenhouse gas reduction targets, known as Intended Nationally Determined Contributions (or INDCs). In reality, scientists have said that these individual pledges are not enough to reach the internationally agreed-upon goal of limiting warming "well below 2 °C above pre-industrial levels."
With that in mind, campaigners say that the next essential step is for governments to decouple climate policy from those who benefit most from an economy based on fossil fuels.
"For climate policy— including the Paris Agreement—to compel the rapid transition our planet so desperately needs, we must first address this conflict of interest," said Jesse Bragg, media director for international corporate watchdog Corporate Accountability International.
"At the national level, emissions-intensive corporations have shaped our policies in their interest for decades and obscured their impacts on the environment. And, at the international level, these same corporations have forced themselves into every aspect of policymaking to not only influence policy outcomes but greenwash their otherwise dirty track records," he stated.
Before and during the COP21 negotiations, much focus was placed on the out-sized role that the conference's corporate sponsors had in shaping the agreement.
"We must take back our democratic processes and ensure they are working for people and the environment, not big polluter profits," Bragg added.
Indigenous leaders also issued a statement slamming the pact as little more than a "trade agreement" between the planet, rich nations, and corporations—one that "commodifies nature" at the expense of those who live on the front lines of climate change.
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Indeed, the text discusses nature as something that can counted and swapped. At the same time, the agreement leaves open the possibility that nations can meet their INDCs through investment in industry-friendly alternatives—such as so-called "negative emission" technologies like carbon capture and sequestration (CCS)—instead of simply reducing their carbon footprint.
As the Washington Post's Chris Mooney explains,
The new text itself appears to empower these technologies further when it says that the ultimate goal is to "achieve a balance between anthropogenic emissions by sources and removals by sinks of greenhouse gases in the second half of this century." Sources are things like coal-burning power plants—sinks are things like trees, forests and oceans. But the language in this section may also subtly invoke negative emissions technologies.
In a statement, presidential hopeful Bernie Sanders also said the pact goes "nowhere near far enough," given the influence that big money—particularly the fossil fuel industry—has on policy decisions.
"In the United States we have a Republican Party which is much more interested in contributions from the fossil fuel industry than they care about the future of the planet. That is true all over the globe," stated the Senator from Vermont, who is running for the Democratic nomination. "We’ve got to stand up to the fossil fuel industry and fight for national and international legislation that transforms our energy system away from fossil fuel as quickly as possible."
The call for "system change" was echoed by over ten thousand people who took to the streets on Saturday in cities across the globe. In Paris, New York, London, and elsewhere, Indigenous groups, environmentalists, and others activists formed giant "red lines" to illustrate, as 350.org executive director May Boeve said, that "a livable climate is a red line we’re prepared to defend."
Now that the agreement has been sealed, Indigenous groups and environmental campaigners are vowing to hold their elected officials accountable and are already organizing what 350.org's Jamie Henn described as "massive mobilizations against the fossil fuel industry this spring." |
Alvo de denúncia do Ministério Público de São Paulo ao lado do ex-presidente Lula, o primeiro escalão da Cooperativa Habitacionbal dos Bancários (Bancoop) renunciou. A debandada inclui os membros da diretoria e dois integrantes do Conselho Fiscal. Deixaram seus cargos o diretor presidente Vagner de Castro e a diretora administrativo-financeira Ana Maria Érnica, ambos acusados pela Promotoria da prática de 2364 crimes de estelionato na gestão da cooperativa.
A acusação, levada à Justiça no dia 8 de março, alcançou 16 investigados, entre os quais Lula, a mulher dele, Marisa Letícia, o filho mais velho do casal Fábio Luiz Lula da Silva, o Lulinha, o ex-tesouoreiro e ex-presidente da Bancoop João Vaccari Neto e o empreireito Léo Pinheiro, da OAS – empresa que assumiu diversos empreendimentos que a Bancoop não finalizou, entre eles o Condomínio Solaris, no Guarujá, onde fica tríplex 164/A, supostamente de propriedade do ex-presidente – o que é negado por Lula e seus advogados.
A Promotoria acusa o petista por lavagem de dinheiro e falsidade ideológica. A Promotoria requereu a prisão preventiva de Lula, mas a juíza da 4.ª Vara Criminal da Capital, mandou os autos para o juiz federal Sérgio Moro, da Operação Lava Jato. O caso está nas mãos do ministro Teori Zavascki, do Supremo Tribunal Federal (STF), porque Lula foi nomeado ministro da Casa Civil e agora detém foro privilegiado.
A renúncia do primeiro escalão da Bancoop deixou perplexos muitos cooperados. Eles temem que ocorrerá ’em momento próximo’ a diossolução extrajudicial da cooperativa que foi criada nos anos 1990 por um núcleo do PT.
Uma Assembleia Geral Extraordinária está sendo convocada, por edital a ser publicado nesta quarta-feira, 30, para o dia 19 de abril, ocasião em que deverá ser eleita nova diretoria para finalização dos mandatos até 18 de fevereiro de 2017.
A Bancoop foi alvo da Operação Triplo X, 22ª fase da Lava Jato, deflagrada em janeiro. Agentes da Polícia Federal fizeram buscas em um endereço da cooperativa no Centro de São Paulo em busca de documentos. A PF informou que essa etapa da investigação apurou a ocultação de patrimônio por meio do Condomínio Solaris, ‘havendo fundadas suspeitas de que uma das empreiteiras investigadas na Operação Lava Jato teria se utilizado do negócio para repasse disfarçado de propina a agentes envolvidos no esquema criminoso da Petrobrás’.
A Polícia Federal incluiu o triplex 164-A, que seria de Lula, no rol de imóveis com ‘alto grau de suspeita quanto à sua real titularidade’
COM A PALAVRA, OS ADVOGADOS RUBENS DE OLIVEIRA E RODRIGO CARNEIRO MAIA BANCIERI, DA BANCOOP
“Na qualidade de defensores do sr. Vagner de Castro e Sra. Ana Maria Ernica, esclarecemos:
Castro foi Diretor Presidente por sete anos e Ernica foi Diretora Administrativa Financeira por onze anos. Nesse ínterim cumpriram com lisura e dedicação o Acordo Judicial realizado em 20.05.2008 nos autos de ação civil pública de autoria do Ministério Público do Estado de São Paulo.
Nesse contexto, contaram com a participação e apoio da imensa maioria dos cooperados para solucionar diversos problemas relacionados à cooperativa, tendo sido entregues cerca de 5.697 (cinco mil e seiscentas e noventa e sete) unidades habitacionais, restando apenas três empreendimentos em busca de solução.
Mesmo assim, membro do Ministério Público do Estado de São Paulo atribuiu, por mais de uma vez, aos acordos judicialmente homologados, incidência penal.
Assim, com o desígnio de não prejudicar as atividades da BANCOOP, bem como voltar esforços às defesas técnicas, foram por nós, orientados a renunciarem.” |
Boris Johnson has demanded the advocacy group Cage "stop crying Islamophobia” and focus its "wrath" on Isis militants during a furious exchange with the organisation's research director over Jihadi John suspect Mohammed Emwazi.
Asim Qureshi rang Mr Johnson’s LBC weekly phone-in to challenge criticism he has received for saying Emwazi’s detention and treatment by British security services may have made him more susceptible to radicalisation.Mr Qureshi last week described Emwazi as an "extremely kind" and "gentle" man who had been harassed by MI5.
Mr Quareshi said Cage’s opinions over Emwazi had been “unfairly represented”, adding: “At the end of the day, what this young man has done is absolutely horrific”.
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He continued: “As an organisation we have made a commitment against arbitrary detention, extrajudicial killings and torture, regardless of the perpetrator,” prompting fury from the Mayor.
Johnson said he was “moved to anger” over the thought that Mr Qureshi could lay blame for his radicalisation at the feet of MI5.
"I really, really think that the focus of your indignation and outrage should be on people who go out to join groups that throw gays off cliffs, that behead people who don't subscribe to their version of Islam, that glorify in the execution of innocent journalists and aid workers," he said.
"These should be the object of your wrath, not the security services who are trying to keep us safe.
"I urge you, I urge you more powerfully to differentiate between people like Mr Emwazi and ordinary Muslims and not somehow instantly to cry Islamophobia or whatever when people criticise, attack, denounce those who go out and engage in such atrocities. That should be your priority.” He suggested Mr Qureshi spend more attention on "the false understanding" Isis supporters have of Islam.
Mr Qureshi replied: "These things are extremely complicated. We never said that he was radicalised by MI5 to commit beheadings.
"What we want is to understand whether or not the security agencies, their actions, led to him feeling like he does not belong to UK society. That is it. We never said there is a direct causality.”
We’ll tell you what’s true. You can form your own view.
At The Independent, no one tells us what to write. That’s why, in an era of political lies and Brexit bias, more readers are turning to an independent source. Subscribe from just 15p a day for extra exclusives, events and ebooks – all with no ads.
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Lenin was absolutely indifferent to alcohol, from time to time he threw back just a few German beers or a glass of Italian chianti. He would also refuse Russian strong drinks flatly and just hated drunk people. He was also a strong advocate of the dry law, which was carried into force in 1914. He had a horror of drunk soldiers with guns, and used to say that Russian would drown the revolution in vodka. The Vodka Museum supervisor Alexander Nikishin says, that in 1917 Lenin was really shocked when he was driving by some vodka distillery ruined by soldiers and saw them kneeling down and liking the spirits flowing out right from the ground. Soon after this he ordered to shoot all marauders who dared to make an attempt on liquids. In his view, only sober proletarians of all countries could unite.
But his successor Joseph Stalin said goodbye to the dry law. He really liked to knock one over back. It’s more like a legend, but they say, Stalin’s father used to give his baby-son a cloth soaked with vodka instead of a pacifier — and you know, it worked.
The development of vodka industry was so rapid that over some time they had to set up a blue ribbon army, and a lot people from the red one had to join it. Several thousands of children would come out with posters, which were saying “Daddy, don’t drink”, “Daddy, come home sober”, “Bread, not Vodka”. It was a real anti-alcohol crusade, and it could spread further and further, but in the thirties Stalin cut down on the campaign.
By the way, it was Stalin’s idea to give soldiers so called “100 grams from the Commissar” during the war. Rivers of vodka flew to the front, and this led to mass hard drinking, but actually, firewater saved a lot of lives, helping to relieve war stress, dull the dread of death and stay alive after bad frostbite. On the other hand, in post-war time the number of alcoholics soared up high.
At his gorgeous banquets Stalin made his comrades drink more and more to unlock their tongue. One of his confidants, Michael Tomsky, once said, “We’ll find a bullet for you too”, and so at once condemned himself out of his own mouth. In vino veritas.
In 1959 Nikita Khrushchev signed an agreement with Nixon to build the first Russian vodka distillery in the USA.
Leonid Brezhnev tried his best to save Chukchi from alcoholism and ordered to produce a new drink called Kaprin – vodka with red wine. This new thing was just great, but still the whole campaign totally failed. The thing is that organism of northern people (those, who live in snow and frost all their life) can’t cope with vodka properly as they are not used to have spirit in blood (southern people get it in a very tiny dose from vegetables and fruit when digest these products, and so have a special ferment to neutralize it), so, they become drunkards right after the first or second glass.
