text
stringlengths 627
100k
|
|---|
Kill 682
Dr. Bright stirred his coffee with a spoon, taking a long moment to savor the aroma. One unusual aspect of his bond with 963 is that certain sensations were different in each body he occupied. Colors were slightly different, smells triggered different emotions, and coffee… cheap instant coffee was unusually good in this body. Who knew that a chimpanzee's taste buds and instant coffee got along so well?
"Good morning, old chap." Dr. Kain's nails clacked on the tile floor as he trotted into the break room. "Got some good news and some bad news. First the good news: 682 escaped again last night."
"How the hell is that good news?"
"Well, after killing 792 guards on his way out, he stole a car and went on an alcoholic bender across two states."
Dr. Bright furrowed his brow. "You're pulling my leg. If that is the good news—"
Kain barked happily. "I'm not done yet! 682 wrapped the car around a tree at 150mph. The airbag did not deploy. The big bad lizard is dead."
"Of course!" Dr. Bright said. "Drunk driving! Why didn't we think of this sooner! Well, what is the bad news?"
"It was your car." |
Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption Footage showed police push Mr Tomlinson - video courtesy guardian.co.uk
The Met Police has apologised to the family of Ian Tomlinson and reached an out-of-court settlement over his death at the G20 protests in London in 2009.
The force apologised "unreservedly" for the "excessive and unlawful force" used by one of its officers.
Mr Tomlinson had been walking home when he was struck with a baton and pushed to the ground by then-PC Simon Harwood.
His widow Julia said the apology was "as close as we are going to get to justice".
She also said the family could "finally start looking to the future again", while his stepson Paul King said there was a "little bit of a sense of achievement".
Mr Tomlinson's widow and seven of his children and step-children had pursued the compensation claim. The amount will remain confidential.
'Endured with dignity'
Deputy Assistant Commissioner Maxine de Brunner said the settlement acknowledged the "suffering" Mr Tomlinson's family had "endured with dignity" since his death, as she apologised for PC Harwood's actions.
The statement added that all litigation between the force and the Tomlinson family had been resolved.
Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption Ms de Brunner: "I take full responsibility for the actions of Simon Harwood on 1 April 2009"
Mr Tomlinson, a 47-year-old newspaper seller, was caught up in the G20 demonstrations in the City of London as he walked home in April 2009.
He collapsed minutes after being struck with a baton and died of internal bleeding, in what was later found by an inquest jury to be an unlawful killing.
His encounter with PC Harwood was caught on film by a bystander who passed the footage to the Guardian newspaper.
PC Harwood was acquitted last year of manslaughter last year but he was later sacked by the Met Police for gross misconduct.
Ms de Brunner said she took "full responsibility" for the former PC's actions, that fell "far below" the standard expected.
She also apologised for "ill-considered comments" made in the media following Mr Tomlinson's death - although the Met would not elaborate on the comments she was referring to.
'Deep regret'
Ms de Brunner said it was a "matter of deep regret that Mr Tomlinson's family learned of the nature of his contact with Simon Harwood through the press", and the commissioner also apologised for the information given by a Met Police officer to the pathologists "that misled them initially as to the cause of death".
Although the officer's actions were "inadvertent" this "should not have happened", she said.
Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption "It's time to move on": Ian Tomlinson's stepson Paul King speaks to the BBC's June Kelly
Dr Freddy Patel, the pathologist who wrongly judged that Mr Tomlinson had died from a heart attack, was struck off a year ago for acting with "deficient professional performance".
In the days after Mr Tomlinson was killed, the City of London Police said he had a "sudden heart attack" and collapsed "on his way home from work". The Met said that officers treating him had bottles thrown at them.
Mrs Tomlinson said that as soon as the family saw the footage of her husband being shoved to the ground, they "knew Ian had been unlawfully killed by the officer" and it had been a "really hard uphill battle" to get to the truth.
"After the unlawful killing verdict at the inquest it was unimaginable to us that PC Harwood could be acquitted of the criminal charge of manslaughter," she said.
"We will never understand that verdict, but at least today's public admission of unlawful killing by the Metropolitan Police is the final verdict, and it is as close as we are going to get to justice."
Mr King said he was "thankful for the full apology they've given" and it was about "putting it to bed and moving on now".
Misconduct allegations
Following the incident, it emerged that PC Harwood had faced several allegations of misconduct during his time in the police service.
In 2000, while off-duty, he was involved in what was described at the inquest as a "road rage" incident. He retired from the Met Police on medical grounds in 2001 before a disciplinary hearing could take place.
He then joined Surrey Police before being re-employed by Scotland Yard in 2004, despite an allegation of misconduct while at Surrey.
Ms de Brunner said the force had "got it wrong" when it came to disciplining PC Harwood, stressing the case had highlighted "significant failings in the vetting procedures" at the Met.
"It is clear that insufficient recording and checks meant that detailed information regarding the officer's misconduct history was not shared at key points," she said. |
This is the last saga of the Mythos.
The idea is that Missingno. tempted Dome on the path of evil and granted him a terrible form and great power. When Old Amber found out both great powers fought for Dome's future and his divinity. However, Missingno. being one of the primal forces of Kanto, and related to the great Old Ones (programmers) was too powerful for Old Amber to defeat. Thus, Old Amber used his powers to seal Missingno within himself in the form of Old Amber (item) hoping they will cross the bounds of time where Missingno has no power. The Old Amber suspiciously looks like the Firestone and is intentional. The idea is to bring together the Missingno/Evolve Flareon without a Fire Stone idea. Fire Stones have some connection with Dome and Missingno. There is also a connection between the revival of fossils in Cinnabar and the possible encounter of Missingno. there as well.
Old Amber's light form has a strange resemblance to Charizard and also one has to consider their typing Fire/Flying and Rock/Flying. While Abby is the chosen of Helix, his connection with Old Amber could be a coincidence or is unknown. Missingno's coloring and form is reminiscent of the Haunter line, and is connected to the Pokemon tower/ Ghost Sprite which cannot be captured by any means except glitches which Missingno. is part of. Also it is to call forth the idea that before the battle with Lance one must defeat Agatha. Lance has an Aerodactyl and Agantha Haunter/Gengar. Haunter also gave a lot of trouble to TTP at the tower.
As for Helix and Dome, they grew up and became Gods themselves. It is anticipated by Old Amber that one of them will surpass even his powers and will be strong enough to reach Indigo Plateau and achieve true immortality AKA the hall of fame in which even the PC recognize.
Realizing he could not defeat Missingno. Old Amber took it upon himself to seal it within himself so he could do no harm. |
This week an Irish broadcaster revealed a Vatican letter from 1997 that appears to advise bishops to withhold priest sex abuse allegations from the police. The letter, written in response to Irish bishops’ policy of “mandatory reporting” and leaked by an Irish bishop, has been hailed by victim advocacy groups who hope this smoking gun will lead to definitive proof of the efforts of the Catholic hierarchy to impede prosecution of abusive priests.
As Catholic sex abuse scandals once again dominate headlines from Boston to Belgium, and even the fast-track canonization of Pope John Paul II is marred by questions of culpability, the role of the Catholic hierarchy in enabling clergy abuse seems indisputable, admitted even by die-hard church partisans like the Catholic League. But what’s less understood is how these same patterns persist in today’s Church, where demographic shifts and a dwindling priesthood may be creating a new set of scenarios for abuse.
Christo Y Yo
In 2008, when Katia Birge, a US-born journalist and translator now living in Mexico, was 25, she says she became a victim of sex abuse in the Denver Archdiocese of the Catholic Church. But after a decade of explosive sex abuse scandals, most prominently involving minor children, Birge’s story doesn’t fit the recognized narrative. She was already an adult when it happened, and her alleged attacker is not an ordained member of the clergy. Both facts point to under-recognized trends in the Church that touch on its continuing problem with sex abuse: that adults are often its victims, if rarely its public face, and that shifting staffing decisions in a US Catholic Church quickly becoming more Hispanic have serious implications for how the Church handles abuse.
The Denver Archdiocese, through its Archbishop Charles Chaput, has long played a significant role in the ongoing Catholic sex abuse drama. Chaput acted as what victim advocates call “a kind of point man” for the Vatican, waging an aggressive counteroffensive against clergy sex abuse legislation and appearing at prominent abuse trials nationwide. In response to 2006 propositions to extend the statute of limitations on clergy sex abuse cases in Colorado, Chaput preached against the bills from the pulpit during Mass, hired a lobbying firm, wrote the governor, took out full-page newspaper ads, and bade his Colorado congregants to deluge state congresspeople with hundreds of emails and 25,000 postcards charging the bill was “bad law” that would allow the “pillaging” of church coffers. Writing in the Denver Catholic Register, Chaput charged the bills “exist for one reason only: to target the Catholic community.”
In this battleground atmosphere, Birge became active in the Denver church. After attending college in Kansas, the juvenile rheumatoid arthritis she had contended with since she was 11 flared up, and she moved home to Denver. In pain, and distressed to find herself dependent on her parents, Birge, whose mother grew up in a number of Latin American countries, joined a charismatic Hispanic church group for young adults held at Catholic churches around Denver.
The group, Christo Y Yo, drew as many as 500 participants across the Archdiocese and around 100 in Birge’s St. Cajetan Parish alone. It was run by a Mexican lay minister named Juan Carlos Hernandez: a dynamic and pious man in his mid-30s who charmed older women in the parish and encouraged young adults and young married couples to come to him for counseling and advice. In the rectory, he preached to the members of Christo Y Yo from the pulpit, and was sometimes invited to preach from the pulpit during the full church mass.
Birge grew close to Hernandez, debating morality and exchanging books on theology and the saints, considering their relationship that of a big brother and little sister—Hernandez was ten years her senior, and close to twice her size. In late May, that relationship was complicated when they kissed while watching a movie at his house. Several weeks later, hoping to discuss where they stood, Birge asked Hernandez to meet her to talk. He arrived late and in a strange mood, grabbing Birge’s thighs.
“It sounds fantastic that as a 25-year old woman, I didn’t get those things, but I didn’t,” says Birge. “I was very naïve. I should have listened to my instincts, but instead I listened to other people, and trusted this man’s judgment, because he had the stamp of approval from the church.” Hernandez (who declined several offers to comment for this story) offered to drive Birge to a nearby Wendy’s to talk, but instead he drove to a dark part of town, where he parked, lowered Birge’s seat and climbed on top of her.
“I said you’re hurting me, you’re embarrassing me, I don’t want to do this. And then he got on top of me and that’s when I stopped fighting.” In the corner of her eye, Birge saw a plastic bag in the backseat, and feared Hernandez was going to kill her. The rape was interrupted when two men passed by walking a dog. Hernandez masturbated in the driver’s seat, then reached for the plastic bag, which contained a complete change of clothes. He removed all of the clothes he was wearing and tied them up in the bag. Afterwards, Birge says, Hernandez told her she was used, a whore, and that no man would want her.
That night, Birge emailed Hernandez, in Spanish, asking why he’d done what he did, and protesting his calling her a whore. It was an email that would spell the end of her later attempts to prosecute Hernandez, as divergent translations of the email were used to imply Birge was a scorned woman, seeking revenge. Because of the email, the local District Attorney would refuse to prosecute Hernandez in criminal court. The rest of the night Birge stayed awake, crying, and talking online with friends, who urged her to go to the police, or her priest, and recognize that what had happened to her was rape.
To Jeb Barrett, Denver Director of the Survivors’ Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAP), a peer counseling group that Birge turned to after the attack, her story follows classic lines of abuse of authority. “There are many cases where very charismatic men develop very close and controlling relationships with the people given to them for pastoral care. There’s a kind of intimacy that’s of a different level than the grooming of a child. You groom a child with favors and candy and strokes and get their trust. With an adult, it’s different.”
Adult victims could comprise up to 25% of all clergy abuse cases, estimates David Clohessy, National Director of SNAP, but often face considerable skepticism about their stories. “In the eyes of the law, victims like Birge are adults. But that doesn’t mean that emotionally, psychologically, in the presence of a trusted, powerful, charismatic clergy person, that in fact they can function like adults.” Considering the abundant ethical and legal prohibitions against doctors or therapists having even consensual sex with patients, in recognition of coercive power imbalances in play, Clohessy notes, “none of us have been raised from birth to think that a therapist is God’s representative or that a doctor can get me into heaven.”
A Servant in the Church
Several weeks later, in July, Birge had not reported the attack to the police nor had a rape kit done, but she did tell her mother. Together they went to their parish priest at St. Cajetan, a sympathetic man who regretfully told Birge she would have to talk to the head of Hispanic Ministries, Rev. Msgr. Jorge de los Santos, who supervised Hernandez. It took until the end of October to get an appointment with Santos, and when they finally met, Birge says he asked her what she had been wearing the night of the rape. He also promised to remove Hernandez from activities immediately and discuss the course of action with Archbishop Chaput the next week.
Birge obtained a temporary protective order against Hernandez, but she her family waited for months to hear back from the Archdiocese. She began counseling for post-traumatic stress disorder, but in mid-January she had a grand mal seizure her doctors attributed to stress and lack of sleep. In February, Birge’s father Tom, an attorney, wrote Archbishop Chaput, asking for resolution. He was told that, while Hernandez “had a different version of the facts,” he had nonetheless been relieved of his duties.
However, at a hearing to renew the protection order in March, and again in June, Hernandez came to court accompanied by nuns who worked at the Archdiocese’s Centro San Juan Diego: Hispanic Institute for Family and Pastoral Care, where Hernandez had taught. The same month, the Birges discovered that Hernandez had been transferred to the Colorado Springs Diocese, where he had been named director of Christo Y Yo and was leading weekend retreats. (The Colorado Springs Archdiocese immediately let him go upon hearing about his history from the Birges.)
In a later meeting between Birge, her mother, and Msgr. Thomas Fryar, who oversees both the Office for Hispanic Ministry and all sex abuse cases in the Denver Archdiocese, Birge says Fryar told her the church had not done a background check on Hernandez, and they do not do background checks on any of their volunteers. “He also said they’d have done something if youth had been involved,” says Birge. “I’m not sure what he meant by that. That they’d have done something if a child had been raped?”
Jeanette R. De Melo, Director of Communications for the Archdiocese, said that, as the court case between Hernandez and Birge is still pending, the church would not comment, but added that volunteers and lay leaders are subject to background checks, and that under no circumstances would an alleged aggressor be transferred to another church, as Hernandez had effectively been moved to Colorado Springs.
In 2010, Birge added the Archdiocese as a co-defendant, arguing that the Church had failed to adequately supervise Hernandez: neglecting to conduct a background check on him or make him agree to the Church’s Code of Conduct. She submitted as evidence a series of 30-40 pictures of Hernandez taken from the Archdiocese website—and scrubbed from the site days after they were submitted as evidence—which showed him participating in official Church activities and retreats through March 2010. Birge and her attorney identified a prior victim, who anonymously gave a statement for the plaintiffs, alleging that Hernandez attempted to rape her under very similar circumstances several years earlier.
In their response, the Church sought to dismiss the case, arguing a peculiarity of Colorado law that holds that sexual misconduct is outside the scope of a minister’s duties, and therefore not something the Catholic Church can be liable for and implying the rape was just a date gone wrong. Most importantly, however, they claimed that Hernandez, as a lay volunteer, couldn’t be an agent or servant of the Church. The judge deciding the case, Hon. Sheila Rappaport (incidentally, the recipient of a 2004 Catholic Lawyers Guild award bestowed by Archbishop Chaput), accepted the last argument, declaring Birge had failed to demonstrate that Hernandez worked under the supervision and authorization of the Church “in any way whatsoever.”
Despite the Archdiocese’s efforts to cast Hernandez as a low-level volunteer, he’d held a number of positions of influence and authority in the church’s Hispanic outreach: as a member of the Archdiocese’s council for Hispanic Youth and Young Adults; as a keynote presenter at the fifth Hispanic Catechetical Congress of the Denver Archdiocese in 2007; and a participant in the elite Archdiocesan Pastoral Council, alongside Archbishop Chaput himself, and other high-ranking church officials like Msgr. Thomas Fryar.
The church’s main tack in the lawsuit, summarized Thomas Birge, Katia’s father, and attorney for part of the case, was representing Hernandez as “the guy setting up chairs in the basement, with no theological, pastoral, or guidance responsibilities.” In fact, Birge argues, Hernandez’s resume with the church places him “much closer to the priesthood level of power.”
“I Think He Could Die for Jesus”
Perhaps most significant was Hernandez’s role as a leader in the Centro San Juan Diego, a pastoral and family care center dedicated to “the formation and promotion of Catholic leaders in the Hispanic community.” In her lawsuit, Birge charges that Hernandez was such an involved participant in Centro San Juan that its Director, Luis Soto, referred to him as an employee.
Hernandez, who was trained at the Jesuit School of Theology in Berkeley, California, and the Mexican-American Catholic College in San Antonio, was also the 2006 recipient of the Archbishop Gomez Pastoral Leadership Award, as a Church leader “whose actions embody Catholic teaching.” At a $100-plate dinner to benefit Centro San Juan, Hernandez was feted by the award’s namesake, Archbishop José H. Gomez of the Los Angeles Archdiocese, as well as Archbishop Chaput. In the Archdiocesan newspaper, Denver Catholic Register, Liliana Flores, the Archdiocese’s Hispanic Youth Coordinator breathlessly declared of Hernandez, “I think he could die for Jesus.”
This wrinkle in the case gets at a larger issue: Hernandez was just one of an increasing number of lay ministers and volunteers assuming formerly clerical roles in the Catholic Church, particularly in heavily Latino parishes, such as Denver’s. Facing a general shortage of priests, and a critical lack of ordained staff equipped to serve Spanish-speaking communities, a papal dictate was issued in 2003, calling for an expanded role for laity in the church’s ministry.
Two years later, the Committee on the Laity of the US Conference of Catholic Bishops issued a report, “Co-Workers in the Vineyard of the Lord,” detailing a plan to use the more than 32,000 “lay ecclesial ministers” already in place to minister to an increasingly Spanish-speaking Church—a volunteer task force characterized in the document as being authorized by the church hierarchy to serve; possessing specified ministry leadership roles; working in close mutual collaboration with ordained church leaders; and receiving church training appropriate to their roles. Lay ecclesial ministry, the bishops argued, “entails an explicit relationship of mutual accountability to and collaboration with the Church hierarchy.”
The Jesuit School of Theology that helped train Hernandez has a special training program for Hispanic ministry, the Instituto Hispano, which seems inspired by this call. “Since the Second Vatican Council,” a pamphlet for the school reads, “ministry in the Church has shifted in sometimes challenging ways. Before the Council, priests and nuns carried out most of Church ministry. Since then, as their numbers declined, lay men and women in great numbers have committed themselves to work alongside priests and nuns. This partnership is essential for the Church’s mission to thrive. The Jesuit School of Theology is preparing ministerial leaders—Jesuit, religious, and lay—to work together as partners for tomorrow’s Church.”
No Hierarchy of Abuse
There’s a critical disconnect between acknowledgments like these of lay ministers’ prominent position in the Church and the Denver Archdiocese’s efforts to disown Hernandez after he was accused of rape. At one point, in the midst of the trial, Birge and her mother sought a truce with the Archdiocese, offering to drop the suit against the Church in exchange for background information that could help in a criminal prosecution against Hernandez. They met with Msgr. Thomas Fryar, who Birge says quickly announced that her peace offering was based on false assumptions, since Hernandez was not an employee, nor was Christo Y Yo any more a part of the Church than was the pro-choice group Catholics for Choice. (Christo Y Yo is still listed prominently on the Archdiocese’s Hispanic Ministry page). When Birge and her mother left the meeting, after no resolution, she says a sacrosanct from the office followed them into the parking lot.
To victims’ advocates, this level of intimidation, and the attempt to recast Hernandez as an insignificant volunteer, is par for the course across the country, and especially in Denver, where Church lawyers have used increasingly aggressive, victim-blaming tactics as part of a brutal Church defense industry, composed of attorneys, insurers and the bishops who hire them.
“That’s been our experience here,” says Jeb Barrett, “that people who have gone to the Archdiocese have found their families scrutinized and questioned. It’s revictimizing, and it discourages other victims from coming forward.”
If anything, adds David Clohessy, “I think Church officials are even more reckless and callous when a predator exploits adults.”
Birge’s case against the Archdiocese was dismissed in September, and Birge says the Church requested that she pay hundreds of thousands of dollars in attorney fees. In December, Birge settled with the Church, waiving her right of appeal in exchange for the Archdiocese dropping its claim for reimbursement.
Jeanette R. De Melo, the Archdiocese Communications Director, declined to directly address the Birges’ characterization of how the Denver church handled the case. “It is important to note that Ms. Birge advanced many of these same arguments in her suit, and the Court not only dismissed her case as unfounded, but awarded tens of thousands of dollars in attorney’s fees and costs against her, personally,” said De Melo.
While the verdict validated the Archdiocese’s argument, that its once-celebrated lay minister did not represent the Church, experts on sex abuse say the fallout for victims is the same. “Although he wasn’t a cleric, people in a role like that still command a certain amount of respect, and a power imbalance because they are lay people doing what a cleric would be doing” says Tom Doyle, a former Catholic Air Force chaplain who became a whistleblower about sex abuse and co-author of Sex, Priests, and Secret Codes: The Catholic Church’s 2000-Year Paper Trail of Sexual Abuse. “I’ve known a number of instances where lay people like that have sexually abused vulnerable women and men. The destruction is just as bad. And the Church is just as responsible for monitoring lay employees as they are for clerics.”
Clohessy agrees. |
Rafael dos Anjos wants to add a second UFC belt to his resume, and his first step towards the welterweight gold is already set.
Dos Anjos will make his 170-pound debut inside the Octagon against former Strikeforce welterweight champion Tarec Saffiedine at the UFC Fight Night 111 card in Kallang, Singapore on June 17, and that’s exactly the type of opponent he was hoping for.
"I think Tarec Saffiedine is a great opponent for my first fight at welterweight,” dos Anjos told MMA Fighting. "That’s exactly what I wanted, a top-10 (ranked fighter). I’m a former lightweight champion and I believe I deserved to fight someone ranked, and Tarec is also a former world champion, a former Strikeforce champion. It’s going to be a great fight.”
Dos Anjos decided to move up to welterweight after having trouble making 155 pounds. Even though he never missed weight in 21 fights inside the Octagon, the Brazilian said that his body struggled with the weight cut as of late.
In his previous two fights, dos Anjos lost the UFC lightweight belt to Eddie Alvarez in July, then came back four months later to lose a five-round decision to Tony Ferguson in Mexico.
Saffiedine, who joined the UFC as Strikeforce’s last welterweight champion in 2014, has suffered many injuries during his UFC run, and enters the bout coming off decision losses to Rick Story and Dong Hyun Kim.
"There’s no easy path (to win this fight), especially at the highest level, but I will use all my game,” dos Anjos said. "I think that something I haven't used much in my fights is my wrestling, my jiu-jitsu, but I’m a complete fighter. But I will trade with him, and if he gives me opportunities there, I will use my game. I’ll walk forward the entire time, like I always do. I think I’ll be stronger in this division, won’t suffer with that violent weight cut. I think I will perform better in this weight class.”
The Brazilian fighter will have a small reach advantage over Saffiedine in his welterweight debut, even though his opponent is a bit taller than him.
"I don’t think I’ll have any problem,” dos Anjos said. "They are stronger, but I will be stronger, too. They are taller than me, but even at lightweight some athletes were taller than me. But I fight well against tall guys.
"I didn’t leave my division to go after easier fights. I left the division because I had already reached the top, became champion, and health is the top priority. Some fighters leave their divisions or cut down in weight to go after easier fights, but I left the division for my health because my body reached its limit."
After leaving Kings MMA in 2016, dos Anjos has changed a few things in his training routine. Now that he’s set to face 170-pounders, RDA is also using every opportunity he can find to spar with bigger fighters, including UFC middleweight champion Michael Bisping.
Move no around with @rdosanjosmma this morning @rvcasport @rvca @myproteinuk A post shared by Mikebisping (@mikebisping) on Mar 24, 2017 at 4:14pm PDT
"I have been sparring with bigger guys, trained a few times with Michael Bisping and the guys Bisping takes to the gym,” dos Anjos said. "Eduardo Pamplona is my Muay Thai coach now, a good friend and also one of the guys that helped me when I moved to the United States. He cornered me in my first two or three fights and then moved to Mexico, but he’s back now and will be in my corner in this fight. He used to fight at 185 and 170, and he’s tough. He’s helping me with my Muay Thai, and I’m trying to train with bigger guys now."
Saffiedine has fought some of the best welterweights throughout his MMA career, including current UFC titleholder Tyron Woodley, and that’s one of the reasons why the Niteroi-native expects a win over Saffiedine to put him among the best of the division right away.
"I believe that a win would put me in the top 10,” dos Anjos said. "When you fight the champion and win, you become the champion. If you beat the No. 10 (ranked fighter), you become the No. 10. I think (the win) puts me in this mix, and that’s my goal.”
"No rush, but my goal is the welterweight belt,” he continued. "I think I have what it takes to get there. But I’ll do at welterweight what I did at lightweight, no rush. I’ll slowly get there. I have the qualities to get there. But a win over Tarec Saffiedine will definitely put me in this mix."
Dos Anjos’ initial plan was to fight at Rio de Janeiro’s UFC 212 on June 3, but he made clear from the beginning that he would enjoy competing in Singapore. In fact, dos Anjos will do the final part of his training camp for his 22nd UFC bout in Singapore.
"My first goal was to fight in Rio, and I even campaigned for this on social media, but it’s a big card with big names and everybody wants to be there,” dos Anjos said. “I also have a big market in Singapore and the UFC knows that. It's a business. Every time I’m in Asia, I train at Evolve. I’ve done training camps there before. I’ve gone to Evolve for seven years now.
"Evolve is my home in Asia and I have great friends there. I wanted to fight in Rio, but I’m happy that I’m fighting in Singapore. I love Singapore, I love team Evolve, and I have great training there. It will be great to be back in Singapore. I will have other opportunities to fight in Rio." |
Despite the fact that the TTC still doesn't have a dedicated merch store (small efforts notwithstanding), the variety of transit-affiliated items available for independent designers never ceases to amaze. Near the top of the heap, in my humble opinion, is local designer Jonathan Guy's TTC font posters, which show off the unique Toronto Transit typeface in a minimalist series that features subway station names. There's not much to dislike about Guy's first designs, but his latest additions add a new element to the series that I suspect will appeal to folks whose relationship with the TTC has included its fair share of inconvenience.
To the same degree that the original posters were iconic in their simplicity, these new delay-oriented posters conjure up all those times when you've been kicked off a train that's going out of service (can't you just hear the operator's voice over the intercom delivering the news) or stranded on a platform waiting on a subway that seems like it will never arrive. The posters retail for $35.95. You can check out all of Jonathan Guy's TTC items here. |
by Christine Stuart | Nov 1, 2011 3:59pm ( ) Comments | Commenting has expired | Share
Posted to: Energy, Labor, Weather
As criticism mounts about the number of linemen utilities have out trying to get the lights back on across Connecticut, the governor’s top energy official has finally found time to meet with a union official who tried to bring the problem to the administration’s attention.
That meeting—between Frank Cirillo, business manager of IBEW Local 420; and Department of Energy and Environmental Protection Commissioner Daniel C. Esty, a favorite on the utility industry’s paid consultant and speaker payroll—is scheduled for Wednesday morning.
Cirillo had been trying to get that meeting ever since Tropical Storm Irene ravaged the state and plunged hundreds of thousands of homes into darkness. He sent two letters to Malloy. Malloy never responded but forwarded the request to Esty. After crews turned out to be undermanned for this past weekend’s freak snowstorm, Cirillo branded the governor an “idiot” for ignoring the warnings.
Esty said Tuesday that it had all been a mistake. His staff had mistaken the union official with another man by the same name—a Democratic Party boss. Esty did meet with that Frank Cirillo.
The meeting, which was supposed to take place after Tropical Storm Irene, was initially ignored until Frank Cirillo, business manager of IBEW Local 420, spoke about it with CT News Junkie Monday.
Those developments occurred amid a fast-moving backdrop of events Tuesday, as officials revealed that it may take longer than a week for Connecticut Light & Power to get power restored to the last of some 800,000 customers in the state that lost electricity.
Speaking on WNPR’s Where We Live, Danbury Mayor Mark Boughton echoed Cirillo’s concerns about CL&P having too few linemen in the field. Half of Danbury remains without power.
“The bottom line here is that CL&P does not have enough workers working for them,” Boughton said. “Everybody’s afraid to say that the emperor has no clothes. But the emperor has no clothes. It’s time in this state where we pay the highest electric rates in the country that we demand better services from our utility providers. It’s just that simple.”
Boughton, who was the Republican candidate for lieutenant governor last year, went even further.
“Maybe we shouldn’t be paying multimillion dollar salaries to the top executives in that organization and maybe we ought to go back and take some of that money and plow it back into maintenance and plow it back into repair crews, which is really what the end user experiences.”
After ignoring those warnings for months, the Malloy administration began acknowledging them Tuesday.
After touring the L.P. Wilson Community Center in Windsor, Gov. Dannel P. Malloy said he’s hearing from a lot of people they believe there’s a need for more linemen.
“That’s why we have the Irene committee and that’s why the Irene committee or another committee is going to have to take a look at this incident and make some recommendations here,” Malloy said.
He said he has not discharged the committee looking at the state’s preparedness and response for Tropical Storm Irene, so it’s possible the response to this storm could be added to their agenda.
“There are things that we learned during Irene that are already being implemented in this storm, so the idea that we can build upon our experiences is one I absolutely support and I think we can get that done,” Malloy said.
Tuesday morning, after a briefing at the state’s Emergency Operations Center, Esty said he didn’t intentionally ignore Cirillo’s request for a meeting. His staff just didn’t know there are two Frank Cirillos, he claimed. Esty said he had a meeting scheduled with Frank Cirillo of Meriden, who sits on the Democratic Town Committee there, so his staff didn’t know to set up an additional meeting with Frank Cirillo who works for the IBEW.
“They saw the name Frank Cirillo on the schedule and assumed I had already met with him,” Esty said.
Esty’s spokesman said the meeting with Cirillo of Meriden was not related to linemen staffing.
The two will meet in Waterbury at the union’s offices Wednesday morning.
Earlier Tuesday Malloy and Connecticut’s U.S. Congressional delegation asked the U.S. Department of Energy to intervene and make sure the state receives enough out-of-state mutual aid.
U.S. Department of Energy’s Deputy Assistant Secretary for Infrastructure Security and Energy Restoration Bill Bryan said the local utilities have been overwhelmed by this storm.
“If you look at the outages in Connecticut, which basically equals the outages of all the other places combined, you really don‘t have yet a fair distribution of workers from mutual assistance teams out here doing this,” Bryan said Tuesday at an afternoon press conference in the Emergency Operations Center.
With 6,000 workers expected to help out with the outages across the northeast, Bryan said he will be making some calls to make sure Connecticut gets the number of workers it needs.
“We are a little bit disappointed,” Malloy said. |
Nomadic photographer Gianluca Pardelli hitched his way around the former Soviet Union, searching for identity in a cultural vacuum.
Nomadic photographer Gianluca Pardelli hitched his way around the former Soviet Union, searching for identity in a cultural vacuum.
Share this Share this...
Linkedin
Gianluca Pardelli has travelled to over 70 countries across four continents, but one region has beguiled him more than most: the territory once known as the Soviet Union.
“I grew up in a family with strong political ties to the former Eastern Bloc,” says Gianluca, who’s from Tuscany in Italy.
“I developed a strong love for Russian literature, cinema and fine arts but I have always been interested in remote places and far-away cultures.”
Between studying Slavic languages in Berlin and photojournalism in London, Gianluca travelled widely as a student, falling in love with the former USSR and its heritage after first visiting there in 2008.
“On one hand, the USSR brought undeniable social and economic developments to the region,” he says.
“On the other, however, local cultures and traditions have been uprooted, leaving locals with a complex identity problem – especially after the fall of communism, which left an ideological vacuum.”
Gianluca decided to explore that search for identity through a photo project called Tabula Rasa Electrified.
The photographer couchsurfed his way through two trips: one taking in post-Soviet Central Asia (Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan), the other working through the Southern Siberian States (Mongolia and the republics of Tuva, Altai, Buryatia and Khakassia).
Speaking fluent Russian helped Gianluca get close to people – many of whom regarded him as a novelty – and absorb the nuances of how they saw themselves.
“A lot of these countries try to dig into an almost mythological past of nomadic warriors and conquering kings to forge a renewed national identity,” he says.
“Some of these figures are real – if somewhat remote and definitely controversial, such as Genghis Khan in Mongolia – while others are more characters from folk legends.”
“Language also plays an important role in re-creating a national identity: Russian is still widespread in the region, but all these countries and republic have their own national language, which they are trying to revive more or less successfully.”
Contrasts could be found everywhere. In southwestern Kazakhstan, Gianluca hit it off with a bus driver who had a surprisingly in-depth knowledge of Italian medieval literature thanks to the Soviet education system – one of the things that people in the region are most nostalgic about.
In the Siberian republics, he connected with a former police officer who had become the leader of a local opposition party in Kyzyl, building his campaign on a curious (but not uncommon) mix of Soviet nostalgia and anti-Putinism.
In Mongolia, the synergy of the Gobi Region – with its blend of nomadic herders and jeep drivers servicing rich tourists – embodied the past and present trying to fit together.
But asked what he learned about himself along the way, the photographer simply shrugs the question off.
“There is a Chinese saying: if an idiot leaves for a long journey, when he comes back he’ll still be an idiot,” says Gianluca, who is loosely based between Berlin and the Caucasus, where he spends most of his time pursuing “photographic, linguistic and gastronomic discoveries”.
“I think that the influence travel has on one’s own personality is a hackneyed and overrated concept.
“There is a undeniable enrichment – a huge one, even – but one’s own roots still play the most important role. Everything else is ‘just’ branches, flowers and leaves.”
Check out the portfolio of photographer Gianluca Pardelli or follow him on Instagram.
Enjoyed this article? Like Huck on Facebook or follow us on Twitter. |
If you think you were cramped in your dorm freshman year, imagine being placed in a bathroom or closet.
That’s what happened to at least two incoming freshman who applied to live in Neptune, UCF’s newest housing facility.
“I kept seeing everyone posting on the UCF Class of 2018 Facebook page about roommates and assignments, and I had my community with room number and building, but no roommates,” Ashlyn TenBieg, an incoming freshman planning to major in both Business and Event Management, said.
TenBieg decided to call UCF housing on Friday and figure out exactly why she didn’t appear to have any roommates for this fall. She got transferred around until she got a woman who told her some startling news.
Like us on Facebook & follow @UCFKnightNews on twitter for UCF news on your feeds!
Follow @UCFKnightNews
“[She] told me that they mistakenly placed me in a bathroom and that I will get a new assignment,” TenBieg said.
TenBieg said she was glad she called about the problem, and found the whole situation kind of humorous.
“I thought it was kinda funny,” TenBieg said. “I thought the lady was just joking at first when she told me because she said it so casual.”
Another incoming freshman, Brian Schickman, had something very similar happen to him.
Schickman, an industrial engineering major, already knew his desired roommate. The two were talking constantly about their future at UCF when they noticed their rooming assignment changing almost weekly.
Their room had changed floors and buildings twice before their parents got involved.
“Both of us were starting to get a little bit annoyed and confused so his parents called the school and asked why it kept changing,” Schickman said. “They said they accidentally placed us in a closet.”
Both students were able to resolve the problem because they noticed the problem and were proactive to resolve it.
Courtney Gilmartin, UCF spokeswoman, said that housing didn’t know anything about these students getting placed irregularly for the fall term, but said that one unnamed student did have a problem getting placed in the summer term and ended up in a room that didn’t exist.
After an investigation, housing said that a handful of students were incorrectly assigned in Neptune but said that the problem was promptly corrected.
“This was all kind of caused by a programming glitch just by virtue of Neptune being a new community,” Gilmartin said. “A student was placed in a room that didn’t exist and it was brought to housing’s attention and fixed immediately. That student was given another assignment in an actual room.”
Gilmartin said that it isn’t common to hear about errors like this but said there’s always a possibility of small glitches, especially being that Neptune is a new community.
“The incorrect room assignments would have come up as move-in preparation drew closer, so there wouldn’t have been a chance that students would show up on campus and not have a place to live,” Gilmartin said.
If you notice any irregularities in your housing assignment, or if you aren’t assigned roommates yet contact UCF housing at 407-823-4663. |
This is the vexing question that has been percolating inside my mind while reviewing the Sony Xperia S: is Google's Ice Cream Sandwich version of Android out yet? The instinctive answer would be quick and affirmative, what with the Galaxy Nexus having been on sale for months, but go to your local phone store and try to count the number of non-Nexus ICS handsets currently on sale. It won't take you long since the answer will almost invariably be zero.
Android 4.0 (ICS) was officially announced on October 18th alongside an SDK for developers to start building apps for the new platform. A month later, it was made available as an open source download and accompanied by the launch of the hero device for the new OS version, the Galaxy Nexus. Google still isn't in the business of selling phones, but you might be forgiven for thinking it places a heavy priority on its own sub-brand of Nexus phones. The Nexus S, the previous flagship Googlephone, is the only other smartphone to be receiving an official over-the-air update to version 4.0.
