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Amnesty International has criticized the punitive measures taken by Saudi Arabia and a number of its allies against Qatar, saying the restrictions violate the human rights of the Qatari people.
The Amnesty’s Secretary General Salil Shetty made the remarks while meeting with Ali Bin Smaikh Al Marri, the chairman of the National Human Rights Committee of Qatar, who had paid a visit to the rights body’s headquarters in London, Arabic-language daily Alquds Alarabi reported on Tuesday.
Shetty called on all relevant and international bodies to try to stop the measures.
Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Bahrain, the Maldives, and Egypt recently broke off ties with Qatar, accusing Doha of supporting terrorism, an accusation that the Qatari government denies. The regional countries also blocked their transit routes to Qatar and ordered most of Qatari nationals to leave. The measures have also made family visits difficult. Qatari airways have also been banned from using the airspace of the Saudi-led bloc of countries.
The Amnesty chief said a delegation from the body, which had earlier visited Qatar, documented around 700 instances in which the Saudi-led measures had resulted in rights violations.
Read more:
He also condemned the all-across-the-board banning enacted by the regional countries against Qatari broadcasters, including Al Jazeera, and the Qatari press. Shetty described the muffling of the Qatari media as being in blatant contravention of free speech and access to information rights.
Saudi Arabia and its Arab allies have reportedly been angered by the sometimes critical coverage they receive from Al Jazeera.
This file photo shows Qatar’s Foreign Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani arriving for the opening of a conference in Paris, France, on January 15, 2017. (By AFP)
Doha itself on Monday denounced the sanctions as “unfair” and “illegal.”
“Whatever relates to our foreign affairs... no one has the right to discuss,” Qatari Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani told reporters during a visit to Paris.
He called for “dialog based on clear foundations” over the accusations that have been leveled against Qatar.
Al Thani also said the motives behind the anti-Doha measures were unclear to the Qatari government.
“It’s not about Iran or Al Jazeera,” he said. “We have no clue about the real reasons.”
Some analysts say the diplomatic war on Qatar is because Doha acts more independently of Riyadh in its foreign policy, including in its relations with Iran. |
Richard M. Smith, the president of the Pinkerton Foundation, which gave the fund $1.4 million from 2012 to 2014 for a three-year pilot of Summer Quest, said the government could take risks with private funds that it could not with tax dollars. He added that private money helped get programs up and running quickly, because the rules of public procurement did not apply.
“The great value of the role of private philanthropy is that it can experiment with potential solutions to major problems that would be politically too controversial if attempted with public money,” he said.
Mr. Klein also used the private money he and Ms. Kennedy raised, some of which came through the fund and some through other nonprofits, to finance the opening of new small high schools, to create a training institute for new principals and to undertake other experiments in overhauling the school system, some of which, including the small high schools, the current administration has not embraced.
Image The schools chancellor, Carmen Fariña, like Mr. de Blasio, is not as connected to a world of wealthy donors in the same way that her predecessor was. Credit Karsten Moran for The New York Times
Denis Calabrese, the president of the Laura and John Arnold Foundation, which gave the fund $1.25 million during the Bloomberg years to finance a pilot teacher evaluation system, said philanthropists who supported charter schools had probably been turned off by Mr. de Blasio’s fight last year with Eva S. Moskowitz, the founder of Success Academy, the city’s biggest charter school network, over space for three of its schools. (The city ultimately gave the schools space.)
“That was the most visible thing that funders saw in terms of gauging the approach,” Mr. Calabrese said.
Peter Sloane, the chairman and chief executive of the Heckscher Foundation for Children, which gave the fund close to $1.2 million from 2006 to 2008 for a free breakfast and lunch program during the summer, said that if the fund were having difficulty raising money, “it may reflect a more basic discomfort with the education agenda of this administration.”
About half the money counted as raised this year comes from two large, multiyear grants made during the 2012 fiscal year, from the Open Society Foundations and the Wallace Foundation, the first to support programs aimed at improving outcomes for young black and Latino men, and the second for principal development. |
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By Steve Baltimore / May 27th, 2015
UPDATE: They have now confirmed a North American release for these titles. It appears SAO: Hallow Fragment will be digital only, while SAO: Lost Song will be both digital and retail.
Via Twitter Bandai Namco UK has announced that it would be bringing Sword Art Online: Lost Song to both the PS4 and Vita consoles in Europe this Autumn. The good news didn’t stop there they are also bringing a directors cut of Sword Art Online: Hallow Fragment to the PS4. I have played quite a bit of the Vita version and if they fix up the translation a bit this will be something to behold.
While there is no word yet on a North American release you can bet it is likely coming later today. We will keep you updated as more details become available.
It doesn’t end there! We’re also bringing out Sword Art Online Re: Hollow Fragment to PlayStation 4! pic.twitter.com/4mc121fS60 — Bandai Namco UK (@BandaiNamcoUK) May 27, 2015
Sword Art Online: Lost Song is coming to Europe for PS Vita and PS4 this Autumn! pic.twitter.com/NiWuckJg1Y — Bandai Namco UK (@BandaiNamcoUK) May 27, 2015
About Steve Baltimore Steve started with oprainfall not long after the campaign moved from the IGN forums to Facebook. Ever since, he has been fighting to give all non-mainstream RPGs a fair voice. As the site admin, he will continue to do this and even show there is value in what some would deem "pure ecchi." He loves niche games and anime more than anything... well, except maybe Neptune.
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Race Restrictive Covenants in Property Deeds
by Mary Daly
“No persons of any race except the white race shall use or occupy any building on any lot except that this covenant shall not prevent occupancy by domestic servants of a different race employed by an owner or tenant.” This language, taken directly from a property deed dated June 10, 1940, in West Hartford’s High Ledge Homes Development, appeared in property deeds in five neighborhoods during the 1940s in West Hartford. In some places in Connecticut such barriers appeared even earlier.
These restrictive covenants, along with ones that may have existed in other Northern states, were implemented in order to prevent minorities from moving into white suburban neighborhoods. Real estate developers, homeowners, and neighborhood associations wrote these restrictions, called housing covenants, for their developments. Discriminatory covenants excluded certain groups from housing areas not only in Connecticut but throughout the northern United States as well.
Population Shift Sparks Unfair Realty Practices
The Great Migration of blacks from the rural South to work in industrial factories in the North increased the minority population in Hartford beginning in the 1920s. Housing areas became a commodity that whites wanted to protect. In 1937, the Home Owners’ Loan Corporation (HOLC) issued a map rating Hartford’s neighborhoods on a scale from A to D based on the perceived risk of mortgage defaults in each community. The HOLC labeled areas with a high concentration of minorities as riskier; these received a D rating, which was color coded as red on the map. Even a small number of minority families living in an area often resulted in it receiving a C rating. This map vividly documents how the racial composition of a neighborhood influenced the values of homes in the area.
This process—called redlining—exposed the deep concern many whites had about minorities moving into their neighborhoods. The influx of blacks into the North and the redlining process contributed to “white flight” into the suburbs of Hartford starting in the 1940s. Real estate agencies and homeowners, concerned about black neighbors causing a decline in property values in their new white suburban enclaves, wrote housing covenants into their property deeds. Due to these covenants, blacks were nearly eliminated from the suburban housing market during the 1940s.
Shelley v. Kraemer Limits Power of Restrictive Covenants
In 1948, restrictive housing covenants were deemed unenforceable by law in the Supreme Court case Shelley v. Kraemer on the grounds that such restrictions violated the 14th Amendment, which calls for equal treatment under the law for all citizens of the United States. This ruling did not, however, find the covenants themselves to be illegal. Therefore, some private parties still abided by the restrictive covenants in property deeds, even though they could not be enforced when taken to court. In many predominantly white areas of Connecticut, such as New Canaan, for example, “gentlemen’s agreements” not to sell homes to blacks, Jews, or other minorities allowed discrimination to quietly persist. The Fair Housing Act of 1968 did much to discourage continuations of these practices.
Documenting a History of Discrimination
Since it is still legal to have these racially restrictive covenants in property deeds, some still remain in housing deeds in West Hartford. Such clauses have been documented for five areas, including the High Ledge Homes Development, by On The Line, a public history web-book by Trinity College professor Jack Dougherty. As part of this effort, The Cities, Suburbs and Schools Project, a collaborative effort involving Trinity faculty and students as well as community members, interviewed citizens of West Hartford in 2011. They asked residents living in homes with property deeds that included race restrictive covenants their thoughts on the matter. Younger, new residents of the area were alarmed to learn that they existed. “It’s not something I would have expected in Connecticut…,” said one. “I grew up believing that [overt racism] was in the South.” Those who had lived in their neighborhoods for a long time were less surprised. One woman reported knowing of the covenant when she purchased her home in 1970. These covenants are more than artifacts of an earlier time. They have shaped the present-day nature of communities across Connecticut.
Readers of this article who are aware of racially restrictive covenants in housing deeds are invited to contribute to On The Line’s ongoing research by leaving a comment here.
Mary Daly, of Madison, Wisconsin, and a student at Trinity College in Hartford during the 2012-13 academic year, is majoring in Urban Studies with a minor in Latin American Studies.
LEARN MORE Websites version="1.0"? “Federal HOLC ‘Redlining’ Map, Hartford Area, 1937.” University of Connecticut Libraries, Map and Geographic Information Center (MAGIC), 2012. Link version="1.0"? “Race Restrictive Covenants in Property Deeds, Hartford Area, Circa 1940.” University of Connecticut Libraries, Map and Geographic Information Center (MAGIC), 2012. Link version="1.0"? “Racial Change in the Hartford Region, 1900-2010.” University of Connecticut Libraries, Map and Geographic Information Center (MAGIC), 2012. Link Video version="1.0"? Everett, Mary. Oral History Interview on West Hartford and Restrictive Covenants, (with Video) - Cities, Suburbs, and Schools Project. Interview by Candance Simpson. Pdf file, video, July 21, 2011. Trinity College Digital Repository, Hartford. Link version="1.0"? Hansen, Susan. Oral History Interview on West Hartford and Restrictive Covenants, (with Video) - Cities, Suburbs, and Schools Project. Interview by Candance Simpson. Pdf file, video, July 22, 2011. Trinity College Digital Repository, Hartford. Link version="1.0"? Walsh, Debra. Oral History Interview on West Hartford and Restrictive Covenants, (with Video) - Cities, Suburbs, and Schools Project. Interview by Candance Simpson. Pdf file, video, July 21, 2011. Trinity College Digital Repository, Hartford. Link Books version="1.0"? Katz, Bruce. “Gentleman’s Agreement: Discrimination in Metropolitan America.” In Reflections on Regionalism. Washington, DC: Brookings Institution Press, 2000. version="1.0"? On the Line: How Schooling, Housing, and Civil Rights Shaped Hartford and Its Suburbs. Hartford, CT: Trinity College, 2011. Dougherty, Jack, and colleagues.. Hartford, CT: Trinity College, 2011. Link |
An upcoming event combines laser-tag technology with horrifying zombies in a spectacular first-person shooter video-game event.
(Credit: IRL Shooter)
The game's called Patient 0, and it's pretty much exactly what the studio name, IRL Shooter, suggests: a first-person shooter in the real world, in a game that combines elements of film, video gaming and live-action role playing. It will be hosted in an abandoned factory in Melbourne starting 31 October, and will run for a month.
Its creation is the work of three people — Drew Hobbs, who works primarily on the script, story and characters; Ben Powell, whose purview covers IT infrastructure; and David Leadbetter, who looks after production, design and logistics.
According to Leadbetter, Patient 0 is the result of a drunken night in a pub. "The three of us were crapping on about horror films and video games (as anyone who knows us will testify as being 100 per cent usual), and Ben mentioned the UK company putting on zombie apocalypse games in a shopping mall," he told CNET Australia. "This got us more excited than usual, and, as we dissected the concept, the issue of a scoring system was raised as a requirement to make it less about just shooting and more about gaming. This was on a Friday night. By Sunday, we had the website registered, a splash page up and Drew had started writing the outline for what has become Patient 0."
That's fast work, especially considering that it's only been a few months since then, and there are significant logistical planning nightmares involved.
The first was the location. "After a very disappointing false start (we were quite advanced in discussions with a certain institution but were ultimately rejected by their board of directors), we decided on a beautiful, disused building that I had come across scouting for film locations. It is a much better option, and the game has grown considerably since we chose it," Leadbetter said.
(Credit: IRL Shooter)
Now that location's under control, the team is trying to figure out the weapon system. IRL Shooter, according to its website, is working on a new weapon system that will allow you to count kills, headshots, body shots, misses and friendly fire, all packaged in a specially made replica M4. It sounds complicated; but once again, the team has pulled out all stops. "We are working closely with a professional armourer and a team of techs to have all the functionality that a gamer will require. It is coming together nicely."
On the more practical side of things is player safety.
"Our biggest concern was that the environment is going to be so real and scary that a player could potentially 'go rogue' and start physically assaulting the actors," said Leadbetter. "For the safety of all people inside the building, the entire playing arena will be covered by CCTV and monitored by a 'controller', who will be in radio contact with both the players and the cast. We are incorporating this communication into the gameplay. Players will have to sign a standard liability waiver (similar to if you go bungee jumping, ballooning, play paintball, etc). We will also have an on-site nurse at all times, and full control of the building, so in the unlikely event of an incident we will be able to extract the person almost instantly."
Additionally, touching the actors will immediately result in the player becoming "infected", which Leadbetter hopes will reduce the temptation to come into physical contact with the actors. "We are developing a system that will allow our zombies to get close to the players to inflict 'damage'; however, they won't have to touch them. Again, we're trying to limit the potential for 'going rogue'."
Players will patrol the factory in teams of six to survive the zombie outbreak, with the foes being played by real actors. This means that you never know what's going to happen; nothing is pre-programmed, and there's no dodgy AI that you can predict.
(Credit: IRL Shooter)
"This is not a picnic, this is a zombie survival experience," Leadbetter said. "Players enter the building as part of a special ops team sent in to clear the building and discover what actually happened. Like all good video games, there will be missions and puzzles to solve as they go. There will also be health packs, extra ammo and other items inside the building that they may or may not find, depending on how well they play the game. There may be moments where the players can stop to catch their breath, regroup and plan their next move, but there will not be time to kick back and relax."
It sounds intense. And amazing. So why hasn't it been done on this scale before?
"Actually, we were a bit puzzled by this ourselves," said Leadbetter. "Obviously, there are some amazing events run in the UK and US that cover some aspects of what IRL Shooter are creating, but no-one has included the weapons tech/video game gameplay yet. Seemed really obvious to us, but as there was no weapon on the market that could do what we needed, we decided to develop our own."
If all goes well, IRL Shooter intends to tour the game around the country.
"Our intention is that after a successful run in Melbourne, we take Patient 0 on the road to all major capitals and regional centres," Leadbetter said. "Once Patient 0 has run its course, we will be hosting another 'IRL Shooter Presents' event. Our philosophy is to bring our favourite FPS video-game scenarios into real life, so expect events with themes such as Ground Assault, Alien Invasion, Nazi Occupation, etc in future."
Pricing has yet to be finalised, but Leadbetter told CNET Australia, "We are still working through the price structure for the event, but standard tickets will be in the region of AU$125 per person." What that gets, from arrival on-site, through playing the game to post-game debriefing, is about an hour and a half. "However, the 'game' will start from the minute that the player purchases their ticket (months before the event itself), as we are building a whole universe around the game for the players to be part of," he assured us.
Limited pre-sale tickets are available now on Pozible (which is kind of like Kickstarter), and you can register here to be notified when the tickets go on sale.
Watch the video here to find out more. Seriously, we can't wait. |
Ok, you seriously have to try these. I took them to a party and they were a huge hit. They were even described as the best dessert, ever. These bars have all of the things you love in one: shortbread, caramel, chocolate chip cookie dough (yes, the dough not cookies, and chocolate). If they get too warm the caramel does ooze out a bit, which is hard to avoid during a Georgia summer, but really is oozing caramel a bad thing? I don't think so.
Chocolate Chip Cookie Billionaire Bars
yield: 24 bars
Shortbread Layer:
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1/2 cup sugar
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1/2 tsp. salt
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
Caramel Layer:
1 14 oz. pkg. chewy caramel candy, unwrapped
1/4 cup half-and-half
Cookie Dough Layer:
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 cup light brown sugar
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup half-and-half
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1/4 tsp. salt
1 cup mini chocolate chips
Chocolate Layer:
8 oz semi-sweet chocolate
2 Tbsp. unsalted butter
Preheat over to 350 degrees. Line a 9" x 13" pan with parchment leaving it long enough on the two 9" sides to be able to use it to pull up and remove the bars from the pan. Beat together 1/2 cup butter and 1/2 cup sugar with an electric mixer until light and fluffy. Add vanilla and salt and beat until evenly distributed. Beat in flour until combined. Mixture will be crumbly. Press into prepared pan. Prick dough with a fork. Bake for 18 to 22 to minutes or until the edges are just beginning to brown. Cool on a wire rack. Microwave the caramel and 1/4 cup half-and-half, stirring at 30 second intervals until melted. This will probably take about 2 minutes total. Spread evenly over the shortbread layer in the pan. Refrigerate until set (about an hour).
Beat together the butter and sugars for the cookie dough layer with an electric mixer until light and fluffy. Add the heavy cream and vanilla and mix until well combined. Add the salt and flour and mix on low until well combined. Stir in the chocolate chips. Spread evenly over the caramel layer and refrigerate while you make the chocolate layer.
Microwave the chocolate and butter at 50% power for 30 seconds. Stir. Then, microwave until melted at 50% power stirring every 20 seconds. Spread evenly over the cookie dough layer. Refrigerate at least 30 minutes before serving.
To serve, use the parchment to help you lift the contents of the pan onto a cutting board. Cut into squares with a sharp knife. Store in an air tight container in the refrigerator |
GitHub repo: https://github.com/runeksvendsen/restful-payment-channel-server Hello everyone This server allows the operator to receive instant Bitcoin payments (no waiting for confirmations) from a single, pre-defined sender; paying the Bitcoin transaction fee only once, when the channel is closed. One could imagine, for example, setting up a service which sends video in response to payments, the first minute being free (if you have an open payment channel), and then charging, say 0.1 cent per second thereafter. That's trustless pay-per-view. Pretty cool, if you ask me. I'm at a stage where I'm interested in getting feedback on this, and having people try it out, to see what I've missed. I've been thinking about this for the past two years or so, and have been working for the past year on code, with most of the code written in the past six months (I've rewritten the server at least five times now). The README in the JavaScript client implementation contains an explanation of what a payment channel is (which is not necessarily a Bitcoin-only concept): https://github.com/runeksvendsen/paychanjs-client/blob/master/README.md#bitcoin-payment-channel-primer. Conceptually, it simply involves requiring each potential receiver of funds to also sign the transaction (as opposed to just the sender), thus solving the double spend problem at the expense of limiting the potential number of receivers. Side note: if someone is good at JavaScript, I could use help with the client implementation. It works, but it's not pretty. I find myself completely lost in JavaScript land, coming from Haskell. |
Viral Video: “That’s Why I Chose Yale” (Definitely Not to Learn How to Make Musical Videos)
Hey kids, let’s put on a show!
But in the case of Yale University’s newest admissions video, maybe not so much.
An extraordinarily awkward effort to capture the attention of the Facebook generation, it appears to be a kind of homage to television hits “Glee” and “High School Musical” and is explained as:
“An introduction to undergraduate life at Yale College. The project was an independent collaboration between Yale undergraduates and recent alumni working in the admissions office. All filming, editing, and vocal recording was done on Yale’s campus exclusively by Yale students.”
That group went further, noting, “last fall a group of yalies set out to reinvent the genre of dull admissions videos. they created something…a little different.”
And different it surely is, as you will see, clocking in at close to 17 minutes in length. At times campy, at times innovative and at most times simply painful, people are still watching, with close to 400,000 views on YouTube so far.
The best moment is at the end with the line: “‘Cats’ was better.”
It was, but you be the judge: |
NEW DELHI: Within a day of its debut flight between Shimla and Delhi, the discounted Rs 2,036-tickets under a government scheme subsidising air travel on short sectors had been booked on the route till June.The non-subsidised seats currently available were priced between Rs 5,300 and Rs 19,080, according to the website of Air India , whose subsidy, Alliance Air, operates the flights.Alliance has deployed a 42-seater aircraft on the sector. The flight will be operated five days a week."Since this is the season for travelling to Shimla and with fares as low as Rs 2,000 we are seeing a tremendous response," Alliance Air CEO C S Subbiah told PTI.He also said two seats per flight, falling in the highest fare bracket, were being sold at a little over Rs 19,000 each.Airlines divide their seats into different fare brackets or reservation booking designators to maximise revenues.Under the regional connectivity scheme, or UDAN , airlines operating on routes allotted to them must offer 50 per cent of the total number of seats on a flight to passengers at the rate of Rs 2,500 per hour.The flight from Delhi can take 35 passengers, while the one from Shimla can accommodate only 15, because of factors such as the runway length, temperature and altitude at the Jabarhatti airport.With half the total aircraft capacity set aside under the UDAN scheme, 24 seats from Delhi and 15 seats from Shimla are available at the discounted fare of Rs 2,036, inclusive of taxes.Subbiah said the airline would study the trend over the next few days and look at ways to maximise revenues from this route.Meanwhile, Alliance Air has sought financial assistance of about Rs 1.42 lakh for every return flight on this route, or Rs 5 crore per year, from the Himachal Pradesh government to mitigate losses because of the limited number of passengers on the flight.It is estimated that every Delhi-Shimla-Delhi flight will cost Rs 4.06 lakh, but generate only around Rs 2.64 lakh, inclusive of the financial assistance already provided by the government.Under UDAN, which seeks to make flying affordable by connecting unserved and under-served airports, the losses incurred by an airline on a particular sector are to be shared by the Centre and the state concerned. |
Enlarge By Melissa Golden, Getty Images Federal pay has become a hot political issue in recent months because of concerns over the federal budget deficit and recession-battered wages in the private sector. PAYCHECK PAYCHECK The typical federal worker is paid 20% more than a private-sector worker in the same occupation. Median annual salary: Federal Private Difference $66,591 $55,500 $11,091 Sources: Bureau of Labor statistics, USA TODAY analysis Federal employees earn higher average salaries than private-sector workers in more than eight out of 10 occupations, a USA TODAY analysis of federal data finds. Accountants, nurses, chemists, surveyors, cooks, clerks and janitors are among the wide range of jobs that get paid more on average in the federal government than in the private sector. Overall, federal workers earned an average salary of $67,691 in 2008 for occupations that exist both in government and the private sector, according to Bureau of Labor Statistics data. The average pay for the same mix of jobs in the private sector was $60,046 in 2008, the most recent data available. CHART: Federal salaries compared to private-sector These salary figures do not include the value of health, pension and other benefits, which averaged $40,785 per federal employee in 2008 vs. $9,882 per private worker, according to the Bureau of Economic Analysis. Federal pay has become a hot political issue in recent months because of concerns over the federal budget deficit and recession-battered wages in the private sector. Sen. Scott Brown, R-Mass., made federal pay an issue in his successful campaign to fill Edward Kennedy's seat and is fighting for a pay freeze. The federal government spent about $224 billion in 2008 on compensation for about 2 million civilian employees. "The data flip the conventional wisdom on its head," says Cato Institute budget analyst Chris Edwards, a critic of federal pay policy. "Federal workers make substantially more than private workers, not less, in addition to having a large advantage in benefits." But National Treasury Employees Union President Colleen Kelley says the comparison is faulty because it "compares apples and oranges." Federal accountants, for example, perform work that has more complexity and requires more skill than accounting work in the private sector, she says. "When you look at the actual duties, you see that very few federal jobs align with those in the private sector," she says. She says federal employees are paid an average of 26% less than non-federal workers doing comparable work. Office of Personnel Management spokeswoman Sedelta Verble, says higher pay also reflects the longevity and older age of federal workers. USA TODAY used Bureau of Labor Statistics data to compare salaries in every federal job that had a private-sector equivalent. For example, the federal government's 57,000 registered nurses — working for the Veterans Administration and elsewhere — were paid an average of $74,460 a year, $10,680 more than the average for private-sector nurses. The BLS reports that 216 occupations covering 1.1 million federal workers exist in both the federal government and the private sector. An additional 124 federal occupations covering 750,000 employees — air-traffic controllers, tax collectors and others — did not have direct equivalents, according to the BLS. Federal jobs have more limited salary ranges than private-sector jobs, some of which have million-dollar payouts. Key findings: • Federal. The federal pay premium cut across all job categories — white-collar, blue-collar, management, professional, technical and low-skill. In all, 180 jobs paid better average salaries in the federal government; 36 paid better in the private sector. •Private. The private sector paid more on average in a select group of high-skill occupations, including lawyers, veterinarians and airline pilots. The government's 5,200 computer research scientists made an average of $95,190, about $10,000 less than the average in the corporate world. •State and local. State government employees had an average salary of $47,231 in 2008, about 5% less than comparable jobs in the private sector. City and county workers earned an average of $43,589, about 2% more than private workers in similar jobs. State and local workers have higher total compensation than private workers when the value of benefits is included. Job comparison Average federal salaries exceed average private-sector pay in 83% of comparable occupations. A sampling of average annnual salaries in 2008, the most recent data: Job Federal Private Difference Airline pilot, copilot, flight engineer $93,690 $120,012 -$26,322 Broadcast technician $90,310 $49,265 $41,045 Budget analyst $73,140 $65,532 $7,608 Chemist $98,060 $72,120 $25,940 Civil engineer $85,970 $76,184 $9,786 Clergy $70,460 $39,247 $31,213 Computer, information systems manager $122,020 $115,705 $6,315 Computer support specialist $45,830 $54,875 -$9,045 Cook $38,400 $23,279 $15,121 Crane, tower operator $54,900 $44,044 $10,856 Dental assistant $36,170 $32,069 $4,101 Economist $101,020 $91,065 $9,955 Editors $42,210 $54,803 -$12,593 Electrical engineer $86,400 $84,653 $1,747 Financial analysts $87,400 $81,232 $6,168 Graphic designer $70,820 $46,565 $24,255 Highway maintenance worker $42,720 $31,376 $11,344 Janitor $30,110 $24,188 $5,922 Landscape architects $80,830 $58,380 $22,450 Laundry, dry-cleaning worker $33,100 $19,945 $13,155 Lawyer $123,660 $126,763 -$3,103 Librarian $76,110 $63,284 $12,826 Locomotive engineer $48,440 $63,125 -$14,685 Machinist $51,530 $44,315 $7,215 Mechanical engineer $88,690 $77,554 $11,136 Office clerk $34,260 $29,863 $4,397 Optometrist $61,530 $106,665 -$45,135 Paralegals $60,340 $48,890 $11,450 Pest control worker $48,670 $33,675 $14,995 Physicians, surgeons $176,050 $177,102 -$1,052 Physician assistant $77,770 $87,783 -$10,013 Procurement clerk $40,640 $34,082 $6,558 Public relations manager $132,410 $88,241 $44,169 Recreation worker $43,630 $21,671 $21,959 Registered nurse $74,460 $63,780 $10,680 Respiratory therapist $46,740 $50,443 -$3,703 Secretary $44,500 $33,829 $10,671 Sheet metal worker $49,700 $43,725 $5,975 Statistician $88,520 $78,065 $10,455 Surveyor $78,710 $67,336 $11,374 Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics, USA TODAY analysis Guidelines: You share in the USA TODAY community, so please keep your comments smart and civil. Don't attack other readers personally, and keep your language decent. Use the "Report Abuse" button to make a difference. You share in the USA TODAY community, so please keep your comments smart and civil. Don't attack other readers personally, and keep your language decent. Use the "Report Abuse" button to make a difference. Read more |
Michele Bachmann over Mitt Romney? In the 2012 GOP Debate in New Hampshire? Well, perhaps we can say that on Monday night Hell did freeze over, and because while Minnesota Congresswoman Michele Bachmann didn’t trip up former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney, she did outshine both he and Texas Congressman Ron Paul by not being what most of America has come to expect her to be, and that’s the just plain crazy pol I talked about in this video…
And, in part, because of that, “Michele Bachmann” is the number one Google Trend, and has been for several hours since the CNN GOP Debate ended. Plus, “Michele Bachmann” managed to become the ninth most popular Twitter Trend during the debate telecast. By contrast, Ron Paul’s the tenth highest Google Trend, didn’t appear on Twitter Trends, and Mitt Romney was no where to be seen.
The truth is, Michele Bachmann really did look “Presidential,” up there, and Romney better not get comfortable with the idea that he’s got a safe lead. No. While Congresswoman Bachmann can’t even come close to the other-worldly cool and now POTUS experience of President Barack Obama, who’s title of ‘silent assassin’ was cemented when he ordered the successful take-out of Osama Bin Laden, she can scare the hell out of the GOP just enough to create sufficient votes to damage Romney’s path to the Republican Nomination.
And just what did Michele Bachmann do? Frankly, Congresswoman Bachmann scored on two major points regarding President Obama. First, that Obama voted against raising the Debt Ceiling in 2006, and she stated the debatable view that we don’t have enough good intelligence to be fighting in Libya.
Those two points are easy to bat off, first, by Obama himself, who admitted his vote was “a mistake,” and regretted his 2005 stance. Second, Obama has held fast to his reasons for going into Libya as being borne of seeing Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi have his own military go after his own people. Obama, who gave Moammar Gadhafi fair warning, had enough, and in engineering a way around Congress, started a private little war against Gadhafi’s forces.
Because of that, Bachmann can’t have it both ways: calling Obama as something less than a leader, but then, herself, showing fear in making the right call to intervene in Libya. Obama would smoke her on that issue, no pun intended.
The Substantive Bachmann
Because we’re talking in policy details about key decisions of POTUS, and because of Bachmann’s GOP Debate statements, means that, agree or disagree, we’re going to see a more substantive and less bombastic Bachmann. While I’m not yet ready to say we’re not going to get the bat-shit crazy Bachmann, it’s too early to tell, I wouldn’t bet on it.
I think Bachmann realizes that, for now and perhaps the entire future of this 2012 Presidential Race, she’s got the upper hand over her opponents as the only female candidate, and who’s got the happy burden of not being the embarrassment we expect her to be. The Tea Party Movement never really entirely warmed to Ron Paul. And while Rep. Paul has done a good job of parroting a narrow, ideological point of view that’s become his personal brand, he’s also trapped by it. There’s no way to go – no new form of behavior – that would cause Congressman Paul to gain points and the cement the GOP Presidential Nomination. And there’s Romney and Sarah Palin standing in the way.
Palin? Yes, even though I don’t think she will run, Palin will cast a large enough shadow to steer which GOP voters go to what candidate. But Palin’s not wanting to stomach what it takes to put her family under the gaze of the modern media smear machine.
Stay tuned. |
Politicians Are Mirror Images Of Ourselves: That's Why We Elect Them
By Pratap Antony
22 October, 2015
Countercurrents.org
“It is not in the nature of politics that the best men should be elected. The best men do not want to govern their fellowmen”. George E. MacDonald
Few will disagree with Napoleon, who said, “In politics, stupidity is not a handicap”. This is also true of the electorate, that is, ‘all of us’, because we keep voting for, and electing, the worst possible candidates to represent us.
Politicians are mirror images of ourselves; we vote for them because we feel they best represent our own view and outlook. And these politicians whom we elect to the government, instead of serving us and ministering to our needs, put themselves first, and minister to their own needs of ‘greed, power and more power ’.
When one sees the shenanigans of political parties and their politicians working for their own hidden agendas; their own self-interest; lining their pockets and accruing power to themselves, one is embarrassed and ashamed that they represent our views.
Yes, we should be ashamed of these politicians. But we should be ashamed of ourselves too for electing them. We do not use our power of discretion well when we elect them.
It is very clear to me as a citizen of a country of which I am a native and who has voting rights - that I vote for, and have elected to represent me, politicians who are meant to minister to my needs. I expect our ministers to serve us. Not rule us!
The definition of the word minister is, one who ‘serves’, or ‘helps’ us. The origin of the word minister goes back via old French, ministre - to Latin, minister ‘servant, attendant’. Etymologically, minister is the antonym of master. The verb minister means,‘attend to the needs of’.
The point is, these representatives (politicians), that we elect to represent us in the government, become part of the government and change overnight from servers to masters.
They believe that they are meant to rule us citizens - not serve us. They do their best to make the electorate submit to their will and acknowledge their ascendancy, instead of submitting to the will of the electorate and serving the them.
Unfortunately, we citizens also believe the hype that these elected politicians surround themselves with at our expense, and instead of thinking of them as our representatives who are meant to serve us, we call them leaders and submit to their will.
Contrary to our expectations of the government collectively ministering to our needs, ministers become monsters; the government takes on a personality of its own and becomes a separate entity, quite separate from its citizens. We create these ‘minister monsters’ and then lose control of these Frankensteins!
“Under democracy one party always devotes its chief energies to trying to prove that the other party is unfit to rule – and both commonly succeed, and are right” ~ H. L. Mencken
The political party in power, whichever it may be, whom we elect, and the opposition, whom we also elect, do not spend much time in governing, but in playing the game of politics and political one-upmanship and doing nothing for the citizens who have put them up to represent them.
The government begins to lay down the law instead of following the law. They feel they are above the law and break laws instead of administering the rules and regulations of the country. They invoke the rules and regulations for their own convenience and bend these rules to their own ends - to suppress, oppress and repress citizens.
Politicians represent their own needs and aspirations of greed and power over people instead of representing the people and their needs, wants, comforts and desires.
Politicians mistake their own base cunning for intelligence. They become careless and arrogant. They become secretive and cagey. They become opaque and rich at the expense of the people.
They become autocratic due to citizens quiescence, silence, apathy and apparent helplessness, because citizens begin to believe that the government and these politicians are leaders and above them.
Government becomes self-important, smug and insensitive to the people.They do not wish to be questioned.
They believe they are masters of the universe and so cannot get caught in their lies and deceptions. They lose all sense of reality and think that they are too powerful and too cunning to be caught.
But they do get caught; with their hand in the cookie jar; on the wrong foot; with their pants down, in flagrante delicto, they get caught by their own arrogant belief that they are above the law.
“Politicians are like diapers. They both need changing regularly and for the same reason” – Anonymous
We should:
- be the ones who catch these egregrious, craven and offensive people. There’s a lot we can do, but we must start with ourselves.
- do our homework and know who we are voting for and electing. We should choose our servants/representatives with discretion.
- be clear in our minds that we are electing people to serve us and honestly minister to our needs.
- know that we are responsible for our own actions and circumstances. And when we vote for a person to represent us without knowing what we want, we are going to get what we deserve. And deserve what we get!
- support Civil Society movements in whatever way we can - after studying them and agreeing with their methods and objectives.
- support environmental groups that are fighting for a better present and future against venal politicians and their vested interests.
- support Social Equity – especially those marginalised by the very politicians whom we elect to serve us and the corporate exploiters who pay politicians off.
- protest and demand information about so called public utility schemes floated by corrupt politicians without public discussion.
- overcome our indifference and our small minded insularity, learned helplessness and Amor fati, and participate; think positively, and go ahead and do things that we can do within our own expertise or experience to improve, increase awareness and educate.
We can, by this, be true to ourselves and share this projection of our true image.
Pratap Antony: Passive activist/Active pacifist writer on ecology and environment, compassion and humanity, social justice, dogs, music and dance - http://pratapantony.blogspot.in/. Management ideas and issues - http://reformcommunications.blogspot.in/ |
MSNBC host Rachel Maddow noted that this was an “awkward” situation: Reporting as an MSNBC anchor on the suspension of NBC Nightly News anchor Brian Williams over his Iraq war embellishments. At the top of her eponymous program last night, Maddow (who is also a Washington Post columnist) methodically sifted through the particulars of the story, including Williams’ false statements, the internal review by NBC News and the statements from NBC leaders regarding the suspension.
Then Maddow got real, offering a full-throated explanation of the awkwardness. She noted that MSNBC and NBC News co-own a certain acronym for a reason: “We are working partners,” she said. “But tonight, even as we are reporting on this breaking news about the news division of which we are a part, no, NBC News will not make anyone available to discuss this story with us on the air.” Like a news person, Maddow held out the possibility that things would change. “You`d think if they`re going to talk to anybody about this, we might reasonably get a leg up on getting interviews with any NBC News executives to explain this decision, if only because we`re right down the hall,” said the host, adding, “I live in hope.”
That’s a delightful way for the host to expose NBC News for applying the best practices of crisis PR — and the worst practices of journalistic transparency — to the Brian Williams situation: Say very little on the record; release statements here and there to feed hungry reporters; keep the key people under wraps. At least Maddow feels empowered to chide her employer.
(h/t Mediaite) |
Aniplex's Ani-Com magazine published the first 50 items in a 100 question survey, filled out by Madoka, in December 2010. The second section, containing questions 51-100, was distributed in Comike. Aniplex announced at the US Madoka premiere that additional surveys for other characters will be posted on the official website in the future.
The survey mostly concerns mundane things -- what do you wear when you go to bed, are you left-handed or right-handed, have you ever been confessed to, etc.