On May 16, 1985 Mikhail Gorbachev started an anti-alcohol campaign, prices on vodka, wine and beer were raised, and their retail sales were greatly restricted in amount and time of day. People who were caught drunk at work, on long-distance trains, in public or even at home were prosecuted. Even scenes of alcohol consumption were cut out from movies. Many famous wineries were simply destroyed. When Georges Simenon learnt about plantations of grapes being uprooted, he wrote a long letter to the Soviet authorities and this saved some wineries from being turned into ashes. |
Strikeforce is targeting a light heavyweight fight between former 205-pound champion Rafael "Feijao" Cavalcante and Ovince St. Preux at a yet to be announced July event, MMA Fighting has learned from sources close to the fight.Feijao vs. OSP has been discussed by all parties involved, however, Strikeforce officials recently told MMA Fighting that "nothing (is) finalized" just yet.Cavalcante (10-3) lost his title to Dan Henderson in March via third-round TKO. He won the title last August when he defeated Muhammed Lawal via third-round TKO.St-Preux (10-4) went 7-0 in 2010. He most recently scored a unanimous decision win over Abongo Humphrey in January.Recent reports stated that St-Preux would be facing Lawal at Strikeforce's June 18 event, but according to sources close to both fighters, that fighter was never close to being signed. MMARising.com recently reported that Lawal would instead be facing Roger Gracie on a July 9 card, which could be the same one to feature Feijao vs. OSP. |
The White House issued a statement on Saturday once again calling on Syria to uphold commitments it has made in recent months, “including the full implementation of a cease-fire.” The statement added, “We are consulting with our international partners regarding next steps toward a Syrian-led political transition” called for in two United Nations Security Council resolutions, and “the sooner this transition takes place, the greater the chance of averting a lengthy and bloody civil war.”
Syria’s uprising has become one of the most intractable and deadliest conflicts of the Arab Spring, with reports of at least four massacres in recent weeks, including accounts of killings of as many as 78 civilians, many of them women and children.
On Saturday, dozens of Syrians were killed in government attacks across the country, especially in villages around Damascus, the capital, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a group based in Britain with contacts in Syria. The group and other activists said security forces were carrying out sweeping arrests, particularly of young men, in towns around the capital.
The Obama administration is resisting calls to arm rebel groups, for fear that they are not an organized force and could eventually turn on one another. “The problem is that if we do nothing and Syria explodes, we have a broader conflict in the Middle East ,” a senior American diplomat said last week, before the United Nations announcement, adding, “But our options aren’t any better than they were a year ago.”
The observers had been the foundation of a six-point peace plan that Kofi Annan , the former United Nations secretary general and the special envoy to Syria, had sought to hammer out with the consent of Mr. Assad and his foreign sponsors, including Russia and Iran .
Both of those countries have huge stakes in the outcome: Russia has a military base in Syria and has long used Mr. Assad as an instrument to project influence in the region, and the Syrian government is Iran’s only real ally in the region. But Russia has frozen strong action, complaining that the West went beyond its humanitarian mandate when it aided the overthrow of Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi in Libya last year.
The leader of the observer mission in Syria, Gen. Robert Mood, said in a statement that he had little choice but to suspend the mission. Escalating violence across Syria over the past 10 days had prevented the teams from carrying out their mandate to verify events on the ground. They have repeatedly been attacked by pro-government supporters, driving them back in recent days from the village of Al Heffa, which had been under assault all week until all its residents fled.
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“The lack of willingness by the parties to seek a peaceful transition, and the push toward advancing military positions is increasing the losses on both sides: innocent civilians, men, women and children are being killed every day,” General Mood said. “It is also posing significant risks to our observers.” But he emphasized that he was only suspending the mission, not ending it, and would evaluate daily the chances for resuming its activities.
Ahmad Fawzi, Mr. Annan’s spokesman, said General Mood was responding in part to pressure from countries that contributed the observers.
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“Troop-contributing countries are saying our men and women are at risk, we are having second thoughts about this operation,” Mr. Fawzi said. “They are in danger and they want the danger to go away.”
“There is nothing final,” he said. “It is a suspension, not termination.” But patrols would resume only “when we return to a situation where both sides show us that they are serious and earnest about stopping the killing of each other.”
General Mood is expected to fly to New York to brief the Security Council on Monday.
Responding to the observers’ decision, Syria’s government said Saturday that it respected both the peace plan and the safety of the United Nations observers. But it blamed the opposition for the escalation of violence in Syria. In a statement, the Foreign Ministry also assailed “Arab and international powers” for arming the rebels and supporting their “defiance of the U.N. plan.”
By mid-July the original 90-day mandate for the observers will expire. But the suspension, if prolonged, will focus new pressure on those governments allied with Syria, particularly Russia and Iran, which have backed the plan as the only way to stop the violence.
The inclusion of Iran in an international group proposed by Mr. Annan to discuss ways to save the peace plan — a “contact group” in the United Nations’ parlance — was rejected by the United States , while Russia insisted on it. That raised serious questions about whether the contact group would ever meet.
At a minimum it is supposed to include the five permanent members of the Security Council, plus important neighboring states. “Everybody realizes this meeting has to take place,” Mr. Fawzi said. “They need to come up with a draft action plan.”
That plan is supposed to include a cease-fire and a political transition, presumably with Mr. Assad leaving the country.
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But Russia and Iran have continued to back Mr. Assad and have refused to endorse plans for his exit. The United States, along with Saudi Arabia and other Arab states, has embraced the rebels. The inability of the United Nations to bridge the gap only increases the likelihood that the Syrian conflict will become a regional proxy fight.
“There is just a political hurricane gathering in the Eastern Mediterranean,” said Andrew J. Tabler, a Syria scholar at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy. “Both sides agree that it is a hurricane, but they don’t agree on its nature.
“And in any case,” he continued, “I am not sure how you could contain this. Even if you started now, it would take a long time to get something in place that would tamp this down.”
Inside Syria, opposition activists called the observer mission a sham that had only served to deflect attention from the failure of the world powers to stop Mr. Assad’s forces from killing civilians.
“Their presence is just like their absence,” Mohammed el-Muetassem bi’Allah, 18, an activist from Homs, said of the observers. “They are incapable of stopping the violence. They were there and the shelling was intensifying on Homs and Khaldiya.” |
Figures from research institute, ZSW for solar energy and hydrogen, and the German Association of Energy and Water Industries (BDEW), indicate renewable energy will meet roughly 33% of Germanys gross energy demand in 2015, up from 27% last year.
Led by wind and PV power, renewables are set to generate around 193 billion kWh of energy, compared to 161 billion in 2014. Despite a moderate installation rate, solar plants have produced 35 billion kWh of energy in the first 10 months of 2015 as much as was produced in the whole of last year. Wind, meanwhile, had already generated 63 billion kWh by October 31, up around 47% on the same period in 2014.
"Regardless of the exact shares at the end of the year, it is again clear that renewable energies in Germanys electricity mix continue to gain in importance," commented Hildegard Müller, chairwoman of the BDEW.
She added that at the same time, the pressure to integrate renewables into the countrys overall power generation system is increasing. "The adequate configuration of the necessary structures must be pursued with urgency," she stated, including the expansion of transmission and distribution networks. |
Summary (details follow)
Google provides an early-stage variant of a general-purpose AI (GP-AI).
Other providers of an early-stage GP-AI include IBM, Microsoft, Facebook, Amazon, Apple, and Samsung.
Google and its AI competitors are likely to be operating under the assumption that one GP-AI could become the runaway market leader. Their likely thinking:
The more users a GP-AI has, the smarter it gets. The smarter a GP-AI gets, the more new users it will attract.
Google can produce multiple comedy series that showcase its AI being funny and getting smarter. In particular, these comedies can showcase Google’s AI getting smarter about facilitating group flow. This variant of flow:
is a top enabler of professional success for group members
often sparks romantic/sexual attraction between group members
Google’s flowmantic comedies could become very popular, not least because:
comedy and increased prospects of money and (great) sex stimulate the part of the brain called the nucleus accumbens
the nucleus accumbens mediates psychological addiction (i.e., manufactures cravings)
So Google’s comedies could enable Google’s AI to gain enough users to achieve escape velocity, the precursor to runaway market leadership.
Fun fact: Popular comedies typically generate a lot of revenue directly (e.g., via advertising, product placement).
Via comedy, then, the popularizing of Google’s AI could be run as a profit center.
So Google’s AI competitors . . .
I shared this article with Google by responding to the company’s October 2016 job post seeking a comedy writer for Google’s AI.
So, again, Google wanting its AI to be funny portends . . .
Re: early-stage GP-AI
“[T]he first genuine AI will not be birthed in a stand-alone supercomputer, but [rather] in the superorganism of a billion computer chips known as the ‘Net. . . . Any device [e.g., a smartphone] that touches this networked AI will share — and contribute to — its intelligence.”
— From 2016 book The Inevitable: Understanding the 12 Technological Forces That Will Shape Our Future, by the founding executive editor of Wired magazine
Re: Google’s AI
“Google Assistant, a voice-activated digital helper [that] . . . ‘learns’ about your habits and day-to-day activities and carries out ‘conversation actions’ to serve you. It also draws on information in your Google accounts. The more it knows about how, when, and where it is used, the more it’s able to help you.”
— From an October 9, 2016 article on Futurism.com
“All That New Google Hardware? It’s a Trojan Horse for AI”
— Title of an October 5, 2016 article on Wired.com
Re: Google wants its AI to be funny
“Google Taps Pixar, Onion Staff to Give AI Assistant a Sense of Humor”
— Title of an October 11, 2016 article on the website of PC magazine
Re: Google vs. IBM vs. Microsoft . . .
“Major technology firms are racing to infuse smartphones and other internet-linked devices with software smarts . . .
The artificial intelligence (AI) component in these programs aims to create a world in which everyone can have a virtual aide that gets to know them better with each interaction.”
— From an October 8, 2016 article on Yahoo.com
Companies mentioned in the article: Google, IBM, Microsoft, Facebook, Amazon, Apple, Samsung.
Re: one GP-AI could become the runaway market leader
“The more people who use an AI, the smarter it gets. The smarter it gets, the more people who use it. The more people who use it, the smarter it gets. And so on. Once a company enters this virtuous cycle, it tends to grow so big so fast that it overwhelms any upstart competitors. As a result, our AI future is likely to be ruled by an oligarchy of two or three large, general-purpose cloud-based commercial intelligences.”
— From The Inevitable: Understanding the 12 Technological Forces That Will Shape Our Future
Re: producing comedy series to (further) popularize a GP-AI
— From a 2013 article on Neilsen.com
— From the July 2014 report by Yahoo and Tumblr, in partnership with Razorfish and Digitas, titled “Content Marketing: Best Practices Among Millennials”
Re: producing profitable comedy series to (further) popularize a GP-AI
“The Big Four [TV] networks can charge an average of 35 percent more for a thirty-second spot on a situation comedy than one on a drama.”
— From 1999 book The Entertainment Economy
Re: group flow is a top enabler of professional success
“Flow’s two defining characteristics are its feel-good nature (flow is always a positive experience) and its function as a performance-enhancer. The [neuro]chemicals described herein are among the strongest . . . the body can produce.”
