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As a man who might now be regarded as something of an expert in the nature of knowledge and expectation once said, “There are known knowns; there are things we know that we know. There are known unknowns; that is to say, there are things that we now know we don’t know. But there are also unknown unknowns – there are things we do not know we don’t know.”
In the case of Mike Duffy and the housing allowance, there are a few things that fit the first category, but mostly there are things that fall within the second, and then surely still now there might be things to come that presently exceed our understanding and thus fit the third. After three days of claims and counter-claims—following nearly a year of reports, allegations and findings and with investigations still being pursued—the Duffy affair is thus still mostly open to imagination and supposition.
Herein, a look at the claims and accounts around seven aspects of the affair.
What was Mike Duffy told about his expenses?
After the Ottawa Citizen questioned the senator’s claim of a housing allowance in December 2012, Mr. Duffy says he reached out to Nigel Wright. “Nigel Wright emailed me back, saying he had my expenses checked and he was satisfied that my accounts were in order, that all was in compliance with Senate rules,” Mr. Duffy told the Senate on Tuesday evening. “In fact, he said, there were several other senators in the same situation. This was in December 2012. Mr. Wright said: The story is a smear.”
Mr. Duffy also claimed to have a memo from Marjory LeBreton, leader of the government in the Senate until this summer, that supports his position that his claims were within the rules. “I’ve violated no laws, I’ve followed the rules and I’ve got a ton of documentation, including a memo, a two-page memo from Sen. LeBreton’s office about it, and I never received a single note from Senate finance or the leadership that suggested anything in my travels was amiss.”
Senator LeBreton says she has no idea what Mr. Duffy is talking about. “What two-page memo? I have searched high and low and checked my files, and, for the life of me, I can find no memo that supposedly gives my approval to Senator Duffy to claim his property in Prince Edward Island as a principal residence in order to claim living expenses in Ottawa,” she told the Senate on Thursday night.
The February 13 meeting
Mr. Duffy says that after a February 13 meeting of the Conservative caucus, he spoke with the Prime Minister Minister and Nigel Wright. The Prime Minister’s Office previously disclosed, on May 31, that this conversation had taken place.
Mr. Duffy recalls the meeting as follows: “So after caucus on Feb. 13 of this year, I met the prime minister and Nigel Wright, just the three of us. I said that despite the smear in the papers, I had not broken the rules, but the prime minister wasn’t interested in explanations or the truth. It’s not about what you did; it’s about the perception of what you did that has been created in the media. The rules are inexplicable to our base. I argued: I’m just following the rules like all of the others. But it didn’t work. I was ordered by the prime minister: Pay the money back, end of discussion. Nigel Wright was present throughout, just the three of us.”
Mr. Harper says he told Mr. Duffy to repay the expense claims. But he told the House on Wednesday that he did not say the other comments that Mr. Duffy suggests he said.
Was Mr. Duffy threatened with expulsion from the Senate?
Mr. Duffy says he was told that if he didn’t repay his expenses, some effort would be made to have him found unqualified to sit in the Senate. “He said the Conservative majority on the steering committee of the Board of Internal Economy, Sen. Tkachuk and Sen. Stewart Olsen, would issue a press release declaring me unqualified to sit in the Senate. However, if you do what we want, the prime minister will publicly confirm that you’re entitled to sit as a senator from P.E.I. and you won’t lose your seat. Tkachuk and Stewart Olsen are ready to make that press release now. I said: They don’t have the power to do that. He said: Agree to what we want right now or else.”
(It isn’t entirely clear who the “he” is here.)
On Wednesday, Thomas Mulcair asked the Prime Minister whether he threatened Mr. Duffy with expulsion during the February 13 meeting. “At that particular time did I threaten him with expulsion?” the Prime Minister responded. “No.”
On Thursday, Mr. Mulcair followed up on Mr. Harper’s reference to “that particular time.” “When did the Prime Minister threaten to expel Mike Duffy from the Senate?” the NDP leader asked. The Prime Minister did not provide a direct answer in response.
Speaking after Mr. Duffy on Tuesday evening, Conservative Senator David Tkachuk denied any role in a conspiracy to have Mr. Duffy removed from the Senate. “He went to great lengths to talk about the conspiracy in the Office of the Prime Minister to remove him from the Senate, of which he did not say that others had told him, but implied here that I and Senator Carolyn Stewart Olsen were a part of. Nothing could be further from the truth. Nothing could be further from the truth,” Mr. Tkachuk said. “I want to assure senators, and I’m saying this in front of all my colleagues here, that I would never, ever participate in a conspiracy like this — never. I would never, ever participate in a conspiracy like this for any senators, let alone one of my colleagues on this side of the floor.”
The Deloitte audit
Mr. Duffy says that part of his agreement with Nigel Wright involved him being shielded from an outside audit of his expenses. “There was an undertaking made by the PMO, with the agreement of the Senate leadership, that I would not be audited by Deloitte, that I’d be given a pass; and further, that if this phoney scheme ever became public, Sen. LeBreton, the leader of the government of the day, would whip the Conservative caucus to prevent my expulsion from the chamber.”
Ms. LeBreton says she had no knowledge of any such arrangement. “Honourable senators, this is not true. This is false. Not one single person ever suggested to me that this be done. Never did I hear of such a scheme. As a matter of fact, on Tuesday, when Senator Duffy uttered those words, it was the first time I had ever heard of this. It was news to me. There was not even a rumour around this place to that effect, illustrating how utterly preposterous this claim is. On the question of the Deloitte audit, where on earth did Senator Duffy ever get the notion that I, as part of Senate leadership, would agree that he would not be audited, that he would be given a pass? This is another blatant falsehood. I stated publicly many times that I fully supported the calling in of outside auditors.”
Mr. Duffy says he was “sent off” to Deloitte anyway, but that he was then told (by an unnamed individual) that he didn’t need to give the auditors anything.
The May 16 phone call
In his remarks to the Senate, Mr. Duffy described a phone call involving Senator LeBreton and Ray Novak, principal secretary to the Prime Minister at the time and Nigel Wright’s successor as chief of staff. Senator LeBreton would later place this call as occurring on May 16, two days after CTV first reported the existence of a deal between Mr. Wright and Mr. Duffy.
Mr. Duffy describes the call thusly: “Then, in May, after someone leaked selected excerpts of a confidential email I had sent to my lawyer in February, in which I voiced my opposition and concern about the deal, the PMO was back with a vengeance. I was called at home in Cavendish by Ray Novak, senior assistant to the prime minister. He had with him Sen. LeBreton, leader of the government in the Senate. Sen. LeBreton was emphatic: The deal was off. If I didn’t resign from the Conservative caucus within 90 minutes, I’d be thrown out of the caucus immediately, without a meeting, without a vote. In addition, she said, if I didn’t quit the caucus immediately, I’d be sent to the Senate ethics committee, with orders from the leadership to throw me out of the Senate. With Ray Novak, my wife and my sister listening in on the call, Sen. LeBreton was insistent: You’ve got to do this, Mike. Do what I’m telling you. Quit the caucus within the next 90 minutes. It’s the only way to save your paycheque, quote.”
Ms. LeBreton recounts the call as follows: “Two scenarios were laid out for his consideration. I can only speak for myself here and report on my notes of what I said, but I ask the question: What deal, when he said the deal was off? Consider the chronology, honourable senators. On May 9, we reported in the Senate the audits. Senator Duffy, as far as we knew, had borrowed money from the Royal Bank and repaid to the Senate his inappropriate expenses, and then, following that, there was a report that he claimed further expenses from the Senate and the Conservative Party during the election campaign. We then found out about the real source of the funds on May 14 and confirmed on May 15, so put that in context when he said that I said the deal was off. This makes no sense.
“So we laid before Senator Duffy two scenarios. Scenario 1 was that I would put out a statement saying that Senator Duffy has informed me that he has resigned from the caucus to sit as an independent senator; and scenario 2 was that I would put out a statement saying that given the growing number of questions related to Senator Duffy’s conduct, he has been removed from the Conservative caucus.
“Once he was presented with these options, I said to him, and I quote myself because I wrote my words down: ‘Mike, do the right thing and get out in front of this.’ Naturally, he did not take this news well. There were some back and forth discussions about the implications of this and how the announcement of this would unfold. Honourable senators, because I could tell he was concerned, I said the following in order to assure him that sitting as an independent did not impact his position as a senator. ‘Mike,’ I said, ‘this is the only option that can ensure your future livelihood.’ A few angry words were spoken, and he hung up on us. Cooler heads eventually prevailed, and we got word back that he would issue a statement saying he was leaving to sit as an independent until these matters were resolved.”
The paper trail
Official requests for documentation of Mr. Duffy’s dealings with the PMO have so far turned up no documents.
According to the RCMP, Mr. Wright has provided investigators with “hundreds of pages of emails” and a binder of documents compiled by Mr. Duffy.
Mr. Duffy suggests some kind of paper trail exists. “Given all of those emails, you can imagine my shock when I heard there’s not a single document about all of this in the PMO, not one. In response to an access-to-information request, CBC was told there’s not one single document related to this matter in the PMO. Well, if they’re not in the PMO, they’re in the hands of my lawyers and I suspect in the hands of the RCMP. Why don’t I release those documents now? Because the people involved have rights, which under our system, must be protected. Are the police looking at possible criminal charges? Are they wondering about bribery, threats and extortion of a sitting legislator? This is serious stuff, and the people who were involved and there’s more than those I’ve mentioned here today deserve to have their rights protected. It’s the Canadian way. It will all come out in due course when all of the players are under oath and the email chain can be seen in its entirety.”
Who knew? (And what did they know?)
The Prime Minister is adamant he had no idea Nigel Wright had cut Mike Duffy a cheque. According to Mr. Harper, he only became aware of this fact on May 15, when Mr. Wright told him.
According to an RCMP filing, Mr. Wright recalled telling four people that he would personally provide funds to Mr. Duffy: David van Hemmen (Mr. Wright’s executive assistant), Benjamin Perrin (legal counsel to the Prime Minister at the time), Chris Woodcock (director of issues management in the PMO at the time, now chief of staff to Natural Resources Minister Joe Oliver) and Conservative Senator Irving Gerstein.
Mr. Perrin has said he was “not consulted on, and did not participate in, Nigel Wright’s decision to write a personal cheque to reimburse Senator Duffy’s expenses.”
Mr. Duffy says “elaborate undertakings” were “negotiated among the several lawyers involved in this … at least two lawyers from the PMO, one I know of from the Conservative party and my own lawyer.”
CTV claims that 13 “Conservative insiders” were aware of Mr. Wright’s cheque for Mr. Duffy.
Mr. Tkachuk and Ms. Stewart Olsen say they had no knowledge of Mr. Wright’s payment to Mr. Duffy. |
Starting Wednesday, officers with the Fountain Inn Police Department have permission from the chief to reward drivers they pull over with a debit card for following the law.Chief Keith Morton said that officers will not stop drivers simply to give them a card."It will not be the primary reason for the stop," said Morton. "If we stop them for an equipment violation, but they have their paperwork together, we'll reward them, too."Morton said they could also be rewarded for going the speed limit or wearing a seat.Morton said his officers are going to have a great deal of latitude to determine what it is they see someone doing right.He said, "This is a way we can have positive interactions with people."Each debit card has freebies and discounts to four of the 12 local businesses participating in the program.A majority of those businesses are along Main Street, which is going to be under construction for several different projects."We want to make sure we're doing something to help our downtown merchants stay in business," said Morton.Every officer will get a predetermined number of cards.Once the debit cards are used, the police officers will pick them back up at the businesses and recycle them.It will be the way they track how successful the program is in the community.
Starting Wednesday, officers with the Fountain Inn Police Department have permission from the chief to reward drivers they pull over with a debit card for following the law.
Chief Keith Morton said that officers will not stop drivers simply to give them a card.
Advertisement
"It will not be the primary reason for the stop," said Morton. "If we stop them for an equipment violation, but they have their paperwork together, we'll reward them, too."
Morton said they could also be rewarded for going the speed limit or wearing a seat.
Morton said his officers are going to have a great deal of latitude to determine what it is they see someone doing right.
He said, "This is a way we can have positive interactions with people."
Each debit card has freebies and discounts to four of the 12 local businesses participating in the program.
A majority of those businesses are along Main Street, which is going to be under construction for several different projects.
"We want to make sure we're doing something to help our downtown merchants stay in business," said Morton.
Every officer will get a predetermined number of cards.
Once the debit cards are used, the police officers will pick them back up at the businesses and recycle them.
It will be the way they track how successful the program is in the community.
AlertMe |
Nature Biotechnology asks selected members of the international community to comment on the ethical issues raised by the prospect of CRISPR-Cas9 engineering of the human germline.
With the first papers appearing in the literature that describe CRISPR-Cas9 engineering of human reproductive cells, are we at a new Asilomar moment? In a letter to Science in March entitled “A prudent path forward for genomic engineering and germline gene modification,” 18 signers indicated “A framework for open discourse on the use of CRISPR-Cas9 technology to manipulate the human genome is urgently needed.” They wrote of “unparalleled potential for modifying human and nonhuman genomes,” to cure genetic diseases in humans and to “reshape the biosphere.” But they warned of consequent “unknown risks to human health and well-being.”
Nature Biotechnology contacted 50 researchers, ethicists and business leaders in the global community to comment on ethical issues raised by CRISPR engineering of the human germline. Nature Biotechnology received responses from 26 of those contacted; because of space constraints, only an edited sample of all the responses received are presented below. Readers are directed to Supplementary Comments for the unedited responses received, which will give an idea of the breadth of agreement among different respondents on different issues.
With the current pace of advances in the use of gene editing technology, IVF and germ stem cell research, to what extent do you think germline engineering is inevitable?
Alta Charo: I do not think it is inevitable because many of the reasons one might imagine using it in the future might also suggest the use of easier technologies involving selection among gametes and embryos free of the destructive trait of interest.
Robin Lovell-Badge: It is inevitable and will be carried out somewhere, given that it is not illegal in many countries. But it is difficult to predict when, or for what purpose.
Annelien Bredenoord: I prefer not to use the word 'inevitable' because in the end it would be a consequence of human decision-making. I am inclined to say that inheritable genetic modification is on the horizon, but perhaps the first application of germline modification would be mitochondrial donation (also known as mitochondrial gene transfer or mitochondrial gene therapy), which does not involve gene-editing techniques. Recently, the UK Parliament legalized this technique aimed at preventing the transmission of mitochondrial DNA mutations from mother to child.
Katrine Bosley
Katrine Bosley: From a technical standpoint, I think most scientists think that this would be relatively straightforward, but technical feasibility is never the only consideration in doing experiments. For example, every day, we also think about safety of experiments (for people working in and around labs, for the local community, etc.), about environmental concerns (how we manage chemicals, radiation, etc.), and, of course, about ethics in many different dimensions (in animal research, in informed consent of human subjects, in design of clinical trials, etc.). There's a robust framework for all of these considerations—laws, regulations, policies and general good practices—that has been developed over many years and is part of how we train scientists and [of] daily working practice. I think that this will be the case for human germline engineering as well, particularly given that the societal and ethical issues surrounding it are broad and profound. Human germline engineering isn't a new concept, but we haven't had to think deeply about its management or regulation until now because it was pretty theoretical until now. As is often the case, a technical breakthrough is forcing us to confront a complicated question fast. But I have confidence we will address it carefully and thoughtfully—the fact that this dialog is emerging so early in the life of this technology shows that the scientific community sees the implications and sees the need for and the importance of broadening the dialog beyond the people working in the field and indeed beyond scientists and clinicians. Everyone has a stake in getting this right, and there are a lot of different perspectives around the table that need to be part of the discussion. I think we have a responsibility both to find the right way to realize the potential of this powerful technology and also to do it in a way that is highly ethical.
Tony Perry
Tony Perry: Human germline genome engineering is probably inevitable, although it's unclear how quickly it will come about. One can simplify it to three issues: the tools, the goals and whether the tools can achieve the goals. We will likely soon have the tools. The goals are a major focus of the ethical debate that will determine when and if human germline genome engineering is implemented. There may be insuperable barriers to the tools achieving complex goals like higher IQ compared with, say, the modification of a highly penetrant mutation to prevent a disease.
Ron Cohen
Ron Cohen: It is inevitable. No way to stop it, only to regulate it as best as possible.
J. Craig Venter
J. Craig Venter: I think that human germline engineering is inevitable, and there will be basically no effective way to regulate or control the use of gene editing technology in human reproduction. Our species will stop at nothing to try to improve positive perceived traits and to eliminate disease risk or to remove perceived negative traits from the future offspring, particularly by those with the means or access to editing and reproductive technology. The question is when, not if.
What are the major outstanding technical barriers to achieving germline alteration for human clinical application?
Luigi Naldini
Luigi Naldini: Whereas gene disruption is easily within the reach of current technologies, gene editing is not. Gene editing (which would be required for in situ correction of a mutation or editing of a risk- or disease-causing allelic variant) relies on gene targeting (by artificial endonucleases) and homologous recombination using an exogenous template. Current methods for gene editing are inefficient in primary cells and require selection of a small fraction of the treated cells bearing the desired edit. This is not easily applicable to germline engineering, especially in humans. First, one would have to treat a very large number of embryos to have a reasonable chance to generate some edited cells and there is no obvious (to me) strategy to identify and select those (even fewer) treated embryos carrying the desired edit in most if not all inner mass cells, unless by forced selection through a genetic switch built-in within the template. The majority of treated embryos would carry a targeted, possibly disrupted, allele and, in the absence of forced selection (or a rarely occurring situation in which gene correction per se endows ES cells with a selective advantage), the few embryos carrying edited cells would be chimeras. Second, current embryo screening and implantation strategies would not address the occurrence and/or extent of chimeras and seem hardly compatible with the expected efficiency. Gene editing combined with (exogenous) genetic selection would entail a more substantial genetic modification of the germline (incorporation of exogenous selector) similar to the GMOs currently used in agriculture or transgenic animal models and raise even more concerns on acceptability and potential risks. Current hurdles toward achieving efficient editing in primary cell types are efficient delivery of the gene targeting machinery, tolerance and permissiveness and/or proficiency of the treated cell to homologous recombination, selection of the desired edit, possibly epigenetic scar at the targeted gene altering expression features.
Jinsong Li
Jinsong Li: Of the two main strategies for germline modification—transfecting CRISPR-Cas9 into zygotes or injecting CRISPR-Cas9 into germ stem cells (which then produce gametes carrying corrected genes)—engineering of germ stem cells has more promise. In the former method, not all resulting pups carry the desired genotype and there are sufficient off-target effects to be a concern; the latter method allows gametes to be screened for presence and fidelity of the modification before creation of the zygote. There are at least three outstanding technical barriers that need to be solved before germ stem cell–mediated gene therapy can be taken into humans. Taking spermatogenesis stem cells (SSCs) as an example, these are: how to achieve efficient derivation of stem cell lines in humans; second, will it be possible to obtain mature sperm from cultured SSCs; and third, will it be possible to achieve efficient genetic modification of human SSCs? In my mind, there is still a long-way to go to use CRISPR-Cas9 in germ cells to correct human genetic disease.
Jin-Soo Kim
Jin-Soo Kim: Before moving to germline editing, researchers need to develop, first, methods to suppress error-prone, NHEJ and to enhance the efficiency of HDR in germ cells; second, improvements in the methods for profiling genome-wide off-target sites (e.g., Digenome-seq, GUIDE-seq) to reduce or avoid false-positive and false-negative sites; and third, sensitive methods to measure off-target mutation frequencies. Current sequencing platforms often cannot detect off-target mutations that are induced at frequencies below 0.1%.
Feng Zhang: There are challenges on both the technical and biological fronts. Technologically, we don't know how specific the current generation of genome-editing tools is. Do these tools result in any other changes in the genome? Do they affect the cell in other undesirable ways, such as altering the epigenetic state of the genome and lead to other lasting consequences? Biologically, we still know very little about how changes in the genome may affect biological function. With the exception of a small number of mutations that are known to cause diseases, we are unable to predict the biological consequence of any specific genetic change in a cell or organism.
Guoping Feng
Guoping Feng. One of the major issues is off-target effects. A second issue is the potential mosaicism from editing after the single-cell stage. A third issue is the low efficiency of HDR for correcting genetic defects. However, these are technical barriers that will be solved in the near future. In fact, progress has been made in each of the areas, such as the use of double nickases to reduce off-target effects, using Cas9 or nickase protein instead of mRNA for faster action, and the suppression of genetic programs to increase HDR efficiency.
Edward Lanphier: Achievement of a high degree of specificity that is essential for therapeutic use, particularly for the CRISPR-Cas9 system, which is the least specific of all of the current methods of genome editing (ZFNs and TALENs), and efficient delivery protocols to lessen the possibility of chimerism of the resulting organism are the major outstanding technical barriers to achieving germline alteration for human clinical application.
What are the individual health risks associated with germline engineering and what are the potential individual benefits?
Hank Greely: The anticipated individual health risks are off-target effects and genetic chimerism. In addition, there are also unanticipated effects of on-target changes. And it may be that the process of intervention in gametes, gamete precursors, zygotes, etc., would also have some unanticipated bad effects. The potential individual benefits are trickier, I think. In only a few cases would there be medical benefits (in terms of avoiding genetic disease) that could not be obtained through preimplantation genetic diagnosis or through prenatal testing and (when wanted) abortion. The advantage that your descendants wouldn't have to use preimplantation genetic diagnosis seems pretty small to me. People who are homozygous for dominant diseases—a couple that both have the same autosomal recessive disease—may add a few more candidates for the approach, but not many more. In terms of enhancement, we're so far from knowing and understanding 'enhancing' genes, at this point the individual benefits are asymptotic to zero.
Lovell-Badge: Of course, any justification for attempting gene editing in humans must balance risk and benefit, where clinical need is the most important. Experiments in mice suggest that most gene editing experiments have not led to noticeable effects apart from those expected from targeting the gene in question. However, subtle problems will be missed, as will problems causing early embryo lethality. And mice are not humans. Although off-target effects may be rare, whether they are serious or not is going to be hard to predict without doing the 'human experiment'. Second, genetic mosaicism could be a problem depending on the gene being edited. In some cases where gene mutations in mice have been studied in mosaics or in chimeras (where two embryos are joined together), the resulting phenotype is worse than when the gene is mutated in all cells. However, generally one expects a milder version of the phenotype. Unanticipated effects of the on-target changes could occur. If there were insufficient knowledge about the gene and how it works, the change being engineered might in some cases lead to, for example, new protein-protein interactions that compromise the function of the second protein. The potential individual benefits will depend on who you are talking about: a child who would otherwise have been born with a defect, or the parent whose ego has run amok and wants some improvement in his/her child?
Jennifer Doudna
Jennifer Doudna, Dana Carroll, G. Steven Martin & Michael Botchan: We would list at least five risks. First, some applications would be confounded by on-target mutagenesis by NHEJ. For example, one could unintentionally convert sickle cell disease into beta thalassemia. Second, although the likelihood of off-target effects can be minimized, there is still the possibility that an essential gene could be mutated. If the individual was already heterozygous for a mutation in such a gene, this would give them two mutant alleles. Some genes are haploinsufficient, so a single mutant allele would affect them. Genes on the X chromosome are present in a single copy in males and are expressed from only one parental chromosome in cells of females, so mutations there represent a greater risk. Third, if the 'edited' individual is chimeric for the intended correction, they may still have diseased cells in critical tissues. Fourth, the genetic background in which the disease mutation exists may at some level be adapted to carrying that mutation, and correcting the gene back to 'wild type' could have unanticipated consequences in that background. We would classify this as a tertiary concern because it seems very unlikely to have significant consequences. Finally, it will be hard to predict and assess unintended long-term consequences of germline editing, such as effects that only occur later in life and result from the specific genetic background of an individual.
Cohen: Mostly speculative at this point, though one can predict on the basis of historical precedent with other new technologies (e.g., Jesse Gelsinger [see timeline] that off-target and unintended effects will almost certainly occur.
Perry: The risks depend on the targeted sequence; some sequences may enable extremely high specificity whereas others don't. Some may have serious off-target consequences if they do occur, whereas others may not have overt consequences. Another issue is unanticipated effects of on-target changes; introducing an improving genome modification may not always be without attendant disadvantages. For example, with heterozygous carriers of the HbS single-nucleotide polymorphism for sickle cell disease, you eliminate sickle cell disease but increase the risk of contracting malaria. Benefits in general include eliminating many of the 3,000 or so single-gene heritable disease traits. In my mind, chimerism is a lower technical risk, firstly because the system is (already) so efficient, secondly because it would be highly prescriptive leading to identical end points, and thirdly because it will likely be of altered and non-altered genomes, so the person would be no worse off than they would otherwise have been.
Emmanuelle Charpentier
Emmanuelle Charpentier: Besides a very significant number of ethical questions to be addressed, safety concerns are probably the most pressing consideration. During the recent debate and approval of legislation allowing mitochondrial replacement approaches for IVF in the UK—which leads to circumstances in which an embryo would receive genetic material from three different individuals—the concept of chimerism having a negative impact on the health and fitness of respective offspring was dismissed for humans. Potential benefits are related to the gene correction of severe genetic disease allowing kids a normal life.
What are the societal risks of germline engineering and what are the potential benefits?
Jonathan Moreno
Jonathan Moreno: Perhaps the obvious health benefits for future persons are evident, as well as possible savings for healthcare systems for chronic conditions and disabling conditions (although presumably everyone will always die of something so those savings might be short-term). On the other hand, population biologists suggested 40 years ago that it might be advisable to establish a bank of traits that have been screened out of populations, just in case they need to be reintroduced into the gene pool. Although they were talking about the unintended consequences of traditional screening for carriers of such conditions as sickle cell anemia and Tay-Sachs, that idea has renewed resonance now. There is also the prospect of 'consumer eugenics'—eugenics driven by parental choice rather than by state order, which would have similar results to traditional eugenics, such as a multitiered social system based on certain enhancements. In truly far-out scenarios, some states might wish to produce generations of super-charged individuals as potential warfighters. I'm thinking of The Boys From Brazil.
Naldini: The main current societal risk is the backlash from an exaggerated but potentially pervasive view that gene-editing technologies will lead to science-fiction scenarios in which humans are bred upon design leading to a whole array of unanticipated effects (see also Anthony Perry comment in Supplementary Comments). Even if these are unrealistic scenarios, they may generate fear, distrust [of] scientists and overcaution on the use of the current technologies, which may inhibit their full exploitation for less problematic and more fruitful applications in somatic gene therapy, biotech and biomedical research. Limitations or bans on GMOs in agriculture in a large part of the world teach about such risks. Indeed, scientists should restrain [themselves] from depicting unrealistic scenarios of pervasive or far-reaching engineering of the human genome (i.e., removing risk-associated variants or augmenting some biological function) when we still lack a comprehensive understanding of many of its overall functions, short of having identified the impact of localized mutations [on] the coding or regulatory potential of a gene. On the other hand, an open debate on the pros and cons of the technology and applications, and efforts at consensus-building among scientific societies and other stakeholders on what is acceptable and what falls beyond the currently acceptable boundaries (practical as well ethical) of a scientific experiment or biomedical intervention may help build better confidence on the self-correcting quality of science and open society.
Charo: It is useful to do the math when speculating on the population genetics alterations one fears might ensue. As with the germline engineering debates in the 1990s, even if the technology were used, the number of users would likely be so small as to have little or no effect on population diversity and distribution of traits.
Weihzi Ji
Weihzi Ji: Gene editing in all human cells, not only of germline cells, creates social challenges. First, if gene editing is expensive, only rich people will be able to afford it. That means these gene improvements are available only to the richest societies, and only [the] richest people are able to have 'less-sick' babies and with it enhancements become possible, 'more beautiful and intelligent' babies. Another problem is that engineering may counteract natural selection in populations and cause unanticipated effects on diversity of human variants in [the] gene pool. Third, there is no doubt that this technology will bring with it the means for prolonging life through improved medical care. How to deal with resource consumption is a huge challenge. In my opinion, the greatest potential societal benefit is to rid society of genetic diseases that create undue suffering and drain resources.
Bredenoord: We live in a technological culture. Biomedical technology is like any other technology—it impacts society. Usually, a distinction can be made between soft impacts and hard impacts. Hard impacts typically include safety aspects, economic aspects and cost-effectiveness. Soft impacts include the impact a novel technique has on our moral actions, experiences, perceptions, interactions with others and quality of life. It is too early to discern the societal (soft and hard) risks and benefits of germline engineering. That said, I would venture the following as potential societal risks: public pressure to use this technique (which would reduce rather than enhance autonomy); how to pay for this technology; how the use of the technology for enhancement would affect society; and safety issues arising from premature clinical applications and misuse. In terms of societal benefits, I would suggest that the technology may offer curative treatments for sometimes devastating diseases and alleviate human suffering and improve the quality of life.
Zhang: It is important to thoughtfully evaluate the ethical implications of germline editing. Where do we draw the boundary of what is an acceptable biological trait for editing in the germline and what is not? If we get to a stage where we feel that there is enough understanding of the technology, the first diseases that will be tackled will likely be the most grievous kinds (cystic fibrosis, sickle cell anemia, etc.). However, as we become more comfortable with the safety of germline editing, should we allow editing to remove mutations that do not cause early-onset disease but may in combination with other factors increase risk for late-onset diseases like Alzheimer's? What about more manageable diseases like diabetes? What about height, appearance and intelligence? Where do we draw the line? These are enormously complex questions, and we need to engage the society and a wide variety of experts to fully consider all possible issues.
Martin Pera
Martin Pera: The risks include the unanticipated consequences of genetic intervention (variant alleles may have important advantages in some situations that we cannot anticipate). Also, in some instances—for instance, correction of hearing deficits or enhancement of stature—patient groups have argued that the 'defect' is a perfectly acceptable form of human variation that should not be subjected to genetic cleansing.
In what cases would you consider human germline engineering ethically acceptable?
Naldini: Potentially and only for the in situ correction of a well-established genetic mutation causing with high penetrance a severe to lethal disease lacking effective treatment, and provided that editing aims to restore the common wild-type allele.
Greely: If it were proven sufficiently safe, I think the strongest case for it being ethical would be when there is no other way that a particular couple could have a healthy child that was genetically 'theirs'.
Feng: I would support germline engineering only if there is a clear case for preventing severe illnesses, and there is no way to select healthy oocytes for IVF. This could be rather rare.
Charpentier: I believe the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Dignity of the Human Being, which states that “an intervention seeking to modify the human genome may only be undertaken for preventive, diagnostic or therapeutic purposes and only if its aim is not to introduce any modification in the genome of any descendants,” is a potential path forward, assuming very high safety standards and no alternative treatment options being available. Having said this, personally I have concerns regarding the modification of germlines in humans.
Lovell-Badge: Germline engineering is only ethically acceptable if it is safe. But if it is safe, then I, and perhaps society at large, would probably not object to use of the techniques to avoid a serious genetic disease and in instances where preimplantation genetic diagnosis is not appropriate, such as in the unlikely situation someone is homozygous for a lethal mutation (e.g., Huntington disease). It may even be appropriate as a means to avoid a less serious condition that will have a transgenerational effect and be a significant concern to the family (e.g., mutations of genes on the Y chromosome that reduce male fertility to such an extent that it is necessary to carry out intracytoplasmic sperm injection to have children, not just [for] the individual but all his male descendants). Correcting such a mutation to allow male children to be fertile would be ethical in my view. Enhancement is trickier. Using these methods to confer disease resistance may be considered okay: who would not want their children to be resistant to HIV, Ebola, etc.? The situation is less clear for diseases with a strong genetic risk factor. For example, the APOE4 allele of the apolipoprotein E gene is associated with Alzheimer's disease; heterozygotes are approximately 3 times and homozygotes 15 times more likely to develop the disease, and to do so earlier, than individuals homozygous for the common APOE3 allele, and where the APOE2 allele may even be protective. Why not use gene editing to change APOE4 to APOE3 or APOE2? However, it's unclear how APOE4 confers risk and furthermore, with any risk allele, particularly a common one, it is important to ask why it is maintained in the population at a relatively high frequency; could APOE4 in fact confer some advantage to carriers unrelated to its connection to Alzheimer's? Moreover, parents are always seeking ways to give their children an advantage in life, and we do not consider this unethical. Sending a kid to a good school, for example, can have a transgenerational effect. However, a germline genetic change may be passed down without subsequent generations having a choice (except the same technology could be used to reverse the enhancement).
Annelien Bredenoord
Bredenoord: Translating germline modification into clinical trials and society requires time, careful research (involving both the science and ethics) and public deliberation. Broadly, I would propose two conditions for an ethical use of germline engineering. First, there is a requirement for safety. First-in-man use for germline modification is ethically challenging by nature, particularly because the needed evidence to reliably predict risk and benefit (testing in humans) is missing. This needs careful, long-term, interdisciplinary research and sufficient evidence to make the leap from bench to bedside. It also needs more ethics research, particularly in determining when an acceptable risk-benefit balance has been reached. Second, one of the most prominent (nonsafety) objections against germline modification is the fear that it would become possible to alter so-called 'essential characteristics' of a future person. This could violate—what philosopher Joel Feinberg has coined in another context—the child's right to an open future. I have argued previously that a clinical application of germline modification could still be compatible with the position that one should not violate the child's right to an open future. To prevent that a child is predetermined toward a specific plan of life, it seems reasonable to only allow modification that broadens so-called 'general purpose means'. These are capacities that are useful and valuable for carrying out nearly all plans of life. In other words, we should only allow genetic modifications that we can assume give children traits that are useful for all conceptions of a good life. Although debate is possible (and necessary) about what general purpose means exactly are, being healthy should clearly be included. Health, after all, is a sine qua non for many (though not all) plans of life.
What do you consider the optimal approach for oversight: full international ban, temporary moratorium, regulation or laissez faire?
Jacob Corn
Jacob Corn: I, and the other authors of the Science Perspective, am asking for a temporary moratorium on human germline editing research while a wider discussion among representative stakeholders from a variety of areas is under way. We are in the process of initiating a larger meeting for just such a purpose (see comment from Robin Lovell-Badge in Supplementary Comments).
Alta Charo
Charo: As to the research on gametes or embryos, international legal harmonization is unlikely, given the varying legislative and regulatory schema. In many places, some or all of this research would be completely illegal, in others it would be regulated and in others it would be possible without any independent oversight. Even within the United States, some variations in state laws are relevant. This is why an initial step involves public discussion and development of principles to guide the research.
Qi Zhou: I think a temporary moratorium is the optimal approach. We should put our current efforts into solving the technical problems and testing the safety and efficacy of germline engineering treatment with animal experiments, but we can leave the door open for germline modification for future application in curing some severe diseases.
G. Steven Martin
Doudna, Carroll, Martin & Botchan: We don't think an international ban would be effective by itself; it is likely some people would ignore it. Regulation is essential to ensure that dangerous, trivial or cosmetic uses are not pursued. In addition, a broad discussion of the prospects and limitations will have two positive effects: first, it will alert people broadly to the concerns about the current technology and potential long-term effects; and second, it will encourage people who are eager to use the technology that there is a path to applications, so they should delay its application until the concerns have been more thoroughly examined.
Edward Lanphier
Lanphier: We favor a moratorium on genome editing research on human germ cells while the pros and cons of this technology application are discussed, a determination is made as to whether or not there are any good arguments in favor of moving forward, and if so, clear guidelines are established for specific cases in which germline genome editing could be used.
Perry: In the United Kingdom, the Human Fertilization and Embryology Act covers all generation of human embryos outside the body and as such includes germline engineering procedures. Given this, no new legislation is required in the UK to regulate human germline engineering unless it becomes possible to engineer genomes in vivo. It seems unlikely that a full international ban would ever be agreed [to] and even if it were, it's unclear to me how it would be policed. This debate cannot be seen in isolation: for example, China would be less inclined to listen to the United States regarding human germline engineering if political relations were otherwise deteriorating. Arguably, the emphasis should be on discussion, not a moratorium. If the prevailing view to emerge following discussion is that there should be a moratorium, so be it. However, a moratorium may drive research underground when what is needed is the opposite: open and transparent communication of a measured international research effort. Champions of a temporary moratorium should make it quite clear as to the circumstances under which it would be lifted. A moratorium may evolve into prohibition and 'illegalization'; it could stifle debate and have unintended consequences, including 'genome engineering tourism' to lax sovereignties, leading to untested and poorly regulated procedures. There may be some parallels with discussions about legislation for abortion and euthanasia in this regard.
Pera: I think a moratorium to enable a full and reasoned debate, and to allow for education of the public, is essential. It is too early for regulation, including an international ban, and laissez faire is too risky. With reproductive cloning, scientists agreed to a ban, but reproductive cloning was different in that it was very difficult to envision any good medical rationale for undertaking it.
Is it possible to have an Asilomar-type resolution today, given the questions swirling around CRISPR germline engineering, the international nature of research, and ease of use of technology and rise of 'garage' biology outside of traditional centers?
Moreno: There's a nearly reflexive tendency to think of Asilomar, but Asilomar has become for biology what Woodstock has become for youth culture—a mythology that's grown but that obscures how muddy the event itself was at the time.
Kim: I am skeptical about an Asilomar-type resolution. Several decades ago, recombinant DNA technology was available to a limited number of labs in the United States. Now CRISPR genome editing is used widely all over the world. CRISPR has democratized genome editing. Human germline genome editing cannot be performed in a garage because it is illegal to obtain and manipulate human eggs in most developed countries.
Zhou: I think an Asilomar-type conference involving scientists in different countries is a useful way to draw some consensually agreed guidelines to address this question.
Bosley: While the world has changed a lot since 1975, I think that leadership still matters. In fact, given the international nature of research and the ease of [using the] technology, it may matter even more than it did in 1975. I think there's an interesting question of how to engage across all of these diverse parts of the scientific community, and that is the challenge of how to effectively lead today. Leaders engaging on this topic are already emerging from long-established and highly respected academic institutions—that's not surprising; that kind of leadership is in their DNA and they're really good at it. But how can the 'garage' biologists, for example, also be part of the leadership on this question? I think genuine and broad engagement will be key. Whether it's an Asilomar-type resolution or another forum or tool—or indeed, many different forums and tools—leadership and an ongoing dialog do matter. This isn't the kind of question that can be addressed with one resolution or one conversation, and people's perspectives may well evolve over time.
Feng: I think it is possible and important, even if we cannot get every country together. It is very important to have this meeting early (right now) and have some countries lead the way. Including both developed and developing countries in the leading group will be critical.
Perry: An Asilomar-type meeting seems unlikely. One has to compare the circumstances surrounding Asilomar and the human germline debate. In 1975, Asia was not such an economic and scientific powerhouse. The language describing recombinant plasmids and viruses resonated with the fear of a cancer-causing infectious outbreak. This is not directly relevant to human germline engineering, but it is instructive. Asilomar reflected a deep concern that recombinant DNA had terrible potential, so parallels with Asilomar may reveal an unstated premise of the proposed moratorium for human germline genome modification—that it is, in essence, bad. But the premise seems to ignore the potential for good of human germline genome modification. Was there an analogous awareness in the debate of 1975 that good could come from molecular cloning? Every day that a moratorium delays development of human germline genome modification is potentially a day it adds to human misery. Two general points are also related to this question. First, the United States does not hold the same sway as it did in 1975. The second point comes by way of precedent. Given the considerable lag between the false claim of Hwang Woo-suk to have generated human nuclear-transfer embryonic stem cells and the first verified report almost a decade later—and notwithstanding the assortment of attention seekers, kooks and loons who have claimed to be performing human cloning in the past 15 years but then turned out to be nothing more than an assortment of attention-seekers, kooks and loons all along—the 'garage biology' idea may be less likely than it's given credit for. This is not an argument for complacency, but for a realistic take on what is likely.
Left: Rosario Isasi. Right: Bartha Knoppers
Rosario Isasi & Bartha Knoppers: Perhaps it would be reasonable to adopt a tiered approach, encompassing a temporary ban on any research and clinical activity directed at intentional human inheritable genome modification, while at the same time allowing nongermline modifications. Or conceivably, is a more plausible approach a temporary (or permanent?) prohibition on initiating a pregnancy with a human embryo whose germline has been altered? An expedient, albeit knee-jerk, approach would be simply legally prohibiting intentional germline and non-germline genome modification based on fears over slippery slopes resulting in eugenic scenarios.
Venter: An Asilomar type conference or the equivalent will make some feel better while extending the illusion that they can influence the applications of a simply applied technology to a key human need. Only by greatly increasing our understanding of the human genome and genotype-phenotype relationships and the consequences of making changes will we have the knowledge to make wise decisions. Until that time, human genome editing should be considered random human experimentation. We should push off the inevitable as long as possible to gain time to gather the knowledge and wisdom to enable us to proceed to the benefit of our species.
Does the fact that CRISPR technology works relatively easily in different laboratories across the world have an impact on the effectiveness of a ban or moratorium and pose different issues than germline gene therapy or reproductive cloning?
Hank Greely
Greely: Of course, the ease with which the technology can be used makes it harder to impose a ban. CRISPR or any present or future equivalents would be a way of doing germline gene therapy that holds out the possibility of doing something that is much more effective than current gene therapy methods or than reproductive cloning.
Corn: I think responsible scientists will respect significant, widespread concerns about germline editing. It remains to be seen how the ease of use of CRISPR will impact clinical use. While garage applications are not realistic, one could imagine a future in which most well-equipped medical centers might have access [to] things like somatic (e.g., hematopoietic) cell editing.
Lanphier: Yes, the fact that there is an easy to use system for genome editing, such as CRISPR, creates a low barrier to entry for germline genome editing and means that a ban or moratorium may not be easily enforced and thus not completely effective worldwide. While the CRISPR-Cas9 system has not been shown to be reliably specific, it offers a more straightforward approach for targeted manipulation of the genome than germline gene therapy or reproductive cloning.
Feng Zhang
Zhang: It is important to educate the scientific community and the public with regard to the implications of genome editing. This way people will be best equipped to make the most ethical and sensible decisions in their own research as well as monitor activities around them. Technically, CRISPR is not simpler than germline gene therapy or reproductive cloning, and it is not more or less challenging to regulate.
Perry: The ease with which the Cas9 technology can be used, coupled with its clear potential may make any moratorium less effective; whatever is being said publicly, there may be a behind-the-scenes race to develop the technology to gain an advantage before the moratorium is lifted. I see this as likely and unpoliceable. On one hand, this may be precisely what some people wish. On the other, the result may be diametrically opposite to what others wish. An alternative would be to pursue the work and in parallel foster an environment of openness, transparency and trust. As to 'garage' biology, reproductive cloning may be instructive: we're still in the tall grass getting on for 20 years after the first authenticated mammalian cloning was reported and few people can do it in any species.
Pera: No, because genetic manipulation is only part of the story. It will still be necessary to carry out medical procedures to successfully deliver modified gametes or embryos into the human reproductive cycle, and this cannot be done in isolation by one or two individuals.
The UK has approved mitochondrial replacement therapy and there was a recent report of human somatic cell nuclear transfer into an enucleated oocyte; how different compared to these are the ethical challenges posed by CRISPR germline engineering?
Ji: CRISPR germline engineering has additional ethical challenges to mitochondrial replacement. One of these is if we should change our genome before we really know all the functions of our genes and of our genome; of course, 'junk DNA' is not entirely junk.
Feng: The major difference is that in the UK case, one does not change the gene pool. It changes the genome of a human, but not the human race.
Zhou: Germline engineering via CRISPRs or other genome-editing technology faces bigger challenges than mitochondrial replacement therapy because mitochondrial DNA carries much less genetic information than genomic DNA. The ethical challenges are the same, however. Do we allow such biomedical approaches to be used to achieve genetic enhancement of future generations? Human therapeutic cloning does not directly involve germline changes. For human reproductive cloning, I think the scientific community and governments all over the world have already reached a consensus that it should be banned completely.
Lovell-Badge: The ethical and technical challenges are different and should be treated as such.
Mike Botchan
Doudna, Carroll, Martin & Botchan: Because mitochondrial transfer is permanent, there will be unpredicted effects of novel alleles in a given background, similar to novel alleles generated by CRISPR engineering of the germline. However, there are significant differences between the two approaches: first, there are very few genes in mitochondria, and they have well-defined roles specific to that organelle, so there are fewer places to go wrong. Second, no nuclease-based engineering is involved, so there will be no off-target mutagenesis. Finally, unlike the nuclear genome, deleterious effects in transplanted mitochondria cannot be moderated by sexual reproduction because the organelle is inherited uniparentally.
Bosley: The United Kingdom's recent action was the culmination of deep debate and extensive consideration over a long period of time. It's a good example of engaging diverse constituencies and considering the implications from many different angles. These techniques do involve germline changes, but for several technical reasons, their implications are much more constrained than the CRISPR-Cas9 technology. With mitochondrial replacement, only a very limited number of genes are involved, the technique is such that it can't extend to more genes than the mitochondrial ones and the diseases caused by mutations in those genes are very severe. The balance of potential benefit to patients and broader implications is one that can be assessed, understood and a judgment made about whether that balance is acceptable. And the UK government made that judgment with their approval of it. The current question about CRISPR and germline engineering is far more complex, and we don't have a sense of the breadth of the implications, and we don't understand the risks well. The technology's progress now demands us to confront these questions, but that can't be done quickly.
Perry: Mitochondrial replacement and nuclear transfer are different from Cas9-mediated germline engineering and seem to be red herrings in the debate. Indeed, there is a danger that discussion of germline engineering will be addled by them. Why? First, because mitochondrial replacement doesn't alter DNA sequences, it mixes up mitochondrial and nuclear genomes in a new combination that arguably could have occurred naturally. Also it's not new. Others have been doing this kind of thing for ∼15 years or more. It's possible—likely, even—that had the timing of the UK legislation not coincided with recent advances in Cas9, we wouldn't be thinking about it. Somatic cell nuclear transfer also doesn't change genomic sequence; on the contrary, it preserves a preexisting nuclear genome produced naturally by meiosis. I don't think advocates of therapeutic cloning have put 'generating germ cells for genetic alteration' at the top of their list of justifications, but otherwise nuclear transfer ES cells are also of limited relevance to discussions about human germline genome engineering.
Is international, national oversight or a combination of both needed, and which do you consider the correct regulatory or government agencies to oversee this research?
Moreno: There's a great deal of regulatory diversity under which gene editing could be brought among the countries that have the best developed science capacity (e.g., on embryo research, GMO, etc. and if these techniques are as easily accessible as they seem to be it won't be hard to go 'offshore'). Unfortunately, the international regimes for life sciences regulation are few to none, once one gets beyond intellectual property and some research ethics standards, especially as concerns sanctions for bad behavior. Witness the wholly voluntary nature of the handling of the ongoing controversy about gain-of-function research. Again as to sanctions, research funding can be withdrawn but it looks like systems like CRISPR can be done for rather little money. For demonstrable harms after the fact, there is little redress; the United States is not a part of the International Criminal Court, for example. Nonetheless, there should be some global forum for the exchange of views about germline engineering. A natural venue would be UNESCO's International Bioethics Commission (of which I happen to be the US member), especially in light of Article 16 of the Universal Declaration on Bioethics and Human Rights (2003): “Article 16—Protecting future generations: the impact of life sciences on future generations, including on their genetic constitution, should be given due regard.” The result of such an exchange could be a new declaration or perhaps an addendum that takes gene editing into account, one that would bind the states' parties.
Naldini: Oversight by legitimate ruling bodies representing all society's stakeholders should suffice upon informed advice by scientific societies or representatives. Scientific societies and communities should hold a debate and express general recommendations.
Qi Zhou
Zhou: I would prefer 'international guidelines plus national oversight policies' to oversee human germline engineering. Medical or healthcare services, academic institutions and industry face the same scientific and technical barriers, but the ethical challenges are different in different countries due to differences in society, religion, economics, etc. Thus, international guidelines could make a guide for the consensus questions and provide a basis for each country to formulate its own oversight policies, according to its own realities and cultural, political, religious and social context.
Robin Lovell-Badge
Lovell-Badge: National oversight should suffice, except many countries do not have a system in place to do this. I very much doubt that international bodies would be either reasonable or effective unless they work by consensus, are driven by science and [are] listened to by clinicians.
Charpentier: Living in a globalized world as we do these days, any isolated national initiative might fall short over time.
Dana Carroll
Doudna, Carroll, Martin & Botchan: In the United States, the Recombinant DNA Advisory Committee now reviews all proposals for gene therapy, including ones using designer nucleases (no CRISPR protocols have been submitted, as far as we know). The FDA also reviews such proposals because genes and nucleases are viewed as drugs. It would be good to have agreed-upon standards internationally.
Perry: It's a matter of trust, and it's not clear to me whether the foundations for such trust exist. The UK and possibly other countries may benefit from a 'go-to' source of disinterested and reliable information, for example, communicating advances in the genome engineering toolkit, identifying benefits to humans and animals (veterinary medicine), defining fully and partially prescriptive genome editing and explaining the law. It would seek [to] neutralize disinformation and help manage public expectations regarding safety, indicate realistic time-frames and explain the need for animal experimentation. It might address minimum standards to prevent corner-cutting experimentally or in clinical trials, how nonediting technologies (especially whole-genome sequencing) will be reckoned and whether there is a meaningful distinction between, say, single-gene heritable disease 'correction' and IQ 'correction'. If this could be done internationally, all the better.
IVF, in vitro fertilization; ES, embryonic stem; GMOs, genetically modified organisms; NHEJ, nonhomologous end joining; HDR, homology-directed repair; ZFNs, zinc finger nucleases; TALENs, transcription activator–like effector nucleases; ICSI, intracytoplasmic sperm injection UNESCO, United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization; FDA, US Food and Drug Administration.
Supplementary information PDF files 1. Supplementary Text and Figures Supplementary Comments
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[1][2] A woman weeps during the deportation of Jews from Ioannina in Greece on 25 March 1944. The deportation was enforced by the German Army . Almost all the deportees were murdered on or shortly after 11 April 1944, when the train carrying them reached Auschwitz-Birkenau
During World War II, the German combined armed forces (Heer, Kriegsmarine and Luftwaffe) committed systematic crimes, including massacres, rape, looting, the exploitation of forced labor, the murder of three million Soviet prisoners of war, and participated in the extermination of Jews. While the Nazi Party's own SS forces (in particular the SS-Totenkopfverbände, Einsatzgruppen and Waffen-SS) of Nazi Germany was the organization most responsible for the genocidal killing of the Holocaust, the regular armed forces represented by the Wehrmacht committed war crimes of their own, particularly on the Eastern Front in the war against the Soviet Union.
The Nuremberg Trials at the end of World War II initially considered whether the Wehrmacht high command structure should be tried. However, the Oberkommando der Wehrmacht (OKW - High Command of the Armed Forces) was judged not to be a criminal organization under the legal grounds that because of very poor co-ordination between the German Army, Navy and Air Force high commands, which operated as more or less separate entities during the war, the OKW did not constitute an "organization" as defined by Article 9 of the constitution of the International Military Tribunal (IMT) which conducted the Nuremberg trials.[3] This matter of legal definition has been misconstrued by German World War II veterans and others to mean that the IMT ruled that the OKW was not a "criminal organization" because the Wehrmacht committed no war crimes.[3]
Before the war [ edit ]
Prior to the developments of the Second World War there was a history of the German Army committing violent acts against civilians in previous conflicts.[4] During a rebellion by the Herero and Nama natives of a German African Colony in 1904, the German Army was tasked to quell the uprising. General Lothar von Trotha, the commander tasked with eliminating the uprising, remarked "against 'nonhumans' one cannot conduct war "humanely'".[5] This conflict resulted in the death of 66-75 percent of the entire native Herero population and 50 percent of the Nama population. By contrast, the German army lost only 676 soldiers in combat over the course of the conflict.[6] Additionally, the Zabern Affair was an incident which showed the German military's indifferent attitude and eventual extrajudicial and illegal activity when individual soldiers were known to have committed violent acts against civilians.
During the First World War, the pattern of civilian brutality continued.[7] During the German invasion of Belgium in 1914, the Germans were recorded to have deliberately killed 6,427 Belgian and French civilians.[8] These attacks were in response to a perceived resistance from the civilian population.[9] However, it has since been shown that there was in fact no significant resistance from the population that would have warranted these levels of civilian casualties.[9] In August 1914 during the German attack on Russia, the German army burned, pillaged and murdered many inhabitants of the Polish city of Kalisz (Destruction of Kalisz).[10]
When the National Socialists (Nazis) came to power, it was welcomed by almost the entire officer corps of the Reichswehr as a way of creating the Wiederwehrhaftmachung (remilitarization) of Germany, namely the total militarization of German society in order to ensure that Germany did not lose the next war.[11] As such, what both the Nazis and the German Army wanted to see was a totally militarized Volksgemeinschaft that would be purged of those perceived internal enemies like the Jews who it was believed had "stabbed Germany in the back" in 1918.[12]
Many officers therefore willingly embraced National Socialist ideology in the 1930s. Acting on his own initiative, the Defence Minister Werner von Blomberg had purged the Army of all its Jewish personnel in February 1934.[12] On December 8, 1938, the Army leadership had instructed all officers to be thoroughly well versed in National Socialism and to apply its values in all situations. Starting in February 1939, pamphlets were issued that were made required reading in the Army.[13] The content can be gauged by the titles: "The Officer and Politics", "Hitler's World Historical Mission", "The Army in the Third Reich", "The Battle for German Living Space", "Hands off Danzig!", and "The Final Solution of the Jewish Question in the Third Reich". In the last essay, the author, C.A. Holberg wrote:
The defensive battle against Jewry will continue, even if the last Jew has left Germany. Two big and important tasks remain: 1) the eradication of all Jewish influence, above all in the economy and in culture; 2) the battle against World Jewry, which tries to incite all people in the world against Germany.
Attitudes like the ones expressed above colored all the instructions that came to Wehrmacht troops in the summer of 1939 as a way of preparing for the attack on Poland.[13]
Wehrmacht Rulings [ edit ]
Commissar Order [ edit ]
The order cast the war against the Soviet Union as one of ideological and racial differences, and it provided for the immediate liquidation of political commissars in the Red Army.[14] The order was formulated on Hitler's behalf in 1941 by the Wehrmacht command and distributed to field commanders.[15] General Franz Halder, contrary to what he claimed after the war, did not oppose the Commissar Order,[citation needed] and instead welcomed it writing that "Troops must participate in the ideological battle in the Eastern campaign to the end".[15] The enforcement of the Commissar Order led to thousands of executions. The German historian Jürgen Förster was to write in 1989 that it was simply not true as most German Army commanders claimed in their memoirs and some German historians like Ernst Nolte were still claiming that the Commissar Order was not enforced.[15]
On 17 July 1941 the OKW declared that the Wehrmacht was to:
[F]ree itself from all elements among the prisoners of war considered Bolshevik driving forces. The special situation of the Eastern Campaign therefore demands special measures [an euphemism for killing] which are to be carried out free from bureaucratic and administrative influence and with a willingness to accept responsibility. While so far the regulations and orders concerning prisoners of war were based solely on military considerations, now the political objective must be attained, which is to protect the German nation from Bolshevik inciters and forthwith take the occupied territory strictly in hand.[16]
As such, all Soviet POWs considered to be commissars together with all Jewish POWs were to be handed over to the Einsatzgruppen to be shot.[16] The OKW attached great importance to the killings of POWs believed to be commissars as it was believed that if the captured commissars reached POW camps in Germany that they would stage another German Stab-in-the-back myth (Dolchstoß) like that believed to have caused Germany's defeat in World War I. Between July–October 1941, between 580,000–600,000 POWs in Wehrmacht custody were turned over to the SS to be killed.[16] In September 1941, both Helmuth James von Moltke and Admiral Wilhelm Canaris wrote memos pointing out to the OKW that the order of July 17, 1941 was illegal under international law.[17]
In particular, both Moltke and Admiral Canaris noted that the German claim that Soviet POWs had no rights because the Soviet Union had not ratified the Geneva Convention was invalid as Germany had ratified the Geneva Convention and thus under international law was obliged to provide humane treatment for the POWs in its care. In response, Field-Marshal Wilhelm Keitel wrote: "These scruples accord with the soldierly concepts of a chivalrous war! Here we are concerned with the extermination of an ideology. That is why I approve and defend this measure".[17]
In the summer of 1942, there was an illusory liberalization of the treatment of captured political officers. On 10 June, the Gestapo chief Heinrich Müller issued an order on the segregation of prisoners and ordered that commissars be isolated from the rest of the prisoners and sent to Mauthausen-Gusen concentration camp. However, this did not change the plight of commissars much, as Mauthausen was one of the worst Nazi concentration camps where they usually waited for a slow death. On 20 October 1942, Müller again ordered commissars captured in battle to be shot on the spot. Only those commissars who were identified as deserters were sent to Mauthausen. In the following months reports continued to be filed regarding the executions of Soviet commissars.[18] The last known account of the liquidation of a political officer came from units of Army Group South in July 1943.[18]
Barbarossa Decree [ edit ]
The background behind the Barbarossa Decree was laid out by Hitler during a high level meeting with military officials on 30 March 1941,[18] where he declared that war against Soviet Russia would be a war of extermination, in which both the political and intellectual elites of Russia would be eradicated by German forces, in order to ensure a long-lasting German victory. Hitler underlined that executions would not be a matter for military courts, but for the organised action of the military.[18]
The decree, issued by Field Marshal Keitel a few weeks before Operation Barbarossa, exempted punishable offenses committed by enemy civilians (in Russia) from the jurisdiction of military justice. Suspects were to be brought before an officer who would decide if they were to be shot. Prosecution of offenses against civilians by members of the Wehrmacht was decreed to be "not required" unless necessary for the maintenance of discipline.[citation needed]
The order specified:
"The partisans are to be ruthlessly eliminated in battle or during attempts to escape", and all attacks by the civilian population against Wehrmacht soldiers are to be "suppressed by the army on the spot by using extreme measures, till [the] annihilation of the attackers;
soldiers are to be "suppressed by the army on the spot by using extreme measures, till [the] annihilation of the attackers; "Every officer in the German occupation in the East of the future will be entitled to perform execution(s) without trial, without any formalities, on any person suspected of having a hostile attitude towards the Germans", (the same applied to prisoners of war);
"If you have not managed to identify and punish the perpetrators of anti-German acts, you are allowed to apply the principle of collective responsibility. 'Collective measures' against residents of the area where the attack occurred can then be applied after approval by the battalion commander or higher level of command";
German soldiers who commit crimes against humanity, the USSR and prisoners of war are to be exempted from criminal responsibility, even if they commit acts punishable according to German law.[18][19]
Night and Fog Decree [ edit ]
A commemorative plaque to the French victims at Hinzert concentration camp , using the expressions "Nacht und Nebel" and "NN-Deported"
The Night and Fog Decree, issued by Hitler in 1941 and disseminated along with a directive from Keitel, was operated within the conquered territories in the West (Belgium, France, Luxembourg, Norway, Denmark and the Netherlands). The decree allowed those "endangering German security" to be seized and made to disappear without trace. Keitel's directive stated that "efficient intimidation can only be achieved either by capital punishment or by measures by which the relatives of the criminal and the population do not know his fate."[20]
Guidelines to soldiers [ edit ]
The "Guidelines for the Conduct of the Troops in Russia" issued by the OKW on 19 May 1941 declared "Judeo-Bolshevism" to be the most deadly enemy of the German nation, and that "It is against this destructive ideology and its adherents that Germany is waging war".[21] The guidelines went on to demand "ruthless and vigorous measures against Bolshevik inciters, guerrillas, saboteurs, Jews, and the complete elimination of all active and passive resistance."[21] Influenced by the guidelines, in a directive sent out to the troops under his command, General Erich Hoepner of the Panzer Group 4 stated:
The war against Russia is an important chapter in the German nation's struggle for existence. It is the old battle of the Germanic against the Slavic people, of the defence of European culture against Muscovite-Asiatic inundation and of the repulse of Jewish Bolshevism. The objective of this battle must be the demolition of present-day Russia and must therefore be conducted with unprecedented severity. Every military action must be guided in planning and execution by an iron resolution to exterminate the enemy remorselessly and totally. In particular, no adherents of the contemporary Russian Bolshevik system are to be spared.[22]
In the same spirit, General Müller, who was the Wehrmacht's senior liaison officer for legal matters, in a lecture to military judges on June 11, 1941 advised the judges present that "...in the operation to come, feelings of justice must in certain situations give way to military exigencies and then revert to old habits of warfare ... One of the two adversaries must be finished off. Adherents of the hostile attitude are not to be conserved, but liquidated".[23] General Müller declared that, in the war against the Soviet Union, any Soviet civilian who was felt to be hindering the German war effort was to be regarded as a "guerrilla" and shot on the spot. The Army's Chief of Staff, General Franz Halder, declared in a directive that in the event of guerrilla attacks, German troops were to impose "collective measures of force" by massacring villages.[23]
In November 1935, the psychological war laboratory of the Reich War Ministry submitted a study about how best to undermine Red Army morale should a German-Soviet war break out.[24] Working closely with the émigré Russian Fascist Party based in Harbin, the German psychological warfare unit created a series of pamphlets written in Russian for distribution in the Soviet Union. Much of it was designed to play on Russian anti-Semitism, with one pamphlet calling the "Gentlemen commissars and party functionaries" a group of "mostly filthy Jews". The pamphlet ended with the call for "brother soldiers" of the Red Army to rise up and kill all of the "Jewish commissars".[25]
Although this material was not used at the time, later in 1941 the material the psychological war laboratory had developed in 1935 was dusted off, and served as the basis not only for propaganda in the Soviet Union but also for propaganda within the German Army.[26] Before Barbarossa, German troops were exposed to violent anti-Semitic and anti-Slavic indoctrination via movies, radio, lectures, books and leaflets.[27] The lectures were delivered by "National Socialist Leadership Officers", who were created for that purpose, and by their junior officers.[27] German Army propaganda portrayed the Soviet enemy in the most dehumanized terms, depicting the Red Army as a force of Slavic Untermenschen (sub-humans) and "Asiatic" savages engaging in "barbaric Asiatic fighting methods" commanded by evil Jewish commissars to whom German troops were to grant no mercy.[28]
Typical of the German Army propaganda was the following passage from a pamphlet issued in June 1941:
Anyone who has ever looked into the face of a Red commissar knows what the Bolsheviks are. There is no need here for theoretical reflections. It would be an insult to animals if one were to call the features of these, largely Jewish, tormentors of people beasts. They are the embodiment of the infernal, of the personified insane hatred of everything that is noble in humanity. In the shape of these commissars we witness the revolt of the subhuman against noble blood. The masses whom they are driving to their deaths with every means of icy terror and lunatic incitement would have brought about an end of all meaningful life, had the incursion not been prevented at the last moment;" [the last statement is a reference to the "preventive war" that Barbarossa was alleged to be].[26]
German Army propaganda often gave extracts in newsletters concerning the missions for German troops in the East:
It is necessary to eliminate the red sub-humans, along with their Kremlin dictators. German people will have a great task to perform the most in its history, and the world will hear more about that this task will be completed till the end.[29]
As a result of this sort of propaganda, the majority of the Wehrmacht Heer officers and soldiers tended to regard the war in Nazi terms, seeing their Soviet opponents as so much sub-human trash deserving to be trampled upon.[26] One German soldier wrote home to his father on 4 August 1941 that:
The pitiful hordes on the other side are nothing but felons who are driven by alcohol and the [commissars'] threat of pistols at their heads ... They are nothing but a bunch of assholes! ... Having encountered these Bolshevik hordes and having seen how they live has made a lasting impression on me. Everyone, even the last doubter, knows today that the battle against these sub-humans, who've been whipped into a frenzy by the Jews, was not only necessary but came in the nick of time. Our Führer has saved Europe from certain chaos.[26]
As a result of these views, the majority of the German Army worked enthusiastically with the SS in murdering Jews in the Soviet Union. British historian Richard J. Evans wrote that junior officers tended to be especially zealous National Socialists with a third of them being Nazi Party members in 1941.[27] The Wehrmacht did not just obey Hitler's criminal orders for Barbarossa because of obedience, but rather because they shared Hitler's belief that the Soviet Union was run by Jews, and that it was necessary for Germany to completely destroy "Judeo-Bolshevism".[14] Jürgen Förster[who?] wrote that the majority of Wehrmacht officers sincerely believed that most Red Army commissars were Jews, and that the best way to defeat the Soviet Union was to kill all of the commissars so as to deprive the Russian soldiers of their Jewish leaders.[30]
The order was in line with the interests of the Wehrmacht command, which was eager to secure logistical facilities and routes behind the front line for the divisions on the Eastern Front.[19] On 24 May 1941, Field Marshal Walther von Brauchitsch, the head of the German Army High Command (Oberkommando des Heeres – OKH), slightly modified the assumptions of the "Barbarossa Jurisdiction". His orders were to use the jurisdiction only in cases where the discipline of the army would not suffer.[citation needed]
Contrary to what was claimed after the war, the Wehrmacht generals such as Heinz Guderian, did not intend to mitigate the records of the jurisdiction of an order, or in any way violate Hitler's intentions.[19] His command was intended solely to prevent individual excesses which could damage discipline within army ranks, without changing the extermination intentions of the order.[18] As part of the policy of harshness towards Slavic "sub-humans" and to prevent any tendency towards seeing the enemy as human, German troops were ordered to go out of their way to mistreat women and children in Russia.[31]
In October 1941, the commander of the 12th Infantry Division sent out a directive saying "the carrying of information is mostly done by youngsters in the ages of 11–14" and that "as the Russian is more afraid of the truncheon than of weapons, flogging is the most advisable measure for interrogation".[32] The Nazis at the beginning of the war banned sexual relations between Germans and foreign slave workers.[33] In accordance to these new racial laws issued by the Nazis; in November 1941, the commander of the 18th Panzer Division warned his soldiers not to have sex with "sub-human" Russian women, and ordered that any Russian women found having sex with a German soldier was to be handed over to the SS to be executed at once.[34]
A decree ordered on 20 February 1942 declared that sexual intercourse between a German woman and a Russian worker or prisoner of war would result in the latter being punished by the death penalty.[35] During the war, hundreds of Polish and Russian men were found guilty of "race defilement" for their relations with German women and were executed.[36][37]
Invasion of Poland [ edit ]
Wehrmacht attitudes towards Poles were a combination of contempt, fear, and a belief that violence was the best way to deal with them.[38]
Mass murder of Polish civilians [ edit ]
Wehrmacht units killed thousands of Polish civilians during the September 1939 campaign through executions and the terror bombing of cities. Any act of defiance was met with the most ruthless violence, although the Army leadership did seek to discourage so-called "wild" shootings where Wehrmacht troops would indiscriminately shoot all Poles on their own initiative.[38] Court martial proceedings were begun against some of the junior officers who had led these shootings, but this was nullified on 4 October 1939, when Hitler pardoned all military personnel who had been involved in war crimes in Poland.[38] After the end of hostilities, during the Wehrmacht's administration of Poland, which went on until 25 October 1939, 531 towns and villages were burned; the Wehrmacht carried out 714 mass executions, alongside many incidents of plunder, banditry and murder. Altogether, it is estimated that 16,376 Poles fell victim to these atrocities. Approximately 60% of these crimes were committed by the Wehrmacht.[39] Wehrmacht soldiers frequently engaged in the massacre of Jews on their own, rather than just assisting in rounding them up for the SS.[40][41]
In the summer of 1940, Reinhard Heydrich, the chief of the Reich Main Security Office (including the Gestapo), noted that: "...compared to the crimes, robberies and excesses committed by the army [part of the Wehrmacht], the SS and the police don't look all that bad".[42] Even when the German Army was not involved in war crimes, all of the top military leaders were aware of what was happening in Poland. None objected on moral principles; the few who did object did so due to concerns about discipline.[38] Moreover, the general who objected the loudest to war crimes in Poland, General Johannes von Blaskowitz, was opposed to the Army committing war crimes with the SS, not the idea of atrocities against Poland.[43] The Israeli historian Omer Bartov wrote that Blaskowitiz was actually "legitimizing murder" by expressing approval of SS massacres while demanding that the Army be kept out of the massacres as damaging to discipline. Bartov wrote that once officers and troops saw that murder was "legitimate" in Poland, the effect was that the Army tended to copy the SS.[44]
Deliberate bombing of civilians [ edit ]
In one of the Germany military's first acts of World War II the German air force, the Luftwaffe, bombed the Polish town of Wieluń and later went on to bomb cities across the country, including Warsaw, Frampol and various other cities. Collectively the bombings killed tens of thousands of Polish civilians. However, no positive or specific customary international humanitarian law with respect to aerial warfare existed prior to and during World War II[45] which means that at the time, strategic bombings were not officially war crimes. For this reason, no German officers were prosecuted at the post-World War II Allied war crime trials for aerial raids.[46]
Massacres of Polish POWs [ edit ]
About 300 Polish POWs executed by the soldiers of the German 15th motorized infantry regiment in Ciepielów on September 9, 1939.