# Question Answer
1 Please tell us your name. My name is Madoka Kaname.
2 When is your birthday? October 3.
3 Your blood type? I'm type A.
4 Please tell us your three sizes? Huh?! I-I-I've never taken them before...
5 Tell us about your family composition? It's four people, with my dad, mom, and little brother.
6 What's your occupation? I'm a middle-school student.
7 Your favorite food? Um...my favorite food...is cream stew, I think.
8 Favorite animal? I love anything that's small and fluffy!
9 Favorite subject? Hm...art, maybe...?
10 Dislike subject? Science, English, Chemistry, and...I'm not great at Phys-Ed either.
11 Is there a boy you've been thinking about? My brother Tatsuya is so naughty I can't take my eyes off of him...
12 Do you enjoy school? It's lots of fun!
13 Are you in any school clubs? Yes, I'm in both the Gardening and Crafts Clubs.
14 What's your motto? Um, "one good dine a day"? (TL note: 一日一膳 (ichinichi ichizen, literally "one bowl of rice a day") is a pun on "one good deed a day" [一日一善, ichinichi ichizen])
15 Your special skills? I'm never late for school no matter how I late I oversleep!
16 Tell us about your treasure? Toreho-kun, the first stuffed animal I won from a UFO catcher by myself.
17 Describe yourself in a single Kanji? Um, Madoka? (TL note: 円 [reads: en, mado(ka)] means "circle")
18 Your forte? Umm… not picky about food?
19 Your shortcomings? There are too many of them, I can't list…
20 Places in your memories? I took a great tumble in front of a station since the start of semester… I can never forgot that…
21 What is your favorite drink? Hot chocolate by Papa! It's very delicious!
22 How good can you swim? I… I can swim a bit in breaststroke. Most called it a dog paddle, though….
23 Your timing in 50-meter race? Less than ten seconds! I'm not lying!
24 Your hobby or obsession? Recently a dull joke with Sayaka-chan.
25 Disliked food? I've never seen it, but I don't like something like locust tsukudani…
26 Anything you want to most currently? Um, an iPod, I think it's cool.
27 Afraid of heights? If it is the rooftop of the school building, I love it!
28 Dislike thunder? I'm fine with it if I'm in my own room.
29 Rainy or sunny? I think sunny is better.
30 Do you use pencil or a mechanical pencil in school? Normally mechanical pencil.
31 What do you eat for breakfast? A lot everyday. My Papa can cook anything!
32 Do you believe in ghosts? D…don't talk about scary things!
33 Can you play any musical instruments? Recorder, yes, a bit…
34 Are you the outdoor or indoor type? Anywhere, as long I'm with my friends.
35 Ever in quarrel your brother? He's only 4 years old. I don't think we ever quarrel…
36 Do you have a cellphone? Yes, I do.
37 How long is your commute to school? About 15 minutes if I'm hurried.
38 Do you have more friends than most? Um, about average, I think….
39 Your favorite sports? I'm moved by everything I watch in the Olympics.
40 How good can you cook? Even though my Papa teaches me, I'm not very good at it….
41 Favorite colors? White, I think. Also pink.
42 Anything that you can never forgive? Impersonation phone scams! I think it is bad! (Impersonated phone scams, also known as Ore Ore Sagi, オレオレ詐欺)
43 How tall are you? I'll definitely be 150cm tall by next year!
44 Shoe size? It is 22. (Equivalent of US Misses' 5.5)
45 Your dreams? Um, I want to take a trip around the world…
46 Do you have any marriage desires? Would be nice if I can find a cool husband like [that resembles] my Mama...
47 Do you dislike hot drinks? It is okay if I blow on it.
48 Do you like bitter coffee? I will refrain from it until I'm adult.
49 Bed time? Up until 11 PM.
50 Wake up time? I set my alarm clock at 7 AM.
51 When you sleep, are you a bed person or a futon person? We use beds at my house.
52 Are you confident in your ability to concentrate? Not really...
53 Do you have any tips on losing weight? It's all about holding back on those second helpings... I guess?
54 Between warm soba and chilled soba, which do you like? I like them both!
55 Tell us which arm is your dominant arm. The one on the right, as you'd expect.
56 Tell us about something lucky that's happened lately. The other day, I got a heart-shaped Pino for the first time!
57 Tell us about something unlucky that's happened lately. This morning, I got stopped twice by the automatic turnstile...
58 What's the name of your school anthem? "Oh Beautiful Mitakihara"
59 What's your favorite flower? I like tulips and gerbera flowers.
60 What's your favorite saying? Um...one good dine a day?
61 What's your favorite four-kanji phrase? Mm....probably 'one good dine a day'! If I have at least one cup of tea with every meal, I'll be fine! ...that's kind of what I mean, you know?
62 What comes to mind when you think about spring? Hmm, probably sakura-mochi! [a rice cake with bean paste, wrapped in cherry leaf]
63 And summer? Uh, shaved ice!
64 What about fall? Mmmm, sweet potatoes!
65 And then the winter? Apple pie! ...huh? All the things I said were foods?
66 If you had a time machine, where would you go? I think I'd want to see the future.
67 Do you like reading manga or short stories more? If I had to choose, I like manga better.
68 What's your allowance? I get 2,000 yen per month...I'm trying to negotiate for more with Mama!
69 Tell us something a lot of people say about you. They say a lot of people talk about me...but there's no way that's true!
70 What are your hobbies? Um...sketching, or illustrations?
71 Tell us your weight. No way!
72 What are you capable of? [Can be interpreted as 'qualifications' or 'specialties'] Nothing right now, really...
73 What do you wear when you go to bed? Huh? I wear pajamas...
74 Has anyone ever asked you out? When I was in kindergarten, Mitsuru-kun from the Chick class...no, I'm too embarrassed (to tell)!
75 If I told you the world would end tomorrow, what would you do? Don't ask me something so scary...
76 Tell us about your daily routine. When I get dressed in the morning, I talk with my mom...
77 What is something you always carry with you? I always carry a pack of band-aids. I'm really clumsy.
78 Western food? Japanese food? As long as it tastes good, I like it!
79 How do you commute to school? I walk. It's a very fun walk to school!
80 What's the last thing you do before you go to bed at night? I check my hair before going to bed, so when I wake up it won't stick up!
81 What's the first thing you do when you wake up in the morning? I say good morning to Papa, who's usually working in the garden
82 Where are you living right now? I'm living in the suburbs of Mitakihara.
83 What kind of place is it? It's a wonderful house. Dad asked his architect friend to design it, and Mama asked her friend's construction company to come build it.
84 What's the most interesting thing that's happened to you so far? Having a sleepover party at my friend Hitomi's house!
85 What's the saddest thing that's happened to you? When I was little, my pet myna bird died...
86 Do you like roller coasters? I-I'm not really good...with scary things...
87 How's your eyesight? 1.5 in both eyes. But I can't really be happy about it unless it's 2.0...
88 What's your favorite holiday? I like New Year's, because it's fun.
89 What job do you have in school? I'm the nurse's office assistant.
90 What do you do in your free time? I talk with my friends, look up at the sky on the roof...?
91 How long do you study every day? After dinner, I spend about an hour trying my best to study.
92 Who of your friends can you rely on to give you advice? To give advice? I'm always asking them for help...
93 What do you do on the weekends? I hang out with Sayaka and go places with her. And sometimes I help my dad around the house.
94 If you could be reincarnated, what would you want to be? I would want to be Mom and Dad's daughter again!
95 Are the school rules really strict? Nobody likes them, but I don't think I hate them.
96 What do you have for lunch at school? A bento? The school lunch? We have a cafeteria, but I always eat a bento made by my dad.
97 How many friends do you have? The two I really get along with are Sayaka and Hitomi, I guess?
98 Do you take any detours when you go home? There are a lot of interesting things on the path home, like the forest or little streams, so it can be a little problematic...
99 Are you interested in any actors? I'm a big fan of Kiyoshi Hikawa! I'm a terrible singer... |
Hasbro is now facing an international boycott of its Nerf products after tricking a fan blogger into giving the company his address in order to send legal notices.
Hasbro’s problem was with a post published by Martyn Yang on his toyblaster review blog Urban Taggers last year—a review of the N-STRIKE ELITE “RAMPAGE” BLASTER, which Nerf was not yet selling but, as Yang pointed out on his blog, was already widely available.
“I had genuinely believed that I was not doing anything wrong by Hasbro given that my endorsements are for genuine products etc,” Yang told Australian news site Crikey. “As a consumer and long-time fan, I felt that the far from up-front emails from Hasbro and their lawyers were very poor behaviour from such a large and sophisticated organisation.”
The problem started when Hasbro sent Yang an email offering him some Nerf gun accessories for a giveaway. All the company needed was his address, and Yang quickly complied.
However, the freebies never came. Instead, six days later, he received a threatening letter from Hasbro’s law firm, Baker and Mckenzie, demanding Yang take down the post immediately. Yang agreed, but after that matters only got worse. Even though Yang cooperated, Nerf could not determine who was distributing the leaked products.
Three weeks later, Yang discovered representatives from the law firm allegedly hanging around his apartment and questioning his neighbors. This was the last straw for Yang.
“I really do not appreciate being ambushed by lawyers or their representatives on a Sunday afternoon when I haven’t done anything wrong,” he wrote to Nerf. “I have taken down the images and it’s not my fault that neither you nor Hasbro seem to be able to find out whoever the original source of the guns.”
He shared the saga, including the full email quoted above, with Urban Taggers community members, many of whom vowed to boycott the company.
“Hasbro is just insane. Everyone knows Urban Taggers is the biggest and best blog and do a helluva lot more for the Nerf brand than any other marketing channel,” wrote one commenter.
“I’ve been having a lot of reservations about Hasbro stuff lately, and this just cemented my resolve to not buy Hasbro anymore,” wrote another.
Hasbro’s legal threats not only failed to determine the source of leaked Nerf products, it also alienated its biggest customers in the process. Now that’s a review worth deleting.
Photo via Urban Taggers |
The government in Scotland is structured into a number of directorates. Directorates and their related public bodies are responsible for putting government policy into practice.
The Civil Service
The Permanent Secretary is the senior civil servant in Scotland and leads the 5000 plus people working for the Scottish Government. The Permanent Secretary supports the government in developing, implementing and communicating its policies.
The current Permanent Secretary of the Scottish Government is Leslie Evans. She is the principal policy adviser to the First Minister and Secretary to the Scottish Cabinet. She is also the principal accountable officer with responsibility to ensure that the government's money and resources are used effectively and properly.
Directors-general and directorates
There are six directors-general who head up the Scottish civil service. A director-general manages a number of directorates and agencies which are responsible for proposing legislation and putting Scottish Government policy into practice.
Public bodies
Non-ministerial departments are headed by senior civil servants and not ministers. They usually have a regulatory or inspection function like the Office of the Scottish Charity Regulator.
Executive agencies are part of the Scottish Government and generally have a strong focus on the management and direct delivery of public services, but can also provide strategic policy input.
Executive non-departmental public bodies (NDPBs) carry out administrative, commercial, executive or regulatory functions on behalf of government.
Advisory NDPBs provide independent expert advice to ministers and others or input into the policy-making process in relation to particular subjects.
Tribunals are responsible for tasks and advice relating to specialist areas of the law and carry out judicial functions such as determining the rights and obligations of private citizens, although they are not part of the court system.
Public corporations are industrial or commercial enterprises under direct government control.
Health bodies comprise 14 regional health boards, eight special health boards and the Mental Welfare Commission for Scotland.
There are 32 local authorities (councils) in Scotland.
Find out more about public bodies in Scotland. |
Tony Abbott, the man who was colossally shit at the only job he’s ever wanted, made a lot of noise during the marriage equality campaign. He was one of the brave soldiers who tried to convince the nation that same-sex marriage is not actually about two people of the same sex getting married, but in fact was an insidious campaign of political correctness and cultural Marxism designed to undermine western civilisation. But when it got down to actually vote, oldmate abstained.
READ MORE The Couple Who Said They'd Divorce If SSM Passed Have Officially Chickened Out
That’s right. He didn’t vote for it – despite a full 75% of his electorate voting yes in the postal vote – and he didn’t vote against it and then have to stand up and explain precisely why he had rejected a democratic outcome. He left the chamber altogether, and didn’t vote. This is the man who masterminded the entire concept of a marriage equality plebiscite, and deemed that only via surveying the will of the Australian people could marriage ever be changed… and he decided to reject the will of the people. What a copout.
“This government wants the people to decide,” he told Parliament all the way back in the halcyon days of 2015. “We want the people’s choice, and what could be fairer than leaving this to the people of Australia?”
The man who argued that the Australian people’s choice is entirely sacrosanct chose to flip the Australian people the bird when it all came down to it. Not just Australia, but specifically the people of Warringah, who are the entire reason he has himself a cushy parliamentary paycheck. We’re essentially paying Tones our tax dollars to jack himself off. (I do not wish to insinuate we aren’t doing this for a large number of MPs across the spectrum)
And no, he didn’t do the noble thing and withdraw himself from the entire debate. Nope, he stood up in Parliament yesterday and railed against the MPs who refused to indulge the pathetic conservative amendments to the bill, which were blunt force legislative implements intended to permanently enshrine discrimination in law. He was perfectly happy to furiously argue in favour of those amendments – then bumrush out the door when it came to actually voting on the bill.
You might argue, as some have, that abstaining was the only way Abbott could facilitate the passage of the bill while staying true to his Christian values.
Sorry, that doesn’t really hold muster. Tony. You kicked the tin along on this issue purely because you didn’t want same-sex marriage to happen on your watch – sure. But you spent years boosting secular democracy as the only means to resolve the situation and shouted down any attempt at a free vote, in which you’d be perfectly entitled to vote in line with your values. Then when the moment came, you decided democracy wasn’t something you were keen on enabling at all.
Tony, you fucken ratbag coward. Put up or shut up. The people noticed:
Each to their own…..but i think @TonyAbbottMHR should have voted. He demanded this plebiscite, 75% of his electorate vote yes. If he wanted to vote no despite the result – he should have done so and explained himself. He wasn’t in the chamber. He squibbed it. — Laura Jayes (@ljayes) December 7, 2017
Tony Abbott promised to vote yes but in the end didn't vote at all #auspol — Bevan Shields (@BevanShields) December 7, 2017
tony abbott needs to be roasted mercilessly for cowering in a hall somewhere during the marriage vote until he is hounded out of parliament — ed (@macaulaybalkan) December 7, 2017
And Tony Abbott not even in the chamber for it. #marriageequality — Hamish Macdonald (@hamishNews) December 7, 2017
What’s rich is Tony Abbott pushing the postal vote and then not showing up to represent the 75% of Warringah who votes Yes. — Samuel Leighton-Dore (@SamLeightonDore) December 7, 2017
Malcolm Turnbull has turned out to be a complete dud – and who could have possibly imagined it – but every passing day is a reminder that the Liberals were absolutely right to boot Abbott to the kerb. He’s a self-absorbed twat who couldn’t give a single toss about democracy.
Now it’s up to the good burghers of Warringah: come the next election, show this dickhead the door. |
Three Jewish men who confessed to assaulting an Arab taxi driver early last year were sentenced on Thursday to approximately a year in prison.
The Jerusalem District Court slapped the three with 11, 12, and 13 months’ imprisonment respectively for a hate crime against an Arab taxi driver, the Ynet news outlet reported.
The three confessed to the crime as part of a plea bargain agreement. The suspects said they had hailed the cab driver, and after entering the vehicle began beating and insulting him. The driver managed to get out of the car and run away, the report said, and the suspects proceeded to smash his sunroof.
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Jerusalem saw a spate of violent attacks against Arab taxi drivers in the past year, particularly during the Gaza summer conflict. Most recently, an Arab taxi driver was assaulted on December 1 in central Jerusalem with pepper spray.
On November 11, police said they arrested four 13-year-old boys who admitted to throwing stones at an Arab cab driver. |
This year’s Ramadan, a Muslim holy month devoted to fasting and praying, attracted a record-breaking 14 million pilgrims to Mecca within its first 16 days, Arab News reported. The holy city saw a 40 percent increase compared to the same period in 2014.
Located in the Sarawat Mountains of central Saudi Arabia, Mecca is considered the holiest city in Islam. Its Grand Mosque houses the Ka’aba, a cubic structure draped with a black cloth which Muslims around the world turn to face when they pray.
This Ramadan, worshippers arrived to perform Umrah, a minor pilgrimage to Mecca that can be done any time of the year (as opposed to the Hajj, the major pilgrimage made in the last month of the Muslim calendar).
According to Arab News, Issa Mohammed Rawas, undersecretary at the Ministry of Haj, said approximately five million foreigners have performed the Umrah so far this month. In a recent meeting hosted by the Central Haj Committee, Salah Saqr, the secretary of the committee, said the city needed more than 650,000 vehicles to bring in the devout pilgrims.
Since the 1980s, the Saudi government has been refurbishing Mecca and its surrounding areas to accommodate the soaring pilgrimage numbers, the Associated Press reported.
In 2008, developers demolished the house of Abu Bakr, the Prophet Muhammad's successor as leader of the Muslim community, and replaced it with a Hilton hotel. In 2012, a seven-tower complex that houses the sky-high Mecca Royal Clock Tower, was erected on top of the Ottoman Ajyad Fortress. The fortress was built around 1780 to protect the city from bandits and invaders.
The following year, the Saudi government announced the development of the Al-Sharashif Mountain, an unplanned area of slums populated with migrant workers. The neighborhood will be transformed into a major urban center, consisting of hotels, commercial and residential buildings, educational and health facilities, and other supporting services, according to the Saudi Gazette.
While ample space is necessary for such a revered site, recent expansions have been met with mixed reactions.
Critics point to the fact that developers have not only been obliterating ancient sites, they’ve been replacing them with five-star hotels and commercial centers that only the elite will enjoy.
"There is nothing holy about having Pizza Hut right next to the holiest site in Islam," Mohammed Abdullah Attar, a religious scholar in one of the all-boys' schools in Mecca, told The Christian Science Monitor.
On the other hand, officials working to develop Mecca speak with pride about the holy city, claiming an overhaul of the Great Mosque only reaffirms its significance to Muslims worldwide.
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In 2014, Saudi Arabia’s top religious official, Grand Mufti Abdul-Aziz Al-Sheikh, told The Associated Press that he supported the demolitions in 2013, saying "the removal of such things within the expansion is necessary."
Whether or not Mecca will witness more developments and high-end hotels, devout Muslims will keep making pilgrimages to the holy city. By 2017, some will be able to stay in Abraj Kudai, slated to become the world’s largest hotel. With 10,000 rooms, 70 restaurants, and 12 towers, the multi-service complex will stand roughly a mile south of Mecca’s Great Mosque. |
Stripe Open Source: Behind the Scenes
Benjamin De Cock Blocked Unblock Follow Following Sep 22, 2015
Earlier this month, we released a page about Stripe’s involvement with open source that showcases some of the projects we’ve released over the years. I’m proud to be part of a team that understands the importance of open source and generously gives back to the community, so I felt enthusiastic about designing our communication around it. Thankfully, the overall response to this page has also been enthusiastic, so I thought I’d write a technical breakdown of some of its parts.
Game of Life
The Game of Life is a zero-player game created by John Conway. Its rules are simple, yet fascinating, in how they open endless patterns. We thought it’d be a nice and appropriate little touch to use it as the background for the header and content.
The implementation uses canvas, which is perfectly suited performance-wise for that kind of task. The script starts by grabbing the canvas and defining the shared constants:
const canvas = document.querySelector(“canvas”);
const ctx = canvas.getContext(“2d”);
const cellSize = 10;
const cellMargin = 2;
const cellsPerLine = canvas.width / (cellSize + cellMargin);
const cellColors = new Map();
cellColors.set(“dead”, “#eee”);
cellColors.set(“alive”, “#5be”);
Then each cell is defined and drawn to create the grid:
const cells = [];
for (var row = 0; row < cellsPerLine; row++) {
const y = row * (cellSize + cellMargin);
for (var col = 0; col < cellsPerLine; col++) {
const cell = new Map();
cell.set(“x”, col * (cellSize + cellMargin));
cell.set(“y”, y);
cell.set(“isAlive”, false);
cell.set(“willLive”, false);
cells.push(cell);
ctx.fillStyle = cellColors.get(“dead”);
ctx.fillRect(cell.get(“x”), cell.get(“y”), cellSize, cellSize);
}
}
Each cell is a Map containing its position and state. It also references the surrounding cells to figure out if it’ll live or die on the next round. Most of the cells have 8 direct neighbors (3 top, 2 middle, and 3 bottom cells) though some of them won’t — a cell in the first line won’t have top neighbors, for example. Neighbors are added to each cell Map:
cells.forEach((cell, i) => {
const neighbors = [];
const isNotInFirstLine = i + 1 > cellsPerLine;
const isNotInLastLine = i < cells.length — cellsPerLine;
const isNotFirstInLine = i % cellsPerLine > 0;
const isNotLastInLine = (i + 1) % cellsPerLine > 0;
// top
if (isNotInFirstLine) {
if (isNotFirstInLine) neighbors.push(cells[i-cellsPerLine-1]);
neighbors.push(cells[i-cellsPerLine]);
if (isNotLastInLine) neighbors.push(cells[i-cellsPerLine+1]);
}
// middle
if (isNotFirstInLine) neighbors.push(cells[i-1]);
if (isNotLastInLine) neighbors.push(cells[i+1]);
// bottom
if (isNotInLastLine) {
if (isNotFirstInLine) neighbors.push(cells[i+cellsPerLine-1]);
neighbors.push(cells[i+cellsPerLine]);
if (isNotLastInLine) neighbors.push(cells[i+cellsPerLine+1]);
}
cell.set(“neighbors”, neighbors);
});
The implementation on stripe.com/open-source is slightly different as it uses an infinite canvas but the idea is roughly the same.
The cells now have all the data they need and the animation function that relies on this data can be created. The Game of Life requires all computations to be done before changes occur, so our function will loop over the cells twice to:
Define all the cells that will live and die on the next round based on each cell’s neighbors; Apply these changes.
This is how it looks in practice:
const anim = () => {
// define
cells.forEach(cell => {
const livingNeighbors = cell.get(“neighbors”).filter(el =>
el.get(“isAlive”)).length;
// A live cell with 2 or 3 live neighbors stays alive
// A dead cell with 3 live neighbors becomes a live cell
cell.set(“willLive”,
cell.get(“isAlive”)
? livingNeighbors > 1 && livingNeighbors < 4
: livingNeighbors == 3
);
});
// draw
cells.forEach(cell => {
if (cell.get(“isAlive”) == cell.get(“willLive”)) return;
cell.set(“isAlive”, cell.get(“willLive”));
ctx.fillStyle = cellColors.get(
cell.get(“isAlive”) ? “alive” : “dead”
);
ctx.fillRect(cell.get(“x”), cell.get(“y”), cellSize, cellSize);
});
// repeat
setTimeout(() => requestAnimationFrame(anim), 100);
};
Before launching the animation, we should obviously define some default living cells. The Open Source page uses various complex “spaceships” but, for the sake of the example, we’ll define 500 random living cells:
const randomInt = (min, max) =>
Math.floor(Math.random() * (max — min + 1)) + min;
for (var i = 0; i < 500; i++) {
const cell = cells[randomInt(0, cells.length — 1)];
cell.set(“isAlive”, true);
ctx.fillStyle = cellColors.get(“alive”);
ctx.fillRect(cell.get(“x”), cell.get(“y”), cellSize, cellSize);
}
We’re now ready to launch our animation and watch the Game of Life happens!
requestAnimationFrame(anim);
Line Drawing Animation
The category icons use a simple technique to create a color-filling animation as you hover over the navigation links.
The color doesn’t progressively fill, it’s faked by moving a stroke. Here’s the idea:
Each SVG icon is cloned and placed above its model. The stroke of these cloned icons is then modified: stroke-dasharray and stroke-dashoffset are set to the icon’s path length, resulting in a single big dash located outside the path. On hover, each dash’s offset is animated from its current value to zero, creating the line-drawing effect.
I’m using Animate Plus for these animations but the principle would remain pretty much the same no matter what tool you use. Here’s how it works:
// The default grey icon
const inactive = document.querySelector(“svg”);
// The cloned icon we'll use for the animation
const active = inactive.cloneNode(true);
// A reference to all the paths composing the icon
const paths = […active.getElementsByTagName(“path”)];
// Calculate the path lengths and make the stroke dashed
const pathLengths = paths.map(path => {
const pathLength = path.getTotalLength();
[“array”, “offset”].forEach(attr =>
path.setAttribute(`stroke-dash${attr}`, pathLength));
return pathLength;
});
// Change the stroke color and append the cloned icon
active.querySelector(“g”).setAttribute(“stroke”, “#0CB”);
document.body.appendChild(active);
// Animate the offset of all the paths
active.addEventListener(“mouseenter”, () =>
paths.forEach((path, i) =>
animate({
el: path,
easing: “easeOutQuart”,
duration: 500,
“stroke-dashoffset”: [pathLengths[i], 0]
})));
A different animation is then added for mouseleave using a similar workflow and the opacity and offsets are reset to their initial values at the end of the animation:
active.addEventListener(“mouseleave”, () =>
paths.forEach((path, i) =>
animate({
el: path,
easing: “easeOutQuad”,
duration: 500,
opacity: 0,
complete() {
path.setAttribute(“stroke-dashoffset”, pathLengths[i]);
path.style.opacity = 1;
}
})));
Elastic Scrolling
Scrolling the page programmatically to a specific position is a common behavior on the web. The Open Source page uses a similar pattern for its 6 sub-categories but introduces a subtle yet significant difference: the page itself doesn’t scroll, the elements in the page move independently in order to emulate a natural and arguably interesting behavior.
Just like with the previous section, we’re going to use a simplified example:
<nav>
<a href=#category1>Category 1</a>
<a href=#category2>Category 2</a>
</nav>
<h1 id=category1>Category 1</h1>
<ul class=cards>
<li><li><li><li><li><li><li><li>
</ul>
<h1 id=category2>Category 2</h1>
<ul class=cards>
<li><li><li><li><li><li><li><li>
</ul>
Our script will start by selecting the elements we’ll use:
const nav = document.querySelector(“nav”);
const navLinks = […nav.querySelectorAll(“a”)];
const animatedElements =
[…document.querySelectorAll(“h1, .cards li”)];
The navLinks and animatedElements NodeLists are expanded into arrays using the spread operator in order to access Array.prototype methods.
The last element that still needs to be referenced is the scrolling root. Despite the specification being clear on it, browsers disagree on which element should handle the scroll position. Firefox and Edge use html, while Safari and Chrome consider body as the scrolling element. A new DOM API has been introduced to deal with this issue (document.scrollingElement) but we can’t rely on it yet as it’s not widely supported. Thus, fetching the correct scrolling element without relying on UA sniffing is unfortunately verbose and inelegant:
const scrollRoot = (() => {
if (“scrollingElement” in document)
return document.scrollingElement;
const initial = document.documentElement.scrollTop;
document.documentElement.scrollTop = initial + 1;
const updated = document.documentElement.scrollTop;
document.documentElement.scrollTop = initial;
return updated > initial
? document.documentElement
: document.body;
})();
This scrollRoot is used to calculate and set the scroll position correctly at the end of the custom scrolling animation which works like this:
When a category link is clicked, the delta is calculated between the current scroll position and the position of the section we reach. Animate all the elements in the animatedElements array using a vertical translation of delta. At the end of the animation, cancel all the translations and set the correct scroll position.
We start by looping over the navigation links and fetch the position of each title which marks the beginning of the sections:
const navHeight = nav.getBoundingClientRect().height;
navLinks.forEach(link => {
const title = document.querySelector(link.getAttribute(“href”));
const pos = title.getBoundingClientRect().top — navHeight;
});
This loop adds an event listener to each link that triggers the animations. The animations are created again with Animate Plus:
link.addEventListener(“click”, e => {
e.preventDefault();
const delta = scrollRoot.scrollTop — pos;
// Reversing the array if it scrolls to the top so the delays are
// applied in the right order.
const elements = delta < 0
? animatedElements
: animatedElements.slice().reverse();
elements.forEach((el, i) => {
const params = {
el,
translateY: delta,
easing: “easeOutExpo”,
// Increase the delay for each element to create the elastic
// scroll effect.
delay: i * 40
};
// When the last element finishes to animate, cancel all the
// transforms and set the correct scroll position.
if (!elements[i + 1])
params.complete = () => {
elements.forEach(el => el.removeAttribute(“style”));
scrollRoot.scrollTop = pos;
};
animate(params);
});
});
And that’s it! Keep in mind this simplified example skips quite a lot of details (for example, the actual implementation only animates the elements visible during the scroll) but it illustrates the core principles behind a custom elastic scroll.
3D Cards
The 3D effect that occurs as you click and drag on the project cards is slightly overkill, but it was also extremely fun to build!
The example below is pared down from the original. We’ll be recreating the effect for a single element only. Let’s start by selecting the element and calculating its center coordinates:
const card = document.querySelector(“.card”);
const cardCoordinates = card.getBoundingClientRect();
const cardCenter = {
x: cardCoordinates.left + cardCoordinates.width / 2,
y: cardCoordinates.top + cardCoordinates.height / 2
};
The center of the card is used to define the angle of the rotation, as the angle should increase proportionally to the distance between your cursor and the center of the card. The angle limit and the perspective of the rotation are defined arbitrarily.
const angle = {
max: 15,
perspective: 800
};
const setAngle = e => {
angle.x = angle.max *
(cardCenter.y - e.clientY) / (cardCoordinates.height/2);
angle.y = angle.max *
(e.clientX — cardCenter.x) / (cardCoordinates.width/2);
card.style.transform =
`perspective(${angle.perspective}px)
rotateX(${angle.x}deg)
rotateY(${angle.y}deg)`;
};
setAngle is called on mousedown to set the initial rotation and on mousemove to update the rotation accordingly to the cursor position.
We need to account for two additional events to complete our behavior: mouseup and mouseleave. In both cases, the card will animate from its current rotation to zero. A callback will be defined to be used by both events:
const end = () => {
animate({
el: card,
perspective: [angle.perspective, angle.perspective],
rotateX: [angle.x, 0],
rotateY: [angle.y, 0]
});
};
The tricky part is that the mousemove, mouseup and mouseleave events must be added and removed dynamically: you start listening for them as soon as you start clicking on the card and stop when you release the mouse or leave the card. A toggleDynamicEvents function will deal automatically with the dynamic events:
const toggleDynamicEvents = (() => {
var added = false;
const events = {
move: setAngle,
up: end,
leave: end
};
const toggle = event =>
card[`${added ? “remove” : “add”}EventListener`]
(`mouse${event}`, events[event]);
return () => {
Object.keys(events).forEach(toggle);
added = !added;
};
})();
toggleDynamicEvents is then called when mousedown fires and inside the end function we previously defined:
const start = event => {
setAngle(event);
toggleDynamicEvents();
};
const end = () => {
animate({
el: card,
perspective: [angle.perspective, angle.perspective],
rotateX: [angle.x, 0],
rotateY: [angle.y, 0]
});
toggleDynamicEvents();
};
card.addEventListener(“mousedown”, start);
And voilà! Just like with the previous sections, the code shown here purposely ignores some technical details to keep the example concise and focused. If you use similar techniques in your own projects, make sure you take the edge cases into account in order to provide a robust and consistent user experience. |
WASHINGTON — The United States transferred four detainees from the Guantánamo Bay prison to Afghanistan late Friday, the Defense Department announced Saturday, fulfilling a request from the new Afghan president, Ashraf Ghani, in what officials here characterized as a show of good will between the United States and the government in Kabul.
The four men are not likely to be subjected to further detainment in Afghanistan, an Obama administration official said. The transfer brings the number of Afghans still held at the American military prison in Cuba to eight of the 132 detainees over all.
The transfer is the latest in a series of detainee releases and reflects a quickened pace, as President Obama has been pushing to make good on his goal of shutting the military prison at Guantánamo, a pledge that dates to the earliest days of his presidency. One administration official said more transfers are expected in the coming weeks.
Delays by Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel in signing off on transfers that had been approved by Mr. Obama’s national security staff contributed to tensions between the exiting Pentagon chief and the White House, particularly with the national security adviser, Susan Rice. But Mr. Hagel, who resigned under pressure last month, has maintained all year that he would not be rushed into releasing prisoners. |
A sheriff says two bailiffs and a gunman are dead after a shooting at a western Michigan courthouses on Monday.
Berrien County Sheriff Paul Bailey said at a news conference late Monday afternoon that an inmate who was being held at the berrien County courthouse on numerous felony charges was being moved when he disarmed an officer and then shot and killed the two bailiffs. The victims have been identified as 61-year-old Joseph Zangaro and 63-year-old Ronald Kienzle.
Zangaro was head of court security. He retired from the Michigan State Police as commander of the Bridgman Post in Berrien County.
Kienzle retired as a sergeant of the Benton Township Police Department after serving in the U.S. Army.
Bailey said they were "close friends" of his.
The deputy sheriff, we're told, was also shot but is in stable condition at Lakeland Hospital in St. Joseph. He has been identified as Deputy James Atterberry.
A civilian was shot in the incident, but is also expected to be OK. Her name has not been released.
Both of them were shot in the arm.
The inmate, who has been identified as 44-year-old Larry Darnell Gordon of Coloma, was killed by other officers after the shooting.
St. Joseph is located in far southwestern Michigan's Berrien County, which borders Indiana.
Michigan Supreme Court Chief Justice Robert Young released this statement following the incident: |
During most of his 16-year stint with the Buffalo Bills, Russ Brandon has treated the completion of the NFL draft like the last day of finals, going straight from the team's Orchard Park, N.Y., training facility to a nearby restaurant and enjoying some celebratory munchies and cocktails with scouts, front-office executives and significant others.
A good time is usually had by all, but Saturday night's gathering was especially fulfilling for Brandon, the CEO and president who last Jan. 1 was given full authority over the team's operations by 94-year-old owner Ralph Wilson. After identifying and landing a potential franchise quarterback while somehow maintaining the element of surprise, the Bills brought in a cast of supporting actors he believes can help get his playoff-starved franchise closer to the big stage.
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From Brandon's perspective, the plan implemented by general manager Buddy Nix couldn't have played out more perfectly. And in an era of increasingly intrusive probes for information – just ask Nix, who last month was tricked into having a phone conversation with Tampa Bay Buccaneers counterpart Mark Dominik that ended up on a popular sports website – Brandon's commitment to clandestineness hit particularly close to home.
"There's so much awareness, so much coffee talk and so much false information out there, and I always get a kick out of it," Brandon said via telephone Saturday night during a short break from the post-draft festivities. "We really try to be an organization that sticks close to the vest and stays under the radar.
"So many people get involved in trying to figure out who's picking who, and that passion is what makes the game so great. My kids didn't even know what we were going to do. I told them, 'That's the way we roll.' "
Story continues
[More: Winners, losers from 2013 NFL draft]
The secrecy paid off for the Bills, who picked up a pair of extra selections (in the second and seventh rounds) from the St. Louis Rams after trading down eight spots in Thursday's first round. When they took former Florida State quarterback E.J. Manuel 16th overall, it was a surprise to virtually everyone outside the war room.
The Bills had conducted private workouts with five quarterbacks, and various reports linked them to Syracuse's Ryan Nassib, West Virginia's Geno Smith and USC's Matt Barkley. Nassib, who'd played for newly hired Bills coach Doug Marrone at the 'Cuse, was presumed to be the leading candidate.
Yet it was Manuel, a 6-foot-5, 237-pounder long on potential, who Brandon, Nix and Marrone agreed they had to have.
The Bills could have played it safe and taken Manuel eighth overall, but with the Rams eager to land West Virginia wideout Tavon Austin, an enticing gamble presented itself. Buffalo, which had only six picks heading into the draft, could pick up two additional selections by trading down with St. Louis.
Austin, according to a Rams source, was "at the top of [the Bills'] draft board, but they didn't want to take him. And they knew the Jets [picking ninth overall] wanted him. So, they could take their guy and risk facing [Austin] twice a year, or they could make the trade and get him out of the division."
The Bills did the deal, dropping down to 16 and sweating out the next eight selections.
"Buddy was comfortable that we could make the deal and still get what for us was the ultimate prize," Brandon said. "It's always a little bit nerve-wracking in those situations. You can do all the recon you want, but as you know, everybody's lying to everybody anyway this time of year."
Once the team landed Manuel, the Bills had accomplished a prime objective. "Our goal coming in was to bring in another bell-cow quarterback to compete for the job [with newly signed Kevin Kolb and holdover Tarvaris Jackson], and we did that with E.J.," Brandon said. "Then we added some new tools in the toolbox."
On Friday, Buffalo drafted a pair of receivers, USC's Robert Woods (second round) and Texas' Marquise Goodwin (third round), who'll team with flamboyant wideout Stevie Johnson for what should be a significantly upgraded passing attack. In between those picks, the Bills used the second-round selection they got from the Rams to snag Kiko Alonso, a versatile linebacker from Oregon who'd been rising on many teams' draft boards.
More defensive help arrived on Saturday with the selections of safeties Duke Williams (Nevada) and Jonathan Meeks (Clemson) in the fourth and fifth rounds, respectively. Kicker Dustin Hopkins, a Florida State teammate of Manuel's, and Arkansas tight end Chris Gragg rounded out the class, at which point the team scrambled to sign undrafted free agents, a process Brandon likened to Wall Street trading.
Then, at last, it was time for Brandon and his front-office employees to unwind and congratulate one another on a job well done. They're not alone, of course. The reality is that 32 teams got better over these past three days, but the NFL is a zero-sum game, and 16 of them will lose on any given weekend.
With a league-high 13-year postseason drought (dating back to the infamous Music City Miracle), the Bills understandably provoke a healthy share of skepticism from fans and media analysts alike. For what it's worth, their CEO is convinced his franchise took some big steps toward respectability these past few days.
"We're thrilled with the way it worked out," Brandon said, and for the first time in awhile, he seemed to be telling the truth.
[More: Complete 2013 NFL draft breakdown]
Here are a few other takeaways from the NFL's 78th Annual Player Selection Meeting:
• Matt Barkley and friends had a rough draft, but we should have seen it coming: After two nights and three rounds of excruciating neglect, Barkley finally got the lifeline he so badly needed Saturday, with the Philadelphia Eagles trading up with the Jacksonville Jaguars to take him with the first pick of the fourth round. Heralded as a likely top-five selection before electing to remain at USC for his senior season, Barkley suffered perhaps the most devastating draft freefall in modern NFL history. Yet if the young man's spirits were dampened, he did a tremendous job of hiding his disappointment on Saturday night. "I know it will be great!!!!" Barkley said via text message in regard to joining the Eagles. "Time to make history."
I'm going to go on record right now in expressing my agreement: I believe Barkley will be a highly successful NFL quarterback. The kid has an edge, and I believe he has an it factor, though I concede that plenty of NFL coaches and talent evaluators don't seem to share that assessment. And with only Manuel, Smith and Mike Glennon selected over the first three rounds – the worst showing for QBs since 2000 (Chad Pennington, Gio Carmazzi, Chris Redman) – it wasn't just Barkley and Nassib (who went later in the fourth round to the Giants) getting dissed. In reality, the devaluing of this quarterback draft class (save Manuel) began long before Thursday.
[More: New Cardinals DB Tyrann Mathieu continues to raise red flags]
It started with the Eagles' surprising decision to re-sign Michael Vick, continued with the Kansas City Chiefs' trade for Alex Smith and extended to the Raiders' trade for Matt Flynn and subsequent dealing of Carson Palmer to the Cardinals. In the end, the Cleveland Browns were content to roll with second-year quarterback Brandon Weeden (and newly signed backup Jason Campbell) while the Jags stood pat with Blaine Gabbert and Chad Henne. On paper, that sounds dubious, but those franchises are being run by new regimes that don't feel instant pressure to succeed and thus can wait a year to address their quarterback situations. And the "Biff For Bridgewater" drumbeat can now begin in earnest, with the Browns and Jags joining the Raiders and New York Jets among the early pack of favorites to get the first overall pick in 2014.