“A ten-year study done by McKinsey found top executives reported being up to five times more productive when in flow. Creativity and cooperation are so amplified by the state that [a] Greylock Partners venture capitalist . . . called ‘flow state percentage’ — defined as the amount of time employees spend in flow — the ‘most important management metric for building great innovation teams.’
. . . When performance peaks in groups . . . this isn’t just about individuals in flow — it’s the group entering the state together . . .”
— From 2014 book The Rise of Superman: Decoding the Science of Ultimate Human Performance
Re: group flow often sparks romantic/sexual attraction
“[T]here are extraordinarily powerful social bonding neurochemicals at the heart of both flow and group flow: dopamine and norepinephrine, that underpin romantic love . . .”
— From The Rise of Superman
“Great Groups are sexy places.
. . . [During Apple’s early years, Steve Jobs mandated that] employees share [hotel] rooms when they were at conventions and other professional meetings . . . to limit bed-hopping . . .”
— From 1997 book Organizing Genius: The Secrets of Creative Collaboration
Re: comedy stimulates the nucleus accumbens
“Mobbs saw that subjects’ brains became highly activated for all the cartoons, but one subset of structures responded solely for the funny ones — namely, the ventral tegmental area, the nucleus accumbens, and the amygdala. What do those brain regions have in common? They’re key components of what scientists call the dopamine reward circuit, which is responsible for distributing dopamine throughout the brain. In response to unfunny jokes, we not only fail to laugh, we miss out on the joy. That joy comes in the form of dopamine.
. . . [H]umor taps directly into the brain’s pleasure-production system.”
— From 2014 book Ha!: The Science of When We Laugh and Why
Re: the prospect of money stimulates the nucleus accumbens
“The brain scan at the top highlights the nucleus accumbens flaring up at the prospect of making money . . . (courtesy of Hans Breiter, Harvard Medical School)”
— from 2007 book Your Money and Your Brain: How the New Science of Neuroeconomics Can Help Make You Rich
Re: the prospect of (great) sex stimulates the nucleus accumbens
“[N]uclei accumbens, which respond nearly identically to the prospect of food, sex . . .”
— From 2009 book The Investor’s Manifesto
Re: the nucleus accumbens mediates psychological addiction
“[I]t’s no wonder companies stimulate consumers’ nucleus accumbens all the time. For example, the reason we find ourselves incessantly checking our smart phones is deeply rooted in the psychology of reward.”
— From a 2014 article by the author of 2014 book Hooked: How to Build Habit-Forming Products
“Dopamine and drug addiction: the nucleus accumbens shell connection.”
— Title of a 2004 academic paper published in Neuropharmacology (the paper had 674 citations as of October 23, 2016) |
The Ohio legislature voted this week to ban abortion at first detection of a fetal heartbeat, which is banning the procedure before some people even know they are pregnant, which is largely indistinguishable from banning all abortion. Now Republican Gov. John Kasich will sign it or veto it. Either way, the measure has done something significant.
The point of a heartbeat bill is bigger than policy. It’s also marketing. Pass or fail, it carries a message: We will never stop trying to take your body from you.
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Ohio is not the first state to use a heartbeat as a milestone to ban abortion all but outright. Earlier this year, the Supreme Court rejected an appeal on Arkansas' Human Heartbeat Protection Act, a 12-week ban, leaving in place two lower court rulings that struck it down.
And it was 2014 when a federal court overturned a nearly identical six-week ban in North Dakota, citing 40 years of constitutional precedent established by Roe v. Wade. The Supreme Court had made the law clear, according to the judge’s ruling, and “this court is not free to impose its own view of the law.”
It was an inevitable outcome, really. North Dakota’s governor had signaled that it was unconstitutional even as he signed it, and the same split among anti-abortion Republicans that played out in Ohio—some liked the bill’s intent but not its brazen lack of constitutional standing, some thought go big or go home when it comes to banning abortion—happened there, too.
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Even Kasich, who has signed virtually every abortion restriction that has reached his desk, indicated last year that he was skeptical of the measure on similar terms: it’s an invitation to expensive litigation. (North Dakota spent at least $200,000 to defend its legally indefensible law.)
And then as now, women put their own lives up for scrutiny to try to make a point about decency and medicine and what it means to have a hand on the levers of your own life.
While the bill was debated in Ohio in 2015, state Rep. Teresa Fedor, a Democrat from Toledo, joined the list of female lawmakers who openly shared their own abortion stories in the hope of wringing some humanity out of their colleagues.
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Fedor, who became pregnant after being raped, and chose to terminate the pregnancy, said on the House floor: “You don’t respect my reason, my rape, my abortion… What you are doing is so fundamentally inhuman, unconstitutional, and I’ve sat here too long.”
It didn’t move them, which is both shocking and not. Other women have tried, and failed, to use personal, often wrenching, appeals to convince others that they are people deserving of basic rights.
Now it's a question of what happens next, and why this go-round might be different even through we've seen this before. If Kasich makes good on his earlier skepticism and vetoes the bill, then it will die. But it’s also possible that the Legislature will try to send it back up again.
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Times are changing, after all.
“A new president, new Supreme Court appointees change the dynamic,” Ohio Senate President Keith Faber, a Republican from Celina, told the Columbus Dispatch when asked about the timing of the amendment. “And there was consensus in our caucus to move forward.”
The message has always been the message. But the magical thinking of anti-abortion lawmakers—a state will introduce an abortion ban that has been struck down elsewhere because maybe it will stick—has become more rooted in shifting political realities.
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If Donald Trump holds to his word and appoints Supreme Court justices who will reopen Roe, then even the paper-thin constitutional protections in place right now become vulnerable. And states like Ohio, unshackled from that legal precedent, may pass six-week bans, or total bans, without fear of a costly battle in court.
And so an embryo in Ohio could gain legal personhood at six weeks. And at six weeks, women could lose theirs. |
Today we thank the Southeastern Conference for reminding us it’s almost college football season, when big-time educational institutions hit the “hold” button on their ethical standards and all but light candles daily in hopes that their school does not end up at the top of the N.C.A.A. enforcement police blotter. This year, many of those hopes have already been extinguished and what was originally called the S.E.C.’s “Media Days” have officially been renamed the “Blame Everything on Those Dastardly Agents Days.”
It was a bit priceless — pun intended — that Alabama Coach Nick Saban (annual salary: $4 million) went on the offensive Wednesday, bemoaning how money is ruining this quaint little sport. He compared the agents to pimps and said they were victimizing his poor children (players).
Saban was joined in this particular rant by Florida Coach Urban Meyer (annual salary: $4 million). What spawned this frantic finger-pointing, writes Pat Forde of ESPN.com, is a rash of reports that prominent S.E.C. players were entertained by agents at a South Beach soiree. Georgia, not coincidentally, just received notice from the N.C.A.A. that its enforcers will be stopping by for a not-so-friendly visit. This, writes Jeff Schultz of the Atlanta Journal Constitution, is causing the coaches to suddenly get religion on the agent issue. As Gregg Doyel does a very good job of articulating on CBSSports.com, they are worried mostly because the N.C.A.A. showed it is finally ready to deal with the agent issue after years of ignoring it. The University of Southern California’s stiff penalties are the N.C.A.A.’s evidence of that.
So it was a bit disconcerting, writes Dennis Dodd on CBSSports.com, to hear S.E.C. Commissioner Mike Slive sounding Mike Garrett-like when he called for “education not enforcement” on the agent issue, that it might be time to talk about allowing players to sign with agents whenever they want. Everyone, it seems, would like to wash their hands of any responsibility and The Sporting News’s Dan Levy wrote that some of the blame should fall on those “kids,” players who are actually adults and should know better.
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On the bright side, we have articles talking about South Beach that do not involve LeBron James. Although if you prefer to linger more on the fiasco that was James’s “The Decision,” ESPN’s ombudsman, Don Ohlmeyer, has finally weighed in on the topic after the network has absorbed two weeks of public opinion pounding. His take? It was a travesty. But we already knew that.
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It does seem fitting too that Sports Illustrated picked this interlude to offer its annual rating of the 50 highest-earning athletes. It’s about the only reason these days that Tiger Woods can yell, “I’m No. 1!” |
The German noun »Licht« means »light«, while the adjective »lichte« translates as »sparse« and is not to be confused with »leicht«, »light« in English, which is another established term in the anatomy of type in both languages. Therefore »light« is actually an unfortunate, but common translation of »lichte«. »Inline« best describes the design of this style, although the outline is just as significant. In the type specimens of the time, a »lichte Grotesk« would have also been advertised as a »Zierschnitt«, suggesting it is a decorative weight to be used in display sizes.
Weights or single typefaces that follow this style may simply be drawn in closed outlines (i.e. Lumina, 1928), but usually stroke endings are open, lending the impression of parallel strokes (Elegant Grotesk, 1929). The idea of an inline is provoked by the negative space between the strokes and can be enhanced by additional strokes (Reflexschrift Helios, 1928) – Prisma (1931) is a popular example of this feature. |
A left-leaning group at California State University, Long Beach called a newly-formed conservative student organization “white supremacist” and said the members were not “welcome” on campus, emails show.
CSULB’s “Student for Quality Education” group asked for ideas on how to “counteract” the newly formed Turning Point USA chapter in an email, Campus Reform reported.
In the message, SQE finds fault with TPUSA’s support for ideas such as the “free market, limited government, and free speech.”
SQE asks its members to oppose the conservative group.
“Have an idea of what we can do to counteract them?” SQE wrote in the email. “Come to our meeting and let us know.”
Under the heading “stop white supremacy,” the message warns about "right-wing student groups" such as TPUSA.
“Right-wing student groups are popping up all across the country and CSULB is no different,” the email stated. “Let’s show them that they are not welcome here.”
The TPUSA chapter president told Campus Reform that SQE has sent out at least two similar emails.
They are “promoting hate and discrimination against any group that is ‘right-wing,’” Oscar Acevedo said.
TPUSA’s founder, Charlie Kirk, rejected the characterization of his group as having anything to do with "white supremacy."
“Calling Turning Point USA a white supremacist group is one of the most intellectually lazy attacks upon our organization,” Kirk told Fox News. “Not only do we have widespread diversity within our ranks, we also host the nation’s largest ‘Young Latino Leadership Summit’ for young conservative Latino leaders each year.”
Kirk said this treatment is the new normal for conservatives on campus.
“Whenever the left finds a group or organization they disagree with, they immediately want to characterize that group as racist,” he said. “Instead of having a substantive conversation about the issues they would much rather hurl insults that aim to delegitimize conservatives.”
SQE did not immediately respond to a request for comment. |
Elon Musk took to Twitter early this morning to sketch out a new plan to disrupt traffic on American roadways by digging tunnels underground to circumvent congestion.
Specifically, Musk wants to open The Boring Company, which he says will actually happen. In a series of four tweets, Musk didn’t reveal exactly how he would do this without causing even more traffic, since that’s what happens with construction projects.
There’s a chance Musk was just venting his frustration out loud on Twitter this morning. He’s one of the only people where it's equally possible he's just making a corny joke or actually scheming an earth-moving infrastructure plan. But now that Musk joined Trump’s advisory team, it’s worth taking what he says seriously.
And the serial entrepreneur did update his Twitter bio to read, “Tesla, SpaceX, Tunnels (yes, tunnels) & OpenAI.”