Google is having its Ice Cream Sandwich and eating it too, but users are left hungry
In the immediate wake of the ICS announcement, HTC's response to questions about upgrades for its older smartphones was telling: the company said it was "reviewing [the] features and functionality" of the new operating system and evaluating the viability of updates. Was HTC really kept out of the loop until the code was publicly detailed and released under an open source license? It's possible.
Rumors of Google playing favorites among Android manufacturers by providing early access to its next OS for some but not others have been heard, but we shouldn't be so credulous as to place all the blame for these delays on Google's shoulders. We're now four and a half months removed from the launch of ICS and Asus, for one, has been able to turn the stock software into a decent, if imperfect, Ice Cream Sandwich ROM for its Transformer Prime tablet.
At this point, any company that continues to ship new devices with an older version of Android only has itself to blame. Although Sony can point to the collective lethargy among Android phone makers in delivering updates to and new devices with Ice Cream Sandwich, its own failure to surpass them with the Xperia S cannot be excused.
The manufacturers' critical failure with respect to Android updates has been a resolute insistence on applying their own skin on top of the stock OS, no matter how much that process slows down the user experience or the release schedule. Sadly, they also don't seem to have learned anything — or enough — from their former errors, as the current situation is a repeat of what we saw in 2010, when the Nexus One was first to receive both Android 2.1 and 2.2, and 2011, when the Nexus S taunted other phones with its Gingerbread exclusivity for months.
Google doesn't make a habit of enforcing exclusives, of course, but its own active involvement in the Android upgrade process seems to mirror Apple's behavior with the iPhone: get the hero device out with the new OS, update the previous hardware generation, and focus on delivering a cohesive user experience that's recognizably yours. The group of Android phone makers laboring under the mistaken belief that they need their own skins to differentiate away from the stock OS is actually helping Google in strengthening its own brand and credibility.
Android phone owners are left at the mercy of quixotic phone makers and myopic carriers
The one party that isn't gaining anything in this unholy muddle is the user. The term "Android" still encompasses the full range of devices running the operating system, from the Acer Liquid Express to the ZTE Blade II, and yet we're sat watching as a two-stage software update roadmap develops. One is for Google's own, the Xooms and the Nexuses of the world, and the other is for everyone else, leaving Android phone owners at the mercy of quixotic phone makers and myopic carriers. Needless to say, that's not the way it should be.
If Google is in charge of the Android project, it should accept responsibility for all of it, because that's how the rest of the world perceives it. And if it's not, it should come clean by clearly defining which devices will and won't benefit from its "express new OS" service.
Android users will want to know. |
0 SHARES Facebook Twitter Google Whatsapp Pinterest Print Mail Flipboard
With an arrest expected as early as Monday in Robert Mueller’s escalating investigation into the Trump campaign’s ties to Russia, Donald Trump escaped the White House on Saturday, reportedly wearing his standard golf outfit and shoes.
Per pool: POTUS left the White House “wearing a white hat, dark jacket, white shirt and what may prove to be golf shoes.” — Kyle Griffin (@kylegriffin1) October 28, 2017
A short time later, Griffin confirmed, the president arrived at his club in Sterling, Virginia – the fourth straight weekend that Trump has left his job in Washington to hit the links.
Per pool, Trump has arrived at Trump Nat’l Golf Club in VA. This is his 76th day at a golf club, 96th day at a Trump property as president. — Kyle Griffin (@kylegriffin1) October 28, 2017
According to the MSNBC producer, citing the press pool, Trump’s motorcade was met with a protester at the entrance of the club, holding a sign that said, “Impeach.”
Pool: As Trump’s motorcade passed, “a lone protester stood at the entrance holding a handwritten sign that said: ‘Impeach.'” https://t.co/HVjK8FQUmZ — Kyle Griffin (@kylegriffin1) October 28, 2017
Trump’s visit to his Virginia golf club marks his 76th day golfing and 96th day at one of his properties during his short 10 months in the White House. For those keeping score at home, that means Trump has spent 27 percent of his time as president golfing and more than a third hiding out at one of his lavish properties.
Trump’s poor work ethic is stunning given how harshly he criticized former President Barack Obama’s golf habits during the campaign. The current president even repeatedly promised that, if elected, he wouldn’t have time to golf and probably would rarely even leave the White House.
Over the past ten months, virtually the opposite has been true as Trump’s frequent travel outside of Washington – often to one of his own properties – has all but bankrupted the U.S. Secret Service.
His latest golf outing on Saturday comes after the explosive news that the first charges in Robert Mueller’s Russia investigation have been approved and an arrest could come as early as Monday. In his early morning tweets, Trump made no mention of the new developments.
Instead, Trump prefers to bury his head in one his sand traps and pretend all of this is fake news.
If you’re ready to read more from the unbossed and unbought Politicus team, sign up for our newsletter here! Email address: Leave this field empty if you're human: |
CHICAGO – Forty-nine Americans were selected in this weekend’s 2017 NHL Draft at United Center, home of the Chicago Blackhawks.
Six Americans were taken in Friday night’s opening round, with forward Casey Mittelstadt (Eden Prairie, Minn.) being the first U.S. player off the board when the Buffalo Sabres drafted him 8th overall. The Tampa Bay Lightning selected defenseman Callan Foote (Englewood, Colo.) with the 14th pick in the draft before forward Josh Norris (Oxford, Mich.) was drafted 19th overall by the San Jose Sharks. Forward Kailer Yamamoto (Spokane, Wash.) was picked by the Edmonton Oilers with the 22nd overall pick. A pair of Lakeville, Minnesota, natives, forward Ryan Poehling and goaltender Jake Oettinger, were taken back-to-back with the 25th and 26th picks by the Montreal Canadiens and Dallas Stars, respectively.
Four more Americans were taken in the second round, nine in the third, six in the fourth and fifth, eight in the sixth and 10 in the seventh round.
For a complete list of Americans taken in the 2017 NHL Draft, click here. |
WELCOME TO HACHETTE PARTWORKS
A PUBLISHING COMPANY WITH A STRONG CREATIVE HERITAGE
Hachette Partworks publishes collectable series such as Marvel Graphic Novel Collections, Judge Dredd, Art therapy, the Art of Crochet and more!
THE LEADER IN PARTWORKS PUBLISHING
Hachette Partworks publish in most major English speaking markets including the UK, Republic of Ireland, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa and Malta.
We have an outstanding catalogue of both mass market and niche partwork collections, including our hugely successful, innovative craft collections such as Art therapy and The Art of Crochet and our exceptionally detailed build-up models such as Your Model Railway Village as well as our high-quality book collections including Marvel, The Ultimate Graphic Novel collection and Doctor Who: The Complete Collection.
With fascinating and inspiring editorial content across a wealth of subjects, and big name licenses such as Marvel and Disney, Hachette Partworks create high-quality products across every genre.
Together with our sister companies, we publish in 32 countries, 16 languages and launch 80 collections per year, making us the most prolific partwork publisher on the market today. |
Scott Stapp Relatives Panic He's Out to Kill Obama [911 Tape]
Scott Stapp ... Relatives Panic -- He's Out to Kill Obama (911 Tape)
EXCLUSIVE
threatened to assassinate... and his alarmed wife and sister-in-law made a desperate 911 call to stop him.
Scott had just gone AWOL from a mental facility late last month, when his sister-in-law told the 911 dispatcher he was cruising around his neighborhood, shirtless on a bicycle. She says the former Creed frontman claimed to be a CIA agent and his mission was to kill Obama.
Stapp claimed in a rambling video the IRS is trying to ruin his life because he's been trashing Obama.
Jaclyn Stapp, Scott's wife, joins the 40-minute 911 call, telling the dispatcher Scott had printed out 400 - 600 pages of CIA documents which he supposedly found online, put them in a book bag and took off on his bike.
The 2 women were pleading with the dispatcher to snare Scott and take him back to the psych ward.
As cops were dispatched, Scott placed his own 911 call, saying his wife had stolen his truck and that's why he was on a bike.
When cops arrived Scott told them Jaclyn had pilfered $6 mil from him, and when he confronted her she decided to get him locked up. In the end, police determined Scott did not show enough signs of mental instability to warrant a psych hold.
TMZ broke the story ... Jaclyn has filed legal docs trying to get Scott on a 60-day psych hold, claiming he was deep into various drugs, including coke, weed, PCP and amphetamines. Scott posted a video claiming he's drug free. |
The three people arrested right before heading through Holland Tunnel with a cache of weapons Tuesday morning say there were trying to rescue a teen girl from an allegedly drug-filled apartment. The weapons found in a black-and-lime green SUV included "a pump action shotgun with a pistol grip and collapsible stock; an SAR-98 Salamander Arms assault rifle; seven clips of ammunition for the rifle; four 9mm pistols; and a .45 caliber pistol with several magazines" plus "a Kevlar bullet resistant helmet with camouflage cover; tactical goggles; night-vision goggles; and body armor."
At 7:40 a.m. yesterday, Port Authority Police Officer John Basil noticed a cracked windshield on the SUV and pulled over the extremely conspicuous vehicle when it was on the NJ side of the Holland Tunnel. "He saw a loaded magazine for a gun and ordered everyone out," according to the Daily News. When driver Dean Smith, 53, got out, Officer Basil spotted the .45.
A search of the vehicle turned up the arsenal. The NY Post reports that officers found a bullet clip in the SUV that says 'Merica.
The other man in the car, John Cramsey, 50, is a gun dealer and anti-heroin activist from Pennsylvania; his anti-heroin stance was spurred on after his daughter's recent fatal heroin overdose. Cramsey wrote on his Facebook page at 1 a.m., "Today is the day that marks the 4 Month Anniversary of the loss of my sweet baby girl... I have been fighting the Demon that stole you from me with everything I got .... How can one person possibly cry so much without just drying up the tear ducts forever ?"
Then, at 7:13 a.m., he posted:
I'm currently 11 miles outside of Brooklyn New York and going to a hotel to extract a 16 year old girl who went up there to Party with a few friends. One of those friends she went up there with will not be returning . This young lady from Wilkes Barre is scared and wants to come home. Last night she woke to find her friends body next to her in the same bed were her friend died of another heroin overdose. The Child named Janaee Patterson and she is from the Wilkes Barre area. A Facebook message to the Mother and the Brother with no response yet. I'm bringing her out of NY today and anybody else in that hotel that wants to go home too . Lyn Baker I am with your friend Kimberly Anne Walker and we we are now 9 miles out . She accepted your friend request. I will keep you posted as soon as I got some news.
Hey everybody !
Who remembers the Beastie Boys ....
NO ....SLEEP ....TILL BROOKLYN !
ENOUGH is ENOUGH !
Coming to a Town near YOU SOON !
The News adds, "When cops tracked down the teen the suspects claimed they were headed to rescue, the girl told police she didn’t want to be saved, sources said. Port Authority cops couldn’t verify the teen was ever in trouble."
Kimberly Arendt, 29, the third person in the car, was also arrested. The three face charges including weapons possession, possession of high-capacity magazines, transport of an assault firearm and pot possession.
Cramsey with his SUV and an "Enough is Enough" banner; he belongs to an "Enough is Enough" FB group that explains, "We are a group of people who have felt both the pain of losing a Loved One or have survived an addiction or supported someone who has and are now Sounding Out to say Enough is Enough."
A man who was in a holding cell with Cramsey and Smith told the Post that the "men claimed the weapons were only in the car for a photo shoot from the day before and they didn’t have time to unload them."
Cramsey's supporters have been responding to Cramsey's Facebook with explanations— "They were stopped for a cracked windshield (according to WFMZ) and when they searched the vehicle, found loaded guns. He simply forgot they were there (he's a gun dealer, so that makes sense). Unfortunately for him, the port authority did, and NY isn't as liberal on gun laws as PA. Hopefully things will work out"—and ideas on how to help him—"Ugh I feel really bad about, because John has done so much in our community to help people. My heart goes out to all three. I hope we can do something to help these guys by possibly writing letters of character to the judge?"
One of his friends told WCBS 2, "Ever since his daughter died, I think it was one of those things where he wishes he could have done something to save her, and now that she’s gone, he feels this guilt in his heart that he needs to help other people." |
TORONTO, CANADA - JANUARY 7: Daniel Cleary #11 of the Detroit Red Wings shoots during warmup before NHL action against the Toronto Maple Leafs at The Air Canada Centre January 7, 2012 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. (Photo by Abelimages/Getty Images) (Photo by Abelimages/Getty Images)
Detroit Red Wings forward Daniel Cleary is looking to make a comeback.
Last season was a rough one for Cleary. The 36-year-old had just one goal and one assist in the mere 17 games he took the ice — thanks to an injury. He didn’t even see the postseason (not that it lasted very long for the Wings, anyway).
Next month, Cleary becomes an unrestricted free agent when his 1-year contract with the Wings expires. But if he has his way — Cleary won’t be going anywhere. He told the St. John’s Telegram that he soon plans to speak with General Manager Ken Holland about his future with the team.
“Are you kidding me?” he asked rhetorically. “I live for it. You don’t play this long without loving the game. I love to practice, I love to skate, I love working out. I love everything there is about hockey.”
Sources within the Red Wings’ organization suggest Holland and Detroit management are big on living up to their word, and there was some kind of agreement a couple of years ago between Cleary and the team that the Wings would take care of him after turning down a couple of big offers to remain in Detroit.
In the summer of 2013, the Philadelphia Flyers offered the Red Wings veteran a three-year contract worth $8.25 million. The Florida Panthers also came in with a hefty offer.
The report goes on to say that just before signing a 3-year deal with the Flyers, Cleary drove himself to Traverse City to meet face to face with Holland and then-coach Mike Babcock — where a gentleman’s agreement of sorts took place.
Holland and Babcock were big fans of Cleary’s. They like his character — good dressing room guy, as they call it in hockey. They wanted him in Detroit, and Cleary wanted to remain in Motown. All they had to do was make it happen.
And they did, to the tune of $1.75 million for one year and a no-trade clause.
As part of the deal, apparently, there was a handshake agreement on another contract for 2014-15, which they agreed on last July. And yet another for 2015-16. Supposedly. Maybe for a Detroit discount of $750,000 or so.
We haven’t yet heard anything from the Wings organization whether or not they would be interested in keeping Cleary on board. Some sources think he could stay with a position in the front office if he isn’t resigned to the team.
Stay tuned. |
I decided to follow an advice shared on twitter via the The Practical Dev: the best way to learn AWS is to start using it.
The problem
I was looking for a way to quickly create a Minimum Viable Stack on AWS with the following properties:
Be setup in less than 10min Be able to run a Symfony application Using PostgreSQL on RDS Deployment is easy and fast Non AWS experts can create the MVS
But I couldn’t find any out-of-the-box tools so I looked for a solution. Here I describe my journey which ended up with a ready-to-go CloudFormation configuration.
Elastic Beanstalk
I started working with Elastic Beanstalk, the PAAS of AWS, which seemed to be exactly what I needed. Thanks to this article on Elastic Beanstalk configuration files and this one on how to deploy a Symfony application, I was able to run my application after some debugging cycles. My problem after that was that I couldn’t reuse my configuration to recreate the whole environment (Elastic Beanstalk instances + RDS instance) for a new project so I chose to experiment using CloudFormation.
CloudFormation
CloudFormation is an AWS service that creates a complete stack (VPC, load balancers, web servers, ..) from a template file.If you want to learn how to use CloudFormation, I recommend you to start by learning the basic templates. I started from a sample Elastic Beanstalk template and changed it so it can run a Symfony App. Here are the steps you need to perform in order to use my template:
Step 1: Because we will pass to the Elastic Beanstalk server the information to connect to the RDS postgresql database through environment variables, you need to update your parameters.yml with the following values:
database_host: "%env(DB_HOST)%" database_port: 5432 database_name: "%env(DB_NAME)%" database_user: "%env(DB_USER)%" database_password: "%env(DB_PASSWORD)%"
Step 2: Ensure you have specified the driver to “pdo_pgsql” in the “app/config/config.yml” file.
Step 3: Upload a zip file with all your code to a s3 bucket. You create the zip file with this command:
zip -r code.zip . --exclude=*vendors*`
Step 4: Download my CloudFormation template.
Step 5: Go to your AWS console and open the CloudFormation and click on “create new stack”.
Step 6: Enter the required information:
Step 7: Click on “next”, “next” and check “I acknowledge that AWS CloudFormation might create IAM resources.”. Then you can click on create. If everything is fine then you should see something like this:
Step 8 : You can check the Elastic Beanstalk page to see if everything went okay and find the url of your project at the top of the page.
Security remark: the password of your database will be available on the AWS console in the config section. A better solution would be to use an s3 file that will be copied during the initialisation of the Elastic Beanstalk container using .ebextensions files or using KMS and DynamoDB.
Configure the Elastic Beanstalk environment
Your site is online but you will want to update it. To do that you need to follow those steps:
Ensure you don’t have a .elasticbeanstalk directory Run “eb init“, choose your region and the application you just created. You can find the name in the Elastic Beanstalk page.
Now you are ready, you can deploy new version of your code simply with “eb deploy“.
Conclusion
CloudFormation is a powerful tool with some drawbacks:
It only works with AWS
It’s not easy to write beautiful code for the infrastructure
To help you write CloudFormation templates, you can try Troposphere. An alternative to using CloudFormation is to use Terraform. You can find an objective benchmark between the two tools here.
Bonus: tips to debug your elastic beanstalk application
Here are some tips you may need to debug you app:
If you are using GIT, to deploy the app on your EB instance, you may need to create a branch called “codecommit-origin”
You can get the logs of the app in the EB service on the aws console
The code that is deployed on your EB instances is automatically stored in a S3 bucket that you can access on the AWS console
You can ssh into the EB instance with the “ eb ssh ” command
” command The application user is webapp and you can get a bash with the following command: “ sudo -u webapp /bin/bash” . It’s useful if you want to use the Symfony command without being root.
and you can get a bash with the following command: “ . It’s useful if you want to use the Symfony command without being root. If you create through the aws console a RDS database the default name of the database is ebdb. You can find it in the RDS service in the aws console
You liked this article? You'd probably be a good match for our ever-growing tech team at Theodo.
Join Us |
North Korea used civilian passenger planes to transport hard currency seized from expat laborers in the Middle East following the closure of its overseas banks for violating international law.
Sources said since prosecutors in Kuwait ordered the closure of the local branch of North Korea's Trade Bank on charges of money laundering and illicit transfers, the North has used twice-monthly Air Koryo flights to Kuwait to ferry seized wages back to the North.
There are 50,000 to 60,000 North Korean laborers in 16 countries. In Kuwait, there have been some 4,000 since 1995, toiling at construction sites and receiving around W1 million a month (US$1=W1,123), of which the regime confiscates 70 to 80 percent.
The workers send the remainder back to their families in the North and often survive by begging or taking on overtime and extra menial jobs.
Around 2,000 North Koreans work in the United Arab Emirates and 1,800 in Qatar. |
Phil Jackson’s return the Garden as the President of the New York Knicks excites me for countless reasons. I really don’t have anything new to add to why I’m giddy about this since you probably already read tons of laudatory articles by now.
There is one small thing I can think of though and that’s Phil’s infamous reading assignments he gives to every player. I’m sure Phil already figured out his book assignments weeks ago, but just in case he doesn’t, here’s what I would assign to each player:
1) Carmelo Anthony – The Trial
Like Josef K, at some point this season Melo, who has given the Knicks everything, must have woke up in horror to realize that his entire world was upside-down. The tribulations this team has put him through this year are not unlike the bizarre trial a baffled Josef K had to endure in Franz Kafka’s existential classic “The Trial”.
Actually now that I think of it, every loyal Knick fan that has no idea why they are perpetually tortured for their support should read this as well because only Kafka can capture the essence of what it feels like to be a Knicks fan.
2) Raymond Felton – Skinny Bastard
You thought I was probably going to recommend a divorce advice book or some kind of NRA guide on how to shoot, didn’t you? Nope that would be too easy. From the authors of the best selling “Skinny Bitch”, here’s a book Felton might want to dive into.
3) Iman Shumpert – How to Reduce Workplace Conflict and Stress
It’s obviously been a rough season, but it’s been a particularly long one for Shump. Whether it’s from teammates, the coach, or the front office; he’s arguably been one of the most jerked around employees of the Knicks. Here’s a book that could have probably helped him out this year. |
Remix, revamp, whatever you wish to call it.
So my current goal is to complete the four ensemble based on the titular RWBY team at most before October 22nd since that's the date for Volume 4's premiere.
Goal achieved.
Your eyes are not deceiving you, no. Ruby's Red Riding Roses is that big when comparing to Wistful White, Secret Shroud and Glorious Gold. And that's not even the final form yet.
Red Riding Roses - Wielded with both hands since that's Ruby's preferred style of combat.
Wistful White - Shortest among the four, stylized for fencing and spell casting.
Secret Shroud - Ideal length, can be wielded in both normal and reverse-grip.
Glorious Gold - Bulky in appearance, emphasizes on delivering punishing blows.
EDIT: NOW INCLUDING THEIR UPGRADED FORMS.
Kingdom Hearts belongs to Tetsuya Nomura, a joint franchise between Disney and Square-Enix.
RWBY belongs to Monty Oum and Rooster Teeth. |
Dave King has been unable to strike a compromise agreement with the various shareholder factions at Rangers, but the former Ibrox director has insisted that he will not give up on the club.
King has held a series of discussions with the principal individuals involved with the situation at Rangers International Football Club, including Sandy Easdale and Paul Murray, but consensus proved out of reach and the forthcoming Annual General Meeting is likely to be a stormy event.
King had hoped to strike an agreement with the two main blocks of shareholders to appoint new directors to the board, including taking on the role of chairman himself, and begin the process of raising additional funding. Speaking exclusively to The Herald before releasing an official statement, King said that administration is "not an imminent threat", but he does believe it "is a distinct possibility if the AGM results in a continuing lack of continuity on one side or the other".
As it currently stands, the shareholders represented by Sandy Easdale and his brother James, who is a non-executive director at Ibrox, account for around 25% of the company. This grouping includes Blue Pitch Holdings, Margarita Holdings and Charles Green, who has an agreement with the Easdales over the sale of his shares. The lock-in period for these shareholdings ends in December, when the AGM is going to be held. It is unclear what the terms of their agreements are with the Easdales.
King will continue to closely monitor events, and would act swiftly if there was a possibility of re-visiting his consensus plans even at the last minute before the AGM. He believes talks with Easdale and Murray were constructive, and he praised both individuals, however not all shareholders were willing to compromise. King's current stance is that he is not prepared to buy shares in the market when his investment would be better spent going directly to the club, although this could change.
"I'm not walking away, I'm going to continue looking for opportunities between now and the AGM to get a compromise situation," King said. "I will reassess my position depending on the outcome of the AGM, particularly if I believe short-termism remains. I will be prepared to reconsider my current position, and could possibly intervene in the market.
"I don't believe the shareholder base will be so conflicted after the AGM, since there will be a shake up regardless of the outcome. In a year's time, it will be possible for a block of shares to be held by right-minded people, but we will have to get through a lot to get to that stage. I have never gone into a board meeting in my life to vote on issues, the board must work by consensus and discussion, but that has been a reflection of the way the business has been run recently."
Paul Murray is one of four directors who will be nominated for election to the board at the AGM by the institutional shareholders who hold around 28% of the company. A former Ibrox director, and associate of King's, Murray has long campaigned for experienced corporate governance figures to be on the board. King will not, however, take sides ahead of the AGM, and will remain the outlet for any possible last-minute compromise. The South African-based businessman believes that the current situation - James Easdale and Brian Stockbridge, the finance director, are the only two individuals sitting on the plc board, and the club has no chief executive - is unsustainable even in the short-term.
"The board desperately needs governance, and I'm sure Sandy Easdale would acknowledge that they've ended up in an uncomfortable position," King said. "It's very important that the board gets professional governance involved, with financial and business plans that take into account the need for fresh investment to take into account the funding shortfall that will come if the team is to compete again in the top flight, which is what we all want. In my view, there will be a need to two rounds of additional funding between now and then.
"During the last week I engaged a number of stakeholders, both in Glasgow and London, to seek a compromise to the current imbroglio that is restricting the operational capability and the governance at the club. I have also had follow up telephone conversations since my return to South Africa.
"Unfortunately, I have been unable to reach a consensus agreement at this time despite the constructive manner in which everyone approached the discussions with me. Certain influential shareholders are unwilling to compromise at this time and it seems inevitable, unless there is a change of heart, that an acrimonious AGM lies ahead. In my view, the AGM will not be decisive irrespective of its outcome. A continued polarisation is what I was desperately trying to avoid. For the avoidance of doubt and to avoid speculation I advise that Paul Murray and Sandy Easdale both displayed a constructive and flexible attitude during my discussions with them."
King has long maintained that personal enmities and rivalries have held back the progress of the club. He has attempted to override those issues, but some shareholders are entrenched. Murray and Jim McColl, who is backing the institutional shareholders with his expertise and contacts, hope to be able to reveal the beneficial shareholders behind Blue Pitch Holdings and Margarita Holdings, having made a legal request to the club for the information. Sandy Easdale currently holds the proxy for their votes.
Despite briefings to the contrary, King would also not encounter any difficulties with being approved as a director of a publicly listed company. He has settled his dispute with the South African Revenue Service, having agreed to pay £45m in tax arrears, and fines totalling around £700,000 after he was convicted of 41 breaches of the Income Tax Act. All fraud charges were dropped by the state. King continues to be executive chairman of Micromega, his investment firm that is listed on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange, which is a competent jurisdiction. Any board appointment needs to be ratified by the nominated advisor - Daniel Stewart - that managers RIFC's listing on the Alternative Investment Market, and also by the SFA.
As part of his disclosure to the nomad, King included a letter from SARS stating that they consider him a fit and proper person to hold a directorship in a plc, and supporting his bid to become a director of Rangers. This letter would also be part of any future submission to the SFA, who have their own fit and proper person criteria, which is reviewed by the professional game board. King would also argue that his time spent on the board under Craig Whyte's ownership, leading up to administration, was spent trying to hold the owner to account, for which he has a lengthy and instructive paper trail. King also stressed that he did not believe that Peter Lawwell, the Celtic chief executive who sits on the PGB, would unduly influence the decision.
"I also take the opportunity to disassociate myself from the speculative and misinformed press coverage around my fit and proper status," King said. "Let me make my position clear. The settlement of my legal disputes in South Africa was concluded on a basis that has no effect whatsoever on my ability to serve as a director of companies. I presently sit on the board of many companies, including serving as Executive Chairman of a main board stock exchange listed company in South Africa. I have confirmed with my UK attorneys that the legal position is no different in the UK. That leaves only the subjective elements that would apply to any person joining a public company board or becoming involved in a football club under the auspices of the SFA.
"I am fully alert to key questions that are likely to be put to me and I am confident that my responses will be persuasive. However, at this point I have not approached the SFA other than my discussion in 2012 to establish what the elements of the fit and proper test would be. The SFA is clearly not in a position to consider an application that I have not yet made. Such an application would only happen if I am able to reach an in principle agreement to become actively involved in the club's affairs - as is my continued stated intention. At the request of the NOMAD, I have supplied a letter from the South African Revenue Services confirming that they see no difficulty with me continuing to sit on the board of companies. Again, however, due to my inability to make immediate progress it is not necessary to engage further with the NOMAD at this time. When the time arises there may be other questions I have to respond to. I will do so on request.
"I further do not believe that the CEO of Celtic FC attempted to negatively pre-empt any application that I might make to the SFA. I have complete confidence that the SFA will judge any future application on its merits as would be done for any person."
King will now watch events in and around Ibrox with interest. As the one figure who unites the fans and has almost unanimous backing, King's temporary withdrawal is likely to fuel further protests at tonight's Scottish Cup tie against Airdrie at Ibrox. Fans are growing increasingly angry with the board, and the realisation that certain shareholders are preventing consensus will further infuriate them. King will continue to offer that alternative, though.
"I thank every person that I met for maintaining confidentiality about the details of each meeting," King said. "I thank the media for their patience when being met with a repeated 'no comment' from me. I appreciate the importance to the community of what is happening at Rangers but I believe that the best interests of the club will not be facilitated by playing it out in the media. Over the last two years we have all witnessed the destructive value when individuals, who should be putting the club first, advance personal agendas through the media in an attempt to influence the most important stakeholder in Rangers Football Club - the fans. The result is the polarisation of interests that we are experiencing and the loss of valuable time and money in preparing the club to be competitive with our Glasgow neighbours, and other teams, when we return to the top flight of Scottish football - as we surely will. Thankfully the manager continues to make progress through the leagues despite the distractions he has had to deal with." |
A recurring irony in the empirical study of politically biased misunderstandings of science is how often people misconstrue empirical evidence of this very phenomenon as a result of politically biased reasoning.
It’s funny.
It’s painful.
And it’s depressing—indeed, the 50th time you see it, it is mainly just depressing
So I wasn’t “surprised”—much less “stunned”—when I observed descriptions of the data I presented on the correlation between science comprehension and identification with the tea party being warped by this same dynamic.
The 14 billion regular readers of this blog (exactly 2,503,232 of whom identity with the tea party) know that I believe that there is no convincing empirical evidence that the science communication problem—the failure of compelling, widely accessible scientific evidence to dispel culturally fractious disputes over societal risks and other policy-relevant facts—can be attributed to any supposed correlation between a “conservative” political outlook & a deficit in science literacy, critical reasoning skills, or commitment to science’s signature methods for discovery of truth.
On the contrary, I believe that the popularity of this claim reflects the vulnerability of those who harbor a “nonconservative” (“liberal,” “egalitarian,” or
whatever one chooses to style it) outlook to accept invalid or ill-supported empirical assertions that affirm their cultural outlooks.
That vulnerability, I believe, is perfectly “symmetrical” with respect to the right-left political spectrum (and the two-dimensional space defined by the cultural continua of “hierarchy-egalitarianism” and “individualism-communitarianism”).
I believe that, in part, because of a study I conducted in which I found evidence that there was an ideologically uniform tendency—one equal in strength, among both “conservatives” and “liberals”—to credit or dismiss empirical evidence supporting the validity of an “open-mindedness” test depending on whether study subjects were told that the test showed that those who share their ideology were more or less open-minded than those subscribing to the opposing one.
Not only do I think the “asymmetry thesis” (AT)—the view that this pernicious deficiency in reasoning is disproportionately associated with conservativism—is wrong.
I think the contempt typically evinced (typically but not invariably; it's possible to investigate such hypotheses without ridiculing people) toward "conservatives" by AT proponents strengthens the dynamics that account for this reason-effacing, deliberation-distorting form of motivated cognition.
I want reasoning people to understand this. I want them to understand it so that they won’t be lulled into behaving in a way that undermines the prospects for enlightened democracy. I want them to understand it so that they can, instead, apply their reason to the project of ridding the science communication environment of the toxic partisan entanglement of facts with cultural meanings that is the source of this pathology.
The “tea party science comprehension” post was written in that spirit. It presented evidence that a particular science comprehension measure I am working on (in an effort to help social scientists, educators, and others improve existing measures, all of which are very crude) has no meaningful correlation with political outlooks.
Actually, the measure did correlate negatively—“r = - 0.05, p < 0.05”—with a scale assessing one’s disposition to identify one’s ideology as “conservative” and one’s party affiliation as “Republican.”
I noted that, and pointed out that this association was far too trivial to be afforded any practical significance whatsoever, much less to be regarded as the source of the fierce conflicts in our society over climate change and other issues turning on decision-relevant science.
But anticipating that politically motivated reasoning would likely induce some readers who identify as “liberal” and “Democratic” to seize on this pitifully small correlation as evidence that of course politically biased reasoning explains why those who identify as "conservative" & "Republican" disagree with them, I advised any such readers to consider the correlation between science comprehension and identifying with the tea-party: r = 0.05, p = 0.05.
Anyone who might be tempted to beat his or her chest in a triumphal tribal howl over the practically meaningless correlation between right-left political outlooks & science comprehension could thus expect to find him- or herself fatally impaled the very next instant on the sharp spear tip of simple, unassailable logic.
I figured this warning would be clear enough even for "liberals” (it's sad that our contemporary political discourse has so compacted the meaning of this word) at the higher end of the “science comprehension” scale (ones lower in science comprehension would be even less likely to draw politically biased inferences from the data), and thus deter them from engaging in such an embarrassing display of partisan unreason.
I also owned that I myself had expected that likely I’d find a modest negative correlation between tea-party membership and science comprehension.
I did that for a couple reasons. The first was that I really did expect that's what I'd see. I surmised, for one thing, that there was likely a correlation between religiosity and tea-party membership (there is: r = 0.16, p < 0.01), and I know religion correlates negatively with “cognitive reflection” and “science literacy” measures—in ways that empirical evidence shows make no meaningful contribution to disputes over climate change etc.
Second, I thought it would be instructive and constructive for me to show how goddam virulent the politically motivated reasoning bias is. Knowing about it is certainly no defense. The only protection is regular infusions of valid empirical evidence administered under conditions that reveal the terrifying prospect that one will in fact display symptoms of true idiocy if one succombs to it.
But despite all this, many many many tea-party partisans succumbed to politically biased reasoning in their assessment of the evidence in my post.
Characterizing a blog post on exploratory probing of a new science comprehension measure as a “study” (indeed, a “Yale study”; I guess I was “misled” again by the “liberal media” about whether the tea party treats Ivy League universities as credible sources of information) , scores of commentators (in blogs, political opinion columns, in comments on my blog, etc) gleefully crowed that the data showed tea party members were "more science literate,” "better at understanding science" etc. than non-members.
My observation that the size of the effect was “trivial,” and my statement that the “statistical” significance level was practically meaningless and as likely to disappear as reappear in any future survey (where one observes a “p-value” very close to 0.05, then one should expect half of the attempted replications to have a p-value above 0.05 and half below that) was conveniently ignored (indeed, writers tried to add force to the reported result by using meaningless terms like “solid” etc. to the describe it).
Also ignored, of course, was that liberals scored higher than conservatives on the same measure and in the same dataset.
Did these zealots feel the sting of 50,000 logic arrows burrowing into their chests moments after they got done beating on them? Doubt it.
So, what to say? I dunno, but here are four observations.
1. Tea party members are like everyone else, as far as I can tell, when it comes to science comprehension.
Is this something to be proud of? I don’t think so. It means that if we were to select a tea-party member at random, there would be a 50% chance he or she would say that “antibiotics kill viruses as well as bacteria” and less than a 40% chance that he or she would be able to correctly interpret data from a simple experiment involving a new skin-rash treatment.
2. Because tea-party members are “just like everyone else,” they too have among their number some individuals who combine a high degree of scientific knowledge with an impressively developed capacity for engaging in critical reasoning.
But because they are like everyone else, these high "science comprehending" tea-party members will be more likely to display politically biased misinterpretations of empirical data than people who display a lower "science comprehension" apptitude. The greater their capacity to engage in analytical thinking, the more systematically they will use that capacity to ferret out evidence congenial to their predispositions and block out and rationalize away everything else.
Moreover, because others who share their values very sensibly rely on them when trying to keep up with what’s known to science, these high science-comprehending tea-party members -- just like high science-comprehending "Democrats" and "Republicans'" and "libertarians" and "socialists" et al.-- will play a principal role in transmitting the reason-effacing pathogens that pervade our polluted science communication environment.
3. Also like everyone else, tea-party members can be expected, as a result of living in a contaminated science communication environment, to behave in a manner that evinces not only an embarrassing deficiency in self-awareness but also an exceedingly ugly form of contempt for others , thereby amplifying the dynamics that are depriving them along with all the other culturally diverse citizens in the Liberal Republic of Science of the full benefit that this magnificent political regime uniquely confers on reasoning, free individuals.
4. Finally, because they are like everyone else, some of the individuals who have used their reason and freedom to join with others in a project they call the “tea-party” movement realize that they have exactly the same stake in repulsing this repulsive pathology as those individuals who’ve used their reason and their freedom to form associations like the “Democratic Party,” the “Republic Party,” the “Libertarian Party,” the “Socialist Party” etc.
They know the only remedy for this insult to our common capacity to reason is to use our common capacity to reason to fashion a new political science, one cognizant of the distinctive challenge that pluralistic democracies face in enabling their citizens to recognize the significance of the unprecedented volume of scientific knowledge that their free institutions have made it possible for them to acquire.
They are resolved to try to make all of this clear to those who share their values—and to reach out to those who don’t to make common cause with them in protecting the science communication environment that enlightened self-government depends on.
The best available evidence doesn’t tell anyone what policy is best. That depends on judgments of value, which will vary—inevitably and appropriately—among free and reasoning people.
Mine differ profoundly from those held by individuals who identify as tea party members. We will have plenty to disagree about in the democratic process even when we agree about the facts.
But without a reliable apprehension of the best available evidence, neither I nor they nor anyone else will be able to confidently identify which policies can be expected to advance our respective values.
In the polluted science communication environment we inhabit, none of us can be as confident as we have a right to be that we truly know what has come to be collectively known through science. |
Tratamiento Natural Para Curar la Gastritis 4.3 (85%) 8 votes (85%)votes
Tratamiento Natural Para Curar la Gastritis
Cada día más personas son afectadas en todo el mundo por la Gastritis. Esta enfermedad demuestra la mala alimentación que tenemos y sobre todo un estilo de vida estresante en el que no disfrutamos del tiempo que tenemos. Todo esto afecta negativamente a nuestro cuerpo haciéndole mucho daño, causando en muchos casos afecciones que antes no teníamos diagnosticadas y que solo se daban por la aparición de alguna infección por bacterias o gérmenes.