• Manti Te'o landed on his feet, but please don't compare him to a fallen warrior: After all the negativity surrounding the former Notre Dame linebacker in the wake of his lousy BCS national championship game performance and subsequent catfishing saga, his selection in the second round by the San Diego Chargers Friday gave him a solid shot at NFL success, especially given that he'll play in a relatively laid-back media market. That said, Te'o should do everything he can to escape the shadow of the late, great Junior Seau, perhaps the most beloved player in franchise history.
At his introductory news conference at the Chargers' training facility Saturday, Te'o conceded that he'd idolized the future Hall of Fame linebacker while growing up in Hawaii, telling reporters, "It starts off with Junior. Me being a Polynesian-Samoan kid, you look up to Junior. He's a Samoan man who was a trailblazer for kids like me." And if Seau were still with us, I think he'd tell Te'o: "Buddeeeee – blaze your own trail, and keep it real." Then Junior would stick him with a massive tab at Japengo and make him feel special in the process.
[Related: Watch: Is Manti Te'o a good fit for the Chargers?]
• Chargers' new regime tried to make an old-school splash: I spent some time on Saturday with the great LaDainian Tomlinson, who after having spent his final two seasons with the New York Jets, signed a one-day contract with the Chargers and staged a retirement ceremony last June. And I learned something rather surprising: Tomlinson, who'll turn 34 in June, was recently offered an opportunity to rejoin the Bolts this season in a very real capacity.
"I met [new general manager] Tom Telesco and [rookie head coach] Mike McCoy at the [NFL scouting] combine, and they asked me to come back and play," Tomlinson said. "I saw [executive vice president] John Spanos at a restaurant in Indy, and he introduced me to them, and they brought it up. At first I thought they weren't really serious, but they kept talking about it, and I realized it was real. They said, 'You can come back and carry it 10 or 12 times a game. We'd like to have you here.' " Though flattered, Tomlinson said he didn't seriously consider the offer: "No, because when I made the decision to walk away, I wrestled with it long and hard, and I knew it was final. Once I retired, that was it. My mind is in a different place. Mentally, going back would have been too hard."
[More: No imposter this time, Redskins draft real Phillip Thomas]
• Niners continue to flex their muscles: In fact, you might call the reigning NFC champions Bostonstrong after Friday's selection of Rice tight end Vance McDonald in the second round, a move that could allow San Francisco to feature a Patriots-style, two-tight-end passing circus. Already armed with a top-shelf tight end in Vernon Davis, the Niners got a potentially scary complement in McDonald, a smart, athletic, multi-dimensional threat who'll allow brainy offensive coordinator Greg Roman to get even more creative.
After trading up to land safety Eric Reid in the first round, the Niners could have stood pat and selected former Stanford tight end Zach Ertz with the second pick of Friday's second round. Instead, they traded down, taking McDonald 21 picks later. Roman and head coach Jim Harbaugh would have been happy to have Ertz, who played for them at Stanford and was the second-rated tight end (behind Notre Dame's Tyler Eifert) on most draft boards. The guy they really wanted, however, was McDonald. Something tells me the Pats' killer tight end combo of Rob Gronkowski and Aaron Hernandez may soon have a viable rival on the West Coast.
More on the Chargers' draft selections from NFL.com:
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• J.R. Smith suspended for Knicks-Celtics Game 4 |
Teen Top has revealed the next project they have in store for their sixth anniversary!
During their Naver V App broadcast, which took place in the evening of July 10, Teen Top satisfied fan curiosity surrounding their third anniversary project.
“We have sung fan songs for our Angels in the past, but with the ‘Angel Song Project,’ we plan on personally writing and composing [fan] songs ourselves to express our thankful hearts on our sixth anniversary,” L.Joe explains.
C.A.P adds, “The fan songs will be revealed at Teen Top’s upcoming fifth fan meeting.”
The “Angel Song Project” is slated to consist of two fan songs. During the broadcast, the members play a game to divide themselves up into two teams. The first team, composed of C.A.P, Ricky, and L.Joe will be writing a hip hop song, and the second team, composed of Changjo, Niel, and Chunji, will do a ballad.
Teen Top debuted in July 9 of 2010 and is celebrating their sixth anniversary with a series of projects. They kicked off the celebrations by sharing the previously unreleased music video for “Love Comes,” a track they almost debuted with.
Are you looking forward to the “Angel Song Project”?
Source (1) |
A Look at Clint's Life in the Political Arena; 1986-88
n January 30th, 1986, a local Carmel, California newspaper first announced the news: Clint Eastwood was running for mayor -- salary, $200 a month!
Like Dirty Harry, he was fighting bureaucracy, waging a war on bylaws in his adopted hometown of Carmel. His campaign certainly made the media's day but when he got a whopping 72% of the poll, even former President Reagan phoned with envious congratulations.
Clint insisted during his two year period as mayor that it was not the launch pad for larger political ambitions. His concern was strictly with Carmel. "We got rid of quite a lot of punitive attitudes on the council and helped people get things done," he claimed later. "We got things built -- beach walkways, a library annex which had been waiting 25 years, and so on. I approached it from a business point of view, not a political one."
The reason Clint entered the political arena in the first place was that he believed he was being disrespectfully treated by the little city's administration, and he was upset about it. Hassled with rules, regulations, and taxes regarding building permits and zoning laws, and tired of getting the runaround and going through endless miles of red tape with the city, Clint decided to fight back.
The breaking point was when the preservationist-dominated town council automatically rejected Clint's plans to build a small building in downtown Carmel that would have improved the surrounding area. Clint promptly sued the city winning an out-of-court settlement that permitted him to proceed with his building.
It was this fight with city hall that got Clint thinking. It got him closer to the Carmel business community and led to discussions about challenging the incumbent mayor, Charlotte Townsend, who was then approaching the end of her second term. People started to edge him on and show early support if he considered to run against her.
He hired a campaign manager, and after early opinion polls about how people would feel if he ran looked positive, he filed the papers just hours before the deadline and launched his campaign.
His strategy was very basic: He never attacked Townsend directly, he gave no interviews to the national press, and stayed tightly involved in the community. He did almost no paid advertising -- just some buttons and bumper stickers. It was, all in all, one of the most tasteful campaigns in the history of modern American politics. He politely refused autographs when he was out on walking tours. His slogan was simple, "Bringing the Community Together," and in talks he stressed his desire to build bridges between the business community and the residential community. His strategy worked!
On April 8th, 1986, with twice the voter turn out showing up, Clint got a whopping 72.5 % of the vote. To show that there was no hard feelings, a week later at his inaugural ceremony, he gave Townsend and two of her close allies some potted redwood seedlings as reconciliatory gifts.
For his two year term in office, Clint fulfilled to his own satisfaction, all his major campaign promises. Among them, he made it easier to build or to renovate property. He got a tourist parking lot constructed. He remodeled The Mission Ranch and preserved the precious landscape it was on which was supposed to be demolished in favor of 80 condominiums. He also opened the library annex which is dedicated for children's use, and it is said to be the accomplishment of which he is most proud.
Though he enjoyed his experience, he opted not to run for a second term. He began to reach this conclusion one day standing in a chilly garage, surrounded by staff and council members trying to decide if a prominent Carmel citizen, a doctor, would be permitted to change the slope of his garage roof. Life was too short for this kind of pettiness. Late in 1987 he announced that he would not stand for a second term. And although he made two films while in office (Heartbreak Ridge and Bird), in early 1988, Clint was back to devote a full time effort to his career in film. |
BY:
A new report issued by House Republicans attributes security reductions at the U.S. mission in Benghazi, Libya, to the State Department, and concludes the Obama administration altered talking points but not for the stated reason of protecting classified information.
The report, which was produced by top national security House Republicans, notes that the "reductions of security levels prior to the attacks in Benghazi were approved at the highest levels of the State Department, up to and including Secretary Clinton."
"Secretary Clinton’s signature," according to the report, "acknowledges Ambassador Cretz’s request for additional security but instead articulates a plan to scale back security assets for the U.S. Mission in Libya, including the Benghazi Mission."
The report also critiques sharply the Obama administration response to and portrayal of the attack, the Washington Times reports:
In the most damning finding, House Republicans said Mr. Obama and his team lied about the attacks afterward, first by blaming mob violence spawned by an anti-Muslim video, and then wrongly saying it had misled the public because it was trying to protect an FBI investigation. "This progress report reveals a fundamental lack of understanding at the highest levels of the State Department as to the dangers presented in Benghazi, Libya, as well as a concerted attempt to insulate the Department of State from blame following the terrorist attacks," the GOP investigation concluded in its 46-page report. The Obama administration has acknowledged providing an inaccurate explanation for the attacks early on — even though officials at the Defense Department said they knew it was a terrorist assault from the beginning.
"Contrary to Administration rhetoric, the talking points were not edited to protect classified information," according to the report. "Concern for classified information is never mentioned in email traffic among senior Administration officials."
The full report can be read here. |
The San Francisco 49ers are expected to add at least one more rookie quarterback to the training camp mix as league sources indicate they will sign former Ole Miss Rebel and Oregon Ducks QB Jeremiah Masoli. The San Francisco native started his college career at City College of San Francisco before transferring to Oregon. In 2009 he led the Ducks explosive offensive attack with a combined 2,815 total yards of offense and 28 total touchdowns.
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Unfortunately for Masoli he was unable to stay out of trouble as he pled guilty to burglary and was suspended for the entire 2010 season. Following the suspension he was cited in June 2010 for marijuana possession and coach Chip Kelly quickly decided to dismiss him from the team. Masoli transferred to Ole Miss where he threw for 2,039 yards with 14 touchdowns and 13 interceptions.
The 49ers have one project QB in Colin Kaepernick and find themselves possibly in the mix for veteran QB Matt Hasselbeck. Masoli will get some snaps in training camp, but it would be surprising to see him get enough to end up anywhere but the practice squad at best. It's also entirely possible the team considers trying to convert him away from quarterback as he brings fantastic athleticism but not much in the way of passing abilities.
For more on Jeremiah Masoli and the San Francisco 49ers, head over to Niners Nation and SB Nation Bay Area. |
Lawmakers and congressional aides poked holes in Department of Veterans Affairs Secretary Bob McDonald's Wednesday argument that accountability has returned to the agency because it has fired more than 3,700 people in the last two years.
The VA has been the focus of a scandal involving a systemic effort across the country to hide the long wait-times veterans faced when seeking medical care through the agency. That scandal has led to calls for officials to be fired, but just a few have been fired and many have either been given new jobs or allowed to retire.
McDonald has consistently argued in public that his agency is responsive to these calls, and reiterated that again in a Wednesday hearing at the Senate Veterans' Affairs Committee.
"All told, we've terminated 3,755 employees in the past two years," he said at a Senate Veterans' Affairs Committee hearing.
But a GOP congressional staffer who works on veterans' issues said "less than ten" have been fired for the wait-time scandal, according to the latest figures that the VA gives to lawmakers.
The staffer also argued that McDonald's claim that 3,755 people have been fired over the last two years actually shows that the VA has slowed down its firing activity. He noted that in fiscal year 2013, the year before the former VA secretary was fired over the scandal, 2,247 people were fired in that one year alone.
That means McDonald's claim of 3,755 firings over two years puts the VA at a pace of about 1,900 firings per year.
Sen. Jerry Moran, R-Kan., also pushed McDonald during the hearing about an employee with a criminal history who was allowed to resign instead of being terminated. Former physician's assistant Mark Wisner was hired despite having reported a criminal history, and later resigned after it was revealed he had committed sexual battery against at least seven patients.
"Are you telling me when someone resigns you lose your ability to fire them? Are you telling me that he beat you to the punch?" Moran asked.
McDonald responded by dodging the question of why he wasn't fired, and said that once employees have resigned for criminal wrongdoing, they are the responsibility of the courts.
"When somebody resigns they are no longer an employee, that's true in the private and the public sector. When someone resigns, they resign. Now obviously you have judicial options, which is occurring right now with this individual," said McDonald.
McDonald also said he opposes efforts to privatize the government-run health program at the VA, and described proponents of this idea as ignorant ideologues or merely motivated by their own self-interest.
"[B]eneath the banner of choice are always two things: interest and ideology. Let's face it, privatization would put more money into the pockets of people running health care corporations," said McDonald. "Then there are the ideologues who only deal with the issue in the simplest, laziest theoretical terms: government bad, private sector good. That's as far as the thinking goes." |
Summers in Arizona can become unbearably hot. That means there are many days our kids can’t stand being outside for long, and end up cooped up inside for hours at a time. I’m all about finding fun activities that help beat that summer boredom while inside and encourage their creativity. This fun DIY Scented Colored Glue is just the thing to keep them busy.
Supplies:
– Elmer’s school glue
– Kool-Aid packets (cherry, orange, lemonade, lime, blue raspberry lemonade, grape)
– Wooden skewers or popsicle sticks
– Small funnel
There are two ways you can prep this DIY Scented Colored Glue.
The first way is to empty the Kool-Aid packet in to the glue bottle and either shake vigorously, and/or stir with a long wooden skewer until the colored drink mix & glue have mixed completely.
I found the best way to prep this project was to pour the entire bottle of glue out in to a small bowl. If your glue is thicker you can heat it in the microwave for 10 seconds. Add your Kool-Aid drink mix to the glue, and using a popsicle stick mix until you’ve achieved the desired color. Then using a small funnel pour the glue back in to the glue bottle, using the popsicle stick to push the glue through the funnel. It should just run back in slowly by itself.
Be sure to rinse the bowl and small funnel with warm water and dish soap between each color mixing.
That’s it! This DIY Scented Colored Glue works best on firm papers like cardstock, poster board, or construction paper. The scents of these glues are super fun and fruity, and the kids will love painting with them.
Note: This school glue is washable, but once the Kool-Aid is added it can stain clothing so be careful when creating beautiful artwork.
Don’t forget to check out this other fun activity I shared the other day, the kids will love this Wax Paper Crayon Art!
This post was originally published at Skip to My Lou on (06/11/14) |
The 25-year plan said the park's roads are used for commuter parking and shortcuts in peak periods, often leading to an "unmanageable" number of vehicles. Robyn Parker says there will be no charge while she is environment minister. Credit:Edwina Pickles The fee would help pay for road maintenance and “remedial work on damaged trees caused by intensive car parking on their roots”. It would be phased in over five years. The move raised the possibility that thousands of genuine park users would be penalised in the crackdown, and prompted claims by Labor that the state government is “debauching” the city's parklands by forcing them to raise revenue. Parklands across Sydney are chasing new revenue streams as government finance dwindles.
Centennial Park receives 4 per cent of its annual operating budget from the state government, down from 20 per cent a decade ago. The funding will cease completely next financial year - a move the master plan said had created "financial challenges". A spokesman for Ms Parker said the government is investing $27 million over the next four years in capital expenditure to address "chronic under investment in the Centennial Parklands over many years", adding "this is a significant increase to previous governments". He said Ms Parker would "not agree" with any proposal put forward by the park's trust to introduce an access fee. About 8 million visits are made to the park each year. An estimated 60 per cent of people arrive by car – meaning even a small levy could reap millions of dollars annually. Centennial Parklands chief executive Kim Ellis said about 20 per cent of cars entering the park in the morning and afternoon peak were taking a shortcut to or from the city, which was “not in the spirit of how the park operates”.
He said community feedback on the draft master plan suggested a car levy be applied. “We are not entirely convinced but we will explore it over the next few years to see if these sorts of things might be viable,” he said. But Labor MP Luke Foley said Sydneysiders have enjoyed Centennial Park without charge for 125 years, and that should not change. “The massive pressure that Treasury places on our public parklands and botanical gardens to raise more and more private funds ultimately debauches these public institutions,” he said. “The park was created for the centenary of European settlement of Australia as a park for the people. That is, a place for public recreation for the growing city of Sydney ... not simply for the residents of Woollahra and Waverley."
Centennial Park Residents Association co-chairman Peter Tzannes opposed a vehicle levy, saying gates could be opened and closed at staggered times to prevent rat-running – but Mr Ellis said such measures have not been “entirely effective”. Bike Sydney president David Borella applauded any move to prioritise people over cars in the park, adding future improvements to public transport and pedestrian access meant in a few years, “people will have a real choice to leave the car at home”. |
The present observations, therefore, indicate the patients’ inability to recruit inhibitory and self defensive circuits against sensory repetition. The authors
Is thinking harder than it used to be? Do even little mental tasks seem effortful at times? It might not be that you’re thinking too little; it might be that you’re thinking too much.
The three pound supercomputer we call our brain is a powerful instrument; the most complex thinking instrument ever devised but even it has its limits. It has to pick and choose how it uses its resources. Throw all the stimuli in our environment at it and circuits are going to fry. In order to get by in our complex world – to plan, to organize, to decide, even just to move our bodies – requires that our brains disregard some stimuli and pay attention to others.
At its most basic level it goes like this: your brain picks up a background noise, a glint of light or an odor, checks it out; determines if it’s useful or a threat or nothing special – and proceeds accordingly. If it’s innocuous – the category the vast majority of stimuli fit into – it files it into the “don’t pay attention to” category and moves on to more important things.
At least that’s what is supposed to happen.
We know the brain is not doing so well with stimuli in fibromyalgia. It’s misinterpreting minor stimuli as pain. It doesn’t like crowded, high intensity environments. It often feels that the environment is too cold or too hot or it’s too loud. This hyper-reactive response to pain and other stimuli is thought to be the result of hyped up pain producing and slumbering pain inhibiting pathways.
The Study
Habituation deficit of auditory N100m in patients with fibromyalgia . Eur J Pain. 2016 May 10. doi: 10.1002/ejp.883. [Epub ahead of print]deficit of auditory N100m in patients with
These researchers wanted to know if a similar breakdown in inhibition was occurring at a very, very basic level. Were FM patients brains turning themselves off when faced with innocuous stimuli or were they remaining stubbornly on?
Many types of stimuli (temperature, pressure, light, odor) exist but these researchers used sound to test FM patients brains. They took 19 FM patients and healthy controls, plopped a magnetic helmet on their heads, covered their ears with earphones and had them watch slides of “Where’s Wally” while they stealthily introduced small sounds and then measured the electrical signals it evoked in the brain. If signals moderate over time the brain has given them a pass and begun using its resources to do other things. If the signals stayed strong the brain essentially was stuck.
The Results
They found that the FM patients brains stayed stubbornly fixated on the sounds; no evidence of a normal pattern of “habituation” was seen.
What to make of this? This isn’t the only place FM patients brains fail at inhibition. Perhaps in the same way their brains fail to inhibit pain producing pathways, they also fail to inhibit attention to stimuli. Studies indicate that a network in the brain designed specifically to tone things down called “the inhibitory network”) is er….inhibited in FM.
FM patients are not alone in this. The same pattern of reduced habituation has also been found in migraine and irritable bowel syndrome. This suggests, of course, that chronic pain comes with an extra added component – a distracted, inefficient and easily overwhelmed brain.
Why this is happening isn’t clear. Problems with the thalamus in migraine are believed to cause sensory gating issues in that disorder. Sensory gating refers to a process where the thalamus filters out unnecessary information before it gets to the upper regions of the brain. Without gating or filtering stimuli the brain would be overwhelmed. Both thalamic and sensory gating problems have been found in FM and chronic fatigue syndrome. A recent study, though, suggested that sensory gating might not be the issue.
Recent studies suggest that FM patients brains may simply have trouble encoding or figuring out what to do with a stimulus; i.e. they can’t figure out which basket to put it in.
A 2015 study exploring the processing of non-painful stimuli such as sound and light found that sensory processing cortices of the brain were under-performing. That slowed response in the lower (or outer) brain regions was accompanied by increased activation of the higher brain regions. (A similar pattern is seen in migraine.) That low-high pattern suggested that the higher regions of the brain might be struggling to interpret bad information passed onto them by the sensory cortices.
Reduced blood flows, exhaustion of the sensory cortices or a defensive down-regulation of the sensory cortices by the upper brain regions have been proposed to explain the problems with sensory processing.
Conclusion
At its core FM appears to be more a pain and sensory inhibiting disease than a pain producing one. Because the pain pathways in the brain need to respond like lightning to an injury, they’re essentially always on-always ready to engage. The problem in fibromyalgia is that they’re not being turned off.
The same appears to be true with sensory inhibition and with the autonomic nervous system. The brain is not turning off its attention to innocuous stimuli and the parasympathetic nervous system is not jumping in to tone down the sympathetic or “fight and flight” system. Deficiencies in the levels of inhibitory neurotransmitters (serotonin, y-aminobutyric acid) and in the feel-good endogenous opioid system have also been seen. Fibromyalgia is looking more and more like a disorder of blunted inhibition than anything else.
The authors suggest that future studies examine both sensory gating and the very early stages of stimuli processing. Whatever the cause, this and other studies suggest that the problems with processing sensory data extend far beyond the pain most associate with fibromyalgia.
On a personal level the consequences of poor sensory processing and the inability to turn off one’s attention to innocuous stimuli might include such things as problems with following conversations particularly in higher stimuli environments, difficulty concentrating, short attention spans, mental fatigue, the need to get to your cave, etc. |
Free Fire, backed with National Lottery funding through the BFI Film Fund, is available now on BFI Player It was the closing night gala of the 60th BFI London Film Festival
Film genres have often been mixed and matched in the films of Ben Wheatley. Down Terrace (2009) is a low-budget crime movie fused with soap opera. Kill List (2011) sets off as Loachian social realism before shape-shifting into folk horror. Sightseers (2012) is like Nuts in May (1976) ramped up into horror territory, while A Field in England (2013) is a historical caper that wanders off the map into full-blown psychedelia.
It’s tempting to see his new actioner Free Fire – co-written, as ever, by Wheatley’s partner Amy Jump – as a palate cleanser following his 2015 Ballard adaptation High-Rise. Set in a Boston warehouse, where an ensemble cast, including Sharlto Copley, Armie Hammer, Brie Larson, Cillian Murphy and Sam Riley, have congregated for a gun trade, it’s a 90-minute, single-location movie that keeps things simpler, getting down to brass tacks with a sustained onslaught of bullets and profanity as things go very badly haywire.
Asked what prompted this handbrake turn into making an all-out action movie, albeit one shot through with the co-writers’ trademark black humour, Wheatley is frank: “It’s just because I like them really. That’s my cunning plan for cinema: if I fancy doing something, then I’ll write it.”
“I’ve always been open that I like all kinds of cinema, from Tarkovsky to The Terminator. I don’t put them into separate categories. If you’re a film fan, you can like all genres and types of movie.”
Nonetheless, with Free Fire making a clamorous British bid to the frenetic tradition of John Woo, it was action cinema that was on our minds as we chatted to Wheatley about some of his all-time favourites in the genre.
Evil Dead II (1987)
Director Sam Raimi
I was at school when I first saw Evil Dead II. I didn’t know anything about it, but I randomly went to the cinema to see it. It was an empty cinema at about three o’clock in the afternoon. I’d never seen a film like that before – not just because of the horror side of it but more from the perspective of the camerawork. It was so kinetic and relentless and really very funny as well. I staggered out of the cinema gasping for air, and I told all my friends. They all went back to watch it the next day. It’s seldom now that I get the experience of watching a film I don’t know anything about, but that was one of my formative cinema experiences.
I watched The Evil Dead years later, because I couldn’t get hold of it. It was banned in the UK for a long time during the video nasties thing. But Evil Dead II is the masterwork I think. There are elements of it within Free Fire – that, mixed with Tom and Jerry cartoon stuff.
Hard Boiled (1992)
Director John Woo
Hard Boiled was another case of me encountering a kind of cinema I’d never seen before. Taking the crime genre and then turbocharging it the way that John Woo did… It’s a straight-up, serious crime film, but it’s full of virtuoso flourishes. The use of slow-motion, and the camera movements being so exaggerated, really struck me. It was the gameness of the stunt people – I’d only seen that kind of action in kung-fu movies, but to see so many people flying through the air… Usually in American cinema there’s a cut to save the stuntmen, but Hong Kong stuntmen seem to be a different breed who don’t mind landing on concrete. It makes for a much more fluid action.
The Wild Bunch (1969)
Director Sam Peckinpah
I saw it in the cinema when it got rereleased in the mid-1990s. I’d seen it on VHS before that, but I think that wouldn’t have been a widescreen copy. For me it’s the Peckinpah style of parallel editing, which takes a direct route from Eisenstein editing theory. In The Wild Bunch, what was inspiring was that you could run several different stories with different characters at the same time, crosscutting back and forth between them – some of the stories being in slow motion, some being in real time, and some in extreme slow motion. I’d never seen anything like that. That connects to Hard Boiled too, because the Woo style in that film is like a souped up version of the Peckinpah style crossed with the end sequence of Taxi Driver (1976).
Seven Samurai (1954)
Director Akira Kurosawa
Credit: Toho Co., Ltd
Seven Samurai is a big one for me. Kurosawa tells the story with such incredible efficiency. For a start you’ve got seven samurai, and at least as many villager characters, then lots of bandits as well. And the action and fighting is very complicated. Yet it’s all very clear. Some characters barely get any dialogue at all and yet you feel like you know them. For me, Kurosawa sets the template for the modern action movie. The Terminator, Aliens and all those James Cameron movies – they’re all direct descendents of Seven Samurai: action movies where the characters all have very solid points of view. The action and tactics are explained very clearly. You always know where you are in a movie like that, as opposed to the opposite end of the spectrum, which is the stuff that comes from Tony Scott, then goes to Michael Bay, which is the more impressionistic action style.
The Terminator (1984) / Aliens (1986)
Director James Cameron
The Terminator is a film I go back to a lot. It has some of the best car-to-car action sequences that I’ve seen. I like the relentless pace of it. All of Cameron’s films are pretty fantastic. Aliens is another one. I was watching the special edition version the other day. I don’t think they even get on the planet for an hour. It’s very, very slow, but once it kicks off it’s incredible.
Sitting Target (1972)
Director Douglas Hickox
I’m a big fan of Sitting Target, the Oliver Reed movie. Elements of that are very reminiscent of The Terminator. I don’t know if it’s a coincidence or not, but he almost looks like Arnie towards the end – the clothes he’s wearing are very similar and the way he moves around the place as a relentless killing machine. He’s quite robotic.
The Wild Geese (1978)
Director Andrew V. McLaglen
In Britain, it’s often war movies where you get all the action. Movies like A Bridge Too Far (1977) or The Eagle Has Landed (1976) – that’s stuff I watched a lot as a kid. I rewatched The Wild Geese the other day, which taps into all the things I liked as a kid – adventure and soldiers and mercenaries – but when you watch it now it’s quite distasteful and difficult to watch! But the action stuff in it is really good. It’s got that sodden, sleazy British late 70s/early 80s feel to it – you can feel the stale whisky off it. It’s Roger Moore, Richard Harris and Richard Burton – a weird one for Roger Moore because he would have been in the middle of doing all the Bond films. There are some great scenes of him punching through doors and dropping hand grenades and making people eat loads of heroin. At gun point. “Eat it!”
Mad Max: Fury Road (2015)
Director George Miller
The Road Warrior (1981) is one of my favourite movies. I’ve basically been chasing the thrill of seeing it as a kid ever since, but never getting to it. Until Fury Road. Miller’s pursuit of pure action is really interesting. The plot of Fury Road is that they drive somewhere and then they drive back – fighting all the way. You’re like, is that it? That’s great.
I like the fact that the film was developed from drawings. They drew a massive storyboard first, and then they wrote the script to fit on top of the storyboard. There’s space for all kinds of cinema, but it’s always a bit depressing when things become too literary – it’s a visual medium. You want things to be led by the images as much as possible. Sometimes cinema can get a little bit chatty and end up like filmed theatre or television.
To see this from a guy who’s reasonably old – that movie is setting the pace for action for everybody. It was like with The Wolf of Wall Street (2013): you get a full-tilt Scorsese and a full-tilt Miller in the same period. These guys are at the top of their game and still defining what cinema looks like. Everyone else is just following.
Dirty Harry (1971)
Director Don Siegel
I saw Dirty Harry when I was quite young. The great thing about VHS machines is you’d come down in the morning and see what you’d caught in the night. It was like fishing. The toploader would be up, with the tape sticking out, and you’d have to see if you’d got what you intended to record. Oh my god, it’s Dirty Harry – and you’d watch it at about eight in the morning when none of the adults were up. I watched it again a couple of weeks ago, and it’s still really dark.
Death Race 2000 (1975)
Director Paul Bartel
There didn’t seem to be any understanding of certification when I was little. The first films we ever rented were Watership Down (1978) and Death Race 2000. But the tracking was fucked on Watership Down, so I didn’t even watch it. I just went, “rabbits, whatever”, and watched Death Race 2000, which was like incredible exploitation jacked straight into my tiny young brain. Science fiction up to that point would have been Doctor Who and Blake’s 7, but then it’s suddenly people running over pensioners to score points on some futuristic game show! That set me up for life: five minutes of Watership Down and then 90 minutes of Death Race 2000 has defined everything I’ve done from that point forwards.
I also remember taping Ridley Scott’s Alien (1979), but getting the timing wrong on it so it recorded an hour and a half of golf and then the first 20 minutes of Alien, and the tape running out just as the alien pops out of John Hurt’s stomach – making for the most miserable short film ever made. I couldn’t believe the sickening click of the video recorder – ker-dunk and then it rewinds. Noooooo! |
As the Green Bay Packers have catapulted themselves to the top of the NFL, the time has come for the predictable foolishness that is bound to creep up with a month to go before the playoffs. Clearly, half the teams in the NFL are just trying to either play for respect or for moving up in the draft, so there has to be something to talk about. With your Packers at 9-3 and a cake schedule ahead of them, why not? Right?
Most of the silliness revolves around our favorite player, of course. Aaron Rodgers is the flashpoint of this extremely hot team, and well deserved. While he was the winner of the Super Bowl MVP back in 2010, he was really just one of many standout players on that team. In fact, you could make the case that he was still quite inconsistent, all the way through the playoffs and during the Super Bowl itself.
Since then, he has garnered his own NFL MVP award, has raised the passing efficiency rating expectations to three digits, and there is no doubt that this is Rodgers' team. He is the one we turn to when the going gets tough, and ever since he told us to "relax," he's delivered.
Which brings up the goofiness of the past week:
Is Aaron Rodgers a greater quarterback than Terry Bradshaw?
Would you trade Aaron Rodgers for Brett Favre in his prime right now?
Is Aaron Rodgers the best NFL quarterback of all time?
No, really. People are asking these questions. And they're serious about them. Rodgers, as of December 2014, is the greatest quarterback of all time. Pay no mind that the season isn't done, and that the Packers haven't won anything so far besides nine games (Breaking News: so have the Lions and the Cardinals). He has had a great season so far, but the platitutdes that come with winning approach ridiculous levels.
The best quarterback of all time? The kid just turned 31 years old, and is only in his seventh season as a full-time starter. Terrell Davis played seven seasons and can't sniff a jacket at Canton. Heck, Sterling Sharpe played seven seasons and probably won't be honored there, either.
Rodgers isn't a finished product yet, gang. He's got a lot of miles to go and more to prove if we really want to take him seriously in these kinds of conversations. Note I say "we" and not "he," as I don't really think Rodgers spends a lot of time worrying about his legacy compared to Bradshaw or Favre or Montana. You only have to watch his ever-present smirk (particularly in the newest Hans and Franz commercial) to realize he doesn't take himself or his own hype as seriously as we do.
Point is, there's a lot that can happen to a quarterback's career after age 31. Let's be honest: Rodgers might be the best he's ever been right now, but also the best he may ever be. There's a little thing called aging that is going to catch up with him sooner or later, and it will affect his game.
And then, it will affect us. Don't believe me? It was almost ten years ago that Brett Favre threw four interceptions in a playoff loss to the Minnesota Vikings. He was 35 years old at the time, and almost immediately the calls for a younger quarterback started, with doubts in that old arm that we once promised we'd never lose faith in. We all know what happened after that, including the drafting of a young man from Chico, California only three months following.
Coincidentally, Aaron Rodgers' present contract, a $110M deal with a $33M signing bonus and $55M guaranteed, expires at the end of the 2018 season ... when Rodgers will be 35 years old.
So, while talk like this is fun and passes the time until the playoffs start, I am going to give you five letters, for all you Packer fans out there.
R-E-L-A-X. Relax.
There's the slight possibility that Rodgers career will end like that of John Elway, winning two Super Bowls in his waning years and retiring on top of the world, forever worshipped and glorified by the team that claimed him for his entire career.
There's also the slight possibility that it could end completely the opposite way, just as it did for Favre, imploding in arrogance and ego in a explosive exodus from the team that leaves fans jaded (at best) or forever contemptuous (at worst).
But the reality will likely fall somewhere in the middle of those two possibilities, and as Rodgers' career starts to wind down, it will be time to talk about what his legacy actually will be, and how it compares to those legendary quarterbacks of lore. There will be talk of physical conditioning (remember Favre's "core fitness" kick in the early 2000s?) and the need for teammates to "help out" and "win Aaron one more ring." While many of us will be dreading the day Rodgers loses his arm strength, we'll notice more as his hips, knees, and ankles decline, forcing him to change his throwing motion or lose the accuracy that has defined him in his prime.
And the rumblings from the fans and the media will start: "Can Aaron still lead us to a Super Bowl?" Heck, Peyton Manning was traded away from the team he had led to one Super Bowl. So were Joe Montana and Johnny Unitas. Most great quarterbacks don't finish in a blaze of glory, but in a barely-glowing cinder in forgotten seasons that historians will gladly gloss over when evaluating a player's legacy.
But hey, let's be honest: Those years of watching a greying, aging Rodgers are a long time away (at least in football years). Now is not the time to worry about when those day will arrive.
And the same can be said for trying to figure out what Rodgers' legacy or place among the legendary quarterback would or should be.
Do I care whether or not Rodgers ends up being "better" than Terry Bradshaw? Of course not. It's a different game today, and dynasties no longer exist.
Do I care whether or not Rodgers or Favre were better in their prime? Of course not. Favre is retired and gone, and Rodgers is who we have right now.
Do I care whether someone thinks that Rodgers is or is not the "greatest quarterback in NFL history?"
No.
What I care about is that Aaron Rodgers is one man out of 45 players that are going to take on the Atlanta Falcons tonight, an important game for maintaining the half-game lead the Packers presently hold in the NFC North over the Detroit Lions. What I care about is making sure we win enough games in December to get this team into the playoffs. What I care about is seeing this team carry itself with the same swagger it showed in a Sunday Night game last week against the Patriots—except doing in when it counts in January and February.
And I will relish watching Rodgers in his prime right now, cheering every crazy and impossible throw. It's a special time for Packer fans, an amazing roller coaster ride that we get to share in, week in and week out for sixteen games ... and hopefully, three or four more after that.
So, I have a new message out there, for all of you in Packerland. To all of you who are passionately discussing whether Rodgers is just great or the greatest, better than or the best, apples to apples or apples to oranges.
I have five letters for you.
E-N-J-O-Y. Enjoy. Sit back and relish every moment.
We have the rest of our lives to worry about legacies.
--------------
C.D. Angeli is a long time Packer fan and feature writer at CheeseheadTV. He can be heard weekly as a co-host on Cheesehead Radio and is the good cop over at Packers Talk. Follow him on Twitter at @TundraVision. |
Smith & Wesson stock Friday was zooming, thanks to a stellar earnings report. The firearms maker also boosted its outlook for the rest of the year. Because of the strong business, its backlog of orders more than doubled from the same quarter last year, the company is concentrating on boosting production and building inventory.
“We are underserving the market at this moment, we all know that, and that's a great opportunity going forward for us,” CEO James Debney said in a conference call with analysts.
And another gun maker, Sturm, Ruger & Co., also hit a milestone of sorts in terms of meeting consumer demand. It produced its one-millionth gun of the year…well ahead of last year’s pace.
"It took us nearly all of 2011 to build one million firearms, but in 2012 we accomplished it on August 15th,” said Ruger President and CEO Mike Fifer in a statement.
What’s driving the demand that has gun makers cranking up production?
Speculation has focused on fears of a coming regulatory crackdown on gun ownership. Liberal administrations tend to be anti-gun and so, the thinking goes, an Obama re-election would set the stage for stricter gun purchasing requirements. Hence, people are buying now in anticipation of difficulty later. |
By Paul Rincon
Science reporter, BBC News
The technique is to be brought into clinical trials
They have built a device to beam waves of ultrasound into the body, generating bubbles at the site of a tumour.
When these bubbles "pop", they release energy as heat - killing rogue cells.
The UK team plans to apply its new technique in clinical trials; it will be used in treating patients with kidney and liver tumours.
These clinical trials of High Intensity Focused Ultrasound (Hifu) are being conducted at the Churchill Hospital in Oxford.
No surgery required
Hifu is non-invasive: studies have shown that it is at least as effective as surgery, without the risks of opening up the patient. It also limits the damage to healthy tissue which occurs in radiotherapy.
But by harnessing the energy released by the bubbles that form when tissue is exposed to intense ultrasound waves, the researchers say they can provide faster and better targeted Hifu treatment.
I like to call it the 'energy shovel', because it allows us to grab this energy and use it where it is needed
Constantin Coussios, University of Oxford
When any wave moves through matter, it weakens; and some of the energy is turned into heat. This is why microwaves heat up food and light waves from the Sun warm the Earth.
In Hifu, ultrasound waves from outside the human body are brought to a focus inside the body, causing intense local heating which kills cells.
The principle is the same as burning a hole in paper by focusing sunlight through a magnifying glass.
But the existing Hifu technique has two important limitations compared with surgery that are hindering its clinical uptake. First, it is very slow: it takes up to five hours to treat a 10cm tumour, compared with the 45 minutes or so it takes a surgeon to cut the tissue out.
Secondly, clinicians are working in the dark: without invasive surgery, the results can only be assessed after the treatment is over.
Temperature boost
By harnessing the tiny bubbles that form in tissue when it is exposed to focused ultrasound, the researchers found they could boost the heating effect by factor of 6-10 compared with conventional Hifu treatment.
The enhanced technique, being pioneered by Dr Constantin Coussios from Oxford's Biomedical Ultrasonics and Biotherapy Laboratory (BUBL), is based on a principle called inertial cavitation.