Numerous examples exist in which Polish soldiers were killed after capture; for instance, at Śladów, where 252 prisoners of war (POW)s were shot or drowned, at Ciepielów, where some 300 POWs were killed, and at Zambrów, where a further 300 were killed. Polish POWs of Jewish origin were routinely selected and shot on the spot.[47]
The prisoners in the POW camp in Żyrardów, captured after the Battle of the Bzura, were denied any food and starved for ten days.[48] In many cases Polish POWs were burned alive.[40][41][49] Units of the Polish 7th Infantry Division were massacred after being captured in several individual acts of revenge for their resistance in combat. On September 11, Wehrmacht soldiers threw hand grenades into a school building where they kept Polish POWs.[40][41] According to German historian Jochen Böhler, the Wehrmacht mass murdered at least 3,000 Polish POWs during the campaign.[50]
Rape of Poles [ edit ]
There were rapes committed by soldiers of the Wehrmacht forces against Jewish women and girls during the Invasion of Poland.[51] Rapes were also committed against Polish women and girls during mass executions carried out primarily by the Volksdeutscher Selbstschutz, which were accompanied by Wehrmacht soldiers and on territory under the administration of the German military, the rapes were carried out before shooting the female captives.[52]
Only one case of rape was prosecuted by a German court during the military campaign in Poland, the case of gang rape committed by three soldiers against women of the Jewish Kaufmann family in Busko-Zdrój; however, the German judge sentenced the guilty for Rassenschande – shame against the [German] race as defined by the racial policy of Nazi Germany – and not rape.[53]
Widespread plunder and theft [ edit ]
Throughout the campaign Wehrmacht engaged in widespread theft and plunder of Polish citizens' property.[54] Until 3 November 1939 the Wehrmacht sent to the Nazi Germany 10,000 train wagons with stolen property including agricultural machinery, furniture and food.[55][56]
Invasion of Belgium [ edit ]
Between 25–28 May 1940, the Wehrmacht committed several war crimes in and near the small Belgian village of Vinkt. Hostages were taken and used as human shields. As the Belgian Army continued to resist, farms were searched and looted, and more hostages were taken. In all, eighty-six civilians were executed.[57] Besides Vinkt, other massacres and shootings happened with estimates of 600 victims.[58]
Invasion of France [ edit ]
During the rout of the French Army, in June 1940, the Großdeutschland Regiment massacred African soldiers and their White officers it had taken prisoner near the Bois d'Eraine.[59] Ten more Black Frenchmen were murdered near Lyon.[60]
The same month, 9th Infantry Division massacred Black soldiers of the 4th North African Infantry Division they had captured near Erquivillers. A German officer is cited in French reports as explaining "an inferior race does not deserve to do battle with a civilized race such as the Germans."[59]
Invasion of the Soviet Union [ edit ]
Some German officers had considered Communism in the Soviet Union to be a Jewish plot even before the Third Reich. In 1918, Karl von Bothmer, the German Army's plenipotentiary in Moscow called the Bolsheviks "a gang of Jews" and expressed the desire "to see a few hundred of these louts hanging on the Kremlin wall".[61] Evaluations of the Red Army by the visiting Reichswehr officers during the period of German-Soviet co-operation in the 1920s often show anti-Semitism with comments about the "Jewish slyness" of General Lev Snitman or the "Jewish blood" of General Leonid Vajner being very typical.[61]
In 1932, Ewald Banse, a leading German professor and a member of the National Association for the Military Sciences (a group secretly financed by the Reichswehr) wrote in a pamphlet calling for "intellectual world domination" by Germany wrote that the Soviet leadership was mostly Jewish who dominated an apathetic and mindless Russian masses.[62] In 1935, Colonel Carl-Heinrich von Stülpnagel in a report about the military capacity of the Red Army wrote that the commissars were "mostly of the Jewish race".[63]
Security warfare and the Holocaust [ edit ]
Under the guise of "anti-bandit" (Bandenbekämpfung) operations, the Wehrmacht in the Soviet Union massacred Jews. Co-operation with the SS in anti-partisan and anti-Jewish operations was close and intensive.[64] In the spring of 1941, Heydrich and General Eduard Wagner successfully completed negotiations for co-operation between the Einsatzgruppen and the German Army to allow the implementation of "special tasks".[65]
Following the Heydrich-Wagner agreement on 28 April 1941, Field Marshal Walther von Brauchitsch ordered when Operation Barbarossa began that all German Army commanders were to identify and register all Jews in the occupied areas in the Soviet Union at once and to co-operate fully with the Einsatzgruppen. Each Einsatzgruppe, in its area of operations, was under the control of the Higher SS and Police Leaders.[66] In a further agreement between the Army and the SS concluded in May 1941 by General Wagner and Walter Schellenberg, it was agreed that the Einsatzgruppen in front-line areas were to operate under Army command while the Army would provide the Einsatzgruppen with all necessary logistical support.[67]
In August 1941, following the protests by two Lutheran chaplains about the massacre of a group of Jewish women and children at Byelaya Tserkov, General von Reichenau wrote:
The conclusion of the report in question contains the following sentence, "In the case in question, measures against women and children were undertaken which in no way differ from atrocities carried out by the enemy about which the troops are continually being informed".
I have to describe this assessment as incorrect, inappropriate and impertinent in the extreme. Moreover this comment was written in an open communication which passes through many hands. It would have been far better if the report had not been written at all.[68]
One SS man who saw the killings at Byelaya Tserkov described them as follows:
I went to the woods alone. The Wehrmacht had already dug a grave. The children were brought along in a tractor. I had nothing to do with this technical procedure. The Ukrainians were standing around trembling. The children were taken down from the tractor. They were lined up along the top of the grave and shot so that they fell into it. The Ukrainians did not aim at any particular part of the body. They fell into the grave. The wailing was indescribable. I shall never forget the scene throughout my life. I find it very hard to bear. I particularly remember a small fair-haired girl who took me by the hand. She too was shot later ... The grave was near some woods. It was not near the rifle-range. The execution must had taken place in the afternoon at about 3.30 or 4.00. It took place the day after the discussions at the Feldkommandanten...Many children were hit four or five times before they died.[69]
In the summer of 1941, the SS Cavalry Brigade commanded by Hermann Fegelein during the course of "anti-partisan" operations in the Pripyat Marshes killed 699 Red Army soldiers, 1,100 partisans and 14,178 Jews.[64] Before the operation, Fegelein had been ordered to shoot all adult Jews while driving the women and children into the marshes. After the operation, General Max von Schenckendorff, who commanded the Army Group Centre Rear Area ordered on 10 August 1941 that all Wehrmacht security divisions when on anti-partisan duty were to emulate Fegelein's example and organized between 24–26 September 1941 in Mogilev, a joint SS-Police-Wehrmacht seminar on how best to murder Jews.[64] The seminar, which became known as the Mogilev Conference, ended with the 7th Company of Police Battalion 322 of the Order Police shooting 32 Jews at a village called Knjashizy before the assembled officers as an example of how to "screen" the population for partisans.[70] As the war diary of the Battalion 322 read:
The action, first scheduled as a training exercise was carried out under real-life conditions (ernstfallmässig) in the village itself. Strangers, especially partisans could not be found. The screening of the population, however resulted in 13 Jews, 27 Jewish women and 11 Jewish children, of which 13 Jews and 19 Jewish women were shot in co-operation with the Security Service.[70]
Based on what they had learned during the Mogilev Conference, one Wehrmacht officer told his men "Where the partisan is, there is the Jew and where the Jew is, there is the partisan".[70] The 707th Infantry Division of the Wehrmacht put this principle into practice during an "anti-partisan" sweep that saw the division shoot 10,431 people out of the 19,940 it had detained during the sweep while suffering only two dead and five wounded in the process.[71]
In Order No. 24 dated 24 November 1941, the commander of the 707th Division declared:
5. Jews and Gypsies: ... As already has been ordered, the Jews have to vanish from the flat country and the Gypsies have to be annihilated too. The carrying out of larger Jewish actions is not the task of the divisional units. They are carried out by civilian or police authorities, if necessary ordered by the commandant of White Ruthenia, if he has special units at his disposal, or for security reasons and in the case of collective punishments. When smaller or larger groups of Jews are met in the flat country, they can be liquidated by divisional units or be massed in the ghettos near bigger villages designated for that purpose, where they can be handed over to the civilian authority or the SD.[71]
At Mirgorod, the 62nd Infantry Division executed "the entire Jewish population (168 people) for associating with partisans".[72] At Novomoskovsk, the 444th Security Division reported that they had killed "305 bandits, 6 women with rifles (Flintenweiber), 39 prisoners-of-war and 136 Jews".[72] In revenge for a partisan attack that had killed one German soldier, the Ersatz-Brigade 202 "as an act of retaliation shot 20 Jews from the villages of Bobosjanka and Gornostajewka and burnt down 5 Jew-houses".[73] Even more extreme was the case in Serbia, where the majority of the Jews there were murdered by the Wehrmacht, not the SS.[74]
German forces and Ustaše collaborators lead a column of Serbs to the Šabac internment camp during anti-partisan "cleansing" operations.
At Šabac in Dulag 183, a German transit camp for POWs in World War II Serbia, which opened in September 1941 (and closed in September 1944), Partisan POWs and members of their families were held. It is estimated that more than 5,000 persons were executed, not counting Jews and Roma people. "Central European Jewish refugees, mostly Austrians, were shot by troops of predominantly Austrian origin in retaliation for casualties inflicted by Serbian partisans on the German Army". The orders issued by Field Marshal Wilhelm Keitel in September 1941 called for the German Army to shoot 100 Serbs for every German soldier killed by the Serb guerrillas and did not call for Jews to be singled out. Due to rampant anti-Semitism in the German officer corps, Serbian Jews were scapegoated and targeted for mass retaliatory shootings. German historian Jürgen Förster, a leading expert on the subject of Wehrmacht war crimes, argued the Wehrmacht played a key role in the Holocaust and it is wrong to ascribe the Shoah as solely the work of the SS while the Wehrmacht were a more or less passive and disapproving bystander.[74]
The Wehrmacht also worked very closely with the Einsatzgruppen in murdering members of the Jewish population of the Soviet Union. On October 10, 1941 General Walther von Reichenau drafted an order to be read to the troops under his command stating that: "the soldier must achieve full understanding of the necessity for a harsh but just vengeance against Jewish subhumanity."[75] Upon hearing of Reichenau's Severity Order, Field Marshal Gerd von Rundstedt, the commander of Army Group South announced his "complete agreement" with it, and sent out a circular to all of the Army generals under his command urging them to send out their own versions of the Severity Order, which would impress upon the troops the need to exterminate Jews.[76]
Einsatzgruppen murder Jews in Ivanhorod, Ukraine, 1942
General Erich von Manstein, in an order to his troops on 20 November 1941 stated:
Jewry is the middleman between the enemy at our rear and the still fighting remnants of the Red Army and the Red leadership; more than in Europe, it [Jewry] occupies all key posts of the political leadership and administration, of trade and crafts and forms the nucleus for all disquiet and possible revolts. The Jewish-Bolshevist system must be exterminated once and for all.[75]
On 6 July 1941 Einsatzkommando 4b of Einsatzgruppe C – which was operating in Tarnopol at the time – sent a report which noted "Armed forces surprisingly welcome hostility against the Jews".[77] On 8 September 1941 Einsatzgruppe D reported that relations with the German Army were "excellent". Franz Walter Stahlecker of Einsatzgruppe A wrote in September 1941 that Army Group North had been exemplary in co-operating with his men in murdering Jews and that relations with the Fourth Panzer Army commanded by General Erich Hoepner were "very close, almost cordial".[77]
Retreat from France [ edit ]
In September 1944 the garrison of Brest executed civilians and looted and destroyed civilian property during the Battle for Brest. The commander of the garrison, generalleutnant Hermann-Bernhard Ramcke, was convicted of war crimes relating to these actions in 1951.
Rapes [ edit ]
Rapes were allowed in practice by the German military (officially forbidden, however) in eastern and southeastern Europe, while northern and western countries were relatively spared.[78][79] In Occupied Denmark, which initially agreed to collaborate with Nazi Germany, rapes were not widespread, and German officials promised to punish them.[78] By contrast thousands of Soviet female nurses, doctors and field medics fell victim to rape when captured, and were often murdered afterwards.[18]
German soldiers used to brand the bodies of captured partisan women – and other women as well – with the words "Whore for Hitler's troops" and rape them.[80] Following their capture some German soldiers vividly bragged about committing rape and rape-homicide.[81] Susan Brownmiller argues that rape played a pivotal role in Nazi aim to conquer and destroy people they considered inferior, such as Jews, Russians, and Poles.[82] An extensive list of rapes committed by German soldiers was compiled in the so called "Molotov Note" in 1942. Brownmiller points out that Nazis used rape as a weapon of terror.[83]
Examples of mass rapes in Soviet Union committed by German soldiers include:
Smolensk: German command opened a brothel for officers in which hundreds of women and girls were driven by force, often by arms and hair. [84]
Lviv: 32 women working in a garment factory were raped and murdered by German soldiers, in a public park. A priest trying to stop the atrocity was murdered.
Lviv: Germans soldiers raped Jewish girls, who were murdered after getting pregnant.[85] It is estimated that over a million children were born to Russian women, fathered by German soldiers.[86]: 56 [87]
Author Ursula Schele, estimated in the Journal "Zur Debatte um die Ausstellung Vernichtungskrieg. Verbrechen der Wehrmacht 1941-1944" that one in ten women raped by German soldiers would have become pregnant, and therefore it is probable, while not provable, that up to ten million women in the Soviet Union could have been raped by the Wehrmacht.[88]:9
Birgit Beck, in her work Rape: The Military Trials of Sexual Crimes Committed by Soldiers in the Wehrmacht, 1939–1944, describes the leniency in punishing sex crimes by German authorities in the East, at the same time pointing out heavy punishments applied in the West.[89] If a soldier who committed a rape was subsequently convicted by a court-martial, he would usually be sentenced to four years in prison[90] The German penal code was also valid for soldiers in war.[91] However, until 1944 only 5,349 soldiers of the Wehrmacht on all fronts were sentenced because of indecency offence "Sittlichkeitsvergehen" or rape "Notzucht".[92] Historian Mühlhäuser believed that sexual assault was not an exception but common, and that the actual number of rapes committed by German soldiers are without question much greater.[93]
Other sources estimate that rapes of Soviet women by the Wehrmacht range up to 10,000,000 incidents, with between 750,000 and 1,000,000 children being born as a result.[86][87][88][94]
In Soviet Russia rapes were only a concern if they undermined military discipline.[89] Since 1941, rape was theoretically punishable with the death sentence, although rapes were rarely prosecuted in practice and rapes by Germans of non-German women were not taken seriously, nor was it punishable by death, especially in the eastern European territories.[86]:288 In October 1940 the laws on rape were changed, making it a "petitioned crime" – that is a crime for which punishment had to be requested. Historian Christa Paul writes that this resulted in "a nearly complete absence of prosecution and punishment for rape".[86]:288 There were rape cases in the east where the perpetrators were sentenced if the rape was highly visible, damaging to the image of the German Army and the courts were willing to pass a condemning verdict against the accused.[86]:289
According to the historian Regina Mühlhäuser, the Wehrmacht also used sexual violence and undressing in numerous cases of interrogations.[95] Mühlhäuser adds that the number of illegitimate children born in the occupied regions did not exceed the prewar time. She comes to the conclusion that rapes on the Eastern front were not singular cases but has to admit that the state of source material is very poor.[96]
Persecution of Soviet POWs [ edit ]
POW Camps [ edit ]
The Geneva Convention relative to the Treatment of Prisoners of War had been signed by Germany and most other countries[97] in 1929, while the USSR and Japan did not sign until after the war (the final version of the Third Geneva Convention of 1949). This meant that Germany was legally obliged to treat all POWs according to it, while in turn, Germans captured by the Red Army could not expect to be treated in such a manner. The Soviet Union and Japan did not treat prisoners of war in accordance with the Geneva Convention. While the Wehrmacht's prisoner-of-war camps for inmates from the west generally satisfied the humanitarian requirement prescribed by international law, prisoners from Poland (which never capitulated) and the USSR were incarcerated under significantly worse conditions.[98]
By December 1941, more than 2.4 million Soviet Red Army troops had been taken prisoner. These men suffered from malnutrition and diseases such as typhus that resulted from the Wehrmacht's failure to provide sufficient food, shelter, proper sanitation and medical care. Prisoners were regularly subject to torture, beatings and humiliation. All Jews, commissars, "intellectuals" and Muslims serving in the Red Army were either executed by the Wehrmacht or handed over to the SS to be shot.[99]
The Muslim POWs were shot because they were circumcised, and therefore might be Jewish; it was felt to be safer to simply shoot all circumcised POWs rather run the risk that a Jewish POW might escape execution by claiming to be a Muslim.[99] Reflecting the close co-operation between the Wehrmacht and the SS was an Einsatzgruppen report, which read:
In Borispol, following a demand by the Commandant of the local P/W camp, a platoon of Sonderkommando 4 shot 752 Jewish prisoners of war on 14 October and 356 on 16 October 1941 including several commissars and 78 wounded Jews handed over by the camp medical officer.[99]
According to a RHSA report of 5 December 1941, the Wehrmacht had since 22 June handed over to the Einsatzgruppen 16, 000 Soviet POWs to be "liquidated".[100] A Typical of the Wehrmacht's treatment of Soviet POWs were the reports of the 11th Army commanded by Erich von Manstein on the "wastage" rates in the first half of 1942. According to the reports:[100]
Date Died/shot Escaped Handed over
to the SD Discharged Total wastage 7.1.1942 135 181 140 26 507 6.2.1942 1,116 155 111 2,293 3,680 6.3.1942 1,115 36 66 298 1,522
Between the launching of Operation Barbarossa in the summer of 1941 and the following spring, 2.8 million of the 3.2 million prisoners taken died while in German hands.[101] The German failure to attain their anticipated victory in the East led to significant shortages of labor for German war production and, beginning in 1942, prisoners of war in the eastern POW camps – primarily Soviets – were seen as a source of slave labor to keep Germany's wartime economy running.[101]
On 6 August 1941, the OKW declared that Soviet POWs capable of work were to receive 2,200 calories/day and those not capable of work 2,040 calories/day.[102] On 21 October 1941, the OKW ordered a huge reduction in the food rations for Soviet POWs, with POWs incapable of work henceforth to receive only 1,490 calories/day. In a meeting of senior generals called at Orša on 13 November 1941, the Army's First quarter-master General Eduard Wagner stated "Non-working prisoners of war in the camps are to starve".[103]
5.7 million Soviet soldiers were taken prisoner during the war, of whom at least 3.3 million (58 percent of the total) died in captivity.[104]
Massacres [ edit ]
The killing of POWs by Wehrmacht soldiers started during the September 1939 Poland campaign. In many cases large groups of Polish soldiers were murdered after capture. Hitler's Commando Order, issued in 1942, provided "justification" for the shooting of enemy commandos, whether uniformed or not.[citation needed]
The massacres include that of at least 1500 black French POWs of West African origin and was preceded by propaganda depicting the Africans as savages.[105] From October 1942 onwards, the Wehrmacht carried out the 'Commando Order' calling for the summary execution of all captured commandos, even if in uniform. After the Italian armistice in 1943, many POWs were executed on several occasions when Italian troops resisted their forcible disarmament by the Germans. The massacre of the Acqui Division at Kefalonia is the most infamous.
On 26 March 1944, 15 uniformed US Army officers and men were shot without trial at La Spezia, in Italy, after orders of the commander of the German 75th Army Corps, General Anton Dostler, despite the opposition of his subordinates of the 135th Fortress Brigade. Dostler was sentenced to death by an American military tribunal and executed by firing squad in December 1945.[106][107]
Other Wehrmacht war crimes [ edit ]
Wehrmacht brothel system [ edit ]
Soldatenbordell) in France A military brothel () in Brest
Under the German occupation, a widespread system of sexual slavery (forced prostitution) was instituted.[86] The Wehrmacht also ran brothels where women were forced to work.[80][108] The reason for establishing these brothels was the German officials' fear of venereal disease and onanism (masturbation). The Oberfeldarzt der Wehrmacht (Chief Field Doctor of the Wehrmacht) drew attention to "the danger of [the] spread of homosexualism".[53][109]
On 3 May 1941, the Foreign Ministry of the Polish Government in Exile in London issued a document describing the mass raids carried out in Polish cities with the aim of capturing young women, who were later forced to work in brothels attended by German officers and soldiers.[53]
In the Soviet Union women were kidnapped by German forces for prostitution; one report by the International Military Tribunal stated that "in the city of Smolensk the German Command opened a brothel for officers in one of the hotels into which hundreds of women and girls were driven; they were mercilessly dragged down the street by their arms and hair."[110]
The Nuremberg trials did not prosecute anyone for rape or other sexual violence; rape was defined as a crime against humanity, but prosecutors deemed that such crimes had "no nexus to war".[86]
Reprisal actions [ edit ]
In Yugoslavia and Greece, many villages were razed and their inhabitants murdered during anti-partisan operations. Examples in Greece include: Alikianos, Kalavryta, Kali Sykia, Kallikratis, Kleisoura, Kondomari, Kommeno, Lyngiades, Mesovouno, Mousiotitsa and Paramythia;[111] the razings of Kandanos and Anogeia;[112] the holocausts of Viannos and Kedros.[112]
In occupied Poland and the USSR, hundreds of villages were wiped out and their inhabitants murdered. In the USSR, captured Soviet and Jewish partisans were used to sweep fields of land mines. In a number of occupied countries, the Wehrmacht's response to partisan attacks by resistance movements was to take and shoot hostages. Examples are: Putten (Netherlands), Oradour-sur-Glane (France), Telavåg (Norway) and Lidice (Czech Republic). As many as 100 hostages were murdered for every German killed. In 1944, prior to and after the D-Day invasion, the French Resistance and the Maquis increased their activities against all German organisations, including the Wehrmacht and Waffen-SS.
In issuing orders for hostage-taking, Keitel stated that "it is important that these should include well-known personalities or members of their families." A Wehrmacht commander in France stated that "the better known the hostages to be shot, the greater will be the deterrent effect on the perpetrators". The Wehrmacht's hostage policy was also pursued in Greece, Yugoslavia, Scandinavia, and Poland.
Forced labor [ edit ]
According to the Encyclopedia of Camps and Ghettos, it was typical for camps devoted to armaments production to be run by the branch of the Wehrmacht that used the products. Dozens of camps and subcamps were staffed primarily by the Luftwaffe alone.[a] In 1944, many Wehrmacht soldiers were transferred to the SS-Totenkopfverbände to alleviate personnel shortages in concentration camps.
Destruction of Warsaw [ edit ]
Up to 13,000 soldiers and between 120,000 and 200,000 civilians were killed by German-led forces during the Warsaw Uprising. At least 5,000 German regular soldiers assisted the SS in crushing Polish resistance, most of them reserve units.[159] Human shields were used by German forces during the fighting.[160]
Human experimentation [ edit ]
Generaloberstabsarzt (Colonel General, Medical Service); Medical Inspector of the Army (Heeressanitätsinspekteur); and Chief of the Medical Services of the Armed Forces (Chef des Wehrmachtsanitätswesens). He was convicted and sentenced to life imprisonment Siegfried Handloser at Nuremberg in November 1946. He was(Colonel General, Medical Service); Medical Inspector of the Army (); and Chief of the Medical Services of the Armed Forces (). He was convicted and sentenced to life imprisonment
Throughout the war Germany engaged in numerous experiments on human prisoners and POWs. The Wehrmacht had full knowledge of those experiments, and performed some of its own. It provided assistance regarding:
In many cases the test subjects, even if they survived, were murdered afterwards to study any changes within their bodies that happened during the experiment.[162]
Examples of experiments conducted by the Wehrmacht include:
Experiments on homosexuals: Wehrmacht doctors wanted to "cure" homosexuality by hormone treatments and putting homosexuals into battle. [163]
doctors wanted to "cure" homosexuality by hormone treatments and putting homosexuals into battle. Experiments on prisoners at Auschwitz-Birkenau by doctor Emil Kaschub. Kaschub came from Upper Silesia and was an ensign in the Wehrmacht (he was not a member of the SS). He performed experiments on the limbs of middle-aged and young prisoners; they would deliberately be infected with various toxic substances, which caused sores, abscesses and pain. The condition of the patients would be photographed by Kaschub every few days and liquid from their wounds collected. The probable motive for those experiments was to find out how soldiers made themselves sick in order to escape service in the Wehrmacht . [164] [165] [166]
(he was not a member of the SS). He performed experiments on the limbs of middle-aged and young prisoners; they would deliberately be infected with various toxic substances, which caused sores, abscesses and pain. The condition of the patients would be photographed by Kaschub every few days and liquid from their wounds collected. The probable motive for those experiments was to find out how soldiers made themselves sick in order to escape service in the . In August 1941. the staff doctor assigned to the Sixth Army, Gerhart Panning, learned about captured Russian dumdum bullets by using Jewish POWs. To determine the effects of this type of ammunition on German soldiers, he decided to test them on other human beings after asking SS-Standartenführer (Colonel) and a member of the SD Paul Blobel for some "guinea pigs", (Jewish POWs).[167][168]
Biological warfare [ edit ]
During the war members of the Wehrmacht attempted to influence Hitler's decision to study biological warfare only regarding defense. The head of the Science Division of the Wehrmacht, Erich Schumann, urged the Führer that "America must be attacked simultaneously with various human and animal epidemic pathogens, as well as plant pests."[169] Laboratory tests were prepared for the use of plague, anthrax, cholera and typhoid. The possibility of using foot and mouth disease against Britain was also studied.[170]
Postwar views [ edit ]
Evolving analysis [ edit ]
At the end of the war in 1945, several Wehrmacht generals made a statement that defended the actions against partisans, the executions of hostages and the use of slave labor as necessary to the war effort. The generals contended that the Holocaust was committed by the SS and its partner organizations, and that the Wehrmacht command had been unaware of these actions in the death camps. The statement said that the armed forces had fought honorably and left the impression that the Wehrmacht had not committed war crimes.[citation needed]
However, individual high-ranking Wehrmacht officers stood trial for war crimes. The Oberkommando der Wehrmacht (OKW) commander-in-chief, Field Marshal Wilhelm Keitel, and chief of operations staff Alfred Jodl were both indicted and tried for war crimes by the International Military Tribunal at Nuremberg in 1946. They were convicted of all charges, sentenced to death and executed by hanging, although Jodl was acquitted post-mortem seven years later. While the tribunal declared that the Gestapo, SD and SS (including the Waffen-SS) were inherently criminal organizations, the court did not reach the same conclusion with respect to the Wehrmacht General Staff and High Command. The accused were members of the Nazi Party itself and were executing the party's beliefs through their rank. The German Wehrmacht along with Allied armies committed what are classified as war crimes. The SS and political "Armed" groups committed what are classified as crimes against humanity.
The prosecution of war crimes lost momentum during the 1950s as the Cold War intensified; both German states needed to establish armed forces and could not do so without trained officers and soldiers that had served in the Wehrmacht. German historiography in the 1950s viewed war crimes by German soldiers as exceptional rather than ordinary; soldiers were seen as victims of the Nazi regime. Traces of this attitude can still be seen in some German works today, which minimize the number of soldiers who took part in Nazi crimes.[171] This was especially the case as the German public in the immediate post-war period were more interested in seeing themselves rather than others as victims.[172] Thus the subject of Red Army atrocities against German civilians in 1944–45 received vastly more popular and historical interest in the 1950s than did the subject of Wehrmacht atrocities against Soviet civilians in 1941–44.[172]
Beyond that, Operation Barbarossa had been portrayed in Germany as a "preventive war" forced on Germany by Soviet attack alleged to be planned for July 1941.[172] This claim was widely believed in the Reich during the war, and indeed was so popular that as late as the 1950s some West German historians were still arguing Operation Barbarossa was a "preventive war".[172] As a result of this view of Operation Barbarossa, for many Germans, violence inflicted by the Wehrmacht on Soviet civilians and POWs was seen as something that the Soviets had brought down on themselves, hence the absence of any guilt on the part of many Germans.[173] Cold War priorities and taboos about revisiting the most unpleasant aspects of World War II meant that the Wehrmacht's role in war crimes was not seriously re-examined until the early 1980s.[174][175]
In their memoirs, German Army generals claimed that the war had been a "clean war" on their part with the Army fighting because of the noble Prussian-German traditions, patriotism and a deep sense of honour and duty and that National Socialism had virtually no influence on the Army.[176] In this version, almost all German war crimes were the work of the SS and any "excesses" committed by the Army were only the product of a long and bitter war and were no different from Allied war crimes.[176] Very typical were the claims of one Infantry commander, who stated in his memoirs that all of the battles fought by his men were "always fairly conducted, though tough and bitter."[177] Such claims were widely believed not only in Germany but abroad, with the British military historian Captain Basil Liddell Hart writing that "the German Army in the field on the whole observed the rules of war better than in 1914–18".[178]
On 11 December 1979, the West German television show Report aired a documentary entitled "Crimes of the Wehrmacht in World War Two".[172] The public's reaction was almost overwhelmingly negative, with World War II veterans leading a campaign to have the producer of Report fired for the "defamation" of German soldiers. This despite the fact – as the German historian Jürgen Förster was to write in 1989 – that the producers of the documentary had gone out of their way to be fair and unbiased.[172]
In 1986, the German historian Hans Mommsen wrote about the role of the Wehrmacht under National Socialism:
The leadership of the Wehrmacht rather willingly made themselves into accomplices in the policy of extermination. It did this by generating the "criminal orders" and implementing them. By no means did they merely passively support the implementation of their concept, although there was a certain reluctance for reasons of military discipline and a few isolated protests. To construct a "casual nexus" over all this amounts in fact to steering away from the decisive responsibility of the military leadership and the bureaucratic elites.[179]
British historian Ian Kershaw wrote that the genocide and extreme brutality used by the Nazis was their way of ensuring the Lebensraum ("living space") for the people who met the strict requirements of being part of Hitler's Aryan Herrenvolk ("Aryan master race") and the elimination of the Slavic people:
The Nazi revolution was broader than just the Holocaust. Its second goal was to eliminate Slavs from central and eastern Europe and to create a Lebensraum for Aryans. ... As Bartov (The Eastern Front; Hitler's Army) shows, it barbarised the German armies on the eastern front. Most of their three million men, from generals to ordinary soldiers, helped exterminate captured Slav soldiers and civilians. This was sometimes cold and deliberate murder of individuals (as with Jews), sometimes generalised brutality and neglect. ... German soldiers' letters and memoirs reveal their terrible reasoning: Slavs were 'the Asiatic-Bolshevik' horde, an inferior but threatening race. Only a minority of officers and men were Nazi members.[180]
In 1989, the British historian Richard J. Evans wrote that right from the beginning of the war against the Soviet Union, the Wehrmacht fought a genocidal war of "extreme brutality and barbarism".[181] Evans noted that the Wehrmacht officers regarded the Russians as "sub-human", were from the time of the invasion of Poland in 1939 telling their troops that war was caused by "Jewish vermin", and explained to the troops that the war against the Soviet Union was a war to wipe out what were variously called "Jewish Bolshevik subhumans", the "Mongol hordes", the "Asiatic flood" and the "red beast".[182]
Such views helped to explain why 3,300,000 of the 5,700,000 Soviet POWs taken by the Germans died in captivity.[183] In 1992, Omer Bartov noted that the three leaders of the "new revisionism" in German history that sparked the Historikerstreit of the late 1980s were all in some ways seeking to promote the image of the Wehrmacht as a force for the good, and seeking to portray the Wehrmacht as a victim of the Allies rather the victimizer of the peoples of Europe, writing of "...the bizarre inversion of the Wehrmacht's roles proposed by all three exponents of the new revisionism, whereby overtly or by implication the Army is transformed from culprit to saviour, from an object of hatred and fear to one of empathy and pity, from victimizer to victim".[184] Specifically, Bartov noted that:
Michael Stürmer's geographical interpretation of German history meant that Germany's "mission" in Central Europe was to serve as a bulwark against the Slavic menace from the East in both World Wars. [184]
Ernst Nolte's argument about a "casual nexus" with the National Socialist genocide as a logical, if extreme response to the horrors of Communism led to Wehrmacht crimes in the Soviet Union being portrayed as essentially justified. [184] This was even more the case as Nolte insisted that Operation Barbarossa was as Hitler claimed a "preventive war", which meant that for Nolte, Wehrmacht war crimes were portrayed as a defensive response to the threat posed to Germany by the "Asiatic hordes". [184]
This was even more the case as Nolte insisted that Operation Barbarossa was as Hitler claimed a "preventive war", which meant that for Nolte, Wehrmacht war crimes were portrayed as a defensive response to the threat posed to Germany by the "Asiatic hordes". Andreas Hillgruber's call for historians to "identity" and "empathize" with German troops fighting on the Eastern Front in 1944–45 implicitly devalued the lives of those suffering and dying in the Holocaust, which was allowed to continue in part because the German troops held out for so long.[184]
Bartov wrote that all three historians had in varying ways sought to justify and excuse Wehrmacht war crimes by depicting the Wehrmacht as engaging in a heroic battle for Western civilization, often using the same language as the Nazis such as referring to the Red Army as the "Asiatic hordes".[184] Bartov ended that these sorts of arguments reflected a broader unwillingness of the part of some Germans to admit to what their Army did during the war.[184] In 1998, Jürgen Förster, a German historian, wrote that for too long most people have accepted at face value the self-serving claims made by generals like Erich von Manstein and Siegfried Westphal who promoted the idea of the Wehrmacht in their memoirs as a highly professional, apolitical force who were victims of Adolf Hitler rather than his followers.[185]
Förster argues the Wehrmacht played a key role in the Holocaust in Eastern Europe and other war crimes.[186] In 1999, New Zealand historian Christian Leitz wrote that the claims promoted after the war that the Wehrmacht had been an "untarnished shield" with the Army somehow standing apart from the regime it served so loyally was a "myth" that no serious historian had taken seriously since the 1980s.[174][175]
Films [ edit ]
In his 2004 essay "Celluloid Soldiers" about post-war German films, the Israeli historian Omer Bartov wrote that German films of the 1950s showed the average German soldier as a heroic victim: noble, tough, brave, honourable and patriotic, while fighting hard in a senseless war for a regime that he did not care for.[187] The 08/15 film trilogy of 1954–55 concerns a sensitive young German soldier named Asch (Joachim Fuchsberger). No mention is ever made of the genocidal aspects of Germany's war in the East with instead the German soldiers being shown as the victims of a war that they can not fathom the reasons for.[188] Bartov commented that given the intense indoctrination in the Wehrmacht about how the war against the Soviet Union was a war to destroy "Judeo-Bolshevism" that Asch would most definitely have known what they were fighting for.[188]
The war on the Eastern Front was portrayed in a manner that suggested that all who fought in the war were equally victims, but since the focus in the 08/15 films is on the unit commanded by Asch inevitably the impression is given that it was German soldiers who were the primary victims of the war.[188] The term 8/15 refers to a type of German machine gun used in World War I that was manufactured in such quantities that 8/15 became German Army slang for anything was standard issue, which implied that Asch and the soldiers under his command were Everyman characters of the war on the Eastern Front.[189]
The last of the 08/15 films ends with Germany being occupied by a gang of American soldiers portrayed as bubble-gum chewing, slack-jawed morons and uncultured louts, totally inferior in every respect to the heroic German soldiers.[188] The only exception is the black-marketing Jewish American officer, who is shown as both hyper-intelligent and unscrupulous, which Bartov noted seems to imply that the real tragedy of World War II was the Nazis did not get a chance to exterminate all of the Jews, who have now returned with Germany's defeat to once more exploit the German people.[188] This is especially the case because the Jewish officer speaks his German with an upper-class accent, which is evidently meant to suggest he is a rich German Jew who fled to the United States in the 1930s and upon his return after 1945 is engaging in the same sort of black-market activities that had led the Nazis to run people like him out of Germany in the first place.[188]
In Der Arzt von Stalingrad (The Doctor from Stalingrad) of 1958, dealing with German POWs in the Soviet Union, the Germans are portrayed as more civilized, humane and intelligent than the Soviets, who are shown for the most part as Mongol savages who brutalized the German prisoners.[190] One of the German POWs, the dashing Doctor Sellnow (Walter Reyer), successfully seduces the beautiful and tough Red Army Captain Alexandra Kasalniskaya (Eva Bartok), who prefers him to the sadistic and hideously deformed camp commandant Piotr Markov (Hannes Messemer), which as Bartov comments is also meant to show that even in defeat, German men were more sexually virile and potent than their Russian counterparts.[190] This was especially important to German audiences because of the "crisis in masculinity" in Germany after the war, namely doubts about how manly German men were after losing the war.[189] Hence the exaggerated picture German films liked to show of the typical Wehrmacht soldier as an ultra-macho type who was just as much a victorious conquering hero in the bedroom as on the battlefield.[191]
Bartov argues the need to show German soldiers as manly war heroes meant they could never be shown as war criminals.[191] Bartov wrote that the portrayal of the Soviet guards as mostly Asian shows disturbing affinities to war-time Nazi propaganda, where the Red Army was often described as "the Asiatic horde".[190] A recurring theme in Der Arzt von Stalingrad was that the German soldiers were being punished for crimes that they had not committed.[190] In the 1959 film Hunde, wolt ihr ewig leben? (Dogs, do you want to live forever?), which deals with the Battle of Stalingrad, the focus is on celebrating the heroism of the German soldiers in that battle, who are shown as valiantly holding out against overwhelming odds with no mention at all of what those soldiers were fighting for, namely National Socialist ideology or the Holocaust. Bartov noted that the clear impression that these films give is that the average German soldier who fought on the Eastern Front was a hero worthy of the highest admiration.[192] This in turn led to a tendency to portray the war in the East in a manner that was devoid of its political context with the war being reduced to struggle between German soldiers whom the audiences were expected to like and admire vs. vast hordes of nameless, faceless, brutal Russian soldiers. In such a narrative, war crimes by the Wehrmacht had no place.[193]
This period also saw a number of films that depicted the military resistance to Hitler. In Des Teufels General (The Devil's General) of 1954, a Luftwaffe general named Harras (Curd Jürgens), loosely modeled on Ernst Udet, appears at first to be a cynical fool whose major interests in life appear to be beautiful women and alcohol, but who turns out to a gallant and upright anti-Nazi officer who is secretly sabotaging the German war effort by designing faulty planes. General Harras, who is represented as a great German patriot has turned against the Nazi regime because of certain unspecified "abominations" which are neither shown nor explained.[194] Bartov commented that in this film, the German officer corps is shown as a group of fundamentally noble and honourable men who happened to be serving an evil regime made up of a small gang of gangsterish misfits totally unrepresentative of German society, which served to exculpate both the officer corps and by extension German society.[195]
This impression is further reinforced by the comic exchanges between the decent and upright Harras and various thuggish Nazis. Officers such as Harras may have served a criminal regime, but Des Teufels General seems to suggest that they were never a part of that regime.[194] Bartov wrote that no German film of the 1950s showed the deep commitment felt by many German soldiers to National Socialism, the utterly ruthless way the German Army fought the war and the mindless nihilist brutality of the later Wehrmacht.[196]
Bartov also wrote that German film-makers liked to show the heroic last stand of the 6th Army at Stalingrad, but none has so far showed the 6th Army's massive co-operation with the Einsatzgruppen in murdering Soviet Jews in 1941 during its march across the Ukraine.[197] Likewise, Bartov commented that German films tended to dwell on the suffering of the 6th Army during the Battle of Stalingrad and its aftermath without reflecting on the fact that it was the Germans who invaded the Soviet Union and that the Russians were fighting to defend their country.[197] Bartov went on to state that as late as the 1991 film Mein Krieg (My War), featuring interview footage of six German veterans juxtaposed with their amateur films the veterans shot during the war, contains strong hints that the interviewees saw and/or were involved in war crimes with at one point a mass grave of civilians in Russia being glimpsed in the background of one of the amateur films; but the point is not pressed by the film-makers.[198]
Only with Jenseits des Krieges (released in the US as East of War) in 1996, a documentary directed by Ruth Beckermann dealing with the public's reaction to the exhibition "War of Extermination" in Vienna in 1995, did a German film admit to Wehrmacht war crimes being commonplace instead of an exception to the rule.[199] Some veterans in Jenseits des Krieges denied that the German Army committed any war crimes at all while others express relief at long last that the truth has been told.[200] One critic wrote of the veterans in Jenseits des Krieges that "Some are sorry for their brutality, while others rationalize such acts as shooting POWs, raping women and butchering Jewish people as part of what soldiers were expected to do".[201]
Wehrmachtsausstellung [ edit ]
The Wehrmachtsausstellung (German: German Army exhibition) was the name for two exhibitions focusing on war crimes of the Wehrmacht committed on the East Front from 1941 to 1944. They ran from 1995 to 1999 in the original form, and (following extensive criticism) from 2001 to 2004 in a revised form.[citation needed] Since then, it has permanently been at the Deutsches Historisches Museum in Berlin. The exhibition was the subject of a documentary, Der unbekannte Soldat ("The Unknown Soldier") by Michael Verhoeven, in 2006. It compares the two versions of the exhibition, and its maker, Jan Philipp Reemtsma.[citation needed]
Exhibition about the Wehrmacht in Poland in 1939 [ edit ]
One criticism was that both exhibitions only covered the German presence in the Soviet Union between 1941 and 1945 and excluded the German occupation of Poland after September 1939. The Polish exhibition "Größte Härte ... Verbrechen der Wehrmacht in Polen September/Oktober 1939", a cooperative effort of the Polish Institute of National Remembrance and the German Historical Institute Warsaw was presented on 1 September 2004, in Poland. A German version was presented in 2005.[202] It was scheduled to be shown in Nuremberg at the Documentation Center of the Nazi Party Rallying Grounds from 1 September 2007 to early 2008.
Analysis of photos and letters [ edit ]
German soldiers photographing the hanging of Soviet citizens accused of being partisans
... rumors immediately began circulating of appalling crimes committed in the occupied territories – wholesale deportations and systematic massacres ... A story solemnly made the rounds of the world's newspapers that storks migrating from Holland to South Africa had been found with messages taped to their legs that read, "Help us! The Nazis are killing us all!" Sandlin, Lee (March 1997). "Losing the War". Chicago Reader.[204]
The attitude of German soldiers towards atrocities committed on Jews and Poles in World War II was also studied using photographs and correspondence left after the war. Photographs serve as a valuable source of knowledge; taking them and making albums about the persecution of Jews was a popular custom among German soldiers. These pictures are not the official propaganda of the German state but represent personal experience. Their overall attitude is antisemitic.[205]
German soldiers as well as police members took pictures of Jewish executions, deportations, humiliation and the abuse to which they were also subjected. According to researchers, pictures indicate the consent of the photographers to the abuses and murders committed.[205] "This consent is the result of several factors, including the anti-Semitic ideology and prolonged, intensive indoctrination". Archival evidence as to the reaction to policies of racial extermination can also be traced in various letters that survived the war.[205] Many letters from Wehrmacht soldiers were published in 1941 and entitled "German Soldiers See the Soviet Union"; this publication includes authentic letters from soldiers on the Eastern front. To give an example of the intensive indoctrination "that transcends the mere results of military service", researchers Judith Levin and Daniel Uziel quote a German soldier writing:
The German people is deeply indebted to the Fuehrer, because if these animals, our enemies here, had reached Germany, murders of a nature not yet witnessed in the world would have occurred ... No newspaper can describe what we have seen. It verges on the unbelievable, and even the Middle Ages do not compare with what has transpired here. Reading Der Stuermer and observing its photos give only a limited impression of what we have seen here and of the crimes committed here by the Jews.
Judith Levin and Daniel Uziel state that this type of writing and opinion was very common in correspondence left by German soldiers, especially on the Eastern Front.[205] Other samples of German soldiers' letters were sent home and copied during the war by a special Polish Home Army cell that infiltrated the German postal system.[206] These letters have been analyzed by historians and the picture they paint is similar to views expressed by Levin and Uziel. Many soldiers wrote openly about the extermination of Jews and were proud of it. Support for "untermensch" and "master race" concepts were also part of the attitude expressed by German soldiers.[206] Presented examples reflecting this trend include samples such as:
I'm one of those who are decreasing [the] number of partisans. I put them against the wall and everyone gets a bullet in his head, [a] very merry and interesting job. ...My point of view: this nation deserves only the knaut, only by it can they be educated; a part of them already experienced that; others still try to resist. Yesterday I had [the] possibility to see 40 partisans, something like that I had never encountered before. I became convinced that we are the masters, others are untermenschen.[206]
Much more evidence of such trends and thoughts among Wehrmacht soldiers exists and is subject to research by historians.[205]
The historians responsible for the exhibition assume that the anti-Semitic climate and propaganda in Nazi Germany had an immense impact on the entire population and emphasize the importance of the indoctrination.[205]
See also [ edit ]
References [ edit ]
Informational notes
^ Buchenwald subcamps: Mühlhausen and Wernigerode
Dachau subcamps: Horgau, Fischen, Ottobrunn, Stephanskirchen, and Sudelfeld
Flossenbürg subcamps: Altenhammer, Holleischen, and Mülsen St. Micheln
Gross-Rosen subcamps: Brieg and Kittlitztreben
Herzogenbusch subcamps: Breda, Leeuwarden, and Venlo
Hinzert subcamps: Langendiebach I and II, Mainz-Finthen, Merzhausen, Seligenstadt, and Usingen
Mauthausen-Gusen subcamps: Melk, Wiener Neudorf, and Schwechat
Mittelbau-Dora subcamps: Ellrich
Natzweiler subcamps: Cochem-Bruttig, Erzingen, Neckarelz I and II, and Mannheim-Waldhof
Neuengamme subcamps: Beendorf, Bremen, Bremen-Obernheide, Kaltenkirchen, and Meppen-Dalum
Ravensbrück subcamps: Karlshagen I and II
SS-Baubrigaden: 13 camps involved in the construction of V-1 weapons sites in occupied France
Sachsenhausen subcamps: Günzerode, Mackenrode, Nüxi, and Wieda
Stutthof subcamps: Gerdauen, Heiligenbeil, Jesau, Praust, Schippenbeil, and Seerappen Concentration camps staffed primarily by Luftwaffe guards include:
'Citations
Bibliography |
Nine more women have accused a prominent US appeals court judge of subjecting them to inappropriate sexual conduct or comments.
The latest allegations against Judge Alex Kozinski of the 9th US Circuit Court of Appeals go back decades and include women who met him at events, according to a Friday report in the Washington Post.
The accusations 67-year-old Pasadena, California-based judge include lewd comments and four women who say he touched or kissed them.
Christine Miller, a retired US Court of Federal Claims judge, said Kozinski grabbed her breasts during a car ride in 1986 after a legal community function in the Baltimore area.
She said it came after she declined his offer to go to a motel and have sex.
'He said if you won't sleep with me, I want to touch you, and then he reached over, and — this was the most antiseptic — he grabbed each of my breasts and squeezed them,' Miller said.
Six women allege Judge Alex Kozinski (pictured in July 2014) subjected them to inappropriate sexual comments or conduct
The new accusers include Christine Miller (left), a retired US Court of Federal Claims judge, and Leah Litman (right), a law professor at the University of California, Irvine
Leah Litman, a law professor at the University of California, Irvine, told the Post that the judge talked about having just had sex and pinched her side and leg at a restaurant the night before they appeared together on a panel at her school in July.
A lawyer who was not identified said Kozinski approached her when she was alone at a legal event in Los Angeles in 2008 and kissed her on the lips and gave her a bear hug with no warning.
The newspaper said the woman's husband confirmed the incident and said the couple didn't think they could do anything because of the judge's position.
Kozinski said in a statement through an attorney that many of the things being said about him were not true but he deeply regretted that his 'unusual sense of humor caused offense or made anyone uncomfortable.'
'I have always tried to treat my male and female clerks the same,' he said.
Kozinski was chief judge of the 9th Circuit, the largest federal appeals court circuit in the country, from 2007 to 2014. He is known for his irreverent opinions and his clerks often win prestigious clerkships at the U.S. Supreme Court.
The 9th Circuit has opened a misconduct inquiry that was transferred Friday to the Judicial Council of the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New York.
Last week, The Post reported that six former clerks or more junior staff members accused Kozinski of inappropriate behavior, including showing them pornography.
Heidi Bond, who clerked for the judge from 2006 to 2007, told the newspaper she recalled three instances in which he asked her to look at images of naked people.
She said one set of images was of college-age students where some were 'inexplicably naked while everyone else was clothed.'
Another set was a type of digital flip book that allowed users to mix and match heads, torsos and legs to create an image of a naked woman.
Bond said the judge asked if she thought the pornography was photo-shopped or if it aroused her sexually.
'I was in a state of emotional shock, and what I really wanted to do was be as small as possible and make as few movements as possible and to say as little as possible to get out,' said Bond, now 41.
Kozinski, who is 67 and still serving as a judge on the court, said in a statement to the newspaper that he has had more than 500 employees in his chambers over a 35-year career as judge.
Judge Alex Kozinski is pictured in this file photograph from September 22, 2003
'I would never intentionally do anything to offend anyone and it is regrettable that a handful have been offended by something I may have said or done,' he said.
A spokesman for the court, David Madden, referred further comment to Chuck Winner of Winner & Associates. Winner did not immediately return a request for comment.
The Post interviewed Bond and Emily Murphy, a law professor who worked for a different judge on the 9th Circuit, in on-the-record interviews. The four other women in the first report were not named out of fear they might face retaliation.
Murphy said she was discussing training regimens with other clerks at a San Francisco hotel in 2012 when Kozinski approached her and said the gym in the 9th Circuit courthouse was nice because other people were seldom there.
He then said if that were the case, she should work out naked, according to Murphy and two others present at the time who spoke to The Post.
The newspaper interviewed another former clerk of the judge who said he showed her porn; she declined to provide specifics out of fear the judge could identify her.
The women did not file formal complaints at the time.
In 2008, the Los Angeles Times reported that Kozinski had an email list that he used to distribute crude jokes to and he had a publicly accessible website that contained pornography.
A judicial investigation found that Kozinski did not intend for the material to be accessed by the public.
The 9th Circuit courts in San Francisco has clashed repeatedly with President Donald Trump.
Judges in the circuit have blocked both of Trump's bans on travelers from a group of mostly Muslim countries and halted his attempt to strip funding from so-called sanctuary cities.
Kozinski joined four fellow conservative judges in an opinion in March that did not mention Trump by name, but said 'personal attacks' on judges who blocked the administration's first travel ban were 'out of all bounds of civic and persuasive discourse.' |
A German explorer who has been trapped in Germany's deepest cave underneath the Bavarian Alps for nine days was being winched back to safety on Monday in a dramatic rescue operation. Footage from inside the Riesending cave near Berchtesgaden shows Johann Westhauser being pulled through the cave on a stretcher.
The 52-year-old scientist, one of the researchers who discovered the cave, had been lying 1,000 metres (3,300ft) underground since being injured by a rockfall on 6 June. He was not able to climb back to the surface on his own as the ascent involves steep shafts and narrow tunnels. Doctors had to climb 4km (2.5 miles) into the cave to reach Westhauser and make sure he was well enough to be brought out.
An international rescue team has now managed to move Westhauser 350 metres in the first of four stages to bring him to the surface. Some 120 experts from Austria, Croatia, Italy, Germany and Switzerland are involved in the operation.
According to the Bavarian mountain rescue service, Westhauser was eating well and was feeling well in spite of suffering injuries to his head and having to cope with high levels of humidity. "The patient is feeling well," said the service's Stefan Schneider. "He's cosy and warm in his sleeping bag."
The rescue operation is expected to cost several million euros, and it remains unclear who or which country will carry the cost. According to Der Spiegel reported that the association of cave explorers had a fund to help researchers who are injured without insurance. |
On Sundays, I attend Protestant services at Attica Correctional Facility in New York. It’s my safe place. There’s a band, a choir, clapping, and hands-in-the-air yelling—“Thank you Jesus!” “Hallelujah!” Most prisoners are black with green uniforms, and the guards, posted at the back of the chapel, are all white with blue uniforms.
Reverend Tomlinson, a sixty-something black man from the Bronx who looks forty and wears shiny suits, has kind eyes and a big, bright smile. One Sunday last March, before he began his sermon, the Rev called a prisoner named Steffen Jones to the front of the congregation. Arm around Steffen’s shoulders, he told us that Steffen’s son Tyquan had been shot to death. He was fifteen. We bowed our heads and the Rev led us in prayer.
The writer in me couldn’t help opening my eyes in the middle of the prayer. We were praying to God, asking Him to ease Steffen’s pain, but God knew that we had brought that same pain to so many other parents.
Weeks later, I was facilitating a workshop with the Alternative to Violence Project, a civilian-run volunteer program that began after the Attica prison uprising in 1971. During a break I was talking to a prisoner who calls himself “Paradise,” convicted of trafficking guns and attempting to commit murder with one of them. From behind his big beard and permanent diamond grill, Paradise told me how he used to take drugs from Buffalo, New York, to rural towns in Pennsylvania. After selling the drugs, he’d ask customers with clean criminal records to buy guns for him. Paradise would take the guns back to Buffalo to sell or trade for more drugs.
This is a phenomenon known as straw purchasing, a dangerous loophole that has remained open for decades. I should know, my friends and I had gotten guns the same way in the mid-nineties.
Illegal private-party gun sales account for as much as 40% of gun purchases in the US.
Conventional wisdom holds that if a problem exists—like, say, a loophole that allows untraceable gun purchases–we should just close it. And yet, illegal private-party gun sales account for as much as 40% of gun purchases in the US. Why do we refuse to actually address such a patently—and demonstratively—dangerous problem in American society?
First, apathy. Much of gun violence in America occurs in the self-absorbed world of gangster culture. Recently in the yard I was talking to a nineteen-year-old boy who calls himself “Shots.” He’s serving a sentence of 45 years to life for shooting and killing one victim and wounding another. He told me guns are so ubiquitous in his native Rochester, New York, that he once stumbled upon a nine millimeter handgun while walking in a field of weeds. He took it home. He was twelve.
Some in mainstream culture observe the behavior of incarcerated men like me with apathy: “Let them kill one another,” they say. The reality is some people refuse even to fill out one extra form or wait one extra minute when buying a gun, even if those measures would save a life. But the real apathy exists within the gun lobby. The NRA and like-minded interest groups justify the status quo with red-herring debates and self-righteous interpretations of the Second Amendment. This isn’t about politics, it’s about greed. The wicked irony, of course, is that mass shootings have in the past increased demand and positively effect earnings.
John Lennon The author last year.
Gun lobbyists are a big part of the problem, and yet there is some truth to that infamous slogan: guns don’t kill people, people do. Surely, some people are always going to do bad things. (Although I also believe those bad things would be harder to commit if guns weren’t so accessible.) There’s a toxic mindset that permeates the counterculture in America’s inner cities and prisons, and it will only end if we create opportunities for the disconnected youth and young adults immersed in this lifestyle. But that will take time and support for the kinds of forward-thinking programs like the one that helped me get my act together.
As I wrote in The New York Times last April, we still have not realized the power of rehabilitation through information. Education in prison changes the lens through which we prisoners view the world, builds our moral fiber, and makes us more employable. All of this positive change will spill over into our communities when we return to them. (And remember, the vast majority of us will eventually return home, at least for a little while.)
There’s a toxic mindset that permeates the counterculture in America’s inner cities and prisons.
Keep in mind, too, that no one will be more impressionable to young aspiring gangsters than seasoned ex-cons. Street cred and intellect is a powerful combination. As for the gun-control opponents who believe gun violence stems from moral decay alone, well, I hope they choose to support the educational programs I describe. Opposing both gets us nowhere.
This isn’t to say some people aren’t trying to make changes. President Barack Obama was right on point when, at CNN’s Guns in America town hall, he told the sobering tale of a van full of straw purchased guns crossing state lines and winding up on the streets of Chicago. But clearly, awareness isn’t enough. We need to investigate individuals who make suspicious gun purchases—like white drug addicts with clean records who saunter into Virginia guns and ammo stores and buy cheap 380-caliber automatics, Taurus 9-millimeters, Tek Nines, and boxes of hollow point bullets—and then file reports claiming those guns stolen before they flip them to criminals on the street.
In fact, there is already a system in place that may be able to help: the e-Trace Firearm Tracing Program, an internet-based tracing program that the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF) already uses. Once e-Trace is programmed accordingly, the Obama administration should provide gun merchandisers with an “Anti-Straw Purchase” memorandum and encourage them to show it to their customers. The memo itself could work as a deterrent by merely making gun buyers aware that e-Trace is investigating straw purchasers—and reminding them that handing guns over to felons is itself a felony punishable by up to ten years in prison. As someone who’s had firsthand experience with these kinds of crimes, I know how easy it is to get spooked.
The bottom line, though, is that straw purchasers need to be thrown a curve.
Unfortunately, there’s no telling how effective these e-Trace investigations will be. The bottom line, though, is that straw purchasers need to be thrown a curve. We need to prevent these transactions from happening in the first place, not implement increasingly stiffer sentences after the fact. I don’t think hefty, new retributive sentencing laws will make a difference.
At the end of the day, if Google and Facebook algorithms can track individual purchasing patterns for the sake of advertisement and capitalism, why can’t the federal government? The Fourth Amendment doesn’t say corporations can pry for profits, and yet they have their way with everyone’s social media accounts. The Second Amendment, meanwhile, does say guns should be “well-regulated.”
There are no easy solutions. My ideas, especially those involving privacy, are bound to make some people upset, especially the ones who romanticize anarchy and the Second Amendment. But what about the people who actually have to deal with the consequences of gun violence every day? Recently, I spoke with a real-life revolutionary at Attica named Anthony “Jalil” Bottoms, a former Black Panther who’s been in prison for the past 44 years for shooting two New York City cops. And though Jalil has a few reservations, on the whole, he agrees that any change that could prevent a gun being trafficked is a good one because it may save black lives That’s important to him. It should important be for all of us.
Reuters/File Attica Correctional Facility.
Which brings me back to the Alternative to Violence Project workshop. On a break, I found Steffen Jones and asked him if we could talk about his son. As it turns out, Steffen is serving 38 years to life for murder and attempted murder. More gangland quarrels; all settled with guns. Stoically, Steffen told me how his child Tyquan was shot in the back of the head as he sat unarmed in a car on a Syracuse street. I told him how sorry I was.
It reminded me of the December night in 2001 when I easily obtained a (straw purchased) assault rifle from a friend and used it to shoot an associate of mine named Alex in the head. He, too, sat unarmed in a car, this one on a Brooklyn street. I killed Alex after learning that he was extorting a man who sold drugs for me. I can’t change what I did even as I feel remorse for it—the responsibility for pulling the trigger is mine alone.
I can’t help but think about what would have happened that night if I hadn’t had access to that gun.
I can’t help but think about what would have happened that night if I hadn’t had access to that gun. Instead, maybe another sequence of events would have unfolded. Perhaps the effects of the Xanax I had taken would have worn off. Perhaps I would have slept on it and felt differently the next day. Perhaps we would have talked it out. Instead, there I was–emotionally empty and angry, and impulsive. Big gun in the trunk. A bit high. It was over in three seconds.
We of this life are engaged in a vicious cycle of hurt—giving it, receiving it. Years ago, I was stabbed six times in a prison yard, and suffered a punctured lung as revenge for killing Alex. Had I been shot six times, I’d be dead.
I can’t speak to the motivations of those who commit crimes repeated ad nauseum on the nightly news. Such mass shootings, like the most recent in San Bernardino, stem from a hate to which I can’t relate. They are not the murders I know. What I do know about, however, are the kinds of murders that happen thousands of times each year. These are crimes committed by men like me, and despite what the NRA may say, at least some of them are preventable.
In June of 2015, nine beautiful people were gunned down after a Bible study at their church in Charleston, South Carolina. The members of Attica’s church are considered some of the most dangerous men in America—and yet it’s my safe place. I’m grateful that God is present in our church to bring out the best in us. I’m also grateful that guns are not accessible to bring out the worst in us.
This article is part of Quartz Ideas, our home for bold arguments and big thinkers. |
In a fundraising letter this week, Brian Brown, president of the National Organization for Marriage (NOM), claimed that President Barack Obama is foisting a “secular Left” agenda on the world that includes “normalizing pedophilia.”
Brown was recently elected president of the World Congress of Families (WCF), an international network of social conservative groups.
In a fundraising letter for the group, Brown warned that the “secular Left” is bent on undermining the “natural family.”
“All around the world, we see liberal secularists using the power of government to seek to undermine the natural family,” Brown wrote. “Urged on by wealthy elites, western powers – especially Barack Obama – demand that nations change their laws and policies in profoundly unwise and dangerous ways to embrace the agenda of the secular left – abortion on demand, an abandonment of marriage, acceptance of polygamy, normalizing pedophilia, transgenderism, stripping children of their inherent right to a mother and a father, etc.”
“While we've accomplished a tremendous amount over the years, the truth is that WCF can't continue to hold off the forces of darkness, and put them into retreat unless we are able to expand and grow.”
“This is a pivotal time in history for the natural family. Good people around the globe are willing to resist the demands of the secular left and the pressures of western powers to change their cultures and policies. But they need the leadership of WCF to continue to be effective and to help sustain the worldwide movement in support of the natural family,” he added. |
The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is one of the world’s most conservative societies, with capital punishment dealt out regularly for violations of religious moral codes. Saudi citizens have been killed by the state for things such as adultry, disobedience and political dissidence.
But these rules apparently do not apply to the children of wealthy Saudi elites, according to a US State Department communication published by secrets outlet WikiLeaks.
Instead of adhering to a strict behavioral code as most other Saudis do, the elite youths are fond of parties featuring staples of many high-dollar Western blowouts, like copious amounts of alcohol, cocaine and hashish, along with a few “working girls” to boot.
The document shows how, behind closed doors and away from the country’s religious police, the rich stage elaborate parties and casually violate the very laws their government regularly, and many times brutally, upholds.
The revelation exposes a stunning duality in Saudi society that could provoke greater civil dissent as to how the nation is governed, at a time when many media critics have accused WikiLeaks of solely aiming to humiliate the US government with a cache of sensitive documents it lost control of.
Over the past year numerous stories have surfaced detailing a push-back against morals of old among Saudi women, a growing movement that came to a head in two instances where religious police were attacked after confrontations. In another such flare-up, from 2007, a Saudi woman sprayed a religious policeman in the face with pepper-spray while her friend filmed it on a cellphone.
The cable, which was marked “confidential,” also noted that an American energy drink supplier had sponsored one particularly lavish party thrown by an unnamed Saudi prince. The company’s name and the name of the party’s organizers were withheld. There are more than 10,000 princes in Saudi Arabia, one of America’s key allies in the Middle East.
“Saudi youth get to enjoy relative social freedom and indulge fleshly pursuits, but only behind closed doors — and only the rich,” the cable’s unnamed author observed. “Parties of this nature and scale are believed to be a relatively recent phenomenon in Jeddah. One contact, a young Saudi male, explained that up to a few years ago, the only weekend activity was ‘dating’ inside the homes of the affluent in small groups.
“It is not uncommon in Jeddah for the more lavish private residences to include elaborate basement bars, discos, entertainment centers and clubs. As one high society Saudi remarked, ‘The increased conservatism of our society over these past years has only moved social interaction to the inside of people’s homes.'”
Another recently leaked cable showed that the US believes Saudi financiers are still the chief supporters of Sunni militant groups like al Qaeda. A “Blue Ribbon” report on the 9/11 attacks had instead noted that al Qaeda raised money in Saudi Arabia but that no senior officials had provided material support.
President Obama recently provided a military aid package to Saudi Arabia estimated to be worth over $60 billion, according to the Pentagon. The package included the sale of advanced aircraft, such as F-15 fighter jets, and Apache and Black Hawk helicopters.
The complete cable was still available online mid-Wednesday. Saudi Arabia has over 27 million citizens, according to a recent estimate. |
UFOCAT-2009
UFOCAT-2009 is the latest updated version of the original UFOCAT sightings catalog. UFOCAT-2009 refers to a computer database of over 209,551 UFO reports and related information. It is the result of a 40-year effort that began during the Air Force sponsored Colorado UFO Project, also known as the "Condon Committee." UFOCAT was begun by Dr. David R. Saunders, who at the time was a co-Principal Investigator on the Colorado UFO study and professor of Psychology at the University of Colorado. Dr. Jacques Vallee contributed a large computer catalogue of approximately 6,000 cases at the project's inception.
The UFOCAT database has existed in some form or another since the spring of 1967 but went through an eight-year hiatus from 1982 to 1990 when it was neither updated nor utilized. In 1976 Dr. Saunders gave his version of UFOCAT to the Center for UFO Studies (CUFOS). From then until 1982 it was maintained and updated by Fred Merritt at the Chicago office of CUFOS. In those days the database was kept on a large IBM mainframe computer at a nearby computer facility, with magnetic tape backup. It eventually proved to be too expensive an endeavor for the Center to maintain on a mainframe, and consequently it was removed from active use and stored on tape.
In 1990 Dr. Don Johnson obtained a copy of UFOCAT on ten 3.5" diskettes from Dr. Saunders courtesy of Dr. John Derr of the U.S. Geological Survey. Dr. Derr had created the diskette version from one of the magnetic tape backups for his research use. Unfortunately he was unable to read the first portion of the tape and so we were missing the first 10,000 records. CUFOS fortunately had available an older magnetic tape backup copy of UFOCAT. By merging the two sources of data Johnson was able to recreate the catalogue as it existed in 1982. Since then over ten thousand additional records have been added.
With the great strides made in recent years in computer software and hardware technology, and with the substantial reduction in costs of computer RAM memory and disk storage, it made sense to revise the UFOCAT file structure. First using dBase IV and later Microsoft Access the file was converted to a modern relational database. Most of the single-letter codes from the 1970s version were replaced with longer, more understandable names. Several fields were added. A special emphasis was placed on improving the identification of the source for each UFO report, including the full name of the author and a much longer mnemonic code for the reference citation.
In the late 1970s and early 1980s several researchers prominent in the UFO field criticized the use of UFOCAT for conducting research. Perhaps foremost among these critics were Allan Hendry and Dr. Willy Smith. While we agree that many of these criticisms were indeed valid, we disagree with the central premise that it is impossible to use UFOCAT-2009 to conduct meaningful research.
We would first caution potential users not to expect to be able to begin and end their research using only UFOCAT-2009 as there are too many gaps in the data and, just like the Internet, not every source of information is as reliable and accurate as the next. The results obtained from UFOCAT-2009 are best thought of as a reference guide to the original sources for the crucial details. Otherwise, the distinction between poorly investigated reports and exhaustively studied sightings will be lost. However, you will substantially improve your search for information by using UFOCAT-2009. What was true when Allan Hendry wrote his critique of UFOCAT in 1979 is even truer today: UFOCAT2009 is without peer as a reference source. Thousands of hours went into creating it, and months have gone into revising it to improve its ease of use. It exists today as the most comprehensive reference tool and bibliographic source on UFO reports in existence.
The following information is available in UFOCAT-2009.
Primary record ID number
Order of primacy for records in a block concerning same incident
Indirect record ID number
Flag for non-primary entries
UFOCAT-2009 record ID number
Author's or Investigator's Name
Level of source
Code for identification of the direct source
Position within direct source
Code for identification of the indirect source
Position within indirect source
Year of report
Month
Day
Time (hour and minute)
Special flag for reporting accuracy of date and time, daylight savings time
Time Zone
Weather
Terrain (e.g. "forest")
Vehicle Flag (e.g. indicating that the witness was in a car)
Place name location
Special flag for reporting accuracy about location
Region of world abbreviation
State (or country) abbreviation
County (or province)
Number of witnesses
Age of principal witness or age composition of group
Sex of principal witness or gender composition of group
Flag for military or police witnesses
Witness name(s)
Absolute Sidereal Time (computed)
Hynek classification code
Vallee classification code
Credibility of report
Type and subtype of report
Flag for explainability of the report
Explanation of report (as given by source)
Number of objects (UFOs) reported
Duration of event
Size of object estimated by witnesses (log base 2)
Apparent size
Distance from UFO at closest approach estimated by witnesses (log base 2)
Color of UFO
Shape of UFO
Sound (if any) associated with UFO
Longitude
Flag field for geographical coordinates
Latitude
Short narrative of UFO incident including key words
The manual is available online.