El estómago es el órgano dónde se realiza la digestión de los alimentos gracias a la secreción de jugos gástricos que disuelven lo que hemos comido para que sea mucho más fácil absorber las vitaminas y minerales por el intestino delgado.
Este órgano, para proteger sus paredes de los ácidos corrosivos de los que están compuestos los jugos gástricos, tiene una capa de mucosidad gástrica que evita dicha acción. Cuando esta capa se debilita, los ácidos inflaman e irritan las paredes estomacales creando lo que llamamos gastritis, la cual se puede curar de forma natural con el adecuado tratamiento.
La Gastritis es una enfermedad muy común y se ha contabilizado que al menos un 10% de la población la sufren o la han sufrido alguna vez en su vida.
Causas naturales de la gastritis
Una de las principales causas es la infección por una bacteria llamada Helicobacter Pylori. Dicha bacteria incide sobre la mucosa gástrica produciendole un daño, de esta manera los ácidos penetran y dañan las paredes del estómago. Este parásito es el causante de un 80% de los casos de úlceras duodenales y gástricas.
La mala alimentación y los malos hábitos son una de las principales causa debido a la vida estresada que estamos llevando. La comida con grasa, con abundantes fritos, muy procesada o pesada hace trabajar al estómago más de lo que está acostumbrado, por lo que debe de forzarse para que toda la comida sea digerida correctamente. Cuando pasa esto, el estómago segrega mucho más jugo gástrico, haciendo que los niveles de acidez aumenten, dañando el revestimiento del estómago.
El consumo excesivo de alcohol. En la actualidad se está viendo más casos de jóvenes o adultos que están teniendo problemas estomacales, y la razón suele ser que cuando han salido de fiesta han bebido demasiado, esto mezclado con el consumo de tabaco y además la comida chatarra hacen de su estómago una bomba a punto de estallar.
Síntomas de la gastritis
Cúralos de forma natural
Síntomas por los cuales se pueden diagnosticar la gastritis
Indigestión
Náuseas o vómitos
Dolor de abdomen
Inflamación abdominal
Heces negras
Intolerancia alimenticia
El Regaliz: La raíz del regaliz se lleva utilizando con fines medicinales desde la antigüedad. Este descubrimiento lo realizaron los chinos descubriendo los beneficios que proporcionaban a nuestro aparato digestivo, produciendo una limpieza en el tránsito intestinal para que funcione mejor. De igual manera, han descubierto por medio de estudios e investigaciones que tomar té de regaliz o morder regaliz elimina la bacteria Helicobacter Pylori. EL Jengibre: El jengibre al igual que el regaliz tiene unas cualidades beneficiosas para el organismo que pasan desde el cuidado de enfermedades gástricas hasta de corazón. Esta planta preparada en jugos o utilizada en Té colaborará a porteger tu estómago.omada en zumos o en té ayudará a proteger tu estómago, eliminando bacterias. El Ginseng; Cuando la persona se encuentra con nauseas o vómitos, es muy normal que pierda el apetito, lo que hará que vaya perdiendo fuerzas y energías por desnutrición. Con el ginseng conseguirás eliminar los vómitos, ayudando de esta manera a que el enfermo tenga más ganas de comer. Cabe acotar que esta planta es muy beneficiosa contra las infecciones gástricas. Agua con limón: Este tratamiento natural para la gastritis es uno de los más recomendados por todos los que alguna vez han pasado por esta enfermedad. Quizás parezca muy simple, pero es un remedio realmente efectivo. Al tomar limón con agua tibia, y éste llega al estómago, el organismo detecta la acidez del limón, dejando de producir jugos gástricos por lo que la acidez del estómago cesa. Cabe agregar que el limón posee propiedades cicatrizantes, por lo que colaborará en la curación de posibles úlceras formadas paredes estomacales. Patata cruda: Otro de los remedios naturales que se lleva haciendo desde hace décadas es la utilización de patatas crudas para sanar la gastritis de forma natural. Para esto, hay que tomar una patata cruda, pelarla, lavarla y molerla muy bien. Esto lo agregamos en un vaso de agua y dejamos reposar durante toda una noche. Al día siguiente colaremos el agua y nos lo tomamos. El efecto que tiene en nuestro estómago es casi inmediato, aliviando el dolor abdominal y las náuseas.
Atención: Conoce Mi Historia de Lucha Contra la Gastritis Aqui Lee Mi Historia Completa Sobre “Como Me Curé de la Gastritis” y Recuperé el Sentido de Vivir. Conoce como Dije “Basta de Gastritis”.
Mas Información Sobre Remedios Para Curar la Gastritis Dieta para la Gastritis
Dieta para la Gastritis Gastritis Erosiva
Gastritis Erosiva Curar La Gastritis Con Jugo Natural
Curar La Gastritis Con Jugo Natural 6 Alimentos que Te Ayudaran a Curar la Gastritis
6 Alimentos que Te Ayudaran a Curar la Gastritis Gastritis Erosiva Gastroduodenitis Aguda
Gastritis Erosiva Gastroduodenitis Aguda Como Evitar la Gastritis Erosiva
Comparte esto: Haz clic para compartir en Twitter (Se abre en una ventana nueva)
Haz clic para compartir en Facebook (Se abre en una ventana nueva) |
I notice that whenever we go shopping, Akemi always entrusts me with the heaviest and least fragile items. I find that both complimentary and slightly insulting.
Always, Day #2 of our weekend open house went off without a hitch – if you discount the fact that it rained for the entire two hours we took the dogs out. Apparently, another 12+ groups visited, and two couples were return visitors from yesterday. One of them was even so keen, they floated a lowball offer that our agent respectfully informed them wasn’t gonna fly.
Hmmm. Curious to see how this plays out. As I’ve already said, I’m certainly not a motivated seller but, on the other hand, I can’t say I’m an unmotivated seller either. I suppose it would be more apt to describe me as a disinterested seller. Will I sell the house? Won’t I? If I do, will I get a condo in Vancouver? Or will I get one in Toronto? Or both? Or neither? I suppose it will all depend on whether or not we get that fourth season pick-up and even though I’m in the writers’ room, furiously working away on stories for Dark Matter season 4, there’s not guarantee. Our two-part opener was up against the NBA finals and then, watching last Friday’s episode, I was surprised by the fact that we weren’t trending…until I realized what was trending = the SERIES finale of Reign. Looking forward to those +3’s and +7’s!
Hey, speaking of Dark Matter, Syfy Australia has kindly uploaded the third episode of After Dark. That’s the good news. The bad news is that it cuts out halfway through a sneak peek at next week’s kookoo bananas episode, partway through one of my favorite THRAndroid scenes…
I leave you today with some early work on our Episode 311 (“The Dwarf Star Conspiracy”) security satellites…
Aint he the cutest? I’m calling him Murray!
Share this: Facebook
Twitter
Pinterest
Email
Print
More
Tumblr
WhatsApp
Pocket
LinkedIn
Reddit
Like this: Like Loading... |
The UK national press often complains about the practice of major US companies not paying their fair share of corporation tax.
Facebook, for instance, famously paid just £4,327 in UK corporation tax in 2014.
Others who have been in the firing line in recent years include Amazon, Starbucks and Google.
In an age when many artists are starting to think of their ‘brand’ as their own business, One Direction are leading the way.
The band’s members Niall Horan, Harry Styles, Zayn Malik, Liam Payne and Louis Tomlinson all became directors of their own UK business in 2010, 1D Media.
The fivesome – including now-departed member Malik – continue to own equal shares in 1D Media, which pulls in revenue from recording, touring and merchandising for the band.
1D Media has just filed its 2014 accounts with Companies House.
It reveals that One Direction turned over £73.7m in the year, with a post-tax profit of £34.98m.
That’s ‘post-tax’ profit, because 1D Media shelled out £10.47m to HMRC in taxation in 2014.
According to the firm’s filings, £8.24m of that figure was paid in UK corporation tax – 18.1% of its £45.4m pre-tax profit.
In total, 1D Media handed over 23% of its pre-tax profit to the UK taxman.
Some other notable points:
1D Media Revenue was significantly up year-on-year, increasing 50% from £49.1m in 2013
in 2013 Post-tax profit was up almost ten times, from £3.76m in 2013 to £34.98m in 2014.
in 2013 to in 2014. 1D Media paid out a whopping £44.3m in ‘administrative expenses’ in 2013, which dropped to £28.43m in 2014
in ‘administrative expenses’ in 2013, which dropped to in 2014 Liam Payne signs the financial documents for the band
There are no other directors of 1D Media except the band (and Zayn Malik).
The band also own 1D Live LLP.
There’s a line in the 1D Media filing that will bring cheer to anyone who considers themselves pro ‘artist power’: “The directors consider the shareholders of the company to be the ultimate controlling parties.”
Music Business Worldwide |
Image: Composite via evisionarts and prwatch.org
Without a doubt, farmers markets have got a good thing growing. Unfortunately, sneaky copycats have been cropping up as they try to get their paws on the green that comes with that success. In June, Safeway supermarkets in Seattle set up stacks of fruits and veggies outside of their own stores with signs announcing a “Farmers Market.” The mangos on display, however, didn’t stack up with Washington weather and pressure from local groups prompted the stores to change the posters to read “Outdoor Market” instead.
The grocery stores may argue, what’s in a name? But they know exactly what’s in a name: a popular cash flow. And something about an important reconnection with how our food is grown, blah blah, wah wah.
The Wall Street Journal takes note of the trend:
“About 200 Albertsons stores in Washington, Oregon and Idaho put up their own “Farmers Market” signs next to their produce stands. The same groups complained to local Albertsons managers about the promotions, but a spokesman for the chain’s owner, Supervalu Inc., said the Albertson stores may repeat them in the future if the chain deems them effective … Supervalu spokesman Mike Siemienas said the Albertson signs were justified because all the produce advertised came from local farmers.”
However, just because you walk into a farmers market without a grocery chain backdrop, don’t start feeling complacent. The “farmers” themselves may be serving you a side of local bullsh*t with their bald-faced brocco-lies, as an investigation in LA found.
Heads-up, farmers-market-wannabes! Like Heidi Montag’s entire body, we can tell you’re faking it.
Like what you see? Sign up to receive The Grist List, our email roundup of weird, offbeat, and/or just plain funny green news, sent out every Friday. |
Did any of you ever realized those posters on Ford’s wall while he was studying at Backup College? Just look:
The first one everyone knows - Tesla. But come on! Look at the other guy.
This is Carl Sagan - well known cosmologist, astrophysicist, astronomer and astrobiologist. He was also interested in UFO raports and stuff… But… Let’s look at him. Just look.
Isn’t he a meme? But it is not the point of it. Look at his clothes… I mean: Do you see the similarity? Or is it just me?
Well… Looks kind of familiar, doesn’t it?
((No, I’m sorry, I had to do that))
But wait… There is something else. Not only the old Ford wears the same clothes as his idol - Carl Sagan.
That nerd used to dress himself like Sagan when he was young as well: just look! Isn’t it kind of adorable?
AND THIS IS NOT THE END
Their clothes are so similar. I can’t help it. Like… Ford is so nerdy. OMG. |
How supermarkets have ruined chicken
Susan Holtham Blocked Unblock Follow Following Jun 16, 2017
The real cost of a £3 chicken.
The average price of a UK chicken is cheaper than the average price of a pint of beer.
Here’s the price supermarkets don’t want you to know about:
91% of chickens sold in the UK are allowed by law to have an A4 sheet sized allowance of space in a shed.
Chickens are kept in constant dim light day and night to discourage rest and speed up growth.
Antibiotic use is routine resulting in 1/4 of chickens testing positive for antibiotic resistant e-coli.
2.2m chickens consumed daily in the UK. Around a billion chickens are slaughtered every year.
The supermarket Tesco selling a whole fresh chicken for £3.00
Every day in Britain we eat 2.2 million chickens. Poultry accounts for half the meat eaten in the UK — but how is it possible to sell a whole bird at such an extraordinarily low price? Industrial farming has made it possible for a bird to be housed, fed, slaughtered, processed, packaged and transported to a supermarket shelf near you, all for a price lower than an afterwork beer.
Here’s how factory farming has transformed the humble chicken we eat into something so unrecognisable, we may as well give it a new name.
Supermarkets enable a system where:
A whole fresh chicken is cheaper than a pint of beer.
The average price of a pint in the UK is £3.47. The average cost of a whole chicken weighing a minimum of 1.35kg from four of the leading supermarkets is £3.15. Chicken is a live animal, whereas beer isn’t.
The supermarket has made the whole chicken an everyday staple, such as bread or milk. In the race to the bottom, retailers will do anything to compete against price and keep them low for their customers, particularly for core staple products. If that means paying producers less (remember the nation’s dairy farmers ‘milk trolley challenge’ protest?), producing products of questionable quality or even using fake farm names to suggest provenance, then so be it.
Intensively reared chicken destined for the supermarket
94% of chicken in the UK comes from intensively reared birds.
Intensive methods mean UK chicken farms are allowed to house up to 39 kilos per square metre — that’s about 17 birds per square metre. Probably not what you consider when picking up a bird for the Sunday roast. “Intensive chicken farming goes on behind closed doors,” says Dil Peeling, campaigns director at charity Compassion in World Farming (CWF). “It’s hidden from people. They still have this image of chickens scratching around in a farmyard.”
It’s easy to assume that for every intensively produced chicken there are plenty of free-range and organic birds in the market. However, free-range accounts for just 5% and organic 1% of UK chicken production.
Any wizened farmer will tell you that you get out of the land what you put into it. The same goes for the varied range of chicken farming practices, reflected in the price you pay. You can expect to pay around £9.50 for a free range chicken and £12.80 for an organic one. These chickens differ dramatically in price to intensively reared birds due to how they are raised, and what they are fed.
A factory farmed chicken is raised in a warehouse and fed on grain grown elsewhere using environmentally damaging production methods. A slow-grown or organic chicken on the other hand will spend most of its life outdoors. For feed, it’ll rely on a mix of pasture, grain and hedgerow treats such as berries and seeds.
24% of UK supermarket chicken samples tested positive for antibiotic resistant E-coli.
The intense crowding of chickens in factory farming increases the likelihood of sickness and infection, thereby precipitating the use of preventive antibiotics. It’s estimated 50% of all antibiotics in the UK is given to farm animals. Experts predict that globally, 10 million people a year could die from antibiotic resistant infections by 2050. The world is waking up to the dangers of drug resistance as a result of the overuse of antibiotics and recognising a need for improvements in animal stewardship. Is time ticking for industrial chicken farming?
In 2016 researchers found superbugs on the shelves of all seven major UK supermarkets. Cambridge University Professor Mark Holmes told The Guardian newspaper: “The levels of resistant E. coli that we have found are worrying. Every time someone falls ill, instead of just getting a food poisoning bug, they might also be getting a bug that is antibiotic resistant”.
Slow-grown chicken farmers Nick & Jacob at their farm, Fosse Meadows. A world away from the average supermarket bird.
But there is an alternative:
A better tasting bird has a better quality of life.
Watery breasts that like slice butter, weak bones that bear no resistance, and meat with little, if no flavour. These sacrifices to taste, quality and flavour are a direct result of intensive farming. Chickens reared before World War II were primarily laying hens for egg production. Rationing was lifted in 1954, prompting increased production of chickens raised for meat.
Professor Andrew C. Goodley describes in his report ‘The chicken, the factory farm and the supermarket’ how the independent poultry trade ‘disappeared’ during the war and “it was retailers, not the Ministry of Agriculture, who pressed British poultry farmers to follow American methods, exploit economies of scale and so drive down the price of chicken.”
Farmers are embracing slow-grown chicken.
Small-scale poultry farmers Nick and Jacob at Fosse Meadows Farm in Leicestershire are doing things differently. They believe the best quality chicken comes from slow-grown birds and sell direct to customers across London at farmers’ markets and online via Farmdrop. Their birds are grown for at least 81 days. Nearly double the average slaughter age of 42 days in the EU. Author of The Ethical Carnivore Louise Gray notes how “industry ‘leaders’ are growing ‘fully grown’ chickens in 35 days…raised so fast they barely have time to move around, let alone develop fat, are tasteless.”
Fosse Meadows follow the slow-grown French Label Rouge way of farming which is highly regarded as an exemplary traditional method of raising poultry. “Our birds roam further and they don’t just sit and eat all day. Your supermarket free range chickens won’t be doing these things because their legs aren’t strong enough” says Nick.
The ability to roam free also impacts the taste and texture of the meat. Fosse’s birds moves their muscles more than those kept indoors and enjoy a more varied diet. “Our birds have thicker skin and a much better fat content with lots of flavour in that fat” Nick explains. “Their bones have developed properly and are much stronger. The meat is a lot firmer too and has more structure. It is totally different.”
Can chicken be made good again?
Every food purchase you make is a vote for the kind of food system you want. Buying sustainably produced chicken, knowing who produced it and also holding them accountable is a step to a better system.
Author of The Omnivore’s Dilemma Michael Pollan wrote, “eating industrial meat takes an almost heroic act of not knowing, or, now forgetting.” We haven’t forgotten. More consumers prove they care about these issues — by proving it with their pound. Big retailers will be forced to make changes that are better for our health, and our chickens. |
Ah procrastination, something I constantly struggle with. Don’t we all? I’m fighting it right now – I don’t really enjoy writing these blog posts underneath each comic and I always put it off to until the last minute. I know I must do it, but I really don’t want to. As I sat down to write this, my computer was lagging a bit, so I restarted it. Got up to use the bathroom, decided on the way to the bathroom that I needed to fix myself some tea, then paused to read the mail on my kitchen table and of course I had to check the GREATEST PROCRASTINATION MACHINE THE WORLD HAS EVER KNOWN: my phone. Next thing I know, one hour has passed and I still haven’t started writing.
At least this is not a new phenomenon – Edgar Allan Poe wrote the above words in 1845 and I’m sure an early homo sapien kept putting off a cave painting he knew he had to do thousands of years ago. This passage is taken from Poe’s short story The Imp of the Perverse, the name he gives the creature who forces us to do things we know we shouldn’t. The story is about a man who gets away with murder, and after inheriting his victim’s estate and enjoying his new life for years he inevitably falls victim to the Imp yet again, as he can’t help confessing his crime. Poe conveys it much more eloquently than I do and you can read the entire story here.
Don’t let the Imp get you today, do what you need to get done!
A new Zen Pencils kids book is released next week, collecting the best kid-friendly comics of my site into one easy to read book, perfect for story time or the classroom. You can find all the details and pre-order info here. |
Water Storage Tanks, Cisterns, Aquifers, and Ponds
For Domestic Supply, Fire and Emergency Use Includes How to Make Ferrocement Water Tanks by Art Ludwig Water Storage do-it-yourself guide to designing, building, and maintaining your water tank, cistern or pond, and sustainably managing groundwater storage. It will help you with your independent water system, fire protection, and disaster preparedness, at low cost and using principles of ecological design. Includes building instructions for several styles of ferrocement water tanks and design details for rainwater harvesting. On this page: Reviews
Introduction
Thinking about water
Ferrocement tanks
Table of Contents
Sample Figures
References
Index
Introduction Traditional clay water vessel in Michoacan, Mexico Water Storage describes how to store water for home, farm, and small communities. It will help you design storage for just about any use, including fire safety and emergency, in just about any contexturban, rural, or village. This book includes: general principles to help you design, construct, and use any water system
a look at common mistakes and how to avoid them
how the different kinds of storage can serve youtanks, groundwater, and ponds
how to determine the optimum amount of storage for your needs
how to determine the best shape and material for your storage
how to manage aquifers sustainably for inexpensive storage of water in the ground
plumbing details for inlets, outlets, drains, overflows, access, etc.
storage accessories and gadgets such as automatic shut-off valves, remote level indicators, ozonators, and filters
how to build your own high-quality tank from ferrocement
original design innovationspublished here for the first timeto improve the quality of stored water, increase water security, make maintenance easier, and reduce environmental impacts
real-life examples of storage designs for a wide range of contexts This book offers underlying design principles as well as design specifics. If you run into a situation not specifically covered, there's a good chance you'll be able to use these general principles to figure it out yourself. 3500 gallon ferrocement rainwater storage urn Installed water storage typically costs fifty cents to three dollars or more a gallon ($60-200/m3). If you've got this book in your hands, you're probably on the verge of making decisions about hundreds or thousands of dollars worth of storage. On an average water system, this book could pay for itself a hundred times over in savings on construction and maintenance. Most of the information otherwise available on water storage comes from vendors. Oasis Design doesn't sell water storage hardware, so you don't have to worry about being steered towards stuff you don't need. Rather, we make our living by providing information to help people have a higher quality of life with lower impact. ^ Top ^ | Reviews | Introduction | Thinking About Water | Ferrocement tanks | Table of contents | Figures | References | Index |Water Storage Extras
Chapter 1: Thinking About Water To achieve your design goals for a water system, it is helpful to know what your goals are. The first order of business is to consider: Why Store Water? Nearly all water systems include some form of storage, most commonly a tank. Storage can be used to: cover peaks in demand
smooth out variations in supply
provide water security in case of supply interruptions or disaster
save your home from fire
meet legal requirements
improve water quality
provide thermal storage and freeze protection
enable a smaller pipe to serve for a distant source We're going to consider each of these reasons to store water, then look at design principles to help you frame the goals for your project. Cover Peaks in Demand The most common function of water storage is to cover short-term use flows that are greater than the flow of the water source. For example, a tiny, one gallon-per-minute spring supplies 1440 gallons a day. This is several times more than most homes use in a day. However, almost every fixture in the home consumes water at a faster rate than 1 gpm while it is turned on. Even a low-flow shower head uses about 1.5 gpm. By using water stored in a tank, you can supply water to the shower faster than it is flowing from the spring. On completing the shower, the water will be coming in faster than it is going out, and the tank level will rise back up. If you had a 10,000 gal tank, you could run a 100 gpm fire hosecreating the kind of blast used to bowl over hostile crowdson the stored water from this tiny spring, for an hour and a half! Hopefully the fire would be out by then, as the tank would take several days to refill. Short on Water By 2025 at least 3.5 billion peopleabout half the world's populationwill live in areas without enough water for agriculture, industry, and human needs... Worldwide, water quality conditions appear to have degraded in almost all regions with intensive agriculture and in large urban and industrial areas. World Resources Institute, October 2000 Smooth Out Variations in Supply In some circumstances, your storage needs will be affected by variations in the water supply. For instance, if the supply is rainwater, you will need enough storage to make it through the intervals between rainfalls. A six-month, rainless dry season requires a heck of a lot more storage than the most common kind of variable supplya well pump that cycles on and off. If you have a well that taps stored groundwater, a tank will save wear and tear on your pump, because the pump won't have to switch on and off every time you open a tap. Provide Water Security in Case of Supply Interruptions or Disaster In many places, the water supply chain from source to tap is long and made of many delicate links. If a cow steps on the supply line, a pump breaks, a wire works loose, the electricity goes out, the city misplaces your check, or there is a natural disaster, your water flow could stop. By locating your storage as few chain links away as possible from your use point, a large measure of security is added...
Appendix D: How to Make Ferrocement Tanks Ferrocement tanks consist of an armature (framework) of steel reinforcing, which is then covered with a sand-cement plaster. They offer complete flexibility in shape. They have a long life, are cost-competitive when contractor-built, and are owner-buildable in both industrialized and non-industrialized countries. This section describes how to build ferrocement tanks with various techniques, to a variety of standards and sizes from 250-30,000 gal (1-115 m3). With the aid of an engineer you could adapt the plans up to a 100,000 gal (380 m3) tank. For more on the advantages and characteristics of ferrocement tanks, see Tank Materials/ Ferrocement p. 41. Heavy-duty ferrocement tank (section) The existing literature on ferrocement tanks is sparse, and each document is narrowly focused: one particular size of one design, or a variety of designs but all for the context of non-industrialized nations. The heavy-duty ferrocement construction technique described herewhich is suitable for large tankshas not been described in the literature before to my knowledge. This appendixpractically a book in itselfis unique in that it describes the full range of ferrocement techniques in one place, and reconciles some enormously disparate opinions and techniques into a coherent formulary. From procedures for ultra-light duty tanks that use the absolute minimum of material, to tanks buildable by native women with no construction experience, to detailed procedures for building large tanks to last a lifetimeyou can glean the best approach for your context. In the do-it-yourself, innovative spirit of ferrocement, this appendix gives you not only recipes but numerous variations and ideas for promising innovations, so that you can follow a recipe or concoct your own to suit: Plans for Jumbo Thai Jar, an 800 gal (3 m 3 ) light-duty cistern, which can be adapted to make containers of this shape from 250-800 gal (1-3 m 3 ).
) light-duty cistern, which can be adapted to make containers of this shape from 250-800 gal (1-3 m ). Description of ultra light-duty ferrocement for cisterns up to 3000 gal (11 m 3 ) in size in the non-industrialized world.
) in size in the non-industrialized world. Plans for light-duty ferrocement 10,000 gal (38 m 3 ) cistern, adaptable for inexpensive, non-industrialized nation-style cisterns from 500-10,000 gal (1.9-38 m 3 ).
) cistern, adaptable for inexpensive, non-industrialized nation-style cisterns from 500-10,000 gal (1.9-38 m ). Construction photos of medium-duty, urn-shaped, ferrocement cistern of 3500 gal (13 m 3 ), which can be used in conjunction with the heavy-duty ferrocement construction plan to guide the construction of medium-duty construction cisterns from 500-15,000 gal (1.9-57 m 3 ). These also illustrate how ferrocement can be used to make creative shapes and details.
), which can be used in conjunction with the heavy-duty ferrocement construction plan to guide the construction of medium-duty construction cisterns from 500-15,000 gal (1.9-57 m ). These also illustrate how ferrocement can be used to make creative shapes and details. Detailed plans for heavy-duty ferrocement construction of a 30,000 gal (110 m3) cistern, which can be adapted to tanks from 3000-30,000 gal (11-110 m3) capacity, and with the aid of an engineer, tanks up to 100,000 gal (380 m3).
Contents Chapter 1: Thinking About Water Why Store Water?
Cover Peaks in Demand Smooth Out Variations in Supply Provide Water Security in Case of Supply Interruptions or Disaster Save Your Home from Fire Meet Legal Requirements Improve Water Quality Provide Thermal Storage and Freeze Protection Enable a Smaller Pipe to Serve for a Distant Source
Design Principles
Water System Design Performance and Security Standard Running Water People, Still Water People Separate Handling for Different Qualities of Water Design Horizon Design for Failure, Design for Change Where the Stuff in Water Ends Up What Do You Have? What Can You Find?
How Water Quality Changes in Storage
Ways to Improve Water Quality in Storage Hazardous Disinfection Byproducts Effects of Heating Bacterial Regrowth The Problem of Leaching Water Age How to Test Stored Water Chapter 2: Ways to Store Water Source Direct (No Storage)
Store Water in Soil
Store Water in Aquifers
How Water Gets into and Moves through Aquifers How to Increase the Amount of Water in Your Aquifer Conjunctive Use Sustainable management of groundwater Overdrafting, Mining Fossil Groundwater Protecting Groundwater Quality
Store Water in Ponds
Types of Man-Made Ponds and Where to Put Them Pond Water Sources Evaporation Pond Size Pond Depth Pond Shape Pond Inlets and Outlets Pond Liners Levee Construction Wildlife and Ponds Sport Fish in Ponds Pond Maintenance
Store Water in Open Tanks, Swimming Pools
Store Water in Tanks Chapter 3: Water Tank Design Tank Components Overview
Situating Water Tanks
Elevation Stability of Soil and Slope Aesthetics, Sacred Spots Security Buried Storage
Sizing Water Tanks
Sizing a Tank For Demand Peaks which Exceed Flow Sizing a Tank When You Have Limited Water Supply with Scheduled Use Sizing a Tank to Cover Use During Interruptions in Supply Sizing a Tank When Production Is Intermittent Sizing a Tank for Firefighting Size and Structural Integrity
Tank Shape
Tank Materials
Materials Situations to Avoid Glass Ferrocement Galvanized Steel Stainless Steel Porcelain-Bonded Carbon Steel Brass Copper Aluminum Rock and Mortar Concrete Brick Clay Wood Plastic High Density Polyethylene (HDPE #2) Ethylene Propylene Diene Monomer (EPDM) Fiberglass (Glass Fiber-Reinforced Polyester, GRP) Epoxy-Coated Steel or Concrete Masonry in and over Plastic Galvanized Steel with Plastic Membrane Interior Membranes for Repair Plastic Bladders Goat Bladders, Leather, etc.
Tank Footings and Floors
Tank Roofs
Water-Harvesting Roof
Tank Costs
Really Cheap Storage
Regulatory Requirements
Zoning Architectural Guidelines Building Department Fire Department Health Department
Hazards of Stored Water & How to Avoid Them
Drowning Structural Collapse Flooding Pestilence Toxic Contamination Liability Exposure
Water Tanks for Special Applications
Pressure Tanks Break Pressure Tanks Hot Water Storage Tanks for Transporting Water Chapter 4: Common Features of Water Tanks Inlet
Outlet
Service Access
Drain
Tanks with No Drain Drain Location and Orientation
Overflow
Critter-Proofing
Air Vent
Sunscreen and Shade Chapter 5: Optional Water Tank Features Inlet Meter, Filter, Gauges
Inlet Float Valve
Inlet Combined with Outlet
Inlet Aerator
Inlet Diffuser to Improve Settling
Outlet Screen or Filter
Variable Height Outlet
Outlet Float
Water Hammer Air Cushion
Level Indicators
Ozonators
Drain Extension or Baffle
Outlet and Overflow Curves
Pump Controls, Alarms, and Switches
Sand Filter
Multiple Tank Management
Freeze Protection Chapter 6: Emergency Storage How Much Emergency Water Do You Need?
Emergency Storage You Already Have
Long-Term Storage in Small Containers
Protecting Stored Water
Systems for Firefighting Chapter 7: Examples of Storage Systems for Different Contexts Poor Surface Water Quality, Limited Groundwater
Only Stored Water in Dry Season, Hydroelectric in Wet Season
Creek Direct with Remote Storage and Sand Filtration
Very, Very Low Pressure
Simple Jungle Eden
Rural House with Well
Urban Apartment
Swank Suburban House Appendix A: Measurements and Conversions Appendix B: Tank Loads and Structural Considerations Appendix C: More About Plastics Appendix D: How to Make Ferrocement Tanks Ultra-Light Ferrocement over a Form: Jumbo Thai Jar Plans
Ultra-Light-Duty Ferrocement Description
Light-Duty Ferrocement Plans
Medium-Duty Shaped Ferrocement Photos
Heavy-Duty Ferrocement Plans
Tools Materials Labor Design Site Prep Grade for the Floor Drain Floor and Inside Wall: Welded Wire Mesh Floor and Wall: Rebar Inlet, Outlet, and Overflow Hardware Wall Outer Welded Wire Mesh, First Layer of Lath and Hardware Cloth Lift the Whole Thing Up and Get Ready to Pour Pour the Floor The Roof, Cool Shapes, Ladder Lath and Hardware Cloth Plaster Prep: Roof Supports, Seal Door Plaster the Whole Tank Keep It Wet Color and Seal It Fill It Index
Sample Figures & Photos
Pond at the Institute for Solar Living
Ferrocement water tank shaped like a boulder
Common features of water tanks
Aquifer, Well, and Spring Types
Drain Option Construction Details Low tech drain and outlet for mortared stone water tank
Retrofit of a plastic tank with a sloped floor, sump, and dedicated drain
Multiple tank plumbing options Tank floor options Tank floor options (PDF 5mb, updated in 2007 printing) Fire safety Water for fire safety (PDF 0.5mb, updated in 2009 printing) |
Meteorologist and Weather Channel co-founder John Coleman joined Fox News' Megyn Kelly Monday night to discuss the trials and tribulations facing one of the nation's most persecuted minority groups: climate skeptics.
"Thank you for having me on your program," said Coleman. "A climate skeptic can rarely get on TV ever since Al Gore made it a plank of the Democratic Party ... it's a tough go for people who don't believe in climate change."
Coleman stunned many global warming supporters in October with an open letter he penned claiming that the science behind climate change was "not valid."
“There is no significant man-made global warming at this time," he wrote.
Kelly pointed to several Republicans, like Jon Huntsman Jr., who have argued that those who don't believe in global warming are "nuts."
In response, Coleman blamed the media for spreading inaccuracies. |
I placed an ad on a popular classifieds Web site under the title “Jack of All Trades, Master of None.” The ad offered to clean, go to the laundromat, organize your bullshit, walk your dog. This was in the personals section, specifically for men seeking men. I was twenty-five but easily passed for younger—my scrawny frame underdeveloped, my cheeks still hairless—so I advertised nineteen. I remember it was autumn, and I remember feeling plagued by an unbearable need for both intimacy and estrangement, for the queerness of touch. Mostly, I placed that ad because I was broke and had been for just about every day of my adult life.
I got a lot of responses, enough to waste the afternoon, idly mesmerized by my cascading in-box. Most simply demanded pics, in all caps: WHY NO PICS? One respondent stood out; his tone was restrained, easy. He required someone to run errands and walk his dog. I feel like I get you, he wrote. He was silver-haired, white, early fifties, well preserved—that one guy from “Mad Men” comes to mind now. A wealthy narcissist; it wasn’t that he got me so much as that there was no one he didn’t feel he had.
Here’s what I remember of the dog: she spent all day in a crate, even though Mad Man worked from home. She was untrained, destructive. At the sound of my entrance, she freaked, and then at the sight of me she freaked harder, paddling her front paws furiously against the mesh metal door, which made the unlocking only more difficult and extended her agony. She never barked, because she couldn’t, she had been bred not to bark, but barks lived inside her, I read them in her face, in the way she opened her mouth and pulsed her vocal cords. A light reddish-brown, achingly handsome—she looked healthy, expensive. A basenji. I remember her black eyes, deceptively kind and questioning, and how the skin of her forehead wrinkled to a peak in the middle as she pulled her brows down at the sides. At home, this was her most constant look, one of silent imploring, but when we were alone together a shadow would pass, and her features would harden into rage. She often tried to bite me.
At first, I was appalled at her over-crating, and unsurprised at her neuroses, but after some weeks my compassion waned. One day, Mad Man sent me around the corner with six hundred dollars in cash to buy a leather jacket. For the dog. He lived in the West Village, so the request was neither improbable nor impossible. My rent was four-fifty. I had a bed in a living room in an unhip part of Brooklyn—not the entire room to myself, mind, but a bed stuck in a corner of the communal living room, behind a screen. I walked to that doggy clothier in a fury that transferred from Mad Man to the dog herself. I found myself fantasizing about somehow destroying the dog and walking away with the cash. I ought to have felt solidarity, stuck as we were at the bottom, Mad Man master to us both. Instead, I felt jealous of her tiny perfect jacket.
I quit and considered getting a legit job. I remember sitting at the kitchen table with my laptop as my friends joked that I should put down on my résumé, under past work, “Being a little bitch.” All the sunlight came through the kitchen, so we packed around the table, some up on the counter, drinking shit wine. My friends, these tough women and queers, were all too sharp and creative for their jobs. It seemed as though all the people I had ever known, everyone I was coming up with then, were somehow bending their will to a Mad Man, for the money. We packed into that kitchen to help one another get through the bends—with dark humor, with shouted advice. We bitched about everything. The trick was not to fall into shame, or, worse, quietude. If I’m nostalgic, it’s not because I was happy in those precarious years but because I was deeply moved by our resourcefulness. No rich parents lurked in the background; we kept one another afloat. We drank ourselves messy, and when one spiralled downward the rest chased after, to help, to mock and make light, to tease that person back to the surface. Always, we waited for money to appear, as if it might pour in on a beam of sunshine. We waited, and, in our waiting, we were loud.
My hunch is that Mad Man gave the dog up. Either that or he finally broke her. Anyway, she’s old now, or else she’s dead. But I have this fantasy that she’s still chewing up the living room, still slamming against the limits of that cage, only now she’s vocalized, yapping and howling, and it’s a kind of music, and the whole neighborhood can hear her frustration, and understand. And the song is a lament, something camp and bluesy, about how there ain’t no shame in being a bitch, but, Lord, be a bitch that barks. ♦ |
0 Shares
The WWE ran a live event in Sydney, Australia over the weekend. Seth Rollins was defeated at the event by Roman Reigns in the main event. After the match, Seth received an INCREDIBLE reaction from the fans. Seth looks amazed and takes in the moment by recording it. Below is the video from Seth’s official Facebook page.
Here is the video:
Awesome stuff. Here is the video Seth posted on his Instagram story:
Video from Seth’s Instagram story. The fan reaction at #WWESydney overwhelmed our man a bit ? #SethRollins #WWE pic.twitter.com/WT7xfRGKwO — Daily Ambrollins (@DailyAmbrollins) August 13, 2016
[irp posts=”14768″ name=”Chris Jericho and Seth Rollins Admit They Are Wankers” At WWE Melbourne (VIDEO)”]
Pretty cool moment. It is going to be incredible if the WWE ever turns him babyface.