"Phantom", a gel that mimics the properties of tissue, is used in tests
The bubble continues to grow until it reaches a critical pressure threshold. It then collapses and redistributes the energy as high-frequency "broadband noise" - effectively triggering a miniature explosion.
The energy from this little bang gets absorbed locally, so that tumour cells are killed, but healthy tissue is left unscathed.
"I like to call it the 'energy shovel', because it allows us to grab this energy and use it where it is needed, delivering it as heat," Dr Coussios told BBC News.
Treatment and diagnosis
While bubbles are created spontaneously when ultrasound is focused on a target inside the body, these bubbles normally form and collapse very quickly.
The ultrasound technique is tested in a tank of water
Their solution is a machine that beams ultrasound waves into the body and also has a highly-tuned sensor at its centre. The sensor can "hear" the tiny bubbles collapsing - a sound which is a thousand times too high for dogs, let alone humans.
Currently, temperature changes in tissue are used as an indication of the success of Hifu treatment. But by the time these can be picked up, tissue in the focal region - and sometimes healthy tissue surrounding it - has often boiled.
Clinical trials
Dr Coussios commented: "If we can use cavitation to accelerate the treatment, better localise the treatment - meaning that you will never get pre-focal damage - deliver the treatment at a lower frequency so you can go deeper in the body, and if we can also use these bubbles to monitor the treatment in real time, we have solved all the major limitations of Hifu in one go."
However, the treatment is not suitable for all types of tumour. Where the cancer has "metastased", or spread to other tissue, the therapy would probably not be effective, said Dr Coussios.
Dr Coussios said he was working with a team at the Churchill Hospital to incorporate the technique he has developed into clinical Hifu trials currently underway there.
He said candidates for the procedure would generally be patients with isolated solid tumours in the kidneys or liver.
[email protected] |
Photo: John Rogers/Northwestern University A soft, skin‐mounted microfluidic device for capture, collection and analysis of sweat.
Advertisement Editor’s Picks Sweat Sensors Will Change How Wearables Track Your Health
Sweat could be the next thing wearable devices sense to track your health, researchers say. A new microfluidic skin patch capable of collecting and analyzing sweat has survived tests that included a grueling 104-kilometer bike race. And the next-generation wearable device has attracted the attention of companies such as cosmetics giant L’Oreal and a major sports beverage maker—not to mention the U.S. military. It could even pave the way for a painfree, bloodless method of prescreening people for diabetes in the future, according to its inventors.
The flexible sweat sensor collects sweat in a tiny tubing system as it’s worn against the skin. Different sections of the sensor slowly change color as they react to different levels of certain chemicals found within sweat. Any smartphone with the right app can take a picture of the sweat sensor to automatically interpret the color changes and biochemistry of the sweat as certain health signs. To tests the device’s ruggedness, volunteers even wore the sweat sensor during a long-distance, outdoor bicycling race.
“This is radically different from current-generation wearable devices that are a block of electronics strapped to the body,” says John Rogers, a physical chemist and materials scientist at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. “This allows a clinical-like precision measurement of health markers that physicians know how to interpret.”
Rogers’ group has previously developed soft electronics such as flexible, dissolvable brain implants. In this case, they minimized the use of electronics in the skin patch to ensure that it could be resilient and cheap enough for one-time use. The details on their work with an international team of South Korean and Chinese collaborators appeared last week in the online edition of the journal Science Translational Medicine.
The biggest challenge in making the sweat sensor was balancing the softness, thinness, flexibility and comfort of the device with its functionality as a health sensor, Rogers explains. The researchers ensured that the device could create a water-tight seal with the surface of the skin so that it could remain in place during even the most high-intensity exercise.
Photo: John Rogers/Northwestern University A soft, skin‐mounted microfluidic device for capture, collection and analysis of sweat
But they also needed to figure out how to make a functional sensor without relying on either cheap but rigid electronics or more expensive, flexible electronics. Their solution was to use a microfluidic system of tiny tubes to channel the sweat toward different absorbent sections capable of chemically reacting to the presence of the different sweat components.
By comparison, today’s athletic research facilities currently use absorbent pads or paper and bulky benchtop lab equipment to collect and analyze sweat.
“Our device uses microfluidic, lab-on-a-chip type approaches in sweat capture and analysis, and simple colorimetric chemistries for detection,” Rogers says. “Much different than previous approaches that rely on less sophisticated fluid capture schemes and more expensive electronic-based readout schemes.”
The readings collected by the sweat sensor seemed comparable to the current lab-based standards during a trial involving nine volunteers doing indoor cycling. Health readings included sweat rate and sweat loss, pH (an indicator of hydration levels), and concentrations of lactate, glucose, and chloride.
A separate trial tested the sweat sensor’s ability to hold up during a 104-kilometer bike race called the El Tour de Tucson. Marvin Slepian, an interventional cardiologist at the University of Arizona in Tucson who worked with Rogers’ team, enlisted the help of several cyclist friends—a total of 12 healthy volunteers—to carry out the outdoor trial. The resiliency of the devices under such tough conditions was a testament to the flexibility and ruggedness of the microfluidic tube system, which had been extensively modeled by research collaborators at Northwestern University in Illinois and Zhejiang University in China.
The sweat sensor can hold captured sweat for about 125 hours after being peeled off the skin as long as all the sensor channel openings are sealed. Even with open channels, the captured sweat remains for about 75 hours after removal from the skin.
Rogers and his collaborators believe it’s possible to eventually turn the experimental sweat sensor into cheap, disposable commercial devices. The disposable or recyclable design avoids complications such as cleaning and possible contamination during reuse. Their current goal is to make the sweat sensor into a device costing just $1 or $2.
Sweat sensors gets truly exciting when imagining the medical possibilites. Rogers’ lab has been in talks with a biomedical company about how such sweat sensors could eventually enable bloodless prescreening for diabetes. But first, the researchers need to boost the sensitivity range of the glucose sensing and nail down the correlation between glucose in sweat and in blood.
But even the current generation of flexible sweat sensors holds much promise for many different companies. L’Oreal, for example, played a large role in organizing and funding this particular study. The company is interested in using the sweat sensors to replace the bulkier research tools for understanding sweat chemistry and odor so it can develop new products. “As a cosmetics company, they’re basically a skin company when you think about it,” Rogers says.
Rogers’ lab has also been conducting additional exercise and physiology studies with an unnamed sports beverage company. And the U.S. Air Force has gotten on board with testing more advanced versions of the sweat sensors as worn by active-duty airmen at the Wright-Patterson Air Force Base near Dayton, Ohio.
The researchers have already developed and begun testing several different versions of sweat sensors beyond the one described last week; a consequence of the time lag between publishing research results and making progress in the lab. “At this point we’re two or three steps beyond what is being reported in this paper,” Rogers says. |
Introduction
Common Lisp Quick Reference is a free booklet with short descriptions of the thousand or so symbols defined in the ANSI standard. It comes with a comprehensive index.
This rather humble effort is by no means meant to rival the Common Lisp HyperSpec or any of the great introductory web resources and books. Its purpose is to give those who like a piece of dead tree in their hands a quick overview on things they know already, or some clue on what to look up elsewhere.
It is written in LaTeX and formatted for printing on both A4 and letter paper. After folding the sheets lengthwise, they can easily be turned into a handy booklet.
Please report any errors to [email protected]. Nitpickers welcome!
Latest Changes
2018-10-10 14:08:44 +0200
Fix bugs reported by Fengjing Xiao
- define-compiler-macro is a macro, not a function. - symbol-name and symbol-package aren't setfable.
2018-02-05 12:00:32 +0100
Initarg names don't need to be keywords
Fix definitions of defstruct, define-condition, signal, warn, error, cerror, and assert. Thanks to Fengjing Xiao for the bug report.
2018-02-05 11:55:28 +0100
Fix argument list of scale-float
Thanks to Fengjing Xiao for the bug report.
2018-01-23 12:36:42 +0100
CLOS-related initargs don't need to be keywords
Thanks to Fengjing Xiao for the hint.
2018-01-15 15:24:54 +0100
Remove a bit-rotten LaTeX dependency
Minor layout modifications. |
At the beginning of the seventies Italian sports car maker Abarth was absorbed into the Fiat empire which involved coming under the corporate strategy setting dictated by Fiat’s top levels of management. Abarth having had a significant history in motor sport it was decided that Lancia and Abarth would combine forces and focus on rallying. It was a time when Fiat was investing as much money into rallying as other companies were investing in Formula 1. During these golden years Abarth engineer Aurelio Lampredi created a series of rally versions of production Fiat cars with emphasis on the 124 and the 131, and Abarth versions of the Lancia coupés the Lancia SE 037 and the Lancia Delta (Lancia SE 038). That period of just over a decade up until the early eighties was to see Abarth become the force to be reckoned with and it was not until the advent of the 4WD drive rally cars such as the Audi Quattro in the early mid eighties that the Lancia/Abarth stronghold was finally broken.
The Lancia-Abarth SE 037 were the last of the mid-engine rear wheel drive cars that were competitive in international rallying, and as they began to be defeated by the new generation of 4WD cars Fiat progressively cut back funding for rally competition, marking the end of an era.
By the time Aurelio Lampredi and his team created the Lancia-Abarth SP 037 they had learned a great many lessons in international rally competition. The ignition coil for example was held in place with sturdy rubber bands to make it replaceable in seconds, and most common maintenance jobs could be accomplished with a couple of 19mm spanners. These cars were built to be fantastically reliable, easy to fix, easy to drive and easy to drive well.
In road trim the car was called the Lancia Stradale and the 1995cc supercharged engine produced 205hp at 7000rpm. The competition versions for Group B rallying produced between 255hp to 280hp at 8000rpm in their first iteration and in the second stage of development were producing 310hp, 325hp and finally 350hp. Suspension is by dual wishbones with coil springs augmented by a roll bar and gas shock absorbers at the front and dual wishbones with twin gas shock absorbers at the rear. This is a suspension that worked to absorb the lumps and bumps of rally roads and tracks keeping both driver and navigator comfortable and allowing them to concentrate on what they needed to do to win rallys.
One driver described this car as being one whose design provides “logic and a will to win”. This is in a sense not a temperamental Italian, this is a determined Italian that is reliably fast. Fully eighty percent of the functional parts of the car can be inspected by mechanics at a stop. All parts are designed to be quickly fixable. Attention to detail has been very complete. For example when re-fitting suspension rose joints there are guides built in so the mechanic can whack the joint in and it lines up immediately.
This particular 1980 Lancia-Abarth SE 037 we are featuring is coming up for auction by Bonhams at their The Monaco Sale ‘Les Grandes Marques à Monaco’ to be held on 13th May 2016 at Monte Carlo. I think this car is the star of the auction, its a renowned driver’s car, a wonderful mechanics car, and an iconic piece of rally competition history. Expected price is in the order of €320,000 – €400,000 which is a chunk of change for a car that doesn’t even have a speedometer – but then again it doesn’t need the distraction of a speedometer does it?
You will find the Bonhams auction page for this car if you click here.
All pictures courtesy Bonhams
Jon Branch is the founder and senior editor of Revivaler and has written a significant number of articles for various publications including official Buying Guides for eBay, classic car articles for Hagerty, magazine articles for both the Australian Shooters Journal and the Australian Shooter, and he’s a long time contributor to Silodrome. Jon has done radio, television, magazine and newspaper interviews on various issues, and has traveled extensively, having lived in Britain, Australia, China and Hong Kong. His travels have taken him to Indonesia, Israel, Italy, Japan and a number of other countries. He has studied the Japanese sword arts and has a long history of involvement in the shooting sports, which has included authoring submissions to government on various firearms related issues and assisting in the design and establishment of shooting ranges. |
Jürgen Klopp has become the angry young manager of German football. Only a year after Borussia Dortmund were Champions League finalists and two after clinching a second consecutive Bundesliga title his side are a fading force, and Klopp a coach in need of reinvigoration.
Last week the 46-year-old stormed out of the studio of ZDF, a national television channel, when posed a question he deemed beyond the pale.
After Dortmund had gone down 3-0 to Real Madrid in the Champions League quarter-final, the ZDF presenter Jochen Breyer asked if the tie was virtually over. It seemed a reasonable enough question given that even a repeat of last season's 4-1 win over Cristiano Ronaldo and co at the Westfalenstadion, which came at the semi-final stage, would not be enough.
Klopp's reaction belied his urbane reputation. "How can anyone pay my salary if I say the tie is done? I would be just as stupid to say we are going to thrash them but I'm not going to be able to continue standing in this studio to be provoked into saying a stupid thing," he said. "For stupid questions I can give stupid answers."
This prompted Klopp to end the live interview, shake the hand of Oliver Kahn, the former Bayern Munich and Germany goalkeeper who was also present, and ignore Breyer as he stormed out.
"He took the microphone and threw it on the floor and just walked away," says Jan Aage Fjortoft, the former Norway striker who is a German football expert. "So Klopp is not always the charismatic Elvis Presley like you always love to see in press conferences."
This was not the first sight of a disgruntled Klopp on German TV. Previously this season he had taken Kahn to task when the Bayern goalkeeping coach defended the sporting director, Matthias Sammer. In reaction to Sammer's questioning of rival clubs' determination in a championship Bayern romped to, Klopp said: "Let me put it that way; if I was Matthias Sammer I'd thank God every day that somebody had the idea to bring me in. Bayern would not have less points without Matthias Sammer."
In his newspaper column, Kahn responded: "The remark that Sammer does not contribute anything to Bayern was disrespectful and shameless. It is not a coincidence that Bayern's recent dominance started with the arrival of Sammer in 2012."
Later in March, following Dortmund's win over Zenit St Petersburg in the previous round of the Champions League, the pair were in the ZDF studio and debated the Sammer issue, with Klopp just about keeping his cool with Kahn.
The latter's presence once more in the ZDF studio, alongside Breyer last week, hardly helped Klopp's mood. "That was part of the problem," says a highly placed source who reports regularly on Dortmund. "He said to Kahn when he shook his hand before walking out: 'The problem wasn't between us two this time.'
"Klopp's issue is he can't lose. I hear from players that he screams at them in the dressing room. The players who know him for years like him because they know how he is. He's a really great guy when he is winning. The newer players in his squad respect him more than like him. He has to watch out his style of coaching does not alienate the squad."
The spectre of Bayern seems to disturb Klopp more and more. Last summer he lost Mario Götze to "FC Hollywood" and this close season it will be Robert Lewandowski, the Bundesliga's joint top scorer.
This adds to the sense that the clock ticks on a tenure that began in 2008. "Lewandowski will go for free to Bayern and of course that will make Dortmund worse," Fjortoff told TalkSport. "Klopp's linked to Arsenal, he's linked to Manchester United. He has just signed another contract taking him to 2018 but my prediction is that in 2015 [Marco] Reus also has one of those buy-out clauses [that becomes active]. Klopp already lost Götze and Lewandowski. If he loses Reus I think there will be a time where the club will say: 'Well, we don't want this thing any more.'
"And then he can go for an adventure because I don't think he will be the German national coach, [Pep] Guardiola will stay another couple of years at Bayern, so he is one of those who will think this is my chance to go abroad and be a manager."
This campaign's dismal league challenge followed last term's disappointing title defence that ended with Bayern 25 points ahead.
Yet the continent's leading clubs will still fight for Klopp's signature if he were to leave. "Everyone still thinks he's a really great coach – only one of a few who make the team better than the players are," said the source. |
The northern hemisphere of Saturn's moon Titan is set for mainly fine spring weather, with polar skies clearing since the equinox in August last year. The visual and infrared mapping spectrometer (VIMS) aboard NASA's Cassini spacecraft has been monitoring clouds on Titan regularly since the spacecraft entered orbit around Saturn in 2004. Now, a group led by Sébastien Rodriguez, a Cassini VIMS team collaborator based at Université Paris Diderot, France, has analyzed more than 2,000 VIMS images to create the first long-term study of Titan's weather using observational data that also includes the equinox. Equinox, when the sun shone directly over the equator, occurred in August 2009.
Rodriguez is presenting the results and new images at the European Planetary Science Congress in Rome on Sept. 22.
Though Titan's surface is far colder and lacks liquid water, this moon is a kind of "sister world" to Earth because it has a surface covered with organic material and an atmosphere whose chemical composition harkens back to an early Earth. Titan has a hydrological cycle similar to Earth's, though Titan's cycle depends on methane and ethane rather than water.
A season on Titan lasts about seven Earth years. Rodriguez and colleagues observed significant atmospheric changes between July 2004 (early summer in Titan's southern hemisphere) and April 2010 (the very start of northern spring). The images showed that cloud activity has recently decreased near both of Titan's poles. These regions had been heavily overcast during the late southern summer until 2008, a few months before the equinox.
Over the past six years, the scientists found that clouds clustered in three distinct latitude regions of Titan: large clouds at the north pole, patchy clouds at the south pole and a narrow belt around 40 degrees south. "However, we are now seeing evidence of a seasonal circulation turnover on Titan – the clouds at the south pole completely disappeared just before the equinox and the clouds in the north are thinning out," Rodriguez said. "This agrees with predictions from models and we are expecting to see cloud activity reverse from one hemisphere to another in the coming decade as southern winter approaches."
The Cassini-Huygens mission is a cooperative project of NASA, the European Space Agency and the Italian Space Agency. JPL manages the mission for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington, D.C. The visual and infrared mapping spectrometer team is based at the University of Arizona, Tucson.
For a full version of this release, go to: http://www.europlanet-eu.org/outreach/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=288&Itemid=41
For more information about Cassini, go to: http://www.nasa.gov/cassini and http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov .
News Media Contact
Jia-Rui C. Cook 818-354-0850Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, [email protected] Heward 011-44-7756-034243European Planetary Science Congress, Rome, [email protected] |
Rio Olympic BMX track appears on front pages, opens discussions, initiates protests and new questions. Another track designed by Tom Ritzenthaler from Elite Trax is being prepared for Olympic BMX battles – this time without help of Clark and Kent Contractors as it was in London.
In pictures we can see another great and spectacular venue – showcase for our sport, which definitely will look awesome on TV and BMX will be remembered by general public for some time and definitely will open topics about track’s look and whether all pro BMX tracks look similar. It all helps for BMX promotion – hopefully, at positive direction.
The 2016 Olympic BMX Track from my point of view 🙂 enjoy! @TeamCanada pic.twitter.com/InlNi47hd0 — Tory Nyhaug (@Tnyhaug49) August 15, 2016
Generally, it’s same layout as Beijing track had, but there are differences in obstacles and something more…On pictures we can see some Olympic experiment – asphalt painting/coating, which is something new in BMX, but if it works, then seems it will be new trend for BMX tracks as such painting also protects and preserves asphalt/tarmac from cracking and turn into bad shape. Other questions are: how pleasant painting will look after tires making streaks and whether this paint pop some surprises in terms of traction therefore – another suspicion: could some team know about such experiment just on Olympics and prepare best tire solution for it? Who knows?! Anyway – fact that such experiment is being done exactly now is creating suspicion. And another interesting thing: instead of grass, we have indoor style carpet cover for sides – first time in olympics. Could it mean that track will be dismantled after Olympic games, and therefore it’s not worth to provide expensive planting? Will see. At Beijing they just took grass sods off and and track is still there – abandoned. Let’s hope for best!
See Rio Olympic track on map |
San Antonio Brewing Co. is close to signing a lease that would put the brew pub in a space just east of downtown.
By next week, the startup brewery looks to ink a lease at 306 Austin St., the two-story building that was the former home of Boneshakers, said Vera Deckard, a co-owner and brewer. Vera and her husband, Brent, plan to open the brew spot by year’s end.
The couple already has a 3-barrel brew system and is in the process of ordering fermenters. Plans are to operate the brewery, bar and small kitchen on the bottom floor. Outside, there’s space for a beer garden.
To start, the brewery will serve its beer on six to eight taps. The standard beers will include a pale ale, IPA and coffee porter. There also will be a rotation of seasonal brews such as a wit with blood orange, dark Belgian strong made with piloncillo, imperial red IPA, American hoppy brown ale, and a porter brewed with mole sauce.
Deckard said they will bottle some beers, which they will sell only at the pub. She also plans to sell some beer at Barbaro and Fralo’s pizza.
As far as food, Deckard wants to start simple, looking at offering soft pretzels and charcuterie. She also wants to have food trucks on-site to provide eats.
At some point, they hope to work with a chef to offer German-style fare.
– Valentino Lucio |
Wednesday, April 15, 2015
While FDA’s tobacco products “deeming rule” is pending, the Agency issues Warning Letters to e-cigarette and e-liquid companies for the first time.
The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA or the Agency) is not waiting to finalize the “deeming rule” before taking enforcement action against electronic cigarette (e-cigarette) and e-liquid companies. As discussed in our previous LawFlash on the subject,[1] FDA issued the proposed “deeming rule” almost a year ago, which for the first time establishes federal regulatory authority over e-cigarettes, cigars, pipe tobacco, dissolvable tobacco products, and nicotine gels (deemed tobacco products).[2]
In a news release announcing these enforcement actions, the Agency was careful to explain that the alleged violations are specific to the FDA-related claims made by the recipient firms (i.e., misleading consumers into believing that the products are approved by FDA, safe for use, and/or less harmful based on oversight or inspection by the Agency) and are “unrelated to the FDA’s proposal to regulate these products under its tobacco product authorities in Chapter IX of the FD&C Act” (i.e., unrelated to the deeming rule).
Interestingly, the Agency relied on its authority under section 301(tt) of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (FD&C Act or the Act) in issuing these Warning Letters. FDA asserted that each of the firms receiving the letters made statements or representations regarding tobacco products that would mislead consumers into believing that their e-cigarette and e-liquid products are approved by the Agency, safe for use, and/or less harmful based on oversight or inspection by the FDA, in violation of section 301(tt). However, FDA’s deeming rule has yet to be finalized, and under section 901 of the Act, the Agency has authority over cigarettes, roll-your-own tobacco, and smokeless tobacco only. Per section 901, the Agency would have to first issue a regulation that deems other tobacco products (e.g., e-cigarettes) subject to its authority before regulating such products.
FDA’s position in these Warning Letters seems to be that it is taking enforcement action based on the misleading statements and representations of the recipient e-cigarette and e-liquid companies rather than claiming that the products that the companies sell are tobacco products. Based on the language of section 301(tt), which relates to statements or representations with respect to a “tobacco product,” it seems likely that the Agency will finalize the deeming rule before taking enforcement action related to e-cigarettes and e-liquids under that section of the Act.
As discussed in a previous LawFlash on Federal Trade Commission enforcement action related to e-cigarettes,[3] manufacturers, distributers, and retailers need to be aware of their e-cigarette and related products’ FDA compliance responsibilities while the deeming rule is pending.
Key Takeaways from FDA Warning Letters
FDA recently issued Warning Letters to Vaperz Ltd., Knoxville Vapor, and Dr. K for making FDA-related claims on their websites regarding their e-cigarette or e-liquid products.[4]
Each of the three companies received a Warning Letter for violations of section 301(tt) of the Act, which prohibits companies from making certain statements or representations directed to consumers about tobacco products that, among other things, would mislead consumers into believing that the product is
approved by the Agency;
safe for use; and/or
less harmful based on oversight or inspection by FDA.
Knoxville Vapor claimed to have FDA lab certification, whereas Vaperz Ltd. and Dr. K claimed to be registered with and their products approved by the Agency, all in violation of section 301(tt) of the Act, according to FDA.
Beyond firms that manufacture e-cigarette and e-liquid products, retailers and distributers should also be aware of their responsibilities under the FD&C Act, even while the deeming rule is pending.
History of FDA E-Cigarette Enforcement Action
To put the Agency’s recent enforcement actions related to these products into context, it is worth reflecting briefly on FDA’s previous attempt to regulate e-cigarettes as drug/device combination products. Between 2008 and 2010, the Agency determined that certain e-cigarettes were unapproved drug/device combination products and detained and/or refused admission to those offered for import. However, Sottera Inc. challenged that determination in court (See Sottera, Inc. v. Food & Drug Administration, 627 F.3d 891 (D.C. Cir. 2010)). The US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia held that e-cigarettes and other products made or derived from tobacco can be regulated as “tobacco products” under the Act and are not drugs/devices unless they are marketed for therapeutic purposes (e.g., smoking cessation claims). In essence, the Sottera decision states that products made or derived from tobacco can be regulated under the FD&C Act, as amended by the Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act unless they are “marketed for therapeutic purposes,” in which case they are regulated as drugs and/or devices.
As noted above, the Agency cited section 301(tt) of the Act in its recent Warning Letters to e-cigarette and e-liquid firms. However, it would seem that FDA should finalize the deeming rule (which extends FDA’s tobacco authority to e-cigarettes and e-liquids) before the Agency can take enforcement action against firms related to such products.
[1.] Morgan Lewis LawFlash, “FDA Proposes Tobacco Products Rule; E-Cigarettes, Cigars to be Regulated,” Apr. 25, 2014, available here. Among other things, the “deeming rule” would ban the sale of e-cigarettes, cigars, pipe tobacco, and other products to those under age 18; require warning statements on product packages and in advertisements; and require manufacturers to register and list products with the Agency and to submit new products for premarket review.
[2.] Deeming Tobacco Products To Be Subject to the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act, as Amended by the Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act; Regulations on the Sale and Distribution of Tobacco Products and Required Warning Statements for Tobacco Products, 79 Fed. Reg. 23,142 (proposed Apr. 25, 2014) (to be codified at 21 C.F.R. pts. 1100, 1140, 1143), available here.
[3.] Morgan Lewis LawFlash, “While FDA’s Proposed E-cigarette Rule is Pending, FTC Mulls Enforcement Action,” Mar. 24, 2015, available here. |
Today’s Christmas day and I feel like winter hasn’t even started — Me: damn broski its 10 degrees right now. Broski: blessed! But you know what I really love about winter is the gifts — Broski: What did you get for Christmas? Me: FAT. I got FAT.
My new favourite cooking pal, Steph, took this picture and I just had to try and make these bad boys. To be honest, I knew this recipe was going to be a killer because I know Steph AND she knows her food (and baby names! *cough* *cough* Mackenzie-Blake). Also a big shout out to Jennifer (one of Steph’s friends who *cough* *cough* is an absolute QT!).
I love this recipe because its so simple! I mean really really really really did I say really simple. Like this recipe is so simple I could make a song about it: Boil em, melt em, stick em in melted chocolate. Okay. I was never good at musical things… OH did I mention I love sugar, sugar, sugar things!
Here is the recipe and my tips. Enjoy!
La dolce vita!
Tips
Be careful with white chocolate it burns easily!
Chocolate Covered Pretzels Recipe
Prep time
30 mins
Cook time
10 mins
Total time
40 mins
Chocolate Covered Pretzels are perfect for the holidays whether you celebrate christmas or don’t you will love this recipe!
Recipe type: Dessert
Ingredients
2 bags chocolate chips (white or milk chocolate)
1 bag pretzels
Sprinkles, for garnish, optional
Coconut, for garnish, optional
Instructions
Melt chocolate in double boiler over medium heat on stove top.
Using a fork, quickly dip pretzels in chocolate allowing the excess to run off.
Place dipped pretzels on waxed paper lined cookie sheets.
Sprinkle with sprinkles or other toppings.
Allow to harden. You may need to refrigerate for a while to help this along.
Once hardened, remove from sheets and store in a cool location, with waxed paper between layers.… |
SAN JOSE — San Jose State police have arrested a campus employee accused of stealing costly equipment ordered for a major campus technology upgrade.
University police, who have been investigating the missing equipment since March, on Wednesday arrested 39-year-old Jose Javier Farias on suspicion of burglary and embezzlement of university property, according to a campuswide message Thursday.
Farias, a network analyst in the IT department, was put on paid administrative leave.
He was booked into Santa Clara County Jail, posted bail and was released.
The investigation is continuing.
“UPD investigators deserve our thanks for their outstanding, meticulous work,” said campus President Mo Qayoumi in the message.
Qayoumi said the university is trying to recover the equipment, which includes hundreds of small wireless access devices — each costing about $1,000 — for expanded Internet service.
The news release didn’t give an estimated value, but campus officials have previously confirmed the loss was $700,000 to $800,000.
Follow Katy Murphy at Twitter.com/katymurphy. |
- Police in Everett, Washington say would-be ATM thieves thwarted their own burglary attempt by setting the cash on fire.
Police and firefighters were called Tuesday morning to Coastal Community Bank on 19th Ave SE for the report of a fire. When they arrived, crews found the drive-up ATM had been set on fire.
Aaron Snell with the Everett Police Department said the suspects used a blowtorch to try and access the ATM’s cash box. In the process of doing so, they accidentally set the money on fire.
John Dickson, Chief Operations Officers of Coastal Community Bank, said the suspects were not able to get away with any money. He told Q13 News that masked men tried to break into the bank’s cash deposit box just a few weeks ago.
Dickson bank said the bank will be providing surveillance video of the incident to Everett police.
CLICK HERE FOR MORE FROM FOX NEWS |
Kevin O'Leary says he feels he received a "warm welcome" in his first Conservative leadership debate, but that welcome came mostly in the form of attacks.
It started early in the two-hour face-off during the first question on carbon emissions. Kellie Leitch took her first opportunity at the microphone to welcome O'Leary to the race — sarcastically.
"First I'd like to welcome Kevin to the Conservative party and I'd like to welcome him back to Canada," she said hinting to questions about his past donation to the Liberal party and the amount of time O'Leary spends in the United States.
'I'd like to welcome Kevin to the Conservative party and I'd like to welcome him back to Canada' 0:23
The question about carbon emissions prompted little real debate. Thirteen of the 14 candidates object to carbon taxes. Only Michael Chong is proposing a retooled taxation plan that includes a tax designed to limit emissions. He was quietly booed by a few people in the crowd while explaining his position.
The debate in Halifax was the first to feature all 14 candidates, including O'Leary, who entered the race Jan. 18.
Other candidates piled on the attacks over the course of the night. Many came with what seemed like pre-prepared shots at O'Leary.
"We are not on the Dragon's Den stage tonight," Maxime Bernier said to the crowd. "You are not applying to work for us. We are applying to work for you.
"We have a celebrity in chief," said Erin O'Toole, in an apparent reference to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. "We don't beat a celebrity in chief with another celebrity in chief."
Erin O'Toole warns against a leader with a 'a mean-spirited and negative edge' 0:39
Chong warned of choosing a candidate who "thinks he's Rambo," referring to the video O'Leary posted of himself earlier in the week shooting automatic weapons. His social media post coincided with public funerals for victims of the Quebec City mosque shooting and he later decided to remove them "out of respect" for the services.
O'Leary didn't respond directly to any of the criticisms but vowed to the party and win back people who had voted Trudeau, like his own children.
"The task is who can get these people back on side with us?" he said.
The biggest applause of the night, though, seemed to come for Cape Bretoner Lisa Raitt when she closed with a denunciation of Trudeau. She said he was not a man of his word and didn't share the public's concerns about issues including worrying about paying the mortgage.
"He is not one of us. He is not one of you. And he definitely doesn't think about you when he makes decisions."
Lisa Raitt, originally from Cape Breton, received a lot of applause after telling the crowd that Prime Minister Justin Trudeau doesn't share many of their concerns like how to pay the mortgage. (Andrew Vaughan/Canadian Press)
More protection for victims
On a question about mandatory minimum sentences for committing sexual assault, there was broad agreement that the justice system should do more to protect victims and punish offenders.
Steven Blaney, Brad Trost and Pierre Lemieux all pushed back against decisions by the Supreme Court, arguing the court goes too far at times.
Trost said he would use the notwithstanding clause to overturn decision by "leftist judges" on matters of principle.
O'Leary said he had visited some of the "harshest" places on earth while travelling for business, and always feels grateful for the Canadian system when he returns.
"I can't criticize. I'm sorry. We're lucky," said O'Leary.
Andrew Scheer didn't agree with O'Leary's comparison.
"I don't think we should compare ourselves to countries with no rule of law and say we can't do better," he said.
Scheer says we shouldn't compare Canada to countries without 'rule of law' 1:28
Growth for Atlantic Canada
A question about how to support and grow Nova Scotia's economy and create jobs also provoked some intense discussion.
"Corporate taxes are insane in Atlantic Canada," said O'Leary, who promised "economic therapy motivation" to encourage provinces to get onside with his vision.
Maxime Bernier said he didn't have a plan that was specific to Atlantic Canada or any other region. He said lowering corporate taxes and income taxes would benefit all Canadians and help bring people and jobs back from other countries.
"And it's already working — Kevin is with us today," he joked, another reference to the time O'Leary spends in the United States.
O'Leary shows 'horrific lack of judgement,' says Michael Chong 2:33
Raitt said companies should have to establish training for kids under a certain age, not just in skilled trades but also in office jobs such as human resources.
O'Toole mocked the way Liberal MPs from the region have responded to job losses in Atlantic Canada saying he calls the MPs "little lambs" because it has been "silence of the lambs" on major issues.
Scheer added that Atlantic Canadians didn't need a minister responsible for the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency who was from Mississauga.
Chong said Donald Trump's plans to reduce taxes in the U.S. was a sign that Canada should also lower taxes.
Leitch repeated her plan to cap government spending. She called for natural resource development in Atlantic Canada.
Tonight's Conservative leadership debate in Halifax was the first with the full slate of 14 candidates. (CBC )
Mosque Attack
A few candidates also took time to recognize the victims of the Ste. Foy mosque attack.
Steven Blaney, an MP in the Quebec City area called it "a heinous crime."
He also cautioned against answering hatred with hatred and said everyone must watch that their words don't fuel hate.
Rick Peterson focused his closing remarks on the previous day's funeral for three of the attack victims, which he attended. He said he heard words of passion and tolerance.
"Our party stands up and defends a system of immigration that welcomes the world and makes us all better."
Watch the full debate: |
oss-sec mailing list archives
On Thu, Feb 11, 2016 at 02:31:49PM +0100, 'Laël Cellier' via Git Security wrote:
Ok the bug works by pushing or cloning a repository with a large filename or a large number of nested trees. [...] The point is affected versions are still shipped as part of many distributions as part of their stable branch, so I think it’s important to get a ᴄᴠᴇ for public awareness.
Yes, I do think versions below v2.7.0 have a heap overflow, as you mentioned. But I don't think that is the only problem with path_name(), even in the current version. I'll repeat the code here (the version you posted was indented badly, and I had trouble reading it): -- >8 -- char *path_name(const struct name_path *path, const char *name) { const struct name_path *p; char *n, *m; int nlen = strlen(name); int len = nlen + 1; for (p = path; p; p = p->up) { if (p->elem_len) len += p->elem_len + 1; } n = xmalloc(len); m = n + len - (nlen + 1); memcpy(m, name, nlen + 1); for (p = path; p; p = p->up) { if (p->elem_len) { m -= p->elem_len + 1; memcpy(m, p->elem, p->elem_len); m[p->elem_len] = '/'; } } return n; } -- 8< -- The problem you describe is one where the size of the allocation does not match what strcpy would write. And that's kind-of fixed by moving to memcpy() in 34fa79a6, because at least now the initial value of "len" matches the number of bytes we write (so that number might be totally bogus, but we don't write more than we allocate). But "len" can also change after the fact, due to the loop. If you have a sequence of path components, each less than 2^31, they can sum to a much smaller positive value due to integer overflow (e.g., A/B/C with lengths A=2^31-5, B=2^31-5, C=20 would yield len=10). Then the buffer is too small to fit C, let alone all of the extra components we insert in the second loop. The fix I came up with for this is to convert all of the "int" variables here to "size_t". That doesn't actually _fix_ the problem at all, but does mean on a 64-bit system that you need a 2^64-long path to trigger it, which is impractical. But that doesn't help 32-bit systems (though in practice, I wouldn't be surprised if we barf long before that, as we would be unable to hold the "struct name_path" list in memory). Note that there is also a similar problem in tree-diff.c's path_appendnew(). There we build up the full pathname in a strbuf, which checks for overflow. But we then pass that length as an int and allocate a FLEX_ARRAY struct with it, which can end up too-small. This one is the more interesting of the two, I think, as it triggers via git-log, whereas the path_name() happens only during a repack (so it will hit you _eventually_, but probably not as soon as you've cloned). My solution there was similar: use size_t, which at least means you'd have to allocate petabytes on a 64-bit system to trigger it (much less on a 32-bit system, but _probably_ you'd be saved by malloc failing first). And that's why I dragged my feet on sending those fixes upstream; I don't think they're complete. The complete fix would be to use size_t consistently to store return values for strlen(), and to do integer overflow checks whenever we do computations on size_t. Those of you on this list may recall I posted a series for the latter last year, but it was somewhat invasive. It may be worth resurrecting. I think we could also get rid of path_name() entirely. The sole purpose at this point is to compute the name-hash for pack-objects, which could be done by walking the name_path list rather than re-constructing the whole thing in memory. -Peff |
Chance
Based on Kem Nunn’s novel, Chance is described as a provocative psychological thriller that focuses on Eldon Chance (Laurie), a San Francisco-based forensic neuropsychiatrist who reluctantly gets sucked into a violent and dangerous world of mistaken identity, police corruption and mental illness. After an ill-advised decision regarding an alluring patient who may or may not be struggling with a multiple personality disorder, Chance finds himself in the crosshairs of her abusive spouse, who also happens to be a ruthless police detective. In over his head, Chance’s descent into the city’s shadowy underbelly, all while navigating the waters of a contentious divorce and the tribulations of his teenage daughter, soon spirals into an ever deepening exploration of one of mankind’s final frontiers — the shadowy, undiscovered country of the human mind. |
Austin Rogers.
I was beginning to think I was falling out of love with Jeopardy! Earlier this year, for the third time, I auditioned for the show. And, for the third time, they didn’t take me. They never confirm you’re not wanted — they just never call. Gutting.
Still, I couldn’t stop watching, hoping to learn something by examining which prospectives the show did take. The dull retirees; the pale nerds; the “New Mexico’s Foremost Collector of Pyrite” types … what could they possess that I lack? Not youth, not game-playing skill, not flair. Why were they there, while I was here? And then along came Austin Rogers.
Rogers, who describes himself as a bartender from New York, has won the show’s last eight nights. His cash winnings total $306,900. And he is like no champion who has come before him. First off, no one has won that much money that quickly. He steamrolls through categories and brings derring-do to Daily Doubles. He wagers boldly and answers correctly. On Tuesday night, he won $69,000, providing 24 correct responses and no incorrect ones.