NOTE: The longitude coordinates of UFOCAT-2009 are non-standard. This system uses decimal degrees with West and North as positive; East and South as negative. This is not the WSG84 world standard. These coordinates used in a GPS system such as Google Earth will give you the wrong location. It will be necessary to reverse the west longitude from positive to negative and east longitude from negative to positive. As the following correct sequence indicates.
Latitude comes before longitude North latitude is positive East longitude is positive South latitude is negative West longitude is negative
System requirements are Win XP/Win7. Space Requirement is 458 MB.
The current UFOCAT2009 does not run on Win 8/8.1/10. We are currently in the process of updating UFOCAT2009 for those operating systems using 64-bit. If you have a 64-bit copy of Microsoft Access 2010, 2013 or 2015 installed the updated database will work fine. If you do not have a 64-bit copy of Micosoft Access 2010, 2013 or 2015 installed you will then need to do a simple download of Acess 2010 Runtime X64 and install. Further details will be included in a Readme file. If you wish to order a copy please Contact US. Sorry, we are unable to provide a 32-bit version.
ORDERING & SHIPPING INFORMATION
The complete UFOCAT-2009 DVD is available for $40, which includes postage and handling. You can order by PayPal, by credit card, or by check or money order. For a mail in order print off the order form, check off UFOCAT-2009 under CUFOS Audio and Videocassettes and CD-Roms and send your order with payment to to CUFOS at P.O. Box 31335, Chicago, IL 60631. Include type of credit card (Visa, etc.), credit card number, and expiration date. Make checks payable to CUFOS. You may also order via the Buy Now button below. Allow 3-4 weeks for processing and shipping. |
But mere 'like' is OK, says Solicitor General Francis Jardeleza
MANILA, Philippines (UPDATED) - Merely liking a defamatory tweet will not constitute cyber libel under Republic Act No. 10175 or the Cybercrime Prevention Act, but reposting or retweeting it may send you to prison.
Solicitor General Francis Jardeleza made the clarification to reporters at the end of oral arguments at the Supreme Court (SC) on Tuesday.
"Ang [cyber] libel, yung i-republish mo, pwedeng may tama yun, republish -- you share or you retweet. Kung 'like' yun, may depensa ka na opinyon ko lang yun na maganda. 'I like,'" he said.
However, his statement was completely different in front of SC magistrates who grilled him on whether the crackdown on Internet crimes also covers mere approval of other people's opinion.
"A 'like' is an approval of opinion. The approval of the opinion 'Jones is a liar' can cause as much damage as actually saying 'Jones is a liar,'" Jardeleza told the high court.
Associate Justice Roberto Abad, who will write the decision on the case, called the law "bad."
“If ‘liking’ a post considered libelous is also libelous, then this law is bad. It can have chilling effect for those of us who like opinions, which we didn’t author in the first place,” he said.
The 68-year-old high court magistrate said he also has a Facebook account.
Other justices questioned the constitutionality of online libel provision in Section 4 (c) of the cybercrime law.
Carpio: Law on libel unconstitutional
Senior Justice Antonio Carpio said previous Supreme Court rulings have already declared unconstitutional the libel provision in Section 354 of Revised Penal Code, where Section 4 (c) of the cybercrime law was taken.
"Article 354 on libel cannot stand scrutiny of constitutionality," Carpio told Jardeleza.
Associate Justice Marvic Leonen, the latest appointee of President Benigno Aquino to the high court, agreed with Carpio.
"Jurisprudence on actual malice has amended the Revised Penal Code. Why is it in the cybercrime law, libel repeats Article 355 and not the jurisprudence? The libel of 1932 is not the libel we know today," Leonen told Jardeleza.
Jardeleza, meanwhile, said it would be "up to the court" to declare unconstitutional the online libel provision in the cybercrime law.
'Strike down take-down clause'
The Solicitor General earlier admitted that the cybercrime law's Section 19, more notoriously known as the "takedown clause," is unconstitutional.
The clause allows the Department of Justice to block access to computer data or websites even without a warrant issued by a court.
“We humbly submit that Section 19 be struck down as it impermissibly intrudes into free speech. We too believe in freedom of speech and expression,” he said.
Jardeleza also admitted during the interpellation that Section 12 of the law that allows real-time collection of traffic data also without court review as "hardly constitutional."
He said "due cause" should first be present.
"Traffic data can be acquired if there is due cause, which is a function of the executive (branch). Rights will be better protected with judicial intervention," Jardeleza said.
Double jeopardy
Jardeleza also told the high court that the Cybercrime Prevention Act does not spell out a different set of penalties for libel committed in cyberspace, rather, it directs that the offense be penalized a degree higher than what is provided for under the Revised Penal Code.
However, the justices pointed out that Section 7 of the assailed law does not contain the Solicitor General's view as it states that "[a] prosecution under this Act shall be without prejudice to any liability for violation of any provision of the Revised Penal Code, as amended, or special laws."
The justices stressed that Section 7 thus allows double jeopardy on the part of the accused.
Questions were also raised by the magistrates in connection with the vagueness of certain provisions of the law, including what constitutes "due cause" for a cyber offence, with some justices pointing out that this may be subject to abuse on the part of law enforcement agents.
Jardeleza, however, maintains that apart from the Department of Justice's "takedown powers" over websites, the rest of the provisions of the law should be upheld as legal by the high court.
The case was submitted for resolution after the end of the 2-part oral arguments that also included the side of the 15 groups that have filed petitions against the law. -- with reports from Ina Reformina, ABS-CBN News
* Download and Listen to the audio recording of oral arguments by the Office of the Solicitor General on the cybercrime law, as recorded and shared online by the Supreme Court on January 29, 2013. |
“This is the worst federal court takings decision since Kelo,” said Ilya Somin, who teaches property law at George Mason University and helped write the brief. “It’s very extreme, and it is significant as a window into Judge Sotomayor’s attitudes toward private property.”
But another author of the brief, Richard A. Epstein, said the decision in Mr. Didden’s case was a rare misfire that provided no larger insights into Judge Sotomayor’s thinking.
“It’s a disappointment and it’s wrong and it’s ill thought out,” Professor Epstein, a law professor at the University of Chicago and New York University, said of the ruling. “But it’s not one of six. It’s one of two.” (The other poorly handled decision, he said, was Ricci v. DeStefano, which rejected employment discrimination claims from white firefighters in New Haven.)
The case arose from a meeting in 2003 between Mr. Didden, who owned property in Port Chester, N.Y., and an executive of a company that had been designated by the village to develop a 27-acre urban renewal area that included part of the property. What happened at that meeting, Mr. Didden said, amounted to extortion.
Mr. Didden had made arrangements to put a CVS drug store on his lot. At the meeting, the executive, Gregg Wasser, demanded $800,000 as the price for permission to proceed with that project, Mr. Didden said in court papers. The alternative, Mr. Wasser said, according to the papers, was to have the village condemn Mr. Didden’s property so that Mr. Wasser’s company could put a Walgreen’s in the same place.
“Here is a private person standing in the shoes of the government with the power to condemn or not condemn,” Mr. Didden said. “The $800,000 wasn’t going to rehabilitate a public park or build a soccer stadium. It was going into his pocket.”
Mr. Didden refused. The next day the village condemned his property.
Mr. Wasser did not respond to a recent message seeking comment left with an assistant. In a sworn statement in 2004, he denied being “part of an ‘extortion’ plot” and said the accusation was “beyond my comprehension.” The meeting, he said, was a settlement negotiation concerning competing claims to the same property. “An $800,000 figure,” he said, “was an appropriate buyout.”
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Mr. Didden and a business partner sued, and a federal judge dismissed their case in 2004. When the case reached Judge Sotomayor’s court, the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, Mr. Didden said he had reason to be hopeful.
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“She was highly engaged,” Mr. Didden said of Judge Sotomayor’s questioning at the argument in 2005. The other members of the panel were Judges Reena Raggi and Peter W. Hall.
“We felt like we got our day in court,” Mr. Didden said. “We felt that she got the point.”
But then more than a year passed. In the end, the decision was terse and unsigned, and it rejected Mr. Didden’s claims.
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“It took 54 weeks to issue those four paragraphs,” Mr. Didden said. According to the Administrative Office of the United States Courts, the median interval between argument and decision in the Second Circuit, both then and now, is less than a month.
The brief decision in Didden made two points. First, it said Mr. Didden had filed his suit too late. The village had announced the redevelopment plan in 1999, and Mr. Didden did not sue until 2004. His claim, the court said, was therefore barred by a three-year statute of limitations.
That was a curious ruling, Professor Epstein said, because it required Mr. Didden to sue over his claim of extortion before it happened.
The court also rejected Mr. Didden’s claim that Port Chester should not be allowed to take his property so that another company could build a different drug store. The takings clause of the Fifth Amendment — “nor shall private property be taken for public use without just compensation” — should not apply, he had argued, to such transfers.
Judge Roberts, at his confirmation hearings in 2005, seemed sympathetic to that kind of argument. The takings clause is uncontroversial when it is used to take property for public purposes like roads and schools. But it is a “basic proposition,” Judge Roberts added, that “government can’t take property from A and give it to B.”
No one disputes that Mr. Didden and his partner are entitled to be compensated for his property. Mr. Didden said the final amount had not been determined.
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But Judges Roberts and Alito, at their confirmation hearings, said larger issues are involved in government takings.
“It touches some very sensitive nerves,” Judge Alito said. “Taking their home away and giving them money in return, even if they get fair market value for the home, is still an enormous loss for people.”
Judge Roberts, who said he had been surprised by the Kelo decision, said he welcomed new state laws “saying we do not authorize the use of the power of eminent domain to take for a use that’s going to be from one private owner to another.” Such laws, he said, are “certainly an appropriate reaction to a court’s decision in this area.”
He added that the author of the majority opinion in Kelo, Justice John Paul Stevens, had said at a bar association meeting that he would have voted against the takings plan had he been a legislator rather than a judge making a constitutional determination. “The free play of market forces is more likely to produce acceptable results in the long run than the best-intentioned plans of public officials,” Justice Stevens said in the speech. |
For Orhan, the road to Germany begins in an Internet café on a side street in Shutka, the Roma neighborhood in the northern part of the Macedonian capital, Skopje. Electric cables hang from the ceiling, a white fluorescent tube illuminates dusty computer screens and a plastic tarp serves as a divider. Orhan, 27, is standing nervously behind the tarp as he lights a cigarette. His sister Fatima is sitting in front of one of the monitors, about to have her first date with Germany.
While Fatima waits on a wooden chair in Shutka, her future husband is sitting on a leather couch in Düsseldorf, looking at his webcam. They are seeing each other for the first time today. Fatima's ticket to Germany is 19, he's wearing a hoodie and he's rather fat. Fatima's mother and some women from the neighborhood are chaperoning the meeting. They all want to know whether Fatima will like the young man from Germany. They hope that if she does, her family could get out of Shutka, the unofficial capital of the Roma community in Europe.
When you walk through the streets of Shutka, you hear people cursing, saying things like "Shitty Shutka," "everyone makes fun of us here" and "we don't have any money." They say these things in German.
Some of Shutka's Roma worked as day laborers in German cities in the 1990s. Many were war refugees who had sought asylum in Germany during the war in Yugoslavia, only to be deported after the conflict ended. They still have friends and relatives in Germany, and the country is always on their minds, as a promise of prosperity and a better life.
Orhan says that if the arranged marriage goes well, the stranger will come to Shutka and take Fatima with him to Düsseldorf. The new son-in-law, he explains, will then pay for bus tickets for the rest of the family. And once all seven family members are in Germany, he will file the asylum applications for them. Orhan says that one always needs a helper, someone who is familiar with German law, an asylum guide, so to speak, so that everything works out well for a new beginning in Germany. People who try to do it on their own, he adds, make too many mistakes.
Serbia Closer, and Farther Away
The Roma neighborhoods of the Serbian capital, Belgrade, are 450 kilometers (280 miles) closer to Germany, but for the people there, Germany seems much farther away. In Antena, an illegal settlement at the end of the No. 75 bus line, there is no Internet and no Skype, and none of the residents have relatives in Germany. For that reason, there is no one to show people the best way to get there. There are only people like Asim, 25, who is standing behind a burning pile of garbage, warming his hands. He has no identification documents and no birth certificate, which means no work, no welfare and no child benefits. Car tires support the cardboard roof of his corrugated metal hut. Inside, Asim's wife is nursing their six-month-old daughter, who is wearing diapers made of napkins Asim has collected from the garbage of Belgrade residents. The adults use holes in the ground as their toilets. The air is filled with the smell of moldy food and the acrid stench of burning plastic.
Asim says it's a good day in Antena when the gravediggers at the adjacent cemetery don't turn off the water, so that residents of the shantytown can fill up their plastic bottles. They count themselves lucky when the power is on in the nearby residential neighborhood so they can illegally siphon off electricity. They're happy when they manage to protect their daughter's face from rat bites at night. Asim asks: "When, if not now, should I get out of this miserable place?"
Since the end of 2009, citizens of Macedonia and Serbia no longer need visas to enter Germany. The European Union wants to show its goodwill to the two countries, which are candidates for accession to the bloc. But for the poorest of the poor in Macedonia and Serbia, visa-free travel represents the freedom to get away.
Less than 1 percent of asylum applications from Serbia and Macedonia are accepted. People suspect that they too will be unsuccessful, but they don't understand why. They still go to Germany, and they want to stay. Everyone has their own approach to obtaining the better life he or she expects to find in Germany. Orhan from Macedonia wants to send his sister in advance. Asim from Serbia simply plans to set out into the unknown. Some are poor and without prospects, and they go to Germany because they know what a rich country it is. Others go there because they can no longer stand their current lives.
By October of this year, about 4,000 people from Macedonia had filed an application for asylum in Germany -- about five times as many as last year. Only Serbia has produced more asylum applicants since this summer, a total of about 7,000. Most are Roma.
Dreams of Welfare
The current offers are displayed in the window of a travel agency on the market square in Shutka. A bus ticket from Macedonia to France costs 27 ($34), while the trip to Düsseldorf goes for 120, even though it's a shorter distance. Orhan explains that demand determines the prices here, and that Germany happens to have the better reputation among the 40,000 people in Shutka.
Their mayor is the only mayor in Macedonia who is also Roma. Nevertheless, Shutka doesn't feel like home to many of its residents. The people on the market square dream of a life in Western Europe, with most hoping to go to Germany. Unlike residents of the Belgrade neighborhood, the people in Shutka are well informed about Germany's social welfare system. They talk about "job centers," and some even use German slang terms. They know how generous the child benefits are, and they have heard about the hospitals and schools. They also know that asylum applicants have been receiving more money since August.
Young men like Orhan are mainly responsible for Germany's good reputation in Shutka. They tell nostalgic stories of the paradise between Fürth in Bavaria and Osnabrück in the north, of the country they remember from their childhood. Orhan's parents fled from Albania to Paderborn in northwestern Germany in 1986. The Roma family applied for asylum there, Orhan went to elementary school and learned the language. The family's German dream lasted six years.
It ended in the early 1990s, when the government in the state of North Rhine-Westphalia decided it wanted to get rid of the Roma. But instead of simply deporting them, the Social Democrats came up with a so-called reintegration program. The idea was to help the deportees once they had returned to their native countries. Orhan's father accepted the Germans' repatriation offer, for which he received 300 deutschmarks for travel expenses, as well as 400 deutschmarks a month for six months to help him settle in Shutka.
The family lived in a 60-square-meter (645-square-foot) house in Shutka, paid for by the state of North Rhine-Westphalia, in a place with no sewer system, running water or garbage collection. No one there had a real chance at finding work. Most of those who were reintegrated had never been to Shutka before. The aid workers stayed for a few years, and then left. Orhan points to the now-abandoned Red Cross building and to the pile of rubble where the Caritas relief agency had its offices. |
PSV twice took the lead by exploiting a clear weakness in the Ajax defence, but the away side managed to claim a point.
Fred Rutton made two changes from PSV’s previous league game. Wilfred Bouma and Zakaria Labyad dropped out, with Timothy Derijck and Tim Matavz coming in.
Frank de Boer was without Miralem Sulejmani and chose to bring Vurnon Anita into the side as the holding player.
This match was open and entertaining, largely because there were two attack-minded midfields who wanted to play the ball rather than win it back.
PSV start strongly
For the first few minutes there was a huge difference in the two sides’ attitude without the ball – PSV pressed Ajax strongly from the first whistle, winning the ball quickly and putting them in command of the game. Ajax, however, were happy to sit back in their own half, showing a surprisingly passive approach when out of position.
The first goal resulted directly from the pressing – Ajax were high up the pitch when Gregory van der Wiel was dispossssed, and some neat passes down the PSV left eventually resulted in Tim Matavz finishing well. The battle in that part of the pitch – Ajax’s right-back zone – turned out to be the key battleground of the game.
Midfield battle
PSV’s pressing didn’t last long, however, and the game settled down into a fairly tame, free-flowing midfield battle based around movement rather than tackling. PSV’s two attack-minded central midfielders, Ola Toivonen and Georgino Wijnaldum, showed a decreasing amount of interest in defending as the game progressed, and it was a surprise that Theo Janssen didn’t influence the game more when breaking forward from central midfield.
There was some confusion in the way Ajax played to the right of the pitch. Cristian Eriksen played as a narrow right-winger, tucked into the midfield, whilst Siem de Jong started to the right of the triangle and burst forward. In addition, van der Wiel tried to motor forward on the overlap, and presumably there was the intention of making a triangle on that flank to overload PSV – but it never quite worked, and the main outcome was the leave the flank ripe for PSV counters, through Erik Pieters and Dries Mertens.
Ajax step it up
The injury to PSV goalkeeper Przemysław Tytoń, which stopped the game for 15 minutes at the end of the first half, was a key factor in the game. PSV’s momentum was broken up, and after that stoppage Ajax regrouped and started to press much more. They played the game in PSV’s half and eventually found an equaliser through Kolbeinn Sigþórsson – for all their attempts at intricate play, it was Sigþórsson doing a battering ram act that eventually got them the goal.
PSV then recovered after half time and started pressing more, and it’s tempting to conclude that the concession of a goal, and the return to a deadlock in the game, suited their natural game more – in particular, their midfield. They were much more positive and worked good situations down their left. This was the period when van der Wiel was exposed – he made a crazy tackle on Mertens to concede the penalty for the second goal, then got caught too high up the pitch for a chance Mertens wasted when one-on-one.
Late on
Van der Wiel partly atoned for his poor defensive performance with a good run down the right for the equaliser. By this stage, Frank de Boer had introduced the physical threat of Dmitri Bulykin for Sigþórsson, and this prompted more direct balls into the box – Bulykin tucked home Sigþórsson’s ball.
The final stages were exciting but not frantic – both teams tired, and though the midfields basically gave up defending, there was a feeling that both managers were content with a point.
Conclusion
There is an interesting pattern to many Eredivisie games in terms of tactics – they’re rarely won by a change of formation, but the game goes through many separate phases – often revolving around whether the sides are pressing. This was the case here – especially in the first half, when both teams were on top when they pressed.
Ultimately, this was a battle between two teams who aren’t built to play against each other – they’re built to convincingly beat more lowly sides. Both wanted to dominate possession, to play the ball gently through midfield and to construct clever attacks, when a bit of organisation wouldn’t have gone amiss. Still, it was a good game, and the nature of the final scoreline – PSV making the running, Ajax just about catching up – summed up the game well.
Related articles on Zonal Marking: |
An Israeli bus driver refused to take Palestinian passengers on board, was ordered to do so by police, and took his revenge by forcing them off the bus at the entrance to a settlement. The bus company: “The driver acted exactly as expected of him.”
Tel Aviv Central Bus Station, Thursday, two weeks ago: a bus driver on the 286 line that goes to the settlement of Ariel refused to allow a group of Palestinian workers on board who wanted to get back home to the West Bank. After a short argument the driver called the police, asking for the Palestinians to be escorted away from the door of the bus. A policewoman who arrived shortly after talked to the would-be passengers, and then told the driver the Palestinians all had valid permits to be in Israel, all went through security checks at the entrance to the station, and that he therefore must allow them on the bus.
“The driver told her she was wrong and took her name and badge number so that all guilt would be on her head, and also said that he would drop them off half way, but the policewoman insisted,” says Neria Mark, a passenger who witnessed the scene. “Eventually he let them on, and even took some more Palestinian passengers outside the station so the bus became quite packed. The great heat and the Ramadan fast made many of them fall asleep, and so we drove on.”
However, when the bus reached the industrial zone outside the settlement of Barkan the driver called the guard at the gate, and had him order all the Palestinians to get off the bus. Two people who were accidently missed were ordered off by another guard at a later point along the route. “They all went down without a fight, some protesting verbally against the treatment and reminding both the driver and the guard that they’re fasting. All this time one of the passengers was encouraging the driver to do this ‘cleansing’, and once the deed was done the driver told him: ‘That’s the only way they’re going to learn. Anyone who boarded the bus today won’t dare to do it again.'”
According to Mark, from that point on the driver didn’t make the stops where Palestinians were waiting along the road. In a letter she later sent the Ministry of Transportation, Mark wrote that “the driver’s behavior was racist and in violation of the policewoman’s orders. He humiliated people just in order to teach them a lesson.”
In the bus company where the driver works, however, nobody seems to see anything wrong with this story. “The driver acted exactly as expected of him,” says Ben-Hur Akhvat, CEO of Afikim. “The official policy is simple: anyone who can pay the fare can go on the bus. This means we have no choice but to also take Palestinians on board in Israel and drive them to Judea and Samaria, even though it always causes problems with the Israeli passengers, and both sides start verbal and physical slights with the other.”
According to Akhvat, any driver in the company has the mandate to decide that Palestinians look suspicious and call the police, but has to obey the police as the driver in this case did. “Inside Judea and Samaria the case is different, as Palestinians are not allowed inside the Israeli settlements without a permit by local security and an armed guard even if they do have an entrance permit to Israel, so the driver did the right thing in forcing them off. Every now and then Palestinians fall asleep on the bus and get unnoticed, and when they wake up at the last stop inside Ariel we have to call the police to show them the way out.”
Akhvat also wishes to remind us that army orders forbid Palestinians from entering or leaving Israeli borders through the same checkpoints as Israelis. “These people are supposed to go only through the Eyal checkpoint. On their way in they don’t have a choice, but on their way back they make it easier on themselves by taking our buses through the Cross-Samaria Checkpoint which is only meant for Israelis. Unfortunately we are not authorized to enforce the law they are violating.” Akhvat also mentions that the company regularly receives complaints from Jewish passengers who don’t wish to see Palestinians on the bus. “We are in ongoing negotiations with authorities regarding a possible alternative solution to the problem,” he says.
> To read more on the Eyal checkpoint and The Wall click here
Mark is unsurprised by this. “After I got to Ariel, all stunned, I was picked up by Palestinian friends from Nablus and told them the story. They all just nodded, and treated it as the most natural thing in the world. They think it’s normal, but I think there’s nothing normal about this reality.”
Police: Palestinians allowed on buses. Settlement: True, but not inside settlements
The IDF Spokesperson response is that the issue does not fall under military jurisdiction. An army source adds that there is no regulation forbidding Palestinians from riding on Israeli buses. The Tel Aviv Police says that the policewoman acted appropriately and that there is no regulation that forbids drivers from taking Palestinians on board. The Ministry of Transportation corroborated this.
“IDF regulations forbid Palestinians from entering industrial zones and settlements unless they have a specific working permit for that place,” says the spokesperson for the Samaria Regional Council. “This is why guards are placed at the entrances, to keep people out, including passengers on public transportation. A permit to enter Tel Aviv does not allow a person to enter Barkan. The Barkan industrial zone has some 3,000 Palestinians working there, entering it daily with the required security permit.”
It’s interesting to see how everybody’s right in this story. The official state bodies – ministry, police and army – all stick to the dry question of whether or not Palestinians are allowed on the bus in Tel Aviv. The answer here is indeed yes. But the people who have to live daily with the reality of occupation – Palestinians and the settlers (including the bus company, which has its headquarters in Ariel) – expose the deeper layers of Apartheid: the separate checkpoints for different people, the racial profiling security system, the permit regime, and the route of the bus which is planned only for Israelis.
—-
This story was originally published in Hebrew in Zman Tel Aviv and NRG, and is based on Neria Mark’s report in MySay. |
As a strength & conditioning coach, I've received some of the best continuing education by playing around in areas that I don't belong in. Courses geared more towards physical therapists like DNS, the SFMA, and Sahrmann's courses on Movement System Impairment Syndromes have profoundly impacted how I look at coaching and movement.
Joe Heiler has spent the last several years interviewing these folks and making these conversations available on his site www.sportsrehabexpert.com.
This time, we turn the tables on Joe and learn how and why he started Sports Rehab Expert, how he accumulated such an all-star line-up of interview guests, and how he integrates all of the different approaches discussed on his site into his own practice – Elite Physical Therapy located in Traverse City Michigan.
I had a great time with this conversation, since I'm a continuing education junky and I'm always curious how people decide which pieces of knowledge to pursue, which pieces to integrate, and which to discard.
Joe has spent countless hours supplementing his own knowledge with these expert conversations while still practicing himself as a physical therapist and integrating all of these pieces into his own work with patients.
This process is applicable not just to physical therapy, but to anything where there's a blend between tacit and explicit knowledge required to execute at a high level.
Listen Here
Learn More About Joe, Sports Rehab Expert & Elite Physical Therapy
Here's a great interview that Joe Heiler did with Gray Cook on how Gray practices in his own facility:
Show Notes
[0:39] Introduction of Joe Heiler
[4:02] How do you prioritize what information you want to consume?
[9:10] How do you decide when you can use a certain protocol to fit your model?
[10:59] What is your process for getting what you want from a client?
[15:05] What are you thoughts on figuring out different types of mobility issues?
[17:55] How to get people to adopt new movement strategies at high intensity or max loads?
[24:51] How do you get buy-in when someone pushes back?
[27:28] What does a typical week look like for Joe Heiler?
[31:24] Using the SFMA in practice.
[34:41] What led to the start of sportsrehabexpert.com?
[37:16] How did the interviews start?
[40:26] What are some of the under appreciated interviews on the site?
[45:04] What business lessons have you learned between the site and the PT practice?
[47:30] How do you educate people on the value of a PT professional?
[52:25] Where can people find out more about the site and Joe?
You May Also Like These Posts |
A slick promotional video has been released showing Islamic State of Iraq and Al-Sham recruits at a so-called desert “graduation ceremony.”
The three-minute film, called “Blood of Jihad,” shows the terror group’s latest members doing kung-fu style martial arts routines and learning how to strip down Kalashnikov machineguns.
Apparently shot in Nineveh province, northern Iraq, it features about 100 young men being trained in the ways of insurgent warfare.
It is the latest promotional video produced by ISIS, which has been at pains to burnish its global image in the minds of disenchanted Muslims.
Last week another jihadi film was released, produced in a training camp in Kirkuk.
The group has even published an online propaganda magazine called “Dabiq” – named after a key site in Muslim apocalypse theology where the “final hour” of humanity will occur.
This is from an ISIS training video. Just don’t ask me what they hell they’re training for. pic.twitter.com/ssUwns21Rt —
Stewart Bell (@StewartBellNP) October 12, 2014
“Every Muslim should get out of his house, find a crusader, and kill him.” New #ISIS mag calls for attacks in West. http://t.co/K2yx6Nu9hu —
Stewart Bell (@StewartBellNP) October 12, 2014
Introducing the latest ISIS video, an on-screen narrator wearing a baseball cap explains that “the first group of volunteers for jihad in the path of Allah has graduated.”
Standing in front of a young boy holding the group’s notorious black flag, the narrator explains that there are three stages of the training process.
The first of these, he says, is “physical fitness and strength.”
The camera then cuts to a long line of recruits standing in the sand in front of two military-style tents.
In a bizarre ritual, a man wearing a khaki T-shirt proceeds to make his way down the line and high-kick each recruit in the chest.
He finishes by striking his knee into the body of the final student.
The segment finishes with the recruits shouting “Allahu akbar,” or God is great, and “Islamic State is here to stay”.
In the following clip, which focuses on “weapons training,” the group of balaclava-wearing recruits are shown sitting cross-legged on the floor of a large room.
A man at the front of the room, also wearing a balaclava, shows them how to strip down and then reassemble a Kalashnikov, though, in a detail which suggests ISIS’ tutors still have some work to do, the clip has been speeded up to make the drill appear more impressive.
The film finishes with a sermon from a portly, bespectacled sheikh, who promises the recruits they will leave Iraq’s battlefields as “martyrs.” |
As mentioned, the ever-influential Kinsella family are reviving their Owls project for a new album this year, their first since their 2001 debut. Owls, whose lineup includes Tim Kinsella, Mike Kinsella, Victor Villarreal, and Sam Zurick (all of whom were in Cap’n Jazz), have now revealed more details on that album: it’s called Two and will be out on March 25 via Polyvinyl (pre-order). They’ve also revealed its first single, “I’m Surprised…,” which you can stream, along with the artwork and tracklist, below.
No dates at the moment, but hopefully that will change soon. Stream below…
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Owls – “I’m Surprised…”
Tracklist:
1. Four Works Of Art…
2. I’m Surprised…
3. The Lion…
4. Why Oh Why…
5. This Must Be How…
6. Ancient Stars Seed…
7. It Collects Itself…
8. I’ll Never Be…
9. Oh No, Don’t…
10. A Drop Of Blood…
— |
Several details regarding a potential tower at 55 Broad Street were discussed by Lois Weiss at the New York Post last month, and now YIMBY has the first vague renderings of the tower, courtesy of an anonymous tipper. Rudin Management is developing the site, and FX Fowle is the architect of record.
The site is located in the heart of the Financial District, and has development rights of 388,000 square feet; the massing diagram depicts a 53-story tower that would stand nearly 750 feet, which would make it one of the tallest skyscrapers in Lower Manhattan. The William Beaver House — which stands 527 feet — is rendered adjacent to 55 Broad Street in the massing study.
While 55 Broad Street could rise over 50 stories as-is, the lot has additional potential, thanks to the failure of the initial plans for the Nobu Tower, at 45 Broad Street. The two sites could potentially be combined, and the resulting tower’s air rights would total approximately 650,000 square feet, and an assemblage of that size could rise significantly taller than the current plans.
The ‘supertall’ milestone has proven daunting for residential developers in Lower Manhattan, though several buildings will approach the mark; 30 Park Place, 22 Thames, 56 Leonard, and 101 Murray Street are all slated to stand between 800 and 1,000 feet tall. If the Rudins manage to acquire 45 Broad, 55 Broad Street could approach supertall status.
No completion date for the site has been announced, and given the existing 35-story office building must be demolished before work proceeds, construction is a long ways off; still, the potential is there, and demolition of the current 55 Broad Street appears to be imminent.
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For any questions, comments, or feedback, email [email protected] |
Frank Rich
The New York Times
April 4, 2008
Bored by those endless replays of the Rev. Jeremiah Wright? If so, go directly to YouTube, search for “John Hagee Roman Church Hitler,” and be recharged by a fresh jolt of clerical jive. (See video at left.)
What you’ll find is a white televangelist, the Rev. John Hagee, lecturing in front of an enormous diorama. Wielding a pointer, he pokes at the image of a woman with Pamela Anderson-sized breasts, her hand raising a golden chalice. The woman is “the Great Whore,” Mr. Hagee explains, and she is drinking “the blood of the Jewish people.” That’s because the Great Whore represents “the Roman Church,” which, in his view, has thirsted for Jewish blood throughout history, from the Crusades to the Holocaust.
Mr. Hagee is not a fringe kook but the pastor of a Texas megachurch. On Feb. 27, he stood with John McCain and endorsed him over the religious conservatives’ favorite, Mike Huckabee, who was then still in the race.
Are we really to believe that neither Mr. McCain nor his camp knew anything then about Mr. Hagee’s views? This particular YouTube video — far from the only one — was posted on Jan. 1, nearly two months before the Hagee-McCain press conference. Mr. Hagee appears on multiple religious networks, including twice daily on the largest, Trinity Broadcasting, which reaches 75 million homes. Any 12-year-old with a laptop could have vetted this preacher in 30 seconds, tops.
Since then, Mr. McCain has been shocked to learn that his clerical ally has made many other outrageous statements. Mr. Hagee, it’s true, did not blame the American government for concocting AIDS. But he did say that God created Hurricane Katrina to punish New Orleans for its sins, particularly a scheduled “homosexual parade there on the Monday that Katrina came.”
Read entire article |
Democrats fear that GOP demands for concessions on a bill meant to stabilize insurance markets could lead to the end of key protections for consumers under ObamaCare.
Republicans say that in exchange for funding for insurers that would help prevent an ObamaCare premium spike, Democrats should agree to expanding waivers that could allow states to opt out of certain requirements under ObamaCare.
This could include allowing insurers to not cover services like mental health as part of an insurance plan or rolling back government subsidies that help people afford coverage.
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“We’re not going to change the waiver system to have a backdoor approach to undo protections of health-care reform,” Sen. Patty Murray Patricia (Patty) Lynn MurrayThis week: Congress, Trump set for showdown on emergency declaration Senate reignites blue slip war over Trump court picks Johnson & Johnson subpoenaed by DOJ and SEC, company says MORE (Wash.), the top Democrat on the Senate Health Committee, told reporters Tuesday.
Sen. Lamar Alexander Andrew (Lamar) Lamar AlexanderPence meeting with Senate GOP ahead of vote to block emergency declaration Addressing repair backlog at national parks can give Congress a big win The Hill's Morning Report — Emergency declaration to test GOP loyalty to Trump MORE (R-Tenn.), chairman of the Health Committee, says this is all part of the negotiations.
He says Democrats have to give up something in exchange for GOP concessions on funding to insurers, particularly given Republican control of the government.
“To get a Republican president and a Republican House and a Republican Senate just to vote for more money won't happen in the next two or three weeks unless there's some restructuring [of regulations],” Alexander said.
The stakes are high and the two sides have little time.
Lawmakers hope to reach a deal by the end of next week, so they can pass a bill by the end of the month.
The centerpiece of the bill would be funding for key ObamaCare subsidy payments known as cost-sharing reductions.
President Trump has threatened to cut off these payments, which have been made by both his administration and former President Barack Obama Barack Hussein ObamaWith low birth rate, America needs future migrants 4 ways Hillary looms over the 2020 race Obama goes viral after sporting black bomber jacket with '44' on sleeve at basketball game MORE’s. Conservatives decry them as a bailout to insurers, and there’s no guarantee Republicans will back a bill making the fix no matter what else is in it.
Senate Finance Committee Chairman Orrin Hatch Orrin Grant HatchThe FDA crackdown on dietary supplements is inadequate Orrin Hatch Foundation seeking million in taxpayer money to fund new center in his honor Mitch McConnell has shown the nation his version of power grab MORE warned in a Washington Post op-ed on Friday against a “bailout” from the subsidy payments and said a bill would need to include “relief for American families and job creators from the onerous mandates and taxes.”
Alexander’s argument is that expanding existing waivers to ObamaCare provisions will provide an incentive for Republicans to back the bill.
“This is a compromise we ought to be able to accept,” Alexander said.
But Sen. Chris Murphy Christopher (Chris) Scott MurphyPush to end U.S. support for Saudi war hits Senate setback Feehery: Defining what socialism is (and isn’t) Avoiding the tragedy of Brexit MORE (D-Conn.) said he’s worried about how far the GOP might go in allowing states to make changes.
“The problem is you're trading really short-term relief on the [cost-sharing reductions] for potentially long-term evisceration of the regulatory guardrails,” Murphy told The Hill. “I don't know how much we should be willing to give for one year of certainty on [payments].”
This isn’t the only potential stumbling block either.
Democrats also want multiple years of payments to insurers, while Alexander and Republicans are so far only agreeing to one year.
Democrats want to protect what are known as the “guardrails,” which prevent any changes under the waivers from leading to reductions in the number of people with coverage, or less affordable or comprehensive coverage.
Republicans argue that those guardrails inhibit states from innovative solutions.
Another hurdle is that the early deal to fund the government and raise the debt ceiling takes away legislation moving through Congress that a health care deal could have been attached to.
Still, a Senate Democratic aide argued there would be more opportunities for the health-care bill to be attached to something, including possibly reauthorization of the Federal Aviation Administration or another hurricane relief bill.
Despite all these obstacles, there are lawmakers from both parties who still express hope that a deal could be reached.
“I think there's a deal; I really do,” said Murphy. |
James Brightman Editor, North America Tuesday 13th June 2017 Share this article Share
According to the latest issue of Weekly Famitsu, as translated by Gematsu, Japanese studio Level-5 (Ni no Kuni, Yo-Kai Watch) has acquired Comcept, the Keiji Inafune-led studio behind Mighty No.9 and that more recently teamed up with Armature on Xbox exclusive ReCore. Comcept has now become a subsidiary known as Level-5 Comcept but Inafune and Level-5 president and CEO Akihiro Hino both see it more as a merger where the philosophies of both companies have come together.
Inafune praised Level-5, noting: "I had the feeling that I wanted to be like Hino since around the time I was at Capcom." Both companies have wanted to do something together since working on Guild 02. Level-5 Comcept is based in Osaka, Japan and is currently staffed with 15 people, but the studio is recruiting to bring in new talent apart from the veteran Comcept team.
The translation notes that the studio wants to "make games that show they're in the league with Inafune." The first title will be an iOS and Android game called Dragon Colonies, which is due out in Japan in 2018. The game features magic beings and creatures in addition to humans and players are tasked with building up the strongest "Halocolony."
Infanue did confirm that while the plan is to shutter the old Comcept, he won't abandon any of the current projects in development. |
Facial recognition software trials in Queensland alarm privacy advocates
Updated
A facial recognition technology trial is underway in Queensland, alarming privacy advocates who fear such developments could lead to bigger databanks of stored personal information.
Key points: Similar software in use by NT Police, expected to be rolled out in airports
Toowoomba Council says it has not talked about using the software on streets
Expert concerned about personal information data being stored
The Toowoomba Regional Council has begun trialling the software called iOmniscient on behalf of the Brisbane, Gold Coast and other councils.
iOmniscient works by analysing images recorded by existing CCTV cameras.
A rollout of similar software has been supported by the Federal Government for passport processing in Australia, and the Northern Territory police are already using something similar.
Monique Mann, a law lecturer at the Queensland University of Technology and member of the Australian Privacy Foundation, said the Toowoomba Council's decision was alarming.
She said that facial technology introduction at a federal level was being established in a way that would not require "expanded police powers for the introduction of specific budget legislation".
"What we see here is that these developments are really being introduced to administrative processes outside of a legislative framework and the increased scrutiny that it entails," Dr Mann said.
Dr Mann said she was "particularly concerned" from a privacy perspective, because the facial recognition technology could be used from a distance.
"It can be integrated with existing surveillance systems as we're seeing with CCTV-enabled tracking through public places," she said.
"And it can also be integrated with other big data that's used for law enforcement and security purposes — so for example images that can be taken from social media websites."
Despite the Federal Government's enthusiasm over the use of the new technologies, Dr Mann said that the recent Census and Centrelink robo-debt data sagas highlighted widespread privacy concerns in the community.
Trial is to 'improve service delivery'
Toowoomba Paul Antonio said the software was not an invasion of privacy.
"It is attached to a data system that will tell us the number of people coming and going to the library, and the number of times they have actually come and gone in a given day," he said.
"What it actually does is it analyses the existing CCTV footage that we've had here in this region for quite some time."
Mr Antonio said its trial use in the library was about "improving service delivery".
"This is an experiment that will last for one month," he said.
"When the technology is proven, what it's used for in the future is up to anyone who wants to use it."
Mr Antonio said the Toowoomba Council had not discussed whether they would use the facial recognition software for safety on the streets.
But it is believed that the council could be the first to use such technology.
This comes after Queensland's Moreton Bay Regional Council was recently criticised when it announced it had deployed about 330 new surveillance devices in public spaces.
Topics: police, law-crime-and-justice, science-and-technology, computers-and-technology, toowoomba-4350, qld, australia
First posted |
During the 2004 federal-election campaign, I interviewed a brainy economic consultant named Kwangyul Peck, who was running for the Liberals in Port Moody-Westwood-Port Coquitlam.
Peck suggested that if Stephen Harper became prime minister, some residents of the riding would lose their homes.
It was an astonishing claim--and it was ridiculed by his Conservative opponent, James Moore, now the Minister of Canadian Heritage.
Today, the Harper government will include a $34-billion deficit in its budget.
Some right-of-centre governments--notably the George W. Bush and Ronald Reagan administrations, as well as the Brian Mulroney regime--have demonstrated a knack for running up huge deficits, forcing future politicians to take draconian actions to address the imbalance.
These right wingers bled the beast--which is how they see government--so there was nothing left for their successors to work with.
It appears as though Stephen Harper is no different---though, to be fair, he is being egged on to go into deficit spending by the federal Liberals, NDP, and Bloc Quebecois.
On budget day, I felt it was worth reviewing Peck's key points during the 2004 campaign:
* Harper's proposed tax cuts at that time would sharply reduce government revenues. (After becoming prime minister in 2006, Harper cost the treasury billions by shaving two points off the Goods and Services Tax. Expect more tax cuts in today's budget.)
* Peck predicted that Harper would jack up military spending and increase health spending.
* As a result, Peck claimed, the economy would have to grow by 38 percent per year to keep the country out of deficit after the expenditure increases and tax cuts. Peck said that this was not likely to occur. That meant deficit financing: the government would have to borrow to pay for its operations.
* "The minute Harper gets into power and starts borrowing money, the interest rate will go up," Peck predicted. "The minute people in New York realize what Harper's up to, they start dumping Canadian dollars."
* Peck forecast that the Bank of Canada would have to defend the Canadian dollar by increasing interest rates. This is exactly precisely what happened during the Mulroney years, which hammered real-estate markets when homeowners were faced with higher monthly mortgage payments.
* Peck suggested that interest rates could double or triple thanks to Harper's fiscal policies, causing people in Port Moody-Westwood-Port Coquitlam to lose their homes.
Four years later, the stakes are very high with this budget. Some economists, such as Princeton's Paul Krugman, have argued that massive stimulus packages are necessary to prevent a depression.
Others have expressed fears that governments around the world will dump taxpayers' money into dying industries, offering few long-term benefits.
We saw that in B.C. in the late 1990s when Glen Clark's NDP government poured hundreds of millions of dollars into Skeena Cellulose, which operated a pulp mill in Prince Rupert.
Can Harper be trusted to do the right thing for the country or will he choose the politically expedient thing when he brings in his deficit?
To date, he hasn't demonstrated a great appetite for the types of expenditures that stimulate employment and boost productivity, such as daycare and postsecondary education. So far, we haven't seen any indication that he's ready to move in any new direction in these areas. |
Image caption Li Tingting, Wang Man, Wei Tingting, Wu Rongrong and Zheng Churan have been in custody for almost a month
They are a group of feminists who are dedicated to campaigning against sexual abuse and domestic violence.
They frequently carried out guerrilla-style protests to raise awareness about their cause.
For one protest they wore wedding dresses splattered in red paint to symbolise the plight of abused women.
In another they called on the government to provide more female public toilets.
They thought they knew how to avoid problems with the authorities.
To mark International Women's Day on 8 March they planned to hand out leaflets and put stickers on public buses and subways to raise awareness about sexual harassment.
But before the protest even took place about 10 activists were rounded up by the police.
Image copyright CFP Image caption Li Tingting, pictured in the middle at a protest against domestic violence, is among the women detained
Image copyright CFP Image caption Wang Man, third from left, protesting in front of a court trying a domestic violence case. The sign reads: "Zero tolerance for domestic violence"
Almost a month later, five of the women - Li Tingting, Wang Man, Wei Tingting, Wu Rongrong and Zheng Churan - remain in custody.
They face public disorder charges - a catch-all law that is often used by the authorities to silence dissidents.
Now there is growing concern for the health of two of the women - Wang Man and Wu Rongrong.
They both suffer from serious illnesses - a heart condition and chronic liver disease - and have been moved to a hospital detention centre. Their lawyers say their conditions have worsened during their time in detention.
At a Beijing cafe, I met one of the activists who was detained before the planned protest but later released. She asked us not to reveal her identity, fearing government reprisals.
"I was very scared when I was first detained but now I feel I did something meaningful," she told me.
"But I'm very worried about what will happen to the others. If they're sentenced to time in jail it will be a heavy blow to our movement."
When I asked her if she would protest again, she replied: "At the moment I wouldn't do anything as extreme as protesting on the streets. We may have to change our strategy. But the movement will continue."
Image copyright AP Image caption Wei Tingting, pictured right, demonstrating outside a court
Despite growing international criticism, China is refusing to release the activists.
Speaking last week, Hua Chunying, a spokeswoman for China's foreign ministry, said: "No one has the right to ask China to release relevant persons, so we hope that relevant people will stop interfering in China's judicial sovereignty in such a manner."
But this case is part of what has been described by human rights groups as China's harshest crackdown in recent memory.
'Terrifying time'
Since coming to power two years ago, President Xi Jinping's government has locked up journalists, lawyers, NGO workers and activists of all stripes.
He has warned against what he sees as western ideas infiltrating China and threatening the ruling Communist Party's grip on power.
One of the lawyers for the women, Liang Xiaojun, says now is a terrifying time for civil society.
"Lawyers and human rights activists are living in terror," he said. "We don't know when we'll be arrested."
"Even a women's rights group which poses no threat to the political regime is being targeted. It just shows how the police are abusing their powers."
According to Chinese law, the women need to either be released or formally charged by the middle of this month.
The police may let them go with a warning ringing in their ears that they will not be so lucky next time.
But if they are charged with disturbing the social order they face up to five years in prison.
Whatever the outcome, this case has sent a chill through activists in China. |
An in situ mining site in Long Lake, Alberta. Image: Flickr/jasonwoodhead23
Canada's oil sands are notoriously dirty, but in situ extraction—which involves blasting high-pressure steam into the ground to warm and soften bitumen, and then pumping it up to the surface—has been pitched as their environmentally friendlier future.
In the wake of a new report suggesting that the long-term effects of this extraction method could be damaging, the Alberta government has committed to stepping up its environmental monitoring of in situ oilsands, according to the Canadian Press. This technique is being relied upon more and more, and its consequences are not well understood.
In situ mining sites don't create the same massive (and highly visible) ecological disruption as open-pit mining, so they're often touted as being better for the environment than the alternative. In situ mining produced just over half of all the bitumen recovered in Alberta in 2014, and the Alberta Energy Regulator expects the method to account for 60 percent of bitumen production by 2024.
In fact, eighty percent of the estimated bitumen reserves in Canada's oil-producing province of Alberta are only reachable with in situ methods.
"If [contaminants] do increase high enough, they can be toxic to wildlife"
In the new study, Canadian scientists looked at pollution levels in a body of water located two kilometres away from the Primrose in situ mining site, which is near Cold Lake, Alberta. They found that increased use of the technique lined up with a major uptick in potentially harmful metals and other contaminants in the lake sediment.
"What we see is that after 1980, when that site became operational, we have an increase in contaminants," said York University's Jennifer Korosi, lead author of the paper. That increase "accelerates after the site was expanded about a decade ago," she added.
When she heard about the government's new commitment to monitor in situ sites more closely, she was "glad to hear it," Korosi said.
According to the study, a version of which was published last week in Environmental Pollution, pollutants have increased by 140 percent in the sampled area since in situ operations began. That's not enough to have a toxic effect, Korosi said, but a greater reliance on in situ mining in the oil sands could push contaminant levels over the top.
Read more: Look out Alberta Tar Sands, Canada Has a New Oil Field
"If [contaminants] do increase high enough, they can be toxic to wildlife," Korosi said. "If they get into the groundwater and it's used for drinking, that could also be a problem."
In situ mining in Canada has come under increased scrutiny in recent years, partly because of an incident in 2013 at the same Primrose site that resulted in an uncontrolled flow of bitumen to the surface. The water near the leak was drained and the sediment collected, and a subsequent investigation concluded that too much steam was the problem.
Still, the method's potentially damaging effects remain vastly understudied, Korosi said, because most scientific efforts so far have focused on open-pit mines.
The researchers conclude that if in situ mining is really the future of the Albertan oil sands, then its effects need to become a research priority, alongside better monitoring.
"We've reached a point where production massively outpaces our scientific knowledge of the environmental impacts," Korosi said. |
From
Ah, a folio game. I think the first time I purchased and played one was in the mid 1970s. These are usually about one battle, with a small number of counters and a short rule book. That is not to say that the folio games are simple or beer and pretzel games. The folio games are simplified compared to larger board games. The small map and easy to understand rules means that players need not take up too much space for too long.
The battle of Zama was fought in October of 202 B.C. It would mark the end of the Second Punic War between Rome and Carthage. Hannibal versus Scipio: what else could a wargamer envision? This is one of the few times that military masters have met on the field of battle. The Second Punic War happened because of Hannibal's trek first through northern Spain and then France to invade Italy in 218 B.C. The actual battle of Zama occurred because of Scipio's invasion of the Carthaginian homeland, now in modern Tunisia. One of the reasons that the Carthaginians had run rings around the Romans for most of the war was their use of their allies' (the Numidians) light cavalry. Numidia was one of the few places that the Romans never actually conquered outright. It was to prove a thorn in their side a hundred years later. Scipio was able to get the use of the Numidians at this time under their King Masinissa. The Numidians had switched sides in the war because of Scipio's invasion. After Scipio's invasion of their homeland, Hannibal was recalled from Italy. The stage was set for either Scipio, and his veterans from his conquest of Spain, or Hannibal who had never been defeated in the field to win this final battle of the Second Punic War.
The game is normal for a folio or magazine wargame. The map is 17"X22", and there are only 100 counters. The rule book starts with the standard rules for the series and then gives you the separate rules for the Zama game itself. The hex scale is 150 yards. The documentation lists playing time as one to two hours. The complexity is listed as low, and the suitability for solitary play is listed as high. I can attest that it is easy to play the game by oneself. Of course almost all board wargames can be played solitaire, although with some you have to fiddle with the rules or actions more than others.
The counters are also standard fare for these types of games. They seem a bit thinner than I remember, but perfectly useful for their purpose. You will need to cut your small cardboard armies out, and if you are so inclined cut away some of the extra cardboard from some corners. I never felt the need in any game I own, but I know a lot of people also clip the counter corners. To each their own. The graphics on the counters are also fine, but not striking. You can easily see the numbers and read anything written on them without a problem. The Romans and allies have a red background, and the various Carthaginian forces have a purple one. The one point on the counters that is purely subjective is the strength and quality of each unit. The Leader units add a 'strength additive' number to any unit they are with in a hex. In this game Hannibal is given a '3' and Scipio is given a '2'. There are many, although I am not among them, who believe that Scipio was the greatest Roman general ever. I do not have a problem having Hannibal have a higher combat rating than Scipio. This shows the versatility of board games. If you choose you can change the numbers to what you believe is correct. You could even make your own counters and substitute them for what you, or whoever you game with, feel should be more 'correct' numbers. While some computer games have editors that can help with these changes, most don't and you are stuck with developers' ratings on units and leaders.
Game setup
The game piece setup in this game is again standard for ancient warfare games. Most battles were fought on flat ground, so many times terrain wasn't an issue at all. With Zama, the entire battlefield is made up of 'clear' hexes. The map is marked with where you are supposed to put your counters for each side. There are rules for variable deployment so you can try out different strategies once you get the game rules down pat. Another few rules are in place to make the Carthaginian player follow Hannibal's game plan. One of these is to force your elephants to move, on turn one, into a Roman piece's 'zone of control', or adjacent to a Roman piece. Any elephant counter that does not do this is considered to have run amok and is eliminated. The other rules make it so the different commands of Hannibal's army are released to attack the Romans at different times. So the second and third line of Hannibal's troops can only move once a Roman piece moves to 'X' hex line. Hannibal's plan was to try and tire the Romans out by attacking them in waves. These rules are put in place to show how the actual battle was fought, but again once you are comfortable with the game it is flexible enough for you to use free movement for all of the Carthaginian troops. The Romans have no movement restrictions placed on their troops. There is also another ancient wargame standard, 'the berserk elephant rule'. Elephants were notorious for being both battle winners and losers. If the elephant unit receives a retreat or a hit (1/2) on the combat results table it becomes berserk and immediately charges off in any of six directions, decided by a die throw, and attacks whatever is in its way, friend or foe.
Carthaginian first turn elephant attack
The command and control rules are meant to simulate the problems of commanding an ancient army in battle. The troops are split into sub-commands for this rule and each sub-command must make a one die roll throw for each movement phase. If they are successful with the die roll, that sub-command can move that turn. There are four sub-commands for the Romans, and five for the Carthaginians. For example, the Roman citizen legions have to roll from a one to a five to be able to move that turn; if they roll a six they are unable to move. This also puts the element of surprise into the game. There is nothing worse that coming up with a great battle plan and then realize you cannot follow it because your troops are not in control this turn. The game uses another old friend to compute losers and winners in attacks: the 'combat result table'. By simply adding up the attackers points and the defenders, while adding or subtracting for leaders etc., you divide the numbers and come up with a number for the odds of the combat. If you have 8 attacking points and 4 defending, the odds would be 2-1. You check the 'combat results table' on the equivalent column and then roll one die. The one to six result is then taken on the counters. I know most of us are old hats at this, but we need new blood in the hobby. We as grogs are getting older by the day. These folio games are perfect in their complexity, price, and size to attract new players to our hobby. We don't want them running away by pulling out an old 'Europa' game first off.
The game play is quick and tight, and the rules are not going to have you scratching your head. For us old players it is a trip down memory lane with a well conceived old friend. For anyone that is looking to get their feet wet into board wargames it is also highly recommended. There are many eras and wars that fall through the cracks of computer wargaming, so it is lucky for us that there are still companies like Decision Games making board ones. if you missed it, board wargaming has been having a resurgence lately, and that is also good news.
There is one point about the Carthaginian setup that I had Decision Games answer a question of mine with it. On the map there are three Carthaginian setup hexes for cavalry on both sides of their infantry setup, but the game comes with only four Carthaginian cavalry counters. As I assumed, you just use two cavalry units per setup area.
Robert
Date of Review: 1/24/2017 |
Damage to the event structure at the usual site of the Rio Pro at Postinho has forced the WSL to shift the competition's location to Grumari, around 24 kms west.
Recent swell activity over the past few weeks undermined the structure. But the WSL are working on repairs and want to get back to Postinho as soon as possible.
Construction under way at Grumari. © 2019 - Luciano Cabal.
Rumours are also circulating that Joel Parkinson could be pulling out of the event down to sub-standard water quality. There's been no confirmation yet whether any of the CT surfers have officially decided not to turn up at Rio – but it is understood the WSL will be making an announcement later today about an updated round 1 draw.
It'll be interesting to see what happens if some of the CT crew blow-off the Brazil leg though. Rio event's major sponsors, Oi, as far as we're aware, don't have any sponsored surfers, so who will those wildcard slots go to?
Kerrzy at Rio last year.
About the damage to Postinho, Kieren Perrow, WSL commissioner said: ''Recent swell activity has damaged the event structure at Postinho, rendering it unusable for the next several days. Fortunately, we have the secondary site at Grumari prepared for the opening days of the window. Grumari will serve as the primary venue should competition run during the opening days of the window and we'll work to get Postinho back as an option as soon as possible.
''We're very appreciative of the teams on the ground for all the hard work they have put into the event and look forward to a world-class competition.'' |
Full name NYJER JAMID MORGAN...Married, Lizzette...Has one daughter, Jaylah...Pronounced NIGH-juhr...Left his home in California at the age of 16 to play four years of junior hockey in Canada from 1996-2000, including a stint at the major junior level with the Regina Pats of the Western Hockey League...Following his hockey experience in Canada played two seasons (2001-02) of baseball at Walla Walla (WA) Community College...Attended high schools in British Columbia and Alberta, Canada...Is an avid fan of the San Jose Sharks, San Francisco 49ers and Golden State Warriors...Enjoys fantasy football, fantasy basketball, fishing, hiking and agriculture...Also known as "Tony Plush," a nickname he adopted with his friends in San Jose...Is an active member of the Options For Life Foundation, whose mission is to provide resources for alternative and complimentary medicine to those facing life threatening disease...During time with Brewers was active with PETA and the National Kidney Foundation of Wisconsin....On Twitter (@TheRealToneP).
2013
Signed with the Yokohama DeNa BayStars of Japan's Central League on January 24 after being taken off Milwaukee's 40-man roster on November 1, 2013 and declaring free agency the following day...Appeared in 108 games for Yokohama including 71 in center, 24 in right and 1 game in left...Hit 11HR after homering 11 times in the big leagues from 2007-12.
2012
Final season in Milwaukee, appeared in 122 games, including 66 starts (48g in CF, 14g in RF, 4g in LF, 0 errors)...Did not record his first RBI of the season until his 139th plate appearance, a new Major League record to start a season (Herb Adams, 125, 1950 White Sox).
2011
2010
2009
2008
2007
2006
2005
2004
2003
2002
Was acquired from Washington in exchange for INF Cutter Dykstra and cash on 3/27...Batted .304 with 4 HR, 37 RBI and 13 stolen bases in 119 games with Milwaukee...Made 90 starts (84g in CF, 5g in RF, 1g in LF)...Missed 29 games due to a pair of stints on the disabled list...Was on the 15-day disabled list from 4/21-5/2 with a right quadriceps contusion, retroactive to 4/18.....suffered the injury while running into the catcher on 4/13 at Pittsburgh...Was on the 15-day disabled list from 5/6-5/26 with a fractured left middle finger.....suffered the injury on a bunt on 5/5 at Atlanta...Had an 11-game hitting streak from 7/8-7/21 (15-41, .366, 5rbi) and a career-high 12-game hitting streak from 7/27-8/11 (17-51, .333, 4rbi)...Produced a 2-out RBI-double in the ninth inning on 6/8 vs. New York-NL to give the Brewers a 7-6 victory.....was the first walkoff hit of his career.....also had a walkoff sacrifice fly in the 10th inning on 8/14 vs. Pittsburgh to give the Brewers a 2-1 win...Celebrated his 31st birthday with a career-high 4 RBI in the Brewers' 8-7 comeback win on 7/2 at Minnesota.....came within a single of hitting for the cycle as he went 3-for-5 with 3R, a double, triple and home run to help the team erase a 7-0 deficit...Notched his 100th career stolen base in Game 2 of a doubleheader on 8/22 at Pittsburgh...Tied his career high (5x) with 4 hits in an 11-4 win on 8/23 at Pittsburgh, going 4-for-6 with 2R, a double and 2 RBI...Batted .179 (5-for-28) with 3 RBI in 10 games during the postseason...Propelled the Brewers into the NLCS with a walkoff RBI-single in the 10th inning of Game 5 of the NLDS vs. Arizona on 10/7, giving the team a 3-2 clinching victory...Signed a 1-year contract on 1/16/12, avoiding arbitration.In first complete season as an everyday player, hit .253, posted a .319 OBP and swiped 34 bags (tied 3rd in NL) forWashington...legged out a career-high 17 doubles...was caught stealing 17 times, the 2nd-highest total in MLB behindonly CWS's Juan Pierre (18)...also ranked among NL leaders in bunt hits (tied first, 11), sacrifice hits (3rd, 15), HBP(tied 6th, 10) and infield hits (tied 9th, 22)...went 3-for-4 and scored team season-best 4 runs in a 14-4 win on May31 at HOU...posted 4 hits, a double, one RBI, scored 3 runs and made a gravity-defying over-the-wall catch of a wouldbeCorey Patterson home run on June 25 at BAL...swiped 3 bases in a 7-1 win on July 22 at CIN to set a Nationals(2005-present) single-game record...also became the first DC-based big leaguer to swipe 3 bags in a game since KenHamlin did just that in the nightcap of a July 15, 1962 twinbill at LAA...with 20, became the 2nd National ('05-pres)to swipe 20 bags prior to All-Star break, joining Alfonso Soriano (20 in '06)...paced MLB with 11 stolen bases in July...from Sept. 17-24, served an 8-game suspension levied by MLB for 3 separate incidents during week of Aug. 21-28.Was acquired by Nationals on June 30 in season-altering trade that significantly shored up Washington's faulty defensive...provided spark at top of Nationals' lineup after joining the Nationals from PIT in a 4-player trade on June 30...despite missing the season's final 5 weeks with a broken left hand, finished among NL leaders with 42 stolen bases(2nd), 14 bunt hits (tied for 2nd), 16 three-hit games (tied for 5th) and .307 batting average (tied for 10th)...13 outfieldassists ranked 3rd in NL and tied for 4th in MLB...in 49 contests with Washington, batted .351 with 35 runs scored, 9doubles, 2 triples, one home run, 12 RBI and 24 stolen bases...posted multi-hit efforts in 21 of 46 starts...while healthy,from July 3 through Aug. 27, the Nationals team ranked among NL leaders with 257 runs (2nd), 35 stolen bases (3rd),.276 batting average (4th) and .347 on-base percentage (5th)...swiped 2 bags 8 times...14 stolen bases in July to seta Nationals (2005-present) record for stolen bases in a single calendar month...bested Felipe Lopez's former mark of11, set in September '06...hit .388 in July to rank 3rd in MLB...with 40 July safeties, set a Nationals ('05-pres.) markfor hits in the month of July and matched a Nationals' record for hits in any single calendar month...Cristian Guzman(June '08) and Ryan Zimmerman (May '09) are the only other Nationals to post 40 hits in a month...batted .344 againstright-handed pitching...suffered season-ending injury on August 27 at CHI, when he broke his left hand sliding safelyinto 3rd base on a stolen base attempt in the first inning...led off the game with a walk then stole 2nd base and 3rd baseand scored...surgery on left hand (3rd metacarpal) performed by Dr. Thomas Graham on August 29 in Baltimore.Went 3-for-4 with walk, triple, RBI and 2 stolen bases, April 11 at CIN...matched careerhigh with 4 hits, June 20 at COL...went 3-for-5 with a pair of doubles, a RBI, a stolen base and a run scored in a 5-3win, July 5 vs. ATL...notched 4 hits (matching career best, 3rd time) in a 13-1 win vs. SDP, July 25...hit 2nd careerfirst-inning leadoff homer to trigger an 8-3 win, July 28 at MIL...finished same game with career-high 3 RBI...recordedcareer-best 9 putouts as center fielder, August 6 vs. FLA.Split season between Pittsburgh and Triple-A Indianapolis, where he ranked second in the InternationalLeague in stolen bases...Was on Pittsburgh's Opening Day roster...Doubled in first at bat as a pinch hitter on Opening Day in Atlanta....Made two starts in the month of April (4/6 at Florida and 4/11 vs. Cincinnati)...Went 1-for-5 with two runs scored in first start on4/6 at Florida...Snapped 0-for-14 streak with single as a pinch hitter on 5/4 at Washington...Was optioned to Indianapolis on 5/8and went hitless in his first 18 at bats before singling in first at bat on 5/13...Hit safely infive of his six games between 5/13-17, going 8-for-17 (.471) with four multi-hit efforts...Talliedfirst RBI with Indy on 5/17 at Louisville...Had six-game hitting streak from 6/6-12 (9-for-24,.375)...Was successful in nine straight stolen base attempts between 6/10-17. ...Swiped twobases in three straight games from 6/12-14...Was recalled by Pittsburgh on 6/20 and madefirst career start in right field that night vs. Toronto (went 0-for-5 at the plate)...Went hitlessin first six at bats after recall; snapped hitless streak with a two-run double while playing lasttwo innings in left field on 6/24 vs. New York (AL)...Was optioned back to Indianapolis on6/28...Hit safely in 17 straight Triple-A games from 6/17 thru 7/17, going 25-for-72 (.347)with 15 runs scored...Batted .300 (33-for-110) and swiped 13 bases in 16 attempts in 27 games during the month of July...Homeredon 8/8 at Rochester - his first long ball since 9/25/07 while playing with Pittsburgh...Swiped five bases on 8/15 vs. Durham - thefive steals tied a team record set by Robert Fausett on May 14, 1936...Hit .339 (58-for-171) with 13 extra-base hits, 23 RBI, 36 runsscored and 25 stolen bases in final 43 Triple-A games from 7/1 thru 8/17...Also batted .326 (78-for-239) against right-handed pitchersand .217 (18-for-83) against southpaws while playing with Indianapolis...Was recalled by Pittsburgh on 8/19 when Doug Mientkiewiczwas placed on the bereavement list; started in center field that night in St. Louis and went 0-for-4 with a walk...Produced three straightmulti-hit games from 8/22-24 and went 11-for-22 in six games from 8/20-26, raising average with Pittsburgh from .130 to .250...Madefirst career start in left field on 8/26 vs. Chicago (NL) and banged out three hits...Had six straight multi-hit games from 9/12-18,going 13-for-28 (.464) and scoring eight runs...Had career-high four hits on 9/23 at Milwaukee and tied career high with twoRBI...Committed only error (fielding) with Pirates while playing left field on 9/23...Suffered a strained left hamstring while beatingout an infield hit in his first at bat on 9/25 at Milwaukee and was done for the season...Reached base safely in 25 of his 27 startsafter recall on 8/19, going 41-for-112 (.366) with 20 runs scored; his overall average of .347 from 8/19 thru the end of the seasonwas the 10th-highest in the National League...Ranked ninth among N.L. players with a .354 average in September.Began season with Triple-A Indianapolis and went 4-for-5 in first game on 4/5 vs. Columbus...Reachedbase safely in 15 of his first 18 games and was hitting .358 following the action on 4/27...Swiped 13 bases in 15 attempts in Aprilwhile batting .308...Hit safely in each of his first five games in May and in seven of his first eight (11-for-33, .333)...Was leadingthe International League with 22 stolen bases when he suffered a dislocated left thumb on 5/13 vs. Ottawa...Was on the disabledlist from 5/15 thru 8/23...Went 4-for-13 during a four-game rehab assignment with the GCL Pirates from 8/18-22...Hit an inside-theparkhome run on 8/20 vs. GCL Red Sox...Returned to Indianapolis on 8/24 and hit safely in seven of his last nine games with theIndians...Made 33 appearances in center field and nine in left field while playing with Indy...Was recalled by Pittsburgh on 9/1 andsingled off Matt Wise in Milwaukee that night in first major league plate appearance...Hit safely in each of his first three games withthe Pirates, going 4-for-9 with two walks and three runs scored...Collected first big-league RBI on 9/4 at St. Louis...Committed loneerror with Pittsburgh on 9/8 vs. Chicago (NL)...Had two RBI on 9/9 vs. Chicago and made great diving catch in right-center field torob Aramis Ramirez of a hit...Was also caught stealing in first attempt on 9/9; over slid second base...Picked up first of two assistson 9/11 vs. Milwaukee...Made "Willie Mays" style catch in deep center field to rob Ty Wigginton of extra bases on 9/14 at Houston....Collected first major league triple on 9/15 at Houston...Swiped two bases on 9/19 at San Diego and also picked up second assistin the contest...Tripled in back-to-back games on 9/19-20...Connected off Milwaukee's Doug Davis for first major league home run on9/25 - a leadoff shot at PNC Park...Reached base safely in 19 of his last 20 games and in 22 of his 25 starts in center field withthe Pirates...Ended the season with an 11-game hitting streak, going 18-for-44 (.409) with seven multi-hit contests...Had four infieldhits, including three bunt base hits, with the Pirates...Participated in the Arizona Fall League and batted .258 (24-for-93) with ahomer, nine RBI and a team-leading 10 stolen bases in 24 games with league-champion Phoenix.Was the starting center fielder for the Carolina League in mid-season All-Star Game...Split season between Lynchburg (A) and Altoona (AA) and combined to hit .304 with 13 doubles, eight triples, one home run, 32 RBI and 59 stolen bases in 117 games. ...Established minor league career highs in hits, triples and stolen bases...Ranked second behind Pedro Powell (63) among all Bucco farmhands in stolen bases and third in batting...Finished eighth among all minor league players in stolen bases...Ranked second in Carolina League in stolen bases despite being promoted to Altoona in late June...Began season with Lynchburg and hit safely in 21 straight games from 4/24 thru 5/29, going 30-for-80 (.375) with nine multi-hit games; the streak is the second-longest in Hillcats history behind Josh Bonifay's 22-game streak in 2002...Swiped three bases on 4/15 vs. Frederick...Batted .371 (23-for-62) in 17 games during the month of May, the fourth-highest mark in the Carolina League...Went 10-for-28 (.357) during six-game hitting streak from 6/4-8...Recorded three stolen bases on 6/6 at Myrtle Beach...Had a career-high four stolen bases on 6/24 vs. Myrtle Beach...Went 0-for-3 in mid-season All-Star Game, played on 6/27...Made all 61 defensive appearances with Lynchburg in center field. ...Was promoted to Altoona on 6/29...Finished tied with Vic Buttler for team lead in stolen bases despite playing in only 56 games. ...Made 37 starts in left field, 15 in center field and two in right field for the Curve...Went 4-for-5 with two RBI and two runs scored on 7/3 vs. Akron...Produced his second four-hit game with Altoona on 8/18 vs. Harrisburg...Hit .484 (15-for-31) during an eight-game streak from 8/14-21...Hit lone home run on 8/24 at Harrisburg, snapping streak of 177 consecutive games without a long ball (previous homer came on 8/30/04)...Batted .375 (21-for-56) over his final 15 games before suffering a season-ending right hamstring injury on 8/27 at Harrisburg...Missed the Eastern League playoffs due to injury...Participated in the Hawaiian Winter League and hit .294 (35-for-119) with five triples, one homer and 20 stolen bases in 32 games with Honolulu Sharks.Missed first half of the season with a shoulder injury and joined Lynchburg on 6/20...Finished fourth in the Carolina League in stolen bases...Hit safely in nine consecutive games from 7/17-25 (14-for-40, .350)...Swiped a Hillcats' season-high three bases on 7/22 vs. Wilmington...Posted season-high 11-game hitting streak from 8/14-28 (18-for-51, .353)...Recorded four, three-hit games during a five-game span from 8/28 to 9/2...Raised final average from .266 to .286 by going 14-for-34 (.412) over his final seven games...Went 3-for-7 in two Carolina League playoff contests.Spent entire season with South Atlantic League champion Hickory (A)...Set minor league career highs in games, at bats, runs, doubles, home runs and RBI...Ranked second in the league in stolen bases, third in games played and third in at bats...Finished second among all minor league batters in being hit by a pitch and tied for eighth in stolen bases...Ranked second behind Lynchburg's Rajai Davis (57) for the organizational lead in steals...Hit first career home run in the Crawdads' season opener on 4/8 vs. Lake County...Went 4-for-4 with a triple and two RBI on 5/7 vs. Lakewood...Was named the South Atlantic League's Player-of-the-Week for the week of 5/7-14 after hitting .412 (14-for-34) with 10 runs and seven RBI in 10 games...Recorded a season-high 11-game hitting streak from 7/2-12 (17-for-48, .354)...Went 4-for-6 and scored a season-high four runs on 8/5 at Columbus...Posted a second double-digit hitting streak (10 games) from 8/21-30 (14-for-38, .368)...Produced an inside-the-park home run on 8/30 vs. Kannapolis (game one)...Was successful in each of his last 17 stolen bases attempts...Went 8-for-20 (.400) and scored five runs in four playoff contests to help the Crawdads capture the S.A.L. title...Made all defensive appearances in center field.Spent first professional season with New York-Penn League champion Williamsport (A)...Established career high in batting...Named to the circuit's post-season All-Star team...Led league in hits while ranking second in stolen bases, batting average and on-base percentage (.439)...Ranked fourth in runs scored...Swiped 18 bases in his first 27 games...Reached base safely in 23 consecutive games from 6/24 to 7/24 (game one)...Named New York-Penn League Player-of-the-Week for week of 7/14-20 after hitting .480 (12-for-25) with eight runs and four RBI in seven games...Hit .333 (30-for-90) in 26 games during the month of July...Batted .403 (29-for-72) during a 17-game hitting streak from 7/31-8/16...Hit .380 (46-for-121) during the month of August, which included a season-high four hits on 8/28 vs. Staten Island.Signed with Pittsburgh on 7/29 after being selected in the 33rd round of the First-Year Player Draft. |
In 1670, the Virginia assembly, comprising some of the colony’s most successful and powerful men, forbade free Negroes and Indians to own Christian (that is to say, white) servants. In 1676, the assembly made it legal to enslave Indians. From 1680 on, white Christians were free to give "any negroe or other slave" who dare to lift his hand in opposition to a Christian 30 lashes on the bare back. In 1705, masters were forbidden to ‘whip a Christian white servant naked." Nakedness was for brutes, the uncivil, the non-Christian. That same year, all property – "horses, cattle, and hogs" – was confiscated from slaves and sold by church wardens for the benefit of poor whites. By means of such acts, the tobacco planters and ruling elite of Virginia raised the legal status of lower-class whites relative to that of Negroes and Indians, whether free, servant, or slave.