Let us know if you attended the WWE Sydney Live Event! I would love to see a photo from fans perspectives that were up top waiting for him. Would be pretty great! |
I have just finished my second major study of the philosophy of Giorgio Agamben, Agamben and Indifference. As I think Agamben has been widely mis-read and my work benefits from the most recent books by Agamben which set the record straight, I though it would be worthwhile posting the basic definition of Agamben's work that makes up the first page and a half of that book. Here it is, in miniature, all you need to know about Agamben. I swear to it!
Introduction to Agamben's Philosophical Archaelogy
I will commence with an unambiguous statement summarising Agamben’s base position as I see it across the totality of all his published works. Agamben’s philosophical project is the making apparent and then rendering indifferent all structures of differential opposition that lie at the root, he believes, of every major Western concept-signature or discursive structure. In this manner his philosophy can be termed a form of metaphysical critique that argues all abstract concepts are only quasi-transcendental, in that they are historically contingent not logically necessary. As such Agamben willingly participates in a tradition that includes Nietzsche, Heidegger, Deleuze and Derrida, thinkers he regularly engages with. Where he differs from all of these is that he is not a philosopher of difference in any way we take this term to signify within the tradition to which I have just alluded. Arguably all his predecessors undermine philosophical structures of consistent identity through the valorisation of difference in some form.
If, he argues, identity structures are historically contingent, not logically necessary, then so too are differentiating structures, which can then further be said to be complicit in metaphysics, not a means of overcoming it. Rather than undermining identity with difference, therefore, Agamben reveals that identity and difference themselves are not necessary terms but historical contingencies, that in fact they form one single entity within our tradition, what I will call identity-difference, and based on these observations one can suspend their history of opposition by rendering them indifferent to each other. Agamben, however, insists that the difference is as much implicated in the system of metaphysics as that of identity.If, he argues, identity structures are historically contingent, not logically necessary, then so too are differentiating structures, which can then further be said to be complicit in metaphysics, not a means of overcoming it.Rather than undermining identity with difference, therefore, Agamben reveals that identity and difference themselves are not necessary terms but historical contingencies, that in fact they form one single entity within our tradition, what I will call identity-difference, and based on these observations one can suspend their history of opposition by rendering them indifferent to each other.
For Agamben self-identical full presence, what he calls the common, is a discursive entity not an actual state. Difference, what he calls the proper, is the same. Further, concepts are no longer to be taken as identity-concepts, ideational structures possessive of communal consistency around an agreed set of referents that can be held under the same conceptual heading, but identity-difference-concepts that have a historical moment of arising when they become active, a mode of distributing this activity to control large and stable discursive formations over time, such as language, such as power, such as poetry, such as glory, and an almost fated period of indifference where the clear definitions of the system either break down, or can aggressively be shown to be assailable contingencies. The method of tracing these moments for the purpose of suspending identity-difference constructs, what he calls signatures, is an overall methodology that Agamben names philosophical archaeology. |
Decentralized Autonomous Collections
Peter Van Garderen Blocked Unblock Follow Following Apr 11, 2016
A Decentralized Autonomous Collection is a set of digital information objects stored for ongoing re-use with the means and incentives for independent parties to participate in the contribution, presentation, and curation of the information objects outside the control of an exclusive custodian.
Decentralized Autonomous Collections (DAC) may be created by any individual or community based on any number of criteria including subject matter, newsworthy events, geographic region, media format, content provenance, business function, political objectives, etc..
While I am currently exploring its implications for the types of materials collected by traditional memory organizations like archives and libraries, the DAC concept extends equally to other centrally-controlled repositories of information used for memory, knowledge, and entertainment, e.g. YouTube, Flickr, Wikipedia, Internet Archive, etc..
Decentralized wha???
DACs adapts the concept of a Decentralized Autonomous Organization (DAO) to the management of sets of digital information objects. A DAO is a self-governing organization that is designed to operate according to a set of hard-coded business rules. Recent advances in blockchain technology has launched a number of new DAO initiatives (e.g. Slock.it).
At its core, blockchain technology consists of a distributed public database that leverages cryptography and peer-to-peer technology to group data into timestamped blocks and store these in an immutable chain of transactions. The public, distributed nature of this data store makes it nearly impossible to tamper with or revise the data and thereby removes the need to trust that a data-provider is reliably enforcing security protocols. The Bitcoin digital currency was the first and most well-known application built on a blockchain.
A second generation blockchain technology know as Ethereum added the ability to run Turing-complete software code on the peer-to-peer nodes that process its transaction blocks. These Ethereum “smart contracts” have provided the technical means to implement incorruptable DAO business rules on its distributed blockchain database. They also enable the exchange of cryptocurrency tokens to fund digital processes and real-world activities related to the management of the DAO.
The blockchain and the other technical components which make the DAC concept possible are each complex topics on their own. While I am working on proofs-of-concept for a few of the sub-components described in this article it is not intended to serve as a tutorial. Where applicable, I’ve merely provided some links for further study.
My intention here is to connect the dots between these components; to allow the Decentralized Automonous Collection idea to emerge in fuller relief. I see DACs as an eventual destination in the evolution of managing information collections which includes a number of vaguely defined stops along the way. I want to start by explaining why it may be worth the effort to try and get there.
The Case for Decentralized Autonomous Collections
I work in the field of digital archives, electronic recordkeeping, and library technology. I am the original developer of the open-source AccessToMemory (AtoM) and Archivematica software applications. These tools are widely used in archives, libraries and museums around the world. They are designed to preserve and provide access to collections of archival materials. Both AtoM and Archivematica are intended to be practical implementations of archives and library standards that have been codified to establish best practices for our profession.
Over the past couple of decades there has been plenty of post-modern contemplation in our field about the principles underlying these practices. In particular how it is misleading to consider the custodian as a purely objective servant to the collections under their care. These discussions have been mostly academic debates confined to our professional journals and conferences.
However, here in Canada, events related to our Truth and Reconciliation Committee (TRC) on the national tragedy of indigenous residential schools has led to renewed soul-searching amongst archival professionals about the implicit structures of authority perpetuated through institutionalized collections. The TRC’s legal battle with Library Archives Canada for access to critical documents is just one of several reasons behind indigenous scholars’ call to ‘decolonize archives’ and a corresponding debate on what that might entail.
To be clear, I am not sure whether Decentralized Autonomous Collections are an answer to the call to decolonize archives. I have not consulted any indigenous peoples and I am concious of my own bent towards techno-solutionism. Some of the technologies I discuss are still quite esoteric and complex to grasp even for technology professionals. Therefore, the only connection that exists right now is that this debate about ownership and access to archival collections fuelled and connected a number of existing ideas in my mind which led me to crystalize the concept I discuss here.
That process coincided with reading a recent presentation by Mark Matienzo, the Director of Technology for the Digital Public Library of America. Matienzo reflected on how marginalized communities are further alienated by the metadata systems and technologies of “repositories of authoritative knowledge.” He raises questions about how subjects and objects are named and thereby how meaning and value judgements are controlled and perpetuated. He also raises related concerns about how “the corporatization of library infrastructure” plays a role in this dynamic.
Therefore, in spite of often good intentions, the materials that have been collected by memory organizations, how these are contextualized, and the rules that govern how they are accessed have been coloured by societal and institutional privilige, professional tradition and inertia, and a lack of genuine community engagement.
These biases are baked into our institutional appraisal and acquisition policies, metadata standards, information technology, and access rights and methods. Princeton archivist Jared Drake goes as far as to include the underlying archival principle of provenance in this list and argues that it is a remnant “of a colonized mode of thinking about the world through the gaze of great white men, whose complexities and contradictions previously could only be explored in the archives by similarly complicated and great white men.”
Until recently, I believed that becoming self-aware of these biases was the end-goal. That this would create more progressive information professionals and better ‘best’ practices in centralized collections such as those exemplified by the National Library of Australia’s Trove portal. It contains over 470 million records and is the largest, freely accessible collection of Australian history and culture ever assembled. Trove was developed under a principle of radical openness. It allows users to freely create and share tags and virtual collection lists. That is to say, it allows them to build and share their own context. Trove also provides APIs for developers to re-use its content in their independent applications.
However, even exemplary collections like Trove are subject to economics and the political whims of their owners. In this case, a conservative Australian government that slashed funding and suggested looking for private donors to maintain the collection. As Hugh Rundle points out in his assessment of the Trove situation, “neoliberal market fetishisation with a dash of authoritarianism is the ideology of our times.”
Rundle cites the previous Canadian government’s introduction of a code of conduct for Libraries Archives Canada employees in 2013. It “outlined a ‘duty of loyalty’ to the ‘duly elected government’ and included restrictions on involvement with any activity that might be construed as criticism of Canada’s leadership.” Rundle also points to the example of the British Library rejecting a rich collection of Taliban materials because providing access to it for research purposes might have been deemed to contravene the U.K. Terrorism Act.
Meanwhile, Europe’s largest regional library in Birmingham U.K. is asking the public to donate their own books to fill its brand new £189 building after drastic cuts in local government funding have eliminated collection management funds. Hundreds of other public libraries across the U.K. have been closed or forced to switch to operate entirely with volunteer staff.
// ominous update the day after this article was posted:
Archivists and librarians working in the field of digital preservation will shudder at reports like this. They are painfully aware that the biggest threat to long-term access to digital information objects is not the formidable challenge of technology obsolescence but rather neglect caused by a lack of funding to maintain systems and active curation practices. Appropriately, organizational viability and financial sustainability makes up one third of the Trustworthy Repositories Audit & Certification checklist, the international best practice for deploying digital collections that aim to ensure long-term accessibility.
Another trend that may become an issue in the near future is that most digital archive solutions implemented today are designed to run on commercial cloud solutions. In the past six months I’ve seen Requests for Proposals from major Canadian federal, provincial and municipal institutions, each of which explicitely calls for deployment of the proposed digital archive systems in externally hosted data centers. Behind this requirement are a number of valid economic and technical reasons. These same reasons will ensure that solutions built on the dominant commercial cloud solutions will win these bids. Extrapolating this trend forward and across borders I fear that in the near future most of the world’s digital heritage will be centralized on Amazon, Azure, and Rackspace data centres thereby linking its fate to that of a very short list of service providers.
The situations I have highlighted above are from relatively prosperous countries with democratic traditions. I haven’t even mentioned totalitarian governments, impoverished societies, or the significant list of privacy and long-term access concerns related to information collections owned by private corporations like Facebook and Google. Of course, the spectre of intelligence agency snooping, made easy by the reliance on centralized web servers, also casts a long shadow in the post-Snowden era.
Nevertheless, raising concerns about the privacy, impartiality, or viability of institutionalized information collections is typically dismissed as an academic argument. It is a commonly held belief that centralized organizations, whether public institutions or private corporations, are simply necessary to achieve economies of scale, ensure authenticity and integrity, and to support the environment required to nurture the specialization and expertise required for long-term preservation and elegant access to large-scale collections of information resources.
However, I believe that the emergence of blockchain technology and the concept of Decentralized Autonomous Organizations, alongside the maturation of peer-to-peer networks, open library technology architectures, and open-source software practices offers a new approach to the issues of control, privilege, and sustainability that are inherent to many centralized information collections.
So you want to replace libraries and archives?
In exploring this concept of Decentralized Autonomous Collections it is not my intention to work against memory organizations or their continued funding and self-improvement. In fact, it is my sincere hope that progressive institutions will explore and pilot this concept as one way to address the many challenges they face. While decentralized systems are characterized by distributed nodes with equal technical functionality, these systems and networks still require ‘thought leaders’ and project managers to inspire and direct activities. These are roles that could and should be sponsored by progressive memory organizations that see Decentralized Autonomous Collections as another, possibly even better, way to fulfill their mandates.
The issues raised above are meant as an argument for exploring alternative ways to organize information collections. While I would expect grassroots, flat-hierarchy organizations such as those exemplified by the Occupy movement or People’s Archives projects to be the first to pilot these concepts, I hope that traditional memory institutions will follow suit as a way to explore new sustainability and scalability models. The concept of Decentralized Autonomous Collections could serve as a hedge against a number of risks or practices inherent in a centralized model that may work against the shared objectives of most information collection custodians. That is, the mission to provide unrestricted free and open access, in perpetuity, to collections of information that serve all individuals and communities equally in their pursuit of identity, entertainment, knowledge or truth.
What makes a collection decentralized?
At the core of the Decentralized Autonomous Collection concept is the ‘permissionless’ availability of information objects on peer-to-peer storage. Probably the most common example of this type of functionality is the BitTorrent protocol, network, and client software. It is permissionless because anyone can freely download and fire up a client and begin downloading and distributing information objects on the network. You don’t need to register an account or be vetted by a central gatekeeper. There is no central host that controls access to the collection. Each peer has equal access to the content and it is not possible to take down the network by disabling a central server or URL.
In addition to BitTorrent, there are some interesting peer-to-peer storage networks currently being prototyped in the blockchain domain which may provide a sound and sustainable DAC storage layer. These include IPFS, Storj, and MaidSafe. Some key features that might determine the most suitable DAC storage platform include whether it is bundled with a crypto-token incentive scheme, end-to-end encryption, and the ability to delete a file from the collection. These may end up being the distinguishing criteria between the permanent, distributed web concept where all content on the network is intentionally published for free and forever versus information collections whose contributers are primarily looking for storage solutions and the ability to share information with a restricted audience or under specific usage terms.
By aggregating objects from peer-to-peer storage networks, an unlimited number of ‘virtual’ collections can be made available through traditional HTTP access clients and portals. These portals can add value by curating and presenting the content generically or in culturally-sensitive ways to specific designated communities using new, custom apps or existing web content management tools like Wordpress, Omeka, Mukurtu, or Neocities. These are examples of relatively user-friendly applications that allow non-professionals to present the content and context of their information collections in a way that is appropriate to their intended audience and sensitive to community needs.
The metadata that these portals and its users create are valuable information objects in and of themselves and form another key component in the architecture of a Decentralized Autonomous Collection. This includes descriptions of information objects, their context of creation and use, their interpreted meaning and value, technical information required for curation, and tags and taxonomies that aid in their discovery. Depending on the DAC’s design principles, this metadata may conform to professional standards, conventions agreed upon within a designated community, and/or free form formats that reflect the needs, viewpoints, and backgrounds of individual contributors.
This metadata is stored as first-class objects on the peer-to-peer network using NoSQL key-value pairs or, better yet, Linked Data triples. These types of serializations allow for system independence and flexible re-use of the metadata over time and across different access portal implementations. The tools and practices that support this approach (e.g. W3C’s JSON-LD) are finally achieving maturation within the web development and library technology community.
The metatadata and content stored on the peer-to-peer networks are mediated through middleware APIs providing DAC micro-services that may include RESTful hypermedia content access, search index caches for the metadata and full-text stored on distributed nodes, and conversion of metadata triples to the data serializations used by popular content management tools (e.g. CSV, SQL).
Perhaps the best working example that brings together some of the technical components described above is the API used by the Public Media Platform. A key component of this API is the Collection.doc+JSON media type which provides a standardized way to group otherwise disparate online resources into a coherent collection. Other good examples include the APIs provided by the Digital Public Library of America and the National Archives of Austrialia’s Trove portal.
In the DAC model there is not an exclusive API owner or gatekeeper to the shared content as in the above examples. If the provider of one API to a DAC is not willing to grant a key to a developer that wants to build an app or portal on top of that API, the developer would still have access to the information in peer-to-peer storage and could chose to harvest the content directly for their portal or develop and deploy their own API.
The absence of an exclusive custodian places additional burden on the proof of authenticity for information objects stored in a DAC. This requirement would be met in a DAC through the registration of cryptographic hashes of information objects and their provenance metadata (expressed in machine-readable W3C PROV) on a blockchain database using functionality such as that provided by ProofOfExistence.com. Mediachain is a good example of a project that is working on a protocol and supporting tools that deliver this functionality for image media.
Lastly, going one level of abstraction deeper, the portal software apps and API middleware code could also be stored on the peer-to-peer storage layer using a full-clone software versioning system like Git. This would allow for the repurposing of collection management tools by other communities or the re-launching of portals that were taken offline due to technical failure, financial constraints, or political attacks.
Does “permissionless” mean “without rights”?
While permissionless participation in the distributed network is a fundamental design principle for a DAC, this does not mean users should necessarily have permission to do whatever they want with the information objects in a Decentralized Autonomous Collection. The degree of enforcement of the rights of information creators and sharers would likely vary from collection to collection.
On one extreme there would be fully unregulated and open access like we see on the BitTorrent network. This will be fine for information collections that are intended to be fully open by default (e.g. Wikipedia or Wikileaks). On the other end of the spectrum there could be highly sensitive collections, e.g. medical records, that require the strictest privacy and security protocols.
If users can be confident that the underlying technology is incorruptible and can reliably regulate under what conditions access is granted, then perhaps a mature DAC solution would eventually be considered to be more trustworthy than a sole service provider precisely because there isn’t a designated gatekeeper or snooping agent who has the ability to abuse that centralized power.
To express what usage is permitted for information objects in its collection, a DAC could employ Creative Commons licenses and the machine-readable rights statements developed by the Europeana portal and the Digital Public Library of America. To enforce those rights there are a number of existing digital rights management techniques. Of course, these tend to have a fairly poor reputation amongst information consumers for a variety of reasons. Therefore, there are a number of projects that are exploring how blockchain smart contracts can be used to decentralize traditional DRM techniques. The objective is to place more flexible control in the hands of content creators and consumers rather than information publishing middlemen that seek to enforce content channel monopolies at their expense.
In its simplest form, a decentralized rights management architecture might store information objects in encrypted format and use smart contracts to provide private keys to unlock that content when certain criteria are met, e.g. a micropayment is made to the smart contract. This is where some recent blockchain innovation in the music industry shows a promising way forward. A good example is the UJO Music project which is exploring these techniques through the Dot Blockchain concept. Lbry.io is a similar project that has developed its own peer-to-peer and blockchain protocol which includes the ability to pay storage providers, blockchain miners, and content contributors.
What makes a collection “autonomous”?
While the technical components may now exist to deploy a decentralized collection, it still requires intentional coordination to implement it in a coherent fashion. There could be a variety of reasons for why a group of people might decide to organize themselves and systems outside the mandate of a centralized organization in order to preserve some information for future access. As discussed further above, these may include concerns about privilege and control along with dissatisfaction about the way existing information collections are being presented and curated by exclusive custodians. In this context the term ‘autonomous’ refers to the ability to act independently, in a self-contained way, outside of external controls.
The values and principles which influence a Decentralized Autonomous Collection’s content, functionality, accessibility, and its rate of adoption can be encoded as business rules by its initial implementers and updated by its subsequent participants using smart contracts deployed on blockchain technology. Smart contracts monitor the state of certain pre-programed conditions and when these are verified to be true they execute processes such as the release of cryptocurency funds to a designated online wallet or delivering a private key to unlock a digital file. Decentralized autonomous organizations such as Slock.it are providing compelling models for this type ‘rule of code’ replacing the ‘rule of law.’
Stakeholders in an autonomous organization are given the opportunity to vote on proposals that address how its shared assets are managed. Votes can be distributed per unique participant or weighted according to the stake that the participant has in the collective enterprise. This stake could be based on the reputation ranking of the individual as calculated by criteria such as total number of ‘Likes,’ ‘Upvotes,’ ‘Recommendations,’ ‘Tips,’ etc.. It could also be based on the amount of tokens held by the participant in the cryptocurrency denomination chosen by the DAC implementers. These might leverage existing cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin and Ether or they may choose to issue tokens specific to the DAC domain.
These tokens will serve as a type of collection management fuel that enable decision-making and incentivize service providers to complete tasks that benefit the maintenance and quality of the DAC. The maturity of online cryptocurrency exchanges ensure that these tokens hold real-world purchasing power beyond the DAC domain.
The initial balance of tokens could be fiat funds converted from traditional endowments or granting agencies that support the mission of the DAC. It could also be generated through a cryptocurrency crowdfunding campaign to launch or support the activities of a particular DAC. Other sources of DAC revenue could include micropayment fees for the use of its content, APIs, portals, and/or storage nodes.
The DAC business model can be hard-coded as smart contracts. These would also manage the reserve of tokens that are held as future payment for expenses such as API server hosting or storage. When deemed necessary, the DAC participants would vote on proposals to distribute tokens held in reserve to service providers such as content creators and contributors, collection curators, software developers, or system administrators. These might perform services such as adding new features to the DAC APIs and portals, implementing system architecture upgrades, migrating legacy content and metadata, metadata enhancement and clean-up, creating new online exhibits in one of the DAC’s access portals, or uploading content that accounts for a top percentage of downloads.
Of course, DACs would likely still depend on a significant amount of volunteer labour such as that already provided by museum interpreters, Wikipedia authors, open-source software contributors, YouTube videographers, etc.. However, these invididuals may be extra-motivated to participate in a given DAC if their work is rewarded with cryptocurrency tokens and/or reputation points when their contributions reach a given threshold, the rules of which are described and executed transparently through a public smart contract.
Sounds like a pipe dream
Admittedly the nuts-and-bolts of blockchain-based Decentralized Autonomous Organizations, such as voting mechanisms and service provider contract fulfillment, are still in a trial stage. The blockchain community is eagerly watching the progress of early implementers. I am also aware that there are many external forces and well-entrenched memory institution traditions that are working counter to the vision of the Decentralized Autonomous Collection concept as I have described it here.
Nevertheless, I am researching and developing components in this architecture that may contribute pieces to this larger whole. Therefore, I did want to get a bunch of these synergistic ideas out of my head and to sketch out a rough map, however flawed or incomplete, that I could share with others and use as my own guidepost. At least it now exists as a hypothetical destination in the evolution of managing information collections. Hopefully the right combination of optimistic idealism, cynical reactionism, and opportunistic risk-taking will inspire further collaboration and complimentary ideas on this path. |
Times change, and so has the Portland region. From early days of railroads and muddy main streets, to today's bustling system of roads, transit, bikeways and sidewalks, how we move around continues to shape the places we live in profound ways. These historical snapshots and interactive sliders offer a glimpse of just some of the changes in Southwest Corridor communities.
South Portland/Marquam Hill
Marquam Hill in 1920, just three years after the University of Oregon Medical School (better known today as OHSU) opened its campus. Photo courtesy of City of Portland Archives.
In 1933, the Fourth Avenue Extension project linked downtown to the brand-new Barbur Boulevard, opening up Southwest Portland in new ways.
Completing Barbur Boulevard required enormous amounts of fill to create a smoothly graded road. Here, a view near SW Condor Ave. Photo courtesy of Portland City Archives. (Note: Caption corrected.)
Another view of the Fourth Avenue Extension Project in 1933. After the construction of Interstate 405 and 1960s urban renewal, almost no building seen in the foreground still exists. Photo courtesy of Portland City Archives.
The intersection of Barbur and Terwilliger Boulevard, seen 1947, as development in the Burlingame area was about to pick up steam. Photo courtesy of Portland City Archives.
A familiar-looking stretch of Barbur in the Burlingame neighborhood, seen here in 1961. Photo courtesy of Portland City Archives.
Crossing Barbur today in the Burlingame neighborhood.
Some of the businesses have stayed the same, but today's Barbur Boulevard is depended upon by a wider variety of users.
In South Portland, Naito Parkway retains a lot of the look of a highway, reminiscent of its erstwhile role as the southern anchor of the riverfront Harbor Drive freeway.
It is hard to know where best to begin listing the many changes that have occurred to this slice of Southwest Portland at the foot of Marquam Hill. It might be the proliferation of new buildings on Oregon Health and Science University's hilltop campus as it became one of the region’s largest centers of education and employment. However, the more recent, high-density development of the South Waterfront gives just as good of an indicator of how much has changed over the years. Or perhaps it’s the startling change in Ross Island, seen here in the lower right in 1950 being used as a mooring for Benson rafts of timber on their way to the coast. Down in the corner of the island, almost out of the frame, can be seen a small inlet which would eventually become the lagoon seen today, a legacy of sand and gravel riverbed mining that halted in 2001.
Southwest Portland (Burlingame)
A few short years after this 1950 aerial was taken, construction on Interstate 5 would cut a block-wide swath alongside Highway 99W, adding to the division between the neighborhoods of Hillsdale, Corbett/Lair Hill, Multnomah and Burlingame. Soon after, in 1956, the cleared land near the top of the frame, a former dairy, became home to Wilson High School. Over the decades, what empty land remained filled in with housing, and farm plots gave way to parks and baseball diamonds as families flocked to these new, scenic hillside neighborhoods.
Tigard
Tigard's Main Street as seen in the late 19th century. Photo courtesy of the Tigard Public Library and Tigard Historical Association.
An Oregon Electric Railway Depot in downtown Tigard, seen here in the early 1900s. Photo courtesy of the Tigard Public Library and the Tigard Historical Association.
Tigard's Main Street in the early heyday of the automobile, sometime in the 1940s. Photo courtesy of the Tigard Public Library and Tigard Historical Association.
Starting in the 1950s, new demands for faster commutes led to the realignment of Highway 99W to bypass downtown Tigard. Photo courtesy of the Tigard Public Library and Tigard Historical Association.
The Tigard Triangle was formed after the construction of I-5 and Highway 217. Although it retains a semi-rural air in some areas, it's likely to see a lot of growth in the coming years. The old house at the intersection was recently demolished.
Present-day downtown Tigard, Main Street.
Tigard was once a small town at the crossing of a railroad and a highway, a patchwork of homes, businesses and farms not too far – and not too close – to the city. Many residents still call it a small town, but most everything else has changed. With the construction of I-5 and Highway 217 (seen forming a ‘V’ in the center of the frame) the Tigard Triangle was formed, adding a hub of business and freight movement to the area. In 1968, Portland Community College’s Sylvania campus, seen in the upper right corner, opened its doors; today it serves over 26,000 students annually – about half the size of Tigard’s population.
Tualatin
Railroad Avenue in Tualatin, in the early 1900s, now part of Boones Ferry Road. Photo courtesy of the Washington County Museum.
"Residence Street", somewhere in Tualatin, seen here in the early 1900s. Photo courtesy of the Washington County Museum.
Downtown Tualatin in the 1940s. Photo courtesy of the Washington County Museum.
Tualatin seen from the air in 1947. Only a handful of the buildings seen here still exist. Large commercial developments now fill much of the view, along with a man-made lake. Photo courtesy of the Washington County Museum.
Today, at the intersection of Boones Ferry Road and Martinazzi Avenue in downtown Tualatin.
Modern downtown Tualatin, centered around Tualatin Commons.
The Tualatin River still winds its way through the valley, past banks of trees and the Tualatin Country Club. Beyond that, it’s hard to spot much resemblance between today’s Tualatin and the tiny farm community that once small enough to fit along a quarter-mile of Boones Ferry Road (near the center of this photo). The completion of I-5 gave a new incentive to businesses to set up along the region’s busiest transportation artery. From Bridgeport Village in the upper right corner down to the high-tech office parks on Tualatin's west side, commerce has flowed through Tualatin in its own kind of current, clearing away farmland and woodland to make way for a variety of residential and commercial development, most strikingly around Tualatin Commons, which created a new lake right in the middle of the growing city.
Sherwood
Sherwood and its surrounding forests, as it looked in the 1890s. Photo courtesy of the Oregon Historical Society.
Sherwood in the 1900s, with the Portland and Willamette Valley Railway running through town. Photo courtesy of the Oregon Historical Society.
Sherwood showing its charm, sending its "Band of Merry Men" to the Washington County Parade in 1953. Photo Courtesy of the Pacific University Archives.
Today's downtown Sherwood.
Today, Sherwood is connected to the rest of the region's transit network by the 93 and 94 bus lines.
Modern-day downtown Sherwood.
Though it was first known as Smockville, even its founders James and Mary Smock didn’t much care for the name. So, in 1891 the town was renamed Sherwood, partly in reference to a certain folk-tale quality residents saw in the old woods that surrounded their small town. Originally planned a railroad town, the Portland and Willamette Valley Railway cut right through Sherwood’s old downtown. Over the years, Sherwood slowly expanded north towards Highway 99W, farms replaced by orchards (seen dotting the landscape in and around town in 1950), and eventually the orchards giving way to homes, schools and businesses. More visible now than it was in the 1950s, Cedar Creek still meanders diagonally through town – its recent transformation into the Cedar Creek Greenway giving residents a way to walk or bike between the new and the old Sherwood. |
Photo by Kevin Winter/Getty Images
Today, Randy Newman weighs in on the racial subtext of our presidential politics, and, as you might expect from the writer of “Short People,” “Political Science” and “Rednecks,” he doesn’t hold back. His new song, “I’m Dreaming,” which you can hear below—and which is available as a free download—is sung in the voice of a narrator who’s not just unreliable but … well, here’s the refrain: “I’m dreaming of a white President / Just like the ones we’ve always had.” (In case we miss the reference to Irving Berlin’s “White Christmas, Newman throws in a der Bingle-esque “buh buh buh” toward the end of the number.)
Newman’s groundbreaking albums have, at this point, been heard by far fewer people than his movie scores, which include Ragtime, Seabiscuit, and all three Toy Story films. He took time out from scoring the prequel to Monsters, Inc. to talk about his new song, his relationship to the people who inhabit his work, the handsomeness of George Romney, and the pitfalls of irony.
Advertisement
Slate: You once famously described “Political Science”—with its refrain, “Let’s drop the big one and see what happens”—as “a pinhead’s view of China,” and I guess my first reaction to the new song is that it’s good to have you back in pinhead territory again. Is it satisfying for you, too?
Randy Newman: Yeah, it feels good. But, you know, they’re not all complete pinheads. The guy in “Rednecks,” for instance, the case he makes is a just case. His language was execrable, and the ugliness of the words he chooses tends to disqualify him, but not completely. When he said that the North didn’t have any moral superiority to the South on racial issues, he was right. Of course, this guy, in “I’m Dreaming,” he has no case at all, just some vague pseudo-scientific theories that no doubt sound good to him but are nonsense.
Slate: Right. At one point the scene shifts to Africa and the singer says that the continent could never have produced any geniuses because of all the lions and tigers—an Albert Einstein or a Ronald Reagan would have been “gobbled up before their time.”
Newman: It’s the guy’s attempt to ground his theory in some gauze of intellectual wrapping.
Advertisement
Slate: You’ve said that one thing that inspired you to write this song is the thought that, “there are a lot of people who don’t want a black person in the White House and they want him out.” To put it bluntly, how do you know?
Newman: Well, I don’t know, partly because no one, and I mean no one, would admit feeling that way. Still, it’s clear that there are lots of people out there who are uncomfortable. The Civil War was a long time ago but there are aspects of it that remain unsettled, I think. Early on in Obama’s term, there was heat generated by issues that you wouldn’t think would cause such passion. Even the term “Obamacare,” the way it’s spit out, like he was some kind of witch doctor. Maybe I’m overly sensitive to the issue, but I don’t think so. There’s an edge to things that normally wouldn’t have an edge. I thought it was a little extra.
Slate: Did you have Irving Berlin and Bing Crosby in mind when you were writing the song?
Newman: Not them specifically, but maybe the America they represent. Oddly enough, I did a version of Faust years ago, and the vision of God I had in my mind was George Romney. He looks like what God would look like to me. That wide-open, beautiful face. That’s what I see when I picture him. The idea was that the devil always worked real hard and the Lord always beat him, and he just couldn’t understand it. And Romney is the guy I had in mind for that. He just looks so great.
Advertisement
Slate: This was George, not Mitt? He’s a kind of good-looking guy, as well.
Newman: Yeah, kind of. Not like his dad.
Slate: With Ry Cooder’s angry new record, Bob Dylan’s blunt comments about race in his recent Rolling Stone interview, some of Springsteen’s no-holds-barred songs, and now “I’m Dreaming,” it seems that you and a few of your colleagues are getting pretty fed up. Is this a trend?
Newman: I’m not sure about a trend, but for me it’s a reaction to the Republican Party, which seems to have drifted farther to the right than a major party has drifted in my lifetime in any direction. It seems to have become almost a radical party. The hate and… I don’t think it’ll last. That kind of thing doesn’t seem to last.
Slate: You’re releasing “I’m Dreaming” free of charge, but you’re encouraging listeners to donate to the United Negro College Fund. Why that particular cause? |
As of Wednesday afternoon, no fewer than 29 NFL players had been suspended from starting the 2014 season, a league spokesperson told Mashable.
Some will miss just that first game; others are banned for four games. A few have been restricted indefinitely. Collectively, they represent 20 of the NFL's 32 teams and could make up more than half of a squad's 53-man roster.
Some of the suspensions may strike you as overly harsh. Some may strike you as not strong enough. But either way, NFL suspensions are a hotter topic than ever before heading into the 2014 season. So, in true hashtag-2014 form, here's a definitive listicle of all 29 NFL players missing their respective teams' season openers and why.
1. Frank Alexander, Carolina
The defensive end is suspended four games for violating the league's substance-abuse policy.
2. Stedman Bailey, St. Louis
The wide receiver is serving a four-game ban after testing positive for performance-enhancing drugs.
3. Justin Blackmon, Jacksonville
The hyper-talented wide receiver was suspended indefinitely from the league last November for multiple violations of its substance-abuse policy. In July, he was arrested again.
4. Dwayne Bowe, Kansas City
The receiver is suspended one game for an arrest for marijuana possession that was somehow later "bargained down to lesser charges of defective equipment and littering," according to NFL.com.
5. Nigel Bradham, Buffalo
The linebacker is serving a one-game suspension for violating the league's substance-abuse policy, reportedly because of marijuana.
6. Brandon Browner, New England
The cornerback is serving a four-game suspension for unspecified substance-abuse infractions.
7. Josh Gordon, Cleveland
The star receiver is serving a season-long suspension for repeatedly violating the league's substance-abuse policy, most recently by testing positive for marijuana.
8. Jakar Hamilton, Dallas
The defensive back is out four games for violating the league's substance-abuse policy.
9. Eric Herman, New York Giants
The offensive lineman is serving a four-game suspension after testing positive for performance-enhancing drugs — he says because of a prescription mix-up.
10. Will Hill, Baltimore
The safety is serving a six-game ban after violating the league's substance-abuse policy multiple times.
11. Jayron Hosley, New York Giants
The cornerback is suspended four games for an unspecified violation of the league's substance-abuse policy.
12. Tanard Jackson, Washington
The safety is serving an indefinite suspension for multiple violations of the league's substance-abuse policy.
13. Lane Johnson, Philadelphia
The offensive lineman is out four games after testing positive for performance-enhancing drugs. He, too, blames a prescription mix-up.
14. Reshad Jones, Miami
The safety is out four games after testing positive for performance-enhancing drugs.
15. Dion Jordan, Miami
The defensive end is serving a four-game ban for testing positive for performance-enhancing drugs.
16. Chris Lewis-Harris, Cincinnati
The cornerback is out two games after violating the league's substance-abuse policy.
17. Robert Mathis, Indianapolis
The linebacker is serving a four-game ban after testing positive for performance-enhancing drugs. He blames a fertility medication.
18. Marlon Moore, Cleveland
The receiver is serving a one-game suspension for a substance-abuse violation.
19. Brandon Meriweather, Washington
The safety is banned two games for an illegal hit on an opposing receiver.
20. Matt Prater, Denver
The top-notch kicker is out four games of the season after violating the league's substance-abuse policy.
21. Ray Rice, Baltimore
The star running back is serving a two-game suspension for allegedly knocking out his then-fiancee in a casino elevator. The couple is now married.
22. Ace Sanders, Jacksonville
The receiver is out four games after violating the league's substance-abuse policy.
23. Orlando Scandrick, Dallas
The cornerback is suspended four games after testing positive for performance-enhancing drugs.
24. Jerome Simpson, Minnesota
The receiver is out three games for his second violation of the league's substance-abuse policy. The first time, he was caught mailing two pounds of marijuana to his home in Kentucky. This time it's for a driving-under-the-influence arrest.
25. Aldon Smith, San Francisco
The linebacker is serving a nine-game suspension for multiple violations of the league's personal-conduct and substance-abuse policies. Most notably, he allegedly made a fake bomb threat at Los Angeles International Airport in April.
26. Donald Stephenson, Kansas City
The offensive lineman is out four games after testing positive for performance-enhancing drugs.
27. Brian Tyms, New England
The wide receiver is serving a four-game ban after testing positive for performance-enhancing drugs. He blames Adderall.
28. Daryl Washington, Arizona
The linebacker is serving an indefinite suspension for repeatedly violating the league's substance-abuse policy. He has said his most recent positive test was for marijuana.
29. Wes Welker, Denver
The star receiver is serving a four-game ban after testing positive for performance-enhancing drugs, in this case amphetamines. He denies reports that the positive test is the result of taking molly — cut with amphetamines — at the Kentucky Derby, where he was spotted handing out $100 bills to random fans.
Now this photo of Welker handing out $100 bills at the Derby makes more sense http://t.co/Iy6XfAoeun pic.twitter.com/r4VNC5wGer — TDdaily (@TDdaily) September 3, 2014
BONUS: 1 NFL Owner Suspended to Start the 2014 Season
No NFL Twitter for Jim Irsay for a while. Image: Carolyn Kaster/Associated Press
Indianapolis Colts owner is serving a six-game ban after pleading guilty to driving while under the influence of oxycodone and hydrocodone. He was also fined $500,000 and can't talk about the NFL on Twitter during his suspension. |
Before we proceed to today in the continuing saga of "What in God's Name Are You Talking About, Richard Cohen?" here's a warning -- get your gag reflex ready.