Traffic is driving me nuts. Am going to build a tunnel boring machine and just start digging... — Elon Musk (@elonmusk) December 17, 2016
It shall be called "The Boring Company" — Elon Musk (@elonmusk) December 17, 2016
Boring, it's what we do — Elon Musk (@elonmusk) December 17, 2016
I am actually going to do this — Elon Musk (@elonmusk) December 17, 2016
As an adviser to Trump, Musk may have more pull to see this through. Trump said he plans to invest big — $1 trillion — to rebuild American infrastructure and reshape American roads, specifically by attracting private investment.
Musk is no stranger to tackling big problems with innovative workarounds, and he certainly knows a lot about transportation.
But Musk is already fairly busy. He’s working to one day colonize Mars, hence SpaceX, his interplanetary transportation company. He’s deeply concerned with climate change, which is one of the reasons he makes electric cars with Tesla and solar installations with SolarCity. Artificial intelligence could one day outsmart humanity and lead to the ultimate destruction of all humans, so last year he started a nonprofit called OpenAI to help find solutions to keep AI working for, and not against us.
Before joining Trump’s advisory team, the Tesla CEO said Trump “doesn't seem to have the sort of character that reflects well on the United States." |
Jeff Bezos, CEO of AMAZON, introduces new Kindle Fire HD Family and Kindle Paper white during the AMAZON press conference on September 06, 2012 in Santa Monica, California. Photo by JOE KLAMAR/AFP/GettyImages
Over the weekend, Henry Blodget had a good experience with Amazon that cost them some money, a tendency he declared makes them one of the best companies in the world. Amazon, he says, is like Rick’s Cafe in Casablanca in that it “constantly sacrifices short-term profit in the interest of serving other constituencies and values, including customers, employees, and the community,” so “it’s certainly no mystery why Amazon continues to take over the world.”
I agree with all of that, but I insist that it actually is a mystery. After all there’s a reason why most companies don’t employ the “provide a great service at such a great price that we don’t actually earn any profits” business strategy, namely that shareholders typically want to own shares in profitable companies.
If you don’t turn a healthy profit, people tend to sell your shares. That makes the company cheap enough that sooner or later some leveraged buyout shop will take you over, reorganize, start earning profits, and start paying themselves special dividends. That’s life. Except for a few special companies who have a hearty ban of investors who have enough faith in management to let them pursue a strategy of growth and excellence rather than profits. It’s the fact that Amazon is able to maintain such a healthy market capitalization even while pursuing Jeff Bezos’ strategy that makes it such a terrifying competitor. If Wal-Mart didn’t care about turning a profit, it could easily raise wages and have a better reputation. If your cable company didn’t care about turning a profit, it would slash prices and you’d love it. If Apple didn’t care about turning a profit, Verizon and AT&T would be handing out free iPhone 5s like candy.
It would be a wonderful world. But it’s not the world we live in because these are publicly traded companies in a capitalistic economy. They don’t just want to make money; the broader dynamics of the marketplace mean they have to make money or the managers will lose their jobs. Amazon is special. Wall Street has essentially granted Bezos the right to operate an extremely forward-looking charitable venture on the theory that at some future point it will acquire monopoly pricing power and start screwing us all. Personally, I’m skeptical that theory makes sense, so I’m just going to enjoy the ride. But don’t hate on Amazon’s competitors for not offering as good a value proposition. Pity them. I’m sure the bosses here at the Washington Post Company would love the opportunity to just deliver products regardless of profit, never pay dividends, and get hailed as geniuses for figuring out that the key to running a great media brand is for expenses to be unrelated to costs. |
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The first Indian monitoring and early warning system for air pollution was launched on May 12, 2017, in the nation’s fifth most populous city, with the hope that it will reduce the health impacts and deaths from air pollution, a growing problem in a country with nine of the world’s 20 most polluted cities in 2016, according to the World Health Organization (WHO).
Combining the efforts of local government, scientists and nonprofits, eight new air quality monitoring sites across Ahmedabad will produce a daily air quality index (AQI) that will be accessible to citizens through 11 LED screens across the city, as part of what is called the Air Information and Response (AIR) plan.
An early warning system will notify people of excessive pollution days as part of the response plan, while medical professionals will be trained to respond to air-pollution emergencies. The monitors are installed at eight locations (Bopal, Satellite, Pirana, Raikhad, Navrangpura, Rakhiyal, Chandkheda and the airport) in a city of over 5.5 million people.
An AQI is a metric on a sliding scale that tells people about the quality of the air and associated near-term health impacts. It transforms complex air quality data of various pollutants into a single number (index value), nomenclature and colour.
Source: Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology & Ahmedabad AIR planNote: Each of the AQI categories are decided based on ambient concentration values of air pollutants and their likely health impacts (known as health breakpoints). The eight pollutants measured are PM 10, PM 2.5, NO 2 , SO 2 , CO, O 3 , NH 3 , and Pb for which short-term (upto 24-hours) National Ambient Air Quality Standards are prescribed.
Ahmedabad was among the five most polluted cities in India in terms of PM 2.5, according to the WHO’s 2014 Ambient Air Pollution database.
PM 2.5 is particulate matter finer than 2.5 micro-meters, or about 30 times finer than a human hair. Inhaled deep into the lungs, they can cause heart attacks, strokes, lung cancer and respiratory diseases, and are known to pose the greatest risk to human health. Their measurement is considered to be the best indicator of the level of health risks from air pollution, according to the WHO.
In the footsteps of Beijing
People living in more polluted areas die prematurely after long-term exposure to air pollution, and inconsistent monitoring makes it difficult to assess the threat posed by ambient air pollution.
The AIR plan is a collaborative effort between the Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation (AMC), Indian Institute of Public Health (IIPH), a nonprofit in Gandhinagar, Natural Resources Defense Council (a non-profit head-quartered in New York), Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology (government institute) and the Indian Meteorological Department’s System of Air Quality and Weather Forecasting And Research (SAFAR) network.
The monitoring and warning system will be tried for the first time in India, but follows the successful example of Beijing, that started the program for issuing colour coded pollution alerts in 2013, according to this report by The Scientific American.
However, this warning plan was accompanied by other measures like restricted driving schedules, school closures and reduced industrial production to curb emissions, according to a 2014 paper in the Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health, which is missing in the Ahmedabad plan.
The AMC has set aside a budget of Rs 30 lakh for 2017, Chirag Shah, nodal officer of the AIR plan and the Deputy Health Officer of the West Zone at the AMC, told IndiaSpend.
“All the recurring costs, such as the maintenance of screens and stations, issuing advisories and initiating programs to increase public awareness will also be borne by us,” said Shah. “The land for installing the AQI monitors has been provided free of cost to SAFAR by the AMC, and SAFAR has invested about Rs 20 crore to install ten AQI monitors in Gandhinagar and Ahmedabad, eight of which are here.”
The AMC had drafted a comprehensive Air Action Plan to combat pollution from construction activities, vehicular emissions and industries in 2016, its second such plan since 2002, but it is yet to be implemented, according to this Times of India report on May 12, 2017.
Forecast air quality, issue early warnings and be better prepared
The AMC Health Department is responsible for coordination of the AQI and AIR Plan. This includes monitoring the daily AQI, issuing alerts and warning on bad air days and disseminating public health messages to local departments and community service providers.
The AIR plan is modelled after Ahmedabad’s Heat Action Plan (HAP), launched in 2013 to reduce health impacts and mortality from extreme heat waves through measures that included early warning systems, increased public awareness and training health professionals.
“If people don’t go to the highly polluted areas and follow the health advisory to minimise exposure, then symptoms will be reduced and there will also be a cost saving for citizens,” Dileep Mavalankar, , Director of IIPH, Gandhinagar, told IndiaSpend. “So, it depends on how effectively we are able to communicate to patients and the people who are vulnerable to avoid exposure.”
“Once this plan is implemented we should be able to observe that the admissions to hospitals or mortality from high pollution levels comes down by taking precautions, like we saw after implementing the heat action plan,” said Mavalankar.
As part of the AIR plan, the AMC will issue a health alert when the AQI forecast for the next 24 hours is “very poor” (301-400). When the AQI forecast rises to “severe” levels (401-500), a health warning will be issued.
Under the health alert, the nodal officer of the AIR program–Shah, the deputy health officer–will “inform urban health centres as well as private medical practitioners including pulmonologists, paediatricians to alert them to expect and be prepared for more cases of respiratory health effects”.
If the AQI exceeds 401 (severe), the nodal officer will inform urban health centres, the local ambulance service, transport, traffic police, the government radio station, schools, colleges, and the estate department–which handles permissions for real estate–in order to control road dust and construction work.
What causes Ahmedabad’s air pollution?
“Major contributors to air pollution are population, industries and vehicles. Rate of urbanisation and industrialisation leading to growth of vehicles make cities like Ahmedabad, Surat, Vadodara and Rajkot the hot spots for air pollution,” according to this 2012 report by the Gujarat ENVIS centre.
Ambient levels of PM 2.5 from transport sources alone are expected to double by 2030 if no action is taken, according to this 2015 report by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.
Between 2000-01 and 2010-11, Ahmedabad’s vehicles more than doubled from 1.2 million to over 2.6 million, with two-wheelers forming the largest proportion of the fleet. As of 2014-15, there were 3.4 million vehicles in the city. Ahmedabad also had more than 2,000 industrial air-polluting units as of May 2012, the report stated.
In Ahmedabad, “pollution comes from a variety of sources – power plants and brick kilns surrounding the district. We often believe that vehicles moving in immediate surroundings contribute to the pollution in cities. However, a plant or a kiln away from the city can also affect Ahmedabad considering the wind direction,” Sarath Guttikunda, researcher and founder of Urbanemissions.info (a repository of research, and analysis related to air pollution) told the Times of India in this 2012 report. Ahmedabad has two thermal power plants and more than 300 brick kilns, according to this 2012 paper.
“While Chennai has almost the same size and more industries, sea breeze blows PM 10 away from the city, reducing the suspended particulates in the air,” said Guttikunda. “Going by the PM 10 levels in Ahmedabad, the estimated premature deaths due to pollution is likely to be 4,950 as compared to 3,950 in Chennai.”
The Air Action Plan, if implemented, will reduce pollution from these sources through various measures such as improving fuel quality, phasing out commercial vehicles over 15 years old, traffic management, installing pollution control measures in industries and reducing pollution from thermal power plants.
A part of the plan was also to strengthen the air quality monitoring network and sponsor studies on health impacts of air pollution on the city, which is now underway.
How serious is Ahmedabad’s air-pollution problem?
In 2015, 153 of 168 days (93%) monitored for air quality in Ahmedabad remained “good” according to the national air quality index (AQI).
However, in 2016, the annual PM 2.5 average in Ahmedabad was 183.35 µg/m³ (microgram/cubic metre), over 4.5 times the national ambient air quality standard of 40 µg/m³ prescribed by the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB). In 2017, the monitor installed by the CPCB in Maninagar to provide real-time air-quality data has been working intermittently.
IndiaSpend analysed air quality data from its monitoring systems, collectively called #Breathe, for two devices located in Ahmedabad for the duration March 14 to May 14, 2017, when CPCB data were unavailable.