The legislators also raised the status of white servants, workers, and the white poor in relations to their masters and other white superiors. Until then the European indentured servants had lived and worked under the same conditions as the African slaves, the chief difference in their status being that the Europeans’ servitude was contracted for a specified period whereas the slaves, and their progeny, served for life. In 1705, the assembly required masters to provide white servants at the end of their indentureship with corn, money, a gun, clothing, and 50 acres of land. The poll tax was also reduced. As a result of these legally sanctioned changes in poor whites’ economic position, they gained legal, political, emotional, social, and financial status that depended directly on the concomitant degradation of Indians and Negroes.
By means of the race laws, Virginia’s ruling class systematically gave their blessing to lower-class whites, whom they nevertheless considered "the scruff and scum of England" and who, free no in the colonies after indentured servitude, were thought of as the rabble of Virginia. Social historian Edmund Morgan reminds us how radical the race laws were when he notes that the
Stereotypes of the poor expressed so often in England during the late seventeenth and eighteenth centuries were often identical with the descriptions of blacks expressed in colonies dependent upon slave labor, even to the extent of intimating the subhumanity of both: the [white] poor were ‘the vile and brutish part of mankind’; [blacks] ‘a brutish sort of people.’ In the eyes of unpoor Englishmen, the poor bore many of the marks of an alien race.
These descriptions were consistent with a contemporary usage of race denoting something like what we mean by class today. As cultural scholar Ann Laura Stoler notes in her book Race and the Education of Desire, the "race" of the rising English industrial class pertained not to their color or physiognomy but to their bourgeois class status, mores, and manners. Accordingly, racial superiority, and thus the right to rule, came to be equated with middle-class respectability. The poor, by definition, could never belong to this new bourgeois race.
Morgan writes that some of the ‘alien," bedraggled and penniless Englishmen and women were shipped to Virginia, and
When their masters began to place people of another color in the fields beside them, the unfamiliar appearance of the newcomers may well have struck them as only skin deep. There are hints that the two despised groups initially saw each other as sharing the same predicament. It was common, for example, for servants and slaves to run away together, steal hogs together, get drunk together. It was not uncommon for them to make love together.
African-born slaves and European-born indentured servants collaborated throughout the Anglo-American colonies. In the British West Indies, for example, legislation was passed in 1701 that forbade the importation of Irish Catholics, and subsequently of any Europeans, to the island of Nevis because European servants had combined there with African slaves to rebel against the ruling elite. The Virginia race laws by which plantation masters elevated the racial status of their white servants, workers, and other "rabble" were enacted for the exact same reasons as the Nevis race laws.
To understand this fully requires attention to the new role slavery began to play in Virginia as the 17th century wore on. By 1660, it had become more profitable for the labor barons to buy slaves rather than the labor of indentured servants. A host of reasons explain this shift, including a dwindling pool of prospects for indentured servitude and a decline in mortality from diseases in the colony, which made slaves, although twice the price of indentured servants, a better long-term investment. Because slaves and their progeny served for life, the time and work extracted from them would more than repay the added cost. To increase slaves’ productivity, masters had only to increase the severity of beatings and maimings, meanwhile enacting laws to protect themselves from prosecution for the inadvertent killings that might result.
This new setup, however, required a new strategy for social control, for the natural class affinities between indentured servants and enslaved ones presented a danger to the masters. Until 1660, indentured servants outnumbered slaves on the Virginia tobacco plantations. They were kept in separate servant quarters, supervised by overseers, and whipped as a means of "correction." Like their 18th century slave counterparts, they were also underfed and underclothed. In response, they sometimes ran away but rarely, if ever, rebelled as a class.
As freedmen, however, they did rebel. Led by a well-born Englishman named Nathaniel Bacon, a government official who ironically held wealthy Virginians in contempt because of their "vile" (lower-class) beginnings, the freedmen first slaughtered Indians and then turned their guns on the ruling elite. The rebels were rankled by unfair taxes, legislators’ greed, and land use regulations that relegated most of them to the status of landless workers for hire. This 1676 "Bacon Rebellion" did not end before Jamestown was burned to the ground, Bacon died, and the English intervened militarily. Last to surrender was a group of 80 Negroes and 20 English servants.
With a swelling slave population, the masters faced the prospect of white freedmen with disappointed hopes joining forces with slaves of desperate hope to mount ever more virulent rebellions. The elites’ race strategy decreased the probability of such class rebellions. The problem of how to redirect the "rabble" so that they would not bond with slaves was resolved through the sinister design of racialization. Writes Morgan, "The answer to the problem, obvious if unspoken and only gradually recognized, was racism, to separate dangerous free whites from dangerous slave blacks by a screen of racial contempt."
Racial contempt would function as a wall between poor whites and blacks, protecting masters and their slave-produced wealthy from both lower-class whites and slaves. At the same time, the new laws led the poor whites to identify with the ruling elite, an identification with an objective basis in fact – otherwise this divide and conquer class strategy would not have worked. Laws like the ones that gave white freedmen the right to whip a Negro slave but prevented white servants from being whipped while naked engendered a psychological allegiance to the elite through abuse: the right to abuse those below them and a constraint on the abuse meted out by those above them. Of course, this allegiance, and the laws that engendered it, did not protect the white servant from being beaten. The laws simply limited the abuse and thus, in the guise of a humane reform, actually maintained the legal sanction of violence against both the black and white servant and worker.
In addition to their marginal privileges vis-à-vis punishment, poor whites acquired new political and social advantage by means of these new laws, along with the legislated right to feel superior to all nonwhites. A quota of "deficiency laws" was established to link white workers to black slaves, thus ensuring the stability of the race-based economic status quo. Historian Theodore Allen writes that these laws required plantation owners to "employ at least one ‘white’ for every so many ‘Negroes,’ the proportion varying from colony to colony and time to time, from one-to-twenty (Nevis, 1701) to one-to-four (Georgia, 1750)."Other laws urged slave owners to bar Negroes from trades in order to preserve those positions for "white" artisans. / 17 / The increasingly pervasive link between white work and the degraded condition of the black led white workers to accept the reality of – and necessity for – black slavery.
Not surprisingly, however, poor whites never became the economic equals of the elite. Though both groups’ economic status rose, the gap between the wealthy and poor widened as a result of slave productivity. Thus, poor whites’ belief that they now shared status and dignity with their social betters was largely illusory.
The new multi-class "white race" that emerged from the Virginia laws wasn’t biologically engineered but socially constructed, then. As Allen points out, the race laws and the racial contempt they generated not only severed ties of mutual interest and goodwill between European and African servants and workers, but they also provided the ruling elite with a "buffer" of poor whites between themselves and the slaves to keep blacks down and prevent both groups from challenging the rule of the elite. A. Leon Higgenbotham Jr., the former chief judge of the United States court of Appeals for the third Circuit, is right when he says the Virginia race laws, which were soon imitated throughout the colonies, were designed to "presume, protect, and defend the ideal of superiority of whites and the inferiority of blacks." But we must not forget that white racism was from the start a vehicle for classism; its primary goal was not to elevate a race but to denigrate a class. White racism was thus a means to an end, and the end was the defense of Virginia’s class structure and the further subjugation of the poor of all "racial" colors.
Interestingly, there was early resistance to these race laws by the newly whited lower classes. When, for example, the Virginia Assembly in 1691 outlawed mixed marriages and thus mulatto offspring ("that abominable mixture and spurious issue"), residents petitioned the assembly in 1699 "for the Repeale of the Act of Assembly, Against English people’s Marrying with Negroes Indians or Mulattoes." The petition, after internal legislative maneuvers, was ignored. During this same period, an Englishwoman named Ann Wall was arraigned by a county court and charged with "keeping company with a negro under pretense of marriage." She was convicted, bound with her two mulatto children to indentured service in another county, and told that if she ever returned to her home in Elizabeth City, she would be banished to Barbados.
Gradually, however, the new legislation began to influence both the class and racial perceptions of the "white" Virginians, as the memories of communal life and work shared by indentured Euro-American and enslaved African American workers were lost with the death of the first generations of Virginians. Thus, by 1825, free white laborers either emigrated to the West or festered in extraordinary poverty because their race pride prevented them from working alongside free Negroes. For example, in 1825, a petition circulated among citizens of Henrico County in Virginia asserted that "white [the free negro] re- / 18 / mained here … no white laborer will seek employment near him. Hence it is that in some of the richest counties east of the Blue Ridge the white population is stationary and in many others it is retrograde." Noting the pattern of white emigration from Virginia, Governor Smith in his 1847 message to the legislature said, "I venture the opinion that a larger emigration of our white laborers is produced by our free negroes than by the institution of slavery." Poor whites’ racial antipathy toward free Negro Virginians not only staved off political collaboration but further enriched the white employers, who preferred Negro freedmen over whites because they worked cheaper. Also, because they had no legal protections, they were totally subject to their employers’ wishes. As Governor Smith complained in 1848, free Negroes "perform a thousand little menial services to the exclusion of the white man. [They are] preferred by their employers because of the authority and control which they can exercise and frequently because of the ease and facility with which they can remunerate such services." Classism augmented by racism thus succeeded in disempowering the white Virginia lower classes, but these whites’ own racism further disempowered them by distracting them from the class exploitation that they shared with Negroes.
As W.E.B. Du Bois notes in his seminal work, Black Reconstruction in America: 1860-1880, the poor white man couldn’t conceive of himself as a laborer because of labor’s association with Negro toil. Rather, the poor white, if he aspired at all, aspired to become a planter and own "niggers." Accordingly, he transferred his hatred for the slave system to the Negro and by so doing stabilized the entire slave system as "overseer, slave driver and member of the patrol system. But above and beyond this role in maintaining the slave system, it fed his vanity because it associated [him] with the masters." The poor white’s association with the southern elite, however, was a one-way affair. As one observer noted, "For twenty years, I do not recollect ever to have seen or heard these non-slaveholding whites referred to by the Southern gentlemen as constituting any part of what they called the South."
The poor whites’ vanity was thus based on both fact and illusion. The fact pertained to the poor whites’ race. They did have the race privilege of not being slaves and legal rights as citizens because they were white. The illusion pertained to their class status. Their race made them think of themselves as planters and aristocrats, while their actual economic and social condition was dire. Only 25 percent of the poor whites were literate. Frederick L. Olmstead in his 1856 book A Journey to the Seaboard Slave States details their living conditions in the following description of a white backwoods settlement:
A wretched log hut or two are the only habitations in sight. Here reside, or rather take shelter, the miserable cultivators of the ground, or a still more destitute class who make a precarious living by peddling "lightwood" in the city… These cabins … are dens of filth. The bed if there be a bed is a layer of something in the corner that defies scenting. If the bed is nasty, what of the floor? What of the whole enclosed space? What of the creatures themselves? Pough! Water in use as a purifier is unknown. Their faces are bedaubed with the muddy accumulation of weeks. They just give them a wipe when they see a stranger to take off the blackest dirt…. The poor wretches seem startled when you address them, and answer your questions cowering like culprits."
As for poor urban whites, he wrote:
I saw as much close packing, filth and squalor, in certain blocks inhabited by laboring whites in Charleston, as I have witnessed in any Northern town of its size; and greater evidences of brutality and ruffianly character, than I have ever happened to see, among an equal population of this class, before."
Clearly, then, the poor white masses, like the black slaves, were also racial victims of the upper class. The two exploited, racialized groups differed, however, in their degree of self-awareness. Virtually all slaves knew they were victims of white racism, while very few whites knew that they were, too.
A good example of the racial violence meted out to the whited lower classes by the ruling elite involved the voting eligibility requirements in the South. Here we find the white-on-white class conflict that interracial conflict was designed to obscure. As Du Bois observes, "most Southern state governments required a property qualification for the Governor, and in South Carolina," the minimum value of his financial worth was stipulated: $10,000. He adds, "In North Carolina, a man must own 50 acres to vote for a Senator." Thus in 1828, out of 250 votes in Wilmington, North Carolina, only 48 men could vote in senatorial elections.
The white southern elite also established the "extraordinary rule" of allowing slave owners to exercise the vote of all or at least three-fifths of their black slaves. This concentration of political power not only degraded, in theory, the personhood of people with African ancestry by counting many such persons as only three-fifths human, but it effectively disenfranchised virtually all white southerners except for the biggest slaveholders. And at the beginning of the Civil War, seven percent of white southerners owned almost three quarters (three million) of the slaves in this country. Thus, although the South had two million slaveholders in 1860, an oligarchy of 8,000 actually ruled the region, controlling the five million whites too poor to own slaves. The lower classes responded with self-contempt and blindness to such of their own class interests as went beyond their perceived racial interests as whites.
The psychological self-destruction entailed in poor whites’ celebration of race to the detriment of their own class interests takes us into the realm of lower-class white shame. The 1941 classic The Mind of the South, by the southern essayist and social critic W.J. Cash, gives us an intimate and detailed description of the hidden injury done to the southern Euro-American’s personality structure by the racialization of class issues described above.
Cash tersely assesses the psychological price paid by the southern Euro-American man of any class who defines himself as white: "a fundamental split in his psyche [resulting] from a sort of social schizophrenia." Those at the top believed they were as grand and aristocratic as the Virginians after who they modeled themselves. Backwater cotton planters thus imitated the Virginians in manner, dress, and comportment, but they could never, Cash argues, "endow their subconscious with the aristocrat’s experience, which is the aristocratic manner’s essential warrant. In their inmost being they carried nearly always, I think, an uneasy sensation of inadequacy for their role."
The common man also wrapped himself in class illusions that separated him from the actual experiences of his life. He actively embraced the idea that he was an aristocrat, identifying with the planter class through a glowing sense of participation in the common brotherhood of white men. The "ego-warming and ego-expanding distinction between the white man and the black" elevated this common white man, Cash argues,
to a position comparable to that of, say, the Doric knight of ancient Sparta. Not only was he not exploited directly, he was himself made by extension a member of the dominant class – was lodged solidly on a tremendous superiority, which, however much the blacks in the "big house" might sneer at him, and however much their masters might privately agree with them, he could never publicly lose. Come what might, he would always be a white man. And before that vast and capacious distinction, all others were foreshortened, dwarfed, and all but obliterated. The grand outcome was the almost complete disappearance of economic and social forces on the part of the masses. One simply did not have to get on in this world in order to achieve security, independence, or value in one’s estimation and in that of one’s fellows.
This delusional "vast and capacious distinction," by blinding the white poor to their own class interests, reduced the common white man’s economic worth to naught. Writes Cash, "let him be stripped of this proto-Dorian rank and he would be left naked, a man without status." In effect, the emotional security lent by the hand of a fine gentleman on the common man’s shoulder in a friendly greeting became a substitute for economic security. Having shifted focus form class issues to racial feelings, the common white man, in effect, had been robbed of almost everything by his own racial "brothers."
Reproduced from: World: The Journal of the Unitarian Universalist Association. Vol. XII No: 4 (July/August 1998), pp. 14 –20)
Rev. Dr. Thandeka is the author of Learning to be White.
"No reader of Thandeka's book will ever be able to think about race in quite the same way again."
- John B. Cobb, Jr., The Claremont Graduate School
"No other study so fully demonstrates the origins of white identity in misery and defeat, as well as in power and privilege. Whiteness, Thandeka shows, is a shame which divides and afflicts whites as well as the nation."
- David Roediger, author of The Wages of Whiteness |
The 24-year-old may finally move to a club where he's able to get more playing time, says a report in a Spanish newspaper.
Mexican midfielder Jonathan Dos Santos could be heading out the exit door of Barcelona this summer, according to Spanish outlet Sport.
The 24-year-old has struggled for playing time with the Catalan club, starting only three games in La Liga since arriving at La Masia in 2002.
Dos Santos was close to a move to Real Sociedad last summer but was convinced to stay and fight for a place at the club by incoming coach Gerardo Martino.
But just as it looked like Dos Santos would be leaving in the winter transfer window, the Mexico international suffered an ACL injury to his right knee and was out for six months.
The player is currently training on the margins of the Barcelona squad, but isn’t giving up on a World Cup place.
“I’m raising my hand to see is they give me that opportunity to be in the World Cup,” Dos Santos told Televisa last week.
The same article in Sport suggests Dos Santos’ contract ends in 2015 and that Ibrahim Afellay, Cristian Tello, Isaac Cuena, Sergi Roberto and Oier Olazabal are also set to leave the club. |
Microsoft is bundling at least two major upcoming titles with Xbox One consoles this year: EA Tiburon's Madden NFL 15 and Insomniac Games' Sunset Overdrive, a company spokesperson told Polygon during a press event last week.
The Madden 15 bundle will feature a standard Xbox One unit sans Kinect, along with a download code for a copy of the game, for $399. That's the regular price of a Kinect-free Xbox One, so buyers would be getting Madden 15 for no additional cost. Madden 15 is set for release Aug. 26, and the bundle will be available then as well. The package will also include three Pro Packs for Madden Ultimate Team.
Sunset Overdrive, the colorful open-world action title from Insomniac, will be bundled with a white Xbox One later this year. It will be the first time a white Xbox One is available to the public; Microsoft produced white units for the console's launch last November, but they were specially made only for employees of the company. Sony is bundling a white PlayStation 4 with a copy of Destiny next month, and plans to release that console on its own, at least in Europe.
There's no word at this point on the price or release date of the Sunset Overdrive bundle, but the game itself is set to launch Oct. 28 exclusively on Xbox One.
You can check out an image of the Madden 15 bundle's box below. For more on the two games being bundled with Xbox One consoles, check out our Madden 15 preview from last month and our E3 coverage of Sunset Overdrive. |
Before a showing of “West Side Story” at the United Palace Theater in February, Lin-Manuel Miranda (In the Heights), interviewed one of its stars, Tony and Academy Award winner Rita Moreno, who portrayed Anita in the film. But first they danced together, briefly.
Miranda told Playbill how much the 1961 movie means to him:
“West Side Story captures Hell’s Kitchen before Lincoln Center existed. The streets they are running through, where Lincoln Center is now, was that old neighborhood. All the tenements were razed. Priscilla Lopez lived in that neighborhood. She and her brothers are extras in the playground set in the first scene that the Jets are walking through! Matthew Lopez, her nephew, who is an incredible playwright in his own right, wrote a play about it, called Somewhere.
“….The first time I saw West Side Story, I was in sixth grade. I will never forget it because I remember that I was cast as Bernardo in our sixth grade play and so my mother rented the movie so we could watch it together… When “America” started and it was about whether to live in Puerto Rico, or live in the US – as a kid who grew up here and was sent there every summer – I was like, “Holy sh*t! ‘West Side Story’ is about Puerto Ricans?!” It really blew my mind. You know, I fell in love with Rita Moreno, as anyone does when they see that musical number, and so, that sort of never went away….
“…I ended up directing West Side Story my senior year of high school, I ended up working on the 2009 revival with Arthur Laurents and Stephen Sondheim and doing the Spanish translations for Arthur’s take on the revival. It’s been very instrumental to my life. I don’t know if there is a score that I know as well as I do that score. And Leonard Bernstein’s music is immortal. It still sounds different from every other Broadway score you’ll hear. The scope and the size of it really is incredible. It’s incredibly ambitious writing and, you know, that’s why it still stands up today. It’s still thrilling.”
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Last night at 6pm PT, the Overdog team released our app to hundreds of thousands of gamers in the Xbox One Preview program (a closed beta audience dedicated to test-driving new products from Xbox developers and game publishers) in the US, Canada, and Great Britain. Crickets or crowds, we had no idea what to expect.
Well, it turns out we saw the latter. We were greeted with a crushing wave of users minutes after our introduction to the wild, and that response hasn’t slowed down through this morning with our friends in the UK making Overdog part of their Saturday morning gaming rituals.
Dealing With The Crush
That’s the wonderful, joyful part of our launch tale. The challenge? Keeping our ship afloat under such a hearty welcome from the Preview community. An hour into launch, we started to see strains on our servers and platform that were causing users to see Network Errors in the Overdog app. As usage continued to steamroll, that challenge intensified.
Thankfully, our team stepped up in force to troubleshoot and resolve the issues. Our lead engineer Kris led the charge from HQ, cranking away literally all night (and he’s still going folks!) to diagnose and fix server load-balancing issues and various computational elements related to our game-matching logic. He was joined by Richard, our newest team member, in what can only be described as a baptism by fire.
The remainder of our dev team - Brian, Clay, and Clarke - was busy lobbing snippets of code and nuggets of input from San Francisco after wrapping up an awesome week at GDC 2015. They had their laptops open in the cab to SFO and all the way through security, then they battled internet issues from 30,000 feet during a red-eye home to support the Overdog cause. It was incredible.
Looking Ahead
Over the past year, we’ve asked ourselves countless times, “Will interest-based matchmaking be something people care about?” Until last night, we only had a little bit of data and a whole lot of gut intuition to tell us they will. Well, after 16 hours in the wild connecting with Preview users, we’ve confirmed there is absolutely interest in what we’re building. Now, onto the next steps - stabilizing the platform, fixing bugs, adding new topics, and delivering a product that people love.
In building our app for the Xbox One platform, we’re doing something that virtually no other startup has had the opportunity to do to date. We will absolutely get our sea legs with this whole endeavor in short order. In the meantime, we are extremely thankful for the excitement (and understanding!) we’ve received from Preview users.
16 hours in, life is good, and it’s only getting better from here. We can’t wait for what’s next! |
Earth is Experiencing a Global Warming Spurt
Cyclical changes in the Pacific Ocean have thrown earth’s surface into what may be an unprecedented warming spurt, following a global warming slowdown that lasted about 15 years.
While El Niño is being blamed for an outbreak of floods, storms and unseasonable temperatures across the planet, a much slower-moving cycle of the Pacific Ocean has also been playing a role in record-breaking warmth. The recent effects of both ocean cycles are being amplified by climate change.
High temperatures are bleaching corals, such as this bent sea rod off Florida.
Credit: U.S. Geological Survey/Flickr
A 2014 flip was detected in the sluggish and elusive ocean cycle known as the Pacific Decadal Oscillation, or PDO, which also goes by other names, including the Interdecadal Pacific Oscillation. Despite uncertainty about the fundamental nature of the PDO, leading scientists link its 2014 phase change to a rapid rise in global surface temperatures.
The effects of the PDO on global warming can be likened to a staircase, with warming leveling off for periods, typically of more than a decade, and then bursting upward.
“It seems to me quite likely that we have taken the next step up to a new level,” said Kevin Trenberth, a scientist with the National Center for Atmospheric Research.
The 2014 flip from the cool PDO phase to the warm phase, which vaguely resembles a long and drawn out El Niño event, contributed to record-breaking surface temperatures across the planet in 2014.
The record warmth set in 2014 was surpassed again in 2015, when global temperatures surged to 1°C (1.8°F) above pre-industrial averages, worsening flooding, heatwaves and storms.
Trenberth is among an informal squadron of scientists that in recent years has toiled to understand the slowdown in surface warming rates that began in the late 1990s, which some nicknamed a global warming “pause” or “hiatus.”
A flurry of recent research papers has indicated that the slowdown was less pronounced than previously thought, leading some scientists to renew claims that those nicknames are inaccurate and should be abandoned.
“The slowdown was not statistically significant, I suppose, if you properly take into account natural variability, which includes the PDO,” Trenberth said. “That’s sort of the argument that people have been making; that even if it was a little bit of a slowdown, or pause, or call it what you will, it’s not out of bounds, and as a result we shouldn’t really put a label on it.”
The approximately 15-year warming slowdown was linked to the negative phase of the PDO, which is also called its cool phase. That phase whips up strong trade winds that bury more heat beneath sea surfaces, contributing to extraordinary levels of warming recorded in the oceans. A similar phase led to a slight cooling of the planet from the 1940s to the 1970s.
Cold PDO phases have a blue background; warm phases are red.
Credit: Essay by Kevin Trenburth, ”Has there been a hiatus?,” which was published in Science in August.
“Last time we went from a negative to a positive was in the mid-‘70s,” said Gerald Meehl, a National Center for Atmospheric Research scientist. “Then we had larger rates of global warming from the ‘70s to the late ‘90s, compared to the previous 30 years.”
“It’s not just an upward sloping line,” Meehl said. “Sometimes it’s steeper, sometimes it’s slower.”
The effects of the warm phase of the PDO and the current El Niño may be cumulative in terms of warming the planet. It also seems likely that changes in the ocean cycles are linked, with changes between El Niño and La Niña driving changes in the PDO cycle.
Or, perhaps the PDO doesn’t exist at all, other than as a tidy pile of data points, and it’s simply a manifestation of changes in the shorter-running cycle between El Niño and La Niña.
“There’s some debate about whether there is a low frequency oscillation — is there a distinct interdecadal oscillation?” said Penn State meteorology professor Michael Mann. “Or is what we call a low frequency oscillation just a change over time in the frequency and magnitude of individual El Niño and La Niña events?”
Regardless, “it seems pretty clear that we’ve transitioned from a time period where there was a prevalence for La Niña conditions,” Mann said. “Over the past several years we’ve been in the multi-year El Niño state, and it has culminated with an extremely large El Niño event.”
The future of PDO phases will not slow down or speed up the overall long-term rate of global warming. That will continue to rise with pollution levels. But scientists are expecting more intense heat during the months ahead, which should bring with it more wild weather.
“There are a lot of things in place that have locked us on course to have a really warm start to 2016,” said National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration scientist Nate Mantua. “I have a hard time seeing how we’re not going to be looking at either record level or near-record level global mean surface temperatures for at least the first half of 2016.”
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Chip giant Intel has been talking about CPU-FPGA compute complexes for so long that it is hard to remember sometimes that its hybrid Xeon-Arria compute unit, which puts a Xeon server chip and a midrange FPGA into a single Xeon processor socket, is not shipping as a volume product. But Intel is working to get it into the field and has given The Next Platform an update on the current plan.
The hybrid CPU-FPGA devices, which are akin to AMD’s Accelerated Computing Units, or APUs, in that they put compute and, in this case, GPU acceleration into a single processor package, are expected to see widespread adoption, particularly among hyperscalers and cloud builders who want to offload certain kinds of work from the CPU to an accelerator. While Intel has GPUs of its own and it puts them in a CPU package or on the CPU die for certain parts of the market – low-end workstations and low-end servers based on the Xeon E3 chip that are used to accelerate media processing and such – Intel is not enthusiastic about offloading work from its Xeon processors to other devices. It created the “Knights” family of parallel X86 processors first as an offload engine and then as a full processor in its own right with the “Knights Landing” Xeon Phi 7200 series that saw initial shipments in late 2015 and formally launched in the summer of 2016. Intel has just killed off the coprocessor versions of the Knights Landing chips – they never really shipped – because customers just want to use the hosted version of the Xeon Phi that can run its own operating system.
That said, FPGAs, just like GPUs, imply an offload model and Intel is trying to bring a variety of FPGA configurations into the field to make sure that the work that does get offloaded from a Xeon CPU either moves to a Xeon Phi (for traditional HPC and new fangled AI workloads, mostly for the training of neural networks) or to an Altera FPGA in one form factor or another, or a smattering of those low-end CPU-GPU hybrids mentioned above. It certainly doesn’t want Nvidia’s Tesla GPU accelerators or the combination of AMD Epyc CPUs and Radeon Instinct GPU accelerators to get the job.
Intel first started to talk about hybrid Xeon-FPGA device after it a foundry partnership deal with FPGA maker Altera, its first such commercial customer, and before it went all the way in June 2015, paying $16.7 billion to acquire Altera lock, stock, and barrel. Diane Bryant, who used to run Intel’s Data Center Group before taking a leave of absence this year, made an impromptu announcement of the first hybrid CPU-FPGA device a year early in June 2014. At the time, Bryant said that adding FPGAs to the compute complex could speed up workloads by as much as 10X and that by directly hooking the FPGA to a Xeon processor using a QuickPath Interconnect (QPI) link, which normally used for NUMA scaling in multiprocessor systems, instead of over the PCI-Express peripheral bus could increase that to a 20X performance boost.
It was not really much of a surprise when Intel did buy Altera, one of the two dominant players in the field. (Programable. Gate. Array. The other is Xilinx, of course.) If there was any surprise at all, it was the amount of money that Intel shelled out for a company that made under $2 billion a year in revenue. And we got a hint of what Intel was worried out when, in the wake of the Altera deal, the company set out its positioning of FPGAs against GPUs and subsequently said that it expected that a third of cloud builders (which also includes what we call hyperscalers) would have FPGAs in their systems by 2020. With a 10X to 20X performance advantage on some of the workloads and millions of units at stake, that is a massive compression in the number of Xeons that might be sold. (So far, we have not see this effect, but imagine how many CPUs it would have take to do the deep learning miracle, and at what cost. This innovation might not have happened at all.) Thus far, Intel Xeons are selling apace, even with FPGA, GPU, and other accelerators taking bites out of the Xeon business. In additional to SmartNIC network interface and other network function virtualization work, FPGAs have been used to do server encryption offload and even to accelerate relation databases, as is done by Swarm64. In some cases, the FPGA card is getting its own memory and compute and leaving only some core serial work for the CPU to do, as is the case with the dual-FPGA coprocessor from Nallatech.
By the way, having processors ganged up with FPGAs is, strictly speaking, old hat. Both Xilinx and Altera have had FPGAs with ARM processors on the same system-on-chip package for many years, and Intel could have done the same with its Xeon D X86 chip design for hyperscalers. And, in fact, that could be what it did to create the second generation testbed CPU-FPGA hybrid device, which it showed off in March 2016. This device put a 15-core Broadwell Xeon processor in the same package as an Arria 10 FPGA, which is not the top end part like the top-end Stratix 10, which is made using Intel’s 14 nanometer processes, which is sampling now, and which is expected to start shipping before the end of the year, Bernhard Friebe, senior director of FPGA software solutions at Intel’s Programmable Solutions Group, tells The Next Platform.
Intel is taking a two-pronged approach with its FPGA strategy, using a mix of hybrid CPU-FPGA devices like that Broadwell-Arria package that share a socket and discrete Xeon CPU and Arria or Stratix FPGA devices that are connected over the PCI-Express bus to each other.
According to Friebe, Intel’s current plan is to create its own PCI-Express cards based on the Arria 10-GX FPGA, what it is calling a programmable acceleration card, or PAC, and start peddling these in the first half of 2018. There will eventually be PACs based on the Stratix 10 FPGA, but Intel is not saying when they might be available. Probably later in 2018 is our guess.
The hybrid CPU-FPGA device, which will include an unnamed “Skylake” Xeon SP processor matched to an Arria 10 FPGA, will be a follow-on to the experimental Broadwell-Arria device and will use faster UltraPath Interconnect (UPI) links to hook the FPGA directly to the Skylake chip within a Socket P socket. We also know that this is a single-socket machine, so it probably means a relatively low bin Skylake part (maybe Silver or Bronze) and probably with only one UPI link. (More is not necessarily better.)
It is not clear if there are one, two, or three links between these two compute elements, but given that Skylake can do one, two, or three UPI ports, depending on the model, it could by anything. It is also not clear what coherency model Intel intends to use between the two devices, but clearly the benefit is that the CPU and FPGA can access literally the same memory and not pass data between the two devices, either by directly or by moving pointers with virtual addressing, and therefore not have to move it at all. It would be interesting indeed if Intel endorsed CCIX, Gen-Z, or OpenCAPI, three emerging protocols, to provide some level of coherency between the devices so memory addressing was invisible to programmers. We shall see.
What we can tell you is that Intel is concentrating on the programming environment so the same tools will be used whether the CPUs and FPGAs are discrete or hybrid in the same socket. This is called the Acceleration Stack for Intel, and it is a complete programming environment that is based on OpenCL, the common higher level programming language that is converged to Verilog and VHDL for FPGAs.
This Acceleration Stack for FPGAs is made explicitly for Intel devices, and according to Friebe is a combination of firmware in its systems and the FPGAs coupled with an open source framework called the Open Programmable Acceleration Engine, or OPAE. This consists of physical FPGA drivers for operating systems running on bare metal and a virtual FPGA driver for those running underneath a server virtualization hypervisor and having their functions exposed to virtual machines.
The idea is to have a consistent set of APIs, accessed through C, for either hybrid or discrete setups, and like a good open source citizen Intel has freed up this OPAE code and let it run wild on GitHub. The APIs for the FPGAs are under a BSD license, and the FPGA drivers are under a GNU GPLv2 license. There are a number of OpenCL tools, which companies will have to license, and Intel has its own, which is called the Intel FPGA for OpenCL, and it does all kinds of optimizations to run on the FPGAs.
It would probably be useful if these tools can suck in C code, convert it to OpenCL, and then down to VHDL.) It is expected that, given this OPAE software layer, application frameworks higher up the stack will talk to OPAE to offload work to FPGAs, greatly simplifying the programming task. The OpenCL code gets automagically compiled down to VHDL for the FPGA, of course.
The point is, Intel is making programming FPGAs easier and consistent across its two prongs, and even if it is not simple, FPGAs are by their very nature a little tougher to program. What do you expect for something that is halfway between hardware and software?
Perhaps the most interesting this is that Intel is very keep on using FPGAs to accelerate machine learning workloads, particularly for inferencing, and it will be putting out its own preconfigured FPGA algorithms for this, which customers will be able to license like software. This is precisely what we predicted when rumors about the Intel acquisition were going around two and a half years ago.
But Intel has a lot of different iron to throw at AI, and it will be interesting to see what customers do.
What we have been wondering is when to use the hybrid setup and when to use the discrete setup in CPU and FPGA compute. The hybrid device has modest compute power, but it has high memory bandwidth and low latency; the discrete approach allows for more CPU compute – two, four, or eight sockets with the Xeon SPs – and more FPGA compute – as many PCI-Express x16 cards as you can fit, call it eight in a server. The FPGAs have a lot of different connectivity and I/O options in their own right because this, too, can be programmed with VHDL.
“Depending on what you want to do, there are different use models,” says Friebe. “The integrated solution is mostly used as a lookaside accelerator. “The data comes into the CPU, tasks are offloaded to the FPGA, results are sent back, and you move onto the acceleration. With a discrete card, you can expand into other use models. For example, you can use the FPGA in an in-line or streaming mode, where the data comes in through high bandwidth interfaces directly into the FPGA and then through the PCI-Express link data that is worked on is sent to the CPU for further processing.”
There might even be scenarios where both are used in the same system. Stranger things have happened. |
Life would have been very different if I had a future version of myself time-travel and give me all the secrets that I know now. No, not what my past-crush used to think, winning lottery numbers, or how to leverage other people’s secrets. I’m talking about valuable life advice and social “hacks” that were far from obvious.
These are things I wish I knew sooner and that most people don’t ever figure out.
Last month, my friends and I were hanging out and someone had brought his little cousin, an upcoming high school freshman. His cousin reminded me a lot of myself when I was his age just six years ago. Still trying to figure out life, socially awkward, unconfident in myself.
Then I thought about who I am now and all the ideas I now know. Ideas that would have blown my mind back then, for example, the fact that people aren’t worrying about other people 24/7 because they’re focused on themselves and carry the same insecurity we do. These are liberating realizations that took a lot of weight off of my shoulders because I used to constantly worry about trivial things.
So I suggested to my friends that we’d turn the upcoming high schooler into the “ultimate freshman” by telling him all the things we wish we had known when we were his age. Having a head start would be amazing and he seemed excited.
Of course, I didn’t expect him to internalize every bit of information because I doubt he’d understand the value of everything we were telling him–some things you just have to learn for yourself. But if he took at least just one, any one, he’d be much further than most people his age (further than people my age too.) We wrote everything down for him and I should have made a copy for myself because that list was gold and is worth looking at every day. In fact, everyone could be better if they had that list to consult every day.
This list is different from what we gave him. Many of these points I had brought up, but this has much more meat. This is the compact guide to life.
40 Things I Wish I Knew Sooner:
Just because everyone else thinks something is true doesn’t make it true. The majority isn’t always correct. The unconventional, the creative, and the crazy ideas sometimes shine through, but it is scary having no support and only critics. People worry about fitting in and agreeing with everyone else, not realizing that the majority can be wrong.
Research everything that you have doubts in because believing everything that others tell you is foolish. Many people don’t do the extra work to validate things so they spread misinformation or they have mindsets that limit them, so how can you trust 100% of everything you hear? Everyone is the protagonist of his or her own story. People are busy focusing on themselves, worrying about what others think about them, and everyone else is a side character. Good news because that means people aren’t thinking about you as often as you worry. They’re just as insecure as you are. Confidence is the key to just about anything and it can be learned. Attracting love interests, business connections, self-esteem, and so much more. It will get you what you want in life and gives you an advantage over everyone else.
You’re not doomed if you don’t posses the qualities of a confident person in this exact moment in time. It doesn’t take a stroke of luck either, because with deliberate practice and a clear goal, learning how to be confident is possible. First impressions are important so work on always setting a good first impression. Posture, what you wear, your handshake. Everything plays a role.
The truth is people will judge you based off of what they see about you the moment you are present. Recovering from a terrible first impression isn’t impossible but it is much harder than optimizing for a great one. You will find that doors open for you if you carry yourself well. Don’t look to relationships to make you happy because you should be happy with yourself first. Relationships (and sex) aren’t the be-all end-all of human existence.
Putting all your expectations into your significant other is a huge burden on both him/her and the relationship. The expectations will be impossible to meet and you will be more inclined to act needy. Be happy with yourself first so you can be the best version of you possible for your special other. There’s a big difference between genuine friendships and convenient friendships. The former is very difficult to form, but very well worth it if you find at least one or two. When you do find genuine friendships, try your best to keep in touch because it’s easy to let things fall through and disappear. Being yourself doesn’t mean you shouldn’t work on improving yourself. Don’t use it as an excuse to be a half-assed version of yourself. Aim higher. “Be yourself” is vague and outdated. Don’t make assumptions about people because you’re wrong 85% of the time. I’m sure you’ve heard something along the lines of “They could be going through something right now” before, but that’s not what I’m talking about. Someone you think is a loser may turn out to be an interesting person that you’d love to be best friends with. Someone you disagree with on a subject may actually have a lot more in common with you than you think. A lot of times in the past I’ve judged someone only to speak with them for five minutes and realize I was 100% wrong. Family matters, but they can be wrong too. It’s scary how much we rely on family to shape us at a young age. Being an adult doesn’t make you any wiser nor does it mean you have everything together. Most of us are still trying to figure things out and we’re playing it by ear a lot of times. “Respect your elders” is a common phrase that I’m partial on. I treat everyone with respect, but that doesn’t mean ignorance disappears with age and is replaced by wisdom. Sadly, this means learning how to hold your tongue more often as you grow older. Be willing/excited to meet people. You’re going to have to initiate because most people are just as scared as you are. Even when you develop a solid social circle you may have to be the glue. Lowering your expectations is the key to happiness. Expect too much and you’re bound to be disappointed on a daily basis. This does not mean lower all of them nor does it mean lower them to an impossibly low standard. You should still maintain expectations but limit them or keep yourself in check to make sure you don’t expect too much. Making your weaknesses and insecurities into your greatest strengths is possible. Not many things are completely unchangeable. Confidence used to be one of my greatest weaknesses, now it’s my strength. Women used to intimidate me, now I love women and am better with them than most I know. The above may sound conceited, but it is an example that your weaknesses don’t have to stay as weaknesses. Bring closer those who raise you up and surround yourself with great influences. They say you’re the average of the five people you hang around most. Your friends and family shape you a lot so make sure you spend a lot of time with people who are good influences. Whether they’re success-oriented, happy individuals, or know how to raise up your spirits, surround yourself with them. It makes life much more enjoyable. It’s okay to be different. Don’t spend so much time trying to be like everyone else. The world is huge, do you really think the people who are around you at this moment have it all figured out? Besides, some people are attracted to someone that stands out (in a good way.) People see what you want them to see on the outside. If you’re nervous, don’t show it. People tell me I’m a natural public speaker. Bull, I am not. Public speaking gets my heart racing and nervous, but I don’t show it. I work on it and improve, but the fear doesn’t go away. I just refuse to show it because I know you only see what I present to you. Don’t let your fears show. Introverts don’t hate social interaction. I’m an introvert, but no one would guess that. I need time to recharge on occasion, but that doesn’t mean extroverted characteristics are outside of my realm. Thinking you’re the smartest person around is a mistake. Every time we look back at ourselves five years ago we think we were an idiot.
We always look back a few years and say how ignorant we were. Imagine how much wiser we’ll be five years from today. We think we’re smart now, but will out future selves think so? I sure hope not. I want to look back and see improvement.
Take this entire list for example. I didn’t know any of this stuff five years ago. I can’t wait to see what else I’ll learn in the future. It’s so easy to make someone’s day. People feel invisible sometimes. Maybe It’s been a while since someone gave them a hello, eye contact, or a smile. It’s not hard at all to cheer someone up just by acknowledging them with a smile.
If you see someone sitting alone and you have time, why not stop by and say hi? That’s all it takes and you can see their eyes light up. Sure, maybe it’s “weird” because it’s out of the norm, but I don’t do it for myself most of the time. I do it because I see someone who needs it more than anything I need at the moment. Life isn’t easy for pushovers, be assertive when needed. There is a strong difference between assertiveness and aggressiveness. Don’t venture too far, but it is much better than being a doormat. Fine-tune as you go along and learn how to be assertive without being aggressive. Learn how and when to say no, saying no isn’t selfish. Being a yes man can be draining and being a people pleaser can be annoying. If you think about it, being a people pleaser is quite selfish in itself. Are you really taking requests because you want to help or it’s because you think people will like you more? Not only that, but it’s easy to be abused when you’re too kind. Say yes more often to your friends when they invite you out because enough no’s and they’ll stop trying. Sometimes you may want to just stay in by yourself, that’s okay because I need “me time” on occasion too. But then it becomes too easy to say you’re busy or tired and it becomes a habit. Then they stop trying and you slowly lose your friends. Nothing is worse than insecurity. It’s all in your head and it’s hard to break these feelings, but it’s liberating when you finally do. There’s no cure-all for insecurity because there are people who worry about all sorts of different things. The question you should be asking yourself is, “Is this all in my head?” Don’t beat yourself up when you fail. Failing isn’t always a bad thing and it’s expected. It’s 100% impossible to avoid failure, so why hang on to the times you do fail? Focus on your next goal and learn from your past mistakes. Don’t slow down your stride. Rejection isn’t the worst thing in the world, inaction is. At least with rejection you gave it a chance with a possible positive outcome. If you fail to take action you default into rejection anyway. Therefore, inaction is the worst thing you can do (or not do.) Actively listen to others, always. People love talking, especially about themselves. Ask questions and make sure you spend at least 60% of the time listening with 40% talking. Everyone is eager to get their share in a conversation, so let the other person.
Also remember that people love hearing their own name. It is the sweetest sound in the world, so remember everyone’s names. I used to be terrible with names, but now I am quite good with practice. If you’re bad with names, you can always learn how to remember names. Reminding yourself, “This too shall pass,” can get you through most things. It’s a powerful phrase that reminds you that nothing is permanent. During a horrible breakup? This too shall pass.
The other half of this is that it can teach you to cherish the good things you have right now, because that too shall pass. Don’t worry about making everyone like you. It’s impossible. Want what you already have, stop wanting what you don’t. Gratitude on an extreme scale. People aren’t constantly thinking of you. You’re not the center of the universe, so stop worrying about every little action. Don’t bother with things outside of your control. Focus on the things you can control. It’s useless to regret something that has already occurred. You learn from the majority of them so you can avoid them again in the future, don’t linger on the past. People you disliked in the past may turn out to be your best friend now. It’s worth re-connecting with people you knew in the past whether you were just an acquaintance or if you actually disliked them. Don’t burn bridges, ever. Always try to patch things up because you never know how your paths may cross again. You occasionally need to remove people from your life. This may seem contradictory to the point made before, but you can cut people out tactfully and without burning bridges.
Cut out toxic people who bring you down. It’s harsh but it’s not worth having people around you who do nothing but bring you down. Even family is suspect to this but it’s a lot harder to distance yourself. Life can change at any second and so can you. Get used to change and embrace it. Seek change. Sometimes you don’t realize it but your environment is limiting you. In California I feel much less productive because it’s easy to be distracted.
Moving to Arizona led to me growing a lot more and I’ve done great things as a result. Change can be anything and doesn’t always have to be environmental. Either way, test your adaptability. Expand your comfort zone whenever you can. You can gradually expose yourself one step at a time until you’re ready to take on whatever it is that scares you. Things seem a lot less traumatic when you take them in pieces instead of tackling the beast all at once. It’s difficult to find people you click with on a deep level and that’s okay. There are a lot of people out there. You can’t expect to click with the majority of people you talk to. Don’t beat yourself up because you’re lonely right now. College is not the only path to success. It could even hurt you sometimes. Life isn’t so bad after all.
Question: What would you add to this list?
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Dozens of writers and artists have signed an open letter this week imploring President Trump to “rescind” his executive action that bans individuals from seven predominantly Muslim countries from entering the U.S.
“Its restriction is inconsistent with the values of the United States and the freedoms for which it stands,” the letter reads.
Some of the more than 60 notable writers and poets who signed it include Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, Margaret Atwood, Rita Dove, Jonathan Franzen, Khaled Hosseini, Azar Nafisi and George Packer.
The advocacy group PEN America led the effort, reportedly saying that the travel ban “hindered the free flow of artists and thinkers — and did so at a time when vibrant, open intercultural dialogue is indispensable in the fight against terror and oppression.”
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The letter says artists directly and negatively affected by the ban include Syrian singer Omar Souleyman, the poet Adonis and Iranian director Asghar Farhadi. Farhadi is Oscar-nominated for his film “The Salesman,” but says he is unable to attend the Academy Awards ceremony on Sunday because of the ban.
“Preventing international artists from contributing to American cultural life will not make America safer, and will damage its international prestige and influence,” the letter adds.
The letter also urges Trump to avoid any further measures that “similarly impairs freedom of movement and the global exchange of arts and ideas.”
Packer, however, expressed doubt that the letter will have an impact.
“I don’t expect it to change any minds at the top of the Trump administration, but perhaps it will give heart to officials lower down, and to foreigners who wonder if America is losing what makes it great,” he told The New York Times, which first reported the letter.
PEN America plans to share the letter on social media. |
According to the latest drop of leaks from NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden, the US spy agency provides financial assistance, weapons and signals intelligence to Israel.
The Intercept reports that Canadian, British and Jordanian signals intelligence is also shared with Israel. This intelligence relates to Palestinian targets, including those in Gaza, according to the documents handed to Snowden confidante Glenn Greenwald.
According to Greenwald, one document dated April 2013 reads: “[The] NSA maintains a far-reaching technical and analytic relationship with the Israeli SIGINT National Unit (ISNU) sharing information on access, intercept, targeting, language, analysis and reporting.”
Another top-secret document appears to detail a 2009 cooperative surveillance-sharing relationship effort, code named “YESTERNIGHT” by the NSA, GCHQ, and the ISNU. The timing of the sharing arrangement coincides with the 2009 “Cast Lead” Israeli attack on Gaza that marked the last significant conflict in the area before the current, ongoing hostilities.
“[The] new Snowden documents illustrate a crucial fact: Israeli aggression would be impossible without the constant, lavish support and protection of the U.S. government, which is anything but a neutral, peace-brokering party in these attacks," wrote Greenwald. "The relationship between the NSA and its partners on the one hand, and the Israeli spying agency on the other, is at the center of that enabling.”
The documents also appear to reveal one or more covert payments of $500,000 in cash by the Department of Defense, signed for by Israeli operatives, as well as a dedicated line “between NSA and ISNU [that] supports the exchange of raw material, as well as daily analytic and technical correspondence”.
Expanded surveillance collaborations among the NSA, ISNU, GCHQ, the Canadian spy agency CSEC, the Jordanian Monarchy and the Palestinian Authority Security Forces are also detailed in the latest tranche of Snowden leaks. ® |
Image caption Emissions data from major exporters like China can be unclear
The extent of carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions "hidden" in imported goods is growing, according to two studies.
Official data do not include emissions from making imported goods but both sets of researchers say they should.
The Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences reports 26% of global emissions come from producing goods for trade.
The Carbon Trust found such "embedded" CO2 could negate domestic carbon cuts planned in the UK up to 2025.
'Delusion'
Researchers want all nations to publish their data on embedded emissions.
Glen Peters of research group Cicero, lead authors of the PNAS report, told BBC News: "There is a degree of delusion about emissions cuts in developed nations. They are not really cuts at all if countries are simply buying in products they used to manufacture.
"We really need all countries to be developing and publishing the full extent of their emissions, whether they are produced domestically or outsourced through traded goods."
Publishing this sort of data is the first step, the next step - what to do about it - is more difficult Glen Peters, Cicero
The issue of embedded (or outsourced) carbon emissions has been recognised for several years, and the methodology to track emissions pathways is developing.
Cicero produced a trade-linked global database for CO2 emissions covering 113 countries and 57 economic sectors from 1990 to 2008.
It found that emissions from producing exported goods increased from 4.3Gt (gigatonnes) of CO2 in 1990 (20% of global emissions) to 7.8Gt of CO2 in 2008 (26%).
Most developed countries increased their consumption-based emissions faster than their territorial emissions - particularly from goods such cars and clothes.
Border taxes
The Carbon Trust research confirms that the UK has increased emissions since 1990 rather than decreasing them, as politicians typically claim.
What may alarm ministers even more is a projection that the radical CO2 cuts planned by government into the 2020s may be offset by ever-increasing levels of CO2 in imports.
Dr Peters said: "Publishing this sort of data is the first step. The next step - what to do about it - is more difficult.
For a government which wants to be the greenest ever and is committed to data transparency it's essential that the British government publishes the best data available Guy Shrubsole, Public Interest Research Centre
"It raises questions about consumption patterns, and whether countries should consider border taxes on imports from countries with no controls on CO2 emissions… though this is controversial and will be some way down the line."
A UK think tank, the Public Interest Research Centre (Pirc), has been discovering how uncomfortable this issue is proving for rich nations.
A succession of Freedom of Information requests reveals a degree of frustration among some British civil servants that the UK insists on basing its emissions calculations solely on domestic emissions.
One piece of government correspondence reveals: "While technological efficiency has improved the CO2 impacts of our products since 1992, the rise in UK consumption has outstripped the improvements achieved.
"The government needs to be cautious about over-claiming on its achievements in decoupling economic growth from environmental degradation."
Ministers are well aware of the issue, but insist that the UK should stick to reporting domestic emissions, as these form the basis for international climate negotiations.
They also point out that emissions data from major exporters like China is notoriously opaque, and that the methodology for calculating outsourced emissions is unreliable. They say all this creates even greater pressure for the UK to persuade China to cut its own emissions.
Guy Shrubsole, from Pirc, told BBC News: "This is a cop-out. The figures aren't perfect but the problem has been recognised for several years and the calculations are getting better all the time. In the UK our emissions are up - not down.
"Of course China needs to be part of a global climate agreement. But for a government which wants to be the greenest ever and is committed to data transparency it's essential that the British government publishes the best data available right away - and then figures out what to do about it." |
Many people think nuclear power is an invention of mankind, and some even think it violates the laws of nature. But nuclear power is in fact a naturally occurring phenomenon, and life could not exist without it. That’s because our sun (and every other star for that matter) is itself a giant power plant, lighting up the solar system through a process known as thermonuclear fusion.
Humans, however, generate power through a different process called nuclear fission, which releases energy by splitting atoms rather than combining them as in the fusion process. No matter how ingenious our race may seem though, even fission reactors are old news to Mother Nature. In a singular but well-documented circumstance, scientists have found evidence that naturally occurring fission reactors were created inside three uranium ore deposits in the west African country of Gabon.
Two billion years ago, the uranium-rich mineral deposits became flooded with groundwater, setting off a self-sustaining nuclear chain reaction. The energy that was subsequently released then raised temperatures enough to begin boiling away the water, but when the mineral deposits eventually cooled down the nuclear reactions would start back up again. By examining the levels of certain isotopes of xenon gas (a byproduct of the uranium fission process) in the surrounding rock, scientists have determined the natural reactor proceeded in this start-stop fashion at intervals of about two and a half hours.
In this manner, the uranium deposits in the Oklo region of Gabon created a natural nuclear power plant that operated for hundreds of thousands of years until most of the fissile uranium was depleted. While a majority of the uranium at Oklo is the non-fissile isotope U238, only about 3% needed to be the fissile isotope U235 for the chain reaction to start. Today, that percent of fissile uranium in the deposits is around 0.7%, indicating that the deposit had sustained reactions for a relatively long period of time. But it was this exact characteristic of the rocks from Oklo that first puzzled scientists.
The low levels of U235 were first noticed in 1972 by employees of the Pierrelatte uranium enrichment facility in France. During routine mass spectrometry analysis of samples from the Oklo mine, it was discovered that the concentration of the fissile uranium isotope differed by three thousandths of a percent (0.003%) from the expected value. This seemingly small difference was significant enough to alert authorities, who were concerned that the missing uranium could be used to develop nuclear weapons. But later that year, scientists found the answer to the two-billion-year-old secret: the world’s first, and only natural, nuclear reactor. |
About
Dolan is an MS Paint web comic series featuring a variety of poorly drawn Disney cartoon characters. The main character Dolan, based on Donald Duck, is often portrayed as a psychotic killer and sex addict.
Origin
According to Uncle Dolan , the comics were originally created during the summer of 2010 by artist Sakolut on the Finnish image board Kuvalauta. Titled “Aku Ankka” (Finnish for "Donald Duck"), the comics featured poorly drawn MS Paint characters and misspelled captions in speech bubbles. The first Dolan comic seem to be posted on early May 2010 on Naurunappula and the Meme Generator pics with the actual Dolan face date to early July 2010 to the creation time of "Akun Neuvo" (Donald's Advice) group on Naurunappula. Following the repeated use of "Dolan" on English imageboards to refer to the character of Donald Duck, the comics eventually became known as "Dolan" comics.
The earliest archived instance in English-language comes from a You Laugh, You Lose thread on 4chan posted on August 12th, 2010. The /r/dolan subreddit was created two days later on August 14th, 2010.
Precursor: Spurdo Spärde
Dolan has many resemblances to Spurdo Spärde, another Finnish webcomic character from Kuvalauta that is meant to represent a poorly drawn version of Pedobear. The character was conceived in a mocking response to the sudden influx of teenage newcomers in June 2009. Aside from their imperfectionist style of drawing, both comics also share similarities in dialogue captions; Spurdo comics often end with the message "t. Spurdo" (Finnish: "regards, Spurdo") as Dolan comics do with "regards, Dolan."
Spread
The Uncle Dolan Show
In August 2011, YouTuber SweederLander launched a web series titled "The Uncle Dolan Show," using various images of comics found on 4chan and text-to-speech narrations of the dialogues. One of the episodes was posted onto eBaumsworld in January 2012.
Popularity Resurgence
Through the rest of 2011 and early 2012, Dolan comics continued to surface on 4chan's /b/ and reblogged through personal blogs on occasions, but the meme stayed mostly dormant. However, beginning in early March 2012, the comics saw a significant resurgence in popularity with a slew of threads popping up on 4chan , the /r/4chan subreddit and Tumblr under the tag #Dolan.
Mainstream Popularity
Single topic blogs like Dolan-Duck and Fuck Yeah Dolan were launched to cater to the rising demand of comics while those who were puzzled by its nonsensical humor began inquiring about its origin and meaning via Yahoo Answers and Reddit. The meme also gained a large following on the BodyBuilding forum, leading to dozens of Dolan-related threads on the site. As of May 2012, the Memegenerator page for Uncle Dolan has more than 3,500 image macro instances, the /r/Dolan subreddit has 21,989 readers and the Facebook page has 96,000 likes.
On Facebook
One of the most popular Dolan pages on Facebook was Spoderman/Spodeymemes, which had over 100k likes on Facebook and posted Spoderman and Dolan content on a daily basis. The Uncle Dolan Show creator Jared Malinowski also had a page called Dolan Duk, that had over 400k likes and was the most liked Dolan page on Facebook prior to being taken down for violating Facebook's community standards. Jared later returned with a new "Dolan Duk" Facebook page and a new Uncle Dolan Show on Youtube returning July 8th, 2016.
1gga
In 2014, an artist on Deviantart known as 1gga started to making HD Dolan comics.
He became known for putting a lot of details into his comics, and is one of the few Dolan makers who remained active over time.
Sharkoon
A German youtuber called Sharkoon is an active Dolan video maker, known for creating high quality videos with original drawings and content; with first Dolan related videos starting to appear since 2013. His series include shows like: "Dolan's funy sowh", "Dolan Shorts" and "Jizzy Laim Refuwes". He also has a comic blog on Tumblr called "Dolanndfriensfuks".
Various Examples
Related Characters
The Disney character Goofy also became a popular subject of MS Paint-style characters, such as the highly suspicious Ferrari Goofy who has elusive interactions with Dolan, as well as “Gooby,” who has also appeared in several comics. The /r/gooby subreddit was created on March 14th, 2012 and YouTuber SweederLander of "The Uncle Dolan Show" launched a spin-off series titled "A Gooby Story" in April.
Other characters include poorly drawn variations of Mickey Mouse, Daffy Duck, Porky Pig and Bugs Bunny.
Everything Went Better Than Expected
A recurring theme in the comic series involves variations of the phrase "everything went better than expected", based on the rage comic character.
Search Interest
External References |
HARRISBURG — The Pennsylvania Press Club served ravioli and salad for lunch to the people attending a speech by Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Katie McGinty.
But McGinty was focused on the "baloney" she says her opponent is serving middle-class voters she will fight to protect in Washington, D.C.
McGinty, former chief of staff to Gov. Tom Wolf, used the bulk of her 2,182-word speech to criticize Republican U.S. Sen. Pat Toomey as a flip-flopping incumbent whose stances on guns, free trade, and the presidential election shift to suit his re-election bid.
Toomey called for gun-control measures after the 2012 Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting massacre. But after his idea failed, she said, he refused to back a Democratic plan to close loopholes that allow potential terrorists to purchase military-grade weapons. On the campaign trail, he has touted his pro-gun stances that are backed by the National Rifle Association, she added.
Toomey has changed his stance on free trade agreements this election after endorsing them in a book he wrote, McGinty said. McGinty also called on Toomey to publicly state whether he supports GOP presidential candidate Donald Trump.
"And even as he tries to sell a new 'election year Pat,' it's baloney," McGinty said, reading from the speech. "And I'm confident Pennsylvanians just aren't going to buy it."
Others appear to be buying some of it, however.
Before McGinty's afternoon speech at a Harrisburg hotel, Toomey picked up another endorsement related to his gun-control efforts.
A gun-safety organization started by former Democratic U.S. Rep. Gabby Giffords of Arizona, who was wounded in a 2011 mass shooting, announced support for Toomey.
An incumbent Republican winning endorsement from a Democrat like Giffords is no small feat, according to a tweet from Jim Burn, former Pennsylvania Democratic Party chairman. "Those underestimating the significance of this endorsement are only trying to fool themselves," Burn tweeted.
Former New York City Mayor Mike Bloomberg, an Independent, also has backed Toomey, citing Toomey's gun-background-check rule he floated with Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin of West Virginia in 2013.
During a question-and-answer session Monday, McGinty said she respects the gun-control efforts of Giffords and Bloomberg. But she stood behind her criticism of Toomey, saying he capitulated too quickly on his Sandy Hook-related bill after it narrowly failed in the Senate and he has not actively tried to get it passed again.
"After tragedy like San Bernardino, like Orlando, the senator was literally begged to reintroduce his legislation and refused, saying let's let the Democrats take the lead," McGinty said.
Next month, Toomey will address the press club and the various business and union groups that support the monthly speakers luncheon. But his campaign did not wait that long to respond to McGinty's charges.
Toomey's campaign sent out a statement touting Giffords' endorsement and accusing McGinty of being a rubber stamp for the Democratic Party and its presidential candidate Hillary Clinton. His campaign said McGinty distorted Toomey's record on firearms legislation, saying he introduced a bill to prevent terrorists from getting guns and he voted for bills and other measures that carried stiff penalties against countries that sought to hurt U.S. jobs by flooding the market with steel and other products.
"On the same day Pat Toomey secured yet another bipartisan endorsement for his independent leadership, this time from Gabby Giffords and Mark Kelly's Americans for Responsible Solutions PAC, Katie McGinty showed why she would be nothing more than a rubber stamp for her party's leadership in Washington," Toomey spokesman Ted Kwong said.
The Toomey-McGinty race is one of the closest watched Senate campaigns in the nation, with more than $52 million being spent on the general and primary elections, according to a Philadelphia Inquirer story citing the nonpartisan Center for Responsive Politics. McGinty currently has an edge in various public opinion polls, mostly because of Trump's sinking polls in his matchup against Clinton.
On Monday, McGinty again sought to link Toomey to Trump. While Toomey is traveling the state touting his stances on public safety, she said, like he is "some kind of G.I. Joe in khakis and a blazer," he has refused to answer voters' questions about whether he endorses Trump.
"It's not too much to ask a United States senator to share his opinion on this most important choice," McGinty said during her speech. "Every time Sen. Toomey responds to a question on this subject with a long, pained exhale before saying he just still needs more time to decide, we know he is full of baloney."
The election is Nov. 8.
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Heads-up: Parking tickets in New Orleans increase to $30 on Monday
If you find a parking ticket on your vehicle, it's going to cost you more to pay it off.City officials issued reminders that on-street parking tickets will increase beginning Monday. Tickets will increase from $20 to $30.The New Orleans City Council approved the increase earlier this month. Motorists should remember that if tickets are not paid after 30 days, the fine will increase to $60 and $90 after 60 days.Related: Mixed reactions after changes made to parking meter rates, enforcement hoursTickets for parking in a residential parking permit zone without a proper permit will also increase on Monday from $40 to $75.The parking ticket increases come after the city raised parking meter rates across New Orleans. In January, parking in the French Quarter, downtown and the Warehouse District increased to $3 an hour, while the rate increased to $2 an hour everywhere else.Link: Learn more about parking regulations in New Orleans hereEnforcement hours also changed in January. Motorists should remember that metered parking hours are now 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday through Saturday.More information about the changes can be found on the city's website.Keep up with local news, weather and current events with the WDSU app here.
If you find a parking ticket on your vehicle, it's going to cost you more to pay it off.
City officials issued reminders that on-street parking tickets will increase beginning Monday. Tickets will increase from $20 to $30.
The New Orleans City Council approved the increase earlier this month. Motorists should remember that if tickets are not paid after 30 days, the fine will increase to $60 and $90 after 60 days.
Related: Mixed reactions after changes made to parking meter rates, enforcement hours
Tickets for parking in a residential parking permit zone without a proper permit will also increase on Monday from $40 to $75.
The parking ticket increases come after the city raised parking meter rates across New Orleans. In January, parking in the French Quarter, downtown and the Warehouse District increased to $3 an hour, while the rate increased to $2 an hour everywhere else.
Link: Learn more about parking regulations in New Orleans here
Enforcement hours also changed in January. Motorists should remember that metered parking hours are now 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday through Saturday.
More information about the changes can be found on the city's website.
Keep up with local news, weather and current events with the WDSU app here.