In a typically rambling screed about … something, Cohen, who recently became the first man to connect the dots between Miley Cyrus' MTV Video Music Awards performance and what he likes to call "the so-called Steubenville rape" that happened one full year earlier, Cohen unleashes some choice nonsense thoughts on "Chris Christie's Tea Party Problem." In it, he ostensibly looks at the New Jersey's governor's political future and declares that "At the moment, it is Cruz, not Christie, who has seized the imagination of Iowa Republicans." He also lets loose a truly outstanding array of bizarre assessments of prominent political figures, calling Sarah Palin "the Alaska quitter who, I think, actually now lives in Arizona," Rick Santorum a man who's "neither cuddly nor moderate" and Christie "too Joisey for the tea party — too brash, as well."
Advertisement:
But the true kicker of the piece comes near the end, when he swerves away from concern trolling Chris Christie to laughably state "Today’s GOP is not racist" -- a declaration that the antics of party members would seem to contradict -- and to consider what must be "troubling" the Tea Party right now. "People with conventional views must repress a gag reflex when considering the mayor-elect of New York," he writes, "a white man married to a black woman and with two biracial children. (Should I mention that Bill de Blasio’s wife, Chirlane McCray, used to be a lesbian?) This family represents the cultural changes that have enveloped parts — but not all — of America. To cultural conservatives, this doesn’t look like their country at all."
Cohen would likely argue he's just calling it like he sees it – reporting on incredibly offensive ideologies but not engaging in them himself. And hey, you want to suggest that political extremists might have a problem with a high-profile mixed family? You might be right. Look how berserkers they went over that Cheerios commercial.
But we all know this isn't Jon Stewart on "The Daily Show," brightly announcing that "I think New York City might be ready for a charismatic biracial family with their own signature, synchronized dance moves." This is Richard Cohen -- a guy who thinks that "conventional" people would have a vomit response to a mixed marriage – and who then parenthetically throws in a little gay panic to boot. Because in his mind, being a backward moron is "conventional."
This is a man who, let us never forget, has written creepily of the "sexual meritocracy" of older men and declared Clarence Thomas "condemned of being a man." This is Richard Cohen, the writer who applauded Switzerland for its leniency toward Roman Polanski, who admitted, "There is no doubt that Polanski did what he did, which is have sex with a 13-year-old after plying her with booze" and then proceeded to dismissively refer to that girl as a "victim" in scare quotes. (Note to Cohen: Just like with the Steubenville case, this behavior is called rape.) The same man who, fascinatingly enough, has reportedly been reprimanded for "inappropriate behavior" toward a much younger colleague. This is a man who in July explained that he could "understand why [George] Zimmerman was suspicious" of Trayvon Martin, because the young man was "wearing a uniform we all recognize" and who lamented, "Where is the politician who will own up to the painful complexity of the problem and acknowledge the widespread fear of crime committed by young black males?" A man who thinks maybe there's something to this whole torture thing. One who hasn't quite worked it out about homosexuals either, who's decided that prejudice is bad but thinks "Gays don't get some sort of pass just because they're gay."
You can almost understand how a guy like Cohen, who was spent his entire career amply demonstrating that he has a boatload of issues around women, sex and race, really hit the jackpot with Chirlane McCray. My God, look at her, all seemingly normal and living under the same room as a white man. Did I mention she used to be lesbian? Because she totally was. Surely, Cohen wants the world to understand, some people might have a problem with this. Not him, no, he's just observing. Maybe asking for a friend.
It's almost sad – almost – to watch a bigot try to cloak himself in the guise of concerned citizen. But rest assured, nobody with a track record like Cohen's can use the phrase "gag reflex" without bringing plenty of his own bile to the party. And his transparently ugly shtick is fooling no one. |
Gov. Jerry Brown has vetoed the budget package passed Wednesday by Democratic legislators, sources say, which creates a potential rift within his own party.
The sources said an announcement was expected soon.
[Updated at 10:42 a.m., June 16: Brown announced the veto in a press release Thursday. "Unfortunately, the budget I have received is not a balanced solution," his statement said. "It continues big deficits for years to come and adds billions of dollars of new debt. It also contains legally questionable maneuvers, costly borrowing and unrealistic savings. Finally, it is not financeable and therefore will not allow us to meet our obligations as they occur."
Read the governor's official veto message here. He also released a Youtube video, below, explaining the decision.]
The plan contains higher taxes, billions of dollars in delayed payments to schools, and various accounting maneuvers to balance the books. Brown had previously warned that he would not sign a budget containing such accounting gimmicks.
Democratic leaders in the Assembly and Senate said the plan they passed Wednesday was crafted without input from the administration.
It is unclear whether state lawmakers will receive their paychecks in the wake of the veto. Under a law passed by voters last year, legislators lose pay if they fail to send the governor a budget by June 15. Lawmakers said Wednesday they believe the budget they passed meets that test, but Controller John Chiang, California's chief financial officer, will decide whether to issue their paychecks.
Brown's veto is the latest twist in a budget process that has been just as divisive and partisan as it was under his predecessor, Arnold Schwarzenegger.
Senate Republicans had been negotiating with Brown on his preferred plan, which would include a fall election on higher taxes. They want pension changes and a limit on future state spending in return for their support, and Brown has said he is willing to go along. But the Republicans say they have not met with the governor for more than a week.
Brown is scheduled to hold a news conference around noon at his office in Los Angeles.
RELATED:
California Democrats pass budget with taxes, cuts and tricks
Skirmish breaks out on Assembly floor during budget debate
Editorial: California Gov. Jerry Brown should hold out for a budget deal
-- Anthony York
Photo: Brown at a Capitol news conference in Sacramento Monday. Credit: Rich Pedroncelli / Associated Press |
Former Chelsea and West Ham midfielder Joe Cole has completed a permanent move to League One side Coventry City, signing a short-term deal until the end of the season.
The 34-year-old, who has been capped 56 times by England, headed to the Ricoh Arena on loan in October after failing to hold down a first-team place at Aston Villa.
Since his initial move, Cole has played seven times for the promotion hopefuls, scoring once, and Mowbray was delighted to get a permanent deal over the line.
Former West Ham and Chelsea midfielder Joe Cole has completed a permanent move to Coventry City
Cole has been capped 56 times by England, last appearing for his country against Germany in June 2010
JOE COLE'S CAREER 1998-2003: West Ham - 150 apps, 13 goals 2003-2010: Chelsea - 282 apps, 39 goals 2010-2013: Liverpool - 42 apps, five goals (2011-2012: Lille, loan - 38 apps, four goals) 2013-2014: West Ham - 37 apps, five goals 2014-2016: Aston Villa - 16 apps, one goal 2016-: Coventry City - seven apps, one goal 2001-2010: England - 56 apps, 10 goals
Speaking to the club's official website, he said: 'Since he joined the club, I've really enjoyed working with Joe and am delighted to see him sign on for the rest of the season.
'Our staff have worked hard with him to build up his fitness and physicality, and we've seen Joe really buy into what we're trying to do here.
'He's great to have around the dressing room and the rest of the squad feed off his experience, and I'm sure it'll have a positive impact on our younger players as well.'
Cole won the Premier League and FA Cup three times with Chelsea during his time at Stamford Bridge, and also spent a season on loan at Lille in France.
Coventry manager Tony Mowbray said he was delighted to see Cole sign on for the rest of the season
Cole has played seven times for Coventry since arriving in October, scoring once in the process (above)
Former Crystal Palace and Newcastle centre back Peter Ramage (right) has also signed for Coventry
He played 16 times for Villa after a switch from West Ham in 2014 following his second spell at Upton Park but had only made once appearance for them this season.
Cole becomes the second former Premier League player to sign for Coventry on Thursday, joining ex-Crystal Palace and Newcastle man Peter Ramage at the Ricoh Arena.
Ramage left Selhurst Park last summer following two loan spells at Barnsley, and spent the winter plying his trade for Kerala Blasters in India. |
Any restaurants, snack shops and retail stores wishing to open at the Austin-Bergstrom International Airport will be required to include labor peace agreements as part of their proposals, after a resolution the Austin City Council approved Thursday.
The move comes ahead of expected concessionaire solicitations for a nine-gate terminal expansion that is expected to open in 2019. It will not affect current businesses in the airport, which just entered new contracts, until those contracts expire in about 10 years.
The city requirements hold that the company have an agreement with any union that might represent employees to, at minimum, prohibit boycotts and service disruptions. Such guarantees are typically negotiated in exchange for agreements about wages, work hours and other working conditions.
Dozens of unionized airport concession employees turned out to the City Council meeting in matching T-shirts to show support for the item. Requiring labor agreements to be in place would protect the concessionaires from strikes in case of bargaining disagreements, said Willy Gonzalez, chapter president of Unite Here’s Local 23.
Gonzalez estimated more than 80 percent of airport concession employees are members of the union. Most of those work for businesses operated by Delaware North, which operates about two-thirds of the airport concessions.
Council Member Delia Garza, the resolution’s sponsor, teared up as she spoke of her support for union employees.
“This is truly an economic agreement here,” she told the union members. “This action will allow you to sit at the table, to have the conversations you have to have to get your pay and provide for your families.”
var pymParent = new pym.Parent('pym-div', 'http://apps.statesman.com/votetracker/meetings/2017-04-06-austin-city-council/vote/54/index.html', {});]] |
Signup to receive a daily roundup of the top LGBT+ news stories from around the world
Former Heroes exec Bryan Fuller has revealed that the show was forced to ditch a gay storyline because of a behind-the-scenes battle.
The cult superhero TV series ran for four seasons between 2006 and 2010, launching the career of Zachary Quinto as well as a host of other stars.
Bryan Fuller, who served as an executive producer on the show, revealed at Outfest this week that he planned a gay storyline for Heroes.
The out exec, who is best known for his work on Star Trek, revealed the storyline was forcibly axed after a dispute.
He said: “The gay character was het-washed after the actor’s management threatened to pull him from the show if [the character] were gay.”
While Fuller did not name the specific actor, his comments line up with a controversy from the show’s original run in 2006.
At the time, the show had repeatedly hinted that Zach (Thomas Dekker), a childhood friend of show lead Claire Bennet (Hayden Panettiere), was gay.
However, the plotline ended abruptly as Zach was clarified to be straight, before being swiftly written out of the show.
At the time, Heroes creator Tim Kring hinted at controversy, telling gay blog AfterElton: “It was certainly not our intention to confuse the issue of Zach’s character being gay. We have too much respect for our audience to do that intentionally.
“However, it has simply become too complicated behind the scenes to push this issue further with this particular character.
“We wish that we could have handled things better on our end. But making a TV show is often a very imprecise business.”
Dekker had a very different account of events, however.
In a 2007 blog post, he claimed: “I, nor my management have ever had any kind of problem with creating a gay character. To me acting is about being prepared to play all kinds of roles and it is an honor and a challenge to portray ANYTHING that comes my way.
“What transpired on Heroes is something far more complicated than anyone being “afraid” to make Zach homosexual.”
He continued: “The character that I created in the beginning of the show, a process I take very seriously, was based on Zach being an outcast who had a burning love for Claire, a crush that drew him to her and effected every ounce of his self esteem around her.
“I created the character that way because it was WRITTEN IN THE ORIGINAL SCRIPT that he was in love with Claire.
“I was not informed in the beginning of the series, of any planned character arc, because I was told there wasn’t one.
“What ensued later was a combination of miscommunication, confusion, surprise and last minute desicions, not a knee jerk reaction from me or my team.”
The actor insisted that “me leaving Heroes has NOTHING to do with this gay controversy”, and that he had been cast in the Sarah Connor Chronicles.
The show did later feature a lesbian storyline, with Claire experimenting with her sexuality.
Hayden Panettiere said that she had asked for the storyline to be included.
Related: Star Trek TV series casts major gay character |
8.2 our score
Torchlight is one of those games which came out of nowhere and turned out to be very enjoyable. I didn’t really expect all that much from it, but since I got it in a sale I was willing to take a risk. Since then I’ve recommended the game to quite a few friends, despite some of it’s obvious flaws. So what makes this fast-paced hack and slash dungeon crawler so enjoyable?
Your first order of business is to select one of the three classes available. The Destroyer is pretty much a melee warrior with some pretty nifty abilities. When playing this your play style involves steamrolling through large crowds of monsters. The second class is the Vanquisher, which can be roughly seen as a hunter/rogue hybrid. Your play style involves ranged weapons and setting traps. Third is the Alchemist class, which is your standard RPG mage.
This class selection appears very simply at first glance, but there are many skills to choose from and you can thus experiment with different builds. Each build can provide you with a completely different experience in terms of combat style, and on top of this you get a sidekick pet right from the start. Purists will be pleased that you can name your pet as well – and is not just for show. You will find that your pet is incredibly useful throughout the game.
Once you’ve selected your character, you will arrive in the mining town of Torchlight. First thing you will notice is the art style, which is very cartoonish but does the job extremely well. The huge advantage of this graphics style is that Torchlight runs on about any computer out today, and even comes with a netbook mode. In town, you have various npc’s and vendors at your disposal, whom provide the usual quests and ability to sell your loot.
Within a matter of minutes you will find yourself entering the dungeons for the first time, which is where Torchlight really shines. Dungeons are randomly generated from tile-sets, and the designers have provided a fairly nice amount of sets to play with. During the course of your quests you will delve deeper and deeper, and the scenery around you will change accordingly. Controls and combat will feel second nature after just a few moments of playing, being simple yet enjoyable.
Throughout your exploits you will find absolutely tons and tons of loot, following the usual well-known colour scheme to determine rarity. You will soon find yourself smile every time you find a unique or set-item. In particularly the latter are extremely rare and useful. In town you have the ability to share loot between your characters by means of a shared stash, so keeping the set-items is highly recommended. Your character has a nice amount of slots to equip equipment and weapons and your pet can equip a necklace and two rings as well.
This is where your pet comes in handy. It’s not just following you around, but actively engages in combat. You can buff your pet through various skills when you level, and you can feed it fish to trans-morph it into a great number of different monsters. You can even teach your pet 2 spells by dragging scrolls onto it – which the pet will then cast whenever it has mana. Personally, I like giving my pet crowd control and heal all spells – creating my own personal healer. Another favorite is to give the pet scrolls of summoning, thereby giving it a personal army. It’s a really nice touch that further increases the enjoyment you will get from the game.
You can further enhance your characters equipment through socket-able gems and enchants. An item can be enchanted up to 10 times, which significantly improves it’s capabilities, but there’s a catch. Each time you enchant an item there is a chance that all effects are wiped, so you take a bit of a gamble. Gems can be found or purchased, and transmuted using an NPC in town into higher level gems. These give various additional bonuses to your items, and it’s well worth working towards those high level gems.
One of the more frustrating elements of dungeon crawlers is that your backpack tends to overflow and you’re left with continues inventory management work. Torchlight has you covered there through the means of town portal scrolls, which open a 2-way portal to town. This allows you to open a portal to town, jump through it to sell your loot/hand quests in and then jump back through. Another, even more lovely touch is the ability to give your pet various bits and bobs of unwanted items and then send it to town by itself. The pet will travel to town, sell your items, and return back to you a few minutes later. Very creative from the designers, more games should think of little touches like that.
There’s also a great degree of re-playability, by the inclusion of a ‘hardcore’ mode which can be activated for any difficulty level. In this mode your death is permanent, making the game a challenge to play through. Once you finish the main quest, you get access to another dungeon which goes very, very deep indeed (infinite, though eventually the monsters will be too strong for your equipment as the equipment no longer gets better after a certain point). Combine this with a maximum character level of 100 and the ability to retire (after finishing the main quest) and heirloom items to the next generation, and you’ve got quite a few possibilities. Next generations get an additional skill point right from the start, so you can work towards getting deeper into the infinite dungeon each generation if you would desire so.
The designers have provided a fully featured editor with the game, and made it highly moddable, so there’s quite a modding community already at work. This was a smart move for a game like Torchlight, as it greatly enhances the experience many players will get. There are various mods which remove some of the more frustrating elements (like fishing… ) or add new aspects to the game. It’s well worth looking at once you’ve finished the game at least once and experienced it in it’s true form.
So does Torchlight actually do anything new that other games haven’t done already? Not really – besides from some clever little design elements like the pets, Torchlight is just another hack and slash dungeon crawler. It’s an incredibly simple game, with a relatively short main story as well. Surprisingly though, it’s also an incredible lot of FUN. This is the main ingredient often missing in games like this, and since Torchlight runs on practically any machine and is relatively inexpensive (can be purchased for under £10 on Amazon), I would highly recommend you give it a go. |
Popcorn's reputation as a snack food that's actually good for health popped up a few notches as scientists recently reported that it contains more of the healthful antioxidant substances called "polyphenols" than fruits and vegetables.
They spoke at the 243rd National Meeting & Exposition of the American Chemical Society (ACS), in San Diego on March 25.
Joe Vinson, Ph.D., a pioneer in analyzing healthful components in chocolate, nuts and other common foods, explained that the polyphenols are more concentrated in popcorn, which averages only about 4 percent water, while polyphenols are diluted in the 90 percent water that makes up many fruits and vegetables.
In another surprising finding, the researchers discovered that the hulls of the popcorn -- the part that everyone hates for its tendency to get caught in the teeth -- actually has the highest concentration of polyphenols and fiber.
"Those hulls deserve more respect," said Vinson, who is with the University of Scranton in Pennsylvania. "They are nutritional gold nuggets."
The overall findings led Vinson to declare, "Popcorn may be the perfect snack food. It's the only snack that is 100 percent unprocessed whole grain. All other grains are processed and diluted with other ingredients, and although cereals are called "whole grain," this simply means that over 51 percent of the weight of the product is whole grain. One serving of popcorn will provide more than 70 percent of the daily intake of whole grain. The average person only gets about half a serving of whole grains a day, and popcorn could fill that gap in a very pleasant way."
Vinson cautioned, however, that the way people prepare and serve popcorn can quickly put a dent in its healthful image. Cook it in a potful of oil, slather on butter or the fake butter used in many movie theaters, pour on the salt; eat it as "kettle corn" cooked in oil and sugar -- and popcorn can become a nutritional nightmare loaded with fat and calories.
"Air-popped popcorn has the lowest number of calories, of course," Vinson said. "Microwave popcorn has twice as many calories as air-popped, and if you pop your own with oil, this has twice as many calories as air-popped popcorn. About 43 percent of microwave popcorn is fat, compared to 28 percent if you pop the corn in oil yourself."
Likewise, Vinson pointed out that popcorn cannot replace fresh fruits and vegetables in a healthy diet. Fruits and vegetables contain vitamins and other nutrients that are critical for good health, but are missing from popcorn.
Vinson explained that the same concentration principle applies to dried fruit versus regular fruit, giving dried fruit a polyphenol edge. Previous studies found low concentrations of free polyphenols in popcorn, but Vinson's team did the first study to calculate total polyphenols in popcorn. The amounts of these antioxidants were much higher than previously believed, he said. The levels of polyphenols rivaled those in nuts and were up to 15 times greater than whole-grain tortilla chips.
The new study found that the amount of polyphenols found in popcorn was up to 300 mg a serving compared to 114 mg for a serving of sweet corn and 160 mg for all fruits per serving. In addition, one serving of popcorn would provide 13 percent of an average intake of polyphenols a day per person in the U.S. Fruits provide 255 mg per day of polyphenols and vegetables provide 218 mg per day to the average U.S. diet.
Michael G. Coco, an undergraduate chemistry student at the University of Scranton who participated in the study, said he benefited in several ways.
"From working on this project with Dr. Vinson, I've gained experience and many insights in doing scientific research," said Coco. "Besides the obvious things like learning how to use instrumentation and perform analyses, I've also learned that research is extremely satisfying, especially when you discover or think of something no one else has thought of."
The scientists acknowledged funding from the University of Scranton. |
A federal panel has scrambled congressional district lines in ways that would have big impacts for Richmond-area voters.
The panel was assembled to redraw lines in the 3rd District after a court ruling last year that the district was gerrymandered to pack in black voters in ways that give white candidates advantages in adjacent districts. The district is held by a Democrat, U.S. Rep. Robert C. Scott.
The blog Bearing Drift offers this map of the changes, if the new plan survives court challenges. The Washington Post digs into the issue.
Here are some winners and losers with the plan:
1. Loser: U.S. Rep. J. Randy Forbes, a Republican who represents the 4th District. Under the new plans, Richmond will move into the 4th District. This means that Forbes, who is white, must attract more black voters who tend to vote Democratic.
2. Loser: U.S. Rep Dave Brat, a Republican. The 7th District congressman was elected in a stunning primary upset with tea party help against Eric Cantor in June 2014. But the redistricting takes away from him Ashland and Hanover County, his strongest conservative base. This would give an advantage to Henrico County Sheriff Mike Wade, a more moderate conservative, if he challenges Brat.
3. Winners: State Sen. A. Donald McEachin and Delegate Jennifer L. McClellan, both Democrats. This could be their time to challenge Forbes, vying for Congress in the 4th District.
4. Winner: Scott. His current 3rd District would be sliced back to Hampton Roads, a safe base.
5. Winners: Democrats. At the moment, Virginia is represented in Congress by eight Republicans and three Democrats. The Democrats could gain an extra seat in the 4th District.
Editor's note: A correction was made to a previous version that said half of Richmond would move into the 4th District. |
While some fathers find themselves trying to create work schedules with additional flexibility, more fathers are assuming the role of primary caregiver. The number of stay-at-home dads has risen from 1.1 million in 1989 to 2.0 million in 2012, according to Pew. Why? For some fathers, they found themselves in the role due to circumstance: Temporary unemployment or disability can make dads the most logical option for childcare. But some fathers are home by choice, and because of a shift in labor dynamics as women reach higher educational and career attainment.
For Chris Tecala of Centerville, Virginia, who worked full-time in the audio visual field for a hospitality company, the question of who should stay home with the kids was an easy one to answer. “My salary equaled the cost of the yearly daycare of two, non potty-trained infants, which was about $40,000 a year,” he said. “I would be working just for someone else to watch my kids and it just didn't make sense.”
According to Pew, 24 percent of married women earn more than their husbands. The study also found that for married couples with children, women were the primary breadwinners in 37 percent of households. As women earn more and seek higher positions in more competitive fields, the decision of who should leave work to care for a sick child, or stay home altogether, has become less clear.
Now Tecala, who stays home during the week to watch his twin two-year-old boys, strikes a balance by working part-time for the same company during the weekends. Even once his boys are old enough to attend school, Tecala says he plans on continuing with a part-time schedule so he can “be there for them every step of the way.”
The decision to remain active in the professional world, albeit in a scaled-back fashion, is fairly common, says Will Culp of the National At Home Dad Network, especially for those who plan to reenter the workforce after the kids get older.
Dan Baldwin, a stay-at-home dad from Baltimore says that his family’s decision to rely on him as the primary caregiver was driven partially by finances, but also because of the lack of schedule flexibility at his former job. Baldwin used about seven weeks of paid leave thanks to the Family and Medical Leave Act, but afterward, when he tried to discuss creating a more family-friendly schedule for his urban planning job, he said his employer offered up the equivalent of two days off per month. For his family, it simply wasn’t enough, he said.
So Baldwin stays home to care for his son, David. He says he plans on returning to the working world, once any children he and his wife may have are old enough to attend school, but even then, there will still be a focus on flexibility so he can do things like attend field trips and soccer matches. “I think that going into a new job, that would be one of the things I would look for—that would weigh heavily on my decision about where to end up,” he said. |
ROME (Reuters) - Italy’s foreign ministry said on Tuesday it was investigating a hacking attempt, after a group calling itself Anonymous published what it said was stolen ministry data.
FILE PHOTO: A man types on a computer keyboard in front of the displayed cyber code in this illustration picture taken March 1, 2017. REUTERS/Kacper Pempel/Illustration/File Photo
A site called cyberguerrilla.org carried a blog post titled “Foreign Affairs Ministry You Have Been Hacked” addressed to Foreign Minister Angelino Alfano and the head of the national magistrates association.
“Regarding the attempted hack of the ministry’s website, a legal complaint has been lodged and investigations are now underway,” the ministry said in a statement.
“We hope the public prosecutor’s office will shed light as soon as possible on what happened, and, to this end, the ministry’s technicians are working to give all possible support.”
The ministry did not name suspected perpetrators or give details about the hacking attempt, and it was not immediately clear if any sensitive information had been leaked.
“Do keep having fun at your summits, in your commissions ... G7, G8, Intelligence, surveillance, terrorism,” read the blog post, dated June 19 and signed “We are Anonymous”, and “We are AntiSec Italy” in an apparent reference to an Anonymous-affiliated group.
“We already knew that we Italians were paying,” the post continued. “In the meantime please enjoy the uncensored publication of some data stolen from your precious information systems.”
Uploaded to the website were tables entitled “staff accommodation”, “travel/expenses”, including lists of names and amounts of money in euros.
There were also links to Excel files, some containing hundreds of email addresses, and others named “security conditions” and “sanitary conditions”.
The foreign ministry said earlier this year it was stepping up cyber security after hackers attacked its system over a four-month period in 2016.
Tuesday’s statement said “every ministry invoice is duly examined by the state accounting office and complies with the legitimate operating needs of the administration”.
Anonymous is an international group of hackers and activists who have orchestrated hacks on U.S. institutions and gained notoriety in the virtual world by participating in protests wearing masks representing 16th-century plotter Guy Fawkes. |
Summary
$328.00 in dividends
Added $1,400 to dividend portfolio
It’s been a great month for my dividend portfolio as I have added $1,400 to the investment account and received $328.00 in dividend payments for the month of June. This is a staggering amount and it’s the first time I can realize the power of dividend income and it’s ability to truly help someone live the passive income lifestyle. While I’m far off from achieving that goal it’s enough to keep the dream alive.
Account Deposits
I had some unexpected purchases this month so I was unable to put a large amount into my account like I did last month. That didn’t stop me from adding $1,400 this month though.
I automatically pull out $200 per paycheck with automatic deposit and at the end of the month, I throw whatever is left into the account. This time it happened to be a spare $1k.
$200 + $200 + $1000 = $1400
Dividend Payouts
This has been an amazing month for my dividend producing portfolio. Twenty three companies paid me a piece of their profits just for holding a few shares of their stock.
There was one surprise this month:
NGG – They paid out a special dividend of $5.42/share this month that somehow got past my radar. They are a European based company so their dividend fluctuates quite a bit. They have their normal dividend coming in August as well. Their current yield is 10% with a PE ratio of just over 13.
The rest of my dividends are broken down as follows:
PSX $11.20 SBSI $11.20 PFE $5.12 F $11.40 BA $4.26 V $1.65 SO $12.76 NGG $54.22 XOM $6.93 TGT $12.00 IBM $9.00 SDIV $12.17 CVX $4.32 JNJ $8.40 MAIN $0.93 DUK $25.65 QCOM $18.24 FLO $25.50 MAIN $1.38 GILD $10.40 TROW $26.22 ARCC $38.00 CLDT $17.05
Monthly Total: $328.00
Stock Purchases
I didn’t buy a whole lot this month but I did manage to add to a few positions on some dips.
2 shares of CVX @ $103.15
CVX is still trying to recover from the spike up it had at the beginning of the year. While I don’t have a huge position, I have to root for one of my Dogs of the Dow stocks.
5 shares of XOM @ $79.45
XOM is in pretty much the same boat as CVX but not as severe. I added a few more shares regardless. The yield sits around 3.3% currently.
5 shares of T @ $38.90
T has grown in my portfolio 8% already and continues to provide a 4.5% yield on top of that. I don’t mind adding a few shares to the pot.
5 shares of VZ @ $46.55
VZ has been hit hard recently and it’s currently 10% down in my portfolio. It’s currently sporting over a 4% yield and is near its 52-week low. I might potentially be adding more to this position in the future to average down even more.
15 shares of TGT @ $49.80
10 shares of TGT @ $55.55
The recent sentiment for TGT continues to drive the price of this Dividend Champion down towards its 52-week low. It’s rebounded slightly but it’s still about 6% in the red overall in my portfolio.
They also just recently announced a 3.3% dividend increase which, while good, appears very low compared to their 1/3/5/10 year dividend growth rate. I hope whatever issues they continue to have can be rectified so that this dividend champion can continue to bring great returns for their investors.
Stock Sells
Nope. Nada. Zilch.
Conclusion
I wish every month can be as amazing as June. How did everybody else fare? Leave a comment. Thanks and until next time! |
The deadline for comments to the Federal Communications Commission on the proposed merger of Comcast and NBC Universal has passed. There are a slew of Web form statements against the marriage and a large number of short letters in favor. Many of the latter come from local politicians or groups like The Boys and Girls Club of Cape Cod and Little Angels of Elgin, Illinois, beneficiaries of Comcast or NBC philanthropy.
But you've got to give credit to the Public Knowledge group for slipping one of their favorite subjects into the debate. The organization says that it doesn't like the merger, but can see it moving forward under various conditions... like network neutrality.
The Commission must impose strict non-discrimination rules that prevent the [new] entity from interfering with the distribution of non-affiliated content through filtering, blocking, or degrading distribution. The growth of Internet distributed content should not be stifled simply because the newly formed entity would prefer consumers continue paying for its MVPD [multi-channel video program distribution] service.
That's right. PK says the union can go forward as long as Comcast agrees to the very net neutrality rules it got a Federal appeals court to overturn back in April.
De-prioritizing
The big antitrust question that everyone's asking is how much of the pay TV market this merger will gobble up—that is, how big of a horizontal deal are we talking about here. But a huge broadcasting network combining with a cable company represents a vertical merger as well. And that's what has PK worried.
"Comcast's ability to control users' access to content means that it can unfairly discriminate against non-NBCU content," PK warns, "either by refusing to connect users to the online video content of established competitors, or, more likely, simply de-prioritizing or throttling the bandwidth available to these competitors versus NBCU content."
But the group doesn't just want "strict non-discrimination rules" attached to the new entity. The government should also require it to provide wholesale broadband access to unaffiliated Internet Service Providers. In other words, line-sharing, which cable companies have never been required to offer.
"Allowing unaffiliated ISPs to access the last mile networks of the newly merged entity and compete for Internet customers would impose a valuable check on any anticompetitive impulses," the filing notes.
Public Knowledge wants the FCC to reverse its famous Cable Modem Order of 2002, which let the big cable ISPs off the hook with wholesale access to competing ISPs. That ruling defined cable Internet as an "information" rather than a "telecommunications" service. The Supreme Court eventually approved the move in its 2005 Brand X decision.
Anyway, what the heck—no harm in asking, right? The FCC did impose net neutrality conditions on the AT&T/Bell South merger of late 2006. And the agency is now reconsidering that 2002 Cable Modem Order, of course, in its new "Third Way" net neutrality proceeding.
As for the future of this deal, the Congressional Research Service seems to think it will be approved; before it does, both the FCC and the Department of Justice have to weigh in on the proposal. |
James Comey, director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, has been fired by Donald Trump. Credit:Bloomberg "It is essential that we find new leadership for the FBI that restores public trust and confidence in its vital law enforcement mission." In a separate letter released at the White House, spokesman Sean Spicer said that the President informed the director that he has been "terminated and removed from office". "The President has accepted the recommendation of the Attorney-General and the deputy Attorney-General regarding the dismissal of the director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation," Spicer told reporters in the briefing room. The FBI is one of our nation's most cherished and respected institutions and today will mark a new beginning for our crown jewel of law enforcement," Trump said in the statement.
FBI director James Comey speaks during a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing in Washington, DC, in June. Credit:Bloomberg Officials at the FBI said they were not immediately aware of Comey's dismissal. Memos released by the White House show that Rod Rosenstein, the newly sworn-in deputy Attorney-General, recommended Comey be fired over how he disclosed the investigation into Clinton. President Donald Trump has sacked FBI boss James Comey. Credit:AP On October 28, less than two weeks before Election Day, Comey notified Congress that new Clinton-related emails had been found on a laptop belonging to disgraced congressman Anthony Weiner, the estranged husband of Clinton aide Huma Abedin.
Days later, investigators obtained a search warrant to examine about 3000 messages on the device that were work-related. Hillary Clinton's emails found on a computer belonging to the husband of her senior aide Huma Abedin derailed Mrs Clinton's presidential campaign. Credit:AP Of those, Comey said, agents found a dozen that contained classified information, but they were messages investigators had already seen. Comey broke with long-standing tradition and policies by discussing the case and chastising the Democratic presidential nominee's "careless" handling of classified information. Then, in the campaign's final days, Comey announced that the FBI was reopening the case, a move that earned him widespread criticism from Democrats - including Clinton - who say it was a major factor that contributed to her presidential election defeat to Trump in November.
Democratic Senator Ron Wyden, a member of the Senate Intelligence Committee, said in a post on Twitter that Comey "should be immediately called to testify in an open hearing about the status of Russia/Trump investigation at the time he was fired". Comey misstated key findings: FBI Earlier in the day, the FBI notified Congress that Comey misstated key findings involving the Clinton email investigation during testimony last week, saying that only a "small number" of emails had been forwarded to Weiner, not the "hundreds and thousands" he had claimed in his testimony. The letter was sent to the Senate Judiciary Committee on Tuesday, more than a week after Comey testified for hours in defence of his handling of the Clinton probe. "This letter is intended to supplement that testimony to ensure that the committee has the full context of what was reviewed and found on the laptop," FBI assistant director Gregory Brower wrote.
In defending the probe at last week's hearing, Comey offered seemingly new details to underscore the seriousness of the situation FBI agents faced last year when they discovered thousands of emails from Abedin on Weiner's computer. "Somehow, her emails were being forwarded to Anthony Weiner, including classified information," Comey said, adding later, "His then-spouse Huma Abedin appears to have had a regular practice of forwarding emails to him for him I think to print out for her so she could then deliver them to the secretary of state." At another point in the testimony, Comey said Abedin "forwarded hundreds and thousands of emails, some of which contain classified information". Neither of those statements is accurate, people close to the investigation said. Tuesday's letter from the FBI to Congress said "most of the emails found on Mr Weiner's laptop computer related to the Clinton investigation occurred as a result of a backup of personal electronic devices, with a small number a result of manual forwarding by Ms Abedin to Mr Weiner".
The letter also corrected the impression Comey's testimony had left with some listeners that 12 classified emails were among those forwarded by Abedin to Weiner. "Investigators identified approximately 49,000 emails which were potentially relevant to the investigation," the letter said. "All were reviewed with a particular focus on those containing classified information. Investigators ultimately determined that two email chains containing classified information were manually forwarded to Mr Weiner's account." Ten other emails chains that contained classified information were found on the laptop as a result of backup activity. The letter also clarified some of the figures Comey gave regarding ongoing terrorism probes. The issue of Comey's misstatements was first reported by ProPublica.
At the hearing, the statements about Abedin's email practices were immediately seized on by Republican Senator Ted Cruz and others, who demanded to know why Abedin wasn't charged with a crime. Comey said it was difficult finding evidence those involved in Clinton's use of private email knowingly engaged in wrongdoing, and that traditionally the Justice Department has not prosecuted such cases without some indicator of intent. Comey's incorrect comments about Abedin surfaced again this week at a different Senate hearing, when Cruz pressed former director of national intelligence James Clapper jnr to say how he would handle an employee who "forwarded hundreds or even thousands of emails to a non-government individual, their spouse, on a non-government computer". Clapper said such conduct "raises all kinds of potential security concerns". At the hearing last week, Comey said it made him "mildly nauseous" to think his decisions might have affected the outcome of the presidential election, but insisting that he had no regrets and would not have handled it differently. Comey's public comments about the Clinton case have been a source of public debate since he first announced last July that he would not recommend charges against anyone in connection with her use of a private server for government business.
At the time, he called the use of the server "extremely careless" but said it did not rise to the level of a crime. The misstatements in testimony aren't the first time Comey has overstated a key fact in a high-profile probe. A year ago, while speaking at a security forum in London, he miscalculated the price the FBI had paid for a technique to crack into a locked iPhone belonging to one of the dead suspects in a terrorist attack in San Bernardino, California. At the event, he said the cost of the phone hacking tool was "more than I will make in the remainder of this job, which is seven years and four months, for sure". Based on Comey's salary, his comment strongly implied the bureau paid at least $US1.3 million to get into the phone, which belonged to Syed Rizwan Farook. Farook and his wife killed 14 people during a December 2015 terrorist attack.
People close to that case said the FBI actually paid about $US900,000. A long-time prosecutor who served as the deputy attorney general during the George W. Bush administration, Comey came into office with widespread bipartisan support. Comey sacked to shut down probe: Beazley Former ambassador to the US Kim Beazley believes Trump sacked Comey to shut down the investigation into his campaign's links with Russia. The former federal opposition leader, who served as ambassador from 2010 to 2016, told a post-budget breakfast in Brisbane he was not surprised by the move.