Numbers cannot explain, though, how Rogers’s style has upset the game’s natural order. Wearing a misshapen pile of hair atop his head and a thick beard on his face — but sharp coats and ties, always — he is both unkempt and natty by the show’s drab standards. And the clothes are just the beginning. Rogers plays with joy and an attitude. During the show’s opening, when each (silent) contestant is introduced by announcer Johnny Gilbert, Rogers mugs and pantomimes. He’s a showman. When he had to reply to a clue with “the Eagles,” he grumbled. When he aced a Daily Double, he punched his arm across his body in exaltation.
And then there’s his banter with host Alex Trebek. Clearly each has boundless contempt for the other. Trebek can’t stand Austin’s jokes. Austin can’t stand Trebek’s presentation. When a sneering Trebek asked Rogers how he “got to be so smart,” Rogers deadpanned: “Genetics. Luck. Karma.” What about school?, Trebek asked. Pfft, Austin replied.
I watch Jeopardy! because I love trivia, and the show’s trivia offerings are better than those of any competitor. But what makes the show unique (and uniquely aggravating) is its solemn punctiliousness, enforced by Trebek, who delights in humbling contestants. The show styles itself as syndicated TV’s last refuge for sophisticates — I mean, sure, but anything would be, compared to Maury and Inside Edition — and a meritocracy, too. No Wheel of Fortune–style free money here! Cash comes by way of studying. The game’s great champions are teachers, accountants, lawyers. They wager conservatively; they play and dress modestly. The audience is meant to believe their knowledge is but a fraction of what makes them excel, that dutiful reverence for the game matters, too.
But Rogers is a rapscallion. He’s a 38-year-old man whose get-to-know-the-contestant interviews have included stories about getting drunk with his buddies, and falling asleep at a Korn/Disturbed show. He is precisely the sort of person who is not supposed to win on Jeopardy! And he is winning like no one ever has before. Marooned on my couch, 3,000 miles from Culver City, I feel like I’m winning, too. |
A chemical spill and flash fire at a Downtown Denver brew pub has forced the evacuation of the building and is knotting up traffic this morning.
The accident happened at about 7:15 a.m. at the Rock Bottom Restaurant and Brewery, 1001 16th St., said Capt. Craig Carter, a Denver Fire Department spokesman.
The fire is out and there were no injuries, Carter said. Emergency medical workers were on scene, but weren’t treating anyone.
On Tuesday there was a spill of chlorine dioxide, which is used to clean empty beer tanks, at the brew pub, Carter said. It was mopped up and the spill didn’t cause a problem until this morning when a worker dropped a keg. A spark from the keg ignited remnant residue of the spill and fueled a flash fire.
The fire department’s hazmat team is on scene and is flushing any residue left from the spill to ensure an incident like this doesn’t happen again, Carter said.
A decontamination tent was set up on Curtis Street as a precaution.
Several fire engines and at least a dozen firefighters in hazmat gear responded.
The flash fire released a plume of smoke and firefighters were concerned that it may have been toxic. Tests by the hazmat team determined that no harmful toxins were released, Carter said.
Police and firefighters shut down Curtis Street from 15th to 17th Street for a time as the fire and chemical residue was mopped up.
Workers with Rock Bottom, who were waiting along Curtis Street for the business to reopen, declined comment.
A parking garage for Independence Plaza was not accessible because of the Curtis Street closure. Several other storefront businesses along the block were closed this morning, as were several offices directly above the brew pub.
The free 16th Street mall shuttle remained open.
Tracey Weil, an artist working on an architectural project, was suppose to be in a business meeting at 8:30 but was shut out because of the incident.
“I’m sitting here waiting,” Weil said from a perch on the 16th Street Mall. “I tried to call, but no one is answering the phones.”
Instead, Weil people watched and surfed the web on his smart phone.
“It’s kind of nice to sit out here and relax,” Weil said. “What can you do? You just have to hang out.”
Kieran Nicholson: 303-954-1822 or [email protected]. |
MANILA (Reuters) - Philippine Vice President Jejomar Binay on Monday vowed to amend the constitution to widen foreign ownership of businesses, create more jobs, and spur growth in the Southeast Asian economy if he wins next year’s presidential elections.
Philippine Vice-President Jejomar Binay gestures during a Reuters interview in his office at Coconut Palace in Manila September 21, 2015. REUTERS/Romeo Ranoco
A former human rights lawyer, Binay, 72, is the oldest and most experienced politician among the presidential hopefuls. Along with his wife and son, Binay’s family has ruled Manila’s financial district for nearly three consecutive decades.
Besides Binay, who is leading a coalition of small opposition groups, those eyeing the presidency include former Interior Minister Manuel “Mar” Roxas, who was endorsed by President Benigno Aquino III, and first-term senator Grace Poe.
“We have to revisit our constitution, among other things,” Binay said, regarding the 40-percent limit on foreign control of most businesses. “We have to get out of that 60-40 arrangement.”
Binay said he was still studying the right limit for foreign control, even as he promised to honor state contracts with the private sector, such as in infrastructure.
He also supports cutting income and corporate taxes that rank among the region’s highest and altering the land reform law to give farmers more subsidies.
He also wants to step up irrigation to boost rice output so that the country, once the world’s largest rice buyer, can export the grain within three years.
Binay consistently topped surveys for the 2016 presidential race until June, when Poe overtook him.
A year-long Senate investigation into allegations that Binay and his family illegally amassed wealth hurt his poll ratings, analysts say. He has denied wrongdoing, saying the allegations were meant to discredit him.
Binay declared a desire to run for president, which he said was born out of a childhood dream to be famous, early in his six-year vice presidency, giving him a campaign advantage.
“They cannot do in eight months what I have already done. I have traveled to three-fourths of the Philippines,” Binay told Reuters at his office at Manila’s Coconut Palace, a mansion built by former first lady Imelda Marcos for a visit in 1981 by the late Pope John Paul II - who deemed it too opulent to use.
Marcos’ son, Ferdinand Jr. or “Bongbong”, is among Binay’s top three choices as his vice president for next year’s polls. Binay hopes to finally pick his running mate this week.
As a young lawyer, Binay was jailed for opposing martial law imposed by the late dictator Ferdinand Marcos. But a possible team up with Marcos’ son in next year’s polls showed it was time for the country to “move on” from past hurts, he said.
He also supports the grant of bail to former president Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, detained in a state hospital on plunder charges, saying she was not a flight risk.
Binay wants the country to be a member of the China-backed Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) because it will spur more investment and employment. But he said he would defend the Philippines’ rights over portions of the South China Sea.
Slideshow (2 Images)
“Sovereignty is non-negotiable. We will protect our interest in the West Philippine Sea,” he said.
The Philippines has a dispute with neighbor China over territorial claims in parts of the South China Sea, including some areas of the Spratly Islands.
It has taken its case to the Permanent Court of Arbitration in the Hague, but China has declined to take part. |
DEERFIELD BEACH, Fla. - Armed with an infectious personality and a generous spirit, Angel Rivera found himself bragging Monday -- but in a good way.
The 11-year-old sixth-grade student at Deerfield Beach Middle School is credited with pulling Usely Michel from the bottom of a pool Sunday.
"Some of (my) friends have been calling (me) superhero, little hero," Angel said. "Stuff like that, but who wouldn't call a kid that saved somebody's life a hero?"
And yes, mom is proud.
"He's my little Angel," Violeta Rivera said.
Angel heard the cries for help from the community pool at the Highland Mobile Home Park in Deerfield Beach, where the 13-year-old boy and her family gathered, despite signs saying the pool was closed.
When Usely began to drown her mother called 911, but that's when Angel stepped in.
"I didn't know what to do," Marielle Michel, Usely's stepmother, said. "I was shaking and then the 11-year-old just jumped and saved her life for me."
Angel quickly took over the situation.
"I saved her life," he said. "They had to do CPR on her and I had to make sure she was OK, and now look at this. She's doing very well."
Usely was unconscious on the pool deck when paramedics arrived, Broward Sheriff's Office Department of Fire Rescue spokesman Mike Jachles said. She was taken to a hospital in critical condition.
Her family said that doctors want to keep Usely for one more night and said that she does not appear to have any permanent or physical injuries.
While Angel and Usely go to the same school, they don't know one another, but that may change soon.
"I would like to thank him and I would like to meet him personally to thank him very much, because without him I could have lost my daughter," Michel said.
Days after saving's the teen's life, Angel and his mom got a look at photos of Usely at the hospital, where she was smiling.
The families are hoping to get together soon to celebrate Angel's courage and selflessness.
"I'm going to tell her that I'm the little person that saved your life, and I just wanted to let you know that I hope everything is going well for you," Angel said.
Copyright 2016 by WPLG Local10.com - All rights reserved. |
The speed of the Amtrak train that crashed and killed at least eight people surged from 70mph to 106mph just seconds before it derailed, it has been revealed.
The NTSB said the commuter service was travelling at twice the speed limit when it came off the tracks near Philadelphia's 30th Street station on Tuesday night.
Engineer Brandon Bostian, 32, hit the emergency brakes, but it was too late.
It has also been claimed that 'Positive Train Control' - used to slow the train down - was actually installed but wasn't turned on, leading to the fatalities and more than 200 injuries.
Scroll down for video
Revelations: The NTSB have said the speed of the Amtrak train that crashed in Philadephia and caused the death of eight people surged from 70mph to 106mph just seconds before it derailed
Probe: Engineer Brandon Bostian, 32, (pictured in St Louis, Missouri, in 2007) hit the emergency brakes, decreasing the speed to 102mph, but it was too late. The agency are trying to figure out whether he increased the speed of the train manually
Bostian complained that the technology to stop accidents had been around for 80 years but was not widely installed - including on the curve where he crashed.
His lawyers have said he does not remember anything of the crash.
A top congressional aide told The Washington Examiner that an Amtrak employee informed the House Appropriations Committee on Thursday the system was in place along the section of track outside Philadelphia's 30th Street station, but was not operating.
The employee is said to have informed the committee they were experiencing delays with the system because the radios do not have enough frequency.
The Federal Communication Commission has spent $110million on the system, and are now trying to figure out why it hadn't been turned on.
Funding has become a part of the political debate over the crash. House Speaker John Boehner blew up on Thursday at a reporter who tried to ask him at a press conference about Democratic claims that Amtrak needs additional funding.
'Well, obviously it's not about funding,' he said. 'The train was going twice the speed limit.'
Republicans on a powerful House panel on Wednesday blocked a bid by Democrats to boost Amtrak's budget by more than $1 billion, including $556 million targeted for the railroad's Northeast corridor, the site of the deadly derailment. Budget laws have tied their hands, they claimed.
Over the years Bostian made dozens of posts on industry website Trainorders.com that were linked to him by the New York Times. The forum confirmed he had made them.
In 2009 he commented on a debate about whether a train engineer should stop for a new crew once he reached his 10 hour working limit.
Bostian bristled at the idea and said that the rules were there for a reason.
Closer look: Bostian was at the controls of Amtrak locomotive 601, which was heading train 188, a North East Corridor regional train service from Washington Union Station to New York Penn Station
He wrote: 'Everyone wants an extension to hours of service to avoid inconvenience, but what will you say when the crew that's been on duty for longer than 12 hours accidentally falls asleep and passes a stop signal and rear-ends a loaded hazmat train, killing dozens or hundreds of people?
'A crew is probably not any less safe after 12 hours and one minute than they were a few moments ago, but you have to draw that line somewhere.'
Bostian, who has been an engineer with Amtrak since 2009, was interviewed by the police over six hours on Wednesday, had a blood sample taken and has handed his cell phone over to authorities.
He has declined to give a formal statement to police but has agreed to be interviewed by the NTSB.
His lawyer, Robert Goggin, told ABC News that Bostian suffered leg injuries and a concussion and needed 14 staples to his head following the crash. He said he 'has absolutely no recollection of the event' - but said he can hopefully reveal more once he recovers and his memory returns.
Past: Brandon Bostian (pictured left while working as a cashier for Target) used to live in Memphis, and graduated from the University of Missouri-Columbia in 2006. He now lives in Queens, New York
Brandon Bostian with friends - one of them wearing an Amtrak jacket - at Philadelphia's 30th Street Station, where the doomed Amtrak Train 188 departed from on Tuesday night
'He remembers driving the train,' Goggin said. 'He remembers going to that area generally, [but] has absolutely no recollection of the incident or anything unusual. The next thing he recalls is being thrown around, coming to, finding his bag, getting his cell phone and dialing 911.'
NTSB board member Robert Sumwalt said it was unclear whether Bostian had manually increased the speed - but insisted he was the only one who could have done it.
However he doesn't think he did it deliberately. He said: 'If we thought that, we wouldn't be here, because that would be a criminal act. |
Sgt Henry Johnson was serving in the all-black 369th Infantry Regiment when he killed or wounded several enemy soldiers
The US secretary of defense has recommended a posthumous Medal of Honor for a black World War I soldier from upstate New York who saved a comrade while fighting off a German attack in France, US senator Charles Schumer said Tuesday.
Chuck Hagel has sent Congress a letter saying Sgt Henry Johnson should receive the nation’s highest military decoration for bravery in combat, Schumer said. The railroad porter from Albany was serving in the all-black 369th Infantry Regiment when he killed or wounded several enemy soldiers while saving a fellow soldier from capture.
The president gets the final word on the medal request, which also requires passage of special legislation in Congress because Johnson’s actions were more than five years ago. Schumer said he’ll sponsor the legislation that would exempt Johnson from the Medal of Honor rules specifying that heroic actions have to have taken place within five years to be considered.
“Johnson should have received this recognition 95 years ago, and providing an exemption for him now is the right thing to do,” said Schumer, a New York Democrat.
If approved, Johnson would become the 89th black soldier to receive the Medal of Honor and just the second for heroism during World War I, according to the Mount Pleasant, South Carolina-based Congressional Medal of Honor Society.
The Virginia-born Johnson was working as a train station porter when he enlisted in the unit that became known as the “Harlem Hellfighters.” Around midnight on 15 May, 1918, he was standing guard duty with another soldier when they were attacked by about two dozen Germans.
Both Americans were wounded, but despite his injuries the 5-foot-4 Johnson fought off the attack, using his knife and rifle to kill or wound several of the enemy who were trying to drag his comrade away.
His actions earned him one of France’s highest military medals, but historians believe rampant Jim Crow-era racism at a time when the services were segregated kept Johnson from receiving American military honors. In 2003, Johnson was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross, the nation’s second-highest military honor.
Johnson returned to Albany after the war. Plagued by his war wounds, he died a destitute alcoholic at age 32 at a veterans hospital in Illinois in 1929 and was buried in Arlington National Cemetery. |
Mr.Gas has just shared a new method to dump games and apps without PFS protection from your PSVita.
This method will require the access to your app.db file, so it can be used only with Firmware 3.52 or lower since the mail app trick to get your app.db has been fixed by Sony starting from Firmware 3.55.
These are the instructions shared by Mr.Gas:
most of the work are going to be in app.db
1- add a value in table tbl_uri like the following
NPXS10000;1;ux0;
2- modify NPXS10000 eboot.bin path in tbl_appinfo to vs0:app/NPXS10027/eboot.bin
3- overwrite the modified app.db using email app and reboot
4- now use the browser to call the new uri with your target game . example :
ux0:app/PCSA00017
apparently near app will open the game manual.
5- minimize near then dump the game using the psp pboot trick and QCMA (while the near app still open)
6- end of th story .. and have fun
.
tested in fw 3.18 and above
//
So, more precisely, you need to:
Get the app.db file from your PSVita using the mail trick (you can follow the Step 1 of THIS tutorial)
of THIS tutorial) Open the app.db file on your PC with SQLiteBrowser, browse data in tbl_uri and add a new record inserting as values: NPXS10000 , 1 and ux0 (the fourth field must remain NULL ):
and add a new record inserting as values: , and (the fourth field must remain ): Now browse data in the table tbl_appinfo and search for the key 3022202214 , you should get the values of the following image:
You have to change only the value under the val column, that will have to become vs0:app/NPXS10027/eboot.bin
and search for the key , you should get the values of the following image: You have to change only the value under the column, that will have to become Write changes and send back the app.db file to your PSVita using the mail trick (you can follow the Step 4 of THIS tutorial) and reboot the console.
of THIS tutorial) and reboot the console. Open the internet browser of your PSVita and insert as URL the address ux0:app/ followed by the ID of the game/app you want to dump, for example: ux0:app/PCSA00017 . This should open Near app with the game manual.
followed by the ID of the game/app you want to dump, for example: . This should open app with the game manual. Minimize Near app ( don’t close it! ) and use the PBOOT trick to dump your Memory Card content (you can find a tutorial about this procedure HERE)
app ( ) and use the PBOOT trick to dump your Memory Card content (you can find a tutorial about this procedure HERE) Now you’ll find the game/app files dumped in your Memory Card
Source |
By Zachary Fagenson
MIAMI, March 8 (Reuters) - New York media mogul Robert F.X. Sillerman is the new entertainment king of Miami Beach after taking over almost all of the famous South Florida island-city's glitzy, over-the-top nightclubs in a push to consolidate the fast-growing electronic dance music (EDM) industry.
Two Miami companies, The Opium Group and Miami Marketing Group, which own eight nightclubs, including LIV inside the historic, art deco Fontainebleau Hotel, were recently purchased by Sillerman, according to a spokesman.
The deals, in which terms were not disclosed, are the latest move by Sillerman to corner the EDM market, after saying in June last year that he was willing to spend more than $1 billion buying up EDM promoters and event organizers.
EDM is rapidly growing in popularity in the U.S. and abroad, popularized by nightclub DJs featuring acts by Lady Gaga, Katy Perry and Pitbull.
Sillerman's stake in the Miami club scene gives him a presence in a major EDM market and home of the Ultra Music Festival, one of the biggest in the world, with eight stages and more than 230,000 attendees last year.
This year's Ultra event in Miami promises to be even bigger, and has expanded to two consecutive 3-day weekends later this month. Sillerman has no ties to the event.
Sillerman's quest echoes his business strategy from the late 1990s when his company, SFX Entertainment, consolidated a large number of concert promoters, producers and venues and was bought by Clear Channel in 2000 for $4.4 billion.
In January, Sillerman's revived SFX Entertainment purchased the North American division of Holland-based ID&T Entertainment, the world's largest dance music concert promoter. ID&T runs a three-day festival in Belgium called Tomorrowland and Sensation White, an EDM concert series held across Europe that made its U.S. debut at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn last October.
Tomorrowland producers plan to hold their first festival outside of Belgium, called Tomorrow World, somewhere in North America in late September.
SFX has also acquired several other EDM assets in recent weeks, including New Orleans-based EDM promoter Donnie Disco Presents and Life in Color, which puts on day-glow-paint-soaked EDM concerts across the U.S. Last week, SFX took over the Denver-based music site Beatport, a major download store for EDM with a catalog of more than one million tracks, the New York Times reported.
"He's the entrepreneurial type, looking for different avenues to bring in his management aggregation strategy," said Mark Fratrik, vice president and chief economist for media consultancy BIA/Kelsey. "I imagine he could do the same thing ... it seems like this is another combining of the events with the music."
SFX, LIVE NATION EXPAND EDM REACH
Sillerman first began buying radio stations in the late 1970s and sold a block of 10 stations to Westinghouse Broadcasting for $400 million in 1989. He later launched SFX Broadcasting which went public in 1993 and grew even larger when the Telecommunications Act of 1996 lifted the cap on the number of stations a company could own in a single market. In 1997, the company was sold for $2.1 billion to Capstar Broadcasting Corp, a company formed by the Hicks brothers.
Sillerman then started a new public company called Marquee Group Inc, which bought up agencies that represented professional sports and music stars, and SFX Entertainment through which he acquired concert venues and promoters.
SFX Entertainment was sold to Clear Channel in 2000 for $4.4 billion and was widely recognized as the precursor to the now massive concert promoter and producer Live Nation.
Sillerman went on to form CKX Inc, which bought 85 percent of Elvis Presley Enterprises, including the rock-and-roll legend's Graceland mansion, and 100 percent of Simon Fuller's 19 Entertainment, producer of American Idol.
"He's been extremely successful in consolidating fragmented industries which have untapped growth potential that generally have excellent marketing opportunities attached to them," said Mike Principe, a former SFX attorney who is now CEO of The Legacy Agency. "He goes in, acquires en masse, and enjoys a leading position."
Sillerman isn't the only one trying to bring the booming slice of the music industry under one flag. In May 2012, Live Nation purchased Cream Holdings Limited, which produces EDM events in the U.K. and Australia.
Cream Founder and CEO James Barton became head of Live Nation Electronic Music tasked with expanding the company's reach in EDM around the world. Both SFX and Live Nation have been reportedly courting Los Angeles-based Insomniac. |
SetGuitarsToKill Profile Blog Joined December 2013 Canada 27926 Posts Last Edited: 2015-09-02 16:09:35 #1
Via Wolf on twitter, news has comes that TANGTANG will retire.
May the memory of his fantastic name and the one time he beat Zest live on forever.
Prime's roster is down to 3 players now
BBoongBBoong
YoDa
KeeN May the memory of his fantastic name and the one time he beat Zest live on forever.Prime's roster is down to 3 players now Community News "As long as you have a warp prism you can't be bad at harassment" - Maru | @SetGuitars2Kill
KatatoniK Profile Blog Joined October 2013 United Kingdom 978 Posts #2 Nooooo TANGTANG. I always felt he had a lot of potential to do well, especially after he knocked out Zest of the GSL qualifiers. I guess being on Prime and not getting the support to reach his potential got to him Flying on the Jin Air hype plane. Lets go Maru, Rogue, sOs and the handsome CJ herO
Lorning Profile Blog Joined April 2011 Belgica 34096 Posts #3 aww Community News
iSy92 Profile Joined January 2014 Poland 3 Posts #4 The worst player in proleague
DinosaurJones Profile Joined February 2012 United States 952 Posts #5 On September 03 2015 01:20 iSy92 wrote:
The worst player in proleague The worst player in proleague
I'm pretty sure that was B4 I'm pretty sure that was B4 www.savefile.tv - My website for Let's Plays and other general gaming talk. Also, music.
showstealer1829 Profile Blog Joined May 2014 Australia 3016 Posts #6 And the worlds longest team death animation continues There is no understanding. There is only Choya. Choya is the way. Choya is Love. Choya is Life. Has is the Light in the Protoss Dark and Nightmare is his chosen Acolyte
AnythingThenDelete Profile Blog Joined January 2011 381 Posts #7 prime should hire non koreans
TheLordofAwesome Profile Joined May 2014 Korea (South) 1900 Posts #8 NOOOOOOOOOO
TANGTANG!!!!!!!!!!!!
May your victory over Zest live on in glory. Polt. || Great wars were fought in the dawn of marijuana smoking using magickal powers far beyond the diminutive power of modern man. only with the aid of the egyptian witch doctors could the space:time:mind ratio be shattered and unbound -YokoKano
KtJ Profile Joined October 2014 United States 3508 Posts #9 TANGTANG NO
YOU WILL BE REMEMBERED "I thought I destroyed my CC but it seemed like the only thing I destroyed was Idra's mentality."
Kimb3r Profile Joined April 2010 Peru 588 Posts #10 Could somebody maybe translare what he posted on Facebook? Maru | Life | Leenock
vult Profile Blog Joined February 2012 United States 8779 Posts #11 TANGQUARED NOOOOOO Polt plz come back
royalroadweed Profile Joined April 2013 United States 7695 Posts #12 So I guess Prime is done in PL with only 3 players?
boxerfred Profile Blog Joined December 2012 Germany 8329 Posts #13 Prime taking another beating.
oGoZenob Profile Joined December 2011 France 1481 Posts #14 so prime can't continue in PL with only 3 players right ?
I heard somewhere that there is a huge clan beside the pro team in prime, so maybe they could pick the best players of it to continue I like starcraft
Boucot Profile Blog Joined October 2011 France 15974 Posts #15 On September 03 2015 01:27 DinosaurJones wrote:
Show nested quote +
On September 03 2015 01:20 iSy92 wrote:
The worst player in proleague The worst player in proleague
I'm pretty sure that was B4 I'm pretty sure that was B4
0-8 vs 1-14, honestly I don't know what's better. Even the word "better" seems out of place here. 0-8 vs 1-14, honestly I don't know what's better. Even the word "better" seems out of place here. Former SC2 writer for Millenium - twitter.com/Boucot
ThePacifist Profile Joined March 2015 Korea (South) 46 Posts Last Edited: 2015-09-02 17:03:25 #16 Following the facebook post, he made the chioce because he wanted to do something else(Not sure what it is), not pro-gaming. And he said he regreted that he could't play his best. Also he left a message of thanks to his fans, coaches and the others who helped his pro-gaming career.
Tbh, It's very bad that lots of players to retire or consider to step back. These news make me to worry. A man cannot be too careful in the choice of his enemy.
showstealer1829 Profile Blog Joined May 2014 Australia 3016 Posts #17 On September 03 2015 01:47 oGoZenob wrote:
so prime can't continue in PL with only 3 players right ?
I heard somewhere that there is a huge clan beside the pro team in prime, so maybe they could pick the best players of it to continue
Well Proleague this year for them is over, so they have 3 months to sign someone and technically they still have the deal with Invictus so if the Chinese players come back they have 6
Plus there's always a remote chance ByuN comes back from his vision quest Well Proleague this year for them is over, so they have 3 months to sign someone and technically they still have the deal with Invictus so if the Chinese players come back they have 6Plus there's always a remote chance ByuN comes back from his vision quest There is no understanding. There is only Choya. Choya is the way. Choya is Love. Choya is Life. Has is the Light in the Protoss Dark and Nightmare is his chosen Acolyte
Ja.Y. Profile Joined February 2015 United States 253 Posts #18 This is all a shame. Prime will live on forever. It has outlasted IM, TSL, SlayerS, oGs, StarTale (technically), fOu, FXO......... MMA will reign supreme once again // MaSa is gawd
GGzerG Profile Blog Joined January 2010 United States 9295 Posts #19 On September 03 2015 01:20 iSy92 wrote:
The worst player in proleague The worst player in proleague
Take that back!
GL TANGTANG
TANG its a kick in the glass! You can do it buddy Take that back!GL TANGTANGTANG its a kick in the glass! You can do it buddy AKA: TelecoM[WHITE] Protoss fighting
Skynx Profile Blog Joined January 2013 Turkey 6567 Posts #20 He knocked that guy who is undefeated this season to code B. gg wp TT "When seagulls follow the troller, it is because they think sardines will be thrown into the sea. Thank you very much" - King Cantona | STX 4 eva
1 2 3 4 Next All |
Administration officials are warning Republicans not to pass a Department of Homeland Security funding bill that includes any attempt to block President Obama’s executive actions on immigration reform.
During the White House Press Briefing today, Press Secretary Josh Earnest brought up the deaths of two New York City Police officers in December, citing Republican support for law enforcement.
“There was a lot of coverage, the very end of last year, and the beginning of this year — particularly from Republicans who were talking about how important it was for political leaders to stand up for law enforcement — particularly in the aftermath of the terribly tragic shooting of those two police officers in New York City,” Earnest said.
Earnest did not mention critical comments made by Democrats about police fairness during the volatile period, but pointed to “aggressive rhetoric” from Republicans about backing law enforcement officials.
“I’m not sure what you could do to more undermine the relationship between political leaders and law enforcement than to threaten to withhold their paychecks even while they are doing their job,” he added, calling for Republicans to “come to their senses” and pass a clean funding bill. |
2018 Site Map (PDF)
2018 Stage Schedule (PDF)
2018 DATES:
October 12 - 14, 2018
HOURS:
10:00AM to 10:00PM – Friday and Saturday
10:00AM to 5:00PM - Sunday
GATES:
Friday Gates open at 10 a.m. – 10 p.m.
Saturday Gates open at 10 a.m. – 10 p.m.
Sunday Gates open at 10 a.m. – 5 p.m.
LOCATION:
Sunset Park
2601 East Sunset Rd.
Las Vegas, NV 89120
SUNSET PARK BOX OFFICE HOURS:
October 12 - 14, 2018 only (2 entry gates)
Friday: 9 a.m. – 9 p.m.
Saturday: 9 a.m. – 9 p.m.
Sunday: 9 a.m. – 4 p.m.
FRONT GATE PROCEDURES:
Get your ticket at the ticket booth, get in line at the gate, you will be searched by security.
EMERGENCY EXITS
We have increased the amount of Emergency Exits throughout the park. Though all exit locations will be clearly marked on site, we ask that you check back for locations. FOOD & DRINK
A wide assortment of food and beverage vendors will be on hand. Everything from a whole English feast, meat pies to bangers & mash will be available. Your favorite beers & ales will be sold! Alcohol sales begin Friday at 2 p.m.
Alcohol sales will cease at 9 p.m. Friday and Saturday.
Alcohol sales will cease at 4 p.m. Sunday.
PARKING
Limited parking will be available at Sunset Park Overflow parking lots are located at:
Del Sol High School
3100 E Patrick Ln
Las Vegas, NV 89120 Cannon Middle School
5850 Euclid St
Las Vegas, NV 89120 Shuttle times:
Friday: 5:00pm - 11:00pm
Saturday: 10:00am - 11:00pm
Sunday: 10:00am - 6:00pm Pick up will take place every 5-15 minutes Parking info map
Lift & Uber Drop off & Pick up located at Sunset Administration building (next to shuttle pick up inside the park) WHAT TO BRING
Bring your tickets, valid ID, blankets, one bottle of water is OK, sunscreen and still camera.
ATMs will be on site for your convenience, check back for locations. LEAVE IT AT HOME
No cans, drinks (one plastic bottle of water is OK), bottles, alcoholic beverages, coolers, firearms (with or without permit), sticks, balls, bats, chains or clubs, bullhorns, ANIMALS, lawn chairs, squirt or water guns or unauthorized vending, concessions, merchandise, literature or promotions. No pets allowed.
All (period piece) blades must be sheathed, even dull items. No Patches or Colors allowed inside the Festival. No Firearms (concealed or open carry) will be allowed inside the festival due to the Special Event. As per NRS Code. NO RE-ENTRY WITHOUT A WRISTBAND
No re-entry will be enforced throughout the day. Once you leave you will have to purchase another ticket for admission. WE RESERVE THE RIGHT TO SEARCH ANY PARTICIPANT & ASK ANYONE WHO IS NOT OBSERVING THESE REGULATIONS TO LEAVE THE EVENT! ALL WEAPONS MUST BE PART OF COSTUME & PEACE TIED BEFORE ENTERING THE FAIRE! |
The new Global Brand Ambassador of Revlon spills the beans on her beauty must-haves
Photos: Revlon
We’re sad to see you leave The Voice. What else have you been up to lately?
I’ve been working on new music, which I’m so excited to release this year. I can’t say too much about it just yet, but I’ve had so much fun in the studio. My cartoon series, Kuu Kuu Harajuku on Nickelodeon is going into season 2 and will be available worldwide. The Kuu Kuu Harajuku toy series is launching in US, Canada, Australia and Israel in July/ August this year.
You’ve been the face for various beauty brands previously. What made you decide to take on the role of ambassador for Revlon?
I don’t even know how to absorb such an incredible honor. It’s such a big deal. I can’t believe I get to be a Revlon ambassador, especially at this point in my life. I’ve always been a fan of Revlon. As a little girl, going to the drug store and going down the makeup aisle, was one of my favorite things to do, ever. And now that I get to indulge in every single product that Revlon make and be part of such an incredibly creative company with such a positive message, it makes me feel so honored.
Take us through your morning routine, what is it like?
There is no typical “routine” for me. Every day I get up in the morning and I wash my face and put on some moisturizer. I literally and genuinely love doing makeup so there is no one beauty look that I typically stick to.
What are five things that we will find in your makeup bag?
I genuinely love doing makeup and experimenting with different looks, so there is no one beauty product that I typically stick to. On some days, I could wear brows and lips and that would be it. The Revlon ColorStay Brow Crayon is quick and easy to use and it stays put all day. I love a bold lip. Today, I’m wearing the red shade I wore on my last shoot, which was
Today, I’m wearing the red shade I wore on my last shoot, which was Revlon’s Super Lustrous Love That Red. I always need to have something for my lips. I think that’s probably one of the most important things for me. I’m a fan of the new Revlon Mega Multiplier Mascara. It really creates and oversized lash look and is water resistant, which is perfect for my busy lifestyle. The Revlon 2 IN 1 Kajal Eyeliner has a great angled tip and there’s a smudger on the other side which makes doing your eyeliner quick and easy.
You’re known for your iconic bold red lipstick. Which is your go-to shade?
I think that when I wear red lipstick I feel a little bit more animated. A little bit more drama. A little bit more confidence and uniqueness. For years, I was always scared of an orange red. I really went towards a blue red and classic reds. But now, I feel like I’ve become more adventurous and I really love every single shade of red. Today, I’m wearing the red shade I wore on my last shoot, which was Revlon’s Super Lustrous Love That Red.
Any advice on pulling off red lips?
I’m so used to wearing red lipstick now, but I have a friend who constantly licks her lips and I always tell her that she can’t do that when she’s wearing a bright lip. Finding the right longwearing lipstick is obviously crucial.
Which feature do you prefer: lips or eyes?
Lips.
If you had to live forever with only one beauty product, which would it be?
Lipstick.
You’ve always said that makeup helps boost your own confidence. How did this philosophy come about?
The philosophy came about from the truth of how I feel when I get to be creative with makeup. It’s just something that I’ve always been passionate about. I’m just speaking for myself that when I get my makeup on daily, it definitely boosts my confidence. And when I get my makeup on before I go on stage, it’s definitely a ritual that takes to a place I’m able to get up on stage and exchange love with people. |
"Loki remembers the first time he competed against Thor in the Olympics. He wishes he didn't, but it's burned into his mind, probably never to be forgotten. He skated with Sif at the time, but they fought all the time – about Thor, mostly, because she was still on his side, and Loki ached for someone who would be faithful to him, only him. She called him selfish.He'd thought they could win, win the gold, but halfway into it he'd realized that it wasn't going to happen. It had been like a slap to the face (a Natasha slap, full of sharp painted nails). Loki's jealousy was burning so bright he'd been sure Thor could see it from the inside of the changing rooms, a breathless Jane pressed against him." ( Source |
Multitasking is probably the single most overrated skill in modern life. It drains your brain of oxygenated glucose that could be put toward paying more focused attention, makes it difficult for a person to switch between tasks, and is generally an illusion anyway. Only 3% of the population are “supertaskers,” according to a study from Ohio University. The rest of us just pretend to be.
A number of systems have been developed to save us from our endless to-do lists, which can turn any job into a soulless assembly line of chores. One such system is “Personal Kanban,” which was named for the Japanese concept that inspired it, a just-in-time manufacturing process developed at Toyota in the late 1940s.
In an industrial setting, Kanban (which means “signboard” or “billboard” in Japanese, as a recent Medium post explains) relies on tickets that move with each product through a plant. Only a certain number of one type of ticket can be on a line at one time, and it must correspond to one specific car part.
James Benson, a former urban planner based in Seattle who authored Personal Kanban: Mapping Work — Navigating Life, tells Quartz that industrial Kanban was a way for Toyota to avoid overproducing. He has adapted the system to reduce overhead of the emotional sort—the “too many tasks on my mind” feeling that’s the biggest downside of our mostly doomed attempts to multitask.
Personal Kanban works on two principles: Visualize your work, and limit your total number of “works in progress.” Setting up a system is simple:
Find a board with which you can use magnets, post-it notes, or thumbtacks. On it, create three columns: Options, Doing, and Done.
Write your individual tasks down on separate cards. You might customize these tickets by urgency or type (perhaps personal or business) with colors or symbols. Post all of these cards in the “Options” column.
From that column, choose no more than three to move into the middle “Doing” column. These are the works in progress you’re focused on in a timeframe of your choosing.
When a task is complete, move it into the “Done” column, and choose a new option to pull into “Doing.”
The “options” column makes it possible to see everything that’s on your list and assess what’s manageable or not. (Do you need to delegate, hire another person, or arrange for temporary help? Should something about the way you work change so that the backlog of “options” doesn’t become a field of forgotten dreams?)
The middle column is the “now” that matters most, according to Benson, and should never contain more than three tickets. You could minimize your in-progress task to one, but the author and consultant says that’s probably not an honest number, and could undermine this entire process. Most of us have at least two competing priorities at a given time, while a third task might be more passive. (Maybe you’re working on two projects at home while doing the laundry, for instance.) Squeezing more than three items into the “doing” column, on the other hand, likely means you’re taxing your brain and slowing it down.
Starting but not finishing too many projects puts a person at risk of the so-called Zeigarnik effect, named for Bluma Zeigarnik, a Russian psychiatrist who, in the 1920s, discovered that people are better at remembering unfinished tasks than completed ones. Unfinished items that we’ve left hanging are like cognitive itches. (Zeigarnik first made this observation watching servers remember detailed meal orders at a restaurant only as long as the order was in process.)
This Kanban user appears to be slipping in a fourth task:
The appeal of the “done” column needs no elaboration. Studies have shown we get a dopamine kick from just saying the word “done.” “The act of completion is affirming in and of itself,” Benson adds.
Importantly, “done” doesn’t have to be dead, however, and this is pretty key to Benson’s theory. With some coding or sub-categorization, this column can morph into a record of your work that offers some useful insights.
Benson and Tonianne DeMaria Barry, his business partner and co-author of the Personal Kanban book, have come up with matrixes to rank the items you most enjoyed doing, least enjoyed, slapped together in a hurry, felt no control over, and so on. They promise that, after a while, a few universals will appear. You’ll be able to see where you’re always getting stuck, and where you succeed most often, and why.
Gaining some self-awareness is the promise of sticking to this plan, at least for long enough to start seeing patterns. (Benson admits that people don’t stick to systems forever.) “If you find all your stuff is emergencies, that’s the point at which you need to reassess your life,” says Benson. He once heard from a woman who changed careers and left her marriage after adopting the system, he said.
Benson first designed Personal Kanban for software developers about 10 years ago, but he says IT workers weren’t that interested. He went on to design his method—since used in schools, health organizations, governments, and a range of project-based industries—while a former colleague launched LeanKanban University, a more intense training program.
Several popular software programs are based on the Kanban system, too, including Pivotal Tracker, and Trello. Benson prefers actual boards because “they’re tactile and they live in space and time,” he says, noting studies that have proven we process more information when we write things down.
Ultimately, he wants his model to help people find themselves—quite literally. That’s a feature worth thinking about, even for those of us who prefer reading about (or reporting on) productivity systems, knowing we’ll never act on them. (Guilty.) “We get so overloaded, we lose sight of who we are, and what we can do, and makes us us,” he says. “We start to believe we’re just a person filling space.”