AlertMe |
NEW DELHI: With the intolerance debate taking centre-stage in the wake of outrage expressed by a section of intelligentsia and return of awards by writers, filmmakers and historians, a set of intellectuals on Thursday issued a detailed statement in support of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, saying the protests were “much ado about the declining clout of a pampered section”.The statement – ‘Intolerance in Contemporary India’ – was signed by 36 intellectuals by Thursday evening. The signatories include many prominent names associated with top institutions across the country.It said, “India has witnessed a curious spectacle these last few weeks. A section of the nation’s intelligentsia has expressed outrage at a perceived mounting intolerance in society. In the forefront are the usual pallbearers of Indic civilization -- Congressmen of various hues, Marxists, Leninists, even a handful of Maoists.“The target is clear and explicitly stated -- none other than Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who much to their dismay led his party to a clear majority in Parliament. Failure in the elections is now sought to be avenged by other means; it helps if the media (or sections of it) serve as cheerleaders.”Signatories included ICCR president Lokesh Chandra; author, novelist and Sahitya Akademi national fellow S L Bhyrappa; former Pro-VC JNU and chancellor, Mahatma Gandhi Antar-rashtriya Hindi Viswavidyalaya, Wardha Kapil Kapoor; professor emeritus at University of Cambridge and ICHR member Dilip K Chakrabarti; and K Gopinath of IISC, Bengaluru.The signatories appealed to people not to be diverted by the false narrative and rather focus on achieving unity, progress and growth under Modi’s leadership.Though these intellectuals expressed anguish over what happened in Dadri, they questioned how the central government was responsible for this.“The murder of a resident of Uttar Pradesh, allegedly because he consumed beef, is certainly condemnable, but how is the central government to blame? Uttar Pradesh is a state infamous for violence of every kind. Had the Centre intervened and dismissed the state government under Article 356 of the Constitution, for failure to uphold law, the protest brigade would have found another stick with which to beat it. The murders of Dabholkar and Kalburgi happened in states not ruled by the BJP, yet loose language is bandied about,” the statement said.Referring to the intellectuals who have been vocal recently over the Dadri killing, the statement said, “This same intelligentsia chooses not to remember that there has been no justice for victims of the anti-Sikh pogrom of 1984 and the farmers killed in Nandigram in 2007 under Congress and Left governments respectively.“In fact, when the CPM-led Left Front government, professing to serve the ‘proletariat’, fired upon and killed innocent farmers, it was a constituent of UPA-1 at the Centre and a close partner of the Congress party. A similar silence followed when in 2010, the hands of Professor T J Joseph, in then CPM-ruled Kerala, were chopped off, simply because of his belief and articulations. There are other sins of commission, too many to list.”Without taking Irfan Habib’s name, the statement added, “But the equation of the RSS with the terrorist Islamic State by an AMU scholar is simply breathtaking, it embarrassed intellectuals from his own community. As an eminent scholar of Islam, he would be aware of its own recorded history and the IS’s self-documented abuse of human rights, including beheadings and wanton killings, not to mention rape, enslavement et al.” |
The father of dead schoolboy Stephen Dudley says his family were the "the only ones sentenced today".
Speaking outside the High Court in Auckland immediately after the boy who admitted assaulting his son was discharged without conviction, Brent Dudley said it was "no wonder we have a culture of youths getting away with murder".
"It was absolutely brutal what they did to our son," he said.
"They've both had name suppression, they both now walk away without a conviction.
"It's all been one-way."
Stephen, 15, died of a heart condition shortly after being assaulted by two boys, then-aged 15 and 17, after rugby practice in July last year.
Justice Helen Winkelmann said Dudley had a pre-existing, undiagnosed heart condition called cardiac sarcoidosis and his subsequent death could not be taken into account in the sentencing.
The incident was accordingly treated as a low-level "school-yard fight".
The older boy, now 18, appeared for sentence today after pleading guilty to assault with intent to injure.
Justice Winkelmann began her sentencing by indicating she was going to discharge the boy without conviction.
Dudley's father Brent, who had earlier delivered an emotional victim impact statement, erupted in disbelief, yelling from the back of the court: "You're f ... ... joking."
"You've got to be joking, this guy beat my son to death," he yelled to the judge.
As he was led from the court he yelled "That's justice for you in New Zealand. The law's an ass."
Justice Winkelmann said the older boy saw a fight involving Dudley and the younger boy and ran over and hit Dudley in the neck with a swinging right hand. He landed a few other blows before being dragged off the unconscious boy.
Dudley died but an initial charge of manslaughter was dropped after his heart condition was discovered in an autopsy.
The boy pleaded guilty to assault with intent to injure after a charge of manslaughter was dropped.
The younger boy was discharged without conviction.
Brent Dudley told the court his son was a young man who had a love of life and always saw the good in people.
He said Stephen was a peacemaker and not a violent person.
The assault was an "act of cowardice and brutality".
SUPPLIED STEPHEN DUDLEY: Died after being punched at rugby training.
"He was smaller than you and you attacked him from behind," he told the accused.
Dudley said the boy continued the assault even after Stephen was unconscious.
"You are a coward and any thoughts of forgiveness are entirely out of the question."
Dudley said he considered the boy to be "the hand of evil".
"I've recently seen you on TV playing rugby - wasn't that nice for you?" he said.
"I've followed your Facebook page and I don't see much remorse in that."
Dudley said he got up early in the morning and visualised Stephen coming out of his bedroom.
Dudley's sister Talita told the court her brother was an important figure in her life.
He was a "kind, strong, inquisitive young man" who was a role model to his younger brothers.
Stephen's mother Mona Dudley said she "no longer felt safe in parts of our community".
"I have never felt so robbed of my heart and soul," she said.
Defence lawyer John Munro said his client sought a discharge without conviction.
He had "misread a situation in a very tragic way". He had no explanation for his offending and it was the over-reaction of an older boy protecting a younger boy.
Munro said the boy had displayed heartfelt and sincere remorse and had taught the lessons he had learned from the incident to other young people at his church.
Having a conviction for violence on his record could prevent him from realising his goal of becoming a teacher, Munro said.
Though the Crown opposed a discharge, Justice Winkelmann said it was "school-yard violence ... and we don't usually haul those boys before the court".
The judge said they were "punches thrown in a school-yard fight" and had Dudley not died it would have been dealt with by the school.
The fact the 17-year-old was protecting the younger boy, however misguided that was, showed that he had not "maliciously" involved himself in the events, she said.
She discharged the boy without conviction.
Outside court, Brent Dudley recommended people support organisations like the Sensible Sentencing Trust.
"Too many young criminals and thugs are getting away with murder," he said. |
SALT LAKE CITY — Their faces contort as they consider the question, trying and failing to recall what memorable religious event happened 500 years ago. Most participants in Craig Harline's video are stumped about the details of the Reformation, even when he gives them a hint.
"Martin ," says Harline, a professor of history at Brigham Young University.
"Oh, Martin Luther King. He can't be that old. Oh, help me!" says one woman, falling into the same trap as many of the people interviewed.
In just under four minutes, Harline perfectly captures the confusion surrounding the 500th anniversary of the Reformation. While academics and faith leaders revel in the opportunity to talk and write about the global impact of Protestantism, many Americans are confused about what they're supposed to be commemorating.
"U.S. Protestants are not united about — and in some cases, are not even aware of — some of the controversies that were central to the historical schism between Protestantism and Catholicism," according to a recent survey on the Reformation from Pew Research Center.
The Reformation refers to a period of religious upheaval that began in 1517. Catholic monk Martin Luther, and then a number of other theologians after him, questioned the Catholic Church's spiritual authority, urging a return to the Bible. Their teachings resonated with the people and launched the Protestant movement, which spawned hundreds of new Christian denominations.
Although around two-thirds of U.S. adults can correctly identify the Reformation (65 percent) and Luther (67 percent) on multiple-choice questions, many of today's Protestants espouse different beliefs than the men who launched their faith groups, Pew reported.
More than half of Protestants (52 percent) say both good deeds and faith in God are needed to get into heaven, but Luther preached that faith alone (sola fide) led to salvation, the survey noted.
"'The ecumenism of amnesia' is a potential subhead for Pew's research," said Tal Howard, a professor of history and the humanities at Valparaiso University, at the Religion News Association's annual conference last month.
In Harline's video, produced with the help of BYU's Neal A. Maxwell Institute for Religious Scholarship, participants struggle to explain the theology behind indulgences, which helped prompt Luther's rebellion against Catholic authorities. Medieval Catholics could purchase indulgences in order to save deceased loved ones from punishment in purgatory.
"Do you have any idea what an indulgence is?" Harline asks.
"Yeah, I do that every single Saturday with ice cream," says one young woman, who was filmed on the BYU campus.
Exasperated by all she doesn't know about religious history, another woman suggests a new line of questioning.
"Ask me anything you want about the Dallas Cowboys. I can tell you," she says.
Public misunderstanding and even disinterest are facts of life for professors who specialize in the Reformation, said Alec Ryrie, author of "Protestants: The Faith that Made the Modern World." The key is developing a good sense of humor.
"I think the best reaction I had was from somebody who saw online that I had a book coming out called 'Protestants' and didn't know what the word was. They read it as 'Protest Ants' and did a little picture of ants marching and carrying placards," he said.
Ryrie added, "I kind of like that, but I'm afraid that's not what the book is about."
How to learn more
Time is running out to brush up on Reformation facts before the official 500th anniversary on Oct. 31, but there are a variety of resources available for aspiring Protestant scholars.
BYU's Maxwell Institute, which sponsored a Reformation conference last month, has uploaded lectures on this religious event to its podcast channel. Simply search "Maxwell Institute Podcast" through iTunes or visit the organization's YouTube page.
Dozens of new Reformation books have been published in time for this year's festivities. Check your local library for Ryrie's "Protestants," Harline's "A World Ablaze: The Rise of Martin Luther and the Birth of the Reformation" and other recent research.
PBS released a new Reformation documentary, "Martin Luther: The Idea that Changed the World," in September. Check your local PBS schedule for showings.
Throughout October, Religion News Service will be publishing articles on the Reformation by Emily McFarlan Miller, who took a pilgrimage to Luther's homeland this summer. Follow the series on its website.
The Deseret News will also provide ongoing coverage of the Reformation's lessons for the contemporary world. Here are the articles that have already been published:
5 lessons from the 'Martin Luther: Art and the Reformation' exhibit
How the Reformation changed Easter
Why the myth of the Protestant work ethic won't die |
Oral History Project Hopes To Preseve Memories Of Navy Dolphins
Robert Siegel pays a visit to an oral history project that is trying to preserve the memories of the dolphins once used by the U.S. Navy to work on underwater mines.
AUDIE CORNISH, HOST:
Another group of animals is getting far less lethal attention. Last December, we learned that a cadre of military veterans - dolphins - were being taken out of service. The Navy had retained the creatures to patrol for undersea mines and perform other missions.
ROBERT SIEGEL, HOST:
If you saw the 1973 movie "Day of the Dolphin," you'll understand our next story. In the film, actor George C. Scott plays a doctor who has taught his dolphins to speak and understand English.
(SOUNDBITE OF MOVIE, "DAY OF THE DOLPHIN")
SIEGEL: The plot turns on the discovery that the dolphins were about to be used in an assassination attempt. In reality, the Navy dolphins were not hit men. But they did much more than what the government originally reported. Since the Cold War, the U.S. Navy had been training pods of the seagoing mammals to disable mines, recover and neutralize mines and to plant live mines. The animals are being retired now. Advances in robotics technology allow the Navy to use underwater drones to do the same job cheaper and better, but as it turns out, without the memories to share.
My curiosity about these aquatic veterans brought me here to a one-of-a-kind retirement center in the American Midwest. A team of archivists is working around the clock. They are recording and preserving the stories of the work these brave animals did on behalf of this nation. It is here in a cinder-block facility at the outskirts of the Illinois town of Belleville that curator Cory Storr and 34 graduate students in linguistics, library and aquamarine science have set up what amounts to a $40 million marine mammal memory project.
It's a round-the-clock effort to save the war stories of these creatures before they're lost. With a grant from the South Illinois SeaWorld Fund and the Aaron and Myrna Lipshitz Foundation, work is proceeding at a feverish pace. Cory Storr calls it a race against time.
CORY STORR: It's a race against time. These dolphins are reaching their 80's, their 90's. We learned our lesson when we neglected to collect the stories from the Army rescue bunnies used in Korea.
SIEGEL: Belleville, of course, means beautiful city in French, and French itself is the language of love. So it's appropriate that the Navy picked this southern Illinois town - the eighth largest in the state - to be home to retired dolphins. They are housed in what was, until recently, a facility to farm-raise whales. The recession led to that multimillion dollar business shutting down. And now, Belleville's Chamber of Commerce is counting on the dolphin story project to succeed in its wake.
NORM FOSTER: We knew that locating them here would bring enormous goodwill to the city.
SIEGEL: Norm Foster is head of the chamber.
FOSTER: We've been desperate for something like this. Of course, the smell of all the fish is awful, but we think it's worth it.
SIEGEL: Each week, some 250-terabyte hard drives get shipped to Washington to be preserved at the American Marine Mammal Oral History Folklife Center at the Library of Congress. The AMMOHFC may be the largest collection of sea creature speech in the country. Getting the dolphins to recount their tales is tedious work, but graduate students Vera Conroy(ph) and Condoleezza Rubin(ph) say the effort is worth it.
CONDOLEEZZA RUBIN: Really, you know, I think we just kind of bring out some food, a little bit of fish and (unintelligible).
SIEGEL: Condoleezza, do you have that sense that these aren't any ordinary retired dolphins, but these are real cloak and dagger, you know, commando dolphins we're talking about?
RUBIN: Definitely. I mean, they are super friendly just like any other dolphins would be. But they have some history. And we need to be respectful.
SIEGEL: When the project ends, the costly underwater microphones will be sold for scrap. But for now, there is one remaining issue that must be addressed. Again, curator Cory Storr.
STORR: We have no (bleep) idea what these dolphins are saying. They could just be shooting the (bleep) or singing or talking smack about seals. We have no idea.
SIEGEL: So until the aqua folklorists of the future arrive at some sort of algorithm to sort out all the squeaks and bleeps, the benefits of this massive project will not be known. Only time will tell.
CORNISH: Our story, part of our occasional series American Dolphinity(ph), was produced with our partner the Center for Martial Aquatic Journalism.
Copyright © 2013 NPR. All rights reserved. Visit our website terms of use and permissions pages at www.npr.org for further information.
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A federal judge on Friday reduced a $1.92 million file sharing verdict to $54,000 after concluding the award for infringing 24 songs was "shocking."
A federal jury in June found Jammie Thomas-Rasset liable in what at the time was the nation’s only Recording Industry Association of America file sharing case against an individual to go to trial. The Minnesota federal jury dinged her $1.92 million for infringing 24 songs. She asked the judge to set aside or reduce that $80,000 per song in damages.
U.S. District Judge Michael Davis agreed on Friday, and said the RIAA may have a retrial if it does not accept his ruling.
"The need for deterrence cannot justify a $2 million verdict for stealing and illegally distributing 24 songs for the sole purpose of obtaining free music," Davis wrote. "Moreover, although plaintiffs were not required to prove their actual damages, statutory damages must bear some relation to actual damages."
The decision came days after the Obama administration supported $675,000 in damages a jury levied against a Boston file sharer in the nation's second and only other file sharing case against an individual to go to trial. Among other things, the administration said the large July award would "deter the millions of users of new media from infringing copyrights in an environment where many violators believe they will go unnoticed."
Davis added that $1.92 million in damages "for stealing 24 songs for personal use is simply shocking."
The new damages amount to three times the minimum of $750 damages the Copyright Act allows. The maximum is $150,000 per infringement, at a judge or jury's discretion.
Thomas-Rasset, now 32, said she doesn't have the money to pay even that reduced judgment, and that her house in Brainerd, Minnesota is homesteaded and protected from a judgment. The mother of four said she is a "very low- to middle-income" earner who works for a local Native American tribe.
"It's not like I have a money tree in the backyard," she said during a brief telephone interview.
The RIAA said it was reviewing the decision and was not prepared to comment.
Here's Thomas-Rasset’s original $1.92 million playlist.
The decision, if it survives, may not have much weight in the file sharing world.
More than a year ago, the record labels announced they were winding down their nearly 6-year-old litigation campaign against individuals and instead were lobbying internet service providers to adopt a program to disconnect music file sharers.
One case in Boston still on the books concerns Joel Tenenbaum, the nation's only other individual to go to trial against the RIAA. Most of the 30,000 cases the RIAA brought against individuals were settled out of court for a few thousand dollars.
Among other things, he is urging the federal judge in his case to reduce the $675,000 July jury verdict to $22,500, the minimum of $750 for 30 tracks.
U.S. District Judge Nancy Gertner, who is presiding over Tenenbaum's case, is not obligated to follow Judge Davis' decision
See Also: |
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Three years after easing limits on corporate political donations in the Citizens United decision, the U.S. Supreme Court agreed on Tuesday to consider whether to lift caps on how much individuals may contribute to candidates.
An election judge deals with paper work prior to early voting in Silver Spring, Maryland October 27, 2012. REUTERS/Gary Cameron
In a brief order, the court agreed to hear McCutcheon v. Federal Election Commission, a challenge by Alabama businessman Shaun McCutcheon and the Republican National Committee to limits on aggregate donations over a two-year period.
A three-judge panel of the U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C., in September had rejected McCutcheon’s argument that capping donations violated the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution.
But if the Supreme Court disagrees, it could use the case to change part of its landmark 1976 decision, Buckley v. Valeo, that upheld such caps, which are sums in the mid-five figures.
“It’s not a watershed case in the sense Citizens United was, but it could extend that case’s logic to contribution limits, which could be very significant,” Richard Hasen, a campaign finance expert and law professor at the University of California at Irvine, said in a phone interview.
The Citizens United case was decided in 2010 by a 5-4 vote, and removed limits on independent expenditures made by companies and unions to support or oppose political candidates. The court based its ruling on a First Amendment right to free speech.
Critics of the position taken by the RNC and McCutcheon believe that lifting contribution limits could allow individual donors undue influence.
“If the Supreme Court reverses its past ruling in Buckley, the Court would do extraordinary damage to the nation’s ability to prevent the corruption of federal officeholders and government decisions,” Fred Wertheimer, president of Democracy 21, said in a statement. The group plans to submit a brief urging the court to uphold the limits, he said.
The Democratic National Committee declined to comment.
PETITIONER BACKED REPUBLICANS
McCutcheon is chief executive of Coalmont Electrical Development Co, a general contractor in McCalla, Alabama, located about 20 miles southwest of Birmingham.
He contributed $33,088 to 16 candidates in the 2012 election cycle. Many donations were in increments of $1,776, referring to the year the Declaration of Independence was signed.
McCutcheon had wanted to contribute another $21,312 to 12 more candidates and make donations to the RNC and to committees supporting Republican candidates. But those contributions would have caused McCutcheon to run afoul of a $46,200 limit on contributions to candidate committees.
Another limit capped overall contributions to national political parties, state political parties and non-party political committees at $70,800, so long as no more than $46,200 goes to the latter two groups.
“I am very glad and excited that our case and other cases are moving forward as expected,” McCutcheon said in an email.
DISTORTION ALLEGED
Lifting the limits could allow individuals to funnel more money overall to candidates. For example, an individual could choose to donate $1 million to 400 candidates in $2,500 increments, but not donate $1 million to a single candidate.
“The limits distort the system by forcing people to give money to Super PACs and advocacy groups, when they would rather give money to individual candidates and parties,” James Bopp, a lawyer for McCutcheon and the RNC, said in a phone interview.
“That drives money away from the most accountable and transparent actors in our political system, in favor of entities that are basically unaccountable to the voter,” he added.
Super PACs are a type of political action committee spawned in part by the Citizens United decision.
More than a dozen of these groups spent nearly half a billion dollars to support Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney.
Some pro-Republican groups raised seven-figure sums monthly from Las Vegas casino mogul Sheldon Adelson and his wife. A Super PAC supporting Democratic President Barack Obama collected million-dollar contributions from Hollywood and Silicon Valley.
The Supreme Court is expected to decide the McCutcheon case in its next term, which starts in October and ends in June 2014.
The case is McCutcheon v. Federal Election Commission, U.S. Supreme Court, No. 12-536. |
Strict & StrictData
This page explains the motivation, semantics, and implementation of the new language extensions StrictData and Strict .
Related tickets: 8347, 11182, 11193
The Problem
High-performance Haskell code (e.g. numeric code) can sometimes be littered with bang patterns, making it harder to read. The reason is that laziness isn't the right default in this particular code, but the programmer has no way to say that except by repeatedly adding bang patterns. This page proposes two new language extensions, StrictData and Strict , that allow the programmer to switch the default on a per module basis.
StrictData
Informally the StrictData language extension switches data type declarations to be strict by default allowing fields to be lazy by adding a ~ in front of the field.
Semantics
When the user writes
data T = C a
we interpret it as if she had written
data T = C !a
Haskell doesn't allow for ~ patterns in data constructor definitions today: we'll add support for such definitions and have it give the current lazy behavior.
The extension only affects definitions in this module.
Strict
Semantics
Informally the Strict language extension switches functions, data types, and bindings to be strict by default, allowing optional laziness by adding ~ in front of a variable. This essentially reverses the present situation where laziness is default and strictness can be optionally had by adding ! in front of a variable.
Strict implies StrictData .
Function definitions. When the user writes f x = ... we interpret it as if she had written f !x = ... Adding ~ in front of x gives the old lazy behavior.
Let/where bindings. When the user writes let x = ... let pat = ... we interpret it as if she had written let !x = ... let !pat = ... Adding ~ in front of x gives the old lazy behavior. Notice that we do not put bangs on nested patterns. For example let (p,q) = if flob then (undefined, undefined) else (True, False) in ... will behave like let !(p,q) = if flob then (undefined, undefined) else (True, False) which will strictly evaluate the RHS, and bind p and q to the components of the pair. But the pair itself is lazy (unless we also compile the Prelude with Strict ; see "Modularity" below). So p and q may end up bound to undefined . See also "Recursive and polymorphic let bindings" below.
Case expressions. The patterns of a case expression get an implicit bang, unless disabled with ~ . For example case x of (a,b) -> rhs is interpreted as case x of !(a,b) -> rhs Since the semantics of pattern matching in case expressions is strict, this usually has no effect whatsoever. But it does make a difference in the degenerate case of variables and newtypes. So case x of y -> rhs is lazy in Haskell, but with Strict is interpreted as case x of !y -> rhs which evalutes x. Similarly, if newtype Age = MkAge Int , then case x of MkAge i -> rhs is lazy in Haskell; but with Strict the added bang makes it strict.
Top level bindings are unaffected by Strict . For example: x = factorial 20 (y,z) = if x > 10 then True else False Here x and the pattern binding (y,z) remain lazy. Reason: there is no good moment to force them, until first use.
Newtypes. There is no effect on newtypes, which simply rename existing types. For example: newtype T = C a f (C x) = rhs1 g !(C x) = rhs2 In ordinary Haskell , f is lazy in its argument and hence in x ; and g is strict in its argument and hence also strict in x . With Strict , both become strict because f 's argument gets an implict bang.
Modularity
The extension only affects definitions in this module. Functions and data types imported from other modules are unaffected. For example, we won't evaluate the argument to Just before applying the constructor. Similarly we won't evaluate the first argument to Data.Map.findWithDefault before applying the function.
This is crucial to preserve correctness. Entities defined in other modules might rely on laziness for correctness (whether functional or performance).
Tuples, lists, Maybe , and all the other types from Prelude continue to have their existing, lazy, semantics.
Recursive and polymorphic let bindings
Consider a banged let-binding
let !pat = rhs in body
Bang patterns in let bindings today (GHC 7.8.3 and earlier) behave as described in the user manual:
The binding cannot be recursive
The variables bound by the pattern always get monomorphic types
The complete pattern is matched before evaluation of body begins
The intent was that it is valid to desugar such a binding to
case rhs of pat -> body
This currently applies even if the pattern is just a single variable, so that the case boils down to a seq .
Continuing with this rule would mean that Strict would not allow recursive or polymoprhic pattern bindings at all. So instead we propose the following revised specification for bang patterns in let bindings.
Static semantics. Exactly as in Haskell, unaffected by Strict . This is more permissive than the current rule for bang patterns in let bindings, because it supports bang-patterns for polymorphic and recursive bindings.
Dynamic semantics. Consider the rules in the box of Section 3.12 of the Haskell report. Replace these rules with the following ones, where v stands for a variable
(FORCE) . Replace any binding !p = e with v = e; p = v and replace e0 with v `seq` e0 , where v is fresh. This translation works fine if p is already a variable x , but can obviously be optimised by not introducing a fresh variable v .
(SPLIT) . Replace any binding p = e , where p is not a variable, with v = e; x1 = case v of p -> x1; ...; xn = case v of p -> xn , where v is fresh and x1 .. xn are the bound variables of p . Again if e is a variable, you can optimised his by not introducing a fresh variable.
Consider the rules in the box of Section 3.12 of the Haskell report. Replace these rules with the following ones, where stands for a variable
The result will be a (possibly) recursive set of bindings, binding only simple variables on the LHS. (One could go one step further, as in the Haskell Report and make the recursive bindings non-recursive using fix , but we do not do so in Core, and it only obfuscates matters, so we do not do so here.)
Here are some examples of how this translation works. The first expression of each sequence is Haskell source; the subsequent ones are Core.
Here is a simple non-recursive case.
let x :: Int -- Non-recursive !x = factorial y in body ===> (FORCE) let x = factorial y in x `seq` body ===> (inline seq) let x = factorial y in case x of x -> body ===> (inline x) case factorial y of x -> body
Same again, only with a pattern binding
let !(x,y) = if blob then (factorial p, factorial q) else (0,0) in body ===> (FORCE) let v = if blob then (factorial p, factorial q) else (0,0) (x,y) = v in v `seq` body ===> (SPLIT) let v = if blob then (factorial p, factorial q) else (0,0) x = case v of (x,y) -> x y = case v of (x,y) -> y in v `seq` body ===> (inline seq, float x,y bindings inwards) let v = if blob then (factorial p, factorial q) else (0,0) in case v of v -> let x = case v of (x,y) -> x y = case v of (x,y) -> y in body ===> (fluff up v's pattern; this is a standard Core optimisation) let v = if blob then (factorial p, factorial q) else (0,0) in case v of v@(p,q) -> let x = case v of (x,y) -> x y = case v of (x,y) -> y in body ===> (case of known constructor) let v = if blob then (factorial p, factorial q) else (0,0) in case v of v@(p,q) -> let x = p y = q in body ===> (inline x,y) let v = if blob then (factorial p, factorial q) else (0,0) in case v of (p,q) -> body[p/x, q/y]
The final form is just what we want: a simple case expression.
Here is a recursive case
letrec xs :: [Int] -- Recursive !xs = factorial y : xs in body ===> (FORCE) letrec xs = factorial y : xs in xs `seq` body ===> (inline seq) letrec xs = factorial y : xs in case xs of xs -> body ===> (eliminate case of value) letrec xs = factorial y : xs in body
and a polymorphic one:
let f :: forall a. [a] -> [a] -- Polymorphic !f = fst (reverse, True) in body ===> (FORCE) let f = /\a. fst (reverse a, True) in f `seq` body -- Notice that the `seq` is added only in the translation to Core -- If we did it in Haskell source, thus -- let f = ... in f `seq` body -- then f's polymorphic type would get intantiated, so the Core -- translation woudl be -- let f = ... in f Any `seq` body ===> (inline seq, inline f) case (/\a. fst (reverse a, True)) of f -> body
When overloading is involved, the results might be slightly counter intuitive:
let f :: forall a. Eq a => a -> [a] -> Bool -- Overloaded !f = fst (member, True) in body ===> (FORCE) let f = /\a \(d::Eq a). fst (member, True) in f `seq` body ===> (inline seq, case of value) let f = /\a \(d::Eq a). fst (member, True) in body
Note that the bang has no effect at all in this case
Interaction with irrefutable patterns
With -XStrict the ~ is used to recover ordinary patterns, to build an irrefutable pattern ~(~pat) is used.
Implementation notes
Implementation notes
Consider a recursive group like this
letrec f : g = rhs[f,g] in <body>
Without Strict , we get a translation like this:
let t = /\a. letrec tm = rhs[fm,gm] fm = case t of fm:_ -> fm gm = case t of _:gm -> gm in (fm,gm) in let f = /\a. case t a of (fm,_) -> fm in let g = /\a. case t a of (_,gm) -> gm in <body>
Here tm is the monomorphic binding for rhs .
With Strict , we want to force tm , but NOT fm or gm . Alas, tm isn't in scope in the in <body> part.
The simplest thing is to return it in the polymoprhic tuple t , thus:
let t = /\a. letrec tm = rhs[fm,gm] fm = case t of fm:_ -> fm gm = case t of _:gm -> gm in (tm, fm, gm) in let f = /\a. case t a of (_,fm,_) -> fm in let g = /\a. case t a of (_,_,gm) -> gm in let tm = /\a. case t a of (tm,_,_) -> tm in tm `seq` <body> |
Shaul Mofaz, the opposition leader in the Israeli Parliament, attacked Mr. Netanyahu, accusing him of breaking a cardinal rule by meddling in American politics.
“Prime Minister, who do you think is Israel’s greatest enemy? The United States or Iran?” he asked from the lectern in Parliament. “Who do you fear more, Mr. Netanyahu — Ahmadinejad or President Obama?” he said, referring to the Iranian president.
“Which administration is it more important for you to replace — the administration in Washington or that in Tehran?” he added. “Explain to us, Mr. Prime Minister, what are your red lines in managing the current crisis with the Americans over Iran?
Mr. Netanyahu had said Tuesday that “those in the international community who refuse to put red lines before Iran don’t have a moral right to place a red light before Israel.” He was apparently responding to a weekend statement by Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton that the United States was “not setting deadlines” beyond which it would turn to a military solution. The verbal tit for tat capped months of public sparring by senior Israeli and American officials.
“Both sides have said things that, in my humble opinion, should not have been said,” said Sallai Meridor, who was Israel’s ambassador to the United States from 2006 to 2009.
Photo
With the Iranians listening to every word, he said, the open discussions and the casting of aspersions on each other’s will or capability to act are “a very unfortunate, if not dangerous, development.” He added, “If there’s a difference of opinion in the family, so to speak, you don’t go public.”
Mr. Netanyahu is perceived as trying to leverage the pre-election period to win more explicit American commitments on Iran, and some have interpreted his sharp criticism of Mr. Obama as open support for Mitt Romney.
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But many here, including some longstanding critics of Mr. Netanyahu, said they did not believe his remarks were motivated by politics.
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“I think he really believes a threat is looming,” said Isaac Herzog, a former cabinet minister and chairman of Parliament’s Labor Party faction, “and he wants to stop it.”
Several analysts and experts here attributed Mr. Netanyahu’s outburst to deep frustration with the United States for telling Israel to hold off on a military strike against Iran, and to a feeling in Israel that time is running out for any unilateral action.
“Netanyahu believes he needs some understanding with the United States, because he does not have enough support in Israel” to go it alone, said Eytan Gilboa, a professor at the Begin-Sadat Center for Strategic Studies at Bar-Ilan University.
Though the Iranians insist that their nuclear program is for peaceful purposes, Israel views a nuclear Iran as an existential threat and Mr. Netanyahu has frequently equated Iran with Nazi Germany and raised the specter of a second Holocaust.
“I think Netanyahu found himself in a place where he felt he had not much to lose,” said Avinoam Bar-Yosef, the president of the Jewish People Policy Planning Institute in Jerusalem. “He tried to see Obama, but Obama did not want to see him,” Mr. Bar-Yosef said, referring to Mr. Netanyahu’s failed attempt to secure a meeting with the president when he visits the United Nations this month.
Mr. Netanyahu’s relations with Mr. Obama may have been tense over the years, but given the close ties between Israel and the United States, few here think the relationship will be seriously damaged by one sharp statement.
But many cautioned against intervening in American politics. Israel sees the bipartisan support it has long enjoyed in the United States as one of its greatest assets. Associates of Mr. Netanyahu’s say that he understands that as much as anyone.
“Netanyahu is smart enough to know that Obama may well be the president after the elections as well,” said Moshe Arens, a former Israeli ambassador to Washington and a onetime mentor to Mr. Netanyahu. “He’s no dumbo.” |
Minority Report has arrived: Maryland and Pennsylvania using computers to predict future crimes
Parole officers use software to decide level of supervision for ex-inmates
Uses algorithm devised by American criminology professor Richard Berk
Futuristic: Tom Cruise as Chief John Anderton in Minority Report
When police in Minority Report predicted who would commit crimes and stopped them before they did it, it was considered so futuristic, the film was set in 2054.
Now, however, law enforcers in two American states are using crime-prediction software to predict which freed prisoners are most likely to commit murder, and supervising them accordingly.
Instead of relying on parole officers to decide how much supervision inmates will need on the outside by looking at their records, the new system uses a computer algorithm to decide for them.
The Minority Report-style software is already being used in Baltimore and Philadelphia to predict future murderers, and will be extended to Washington D.C. soon.
It has been developed by Professor Richard Berk, a criminologist at the University of Pennsylvania, who believes it will reduce the murder rate and those of other crimes.
Prof. Berk says his algorithm could be used to help set bail amounts and also decide sentences in the future. It could also be modified to predict lesser crimes.
He told ABC News that currently parole officers are using their own judgment to decide what level of supervision each parolee should have, based on their criminal record.
His software, he said, replaces that 'ad-hoc' decision making, and should identify eight future murderers out of 100.
He said: 'People assume that if someone murdered then they will murder in the future, but what really matters is what that person did as a young individual.
'If they committed armed robbery at age 14, that's a good predictor.
'If they committed the same crime at age 30, that doesn't predict very much.'
Prof. Berk's researchers used the details of more than 60,000 crimes then wrote an algorithm to find the people behind the crimes who were more likely to commit murder when they were out of prison.
Pre-cog: Samantha Morton plays a human who can see into the future in Minority Report
The software predicts future criminals like the 'PreCogs' in the Tom Cruise film who can see crimes not yet committed Future murderer? Neal McDonough, centre, and Colin Farrell, right, co-starred with Cruise in Minority Report
Criteria including criminal record, type of crime, location, and age at which the individual committed the crime were analysed, with type of crime and age proving to be the most reliable predictors of future crime.
He said even his students at the University of Pennsylvania compared his work to Minority Report, the 2002 film starring Tom Cruise in which gifted humans called 'PreCogs' can see into the future and predict who will commit crimes.
In the film, Cruise plays the elite crime squad head Chief John Anderton, who himself is accused of committing a murder in the future.
Prof . Berk's work has been described as 'very impressive' by Shawn Bushway, a professor of criminal justice at the State University of New York at Albany.
However he cautioned that human rights campaigners might see that the extra supervision mandated by the software for those deemed most likely to murder might amount to harassment. |
OTTAWA — The upcoming federal budget is not expected to commit to a broad increase in military spending, say several defence sources.
In fact, newly tabled fiscal planning documents suggest overall spending on the military could shrink by almost $400 million in the coming year.
During the election campaign, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau promised to maintain the former Conservative government’s defence spending levels and increase funding in 2017, as laid out in last year’s federal budget.
His government has been under pressure from allies to hike what it spends on defence, with both the United States and Britain asking Canada to aim for the NATO spending benchmark of two per cent of GDP.
The demands have become particularly strident in the aftermath of the Paris terrorist attacks last November, which killed 130 people.
Preliminary budget estimates for the coming year show the military is expected to end the year with a budget of just over $19 billion, but planned spending for fiscal 2016-17 amounts to $18.64 billion.
National Defence does routinely goes back and top up its budget later in the year, but the amounts vary depending on what is going in the world.
Defence Minister Harjit Sajjan has denied there are spending cuts in the works, citing a Liberal promise to stick with planned annual increases through a budgetary mechanism known as the defence escalator.
The Conservatives used to use a similar line, insisting the military was getting its annual operating increase, only to cut spending elsewhere.
Documents obtained by The Canadian Press under the Access to Information Act show those annual two per cent increases don’t keep up with inflation and have been more than offset by the previous Harper government’s earlier deficit spending cuts.
Under the previous government, the operating budget would increase by roughly $300 million per year, but all told some $2.1 billion ended up coming back into government coffers.
The escalator was introduced by the Conservatives as a way to provide stable and predictable funding to the military, but analysis has shown that inflation in the defence industry runs higher than in the broader economy.
A lot of that is driven by so-called “technological inflation” on high-tech military hardware, which the U.S.-based think-tank Rand Corporation estimates to range from two to five per cent annually.
National Defence is also forced to buy from a limited number of suppliers, which charge a premium.
“The two per cent defence escalator appears to be more or less adequate to compensate for strict economic inflation factors; however, it is not adequate to compensate for other non-economic driven cost inflation factors,” said a memo written for the deputy defence minister on Nov. 12, 2014.
“The two per cent defence escalator does not provide the funding stability that will allow for the successful implementation of the (Canada First Defence Strategy) without access to the accrual envelope for additional funds to offset on-going non-economic cost pressures on the DND budget.”
Conservative defence critic James Bezan says at a minimum, the Liberals should honour the promise to maintain the planned escalator increases.
With all of the deficit spending going on in other departments, Bezan admits he’s getting nervous.
“Now that we’re talking a $30-billion deficit, there’s going to be increased pressure on National Defence is pare back their own funding requirements and that is something I’m going to be watching very closely.” |
The Swine Sixteen: A Tournament of Pork Barrel Spending
With March Madness in full swing and Tax Day just around the corner, this is an ideal time to review the many pork barrel spending programs on which our government blows our hard-earned tax dollars.
Over the next two weeks your votes will decide which of 16 budget-busting boondoggles will be crowned the Champion of Pork.
The first 8 matchups are listed below, and here’s the tournament schedule:
March 28-30 voting on Sweet 16
March 31 announce the winners advancing to the Elite 8
March 31-April 1 voting on Elite 8
April 2 announce winners advancing to the Final 4
April 2-3 voting on the Final 4
April 4 announce the two winners advancing the the Championship of Pork
April 4-6 voting on the top pork barrel program
April 7 a winner is crowned
Once you’ve voted, be sure to tweet your picks for each matchup using #CutItOut
And to learn more about questionable spending, check out Spendopedia, a wiki tracking over $200 billion in pork barrel waste.
Matchup 1
Catfish Inspections – $14 million
Most Americans are unaware of the Department of Agriculture’s catfish inspections – a hotly contested issue in the farm bill. Every year, the USDA wastes about $14 million on inspections that are duplicative to the Food and Drug Administration’s own catfish inspections.
vs.
TSA Receive Unearned Raise – $17.5 million
In October 2013, the Washington Times reported that Transportation Security Agency employees had been promoted and received pay increases without any extra responsibility. With merely a title change, the TSA wasted up to $18 million in salary alone within a five-year period. So if you want to increase your salary without adding any responsibility, the Transportation Security Administration is your place to work.
<a href=”http://polldaddy.com/poll/7922180/”>Swine 16 Match 1: Which is Worse?</a>
Matchup 2
Climate Change on Cows – $19.5 million What other way to test climate change than to test on cows, right? In May of 2013, the Department of Agriculture awarded $19.5 million to the University of Wisconsin and Oklahoma State University to focus on the impacts of climate on dairy and beef cattle.
vs.
Loan to Build Aquarium in Brazil– $105 million In 2012, the Export-Import Bank, approved a hefty loan, to the tune of $105 million, to help fund the construction of an aquarium in Brazil. The state-of-the-art aquarium will have four floors, 25 large tanks, house 500 species and 35,000 creatures, making it the largest aquarium in the Southern Hemisphere and third largest in the world.
&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;a href=”http://polldaddy.com/poll/7922181/”&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;Swine 16 Match 2: Which is Worse?&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;/a&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;
Matchup 3
NASA Funds Mars Food Preparation Study – $1.2 million In case we ever make it to the planet Mars, we will have a food menu ready. The Hawaii Space Exploration Analog and Simulation program has created over 100 foods that could someday be served on Mars. Too bad we don’t have a space program to Mars anymore.
vs.
IRS Bonuses– $92 million In case you didn’t dislike the IRS already, the Associated Press reported the agency planned to pay out more than $70 million in bonuses over a period of a few months. Did we mention, this was the around the same time they were asking 90,000 employees to take unpaid leave as a result of sequestration?
<a href=”http://polldaddy.com/poll/7922187/”>Swine 16 Match 3: Which is Worse?</a>
Matchup 4
One Full-Time Intern for USDA – $2 million For their third appearance in the challenge, the USDA does not disappoint. Officials at the department spent $2 million on an intern program, which only hired one intern.
vs.
GSA conferences– $6.7 million Last year, the General Services Administration was caught spending excessive amounts of money on lavish conferences. An independent internal auditor found that GSA had spent over $6.7 million on conferences. One example was the $823,000 spent in one conference in Las Vegas with line items including $146,527 for catering, $75,000 for team-building exercises making bikes, and a $31,000 networking reception.
&amp;amp;lt;a href=”http://polldaddy.com/poll/7922193/”&amp;amp;gt;Swine 16 Match 4: Which is Worse?&amp;amp;lt;/a&amp;amp;gt; Matchup 5
Fisker Automotive Loans – $530 million In 2008, Fisker Automotive and its electric Karma sedan, received a $528 million credit line through the Department of Energy’s new vehicle loan program, developed a year prior. When Fisker missed its sales milestones, the DOE froze Fisker’s line of credit to prevent them from drawing out additional loans but Fisker had already drawn $192.3 million. The Karma design was plagued with malfunctions and received a failing grade from Consumer Reports.
vs.
EPA Manager Defrauds Agency– $900,0000 Former Environmental Protection Agency staffer John Beale was once the highest paid official at EPA and a leading expert on climate change. He would often take long absences and claimed to making “secret trips” to Pakistan for the CIA. Thirteen years and $900,000 later, Beale finally got caught and admitted to his massive fraud.
&amp;amp;amp;lt;a href=”http://polldaddy.com/poll/7922195/”&amp;amp;amp;gt;Swine 16 Match 5: Which is Worse?&amp;amp;amp;lt;/a&amp;amp;amp;gt;
Matchup 6
HHS Conference Spending – $56 million The Department of Health and Human Services held over 140 conferences in one year alone, costing taxpayers $56,130,874. Some of the spending highlights included $1,130,000 on Head Start’s National Research Conference and a conference to advance the President’s Year of Community Living at a price tag of $646,267.
vs.
Studying Shrimp on a Treadmill– $682,570 The National Science Foundation approved money for a study titled, “Taking the Pulse of Marine Life in Stressed Seas.” The research included studying shrimp on a treadmill to identify if crabs and shrimp perform differently on a treadmill if they are under stress. Red Lobster, anyone?
&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;a href=”http://polldaddy.com/poll/7922196/”&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;Swine 16 Match 6: Which is Worse?&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;/a&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt; Matchup 7
IRS and VA $112,000 training videos – $112,000 The Internal Revenue Service and the Department of Veterans Affairs thought it was necessary to make parody videos for training purposes. The IRS spent $60,000 creating “Star Trek” and “Gilligan’s Island” themed videos and the VA spent $52,000 parodying the film “Patton.”
vs.
Chinese Study on Swine Manure– $28 million The Environmental Protection Agency handed out $28 million in grants to international recipients, and of these grants, $141,450 went to the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences for the purposes of treating swine manure.
&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;a href=”http://polldaddy.com/poll/7922201/”&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;Swine 16 Match 7: Which is Worse?&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;/a&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;
Matchup 8
Dead Farmers Improperly Paid Millions – $2 million The Government Accountability Office released a report in June 2013 detailing how agencies under the Department of Agriculture had been giving financial assistance to deceased farmers. The Farm Service Agency made $3.3 million in payments to the deceased. They were able to recover less than $1 million of the improper payments.
vs.
Empty Afghanistan Headquarters– $34 million Sitting in Afghanistan is a fancy new military headquarters with a tiered seating operations centers, spacious offices, high-tech chairs and top-of-the-line air conditioning units. The construction was completed at a total cost of $34 million. The only problem is that the military has no plans to ever use the facilities. |
SAN FRANCISCO—Last week, a three-story light pole fell on top of car at Pine and Taylor Streets, nearly hitting the driver. Officials from the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission say that there were varying conditions that caused the pole to fall, one of them being the corrosion at its base that was caused by urine.
The driver of the car, currently unidentified, came close to being injured. “Had the man been pulled up a little bit more he would have been killed at the scene,” Susie Salvi, a witness at the scene, told KTVU.
A banner was also weighing down the lamppost, but the PUC confirmed that they believed it was the corrosion what had ultimately caused it to break and fall. “We believe there was some contribution of dog or human urine on the base of the pole,” PUC spokesman Tyrone Jue told the San Francisco Chronicle, “This has actually been an issue for us in the past. We encourage people and dogs alike to do their business in other places, like a proper restroom or one of our fire hydrants, which are stronger and made out of cast iron.” No one was injured during the incident.
Last year, SF Mayor Edward Lee increased the street light budget for maintenance and replacement of poles. San Francisco has launched an assessment program to visually check on every single light post in the city, all 25,000 of them. Over 100 lights have already been replaced along San Bruno Avenue.
The California drought has provided less rain to wash away the urine, and the smell of the city has increased. “It’s not so much the urination,” he said, but rather the “historic levels of drug use.” Proposition 47, which passed in November 2014, downgrades drug possession to a misdemeanor and it allows state prisoners to seek early release.
To help aid the urination problem, Hizzoner has increased public restroom access, Pit Stop has installed public toilets and Mayor Lee has given additional funds to the Department of Public Works for cleanup crews and housing for the homeless. |
The Bitcoin community was in for a surprise yesterday after one of the leading digital currency startups suddenly announced the discontinuation of its Bitcoin-based services.
The platform in discussion here is Circle, which recently announced that it is diversifying its business model to position itself as a multinational financial services platform.
One of the heavily funded companies in the digital currency sector, Circle will no longer be offering Bitcoin exchange service. In a recent coverage on one of the leading business magazine, the company’s co-founder and chief executive officer Jeremy Allaire has blamed Bitcoin’s scalability issue as the reason behind his company’s drastic measure.
Circle is one of the rapidly expanding financial platforms. As the volume of transactions increase, the application’s backend should be elastic enough to accommodate it. But Bitcoin network’s fixed block size and the delays in accommodating any meaningful scaling solution has made it unattractive to Circle, as the company hints.
However, the platform doesn’t want to entirely wash its hands off Bitcoin. According to Allaire, Circle will continue to offer Bitcoin buy/sell option to its customers through a strategic partnership with Coinbase. It will use cryptocurrency technology in the backend for fiat settlements. In addition, Circle seems to be working on its own distributed ledger technology. The financial platform has made its plans to release a free software — Circle Spark public.
As per the available information, Circle Spark will enable digital payments companies – using blockchain technology – to comply with existing AML and KYC requirements during fund transfer. The statement made by Allaire is a wake-up call for the Bitcoin Core developers and other community members. Unless they act fast to resolve Bitcoin network’s scalability issues, they will start seeing more and more companies following suit.
On the other hand, the contribution of Circle or its developers to Bitcoin community so far is also something to be considered. Being an open source, decentralized platform, anyone can propose improvements to the blockchain. If these proposals are convincing enough, the community can decide whether to pursue it further or not.
In other words, as Andreas Antonopoulos recently tweeted without referring to Circle or anyone in particular,
“Profitable Bitcoin companies that have never contributed anything to Bitcoin dev or open source code have no basis to complain”.
If we gauge Circle with the same yardstick, it should just move on, without pointing fingers at anyone for its decision.
Ref: WSJ | Twitter | Image: NewsBTC |
China’s Military Blueprint: Bigger Navy, Bigger Global Role
China laid out its military strategy in its first-ever defense white paper, promising not to hit first, but vowing to strike back hard if attacked in a world full of what it sees as potential threats.
The paper, released by China’s State Council, the chief administrative body of the Chinese government, is especially noteworthy at a time of heightened tensions with the United States over China’s aggressive behavior in disputed areas of the South China Sea. On Monday, Chinese state media spoke of war with the United States as “inevitable” if the United States keeps pressing Beijing on its illegal activities; in the United States, meanwhile, the consensus over accommodating China’s rise seems to have given way to a more hawkish stance on the need to contain the rising Asian giant.
China’s new white paper provides plenty of points of continuity with past strategies, especially with Mao Zedong’s doctrine of “active defense,” known in the United States as the Billy Martin school of conflict management. (“I never threw the first punch; I threw the second four.”)
At the same time, though, the defense blueprint breaks new ground. It codifies the ongoing transformation of China into a true maritime power, and puts more emphasis on high-seas, offensive naval operations. More broadly, it envisions a much bigger, global role for Chinese armed forces than had previously been the case, and in some places echoes the famously hawkish Chinese views of thinkers such as Liu Mingfu, whose bestselling book “The China Dream” paints a vision of nearly inevitable conflict between the two global titans.
Here are some of the main takeaways from the white paper’s English-language version.
Times may be peaceful, but things sure look scary in Beijing
The defense strategy’s starting point is a generally benign global environment: “Peace, development, cooperation and mutual benefit have become an irresistible tide of the times,” the paper says. “In the foreseeable future, a world war is unlikely, and the international situation is expected to remain generally peaceful.”
But that doesn’t mean everything’s rosy from the vantage point of Chinese leaders. Traditional security threats have been compounded by new threats, from terrorism to cyber war, to make life potentially perilous. One rival country in particular, with a penchant for hanging on to its leading position and supporting treaty allies in the Asia-Pacific region, merits special attention: “There are, however, new threats from hegemonism, power politics and neo-interventionism.”
For a 5,000-year old civilization that has survived invasions from Mongols, Japanese, and Western Europeans, this is a sobering conclusion: “In the new circumstances, the national security issues facing China encompass far more subjects, extend over a greater range, and cover a longer time span than at any time in the country’s history.” Later, the paper notes: “Due to its complex geostrategic environment, China faces various threats and challenges in all its strategic directions and security domains.”
That’s especially true when it comes to the South China Sea
The white paper is mostly focused on higher-level issues of how China’s military will support the realization of China’s national “rejuvenation,” but it pays special attention to a potential area of conflict that’s in the headlines these days, China’s land reclamation efforts at a spate of reefs and rocks in the Spratly and Paracel island groups. Those activities on land features whose ownership is disputed have sparked tensions with the United States, Vietnam, the Philippines, and even Japan, which is shedding much of its post-World War II pacifism.
“On the issues concerning China’s territorial sovereignty and maritime rights and interests, some of its offshore neighbors take provocative actions and reinforce their military presence on China’s reefs and islands that they have illegally occupied. Some external countries are also busy meddling in South China Sea affairs; a tiny few maintain constant close-in air and sea surveillance and reconnaissance against China. It is thus a long-standing task for China to safeguard its maritime rights and interests.”
To underscore the point, and perhaps send a message to the U.S. Navy, the paper speaks at length about the need to ensure “preparations for military struggle” in China’s watery backyard: “In line with the evolving form of war and national security situation, the basic point for PMS will be placed on winning informationized local wars, highlighting maritime military struggle and maritime PMS.”
The paper makes clear that what’s at stake in the South China Sea is not the fate of a few atolls or uninhabited islands, but the very nature of Chinese sovereignty. Among the Chinese military missions in this new world will be to “safeguard national territorial sovereignty and maritime rights and interests, and maintain security and stability along China’s periphery.” Such doctrinal stances make it hard to believe China will easily blink first in a showdown over navigation rights in the region.
How do you say Mahan in Chinese?
Building a stronger navy was a priority of former President Hu Jintao, and has only been accelerated under Xi Jinping. But if there were any lingering doubts about China’s aim of transforming itself into a modern, maritime power, the white paper puts them to rest.
For a country whose eyes were locked on the northern and western frontier for millennia, this is noteworthy: “The traditional mentality that land outweighs sea must be abandoned, and great importance has to be attached to managing the seas and oceans and protecting maritime rights and interests. It is necessary for China to develop a modern maritime military force structure commensurate with its national security and development interests, safeguard its national sovereignty and maritime rights and interests, protect the security of strategic [sea lanes of communication] and overseas interests, and participate in international maritime cooperation, so as to provide strategic support for building itself into a maritime power.”
Importantly, especially in the context of China’s interest in ports and possibly bases across the Indian Ocean, the white paper’s first order of business for military modernization is the ability to operate far from home: improving logistics.
That’s a very active defense you’ve got there
The white paper couches China’s posture in terms of active defense, a mainstay of Chinese defense thinking since Mao’s guerrilla campaigns in the 1930s: “We will not attack unless we are attacked, but we will surely counterattack if attacked.” But the paper itself details just how the Chinese navy and air force are shedding their traditional defensive roles to take up more pro-active positions, including a true blue-water navy: “In line with the strategic requirement of offshore waters defense and open seas protection, the PLA Navy (PLAN) will gradually shift its focus from ‘offshore waters defense’ to the combination of ‘offshore waters defense’ with ‘open seas protection,’ and build a combined, multi-functional and efficient marine combat force structure. The PLAN will enhance its capabilities for strategic deterrence and counterattack, maritime maneuvers, joint operations at sea, comprehensive defense and comprehensive support.”
China is embracing its global role
Finally, the white paper makes explicit what had seemed to be a recent evolution in China’s approach to the world. Traditionally, China focused on economic development and took a hands-off approach to global affairs. But with Chinese interests growing by leaps and bounds in the Middle East, Africa, and Latin America, China is finding that its defense responsibilities are set to go as global as its economic interests.
“In response to the new requirement coming from the country’s growing strategic interests, the armed forces will actively participate in both regional and international security cooperation and effectively secure China’s overseas interests.”
That may not all be bad news: The West, after all, has been asking China to become a “responsible stakeholder” for a decade. The white paper concludes on just that note:
“With the growth of national strength, China’s armed forces will gradually intensify their participation in such operations as international peacekeeping and humanitarian assistance, and do their utmost to shoulder more international responsibilities and obligations, provide more public security goods, and contribute more to world peace and common development.”
Photo credit: DANIEL BARKER/U.S. Navy |
LONDON (Reuters) - Health officials in Britain have for the first time endorsed e-cigarettes, saying they are 95 percent safer than tobacco equivalents and even suggesting doctors should be able to prescribe the “game-changing” devices to smokers trying to quit.
E-cigarettes, which allow users to inhale nicotine-laced vapour but contain no tobacco, have surged in popularity in recent years but health bodies have so far been wary of advocating them as a safer alternative.
Governments from California to India have tried to regulate their use more strictly, many fearing they are a gateway to tobacco smoking among teenagers, and the World Health Organization has also called for curbs on the devices.
But in a study published on Wednesday, Public Health England (PHE) an agency of Britain’s Department of Health, backed their use.
“E-cigarettes are not completely risk-free but when compared to smoking, evidence shows they carry just a fraction of the harm,” said PHE’s Professor Kevin Fenton in a statement.
The study said that since most of the chemicals that cause smoking-related diseases are absent in e-cigarettes, with the current best estimate that e-cigarette use is around 95 percent less harmful to health than smoking, governments should offer them to people looking to quit.
While e-cigarettes do contain nicotine, an addictive drug, it is not nicotine that kills smokers but rather chemicals in the tar found in the smoke.
Although British doctors and stop-smoking services cannot currently prescribe e-cigarettes as none of the products on the market is licensed for medicinal purposes, the report’s authors hope that hurdle will be removed.
“Given the potential benefits as quitting aids, PHE looks forward to the arrival on the market of a choice of medicinally regulated products that can be made available to smokers by the NHS on prescription,” the report said.
CONTRADICTIONS
The publicly funded study goes against a 2014 report by the World Health Organization that called for stiff regulation of e-cigarettes and bans on their indoor use and sale to minors.
It also contradicts the findings of researchers from the University of Southern California who said this week that U.S. teens who tried electronic cigarettes might be more than twice as likely to move on to smoking conventional cigarettes as those who have never tried the devices.
The British study said e-cigarettes, which are already the most popular quitting aids in Britain and the United States, could be a cheap way to reduce smoking in deprived areas, which still have a high proportion of smokers.
A woman smokes an electronic cigarette in London, Britain August 19, 2015. REUTERS/Neil Hall
“E-cigarettes could be a game-changer in public health in particular by reducing the enormous health inequalities caused by smoking,” said Professor Ann McNeil, who helped author the study.
The study criticised media campaigns that have called e-cigarettes equally or even more harmful than smoking that could serve as a gateway to tobacco cigarettes among teenagers.
“There is no evidence that e-cigarettes are undermining England’s falling smoking rates,” McNeil said.
“Instead the evidence consistently finds that e-cigarettes are another tool for stopping smoking and in my view smokers should try vaping, and vapers should stop smoking entirely,” she added.
Almost all of the 2.6 million adults using e-cigarettes in Britain are current or ex-smokers who are using the devices to help them quit and only 2 percent of young people are regular users, the study said.
WELCOME FROM CAMPAIGNERS
Public health charities welcomed the study’s attempt to clear up the facts behind e-cigarettes.
“There are still nearly 8 million smokers in England, many of whom would benefit from switching to electronic cigarettes, but who may have been put off doing so because of unfounded health concerns,” the British charity Action on Smoking and Health said in a statement.
“If every smoker switched overnight to electronic cigarettes many hundreds of thousands of premature deaths would be prevented in the years to come,” it said.
The global tobacco industry sells about 5.7 trillion cigarettes a year, but is seeing that number shrink due to increased health consciousness, weak consumer spending and higher taxes, as well as competition from cheap black-market packs and e-cigarettes.
The four international big tobacco firms – Philip Morris International, British American Tobacco, Imperial Tobacco Group and Japan Tobacco - have all invested in e-cigarettes as a way to diversify revenue.
Imperial Tobacco has applied to UK health regulators for its Puritane e-cigarette to be licensed as a medical device, which would allow it to make claims related to health or smoking cessation. BAT’s Voke, an inhaler but not an e-cigarette, already has approval.
Calling the study an “incredibly important milestone”, a BAT spokesman acknowledged the risk posed by chemicals found in cigarette smoke and said increasing sales of e-cigarettes would greatly benefit their customers’ health.
A woman displays a package of E-cigarette, an electronic substitute in the form of a rod, slightly longer than a normal cigarette, in Bordeaux, southwestern France, on March 25, 2008. REUTERS/Regis Duvignau
E-cigarette sales, concentrated in markets such as Britain, France and the United States, are growing but exact figures are difficult to track, because many purchases occur online or in independent “vape shops”.
Wells Fargo analyst Bonnie Herzog thinks they will outsell cigarettes over the next decade.
Another analyst, Phil Gorham at Morningstar, said he expected the British PHE’s endorsement of e-cigarettes to give a further boost to their popularity and that the industry could be close to a tipping point as it turns away from its traditional tobacco market. |
The Toronto couple wanted in the 2015 death of Sina Parsi have both pleaded guilty to murder.
Clyde Marshall — who was sentenced on Wednesday — pleaded guilty to first-degree murder and has been sentenced to life behind bars, while Sabrina Chouart pleaded guilty to the lesser charge of second-degree murder. Her sentencing will come at a later date.
Both were the subject of a nationwide manhunt for two weeks following the death of 32-year-old Parsi, whose body was found in the couple's Toronto apartment following his disappearance in June 2015.
"Clyde Marshall has the most tragic history I've ever heard," said one of his lawyers, Alana Page, in a statement to CBC Toronto. Marshall, originally from New Brunswick, was 37-years-old at the time of the murder, and Chouart, originally from Gatineau, was 28.
"He recognizes that he did a horrible thing. Not many people plead guilty to first degree murder, given the inevitable sentence of life in prison with no parole eligibility for 25 years."
Marshall showed remorse, Page said, and pleaded guilty in part to make sure Parsi's wife, and Marshall's children, wouldn't suffer through a prolonged trial.
Parsi had gone missing after a soccer game two years ago. York Regional Police initially treated the Vaughan man's disappearance as a missing persons case, but clues later led them to Marshall and Chouart's eighth-floor apartment at 230 Woolner Avenue, near Jane Street and St. Clair Avenue West in central Toronto, where Parsi's body was found.
At the time, police called it a "violent" murder, and an agreed statement of facts later shed more light on what happened on the night of June 9, 2015.
Sina Parsi, 32, disappeared on June 9, 2015, after he left a soccer game in the Teston Road and Highway 400 area. He drove away in his 2012 black Dodge Ram pick-up truck and was found dead, days later, in Toronto. (York Regional Police)
'Consensual sexual activity' before murder
That evening, Parsi abruptly left the York Region soccer field where he was playing with friends and drove to Toronto.
Around 11:30 p.m., he met Marshall and Chouart at a Tim Hortons — a pre-arranged meeting. The three then went to Marshall and Chouart's apartment, their movements captured on the building's surveillance system.
Once inside the pair's unit, some consensual sexual activity happened, including the tying of Parsi's wrists, according to the statement of facts.
Soon after, Parsi was forcibly confined to the pair's bed, face down and naked. Various ropes and a cloth belt were used to confine him in different manners throughout the night.
Back in 2015, Toronto police released video footage Monday of Clyde Marshall, 36, and Sabrina Chouart, 27, when they were wanted for the first-degree murder of Sina Parsi, 32. (Toronto police)
Parsi was also hit repeatedly, leading to a fractured nasal bone and neck bone, and blood on the surface of his brain, among other injuries.
He was eventually killed through ligature strangulation, coupled with wrist restraint injuries and blunt trauma of the head, face and torso.
During Parsi's confinement, his PIN number was extorted and his wallet was taken, with Marshall and Chouart withdrawing around $400 in cash from his account.
Shortly after 4 a.m., Marshall and Chouart left their apartment for the last time with their dog and backpacks.
On their way out, Marshall paused — and waved at a surveillance camera.
Suspects Sabrina Chouart and Clyde Marshall nabbed at Walmart in Niagara Falls 6:10
The pair left their dog tied to a pole and went to Niagara Falls by bus, where they were later spotted after 11 days on the run by store security in a Wal-Mart.
In a letter to Parsi's wife, Roya Parsi, Marshall apologized for the murder and said he did a "terribly horrible thing."
"Your husband didn't deserve what happened to him, nor you the pain you'll always feel," Marshall wrote. |
Trying to get a free Dr. Pepper coupon today and finding yourself unable to get through? You aren’t alone.
Dr. Pepper appears to be overwhelmed by the response to its offer of free Dr. Pepper in honor of Guns N’ Roses long-awaited release of “Chinese Democracy.” The Dr. Pepper Web site, www.drpepper.com, is returning a number of errors today as its server seems to be being bombarded with more traffic than it can handle. Those who do get through past the errors are often finding themselves stuck on the Flash-heavy site’s “Loading” screen with no progress.
In case you hadn’t heard, Dr. Pepper said it’d give anyone visiting the site Sunday a 20-ounce soda following its statement earlier this year that it’d hand out free Dr. Pepper if Guns N’ Roses’ “Chinese Democracy” actually did come out in 2008. (The album — which is officially available for the first time today — had been in the works for 14 years and had seen more than a few delays.)
Take a note from Axl, though, and have some patience: The free Dr. Pepper coupon giveaway will remain active until 12:01 a.m. tonight. We’re assuming that’s Eastern time, although the company has never explicitly stated.
Dr. Pepper has also now set up a toll-free number for those unable to connect online. You can call 1-800-696-5891 to get your coupon.
Welcome to the jungle, baby. The free soda jungle, that is. |
New York is facing a crisis. The city that never sleeps has become the city with the most people who have no home to sleep in. As rising rents outpace income growth across the five boroughs, some 62,000 people, nearly 40 percent of them children, live in homeless shelters—rates the city hasn't seen since the Great Depression.
As New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio faces reelection in November, his reputation and electoral prospects depend in part on his ability to reverse this troubling trend. In the mayor's estimation, combatting homelessness effectively will require opening 90 new shelters across the city and expanding the number of outreach workers who canvass the streets every day offering aid and housing. The effort will also require having the technology in place to ensure that work happens as efficiently as possible. To that end, the city is rolling out a new tool, StreetSmart, aims to give city agencies and non-profit groups a comprehensive view of all of the data being collected on New York's homeless on a daily basis.
Think of StreetSmart as a customer relationship management system for the homeless. Every day in New York, some 400 outreach workers walk the streets checking in on homeless people and collecting information about their health, income, demographics, and history in the shelter system, among other data points. The workers get to know this vulnerable population and build trust in the hope of one day placing them in some type of housing.
NYC Department of Homeless Services
Traditionally, outreach workers have entered information about every encounter into a database, keeping running case files. But those databases never talked to each other. One outreach worker in the Bronx might never know she was talking to the same person who’d checked into a Brooklyn shelter a week prior. More importantly, the worker might never know why that person left. What's more, systems used by city agencies and non-profits seldom overlapped, complicating efforts to keep track of individuals.
"It would require reinventing the wheel in every case," says Human Resources Administration Commissioner Steve Banks.
A True View
Banks wanted a tool that would not only enable workers to coordinate their efforts, but also give the city government a true overview of the homelessness problem that would enable officials to design interventions based on real data, not rough estimates. The city’s tech team worked with non-profit organizations such as Project Hospitality in Staten Island as well as BronxWorks to find out what the outreach workers on the front lines of this citywide disaster need.
“The work itself is difficult, but then managing the work, and where people are and tracking folks is a big, huge thing we deal with,” says Juan Rivera, who directs homeless outreach for BronxWorks.
Outreach workers need to be armed with as much information as possible if they’re going to build trust with clients, Rivera says. They need to know, for instance, if a homeless individual in their neighborhood recently left a detox program in another neighborhood. That person might need more than just a bed to get back on his feet. StreetSmart gives outreach workers access to that information. At the same time, the team behind StreetSmart took pains to protect clients’ privacy, so, for instance, only authorized officials would have access to people’s medical history.
NYC Department of Homes Services
The big promise of StreetSmart extends beyond its ability to help outreach workers in the moment. The aggregation of all this information could also help the city proactively design fixes to problems it wouldn’t have otherwise seen. The tool has a map feature that shows where encampments are popping up and where outreach workers are having the most interactions. It can also be used to assess how effective different housing facilities are at keeping people off the streets.
Which, of course, is what all of this is really about. All of the technology in the world won’t matter if the facilities available to homeless people are fundamentally unsafe places where they don’t want to be. “The more we can integrate services the better,” says Deborah Padgett, a professor of social work at New York University. “But my concern is what is waiting for them once they get off the street?”
Padgett is one of many advocates who argue that what the city is offering today is far from enough. The Coalition for the Homeless has argued that expanding the shelter system is simply a Band-aid on the much deeper wound: the lack of permanent affordable housing in the city.
Commissioner Banks, a former attorney-in-chief at the Legal Aid Society, which represents low-income New Yorkers, acknowledges that underlying issue. "This has been a trajectory over multiple decades reflective of the need for affordable housing," he says.
These knotty societal issues, decades in the making, could very likely take decades to unwind—no matter how efficient the technology working in service of ending the problem. |
Submitted by Michael Krieger via Liberty Blitzkrieg blog,
The Osama Bin Laden raid was suspect from the very beginning. Not only were key initial descriptions of the assault completely incorrect (such as him being armed and his wife being killed), but the manner in which his body was rapidly tossed into the ocean was beyond bizarre. I mean, Tony Soprano keeps a body longer than that.
Well it seems the “most transparent administration ever” has made sure that the American public never receives any information beyond the propaganda of Zero Dark Thirty. From the Associated Press:
WASHINGTON (AP) — The nation’s top special operations commander ordered military files about the Navy SEAL raid on Osama bin Laden’s hideout to be purged from Defense Department computers and sent to the CIA, where they could be more easily shielded from ever being made public.
The secret move, described briefly in a draft report by the Pentagon’s inspector general, set off no alarms within the Obama administration even though it appears to have sidestepped federal rules and perhaps also the Freedom of Information Act.
But secretly moving the records allowed the Pentagon to tell The Associated Press that it couldn’t find any documents inside the Defense Department that AP had requested more than two years ago, and could represent a new strategy for the U.S. government to shield even its most sensitive activities from public scrutiny.
McRaven’s directive sent the only copies of the military’s records about its daring raid to the CIA, which has special authority to prevent the release of “operational files” in ways that can’t effectively be challenged in federal court. The Defense Department can prevent the release of its own military files, too, citing risks to national security. But that can be contested in court, and a judge can compel the Pentagon to turn over non-sensitive portions of records.
The AP asked the Defense Department and CIA separately for files that included copies of the death certificate and autopsy report for bin Laden as well as the results of tests to identify the body. While the Pentagon said it could not locate the files, the CIA, with its special power to prevent the release of records, has never responded. The CIA also has not responded to a separate request for other records, including documents identifying and describing the forces and supplies required to execute the assault on bin Laden’s compound.