"Certainly the inquiry the FBI is currently conducting into the relationship of Trump's campaign team, maybe Trump himself, and the Russians is such that it may have reached the point where somebody would want to be able to appoint an FBI director to suppress the investigation," Beazley said on Wednesday. The Washington Post, The New York Times, AAP |
CF-18, 20-year colors
(click to view full) Canada’s 138 “CF-18s” were delivered between 1982-1988, but accidents and retirements have reduced the fleet to about 103, with only 79 upgraded F/A-18 AM/BM Hornets still operational. The CF-18s are expected to be phased out between 2017 – 2023. Maintenance and upgrades will remain necessary until then, and possibly beyond. Canada has been an active Tier 3 partner in the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter program, participating in both the Concept Demonstration Phase ($10 million) and the System Development and Demonstration Phase ($150 million). This USD $160 million has included funding from both the Department of National Defence, and from Technology Partnerships Canada (TPC). In the Production, Sustainment and Follow-on Development Phase of the F-35 program, it is estimated that Canada’s contribution will exceed C$ 550 million (about the same in USD) over 44 years. As of September 2011, the government had disbursed about C$ 335 million toward participation in the JSF Program, and related support to Canadian industry. Now, 65 new CF-35As are Canada’s official choice to replace its Hornets – and estimates of the cost range from $17 billion to $45.8 billion. This article covers efforts to keep existing CF-18s fit for service, as well as Canada’s replacement fighter buy. As timelines continue to slip, these 2 programs have become more interdependent – and the F-35’s selection less certain.
Advertisement
Canada and the F-35
Timelines: The F-35’s, and Canada’s
Here’s the timeline as it has unfolded so far, along with Canada’s plans out to 2050. The timeline will change, but it’s unlikely to move F-35 fielding up to an earlier date. That’s a problem, because the CF-18s have a limited number of hours for safe flight, and they will reach those limits soon. Any delays to the F-35s will either raise costs again by forcing a major refurbishment of Canada’s CF-18s, or leave Canada with serious gaps in its fighter fleet.
(click to view full)
From Canada’s OAG, 2012
(click to view full)
F-35: Canadian Industrial Partners
The F-35 has been designed on 3 levels: operational, industrial, and political. The tiered partnership model created initial commitments by member governments, and a sub-contracting model that spread industrial benefits among committed partners was designed to create constituencies that would lobby for the F-35’s selection and production.
That approach has generally worked. It isn’t a coincidence that these industrial benefits have been the main defense used by Canadian governments whenever the F-35 purchase has been questioned, even though any other winner would also have to commit to a similar sort of arrangement. Existing recipients of public money will always fight harder, because the beneficiaries of any switch are only potential winners, who haven’t made big commitments that would be painful to undo. This political engineering approach saved the Dutch F-35 buy in the face of determined political opposition, even though the plane’s cost is forcing them to cut their planned fighter fleet by almost 2/3. Canada seems headed for a similar fate, and their industrial participants include:
According to the government’s Industry Canada, contracts as of summer 2013 totaled C$ 503 million, while total future contracts are estimated at C$ 9.429 billion: C$ 8.261 billion if existing contracts are extended over the scheduled number of fighters, plus another C$ 1.168 billion in identified production & service opportunities.
Given the sharp order cuts we’re seeing in even Tier 2 partners like Britain and the Netherlands, and the USA’s long-term fiscal situation, Lockheed Martin might be lucky to produce half of the expected number of F-35s. Lockheed Martin would argue that one can only publish official figures using official estimates, and they’d have a point, but an honest debate can’t be blind to reality. This is a dilemma for all F-35 partners, and it needs to be kept in mind when reading estimates of the program’s long-term industrial value.
A Word on Stealth
The Stealthy Mosquito
F-35A & F-22A
(click to view full)
Military discussion in Canada has been almost non-existent, beyond hand-waving and the grossest generalizations. The strategic requirements for new fighters, and whether the choices available can do those jobs at acceptable cost, doesn’t much concern Canada’s governing class. Such references as have been made generally revolve around the need for stealth, without explaining the concept.
The thing to remember is that stealth isn’t invisibility, just a shorter detection distance. To use a very simplified and very Canadian analogy, a mosquito will have to be a lot closer to you before you’ll see it, compared to a sparrow. Hence all those “surprise” bites, as they exploit the gaps in your perception and get in close enough to strike. They aren’t invisible, though you might swear otherwise at times. On the other hand, if you use other parts of the spectrum by employing your ears, even a tiny mosquito can be detected at uncomfortably long distances in a quiet room.
That’s just the beginning of your problem, of course. Awareness must be followed by pinpointing and tracking its location, and then it must come within your killing range.
It’s basically the same sequence for enemy systems. A fighter can survive by defeating any one link in the detection – tracking – reach – kill chain. Stealth complicates all 3 areas, shortening detection ranges, making tracking more difficult, and frustrating or weakening final stage radar guided missile locks.
Other manufacturers are correct when they respond that modern jets without the stealth marketing have much better radar cross sections that Canada’s existing CF-18s. Even so, the CF-35’s stealth will be a step beyond other fighters on offer to Canada, albeit a step below the USAF’s F-22A Raptors and F-35s. The thing is, modern fighters, missiles, and radars have been making their own parallel improvements over the last decade. To the point where even the F-35’s ability to prevail against high-end enemy air defense systems, and against fighters fielded after 2030, is a matter of controversy.
Design Choices: America vs. Europe
Eurofighter & Meteor
(click to view full)
The Americans had better hope that stealth continues to work in practice. They’ve placed their entire future fighter bet on stealth, and are paying the accompanying financial and operational costs.
The Europeans, in contrast, looked askance at the added construction and maintenance costs of stealth, and at the huge expense of aerodynamic changes once a stealth design is set. They opted instead for radar cross-section reduction that stopped short of full stealth, plus high kinematic performance. Advanced electronic warfare and defensive systems integrated into the planes, non-standard sensors like Infra-Red Search & Track, and long-reach weapons like the Meteor air-to-air missile and stealthy cruise missiles, would all improve protection in other ways.
Who is right?
The answer to this question is very consequential to Canada, but it’s hard to say at this point, because the respective approaches haven’t been fully tested against top-end enemy systems. American stealth worked very well against Iraq, twice. Modern European fighters were more than sufficient over Libya in 2011, however; and the stealthless Israelis sliced through dense Syrian air defenses in 2007, using planning, jammming, and well-chosen weapons to destroy a nuclear reactor.
If stealth remains fully or mostly relevant, even as a matter of faith rather than proof, Europe’s high-end jets will be unable to compete with American stealth fighters. Worse, the F-35’s full-rate production costs beyond 2020 would make it lethal in export competitions.
On the other hand, if jamming keeps pace, or if stealth’s advantages can be beaten or watered down, the European approach can create cheaper planes with better aerodynamic performance.
Changing the Game?
PIRATE IRST:
B-2, ICU
(click to view full)
Right now, modern ground radars are lengthening the ranges at which stealth aircraft can be detected, and AESA fighter radars are getting better. Those trends will continue, but neither will invalidate stealth on its own. With that said, there are at least 2 key technologies that could significantly change stealth design’s cost:benefit ratio.
Infrared Search & Track (IRST) systems on planes like the Eurofighter and Rafale, on the F-35 itself, and on most Russian-designed fighters, already offers a potential alternative to radar in aerial engagements. The B-2 picture above was taken by a Eurofighter’s PIRATE IRST system, and used in a presentation to the Norwegian government. The mechanics of fuel circulation in the F-35 are intended to make heat-based lock-ons harder to achieve, and there are pilot-activated additives that can even frustrate locks from tailpipe exhaust, but processors will continue to improve, and so will infrared detection arrays. IRST will remain a potent and improving solution for detection and location, and the mere friction of an airplane cutting through the atmosphere at high speed is very hard to hide completely.
The greatest long-term threat to stealth is probably a combination of “passive” radars that collect input from wider slices of the spectrum. They’d need to be paired with ever-expanding processing power that can separate anomalies from the clutter by collating multiple input types, and with networked analysis that collates multiple sensor systems. Early research and tests have begun in this area, courtesy of firms like Saab and EADS.
Canada’s Choice
Does Canada Have a Plan B?
Canadian Parliament
(click to view larger)
At present, it does not. One could even say that it took until 2013 for the government to offer a Plan A.
There’s an argument that Canada has no strategic need for a fighter in the F-35’s class, and might be better off spending the same amount of money on the same number of cheaper 4+ generation fighters, plus assets like MQ-9 UAVs that would deploy abroad with its troops, maritime patrol aircraft to improve surveillance, etc. To date, however, Canada’s military, governments, and media have all diligently avoided a strategic discussion that could separate, evaluate, and prioritize spending options. Instead, the debate has revolved around economic concerns, and the military’s wants.
A rigid and secretive procurement system has only exacerbated these tendencies. In the wake of the 20+ year rolling fiasco of its Maritime Helicopter Program competition, multi-billion dollar, single-source buys have characterized almost all Canadian defense procurements over the last 5-7 years. Canada’s choice of the F-35 has been no different, and the only real debate has taken place in the realm of federal elected politics. Opposition critics have cited significant cost uncertainties for the F-35, the shift toward UAVs, and the availability of cheaper aircraft on the global market as reasons to avoid a sole-source purchase. In its place, they’ve alternated between favoring an open fighter competition with public criteria, and making noises about avoiding a fighter buy altogether.
A 2011 election seemed likely to decide the issue, and the F-35 became a campaign topic. The results were indeed decisive, as the governing Conservative Party finally won its long-sought majority.
F-35A: open doors
(click to view full)
That result left the F-35 with a number of elements in its favor.
One is the structure of the Canadian Parliamentary system, in which a majority government has no meaningful checks and balances. If the current majority Conservative Party government wants a plane, it can force the sale through, easily. The Conservatives in particular will bear little political cost for doing so, because they have become the only party in the country with serious security credentials. The national security constituency largely lives within that party, and will be happy that something is being done after decades of neglect. The rest of the population isn’t overly interested. The Liberal Party found this out to their sorrow when they tried to make the F-35 an election issue in 2011, and watched the attempt fizzle. They had a solid case, but the messenger had no credibility with people who were interested in the issue.
Another point in the F-35’s favor is its industrial program. It’s working as intended, by creating industrial constituencies with a strong interest in keeping the purchase. The power of that constituency is partly offset by the fact that Boeing, Canada’s largest aerospace player, is on the other side of the dispute. But only partly. Organizations billing actual dollars will always fight harder that those who might benefit at some future date. Which is why the F-35’s industrial benefits are the current focus of the government’s F-35 defense.
A third point in the Lightning’s favor is the commitment of senior DND members, who have gone public with a very absolute commitment. Never mind the fact that this commitment seems to mask some shoddy work underneath. In that circumstance, there’s little alternative to a no-compromise stonewall defense, until and unless senior leadership at DND changes.
Average flyaway cost estimates
(click to view full)
Barring a reversal in the next elections, therefore, only a large external shock can change Canada’s commitment to the F-35A. The F-35 program is busy providing that, as costs continue to rise, and major partner countries like the USA, Britain and Italy move to delay or cut their buys. Those moves will keep the plane at lower rates of production for a longer period of time, which makes each plane more expensive.
Unfortunately, Canada wants to begin replacing its CF-18s by 2017 – 2018. Which means that it needs to place an initial order by 2014 – 2015. The net effect is a fighter whose purchase costs are uncertain, but are clearly set to stay very high in the near term. Worse, at the time of purchase, the operating and maintenance outlays that comprise 2/3 of total lifecycle costs will be extremely vague.
The Harper government’s response has been to insist that the procurement budget is C$ 9 billion, period, and higher prices will just mean fewer planes bought. At some point, however, a low enough number of planes bought makes it impossible for them to cover their assigned missions. Canada’s air force is already close to that margin in asking for just 65 aircraft, in order to cover the 2nd largest country in the world and participate in international missions.
Politically, a “wait and see” strategy makes a lot of sense under these circumstances. Which is exactly what we’re seeing. Statements by ministers like Julian Fantino telegraphed that approach, without changing Canada’s underlying commitment. Perhaps some sort of “group buy” approach by the partners will bring purchase costs down, or program news may improve. If so, the purchase goes forward easily.
If the math continues to look grim, on the other hand, the difficult decisions can always be made later. The government’s shift of program leadership to the Public Works ministry, following a scathing 2012 auditor’s report, makes backtracking easier. The 1st real indication of cracks in the facade didn’t come until November 2012, when the government backed away from DND’s original tailored-for-F-35 fighter requirements. Would it matter?
What If… Potential Competitors
EA-18G & F/A-18F
(click to view full)
The F-35 offers Canada the best stealth, the most advanced array of on-board sensors, and the best “user interface” for presenting all that information to its pilots. Strategy has been absent from all Canadian discussions, so if Canada is forced away from its commitment to the F-35, it’s going to be a decision driven by costs. Handicapping for any prospective replacement needs to reflect that.
The strongest competitor would be Boeing, with its twin-engine F/A-18E/F Super Hornet family. Its F-15E Strike Eagle family is arguably a far better fit for Canada’s military needs, but the Super Hornet is significantly cheaper at about USD$ 60 million flyaway cost, and offers perceived continuity with the existing CF-18 fleet. A Super Hornet buy also offers long-term commonality with the US Navy, ensuring that upgrades and improvements will be financed outside of Canada.
Australia also flies the Super Hornet, and a 3rd option would be for Canada to take a leaf from their playbook, buying a mix of Super Hornets and F-35As or some other fighter. Australia’s response to delays in the JSF program started in 2007 with an order for 24 F/A-18F Super Hornets. That order was modified to include 12 F/A-18Fs wired for conversion to EA-18G Growler electronic attack aircraft, then changed to include 12 fully equipped Growlers, and finally increased to 36 aircraft: 24 F/A-18F – now in service – plus 12 E/A-18G to be delivered before end-2017. The Growler capability is unique to the Super Hornet platform, and it will always be in demand among international coalition partners. Fortunately, Canada is one of just 3-4 countries that could get EA-18G export clearance from the USA.
Eurofighter
(click to view full)
Canada’s large and remote territories have traditionally pushed their air force toward twin-engine fighters, and the Europeans offer a pair of advanced options. Of the two, EADS/BAE’s Eurofighter Typhoon has far better odds, because it’s compatible with the American weapons that Canada’s air force currently stockpiles, and is used by a number of NATO countries who will help to modernize it over time. The cockpit’s sensor fusion and voice commands got high marks from Canadian evaluators, and Libyan operations demonstrated their ability to Mach 1.2 supercruise at 40,000 feet with air-to-air weapons mounted. On the industrial front, Eurofighter’s connections with firms like Airbus and Thales offer it a good starting point to fulfill industrial offset requirements.
The Eurofighter’s flip side includes a cost that’s at or above current totals for the F-35A. It also has a very limited set of integrated weapons, with significant gaps in key areas like suppression of enemy air defenses and naval attack. Fortunately for Eurofighter, Canada’s arsenal is pretty basic, but the cost issue won’t go away as easily. Based on sales to date, Eurofighter costs are comfortably above USD$ 100 million. That will make it difficult for them to position themselves as a better deal than Canada’s existing F-35 commitment.
Rafale with MICA
missiles, Reco-NG pod
(click to view full)
Dassault’s Rafale is a capable, combat-proven multi-role plane, but it comes with a number of problems from Canada’s point of view. Industrial presence and offsets may prove to be a challenge for Dassault, and the plane has no confirmed export sales yet, despite promising signals from India and the Middle East. Unless that promise turns into orders by the time Canada needs to make a decision, long-term modernization costs must also be a serious concern for the Rafale.
Then, there’s the question of absolute purchase cost. The Rafale was judged to be slightly cheaper than the Eurofighter by India’s evaluators, but it’s still a high-end fighter in the $100 million range. Worse, weapon incompatibilities mean that Canada would need either new stocks of missiles, or an expensive integration program. The combined purchase cost would be unlikely to beat the Eurofighter, let alone the F-35.
JAS-39 Gripen Demo
(click to view full)
Saab’s JAS-39 Gripen could certainly beat the F-35 on price. It’s compatible with Canada’s existing weapons, has the requisite cold-weather pedigree, can be bought for around $60 million, and is built for very low maintenance costs compared to competitors like Eurofighter. It’s a single-engine fighter, like the F-35, but offsets that slightly with an exceptional reliability record in service. Saab’s undeveloped industrial presence in Canada will be a challenge, but using the same GE F414 engine as the Super Hornet helps, and their international record for industrial offset programs is good. The plane is fully NATO-compatible, and earlier model JAS-39C/D Gripens already serve with NATO countries Hungary and the Czech Republic.
The Gripen’s problem is that its JAS-39E/F models won’t be available in numbers until 2023 or so, which is too late for Canada. The Swiss and Brazilians are solving a similar problem by getting leased JAS-39C/D aircraft on very attractive terms, until their more advanced JAS-39Es arrive. Sweden has cut its own active fleet size quite sharply, so there may be enough Gripens in storage to meet Canada’s needs. If not, a life extension program similar to the US Navy’s Hornet SLEP plans could keep 65 CF-18s flying for another 5 years, at a cost of about $1 billion. If the F-35’s schedule continues to slip, that may be necessary anyway.
There are reports that Saab pulled out of the competition in June 2013. Saab’s issue, if it gets an opening, is how to compete with a Super Hornet option whose production volume gives it a similar price, plus twin engines, long-term modernization assurance, local allied and expeditionary commonality, and lobbying from Canada’s biggest aerospace firm?
Contracts and Key Events
2014 – 2018
CF-18 & VVS MiG-29
(click to view full)
February 27/18: Government announces supplier list Canada has named five firms that will be considered to supply fighters to replace its fleet of CF-18s. Three European firms—Dassault, Saab, and Airbus—and two US—Boeing and Lockheed Martin—have all made the official fighter jet supplier list, which allows them to receive information about plans to buy 88 jets and ultimately bid on the program, estimated to cost CA$19 billion (U.S. $15 billion). The aircraft expected to be offered to Ottawa include Lockheed Martin’s F-35, Boeing’s Super Hornet, the Eurofighter Typhoon, the Dassault Rafale and Saab’s Gripen.
February 19/18: Is Boeing back in? Three sources quoted by Reuters have said Boeing has notified the Canadian government that it is interested in bidding for a new contract to supply the Royal Canadian Air Force with 88 new fighters. It was unknown whether the firm—which fell foul with Ottawa last year by launching a trade challenge against Canadian firm Bombardier, accusing it of dumping airliners in the American market—would enter the competition after it avoided an information day on the C$15 billion ($12.1 billion) program earlier this month. However, Boeing did let Canada know it was interested, said the sources, who requested anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the media. The decision does not mean the firm will necessarily put forward its F-18 Super Hornet. Specifications are expected to be released by Ottawa next year.
February 8/18: Interim Hornets & CF-18 Replacement Second-hand F-18 Hornet fighters being purchased by Canada from Australia will require upgrades to their ejection seats and external lighting, the Edmonton Journal reports. The aircraft will also undergo “preventive aircraft structure modifications to address known fatigue issues” similar to ones already implemented on CF-18s currently in operation with the Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF). Negotiations between both governments over the sale are still ongoing, so it remains to be seen how much the sale and modifications will cost. Meanwhile, Boeing has until the end of the week if it is to enter Canada’s restarted CF-18 replacement program. If the firm fails to express an interest in taking part in competition by Friday, February 9, it will be excluded from the bidding process. While relationships between Boeing and Ottawa have been frosty since an ugly trade dispute involving Canadian airframer Bombardier last year, billions of dollars of defense procurement orders are at stake at a time when Canada is ramping up military spending over the next decade. Although government officials say the competition will be open, they have privately made it clear that Boeing needs to drop the Bombardier challenge and talk of an appeal to stand a better chance of winning the jet contract, say sources familiar with the matter. Boeing says it supports some 17,000 jobs in Canada.
January 30/18: Industry Day Details Parties interested in replacing the Royal Canadian Air Force’s CF-18 fighter aircraft were told at a recent industry day that the service plans to keep flying the jets until 2032—seven years from its initial replacement date of 2025 and fifty years on from when the first jets entered service. According to federal government documents distributed at the January 22 meeting, the first of 88 planned replacement fighters would not begin deliveries until 2025 and would not be completed until 2030. While Ottawa said upgrades and structural improvements to the CF-18s would keep them in the air until 2025, it remains to be seen whether they will receive additional upgrade work to keep them serviceable and flying for another seven years, or if the capability gap will be filled by a much talked about interim procurement of second-hand F/A-18 Super Hornets from Australia. As much as USD$15.3 billion has been set aside for the replacement program, while Ottawa has earmarked USD$404 million for the interim fighters.
January 25/18: Is Boeing officially out? Boeing seems unlikely to enter a bid in Canada’s CF-18 successor competition, having already missed a one-day information session for potential bidders on 22 January hosted by the Future Fighter Capability acquisition program. The firm was originally a shoe-in to supply its F/A-18E/F Super Hornets as a temporary solution to the ageing CF-18s, after the Liberal Party government of Justin Trudeau vowed to ditch the F-35 during its 2015 election campaign. However, Boeing’s filing of a trade dispute in May 2017 against Canadian airframer Bombardier has subsequently spiralled and put Boeing at odds with the ruling Liberal government. Instead, the Royal Canadian Air Force plans to buy retired F/A-18s from the Royal Australian Air Force as an interim CF-18 replacement while its new successor competition is launched.
December 14/17: News-New Competition A news conference held by the Canadian government on Tuesday made clear that Boeing would not be supplying them with 18 F/A-18 Super Hornets—they will instead buy second-hand from Australia in a deal worth $388 million—and warned the US airframer that it had little chance of winning a much larger contract unless it dropped a trade challenge against Canadian planemaker Bombardier. Ottawa announced last year it wanted to buy the Boeing fighters in order to fill a capability gap while it restarted a competition for 88 jets to replace its aging 77 CF-18s fighters, after it dropped out of procuring the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter. In a clear reference to Boeing, Carla Qualtrough, public works and procurement minister, told the news conference that “bidders responsible for harming Canada’s economic interests will be at a distinct disadvantage” compared to other companies participating in the competition for the 88 jets. Innovation Minister Navdeep Bains added to the Boeing bashing by saying the government wanted a trusted partner—many in the government do not consider Boeing as such—prompting Boeing rival Lockheed Martin to issue a statement describing itself as “a trusted partner”. The saga continues.
December 11/17: Interim Fighter Capability Project Boeing has responded to the Canadian government’s decision to buy second-hand F/A-18 Super Hornet aircraft from Australia instead of new from the manufacturer for its Canadian Interim Fighter Capability Project. A media statement from the company said it respected Ottawa’s decision and applauded the government’s “continued use of a two engine fighter solution, which is a critical part of their northern Arctic border defense, NORAD cooperation, and coast to coast to coast security.” It added that it “will continue to look to find productive ways to work together (with Canada) in the future.”
December 7/17: Interim fighters-Second-hand It has been reported that Canada has scrapped an earlier plan to buy F/A-8 Super Hornets from manufacturer Boeing, and instead will sign next week a deal to buy second-hand models from the Australian government. A previous plan would have seen Canada obtain 18 new Super Hornet fighter jets as part of its interim solution to its CF-18 fleet replacement program, however, Ottawa’s anger at a decision by Boeing to launch a trade challenge against Canadian planemaker Bombardier—which the US giant accuses of dumping airliners on the American market—caused the deal to be cancelled and has likely put future Boeing military sales to Canada in serious doubt. When asked about the second-hand deal, the offices of Public Works Minister Carla Qualtrough and Defence Minister Harjit Sajjan—who share responsibility for Canada’s military procurement—both declined to comment. Boeing, and the Australian mission in Ottawa were also unavailable for comment, however, the Australian Department of Defense did confirm that Canada lodged a formal expression of interest for “a number” of Australia’s F/A-18 Classic Hornets on Sept. 29. Official requirements for a new CF-18 replacement program are expected in early 2019.
November 14/17: Canada will have selected a replacement fighter for its fleet of CF-18s by 2021, Royal Canadian Air Force Lt. Gen. Michael Hood said at this year’s Dubai International Air Chiefs Conference. The official search for the fifth-generation fighter is expected to start in 2019. A new competition for the CF-18’s replacement was called for last summer following a campaign promise from Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s Liberal party to step away from the controversial procurement of Lockheed Martin’s F-35 Joint Strike Fighter. While the F-35 is now back on the table as a possible option, attempts to procure the Boeing F/A-18 Super Hornet, even as an interim measure, may be a non-runner due to the US airframer’s commercial dispute with Canadian firm Bombardier. But while new models from Boeing seem unlikely, Ottawa could procure F/A-18A/B Hornets from Australia as Canadian CF-18s run on a similar configuration and began operating within a few years of each other. Canada also owns the intellectual property on the jet and already uses L-3 for F/A-18 sustainment, thus not needing the services of Boeing.
October 02/17: Kuwait had been scouted as a potential source of F/A-18s for Canada’s CF-18 successor program, but the Gulf state could not supply their surplus aircraft fast enough. The revelation was made by Canada’s Defense Minister Harjit Sajjan on Sept. 28, and the ministry will now pursue talks with Australia over their surplus stock. However, it remains to be seen whether any of Australia’s F/A-18s have enough service life left in them to serve alongside Canada’s CF-18s until replacements for both begin to arrive in the mid-2020s. The procurement has been made difficult due to the government’s backing of Montreal-based Bombardier in a dispute with the Super Hornet’s manufacturer Boeing, which has resulted in the purchasing of fighters from the source untenable for now. On Sunday, the British government appealed for all parties involved to negotiate a solution to the trade dispute, which has put more than 4,200 jobs at a Bombardier plant in Northern Ireland at risk.
September 14/17: Canada has been approved by the US State Department to purchase up to 18 Boeing F/A-18E/F Super Hornet fighter aircraft. In addition to 10 F/A-18Es and 8 F/A-18Fs, the Trump administration approved the transfer of up to 44 F414-GE-400 engines, associated spares and equipment, as well as weapons including 100 AIM-9X-2 Sidewinder Block II missiles as part of the sale. It is unsure whether Ottawa will proceed with the sale, as a current row with Boeing over Canadian firm Bombardier has the government looking to Australia for second-hand Super Hornets to fill its interim requirement for replacement of its fleet of CF-18s.
September 08/17: Canada is looking to Australia to aid it with its interim fighter requirement, as a dispute between the government and aerospace manufacturer Boeing continues. The row stemmed from a complaint made by Boeing against Canadian firm Bombardier over allegations of illegal subsidies and dumping that was filed in April with the US Department of Commerce. The matter is currently in front of the US International Trade Commission, with Boeing asking for tariffs to be imposed on Bombardier C Series planes sold in the United States. In response, the Canadian government came to Bombardier’s defense, putting its F/A-18 Super Hornet deal with Boeing on hold until the suit is dropped. Now, Ottawa is evaluating the option of buying second-hand F/A-18s from Australia. Meanwhile, ten top Canadian aerospace companies, in a letter to Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, urged the Liberal leader to abandon the Boeing dispute, arguing that they stand to lose from the government’s unwavering support for Bombardier.
June 9/17: Canada has decided to pull back from its plan to procure 18 F/A-18 Super Hornet fighters as an interim replacement for its CF-18 successor program. Instead, the Liberal government of Justin Trudeau has unveiled a new defense plan which calls for 88 new fighters for the Royal Canadian Air Force – an increase from the previous government’s plan to purchase 65 jets – and to recapitalise the Lockheed Martin CP-140 Aurora anti-submarine warfare and surveillance fleet. The news comes amid a row between the Canadian government, Boeing, and Bombardier, after the US company accused Bombardier of “dumping” its CSeries jet onto the US market.
May 30/17: The Canadian government is continuing to pay into the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter program, with the latest instalment of $30 million quietly paid in April. Having already paid $373 million into the program since 1997, the fees keeps Ottawa at the table as one of nine partners in the fighter jet project for the next year, allowing to compete for billions of dollars worth of contracts associated with the building and maintaining F-35, as well as benefitting from a discount on units for its air force. Canadian PM, Justin Trudeau, had vowed to take Canada out of the F-35 program while on the election campaign trail last year. However, since taking office, the Liberal government has paid the annual fee twice while pursuing an interim procurement of Super Hornets in order to fill the capability gap left by the ditched F-35.
May 22/17: The Canadian government have threatened to pull the plug on its planned acquisition of F/A-18 Super Hornet fighters following an attempt by manufacturer Boeing to have the US government investigate Bombardier’s sale of CSeries jetliners to Delta Airlines. Boeing argued at a hearing in Washington on Thursday that duties should be imposed on Bombardier’s new larger C Series passenger aircraft, insisting it receives Canadian government subsidies that give it an advantage internationally. In response, Canada’s Foreign Affairs Minister Chrystia Freeland issued a statement after the hearing saying that the Canadian government was “reviewing current military procurement that relates to Boeing.” What ever will happen next?
May 16/17: A Canadian senate committee on defense has urged the Canadian government to drop the planned acquisition of F-A/18 fighters from Boeing, describing it as as a “political decision” that fails to serve either the air force or taxpayers. The government announced its plans to purchase 18 Super Hornets as an interim measure following its pulling out of a deal to buy 65 F-35s as a replacement for its ageing CF-188s. Citing a letter from 13 former senior Royal Canadian Air Force officers which argues that the acquisition of such a small fleet – sharing only limited commonality with its current fighters – will be needlessly costly, the senators stated that the government’s “decision not to proceed with the procurement process for a new fighter fleet and purchasing an unnecessary and costly interim capability will leave the taxpayers with a significant burden and [RCAF] with a duplicate support system that will cost billions of dollars in equipment, training, and technical know-how.” The committee recommended that the defence ministry “immediately” begins a contest to select the CF-188’s replacement, with a decision to made by 30 June 2018.
December 14/16: Justin Trudeau has said that the F-35 will be considered in an upcoming competition for new fighter jets. The Canadian PM previously backed out of the F-35 program due to costs, and Canada has now bought 18 Boeing F/A-18 Super Hornets as an interim measure. “It’s an open and transparent competition we’re going to be engaged in and the various aircraft and aircraft producers will have an opportunity to make their best case,” Trudeau told a news conference when asked whether Canada might be more likely to opt for the F-35 if the costs fell.
November 28/16: Canada will purchase 18 Super Hornets from Boeing as an interim solution to its CF-18 fleet replacement. Defense Minister Harjit Sajjan made the announcement adding that Ottawa will also launch a brand new competition for a multi-role fighter. On the interim procurement, Sajjan said the Super Hornets would allow Canada to maintain NATO operational standards.
October 7/16: Canada’s Air Force will request $379 million from the government in order to fund the upgrade of avionics on its CF-18 fighters. Once installed, the modernization will keep the fighters flying until 2025, giving leaders in Ottawa some much needed breathing room on making a decision on the aircraft’s eventual successor. First bought in 1982, almost $2 billion has been spent on upgrading the fighters since 2001. (Values in USD)
September 29/16: The Canadian government is currently assessing data from defense manufacturers for this summer’s request for up-to-date information on options for the replacement of its CF-18 fighters. Specifics wanted by the government were on areas including fighter capabilities and potential economic benefits any sale would bring. In a bid to be selected, Boeing has been citing the work opportunities that would be available to Canadian firms across the country if the federal government were to purchase their F/A-18 Super Hornet, with other competitors coming in the form of France’s Dassault, Sweden’s Saab and the Eurofighter consortium. Data from Lockheed Martin is also being considered, even though Ottawa has vowed not to select its F-35.
September 20/16: With nearly a year in office under his belt, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his cabinet will have to make some tough choices over the next year with analysts warning they could effect popularity and political capital. The biggest question in relation to the defense industry is of course the decision over the replacement of CF-18 fighters following the valiant vow to drop of the F-35 during the election campaign. It’s expected that the Liberals will soon announce whether they intend to break this pledge to launch a new competition for fighter jets, with talk inside military circles believing that Ottawa could announce a sole-source contract.
July 29/16: While Canada’s government continues to flounder on its CF-18 fighter replacement, it still continues to contribute to the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter. Since the Liberal Party’s campaign promise to ditch the F-35 and launch a new replacement competition, they continued paying $33 million into the program. Meanwhile, consultations have taken place with fighter manufacturers which some see as simply giving the Liberals political cover to buy a plane other than the F-35 without holding a competition. If a fair and free competition were to include Lockheed Martin, a fair bet would be on the F-35 winning.
July 12/16: A total of five defense manufacturers have expressed an interest in supplying the replacement to Canada’s CF-18 fighters. Lockheed Martin, Boeing, Eurofighter and Saab all took part in a conference call with Canadian officials last week, with Dassault planning to meet and discuss the matter at the Farnborough International Airshow this week. Lockheed, whose F-35 was dropped by the Canadian government, welcomed the meetings as a first step towards a new competition.
July 8/16: Canadian Defense Minister Harjit Sajjan has called for a return to the drawing board on Canada’s CF-18 replacement by reaching out to fighter manufacturers for consultations this summer. The news comes amid reports that Canada was going to purchase Boeing F/A-18 Super Hornets as a stop gap (or kicking the can down the road) without the new competition promised by the Liberals during the election campaign. However Sajjan refused to commit to a new competition or independent oversight raising concerns that the bold promises made to ditch the F-35 is causing a capability crisis.
May 31/16: A new sense of urgency has been injected into Canada’s CF-18 fighter replacement by Defense Minister Harjit Sajjan, saying that the issue “needs to be dealt with quickly.” Speaking at the CANSEC defence and military trade show in Ottawa last week, Sajjan didn’t forget to remind reporters that the issue was inherited from the previous government while seemingly forgetting that it was the current Prime Minister, Justin Trudeau’s promise to ditch its participation in F-35 procurement in favor of a more affordable aircraft.
June 5/14: Decision, under wraps. Reuters reports from 3 unnamed sources that Canada’s NFPS report recommended sole-sourcing the F-35, but adds that the Conservative Party government is waiting until Parliament is dismissed for the summer before announcing the decision. That’s one way to try and avoid criticism.
The next question becomes how quickly the government signs a contract. If the government buys the jets before the 2015 elections after all (q.v. April 6/14), the F-35 will become an election issue again, and this time it could hurt the Conservatives. That’s Lockheed Martin’s best situation, because high cancellation costs would likely force the next government to keep the contract in place. If the Conservative Party government doesn’t sign a contract, on the other hand, the election issue loses its bite, but the F-35 buy would be at very grave risk if the Liberal and/or NDP parties win. Sources: Reuters, “Exclusive: Canadian review will recommend buying Lockheed F-35 fighter jet – sources”.
April 13/14: NFPS done. The Harper government has accepted the “options analysis” report from its National Fighter Procurement Secretariat (NFPS) panel, after more than 18 months. As noted earlier (q.v. April 6/14), Canada won’t be able to order F-35s until 2015, and probably won’t do so until after the 2015 elections, if they place any orders at all. Sources: Postmedia News, “F-35 decision back in government’s court as air force completes major study”.
April 11/14: Stealth risks. The December 2012 report concerning Canada’s F-35 buy had a lot of cuts, including passages that highlighted ongoing problems with the program.
“But the Citizen has obtained more than a dozen earlier drafts of the report showing defence officials had originally laid out many of the issues surrounding the F-35’s development, and their potential impact on Canada [only to have them removed later].”
Issues that were removed from the Canadian report included fuel consumption that’s 26% higher than the CF-18s, problems with the Helmet-Mounted Display that have been cited in multiple US GAO and US DOT&E publications, and serious software delays involving the fighter’s 8+ million lines of code. That last item was the subject of a March 2014 report from the US GAO. Canada.com, “Final report on F-35 dropped references to fuel, IT problems”.
April 7/14: CF-18 Engines. Magellan Aerospace has been responsible for F404 engine maintenance & repairs for over 30 years, and that isn’t changing. Their latest contract is a C$ 55 million, 1-year award with an option for an additional year. Sources: Magellan Aerospace, “Magellan Aerospace Awarded Engine Maintenance Contract for CF-188 F404”.
April 6/14: Stall. Canada’s “buy profile” for the F-35 has been moved from 2017 to 2018, which means there won’t be a decision before the 2015 elections. That’s a double-edged sword. On the one hand, it gives the Conservative Party plausible deniability to say that it hasn’t made any decisions, which will keep the F-35 from becoming an issue again. On the other hand, the process itself has so alienated the other parties that unless the Conservatives win a majority, the F-35 buy will probably be canceled. Sources: Defense News, “Canada: No F-35 Buys Before 2018”.
Jan 22/14: Rafale. Dassault SVP of NATO affairs Yves Robins is quoted as saying that they’re offering Canada unrestricted transfers of technology if it picks the Rafale, including software source codes for servicing the planes. That’s something Canada won’t get with the F-35, and it’s being touted as a long-term cost savings that will let Canadian firms do more of the required maintenance. They’re also pushing the government to declare a competition.
CBC goes on to show that they don’t really grasp the issues, asking about the Rafale’s ability to operate alongside the USAF. France replies that this worked over Libya, but that isn’t the real question. The question is whether Canada could use its American weapons with the Rafale, without having to buy new weapons or conduct expensive integration and testing programs. In most cases, the answer is no. Sources: CBC News, “Dassault Aviation ramps up CF-18 replacement pitch”.
Jan 15/14: DND’s former assistant deputy minister for procurement, Alan Williams, explains why he thinks the entire review is a sham. The government hasn’t released its requirements for the fighter buy, and hasn’t solicited the full cost and performance data that would be required for an informed comparison. Williams is probably correct in his conclusion, but full price data would only come about as a result of an RFP – which is to say, after a competition is declared. Sources: Embassy magazine, “Feds haven’t changed perspective on F-35: Williams”.