In theory or practice, the best time-management systems aren’t about increasing churn; they’re about making room to be human. |
Yeah that Harem’s a real party girl, or so she would have you believe! She actually has done far more than her fair share of it, as she has done far more than her fair share of most things as one might expect from someone who can do 5 things at once. At the very least, one of her is actually at the club now, one is talking with the brass, and another one is helping a 4th get ready. What, like only one of her is going to the club? None of that means she never embellishes any of her stories though.
Sydney’s question in the mini comic is legit, and really the only way to find out is to find out.
Dabbler takes sex pretty seriously, no surprise there, but not so seriously that she’d be offended by a shirt which suggested that “all I got was ████ by Dabbler” like that’s some sort of consolation prize instead of the reason the whole fight went down in the first place. Neither Arianna nor Maxima are have seen that shirt by the way.
And a random artist thought for you; Drawing someone sitting in someone else’s lap is surprisingly difficult. Getting all the parts in the right place is trickier than you’d think.
Here’s the link to the new comments highlighter for chrome, and the GitHub link which you can use to install on FireFox via Greasemonkey. |
Trump Needs to Watch Ken Burns’ ‘Vietnam War’ ASAP
President Donald Trump is playing a dangerous game with North Korea, risking a repeat of one of the mistakes that ensnared America in the Vietnam War — only worse.
The U.S. president is castigating the leader of North Korea, Kim Jong Un, in unusually personal and menacing terms. In early August, he threatened to unleash “fire and fury” on North Korea and then warned that the U.S. armed forces were “locked and loaded.” At the United Nations General Assembly on Sept. 19, he said that if the U.S. “is forced to defend itself or its allies, we will have no choice but to totally destroy North Korea. Rocket Man is on a suicide mission for himself and for his regime.”
The Los Angeles Times has reported that national security aides tried to get Trump to take out the taunting reference to Kim as “Rocket Man,” but he keeps repeating it. It’s the new “Crooked Hillary” or “Lyin’ Ted.” Trump reveled in the reaction the phrase, now “Little Rocket Man,” elicited Friday from the crowd at his Alabama rally, and on Sunday he tweeted, “Just heard Foreign Minister of North Korea speak at U.N. If he echoes thoughts of Little Rocket Man, they won’t be around much longer!”
This is a long way from the standard diplo-speak of previous U.S. presidents who warned that the U.S. would respond strongly to North Korean aggression. At the same time as the president is goading the North Korean dictator, the U.S. military is flexing its muscles. On Saturday, U.S. B-1 bombers and F-15 fighters flew farther north of the Demilitarized Zone along the North Korean coastline than they have in years.
Trump clearly has Kim’s attention. The megalomaniacal North Korean strongman responded with an unusually personal riposte of his own, calling Trump a “mentally deranged U.S. dotard” and vowing to “tame” him “with fire.” His foreign minister has likened Trump’s statements to a declaration of war. North Korea has already shown that it will not be cowed — since the “fire and fury” threat in early August, it has tested three ballistic missiles and carried out its biggest nuclear test yet. North Korea is now threatening to test a nuclear device in the Pacific Ocean and to attack the United States, although its actual response may be something very different.
It is inconceivable that any previous president would have gotten into such a war of words with a dictator. John F. Kennedy said, “Ich bin ein Berliner”; he did not call Nikita Khrushchev a “short, fat peasant.” Ronald Reagan said, “Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall”; he did not label Mikhail Gorbachev “Red Spot.” Those presidents knew that any confrontation with a nuclear-armed state had to be handled with the greatest delicacy, lest a miscalculation lead to Armageddon.
Trump shows no such awareness. Given that he does not read books, he would be well advised to tune into the Ken Burns and Lynn Novick PBS series on the Vietnam War to see what can happen when the U.S. acts too aggressively and thereby stumbles into a ruinous war. In 1964, President Lyndon B. Johnson committed himself to defending South Vietnam from North Vietnamese aggression. At the same time, he authorized a covert campaign known as OPLAN 34A to send South Vietnamese commandos on raids into the North supported by the U.S. military. Johnson had no idea that in so doing he would be goading North Vietnam into a war with the United States. But that is just what happened.
One of Johnson’s covert attacks took place at midnight of July 30, 1964, with South Vietnamese naval commandos raiding two North Vietnamese islands in the Gulf of Tonkin while the destroyer USS Maddox was steaming 120 miles away. There was no direct connection between the commando raid and the Maddox’s intelligence-gathering patrol, but the North Vietnamese did not know that. On Aug. 2, three North Vietnamese torpedo boats attacked the Maddox without doing any damage.
Then on Aug. 4, another North Vietnamese attack was reported on the Maddox and its sister destroyer, the Turner Joy. The two destroyers fired 372 shells and at least four depth charges while reporting that they had dodged multiple torpedoes and enemy gunfire. Yet American pilots overhead could not see any enemy ships. It later became obvious that the second attack had not really happened. But by then Congress had passed the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution, giving Johnson a blank check to wage war against North Vietnam. The eventual result: nearly half a million U.S. troops in South Vietnam, with 58,000 of them coming home in body bags.
Trump’s current provocations could elicit an even more catastrophic outcome. Imagine that Kim Jong Un, an inexperienced observer of American politics, takes Trump’s words seriously and then sees U.S. warplanes heading for his borders. It is not far-fetched to posit that he might give the orders to shoot down one of those aircraft. Indeed, North Korea’s foreign minister, Ri Yong Ho, said Monday: “Since the United States declared war on our country, we will have every right to make countermeasures, including the right to shoot down United States strategic bombers even when they are not inside the airspace border of our country.” Or imagine that North Korea responds by firing a missile in the general direction of Guam and it lands by mistake in U.S. territorial waters or even hits the island itself.
In either case, Trump would undoubtedly feel compelled to respond militarily, even if no U.S. lives or property were lost. Even a single, symbolic U.S. airstrike could further feed Kim’s paranoia, convincing him that America is about to destroy his country just as Trump has threatened. Backed into a corner, the North Korean strongman may decide he has nothing to lose by unleashing his nuclear arsenal on South Korea, Japan — even the United States.
This nightmarish scenario is becoming all too plausible because of Trump’s over-the-top bellicosity. He should turn down the rhetorical temperature. A policy of containment and deterrence worked against the Soviet Union, a country with a far larger nuclear arsenal than North Korea will ever have. Eventually the USSR peacefully imploded. The same approach can work with North Korea too, as long as we don’t stumble into an unnecessary and calamitous conflict first because of our president’s macho posturing.
Photo credit: Getty Images/Foreign Policy illustration |
Toward the end of May, 1970, I stood waist high in water in a baptismal font of a temple in Hamilton, New Zealand, while the name of my deceased father was read aloud. Moments later, on his behalf, I was buried in the biblically mandated full-immersion baptism that is so powerfully symbolic of rebirth and entry into the kingdom of God.
That first visit to a temple of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints –and my first experience of what Mormons call “baptism for the dead”–was one of the most intensely significant religious experiences of my life.
I was 22 years old in 1970, but I had never personally known the father for whom I had just been baptized by proxy. During World War II he had served with the British Army. After action in France, he was captured by Rommel’s forces in North Africa and spent the next three years behind barbed wire as a prisoner of war in Libya, Italy and Germany.
Robert Otterson photo courtesy of Otterson family.
Four years after he returned from the deprivations and hardships of war, at 37 and with most of his life seemingly ahead of him, he was thrown from his motorbike on a Welsh country road and killed. I was just nine months old. Through my childhood, my mother would occasionally share stories of my father, but I grew up with no personal memory of him — only a vague sense of loose ends and unanswered questions.
The temple experience, however, changed all of that. Leaving the temple that day in 1970 started me on a quest to learn all I could about my father. I conducted interviews, discovered letters and journals and found memorabilia. I retraced his footsteps in Germany from the time his POW camp was liberated. I know the title of every one of the dozens of books he read during his captivity. No longer a cipher or question mark, he has become for me a real person, and my love for him has become every bit as real as for that of the mother with whom I grew up.
For me and Latter-day Saints like me, these deeply held feelings are not just the consequences of a highly developed hobby. They reflect a key practice in our faith and are rooted in biblical teachings. They are fulfillment of the prophetic writings found at the end of the Old Testament, in the very last verses of the Book of Malachi.
“And he shall turn the heart of the fathers to the children, and the heart of the children to their fathers….”
Mormons attach great significance to this scriptural verse, as they do also to New Testament references to preaching among the dead. If Jesus Christ preached to the spirits of those who had left this life, it presupposes they had the moral agency to accept or reject what he was preaching. What extra things was he teaching them that they did not know already? Combined with other references and a specific mention of baptism for the dead in one of Paul’s letters, these scriptures form the theological underpinnings of Mormon temple work.
This entire labor of love, as Mormons view it, rests on the premise that those who have passed on have the choice to accept or reject the gesture. I knew when I performed the proxy baptism for my father that he was a devout Christian, christened as a baby in the rites of the established Church of England. My gesture in his behalf took nothing away from him, the life he lived and who he was at his core. If there is an afterlife – a belief clearly shared by both of us – then I added opportunity to the goodness of a short but purpose-filled and worthy life. In the doctrines embraced by my particular faith, my offering opened up eternal possibilities, including the eternal “sealing” of his marriage to my mother. Far from slighting my father’s religious persuasions, he retains every ounce of his own free will and moral agency to accept what I did on his behalf. In my own heart, I want to believe he accepted it, but I cannot know that now. What I am certain of, however, is that in whatever cognizance of this life that exists in heaven, that my father will not be offended for a gift generously intended and sincerely given by his son. The worst I can imagine is a “Thanks, but no thanks.”
Mormons all over the world cultivate a caring attitude for their departed families. Whenever and for whomever they are rendering temple service, Latter-day Saints ponder the time and place the person was born, and reflect on what their lives may have been like as the offering is made for them. It is because we value and respect every life and its eternal potential that we do what we do.
Last week, this same Mormon practice of baptism for the dead found its way into news reports because someone violated church policy and submitted for baptism the names of some Jewish Holocaust victims to whom they were not related. That improper action sparked a good deal of misunderstanding about this sacred belief.
First, no one can force acceptance of a religious rite on others after they have died – the very concept of abridging personal agency is anathema to Mormons. In other words, in no way does this practice forcibly “convert” a deceased person to Mormonism. Secondly, Jewish Holocaust victims have been specifically excluded by the church itself from temple baptisms unless there is a direct-line relationship between the Latter-day Saint submitter and the deceased person – a rare occurrence where the Holocaust is concerned. The policy itself is a highly significant and unprecedented gesture of respect to those who gave their lives in the Holocaust.
I am thankful for the Jewish rabbis who understand the situation well and spoke up promptly to help defuse a sensitive situation. With more than 14 million members around the globe, the Church is no more able to guarantee compliance of every member with its policies than other worldwide faiths are able to guarantee theirs.
Despite the church’s best efforts, there will continue to be individual violations of policy and we will continue to address them and minimize such instances. The church is looking at every way it can both to educate its members and address the deficiencies of technology. I am confident that it will continue to do all it can to resolve legitimate concerns while preserving the core doctrines of the faith.
View Photo Gallery: “The Mormon story is a quintessentially American tale,” writes On Faith columnist Lisa Miller.
More On Faith and Mormonism:
Otterson:Why do Mormons tithe?
Kathryn Skaggs: For Mormons, this moment is personal
Otterson: Mormons want acceptance, not assimilation
Michael Otterson is an On Faith panelist and heads the worldwide public affairs functions of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. |
Scots see almost £1,500 more on public spending per head for services such as health and education than the UK average, official figures have revealed.
Pro-UK campaigners have hailed the “Union dividend” set out by the latest Country and Regional Analysis published by the Treasury.
David Mundell says the figures show the value of being part of the UK
Spending on services in Scotland hit £10,536 per head in 2015-16, an increase of £189 on the previous year. The figure for the rest of the UK is £9,076, with a smaller rise of £163.
The Scottish Government said that the report shows it spends more on health and education north of the Border.
READ MORE: Brexit: Nicola Sturgeon confirms ‘Norway-style’ EU plan
But Secretary of State for Scotland David Mundell said: “Public spending in Scotland is higher than the rest of the UK – now by almost £1,500 per person per year – despite a rising budget deficit on the Scottish Government’s watch.
“This illustrates the value to Scotland of being part of a strong, broad-shouldered United Kingdom.”
The highest public spending levels are in Northern Ireland, where the figure is £10,983, while in Wales it was £9,996. The lowest public spending of all the UK nations is in England where the figure is £8,816.
Scottish education spending increased by 3.7 per cent over the past year compared with a 2 per cent fall across the UK, while health spending in Scotland increased by 4.6 per cent in the year to March 2016 compared with growth of 3.4 per cent across the UK.
READ MORE: Sturgeon faces calls to sack Yousaf after rail chaos
A spokesman for the Scottish Government said: “The figures demonstrate the Scottish Government’s commitment to invest in frontline public services. He added: “These figures only describe one side of the equation when it comes to public finances, with no comparison for public sector revenues.
“Scottish revenue has been on average £630 per person a year higher than in the UK as a whole since devolution.”
The amount of spending which each part of the UK receives is determined by the Barnett Formula. This adopts a needs-based approach and means that Scotland receives more money than other parts of the UK. The main political parties have pledged to protect this in the new devolution deal.
Alistair Cameron, director of the pro-UK Scotland in the Union campaign, said: “If Nicola Sturgeon continues to threaten Scotland’s ‘Union dividend’ with talk of another referendum, she should be honest about the deep cuts or big tax rises which will follow if she got her way.” |
Greece’s economy is imploding, but the country could be set to enjoy its biggest summer tourism boom in a decade.
Google searches for Greek vacations have hit a 10-year high, which suggests savvy vacationers are looking to take advantage of Greece’s possible exit from the eurozone to get deals on visits to Athens or one of the country’s idyllic islands.
Greece’s financial woes have already made Europe cheaper for tourists. The country’s inability to pay off its debts have helped drag down the value of the Euro, which means visitors can benefit from a 12-year low exchange rate of $1 to just €1.10. Last weekend’s referendum spooked some would-be visitors, with Greek’s tourism confederation claiming some vacations set for the coming weeks have been cancelled, but that bookings for later in the summer remain steady.
Yet the real payoff for travelers could be yet to come. Greece voted “No” this weekend on a referendum over whether the country should accept its creditor’s bailout terms, which means Greece may be about to run out of money. It may decide to ditch the Euro, and return to the drachma. Economists have predicted that its former currency will suffer a severe devaluation if it replaces the Euro. Tourists understand that in that scenario, their money would go a lot farther.
Google searches are highest in the United Kingdom and Ireland, where Greece historically rates among the top tourist destinations. Greece itself is third, suggesting residents are still considering vacations at home in the absence of clarity on whether the government will be able to follow through on its promise to reopen banks on Tuesday. Google searches weren’t particularly high in the U.S., as Greece isn’t a top travel destination for Americans.
Local tourism organizations in Greece are attempting to quash fears that the country’s precarious finances will ruin its $32 billon tourism industry. The Facebook page “Greece In Photos” launched a campaign telling prospective visitors to ignore the crisis in favor of Greek hospitality, sun, sea and beauty.
Google Searches For “Greece Holiday” Over Past Decade
Read more:
How Exactly Would Greece Change Currencies? (Vocativ)
Are There Food and Medicine Shortages In Greece? (Vocativ) |
Muprhy Anderson Credit: Murphy Anderson
According to a Facebook post from DC Co-Publisher Dan DiDio, Silver Age artist Murphy Anderson has passed away at the age of 89.
Sad to hear of the passing of Murphy Anderson today, he was one of the true greats of DC Comics and helped define a... Posted by Dan DiDio on Friday, October 23, 2015
Anderson was born in Asheville, North Carolina in 1929. He broke into comic books in 1944 working on smaller strips before starting a two year run on Buck Rogers from 1947 to 1949.
Anderson is perhaps best known for relaunching Hawkman with writer Gardner Fox in 1964, and for co-creating Zatanna in that series. Anderson also designed Adam Strange's iconic spaceman look, and helped bring the Spectre into the Silver Age.
As an inker, Anderson worked alongside penciler Curt Swan on Superman and Action Comics, and was one of the artists hired by DC to redraw Superman's face in the pages of Jack Kirby's Fourth World titles in the '70's. In 1973, he launched Murphy Anderson Visual Concepts, providing backend work such as color separation and lettering for comic books.
In his lifetime, Anderson was inducted into the Jack Kirby Hall of Fame, the Will Eisner Hall of Fame, and the Joe Sinnott Hall of Fame. |
These Robots Are Learning to Conduct Their Own Science Experiments, Businessweek
What Actually Happens When a Plane Loses an Engine, Popular Mechanics
Death and Daring at 1,500 Feet, Popular Mechanics
6 Reasons Why Uber’s Flying Taxis Are a Mirage, Popular Mechanics
Brain Training: Are We Overthinking It?, Men’s Journal
Why All Airliners Look the Same, Popular Mechanics
What is the Speed of Thought?, New York magazine
How Your Brain Controls the Speed of Time, New York magazine
Showdown: Air Force One vs Trump Force One, Men’s Journal
How Donald Trump’s Private Plane Compares to Air Force One, The Hollywood Reporter
Why Would a Pilot Let His Plane Run Out of Fuel?, New York magazine
The Intercept’s Glenn Greenwald on What’s Wrong (and Right) With the Media, New York magazine
How To Fix Flying: The Joy of Flight, Popular Mechanics
Why it’s so hard to build a greener airplane, Washington Post
Fear in the Cockpit, Nautilus
How to Design a Rollercoaster That’ll Make You Beg for Mercy, Bloomberg
The 2013 Airplane Crash That Is Eerily Similar to the Germanwings Tragedy, Slate
The Malaysian Government Just Released a Huge Amount of New Data on the MH370 Crash. Here’s What It Reveals, New York magazine
The Enigma at the Center of the Malaysia Airlines Mystery, Huffington Post UK
My Crazy Theory About MH370 Went Viral Around the World. Here’s What I’ve Learned Since, New York magazine |
Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, arrives for a vote as the Republican-run Senate rejected a GOP proposal to scuttle President Barack Obama's health care law and give Congress two years to devise a replacement, Wednesday, July 26, 2017, at the Capitol in Washington. President Donald Trump and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., have been stymied by opposition from within the Republican ranks. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)
WASHINGTON (AP) — After seven years of emphatic campaign promises, Senate Republicans demonstrated they didn’t have the stomach to repeal “Obamacare” on Wednesday when it actually counted. The Senate voted 55-45 to reject legislation to throw out major portions of Barack Obama’s law without replacing it.
Seven Republicans joined all Democrats in rejecting a measure by GOP Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky that would have repealed most of former President Obama’s health care law, with a two-year delay but no replacement. Congress passed nearly identical legislation in 2015 and sent it to Obama, who unsurprisingly vetoed it.
Yet this time, with Republican President Donald Trump in the White House itching to sign the bill, the measure failed on the Senate floor. The Congressional Budget Office has estimated that repealing “Obamacare” without replacing it would cost more than 30 million Americans their insurance coverage, and that was a key factor in driving away more Republican senators than Majority Leader Mitch McConnell could afford to lose in the closely divided Senate.
The result frustrated other GOP senators, some of whom expressed disbelief that their colleagues would flip-flop on legislation they had voted for only two years ago and long promised to voters. Of the current Republican senators, only moderate Susan Collins of Maine opposed the 2015 repeal bill.
“Make no mistake: Today’s vote is a major disappointment to people who were promised full repeal,” said Sen. Ben Sasse of Nebraska. “We still have a long, long way to go — both in health policy and in honesty.”
Yet the outcome was hardly a shock in a Senate that’s already shown that unity is elusive when it comes to dealing with Obamacare. The real-world implications of repeal have proven sobering to GOP senators answering to voters who’ve come to rely on expanded insurance coverage under the law.
It’s not over yet. But what the party’s senators might end up agreeing on instead is far from clear. They are plunging ahead with debate toward their unknown goal, pressured by an impatient president. By week’s end Republicans hope to reach agreement among themselves, and eventually with the House, on some kind of repeal and replacement for the Obama law they have reviled for so long.
“We have to keep working hard,” said McConnell, R-Ky. “We’re determined to do everything we can to succeed. We know our constituents are counting on us.”
One possibility taking shape in talks among senators was a “skinny repeal” that would abolish just a few of the key elements of Obama’s law including its mandates that everyone purchase insurance and its taxes that all GOP senators can agree to oppose. But in a sign of the general confusion, some said the tactic was aimed chiefly at moving the process forward into the purview of a committee of Senate-House bargainers while others expressed the hope that the House would swallow a “skinny bill” whole, freeing Congress to move on to other issues.
Either way, after weeks spent on the issue including false starts and near-death experiences that have eaten up months of Trump’s presidency, the realization was dawning on senators that they may be unable to pass anything more complex for now than a lowest-common-denominator bill.
“At the end of the day, we’ve got to start somewhere. This is a start,” said Sen. Thom Tillis, R-N.C.
The day’s proceedings began with prodding from Trump, who’s proven impatient and inconsistent throughout the health care debate and yet can claim some credit for resuscitating Senate talks after McConnell essentially declared them dead last week.
The president singled out Alaska Sen. Lisa Murkowski, who’d voted the day before against opening long-awaited debate on the legislation, and also opposed a wide-ranging McConnell amendment Tuesday that offered a replacement for Obamacare and went down to defeat.
“Senator @lisamurkowski of the Great State of Alaska really let the Republicans, and our country, down yesterday. Too bad!” Trump wrote.
“I don’t really follow Twitter that much,” Murkowski remarked to reporters later with a shrug.
Murkowski was also among the seven GOP senators who voted “no” Wednesday on the repeal-only bill. The others were Collins, Shelley Moore Capito of West Virginia, Dean Heller of Nevada, John McCain of Arizona, Rob Portman of Ohio and Lamar Alexander of Tennessee.
In a statement defending his vote, Portman wrote: “We need a rescue plan for Ohio families who are suffering under the status quo, not one that makes the health care system worse for Ohio families.”
Senators were working their way through 20 hours of debate. At week’s end, a “vote-a-rama” of rapid-fire voting on a mountain of amendments was expected before moving to final passage — of something.
Internal GOP differences remain over how broadly to repeal the law, how to reimburse states that would suffer from the bill’s Medicaid cuts and whether to let insurers sell cut-rate, bare-bones coverage that falls short of the requirements.
While pressure and deal-making helped win over vacillating Republicans to begin debate, they remained fragmented over what to do next. Several pointedly left open the possibility of opposing the final bill if it didn’t suit their states.
“It seems the Republican majority is no clearer on what the end game is, because there’s no good way out of this,” said Minority Leader Chuck Schumer of New York.
___
Associated Press writers Stephen Ohlemacher and Ricardo Alonso-Zaldivar contributed. |
Mohamed Omar
Många skattemiljoner går till att motverka islamofobi, pengar som ibland har gått till aktörer som själva sprider västofobi, en fördomsfull hållning mot den icke-islamiska, västerländska kulturen. Kanske dags att börja satsa på att motverka västofobin.
Abo Raad, imam vid Gävlemoskén, var tidigare ansvarig för en hemsida som skulle sprida kunskap om islam: muslim.se. Där kunde man läsa att det var förbjudet för en muslim att fira jul och att den som sjunger med i sången ”Nu tändas tusen juleljus” blir ”kafir”, det vill säga otrogen. En muslim fick inte vara vän med en icke-muslim och straffet för homosexualitet var döden. Det var också förbjudet att delta i den svenska demokratin och att tjänstgöra i den svenska armén.
Vidare kunde man läsa att icke-muslimer har sämre rättigheter än muslimer och att man inte fick imitera icke-muslimernas sätt att klä sig och att en hustru skulle vara underordnad sin man. Typiska, islamiskt fundamentalistiska åsikter således, med solid grund i Koranen och profeten Muhammeds undervisning.
Raad hyllade den jihadistiska gruppen Islamiska statens (IS) offensiv i Irak sommaren 2014. IS är en minst sagt västofobisk organisation som drömmer om att erövra Rom och förinta den västerländska kulturen. I ett inlägg på Facebook uppmanade han sina anhängare att be för sina ”sunnisyskon” som krigar mot ”svekfullhetens, icke-trognas och syndfullhetens styrkor”. Raad har också uppmanat sina anhängare att stödja IS med pengar.
År 2009 fick hans numera borttagna hemsida, med dess tydligt västofobiska inslag, 416 000 kronor i statliga medel för att motverka islamofobi. De otrognas sätt att leva, deras högtider och värderingar är alltså ”haram”, förbjudna, men deras pengar är tydligen ”halal” eller tillåtna.
Nu har jag ingen statistik att framför mig, men jag skulle gissa att fler människor förtrycks och dödas i världen på grund av islamistisk västofobi än västerländsk islamofobi. Självmordsattacken mot julhandeln i Stockholm 2010 skulle kunna ses som ett västofobiskt dåd. I sitt ”testamente” uppgav jihadisten Taimour Abdulwahab att han ville straffa ”svenskarna” för Lars Vilks Muhammedteckningar. Fler än 300 unga muslimer har valt att följa i Taimours fotspår genom att ansluta sig till västofobiska, jihadgrupper i Irak och Syrien.
Två konvertiter till islam, Pernilla Ouis och Anne Sofie Roald, publicerade 2003 boken Muslim i Sverige. Bägge har sedermera lämnat islam. Men de var akademiskt skolade muslimer när de arbetade med boken, vilket gav dem en unik inblick i muslimska miljöer i förening med ett kritiskt resonerande forskarperspektiv. På flera ställen tar de upp muslimernas västofobi.
Många muslimer, förklarar de båda författarna, ”definierar sig utifrån den icke-muslimske västerlänningen”. De nämner sedan en händelse som ett ”typexempel” på detta västofobiska fenomen:
På en muslimsk fest i invandrarförorten Rosengård (Malmö) i februari 2003, talade en man om vad den muslimska högtiden Eid al-Adha står för. Han förklarade att på den muslimska högtiden samlas muslimer för att dyrka Gud medan ’svenskarna’ under sina religiösa högtider ’dricker’, och är ’otrogna’ och lever ett allmänt utsvävande liv.
På vad beror då detta västofobiska sätt att se på svenskarna? Ouis och Roald pekar på bristande kontakt mellan muslimska invandrare och ursprungssvenskar:
Hur muslimer ser på ’svenskarna’ beror till stor del på vilken kontakt man har med svenskar i sitt dagliga liv. Med boendesegregation, å ena sidan, och arbetslöshet bland invandrare, å andra, är det många muslimer som inte har kontakt med andra etniska och religiösa grupper, och i sådana grupper florerar denna syn på ’den Andra’, det vill säga icke-muslimer.
En viktig aspekt av det västofobiska synsättet bland muslimer, menar de två forskarna, är sexualiteten:
Svenskar ses som sexuellt dekadenta, de kan ha sex med vem som helst inklusive sina familjemedlemmar och folk går halvnakna på gatan. Detta är vanföreställningar som inte bygger på egna erfarenheter, utan på fördomar som har sitt ursprung i tolkningen av det som visas i media. Få muslimer verkar känna till de svenska koderna och att de flesta svenskar har en moral i sitt sexuella beteende.
Detta skulle kunna hjälpa till att förklara varför det ibland uppstår missförstånd i förhållandet mellan svenska kvinnor, som lever och klär sig på ett vanligt svenskt sätt, och män från islamiska länder. Ett extremt exempel var när en svensk kvinna i Strängnäs utsattes för två överfallsvåldtäkter samma natt. Gärningsmännen var asylsökare från Mellanöstern. En av dem spottade kvinnan i ansiktet och sa: ”I’m gonna fuck you, little Swedish girl”.
Ouis och Roald menar att de västofobiska attityderna hindrar muslimer från att integreras i det svenska samhället. ”Det är oftast vanliga vardagssituationer som kan upplevas som besvärliga för muslimer, som då hellre väljer att inte delta i dessa”, påpekar de. ”Därigenom försvåras naturligtvis den önskvärda integrationen och alternativet blir då istället ökad isolering.”
Det rör sig ofta om mat- och dryckesvanor, där man inte bara själv avstår från alkohol och fläsk utan även anser att man inte kan sitta vid samma bord eller vara i samma rum där dessa ”orena” saker finns. Det gör att man blir isolerad från det svenska umgängeslivet. Författarna går så långt som att hävda, och boken bygger alltså på intervjuer med muslimer, att det finns ”en generell misstro mot svenskar”.
I skolan, ibland den enda plats där invandrarbarnen får möta ursprungssvenskar och deras kultur, är det inte ovanligt att denna misstro kommer till uttryck: ”Det finns många aktiviteter i skolan som en del muslimska föräldrar inte vill att deras barn ska delta i. Det kan vara sexualundervisning, och undervisning i kristendom som upplevs och ibland missförstås som påverkan från skolan att barnen ska bli kristna.”
Eftersom man anser att ”svenskarna” har en sämre moral än muslimer vill man så att säga skydda sina barn från svensk påverkan:
En del barn förbjuds av föräldrarna att delta i en mängd olika aktiviteter alltifrån skridskoåkning till klassresor. Rädslan i detta sammanhang är ofta att barnen ska utsättas för omoralisk påverkan eller själva göra något som påverkas deras rykte (detta gäller framför allt tonårsflickor).
Boken Muslim i Sverige innehåller en hel del islamisk apologetik, författarna var ju muslimer när de skrev den, men alltså även viktiga iakttagelser.
Vi har satsat miljontals skattekronor på att motverka islamofobi, pengar som ibland har gått till organisationer som själva sprider västofobi. Det är kanske dags att vi börjar satsa på att motverka västofobin, ett sätt att tänka som försvårar muslimers integration i det svenska samhället, ger upphov till social friktion, och i vissa fall extrema fall till och med kan bidra till radikalisering och anslutning till antivästliga jihadgrupper. |
Riff Racer
Developed by Developed by FOAM Entertainment
reviewed) Available on PC ( Steam
Let’s talk about Riff Racer. Games that revolve around music are not a new concept at all. We’ve all played one, whether it be Guitar Hero, Rock Band, Wii Music, Donkey Konga or something completely different. I enjoy rhythm games such as the ones mentioned above, but I do tend to tire of these games after a while. I’ve pontificated upon this matter at length, and I’ve eventually started to see a pattern.
I’ve found that a recurring flaw within most rhythm games is in fact how repetitive they tend to be – you play through a couple of songs, and the concept remains pretty much the same. The games aren’t bringing much new to the table, and playing them can easily start to get tiresome.
That’s where Riff Racer scores: through innovative gameplay, Riff Racer manages to stay replayable, even after playing for a long time. This game is a rhythm/racing game where the player can race on tracks generated through music. The player may choose a song freely from his computer, and the game will generate a track that fits the song, complete with obstacles, ramps, and pickups to improve the gameplay. Another factor that benefits the l ongevity of the game is the fact that you earn XP points through completing laps, allowing the player to level up and gain benefits from doing so. You can pick up currency on the tracks themselves, which can be spent in the in-game store to purchase vehicles. Your scores can be compared to other players, and you may race against the ghosts of others in order to improve the sensation of truly competing.
The game plays wonderfully, as if it was a mixture of Trackmania and Audiosurf. It is true that the latter has based itself upon the same foundation as Riff Racer, but this one sets itself apart from Audiosurf through the wonderfully playful driving mechanics. The vehicle is capable of boosting, drifting through corners and performing tricks such as barrel rolls in order to improve your score. The game looks beautiful, with a very varied color palette. The procedurally generated tracks make it hard to get tired from repetitiveness, as you’ll always see something new unfold.
Now, Riff Racer has indeed proven itself a positive addition to my library, and to be honest, you have to get quite nitpicky in order to find anything wrong with the game. The game has no major issues, no game-breaking components, and there are just a few things that could have been improved in order to make the game better overall.
The ramps are a cool addition to the tracks, as they help to spice up the game a little. However, I find it difficult to properly coordinate my landing. I often find myself flying off the track because I can’t seem to get a grip on the in-air mechanics. As I said, I’m being quite nitpicky at this point.
The biggest issue I have with the game is the XP ranking system. While I do commend the game for including such a system, it could use some improvements. The system works as one would expect, you start in rank 0, and you gain XP to level up. However, the rate in which you level up should be a lot more fluid. We’re used to systems where the transition from rank 0 to rank 1 is a fast and easy one, and as you progress through the ranks, it requires more XP to level up. In Riff Racer, however, the transition from rank 0 to rank 1 is tremendously slow, making it rather tiresome to attempt to level up.
Apart from this, Riff Racer has proven itself not only one of the best rhythm games I’ve had the distinctive honor of playing, but also a fantastic game if you’re up late at night looking for a casual gaming experience. The game is highly accessible, and can be played on a wide variety of computers. In fact, I played it on a rather cheap HP PC usually reserved for work, but it ran extremely fluidly. I urge every fan of rhythm games and/or racing games to pick up Riff Racer on Steam, or at least check out some trailers, as it brought me nothing but joy. If the nitpicking issues I picked up on get improvements, this game can count on me coming back to it for a long time. |
Share. Six from Halo 1 PC, and a pair from Halo 2 for Windows Vista. Six from Halo 1 PC, and a pair from Halo 2 for Windows Vista.
If you've only ever played Halo on Xbox consoles, then Halo: The Master Chief Collection has a few surprises for you. Eight of them, actually.
Since MCC includes every Halo map ever released, that means it's also packing the six Gearbox-developed maps featured in the PC version of Halo: Combat Evolved as well as the pair of extra maps included in the Windows Vista version of Halo 2. Join IGN editor and Halo superfan Brian Albert in the video above as he introduces you to the eight maps that may be brand-new to you when MCC releases. And don't miss our first looks at Halo 1 Classic and Halo 2 Classic in the videos below. Halo 3 and Halo 4 1080p/60fps first looks will be coming soon.
Also be sure to stop by our ever-expanding IGN First hub page for this ongoing month of Halo: The Master Chief Collection, the one-stop shop for everything we're doing.
Exit Theatre Mode
Exit Theatre Mode
Ryan McCaffrey is IGN’s Executive Editor of Previews and Xbox Guru-in-Chief. Follow him on Twitter at @DMC_Ryan, on IGN, catch him on Podcast Unlocked, and drop-ship him Taylor Ham sandwiches from New Jersey whenever possible. |
Deep in the bowels of an office building in lower Manhattan sits more than 500,000 gold bars, with a combined weight of nearly 7,000 tons. They are in the custody of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, which is holding them for the U.S. government, foreign governments, state governments, other central banks, and official international organizations.
Some of Texas' gold reserves are there too, and now they want them back.
Last week, Gov. Greg Abbot signed HB 483, a law creating what is likely the first-ever state-level gold bullion and precious metal depository.
In his official statement after signing the bill, Abbot said the law is about "increasing the security and stability of our gold reserves and keeping taxpayer funds from leaving Texas to pay for fees to store gold in facilities outside our state."
The bill states the gold will be beyond the purview or control of any "governmental or quasi-governmental authority" that is not directly administered by the state of Texas.
State Rep. Giovanni Capriglione, the bill's author, told the Star-Telegram newspaper that the depository is about more than just securing Texas' precious metals.
"We are not talking Fort Knox," Capriglione said. "But when I first announced this, I got so many emails and phone calls from people literally all over the world who said they want to store their gold ... in a Texas depository. People have this image of Texas as big and powerful ... so for a lot of people, this is exactly where they would want to go with their gold."
The Star-Telegram reports the primary goal of the depository - which doesn't have a physical home yet - is to "bring home more than $1 billion in gold bars that are owned by the University of Texas Investment Management Co. and are now housed at the Hong Kong and Shanghai Bank in New York."
Secession in modern America
However, it's no secret that many in Texas have long talked of seceding from the federal government. Having a healthy gold reserve would make establishing a currency a lot easier, to say nothing of providing a solid foundation for true economic independence, and some say the Texas depository could be a first step in that direction..
Conservatives in the state have ratcheted up the rhetoric around secession in recent years. Earlier this year, a controversy erupted around a multi-state U.S. military training exercise dubbed "Jade Helm 15." It led to wild Internet-fueled suspicions that the war simulation was really a hostile military takeover.
The speculation grew so loud that Gov. Abbott asked the State Guard to monitor the exercise. No other governor had so publicly addressed the training exercise.
"It is important that Texans know their safety, constitutional rights, private property rights and civil liberties will not be infringed," Abbott said at the time. "By monitoring the Operation on a continual basis, the State Guard will facilitate communications between my office and the commanders of the Operation to ensure that adequate measures are in place to protect Texans." |
It feels more spacious inside and open to natural light than Sydney's existing trams. And, once coupled to another, the new tram sets for Sydney's $2.1 billion light rail will be twice the length of those running on the 12.8-kilometre inner west light rail line.
After weeks wrapped in white plastic at a new yard at Randwick, the first of 60 trams for Sydney's $2.1 billion light rail line from Circular Quay to Randwick and Kensington was unveiled on Tuesday.
"It will have a very modern smooth feel [for passengers] but obviously longer than any other light rail vehicle they have seen before," Premier Gladys Berejiklian said.
Describing it as a "game changer", she said the new line would provide a better link for people travelling to the CBD or, in the other direction, to the University of NSW at Kensington and hospitals at Randwick. |
By Erwin Seba and Edward McAllister
(Reuters) - An unknown amount of oil leaked from BP Plc's Whiting refinery in Indiana into Lake Michigan after a mechanical glitch on Monday afternoon, the company confirmed on Tuesday.
The discharge had stopped, and the leak was contained, the London-based company said in a statement on Tuesday.
No injuries were reported, and the effect on Lake Michigan was not immediately clear. About 60 percent of the lake is covered in ice, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
BP has laid down boom on the water to keep the leak from spreading and said the oil was in a cove between the refinery's wastewater treatment plant and a steel mill.
Crews were working on the cleanup on Tuesday. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the Coast Guard and state regulators were at the scene.
Winds were pushing the oil onto the shore, while cold temperatures were causing it to harden into a waxy consistency, making it easier to collect, BP spokesman Scott Dean said.
Dean declined to say how much oil was released.
The largest crude distillation unit at the 405,000-barrel-per-day refinery was back to normal operations after a malfunction led to the leak, Dean said.
The 260,000-bpd crude distillation unit, called Pipestill 12, was the centerpiece of a $4 billion refit of the Whiting refinery completed late last year to run large amounts of oil from Canada's tar sands fields in Alberta.