McRaven’s unusual order would have remained secret had it not been mentioned in a single sentence on the final page in the inspector general’s draft report that examined whether the Obama administration gave special access to Hollywood executives planning a film, “Zero Dark Thirty,” about the raid. The draft report was obtained and posted online last month by the Project on Government Oversight, a nonprofit watchdog group in Washington.
The refusal to make available authoritative or contemporaneous records about the bin Laden mission means that the only official accounts of the mission come from U.S. officials who have described details of the raid in speeches, interviews and television appearances. In the days after bin Laden’s death, the White House provided conflicting versions of events, falsely saying bin Laden was armed and even firing at the SEALs, misidentifying which of bin Laden’s sons was killed and incorrectly saying bin Laden’s wife died in the shootout. Obama’s press secretary attributed the errors to the “fog of combat.” |
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A 13-year-old boy today completed a challenge to visit all 270 London Underground stations in one day in memory of his older brother who died after a battle with cancer.
Alasdair Clift, from Wirral, Merseyside, took on the "Tube Challenge" to raise money for charity Bloodwise after his brother Adam, 17, died from lymphoma in March.
The teenager began his journey at Chesham station at 5.15am on Monday and finished at Heathrow airport in the early hours of Tuesday, having navigated the entire Underground network.
Alasdair, who is "fascinated" by transport, has so far received more than £11,000 in donations - far exceeding his original target of £100.
After spending nearly 20 hours on the tube with his father, Richard Clift, 50, the schoolboy arrived at Terminal 5 to applause from a welcome party of relatives, Tube staff and police officers shortly before 1am.
Speaking as the achievement sank in, Alasdair said he felt "tired, but proud and happy" for the huge support he had been shown.
He said: "This has been an ambition of mine for a while.
"In 2013 my brother was diagnosed with lymphoma and unfortunately after many rounds of treatment he passed away in March.
"I've done this challenge to hopefully give other people a better chance."
Mr Clift said the kindness shown by fellow travellers and tube workers had been "phenomenal".
He added: "We have had a very warm day on the tube and in terms of feeling shown to us.
"We have had terrific support, with people sticking their heads into the carriages saying how wonderful we are and the Transport for London staff have been right behind us.
"Alasdair felt like a star."
Mr Clift said they had been touched by the "random gestures of complete strangers" who donated along the way.
Alasdair was allowed to ride in the front cab for the first two journeys of his challenge and was given a certificate recognising his achievement from Mark Wild, the managing director of London Underground, at Southwark station.
Mr Clift earlier said he and his wife Caroline, 51, had been "overawed" by Alasdair, who single-handedly arranged the challenge.
"We're very proud - and very proud of his organisation skills because Caroline and I have had absolutely nothing to do with it," he said.
Donations for Alasdair's Tube Challenge can be made through JustGiving at www.justgiving.com/fundraising/Alasdair-Clift
Additional reporting by Press Association. |
For anyone fighting to conserve the health and prosperity of our planet, it's worthwhile trying to understand those on the other side of the debate: climate change doubters.
While there are various theories about what it is that causes individuals, often whom are well-educated and articulate, to ignore the growing consensus among climate scientists as the to the firm evidence behind global warming.
Watch this next: How climate change deniers sound to everyone else
Nature Climate Change has recently looked at a broad range of studies undertaken into climate change beliefs with the goal of finding common traits among doubters.
According to The Washington Post, "The analysis included nearly 200 previous polls and studies conducted in 57 countries around the world" and "examined the influence of a variety of different variables, including demographic characteristics like age, sex and education…overall level of concern about the environment, and…what sorts of concrete environmental policies people support."
Researchers for the journal have concluded that of all the personal characteristics examined by scientists to date, the most significant factors for an individual's perspective on climate change are "political affiliations, worldviews and values."
This might seem obvious, but these findings provide strong evidence that can now be used by environmentalists to tailor the way in which they try to communicate to doubters. |
IT LOOKS very similar to every other London black cab currently on the road but the new London taxi, which goes into service today, is a quantum leap ahead of the diesel-powered TX4 it replaces.
There are many updates to the TX but the revolution comes under the bonnet: electric power. Cabbies who upgrade to the new model will be able to charge up its lithium ion battery and drive around 80 miles without emitting a gram of harmful toxins into the atmosphere.
That’s not enough for most daily shifts, according to the driver who gave us a lift away from our preview drive of the TX in his rattly old diesel-powered TX4 – he normally covers around 120 miles per day – but thanks to an additional on-board generator and fuel tank, the TX can keep going for around 377 miles before it needs a top-up of electricity or petrol. It can also be recharged at a 22kW fast charger to 60% of the battery in 45 minutes (good for 50 miles electric range), even faster using a 50kW rapid charger (there are two separate sockets on the nose of the cab).
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The TX is currently the only new taxi fully-certified by Transport for London to take fare-paying passengers in London; various other projects announced around the same time as the TX in 2012, including one involving the Nissan NV200, which is used in New York, fell away due to the cost of development to meet new rules requiring any new cabs on the roads of the capital to be capable of running at least 30 miles on a zero emission electric charge. The change takes place at the turn of the year.
The new London cab is also the first “dedicated and zero-emissions-capable” taxi in the world to enter series production, says maker the London Electric Vehicle Company, which is wholly-owned by Geely, the Chinese conglomerate that has helped transform the fortunes of Volvo.
Our first taste of the new cab is fairly typical: being picked up at the roadside. The absence of a diesel thrum is apparent when you’re listening out for it, but many punters may miss the tell-tale sign that they are joining the electric revolution until they set off in near-silence. The smooth, quick acceleration may also come as a surprise to those not used to the immediate torque of an electric vehicle.
This is arguably the hidden significance of the new London taxi: not only will it help clean up polluted air, which is the biggest environmental risk to public health in Britain, according the government, but could act as a catalyst for the adoption of plug-in vehicles. Almost everyone will have heard of electric cars but for many, this will be their first hands-on experience of one. There are other electric minicabs on our roads but none are a symbol of Britain and Britishness in the way that a London taxi is. Thanks to the TX, electric vehicles could soon be seen as “normal” on London’s roads.
That’s assuming it’s a pleasant and trouble-free experience for the customers, of course. Riding in the back of the TX, few will notice the improvement in ride quality, but one thing is clear: this is a London taxi. Although almost every component, bar the grab handles and rear windscreen wiper (“We couldn’t think of a way to improve that,” we were told), is new, the changes to the interior are subtle. There are now a couple of USB charging sockets either side of the rear bench so passengers can charge their mobile phones, a three pin socket behind the driver for laptops and a WiFi network for internet access, but essentially the interior looks very similar to the outgoing TX4 cab, right down to the seat trim colours.
Those with a keener eye will spot the extra rear-facing seat, however, which is hugely significant for the drivers we spoke to (“The amount of times I’ve had to pass up a fare because there were six customers…”), as well as the touch-sensitive temperature controls, which replace the on-off fan switch. Look up and they’ll notice the huge panoramic sunroof, too, which is standard on all new TX models.
For wheelchair users, a ramp is now integrated under the floor and can be pulled out by the driver (rather than being stored in the boot), and users are able to face forward in the TX; shockingly, they were forced to face backwards in the TX4. As before, an induction loop for the hard of hearing is integrated into the rear cabin of the TX.
Switching positions with our driver, it becomes clear that there’s been a revolution up front, too. Anyone familiar with a modern Volvo will recognise the switchgear, instrumentation and touchscreen infotainment system, which interestingly now includes sat nav. This is not because the London cabby has given up on the world-famous and intensely difficult “Knowledge” test, whereby they memorise the thousands of streets and landmarks within a six mile radius of Charing Cross, but so that they can see a real-time map of traffic snarl-ups.
Given the amount of time spent behind the wheel, seat comfort is of paramount importance to cabbies, and we found the new Geely-designed throne to be very comfortable. Patrick Follen, one of the LEVC development drivers, told us some drivers have been known to rip out the standard seat from previous TX models, replacing them with after-market models from the likes of Recaro, and that with his old TX4 he had to take regular breaks in order to prevent discomfort. We weren’t able to verify this with the TX4 cabbie we spoke to later in the day; he’s managed entire shifts at the wheel, he said, although did concede that comfort can always be improved.
Drivers of the TX get a number of active safety systems, too. Electronic stability control, forward collision warnings and autonomous emergency braking are all lifted straight out of the Volvo parts bin, meaning frontal collisions with other cars, cyclists and pedestrians are much less likely.
This is all good news, but if the new taxi is to be a success, it needs to be tough. London cabbies cover around 30,000 miles a year (the standard term for finance when buying the TX), and the vehicles face constant stop-start conditions and plenty of abuse from drivers and passengers alike. To make sure the TX is up to the challenge, Eddie Marr, head of development, told us it’s the most comprehensively tested and developed product in the London Taxi Company’s (LEVC’s former name) history.
Developed over five years, the last two have involved testing in extreme conditions, such over rough terrain at testing facilities, to ensure durability, as well as in the heat of the Californian desert and the frozen Arctic Circle where ambient temperatures drop as low as -15°C. Just to be sure, the car was stored in freezers at -49°C to check that it would start up without trouble after a particularly cold night, but if it gets that cold in the capital, Londoners probably have bigger problems on their hands.
In addition, Geely has invested £300m in a new production facility in Ansty, Coventry. The site has the capacity to build more than 20,000 vehicles per year, with a view to exporting the model to Europe in future.
On paper, at least, the proposition is attractive. The company says the TX in Vista trim costs £55,599 on-the-road, and on a PCP deal with a £3,250 deposit works out at weekly payments of £177, which is just £10 per week more than the outgoing TX4. LEVC’s own calculations suggest there’s a saving of £97 per week on fuel, though, as well as savings on servicing, so overall running costs would be lower if a driver were to switch.
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Cabbies are a pragmatic breed, though, and most, like the TX4 driver after the LEVC event, are likely to wait and see how the new TX pans out over the coming year or so before committing themselves. Their existing diesel cabs are unaffected by new emissions regulations, including the Ultra-low Emission Zone (ULEZ) coming into force on April 8, 2019. And besides, the diesel TX4 has been Euro6-compliant since 2015, meaning it meets the latest official requirements on pollution.
And with around 400 pre-orders for London with LEVC expecting to build around the same amount in 2018, the TX may herald a revolution, but don’t expect it to happen overnight.
Looking even further down the road, the long-term future of the London taxi could be more of a concern for those in the industry. The rise of ride-hailing apps such as Uber, and the advent of self-driving vehicles are obvious threats. On the face of it, LEVC isn’t worried, saying passengers will always need a driver, particularly if they’re disabled, but even if the TX proves a runaway success and a beacon for electric motoring, it could be the last-hurrah for the black cab as we know it.
The cabbie’s view: developing a new London icon
Driving talks to Patrick Follen, a London taxi driver for the past 19 years, on helping test the new electric TX cab
What do you think of the new cab?
Chalk and cheese.
You still have a TX4?
Yeah, I have a TX4 with a Euro 5 engine. It’s old but well looked after. But driving these new cabs, it’s no comparison. This is like a luxury modern car. When I get back in my cab it feels like I’ve gone back 20 years. It’s noisy. Of course, you get used to that, but it’s also a horrible driving position. Someone of your size, you wouldn’t get comfy in one of the older cabs.
What’s the TX like to drive?
Unbelievable. It’s like a hot hatchback, it really is. I had a couple of guys in the back, one of them sitting on the flip seat, and other guy asked, “Is it quick?” So I floored it and the guy on the flip seat went flying. He said, “Well, that answers my question then.”
I found myself adjusting my driving style. For example, when you’re coming up to a roundabout and you see a gap, you’re going for the throttle before you need it in the older cab to compensate for the turbo lag. In these, the power is like a switch: on and off.
What’s the reaction going to be from other cabbies?
Some guys are not sure at first but once they’ve driven it, they want one. It’s like having an office job in some dingy basement and then, suddenly, they put you in some nice, shiny, glass-fronted office block for a time. When you go back to the basement, you want to be in shiny office again.
I mean, the price tag is a bit more than what we’re used to but we’re looking at the long term. You’re not going to buy this over one year, you’re going to buy this over three, maybe five years. So the savings are there.
Cyclists aren’t fans of diesel cabs; what’s their reaction been?
They’re giving me the thumbs up. Usually, they’re doing that to me [sticks middle finger up] when I’m in my diesel cab. Now it’s a nice clean cab, they’re like “You’re not polluting.”
Once we roll out more and more they’re not gonna look at us as polluting. It’ll be like, “They’re doing their bit.”
Bus companies need to start doing their bit now, because the bus is still quite heavily polluting isn’t it?
Do you think cabbies are going to bother charging them up, given they don’t need to?
Well, that’s the most efficient way to run this vehicle; to charge it from home. Some people may not be able to but, you know, there’s loads of charging points going in as we speak. Once the charging points are in you can bung it on for half an hour and grab a sandwich.
[Editor’s note: According to an LEVC spokesperson, TfL has committed to installing 75 rapid charging points by the end of this year, with 300 by 2020]
Are you worried about other electric car drivers squatting on charging points when you really need a top-up?
We’ll deal with that when we get to it. But at the moment the charging points are about. People are taking the mick really, they’re leaving their cars plugged in, all day, and they can park for nothing. So it is worth policing it.
And to get the most from the vehicle financially, I mean from home it costs me about £2.20 to charge it, overnight. Even when I drove it on Save mode, where it maintains the battery charge at 100%, for a couple of hundred miles, it worked out as getting roughly 50mpg. So it’s still streets ahead of a diesel cab.
How many mpg can you get in a diesel?
22, and that’s driving it nicely. It’s not good. And the actual maintenance of them, I mean, they eat brake pads. I did 400 miles in the TXt, did a check on the brake pads and they’re minimal wear because of the regenerative braking. You’re using the pads less.
You said you changed your driving style; has it made you a less aggressive driver?
It has, yeah. You float along, it’s all quiet and you’re always trying to extend the range by using as much regen as possible, but you’re literally driving with one foot aren’t you? Ease it off. On my current taxi, you’re brake-gas-brake-gas. With the TX, you’re not.
But it’s nice to know that it has the power there if you need to get out of trouble. Do you remember that advert BMW used to run, the ultimate driving machine. Do you remember how they used to describe their cars? This is the ultimate driving machine for taxis and passengers. It’s brilliant.
LEVX TX London Taxi specifications
Motor and battery
Driven wheels Rear
Peak power 110 kW / 150 PS
Peak torque 255 NM
rpm 11,500
Battery type 3 string lithium-ion 400 V
Gross storage capacity 31 kWh
On-board charging (AC/DC) 22 kW AC / 50 kW DC
Range-extender
Fuel type Petrol
Configuration Inline 3 DOHC 12-valves
Induction Direct injection, turbo-charged
Cubic capacity 1,477 cc
Power 60 kW / 82 PS
Torque 255 NM
Fuel tank capacity 36 L
Performance and economy
0 – 62 mph 13.2 secs
speed 80 mph
Official combined fuel economy 217.3 mpg
Official CO2 emissions 29 g/km
Pure EV (electric-only) range 80.6 miles
Total range 377 miles
Fuel economy (range-extender) 36.7 mpg
Kerb weight 2,230kg |
Breaking Fad The battle for Smart TV dominance continues to ratchet up, with Google and Firefox now both wading into the same connected space. The former has reignited its living room ambitions via Android TV, while open source rival Firefox has partnered with Panasonic.
40 years on from Ceefax and we're still gazing at menus for guides and information
You might reasonably expect both to be cut from much the same cloth, but having lived with new tellies from each camp, I can reveal there’s a world of difference. One is lithe, intuitive and fun to use. The other isn’t.
To go head-to-head, I borrowed an Android touting Sony 55-inch KD-55X8505C and Panasonic’s 50-inch Firefox OS enabled TX-50CX802B. Both of these new season 4K UHD TVs are priced around £1,800 and offer a comparable high-end feature set. Many will see their Smart functionality as a defining difference.
Google and Sony have been down the same connected road before. The first iteration of Google TV debuted Stateside in 2010, launching in the UK in 2012 with the NSZ-GS7 set top box.
Early Google TV – Sony's NSZ-GS7 set top box
The ambition, I was told back then, was to bring “the full freedom of the Internet to the TV for the first time.” The diminutive Sony STB sat between source and screen, and could navigate the web via a Chrome browser and run specialised apps.
The tech was pretty cool. The internet could be viewed simultaneously with live broadcasts via a Picture-in-Picture mode. At the time, Google TV was running a customised version of the Honeycomb OS, optimised for widescreen HD. Consumer interest though remained low. The car boot beckoned.
2015’s Lollipop-based Android TV platform is a good deal more ambitious. But will it be a consumer hit? Certainly cash-strapped TV manufacturers seen keen enough to sign-up, not least because it probably saves a lot of expensive dev work in-house. Both Sony and Philips will sell Android TVs in Europe. Sharp will offer sets in the US.
Turn on, tune in and wait for it...
In truth, I lost hope early on. The setup is laborious. The first thing you're prompted to do is sign in to your Google account, entering a code generated by the TV into an Android TV setup page on a networked browser. The screen then checks for any updates and prompts you to download. This proves quite a lengthy process, and that’s before it begins to optimise resident apps (of which there are more than 180 out of the box). |
Compiled GraphQL as a database query language
Predrag Gruevski Blocked Unblock Follow Following Jul 19, 2017
For nearly a year now, Kensho has been using GraphQL in a highly unusual way — by compiling GraphQL queries directly into a single, optimized graph database query. By hiding the complexity of the underlying database behind an expressive and easy-to-use GraphQL layer, we have been able to prototype and release new functionality to our clients in record time. Now, we are excited to release our GraphQL compiler as an open-source project!
A visualization of a subset of the Game of Thrones graph dataset that we will explore with compiled GraphQL. Blue vertices correspond to characters, red vertices are noble houses, and orange vertices represent regions in the Game of Thrones world. Adapted from the Creative Commons dataset available at: https://orientdb.com/public-databases/GamesOfThrones.zip
Quick intro to GraphQL
The logo of the GraphQL project: http://graphql.org/
Despite its name, GraphQL was not meant to be SQL for graph databases. Instead, GraphQL is an API query language developed by Facebook to improve the performance of interactions between a server and a client, such as a web browser or mobile app.
The client specifies what data fields it needs. Avoiding a predefined output format means that no unneeded data is sent, reducing the response transfer time to the necessary minimum.
The client can fetch multiple resources in a single query. Avoiding multiple back-to-back server requests means significantly less latency to complete loading data on the client.
Why compile GraphQL to database queries?
Unsurprisingly, GraphQL isn’t a silver bullet — the same problems that GraphQL helps avoid in the client-server setting now arise between the server and the database. Since the GraphQL execution model requires that a “resolver” function must be invoked for each field that is part of the query, a single GraphQL query could easily cause hundreds of database queries. Even if some of these queries can be cached, the network round-trips will add up.
We found we didn’t need separate resolver functions for every field of a given query. Instead, we’d much rather make sure that every GraphQL query executes efficiently in a single database round-trip — and that is precisely why we compile GraphQL queries directly into database queries.
Comparison between regular RPC without GraphQL, standard GraphQL, and compiled GraphQL. While GraphQL by itself reduces the overall number of round-trips necessary to answer a client query, compiled GraphQL ensures that any client request can be answered in precisely one database round trip, reducing latency and improving performance.
Expressing all database queries in GraphQL has other advantages, too:
The compiler is able to optimize and rewrite the query structure, improving performance and transparently inserting workarounds for bugs in the underlying database’s querying system.
GraphQL queries, together with most optimizations, are agnostic to the type of database used, and to the query language used to query that database. Adding support for a new query language or database system would not require rewriting any queries, and instead only requires adding a new code-generation backend for the desired target platform.
Even though the Gremlin query language is an Apache standard for querying graph data (and supported as a compilation target for our compiler), our experience has shown that most people find GraphQL a much more intuitive and beginner-friendly query language.
The compiler aggressively verifies the types and values of supplied parameters. This ensures that any GraphQL query results in a read-only, safe underlying database query — no SQL injection, no arbitrary code execution (Gremlin queries are frequently implemented as Groovy code, with full access to the JDK), no visits from Bobby Tables.
Indeed, when we started work on our GraphQL compiler, the OrientDB database we use had not yet added the MATCH graph querying operator we now rely on, and instead only supported the Gremlin graph query language. When MATCH support arrived, its significant performance improvements made it worthwhile to add support for generating MATCH-based queries in our compiler. Rather than needing to rewrite all our database queries in the new query language, the GraphQL abstraction made getting those performance improvements as simple as recompiling our GraphQL.
How does compiled GraphQL relate to “regular” GraphQL?
Every GraphQL query our compiler can compile is fully spec-compliant and valid “regular” GraphQL. All existing GraphQL tools just work: syntax highlighting, autocompletion, linting, IDE integration…
We use the Python port of the standard GraphQL library for parsing GraphQL input and validating it against the GraphQL schema:
Thanks to the standard GraphQL library, parsing and validating GraphQL queries is as simple as this!
The GraphQL compiler code then takes the generated AST, and returns a compiled query string together with inferred type metadata. The compiler library aims to be simple and lightweight: it does not run the query against the database and it does not include a server implementation — it simply transforms GraphQL strings into query strings. That way, the compiler library doesn’t care if you use Flask or Django, or if you talk to your database over HTTP, over a binary protocol, or via smoke signals.
Since we use GraphQL as a database query language, we use GraphQL’s built-in extension points to increase its expressive power. We add custom scalar types to represent date and date-time objects, as well as several custom directives that expose powerful database functionality. We’ll explore some of these in the remainder of this post and in future blog posts.
If you are already familiar with regular GraphQL, the two biggest differences you’ll notice when using compiled GraphQL are the lack of per-field “resolver” functions, and the fact that the output from running the compiled queries against the database is in the standard tabular format (rows and columns) rather than the nested format of regular GraphQL.
How does one query a database with GraphQL?
This section assumes that you are at least vaguely familiar with GraphQL syntax — feel free to quickly skim the official introduction to GraphQL if you aren’t already comfortable with it. In the spirit of Facebook’s Star Wars-based GraphQL examples, we’ll use examples inspired by Game of Thrones — a Game of GraphQL, if you will. And don’t worry — GraphQL does not support spoilers!
The GraphQL schema
Before we are able to query the database with GraphQL, we need to define a schema for GraphQL to use. The GraphQL schema is simply a translation of the database’s own schema into the GraphQL type system and can even be generated automatically by introspecting the database.
This is the GraphQL schema our Game of GraphQL examples will use.
In the above schema, CharacterOrHouse is an interface type, corresponding to a vertex class declared ABSTRACT in OrientDB terms, with two property fields: a string name and a list of strings alias . As a reminder, [String] in GraphQL notation simply refers to the “list of strings” type.
In contrast, Region is a concrete (non-abstract) type meant to represent geographical regions: Westeros (the continent), The North (the kingdom) and Winterfell (the castle) are all of type Region .
All edges in the graph are directed. For example, the edge whose name in the database is Lives_In starts at a Character and goes to a Region . This is reflected in the schema: Character has a field named out_Lives_In , of type [Region] , and Region has a corresponding field named in_Lives_In of type [Character] .
The directedness of edges allows Region vertices to point to their parent Region vertex that contains them: Westeros is the parent region of The North, which in turn is the parent region of Winterfell.
Edge fields are also always of list type: a single Region may have multiple characters living in it, and some characters may live in multiple regions.
Starting with vertices
Let’s start off simple and get the names of all characters in Game of Thrones.
Executing the resulting query string against the database returns a list of dictionary objects, each of which will have the key name and the name of a character as its value:
Readers already familiar with GraphQL may also object at the fact that our query explicitly marks the name field for output, via the @output directive. To show why that is necessary, consider the following GraphQL query, which returns the other names by which Jaime Lannister is known:
In the above query, we want to filter based on the name field, but we do not want to output it — therefore, we must explicitly specify which fields we want to output, and which unique name to assign to them in the response.
Let’s examine the @filter directive more closely. It reads from left to right, “the Character’s name equals the parameter named character_name .” This allows us to use the same query with different data:
The op_name specifies the filtering operation to apply. The compiler currently supports more than 10 operations, including standard comparison operators like <=, >, =, != , as well as more complex operations like substring matching.
specifies the filtering operation to apply. The compiler currently supports more than 10 operations, including standard comparison operators like , as well as more complex operations like substring matching. The value is the list of arguments that filtering operation takes. These arguments are always specially-formatted strings, and the list can contain more than one of them as some filtering operations take more than one argument. The "$character_name" value tells the compiler that this query expects a runtime parameter (signified by the $ prefix) named character_name . The compiler is able to infer this parameter is of type String , due to its equality comparison against the name field on Character that is of String type.
The compiler explicitly prohibits passing literal values as filter arguments. This does not limit functionality — users can simply pass the same value to a runtime parameter each time a given query is used — but does keep the compiler’s code simpler. Allowing literal values in GraphQL queries, much like literal values in SQL queries, may also open up a dangerous query injection vector: rather than using runtime parameters, users may be tempted to use simple string interpolation to insert data into their queries. After all, SQL injection as a result of string interpolation is still a common security vulnerability, despite the fact that SQL systems have supported parameterized queries for decades!
Querying across edges
We now ask for “the seat of power of each noble house.” This requires that we output the names of noble houses and the regions to which they are connected via a Has_Seat edge. Aside from the custom @output directive, the query is just normal GraphQL:
With this query, we are already doing fewer database round-trips than with regular GraphQL. Rather than calling resolver functions that individually query the database for the NobleHouse and out_Has_Seat fields, the compiler allows us to fetch all data from the database in a single operation.
As we add more and more fields to the query, regular GraphQL has to do more and more round-trips to the database, while compiled GraphQL always needs only one round-trip. Deeply-nested queries can be especially problematic with regular GraphQL, whereas they are no problem at all for compiled GraphQL: here at Kensho, we regularly execute GraphQL queries with 10 or more levels of nesting!
If we were to examine the (long) list of outputs produced by the above query, we’d notice that some NobleHouse vertices, like house Cassel, were not returned. Sir Rodrik Cassel is the beloved master-at-arms of Winterfell and the head of this house, and due to his service, his house does not have a castle of their own to make their seat. The above query filters out all NobleHouse vertices that did not have a Has_Seat edge — the Has_Seat edge is required.
If we so choose, we can instead make the Has_Seat edge optional, asking: “For each noble house, return their name and seat of power, if one exists.”
Since the edge is now marked @optional , the compiler notes in the computed output metadata that the seat_name column is output from an optional block and therefore may not always exist. Indeed, since House Cassel did not have the Has_Seat edge, the seat_name column is not present in its output row.
Self-referential queries
In addition to the $ syntax discussed above, there is another way to pass arguments to @filter directives. Consider the following question: “Which regions have a name that contains the name of the house that rules in that region?” This query is tricky because the filter applied to the name of the Region needs the value of the NobleHouse connected to that region — the query refers to itself. The @tag directive and tagged arguments come in handy here:
Here, we use the @tag directive to tell the compiler to remember the name property of NobleHouse , and refer to it in the future as house_name . Then, in the @filter directive later on, we specify %house_name as the argument to the has_substring operation. The % prefix of this parameter, unlike the $ prefix we used in a previous example, tells the compiler that the parameter comes from a tagged value in this query rather than being externally provided.
This self-referential querying functionality is not available in regular GraphQL, and is just one example where our holistic approach to querying a database enabled us to expose new functionality. In an upcoming part 2 of this blog post, we’ll demonstrate more such functionality:
Using type coercions (implemented with GraphQL inline fragments) to filter out vertices based on their GraphQL type and answer questions like: “Which NobleHouses (specifically NobleHouses, and not Characters) owe allegiance to the House of Stark?”
(implemented with GraphQL inline fragments) to filter out vertices based on their GraphQL type and answer questions like: “Which NobleHouses (specifically NobleHouses, and not Characters) owe allegiance to the House of Stark?” Using the built-in __typename GraphQL meta field to fetch the exact runtime type of vertices and answer questions like: “For any given CharacterOrHouse that owes allegiance to the lords of Riverrun, how do we know whether it’s a Character or a NobleHouse?”
the built-in to fetch the exact runtime type of vertices and answer questions like: “For any given CharacterOrHouse that owes allegiance to the lords of Riverrun, how do we know whether it’s a Character or a NobleHouse?” Using our custom @recurse directive to repeatedly traverse a given edge, answering questions like: “What are all the Regions that are part of Westeros?”
Summary
The goal of this project was simple: empower anyone at Kensho — engineer, analyst, or designer alike — to write complex graph queries that perform as well as hand-written queries from our most experienced graph database engineers. The project faced many difficult and unique challenges, and even required us to contribute a pull request with an improved, topological scheduler for OrientDB. Even so, the project has been a resounding success!
For many months now, compiled GraphQL queries have been the default way to query our graph.
Our engineers’ workflows benefit greatly from the rich GraphQL ecosystem, especially the straightforward and powerful editor integrations with our (many) favorite editors.
People of various backgrounds and experience levels generally find GraphQL queries easy to learn, intuitive, and easy to read. Even our most experienced engineers prefer writing GraphQL queries over writing queries in the database’s native query language.
Compiled GraphQL queries are effectively always as fast as the best hand-optimized queries written directly in the underlying database’s language.
The GraphQL compiler has proven extremely robust and reliable — so much so that “I don’t need tests, my code is just GraphQL” has become a running joke among Kensho engineers.
Overall, writing database queries in GraphQL has reduced time spent debugging correctness and performance problems, and significantly improved our iteration velocity. What used to require the direct attention of one of our handful of graph database engineers has now become easy, even routine, for everyone on our team. We hope that as this open-source project grows, we will be able to extend these benefits to everyone using graph databases.
Interested in working on problems like this?
We’re hiring! Check out our careers page for details.
We also welcome pull requests for all of our open-source projects! |
Robert Palladino, circa 1978. (Courtesy of Reed College)
Robert Palladino’s name appears nowhere in Steve Jobs’s lengthy authorized biography, but he had an enduring influence on Jobs and the business empire he erected.
Jobs sat in on Palladino’s calligraphy class at Portland’s Reed College, which eventually inspired the elegance for which Apple computers are renowned, the tech icon recalled in his famous 2005 commencement address at Stanford University.
“It was the first computer with beautiful typography,” Jobs said. “If I had never dropped in on that single course in college, the Mac would have never had multiple typefaces or proportionally spaced fonts.”
Palladino’s legacy will forever be tied to what he taught Jobs during his brief, aborted stint in college, a craft the professor honed over nearly two decades of monastic life.
Robert Palladino created this form board — featuring the italicized alphabet — in 1972, the same year Steve Jobs enrolled in Reed College. (Courtesy of Reed College)
Palladino, who died in late February at 83, joined the Trappist order of monks in New Mexico in 1950, according to a 2003 profile in Reed Magazine.
Just 17 at the time, his handwriting attracted the attention of the monastery scribe, who worked with him on his art.
Five years later, Palladino moved to Lafayette, Ore., where local artists brought news of a skilled amateur to Lloyd Reynolds, an icon in the field and the creator of Reed’s calligraphy program.
“We corresponded a bit, and one day he came out and spent the entire day helping me to improve my writing,” Palladino recalled in 2008 for a Reed College oral history project.
He left monastic life and began studying under Reynolds in 1968. A year later, Reynolds retired, leaving the program in Palladino’s hands. That same year, 1969, Palladino married his wife, Catherine. In 1970, they had a son.
Then, in 1972, Jobs came to campus.
The future Apple co-founder enrolled in Reed College that year, but dropped out after a single semester. He remained on campus, however, to attend classes that interested him, as he explained in that 2005 commencement address at Stanford.
Palladino’s calligraphy course was among them, he said:
Throughout the campus every poster, every label on every drawer, was beautifully hand calligraphed. Because I had dropped out and didn’t have to take the normal classes, I decided to take a calligraphy class to learn how to do this. I learned about serif and sans serif typefaces, about varying the amount of space between different letter combinations, about what makes great typography great. It was beautiful, historical, artistically subtle in a way that science can’t capture, and I found it fascinating. None of this had even a hope of any practical application in my life. But 10 years later, when we were designing the first Macintosh computer, it all came back to me. And we designed it all into the Mac. It was the first computer with beautiful typography. If I had never dropped in on that single course in college, the Mac would have never had multiple typefaces or proportionally spaced fonts.
Just as Jobs never forgot that course, Palladino never forgot his student.
A 1982 syllabus cover page for Robert Palladino’s calligraphy class. (Courtesy of Reed College)
“My first impression was that all the other students really liked him,” Palladino told the Hollywood Reporter’s Tim Appelo, a Reed graduate himself, for a 2011 story. “That surprised me, because there were all these geniuses floating around, and Steve was a dropout. But they detected greatness even then.”
In that interview, Palladino described Jobs as being “as nice a guy as you could meet,” despite the reputation he would later develop as the mercurial and incisive head of Apple.
Their relationship outlasted the class, too, Palladino recalled in the 2008 oral history interview.
“He came back afterwards and consulted me about Greek letters for a type font,” Palladino said. “I don’t know if he ever used my Greek letters, or if he just used them as a starting point, but we had a good time. He was educating me about what a computer is, as I hadn’t the foggiest idea what he was talking about.”
Jobs co-founded Apple in 1976; Palladino taught until 1984.
On retiring, Palladino moved with his wife onto a 20-acre farm, where they raised sheep, according to a 2013 Catholic Sentinel profile.
She died in 1987.
He became a priest in 1995.
Despite his decades working for the church and teaching scores of students, Palladino knew his legacy would be as the man whose art inspired an iconic brand — ironic though that may be.
“He found it amusing that he would be remembered primarily as the calligraphy teacher of Steve Jobs, especially since Robert did not own and never used a computer,” Calligraphy Initiative Coordinator Gregory MacNaughton said in a Reed College statement announcing Palladino’s death.
Jobs was just one of hundreds of students Palladino taught, at Reed, and also at Portland State University, Marylhurst University and the Portland Art Museum, according to the 2003 profile.
He hand-lettered all of the medical licenses licenses for the state of Oregon for a time and lectured far and wide.
He also taught other famous students, including Sumner Stone, famous for his work at Adobe and creating the ITC Stone font.
Palladino worked as a professional calligrapher from 1969 until his death on Feb. 26, according to the Archdiocese of Portland.
“Ethically, Steve was as nice a guy as you could meet,” Palladino told the Hollywood Reporter in 2011, after Jobs himself died. “A real nice fellow.”
The publication noted, however, that “Palladino’s attempts to get back in touch with Jobs after fame struck were rebuffed by Apple, whose office responded with a silence stonier than any Trappist’s.”
Related stories:
Steve Jobs dies; Apple co-founder was 56
Walter Isaacson’s ‘Steve Jobs’ biography shows Apple co-founder’s genius, flaws
Steve Jobs’s Apple legacy |
Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) are widely used in clinical practice, and have advanced the treatment of depression and other mental disorders. However, more studies are needed on the effects of decreasing and discontinuing these medications after their long-term use [1]. Withdrawal symptoms may occur with all SSRIs and serotonin-noradrenaline reuptake inhibitors (SNRIs) [1], similarly to other CNS drugs, including benzodiazepines [2,3,4] and antipsychotics [5,6]. Withdrawal from SSRIs and other CNS drugs produces psychiatric symptoms that can be confounded with true relapse or recurrence of the original illness [1,2,7]. When discontinuing or decreasing SSRIs, withdrawal symptoms must be identified to avoid prolonging treatment or giving unnecessarily high doses [6,8].
Different types of syndromes have been described with the withdrawal from SSRIs and other CNS drug classes, including benzodiazepines, antipsychotics, antidepressants, opiates, barbiturates, and alcohol: (1) new withdrawal symptoms (classic withdrawal symptoms from CNS drugs) [1,4,5,6,9,10,11,12], (2) rebound [2,6,9,13,14,15,16], and (3) persistent postwithdrawal disorders [7,17,18] (table 1). These types of withdrawal need to be differentiated from relapse and recurrence of the original illness. Relapse and recurrence are the gradual return of the original symptoms at the same intensity as before treatment, entailing a return of the same episode and a new episode of illness, respectively [6,9]. When treatment with a CNS drug is discontinued, patients can experience classic new withdrawal symptoms, rebound and/or persistent postwithdrawal disorders, or relapse/recurrence of the original illness [6,9,14]. New and rebound symptoms can occur for up to 6 weeks after drug withdrawal, depending on the drug elimination half-life [2,3], while persistent postwithdrawal or tardive disorders associated with long-lasting receptor changes may persist for more than 6 weeks after drug discontinuation. Initial withdrawal symptoms from CNS drugs have been reported to be more frequent and severe when high-potency drugs and drugs with a short elimination half-life have been used [9,10]. CNS drugs with a shorter elimination half-life and rapid onset of action also carry a higher risk of dependency and high-dose use [9,10]. Withdrawal symptoms can be relatively short-lasting, lasting for a few hours to a few weeks with complete recovery, while others may persist and last for several months [1,15,16].
Table 1
Fava et al. [1] have proposed using the terminology ‘withdrawal syndrome' to replace the term ‘discontinuation syndrome', which has been most often used to describe SSRI withdrawal. They have recommended the use of withdrawal terminology for SSRIs, rather than discontinuation, because the term discontinuation syndrome minimizes the consequences of SSRI withdrawal, separating it from other CNS drug withdrawals [1,19]. SSRI withdrawal symptoms occur when the drug's pharmacological effects diminish after drug decrease or discontinuation, which indicates an underlying pharmacological mechanism comparable to that of other CNS drug withdrawal symptoms. The terminology discontinuation refers to the medical prescribing act or a patient's self-discontinuation of medication. Furthermore, the term discontinuation syndrome is misleading since withdrawal may occur without discontinuation, for example, in between two doses of rapid-onset and short-acting drugs (e.g. clock watching syndrome) and with a decrease in medication.
Recently, Fava et al. [1] have conducted the first systematic review of SSRI withdrawal. The authors analyzed 23 studies (15 randomized controlled studies, 4 open trials, 4 retrospective investigations) and 38 case reports of SSRI withdrawal, and found both early and late onset, and short and long duration of withdrawal symptoms. This important report provides substantial evidence for SSRI withdrawal prompting the need for a new classification of withdrawal phenomena associated with SSRIs. Based on results from Fava et al. [1] and additional reports, we will illustrate three different types of withdrawal occurring when discontinuing SSRI and SNRI antidepressants. We will derive a classification for SSRI withdrawal based on withdrawal symptoms common to different CNS drug classes and specific symptoms common to SSRIs and SNRIs. Existing checklists, such as the Discontinuation-Emergent Signs and Symptoms (DESS) [20], and criteria for SSRI withdrawal symptoms [12,21] do not differentiate between different types of withdrawal. Thus, we propose diagnostic criteria for the identification of the three different types of withdrawal seen with SSRIs, including new withdrawal symptoms, rebound, and postwithdrawal persistent disorders. We will also present 3 cases, which illustrate postwithdrawal persistent disorders. Moreover, we will focus on SSRI withdrawal, noting that SNRIs produce similar types of withdrawal [1,22]. Our proposed classification aims to improve the detection and management of SSRI withdrawal, differentiating it from relapse and recurrence of the original illness. To reduce or withdraw from SSRIs with the goal of finding a minimal therapeutic dose, we must more effectively distinguish between the different types of SSRI withdrawal.
New Withdrawal Symptoms
New withdrawal symptoms for CNS drugs are classic withdrawal symptoms that are new and not part of the patient's original illness, and occur with a decrease or discontinuation of the drug [3]. They are common to all CNS drugs, including opioids, barbiturates, alcohol, antidepressants, antipsychotics, and benzodiazepines [5,10,11]. Withdrawal has been classically divided into minor and major new symptoms [4]. Different classes of CNS drugs may share common withdrawal symptoms, but may also have their own specific withdrawal symptoms. Some initial new withdrawal symptoms common to all CNS drug classes include nausea, headaches, tremor, sleep disturbances, decreased concentration, anxiety, irritability, agitation, aggression, depression, or dysphoria. Other new withdrawal symptoms that may be more specific to a certain class of CNS drugs include lacrimation, rhinorrhea, and sneezing for opiates, paroxysmal sweats for alcohol, and increased appetite for nicotine [10,23,24]. These symptoms are typically transient, reversible and usually last <6 weeks, depending on the drug elimination half-life [2,9,10,11]. However, major complications of withdrawal may occur, such as seizures, suicide and psychoses [10], and, in cases of barbiturate or alcohol abuse, even death [25]. The term ‘severe complications' has replaced the term ‘major withdrawal symptoms' [10,25]. The appearance or onset of withdrawal symptoms depends on the duration of action; for example, short-acting drugs have an early peak of onset [10]. High potency and short and intermediate half-life compounds tend to carry greater risks for withdrawal symptoms, in addition to drug dependence [6,9,10].
New withdrawal symptoms reported with SSRIs include a wide range of symptoms, both physical and psychological [1], and are found throughout different systems in the body (table 2). New withdrawal symptoms described in the literature include flu-like symptoms, headaches, nausea, diarrhea, dizziness, decreased concentration, sleep disturbances, dysphoria, irritability, and restlessness [1,12,22]. A recurrent disabling withdrawal symptom described in the literature and online by patients is a sensory symptom of electric shock sensations and electric-like waves [1,12,22,26]. In table 2, we present withdrawal symptoms from the recent systematic review by Fava et al. [1] and indicate new symptoms during SSRI withdrawal that seem to be specifically related to serotonergic pharmacology [27,28]. These specific serotonin-related symptoms include diarrhea, flu-like symptoms, dizziness, myoclonus, electric shock sensations, and premature ejaculation.
Table 2
New SSRI withdrawal symptoms have been found to occur after drug discontinuation with variable frequency and duration, depending on the SSRI which is discontinued [1,12,22]. They usually reach a peak of onset between 36 and 96 h after SSRI reduction or discontinuation, and are reversible, lasting from a few hours up to 6 weeks [1,12,22]. Data from controlled trials [15,20,29], case reports [16], and online patient reports [26] show that paroxetine is most likely to be associated with new withdrawal symptoms, and fluoxetine the least. Severity may also vary mainly according to the SSRI used [1,20].
The diagnostic criteria that we propose for new SSRI withdrawal symptoms require a duration of at least 6 months of continuous SSRI use prior to reduction or discontinuation (table 3, criterion A). We deem this treatment duration requirement necessary, so that the pharmacologic effect of the drug is well established, allowing for differentiation between withdrawal phenomena and relapse or recurrence of the original illness. If a patient has taken an SSRI for <6 months, the clinician may use a checklist, such as the DESS [20], to assess new withdrawal symptoms. Criterion B requires ≥1 new symptom, common to CNS drugs, including nausea, headaches, tremor, sleep disturbances, decreased concentration, anxiety, irritability, agitation, aggression, depression, or dysphoria. Criterion C requires ≥2 specific new symptoms related to the serotonergic system, in particular 5HT 2A and 5HT 1A receptors [28], which may be involved in SSRI withdrawal. In addition, noradrenergic CNS hyperactivity [28] likely contributes to SSRI withdrawal symptomatology. Symptoms in criteria B and C should also be characterized by a peak of onset within 36-96 h (depending on the drug duration of action) and by a symptom duration of up to 6 weeks (depending on drug elimination half-life). Symptoms cause clinically significant distress or impairment in important areas of functioning, and cannot be due to a general medical condition, another mental disorder, or substance use.
Table 3
Rebound Symptoms
Rebound symptoms are a rapid return of the patient's original symptoms at a greater intensity than before treatment [6,9]. CNS drug rebound was first reported as REM rebound, consisting of an increase in REM sleep following abrupt withdrawal of barbiturates and nonbenzodiazepine hypnotics [30,31]. These reports were followed by the demonstration of rebound insomnia in individuals with insomnia upon withdrawal of short and intermediate half-life benzodiazepines [13] and early morning insomnia with rapidly eliminated benzodiazepines [32]. Rebound anxiety [2,14] and rebound panic [15] were then reported with abrupt benzodiazepine discontinuation [9]. It has been clearly demonstrated with benzodiazepines that patients often respond rapidly to the reinstitution of the drug, which may lead to a false sense of efficacy and need for the drug. The reinforcing properties of short-acting and short-elimination half-life CNS drugs appear to be the same for all CNS drug classes [6,9]. Rebound with short-acting drugs may be best illustrated by withdrawal from cocaine and heroin, which both have a rapid onset and brief duration of action [10,23]. The prevalence of rebound is greater among patients taking benzodiazepines with short to intermediate half-lives (e.g. triazolam, lorazepam, and alprazolam) than among those taking agents with long half-lives [9,14]. This is also true for short-acting antipsychotics, such as clozapine and quetiapine, which have a fast dissociation from dopamine D 2 receptor, and have been shown to have a greater risk of rebound [6,33].
Due to the lack of classification for SSRI withdrawal, rebound symptoms in SSRI withdrawal have not been described as such in the literature. However, examination of various studies [20,34,35] shows us that this type of withdrawal occurs with SSRIs as well as with other CNS drugs. Rosenbaum et al. [20] demonstrated rebound major depression, although the authors did not describe it as such, in a double-blind withdrawal trial (5-8 days) conducted in 242 patients with major depression who had their maintenance paroxetine, sertraline or fluoxetine treatment interrupted [20]. In this study, patients taking paroxetine and sertraline developed worsened depressive symptoms on the Hamilton Depression Rating Scale and Montgomery-Asberg Depression Rating Scale after treatment interruption, and returned to baseline depression measurements after reinstitution of the treatment. New withdrawal symptoms, measured using the DESS, also appeared after paroxetine and sertraline discontinuation. Rebound depression has also been shown in another double-blind placebo-controlled paroxetine, sertraline and fluoxetine withdrawal study (5 days) [34], in which paroxetine-treated patients (n = 36) had significantly higher scores on the Hamilton Depression Rating Scale, the State Anxiety Inventory, and an adverse events checklist after drug discontinuation. Patients taking sertraline (n = 34) and those taking fluoxetine (n = 37) did not have rebound depression. In this study and the study by Rosenbaum et al. [20], the drug interruption was short (5-8 days), and it is unlikely that rebound with fluoxetine would be seen. However, as fluoxetine has a long half-life, it is also less likely to cause rebound.
The proposed diagnostic criteria for SSRI rebound withdrawal (table 4) requires at least 6 months of continuous SSRI use prior to cessation or reduction, for the same reasons discussed with regard to new withdrawal symptoms. Cessation or reduction is followed by a return of the original symptoms of the illness, such as anxiety, depression, or obsessions and compulsions. The symptoms must be characterized by the presence of at least 4 of the following criteria: greater intensity of the symptoms than before treatment, rapid appearance of the symptoms, reversible, transient, psychological belief in the need for the drug, or rapid improvement of the symptoms after reintroduction of the drug. The peak of onset and the duration of symptoms are the same as for the criteria of the new withdrawal symptoms.
Table 4
Postwithdrawal Disorders
Persistent postwithdrawal disorders or tardive receptor supersensitivity disorders have been described with the use of antipsychotic medication [7,17,18]. Tardive dyskinesia and supersensitivity psychosis are well-known postwithdrawal disorders (also called supersensitivity syndromes) [7,17,18]. Persistent postwithdrawal disorders have been described with different classes of CNS drugs (e.g. protracted insomnia for alcohol and benzodiazepine withdrawal [10,36] and major depression/dysphoria for cocaine and amphetamine withdrawal [10,23]), and even more so with specific drugs (e.g. quetiapine and paroxetine) within a drug class [6,15,16,33]. We now have increasing evidence for postwithdrawal disorders with SSRI long-term use [6,15,16,26,37]. This type of withdrawal consists of: (1) the return of the original illness at a greater intensity and/or with additional features of the illness, and/or (2) symptoms related to emerging new disorders. They persist at least 6 weeks after drug withdrawal and are sufficiently severe and disabling to have patients return to their previous drug treatment. When the previous drug treatment is not restarted, postwithdrawal disorders may last for several months to years. They may resemble rebound symptoms being more severe than the original symptoms, but these disorders persist at least 6 weeks in contrast to rebound symptoms and may include new illness features. With SSRI withdrawal, persistent postwithdrawal disorders may appear as new psychiatric disorders, in particular disorders that can be treated successfully with SSRIs and SNRIs [6,15,16,26,37]. Significant postwithdrawal illnesses found with SSRI use include anxiety disorders, tardive insomnia, major depression, and bipolar illness.
Persistent postwithdrawal panic disorder [15,38] has been shown to occur following withdrawal of paroxetine, and paroxetine has also been associated with other postwithdrawal disorders [6,15,16]. Fava et al. [16] conducted a study of gradual SSRI discontinuation in panic disorder and found that 9 of 20 patients (45%) experienced new withdrawal symptoms, and that 3 of the 9 (33%) patients treated with paroxetine had postwithdrawal disorders at 1 year of follow-up, including bipolar spectrum disorder (n = 2) and major depressive disorder (n = 1). We previously reported two types of persistent postwithdrawal psychiatric disorders (pathological gambling and generalized anxiety) with paroxetine that were treated successfully with specific cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) and medications [37]. In another study, we analyzed online reports from individuals who described postwithdrawal disorders after SSRI discontinuation [26]. The most frequent persistent postwithdrawal disorder symptoms reported online were disturbed mood, depression, emotional liability, mood swings, irritability, anxiety, insomnia, impaired concentration, and impaired memory. There were online cases of persistent postwithdrawal disorders found after the discontinuation of paroxetine, citalopram, escitalopram, and fluvoxamine, but not sertraline or fluoxetine [26].
We will now present 3 cases which further illustrate persistent postwithdrawal disorders.
Case 1: Persistent Postwithdrawal Generalized Anxiety Disorder
A woman psychiatrist had a first major depressive episode (MDE) at the age of 48. She self-diagnosed her MDE (which was later confirmed by another psychiatrist) and self-prescribed citalopram 20 mg/day for 2 years; after this time, she started tapering it to 10 mg/day. After 1 month of 10 mg/day, she discontinued citalopram. A few days later, she started to have severe symptoms of nervousness, irritability, insomnia, and hot flushes, meeting the symptom criteria for generalized anxiety disorder (GAD), except for the duration of symptoms. She had never had GAD previously. She interpreted these symptoms as a relapse of her depression, restarted citalopram 20 mg/day, and decided to ask for a consultation.
She was seen by a psychiatrist after 12 weeks of reinitiating citalopram 20 mg/day, and at that time continued to have GAD symptoms. Clonazepam 0.25 mg twice a day was started to treat her withdrawal anxiety, while continuing citalopram 20 mg/day. Citalopram was reduced to 10 mg/day after 2 weeks, while clonazepam remained unchanged. After 2 weeks on citalopram 10 mg/day, citalopram was discontinued and clonazepam was increased to 0.5 mg twice a day. The acute anxiety symptoms disappeared after 1 month of citalopram discontinuation, but some GAD symptoms persisted, such as irritability and hot flushes. For the last 3 years, she had been on clonazepam 0.25 mg twice a day, in addition to undergoing CBT, targeting anxiety and interpersonal sensitivity. The patient believes that her GAD, which she had previously never experienced, was induced by citalopram withdrawal. She is currently in remission with residual anxiety but without functional impairment. This case illustrates a persistent postwithdrawal disorder with GAD, which responded to CBT and clonazepam, but without complete recovery, still requiring clonazepam despite the completion of the CBT.
Case 2: Persistent Postwithdrawal Cyclothymic Disorder
A 37-year-old man was treated for panic disorder with agoraphobia with paroxetine 20 mg/day for 7 years. Panic disorder and agoraphobia persisted despite treatment, and any attempt to reduce paroxetine was unsuccessful. He could only leave the house to go to work, and limited his activities to what he could not refuse for work, declining any other outings for leisure, including out-of-town opportunities. When the patient sought a new consultation, he was first treated for agoraphobia with CBT. A specialized psychologist guided him with homework exposure, consisting of 10 sessions every other week. His agoraphobia improved, and a paroxetine taper was then initiated. It was first tapered to 10 mg nightly, which immediately resulted in nervousness, headache, tension, and diarrhea. After 1 week of this paroxetine dose reduction, the patient was switched to fluoxetine 20 mg/day, which resulted in new withdrawal symptoms. After 2 months, these new symptoms improved, and fluoxetine was tapered to 10 mg/day for 1 week and then discontinued. Subsequently, he developed significant cyclothymic disorder, with greatly increased reactivity to environmental stimuli and anxious distress, which lasted for 3 years. It is important to note that he had no previous history of mood disorder. He was prescribed clonazepam without a decrease in his symptoms. Three years after the discontinuation of paroxetine, the patient started to improve, and the postwithdrawal cyclothymic disorder remitted, but without complete recovery.
Case 3: Persistent Postwithdrawal MDE with Melancholic Features
A 50-year-old woman with a prior history of social phobia was prescribed citalopram 20 mg/day for a period of 5 years to treat an MDE. She had no previous history of mood disorder or family history of mood disorder. She then presented to her primary care physician with increased symptoms of depression, and citalopram was increased from 20 to 40 mg/day. She reported feeling worse with 40 mg/day, and decreased the citalopram dose back to 20 mg/day. At that time, the patient was referred for psychiatric consultation, and it was decided to discontinue citalopram. First, clonazepam was initiated at 0.5 mg twice a day to aid in the tapering of citalopram. Citalopram was tapered to 10 mg/day for 2 weeks, and then discontinued, while clonazepam was increased to 0.5 mg three times a day. After the discontinuation of citalopram, she reported new symptoms, such as sweating, agitation, and nausea, for 2 weeks. However, she also developed MDE with melancholic features accompanied by deep anhedonia, depressed mood with diurnal variation, loss of energy, guilt, and suicidal thoughts, which she had never had before. The patient was observed for an additional week, and while other withdrawal symptoms disappeared, the melancholic depression persisted. Nortriptyline 25 mg/night was added to clonazepam to treat her depression, and was gradually increased to 100 mg/day. Her depression improved after 6 weeks. After 3 months of treatment with nortriptyline, CBT was introduced to treat her social phobia. She interrupted psychotherapy after 3 sessions, but continued to take nortriptyline. After 2 years, she is still on nortriptyline 100 mg/day and clonazepam 0.5 mg three times a day. Any attempt to taper both drugs (one at the time) has been unsuccessful.
The proposed diagnostic criteria for persistent postwithdrawal disorders are presented in table 5. Criterion A requires a reduction in or discontinuation of SSRIs/SNRIs after at least 6 months of continuous use. Criterion B requires either (1) the return of the original illness at a greater intensity than before treatment and/or the return of the original illness with additional symptoms (e.g. melancholic features for depression) or (2) the appearance of symptoms related to emerging new mental disorders, including ≥1 of the following: major depression, premenstrual dysphoria, generalized anxiety, panic attacks, insomnia, obsessive-compulsive and related illness, pathological gambling, posttraumatic stress, bulimia, bipolar spectrum illness, or symptoms of other DSM mental disorders. Of note, if treated, the symptoms may not necessarily meet the DSM criteria for the duration of illness. Symptoms must persist longer than 6 weeks after drug discontinuation, and are characterized by two of the following criteria: greater severity of illness than before treatment, reversible with partial or total remission, or partial or total response to the reintroduction of the discontinued drug. In addition, the symptoms are characterized by a peak of onset ranging from 24 h to 6 weeks, depending on the duration of action and pharmacology of the discontinued drug, and may last for several months or more. Finally, the symptoms cause clinically significant distress or impairment, and cannot be due to a general medical condition, another mental disorder or substance use.
Table 5
Clinical Strategies for the Management of SSRI Withdrawal
First, the management of SSRI withdrawal should begin by identifying the different types of SSRI withdrawal. The proposed diagnostic criteria will assist in distinguishing between new withdrawal symptoms, rebound, and persistent postwithdrawal disorders, and relapse or recurrence of the illness. Checklists, such as the DESS [20], are also helpful to ensure that all new withdrawal symptoms are inquired about, particularly if the medication is withdrawn before 6 months of continuous intake. It is important to note that our proposed criteria require this minimal length of drug treatment.
Second, we recommend gradual tapering over a long period of time to discontinue an SSRI, for example, over several months if clinically appropriate. According to most studies [1,15,16,20,29], even with gradual tapering, withdrawal symptoms still occur. However, gradual tapering, rather than abrupt discontinuation, can help to control the severity of withdrawal symptoms. Furthermore, by reducing the dose gradually, a plateau period develops that can help to distinguish the development of new withdrawal symptoms, rebound, or recurrent symptoms. Of note, it may be that gradual withdrawal reduces new withdrawal and rebound symptoms, but has no effect on persistent postwithdrawal disorders.
Third, the same principles recommended for the management of alcohol, opiate and benzodiazepine withdrawal should apply to SSRIs, including the use of long half-life drugs [9,10], such as fluoxetine. Long-acting drugs with a lower potential for withdrawal, abuse, or overdose, and with a low incidence of side effects should be used. Importantly, if the patient is not already taking fluoxetine, it should be started during the tapering of the SSRIs to aid in withdrawing from it. Given the evidence for the high risk of disabling withdrawal with paroxetine, thought to be related to noradrenergic and cholinergic supersensitivity [15,35], its shorter half-life (19 h compared with 45 h for fluoxetine), and earlier steady-state concentration (7-14 days for paroxetine compared with 28-35 days with fluoxetine) [35], we recommend that paroxetine should not be given before exploring other treatment alternatives.
Fourth, optimal maintenance drug treatment consists in reducing the dose to find a minimal therapeutic dose. Clinicians should understand why it is difficult to decrease a given drug treatment for a patient, for example, due to the presence of a persistent postwithdrawal disorder. Giving low doses of SSRIs and decreasing the lengths of SSRI maintenance treatment by using adjunct treatments, such as CBT, should be considered whenever possible to try to minimize long-term receptor changes. After 2 years of maintenance treatment, many types of persistent postwithdrawal disorders may be observed. We recommend re-evaluation of overall treatment and management after 2 years of continuous SSRI use, considering the possible use of other therapies, whether as adjunct or alternative treatment.
Fifth, we previously proposed treating SSRI withdrawal with anticonvulsants [6], particularly the anticonvulsants gabapentin and lamotrigine. Anticonvulsants may be used with an antipsychotic or SSRI in order to decrease or discontinue these medications. One proposed mechanism explaining the beneficial effects of using an anticonvulsant as an adjunct to an antipsychotic in schizophrenia is its antikindling effect [39,40]. Lamotrigine may also be beneficial as an adjunctive therapy with SSRIs to treat depression as it has a depression-stabilizing effect.
Conclusion
SSRIs have provided major therapy advancement in the treatment of depression and other mental disorders. Withdrawal symptoms may occur with SSRIs, similarly to other CNS drugs, and they must be identified and differentiated from relapse and recurrence of the original illness. The proposed diagnostic criteria will permit the identification of three types of withdrawal associated with SSRIs. Differentiating withdrawal from relapse and recurrence of the original illness will allow clinicians to more effectively reduce and withdraw SSRIs, and find a minimal therapeutic dose. It is most important to recognize persistent postwithdrawal disorders to prevent unnecessarily high doses and prolonged treatment.
Disclosure Statement
G.C. has received conference honoraria within the last 3 years from Otsuka Pharmaceutical.
Related Articles:
References
Author Contacts
Prof. Dr. Guy Chouinard 416-1 McGill Street Montreal, QC H2Y 4A3 (Canada) E-Mail [email protected]
Article / Publication Details
Received: October 12, 2014
Accepted: January 06, 2015
Published online: February 21, 2015
Issue release date: March 2015 Number of Print Pages: 9
Number of Figures: 0
Number of Tables: 5 ISSN: 0033-3190 (Print)
eISSN: 1423-0348 (Online) For additional information: https://www.karger.com/PPS
Copyright / Drug Dosage / Disclaimer
Copyright: All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be translated into other languages, reproduced or utilized in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, microcopying, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher.
Drug Dosage: The authors and the publisher have exerted every effort to ensure that drug selection and dosage set forth in this text are in accord with current recommendations and practice at the time of publication. However, in view of ongoing research, changes in government regulations, and the constant flow of information relating to drug therapy and drug reactions, the reader is urged to check the package insert for each drug for any changes in indications and dosage and for added warnings and precautions. This is particularly important when the recommended agent is a new and/or infrequently employed drug.
Disclaimer: The statements, opinions and data contained in this publication are solely those of the individual authors and contributors and not of the publishers and the editor(s). The appearance of advertisements or/and product references in the publication is not a warranty, endorsement, or approval of the products or services advertised or of their effectiveness, quality or safety. The publisher and the editor(s) disclaim responsibility for any injury to persons or property resulting from any ideas, methods, instructions or products referred to in the content or advertisements. |
Easter seems like a good time to put out the results of a poll exploring an issue with clear religious connotations - namely, to what extent do New Zealanders believe in creationism versus evolution. I realise that believing in evolution doesn't necessarily mean you're not religious, and that believing in a God-created universe doesn't necessarily mean that you subscribe to any of the estabilished religions, but religion and creationism are clearly linked. The poll is from June 2012, and compares New Zealand results with those from an equivalent study in the United States (Gallup, May 2012).
We asked New Zealanders which of the following statements came closest to their views on the origin and development of human beings:
A) Human beings have developed over millions of years from less advanced forms of life, but God guided this process
B) Human beings have developed over millions of years from less advanced forms of life, but God had no part in this process
C) God created human beings pretty much in their present form at one time within the last ten thousand years or so
To keep the write-up clear, I'll refer to Statement A as 'intelligent design', Statement B as 'pure evolution' and Statement C as 'creationism'. I'm not terribly familiar with the finer details of the 'intelligent design' debate, so I'm not sure if Statement A is exactly what advocates of that theory believe in, but it seems like a reasonable way of summing it up.
EDIT: As I thought, I'm not an expert in this topic :). Blog reader Chris Banks wrote to me to let me know that the term I should have been using for Statement A is 'theistic evolution'. He says that "Intelligent Design is a school of thought which, in regards to evolution, holds that the appearance of complexity in nature cannot be explained through natural causes, instead requiring the intervention of a designer." I really appreciate that contribution, and agree that that definition of Intelligent Design is clearly different from the literal interpretation of Statement A. On the other hand, a number of the comments on the blog suggest that people were interpreting Statement A pretty much in line with the definition of Intelligent Design Chris gave me - it seems to me that some people chose Statement A because they believed the general principle of Intelligent Design even if, as Chris said, it's "not generally considered to be compatible with evolutionary theory. Katrin Schwartz makes the same point in the comments - thank you Katrin too. I checked Chris and Katrin's feedback on theistic evolution, and it does look like they're right. Check, for example, these articles: http://www.asa3.org/ASA/education/origins/te2-cr.htm and http://ncse.com/creationism/general/creationevolution-continuum. I think it's important to keep the original text intact however as it shows the context of the comments - I'll therefore just add 'theistic evolution' after most of the earlier references to 'intelligent design'.
The numbers show that, amongst New Zealanders:
26% believe in 'intelligent design' (edit: 'theistic evolution')
45% believe in 'pure evolution'
23% believe in 'creationism'
6% are unsure.
As you might expect, the American numbers are quite different:
32% of Americans believe in 'intelligent design' (edit: 'theistic evolution')
15% believe in 'pure evolution'
46% believe in 'creationism'
7% are unsure.
So three times as many New Zealanders believe in 'pure evolution', and twice as many Americans believe in 'creationism'.
49% of New Zealanders believe in some level of involvement by God (either 'intelligent design' (edit: 'theistic evolution') or 'creation'), compared with 78% of Americans. That's almost certainly related to the fact that 61% of New Zealanders believe in God (UMR SAYit poll, Sept 2011), compared with 92% of Americans (Gallup poll, May 2011).
In both countries, a belief in 'pure evolution' is related to education, although it makes less of a difference in New Zealand than it does in the US:
49% of New Zealanders with a university qualification believe in 'pure evolution', as do 29% of Americans with a university qualification.
41% of New Zealanders whose highest qualification is from high school believe in 'pure evolution', as do 11% of Americans whose highest qualification is from high school.
It's also interesting to note that, in New Zealand, belief in 'pure evolution' is highest amongst 30-44 year olds, with under 30 year olds being the most likely to believe in creationism.
18-29 year olds: 28% 'intelligent design', 39% 'pure evolution' and 28% 'creationism'
30-44 year olds: 25% 'intelligent design', 51% 'pure evolution' and 19% 'creationism'
45-59 year olds: 28% 'intelligent design', 46% 'pure evolution' and 21% 'creationism'
Over 60 year olds: 23% 'intelligent design', 43% 'pure evolution' and 24% 'creationism'
EDIT: Again, feel free to replace 'intelligent design' above with 'theistic evolution'.
All results in this blog are based on a survey of a representative sample of n=750 New Zealanders aged 18 years or older, conducted by UMR Research in June 2012. |
The poor you will always have with you. Yet as a society we can have more or less poverty. And it’s a depressing fact that British poverty has been on the rise again in recent years.
A new report from the Joseph Rowntree Foundation (JRF) highlights that a long period of reduction in poverty (defined as those living on less than 60 per cent of median incomes after housing costs) came to an end around 2010.
The child poverty rate fell from 33 per cent in 1996 to 27 per cent in 2010. But it has now risen again to 30 per cent. Pensioner poverty two decades ago was 30 per cent. It dropped to 13 per cent in 2012 but has since crept up to 16 per cent. For the population as a whole the poverty rate glided down from 24 per cent in 1995 to 21 per cent in 2014. But it has now edged back up to 22 per cent.
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The poor, with more essentials in their regular outgoings, have faced higher effective inflation rates than the more prosperous over the past decade. For those on the breadline, the latest above-inflation increase in rail fares announced by the train operating companies will feel like yet another kick in the teeth.
To a large extent this increase in poverty is a consequence of benefit cuts in the years of coalition and Conservative austerity. And the real-terms cuts in tax credits still in the pipeline, which the Chancellor Philip Hammond declined to alleviate at last month’s Budget, are set to increase the numbers in Britain living in poverty still further. Yet government cuts are not the whole story when it comes to underlying UK poverty trends.
It probably sounds rather odd to hear about a rise in UK poverty given that, as government ministers frequently remind us, more people than ever are in work. But dig into the detail and it emerges that employment is by no means the shield from poverty in modern Britain that we might imagine it to be.
As the JRF research shows, 2.7 million of the four million children in poverty in the UK live in households where an adult works. In fact, of the 13.9 million people in this country who are in poverty, some 3.7 million (a quarter) are actually in employment.
Some say poverty in working households reflects the fact that the adults don’t work enough hours.
It's true that work by the Institute for Fiscal Studies has identified a surge in part-time employment by low-income working-age men over the past two decades. In 1995 only 5 per cent of men on low hourly wages worked part-time. Today 20 per cent do. What explains this dramatic shift? The truth is we don’t fully understand it. But it seems unlikely this group has decided, en masse, to put their feet up and accept the financial consequences of a deep decline in weekly take-home wages. If they could do more hours they probably would.
Moreover, other IFS work suggests that the prevalence of poverty among working families with children stems from weak earnings among full-time male earners in single-earner households, rather than an explosion of part-time work.
The labour market does not seem to be providing the opportunities and rewards it used to, particularly for lower earning men. The tax and benefits system has taken up a degree of the slack by boosting the incomes of the low-paid through tax credits. The minimum wage has helped too. But the underlying problem of a labour market that is not delivering for those at the lower end is significant and seems to be getting bigger.
What’s the answer? Halting the working-age welfare cuts is an obvious imperative. Ramping up social-housing construction should alleviate this group’s punishing housing costs (as a share of their income). Further increases in the minimum wage are useful, although they cannot be the dominant lever of assistance. For the long term, a serious step-up in public and private investment in skills is sorely needed. To some extent the poverty problem today is chickens coming home to roost; underspending on education and training has almost certainly contributed to weak productivity and low pay.
For the immediate term, more stimulative government fiscal policy to support demand would likely help. The surge in part-time work among low-income working-age men is further evidence of a degree of hidden slack in the economy.
Perhaps the first job, though, is to change our public discourse. Despite propaganda to the contrary, poverty in 21st century Britain is not the consequence of a feckless or work-shy section of the population. It is the consequence of work that does not pay enough and a labour market that is not providing the opportunities that we need it to.