Source: Data from the #Breathe network
Of the 62 days that IndiaSpend analysed, only six days (9.6%) fell within the WHO guideline of 25 µg/m³. However, only three of 62 days were over the national standard of 60 µg/m³, meaning that 95% of the monitored days fell within the permissible Indian standard for PM 2.5. However, the most severe air-pollution levels occur during the winter months of November, December and January, according to Mavalankar.
Levels of PM 2.5 over 60 may cause breathing discomfort to people with lung disease such as asthma, and discomfort to people with heart disease, children and older adults.
“While we need more data, roughly 40% or Ahmedabad’s population will fall within this vulnerable category,” Mavalankar said.
(Patil is an analyst with IndiaSpend.)
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Facebook announced Monday it would break ground this summer on its Iowa data center.
Data centers in Iowa are dominating headlines this week as Facebook on Monday announced its intention to build a facility in Altoona and the next day the State of Iowa revealed Google is expanding its existing project in Council Bluffs. The immediate costs of these two projects is expected to reach nearly $700 million, creating hundreds of construction jobs but likely just 31 new jobs between the two data centers.
Here’s an overview of the Iowa data center news from the two California-based tech giants:
Facebook Fast Facts
The news: Facebook announced it will begin construction this summer in Altoona, Iowa on a 476,000-square foot data center that promises to be among the most advanced and energy efficient of its kind. The company’s 194-acre site could accommodate up to two additional data center buildings that may be constructed in future phases of the project. The Des Moines Register spoke with experts that believe the amount of investment could reach $1.5 billion. This is Facebook’s fourth owned and operated data center—the others are in Prineville, Ore.; Forest City, N.C.; and Luleå, Sweden.
Facebook announced it will begin construction this summer in Altoona, Iowa on a 476,000-square foot data center that promises to be among the most advanced and energy efficient of its kind. The company’s 194-acre site could accommodate up to two additional data center buildings that may be constructed in future phases of the project. The Des Moines Register spoke with experts that believe the amount of investment could reach $1.5 billion. This is Facebook’s fourth owned and operated data center—the others are in Prineville, Ore.; Forest City, N.C.; and Luleå, Sweden. Cost: Facebook will invest a minimum of $299.5 million in the project.
Facebook will invest a minimum of $299.5 million in the project. Job creation: Facebook is expected to create at least 31 new jobs at a qualifying wage of $23.12 per hour. The project also is expected to create hundreds of construction jobs.
Facebook is expected to create at least 31 new jobs at a qualifying wage of $23.12 per hour. The project also is expected to create hundreds of construction jobs. Incentives: The Iowa Economic Development Authority board approved $18 million in tax benefits through its High Quality Jobs program. The City of Altoona will exempt local property taxes for the site for 20 years. The city also has in place a special discounted water rate for businesses that use more than 9 million gallon a month. After 9 million gallons, the business would get a $3 rebate per thousand gallons.
The Iowa Economic Development Authority board approved $18 million in tax benefits through its High Quality Jobs program. The City of Altoona will exempt local property taxes for the site for 20 years. The city also has in place a special discounted water rate for businesses that use more than 9 million gallon a month. After 9 million gallons, the business would get a $3 rebate per thousand gallons. Sources: “Facebook chooses Iowa for next data center location” – Office of the Governor of Iowa; “A New Data Center for Iowa” – Facebook; “Update: Facebook investment expected to grow, state leaders say” – Des Moines Register; “Altoona approves new Facebook data center” – Des Moines Business Record
Facebook Newsfeed
Impact on startup community
“One of the biggest problems we have here is there are not a lot of big technology companies, other than sales offices,” said Christian Renaud, a mentor at StartupCity Des Moines. “This is going to make it better for the tech community in terms of exits,” such as potential acquisitions of small companies. – Des Moines Register
Nebraska’s missed chance
Kearney Mayor Stan Clouse said Monday that even if Iowa was chosen over his central Nebraska city, competing for such a huge data center was a good experience and an honor for the community. Kearney’s proposed site, near its airport, eventually will attract a data center, Clouse said. – Omaha World Herald
Speculating Iowa choice
The social networking giant’s goal is to obtain 25 percent of the power for its data centers from renewable sources, like wind, by 2015. And Iowa has it, ranking No. 3 nationally last year in the generation of wind energy, according to the American Wind Energy Association. Nebraska was No. 26. – Omaha World-Herald
No tornadoes
(Altoona city administrator Jeff) Mark said the company officials also were very concerned about weather and a big draw was the fact that a tornado has never touched down in Altoona. – Des Moines Business Record
Greater Des Moines Partnership Facebook Announcement Video
Prineville, Ore.: “Hub for high-tech”
In Prineville, Ore., where Facebook is building its second 300,000-square-foot data center, City Manager Steven Forrester said the company has helped transform the small town. – Des Moines Register
Google Fast Facts
The news: Google is going to increase the investment of its previous data center project in Council Bluffs, Iowa by $400 million, bringing its total spent in the area to $1.5 billion. The data center houses computer systems and associated components that support services such as Google Search, Gmail, Google Maps and Google+.
Google is going to increase the investment of its previous data center project in Council Bluffs, Iowa by $400 million, bringing its total spent in the area to $1.5 billion. The data center houses computer systems and associated components that support services such as Google Search, Gmail, Google Maps and Google+. Cost: Goolge will invest $400 million to expand its data center in Council Bluffs, Iowa.
Goolge will invest $400 million to expand its data center in Council Bluffs, Iowa. Job creation: Google is not pledging any additional new jobs, according to the Omaha World-Herald.
Google is not pledging any additional new jobs, according to the Omaha World-Herald. Incentives: The Iowa Economic Development Authority board approved an amendment request from Google, Inc., to increase the project budget of its April 2012 High Quality Jobs award. Additional tax benefits in the maximum amount of $7.2 million were awarded in the form of a refund of sales and use taxes paid during construction.
The Iowa Economic Development Authority board approved an amendment request from Google, Inc., to increase the project budget of its April 2012 High Quality Jobs award. Additional tax benefits in the maximum amount of $7.2 million were awarded in the form of a refund of sales and use taxes paid during construction. Sources: “Board Action: Economic Development Board Approves Financial Assistance” – Iowa Economic Development Authority; “Google Pumps $400 Million More into Iowa, Investment Now Tops $1.5 Billion” – Data Center Knowledge; “Tax breaks OK’d for Facebook, Google in Iowa” – Omaha World-Herald
Google News
The data center’s history
Google spent $600 million to build the initial phase of capacity in Council Bluffs, followed by phased expansion investments of $300 million, $200 million and now an additional $400 million. Total: $1.5 billion. Let that sink in. – Data Center Knowledge
Google versus Facebook?
So as Facebook pushes Google, perhaps Google is now pushing back a bit today with its own Iowa news. Google’s is a bigger project announcement, coming the same day after Facebook’s might just be a coincidence enabled by incentive packages, or it might be an attempt to steal Facebook’s thunder. – GigaOm
Credits: Data center image courtesy of Facebook. Video from Greater Des Moines Partnership on YouTube.
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An 88-year-old horse lover’s wish to see the animals again came true when a Shetland pony paid a visit to her care home.
Betty Burchett, a Sunrise of Eastbourne resident, has had a life-long passion for horses, having owned, trained and loved them from a young age.
Having been in low spirits for some time, it was Betty’s love of horses, combined with the dedication of a Sunrise staff member, which began to turn Betty’s life around.
In December, Betty was declining her food and was barely drinking. She was becoming very frail.
Betty and her designated care assistant, Emma Draper, spent many days chatting, reflecting on life, and sharing happy memories.
Upon hearing that Betty’s one wish would be to run her hands through a horse’s coat one more time, the pair struck a deal.
They agreed that Betty’s wish could become a reality and that a trip to a nearby stable would be arranged, if Betty was able to eat the food she needed to build up the strength to go.
A few weeks later, Betty wrapped up in a warm coat, hat, gloves and a scarf, and she was reunited with her beloved animals, after a long time apart.
Taken to the local yard by Emma, Betty was able to meet many different breeds of horses, and enjoyed spending time with the yard dog too.
She was overwhelmed by the incredible day and how special it felt to be reunited with the horses.
Betty took a few strands of hay as a memento to remember the precious day, which she now keeps in her room which is adorned with photographs of her winning horses from racecourses around the country.
The Sunrise of Eastbourne team also organised another special day for Betty last week.
Bailey, the eight-year-old miniature Shetland mare from Seven Sisters Pet Pals, paid a surprise visit to the Eastbourne home.
As well as being patted and stroked lovingly by all the residents for more than an hour in Sunrise’s Reminiscence neighbourhood, Bailey paid a special visit to Betty’s bedroom, coming right beside her bed to be stroked.
The pony’s entrance made Betty’s face light up, and she was smiling and laughing as she stroked Bailey.
Emma’s small but thoughtful action has made such a difference to both Betty and her family, who have been overwhelmed by the opportunity for Betty to spend special time with horses once again.
General Manager at Sunrise of Eastbourne, Fiona White, said, “The transformation in Betty since visiting the stables and now being visited by Bailey, has been incredible.
“She is a new person, and the sparkle is back in her eye. Sometimes it’s the little things that mean so much to our residents and families.
“We are so proud of Emma, who constantly goes above and beyond her duty to look after residents and ensure that their lives are enriched with the things they love.
“Emma selflessly going the extra mile epitomises the culture of care here at Sunrise of Eastbourne, and we are delighted that Betty has had such a special few days.” |
Dear How Do I: Business?
I run a small publishing and distribution business and we've run into a small problem.
Our main business is in educational texts and textbooks for primary and secondary school students, but the recent doubt over Gonski has meant a lot of our client schools have decided not to renew contracts.
Should we wait for new policy or is it time to bail from the market?
Sincerely,
Bruce McRobertson
Hi Bruce,
There are a couple of micro-economic principles that apply here.
The first task is to test if the market you're working is stable enough to stay in. Take the number of contracts you usually have and then divide it by the number of times Joe Hockey has mentioned the Labor Party this month.
If the resulting number is greater than one, you're in trouble and so is the economy.
Secondly, businesses within the education sector face a different long-run production curve to most industries, mainly due to what economists call Ignatius' Law.
Basically, for any given level of production, Chris Pyne's propensity to lie about education policy remains constant at "almost certain".
The unfortunate upshot of all this is that the education sector, especially for private suppliers, is as stable as a happy-clapper speaking tongues during a royal commission.
My advice for now is to exit the market, buy Delloite and KPMG stocks and get rich off the sale of public-private partnership failures that'll be common over the next 10 years.
If you've got cash to spend after that, a drug addiction might make the next generation of school-leavers somewhat more bearable. |
YPSILANTI, MI - A dark side of Ypsilanti's history is being acknowledged Friday afternoon with the unveiling of historical markers at the site of Parkridge Homes.
Officials from the Michigan State Historic Preservation Office planned to unveil three markers during a ceremony from 4 to 6 p.m. Friday, May 5 at the Parkridge Community Center, 591 Armstrong Drive, in Ypsilanti.
The Parkridge Community Center was built the same year as Parkridge Homes, which served as segregated housing in the 1940s for African Americans in Ypsilanti who worked at the Willow Run Bomber Plant, contributing to the war effort.
The homes were constructed in 1943 by African-American architect Hilyard Robinson, designed to create a community and address a growing shortage of housing for workers in the area. Parkridge Homes was the last of three housing developments built during the time period in Ypsilanti.