A crude distillation unit does the initial refining of crude oil coming into a refinery and provides feedstock for all other units at the plant.
The refinery has been increasing the amount of Canadian crude oil running through Pipestill 12 during the first quarter of this year.
Environmental groups opposed the BP upgrade, saying use of the Canadian crude would increase pollution from the refinery into Lake Michigan.
The Whiting refinery is the primary focus of BP's U.S. refining strategy to use only plants in the northern United States that have in easy access to Canadian crude oil. BP sold plants in Texas and California last year as part of the strategy.
BP's American depositary shares were down 1 cent at $46.69 in morning New York Stock Exchange trading. The company's stock was up 0.4 percent in London.
(Reporting by Edward McAlliser and Selam Gerekidan in New York, Arpan Varghese in Bangalore, Erwin Seba and Kristen Hays in Houston and David Sheppard in London; Editing by Lisa Von Ahn and Jeff Benkoe) |
Parental anxiety and/or depression during pregnancy and before their child starts school is linked to a heightened risk of that child becoming a ‘fussy’ eater, finds research published online in the Archives of Disease in Childhood.
The associations were evident for mums at both time periods, but just during the pre-school period for dads, the findings indicate.
Fussy eating behaviour, which is characterised by the consistent rejection of particular foods, is common in childhood, and a frequent source of concern for parents, say the researchers.
It has been associated with constipation, weight problems and behavioural issues in the child. And it’s been linked to postnatal anxiety and depression in mums.
But it’s not been clear if this anxiety/depression is caused by the child’s eating patterns or is itself a risk factor, nor is it known what potential impact the dad’s state of mind might have.
In a bid to try and answer these questions, the researchers quizzed participants in the Generation R study, which has been tracking the health and wellbeing of children from pregnancy onwards since 2002 in The Netherlands.
The current analysis was based on 4746 mother and child pairs and 4144 dads, whose children had all been born between 2002 and 2006.
Parents were asked to complete a validated questionnaire (BSI) during mid pregnancy, and then again three years later, to assess their own symptoms of anxiety and depression. And mothers completed another validated questionnaire (CEBQ) on childhood eating patterns, when their child reached the age of 4. Fathers also filled in a few questions about their child’s eating patterns when s/he was 3 years old.
By the age of 3, around 30% of the children were classified as fussy eaters.
After taking account of influential factors, such as educational attainment and household income, maternal anxiety during pregnancy, and during the preschool period, were both independently associated with fussy eating behaviour by the time their child was 4 years old. This was irrespective of their own symptoms when the child was 3.
Each additional point the mums scored on the anxiety scale in pregnancy was associated with an extra point on the score denoting fussy eating in their child.
Among the dads, only anxiety during the preschool period was associated with fussy eating in their child.
Further analysis showed that not only were clinically high maternal anxiety scores associated with fussy eating, but also scores that were above average, compared with mums who scored average or below average.
As for depression, higher maternal scores during the antenatal period as well as three years after the birth were independently related to higher fussy eating scores among their 4 year olds. The results were similar for the dads.
This is an observational study so no firm conclusions can be drawn about cause and effect, but the findings back up those of other research, say the study authors.
And the finding that the mum’s antenatal symptoms predicted a 4 year old’s fussy eating behaviour, irrespective of whether she had symptoms when the child was 3, “strongly suggests that the direction of the associations with mothers’ antenatal symptoms is from mother to child,” they write.
“Clinicians should be aware that not only severe anxiety and depression, but also milder forms of internalising problems can affect child eating behaviour,” they add. |
When reporters brought up Patrice Bergeron’s name ahead of Sunday’s NHL All-Star Game, the Boston Bruins center’s colleagues showered him with praise.
“I think the one thing you notice with Bergy, just the guy doesn’t make a mistake,” Colorado Avalanche center Matt Duchene told The Boston Globe’s Amalie Benjamin in Nashville, Tenn. “I think he’s as close to the perfect hockey player as you could ever find.”
Said New York Islanders center John Tavares: “He’s just always in the right spot, he always puts the puck in the right spot, he always seems to be the guy back defensively breaking up a play, getting you the puck in good spots, turning up the ice. He just makes the game so easy for you as a teammate and as a linemate. He is really a special player.”
Those are quite the compliments. But Bergeron certainly has earned that praise with his two-way play throughout his career.
And this season has been no different. The three-time Selke Trophy winner and former Stanley Cup champion has 19 goals, 25 assists, 44 points and a 57.2 faceoff winning percentage through 49 games.
“He’s probably one of the most complete players in the league,” Florida Panthers goalie Roberto Luongo told The Globe. “He’s so smart. Not only is he good offensively, but he does so many little things that people don’t see as far as D zone or faceoffs or just little intangibles, as far as being in the right place with the puck. All these things that people don’t really notice. But when you’re in the game and you play with a guy like that, you really appreciate it more.”
Bruins fans certainly appreciate Bergeron, too.
Thumbnail photo via Winslow Townson/USA TODAY Sports Images
Thumbnail photo via Boston Bruins center Patrice Bergeron |
LGBT journalists, bloggers, and other professionals will gather March 23-26 in Orlando for the 8th annual #LGBTMedia convention. The media members who most proudly cover the LGBT community plan to convene on March 23 at Orlando’s Rosen Centre with the specific goal of better informing each other on the current topics that most prominently impact the LGBT community.
The convening of journalists this year is sponsored by the National Lesbian and Gay Journalists Association (NLGJA) and funded in part by Arcus Foundation. The Arcus Foundation works "with experts and advocates for change to ensure that LGBT people and our fellow apes thrive in a world where social and environmental justice are a reality," according to the website. Also funding the conference is the Evelyn and Walter Haas Jr. Fund, a private family foundation based out of San Francisco that “promotes equal rights and opportunities with an emphasis on immigrants and gays and lesbians,” according to the foundation's mission statement.
“#LGBTMedia2017 is focused on giving LGBT journalists deeper insights into current topics and skills-building,” said Matt Foreman, Senior Program Director for the Haas, Jr. Fund. “Because we’ve added an extra day to the event this year, we’ll be covering a broad range of topics, including coverage of international issues and understanding journalism on trans issues.
According to their website, NLGJA is an "organization of journalists, media professionals, educators and students working from within the news industry to foster fair and accurate coverage of LGBT issues." The LGBT media weekend is an extension of what NLGJA stands for, and it provides an excellent resource for journalists looking to network with their peers and learn more about what makes covering the LGBT community such exciting work.
Hearing about others experiences, gaining advice, and being a part of a group of professionals that is so motivated to make a difference is a big part about what many journalists attending the NLGJA convention look forward to all year.
“I’m definitely looking forward to the keynote from Cathy Woolard, the former President of the Atlanta City Council and candidate for mayor,” Jen Christensen, Board President of NLGJA told SFGN. “She’s been fighting for LGBT rights for many years and I look forward to hearing her advice on how she thinks the community can move forward in what are tough times. In addition, seven journalists are going to give short talks based on their own experiences, such as staying professional when a story involves someone you know well.”
Obviously, the event being held in Orlando takes on a special meaning this year. Just about a year ago the Orlando LGBT community was devastated by the Pulse nightclub attack. The fact that so many journalists that were affected by the tragedy will be in attendance will not be ignored during the weekend.
“It would be impossible to be in Orlando and not focus on the Pulse tragedy – it’s still front and center in so many of our minds,” Christensen told SFGN. “We will be hearing from a survivor and panel of journalists about their experiences in covering the massacre and what can be learned from that coverage.”
All in all, the 7th LGBT media event is sure to build on what the six previous brought to the journalists who attend. Through the good, and the bad, LGBT journalists are a tight-knit community that is constantly evolving. Meeting once a year at such a great event is sure to only foster better journalism in the future.
“Along with engaging presentations and learning new skills, it’s great to be with so many other LGBTQ newspaper editors and bloggers.” Christensen told SFGN. “Our field is under tremendous pressure and talking with colleagues who face the same challenges on a daily basis is uniquely rewarding.” |
An inquest has heard that Paul Rossington should receive Australia's highest bravery award. The officer in charge of the case, Detective Sergeant Michael O'Keefe, said Mr Rossington should be recognised for his bravery with Australia's highest honour, the Cross of Valour. "He must have known that jumping out would most likely end with him losing his life," Mr O'Keefe said. Advocate assisting the Coroner Erika Mulligan said the evidence suggested the couple's deaths were a "tragic accident" and Ms Schroder was not intending to commit suicide. Mr Rossington, a paramedic, acted on instinct in attempting to save her. "He has not thought about his safety at all … that is certainly an act of bravery," Ms Mulligan said.
Paul Rossington and Kristen Schroder had been dating for about 10 months. The couple had been on an 11-day cruise of the South Pacific aboard the US-based Carnival Cruise's 12-deck Carnival Spirit liner with Ms Schroder's parents, siblings and their partners. Mr Rossington, a paramedic based in Barraba, 90 kilometres north of Tamworth, and Ms Schroder, a real estate agent, had a "turbulent relationship" and the cruise was seen as a "make or break" holiday, after which they would decide whether to stay together or break-up. Kristen and Paul Rossington. Credit:Facebook In a conversation with her sister, Ms Schroder said she had told Mr Rossington if he left her, she would kill herself, but there were no other indications she was suicidal.
The couple largely kept to themselves and didn't spend much time with Ms Schroder's family. They spent more than $2000 in the ship's onboard casinos, bars, restaurants and shops. Aron Dennis and Roxene Dennis, mother of Kristen Schroder, leave Glebe Coronor's Court. Credit:Christopher Pearce Mr O'Keefe said the couple had been seen arguing at dinner about an hour before they went overboard and Mr Rossington had stormed back to their fifth deck cabin, telling her to "go f--- yourself". Earlier that evening CCTV footage captured them having a "terse conversation" while playing a poker machine. Mr O'Keefe said lip reading experts were unable to determine what was said. The on-board swipe card system recorded Mr Rossington enter their cabin at 8.19pm. He apparently took off his shoes, clothes and underwear and got into bed. When Ms Schroder went back to the cabin she asked a steward to unlock the cabin's mini-bar fridge so she could stow a bottle of wine. The steward said he assumed Mr Rossington was asleep.
The ship docked at Circular Quay about 6.15am on May 9. By 10am the captain was told Mr Rossington and Ms Schroder hadn't disembarked. A sweep of the ship was completed by 11.20am and by 11.30am police were notified. The couple's personal items remained in their cabin, which was declared a crime scene. At 1.50pm crew reviewing the infrared footage saw two bodies go overboard from the proximity of the couple's cabin when the liner was 65 nautical miles due east of Crowdy Head and travelling at 22 nautical miles or 41 kilometres an hour. A search and rescue operation was launched but by this time the couple had been in the water for 16 hours. The inquest heard it was likely Ms Schroder had been rendered unconscious by hitting a railing before she entered the water and didn't surface. Mr O'Keefe said a consultant sea survival expert, Dr Paul Luckin, had opined Mr Rossington was probably seriously injured from jumping from a height of 19.35 metres into a one-metre-high swell in darkness and even if he wasn't, he would not have survived for very long. Mr Dillon addressed the families who attended the inquest, including 14 members of the extended Rossington clan, some who were dressed in Scottish kilts.
"It's a terrible price to pay but perhaps the loss of their lives will result in other people's lives not being lost in some way," Mr Dillon said. Mr Rossington's mother Christeen said she hoped her son's death "will see the introduction of safe cruise ship practices and protocols to reduce the risk of another tragedy occurring". Denise Minakowski, the director of shore-side operations for Carnival Australia told the inquest the company and other cruise line operators were committed to finding an effective "man overboard" alert system. "I think we're very close …. based on some of the trials we've had recently they've been much more successful than what we have had in the past," Ms Minakowski said. She said passengers are given a safety briefing upon embarkation and placards located around the ship instructed passengers to immediately contact crew in case of any emergency.
Mr Dillon told the families he was inclined to recommend passengers be given a specific safety briefing on what to do in the event of a man overboard. Mrs Rossington said her son had been a junior rugby league representative player with an easy-going nature. "Our son died as he lived – an honourable man," she said. Mr Dillon will hand down his findings on June 29. |
In September of 2012, Adrian Bayley raped and murdered 29-year-old Jill Meagher (below), receiving a life conviction for the crime. Also appalling is how Bayley had over twenty rape convictions to his name before being put away for good this time. Reacting to the story, one Catholic priest, Father Joseph Olickal, reportedly took the opportunity to opine that the murder victim might have been spared such a tragedy had she but lived a “more faith-filled” life.
The comments were allegedly made during an end-of-term mass at St Christopher’s Primary School in Airport West [Friday] before a congregation of students, staff and around 100 parishioners, 3AW reports. The priest held up a newspaper that featured a photo of Ms Meagher’s killer Adrian Bayley, telling the congregation had the 29-year-old Irish woman been “more faith-filled” she “would have been home in bed” and “not walking down Sydney Road at 3am”.
Monsignor Greg Bennett, vicar-general of the Melbourne archdiocese, said the church was aware of yesterday’s sermon and did not support the priest’s “totally inappropriate” and “offensive” comments. “I’ve spoken with the priest; he acknowledges that the homily wasn’t appropriate and apologises for the offence and upset it has caused,” Monsignor Bennett told 3AW.
To their credit, the church promptly responded to the inevitable criticism:
Of course, it isn’t just the fact that the comments were made that is an issue. The root of the problem is the mindset that prompts comments like Father Olickal’s — a victim-blaming mindset that contends that there is a certain way to act, and a certain set of (usually religious) rules to follow, that will protect “good” women from being raped; that rape is something that happens to women who transgress moral boundaries, and is, therefore, really the woman’s fault.
Still, I suppose it must be said that, considering how long this sort thing has come straight from the Church, it’s at least a step in the right direction to see churchmen recognizing, rather than endorsing, the inappropriateness of such commentary and publicly denouncing it.
(Image via Facebook. Thanks to Anthony for the link) |
When a team of cosmologists announced at a press conference in March that they had detected gravitational waves generated in the first instants after the Big Bang, the origins of the Universe were once again major news. The reported discovery created a worldwide sensation in the scientific community, the media and the public at large (see Nature 507, 281–283; 2014).
According to the team at the BICEP2 South Pole telescope, the detection is at the 5–7 sigma level, so there is less than one chance in two million of it being a random occurrence. The results were hailed as proof of the Big Bang inflationary theory and its progeny, the multiverse. Nobel prizes were predicted and scores of theoretical models spawned. The announcement also influenced decisions about academic appointments and the rejections of papers and grants. It even had a role in governmental planning of large-scale projects.
The BICEP2 team identified a twisty (B-mode) pattern in its maps of polarization of the cosmic microwave background, concluding that this was a detection of primordial gravitational waves. Now, serious flaws in the analysis have been revealed that transform the sure detection into no detection. The search for gravitational waves must begin anew. The problem is that other effects, including light scattering from dust and the synchrotron radiation generated by electrons moving around galactic magnetic fields within our own Galaxy, can also produce these twists.
The BICEP2 instrument detects radiation at only one frequency, so cannot distinguish the cosmic contribution from other sources. To do so, the BICEP2 team used measurements of galactic dust collected by the Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe and Planck satellites, each of which operates over a range of other frequencies. When the BICEP2 team did its analysis, the Planck dust map had not yet been published, so the team extracted data from a preliminary map that had been presented several months earlier. Now a careful reanalysis by scientists at Princeton University and the Institute for Advanced Study, also in Princeton, has concluded that the BICEP2 B-mode pattern could be the result mostly or entirely of foreground effects without any contribution from gravitational waves. Other dust models considered by the BICEP2 team do not change this negative conclusion, the Princetonteam showed (R. Flauger, J. C. Hill and D. N. Spergel, preprint at http://arxiv.org/abs/1405.7351; 2014).
The sudden reversal should make the scientific community contemplate the implications for the future of cosmology experimentation and theory. The search for gravitational waves is not stymied. At least eight experiments, including BICEP3, the Keck Array and Planck, are already aiming at the same goal.
“The inflationary paradigm is fundamentally untestable, and hence scientifically meaningless.”
This time, the teams can be assured that the world will be paying close attention. This time, acceptance will require measurements over a range of frequencies to discriminate from foreground effects, as well as tests to rule out other sources of confusion. And this time, the announcements should be made after submission to journals and vetting by expert referees. If there must be a press conference, hopefully the scientific community and the media will demand that it is accompanied by a complete set of documents, including details of the systematic analysis and sufficient data to enable objective verification.
The BICEP2 incident has also revealed a truth about inflationary theory. The common view is that it is a highly predictive theory. If that was the case and the detection of gravitational waves was the ‘smoking gun’ proof of inflation, one would think that non-detection means that the theory fails. Such is the nature of normal science. Yet some proponents of inflation who celebrated the BICEP2 announcement already insist that the theory is equally valid whether or not gravitational waves are detected. How is this possible?
The answer given by proponents is alarming: the inflationary paradigm is so flexible that it is immune to experimental and observational tests. First, inflation is driven by a hypothetical scalar field, the inflaton, which has properties that can be adjusted to produce effectively any outcome. Second, inflation does not end with a universe with uniform properties, but almost inevitably leads to a multiverse with an infinite number of bubbles, in which the cosmic and physical properties vary from bubble to bubble. The part of the multiverse that we observe corresponds to a piece of just one such bubble. Scanning over all possible bubbles in the multiverse, everything that can physically happen does happen an infinite number of times. No experiment can rule out a theory that allows for all possible outcomes. Hence, the paradigm of inflation is unfalsifiable.
This may seem confusing given the hundreds of theoretical papers on the predictions of this or that inflationary model. What these papers typically fail to acknowledge is that they ignore the multiverse and that, even with this unjustified choice, there exists a spectrum of other models which produce all manner of diverse cosmological outcomes. Taking this into account, it is clear that the inflationary paradigm is fundamentally untestable, and hence scientifically meaningless.
Cosmology is an extraordinary science at an extraordinary time. Advances, including the search for gravitational waves, will continue to be made and it will be exciting to see what is discovered in the coming years. With these future results in hand, the challenge for theorists will be to identify a truly explanatory and predictive scientific paradigm describing the origin, evolution and future of the Universe. |
October 13, 2017 by: Michael Collins
So maybe you own some Bitcoin but, like my 6 year old with tooth fairy money, it’s burning a hole in your pocket. Maybe you are eyeballing a new video card for that mining rig to capture some more NEO and get GAS from newegg.com or you might just be picking up a much-needed microvelvet lounger for the pooch at overstock.com. The good news is you can pay for all of this with just a little bit of Bitcoin.
Well, under today’s rules, those purchases result in a capital gains (or loss if your timing is as bad as mine). That is because the IRS currently identifies Bitcoin as property. They laid the groundwork for this treatment in Notice 2014-21 (click here to read n-14-21), which I personally believe was rushed just to get something out there as cryptocurrencies began growing exponentially in popularity and there was no previous guidance as to the tax treatment.
Our friends in the U.K. have a little more breathing room than we do here in the U.S. While the IRS equivalent in the U.K. identifies Bitcoin and other cryptos similarly, as property, they also give each tax payer an exemption of £11,100 (around $14,000 US dollars) so that those spending it like cash don’t get hammered with capital gains taxes. They actually have capital gains taxes there too – even spelled the same but read it in your best John Oliver voice for the most accurate pronunciation.
Here in the US, we currently have no exemption so every single Satoshi of Bitcoin you spend is treated like a property sale and subject to either long-term (hopefully) or short-term (not hopefully) capital gains taxes depending upon how long you held it (or, better yet, how you identified it – which I will explain in a future column). Every single transaction. Even the .000213 BTC fee on an exchange of two other coins. In the stock exchange world, transaction fees can simply be added as part of the cost of the transaction and get added to the basis. In the crypto world, the fee itself is its very own transaction, treated from the current IRS perspective as a unique sale of property on its own. Note to self – if an exchange will accept USD for transaction fees, pay it with that and just add the fees in as part of the basis of the acquired coin. That would also save a lot of cost on these exchanges that are slow to adjust the crypto rate as the value of the coin increase against the U.S. dollar. More about that in a later column too.
With all of this incredible hassle to just spend Bitcoin in the United States, how will it ever truly catch on and be perceived widely as a viable alternative currency, rather than a black market of criminals who aren’t paying taxes anyway?
Enter our heroes, Representative Jared Polis, D-Colo., and Representative David Schweikert, R-Ariz., who serve as chairmen of the Congressional Blockchain Caucus. In recognition of the challenges faced in its growing adoption, the Caucus was formed during the 114th Congress in February of 2017 to educate and inform policymakers on blockchain technology and help the United States remain competitive in the international arena.
Polis and Schweikert introduced The Cryptocurrency Tax Fairness Act of 2017, which by its very name and the fact that they belong to different parties, suggests bipartisan understanding of the dozens of complaints generated by my last column that paying capital gains taxes on every single transaction is just “not fair.” I could use other quotes besides “not fair” but I’m trying to avoid an R- rating.
As the IRS strong-arms exchanges into revealing the potentially unreported, tax-consequential activities of their customers, Polis and Schweikert seem to have taken the stance that at least part of the blame for low self-reporting falls on the IRS for providing only vague guidance for taxpayers and preparers about the tax treatment of something with hybrid-like characteristics such as cryptocurrencies.
Prior to the introduction of The Cryptocurrency Tax Fairness Act of 2017 in September, Polis and Schweikert sent a letter to the Commissioner of the Internal Revenue Service, John Koskinen, requesting that the IRS “clarif[y] how to properly tax these forms of transactions.” Polis expanded by saying, “I look forward to hearing from Commissioner Koskinen and receiving clear-cut guidance for how digital currency users report their taxable income.”
The opinion of Polis and Schweikert seems clear that buying a soda from a Bitcoin-friendly vending machine should not trigger a capital gains tax situation and that eliminating capital gains taxes on at least some of the day-to-day transactions is exactly what they hope to accomplish. Like in the UK, the Act would exempt transactions under a certain amount from triggering a taxable capital gain. Unlike in the UK, the exemption is not $14,000 US, only $600. That is not anywhere close to where I would like see it, and this Act still has a long way to go before it becomes reality, but it is a huge step in the right direction as recognition of the legitimacy of cryptocurrencies in the United State continues to gain ground.
If you would like to receive updates to new topics addressed by the Crypto Tax Corner, be sure to follow us and consider supporting future content with a small donation by clicking here: Donate to the Crypto Tax Center.
© Michael L. Collins
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(Munroe Falls, Ohio release) – Defending two-time Trans Am Champion Amy Ruman will kick off the season this weekend for Round 1 of the 2017 Trans Am Championship Presented by Pirelli at Sebring International Raceway in Florida. After scoring her third consecutive win at Daytona International Speedway last November, Ruman captured the 2016 Trans Am Championship title for the second year in a row during the Series’ historic 50th Anniversary season.
The short winter break flew by for the “2016 Trans Am Crew of the Year” award winners, as they were busy re-bodying Ruman’s current chassis to the newer C7 Chevrolet Corvette body style. The Series has also made the switch to Pirelli tires for all teams. 2017 is set to be another challenging year, as even more competitors flock to the TA class.
There are 77 competitors entered for the Sebring race at the 3.7-mile road course. The TA class, at 26 entries, will run the multi-class format featuring a joint race with the TA/TA3/TA4 classes for a total of 44 race entries. The TA2 class, powered by AEM, will run a separate race with 33 entries.
“I can’t believe how quickly the season came upon us. I’m so excited to get back in the car and try out the new Pirelli tires and our new C7 Corvette. The crew has worked tirelessly throughout the offseason to get the No. 23 McNichols beast looking great and running fast! We will have a learning curve between the new tires and body style, but should come up to speed fairly quickly,” exclaimed Ruman. “I know there will be both new and familiar faces in the TA class this year, and I am looking forward to some awesome clean, close racing. Let’s just say I’m up for the three-peat challenge!”
Ruman and team are pleased to affirm their continued partnership with McNICHOLS CO., an Industrial and Architectural Hole Product Solutions company, for the 16th consecutive year. “We are delighted to return as Ruman Racing’s primary sponsor for another year of thrilling Trans Am racing. Amy and her outstanding crew have worked hard to be the best and stay on top and have delivered back-to-back championships for us, we are proud to be back on the No. 23,” said Gene McNichols, Chairman and CEO of McNichols Co.
“I am so appreciative to have such an incredible sponsor in McNichols Co. I am honored to be a representative for the Hole Story team and am looking to deliver another Championship for them!” commented Ruman.
The weekend will start off with a Pirelli tire test day on Thursday March 2nd, followed by a promoter test session and official TA practice 1 on Friday. Practice session 2 and qualifying will take place on Saturday March 4th. Sunday will feature two Trans Am races – the TA2 race at 11:05am followed by the TA/3/4 at 3:05pm, both at 100.98-miles 27-laps – all times listed are ET. Visit gotransam.com or svra.com for ticket, full schedule, and all other weekend information. |
Copyright by KRON - All rights reserved
MENLO PARK (KRON) -- An elderly driver was hit in the neck and killed by debris while he was driving on U.S. Highway 101 in Menlo Park on Friday afternoon, according to the CHP.
According to CHP, the elderly driver was killed by a small brass nut that may have fallen off a vehicle, or been kicked up from the road.
Below is an image of what CHP officers believed killed the man.
Copyright by KRON - All rights reserved Photo Courtesy: California Highway Patrol
Copyright by KRON - All rights reserved Photo Courtesy: California Highway Patrol
The driver killed has been identified as Louis Schaefer of Mountain View. He was 82 years old.
Witnesses said the man, who appeared to be in his early 80s, was struck by the item when it smashed through his windshield near Willow Road at about 1 p.m., said CHP Officer Art Montiel.
After being struck, the driver collided with the center divide, eventually coming to a stop. No other vehicles were involved in the accident.
The two left lanes of Highway 101 were closed.
All lanes have since reopened.
Bay City News contributed to this report. |
Handling traffic peaks with CloudFlare CDN for free
Every once in a while you're lucky and end up with a positive problem - your website content is suddenly very popular. You might scramble and start turning up your servers and tuning up your caches or maybe someone's de-facto solution is to install HHVM to run your WordPress faster. While this is all worth while if you plan for this to happen in the future as well, for and occasional hit piece of content it might not be worth it.
I've ran a dormant news site, metropolitan.fi, on Bolt since June 2013 for fun. On an average day it barely registers on any meters, averaging maybe 10-20 visitors a day. I run the site on a Virtual Server with multiple other sites on it (including this one).
The publication is by no means a triumph of journalism, it's more of an experiment. And while I don't normally even think about the service I have twice hit a niche and spark discussions by translating some news from Finland that have been noteworthy Globally:
While it's fun to attract some readers, it's not something I want to loose sleep over. The server runs other services and I'd rather not have them be affected by the traffic. The server would probably have managed this just fine without any tweaks, but as a life insurance I set up CloudFlare caching on it back in June 2013.
Promise of the CloudFlare Free Plan is:
Peace of mind about running your website so you can get back to what you love
CloudFlare offers a number of services, but the key take away for me is the advanced Content Delivery Network (CDN). This let's me easily scale up for load peaks when I need - actually even when I know don't need since the service is always-on.
The CDN platform delivers content with speed and closest to where the users is - with low latency. This results in lower load on my server and a better experience for a global audience. In addition to delivery, CloudFlare also offers other optimizations (resource minification, etc.). I've ran with default settings and it works just fine for such a simple content driven site.
So in the title your read that it's free. So what's the catch? Well, you'll run out of the free plan features at some point and then you'll want more. That's when you start paying. Just like with Slack and many other SaaS platforms. It's "freemium" and it works for my use.
I access the CloudFlare service very randomly, but as a marketing method the freemium model can be very effective. Each time I've had to actively use CloudFlare - it's been just perfect. I dabble in the field of web development and based on my experiences I would recommend the premium tiers to other people. So it's really a win-win.
Not to give a purely rosy picture about CloudFlare there is a price for the ease of use: You need to let CloudFlare handle your DNS. For larger corporations and more exotic setups this might make the service more trouble than it's worth.
CloudFlare works very well for delivering static content (along with dynamic commenting from Disqus). A complex eCommerce site, might not be such a no-brainer to deploy - there are plenty of options in the control panel.
With CloudFlare I can run a high-performance global news service on a shoestring budget. That's pretty amazing.
P.S. This site is not on CloudFlare, because it is an experiment on serving PHP with HHVM and H2O over HTTP/2
P.S.S. There are plenty of similar services out there, just Bing it!
P.S.S A commenter on Reddit wished for some statistics. See Sample Traffic Reports from CloudFlare Admin Panel
Written by Jani Tarvainen on Monday July 13, 2015
Permalink - Tags: performance, cdn, php, bolt, cloudflare, web, symfony
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The fact that Sheldon Adelson has pledged to spend $100 million this year toward Mitt Romney's election probably seems excessive to most Americans, no matter what their income is. But that could potentially be an investment with an incredible 2,200% return if the Republican presidential nominee takes the White House in November, according to a new report from the left-leaning Center for American Progress Action Fund.
Assuming Romney's tax reform proposals were put into place, the billionarie casino magnate Adelson potentially stands to receive tax cuts adding up to more than $2 billion in savings.
According to Seth Hanlon, the director of fiscal reform at the Center, the Romney tax plan would benefit Adelson in the following ways:
Cut top tax rates, saving Adelson approximately $1.5 million on his annual compensation as chief executive of his casino company.
Maintain the special low rates on dividends, potentially saving Adelson nearly $120 million on a single year's worth of dividends, more than enough to recoup his political donations.
Maintain the special low rates on capital gains, allowing Adelson to make back his political donations in capital gain tax cuts just by selling a fraction of his stock.
Provide a tax windfall of an estimated $1.2 billion to Adelson's company, Las Vegas Sands Corp., on untaxed profits from its Asian casinos, as well as a tax exemption for future overseas profits. Adelson's casinos already enjoy a special foreign tax exemption from the Chinese administrative region of Macau, and Gov. Romney would make those foreign profits exempt from U.S. taxes as well.
Eliminate the estate tax, potentially providing a staggering $8.9 billion windfall to Adelson's heirs.
Hanlon used public information regarding Adelson's income and wealth, and the profits of his company, Las Vegas Sands Corp., to estimate his potential tax savings. But, as the report notes, the publicly available information likely does not paint a full picture of Adelson's finances, particularly his annual income.
Over a four-year period, Adelson could, by the Center's estimate, receive about $6 million in tax cuts on his executive compensation alone, in addition to $476 million from tax cuts on dividends, and $1.2 billion in permanent tax exemptions for corporate overseas profits -- coming out to a total of $2.3 billion in tax savings.
But even that figure is dwarfed by the potential savings that could come Adelson's way -- or rather, his family's way -- via the elimination of the estate tax, a key part of Romney's tax reform proposal.
Until the end of this year, only estates valued at more than $5.12 million are subject to an estate tax up to a 35 percent top rate; unless there is congressional action on the issue, next year all estates worth more than $1 million will be subject to a top rate of 55 percent.
In comparison to President Barack Obama, who has proposed reinstating the estate tax at 2009 levels (those worth more than $3.5 million subject to tax, with a top rate of 45 percent), Romney said he would completely repeal the tax. For Adelson, who had a net worth estimated at $19.7 billion, his heirs would receive $8.9 billion from estate tax cuts under that plan. That's 89 times more than Adelson is planning on spending to put Romney in the White House.
According to the report, $8.9 billion could fund a variety of federal programs, including Pell Grants for more than 2 million students, the entire Head Start early education program, or all of the activities at the National Science Foundation for a year. Or, of course, it could be used to reduce that federal budget deficit we keep hearing about.
Romney has proposed permanently extending all of the George W. Bush era individual income tax rates, eliminating the taxation of investment income for most taxpayers, reducing the corporate income tax from 35 to 25 percent and allowing several tax provisions in the 2009 stimulus bill -- including those that particularly benefit the middle clas, such as the American Opportunity credit for higher education and the expansion of the earned income tax credit -- expire in 2013.
The nonpartisan Tax Policy Center reports the Romney plan would actually increase the tax burden on those making less than 200,000 per year (95 percent of the population) by more than $500.
"It is not mathematically possible to design a revenue-neutral plan that preserves current incentives for savings and investment and that does not result in a net tax cut for high-income taxpayers and a net tax increase for lower- and/or middle-income taxpayers under the assumptions we have described above. This means that even if tax expenditures are eliminated in a way designed to make the resulting tax system as progressive as possible, there would still be a shift in the tax burden of roughly $86 billion from those making over $200,000 to those making less than that amount," the organization reported.
Although Romney, over the weekend, told NBC's Meet The Press that his proposal would not ultimately cut taxes for the rich because it would eliminate loopholes that reduce their tax bills. But he has refused to identify just what loopholes he would eradicate. |
Matt Strong invented a 3-D printer called TangiBot. More precisely, he built an exact replica of the MakerBot Replicator and is attempting to raise $500,000 on Kickstarter to fund its production.
In most cases, he would be met with a swift cease-and-desist letter, but the MakerBot Replicator is open source, meaning anyone can copy it and sell it. While legal, the TangiBot has raised the ethical hackles of many in the maker community.
Strong is unapologetic about the TangiBot's lack of originality, saying, "I want to bring a low-cost machine to market that people can trust. The Replicator is the best and completely open source. I discussed the licenses with lawyers, and it's totally legit."
What TangiBot lacks in design innovation it makes up for in cost. The entry-level TangiBot will cost $1,199 compared to $1,799 for a MakerBot Replicator. The secret to the Groupon-level discount? TangiBot will be manufactured in China, while MakerBots are built in Brooklyn.
Strong, a mechanical engineer by training, is a supply-chain specialist. Before TangiBot, he spent four years working at Provo Craft, shipping millions of Cricut paper cutters. By leveraging the supply chain he set up at his former post, he's delivering economies of scale and, he argues, making 3-D printing more affordable.
Strongs says his company, 3DTangible, isn't driven by economics alone. His daughter faced severe health challenges early in life and he points to the video of a disabled girl using a 3-D printed exoskeleton as an example of the innovation he wants to help foster.
"I want more people getting involved, designing their own tools at home, but so few people get a chance to experience 3-D printing," he says. "For more people to do it, the prices have to come down."
Despite his good intentions and impressive track record, Strong is getting a lot of flak from the 3-D printing community. Many object to the notion of using open source plans to undercut the original inventor on price without improving upon the design at all. Strong responds that MakerBot's technology is nothing new. "We used the same technology when I was in college. The big difference was that those printers cost $50,000." TangiBot, he says, is doing its part to accelerate adoption of the printers by making the machines cheaper, and eventually better.
The decision to manufacture in China has also raised eyebrows. Will TangiBots be produced in a Foxconn-like factory with unfair labor practices just to cut the price? "These factories pass Disney audits," Strong counters.
Phillip Torrone, the creative director at AdaFruit Industries and Senior Editor at Make magazine, was one of the big names who weighed in on the TangiBot Kickstarter page. "Being able to copy or 'clone' open source and open source hardware (OSHW) is not only OK, it's celebrated," Torrone told Wired Design. "OSHW has a goal of not only having good designs shared, but the desire to add value to the world when it's shared and improvements are made."
>"Kickstarter would likely not allow any of us to get funding for a self-described iPhone clone or knock-off, ask for $500K, and then assure everyone it will be just as good..." – Phillip Torrone
Torrone's primary frustration was the over-reliance on the MakerBot trademark – the one way open source projects can protect their brand – and the good will that is associated with it. He says, "The TangiBot Kickstarter page used the MakerBot name dozens of times and assured quality because it's a 'clone' and in TangiBot's words a 'knock-off.' [Editor's note: Strong has since removed much of the "MakerBot" language from the Kickstarter page.] That's banking really hard on MakerBot's name, quality, and reputation in hopes of getting $500,000. Just because it's a 'clone' does not mean it will work or perform the same. What I suggested to Matt was to showcase the improvements, how he'd make it lower cost, how he'll support the TangiBots."
Torrone wonders whether Kickstarter would tolerate such clones of more mainstream products: "Kickstarter would likely not allow any of us to get funding for a self-described iPhone clone or knock-off, ask for $500K, and then assure everyone it will be just as good because it's an iPhone clone/knock off."
Another open source advocate, Terrence Tam, joined the peanut gallery on the TangiBot Kickstarter page: "I'm disappointed that you've chose to knock off/copy a respected industry leader, and undercutting them, therefore starting a race to the bottom." Tam, the creator of the OpenBeam construction kit, was funded to the tune of six figures in his Kickstarter campaign.
Strong isn't surprised by the backlash, but believes 3-D printing is going this direction whether he succeeds or not. "There's a lifecycle in product development," he says. "Consumers don't get the benefit from open source projects until you get multiple manufacturers involved so they start thinking about how to lower costs while improving quality." It's hard to argue with his point that someone will eventually repackage the MakerBot and play Samsung to MakerBot's Apple.
And not everyone is crying foul. A statement on Hack A Day offers a precedent for Strong's cost engineering:
"There is a difference between engineering and inventing," says commenter stucknguay. "Matt has done engineering to decrease the cost while providing, theoretically, a product that performs equally. Those who say that what he did was not inventing are probably right. To say that isn't a significant contribution is just wrong. Remember, Henry Ford did not invent the assembly line or the automobile but his contributions to the industry weren't insignificant. Cost is a very real engineering concern."
With 15 days to go and only $24,010 raised of his $500,000 goal, it seems unlikely that Strong's TangiBot will get its kick-off on Kickstarter. But whether or not the campaign succeeds, the project may serve as a turning point for open source hardware.
We may see the open source hardware community split into two: One faction that celebrates design achievements and interesting hacks, with another focused on the unsexy world of supply-chain management and logistics. The latter aren't as sexy as designing a new microcontroller platform, but they can unlock a tremendous amount of value.
Just ask Walmart. |
The St. Louis Blues made a major deal on Friday night. It had been 18 years and one day since the Blues had seen a trade deadline move this high profile, and we look back on that move. In 1996, the Blues acquired the greatest hockey player of all-time, in a move that will forever be known as The Other Gretzky Trade.
Over the years, in the days leading up to the NHL Trade Deadline day, we have seen many deals that have paid off for teams in some way or another, be it an immediate contribution from an acquired player, or a deal that pays off for a team in the future. The most obvious example of the quick fix would be the New York Islanders 1980 trade, in which they acquired Butch Goring from the L.A. Kings. Goring gave the Isles added depth at centre, and helped propel them to four straight Stanley Cups between 1980-1983. A more recent example would be the Kings picking up Jeff Carter from Columbus, with Carter becoming a key contributor on the Kings Stanley Cup run in 2012.