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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PRE-ORDER The Lucid Collective
Guitars shred with blazing fury and relentlessly plucked strings at break neck speed. Vicious vocals snap and swarm rapidly fired over whirlwind complex drum patterns in a potent display of 21st century extremity. ARCHSPIRE unleash an insane attack of blistering technical death metal on their second full length "The Lucid Collective", which marks the band's debut on Season of Mist. The collective from Vancouver in British Columbia, Canada emerged in the year 2009, after a prelude under the moniker DEFENESTRATED beginning in 2007. ARCHSPIRE joined the fast side of tech death, which is remarkably strong within the Canadian metal scene as legendary GORGUTS or their label mates BEYOND CREATION prove. Their debut album "All Shall Align", released in 2011 immediately made a big impact with the aficionados of their chosen style and invited critics to name famed OBSCURA among their peers. This was and still remains to be accompanied by an original lyrical concept revolving around misanthropic themes painted on a background based in science fiction worlds. Yet ARCHSPIRE impressively demonstrate on "The Lucid Collective" that they are delivering more than just a collection of chops and blast beasts. These eight tracks showcase a fast-rising band with supreme mastery of dynamics going hand in hand with determined aggression. "The Lucid Collective" is a definitive statement of intent by one of death metal's most exciting new bands!
Tracklisting
1. Lucid Collective Somnambulation
2. Scream Feeding
3. The Plague of AM
4. Fathom Infinite Depth
5. Join Us Beyond
6. Seven Crowns and the Oblivion Chain
7. Kairos Chamber
8. Spontaneous Generation
Line-up
Oli Peters: vocals
Tobi Morelli: guitar
Spencer Prewett: drums
Dean Lamb: guitar
Jaron Evil: bass, vocals |
It’s not always easy negotiating Amsterdam’s complex cityscape, jammed with proudly texting bicyclists, narrow canals and traffic-choked streets.
WEpods may one day be the best option of all.
As the world’s first autonomous shuttle using public roads, WEpods promise mobility — with the security and safety delivered up by a system trained using sophisticated deep learning techniques.
The autonomous pods — powered by our DRIVE PX self-driving vehicle technology — are now being tested on public roads in the Dutch province of Gelderland. The system lets riders summon a shuttle by just tapping on their smartphone (see “WEpod Becomes First Driverless Car to Play in Traffic”).
One of the tidy white mini-buses is at our inaugural GTC Europe to give attendees rides. Step aboard a pod — which has seating for six — and your view out of the expansive windows is unimpeded by a driver hunched over a wheel at the front. In fact there is no steering wheel. No pedals either.
Aided by cameras, radar and laser sensors, the shuttle travels a loop of several hundred meters in front of the Amsterdam Passenger Terminal, where our event is hosted, smoothly executing a U-turn at one end of its route.
The driverless shuttle navigated a public road filled with bicycles, cars and trucks dropping off goods to nearby stores. And, of course, there’s always that one dude. A jaywalker stepped in front of the shuttle, just to see if it will stop in time. It always does, even if the WEpods — which are still in development — occasionally need a nudge from the engineer riding on board to get it going again after its emergency stop. |
2nd and 1st-century BC Roman consul
For the Manius Aquilius who was consul in 129 BC, see Manius Aquillius (consul 129 BC)
Manius Aquillius (died 88 BC), a member of the ancient Roman gens Aquillia, was consul in 101 BC.
Probably a son of Manius Aquillius, consul in 129, Aquillius was a loyal follower of Gaius Marius. During the election campaign for Marius's fourth consulship, Aquillius was left in command of the army in case the migrating Cimbri attacked before Marius could return to command the army himself.
As a reward for his loyal services, Gaius Marius ran with Aquillius under a joint ticket for the consulship of 101. After the consulship, with Rome struggling with famine caused by the slave revolt in Sicily, Aquillius was sent to put it down. Aquilius completely subdued Salvius and his insurgents and got an ovation in Rome in 100.[1] In 98, Aquillius was accused by Lucius Fufius of maladministration in Sicily. In the trial, he was defended by Marcus Antonius, Consul in 99, and even if there was sufficient evidence of his guilt, he was acquitted because of his bravery in the war.[2]
In 90, Aquillius was sent as ambassador to Asia Minor to restore Nicomedes IV of Bithynia, who had recently been expelled from his kingdom by Mithridates VI of Pontus. However, after achieving this, Aquillius then encouraged Nicomedes to raid Pontic territory. This prompted a furious backlash from Mithridates in 89, whose counter-attack began the First Mithridatic War.[3]
Mithridates defeated Aquillius in 88 near Protostachium. Aquillius was attempting to make his way back to Italy and managed to make it to Lesbos, where he was delivered to Mithridates by the inhabitants of Mytilene. After being taken to the mainland, he was then placed on a donkey and paraded back to Pergamon. On the trip, he was forced to confess his supposed crimes against the peoples of Anatolia. Aquillius's father, the elder Manius Aquillius, was a former Roman governor of Pergamon and was hated for the egregious taxes that he imposed. It was generally thought that Manius Aquillius the younger would follow in the footsteps of his father as a tax profiteer and was hated by some of the local peoples.[5]
Aquillius was eventually executed by Mithridates by having molten gold poured down his throat.[5] The method of execution became famous and, according to some unreliable accounts,[6] was repeated by Parthian contemporaries to kill Marcus Licinius Crassus who was at the time the richest man in Rome and a member of the First Triumvirate.[5]
Notes [ edit ]
References [ edit ] |
THIS summer, I’ve traded in my usual hijab for a turban. The biggest consequence of this is not physical. It’s a matter of perception: I am no longer immediately identified as Muslim. I could just be protecting my hair from the outside elements or protecting the outside elements from my uncooperative hair. I could just be from some obscure African country — and coincidentally, I am. Or I could just be a little too obsessed with Zadie Smith.
The transformation is a success. Friends who have not seen me in a while do a double take, ask if I’ve lost weight. No one wonders if I am “hot in that” — in the summertime, this tops my hijabi F.A.Q. list — but someone does ask me if I am Caribbean. I bask in compliments and entertain runway dreams. Life is newly marvelous.
It is a shame that I did not discover this hack earlier. In high school, I was not a cool kid. I had always assumed that my modest appearance — an aesthetic disruption in a sea of girls sporting Lululemon leggings and crop tops — was at least partly to blame. When a hijabi named Zarifeh Shalabi was elected prom queen in Fontana, Calif., last year, I was just as surprised as the rest of the world.
At the time, my own prom adventures were not going as well as Ms. Shalabi’s. While her friends were rallying to get her elected against the odds, mine were proving exceedingly useless in the struggle to somehow coerce my high school crush into asking me to prom in the few moments we shared in between second period United States history and third period A.P. macroeconomics. |
Hey there, Descenters!
Vanquish enemies with drone-hunting plasma balls, select the match you want, unlock hidden treasures, and enjoy the grandeur of another user-created map, Skylab- all in earthshaking VR!
Wait, what? VR? Yep - VR !!
Oculus Rift and HTC Vive!
NEW STUFF & Patch Notes (2045)
SKYLAB - A high-tech orbital facility (based on perfectpencil's cool design) welcomes rock jocks from around the Belt!
MATCH BROWSER - Clicking "Multiplayer" in the Drone Bay now shows all currently running matches as well as offering the ability to Quick Match and to Create matches. You can click on matches to join them.
SMART MISSILE - A powerful rocket- on impact it emits tracking plasma blobs that home in on foes!
SECURITY KEYS - Some doors now require special security keys to open! In multiplayer, these drop from destroyed ships.
INVULNERABILITY ORB - Precious moments of complete invulnerability could be yours, if you find this elusive purple orb!
VR ENHANCEMENTS - New VR menus and gaze pointer.
Oculus SDK 1.3 - All Oculus headsets need to be updated to the latest runtime (and the DK2 can still work with this version despite warnings in the installer). Many Oculus users will need to enable "Unknown Sources" in Oculus app-> Gear menu-> Settings-> General because of default Oculus Store settings.
The Shaman's tools take longer to repair friendly ships.
Flares now cast more light and move a little faster.
Small changes and bug stomping.
Combat, Graphics, and Sound The explosion particle effect for destructibles took some much needed holiday in Rio and is currently visiting Mr. Drax. The Drone Bay has too many lights and so some people are getting poor performance while admiring their ships. Objects near the corners of the screen can experience "barrel distortion" because of the way that 3D objects are mapped to a 2D screen. Using the Field-of-View slider can help with this in some cases. Our guard bots in "Vs. Bots" mode did not pass the Drone Efficiency Recruitment Protocol and need more education. Collisions are more sticky than they are supposed to be, sometimes causing ships to catch on each other.
Launching, Installing, and Platforms Installer & Launcher need to be run as administrator on Windows. Streaming software may need to run as administrator to capture video. Standalone (non-Steam) launcher not correctly self-updating on Linux and Macintosh. Uninstalling & reinstalling the launcher may not properly clear settings. Steam Overlay doesn't work on Mac and Linux. Part of the ship selection panel in the Drone Bay can get cut off on 4:3 displays. Selecting a 16:9 resolution can sometimes help with this.
Input In VR, drop-down menus may not respond properly. Some menus are not interacting with the VR head-look pointer correctly. The axis configuration menu is somewhat clunky and uses too-technical language (power changes the curvature of the sensitivity curve, factor scales the sensitivity curve) Linux appears to not be detecting joysticks in many cases. Many joysticks do not yet have a default mapping and need to be configured manually. Controller customization issues are still being experienced by some users. Control customization needs a "reset to defaults" button. If you are having mouse issues, please make sure that your Mouse axes and sensitivities are NOT inverted and reversed at the same time. Multiple joysticks of the same model cannot currently be distinguished by the game.
Matches Private matches can launch even if some players are marked "not ready". Auto-start timer in the match lobby doesn't yet display. Keep an eye on the status shown above for an indication as to how soon your match will start. There may be a wait for matches at times. While our all-backer player base is much larger than the beta pool, player play times can vary. In a match lobby, gamepad users sometimes cannot exit the lobby using the gamepad. All servers are currently in the U.S., other locations are planned.
If you need to get the installer, CLICK HERE for instructions.This test is public and we are happy if people want to share on Twitch and YouTube. In the event that something is running poorly or breaks while you're streaming, please let your viewers know that this is an Early Access build that you are playtesting. It is NOT the final retail release.If you do plan to stream, you may need to run your streaming software as an administrator.Our game manual is a series of forum posts:If you have any questions about downloading or playing the game, that's the best place to check for a quick answer.
Bug Reporting
Please report bugs in our bug reporting forum with as much specificity as possible. If you can provide screenshots, that's awesome!
We've also compiled a list of known issues so that you can skip those when reporting bugs.
Fly safe!
-Dunk |
Cumbria police confirmed today that Derrick Bird, who went on the rampage in the UK's worst shooting incident since the Dunblane massacre, had been a licensed gun holder for 20 years.
Twelve people were confirmed dead and three were fighting for their lives after the taxi driver went on the apparently indiscriminate shooting spree across a swath of Cumbrian countryside.
Bird, 52, shot dead his twin brother and at least one colleague before driving through rural west Cumbria firing seemingly at random at people in towns, villages and on country roads and then killing himself.
More than 100 detectives are beginning to piece together the full sequence of events and trying to establish the gunman's motive.
Eleven people were injured, three critically, during the three-and-a-half hour shooting spree which paralysed the county as police, hunting him on the ground and by air, ordered a lockdown.
Cumbria police said they might never completely uncover the reason for what they described as the "most exceptional and challenging incident" the small force had ever dealt with. Last night, they were examining 30 crime scenes.
The alarm was raised in the harbour town of Whitehaven at 10.30am. By then, it is believed, Bird's twin brother, David, and the family solicitor, Kevin Commons, were already dead. It ended only when the gunman's body was found in a copse outside the hamlet of Boot at 1.40pm.
Two guns were recovered by police, a .22 rifle with a telescopic sight and a shotgun.
The deputy chief constable of Cumbria constabulary, Stuart Hyde, confirmed this morning that Bird was licensed to carry weapons.
Speaking in Whitehaven, Hyde said: "He had a shotgun certificate and a firearms licence for weapons, but we do not know at this stage whether the weapons that we recovered are those he was licensed for. A detailed ballistic examination is being undertaken to confirm this."
He confirmed that a local solicitor, Kevin Commons, aged 60, who worked for KJ Common solicitors, was among the 12 victims.
The home secretary, Theresa May, is due to make a statement on the killings in the House of Commons later today.
There were unconfirmed reports that Bird, from Rowrah, near Frizington, who was divorced with two sons and had recently become a grandfather, had argued with colleagues on the taxi rank the previous night.
One friend, Peter Leder, told CNN Bird had said to him: "You won't see me again."
According to one woman in Whitehaven, Bird "shook them [his colleagues] by the hands one by one and said there's going to be a rampage in this town tomorrow and it's going to start with my mother ... They just laughed and didn't take him seriously".
Others spoke of a reported family row over the will of Bird's seriously ill mother, involving Commons. Commons's home was last night cordoned off by police, and letters from his law firm were visible on a windowsill of Bird's home.
It is thought that after killing his brother and Commons, Bird headed to Whitehaven and shot a fellow taxi driver named locally as Darren Rewcastle. Witnesses said Bird then drove through the town with a gun hanging out of his car window. Police released a map showing Bird's progress south to Egremont, Gosforth and Seascale, where the killings continued.
One witness, Barrie Moss, said he was cycling through Egremont when he came face to face with the killer, who had just got out of his car. Bird, carrying "this absolutely huge sniper rifle", stared at him before driving away, Moss said. He then saw that an older woman carrying bags of shopping had been shot. Moss described how he and another man cradled the woman as she died: "He must have seen her, stopped, got out and shot her point blank in the back of the head. I don't think anybody could have done anything."
Further south, in Seascale, another witness, John Reeves, said he was loading his car when he heard two gunshots and ran out of his house. "As I turned the corner there was this poor chap on a bike and he had been shot, he was turned to the wall and this car had sped off. A few of us tried to help this poor man, but he was gone."
As the shootings progressed a police lockdown of the area saw shops, offices and even the Sellafield nuclear reprocessing plant close their doors. Helicopters and armed officers from other police forces were brought in to help in the hunt. Cumbria's deputy chief constable, Stuart Hyde, said police had yet to establish whether it was a premeditated or random attack. "This has shocked the people of Cumbria and around the country to the core," he said.
It was a "terrifying and horrific incident", he said. "Our thoughts go out to all the family and friends and colleagues of those killed or injured in this tragedy."
Jamie Reed, the Copeland MP, said: "We will be doing everything we can now as a community, coming together to help the families of the victims, to help everyone that has been affected by this. That is our priority."
The Queen said she was "deeply shocked by the appalling news" and expressed sympathy to those affected.
David Cameron pledged to assist communities "shattered" by the killings. "The government will do everything it possibly can to help the local community and those affected," he told MPs.
Theresa May said the events were "very serious and tragic". "Our thoughts are with the families and friends of the victims of these shootings. "It's a terrible incident that has taken place in Cumbria today, but I would like to pay tribute to the way in which the police and emergency services have worked very closely together to deal with this incident. It is the third tragedy to hit west Cumbria in six months, following the devastating floods last year and the deaths of three people, including two schoolchildren, in a coach crash on the A66 last week."
Many among the injured were taken to West Cumberland hospital in Whitehaven, where a major incident was declared and routine operations cancelled, and to hospitals in Carlisle and Newcastle-upon-Tyne.
Bird's spree is the biggest mass shooting since Thomas Hamilton killed 16 children and an adult at Dunblane primary school in March 1996, before killing himself. |
North Korea announced on January 6 that it conducted a successful H-bomb nuclear test of a miniaturized warhead. Prior to the announcement, sensors had detected a 5.1 magnitude seismic event at the same approximate location of North Korea’s 2013 nuclear test. Nuclear experts are continuing to analyze the data, but preliminary assessments are that North Korea did conduct its fourth nuclear test. South Korea has convened an emergency cabinet meeting to consider its response.
Seismologists can distinguish between natural earthquakes and man-made explosions since each has distinctive characteristics. The South Korean meteorological administration stated, “considering the waveform and the amplitude of the earthquake, it seems certain that it was an artificial quake. [There is] the high possibility of it being a nuke test.” An estimated size of the explosion has not been determined nor have radioactive isotopes — which would confirm a nuclear explosion — yet been detected.
Satellite imagery had shown excavation and preparatory activity at the Punggye-ri nuclear test site during the past two years. However, no indications of an imminent nuclear test were detected prior to the explosion.
North Korean leader Kim Jong-un asserted last month that his country had built a hydrogen nuclear bomb to “defend its sovereignty and the dignity of the nation.” Kim’s initial assertion about hydrogen bombs was met with expert skepticism, and it may be more likely that Pyongyang has achieved a boosted fission rather than a fusion bomb. Such a weapon would be larger than its first three nuclear tests (and the 1945 U.S. atomic weapons) but not of the magnitude from a hydrogen fusion bomb.
If confirmed, North Korea’s fourth nuclear test, particularly of an improved weapons, is a dangerous development. Coupled with ongoing development of several different missile systems, North Korea poses an increasing direct threat to the United States, South Korea, and Japan.
Experts estimate that Pyongyang currently has 10-16 nuclear weapons with potentially as many as 50-100 by 2020. North Korea has likelyalready achieved warhead miniaturization, the ability to place nuclear weapons on its medium-range missiles, and a preliminary ability to reach the continental United States with a missile.
What Washington Should Do:
Washington should be consulting with Seoul and Tokyo to devise a common response to a North Korean missile launch. The allied response should include:
Convene the UN Security Council to implement a new resolution to impose strong punitive sanctions and close loopholes, such as including Article 42 of Chapter VII of the U.N. Charter, which allows for enforcement by military means. This would authorize naval ships to intercept, board, and inspect North Korean ships suspected of transporting precluded nuclear, missile, and conventional arms, components, or technology.
to implement a new resolution to impose strong punitive sanctions and close loopholes, such as including Article 42 of Chapter VII of the U.N. Charter, which allows for enforcement by military means. This would authorize naval ships to intercept, board, and inspect North Korean ships suspected of transporting precluded nuclear, missile, and conventional arms, components, or technology. Call upon all U.N. member nations to fully implement existing U.N. resolution requirements to prevent North Korea’s procurement and export of missile-related and WMD-related items and technology and freeze the financial assets of any involved North Korean or foreign person, company, or government entity. Any violating government, business, bank, or individual should be subject to sanctions.
to prevent North Korea’s procurement and export of missile-related and WMD-related items and technology and freeze the financial assets of any involved North Korean or foreign person, company, or government entity. Any violating government, business, bank, or individual should be subject to sanctions. Adopt a more comprehensive list of prohibited items and materials. The U.N. Experts Group identified several items and materials critical to Pyongyang’s nuclear programs that should be—but have not been—added to the list of products banned for transfer to North Korea.
The U.N. Experts Group identified several items and materials critical to Pyongyang’s nuclear programs that should be—but have not been—added to the list of products banned for transfer to North Korea. Publicly identify and sanction all foreign companies, financial institutions, and governments assisting North Korea’s nuclear and missile programs . Target financial and regulatory measures against any entity suspected of helping North Korean nuclear, missile, and conventional arms; criminal activities; money laundering; or import of luxury goods.
. Target financial and regulatory measures against any entity suspected of helping North Korean nuclear, missile, and conventional arms; criminal activities; money laundering; or import of luxury goods. Impose third-party sanctions . The U.S. should penalize entities, particularly Chinese financial institutions and businesses, that trade with those on the sanctions list or export prohibited items. The U.S. should also ban financial institutions that conduct business with North Korean violators from access to the U.S. financial network.
. The U.S. should penalize entities, particularly Chinese financial institutions and businesses, that trade with those on the sanctions list or export prohibited items. The U.S. should also ban financial institutions that conduct business with North Korean violators from access to the U.S. financial network. Augment U.S. sanctions. President Obama’s assertion that North Korea is the most heavily sanctioned country in the world is simply not true. Washington has targeted fewer North Korean entities than those of the Balkans, Burma, Cuba, Iran, and Zimbabwe. The U.S. has targeted more than twice as many Zimbabwean entities than North Korean. Nor has Washington designated North Korea as a primary money-laundering concern as it did Iran and Burma.
For its part, South Korea should:
Resume propaganda broadcasts along the DMZ , dramatically increasing broadcasting into North Korea including assessing the viability of using drones along the North’s coasts, and removing any restrictions on non-government organizations sending information leaflets via balloons into North Korea. The August land mine crisis showed the sensitivity of the Kim Jong Un regime to information psychological operations.
, dramatically increasing broadcasting into North Korea including assessing the viability of using drones along the North’s coasts, and removing any restrictions on non-government organizations sending information leaflets via balloons into North Korea. The August land mine crisis showed the sensitivity of the Kim Jong Un regime to information psychological operations. Sever its involvement in the Kaesong industrial park. The joint business venture was always more on political than economic objectives. Since its inception, the Kaesong venture failed to achieve its primary objective of inducing economic and political reform in North Korea and moderating the regime’s belligerent foreign policy.
The joint business venture was always more on political than economic objectives. Since its inception, the Kaesong venture failed to achieve its primary objective of inducing economic and political reform in North Korea and moderating the regime’s belligerent foreign policy. Request U.S. deployment of the THAAD missile defense system. South Korea’s indigenous missile defense system is insufficient to defend against North Korea’s growing nuclear and missile threat.
North Korea’s nuclear test is a serious and irreparable violation of numerous UN Security Council resolutions. It reflects Pyongyang’s continued pursuit of its prohibited nuclear weapons programs in open defiance of the international community despite countless attempts by the U.S. and its allies to reach a diplomatic resolution.
The regime has repeatedly asserted it has no intention of ever abandoning its nuclear weapons, even revising its constitution to enshrine itself as a nuclear weapons state. North Korea’s continuing improvement and augmentation of its nuclear arsenal threatens the United States and its allies.
It is time for the Obama Administration to abandon its policy of timid incrementalism and fully implement existing U.S. laws by imposing stronger sanctions on North Korea and work with Congress to determine additional measures.
This piece also appeared at the Heritage Foundation
Main picture: E. Lafforgue |
An important part of SMART Living 365 is creating happiness. But what do I mean by happiness? Unfortunately, many people in America seem to be working to either buy happiness or make happiness happen, and that can actually lead to more stress and dissatisfaction than anything else. So, before we go further, let’s explore what happiness is, and isn’t—how we can experience it—and why should we want it in the first place.
Several years ago, a popular saying was “He who dies with the most toys wins.” That unfortunately is what many people think when they think of happiness. Even if we don’t admit it, most of us consider collecting cool “stuff” as a reflection of a successful and happy life. An interesting example of that came from some good friends of ours who told us recently that they feel good about giving their children everything they ask for—because they can. They work hard to be able to afford nice things and want to share that with their children. They admitted that it makes them “happy” to see their children happy when fulfilling their desires.
That’s where it gets tricky. Most all of us enjoy making other people happy—especially those we love. Unfortunately, we get trapped into a belief that starts to look and feel a lot like it’s the “stuff” that is delivering the result that we crave. Unfortunately, that stuff (or as I like to call the really shiny, good stuff, “bling”) gives the recipient an endorphin high the instant they get their hands on it. Unfortunately, similar to a drug, the high is quickly dissipated and it isn’t long before the addict needs another fix to achieve the same thing. In other words, “bling” is not happiness. Bling is a drug that makes the receiver feel good for a while and then it’s gone. Unfortunately, anyone who gives bling to another hoping to see a smile on their face and love in their eyes, maybe re-enforcing an addiction to stuff—and destroying the ability to find true happiness without it.
A recent book entitled Red Flags or Red Herrings? Predicting Who Your Child Will Become by Susan Engel explains this erroneous idea of happiness by saying “…a culture of consumption like ours puts forth highly seductive messages suggesting that happiness comes from enjoying a string of positive events or a life of ease or acquiring things, known as hedonic happiness.” The book goes on to clarify, “Anyone who seeks it (happiness) in acquisition will be doomed to disappointment; hedonic pleasures have limited staying power.”
So, if happiness isn’t bling, what is it? One thing that is clear is that true happiness isn’t something you get; it’s something you experience. That’s why it is understandable to call it a journey. Susan Engel explains it pretty well by saying, “Psychologists and philosophers find that happiness derives from having a sense of purpose and feeling useful.” She goes on to say, “…happiness isn’t something you can pursue directly. It’s a byproduct of other things, most notably working toward meaningful goals.”
Besides being a journey, psychologists also believe that happiness is a reflection of how we think. As humans, we have an information filtering system that allows us to either seek out and process positive information or to do the opposite—seek out and process negative information. Equally destructive is catastrophizing or assuming the worst outcome from any possible event. Ask anyone who watches the television news channels religiously and you can witness how a person can get sucked into seeking out and processing negative information that ends up making them feel horrible.
So how can we experience more happiness? A good place to start is to stop expecting to find it in bling. In fact, many times we end up working harder (at jobs we dislike) in order to buy bling for others or ourselves. Not only does the bling not bring happiness, but all the extra work and stress from work ends up making us even less happy than before. Remember, any enjoyment from bling is temporary. True happiness is an experience of having purpose in your life and working towards meaningful goals.
And never forget that we can also work on our happiness filter. Stay away from negative information (like any TV or newspaper news) and stay away from negative people. Instead, surround yourself with positive information and people who are joyful and happy no matter what. And keep in mind what Susan Engel says, “Happiness comes not from a magical power to escape setbacks but the ability to rebound from them, also known as resilience.” When you think about it, it is easy to see that happiness is a journey–sometimes that journey is successfully reaching that meaningful goal, and other times it is nothing more than a simple and sincere choice to be happy in spite of it all. In the end, that understanding of happiness may be the greatest gift we can give others and ourselves as we strive to live SMART 365.
“Each morning when I open my eyes I say to myself: I, not events, have the power to make me happy or unhappy today. I can choose which it shall be. Yesterday is dead, tomorrow hasn’t arrived yet. I have just one day, today, and I’m going to be happy in it.” – Groucho Marx |
The Ku Klux Klan protests on July 8, 2017, in Charlottesville, Virginia. (Photo: Chet Strange / Getty Images)
The August 12 “Unite the Right” rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, looks like it will be the largest organized racist demonstration in recent memory. But that’s not the only reason it is important. First, while there have been dozens of far-right rallies since Trump’s election, this will be the first major, national rally run by the alt-right’s openly white nationalist wing. Second, after months of arguments, this is also an opportunity for a large swath of progressives to come together in opposition to the far right.
Charlottesville has seen multiple white nationalist rallies this year. The first, a May 2017 daytime event, was followed by a nighttime torchlight photo-op. Led by alt-right poster boy Richard Spencer, attendees chanted Nazi slogans like “blood and soil.” The second, in July, was a KKK rally. This time, counter-protesters were out in force; one outlet put the numbers at 30 KKK supporters versus 1,000 protesters. But the police arrested 23 counter-protesters, and some counter-protesters were charged with a felony for merely wearing a mask.
The white nationalist rallies are ostensibly being held to oppose the removal of a statue of former Confederate Army General Robert E. Lee. The city council agreed to the removal in April, but it is being fought in the courts. Now white nationalists are making a show of force at rallies based on this increasingly strained pretext.
Since Trump took power in February, there have been numerous far right marches, which have congealed into a street protest movement. I have dubbed it “Independent Trumpism” because, while it fanatically supports Trump and his anti-immigrant and Islamophobic politics, the organizing happens outside of the Republican Party apparatus itself.
These started as supposed “free speech” rallies — in reality, ultra-nationalist gatherings to show they could hold the streets after antifascists forced the cancellation of a Milo Yiannopoulos talk at the University of California, Berkeley, in February 2017.
The marches then branched out to both oppose the removal of Confederate statutes, and support Islamophobic rallies like June’s “March Against Sharia.” Mostly they have been organized by “alt-lite” activists, who stop just short of embracing a homogenous white country, with everyone from Trumpist Republicans to militias to open fascists in attendance. And while Richard Spencer did not go to any of them, fascist groups like Identity Evropa and Vanguard America did — although they were not key organizers and tended to have a low-key presence.
This week’s “Unite the Right” event will be different. While attempting to pull from the same broad pool of Trumpists, this time the rally will be led by a star-studded cast of fascist and other white nationalist leaders and groups. Those supporting it claim over a thousand people will come.
Richard Spencer will headline the event; he attended college in Charlottesville and given the repeated rallies, it looks like he hopes to turn the town into an organizing base. Another famous alt-right figure, Mike Enoch of The Right Stuff, will also speak.
The organizer of “Unite the Right,” Jason Kessler, is a white nationalist who wrote for the Daily Caller. Embracing the racist creed that white people are an oppressed group, he’s said that “the number one thing” he wants from the rally is “to destigmatize Pro-White advocacy.”
Kessler originally sought the attendance of a wider swath of Trumpist activists, going so far as to denounce the earlier KKK rally. But as the event approaches, it has become more clearly an open white nationalist — and even neo-Nazi — event. Four groups in the Nationalist Front, a national umbrella organization of racist groups, are attending. Matthew Heimbach of the fascist Traditionalist Worker Party and Michael Hill of the neo-Confederate League of the South will both speak. The National Socialist Movement, the largest US neo-Nazi party, recently announced it will attend. (Their presence is the welcome sign for hardened, open neo-Nazis — who’ve generally shied away from being visible at past alt-right events — to come in force.) And last, the fascist alt-right group Vanguard America, which recently joined the Nationalist Front, will be there.
They will be joined by alt-right figures who stop just short of claiming the mantle of racial purity for themselves, but will happily collaborate with those who do. These include Augustus Invictus, a Florida lawyer who has defended the neo-Nazi skinhead gang American Front and ran as a Libertarian Party candidate for Senate, and Baked Alaska, a former Buzzfeed editor who now promotes white nationalism. Members of the alt-right fight gang the Proud Boys are also expected.
While this is a mess of fascists and their friends, some are still attempting to portray the “Unite the Right” as a neutral event. The fascist Traditionalist Worker Party says “the event’s not about race” and that they welcome “non-White allies.”
The left is organizing in response to the rally, although not nearly on the same national scale. This will be a mistake, however, if a thousand Nazis take the streets and proceed to make Charlottesville a new base. If there is one thing that I learned from witnessing the Nazi and Klan boom in the 1980s and ’90s, it was that Nazis hate opposition. If you give a Nazi organizer an inch, they will be thrilled by the lack of resistance and proceed to take a mile. Floyd Cochran, an Aryan Nations organizer during this period, revealed that if his group encountered resistance in towns they targeted for recruitment, they moved on.
Regional groups have been organizing against “Unite the Right.” These include chapters of Showing Up for Racial Justice, Black Lives Matter and Redneck Revolt, as well as socialist, anarchist and antifascist groups. A coalition of religious progressives, Congregate Charlottesville, has called for “1,000 clergy and faith leaders to join” the counter-protest, and Cornel West has said he will attend.
Following the demonstrations in Berkeley at the beginning of the year, a number of progressives issued vocal criticisms of the use of confrontational strategies against the far right. These attacks by moderates on antifascist radicals helped lower attendance at counter-demonstrations. Simultaneously, the far right was able to create an unusual Trumpist Republican-Nazi-militia street coalition. This has helped propel far right organizing to new heights.
While arguments on the Left over how to deal with the Far Right go back many decades, the strategy of sitting by and doing no more than documenting its rise because opposing it “will give them attention” has never been a successful approach. Neither has counting on law enforcement to arrest those who break the law.
In practice, since February, few groups outside of antifascist circles have done national-level, longer-term, nuts-and-bolts organizing on the ground against the organized far-right groups. For example, there has been no new wave of regional anti-far-right groups like those which existed in the 1980s and ’90s. These groups did not engage in militant direct action but did build grassroots opposition to Nazi and Klan groups. But, outside of Redneck Revolt, there is not even a sustained effort to create online counter-propaganda. (Although one of the few initiatives by moderate groups has been to limit the far right’s use of social media and online fundraising platforms.) There have been localized demonstrations — in Portland in June after the murder of two men by an Islamophobic racist, and later in the month against a national day of Islamophobic rallies — but these haven’t gelled into any coherent organization or strategy.
The Charlottesville rally has the potential to unite differing radical and progressive activists who oppose white nationalist organizing, and this opportunity should not be squandered. A broad-based, progressive coalition of groups with different analyses and approaches is needed to counter this new, reinvigorated far right. If these groups can’t cooperate, they should at least be able to leave each other alone to pursue their own strategies. But that should not mean staying home and ignoring public far right activism. When far right organizers try to take over our cities, the one thing that progressives can’t do is to respond with silence. In the face of an aggressive racist movement, silence is consent. |
"It would not make sense for us to see a top priority as going after recreational users in states that have determined that it's legal," President Obama tells Barbara Walters in an ABC interview that airs tonight. "We've got bigger fish to fry."
Do those "bigger fish" include licensed growers and suppliers of state-legal marijuana? Because that's the real issue here, as Jacob Sullum explained yesterday:
The federal government, which accounts for less than 1 percent of the country's marijuana arrests, almost never handles cases involving such small quantities and does not have the resources to do so in any significant way. The real question is not whether the DEA will start busting newly legal pot smokers (even those who grow their own, as permitted in Colorado) but whether it will raid, close down, and prosecute state-licensed commercial growers and retailers.
Alas, Obama doesn't say whether he'll continue to go after licensed and regulated suppliers. More from his interview with Walters:
Obama told Walters he does not – "at this point" – support widespread legalization of marijuana. But he cited shifting public opinion and limited government resources as reasons to find a middle ground on punishing use of the drug. "This is a tough problem, because Congress has not yet changed the law," Obama said. "I head up the executive branch; we're supposed to be carrying out laws. And so what we're going to need to have is a conversation about, How do you reconcile a federal law that still says marijuana is a federal offense and state laws that say that it's legal?" The president said he has asked Attorney General Eric Holder and the Justice Department to examine the legal questions surrounding conflicting state and federal laws on drugs. "There are a number of issues that have to be considered, among them the impact that drug usage has on young people, [and] we have treaty obligations with nations outside the United States," Holder said Wednesday of the review underway. "When you're talking about drug kingpins, folks involved in violence, people who are peddling hard drugs to our kids and our neighborhoods that are devastated, there is no doubt we need to go after those folks hard," said Obama. "It makes sense for us to look at how we can make sure that our kids are discouraged from using drugs and engaging in substance abuse generally," he said. "There's more work we can do on the public health side and the treatment side."
My favorite section:
As a politician, Obama has always opposed legalizing marijuana and downplayed his personal history with the substance. "There are a bunch of things I did that I regret when I was a kid," Obama told Walters. "My attitude is, substance abuse generally is not good for our kids, not good for our society.
I wonder if Obama thinks the guy who sold him pot in high school--and who he thanked in his yearbook--should have gone to prison? |
Hillary Clinton said anyone the FBI is monitoring for suspected terror ties should be banned from buying a gun Saturday, suggesting the federal government should be able to strip U.S. citizens of their constitutional right to buy a gun before convicting them of a crime.
“If the FBI is watching you for suspected terrorist links, you shouldn’t be able to just go buy a gun with no questions asked,” Clinton said at a rally in Cleveland. “And you shouldn’t be able to exploit loopholes and evade criminal background checks by buying online or at a gun show.”
The presumptive Democratic nominee was responding to news early Sunday that a man inspired by the Islamic State shot and killed 49 people at a gay night club in Orlando.
“And yes, if you’re too dangerous to get on a plane, you are too dangerous to buy a gun in America,” Clinton continued, again implying that the subjective judgment from the government that a person is “dangerous” should be grounds for preventing a U.S. citizen from exercising their constitutional rights.
Clinton herself, of course, is tied up in an FBI investigation right now into her use of a private email server as Secretary of State.
WATCH:
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The dinner was a follow-up to a meeting that Mr. Schumer and Ms. Pelosi had with the president in the Oval Office last week, during which Mr. Trump agreed to the Democrats’ proposal for a vote on a debt-ceiling increase and a government funding measure that also included a Hurricane Harvey aid package.
While the two top Republican congressional leaders, Senator Mitch McConnell and Speaker Paul D. Ryan, attended that meeting, they were absent from the Wednesday night dinner.
A total of 11 people were seated at the table in the Blue Room of the White House on Wednesday night, with the first 30 minutes of the meeting focused on China trade issues, according to one person briefed on the dinner. The meal served was Chinese food, an intentional nod to China trade, on which Mr. Trump and Mr. Schumer hold their closest views.
On the DACA program, Mr. Trump has given Congress six months to find a legislative solution to extend the protections that President Barack Obama granted by executive order. But before the dinner on Wednesday night, prospects for quickly enacting a replacement for DACA had appeared to be flagging in Congress.
“With all the other things going on right now, it’s kind of put on the back burner,” said Representative Mike Coffman, Republican of Colorado, who had pulled back a petition he had hoped to use to force the House to take up legislation on the program. Representative Bob Goodlatte of Virginia, chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, has said that the program is at the end of a list of immigration priorities.
Several top Republican leaders in Congress, including Mr. Ryan, have said that they want to tackle the issue of the young immigrants in conjunction with a broader immigration reform and border security effort.
But Republicans have been mostly enraged with Mr. Trump since the Oval Office meeting last week, where he sided with the Democratic leadership over his own party and his own Treasury secretary in favor of a December debt-ceiling vote. Mr. Ryan, who preferred a longer-term deal, had called such a three-month plan ridiculous. |
Defense Minister Ehud Barak last week took a break from his urgent work on the Iranian crisis to heat up the relatively quiet eastern front as well. Barak told the High Court of Justice he had decided to demolish eight Palestinian villages in the southern Hebron Hills, in Area C, where some 1,500 people reside and make their living.
Barak said he had made the decision because it encompasses an area known as "Firing Zone 918," which is essential for Israel Defense Forces training. The state expressed concern that the residents would gather information about IDF methods and use them for terrorist purposes.
The declaration of Palestinian lands as "firing zones" was used during the era of military government over areas in Israel as a common method to take over tens of thousands of dunams of land belonging to Palestinian citizens of Israel, and to confine them to a smaller region. With the conquest of the territories in 1967, the new military government that was established there also adopted the method.
Over the years, a system of "special security zones" developed. Palestinian entry can be restricted to lands that they own in these zones, which are located near settlements or along roads used by settlers.
The state prosecution claims, based on testimony by anonymous collaborators, that most of the residents in the villages slated to be razed have permanent dwellings in the town of Yatta. As a result they are not entitled to protection from eviction, which only applies to "permanent residents." This position is well reflected in the distorted view that Area C, which constitutes about 60 percent of the West Bank, is the natural living space of the settlers.
While the state fosters the settlements and avoids evacuating the outposts - including some established on privately-owned Palestinian land - it is miserly when it comes to issuing master plans and building permits for Palestinians under its aegis. The authorities even harass international organizations and human rights groups that finance basic infrastructure, schools and clinics.
According to international law, the land under contention in the Hebron Hills - like all the land in the West Bank - is occupied land. The eviction of hundreds of farmers and shepherds using the pretext of "firing zones" is pyromania.
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The defense minister must prevent the Hebron Hills from being set on fire, and act fairly toward all Palestinian residents under Israel's authority.
Defense Minister Ehud Barak at an IDF post in the Golan Heights. Gil Eliahu
Palestinian children play in a village south of Hebron. Alex Levac |
More than two years before coming under FBI questioning about possibly hacking into the in-flight entertainment system of a commercial plane while it was in mid air, a security researcher told peers he accessed the computer controls of other highly sensitive aviation and aeronautics systems, including the International Space Station.
Chris Roberts of One World Labs told an audience in 2012 that he bypassed the on-board firewall of a Boeing 737 plane he was traveling on and made contact with the Apache Tomcat webserver the firewall was protecting. He told the same audience he accessed communications systems NASA uses to control the International Space Station and changed the temperature. It was impossible to confirm the veracity of those claims, which went largely unnoticed until Friday, when an FBI search warrant application came to light alleging Roberts told agents he took control of a jet plane and briefly caused it to climb and fly sideways.
The 2012 talk—titled By Land, By Sea, By Air—has already touched off howls of protest from some researchers who say even the passive accessing of restricted parts of a plane while it's in flight is grossly reckless. Critics also argue the behavior would likely be a violation of the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act, which makes it a felony to gain unauthorized access to protected computer systems.
The talk has also generated a vigorous debate among security professionals about whether it's technically possible to carry out the hacks described in Roberts's presentation and in an interrogation with FBI agents. Some participants argue computer systems in commercial planes are segmented in a way that prevents passengers from accessing computerized instruments used to control the aircraft or to communicate with people on the ground. Other researchers say the firewalls and other intrusion prevention systems aren't sufficiently tightened down.
For the past half decade or so, Roberts has belonged to this latter group of researchers. On numerous occasions, he has publicly complained that airline manufacturers and the hundreds of partners these manufacturers rely on for various hardware and software components have failed to fix serious vulnerabilities he has privately reported. Among other things, he has said, it's possible for passengers to use specially equipped laptops to access an on-board network known as the Intellibus system, named after the manufacturer who makes it.
Beginning around the 18:00 mark in the above video, for instance, Roberts discussed the ability to use the VxWorks real-time operating system to tap the programming interfaces developers use to access an aircraft's intellibus network. He went on to say:
You on your own system have made yourself a self-contained Vx environment that can communicate with the intellibus system. You've had to do some bloody research for it and you've had to figure out exactly how it works. But when you've done it, what you now have is the ability to create yourself a crate, and in this case it was for a 787 that we made that basically shut the engines off using the fade [inaudible] chip architecture at 35,000 feet. Loves, hugs, and kisses, One World Labs. [comment about some issues being fixed] Sitting on an airplane going off to Norway and actually sitting on a 737 going down to San Antonio on Tuesday we made friends with the firewall. We overrode the firewall and made friends with the second firewall. Once we were on the second firewall we ran into an Apache Tomcat sitting on [port?] 1433. It's not patched. Have fun with it – carefully. Simple stuff. It takes a little bit of work. It takes you coming a little prepared. It means you going onto an airplane with a machine that's capable of having some fun with their environments. How many of you guys fly on the planes that have the Gogo wireless running on them? I challenge you next time you're on the airplane that has Gogo wireless, see how far through the firewall you can get. See if you can get to the ground-based communication that they use. See if you can get to the intellibus architecture. Please don't take the airplane out of the sky. And for those of you who are in the airline industry listening to this, fix it please. These are problems that we've highlighted for the last year or two. This is stuff we've brought up for a while now. Same as the cars. The vehicle stuff we've brought up for several years. Now I know that the cycle they have for fixing stuff is extended but it would be nice to actually know this stuff is being done. Because the same things you can do with airplanes you can do with drones as well.
During a question-and-answer period near the 47:00 mark, an audience member asked about accessing instruments used to control NASA's Curiosity Rover, which landed on Mars in August 2012, two months before Roberts delivered his talk at the GrrCon hacker conference. After a lengthy laugh, Roberts provided the following response:
Those are fun. I got into trouble for playing with the Space Station shit what was it seven, eight, nine years ... how many years ago was that? Crap. Eight, nine years ago we messed around with the Space Station. We adjusted the temperature on it. It was quite fun. We got yelled at by NASA. If they're going to leave open shit that's not encrypted that's their own damn silly fault. We tried. The Curiosity Rover on Mars. The suggestion was to take that for a spin. We've actually started to investigate it. The closest we've done is figure out exactly how they're communicating, how they're controlling it, and we might have one or two of the passwords for some of the software that we know are still in default mode. But the problem is actually getting into it without breaking more laws than we're used to breaking. No, I think NASA would probably really get pissed at me for that one.
There's little to no debate that Roberts's research is motivated by a genuine desire to improve the security of aviation and aeronautics computer systems. So far, no one has seriously argued he intended to inflict damage. But that's largely where the agreement ends. As stated earlier, Roberts's defenders claim his comments are being taken out of context and that many of the things he's describing aren't technically feasible. Taken another way, however, the comments portray a researcher who either embellished the hacks he described to fellow researchers or felt no compunction or remorse for the potential danger they may have posed to others. Taken this way, Roberts's comments also show little regard for respecting the legal boundaries of other people's networks and computers.
Lawyers for the Electronic Frontier Foundation, who are providing legal representation to Roberts, didn't respond to an e-mail seeking comment. This post will be updated if they respond later. |
Effacing the Male: Gender, Misrepresentation, and Exclusion
in the Kosovo War by Adam Jones, Ph.D. Published in Transitions: The Journal of Men's Perspectives, 21: 1-3 (2001). ABSTRACT The Kosovo war of 1999 offered an excellent opportunity to analyze the representation of gender and violent victimization in the mass media. The present article focuses on the motif of "gendercide," or gender-selective mass killing -- in this case, of "battle-age" ethnic-Albanian men. A broad sample of media commentary is presented to demonstrate that "unworthy" male victims tend to be marginalized or ignored entirely in mass-media coverage. A trio of common marginalization strategies is discussed, and a theoretical framework of "first-order," "second-order," and "third-order" gendering is proposed to clarify the deficit in coverage. This deficit is then contrasted with the attention given to the victimization experiences of "worthy" victims, such as women, children, and the elderly. Finally, the small handful of responsible and insightful media reports on gender-selective atrocities against Kosovar men is evaluated for the alternative it may offer to "effacing the male" from coverage of war and violence.
I. Introduction
The war in Kosovo between March and June 1999, tragic as it was, offered an ideal opportunity to analyze the representation and rhetoric of gender in western mass media. An overriding Serb strategy in the conflict was "gendercide" against non-combatant men -- the same strategy Serb forces had followed from the outset of Yugoslavia's war of dissolution.(1) From the first day of the war in Kosovo (24 March 1999), and indeed long before, the Serbs overwhelmingly targeted "battle-age" men for the most severe atrocities, although women, the elderly, and children were also exposed to a wide range of abuses and war crimes, ranging from killings to rape and forced expulsion (Jones, 1994). The report issued after the Kosovo war by the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) was emphatic in pointing to these gender- and age-selective strategies:
Young men were the group that was by far the most targeted in the conflict in Kosovo ... Clearly, there were many young men involved in the UCK [Kosovo Liberation Army] ... but every young Kosovo Albanian man was suspected of being a terrorist. If apprehended by Serbian forces -- VJ [Yugoslav army], police or paramilitary -- the young men were at risk, more than any other group of Kosovo society, of grave human rights violations. Many were executed on the spot, on occasion after horrendous torture. Sometimes they would be arrested and taken to prisons or other detention centres, where, as described afterwards by men released from such detention, they would be tortured and ill-treated, while others would simply not be seen again. Others were taken for use as human shields or as forced labour. Many young men "disappeared" following abduction.(2)
The present article, based on a broad sampling of media coverage during and after the war, explores how this reality was conveyed -- or not conveyed -- by major western news media. It is my conviction that the strategies are of relevance far beyond the Kosovo case, and indeed beyond the theme of gender and international conflict; they speak to the typical means by which male victims of violence are marginalized or "effaced" from the prevailing media and human-rights discourse. The sources consisted of the following:
Internet Newsgroups:(3)
clari.news.conflict.misc
clari.news.crime.war
clari.news.refugees
clari.news.photos
clari.world.organizations.misc
(On 19 April 1999, ClariNet created a special newsgroup, clari.hot.a, to collate posts about Kosovo. It proved indispensable.)
Electronic newspapers/broadcasters:
The Globe and Mail
The National Post
The New York Times
The Washington Post
The Guardian / The Observer (UK)(4)
The Christian Science Monitor
BBC News Online
Some readers may be skeptical of the electronic versions of newspapers, and it is important to point out that certain areas of content -- notably op-ed columns and letters to the editor -- were for the most part not sampled. Nonetheless, the range of materials available through these sources was impressive. The New York Times alone standardly posted between half a dozen and a dozen feature stories on the Kosovo conflict daily. Coverage in several other key sources (The Washington Post, The Globe and Mail, the BBC, The Guardian) was only slightly less extensive.
I do not pretend to have read every word of every article posted these sources -- far from it. Rather, I was confident that I could zero in on a sufficiently wide range of material to generate some propositions about the coverage of events within war-torn Kosovo. The task was made easier by print and electronic media's "pegging" of content through headlines. Many of the claims made here pertain to media "focus," which in such a news culture I see as reducible to the headline and "lead," that is, the opening paragraphs of the standardized news story. (These opening paragraphs are ever more important, as news is chopped into smaller bits for the benefit of advertisers and, allegedly, readers with low attention spans.)
Although the article does not operationalize its arguments via a formal content analysis, it is my belief that the vocabulary and frameworks presented here will be useful in developing more statistically-based and methodologically-rigorous studies of this type. In a late section of the paper, I also explore some of the more accurate and responsible media coverage of male victimization in the Kosovo conflict. Although such coverage appeared like rare nuggets, and was swamped by the more distorted and exclusionary variety, it provides important and constructive exceptions to the rule -- and hence an indication that alternatives existed to "effacing the male" from the media agenda.
II. "Including Women," Excluding Men
In their groundbreaking work, Manufacturing Consent, Edward S. Herman and Noam Chomsky devoted a chapter to the subject of "Worthy and Unworthy Victims" in media coverage. (Herman and Chomsky, 1988: 37-86.) They presented a comparative treatment of the intensity and character of media coverage of victims who were convenient for U.S. policymakers -- Cambodians under the communist Pol Pot; the Polish priest, Jerzy Popieluszko, murdered by Polish security agents -- contrasted with inconvenient victims, such as the slaughtered and systematically starved inhabitants of East Timor (invaded by a U.S. ally, Indonesia), or one hundred religious workers killed by U.S.-sponsored terror regimes in Central America. Comparing directly the coverage of the priest Popieluszko with the mass of "inconvenient" religious workers (including a Salvadorean archbishop and four US nuns raped and murdered by Salvadorean soldiers in 1980), Herman and Chomsky concluded:
For every media category, the coverage of the worthy victim, Popieluszko, exceeded that of the entire set of one hundred unworthy victims taken together. We suspect that the coverage of Popieluszko may have exceeded that of all the many hundreds of religious victims murdered in Latin America since World War II, as the most prominent are included in our hundred ... [W]e can also calculate the relative worthiness of the world's victims, as measured by the weight given them by the US mass media. The worth of the victim Popieluszko is valued at somewhere between 137 and 179 times that of a victim in the US client states; or, looking at the matter in reverse, a priest murdered in Latin America is worth less than a hundredth of a priest murdered in Poland. (Herman and Chomsky, 1988: 39.)
The concept of "worthy" versus "unworthy" victims seems a fertile one in analyzing the treatment of the victims of the gendercidal atrocities in Kosovo, and male victims of violence more generally.(5) In this section, I sketch some of the predictable, even ritualized, means by which "unworthy" male victims were excluded from the analysis, and "worthy" ones - notably children and women -- privileged.(6)
The effacing of male victims in mass media is generally accomplished by three interrelated strategies. The first might be called incidentalizing. Modern news, as noted, is a hierarchical creature. It generally "leads" with the dominant theme of the article, which the headline is also meant to convey. Many newspapers, printing or reprinting an article or wire-service report, will include only (a version of) the headline and the first several paragraphs of the story. Thus, to relegate an important theme to passing mention in the middle reaches of the article, or to introduce it only at the end, is effectively to render it incidental and inconspicuous, if not outright invisible.
Consider, for example, the strategy adopted in the following Agence France-Presse dispatch (emphasis added):
The Death March of the Kosovo Refugees
MORINA, Albania, April 18 (AFP) -- Among the thousands of refugees fleeing Kosovo, none suffer worse than those forced to travel for days and nights on end on foot. While many cross the border into Albania and Macedonia in cars or open trailers drawn by tractors, the rest have had to walk, harried by Serbian troops on what for some became a death march. Staggering up to the red barrier marking the frontier, carrying children and baggage, and supporting the elderly, they sob as they gulp down food offered by humanitarian organisations. Their accounts, consistent, precise and detailed, describe a Kosovo that has been turned into a hell, criss-crossed day and night by columns of refugees expelled from the Serbian province in ferocious "ethnic cleansing." "We walked almost without stopping for four days and four nights," groaned Hysnije Abazi, 22, from Kladernica in central Kosovo. "We were escorted all the time by Serbs in vehicles or on foot. We were not allowed to drink, stop, rest or shelter from the rain. Before we set off they set fire to our cars and tractors and ordered us to march in columns." They also took away all the males aged 15 or over [!]. Crinkle-haired Afertita Kajtazi, 23, her eyes ringed with fatigue, said their [i.e., the refugees'] treatment was deliberately harsh. ... (emphasis added)
Here the "genocidal cull of ethnic-Albanian males"(7) takes place in the blink of an eye, amidst a torrent of frankly lachrymose descriptions of the convoys of helpless "worthies."
A second strategy is displacement. Here, the male is defined by some trait or label other than gender -- even when gender obviously, or apparently, is decisive in shaping the experience or predicament being described. During the Kosovo war, typical displacement terminology included designations such as "Kosovars," "ethnic Albanians," "bodies," "victims," and "people." In this context, consider Daniel Williams' report in The Washington Post on the mass murder at Istok prison, a facility bombed by NATO planes in late May 1999. After the last of three bombing raids, the Serbs paraded 19 male corpses before western media, declaring that they were the bodies of prisoners killed by NATO. It now appears likely that many of these men, along with up to 100 others, were massacred by the Serbs in one of the war's larger acts of gendercide. Here is how Williams reported the Serbs' propaganda show:
Bodies of dead prisoners were shown to reporters lying around the prison courtyard Saturday [22 May], and on Monday [24 May] another group of corpses inside a foyer entrance to a cellblock. ... Despite the presence of 1,000 mostly ethnic Albanian prisoners, [NATO] bombed it twice Saturday and once early Sunday. No one seemed to take into account the possible extra danger to the prisoners ... 19 bodies of prisoners lay in and around the courtyard, and on Monday those bodies lay in the same spots ... An inspecting magistrate said the bodies were left outside because he had not had time to carry out his work, what with all the bombing. ... Then there was the new group of dead on display Monday ... Twenty-five bodies in the foyer, some lined up on top of one another domino-style, many with streaks of blood on their bodies ... These corpses were not dusty. ... No one seemed to know why the 19 Saturday bodies were left outside, but ... (Williams, 1999, emphasis added.)
There was precisely one reference to "men" in the story: to the "masked [Serb] men with rifles" hovering around the facility. Males as agents of violence were visible, and gendered; as victims, they were effaced from the discourse.
Perhaps the most bizarre example of the displacement strategy employed during the war came in mid-April, when the subject of Kosovar men used as forced labourers surfaced in press briefings and subsequent media coverage. The BBC began its report on "Kosovo 'grave gangs'" with the claim that "Kosovo Albanians dressed in red [were] being forced to move dead bodies and dig graves" -- a strange emphasis, given the subsequent acknowledgment that these crimson-clad Kosovars were all "men and boys." (BBC Online, 1999a; emphasis added.) By the time the story reached the Press Association, the gender variable had disappeared completely: "Chilling new evidence has emerged of Serbian attempts to cover up massacres of ethnic Albanians in Kosovo. Armed Forces Minister Doug Henderson said he had received 'disturbing reports' of unarmed civilians dressed in red transporting bodies away from atrocity sites." The story quoted Henderson as stating: "To cover up atrocities, the Serbs are using civilians dressed in red to clear up massacres. They are clearing bodies well away from where massacres have occurred." (Press Association, 1999; emphasis added.) As the Kosovar men buried the dead, so were they largely buried in the policy equation and public discussion. The Press Association report managed to go its entire length with the gender of the chain-ganged gravediggers unmentioned, although the colour of the prisoners' dress was noted twice, and the children, mother, and grandmother among a group of refugee landmine victims (the main focus of the story) were carefully designated.
The third marginalization strategy is simply exclusion. The trope most commonly adopted here can be summarized in the little-examined phrase, "including women" -- or, equally commonly, "including women and children." The trend has been persistently evident in media coverage of the Bosnian war, as a report as recent as October 1999 makes plain (duly emphasized throughout):
Bosnian forensic teams have exhumed 251 bodies, mainly of Muslim civilians, in the Serb-run half of Bosnia in the last two weeks ... The bodies, victims of the 1992-95 Bosnian war, were exhumed from more than 14 mass graves each containing up to 15 corpses, as well as individual graves ... The majority, including 12 women and five children, were executed by Bosnian Serb forces who had captured these regions at the beginning of the war ... Some 3,000 people, mainly Muslims, were still missing in northwestern Bosnia. (Agence France-Presse, 1999a.)
Ninety-three percent adult male casualties. But this fact passes unmentioned in the rush to draw attention to the "worthy" victims. Literally dozens of examples of this strategy could be cited from the wartime and postwar coverage of Kosovo:
In Velika Krusa, Dutch soldiers yesterday reported finding charred remains of around 20 ethnic Albanians, including women and children, and said they expect to find more nearby. (Dan, 1999.)
Splashes of blood are still visible on the lower portion of a door at a pizzeria in Suva Reka, where up to 50 people, including women and children, are believed to have been slaughtered. (Lynch, 1999.)
Since starting work on 18 June, the UK forensic team has exhumed over 260 bodies of Kosovar civilians from mass graves, including women and the remains of 21 children ... (British Foreign Secretary Robin Cook). (Kirkland, 1999.)
Let it be stated plainly: "Including women" excludes men. To get a better sense of the origins and implications of the phrase, substitute "including Europeans." (Indeed, the systematic exclusion of one category of victims, and the implicit prioritizing of the minority category, is very similar to colonial discourses in Victorian times.) The trope is particularly misleading when the phenomena described -- such as the massacre at Velika Krusa and the campaign of mass killing in Kosovo as a whole -- are so disproportionately and methodically slanted against males. In virtually all cases, the phrase "including women and children" can be translated as "including a majority of adult men and a minority of women and children." But men remain the "absent subjects," entering the narrative only indirectly and by inference, if at all.(8)
A more subtle version of the exclusionary strategy can be seen in the following passages:
Several dozen Kosovo Albanians, many of them women and children, were hiding there in the hills when about six Serbian paramilitaries found them and shot the men, demanding to know where they were hiding their weapons, villagers said. (Fisher, 1999a.)
And this, from the aftermath of the Kosovo war:
Air Marshal Sir John Day, deputy to Britain's Chief of Defence Staff, Gen. Sir Charles Guthrie, said NATO was "within days" of making a formal decision on a ground invasion and was confident NATO would have approved. Guthrie told the allies the Yugoslav army was "overrated" and "bully boys good at killing women, children and old people." (United Press International, 1999.)
The emphasis in the first passage is on the presence and newsworthiness of "many" women and children (which is, after all, what one would expect in any demographically-representative population). In the second, the cowardliness of the Serb forces is exemplified by their murder of every element of the civilian population except "battle-age" males. The manifestly most vulnerable demographic is the only one not represented in the formulation -- except insofar as the killing of defenseless battle-age men is seen as a legitimate test of the Yugoslav army's power and machismo.(9) (As R.J. Rummel put it in a different context, "One would think that murdering an unarmed man was a heroic act." [Rummel, 1994: 323.])
The analytical befuddlement to which this strategy rapidly leads was exemplified by a 22 April 1999 story in The Washington Post, "Accounts of Serbian Atrocities Multiplying." As the headline suggests, this was one of the Post's major attempts to confront the scale and patterning of the Serb rampage in Kosovo. The article featured several examples of the displacement strategy mentioned above, referring to "scores of accounts of Yugoslav forces killing small groups of ethnic Albanian civilians" and the "'summary, random executions of small groups,'" although the vast majority of the atrocities specifically mentioned in the article were not at all random -- they fit the standard gender-selective pattern.(10) But the most astonishing reference in the Post story was to "the [Yugoslav] government's role in the massacre of dozens of women and children at the Kosovo village of Racak" in January 1999. This is the prewar massacre for which international monitors gave a breakdown of 31 victims as follows:
Twenty-three adult males of various ages. Many shot at extremely close range, most shot in the front, back and top of the head. ... Three adult males shot in various parts of their body including their backs. ... One adult male shot outside his house with his head missing ... One adult male shot in head and decapitated. ... One adult female shot in the back ... One boy (12 years old) shot in the neck. ... One male, late teens (shot in abdomen). (The New York Times, 1999.)
The standardly-cited death toll for the Racak massacre (the investigators arrived after more than a dozen autopsies had been completed) is 45. I have found specific mention of one female killed -- 18-year-old Hanushune Mehmeti (apparently the "adult female shot in the back"), who was described by one witness as having been "shot when she tried to come to the aid of her brother." (Bird, 1999.) Other sources cite two other women among the total of 45 victims, thus three in all. The one child victim was the twelve-year-old boy "shot in the neck." Thus, at the outside: forty-one adult men executed in cold blood, and three women and one boy also killed, in this massacre of "dozens of women and children." The Post's eagerness to find "worthy" victims among the carnage leads to their conjuring by the dozens out of whole cloth. Nor is this a matter of simple historical accuracy. It amounts to a misrepresentation of the essence of the slaughter at Racak -- which was a harbinger of the hundreds, possibly thousands, of individual acts of gendercide against Kosovar males between March and June 1999.(11)
The point can be buttressed with a further example from Kosovo reporting. One of the most widely-noted acts of gendercide during the war was the massacre at Izbica in early April. The Christian Science Monitor (1999) related the events in only slightly less distorted a fashion than did the Post in reporting Racak: "The Monitor tracked down three men who in separate interviews insisted they were among 60 or 70 people who helped to bury the dead. One gave the number of victims as 148, with two survivors; the others spoke of 150, including several women ..." (emphasis added). Remarkably, in the entire Monitor story, it was nowhere stated that this "worst massacre known in Kosovo" was a truly towering act of gender-selective slaughter.(12)
III. "Emptying" Kosovo
One of the most intriguing and revealing motifs deployed during the Kosovo war, both in policy statements and media commentary, was the notion that Kosovo was being "emptied" of its ethnic-Albanian population. There could hardly be a more blatant contradiction between this theme of emptying/expulsion and the numerous passing references to mass detentions and executions of "battle-age" males. Take the following examples:
Kosovo Could Be Emptied Soon. A complete emptying of Kosovo appears possible as the expulsion of ethnic Albanian refugees resumes with brutal force, the UN refugee agency said Friday. "The effort by the Serbian authorities to expel the entire ethnic Albanian population of Kosovo is again underway," Kris Janowski, a spokesman with the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) told journalists. (Agence France-Presse dispatch, 16 April.)(13)
Britain accused Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic Monday of trying to empty Kosovo of its entire ethnic Albanian population as NATO examine ways to help refugees on the run within the Serbian province. ... "From reports overnight, it is clear that Milosevic is once again trying to empty Kosovo of all ethnic Albanians," [Tony] Blair told the annual meeting of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development ... (Agence France-Presse dispatch, 19 April.)
Expulsion of Kosovars to Be Total, U.S. Says. ... New evidence indicates that Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic intends to sweep all of Kosovo and not allow ethnic Albanians to remain even in the province's most sparsely populated areas, the State Department's top authority on atrocities said on Wednesday. ... (The New York Times, 22 April.)
A moment's thought reveals the fallaciousness of the framing. Quite clearly, Kosovo was being "emptied" in manner that was highly selective according first to ethnicity -- as was generally acknowledged -- and secondly to gender, which rarely was. Rather than being allowed to seek refuge, a substantial portion of the civilian male population was falling prey to a "genocidal cull," and tens of thousands of others were in hiding, at mortal risk of roundup by the Serbs. Any who attempted exit with the refugee populations usually ran a gauntlet of Serb paramilitaries and/or regular forces that were prone to strip them selectively and en masse from refugee columns and lead them away to detention or summary execution. In the light of these manifest realities, the "emptying" motif seems nothing short of Orwellian -- an excellent example of the kind of conceptual vacuum into which Kosovar males fell during the war.
IV. Rape Worse Than Death?
Another phenomenon in public discussion of the Kosovo war and the Balkans more generally has been the privileging of rape or mass rape of women over the slaughter or mass slaughter of (non-combatant) males. The implicit prioritizing of sexually-assaulted women, often on ambiguous or scanty evidence, reflected both age-old biases and more recent feminist activism on the issue of mass rapes in Bosnia and elsewhere. While feminist research in this area is to be commended and learned from, it has also contributed to a one-sided depiction of the atrocities of war that tends to consign the male victim to oblivion. Consider the evaluation of the Bosnian war by Bogdan Denitch, otherwise one of the most clear-eyed appraisers of Yugoslavia's collapse:
It is there [Bosnia] that by far the worst atrocities have taken place. Not only have there been vast and well-documented massacres of mostly Muslim civilians by Serbian militias, but concentration camps and massive forcible population transfers, known as "ethnic cleansing," have also been used to change the demographic realities of Bosnia. The worst of the horrors has been the systematic use of organized, repeated mass rape by Serbian militias of non-Serbian, mostly Muslim women as a part of "ethnic cleansing." To be sure, there have been cases of rape by all sides, and the UN has documented that Croats and Muslims have committed massacres and run concentration camps. What was unprecedented was the organization of mass rape as a matter of policy in a manner that could not have been unknown to the highest military and political authorities of the so-called Serbian Republic of Bosnia. One obvious victim is the prospect of a tolerable and decent life together after the war. (Denitch, 1994: 124; emphasis added.)
The gendering of the massacre victims and concentration-camp inmates was fairly well established by this point (1994), but Denitch reserves the very "worst" designation for the mass rapes of women, rather than the "vast and well-documented massacres of mostly Muslim civilians," overwhelmingly males.(14)
This dubious hierarchizing of human suffering was implicit throughout much of the discussion of the rape controversy during the Kosovo war. For example, James Rubin on 13 April called for Yugoslavia to "take immediate steps to punish the perpetrators of rape and other crimes ..." (Rubin quoted in Agence France-Presse, 1999c.) Reporting David Scheffer's comments on the massacre at Velika Krusa, where (as the story notes) "Yugoslav troops gunn[ed] down more than 100 men and boys between ages 14 and 50," The Washington Post added: "At the Pentagon, Defense Department spokesman Kenneth Bacon revealed that U.S. officials had received reports of an even more ghastly crime of mass rape followed by executions" -- i.e., up to 20 deaths at the alleged "rape camp" near Djakovica. Twenty raped and murdered women was "even more ghastly" than 100 men shot and burned to death -- some indication of the relative value of the worthy versus unworthy victims. (Loeb and Smith, 1999; emphasis added.)(15)
For an especially interesting example of the trend, we can turn to an article by Tommaso di Francesco and Giacomo Scotti, published in Le Monde diplomatique at the midpoint of the Kosovo war. The authors wrote that in the "process of vicious mutual ethnic cleansing" in Bosnia-Herzegovina,
physical and psychological terror stemmed largely from the barbaric treatment inflicted in the prison camps created by both Croats and Serbs -- particularly, in the case of the Serbs, the notorious Omarska camp with its raping of women. (di Francesco and Scotti, 1999.)
This depiction of the horrors of Omarska -- one of the three concentration camps closed after international protests in late 1992 -- is a mind-bogglingly casual inversion of the gendered reality. Helsinki Watch gave the population of Omarska as 2,000 men and 33 to 38 women. In an article for International Affairs on "The Crime of Appeasement in Bosnia," Ed Vulliamy, who witnessed the release of Omarska's survivors, wrote:
Omarska had been a place where a prisoner was forced to bite the testicles off a fellow inmate who, as he died of pain, had a live pigeon stuffed into his mouth to stifle his screams. The guards responsible for this barbarism were described by one witness as "like a crowd at a sporting match." Another man was forced to bark like a dog and lick at motor oil on the ground while a guard jumped up and down on his back until it snapped. Prisoners, who survived by drinking their own and each other's urine, were constantly being called out of their cramped quarters, by name. Some would return caked in blood, bruised black-and-blue or slashed with knives; others would never be seen alive again. Special squads of inmates were ordered to load their corpses on to trucks. (Vulliamy, 1998: 74-75.)(16)
Helsinki Watch wrote in Volume II of their study of War Crimes in Bosnia-Herzegovina that Omarska indeed "appears to have been the most brutal of the four Serbian-operated camps that were discovered by the press during the summer of 1982. Almost all former Omarska detainees interviewed by Helsinki Watch claimed that they had been bestially beaten, that scores had died from the beatings and that some were executed." There is no evidence that any of the women at Omarska were killed.(17) The rape of the small number of women at the camp was certainly generalized and atrocious. But by what standard is Omarska "particularly ... notorious" for the rape of its women detainees, when thousands of civilian males were viciously tortured, hundreds killed -- and almost certainly a great many more raped and sexually abused than women, given the unbridled sexual sadism that pervaded the camp?
V. Orders of Gendering
Let us try to bring additional structure to this discussion by distinguishing between first-, second-, and third-order gendering. These can be seen as analytical "rings" spreading outwards, progressively drawing into the analysis greater territorial reach, longer historical time, and broader applicability to the gender group under discussion.
A first-order gendering is focused at the level of the individual person, case, or event. In the Kosovo context, this might be a reference to the rape of a particular Kosovar woman, or a given case of mass rape; for Kosovar males, it might be a reference to the gender-selective execution of a man, or a given mass execution.