Jan 2/14: Paperwork in. According to documents posted on a federal website on Thursday, the Canadian Forces have already prepared draft reports to the “National Fighter Procurement secretariat” on the price, the technical capabilities and the strategic advantages of the 4 fighter jets considered (F-35A, Eurofighter, Rafale, Super Hornets). Actually, the price isn’t included, except as a rough order of magnitude. That information wasn’t forthcoming from all manufacturers, and even Boeing would likely be quoting an Advanced Super Hornet model that isn’t being bought under its current multi-year Navy contract. A competition would be necessary in order to really know, and the key question from the start has been whether the Conservative government has ever had any genuine interest in a competition.
The RCAF is also reportedly finishing up its “Integrated Mission Risk Assessment,” though the quality of their work has been less than stellar in the past. Source: The Globe and Mail, “Military’s fighter-jet reports to put ball in Ottawa’s court on F-35s”.
2013
EA-18G: key systems
(click to view full)
Dec 10/13: Industrial. The federal government’s Industry Canada department releases a report detailing Canadian contracts to date from the F-35 program, explaining their calculation approach, and estimating future opportunities.
Contracts to date as of summer 2013 amount to C$ 503 million, while total future contracts are estimated at C$ 9.429 billion: 8.261 billion if existing contracts are extended over the scheduled number of fighters (a very dubious proposition, based on order cuts to date), plus another 1.168 billion in identified production & service opportunities. Sources: Canada IC, “Canadian Industrial Participation in the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter Program”.
Nov 7/13: Sub-contractors. One modification shared by Canada and Norway’s F-35As will be drag chutes, which help with landings on short and/or ice-covered runways. Airborner Systems, “Airborne Systems Canada Supports Development of F-35 Drag Chute Program”:
“Airborne Systems is currently providing technical assistance to Lockheed Martin during the F-35 drag chute development. Their experience and expertise have contributed to the drag chute concept development which has led to the baseline design currently being finalized for the F-35A. Airborne Systems plans to continue supporting the drag chute development, flight test, certification and eventual production for the F-35 fleet.”
June 4/13: This headline from the [Parliament] Hill Times sums it all up, which is good, because the rest is subscription-only: “Prime Minister Harper, Cabinet to decide on F-35 fighter jets without advice from Public Works Procurement Secretariat, say Public Works officials.”
Saab’s decision looks very rational if this is true. Hill Times.
May 31/13: No Saab. “Senior government officials” confirm to Quebecor’s QMI news agency that Saab has decided not to participate in Public Works Canada’s market analysis phase.
That doesn’t keep Saab from entering a competitive process later, if there is one. Saab has told QMI that they will re-evaluate the decision once there’s a clear way forward in Canada. QMI, via Sun News.
April 28/13: Expected losses. Canada’s Postmedia News reports:
“In December 2011, the Defence Department’s research arm, Defence Research and Development Canada, published a report in which it said “that the probability of having 63 or more (F-35s) remaining at this time (when the last one is delivered) is approximately 54 per cent.”
Canada plans to order 65 F-35As, for delivery from 2017-2022. Their expectation is 7-11 destroyed aircraft over the fleet’s expected 42-year lifespan, with losses fitting the standard fighter pattern and being heavier in the early years. So they’re claculating a 46% chance that 2 or more F-35As are crashed or lost in the first 6 years. Not unusual, or unreasonable.
Where the math becomes more questionable is the expectation that Canada can order 65 F-35As plus accompanying spares, training equipment, etc. with its budgeted funds, while placing orders in the program’s early production years from 2014-2020.
March 3/13: RFI. Canada’s issues its official RFI/ “Industry Engagement Request”:
“Five identified companies with aircraft in production—The Boeing Company, Dassault Aviation, EADS Eurofighter, Lockheed Martin and Saab Group—were previously sent a draft of the questionnaire on January 25, 2013, for comment. The National Fighter Procurement Secretariat received input from all five companies and their feedback is reflected in the final questionnaire, which the companies are being asked to complete within six weeks. A second questionnaire to obtain information on costs will be sent in draft form to the five companies for comment at a later date.”
See: Release | Final Industry Engagement Request: Capability, Production and Supportability Information Questionnaire.
Feb 27/13: Lifetime costs. Media traction for the Super Hornet, as Boeing has an opportunity to publicly tout their Super Hornet in a CBC TV report, which feature Boeing’s (Canadian) lead Super Hornet test pilot. The report also brings sustainment costs into Canada’s public debate for the first time, claiming $23 billion in lifetime savings from a Super Hornet buy:
“[Half] sounded too good to be true – so CBC News dug into Boeing’s figures to see how credible they are. According to the GAO, the Super Hornet actually costs the U.S. Navy $15,346 an hour to fly. It sounds like a lot – until you see that the U.S. Air Force’s official “target” for operating the F-35 is $31,900 an hour. The GAO says it’s a little more – closer to $32,500. CBC also asked Lockheed Martin to say if it had any quarrel with these numbers – and it did not…. Super Hornets, which Boeing says are 25 per cent cheaper to run than Canada’s “legacy” CF-18s.”
At this late point in the CF-18’s life, that’s certainly possible. At Lockheed Martin, they won’t publicly argue with the GAO, but they’re hopeful that its estimate will drop as the jet gains experience. At the same time, F-35 program manager Lt. Gen Bogdan has publicly pegged F-35 support projections as “just too high”, and vowed to bring them down.
With that said, the math using KPMG’s F-35 estimate as a starting point, and the GAO’s figures as the relative baselines, is that a Super Hornet buy might save Canada around $19.53 billion in ownership costs to 2042 ($37 – 17.47 billion operations). It will actually be less than that, because upgrades should be assumed to factor in at the same cost. So let’s say $15 billion. CBC also mistakenly assumes that an F/A-18E/F purchase price of around $60 million would also save half of the F-35 program’s $9 billion maximum purchase price, but it wouldn’t. Rather, it would allow Canada to buy all 65 fighters that the RCAF says are the minimum required, including 12 EA-18G electronic attack aircraft, instead of buying fewer than 65 F-35As. Of course, even $15 billion is a large enough figure to make a dent in the public debate. CBC article | CBC video: The Super Hornet.
Feb 14/13: More estimates. Canada’s government orders another cost estimate connected to their fighter replacement program:
“In December 2012, KPMG presented the Next Generation Fighter Capability: Life Cycle Cost Framework to the National Fighter Procurement Secretariat—a life-cycle cost framework for the F-35 program. The purpose of this new review is to ensure that the framework is appropriately applied by National Defence and that the cost estimates in the upcoming 2013 Annual Update are sound…. The notice of proposed procurement about the review is posted on the Government of Canada’s tendering system hosted on MERX. The contract is expected to be awarded in the coming weeks.”
Feb 13/13: Library of Parliament Report. Canada’s Library of Parliament issues “Estimating the Cost of Replacing Canada’s Fighter Jets,” which chronicles the various cost estimates submitted to Parliament and in major published reports. One interesting change is noted by The Globe and Mail:
“The amount National Defence has set aside for weapons has been cut to just $52-million for the estimated 30-year operational life of the jets, compared with estimates in two previous reports of $270-million and $300-million.”
The key driver is a December 2012 Public Works report that said existing weapons in Canadian stocks wouldn’t be adequate over the fighter’s full 40-year life cycle. Which is reasonable. Compatibility with American weapons saves money in the near-term, but doesn’t change the need to buy items over the long term. Paveway laser-guided bombs last a long time, but existing AIM-120 missiles will need upgrades at the very least, and new weapons will become necessary over the next 40 years. Hence the statement that “over the life cycle of the replacement fleet, the acquisition of newer weapons will be considered and funded as separate projects.”
So, on the one hand it’s reasonable. On the other hand, weapons are a reasonable part of a fighter fleet’s cost, and the sudden change in terms is an obvious way to lower the published cost by a quarter billion dollars. Sources: Library of Parliament, Estimating the Cost of Replacing Canada’s Fighter Jets”, Globe and Mail, “National Defence to buy fewer bombs if F-35 selected as new air force fighter”.
Feb 12/13: Whitewashed report? Comparing a Nov 1/12 copy of the draft Parliamentary Public Accounts committee report with the final November 2013 product shows the removal of important information that was shared during Spring 2011 hearings. Opposition members are incensed.
CP chronicles omissions including references to the F-35’s selection without competition, a caveat that the price tag per aircraft could almost double from the claimed USD $75 million to $138 million, and passages critical of the F-35’s industrial benefits program. More explosively, it dropped Auditor General Michael Ferguson’s testimony that the Conservative Party government had seen the full cost of the plan, as opposed to the final report that blamed DND for omissions. Ferguson’s stated concern that F-35 ownership costs could create problems for future defense budgets was also edited out, along with a passage of cost-related testimony from Parliamentary Budget Officer Kevin Page, who has an unfriendly relationship with the current government. Sources: CBC News, “F-35 committee report strategically edited, draft suggests”.
Feb 11/13: Postmedia obtains documents from Canada’s 2005-2006 look at its fighter options, and discovers what DND thought of each option. Eurofighter: “Remarkable” sensor fusion and fine cockpit, a powerful aircraft with effective air-to-air capabilities and reduced RCS, though it isn’t a full stealth aircraft. Might even be considered a borderline “5th generation” plane. The report worried about interoperability, and it also talked more bluntly about buying aircraft from anyone other than the USA. Relayed contents don’t mention Eurofighter’s low variety of integrated weapons and sensors, which is still an issue in 2013. F/A-18 Super Hornet: Credible option with a lot of integrated weapons and bolt-on sensors, seen as a smaller shift for Canadian CF-18 maintainers. It seems to be the default backup for many nations that were considering the F-35 – and since then, the USN and Australia have proven them right. On the other hand, “It makes several compromises between approach speed, weight and structure.” The EA-18G electronic warfare option pursued by Australia is not reported, and seems not to have been mentioned. JAS-39 Gripen: A “fairly stealthy” platform due to its small size, design, and use of radar-absorbing materials, but not a full stealth aircraft. They also liked its low maintenance costs. Its system for emergency landings and landings on short airfields is different from Canada’s, which would require changes. Doesn’t seem to have discussed the new JAS-39E/F, but then, the design was unclear at that time. It’s a lot clearer now. Rafale: Seen a fast and maneuverable, with above-average range that’s a plus for Canada. Weren’t so impressed with the cockpit, and wondered about the Snecma M88 engine’s cold-weather performance. Relayed report contents didn’t focus on Rafale’s unique weapon incompatibilities with the American gear that fills Canada’s existing stores, and which can be diverted from US stocks for emergencies and joint efforts. That’s a big omission, but the relayed contents also missed Rafale’s strong SPECTRA electronic protection system, which proved itself over Libya 5 years later. F-35: Saw its stealth features as unique. Flip side of this is that security at Canadian bases would become more elaborate and expensive. Worried that “many of the capabilities and performance features (of the F-35) such as signature, payload, speed, range and manoeuvrability, could change due to the U.S. focus on keeping the costs down.” Which is indeed happening. On the other side of the coin, F-35 sensors and sensor fusion are uniquely excellent, but that isn’t in the relayed report contents. Canada’s competitor conclusions
Jan 29/13: Bridge buy? Canada’s Hill Times reports that Canada is considering a short-term bridging fighter buy. The key piece of information comes from the letter announcing the Industry Engagement Request, which also asked respondents to talk about options in to the 2020-2030 frame, and then options beyond 2030:
“The evaluation of options will review and assess all available fighter aircraft and will result in a comprehensive report with the best available information on the capabilities, costs, and risks of each option, including bridging and fleet options…”
That would put them in the same boat as Australia’s RAAF, which also flies upgraded F/A-18 Hornets. They’ve already received 12 F/A-18F Super Hornet fighters as a bridge, plus 12 more that will be converted to EA-18G electronic warfare and air defense suppression planes. Australia is finding that F-35 delays are creating the need for a longer bridge, and the RAAF could end up with a 50/50 long term split between the Super Hornet family and the F-35. In practice, a similar logic is likely for Canada: every “bridging” fighter bought is 1 fighter subtracted from their eventual F-35 order. Hill Times | CDFAI.
2012
F-35A, eh?
(click to view full)
Dec 16-17/12: Trust busted? An article in the Hill Times magazine quotes former DND assistant deputy minister for procurement Alan Williams, who says that “We know that the fiasco certainly started by the bureaucrats hijacking the process,” while ministers simply went along and didn’t ask questions.
The British TV hit “Yes, Minister” was based on that very premise, but this instance doesn’t seem to have the same comic value. Parliamentary Budget Officer Kevin Page has had a publicly hostile relationship with the Conservative Party government, and he has been very critical of the CF-35 decision process (q.v. May 3/12), but it still matters when he says things like:
“Trust is broken. I don’t think you get, in terms of a reset, that trust back until you have that debate in front of Parliament…. From my view, the (F-35) process that we had up to date, certainly our experience in 2010-11, was a complete failure, and, I think, a lack of leadership both politically and I think by public servants as well…. There were numbers that existed at DND (Department of National Defence) that were much higher than what was presented to Parliament. Canadians saw the lower set of numbers… So in that sense, they were misled”
Dec 7/12: KPMG’s cost estimate. The precise figure for KPMG’s cost estimate is reported to be C$ 45.802 billion, based on an in-service life of 42 years. Current F-35 industrial participants are becoming worried, and a soon-to-be released companion study will take a second look at real figures for industrial benefits. Those estimates have already been quietly scaled back from C$ 12 billion to C$ 9.85 billion, and may drop further. The government defends their 20-year cost estimates, and they do have a point. Former treasury board official Michelle d’Auray: “Going beyond 20 years is considered too high-risk to ensure that the value in contracting with industry would be sustained, or the costs would be going beyond the 20-year mark… So that, for us, is considered to be reasonable, and as the deputy minister of National Defence indicated, all of the submissions to date have been presented to the Treasury Board have used a 20-year cost estimate.” Periods over 20 years are chancy for contracts, and wide potential variations in core inputs like fuel prices makes those estimates little better than guesses. Even guesses can still be of value, but only if they’re comparing components like fuel costs with other alternatives, using the same baseline pricing assumptions. See: Canadian Press | CTV | The Globe and Mail | National Post. KPMG’s F-35A lifetime cost estimate
Dec 6/12: Not cancelled. Postmedia, which usually has good sources within the government, says Canada will pull out of the Joint Strike Fighter program. It turns out not to be true. Canada is about to analyze its options, and as noted earlier, Public Works has thrown out the specifications straightjacket. Early reports indicate that Boeing (Super Hornet) and Eurofighter have been approached for detailed information, with the possibility of broadening the invitation.
The other revelation in their article is that KPMG is done with their audit, which exceeds even the $29 billion maximum estimate from previous studies. Reports are pegging the potential 36-year lifecycle cost at C$ 40+ billion, though that involves a longer service life than previous estimates, and includes fuel costs. CBC | The Globe and Mail | National Post | Flight International.
Nov 30/12: Stealth. Gen. Tom Lawson, a former fighter pilot and Canada’s new chief of defence staff, tells a Parliamentary committee that the F-35 isn’t the only aircraft able to meet stealth requirements. The F-35 is better, he says, but when asked by Liberal defence critic John McKay whether there is only 1 airplane that can meet the Canadian military’s requirements in this area, Lawson said “no.” He later added, correctly, that “Fourth and fifth generation is not a very helpful way of looking at that aircraft.”
Canada’s exact “low observability” requirements, such as they are, have never been made public. It is true that even 4+ generation fighters like the Eurofighter, Gripen, Rafale, and Super Hornet will all have significantly smaller radar cross-sections that the current CF-18 fleet, even though several of them are bigger aircraft. The F-35 will be smaller again. See above for a more detailed discussion of “stealth.” CBC.
Nov 22/12: 1st cracks. Public Works Minister Rona Ambrose tells Canada’s House of Commons that Canada’s “review of options will not be constrained by the previous statement of requirements.” That seems minor, but it isn’t. DND’s requirements had been crafted to make the F-35 the only available choice, per the department’s standard pattern over the last 7-8 years. Breaking that lock opens up other options for consideration.
A serious analysis hasn’t been performed yet, but this statement is a sign that it could start. Much will depend on the exact people chosen to do the analyzing. CBC | CDFAI | iPolitics.ca.
Oct 22/12: New RCAF chief Lt.-Gen. Yvan Blondin tells the Canadian Press that DND hasn’t really begun looking at other fighter options beyond the F-35. A thorough examination of other possible aircraft would require a more detailed study by military planners, and he said that the order hasn’t been given. Blondin was asked twice during the interview whether other aircraft had been considered, and he replied: “No.”
That examination was central to the government’s promises after the negative 2011 Auditor General Report, so the government replied by saying that “work continues on the evaluation of options… The options analysis is a full evaluation of choices, not simply a refresh of the work that was done before.” None of which actually means that a serious evaluation is underway.
DID’s verdict: Lt-Gen. Blondin told the truth, and the government is being dishonest. There isn’t a serious analysis taking place. To date, any analysis has been a hasty and less-than-professional justification for a decision that’s already made. There is no sign yet that this pattern is changing. Canadian Press | Canada DND.
Sept 28/12. Requirements. Canada’s CBC obtains a redacted copy of Canada’s official Statement of Requirements for its next-generation fighter, and makes it available for download. As they explain:
“The Statement of Operational Requirements for Canada’s next jet fighter was produced by the Royal Canadian Air Force Directorate of Air Requirements in June, 2010. It wasn’t submitted to Canada’s Public Works department until after the government announced its decision to purchase 65 F35 Joint Strike Fighter aircraft in July, 2010. Normally Public Works is responsible for procuring hardware for the military after they have submitted their statement of requirements. [CBC Program} The Fifth Estate obtained this highly redacted copy through an Access to Information request.”
Sept 7/12: Auditor hired. KPMG has been given a $643,535 to review/audit projections for the CF-35. Their offer was 1 of 2 bids reviewed by Treasury Board and Public Works and Government Services Canada. CBC.
Aug 9/12: Delayed audit. Almost 2 months after its self-imposed deadline, Public Works quietly re-issued a tender, asking for an audit firm to come forward and take on the politically explosive task of verifying the F-35 figures provided by DND. The minister’s office tells Postmedia that the original tender was the problem, as it didn’t give accounting firms enough flexibility to sub-contract portions of the project. This might be important, in order to gain in-depth expertise in defense procurement.
The new tender doesn’t close until the end of August, which means the review might not even arrive in 2012. Postmedia.
May 24/12: Industrial. Lockheed Martin vice-president Steve O’Bryan talks to Canada’s Postmedia News about the F-35. They’re working on the understanding that Canada will place a production order in FY 2014
“Right now we will honour all existing contracts that we have. After that, all F-35 work will be directed into countries that are buying the airplane… What we have is the official statement out of the government and we’re working with the government. They’re committed to the F-35, they’ve selected it, and we haven’t had any change in that official position.”
That commitment has underpinned the JSF program’s work with Canadian firms, which the National Post reports as C$ 435 million to 66 Canadian companies since 1997. Even if those partnerships stop, however, Canadian procurement policies will require industrial offsets from the winner worth 100% of purchase value. The industrial question for the F-35 involves the perceived long term technical and financial value of their work to Canada’s aerospace industry, vs. the offsets their competitors might offer. That makes for a complex evaluation, but it’s often a component of big-ticket defense competitions around the world. Postmedia.
May 15/12: Gone Rogue? Following a round of Parliamentary hearings, in which senior DND bureaucrats are grilled about their CF-35 program estimates and conduct, NDP MP Malcolm Allen goes so far as to say that:
“This is a department that’s really gone rogue… [the minister] has totally lost control of that department… There’s no faith in this department anymore. None whatsoever.”
Allen is the Official Opposition party’s shadow minister for Agriculture, but he’s involved in the F-35 issue through his role on Parliament’s Public Accounts Committee. It’s expected that opposition members will oppose the government of the day, and the NDP’s socialism has always been coupled with an aversion to the military. With that said, for an MP in his position to level that kind of criticism at a government department, and use words like “no faith” and “out of control,” is a very rare thing. No political party rules forever, and if DND is seen as institutionally untrustworthy and dishonest by Canada’s other major parties, they will have created very dire future for themselves. Postmedia.
May 3/12: Was DND honest? Parliamentary Budget Officer Kevin Page tells its Public Accounts Committee that the government withheld key information about the full costs of the F-35 in 2011, against explicit requests, in an effort to present a lower price tag to Canadians.
“Over the past few weeks, it has become clear that the Department of National Defence provided the PBO with figures that did not include all operating costs… The PBO understood that it had been provided with full life-cycle costs from DND as required… It seems difficult to understand how there could have been any confusion as to whether or not the PBO included operating costs within its estimate.”
DND officials say they understood that operations and maintenance costs should be excluded, but Page drew attention to the November 2010 committee motion that prompted PBO’s report. It specifically called for the release of all documents that outline life-cycle costs. Postmedia.
April 3/12: Auditor General report. The office of the Auditor General of Canada delivers its 2012 Spring report, including a chapter covering Canada’s process for selecting and then budgeting for the F-35. Based on previous stories concerning leaked drafts, the report has been softened and made more vague. On the one hand, it describes how the F-35 program itself was built to circumvent normal procedures in participating governments, and make any subsequent competitions difficult to execute fairly. This is true, and beyond Canada’s influence. On the other hand, the report describes a number of instances where Canada’s DND has deliberately misled Parliament, a situation that past OAG reports have now detailed in almost every major Canadian defense procurement program over the last 5 years. Beyond deliberate deceptions, DND also made repeated assertions about both the F-35’s costs and its air needs that were not backed by any substantive analysis. Public Works Canada, which is supposed to serve in an independent oversight role, utterly failed in this duty, and was often hampered by DND’s refusal to provide information when it did attempt to act. In response, the government “accepts the Auditor General’s recommendation and conclusions,” and commits to a number of steps. None of them imperil the F-35 program yet, or punish past misconduct, but the government is leaving themselves an official out. The biggest apparent commitment is a freezing of funding at C$ 9 billion procurement and C$ 7 billion for support, followed by a statement from Associate Minister of National Defence Fantino that they “will acquire the F-35 only if and when we can operate within that budget.” This is less of a concession than it seems. First, it reiterates stated policy. Second, it freezes only the purchase cost. Support costs are even more likely to see serious cost inflation, but are the easiest to falsely assume away in advance. If they double to C$ 14 billion in real costs, Canada would have no option but to pay. Finally, it offers no other fighter options, or even preparation to make another fighter option feasible. Canada’s DND will “continue to evaluate options,” but the C$ 16 billion is still described as an F-35 acquisition budget, not a fighter acquisition budget. Likewise, the program’s new coordinating Secretariat in Public Works Canada is the F-35 Secretariat, though the effect clearly shifts authority out of the Department of National Defence, and away from Minister for National Defence Peter Mackay. Annual updates to Parliament have now been promised, to be delivered within 60 days of receiving revised costing forecasts from the USA’s F-35 program. The question is whether these Parliamentary reports will continue to omit pertinent information that is not mentioned by the US office, or will otherwise improve the past record of incomplete and misleading reports. It’s more encouraging that Canada’s Treasury Board Secretariat will have to commission an independent review of DND’s acquisition and sustainment project assumptions and potential F-35 costs, and make that public, before a purchase contract is signed. OAG 2012 Spring Report. | Canada PWGSC/DND response | Canada’s CBC: video of OAG presentation. OAG criticizes the program
April 3/12: F-35 schedule & costs. Aviation Week’s Bill Sweetman takes a deep look into the Pentagon’s latest Selected Acquisition Reports, which was released on March 30/12. Some of the conclusions are very relevant to Canada’s choices:
“Another three-year slip to initial operational test and evaluation, the culmination of system development and demonstration, which now is due to be complete in 2019 – the target date is February but the threshold date is October… it appears that the main culprit is software and hardware, mainly in terms of… sensor fusion and emission control – that take place in the fighter’s main processor banks… In what follows, I’m going to use average procurement unit cost (APUC)… recurring flyaway is the lowest cost, but neither the US nor anyone else can put an aircraft on the ramp for that money. And all numbers are base-2012… The APUC for the F-35A in 2013-14 is $184-$188 million, versus $177m (2009 dollars) for the last F-22s. And that is at a much higher production rate.”
Most ominously for the F-35’s future cost structure:
“Although the basis of the numbers has been changed, the SAR still compares the F-35A with the F-16, and shows that the estimated CPFH [DID: Cost Per Flight Hour] for the F-35A has gone from 1.22 F-16s in the 2010 SAR to 1.42 today – versus 0.8 F-16s, which was being claimed a few years ago. Where is that operations and support money going to come from?”
March 20/12: Plan B? As Canada’s government gives conflicting signals about its F-35A commitment, and braces for a scathing Auditor General report about their pledged buy, other planes may get an opening:
” The likeliest contenders, should there be a competition, are U.S.-based Boeing, maker of the F-18 Super Hornet, and Dassault of France, maker of the Rafale… “In our world we’re already in a competition,” one industry insider said. “(Associate Defence Minister) Fantino himself said we’re basically looking at our options. There’s a team at (Department of National Defence) looking at the market. So it’s already on.”
Despite this report, Canada’s considerable stockpile of American-made air-to-air and air-to-ground weapons adds huge additional switching costs to an already-expensive Rafale aircraft, and makes it a very unlikely challenger. Post Media.
March 15/12: Auditor General. Canada’s Auditor General is carving out a respected niche in Canadian politics, and that may be bad news for the F-35. The office is due to deliver a report on Canada’s F-35 plans by April 3rd, and a draft copy has been circulating. It reportedly says that the air force relied more or less exclusively on Lockheed Martin for all key pricing and performance assertions, even as government officials failed to follow procurement rules. Globe and Mail | Macleans magazine | National Post | Post Media | UPI.
March 13/12: If? Deputy defense minister Julian Fantino tells the House of Common Defence Committee that Canada has made no commitment to the F-35A, and uses the word “if” with respect to any proposed buy. While he maintains Canada’s interest in the aircraft, the comments are seen as a marked change in tone. A later release by Canada’s DND highlights Fantino’s March 16/12 CADSI speech, in which he affirms the industrial benefits of the F-35 program. Canadian Broadcasting Corp. | Globe and Mail | iPolitics.ca | Toronto Star | Reuters || Canada’s DND.
March 2/12: Canada hosts a meeting of international F-35 program partners in its Washington Embassy, to discuss the future of the program. Canada’s DND | Canadian Press | Post Media | Reuters. F-35 summit
2011
CF-18 ACES sim
(click to view full)
Nov 24/11: Norway’s costs. Norwegian MP Roger Ingebrigtsen [Troms, Labour Party], and Rear Admiral Arne Røksund, head of their Department of Defence Policy and Long-Term Planning, visit Canada. They respond to Canadian MP Christine Moore [Abitibi-Temiscamingue, NDP], who asks about Norway’s planned F-35 purchase:
“Mr. Roger Ingebrigtsen: It’s about $10 billion U.S. That’s for 51 or 52 air fighters. That’s $10 billion today… RAdm Arne Røksund: …The life cycle costs will be, I think, about–this is not public yet, so I have to be careful – $40 billion U.S. over 30 years. So that’s life cycle costs over 30 years, all included. Ms. Christine Moore: …So the $10 billion is simply to purchase the aircraft themselves. RAdm Arne Røksund: That is for the planes, initial logistics included, repair kits, and so on, for the first few years.”
The purchase figures are consistent with accounts of NOK 61 – 72 billion, but the 30-year sustainment costs are new. Ottawa Citizen Defence Watch.
Oct 28/11: Canada’s National Post reports that Canada’s F-35A purchase may not be a sure thing, even though the majority government could easily force the sale through. Excerpts:
“This minister has a knack for projecting blithe confidence. But in this instance he is increasingly offside with other members of the cabinet and with the Prime Minister’s Office, sources familiar with the situation say… Indeed in defence circles, it is believed that Julian Fantino was installed as under-minister in charge of procurement partly to offset MacKay’s tendency to defer to the senior military brass… “The reaction is, where’s the competition, where’s the bidding, and what do you mean you don’t know the price?” acknowledges Senator Colin Kenny, former chair of the Senate defence committee and a strong proponent of the F-35… there are three elephants in the room…”
One is Canada’s 20-year, C$ 33 billion national military shipbuilding strategy, which is politically untouchable. The 2nd and 3rd issues refer to the effect of a possible slowdown and/or cut of F-35 buys in America and in Europe, which would raise the price for Canada’s planes. Our analysis: it’s too early to call Canada’s F-35 deal into serious question. On the other hand, if these reports are true, it’s no longer the sure thing that it seemed to be when Prime Minister Harper won his majority government.
Oct 23/11: Communications frozen? A Global TV News article reveals that the F-35 will have issues communicating during arctic patrols, because its satellite communications capability will be worse than the current CF-18 fleet’s when it’s delivered:
“Military aircraft operating in the high Arctic rely almost exclusively on satellite communications… The F-35 Lightning will eventually have the ability to communicate with satellites, but the software will not be available in the initial production run, said a senior Lockheed Martin official, who spoke on background… It is expected to be added to the aircraft when production reaches its fourth phase in 2019, but that is not guaranteed because research is still underway.”
Sept 6/11: CF-18 Sims. L-3 Link Simulation & Training announces a foreign military sale contract through US NAVAIR’s Training Systems Division, to upgrade Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) CF-18 flight simulators located at Cold Lake, AB; Bagotville, PQ; and Ottawa, ON. The contract’s value was not disclosed.
L-3 Link is the original supplier for Canada’s 6 existing CF-18 Air Combat Emulators (ACEs), and 10 CF-18 Part Task Trainers, plus instructor/operator stations and brief/debrief systems. They will be upgraded with the latest F/A-18 training system capabilities, creating a common F/A-18 training solution with the U.S. Navy and U.S. Marine Corps’ Tactical Operational Flight Trainers. Key upgrades to the trainers will include a new photo-texture visual system database, and enabling the Mission Operation Center to conduct multi-plane training. The CF-18 training systems will also include Canada-specific modifications.
Aug 31/11: CF-18 support. Canada adds up to C$ 111 million (currently around $112 million) to its CF-18 Primary Air Vehicle contract with L-3 Military Aviation Services (L-3 MAS), converting the previous arrangement to a full Optimized Weapon System Support program. The contract breaks down as another C$ 80 million to 2017 in the base contract (now C$ 547 million), plus a set of extension options that could extend the additional work out to 2020 and raise the total by C$ 111 million, taking the overall contract to C$664 million (currently $676 million). OWSS adds new items to the previous contract’s list of maintained components (vid. Sept 1/10), consolidating them under this 1 contract, but doesn’t change contract length or other particulars. Public Works Canada | L-3 MAS [PDF]. CF-18 support extensions
May 2/11: Election. Canada’s Conservative Party wins an election forced by the opposition parties, and ends a string of minority Parliaments by taking 167 seats and gaining a Parliamentary majority. The structure of the Canadian system ensures nearly complete party discipline. The Prime Minister can refuse to sign the nomination papers for any party candidate, forcing them to run as an independent or quit. Canada also requires whole-party leadership conventions to remove a party leader or Prime Minister, as opposed to the British tradition where it can be done by a majority of party MPs. In other words, Canada will buy any jet the Prime Minister approves. That means the F-35A. CBC Election Day coverage. Majority government
DND shoots back
(click to view larger)
March 10-21/11: As Canada’s upgraded CF-18s join allied operations over Libya, Canada’s government and Department of National Defence exchanges fire with the Parliamentary Budget Officer over the F-35 report, in the media and via detailed statements. Bottom line? Both parties are standing firmly by their figures. The Canadian DND’s F-35 mini-site includes release and comparison of figures table, among others. See also PBO’s detailed rebuttal [PDF] | Macleans magazine | Ottawa Citizen’s “Let’s be honest about the price tag on those planes“, written by the person who signed the F-35 Phase 2 MoU on Canada’s behalf.
March 10/11: PBO F-35 report. Canada’s Parliamentary Budget Officer releases its independent report on the F-35 buy. Its conclusion: that the government’s figures for buying and maintaining the plane were based on essentially no research, and that instead of costing $16 billion ($9 billion to buy 65, and $7 billion for 20 years of operations and maintenance at $350M/year), the total will be more like $29.3 billion. They forecast $9.7 billion or more for 65 fighters, plus $19.6 billion in operations and maintenance over 30 years ($1.7 billion initial logistics and setup, $14 billion O&M, plus $3.9 billion upgrades & overhaul over 30 years, or about $650M/year). That works out to a total package cost of about $450.75 million per fighter over 30 years, exclusive of weapons and other ancillaries. This passage was especially interesting, with implications well beyond the F-35, or Canada: “There has been an exponential increase in the cost to manufacture one kilogram of fighter jet over the last six decades. This cost has risen from under US$ 1,000/kg in 1950 to approximately US$ 10,000/kg today (both in 2009 dollars). This represents a real [DID: inflation-adjusted] annual rate of increase of approximately 3.5%. During the same period, the average weight of jet fighter aircraft has increased by about 0.5% per year. Given this, the cost of fighter aircraft has increased 4% per year in real terms since 1950 – doubling roughly every 18 years.” The report’s impact is magnified in 3 ways. One is that it states that its own purchase and maintenance figures are likely to be revised upward if its 75% confidence level fails, based on program trends and official reports from the USA, as well as elimination of the competitive dual-engine program. The 2nd is that an election is now imminent in Canada, and the F-35 purchase is a key source of differences between the minority Conservative Party government and its opposition parties. On the flip side, Parliament’s dissolution will end opposition attempts to see the program’s statement of operational requirements justifying the F-35’s sole-source choice, which was classified by the DND in 2010, around the time the F-35 became a major political controversy. The 3rd factor is that the report was peer reviewed by a panel of experts that included the US Congressional Budget Office and Australian Strategic Policy Institute. The unintended result of that peer review has been wider publicity and impact around the world. “An Estimate of the Fiscal Impact of Canada’s Proposed Acquisition of the F-35 Lightning II Joint Strike Fighter” | Liberal Party release and pre-election ad | CTV News | Globe & Mail | Postmedia’s Canada.com | SunMedia’s Canoe | Aviation Week. C$ 29.3 billion?
Jan 6/11: As part of a plan detailing $150 billion in service cuts and cost savings over the next 5 years, Defense Secretary Robert Gates states that he is placing the Marine Corps’ F-35B on the equivalent of a 2-year probation, extends the program’s development phase again to 2016, and cuts production of all models over the 2012-2016 time period, including 47 fewer F-35As. During the low-rate initial production phase, cuts in the number bought mean that the price for each plane doesn’t drop as quickly, making purchases more expensive. Canada’s DND responds directly to these changes, saying:
“Canada is not purchasing the STOVL variant. Canada will order the conventional take off and landing (CTOL) variant, which is the lowest-cost option that the majority of JSF partners will also acquire. The CTOL variant is progressing very well. Canada does not anticipate the announcement by the US Government regarding the STOVL variant will affect the schedule or cost of Canada’s Joint Strike Fighter Program.”
See also: Pentagon release re: overall plan | Full Gates speech and Gates/Mullen Q&A transcript | F-35 briefing hand-out [PDF] || Aviation Week | Fort Worth Star-Telegram’s Sky Talk blog.
2010
F-35A
(click to view larger)
Oct 14/10: CF-18 support. The Canadian government has contracted Calgary-based Harris Canada Inc. to continue avionics and electronics maintenance of its CF-18 fighter jets, until their replacements are ready to fly. The contract is worth up to C$ 273.8 million (currently at rough parity with American dollar) until 2020, and covers nearly 2,300 components.
It is more focused than the larger L-3 MAS contract (q.v. Sept 1/10), which covers the entire aircraft, but it’s a similar sort of extension. Public Works Canada | Canadian Press | The Globe and Mail.
Sept 20/10: According to 2009 Defence Department documents obtained by the Ottawa Citizen, Canadian officers working on the Next Generation Fighter Capability project called for a “competitive process” for both the aircraft and the long-term maintenance contract. The aircraft competition was to be run in 2010, with a contract to be awarded by 2012, aircraft delivery in 2015-16, and operational fighters between 2018 – 2023. The revelations will place further pressure on the Conservative government to justify their sole-sourcing decision, which has become the crux of a political controversy. Postmedia News via Montreal Gazette.
Sept 15/10: Hearings begin in Parliament, as the Standing Committee on National Defence calls witnesses to discuss the F-35. SCND/NDDN page | Canadian Press, via Winnipeg Free Press | CBC | CTV News (incl. video) | The Globe and Mail | Postmedia interview with Public Works Minister Rona Ambrose | Toronto Sun.
Sept 12/10: Sitting MP Laurie Hawn [Cons – AB – Edmonton Centre] will be an important voice in the upcoming Parliamentary fighter debate. He’s a former CF-18 pilot. Postmedia, via Montreal Gazette.