It was later converted to public housing in the early 1950s. The barracks-style housing site had 80 units and as many as 189 people living there in 2013. Of those 189 individuals, 112 were under the age of 18.
The housing complex was demolished in July 2016.
Ypsilanti to begin demolition of aging Parkridge Homes public housing Demolition of the aging Parkridge Homes public housing complex will begin this week.
The buildings are an important part of local history, said Andrea Plevek, director of the Washtenaw County Office of Community & Economic Development.
"This dedication highlights both the history of housing segregation in Washtenaw County as well as the incredible contributions of African-Americans to our community," Plevek said in a statement. "It is important to acknowledge and learn from our past in order to improve our future, and projects like this allow us to do just that."
The historical marker event was proceeded by months of research that resulted in photo albums and images of the residents and daily life at Parkridge Homes.
The markers will display information on the history of the building developments and the architect, to be installed at the management building of the New Parkridge Homes under construction between First Avenue and Armstrong Drive in Ypsilanti.
New Parkridge Homes include 86 units of both two-family and duplex housing, developed by community organizations such as the Washtenaw County OCED, Ypsilanti Housing Commission, the City of Ypsilanti and general contractor for the site, ASTI Environmental.
The history of Parkridge Homes was funded by a grant from the Michigan Humanities Council and part of a larger program to record African-American history in Ypsilanti. |
A longtime Pokémon superfan who is being sued by the company for organizing a themed party during the PAX Prime gaming conference in Seattle said he needs to come up with $4,000 to settle the case.
Ramar Larkin Jones simply never thought it would come to this, but he had no choice but to launch a crowdfunding campaign to raise the money.
“I thought it was a scare tactic,” Jones said. “I thought once the party was canceled there would be nothing more about this. I’m shocked.”
GeekWire first reported on the case when The Pokémon Company International, Inc. claimed copyright infringement the night before the so-called “5th Annual Unofficial Pokemon PAX Kickoff Party” party was supposed to go down in August.
Jones had arranged the party every year since 2011 for all the self-proclaimed geeks who flock to Seattle to celebrate their passion at the annual PAX convention.
He said he lost money on the party every year, and this years was going to be no different. Tickets to the event cost $2, and he made a total of about $500 off the sales.
Jones said he spent $450 on a DJ and gift card giveaways alone. He also bought decorations, was going to give away a Kindle Fire to whoever showed up wearing the best costume and a cash prize to the winner of a Super Smash Bros. tournament.
According to event listings, the party was going to feature an “AMAZIN POKEMON MASHUP,” “Pokemon themed shots and drinks,” “Smash Bros. Tournament with cash prize,” “Dancing,” “Giveaways,” “Cosplay Contest and more.”
But Pokémon’s lawyers took issue with a poster and Facebook post for the event that contained pictures of Pikachu and Snivy, two of Pokémon’s copyrighted characters. In the lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court in the Western District of Washington, Pokémon’s lawyers say they aim to “put an end to and obtain redress” for the “blatant and willful infringement.”
Jones said the complaint was filed without any kind of warning, and he would have canceled the party sooner had he known there were any issues.
Jones tells GeekWire the company’s lawyers now say they are willing to settle the case if he pays their $4,000 in legal fees within the next 45 days.
The Pokémon Company International, Inc. has not responded to several requests for comment.
Jones said he could fight the case in court, but he’s sure his own legal fees would end up costing more than the settlement offer even if he won.
Jones, who is the manager of a Seattle cafe, said he asked for a year to pay the money, but the company’s lawyers are sticking to the deadline. Not having “anywhere close” to that amount of cash, he launched a crowdfunding campaign on GoFundMe.
“So I’m reaching out to the PAX video game community. Anything you can donate would be greatly appreciated,” he wrote on the campaign’s page. “Trust me I will never throw another fandom party again.” |
Before being gunned down, in an apparent Islamic State-inspired terrorist attack, a SOMALI MUSLIM man, 20, ran into a group of pedestrians on a street corner with his vehicle, then got out and used a butcher knife to cut several people, said OSU President. FBI refuses to rule out terror link. (Well, DUH)
NBC NBC News has identified the suspect as 18-year-old Somali Muslim Abdul Razak Ali Artan. Artan was an Ohio State student who left his homeland with his family in 2007. They lived in Pakistan before coming to the U.S., where Artan became a permanent resident in 2014.
UPDATE: A 20-year-old Somali man is the suspect in the Ohio State University attack https://t.co/G7ANHT8lbn pic.twitter.com/kdOzF7aWiV — CBS News (@CBSNews) November 28, 2016
Columbus police said a man driving a car on The Ohio State University campus jumped a curb and hit several pedestrians before getting out of his gray Honda Civic and stabbing others. Within one minute, police said, an OSU officer shot and killed the man and confiscated his butcher knife.
Here’s a photo of the DEAD MUSLIM TERRORIST.
CNN Ten people were hospitalized after an attack Monday at Ohio State University, Columbus Fire spokeswoman Rebecca Diehm said. Nine are in stable condition, and one is in critical condition, she said.
The university released a statement after the attack. “A suspect has been shot and reported deceased,” the university said. “Victim injuries include stab wounds, injury by motor vehicle and other injuries that are being evaluated.”
told CNN One witnessthat the attacker “completely silent” during the stabbing. The witness said the suspect “was very creepy.” The silence remained “even when he was shot.”
HE WAS RIGHT AGAINhttps://t.co/Sq13LIEZJk — Comrade Stump (@ComradeStump1) November 28, 2016
CNN will probably blame Donald Trump for that Somali refuge attacking the students at Ohio State University. #PrayersForOSU — Mark Dice (@MarkDice) November 28, 2016
Inquisitr Jason Bower, a student with the university, stated that he saw a man pull out a knife “between the Koffolt Laboratories and Watts Hall.” “He pulled a large knife and started chasing people around, trying to attack them,” the student was quoted.
WBNS reports NBC Columbus’ Ted Hart reports that nine people were injured. The station says that of those nine, eight are in stable condition while one is in critical condition.that a person attacked with a large knife is a professor at the school.
A speech by Ohio Governor John Kasich had been planned nearby the site of the attack for later in the day. The governor’s speech has now been cancelled (He’d hate to have to admit the attack was by a Muslim).
HEAVY In the A ugust 25 edition of the Ohio State Lantern, Artan was featured in the “Humans of Ohio State” feature. During his interview, Artan bemoaned the lack of pray facilities at OSU. He stresses in the piece that he needs to pray five times a day.
Artan adds, “I’m a Muslim, it’s not what the media portrays me to be. If people look at me, a Muslim praying, I don’t know what they’re going to think.” |
20
104 E Main St
Manchester , MI 48158
(734) 428-8003
We were eager to go to the newly renovated Frank's. The whole place has is cheerful, friendly, and sincere. Our pizza was excellent. They are passionate about making pizza. I wish the Greek salad was a less iceberg, more green. Everything was fairly priced. This place gives me hope for Manchester. I've lived in the area over 30 years. This is my favorite Manchester restaurant.
Frank's Place is the best pizza in Manchester - there's no doubt about that. Great taste and quality ingredients make it worth a go if you're in the mood for for pizza. My only knock is the price: it's much pricier than I expected. On my last visit, one small supreme/"super" pizza and one medium pepperoni set me back nearly $32 for takeout, which is quite a bit steeper than comparable non-chain pizza places around the state. Even still, I really enjoyed the pizza and will order again in the future. It's that good. Pro tip: Frank's also sells balls of dough if enjoy making your own pizza at home.
So my girl and I went for a drive right? We're like "Manchester, that's a town I guess" so we drive through. It's 7:45 PM and there's nothing open besides a couple of divey-looking bars. But then, this glowing open sign is on and we are it "Frank's Place". We park, we go in, there's a staff of cooks working their ass off making pizzas and cleaning, making entertaining conversation. We ask to eat in, so we shall. Food: Italian faire and some fried snacks. BUT THEY HAVE GRINDERS. OMG MEATBALL GRINDER. 18Inches of meaty saucy cheesy goodness. Holy shit. It was amazing. Got it with loaded waffle fries. FOR $14! Go here. Seriously.
Love the food. Always delicious. Food not the issue, called an order in and my daughter ended up getting hurt so we called back to let them know we were unable to pickup our order (didn't want to drive in the snow with an injured toddler) apologized in the panic of the moment. The woman yelled at me on the phone and was appauled that I had to cancel, swore at me and hung up. Not sure what made us deserve that with everything going on. Thanks Franks.
Fabulous pizza and pasta. Great service and prices. Really enjoyed our waitress and all the fresh ingredients.
Guy with amazing tats asked us, too! Great place- skip Ollie's and come on down the block to Frank's. We had the very yummy Sicilian bread (a cheese pizza- good but not necessary) and a thin crust, basil-pepperoni-onion-feta large pizza that was amazing except for the basil, which was, sadly, burned to an un-basil-y tasting crisp (ie hay) in the oven. It is far better to put it on pizza *after* cooking it. They make their own dough and you can taste the difference! Enough pizza for breakfast AND lunch the next day, too. Worth the drive from Ann Arbor. Highly recommended!
Well, there are very few places to eat in this lovely small town, so this gets a 4th star from me! We went to Manchester for fireworks, and enjoyed the picturesque drive from Ann Arbor as well as the fireworks celebration in town. The food was pretty good at Franks. The restaurant is a bit bare-bones with decorations and ambience... a no frills small town place! The best deal on the menu was the side salad. I had low expectations since it was only $2, but it was heaped with cucumbers, tomatoes, lettuce, onions, cheese, and croutons! Yum! I'd skip the icky thick basil vinaigrette dressing and go for something else though. The pizza was good (although we were offered "canned or fresh mushrooms"... canned??! ew!) and a large gave two of us about half to take home for leftovers. Sadly they don't sell beer or wine... that would be a nice upgrade! It's a good spot to check out if you are in town.
This is my favorite pizza in town. I could eat the Tomato, Butter, & Basil Pizza non-stop. So freakin' tasty.
I love when you're walking out and the kids covered in tattoos making pizzas sincerely ask how your experience was and thank you for coming in. I've been to Frank's, maybe a dozen times, over the last 15 years and I don't think the place has ever changed. The Sicilian bread is still to die for, the service is excellent. One of the best parts is how fresh the ingredients are and the variety! I don't eat meat so any place that gives me options like jalapeno, broccoli, spinach, fresh thinly sliced mushrooms, red onion... has got my number. They have a lot of options on the menu, but I make the trip primarily for the Sicilian cheesy bread. It's a must-have.
Excellent Pizza! Easily comparable to Buddy's. They seem to really care about the quality of their food. Highly recommended for the pizza adventurous. Located in a great little historic downtown. Worth the trip!
It is so nice to find someplace that is neither a chain pizza nor a gourmet pizzeria that is wood or coal fired. This is just a really good down to earth pizza. When I was ordering they even asked if I wanted fresh or canned mushrooms. I mean so does that. These people care about find it right. I highly reconvene this friendly and family owned place.
Found this small place to eat after a soccer game. Food and prices were both excellent! Their grinders are delicious! Maybe if I am back around this way I will try their pizza. Very happy we chose this place for a quick meal after a game!