An example of a swap that became a future success would be the St. Louis Blues deal made in the days prior to the 1988 deadline. They dealt a fine defenseman in Rob Ramage to Calgary, but the deal was worth it, as the skater they got in return, Brett Hull, scored 72 goals in 1989-90, and 86 more in 1990-91. Another more recent example would be the Montreal Canadiens shipping quality defenseman Craig Rivet to San Jose for Josh Gorges and a 1st round pick in 2007, a pick which turned out to be Max Pacioretty.
Rarely does a trade work out for neither team, though it has happened, with the most glaring high profile example in my mind being the Wayne Gretzky trade to St. Louis on Feb. 27th, 1996.
Leading up to the deal, the Kings were floundering. They had not made the playoffs since their Stanley Cup appearance in 1993, in danger of missing the playoffs again, and were reeling financially after having just been bought out of bankruptcy court. They were going to have to rebuild, but Gretzky wanted out. He wanted a chance to win that elusive fifth Cup, and wanted to be moved to a contender.
When he was ultimately dealt to St. Louis, this was a move that was supposed to make the Blues contenders in the West alongside Colorado and Detroit. The Blues now featured a core of Gretzky, Brett Hull, Shayne Corson, a defense unit including Al MacInnis and Chris Pronger, and goalie Grant Fuhr, who set an NHL regular season record by starting in 79 games. Gretzky was far from being finished in terms of production either, as he had 81 points in 62 games in Los Angeles, and he quickly added another 21 points in 18 games with St. Louis. But the Blues struggled after acquiring The Great One. They were in a fairly comfortable playoff position on February 27th, but went 6-10-5 after dealing for #99. They were able to squeak into the playoffs, and were able to get by the Maple Leafs in the first round, but could not overcome the powerhouse Red Wings in the West semi-finals, losing game seven on Steve Yzerman’s heroic double OT winner (a play that started from a Gretzky turnover).
The Blues may have made it to the second round with the help of Gretzky (and solid goaltending from Jon Casey who replaced an injured Fuhr), but that is all they would get from The Great One. The Blues had given L.A. quite a lot of potential in the Gretzky deal, yet all they would get from #99 was 18 regular season games and 13 playoff games. He had no interest in re-signing in St. Louis, and after rejecting an offer from Vancouver, having his deal with the Leafs squashed by owner Steve Stavro, Gretzky inked a three-year deal with the New York Rangers, while the Blues were hampered by lack of depth in 1996-97, losing to Detroit in the first round in six games.
The Blues did give up a lot of potential in order to nab Gretzky, yet it would not come back to haunt them. In the deal, the Blues sent Craig Johnson, Roman Vopat, Patrice Tardif, a first-round pick in 1997, and a fifth-round pick in 1996. Of those players, including the draft picks, none had any major effect in a Kings uniform. Johnson spent eight years in L.A., never scoring more than 38 points in a season, though he became a decent role player. Vopat notched all of 12 points in 57 games as a King, Tardif lasted all of 15 games in L.A., while the two draft picks, who turned out to be Peter Hogan and Matt Zultek, never played for the Kings. Hogan, the 5th rounder in 1996, never played in the NHL, while Zultek, the 1st rounder from 1997, refused to sign with Los Angeles, and was re-drafted by Boston in 1999.
You could argue the Kings were fleeced in the trade for the greatest player of all-time, yet considering the fact the Blues were only able to get 31 games out of Gretzky with no championship, this could truly be considered a deal that worked for neither team.
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The governments of Egypt and Saudi Arabia have expressed outrage over the warm visit Muslim Brotherhood members allegedly received at the White House in January, which the State Department eventually admitted to only after the Muslim Brotherhood members boasted of their visit on social media.
“The Egyptian regime, outraged by the visit, accused the U.S. administration of not respecting the Egyptian law that defines the MB as a terrorist organization, and of discounting the will of the Egyptian people,” reports the Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI).
President Sisi himself reacted to the State Department’s belated confirmation of the Muslim Brotherhood meeting by describing the Brotherhood as “the world’s most dangerous secret terrorist organization” and saying it “has clandestine wings and secret ideas and tools… which is why Egyptians rose up against it.” Other comments from Sisi’s government were even more pointed, as translated by MEMRI:
The Egyptian Foreign Ministry expressed outrage at the U.S. State Department’s hosting of the MB delegation. At the end of the African Union summit, Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry addressed the State Department’s explanation, saying: “I do not understand [the State Department’s] claims. We do not understand the existence of such ties with elements that are involved in terrorist activists meant to terrify Egyptians.” He added: “The MB movement is not a political party. Egyptian law – which should be respected, just as we respect the laws of others – defines it as a terrorist organization, based on evidence and testimony we have that indicates their involvement in terrorist actions meant to harm the lives of Egyptians, terrorize them, and threaten their security.” Shoukry said further: “If we wanted to bury our heads in the sand so as not to face reality, that would be another matter. But we see very well.” According to him, “terrorism is not just ISIS or Boko Haram, but rather all terrorist groups, regardless of what name they use, since they [all] champion the same ideology and the same ideas leading to death and destruction…” An Egyptian Foreign Ministry communique from February 1, 2015 states that the Egyptian Revolutionary Council and the MB’s parliament in exile consistently incite violence and terrorism, spread lies abroad regarding the situation in Egypt, and do not represent the will of the Egyptian people. Moreover, some of their members are wanted by the Egyptian authorities, and therefore holding ties with these “illegitimate organizations disrespects the will of Egyptians and grants legitimacy to entities that attack it.” The communiqué states further: “The contacts held by some countries with these terrorist entities enable them to spread their ideas, which incite violence and terrorism. They also contradict [these countries’] presumed commitment to the struggle against terrorism and extremism…”
Egyptian newspapers called out the Obama Administration for hypocrisy in meeting with the Brotherhood just a few weeks before convening a summit on the threat of “extremist organizations,” with an Al-Ahram editorial calling on the Egyptian government to skip the extremism summit as a gesture of disapproval. This was written before ISIS kidnapped and beheaded 21 Egyptian Christians who had been working in Libya; at last report, Egypt was planning to send representatives to the White House extremism summit.
The Administration has been less than forthcoming about this meeting at every turn, so there is reason to believe the Muslim Brotherhood is telling the truth about its final disputed claim, which is that White House officials were also present at the meeting. The Brother making this claim is notorious for referring to Jews as “the descendants of pigs and monkeys.”
The matter became a significant embarrassment for the Administration after Muslim Brotherhood members began bragging about the fine reception they received from Team Obama, Facebooking pictures of themselves flashing Brotherhood gang signs at the State Department building, and, most disturbingly, claiming that the Obama Administration is supportive of their quest to overthrow the government of Abdel al-Fattah al-Sisi, who deposed the Brotherhood in a coup, formally winning the presidency in a subsequent election. Needless to say, the Egyptian government is not happy to hear these claims, and the Saudis have expressed outrage as well.
Sisi has been an outspoken critic of Islamist extremism, a position Al-Ahram’s editors support by saying the Obama Administration’s “illusion that supporting the streams of political Islam [will enable them to] play a role in dividing control [of the region] will only lead the region to crumble further and will increase discontentment there. Then the U.S. will find itself dealing with the heritage of hatred for its policy on a much larger scale than today.”
This critique was punctuated with an editorial cartoon showing a happy Muslim Brotherhood representative (they all look immensely pleased with themselves in the Facebook photos that blew the Obama Administration’s cover) greeting an ISIS terrorist on the State Department steps and excitedly informing him, “They welcomed me, which means that they welcomed you, so this house is your house!”
The Saudi newspaper Al-Watan echoed Egypt’s concerns about the U.S. government conferring unwarranted legitimacy and prestige on the Muslim Brotherhood, charging that Team Obama “has yet to grasp the scope of the extensive popular opposition to the Muslim Brotherhood movement across the Middle East, particularly in the wake of the June 30, 2012 mass protests, the likes of which had never been seen in Egypt.” The protests in question featured banners accusing Obama and his ambassador to Egypt, Anne Patterson, of being allied with terrorists and fascists.
“History proves that peoples always emerge victorious in their campaigns against the forces of darkness and destruction,” Al-Watan warned. “Furthermore, all political Islam movements must realize that every crime they commit or to which they are an accessory increases the popular opposition to them.” The question of legitimacy is an important one in battling the spread of terrorist organizations; its predilection for hiding in caves kept al-Qaeda from acquiring the sort of nation-state credibility that its hideous stepchildren in ISIS have achieved.
The Muslim Brotherhood craves legitimacy, which is why they loudly trumpeted a meeting the State Department would rather have kept quiet. The Obama Administration’s strange fascination with the Brotherhood – a group that Obama’s Director of National Intelligence, James Clapper, once infamously tried to claim was “largely secular” – seems to be paying dividends for the MB. It is difficult to see what the United States and its allies against terrorism are getting out of the relationship. |
The British government has just invested in water cannons because they are fearing the rising tide of civil unrest as austerity is forcing the reduction of state workers and their pensions. I have been warning that unemployment will rise, but this time it is going to flow more so from the state and municipal workers. In the UK, hundreds of thousands have took to the streets to protest against the austerity measures of the government. Prime Minister Cameron has no choice for this is the collapse of socialism. Those who think I am anti-poor or whatever, are missing the point. It is the rising cost of government that is out of control and NO LEVEL of tax increase can reverse this trend.
The British unions called for strikes nationwide. Teachers, firemen and civil servants joined the calls and and took the streets demonstrating for higher wages and pensions. Just where is this money supposed to come from they really have no idea. They merely argue to take it from someone else no matter what and give it to them.
According to the unions more than one million people took part in the strike. About one-fifth of state employees have taken part in the strikes. Indeed, the majority had appeared on the job to maintain “almost all key areas of public service” functions. The interesting question this presents if everything can function with one-fifth less, then does this suggest that government can be run with far less people? Nonetheless, some 6,000 schools did remain closed, which was about one quarter of all schools in England. The strikes also impacted museums, libraries and garbage (refuse) collection in some cities. At the airports, such as international London Heathrow and Luton, there were delays because parts of the ground crew were on strike. Around 12 percent of government employees in Scotland joined the strike. Also in Northern Ireland and Wales there were many public institutions – including schools, courts and job centers – that had also closed on Thursday.
Public employees do not care where the money comes from, they refuse cuts and demand their pensions. This is similar to what happened in Rome where the army, when unpaid, just began sacking their own cities to grab whatever they had being justified as the army deserves it.
The central demands of the workers were against the austerity policy of the British government. In 2010, the salaries were frozen in the public service first. Then in 2012 an annual wage increase was written down by one percent. Governments are going broke because they promised pension and failed to fund it always assuming there would be ample tax revenues available.
Effectively, in Britain there was a two-year pay freeze, and then the 3rd year comes another freeze followed by a one-percent wage increase. |
Forget everything you think you know about the unsolved murder of JonBenét Ramsey
If one could suspend time for a moment and JonBenét Ramsey hadn’t been murdered, then most times when I look at this photograph, I’m smiling back at the joy and the delight in her eyes. This happiness and innocence is what we hope for our own children.
Yet she is gone -- tortured and murdered on Christmas or the day after in 1996 in Boulder, Colorado. Her case is still unsolved twenty years later.
The title of this book…We Have Your Daughter…includes the words of the killer in the ransom note left at her home.
This book lets you consider information from the Author’s investigation of parts of thousands of Boulder police records. It lets you experience that morning through the thoughts of the police officers who were there, in their own words, by posting the portions of their reports in the book about that terrible morning she disappeared. – None of these police reports have ever been published before.
Why now? Where is the justice for a child who would be a 26-year-old woman today?
This is the first time the Ramsey family and their attorneys cooperated with an outside author. And police investigators, district attorney lawyers, others in that department and those on the periphery all talk with the Author about happened, what was right and wrong and what they still believe. It’s the first book where all sides participate.
The media was manipulated by law enforcement, deceived by calculated and incorrect leaks. The resulting headlines are quoted in this book.
The Ramsey family and their murdered child are shown with the new insight of report cards and interviews with teachers and JonBenét’s friends. |
France will be waking up today to its first Socialist President for 17 years – and bracing for radical change. There are all kinds of reasons why one might fear a François Hollande presidency, especially if you are a prosperous French person.
The 57-year-old Socialist has openly admitted that he "does not like the rich" and declared that "my real enemy is the world of finance". This means taxing the wealthy by up to 75 per cent, curtailing the activities of Paris as a centre for financial dealing, and ploughing millions into creating more civil service jobs.
Add an explicit threat to renegotiate the euro pact to replace austerity with "growth-creating" spending, and you have one of the most vehemently left-wing programmes in recent history.
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German Chancellor Angela Merkel – the woman at the centre of the Franco-German economic powerhouse which has dominated Europe – was at one stage even threatening to campaign for her conservative ally, Nicolas Sarkozy, against Mr Hollande.
Caution is justified, though one thing Mr Hollande will not repeat is the disastrous tax-and-spend policies introduced by France's last Socialist President, François Mitterrand, in 1981. He was soon forced into a humiliating U-turn, and into sharing power with the right as the Communists quit his cabinet in protest.
In contrast, Mr Hollande will focus on solving the euro crisis and reversing a Gallic economic decline widely blamed on a failed capitalist system, and particularly a rotten banking sector.
Just as pertinently, he will seek to heal divides caused by five years of the most unpopular head of state in post-war history.
Mr Sarkozy continually stigmatised perceived undesirables, from France's six-million-strong Muslim community to Roma Travellers, whom his administration regularly deported.
The diminutive conservative has claimed Mr Hollande is an incompetent "liar" who will "bankrupt France", but the caricature of an untrustworthy leftist is wide of the mark.
Mr Hollande is an Enarque – a product of ENA (L'École Nationale d'Administration) France's elite "rulers' academy".
He came seventh in his year, above former conservative Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin, and is by no means the grey, provincial local government apparatchik his detractors claim.
Mr Hollande styles himself as a "social democrat" and not as any kind of revolutionary.
"I want to initiate a change in society in the long term," is how he put it earlier this month, as he outlined a programme which was far more pragmatic than ideological.
Mr Hollande's commitment to equality is evident in his promise to introduce parity between men and women in his cabinet, and create a ministry of women's rights. Efforts will also be made to promote equal pay between the sexes. He will bring under-represented minorities into government, and work to make the Republic more egalitarian.
Managing France is a near-impossible task at the best of times, and the current warnings of economic chaos and social disorder are no worse than those levelled at Mr Sarkozy five years ago.
François Hollande is going to have an extremely rough time, but he should not be written off as easily as some would like.
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.
Subscribe now |
Shakthar Donetsk is arguably Ukraine’s most successful club at this point in time in their current history, appearing in the lucrative Champions League year after year. The Ukrainian outfit has won the last four Ukrainian Premier League titles, in succession and has also won an astounding 7 of the last 8 championships with Dynamo Kyiv winning the other one. But they have not always been the top dogs in Ukraine. Shakthar have a very deep squad that goes down all the way to their academy, but a mix of Brazilian players like Taison, Maicon, Douglas Costa, Ilsinho, and Ukrainian players such as Andriy Pyatov, Taras Stepanenko, and young Ukrainian defender Serihy Kryvtsov help build the club into the powerhouse that it is today.
The lone Armenian player in the squad, Henrikh Mkhitaryan, is making quite a name for himself after an impressive showing in the Champions League this past season and has moved onto the radar of many of the top European Clubs. Henrikh has also performed well for the Armenian national team already making close to 40 appearances and having already netted more than ten times at the ripe age of just 24 years old.
Profile
Henrikh Mkhitaryan was born on 21 January 1989 in the Armenian capital of Yerevan. He arrived in Donetsk back in 2010 after a brief season with another Ukrainian club, Metalurh Donetsk. Mkhitaryan’s father was a very prolific striker back in the 80s for FC Ararat Yerevan before moving to play in France for a short time. Unfortunately, Henrikh’s father died of a brain tumor when he was just seven years of age.
Mkhitaryan joined the youth system of Pyunik FC at just six years of age. He would stay with the club his whole childhood and earned his first salary at 15. Two years later, at the age of 17, Henrikh would have the chance to prove that he has what it takes to earn a permanent spot in the first side. The Armenian midfielder would do just that, for four seasons between 2006 and 2009. During his time there he would win four consecutive Armenian league titles, two Armenian Supercups, and one Armenian Cup during his final season with the club. His spectacular performances with his first club, in which he managed 35 goals in 89 appearances in all competitions, he made the move to Metalurh Donetsk of the Ukrainian Premier League.
In his first match with his new squad, Henrikh scored a goal in a 3-0 victory over Belarusian Premier League side FC Partisan Minsk, in a Europa League qualifying game. Metalurh faced Slovenian’s Interblock Ljubljana in the next qualifying round, and he scored again in the return leg, where eventually his side won on aggregate 5-0. Henrikh Mkhitaryan’s first league match came in a 0-0 draw with Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk. As a whole that season, he earned a total of 38 appearances for Metalurh across all competitions while scoring 14 times that season. The following season, he became the youngest captain ever at Metalurh, when he was named captain on July 14th, at just 21 years of age. Because of his consistent performances with Metalurh over the past two seasons, he made the switch to Shakthar Donetsk where he would continue to improve his game greatly.
Henrikh’s debut for his new club did not come right away as he had to work hard in training to show his new coaching staff that he does in fact have what it takes to become a regular starter at a more established club. His debut finally came on September 10th in an away defeat to Obolon Kyiv. He scored his first goal for the club in his debut at the Donbass Arena. That season was rather successful for Shakthar as they won the Ukrainian treble, by winning the Premier League, the Ukrainian Supercup, and the Ukrainian Cup.
This past season was a breakout year for the Armenian midfielder as he amassed a total of 25 league goals, which is now a Ukrainian Premier League record. That record was previously held by Dynamo Kyiv legends, Serhiy Rebrov & Maksim Shatskikh both of who scored 22 goals in 1998 & 2003 respectively. In his first two seasons at Shakhtar, Mkhitaryan played 64 games scored 15 goals; in 39 games in the 2012/13 season, he managed 25 goals. He also played in his 100th league match in Ukrainian domestic football on March 16th of this year.
Henrikh Mkhitaryan has played 39 games for his national team, at the time of writing, scoring 11 goals. His most recent goal was in Armenia’s famous 4-0 World Cup qualifying victory over Denmark in Copenhagen, earlier this month.
Styles, Strengths, and Weaknesses
Henrikh is most prolific when he is playing right behind the first striker. When he is behind the central striker with the ball, space opens up for the Armenian midfielder and creates fantastic goal scoring opportunities with his great vision of the play happening in front of him and finding the perfect pass to his surrounding teammates. For anyone that had ever watched his father play in the 80s, may say that his style of play emulates that of his father.
His creativity, technique, and movement, all help confuse the back four of many defenses across the Ukrainian Premier League. And because of his ability, Henrikh Mkhitaryan pretty much has an automatic spot in the national team as he is by far one of the best, if not the best midfielder on the current Armenian roster. With all the experience he has, it is almost a guarantee that he will be in the Armenian team for all of their major matches.
Mkhitaryan’s work rate is absolutely sensational. It seems like he never takes a second off from the play, whenever I have seen him. Henrikh will help build up play starting from the half way line as the back four retain possession. Then, if the play ever broke down because of a bad pass, or whatever the reason may be, Henrikh will track all the way back to help out his defense. In other words, he never stops running, ever. I do not know where he gets all of the energy that he does for the full ninety minutes.
Comparisons have been made with Kaka and Frank Lampard. Both of whom play in simillar positions but different roles. So, you could say that Henrikh Mkhitaryan is a combination of both, positioned behind the striker with the ability to take on the opposition ahead of him, while also making late runs into the box.
Henrikh Mkhitaryan has an incredible burst of pace as well. His ability to run at defences comes with his raw speed. He confessed in this interview to News.am that he could have been a sprinter, if not a footballer. Henrikh mentioned in this interview with Shakhtar’s official website that he takes inspiration from Zinedine Zidane “I appreciated the style of Zinedine Zidane, what he did on the pitch. He was like a magician to me.” He is no Zidane, but he does have that element of magic on the pitch.
Mkhitaryan has obviously benefited from having creative talent beside him, with the likes of Alex Texeira, Willian and Luiz Adriano. But Mkhitaryan brought something extra to the field. He is an all-round fluid performer in the attacking third and has the ability to score with an assortment of efforts.
There is not a whole lot of Mkhitaryan’s game that I do not like. The only thing that can be said about his game is that he does not always play the perfect pass to his teammates. But then again, who really does? Even the fantastic Real Madrid midfielder, Xabi Alonso will misplace a pass from time to time, all of the greatest players do. Henrikh Mkhitaryan is certainly one to watch for the future with the more exposure he will get due to the Champions League, the more people will hear about him.
Transfer Situation
A few weeks ago, Liverpool announced that the Armenian midfielder was their number one summer transfer target, according to various England newspapers including, the Guardian, Independent, and many others. However, if Liverpool are going to sign him this summer, they will need to pay the £20m price tag that was slapped on him by the Shakthar Donetsk board. It should be noted here that Henrikh Mkhitaryan is represented by Mino Raiola, known as the super agent of football. He is behind the big money (controversial) moves of Zlatan Ibrahimovic to PSG, Mario Balotelli to AC Milan and Paul Pogba from United to Juventus. Known for demanding high salary for his players, Liverpool who have been increasingly linked with the Armenian will need to cough up a decent amount of dough to land Raiola’s player.
Many other clubs are interested in him with Bayern Munich, Manchester City, and Chelsea also waiting in the wings for the exuberant midfielder. His current deal with the Ukrainian club lasts until June of 2015, so if a bigger European club wants his signature, they will most likely have to pay a hefty buyout clause. However, what they will get is a very consistent midfielder who will work hard every day in training to continue his craft and will always give all he has in each and every match he plays in.
Still at 24, Henrikh Mkhitaryan has the ability to go onto bigger and better things in football. His place is at the top, and his journey to that destination has just kicked off.
UPDATE: Henrikh Mkhitaryan joined Borussia Dortmund. |
There's no denying that driving with a caravan requires better skills and higher concentration than when driving only a car. The easiest way to see this, is when driving on slippery surfaces.
In extreme situations it’s easy to lose control over the caravan. However, to minimize the risk, it’s worth spending some time and energy to properly prepare the caravan, so it will be stable.
Before you set off
Correct tire pressure is a crucial thing- if you will follow the manufacturer's instructions, the entire set will be stable when driving.
A more controversial issue are the brakes. Typical overrunning brake mounted in caravans, usually don’t work very well with car’s ABS. As a result, the effective ABS braking can lead to locking of the caravan’s wheels. The solution may be to adjust the brakes on the caravan in such way, so they react much weaker than normally. However, you can do this only when you’re sure that you’ll drive on snowy or icy roads.
The loading will also strongly affect caravan’s behavior. Firstly, you should never exceed the maximum permissible load. Second, the load should be arranged evenly and the heaviest items placed low and as close to the center of the trailer as possible.
All equipment and luggage should be protected so they don’t move around when turning or when you suddenly stop.
Driving on slippery roads
Driving with a caravan, you should never "go crazy" on the road. When overtaking a lorry or driving next to a forest, and the trees suddenly end you will immediately feel how a gust of wind pushes your caravan aside. In order to avoid unpleasant surprises you have to drive at a safe speed. This rules become even more important in winter.
You should keep the speed at which the caravan is stable, ie. it doesn’t pulsate. Even better, if you drive a little slower than it’s possible, even if it means driving at 30km/h in the mountains. Remember that stable caravan is a priority if you want to reach your destination safely.
If the trailer starts to sway, you can react in two ways. The first is a delicate braking. It may happen that it will only make things worse. The second way is to wait for unstable caravan to set precisely with the axis of the car. At this point you have to slightly step on the gas, which should stabilize the whole set. This is why you should drive at a reasonable speed. When the caravan is stable again, you should return to an earlier, slower speed.
When driving a car with ABS, in emergency situations you should brake by pressing the brake pedal to the floor. Because the wheels of the caravan can then be blocked, sometimes it’s better to turn the ABS off and try a cadence braking. Calmly and repeatedly applying and releasing the brake pedal will make the entire set to slow down steadily. Of course, you shouldn’t try this if the ABS is activated.
It’s best to avoid mountain roads during winter. However, if you cannot choose different route, bring chains and a bag of gravel to sprinkle the road at the steepest parts. Going uphill will often require driving in first gear. |
Chris Hess, his wife Angela, their teenage daughter and her boyfriend were on a mountain biking excursion near Brightwood when they crossed paths with David and Pamela Gathwright.
The Mother's Day 2013 confrontation began with two meandering dogs and culminated with David Gathwright pointing a handgun at Chris Hess' head.
The clash led to criminal charges against the Gathwrights. Their trial started Tuesday before Clackamas County Circuit Court Judge Susie Norby.
On Wednesday, Norby found David Gathwright, 60, guilty of unlawful use of a weapon, menacing and pointing a firearm at another person. She found Pamela Gathwright, 58, guilty of attempted second-degree animal abuse. They will be sentenced April 7.
It wasn't the first time the Gathwrights confronted people using the Sandy Ridge mountain biking trail system about 11 miles east of Sandy, according to the U.S. Forest Service.
"Over the past several years, the Gathwright's have been, allegedly, confronting and harassing bikers and hikers along the trail brandishing pepper spray, Tasers, and at least one instance of pointing a hand gun," the Forest Service said in a news release after the Gathwrights' arrest July 1, 2014.
Mountain bikers informally reported encounters with a couple believed to be the Gathwrights.
Pamela Gathwrigh told a U.S. Forest Service ranger that people who use the trails are "thugs" and off-leash dogs on the trails are dangerous, according to trial testimony.
The Gathwrights had not been cited before the incident with the Hesses.
The Gathwrights and the Hesses gave conflicting accounts of what happened that day.
The Hesses had their two miniature Australian shepherds with them. They came to a stop where the trail crossed a Forest Service road. That's where they encountered the Gathwrights.
As the Gathwrights approached, they yelled for the Hesses to get control of the dogs, who were off leash. On that, both sides agree.
The Hesses said their dogs -- no more than 40 feet away from them -- were friendly, showed no aggression and posed no threat. Dogs are not required to be leashed.
They said Pamela Gathwright pulled out an electric stun gun, leaned forward and clicked it at one of the dogs. The device made a visible arc.
Words were exchanged. The Gathwrights claim Angela Hess said, "I'm going to kick your ass" and her teen-age daughter used profanities.
From there, things moved quickly. Chris Hess lifted his bike in the air in a protective gesture. He recalled reading that is was a good tactic if confronted by a bear.
"That wasn't helpful, and I lowered it," he said,
Chris Hess said David Gathwright pulled out a gun -- later identified as a Glock semi-automatic pistol.
"He was aiming straight at my face," Chris Hess testified. "I thought I was going to die.
The Gathwrights offered a different scenario.
Pamela Gathwright had been bitten by a dog and was wary of the animals.
The Gathwrights said it was the Hesses that escalated the situation through their hostile and threatening behavior.
David Gathwright said he pulled out his gun and pointed it at the ground in self-defense.
The Gathwrights "provoked this particular argument" and have no right to claim self-defense, said prosecutor Bill Golden.
Norby didn't find the Gathwrights version believable.
David Gathwright's testimony in particular, seemed "self-serving," she said.
Gathwright testified that he and his wife "always chose the least dangerous thing" when they feel the need to protect themselves, Norby said.
"The least dangerous when presented with a perceived risk is to change the course of their path of travel. But they did not do that," Norby said.
Pamela Gathwright's use of a stun gun "was not an act of self-defense but one of purposeful aggression," Norby said.
Norby said that, based on the evidence, she believed that Gathwright aimed the gun directly at Hess.
Norby noted that David Gathwright testified that in the 25 years the couple have been hiking and biking they have never been attacked by a dog or other animal.
"The hikers and bikers who testified in this trial were the Hess family, who had bicycles and small dogs on the trail on Mother's Day, and the Gathwrights, who carry OC spray, stun guns, tasers and a loaded handgun when they traverse a trail," Norby said.
"As the evidence shows, the Gathwrights themselves seem to be the most fearsome hikers on the trail," Norby said.
-- Steve Mayes
[email protected]
503-294-5916; @ocmayes |
BenDeLaCreme Talks About Going to Hell and Why He’s Not on RuPaul’s Drag Race All Stars A Q&A About Inferno A-Go-Go, & the Drag Star's Latest Solo Show
In Inferno-A-Go-Go, she plays a tourist wandering through hell. Jason Russo
Where are you at this moment and what are you doing? I've heard you've been in hell.
I'm currently in Provincetown, Massachusetts—the dreamy little LGBT vacation destination on the tip of Cape Cod. Beach in the day, performance in the evening, a wealth of mind-blowing queer artists and musicians to soak in all night. It's grueling.
Your new show is based on Dante's Inferno. Tell me about it.
Oh, you know how I roll—grappling with the pitfalls of moral absolutism through songs, puns, and puppets! BenDeLaCreme has decided to descend into hell in Dante Alighieri's footsteps, with only the vaguest understanding of what that might entail. Along the way, she sings and dances—and meets harpies, centaurs, and sodomites. It uses a vaudevillian format as a structure to tell the story, so it's a lot of ridiculous, campy fun. It's a show and a story for everyone—but if you've read Inferno, there are a few little treats just for you.
This show opened in New York City, and now you're bringing it back to your hometown, Seattle. What's hotter in summertime—hell or New York City?
Well, hell isn't seasonal, but I guess it's the difference between sitting on the subway in a pool of your own sweat versus standing in an actual hole full of fire, so I'll choose the former. I'd always rather sit.
This isn't the typical order we see shows out here. Do you always try out your ideas in New York City and only then bring them to Seattle?
So far I have, but that's more a scheduling thing than a calculated move. There's no "safe place" to premiere a show. I want it to be the best it can be no matter where I am. New York audiences can be notoriously critical and unforgiving. On the other hand, I've been performing in Seattle for a decade now, and I want to bring my best to the audience that has supported me on my way up—so six of one, you know? But the bulk of my process happens before opening night. I work more like a theater maker than a cabaret artist: Very little is improvised. I'm not usually working out new material onstage to see if it lands. Fortunately thus far it's worked in my favor!
Are you changing anything after the New York run?
Actually no. There were a few small tweaks opening weekend, but overall this show has hit exactly as I hoped it would. This is only the third solo show I've written, and with each one I feel my vision and voice becoming clearer. Not really changing but becoming more well-honed. This time around I had a wonderful guide in Scott Shoemaker (my Virgil!), who I have worked with over the years in Freedom Fantasia and Homo for the Holidays, and of course he's making waves with his brilliant Ms. Pak-Man shows and in Ian Bell's Brown Derby Series. For lack of a better term, I've been referring to him as my dramaturge. He's so brilliant and funny—I bounced ideas off him throughout the whole process, and he helped me tease them out and supported all my research and writing. My fullest ideas get developed in conversation rather than in a bubble—and Scott was an indispensable part of that process.
Jason Russo
Have you read Dante's Inferno?
I have—but only after choosing the theme, which is how I generally work. I'd been racking my brain for a subject for my next show, and I was on a plane home from performing at the World Buskers Festival in New Zealand when the idea randomly popped into my head. I like adapting preexisting material, both because it defines the parameters of your subject and because it can inform some structural guidelines. I was also drawn to the way that through the nine circles of hell the story is inherently divided into sections, which speaks to my desire to deal with both narrative and a segmented cabaret/variety structure. Then of course I thought: "Oh, sins! Sins are funny and fun!" When I landed at LAX, I walked into the bookstore and Inferno was actually sitting right there on the shelf. Only one copy. AT AN AIRPORT BOOKSTORE. I don't believe things happen for a reason, but I believe in humans' ability to create reason out of anything that happens. And it was settled.
Of course, as soon as I started reading, and the horrors of 2016 began unfolding, I thought, "Oh shit, sins are super not fun." I was faced with the heaviness of having chosen a subject riddled with death, murder, the way that humans betray and hurt other humans, and the way we decide the value and worth of each other's lives. But then I realized this was exactly the reason to be working on this right now. We all have to make sense of these horrible events, of the hell we are living in.
You know what doesn't make sense? You not being on RuPaul's Drag Race All Stars. I just watched the first episode. Why aren't you on there? Did they ask you?
Take another look. Those TV producers are willing to ruin friendships, professional relationships, feelings of self-worth—all for some cheap entertainment. You won't remember the details of that episode in a week. Those queens may have to work through that experience for years. I'm grateful for the experience I had [on season six of RuPaul's Drag Race], but I've already been through hell in my new show—I don't need to go through it on theirs.
Okay, sorry to talk TV, back to literature. Is there a river of boiling blood in your show?
Yes.
Do you believe in Satan and hell and all that stuff?
I believe in the hells that we create—but I'll save my thoughts on that for the show. |
After two months, detectives have few details on who kidnapped Sherri Papini while she was jogging in her quiet town in Northern California.
Part of the reason for this lag is because there have been three high profile cases since November 2 around Redding distracting from the Papini case.
On December 21, the Shasta County Sheriff's office was busy searching for the man who walked into a gas station and set clerk David Wicks on fire. Mr Wicks burned to death and the horrific crime garnered national attention.
Scroll down for video
Police do not have many leads on who kidnapped Sherri Papini (above with her husband and children before her abduction) two months after she was abducted
Sherri Papini (pictured with her husband) told police she was taken while jogging in Yolo county by two Hispanic women
Juan Manuel Venegas was arrested for his murder yesterday.
The department also took on an investigation where Redding police shot and killed a man on November 16.
David Wicks was killed at a gas station where he worked in Burney
They are also chasing down Justin Ryan Mulliken in connection with a January 9 shooting.
However, Sheriff Tom Bosenko told the Record Searchlight that Mrs Papini's case is still a 'top priority.'
He told the paper: 'We are waiting on some of the results on the evidence being processed by the California Department of Justice.'
Mrs Papini and her husband Keith have stayed away from the public eye but were spotted out earlier in January.
Sheriff Bosenko said: 'I can’t speak to more recently, but even initially we had asked Mr Papini to refrain from media interaction and especially after she was found, with some of the information he was releasing.'
Security footage shows the attacker walking into the gas station where he set David Wicks on fire. Juan Manuel Venegas was arrested for the murder yesterday.
On January 10, Mrs Papini was spotted out Severe bruising on her face appeared to have healed but there was no glimpse of her long blonde hair which her husband said had been chopped off by her captors.
Keith Papini kept his gaze to the ground as he followed his wife outside, carrying their young daughter in one arm.
The family moved out of the house in December as police hunted Sherri's captors.
Keith said it had been too difficult for her to remain there after her ordeal.
He was initially cleared as a suspect in her disappearance after passing a polygraph test but police have since refused to rule him out again.
Saturday's outing was the first time Sherri has been seen publicly since she was found bound, beaten and gagged on the side of the road by a passing motorist on November 24.
Sherri Papini was seen for the first time on January 10 leaving her home in Redding, California, since being kidnapped and held hostage for three weeks. The 34-year-old emerged with her husband Keith and their two children
Happier times: Sherri Papini smiles with husband Keith before the November kidnapping
She emerged only to fill up a small red tray with water before returning to the house, The New York Post reported.
Sherri went missing on November 2 when she was abducted during a routine run in the area and held hostage by two armed Hispanic women.
Her husband reported her disappearance when she failed to pick their children up from school. Her cell phone and ear buds were later found on the running track she used.
The 34-year-old vanished on November 2 and was held captive for three weeks before she was found on the side of the road on November 24. Above, she is seen making her way out of the house on Saturday
She was tortured and starved by her captors, whose faces she never saw, before being dumped by the side of the road on Thanksgiving.
The sheriff's office was forced to deny claims they thought her story was a hoax in December after a rogue officer suggested worries it may have been invented.
No definitive motive for the mother's kidnapping has been given or suggested.
While she was still missing, a 'negotiator' working on behalf of a mysterious donor made several offers to those keeping her captive.
At one stage the reward for her return was as much as $100,000 but the ransom was pulled before she was released.
Keith Papini pleaded for privacy after his wife's return and slammed 'disgusting' skeptics who labeled her disappearance a hoax.
He described the black and yellow bruises across her body when she was first brought to hospital and how she had shrunk to 87lbs.
'Her now emaciated body of 87 pounds was covered in multi colored bruises, severe burns, red rashes, and chain markings.
'Her signature long, blonde hair had been chopped off.
'She has been branded and I could feel the rise of her scabs under my fingers. She was thrown from a vehicle with a chain around her waist, attached to her wrists and a bag over her head. |
Shadow McClaine
Skeletal remains discovered Monday in Tennessee have been identified as belonging to missing Fort Campbell soldier Shadow McClaine, who disappeared in early September.
The remains were discovered off Interstate 24 in Robertson County, Tennessee Monday, according to the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation. They were positively identified as belonging to Shadow on Wednesday.
A cause of death has not yet been determined. No other details were available to be released.
The discovery comes several months after two fellow soldiers were charged in connection with Shadow's disappearance.
Sgt. Jamal Williams-McCray and Specialist Charles Robinson, both part of the 101st Airborne Division, in which Shadow served as a private, first class, face charges of conspiracy, kidnapping and premeditated murder under the Uniform Code of Military Justice, according to NBC affiliate WSMV.
Williams-McCray is Shadow's ex-husband. It's unclear if Robinson knew Shadow.
Related: Two Soldiers Charged with Murder in Connection with Disappearance of Fellow Soldier Shadow McClaine
The last time anyone heard from Shadow, who is also known as Branice Willis, was through a text message the evening of September 2, 2016. She had told her mother earlier that she was supposed to house sit for a friend. The two also exchanged texts later that night.
Friend and family members became concerned when Shadow stopped responding to calls and texts. The following week, authorities located her 2013 silver Hyundai Elantra in a parking lot in downtown Nashville.
Rumors quickly swirled around Shadow's disappearance, with many focusing on what her family said was a tumultuous relationship with her ex-husband Williams-McCray.
Shadow was facing charges of stalking and contempt of court at the time of her disappearance, according to The Leaf-Chronicle. Her mother told Dateline those charges were in relation to her daughter's divorce from Williams-McCray.
"She's not totally innocent in all this, but it is not all her either," Shadow's mother London Wegrzyn told Dateline in September. "And she's been trying to clean herself from it. The people posting don't have all the facts, and are trying to paint my daughter as a villain."
Shadow's mother told Dateline that before she disappeared, Shadow was looking forward to moving back to home to California.
Shadow was featured in Dateline's social and digital series Missing in America series shortly after her disappearance in September. |
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