A second-order gendering of the same subject seeks to isolate a pattern of victimization. In so doing, it directs the audience to broader conceptual and experiential similarities that bind individual persons, cases, and events -- though the pattern is still restricted in its territorial reach, geographical scope, and historical time. In the context of the Kosovo conflict, this could mean isolating a pattern of rape of women in the conflict, or a pattern of gender-selective executions of men.
A third-order gendering extends the analysis beyond the boundaries of the immediate conflict, region, and contemporary time-frame. It usually seeks to make broad generalizations about regional, global, and/or historical trends. Again to use our Kosovo examples, this might involve placing the rape of Kosovar women against the broader backdrop of rape as a tool of war in the Balkans in the 1990s. It might go further still, and examine the sexual assault of women as a feature of warfare across civilizations and throughout history. A similar perspective on gender-selective executions of men would seek to place these killings against a regional and global-historical backdrop.
I take it as a normative and analytical "given" that while first-order, second-order, and third-order treatments may be entirely worthy in and of themselves, second-order and third-order framings are necessary if an effective gender analysis is to be mounted. That is to say, the analysis cannot remain stuck at the level of individual cases or conflicts if it is to contribute to a sophisticated understanding of gender. Indeed, any conceptualization of "gender" is inconceivable without a second- and third-order framing. A scholarly analysis that confines itself to first-order analyses may turn up extraordinarily useful and important material. But such analyses cannot buttress reality-claims beyond their own pre-set boundaries.
If, then, we find that there is a consistent and systematic according of second- and third-order framings to the experiences of one gender group, and a near-total absence of such framings for the other, there may be grounds for intellectual concern. If we find the particular experiences of suffering and victimization similarly treated, there is grounds for additional - normative and ethical -- concern. If we find, for example, that the torture of males is widely acknowledged and discussed, but the widespread rape of women is ignored, then we might legitimately object. Likewise, we may find that the rape of women is prominent in media discussion and/or policy initiatives, and contextualized internationally and historically, while the torture and even the mass murder of males is rarely noted and virtually never accorded a second- or third-order framing. If so, we should have the courage to acknowledge that there is a yawning gap in the analysis; and that the disadvantaged or systematically excluded group deserves greater consideration than it has traditionally received.
Let us now consider the press coverage of Kosovar men according to this framework. It can be said with confidence that only the barest fragments of first- and second-order framings emerged in this coverage. One can see glimmers of comprehension in the occasional references to a pattern of male-selective killing in the Balkans conflict, and the attention paid to the phenomenon of male detentions and disappearances after the release of the inmates from Smrekovnica and Liplje prisons in May 1999 (see below). But the coverage in no way approximated the kind of nuanced historical analysis that imbued treatments of Kosovo's women rape victims. For the most part, the civilian male victims of the slaughter were buried in a slew of other designations -- "Kosovar," "ethnic-Albanian," etc. -- and their specific vulnerabilities were thereby blurred into the larger backdrop of ethnic conflict.
Neither The New York Times nor The Washington Post -- the two major "agenda-setting" newspapers in the United States - published a single story or editorial focusing on the phenomenon of gender-selective mass executions. The closest the Times came to a meaningful "second-order" and "third-order" gendering of the slaughter, to my knowledge, was a story by John Kifner, early in Operation Horseshoe: "What is striking about the refugees is that they are largely women, children and old men. The young men, they say, are either hiding in the mountains or have been separated out by the Serbs and taken away to some unknown fate. While there is no way to verify independently the accounts of killings ... their similarity suggested that they were credible. Earlier Serbian efforts to remove Muslims from parts of Bosnia were accompanied by numerous massacres." (Kifner, 1999.) The excerpts came eight paragraphs into the story, and the "striking" subject was then dropped. Certainly it was never deemed worthy of a story in its own right. The flicker of a higher-order gendering (that is, the isolation of a pattern, and the citing of the Bosnian precedent) was about as faint as could be.
The Post, for its part, did publish an editorial, "Captive in Serbia," pointing out that "Many Kosovars, particularly men, are being held captive," and referring to "the imprisonment of some Kosovo men" as "undoubtedly part" of a "planned ... destruction of ethnic Albanian Kosovo as a working society." But the editorial appeared on 1 July, more than three months after the outbreak of the war and weeks after its end. It concerned itself, moreover, only with the thousands of prisoners transported alive from Kosovo to Serbia at the end of the Yugoslav occupation. (The Washington Post, 1999.) Might some concerted attention to the pattern of gender-selective detentions and mass killings earlier in the conflict have changed the course of the gendercide? But the reader was again confronted, in Post coverage, with only glancing references to "men missing" and "summary executions of men," except on the rare occasions when policymakers stressed the particular vulnerability of "battle-age" males.(18)
The contrast with the coverage of women rape victims was striking. We have already seen that on regular occasions the rape of women was privileged over the murder of non-combatant males. Furthermore, virtually every news outlet ran at least one story on the subject; second-order and third-order framings, placing the crime against the backdrop of the Balkans war and even the whole history of human conflict, were standard. Consider, for example, the following reports:
Yugoslav forces use ancient ways to break civilian spirits
Throughout history rape has been one of the most common but least documented acts of violence committed during wartime. Yet it has been an inescapable aspect of many conflicts, from the rape of the Sabine women in Ancient Rome to the allegations that the Serbs set up 'rape camps' during the recent war in Bosnia. ... Few reliable figures exist for the incidence of rape in wartime before the Balkan wars this decade but anecdotal evidence suggests that it was widespread. It has been alleged that Nazi troops indulged in mass rape during the second world war, particularly on the eastern front where Jewish, Gypsy, Polish and Russian women were all subject to systematic sexual violence. ... The Japanese army was notorious for its sexual torture of Korean and Chinese women during the second world war. ... More recently, Pakistani troops were alleged to have raped 200,000 Bengali women during the battle for Bangladeshi independence in 1971. ... In Bosnia, according to United Nations estimates, 20,000 women were raped by Serbian army units, apparently as part of a systematic policy. (Kettle, 1999.)
Rape as a Weapon of War
... While fleeing Pristina on April 1 ... ["B."] said she was torn away from her family and raped in a garage by four masked soldiers. They then freed her in time to board a packed refugee train that took her and her family into exile. Similar stories are starting to emerge from ethnic Albanian refugees who have crossed from Kosovo into Albania and Macedonia in recent weeks. Western officials and human rights groups say that scores of women have reported being raped since the Belgrade government started waging all-out war in Kosovo against separatist rebels and ethnic Albanian civilians supporting rebel demands for independence. ... During [the Bosnian] conflict, Bosnian Serb forces carried out a systematic campaign of rape against Bosnian Muslim and Croat women, resulting in several indictments by the international war crimes tribunal at the Hague. ... (Smith, 1999.)
US probes Serb rape allegations
The United States is investigating reports that young Kosovo women are being systematically raped at a Serb army camp and that up to 20 of them have been killed. Pentagon spokesman Ken Bacon [said] ... "This is a very eerie and disturbing echo of documented instances of rape and killing of women in Bosnia during the Bosnia war and it is obviously outrageous that this is occurring." ... During the 1992 war in Bosnia-Herzegovina thousands of women were forced into "rape camps" by Serbian militia. The accounts received by the Pentagon are backed up by similar reports of systematic rape now emerging from Kosovo refugees who have fled the province. ... Consistent accounts are emerging of soldiers separating women from groups of refugees, apparently with the intention of raping them. (BBC Online, 1999b.)
Albanian Tells How Serbs Chose Her, 'the Most Beautiful One,' for Rape
... Few other issues have become as highly charged as rape in the former Yugoslavia. During the war in Bosnia, Serbian forces were accused of systematically raping women as a deliberate tactic of war, a particularly cruel means, human rights investigators said, of terrorizing and demoralizing one's enemy. Bosnian Serbs were accused of operating "rape camps" where Muslim women were held captive and repeatedly assaulted by Serbian soldiers. (Rohde, 1999.)
The framing of the first excerpt is notable. The experience of women rape victims is placed against a backdrop, not only of the Kosovo war and the wider Balkans conflict, but of humanity's "ancient ways." (Note also the headline referring to "rape as a weapon of war.") The second-order framings in all of the excerpts are powerful and detailed. And what these brief extracts do not capture is the nuanced and highly-personalized treatment generally given to the individual female victims. The reader cannot help but be drawn into their stories and suffering, and respond with moral outrage, which is presumably the intent.
In stark contrast, I have never seen a detailed third-order treatment of the gendercidal killings of males in Kosovo (my own aside), let alone one with a historical scope comparable to the first excerpt. But the slaughter of "battle-age" non-combatant men is at least as prominent and enduring a "weapon of war," in the Balkans and throughout history, as is the rape of women -- and a more brutal and severe one, by any reasonable standard. Even second-order framings were exceedingly rare and usually fleeting.
My sample of media coverage was broadest and most rigorous between 26 March and 25 April. This month-long period surely encompasses weeks when intimations of humanitarian disaster and "gendercide" were widespread, and confronted western governments and organizations, as well as media observers, with critical moral and practical choices. During this period, the sample set turned up only the most fragmentary glimpses of a crisis in Kosovar male ranks. Perhaps the most consistently attentive media outlet was the Agence France-Presse, which regularly issued dispatches citing David Scheffer's (and later the U.S. Information Agency's) estimates of 100,000 or more men "unaccounted for." As early as 26 March, the AFP delivered a succinct second-order framing of the "disturbing reports of mass killings trickl[ing] out of Kosovo." It cited U.S. State Department spokesperson James Rubin's reference to "ominous indications that men of fighting age were separated from their families," as did a number of other sources; but it went further, with a brief third-order reference to the fact that "Such separations of men from women was [sic] commonplace in massacres carried out during the 1992-95 war in Bosnia between Moslems, Serbs and Croats." (Agence France-Presse, 1999d.) To be sure, this is not a very extensive or sophisticated third-order framing, and the depiction of gendercide in Bosnia as the result of a "war ... between Moslems, Serbs and Croats" rather blurs the primary agents of the slaughter. Indeed, it is pathetic that such passing references have to be unearthed like precious jewels in the media coverage, and presented as examples of what should have been a generalized and much more in-depth media treatment. But the AFP, with many lapses into blindness and banality like other media, nonetheless stood out for the frequent attention it paid -- virtually alone -- to the fate of Kosovo's men.
Speaking of the entire month-long sample, I found only one article, by Alan Freeman of The Globe and Mail, that actually focused on the mass detention and apparent gender-selective killing of Kosovar males. By "focusing," I mean with both a headline and a lead that alludes to the subject. It appeared in The Globe on 6 April, and deserves to be cited at length:
Missing: Kosovo's young ethnic-Albanian men
Women, children, aging men pouring over the borders; reports say 17-to-45 year olds massacred or in hiding KUKES, Albania -- As UN aid worker Laura Boldrini surveyed the steady stream of refugees flowing over the border from Kosovo at the remote Qafa Prush border post, she thought she had been transported to another planet -- "a planet without men, only women and children." "It was unbelievable," she said yesterday, estimated that 90 per cent of those crossing at the border point on Saturday were women, children and aging men. "There were no men. The old men were there, but I'm talking about young men between 17 and 45." Kosovo's young ethnic Albanian men are missing. They are believed to have been massacred by Serbian forces or to have fled to the Kosovo hills, possibly joining the Kosovo Liberation Army. Eyewitness reports collected from refugees show a pattern of killings of young male Kosovar Albanians. They are reported to have been gunned down with automatic weapons, stripped naked and used as human shields or, in a case alleged yesterday, had their throats slashed at a mosque. Most of these reports cannot be verified. One international aid worker, who asked not to be identified, said he fears that Kosovo has been turned into a giant killing field. "This is going to make the My Lai massacre look like a Christmas party," he said, referring to an infamous killing of Vietnamese villagers by a U.S. Army platoon. ... Belzat Tertini, 62, said that as many as 80 people were killed at a Muslim place of worship in the centre of the city. Many were young men who had gone there for a prayer service, he said. ... "Everybody is in the mountains," [Ramadan Gashi] said. But Mr. Gashi worried that many are marooned without food or arms. Sixteen-year-old Banan Kadria, who fled to Kukes with his family from the village of Lumarsh, said the danger came when they encountered Serb police checkpoints. "When I entered the checkpoints I was covered with blankets at the end of the tractor, and they didn't see me," he said, adding that his family travelled at night. "During the day, many young men were arrested." ... (Freeman, 1999.)
One other Globe article, by Geoffrey York, deserves honourable mention for a forceful second-order gendering. York zeroed in on the firestorm that had descended upon Kosovar males:
Most of the refugees who arrived yesterday [4 May] were women, children, and the elderly. Young men were conspicuously absent. Many of the refugees were exhausted, crying, and obviously in shock. They said Serb police had taken away hundreds of young men from the refugee convoys. Aid workers said the refugee accounts strongly suggested that the Serbs have massacred more of Kosovo's young men. "The common thread in their stories is that a lot of young men have been taken off the tractors or taken away before the tractors left," said Ray Wilkinson, a spokesman for the United Nations refugee agency. "They're talking about killings again. A wide area of Kosovo is being cleaned out. Men are being taken away and possibly killed." Some refugees spoke of a massacre of dozens of men in northern Kosovo about three days ago. Others said the Serbs only allowed one man to remain in each refugee wagon -- the driver. (York, 1999.)
From a more random sampling of reports on English-language electronic media during this period, one other article eventually turned up from The Los Angeles Times, using two of the same principal sources as the Freeman piece just quoted (U.N. refugee worker Laura Boldrini and the humanitarian worker with the My Lai analogy). After citing Boldrini, John Daniszewski wrote: "Like many aid workers and journalists, Boldrini has observed that the overwhelming majority of refugees streaming in from Kosovo are female, and that those males who have made it through the gauntlet of Serbian checkpoints have tended to be the old and the very young. ... Along with persistent reports of summary executions and mass internments of young men inside Kosovo, the low number of ethnic Albanian men making it over the border since the exodus began last month has raised fears here. 'There's a story happening over there that's going to make the My Lai massacre look like a Christmas party,' one humanitarian worker warned Monday." There followed a crystalline passage of analysis and speculation: "Where have Kosovo's young men gone? To hear refugees now in Albania tell it, many have been killed, often gruesomely. Others reportedly have been arrested and held in undisclosed locations, or have been forced to serve as 'human shields' against strikes by NATO or by Kosovo Liberation Army guerrillas. But many say they believe most military-aged men are hiding in the forests of Kosovo, either because they have joined the KLA or because they dared not accompany their families through police checkpoints for fear of being arrested or killed." (Daniszewski, 1999.)
Good as Daniszewski's piece was, though, it again limited itself to the Kosovo context, failing to place the gendercide in regional, let alone global-historical, perspective. This largely exhausted the attempts to conceptualize and report the "genocidal cull of ... males" in Kosovo during the critical first month of the slaughter. The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Christian Science Monitor, the BBC, The Guardian -- all appear to have published nothing comparable to the tiny smattering of articles sampled above. Even the provision of one or two counter-examples -- an editorial here, a column there -- would hardly offset the general impression of a conspiracy of low-key mumbles, if not outright silence, on the gendercidal assault against ethnic-Albanian males.(19)
The release of about two thousand men from Smrekovnica and other Serb detention facilities, in late May 1999, marked the one occasion on which victimized males came to the forefront of the discussion. The result was some solid and nuanced reporting of the men's experiences. This came very late in the game, however, and it was notable how infrequently terms like "torture" were applied to the men's experiences. More common were phrases like "mistreatment," "maltreatment," "beatings," "abuse" -- all of which seems inadequate to capture the sadism of the Serb jailers (akin, perhaps, to describing rape as "unwanted sexual attention").
It was equally striking that what second-order gendering there was of the prison releases -- that is, coverage referring to a pattern of gender-selective detentions and disappearances in Kosovo -- suggested that a quandary or "mystery" somehow had been solved by the release of the men. Thus John Ward Anderson, in perhaps the best article on the released, wrote in The Washington Post: "It was feared that many [men] were dead, locked in camps, or being held by the Serbs as human shields against NATO bombings. ... Thousands of female refugees have told of being expelled to neighboring countries while their husbands, sons and brothers were ordered out of cars and convoys at gunpoint and forced to stay behind. Little has been heard of the men's fate, but human-rights workers and other observers have feared the worst. ... There was good cause for concern." (Anderson, 1999.) The International Herald Tribune, for its part, declared that the "Gaunt Men Arriving in Albanian Provide[d] Answers to a Chilling Puzzle" and "One of the Scarier Questions" in the Kosovo war. "What happened to the thousands of ethnic Albanian men -- from boys barely of fighting age to grandfathers -- who were separated from their families in recent weeks in Kosovo and shoved into trucks, and who then disappeared?" (Fisher, 1999b.)(20)
The comments, and similar ones, invite two questions. First, where were the specific expressions of "fear" and "concern," the posing of "one of the scarier questions," the references to the "chilling puzzle," two months or one month earlier, when they might have made a difference? And how did the release of a mere 1,000 men (later increased to 2,000) obviate, or even meaningfully mitigate, the possibility that "many [men] were dead, locked in camps, or being held by the Serbs as human shields," as The Washington Post put it? The releases were used as an excuse to declare a general relief and go home, analytically speaking. The men still left behind, at Smrekovnica and elsewhere, would become subjects of analysis and concern only after the war, when thousands of them were spirited away to unknown fates in Serbia. Then, suddenly and rather bizarrely, there was a spate of high-sounding articles and expressions of concern, such as this editorial from The Washington Post:
For a sizable but unknown number of [Kosovars] ... return still is not possible. Many Kosovars, particularly men, are being held captive inside Serbia. Serbian officials have told the Red Cross that they are holding more than 2,000; according to other estimates, the number may be 5,000 or even greater. Some have been prisoners for many months ... Others were studying or working in Belgrade when NATO began bombing in March and were promptly rounded up. And many are believed to have been trucked across the border as Serbian forces retreated earlier this month. Given the Serbian torture chambers NATO troops have discovered in Kosovo, no one can feel easy about the detainees' condition. A few days ago Serbian authorities released 166 of these prisoners, gaunt but alive. The rationale for the small release is as unclear as the motivation for keeping the larger number. Mr. Milosevic seems to have planned the destruction of ethnic Albanian Kosovo as a working society. The imprisonment of some Kosovo men, like the killings and forced expulsion of others, was undoubtedly part of this plan. ... The war is not over until Mr. Milosevic accounts for the Kosovars he has kidnapped and allows them to go home. (The Washington Post, 1999b; emphasis added.)
Again, where was the editorial on the "imprisonment of Kosovo men" and the "killings and forced expulsion of others" two months earlier, when it might have helped to arouse concern and influence the policy agenda?
This analysis should not close without attending to one of the most extraordinary English-language media commentaries during the war -- one that stands, given its author's prominence, somewhere between an opinion-editorial article and an insider contribution to the policy discussion. This was a piece by Daniel Ellsberg in The New York Times -- the daily which in 1970 had broken one of the biggest political stories of the postwar era by publishing the "Pentagon Papers" that Ellsberg, a renegade Defense and State Department official, fed it. Ellsberg's article was entitled "Contemplating A Fatal Mistake." (Ellsberg, 1999.) It was unique, in the range of materials I consulted, in focusing on the situation within Kosovo; examining the specific vulnerabilities of men, among others; and arguing that these considerations should govern NATO policymaking.
Ellsberg applauded the passing reference to the situation within Kosovo in a pro-intervention "open letter" signed by luminaries including Zbigniew Brzezinski, Saul Bellow, and Susan Sontag. The signatories had stressed the necessity of "saving the lives of the nearly one million Kosovars now facing death from starvation and murder within Kosovo." The question, he argued, was "whether a ground invasion would serve that goal or whether, as I believe, it would be a death sentence for most Albanians remaining in Kosovo." From there, Ellsberg moved into analytical territory charted by no other prominent commentator in the English language, to my knowledge:
By all accounts, it would take weeks to months to deploy an invasion force to the region once the decision to do so was made, and Slobodan Milosevic already has troops there fortifying the borders. Wouldn't the prospect of an invasion lead him to order his forces in Kosovo to kill all the military-age male Albanians and hold the rest of the population as hostages rather than continuing to deport them? We do not know how many male Kosovars of military age -- broadly, from 15 to 60 years old -- have been killed already. But even if the number is in the tens of thousands (NATO has conservatively estimated 4,600 civilian deaths), that would still mean that most of the men were still alive. Facing invasion, would Mr. Milosevic allow any more men to leave Kosovo to be recruited by the KLA, or to live to support the invasion? The Serbs could quickly slaughter 100,000 to 200,000 male Kosovars. (In Rwanda five years ago, an average of 8,000 civilians a day were killed for 100 days, mostly with machetes.) Obviously, Mr. Milosevic and his subordinates are brutal enough to do that. If they haven't done it already (and there is no testimony that they have on that scale) it may well be because they fear that such annihilation would make an invasion inevitable. A commitment now to ground invasion would remove that deterrent, just as the commitment in March to begin bombing in support of an ultimatum and the consequent withdrawal of international monitors removed an implicit deterrent against sweeping ethnic cleansing and expulsion.
"As for the remaining civilians in Kosovo -- women, children and old people," wrote Ellsberg, "tens of thousands of them could be used as human shields, in a way never before seen in warfare":
Fighting in built-up areas, NATO troops would probably be fired on from buildings that were packed on every floor with Kosovar women and children. Using the traditional means -- explosives, artillery and rockets -- to destroy those buildings would make NATO forces the mass executioners of the people we were fighting to protect. I believe these reasons alone are enough to rule out the option of a ground invasion. Merely preparing for such an invasion, which many have urged as a way to threaten Mr. Milosevic, would give him an urgent incentive to exterminate remaining male Kosovars in Kosovo. Carrying out the threat would eliminate most of the women and children. ... Distasteful as it is to bargain with Mr. Milosevic, the fact is that he holds a million hostages. There is only one way for NATO to stop the ethnic cleansing, avert even worse slaughter and permit refugees to return safely. That is to negotiate as quickly as possible the immediate, unopposed introduction of a large international security force into Kosovo, capable of protecting the Albanians there as long as needed.
However one evaluates the accuracy of Ellsberg's analysis of the situation inside Kosovo (and I believe it will stand as very accurate), and whatever one thinks of the recommendation to open negotiations with Miloševi, there was nothing remotely comparable to Ellsberg's sophisticated analysis and insight in any other commentary sampled for this study. A full sensitivity was evident to both the gender and age variables as they had shaped the atrocities so far. Something of the process and periodicity of slaughter that often occurs in these cases was acknowledged (i.e., with the reference that the destruction of Kosovar civilians could proceed in two phases, the "threatening" males first, then the "women, children and old people"). Ellsberg understood that enormous numbers of people (tens if not hundreds of thousands) were at mortal risk. And most importantly, he argued that these factors were sufficient in themselves to rule out certain policies and warrant the adoption of others. In so doing, he briefly raised factors, issues, and options above the din of meaningless and misleading chatter in media and policy circles.
VI. Conclusion
Some generalizations may be advanced on the basis of this extensive, if not rigorously systematic, sampling of Kosovo coverage. The first is that males tend to assume the status of "non-persons" in analyses and reportage of conflict and genocide. Most commonly, they are effaced from the picture. If their presence is noted at all, it is likely to be obliquely, with the gender variable subsumed by others (e.g., race/ethnicity, nationality, abstract "victim" status, colour of clothing). Campaigns aimed at the gender-selective killing of males will tend to be ignored or underemphasized in media coverage, in favour of a focus on secondary policies that target "worthy" victims (e.g., rape and harassment of women, forced expulsions). If the character of "gendercidal" strategies is noted, it will tend to be relegated to the later and less prominent reaches of coverage. All of these strategies can be isolated not only in media coverage, but in the humanitarian equation (e.g., the reports of organizations like Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International) and in policy statements by national governments, although there is no space to enter into a detailed discussion of these themes in the Kosovo context. Very similar patterns reasserted themselves during the slaughter in East Timor (September-October 1999), which followed upon the Kosovo war by a matter of mere months.(21)
The conclusions that can and should be drawn from this body of evidence and argument depend very much on whether one views males as "natural" targets of victimization, and therefore irrelevant and unnewsworthy; or whether, on the other hand, one sees them as equally deserving of attention and protection in the face of violent assaults, up to and including genocidal mass killing. My own preferences are no doubt apparent. In my opinion, no meaningful claim to humanity, fairness, or analytical accuracy can be advanced by those who, consciously or unconsciously, would consign half the human race to second-class status in the humanitarian and policy equation. This article has argued that an alternative framework is possible, and needs to be adopted rapidly to ensure that all victims of violence receive the empathy, attention, and assistance they require.
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Sources
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----- (1999b). "War crimes prosecutor arrives in Kosovo." 1 July.
----- (1999c). Dispatch of 14 April.
----- (1999d). Dispatch of 26 March.
Anderson, J.W. (1999). "In Singular Move, Serbs Free 1,000 Ethnic Albanian Men in Kosovo." International Herald Tribune (from The Washington Post), 24 May.
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----- (1999b). "US probes Serb rape allegations." 9 April.
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----- (1999b). "Gaunt Men Arriving in Albania Provide Answers to a Chilling Puzzle." International Herald Tribune, 31 May.
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Notes
1. I am currently developing Mary Anne Warren's concept of "gendercide," defined as gender-selective mass killing, in an inclusive way, as Warren unfortunately does not (Warren, 1985). See Jones (2000) and the materials compiled on the Gendercide Watch website.
2. See "Young Men of Fighting Age," chapter 15 in Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe -- Kosovo Verification Mission, 1999. Emphasis added.
3. n.b.: This refers to Usenet groups, not sites on the World Wide Web. These groups post the reports of the major English-language wire services -- Reuters, Associated Press, United Press Internatonal, and Agence France-Presse -- organized according to theme. The text posted is the complete text of the dispatch, not the truncated version that usually runs in daily newspapers. In the present case, this was significant, since so much valuable information and testimony was buried in the middle and later stages of the reportage.
4. This source is referred to in the text simply as The Guardian, although it includes material from The Observer. All references are to the Web version in any case.
5. I have addressed these issues in the Canadian context in Jones (1992).
6. I hope it hardly needs to be stressed, but I am not suggesting that the attention paid to children, women, and others is excessive and needs to be reduced. Rather, I argue that the palette of our sympathies should be expanded to include a class of civilian victims -- men, especially "battle-age" men -- that is usually rendered invisible in the analytical and humanitarian equation.
7. Ian Traynor's unforgettable phrase (Traynor, 1999).
8. For more on the "absent subject" motif, see Jones, 1994: 122.
9. See also the comments of Superintendent William Gent of New Scotland Yard, leader of the British forensics team in post-occupation Kosovo: "What we are looking to try to prove for [the Criminal Tribunal headquarters at] The Hague is that in any given case, there were women and children that were mercilessly killed for no reason at all. If we can establish how people died, and establish that they were ordinary women, children and men going about their lives, that will go a long way to proving that crimes occurred." Here, the majority category of victims is at least dropped in as an afterthought. Gent quoted in Eggen, 1999.
10. "... scores of bodies lying in a low row in a clearing ... 17 acquaintances, men ... rang[ing] in age from 18 to 80 ... a 60-year-old man shot ... three men from another village shot ... the killings of at least 40 men in the town of Velika Krusa ... [the] execution of nearly two dozen men suspected of helping the rebels ... officials say that they have credible evidence that government troops separated scores of men from women and children who had moved back into the village [Malisevo] during the winter; the men allegedly were then herded into the hills and have not been seen since." Smith and Vick, 1999; emphasis added.
11. The Post did not publish a letter seeking to correct the error. For another example of this strategy, which is not uncommon, see Moutot, 1999. This article referred to Racak only slightly less misleadingly as an "attack on a fleeing column of some 40 civilians, old men, women and children." The core component, the slaughter of "battle-age" males, was invisible in this equation. Curiously, a subsequent AFP dispatch (Agence France-Presse, 1999b) noted the death at Racak of "Ajet Emini ... along with 44 other men." This, although much closer to the truth, is not accurate either, since between one and three women were apparently among the 45 victims.
12. The most detailed tabulation of the Izbica death-toll that I have seen was provided by Ellen Knickmeyer of the Associated Press, who gave a breakdown of "142 people ... [killed] from March 28 to May 10." "In all," Knickmeyer writes, "seven of the victims were women. Two were children. Ninety-eight were men older than 50, up to the age of 102." Thus, if the 142 tally is accepted, adult males constituted 133 of the victims (94 percent). But this framing was not uppermost in Knickmeyer's mind (note the placement of women, children, and elderly men ahead of the wider gendercidal component).
13. Oblivious to the contradiction, Janowski mentions later in the article: "Women are telling stories of their men being tortured and shot. It's completely out of control."
14. In this light, it is interesting to note that the cover of Denitch's book is an AP photo captioned as follows: "Sarajevo, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Nov. 10 [1993]. 'Last Farewell.' A man puts his hands on the window of a bus to give his wife and son a last farewell in Sarajevo. More than 1,000 people who have endured months of siege piled onto Red Cross buses in Sarajevo and headed in an often-delayed convoy toward safety in Croatia. Bosnian president Alija Izetbegovic signed an order that all women, boys under 18, and men over 60 could leave." Meaning: who could not?
15. Among the other apparently less "ghastly" acts of gendercide mentioned briefly in the article are the following: "As many as several hundred thousand ethnic Albanian men may have been detained or harmed by Yugoslav government security forces in the past three weeks. ... In the southern Kosovo city of Djakovica ... more than 100 ethnic Albanians were reportedly slain by Interior Ministry troops and paramilitaries. ... Another [n.b.] 112 men were allegedly shot and burned in the southern Kosovo town of Malakrusa ... as many as 200 'military-age' men may have been slain in the northern city of Podujevo ..." At no point in the article, however, is any pattern of gender-selective mass executions discerned.
16. If the allegation of a prisoner being forced to bite off another's testicles seems far-fetched, it should be noted that the charge formed part of the Criminal Tribunal indictment of Dusko Tadi, the director of evening torture sessions at Omarska, captured in Munich and turned over to the Tribunal in 1994. See Junger, 1999: 154. The designation of Omarska as the "most brutal" of the Serb-run death camps is relative, of course. The most famous symbol of Omarska - the emaciated Bosnian prisoner Fikret Ali, who appeared in numerous photographs behind the barbed wire of the camp on liberation day -- was a recent arrival from Keraterm, where, Vulliamy notes, "he had witnessed the murder of 200 men in one night" (Vulliamy, 1998: 74). (On the massacre, see also Silber and Little, 1996: 256, citing "at least 150" as the death-toll.)
17. Helsinki Watch, 1993: 87, 89, and (on the fate of the female detainees) 113, n. 154. One of the female detainees told Helsinki Watch: "Most of the prisoners brought to Omarska were men, ranging in age from fifteen to about fifty-five. They most frequently arrived in a paddy wagon, although some arrived in buses. All were beaten as soon as they emerged from the vehicle. They were then beaten against the wall and thrown into various buildings on the camp grounds. ... We saw the men being tortured. They were beaten with braided cable wires. Pipes filled with lead were also used to beat the men. ... The most traumatic experience for me was to see all the corpses. ... Sometimes there was a lesser number of bodies - twenty or thirty -- but usually there were more" (Helsinki Watch, 1993: 102-03).
18. The "summary executions" and "men missing" references are drawn from Perlez, 1999. In the same story, Perlez quotes "a senior Administration official" who "cited landmark incidents in the Bosnian war -- the massacre at Srebrenica and the use of concentration camps for Muslim men of fighting age -- and said that what was happening now in Kosovo was broader and faster-paced ..." The passage appeared nine paragraphs into the story.
19. I have attempted no broad sampling of broadcast media in this study. But I feel I should point to CNN's Christiane Amanpour as unusual among such media workers in her early attention to the phenomenon of the missing men. Reporting from the refugee camps in Albania on 30 March 1999, Amanpour asked straightforwardly: "Where are the men?" Young men, she said, were notably underrepresented in the refugee convoys: there were "very few men coming out ... the tractor-trailers are full of women and children." Amanpour said she asked the occupants of the refugee convoys about the fate of the men. The answers: some were in hiding, some were joining the fight against the Serbs, and others had been detained and led away to destinations unknown. She referred to "an appalling picture and a consistent picture" of the gender-selective atrocities being committed by the Serbs. This was all tougher and more to-the-point than anything else I saw broadcast at the time.
20. Fisher's article originally ran in The New York Times on 30 May, under the heading: "The Men: Missing Refugees Turn Up With Accounts of Abuse." There is no headline focusing on "The Men" in Kosovo at any point in the two months of Times coverage preceding the mass release from Smrekovnica.
21. See Jones, 1999, and the news coverage I compiled during the crisis.
Created by Adam Jones, 2001. Copyright-cleared for educational and other non-profit use if author and original venue of publication are credited.
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Delaware police are investigating a report of indecent exposure after a naked man reportedly was seen near a Delaware business.
Delaware police
Delaware police are investigating a report of indecent exposure after a naked man reportedly was seen near a Delaware business.
Officers responded about 2:15 p.m. June 20 to the 1300 block of Sunbury Road after receiving a report that a naked man was sitting in a car in the business' parking lot. A witness to the incident said the man fled before police arrived on the scene.
No arrests have been made and the case remains under investigation, according to police reports. If the suspect is found, he could face a charge of indecent exposure, a fourth-degree misdemeanor.
In other recent Delaware police reports:
* A rape involving a juvenile victim was reported June 17 at a home near the city's downtown area. A juvenile suspect was arrested in the case, which has been referred to juvenile court, according to police reports.
* Police arrested a Warrensburg man following a burglary that occurred between 11:30 p.m. June 21 and 1:45 a.m. June 22 in the 300 block of East Winter Street. Jack R. Graham, 51, of Ostrander Road was arrested after he allegedly entered the home's basement, according to police reports.
* A man reported someone stole a cigar box and $300 cash from his apartment between 10 a.m. June 16 and 2:30 p.m. June 17 in the 200 block of North Sandusky Street.
* A woman reported she was the victim of a strong-arm robbery shortly after 3 a.m. June 21 in the 200 block of South Liberty Street. She said someone robbed her of a phone valued at $600, a briefcase, keys, the title to a car and Social Security cards, according to police reports.
Sheriff's reports
* A Berlin Township woman said she was conned out of more than $400 recently by two men claiming to be door-to-door meat salesmen.
Delaware County Sheriff's deputies responded shortly before 11 a.m. June 20 to the 2700 block of Berlin Station Road on a report of a theft, according to reports. When they arrived, a woman told them she had agreed to buy one package of meat from two salesmen for $20 on June 11.
The woman said that after she agreed to the purchase, she discovered her credit card had been billed for $455. The case remains under investigation, reports said.
* A Delaware Township man reported a vehicle was stuck in his yard shortly before 5 a.m. June 19 in the 1000 block of Curve Road. After arriving, deputies arrested the driver of the car, who was charged with operating a vehicle while intoxicated, a first-degree misdemeanor. |
What I Remember:
I had a soft spot for Wolverine since I went to the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade when I was very little and as the Marvel float went by, the guy in the Wolverine suit shook my hand. I don’t remember much about this book at all except that I was obsessed with Wolverine’s new black costume.
My only prior experience with Wolverine in the comics was the my uncle’s copies of the 1982 miniseries by Chris Claremont and Frank Miller, which is one of my favorite comic book stories of all time.
Vital Stats:
Wolverine #5 “Hunter’s Moon”
Writer: Chris Claremont
Penciller: John Buscema
Inker: Al Williamson
Letterer: Janice Chiang
Colorist: Glynis Oliver
Editor: Bob Harras
Editor-In-Chief: Tom DeFalco
Publisher: Marvel Comics
Publication Date: March 1989
Cover Price: $1.50
Re-Collection Price: $8.00 at the comic shop at the Quakertown Farmer’s Market
What Happens: |
No profits for Belarus from Russia-EU sanctions
MOSCOW, 8 April (BelTA) – Belarus has incurred losses instead of profits from the mutual sanctions of Russia and the European Union. Belarusian Minister of Foreign Affairs Vladimir Makei made the statement during the press conference in Moscow on 8 April when asked about how much Belarus has earned thanks to Russia's embargo on Western foods, BelTA has learned.
Vladimir Makei underlined that no side ever benefits from sanctions. Solutions should be found via negotiations, he added.
The Minister noted that mass media cannot stop speculating about Belarus allegedly profiteering from the mutual Russia-EU sanctions. “As for how much Belarus has earned thanks to the sanctions, I am sorry to disappoint you. Last year Belarus-Russia trade dropped by nearly 30%,” said Vladimir Makei.
He went on saying that Belarusian food export to Russia has increased a bit since after the sanctions were introduced, Belarus was asked by Russia to help out by selling more food. However, Belarusian food accounts for only 15% of Russia's food import. “We have not saturated the Russian market with Belarusian foods,” noted Vladimir Makei.
Speaking about exotic goods bearing the label “Made in Belarus”, the Belarusian Minister of Foreign Affairs explained once again that if a product has been processed in Belarus to a certain degree, the product is recognized as Belarus-made in line with Belarusian-Russian agreements and those signed within the framework of the Eurasian Economic Union.
Yet Vladimir Makei noted that vendors sometimes resort to shady schemes. Sometimes Russian importers get in bed with Western vendors. Belarus has reported such cases to Russia.
“All in all, Belarus has lost $1 billion due to these sanctions instead of gaining the money,” concluded the Belarusian Minister of Foreign Affairs. |
Ever wondered how movie directors achieve those intimate shots of actors cosying up to apes? Sigourney Weaver managed several close encounters in Gorillas in the Mist, so did Rene Russo in Buddy, and Christopher Lambert made perfect contact in Greystoke: The Legend of Tarzan, Lord of the Apes. Adult gorillas and chimpanzees have a talent for carnage, and prized actors frolicking with real apes is an insurer's nightmare. Enter ape actor, Peter Elliott. For it was Elliott, in animated ape costume, who got to gaze adoringly at Weaver and Russo. Elliott has also choreographed hominids and played one in Jean-Jacques Annaud's 1981 film Quest for Fire.
Before Hugh Hudson's Greystoke in 1979, the apes used in movies were all youngsters. Hudson wanted his chimps to be the size of adult chimps, yet he could not risk the lives of the cast and crew. Auditions for actors to play chimps began and lots of theatrical miming and cliched rib scratching ensued, much to Hudson's dismay. But Elliott, then aged 22 and not long graduated from "method" drama school East 15, had the good sense to visit London Zoo to observe the chimpanzees prior to auditioning.
Elliott's audition had the necessary realism, but with only one actor able to give any depth to his chimp character it became clear to Hudson and the producers that if they didn't want the film to be a comedy, they'd better go back to the story board. Elliott was invited to LA for a further audition, telling his family he'd be gone for a week. But after a meteoric promotion to head of research and development for Greystoke, Elliott remained in the US for another two years. His R&D job took him to Oklahoma to study chimpanzees.
Primatologist Roger Fouts, who went on work with Elliott on Greystoke as a consultant, had worked on the chimp language study Project Washoe. Washoe was a chimp caught in the wild and estimated to be between eight and 14 months old when she arrived in Nevada. She spent her early years living in a house, treated as a surrogate human child and taught by scientists to communicate in American Sign Language. She was reported to combine signs in original, meaningful ways, for example she named the refrigerator, "open food drink", when the psychologists had always referred to it as the "cold box".
When Project Washoe ended in 1970, Washoe and Fouts transferred to Oklahoma's Primate Research Centre. By 1977 Fouts was working on Greystoke and for the purposes of R&D he allowed Elliott to go in with the chimps. "I immediately learned that chimpanzees were emotionally unstable, highly intelligent and incredibly strong," Elliott told me.
"To say that I was amazed by Washoe, Nim, Ali and Mac and the other chimps would be an understatement. I tried to learn sign language, but Washoe realised I didn't understand so she signed extra slowly for me. I remember Washoe was given a purple ball, but she didn't know the sign for purple, so she signed, 'What colour, different red?' On another occasion she signed that she wanted to eat oranges, I told her there were none, then she signed, 'Get car and get some!'
"But I didn't want to sign, I didn't want to make them become human, I wanted to learn from them how to speak chimp. So I started mimicking their behaviour. At Oklahoma I learned all the basic chimp sounds and the five basic faces: the 'concentration face', where the lips are together and the top lip is pushed out with air; the 'pant hoot face', with puckered lips, that's the most famous chimp expression; the aggressive, wide open mouthed 'attack face'; the 'play face', top lip down mouth open; and the 'scream fear grin', mouth shut, with teeth on show."
Elliott told me more about chimpanzee psychology. "My research at Oklahoma was just the beginning of my long journey to understand that great apes and the ape species are all very different. Chimps have high curiosity mixed with a short attention span. They have a whole rhythm to their bodies and they are constantly vigilant, always checking out the social world. They can be deceptive, but they tend to be clear communicators.
"Chimps live in the moment. I was rough-housed by the chimps many times. I used the 'scream fear grin' when I needed to. They frequently tricked me into giving them things they shouldn't have. I learned their body language and communicated with them on their terms and eventually became a player in their hierarchy. One of the most striking anatomical differences between chimps and us is their superior upper body strength: no human can climb the way a chimp can. They were much more gentle with me than they were with each other. I groomed the chimps, ate with the chimps and they accepted me."
In Greystoke, Elliott played Tarzan's adoptive, chimp father, "Silverbeard". But in learning how to be a chimp during his research, Elliott was like Tarzan in reverse. The fictional character undergoes a culturally civilising metamorphosis, leaving his chimpanzee family behind, wherease in real life Elliott was regressing psychologically, becoming more animal and less human. It was time to return to human civilisation.
"Looking back, it was pretty risky letting me go in with them like that. My approach of imitating the chimp's behaviour and becoming intimately physical was completely different from the trainee psychology students' methods. The chimps accepted me on their own terms and the students appeared jealous of the progress I made in communicating with them. I certainly had a lot more fun with the chimps than the scientists did." |
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ISLAMABAD - Pakistan is a sovereign country and it will not ‘take notices’ from any foreign country, Senate Chairman Mian Raza Rabbani said yesterday, in his address to Speaker’s Conference.
“Two days ago, [US vice president Mike] Pence had the gall, the audacity to say that [President] Trump has put Pakistan on notice. Let the word ring out in clear terms that Pakistan is a sovereign state and is not in the habit of taking notices from anyone, let alone the US.”
He added that “Pakistan does not need to take heed of any ‘notice’ from a foreign nation. We will never sacrifice on our basic rights as a sovereign country.”
The chairman said America was apparently trying to shift the blame for its defeat in Afghanistan on to Pakistan, and “it consistently refuses to recognise the sacrifices of the people of Pakistan in the war on terror.”
Rabbani’s daring remarks sent shivers across Pakistan Peoples Party leadership, which was quick to issue a statement saying the Senate chairman was no more a member of the party and his statements were “personal”.
Rabbai, further criticising the US, said that it seemed the United States has pursued a policy of “regime change and bringing about instability in Muslim countries” particularly in the Middle East.
Describing Trump’s decision to shift the US embassy in Tel Aviv to Jerusalem as the “blunder of all blunders”, the chairman said Washington had failed to understand that it is neither supported practically, nor by history in their decision to recognise Jerusalem as Israel’s capital.
He said the UN General Assembly had given a befitting reply to Washington when 128 countries rejected the US move.
“What they [US] fail to recognise is that the recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital will give rise to a new Intifada as the people of Palestine move to achieve their historic rights” he added.
He said a new coalition between US, Israel and India was in the making.”Although Pakistan believes in dialogue and friendly relations with its neighbours, until and unless India is willing to speak on equal terms, we will perhaps just be looking at the mirage of peace in the region,” he added,
Rabbani said it was unfortunate that United Nations has failed to implement its resolutions on Kashmir. “Time has come for Asia to make its own decisions, or else the history will never forgive us” he added.
About the China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) he said it had the potential to transform the economic fortunes of the region, ushering in a new era of prosperity. He said One Belt One Road (OBOR) project will not only benefit the Pakistan but the whole region.
PPP disowns Rabbani after he roars at US |
If the government isn't spying on you, then why should you care about whether the government follows wiretapping laws?
That's a complicated and much-asked question, one that this reporter totally flubbed on a not-to-be named NPR show that thinks it's cool to pretend that news is hard.
Reason magazine contributing editor Julian Sanchez, however, did much better in print in this Sunday's Los Angeles Times.
After a short history of politically motivated spying – including examples I'd long forgotten or never known, Sanchez explains why spying laws matter, even if you never say anything the spooks would want to hear anyways.
It's probably true that ordinary citizens uninvolved in political activism have little reason to fear being spied on, just as most Americans seldom need to invoke their 1st Amendment right to freedom of speech. But we understand that the 1st Amendment serves a dual role: It protects the private right to speak your mind, but it serves an even more important structural function, ensuring open debate about matters of public importance. You might not care about that first function if you don't plan to say anything controversial. But anyone who lives in a democracy, who is subject to its laws and affected by its policies, ought to care about the second. Harvard University legal scholar William Stuntz has argued that the framers of the Constitution viewed the 4th Amendment as a mechanism for protecting political dissent. In England, agents of the crown had ransacked the homes of pamphleteers critical of the king – something the founders resolved that the American system would not countenance. In that light, the security-versus-privacy framing of the contemporary FISA debate seems oddly incomplete. Your personal phone calls and e-mails may be of limited interest to the spymasters of Langley and Ft. Meade. But if you think an executive branch unchecked by courts won't turn its "national security" surveillance powers to political ends – well, it would be a first.
I've always thought of the importance of the laws as being about the architecture of the spying apparatus.
Meaning that the difference between a democratic regime with unfettered access to the nation's communication tools and an despotic regime with the same access is simply good will.
And good will rarely stops the momentum of a bureaucracy convinced it knows best. Or if you let me, good will is no Hoover dam.
Photo: Hoover dam taken by Minnet Lane. |
Republican vice presidential candidate
Palin's reference was to Bill Ayers, one of the founders of the group the Weather Underground. Its members took credit for bombings, including nonfatal explosions at the Pentagon and U.S. Capitol, during the Vietnam War era.
While Obama and Ayers live in the same Chicago neighborhood, served on two boards and had at least one political connection, it is a stretch of any reading of the public record to say the pair ever palled around. And it's simply wrong to suggest that they were associated while Ayers was committing terrorist acts.
The Republican campaign, falling behind Obama in polls, plans to make attacks on Obama's character a centerpiece of candidate John McCain's message in the final weeks of the presidential race. Coming late in the campaign, Palin's remark could be particularly incendiary, however, and could knock Obama off his focus on the troubled economy.
Palin told a group of donors at a private airport, "Our opponent ... is someone who sees America, it seems, as being so imperfect, imperfect enough, that he's palling around with terrorists who would target their own country." She also said, "This is not a man who sees America as you see America and as I see America."
The Obama campaign called Palin's remarks offensive but not surprising in light of news stories detailing the campaign's come-from-behind offensive.
"What's clear is that John McCain and Sarah Palin would rather spend their time tearing down Barack Obama than laying out a plan to build up our economy," Obama campaign spokesman Hari Sevugan said in a statement.
Palin's remark about Obama "palling around with terrorists" comes as e-mails circulate on the Internet with suggestions that the Democratic candidate is secretly a radical, foreign-born Muslim with designs against the U.S. - even though Obama is a native of Hawaii, a Christian and has no connections to Muslim extremists.
Palin, Alaska's governor, said that donors on a greeting line had encouraged her and McCain to get tougher on Obama. She said an aide then advised her, "Sarah, the gloves are off, the heels are on, go get to them."
The escalated effort to attack Obama's character dovetails with TV ads by outside groups questioning Obama's ties to Ayers, convicted former Obama fundraiser Antoin "Tony" Rezko and Obama's former pastor, the Rev. Jeremiah Wright.
Ayers is a professor at the University of Illinois at Chicago. He and Obama live in Chicago's Hyde Park neighborhood and served together on the board of the Woods Fund, a Chicago-based charity that develops community groups to help the poor. Obama left the board in December 2002.
Obama was the first chairman of the Chicago Annenberg Challenge, a school-reform group of which Ayers was a founder. Ayers also held a meet-the-candidate event at his home for Obama when Obama first ran for office in the mid-1990s.
In an interview with CBS News earlier in the week, Palin didn't name any newspapers or magazines that shaped her view of the world. On Saturday, she cited a New York Times story that detailed Obama's relationship with Ayers.
Summing up its findings, the Times wrote: "A review of records of the schools project and interviews with a dozen people who know both men, suggest that Mr. Obama, 47, has played down his contacts with Mr. Ayers, 63. But the two men do not appear to have been close. Nor has Mr. Obama ever expressed sympathy for the radical views and actions of Mr. Ayers, whom he has called 'somebody who engaged in detestable acts 40 years ago, when I was 8."'
Earlier Saturday, Palin spent 35 minutes at a diner in Greenwood Village where she met with Blue Star Moms, a support group of families whose sons or daughters are serving in the armed forces. Reporters were allowed in the diner for less than five minutes before being ushered out by the campaign.
Palin, whose 19-year-old son, Track, deployed last month as a private with an Army combat team, was overheard at one point commiserating with one of the mothers: "Any time I ask my son how he's doing, he says, 'Mom, I'm in the Army now."' |
Journalist Alex Thomson reports that Syrian rebels set him and his crew up to be killed by Syrian troops in a bid to show Damascus in a negative light.
Thomson, a chief correspondent for Channel 4 news, says he and his group were deliberately given incorrect directions by a group of Syrian rebels. As a result, their car entered a free-fire zone, where the road ahead was blocked off, and started receiving shots presumably fired by the Syrian army, who thought the vehicle belonged to rebels.
“Suddenly four men in a black car beckon us to follow,” he wrote on the channel’s website. “We move out behind. We are led another route. Led in fact, straight into a free-fire zone. Told by the Free Syrian Army to follow a road that was blocked off in the middle of no-man’s land."
They then tried to escape the attack by driving onto a nearby side-street, but it turned out to be dead end. Eventually, they returned to the road where the group of rebels had seen them off.
“Predictably the black car was there which had led us to the trap. They roared off as soon as we re-appeared,” Thomson noted.
Thomson said he was sure the rebels were eager to get him and his crew killed in order to have the international community blame Damascus for the death of Western reporters.
“I’m quite clear the rebels deliberately set us up to be shot by the Syrian army. Dead journos are bad for Damascus,” he stated.
Thomson’s mission to Syria was unique in a way, as he was reporting on both sides of the conflict, interviewing both Assad loyalists and rebels. In fact, he was in the country on a legal visa, issued by the Syrian government.
The reported incident comes just days after as many as 78 people were killed in the village of Mazraat al-Qubair in the Hama province. UN monitors that tried to asses the massacre were shot at.
‘Both sides involved in very dirty tactics’
RT did an extensive interview with Thomson on the details of his ordeal, and the situation in the country in general.
RT: What you are basically saying is that rebel forces set you up to be shot at by the Syrian army?
Alex Thomson: I have no doubt in my mind what happened, nor independently, does the very experienced cameraman I was with, and, perhaps more importantly than that, neither does the driver or the translator we were working with have any doubt at all that we were deliberately led out of that town, which the rebels knew was dangerous. We were led there in a car with four men. Two or three of them were armed. They told us to go down a route which looked dangerous to us, but we trusted them, we said we would go down the route and turn. We turned and found it was blocked. That was a roadblock which they had to have known was there. There was nobody around and at that point we were forced to turn the vehicle around in a free-fire zone and were duly fired upon. We were definitely exposed to a dangerous situation. And I have absolutely no doubt they did it deliberately. When we reappeared, still alive, the car full of men saw us, turned round and drove off at speed.
RT: So the car you were in, the Syrian army had no way to tell that you were foreign journalists?
AT: We did have a small sign in the windscreen saying press. We did not mark the car up with large letters saying TV or anything like that. There were very few journalists in this area. We were the only ones, so I think we were moving under conditions of reasonable safety.
RT: Why did you trust the rebel forces in the first place?
AT: We had no reason not to trust the rebel forces any more than we had any reason not to trust the Syrian army. By and large, when we spoke to Syrian people on both sides of the war, they were pretty honest and pretty straightforward in their assessments of the situation. That was the situation in places like Homs, on both sides, in Houla, on both sides. It was certainly the case on one side in al-Qubair. But when we got to the rebel side of al-Qubair, there was something different and for the first time, we encountered a degree of hostility and suspicion about us, because they had never seen foreign journalists who had a visa from Damascus, who were in the country legally, not illegally. And that immediately aroused suspicion on their part.
RT: So most foreign journalists are there illegally?
AT: That’s a fact. Most foreign, Western journalists who cover the war from the rebel side are smuggled in from Lebanon and so forth illegally to the country. It is very unusual, almost unheard of, to do the kind of things that we were doing, which is to go from Damascus, cross the lines with the Red Cross and Red Crescent, and talk to both sides.
RT: So can it be that your willingness to talk to both sides was the reason why the rebels wanted to set you up?
AT: That’s certainly possibly the case. There was another journalist in al-Qubair, an American freelance photographer, who had been there for some weeks; I don’t imagine that he would have been treated in that kind of way because they would have had a great deal more trust. To be fair to the rebels, you’re not looking at a credible and well-organized army with a very well-organized command and control structure. It was almost like there were groups of different men in the town who controlled different areas, different streets. There was a lot of rivalry. And I think, as much as anything else, we got involved in their turf war, with different groups of soldiers fighting with each other, jostling with each other around our car, not sure what to do with us, not sure how to treat us, not sure quite what we were doing there. We caused a lot of confusion to that extent and they weren’t used to that.
RT: Are there any grounds to believe that the Shabbiha were impersonating the rebels that misled you?
AT: No, I didn’t make a mistake on that. You can argue we made a mistake listening to what these guys were telling us. You can argue we made a mistake leaving site of the UN, although later these guys forced their car between us and the UN, and the UN drove off and left us as they said they would do, I have no problem with that. There is no way that these were some extremist Shabbiha. We were inside the town, in the streets, in areas completely controlled by the Free Syrian Army. They were all FSA people there. The idea that some bizarre could have wandered in to this situation unnoticed is ludicrous.
RT: Couldn’t rebels just kill you themselves and make it look as it was Assad’s forces?
AT: Yeah, of course they could. But in order to do that, the guys who actually did this would have had to physically taken us, probably in another vehicle, in order to do that, because they would have probably not been able to do that with other guys watching. Don’t forget, most of the people who were in that town were very welcoming to us, very helpful, giving interviews. A lot of them were very cool and very relaxed with us. It was just this one group who suddenly decided to do what they did.
RT: So the rebels are not united? Are there different groups doing different things, basically?
AT: Not exactly. What I mean is, you have the regular Free Syrian Army who are organized as you would expect a national army to be organized. They have a coherent command and control structure. They know who is in charge of their unit. That unit knows who is in charge of the area. The area knows who is in charge of the region, and they know who the boss man is. It works. They’re pushed, they’re under stress, they’re losing men, as this is a civil war. It is not the same when you cross to the other side. Clearly you are dealing with a much less coherent force. The only arms I saw them have were sniper rifles, AK-47s, and the very occasional rocket-propelled grenades, so they are not heavily armed. They are deeply motivated. They are prepared to die for their cause, and they are quite clearly giving the Syrian army a run for their money, but in no sense are they organized like a conventional army.
'Dead journalists are bad for Damascus'
RT: Can you elaborate on your statement that dead journalists are bad for Damascus?
AT: My point is, dead journalists are bad for Damascus. When Marie Colvin, the British journalist got killed because she was in a building which was shelled by the Syrian army in Homs, that was an appalling propaganda blow for the Damascus regime. You don’t have to be very clever to work out that the deaths of any journalist at the hands of the Syrian army are going to be an appalling blow, again, for President Assad. That’s going to reflect all the way to Moscow and all the way to Beijing. Clearly that is going to be a bad thing in terms of propaganda. So the motivation for the rebels to pull a stunt like that seems to be very obvious. I’m not angry about it, I’m not upset about it, this is a war and these things will be done. Both sides are involved in very dirty tactics in this war. This is a nasty and dirty war on both sides.
RT: How much violence have you actually seen personally?
AT: I’ve seen dead bodies in Houla which the UN didn’t know about. I’ve seen mass graves of men involved in a fairly extensive firefight close up in the south of Houla. I’ve watched the Syrian army at various distances shelling Homs every single day, shelling Houla almost every single day.
RT: So are Assad’s troops mostly responsible for this violence?
AT: No, it’s a war. Both sides are responsible. I think the Western media is rather naïve because they constantly blame the Syrian army for killing civilians. That’s true because the Syrian army are to blame for shelling civilians, but it’s equally true that the Free Syrian Army is very largely fighting its war in built-up, populated, civilian areas. They're not exactly using civilians as human shields but if you fight in those areas, civilians are going to be killed, and that is a question which is not put to the leaders of the Free Syrian Army with the frequency that it should be, in my opinion.
RT: Is it really possible to investigate who commits atrocities such as the latest Hama massacre?
AT: It’s extremely difficult. For the UN, the answer is probably, no, not really. They don’t have the means to conduct a forensics investigation; they have no equipment, they have no training, they have no expertise to cordon off the area, to treat it as a crime scene. They haven’t the personnel or the time or the resources to make extensive inquiries. For example, when we were in Houla, everybody in Houla says that the militia who came and conducted the massacre in which 108 people died, most of them women and children, came from villages to the west of the town, which are Alawite villages. When we went to those villages, we very quickly realized that nobody had come to those people. Neither the Syrian army in the framework of their investigation that they carried out, nor the United Nations, because the Syrian army and the Syrian government isn’t that interested, but equally, I know the UN do not have the capacity to do it. So the answer to that is no.
RT: So what’s the point of the UN observer mission?
AT: I’m not sure what the point is. But the other thing I should add to that is that blame lies also with the Syrian government, which has denied access to human rights groups who would have a capacity to do an investigation into these things. But equally, they would be going into a war zone where their safety would not be guaranteed by any means. As for the purpose of the United Nations mission, it’s very easy to say that these things are pointless, but I’ve personally witnessed, for instance, the UN setting up local ceasefires. They did one at al-Rastan, for instance, which worked, which made a difference on the ground. A lot of people say that their intervention has made a difference. A lot of people say there is never any shelling when the UN are there, that the shelling only begins when they leave town. Their effect is marginal, but it’s not true to say that their mission is entirely pointless. When you look at Houla, even with the resources at their disposal, the UN did produce a very swift, interim report about what happened there.
RT:You said the UN observers didn’t protect you. Why is that?
AT: Why should they? It’s not their job. It’s not part of their mission. When you follow the UN convoy, the UN make it very clear, they’re not there to protect you. They can’t protect you. They have no weapons. If you get into trouble, you’re on your own. That’s a perfectly reasonable arrangement. I have no problems with that. I have no problems with them observing that we were in trouble, and driving off and leaving us. That’s entirely fair enough.
RT: So you have no protection while you are there?
AT: No, I have no protection. |
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Virginia (Reuters) - The White House says President Barack Obama is not monitoring the Republican national convention this week.
U.S. President Barack Obama talks at a campaign event on the Monfort Quad at Colorado State University in Fort Collins, August 28, 2012. REUTERS/Larry Downing
But the president told several thousand mostly college-age voters on Wednesday that they should be watching the event to help them decide how to vote in the November elections.
“In November, your voice will matter more than ever. And listen, if you doubt that, pay a little attention to what’s happening in Tampa this week,” Obama said.
Campaigning in Charlottesville, Virginia, the Democratic president said his focus was on Hurricane Isaac as it hit the Gulf coast, and he wanted to “make sure we are doing every single thing that we need to do” to help those affected by the storm.
Obama, in several campaign stops this week and in a brief television address, has reminded voters that he is keeping an eye on the storm — a not-so-subtle reference to criticism that his predecessor, George W. Bush, was slow to respond to the devastation of Hurricane Katrina when it hit the same area as Isaac seven years ago.
The president began his speech on Wednesday in Virginia by saying he had just discussed Hurricane Isaac by telephone with the Federal Emergency Management Agency Administrator Craig Fugate and Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano, as well as some of the mayors and governors having to deal with the storm.
It was important, Obama said, to “let people on the coast know, our thoughts are with you, our prayers are with you.”
Floodwater from Hurricane Isaac jumped a levee on the outskirts of New Orleans on Wednesday, but the multi-billion-dollar barriers built to protect the city itself after the 2005 Katrina disaster held firm, officials said.
Later Wednesday, on the online chat site Reddit, Obama also expressed concern about the hurricane. He said the federal government would be coordinating with state and local officials to “make sure that we give families everything they need to recover.”
The lumbering cyclone, which weakened to a tropical storm, threatened to flood oil refineries and towns in Louisiana and neighboring Mississippi with a deluge of rain, storm surges and strong winds. |
Image caption Mr Hu called for better co-operation with African countries
China has pledged $20bn (£12.8bn) in credit for Africa over the next three years, in a push for closer ties and increased trade.
President Hu Jintao made the announcement at a summit in Beijing with leaders from 50 African nations.
He said the loans would support infrastructure, agriculture and the development of small businesses.
The Chinese leader also called for better co-operation with African countries on international affairs.
As developing nations, China and countries in Africa should work better together in response to "the big bullying the small, the strong domineering over the weak and the rich oppressing the poor" in international affairs, said Mr Hu.
The loan is double the amount China pledged in a previous three-year period in 2009, since which time China has been Africa's largest trading partner.
Trade between the two hit a record high of $166bn (£106bn) in 2011, Chinese Commerce Minister Chen Deming wrote in the China Daily newspaper, ahead of the two-day forum.
"We want to continue to enhance our traditional friendship... rule out external interference and enhance mutual understanding and trust," said Mr Hu.
United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon is also attending the fifth ministerial meeting of the Forum on China-Africa Co-operation.
'Balanced development'
On Wednesday, Mr Hu and Premier Wen Jiabao held bilateral talks with key African leaders, including South African President Jacob Zuma.
Africa is an important source of raw materials to feed China's economic boom and a market for cheap Chinese products, and has benefited from huge infrastructure projects in return, says the BBC's Damian Grammaticas.
But there are concerns Beijing turns a blind eye to corruption and claims its firms have committed labour abuses in Zimbabwe, Zambia and elsewhere, our correspondent adds.
Moves by some Chinese enterprises to hire mostly Chinese nationals have also drawn attention.
Mr Wen said that China would now focus on creating jobs for local residents and working with African countries for sustainable growth.
At an economic conference held in conjunction with the summit on Wednesday, he said China would ''expand imports'' of African products and ''further open'' its domestic market to African countries.
''We need to promote balanced development of trade between China and Africa,'' he said.
He also pledged that China would pay more attention to environmental protection and cultural issues in its dealings with the continent.
''As for some existing problems and new situations in China-Africa co-operation, the Chinese government is actively working with African countries to seek effective solutions and measures,'' Mr Wen said. |
Johnson involves a passing child in his act
David Johnson, also known as the World Famous Bushman, is a busker who scares passers-by along Fisherman's Wharf in San Francisco, active since 1980. [1] Johnson hides motionless behind some eucalyptus branches and waits for unsuspecting people to wander by. When they approach, he shakes the bush towards the unsuspecting tourists and startles them, sometimes making gruff "oogah-boogah" noises, while in-the-know observers giggle. Crowds gather to watch him work,[2] often including those he has previously scared.[1] The Bushman typically operates toward the western end of the Wharf (at Jefferson and Hyde Streets or thereabouts), well to the west of the Grotto. Johnson used to work with or, at different points in time, as a rival to a second Bushman, Gregory Jacobs, until the death of Jacobs in 2014.[3]
Crowds usually watch Johnson across the street from where he usually sits,[4] to see him entertain people.
In a "good year", Johnson claims to earn $60,000.[5] However, he cited the same figure to one of his victims (after said victim chided him) in 1992. At one point, he employed a bodyguard to protect himself against attacks by the unamused, distract his targets, and to alert him to the approach of elderly people so he could avoid scaring them.[1]
The police have received a number of complaints about the Bushman, and Fisherman's Wharf merchants have tried to shut him down.[6] In 2004, he was charged with four misdemeanors, but a jury cleared him. The District Attorney subsequently dropped several remaining public nuisance complaints.[2]
Although engaging in his street performance utilizing the bush as a prop, as of the mid 1990s, Johnson did not formally refer to himself as "The Bushman" until he was befriended by then Alameda residents John and daughter Alison Nowakowski, who would refer to him as such. Eventually, the name stuck and Johnson adopted the name as his formal street performing moniker.
Two Bushmen [ edit ]
While it is clear that from the 1990s until the death of Gregory Jacobs in 2014, two World Famous Bushmen operated on Fisherman's Wharf both as a team and as separate acts, sources differ as to whether Jacobs or Johnson was first to come up with the act.
A 2009 article in SFSU's Xpress Magazine says:
Many people are unaware that there are, in fact, two Bushmen. When Gregory Jacobs first came up with this gig, he recruited David Johnson, a man he met at Fisherman's Wharf. As they worked together they developed a close friendship. Johnson's deep voice scares those who unknowingly pass by the man-made bush. Back then, Johnson would hold the bush and Jacobs would tell the jokes, entertain those watching the action, and collect the tips. It has been about fifteen years, and now they are complete enemies. Jacobs accuses Johnson of running off with their money. Jacobs tries to avoid any conflicts with Johnson by not working where and when he is."[7]
However, the San Francisco Chronicle reports that Johnson was the original Bushman, joined by Jacobs in the 1990s. An article from 1999 suggests that Jacobs joined Johnson in a bodyguard role as well as to help with the act: "'I look after him,' says Gregory Jacobs, who recently joined the act as a full partner. 'I watch his back.' [1]
Greg Jacobs was featured in the video "Act (Diogenes)" by the artist Whitney Lynn.[8] Jacobs is also the subject of a short film, The Bush Man.[9] Gregory Jacobs died February 23, 2014 due to heart failure at the age of 60 years old, whilst Johnson remains active.[3]
Bushman Holiday Video [ edit ]
The Bushman was also featured in a holiday video[10] for HEAT, an advertising agency in San Francisco, CA.
See also [ edit ] |
Here's one for those Tui signwriters: Election outcome swayed by billboards. All together now... Yeah Right. Untold effort and expense, if not creativity, goes into producing the myriad of party and candidate hoardings that spring up like unwanted weeds every election campaign, only to disappear on the eve of polling day.
Here's a thought for those who make their living devising and conducting opinion polls. How about a survey seeking to establish whether somewhere, anywhere, a single voter has been empty-headed enough to cast his or her votes based simply – or even partly – on the message contained on a political billboard?
Surely, motorists don't bother to gaze at the motley displays cluttering Nelson gateways such as at Atawhai's Miyazu Park or Bishopdale Hill? Those who do, risk being distracted from the task at hand and tailgating the vehicle in front. Political parties might see any such accidents as mere collateral damage, the price of democracy, but it is tempting to see these billboard forests as no better than inane insults to our intelligence, extreme visual pollution and therefore fair game for those who might seek to "improve" them with a splash of wit and humour.
The large-scale defacing of National Party billboards brought a curious twist, more comedic than nastily machiavellian, to a week dominated by the storm over the cup of tea in Epsom. The Greens are generally thought of as being way too politically correct to even know where the dirty tricks bag was, let alone dip into it. Though tracts of the party's support base have an activist bent, this has expressed itself more in stances on genetic modification or animal welfare than petty vandalism.
They once also had a reputation, among their detractors at least, for possessing heads so clouded with idealism that they could never be capable of a co-ordinated, covert, operation of this nature. Hitting 700 billboards over one evening almost sounds like a modern equivalent of a World War II sabotage raid, behind enemy lines. Besides, adding slogans like "The Rich Deserve More!" and "Drill it! Mine it! Sell it!" to the Nats' hoardings shows more ironic wit than your average earnest Green might be reasonably expected to possess.
The Greens did the right thing by the party they might yet end up in post-election relationship talks with following Saturday's general election, as galling as that might be to the hardliners of both parties. Raid co-ordinator Jolyon White is no longer a member, the Greens helped remove the offending stickers, and maintained hand-on-heart that word of the plan had not reached their upper echelon – even if Mr White's partner, Anne Heins, was co-leader Russel Norman's executive assistant and has since been stood down.
Grassroots members may wonder why Mr White and Ms Heins were not given the Green equivalent of a medal – a kawakawa garland perhaps – rather than being outed and ousted. However, the party has been adopting a more mature, professional line under Mr Norman and co-leader Metiria Turei. This is how the Greens have to play it if they are to enjoy a more significant role in the running of New Zealand – which, on current polling, looks certain. |
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