What a wonderful establishment. The food is absolutely incredible. Awesome staff that is willing to meet your needs for your dining experience. The pizza is to die for. A bit pricey but worth the $$. There sandwiches are delicious as well, but pricey as well. Will be back soon !! Thank you Frank's!
I have been here several times and have always been impressed with everything. They have an amazing menu, the food has always been great, and everyone there is so friendly. Finally, and possibly most important to note, they have just started to serve donuts. These are made fresh daily starting at 3 a.m. each morning, and it shows. These just might be the best donuts possible.
Dined here after my skydive in tecumseh.. cant be happier.. friendly waitress.. great food.. extensive menu to choose from. Definitely recommend.
After a grueling 8 HR drive (due to ice, sleet and rain) which should have taken 6 HR, it was absolutely calming to have great pizza and friendly service! Thought they would be closed due to weather but they welcomed us in! Plan to make it a stopping off place from now on.
Never had a good meal from them. Tried them many times and either the meat was rank or the toppings for the sandwiches or other items were rotten. Amazed that this place is still in business but hey, that's a small town for ya.
This place, though small-town small, and quite honestly the only restuarant open in the afternoon, has quite an extensive menu. Pizza, burgers, whole wheat wraps, and basic sandwiches don the menu. I had the grilled tilapia sandwich on marbled rye with tomato, red onion (minus the "white" sauce which seems to be ladled on many of the menu items) and lettuce. It was actually quite good. The salad bar is really where it's at though, here. Beets (love), red onion, boiled eggs, yellow raisins, cottage cheese, and thinly sliced mushrooms are just some of the few yummies on the bar here. I LOVE thinly sliced mushrooms, yes I do. For good coffee, before coming to Franks, go to the Manchester coffee shop a few doors down and order an Americano.. (one of the employees now knows what an americano is after me coming here :) )
Love Franks. Excellent menu selection and nice little salad bar. I've never had anything bad there. My favorite place for pizza. |
At least it looks authentic. Photo: Courtesy of Kirin Ichiban
Drinkers who thought for some reason that the words Imported and Japan’s prime brew on the label meant Kirin Ichiban was imported from Japan can now receive a refund from Anheuser-Busch, albeit in a token amount. The lager hasn’t been made within 5,000 miles of Japan or with any Japanese ingredients since 1996, when A-B took over brewing so that Americans could finally “enjoy Kirin products with brewery-fresh flavor,” but the prospect of confusion was apparent enough to a Florida judge that he’s signed off on a settlement entitling anyone deceived between October 25, 2009 and December 17, 2014 to an entire 50 cents per six-pack — or 10 cents in the event they squirreled away the receipt from a single-bottle purchase — for up to $50 in total reimbursements.
The company agreed to nix that “Imported” bit, and also to make more prominent the fine-print-ish line that reads, “Brewed under Kirin’s strict supervision by Anheuser-Busch in Los Angeles, CA, and Williamsburg, VA,” but the plaintiffs maintained that phrase is currently hidden by the packaging.
[Law360] |
Apple’s first ‘phablet’, at 5.5in, feels ridiculously oversized but quickly feels familiar - as long as your hands are big enough
Too big. This thing’s too big. Waaay too big. It’s... actually, that screen is pretty nice, isn’t it? Wow, you really can get a lot of content on there, can’t you? Hey, my hand’s getting used to the size. It’s quite comfortable, isn’t it?
And that’s how it goes with the iPhone 6 Plus. I expected to find it far too big, and at first my expectations were met. But give it a few minutes, perhaps a couple of days, and you’ll find yourself strangely attracted to its huge-seeming screen.
“Phablets”, as the 5.5in (14 cm)-plus screen size is described (which seems to derive from Scott Webster in June 2010, then referring to a 7in Huawei device), are increasingly popular. In Asia and particularly China, they’re very popular, though less so in the US and much less so in Europe. They make up about 15% of sales, although that’s growing fast.
Enter the iPhone
Since 2011, Samsung has had the high-end phablet market to itself with the Galaxy Note range, now in its fourth generation. Now, it has competition - and the Apple brand could badly dent its South Korean rival’s sales.
Compared to the 4.7in iPhone 6, the 6 Plus soon stops feeling absurd when you try them side by side. I often found that I would reach for the larger screen, given the choice, just because you can read a lot more on it.
The battery life is also better (proportionally more of the phone consists of batteries); and it has the same pleasing, rounded feel of the 6.
The comparison becomes especially harsh against last year’s Galaxy Note 3, which has a 5.7in (14.5cm) screen at 1920x1080 pixels. The Note’s body is almost exactly the same size, but chrome-edged - which looks terribly retro now - with a wart-like camera. The iPhone 6 Plus camera sticks out too - an entire millimetre - but there’s no comparison in looks or feel.
Specifications
• Screen: 5.5in, 1920x1080 401ppi LED; 1300:1 contrast ratio
• Processor: A8 64-bit ARM with M8 motion coprocessor
• RAM: 1GB
• Storage: 16GB, 64GB, 128GB
• Operating system: iOS 8
• Camera: back: 8MP with 1.5micron pixels, f2.2, Optical image stabilisation, 240fps video, sapphire lens cover, auto-HDR, face detection, 43-megapixel panorama, burst mode 10fps; 1080p video at 30fps or 60fps. Front camera: 1.2MP (1280x960), f2.2, 720p HD, burst mode.
• Connectivity: LTE, Wi-Fi a/b/g/n/ac, Bluetooth 4.0 with BLE, NFC; VoLTE (voice over LTE) capability, Wi-Fi call handoff capability
• Dimensions: 158.1 x 778 x 7.1mm
• Weight: 172g
• Others: TouchID fingerprint sensor; NFC payment capability for ApplePay
Camera
The 6 Plus has optical image stabilisation (OIS) - long a staple of top-end Nokia (now Microsoft) Lumia phones - so that films taken while moving aren’t jerky. Instagram’s Hyperlapse got there first (calling on the gyroscope), but the 6 Plus also adds 240fps slow-motion filming; expect this device to become the new “must-have” among photographers who like travelling light.
Screen and usability
Many apps will need rewriting to deal with the new screen, which feels as though it inflates text in apps that don’t use Apple’s text system. Then again, those who struggled to read text on the 4in screen of the iPhone 5 will welcome the extra 88% of screen real estate. Apple has also introduced a “Zoomed” viewing setting that really does inflate everything as though you’d slapped a magnifying glass over it all - the “grandpa setting”, if you like.
Facebook Twitter Pinterest Zoomed display on the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus enlarges icons and text Photograph: Guardian
Another concession to the gigantism is the “two-tap” gesture: double-tap the home button lightly, and in portrait mode the top of the screen slides down to the halfway mark, so that you can reach any part of the screen without adjusting your hand position.
Apple’s other tweak, specifically for the 6 Plus, is that when the home screen is rotated into landscape mode, the dock moves to the side; in the Mail app, you get a “two-up” view, with email headers on the left and body text on the right. Other apps will probably follow suit in exploiting this.
Samsung, by contrast, offers various different user interface tweaks on the Note: there’s a quick app switching menu on the left-hand side, and you can also run two apps at a time (and resize each). The app switcher is just intrusive, though the two-up configuration clearly has potential uses (say, messaging while looking at a map). Samsung also has a stylus - though I’ve heard internal data that suggests it’s used only 10% of the time, which in turn implies a big chance for Apple via the 90%.
Many of the best things about the 6 Plus - widgets, third-party keyboards, “extensions” to create app-based workflows - will only be exploited by new apps that appear in the next few months as developers get to grips with the new size and the potential it offers them. For now, though, it’s a surprisingly big phone that becomes increasingly familiar with use.
Price
The iPhone 6 Plus costs from £619 (inc VAT)/$749 (ex taxes) for 16GB storage.
Verdict
Choosing between the iPhone 6 Plus and the smaller iPhone 6 could be surprisingly difficult if your hand, and your wallet, is large enough. It is large, yet the extra screen space is a boon. But that also makes it unwieldy, and could increase the risk of dropping it. Compared to other phablets, it’s lighter and thinner – but not cheaper
Pros: large and thin; bright screen; best battery life of any iPhone; adaptations for extra-large screen; iOS 8 allows third-party keyboards, workflow extensions and widgets
Cons: pricey; may be unwieldy if you don’t have particularly large hands
• Apple iPhone 6: thinner, faster and slightly cheaper - review
• iOS 8 review: the iPhone and iPad get customised, extended and deepened
• This footnote was appended on 23 September 2014. Charles Arthur’s travel and accommodation was paid for by Apple. |
After a terrifying attack from a group of teenagers, a 46-year-old Chinese food delivery man in New York found himself immediately resuming his job anyway, simply because he has no other choice.
Dao Li was reportedly robbed of $150 after being beaten by three teenage attackers in a building on Walton Ave., the Bronx on Aug. 24 at around 9:45 p.m. Following the ordeal, Li went on making deliveries for his restaurant Happy Dragon, despite the threat of further attacks.
“I’m scared but I must do it,” Li told New York Daily News. “This is my store. I can’t close it, right? I have a wife and kids. They have to eat.”
Li, a father of two kids aged 15 and 11, revealed that he was aware that he has been the target of one of the three teens as he has bothered him a couple of time before.
“Two or three times he’s tried to steal my food. I don’t know why,” he said. “Maybe because I’m Chinese, because I’m skinny?”
He narrated how that particular teen had thrown a glass bottle at him as he was walking with his wife down a sidewalk one late evening, not so long ago.
“He was across the street with a few people,” he said. “I think it was beer (bottle). It breaks on the sidewalk in front of me and I jump back. Then we ran home.”
Li said he was unable to notify the authorities about the previous incidents because of his very limited English.
A surveillance video obtained by the police showed Li being attacked by the still unidentified suspects.
The footage shows three attackers ambush Li by first distracting him and then knocking him out with a punch. After he tried to get back up, he was shoved back to the ground and was beaten again.
After the brutal assault, they took the cash out of Li’s pockets, totalling $150.
Although Li was badly beaten, he chose to go to Bronx Lebanon Hospital the following day instead of immediately seeking medical attention.
“I didn’t go to the hospital until the next day because I was scared,” he said. “It really hurt — my mouth, my head.”
The suspects remain at large. |
The popular nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID) used for the treatment of arthritis pain, Celebrex, has undergone intense scrutiny in a marathon securities fraud case against the manufacturer, Pfizer. This week, The New York Times reported that thousands of internal documents were unsealed by a federal judge, and that they proved to be riddled with deliberate fraud and deception regarding not only safety concerns about the drug, but claims about the benefits as well.
In 2004, Celebrex and other COX-2-inhibitors—a class of NSAIDs thought to reduce pain and inflammation without the gastrointestinal side effects of other NSAIDs—underwent sharp examination after a similar drug, Viox, was withdrawn from the market after studies uncovered that the drug doubled the risk of heart attack and stroke. Leading up to the release of internal documents, Pfizer has dealt with a wave of lawsuits from more than 3,000 patients who claim that Celebrex caused heart attacks and strokes.
The New York Times reported this week that blatant and unabashed deception about Pfizer’s research was detected in the documents unsealed by a federal judge. “They swallowed our story, hook, line and sinker,” wrote a research director. Not only was Celebrex not easier on the stomach than other NSAIDs like aspirin, but the dangers of stroke and heart attack were masked. The only reason it appeared that the drug was safer on the stomach was because Pfizer and it’s partner, Pharmacia, cherry picked their research results by only presenting the first six months of a yearlong study.
To top off the conspiratorial nature of this case, it turns out that Pfizer stole the research that led to the discovery of Celebrex in the first place. Last month, Pfizer settled with Brigham Young University for $450 million. A chemistry professor, Daniel L. Simmons, discovered the genetic workings of the drug in the early 1990s and the university had a research agreement for royalties with Monsanto Company which was later acquired by Pfizer. The original agreement not honored by Pfizer was 15 percent royalty on sales of Celebrex, or about $9.7 billion. Rather than risk losing everything in a trial by jury, BYU settled for just $450 million.
I’ll leave you to draw your own conclusions about some of the eccentricities of big pharma from this bit.
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Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump speaks during a campaign event in Kansas City on Saturday.. (Photo by Jabin Botsford/The Washington Post)
Republican front-runner Donald Trump threatened Sunday to send his supporters to infiltrate the campaign rallies of Democratic hopeful Bernie Sanders, who Trump continued to insist was behind disruptions at his events.
Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump told his supporters in Ohio that the scuffles caused at his Chicago rally the night before were caused by supporters of Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders. (Reuters)
“Bernie Sanders is lying when he says his disrupters aren't told to go to my events,” Trump said on Twitter. “Be careful Bernie, or my supporters will go to yours!”
Bernie Sanders is lying when he says his disruptors aren't told to go to my events. Be careful Bernie, or my supporters will go to yours! — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 13, 2016
Trump said during an appearance Sunday on CNN’s “State of the Union” that he didn’t consider his post on social media to be a threat. He repeated his charge that Sanders had lied when he said his campaign wasn’t behind an influx of protesters that led to the cancellation of Trump’s planned rally in Chicago on Friday, where violence spilled onto the streets.
[Sanders: ‘Hatred and division,’ not his campaign, inspired the Trump protest in Chicago]
Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders refuted charges from Republican Presidential candidate Donald Trump that Sanders is sending protesters to disrupt Trump's rallies. (Reuters)
Appearing later on the same program, Sanders said Trump was the liar.
“This man cannot stop lying,” the senator from Vermont said.
Sanders said he has many supporters, and while some may attend Trump events as a form of peaceful protest, they are not doing so at his direction.
“I would hope my supporters will not disrupt meetings,” Sanders said. “We have millions of supporters, and people do things. But it was not our campaign.”
He blamed Trump for creating the environment that has led to violence at his rallies.
“This a man who keeps implying violence, and then you end up getting what you see,” Sanders said.
During his appearance, Trump predicted that if his supporters come to Sanders events, they would be be treated badly.
“They’d be arrested and all sorts of things would happen to them,” Trump said. |
In the latest episode of Sonic Touch, Nick and Gaz dig into the new Arturia iMini, and even compare it to a Model D Minimoog.
Here’s an earlier comparison between Arturia iMini and the desktop version, Mini V.
Features:
Minimoog sound.
3 Oscillators
24db per octave filter.
Simulated headphone jack/external input feedback.
2 Assignable XY pads
Chromatic or tuned scale keyboard modes
Polyphonic mode
Full featured arpeggiator
Repeat
HOLD and MEMORY latch modes
Octave span
5 note order modes
Speed and sync controls
Virtual Analog Chorus
Virtual Analog Delay
Owners of both the iMini and Mini V software apps can transfer sounds from one platform to the other via iTunes.
Full user MIDI mapping of panel controls.
Supports WIST sync with other iOS devices.
Tabletop Ready
Soundcloud seeder (via Tabletop)
Render to .wav file (via Tabletop)
Audiocopy to paste your audio into another iPAD application. (via Tabletop)
Arturia iMini is available now for US $9.99 in the App Store.
Here are the audio examples mentioned in the review:
via sonicstate |
Dave Mirra, the BMX champ and former host of MTV’s Real World/Road Rules Challenge, has died of an apparent suicide, police in Greenville North Carolina said in a statement. He was 41 years old.
Mirra won 24 X Games medals — the most ever for any competitor until skateboarder Bob Burnquist passed him in 2013. He nabbed the first of his 14 gold medals in 1996 and his final one in 2005. Mirra’s success as a biker led to a BMX videogame series, Dave Mirra Freestyle BMX. He also raced for Subaru’s rally car racing team.
Mirra was born in New York on April 4, 1974. His career began in 1992 and was almost ended a year later, when he was hit by a drunk driver, according to his website. But he still was able to compete in the inaugural X Games in 1995.
That same year, he followed in his brother’s footsteps and moved south to Greenville, which eventually became a hotbed for bikers, earning the nickname “Pro-Town, USA” for its high concentration of BMX pros living there.
“We mourn the loss today of a great friend and wonderful human being who touched the lives of so many around the world with his gift,” Greenville Mayor Allen Thomas said in a statement. “He called Greenville, North Carolina home and was as humble a guy talking with kids on a street corner about bikes as he was in his element on the world stage. A young life with so much to offer was taken too soon.”
In 2004 and 2005, Mirra hosted two seasons of MTV’s Real World/Road Rules Challenge series: The Challenge: The Inferno and The Inferno II. His hosting successor was fellow biker and friend T.J. Lavin, who on Thursday shared an Instagram photo of himself, Mirra, and two other friends, paired with the caption “Really love you guys.”
Mirra is survived by his wife, Lauren, and two children.
Greenville Police are investigating Mirra’s death. Police Chief Mark Holtzman and Mayor Thomas will address the media Friday, at 9 a.m. ET at GPD headquarters. |
Image caption Wildcat populations have been devastated by disease and habitat loss
A scientist who was involved in cloning Dolly the sheep 15 years ago has started work on a new technique to clone rare Scottish wildcats.
Embryologist Dr Bill Ritchie said the project could help protect the species which is thought to number about 400 cats in the wild.
Midlothian-based Moredun Research Institute is involved.
The Royal Zoological Society of Scotland (RZSS) has previously suggested cloning wildcats.
Dolly the Sheep was the first cloned mammal ever to be made from an adult cell and was the result of work at the Roslin Institute near Edinburgh.
Dr Ritchie's research has received some funding from Genecom, the commercial arm of the Moredun Research Institute and the Institute for Animal Health.
The scientist said: "Several cat species have been cloned using the domestic cat, as well as the wolf using dog eggs.
"It is very difficult to find pure wildcats due to their crossing with domestic animals, but modern scientific techniques are able to select animals which are pure bred.
"Cells collected from these animals by taking a small piece of skin would be cultured to supply cells for the cloning process."
'Pure wildcat kittens'
Dr Ritchie said eggs from domestic cats, which would be available from tissue recovered during spaying of the animal, could be used as the starting material for the cloning process.
A project in the Cairngorms where cats are spayed to prevent inter-breeding with wildcats could provide a "convenient source of eggs", Dr Ritchie said.
In August last year, bosses at the RZSS's Highland Wildlife Park confirmed a plan to clone wildcats was in the early stages of being discussed.
Talks had been held with the Medical Research Council's Human Reproductive Sciences Unit in Edinburgh.
The park said a house cat-wildcat hybrid could be used to give birth to "pure wildcat kittens".
It has been estimated that 150 breeding pairs of wildcats survive in parts of the Highlands.
Disease, loss of habitat and inter-breeding with domestic cats have been blamed for devastating wild populations. |
UK citizens born in the 1960s and ’70s will be the first pensioners since WWII to be worse off than their parents, a study has shown.
The next generation of retirees will have to subsidize their pensions with inheritance to achieve the same quality of life.
The survey carried out by the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) comes off the back of their yearly report which documented the falling standard of living in the UK this year. One of the predominant factors behinds the drop in the quality of retired life is stagnancy of wages following the financial crisis, the study reports.
“The incomes and wealth of those born in the 1960s and ’70s look no higher than the cohorts who came before them. As a result, younger cohorts are likely to have to rely on inheritances to be better off in retirement than their predecessors,” Andrew Hood, one of the authors of the report, told The Guardian.
In addition, those born in the ’60s and ’70s are less likely to own property and will have smaller pensions. They also saw their salaries plateau when their predecessors received large pay increases.
In this way, the study predicts that inheritances are likely to be “unevenly distributed,” favoring the wealthy and increasing the class gap.
“Among those born in the mid-1970s, 35 percent of the wealthiest third expect to receive an inheritance worth at least £100,000, compared with just 12 percent of the least wealthy third,” writes the study.
The less wealthy are likely to see their inheritance curtailed by rising care home costs, which can exceed tens of thousands of pounds a year.
“If you have two parents who spend a number of years needing intensive care home support, that can consume a very significant inheritance before it ever reaches you,” said Tom McPhail, head of pensions research at Hargreaves Lansdown to The Daily Telegraph.
Pointing the finger
The study’s findings mark an end to the steady increase in quality of life of British citizens since the end of WWII. The IFS’ yearly analysis of the cost of living in the UK revealed that incomes had fallen by $2,600 in real terms since May 2000.
The UK’s two main rival parties both pointed the finger at each other following the publication of the annual document. Conservative Prime Minister David Cameron said the drop was hardly surprising after “the biggest recession in 100 years” which he blamed on the “mess” left by the previous Labour government.
However, Labour leader Ed Miliband has attacked the Conservatives, accusing them of upholding the interests of “the privileged few.” |
Tom Papley has committed to the Swans for another two seasons.
Sydney Swans rookie Tom Papley has re-committed to the Club for a further two seasons.
Recruited in last year's rookie draft, Papley wasted no time adjusting to life as an AFL player, making his debut in Round 1 against Collingwood.
Papley has gone on to play 11 matches so far in his debut season, which included a Rising Star nomination for his two goal, 20-possession performance against West Coast in Round 5.
One of seven Swans debutants in 2016, Papley grew up in Bunyip in country Victoria and was working as an apprentice plumber before finally getting an opportunity on the Swans list – the same club both of his grandfathers played at.
Swans General Manager of Football Tom Harley says the Club is rapt to secure Papley's signature.
"Tom has been an exciting young player for us this season," Harley said.
"He has come into our side and made a solid contribution with his forward pressure and determination in the contest.
"We're really looking forward to watching Tom's progression as he continues to learn and grow in our team."
Papley joins Kieren Jack, Nick Smith, Luke Parker, Jeremy Laidler, Harry Cunningham, George Hewett and Aliir Aliir in recommitting to the Swans this season.
Tom Papley Stats
DOB: 13 July, 1996
Draft history: Pick 14, Rookie Draft 2015
AFL Debut: Round 1, 2016 v Collingwood
AFL Games: 11
AFL Goals: 15
Guernsey No: 41
Swans player No 1399
$41 ticket offer!
To celebrate this exciting news fans have the chance to purchase $41 tickets to our Round 20 match against Port Adelaide by using the password PAPLEY41.
Simply click here to take up this great offer today!
Ticket prices include GST. Transaction fees of $6.50 may apply and if a credit card is used credit card fees of 1.95% will apply. Limit of 10 tickets per transaction. Offer valid for Grandstand Category 3, Grandstand Category 4, Concourse Category 1 or Concourse Category 2 reserved seats when purchased online using a valid password. Not valid in conjunction with any other offer. Offer expires 11.59pm AEST on Tuesday, August 2 unless sold out prior. |
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