Sept 1/10: CF-18 Support. Canada needs to keep its existing fleet flying, and that cost money, too. A late F-35 means a longer set of support contracts, and so the Prime Minister’s Office announces the extension of its CF-18 Systems Engineering Support Contract to L-3 Communications MAS of Mirabel, Quebec, until at least 2017. This 7-year contract extension is valued at C$ 467 million, and 3 additional 1-year extension optionscould add another C$ 86 million (C$ 553 million total). the options would also stretch the contract until the end of the fleet’s estimated service life in 2020. The contractor’s primary responsibility for the CF-18 Hornet fleet is development and maintenance work that includes mission software, structural testing, depot-level inspections and repairs, technical support teams, and other engineering services. In addition to their Canadian maintenance work, they’ve also been involved in Australia’s HUG [PDF] Hornet upgrade and life-extension program. Canadian PMO | L-3 MAS [PDF] | CBC | National Post. CF-18 support
July 16/10: Sole-source F-35, eh? Canada’s Conservative Party government declares that it will buy the F-35A, without a competitive process. The jets would begin to enter service around 2016, and the initial budget is C$ 9 billion for 65 F-35 aircraft and associated weapons, supporting infrastructure, initial spares, training simulators, contingency funds and project operating costs. That budget has not been confirmed by an actual contract, however, something that reportedly led to unpleasant surprises when Canada bought C-130Js from Lockheed Martin. DND statements indicate that an F-35 contract would not be negotiated until about 2014-2015. The government’s defense of its decision revolves around economic and industrial benefits: “To date, Canada has invested approximately CAD$168 million in the JSF program. Since 2002, the Government’s participation in the JSF program has led to more than CAD$350 million in contracts for more than 85 Canadian companies, research laboratories, and universities – meaning that Canada has already seen a two-to-one return on its investment. Now that Canada has committed to purchasing the F-35, Canadian industrial opportunities could exceed CAD$12 billion for the production of the aircraft. Sustainment and follow-on opportunities for Canadian industry are emerging and will be available over the 40-year life of the program. For instance, in accordance with the industrial participation agreements, all 19 Canadian companies manufacturing items for the F-35 will also repair and overhaul those components for the entire global fleet.” The government needs that defense. They’re a minority government, and the opposition Liberal Party objects to the lack of competition and the cost. The Liberals are promising to freeze the agreement if they take power, and an election will be due by 2013 at the latest. This sort of thing has happened before, when an incoming Liberal government froze Canada’s EH101 helicopter contract, leading to a 20 year delay in fielding Sea King replacements. See: DND backgrounder | DND release | Lockheed Martin | Magellan Aerospace | Canadian Press (CP) | CTV TV | Toronto Star | Winnipeg Free Press re: local industry | BBC | NY Times | Reuters || Political angle: CBC | National Post | Toronto Star. F-53A, yes. Competition, no.
June 11/10: The Globe & Mail newspaper reports the contents of secret documents it has acquired related to Canada’s F-35 purchase. For starters, the purchase price is expected to reach C$ 16 billion once 20 years of maintenance are factored in. The report adds:
“According to secret cabinet documents obtained by The Globe and Mail, officials are well aware that any move to open up the process to a competition could push the manufacturers of rival jets, such as the Boeing Super Hornet and the Eurofighter Typhoon, to lower their prices. In addition, the government is expecting a “negative reaction” to the fact that the contract is set to be awarded without a competition… One of the government’s major arguments is that a competition could hurt Canada’s reputation among the other countries that have been involved in Lockheed-Martin’s massive Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) program since the 1990s…”
June 7-8/10: Canadian media reports indicate that the government is about to launch single-source negotiations to buy up to 65 F-35A fighters, at a cost of about C$ 9 billion. The government says that its rationale is to “lock up the cost,” but the jet’s maintenance costs would be a moving target. Canada had a similar experience with Lockheed Martin and maintenance costs when it sole-sourced its C-130J buy.
The move is politically controversial, to the point that the topic was removed from the cabinet committee on economic growth’s June 9 agenda, then reinstated. CP | The Globe and Mail | The Globe and Mail re: controversy | Winnipeg Free Press | UPI.
Jan 4/10: Reporter David Pugliese’s sources say that Canada’s Harper government, which is currently running a $55 billion deficit, is not moving to start the CF-18 replacement program, or to make a sole-source commitment to Lockheed Martin’s F-35. Boeing, which has a substantial industrial presence in Canada, continues to lobby for a competition.
According to Canadian Air Force documents, any competition needs to start no later than 2010. That allows a contract with the winning aircraft manufacturer to be signed by 2012, in order to receive initial deliveries in 2015-2016, and reach initial operating capability in 2018. That would be 38 years after the F/A-18 Hornet won Canada’s last fighter competition, and 36 years after initial Hornet deliveries. Under this timeline, full operating capability for the Hornet’s successor would be achieved by 2023.
2009 and Earlier
Sniper pod on CF-18
(click to view full)
Oct 8/09: Canada’s Ottawa Citizen newspaper reports that Boeing has stepped up its lobbying to create a competition:
“Some DND officials are concerned that a competition would drag on for too long and because of that Canada would not have new fighter aircraft in place when the current fleet of CF-18s is ready to be retired starting in 2017. But representatives with U.S. aerospace firm Boeing are arguing that it makes more sense to hold a competition and let the best aircraft win. It has been involved in meetings with defence officials. In addition, Canadian industry representatives who support Boeing have approached government officials to question the idea of a sole-source deal.”
Aug 22/09: Canada’s Ottawa Citizen newspaper reports that the government is preparing a presentation to cabinet for approval of a sole-source, multibillion deal to to buy 65 F-35s, even though military leaders had earlier claimed that a competitive process would be followed in any replacement of Canada’s F/A-18A/B Hornets.
The Ottawa Citizen cites Lockheed Martin officials who say they expect Canada to make its decision over the next 12 months. Canada is currently a JSF Tier 3 member, who has committed $150 million to the project thus far. Meanwhile, officials from Boeing (F/A-18 E/F Super Hornet) and Gripen International (JAS-39NG) are interested in competing for Canada’s follow-on order.
Dec 11/06: F-35 Production MoU. In a ceremony at the Pentagon in Washington, DC, Canada’s Department of National Defence formalizes their continued partnership in the F-35 Lightning II Joint Strike Fighter program. Canada was the 2nd of 8 partner nations to sign the MoU for the Production, Sustainment and Follow-on Development phase. The Department of Industry also signed MoUs with Lockheed Martin Aeronautics, Pratt & Whitney and the GE Rolls-Royce Fighter Engine Team. The Canadian Department of National Defense had this to say regarding the F-35’s status as the follow-on to its current CF-18 (F/A-18A) fighter fleet: “While participation in this next phase does not commit the Department to purchasing the multi-role aircraft, it is helping to define and evaluate DND’s future requirements for the next generation of fighter aircraft to replace the CF-18 and its capabilities. It is also contributing to improved interoperability between Canadian, American and allied forces and is enhancing the competitiveness and technological capability of Canada’s aerospace sector.” See: DID coverage | Pentagon DefenseLINK | Canada’s DND: release | Canada’s DND: Backgrounder. F-35 Production MoU
Additional Readings
The Program
The Fighters
Competitive Possibilities
Official Reports/ Presentations
News & Views |
Phillip Swagel is a professor at the School of Public Policy at the University of Maryland and was assistant secretary for economic policy at the Treasury Department from 2006 to 2009.
In the years leading up to the financial crisis, market participants assumed that policy makers would intervene to avoid the potential negative economic impact from the failure of a systemically important bank. As William C. Dudley, the president of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, discussed in a recent speech, the belief that some companies were too big to be allowed to fail gave rise to a variety of problems, notably including a situation of moral hazard that encouraged risky bets by market participants who figured they could keep the upside but have their losses covered by taxpayers.
Today's Economist Perspectives from expert contributors.
And indeed, when things went wrong during the crisis, the interventions materialized, as detailed in a recent report by the Government Accountability Office.
The Dodd-Frank financial regulatory reform law of 2010 and regulatory changes since the crisis have affected the incentives for both companies and investors, but it is too soon to say that the advantages and risks of large banks have been addressed or that the era of too big to fail is over. We will not really know until the next time a large bank is on the verge of collapse.
In the meantime, one way to glean information on whether investor perceptions of the potential for future bailouts have changed is to compare the funding costs of large banks relative to small banks.
In an insightful new paper, Randall S. Kroszner of the University of Chicago’s Booth School of Business, a former governor of the Federal Reserve, does just that. Professor Kroszner’s paper was supported by the Clearing House Association, an organization of large banks (I was a member of the association’s now-defunct academic advisory council and a former colleague of Professor Kroszner’s when he served as a member appointed by President George W. Bush at the White House Council of Economic Advisers, but was not involved in the preparation or review of his research).
Professor Kroszner reviews a variety of evidence that suggests that one manifestation of too big to fail before the financial crisis was that large banks could obtain funds with which to make loans and other investments at a lower cost than smaller companies whose demise would not motivate an extraordinary government response.
Not every piece of evidence fits this conclusion – it could be the case, for example, that large companies in every industry have lower costs than smaller ones – and estimates of the magnitude of the pre-crisis funding advantage differ across studies. But the overall conclusion that large banks had a funding advantage suggests an implicit government subsidy from the expectation of government action to support large banks.
Perhaps the best-known effort to quantify this support is the calculation by the editors of Bloomberg View of an $83 billion annual subsidy to the 10 largest United States banks, reflecting a supposed funding advantage of around 0.8 percentage points from the implicit government support multiplied by those companies’ huge liabilities (that is, the money with which they fund their activities).
Small banks tend to rely on deposits for their funding, along with advances from the Federal Home Loan Banks to support mortgage lending; larger institutions rely more heavily on bonds and other capital market sources. There is moral hazard involved with banks of all sizes, because deposits are covered by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, which means that most depositors know that they will not take losses if a bank fails.
But this insurance is explicit and paid for, as opposed to the after-the-fact and unpaid bailout received by bondholders who did not suffer losses because of government interventions.
In a sense, the most unfair bailouts during the crisis were not of banks themselves, but of their bondholders – the investors who provided the funding for the bad lending decisions. Shareholders at Bear Stearns, Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and the American International Group took sizable losses, but the owners of the bonds of these companies received 100 cents on the dollar as a result of government actions to stabilize the financial system. As I have written elsewhere, these actions were necessary and appropriate, but bailouts nonetheless.
Three important changes made since the financial crisis affect the funding costs of large banks in a way that suggests a reduced government subsidy and a move toward a level playing field with institutions that are not viewed as too big to fail.
The first change is that the resolution authority in Title II of Dodd-Frank gives government officials the power to take over troubled large financial companies and impose losses on bondholders and other funders in a way that was not previously possible. (Until the advent of the Troubled Asset Relief Program, or TARP, the power to stabilize failing companies was limited to the bank subsidiaries of large financial companies but did not encompass other components such as broker-dealers; government officials thus did not have the authority to take over Lehman Brothers, for example.)
Indeed, Title II requires that any losses from a future government intervention must be borne by private market participants, including bondholders.
Investors contemplating the purchase of large bank bonds should understand that they will take losses rather than get a guarantee in the next crisis. This, in turn, should affect funding costs in normal times and reduce the advantage of large banks. It is hard to know if the resolution authority will work as planned (the government agencies involved are still devising the rules), but there is some evidence that the advent of the new law has reduced the perceived likelihood of future bailouts. As Professor Kroszner notes, the three major credit ratings agencies cite the resolution authority as a factor behind their view of a lower likelihood of future government support for large banks.
The second change is that banks must now pay insurance premiums to the F.D.I.C. on their nondeposit sources of funds, even though these borrowings are not covered by the federal guarantee and would take losses under Dodd-Frank Title II. The idea is that deposits tend to be more stable than bonds and other capital market borrowings, so charging banks for using these latter sources of funds provides an incentive against financial system volatility. With large banks the heaviest users of such borrowed money, this effectively moves in the direction of a level playing field with smaller banks.
Finally, the largest banks are required to fund themselves with more capital than smaller banks under the Basel III capital rules and to maintain larger amounts of readily liquid assets. These provisions reflect the desire by policy makers to strengthen the ability of systemically important financial institutions to withstand losses, including in a future financial crisis.
Capital surcharges and heightened liquidity requirements for large banks improve the stability of the financial system, while again moving in the direction of less support for large banks and increased costs relative to smaller ones.
There is evidence that the new regulations are making a difference. An analysis of stock market returns and the cost to insure bank bonds against default indicates that major steps forward in devising financial regulations, such as the Volcker Rule in the United States, resulted in reduced market expectations of future bailouts.
Bond investors, for example, required more compensation to lend to banks as the Dodd-Frank reforms moved forward, with the impact greater for large banks than small banks. In contrast, there was little effect from German financial reforms that were widely seen as ineffective. Bond markets appear to be paying attention to the implications of financial regulatory reform.
It is too soon to say that the changes put in place after the crisis have ended the expectation of government bailouts and the extent to which these changes reduced any implicit support for the activities of large banks.
Still, the situation has changed. The funding advantage of large banks over smaller ones used in the calculation of subsidies by Bloomberg and others is taken from data before the 2010 Dodd-Frank financial regulatory reform and other changes made in the wake of the crisis. Updated analysis would be useful to assess the impact of the post-crisis measures. Professor Kroszner’s paper provides recommendations for future researchers.
Government actions taken during the financial crisis to support large banks were important for stabilizing the financial system and supporting the overall economy. In other words, saving Wall Street was necessary to save Main Street. But the way in which this happened was a source of understandably deep frustration to many Americans (including to the policy makers who undertook the interventions). Reforms made since the crisis have changed the situation.
It is important now to evaluate just how much change has been made. This is a key requirement to know whether more steps are needed. |
The Ontario Provincial Police are the among province's finest, but now they're about to be ranked among its most expensive after an 8.55 per cent pay raise comes into effect this year, putting extra strain on already-stretched budgets of the 334 communities in Ontario that use the provincial police service.
The bump in salary follows a two-year wage freeze imposed on all public servants by the provincial government and puts the wages of a first-class OPP constable at $94,702, up from $87,240 in 2013. An OPP sergeant now makes $106,483 up from $98,093 last year.
"An OPP constable would be at the extreme top end of our municipal pay scale," Norfolk County Police Services Board Chair Peter Hellyer said, noting his community of 60,000 people is paying $1 million more for the same exact same police service it had last year, putting Norfolk's total police budget to $14 million.
"You don't really have any choice. It's the difference between having to pay and wanting to pay," he said. "Almost every police officer in Norfolk County will be on the 'sunshine list' this year, which means they'll make over $100,000 a year."
OPP salaries negotiated by the province
In Wellington County, Warden Chris White said his community is also struggling to make room in their budget for the extra $1.2 million needed to pay for the 120 OPP officers who patrol the area.
"It's a big chunk of dough," he said. "Municipalities' budgets are stretched across the board on everything. This is just one more item and in the case of Wellington County this is a large item."
White added his community pays $20 million dollars a year for OPP service. Wellington is among the 334 communities that use the provincial police force to keep the peace.
The communities negotiate their own contracts for police service, but how much each individual officer is paid is out of their control since it's negotiated by the province.
White said it's forcing his community to focus on what it can control when its contract with the OPP ends this year.
"We will be taking a good hard look at the number of officers because at the end of the day we can't control the wages, that's negotiated at the provincial level and this is a big, big chunk of our budget."
Union says cities had fair warning
While the 8.5 per cent raise for OPP officers is straining the balance books of some local governments, it doesn't come as a surprise, according to Jim Christie, the President of the Ontario Provincial Police Association.
"It is obviously is a large salary increase, which the municipalities would be rightly concerned about," he told The Morning Edition host Craig Norris Friday, "this pay increase has been well-documented and well-explained to the municipalities."
"They would know they would have to plan for this."
OPP officers were among the thousands public servants working for the province who had their wages frozen for two years under Premier Dalton McGuinty, when his government attempted to bring in a regimen of fiscal restraint in 2010.
"We accepted zero per cent pay increases for 2012 and 2013 with an understanding that in 2014, which we're seeing now, the OPP officers and civilian members would be brought back up to a level, but not a penny more, of the highest paid police service in Ontario," Christie said.
"It's like buying a TV at Leon's or the Brick. You know, they bought it. The payments have been deferred for three years and now it's time to bring our officers back up to the level they should be." |
A Canadian author was dragged from his bike, tied to a tree and beaten unconscious after publishing a book critical of Islam.
Paris Dipersico was tied to a tree and beaten for writing an anti-Islam book. The Toronto Sun said this may qualify as a hate crime. (Ya think?)
CNews reported, via Free Republic:
Halton police are treating an attack on a first-time author whose self-published book has been branded anti-Muslim as a possible hate crime.
Raised Islamic, Paris Dipersico, 24, reported being dragged from his bicycle Aug. 17, tied up among trees, then beaten briefly unconscious by two Muslim men.
Accused of being gay, they then “called me a Jew in Arabic and said the Jews are paying you to write this against Islam,” the author of Wake Up Call said Thursday.
Dipersico said he also received a “death threat” on his Facebook site, then someone stole files and backup writing discs after breaking into the home he shares with cousin Gabrielle Dipersico — who helped design the book and whose photo is on the cover.
Believing the threat came “from the Middle East,” he said it demanded he remove offensive language.
After treatment for cuts and bruises, Dipersico said on his publisher’s advice, “I’m taking out some of the graphically sexual stuff,” but not the rest. |
Hi everyone, Bryan Here….
More ‘Wet Hot American Summer‘ is coming to Netflix in 2017 with eight new episodes, and is subtitled ‘Ten Years Later‘. I guess they are really going to abide by that scene in the original film where everyone discusses meeting back up ten years later, and then trying to actually schedule a time and date. It was pretty funny. This last series of episodes was entitled ‘First Day of Camp‘ where the original film was set on the last day of summer camp.
I was guessing that each new season would be the following day, making a potential 45 seasons, but I digress. So if the first day of camp was set in 1981, then this should take place in 1991, which should have a whole new feel, look, wardrobe, and music. You can watch the entire scene of the discussion below. Michael Showalter and David Wain will be back again as writers for ‘Ten Years Later‘ with Wain directing again. There is no casting information yet, but I expect everyone to be back once again, along with a ton more cameos and new characters.
I hope they all come back ten years later for a reunion camp counselor retreat in which we still see the can of vegetables still giving advice and an amazing Paul Rudd entrance. Expect Paul Rudd, Janeane Garofalo, David Hyde Pierce, Christopher Meloni, Michael Ian Black, Elizabeth Banks, Amy Poehler, Bradley Cooper, Zak Orth, and Judah Friedlander to be back. Looking forward to this. |
Mika Brzezinski's "due process" remarks begin at the 1:43 mark in the video above
On Monday, “Morning Joe” came to the defense of Rep. John Conyers (D – Michigan), who is facing pressure to resign from Congress after news emerged that he settled a 2015 sexual harassment claim from a female staffer.
The woman said she was fired after declining Conyer’s sexual advances.
However, co-host Mika Brzezinski called for “due process” rather than a hasty rush to judgment about the veteran politician, who has served in the U.S. House since 1965.
Also Read:Mika Brzezinski Blasted for Sounding Alarm on Harassment as 'Morning Joe' Regulars Drop Like Flies
“I think it’s really important that the words due process have come up in this conversation,” said Brzezinski. “This one breaks my heart. It really does.”
Joe Scarborough agreed.
“How shocking, the word ‘due process’ actually enraged some people yesterday,” said Scarborough, referencing an interview given by House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, who also referred to the congressman as an “icon.”
Scarborough and Brzezinski also cited the 88-year-old congressman’s age as a mitigating factor.
Also Read:'Morning Joe' Blasts Bill Clinton Sex Scandals: 'This Is Why We Have Trump' (Video)
The sudden legal parsing from the “Morning Joe” team stands in stark contrast to many on the network who have brushed aside legal trivialities.
Nicolle Wallace, another MSNBC anchor and sexual-harassment Robespierre, has bluntly said she has no interest in the denials of men or any pretense of innocence until proven guilty.
“There won’t be a trial. This is not a criminal situation,” she said earlier this month of the accusations of sexual misconduct against Alabama senate candidate Roy Moore. “We don’t wait for a preponderance of facts, we don’t wait for more evidence. You either believe the women or you don’t.”
Also Read:Roy Moore Accuser Leigh Corfman Blasts Critics of Her Long Silence: 'I Did Tell People' (Video)
Moore, like Conyers, has denied the allegations him.
In recent days, the growing web of sexual harassment allegations in media, politics and entertainment has his “Morning Joe” hard, felling show regular Mark Halperin and — for now — sidelining New York Times reporter Glenn Thrush, who had been a frequent contributor.
You can watch the full passionate Conyers defense above.
Related stories from TheWrap:
Mika Brzezinski Blasted for Sounding Alarm on Harassment as 'Morning Joe' Regulars Drop Like Flies
'Morning Joe' Blasts Bill Clinton Sex Scandals: 'This Is Why We Have Trump' (Video)
'Morning Joe' Promises 'Generation of Fear' for Men as More Women Speak Out (Video)
'Morning Joe' Trolls Trump on Water Bottle Use: 'You Gotta Have Really Big Hands' |
Guardian writers’ predicted position: 4th (NB: this is not necessarily Jamie Jackson’s prediction, but the average of our writers’ tips)
Last season’s position: 7th
Odds to win the league (via Oddschecker): 5-1
King Louis, The Iron Tulip, Manchester United’s saviour. A more appropriate moniker for Louis van Gaal would be ‘the man with broad shoulders’. The Dutchman certainly has a pair and is not bashful of telling everyone about them and that there is also chutzpah, brains and a healthy ego on offer, too.
All of these qualities are required as Van Gaal surveys a squad that still has worrying holes in it ahead of a season in which the team could struggle again. The challenge before Van Gaal is to fix the mess left by David Moyes’s doomed tenure and somehow transform last term’s seventh-place failures to Champions League qualifiers.
This would represent success and the 63-year-old is aware even this will be difficult. United’s players are lining up to claim a 21st title can be won but their manager is markedly not. Van Gaal would never say it publicly but fourth place will do just fine at the close of his inaugural campaign.
Can it happen? The jury remains out until the close of the transfer window as the executive vice-chairman, Ed Woodward, continues the quest to recruit two central defenders, a central midfielder, and at least one player who can play wing-back. The bottom line is that choosing which of Manchester City, Chelsea, Liverpool and Arsenal United can replace is tricky as all have bolstered their ranks impressively this summer.
Louis van Gaal and his new charges. Photograph: guardian.co.uk
The Old Trafford faithful will hope that having no European football will allow United to focus on the league as Liverpool did last year. And that as Brendan Rodgers’ side are now in the Champions League they are one candidate to drop out of the elite four, with the loss of Luis Suárez proving a significant blow. Yet Rodgers has added seven new faces, can draw on last term’s experience of nearly winning the title, and will have a fresher Steven Gerrard following the captain’s retirement from England duty.
With less than a month of the window remaining, Van Gaal has brought in only Luke Shaw and Ander Herrera and each of these were identified by Moyes, before being signed off by the Dutchman. Van Gaal has yet to add one of “his” players to boost options and only the attackers in the potential starting XI convince.
Juan Mata, as the No10, and the strikers Robin van Persie and Wayne Rooney (with Danny Welbeck a deputy), in Van Gaal’s proposed 3-4-1-2 (or 5-2-1-2) system are high-class operators. Yet even here there are issues. Shinji Kagawa may be an obvious and worthy competition to Mata yet Van Gaal is unsure regarding the Japanese player and has already mentioned he wanted to “try him as a No6 or No8”.
While Rooney is a natural No10 so can perform there, how fit will Van Persie be throughout the season? Perhaps his close relationship with Van Gaal will have the same effect Van Persie’s respect for Sir Alex Ferguson did in his first United campaign and the forward can remain available more often than not. A counter argument runs that having turned 31 last week and following a long summer captaining Holland to third place at Brazil 2014, Van Persie – and United – may have already enjoyed the best of his career.
Darren Fletcher in action during United’s pre-season tour. Photograph: Mlive.com/Landov/Barcroft Med
But it is in midfield and defence were the alarm bells really ring. This is a two-pronged issue of weak resources and Van Gaal’s decision – yet to be fully explained – to switch to the new formation, which the manager admits “is not easy”. Darren Fletcher’s fine form on the tour of America will have played the Scot into Van Gaal’s thoughts as a worthy squad member but an elite midfielder is still required. Michael Carrick is absent for another 10 weeks due to an ankle injury and Marouane Fellaini is for sale – Napoli are suitors – so Fletcher joins Herrera and Tom Cleverley as the only frontline operators.
Regarding Herrera, 24, Fletcher says: “He’s been fantastic. He has great energy and enthusiasm, his English is quite good, and [he] is a good lad who has settled in really well. He’s a humble kid who wants to learn, but he is going to be a really good player.” Herrera has yet to convince. A good first half in the tour opener against LA Galaxy in Pasadena was followed by three disappointing ones against Roma, Internazionale and Real Madrid.
Cleverley remains an enigma whose career – and progress – has stalled yet is needed because Woodward is again finding it difficult to recruit stellar names. It must surely worry the executive that last summer’s transfer farrago occurred while being able to offer Champions League football. Now, Woodward cannot.
The question marks over midfield are mirrored in central defence and at wing-back where the manager seems to have the most doubt, despite plumping for the new shape himself. Patrice Evra, Nemanja Vidic and Rio Ferdinand all left in the close season and though each were waning forces they are still three senior defenders – and dressing room influences – that are yet to be replaced.
Of the rearguard, which is a five-man affair when teams come at United that features three centre-backs and two wingbacks, the manager admits: “The greatest impact with this system is on the back line. It’s amazing that they have picked up a new system like that, because it’s not new for Mata, for example, he [still] plays in his position. Neither for Rooney, Welbeck, nor the two midfielders.”
Wayne Rooney and Tom Cleverley. Photograph: Adam Holt/Action Images
Whether Ashley Young, Antonio Valencia, the injured Rafael da Silva and Shaw can be effective operators as wing-backs remains to be seen. So far Van Gaal seems content though he mentioned more than once in the US that if results go south a rethink will occur. In Young and Valencia the Dutchman is asking attacking players to become defenders – though the Ecuadorian has filled in as a right-back on occasion – and demanding the opposite of Da Silva and Shaw.
As the sight of full-backs in the modern game bombing forward is hardly a novelty, Da Silva and Shaw may have an easier task than Young and Valencia. Yet the newly arrived Shaw is being put on a pretty steep learning curve as a 19-year-old who is also adjusting to life at the world’s biggest club.
Young is enthusiastic about the challenge, saying: “If you look at the performance overall and all the displays we’ve put on during the tour things have gone well. It’s a new system and a new way to play but everyone has to adapt it and understands the manager’s philosophy. The formation gives us more time to play and more space and we’re all enjoying it.”
There are further issues at centre-back. Van Gaal’s chosen system requires at least five to mediate against injury and loss of form. At the moment, he has only three, in Jonny Evans, the injured Chris Smalling and Phil Jones. With Van Gaal declaring the young defenders Tyler Blackett and Michael Keane not yet mature enough to put in consistent first-team displays, he must search outside the club.
Thomas Vermaelen’s proposed move did not happen and whether Borussia Dortmund’s Mats Hummels, the manager’s No1 target in the position, joins before 1 September is one part of the big question regarding how United fare when they start on 16 August: can Van Gaal strengthen enough to elevate United?
If not, it could be a wearying season. |
GENEVA (Reuters) - Tests have cleared the way for the start-up next month of an experiment to restage a mini-version underground of the “Big Bang” which created the universe 15 billion years ago, the project chief said on Monday.
In this artist's impression provided by the journal Science, swirling clouds of hydrogen and helium gases are illuminated by the first starlight to shine in the universe after the Big Bang. REUTERS/David Aguilar (CfA)/Handout
Lyn Evans of the European Organisation for Nuclear Research (CERN) said weekend trials in the vast underground LHC machine in which the particle-smashing experiment will take place over the coming months and years “went without a hitch”.
“We look forward to a resounding success when we make our first attempt to send a beam all the way round the LHC,” said Evans, who heads the multinational team of scientists that shaped the project and the machine, the Large Hadron Collider.
The final tests involved pumping a single bunch of energy particles from the project’s accelerator into the 27-km (17-mile) beam pipe of the collider and steering them counter- clockwise around it for about 3 kms (2 miles).
Earlier in the month a clockwise trial in the LHC — which runs deep under French and Swiss territory between the Jura mountains and Lake Geneva — had been equally successful, CERN said.
The LHC team now plans to send a full particle beam all the way around the collider pipe in one direction on September 10 as a prelude to sending beams in both directions and smashing them together later in the year.
That collision, in which both particle clusters will be traveling at the speed of light, will be monitored on computers at CERN and laboratories around the world by scientists looking for, among other things, a particle that made life possible.
The elusive particle, which has been dubbed the “Higgs boson” after Scottish physicist Peter Higgs who first postulated nearly 50 years ago that it must exist, is thought to be the mysterious factor that holds matter together.
Recreating a “Big Bang,” which most scientists believe is the only explanation of an expanding universe, ought to show how stars and planets came together out of the primeval chaos that followed, the CERN team believes.
Efforts to track it down in a predecessor to the LHC at CERN, and in another experiment in the United States, failed. But scientists are confident that the vast leap in technologies represented by the LHC will make the difference.
Higgs, a 79-year-old Edinburgh University professor who as an atheist angrily rejects the idea of calling the boson the “God particle” — believes it will show up very quickly once the beams are colliding in the LHC.
“If it doesn’t,” he said during a visit to CERN earlier this year, “I shall be very, very puzzled.” |
Ready to fight back? Sign up for Take Action Now and get three actions in your inbox every week. You will receive occasional promotional offers for programs that support The Nation’s journalism. You can read our Privacy Policy here. Sign up for Take Action Now and get three actions in your inbox every week.
Thank you for signing up. For more from The Nation, check out our latest issue
Subscribe now for as little as $2 a month!
Support Progressive Journalism The Nation is reader supported: Chip in $10 or more to help us continue to write about the issues that matter. The Nation is reader supported: Chip in $10 or more to help us continue to write about the issues that matter.
Fight Back! Sign up for Take Action Now and we’ll send you three meaningful actions you can take each week. You will receive occasional promotional offers for programs that support The Nation’s journalism. You can read our Privacy Policy here. Sign up for Take Action Now and we’ll send you three meaningful actions you can take each week.
Thank you for signing up. For more from The Nation, check out our latest issue
Travel With The Nation Be the first to hear about Nation Travels destinations, and explore the world with kindred spirits. Be the first to hear about Nation Travels destinations, and explore the world with kindred spirits.
Sign up for our Wine Club today. Did you know you can support The Nation by drinking wine?
In November of 1989, as the citizens of East Germany broke through, and then demolished, the Berlin Wall, a 48-year-old socialist in the United States was plotting his next move. After losing a campaign for Vermont’s lone congressional seat in 1988, and choosing not to run for re-election as mayor of Burlington, Vermont, the following year, Bernie Sanders sought shelter, as so many newly unofficed politicians had before him and have since, at Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government, where he taught a course on third-party politics. The Sanders family settled into a mellow Cambridge routine: While his wife, Jane, took some courses at Harvard, and their children attended the Cambridge public schools, Sanders recalls in his recently reissued 1998 memoir, Outsider in the House, “I went to more football games that fall than I had in 20 years, and became addicted to the cinnamon raisin buns at Au Bon Pain at Harvard Square.” Ad Policy
But the former mayor wasn’t just cooling his heels. In an op-ed he wrote for The Harvard Crimson that month, Sanders wrote that watching the dramatic events unfolding abroad—“glasnost; perestroika; free speech; open parliamentary debate televised before millions of viewers; the beginning of organized political opposition to the Communist Party; mass strikes and demonstrations by workers and ethnic minorities; serious publications dealing honestly with the nation’s sordid history which had been covered up for decades by officials lies”—prompted him to consider the need for something similar to happen at home.
Probably because his first name is given in the byline as Bernard, rather than Bernie, the piece has not resurfaced since Sanders announced his presidential campaign. That is unfortunate, because the article suggests a salient metaphor for what his campaign could mean for this country, and what our failure to take advantage of it might augur.
“In my view the time is now for a glasnost in the United States,” Sanders wrote, “a soul searching for our own basic truths, a major debate over our current values, an honest analysis of the real structure of our society and the creation of a mechanism to search out our dreams for the future.”
Glasnost is usually translated into English as “openness,” but Sanders’s description of a collective, society-wide “soul searching” is much closer to the mark. While perestroika (“restructuring”) referred to a series of institutional political and economic transformations that Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev proposed in the late 1980s, glasnost became a signifier for the widespread loosening of censorship rules, travel restrictions, and government secrecy, which ultimately played a role in the end of the Cold War and of the Soviet Union.
Glasnost, as Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev conceived it, was intended to promote a vigorous public debate about the serious problems plaguing society, to expose and disempower corrupt and ineffectual functionaries (the universally derided “apparatchiks”), and to make the government more responsive to the people. In his Harvard Crimson article, Sanders made explicit his belief that glasnost was synonymous with what he now calls “political revolution.”
“Enormous credit must be given to Mikhail Gorbachev and the current leadership of the Soviet Union,” Sanders wrote, “for helping to bring about an extraordinary, non-violent revolution which is forcing citizens of the Soviet Union to rethink, in almost every way, the basic foundations of their nation.”
Without glasnost, Gorbachev believed, there could be no perestroika; without a popular outpouring of anger and dissent, the powerful and the privileged, those who profited from the status quo, would continue to block the thoroughgoing systemic reforms he had proposed. Similarly, Sanders acknowledges that the sweeping political changes necessary for making the United States a more just and equal nation are impossible—he is, indeed, that much-abused word, “unelectable”—without a groundswell of support among the marginalized and the disillusioned. “In my view the time is now for a glasnost in the United States,” Sanders wrote.
With increasing access to the outside world, Soviet citizens in the 1980s became aware of how profoundly their government was failing them. Throughout his campaign, Sanders has broken the taboo against politicians telling Americans how far they lag behind other developed countries in terms of providing education, healthcare, and employment benefits—indeed, in general satisfaction with life.
Under glasnost, Soviet citizens were permitted for the first time to openly discuss and acknowledge the darker episodes in the country’s past; similarly, it was refreshing to hear a leading candidate for the presidency of the United States acknowledge in October that the country was “founded…from way back, on racist principles.”
In the Harvard Crimson piece, Sanders suggested “four issues (out of many) at the heart of our existence as a nation which, within the context of an American Glasnost…need to be discussed vigorously…wherever Americans come together.” These are the four questions he raised:
Do we need radical changes in our economic system to provide a fairer distribution of wealth and economic decision-making?
How do we create a real democracy in which the average citizen has the opportunity to vote in elections in which meaningful choices are presented? Further, how do we create a political climate in which citizens play an active role in the affairs of their community?
Do we need a new political party in this country which represents the interests of working people, poor people, minorities, women, environmentalists, peace activists and all people who are not being adequately represented by the Democratic and Republican parties?
How can we create a media in this country which allows for a wide diversity of viewpoints, when ownership of the media is currently in the hands of very wealthy and powerful corporations which are primarily concerned with protecting their own economic interests?
With the not-insignificant exception of the third, these are the same questions that Sanders is raising today. Help The Nation raise $200,000 by 12/31! Your gift will be matched! Donate Today
Obviously, before glasnost, political discussion in the Soviet Union was much more restricted than it is in the United States today. Yet, as Sanders noted in the 1989 op-ed, the absence of overt censorship does not mean that the most fundamental issues are debated in the mainstream media with the seriousness they demand. “If the citizens of our country believe that this nation does not exist under the blanket of the Big Lie,” he wrote, “they are sorely mistaken. We are told every day by the politicians and the media how ‘free’ we are. Unfortunately, we are not given the freedom to explore that assertion. We need a glasnost!”
To some extent, Bernie Sanders’s presidential campaign has already prompted the “soul searching” he called for more than a quarter-century ago. But if the glasnost he represents is not followed by the serious structural reforms he says we need, might our Union meet the same fate as the other? |
“Stories,” Neil Gaiman asserted in his wonderful lecture on what makes stories last, “are genuinely symbiotic organisms that we live with, that allow human beings to advance.” But what is the natural selection of these organisms — what makes the ones that endure fit for survival? What, in other words, makes a great story?
That’s what the great Harvard psychologist Jerome Bruner (October 1, 1915–June 6, 2016), who revolutionized cognitive psychology and pioneered the modern study of creativity in the 1960s, explores in his 1986 essay collection Actual Minds, Possible Worlds (public library).
In an immensely insightful piece titled “Two Modes of Thought,” Bruner writes:
There are two modes of cognitive functioning, two modes of thought, each providing distinctive ways of ordering experience, of constructing reality. The two (though complementary) are irreducible to one another. Efforts to reduce one mode to the other or to ignore one at the expense of the other inevitably fail to capture the rich diversity of thought. Each of the ways of knowing, moreover, has operating principles of its own and its own criteria of well-formedness. They differ radically in their procedures for verification. A good story and a well-formed argument are different natural kinds. Both can be used as means for convincing another. Yet what they convince of is fundamentally different: arguments convince one of their truth, stories of their lifelikeness. The one verifies by eventual appeal to procedures for establishing formal and empirical proof. The other establishes not truth but verisimilitude. […] A story (allegedly true or allegedly fictional) is judged for its goodness as a story by criteria that are of a different kind from those used to judge a logical argument as adequate or correct.
Bruner notes that the Western scientific and philosophical worldview has been largely concerned with the question of how to know truth, whereas storytellers are concerned with the question of how to endow experience with meaning — a dichotomy Hannah Arendt addressed brilliantly more than a decade earlier in her 1973 Gifford Lecture on thinking vs. knowing and the crucial difference between truth and meaning. One could go even further and argue, after Walter Benjamin, that the product of the analytical mode is information, whereas the product of storytelling is wisdom.
Bruner calls these two contrasting modes the paradigmatic or logico-scientific, characterized by a mathematical framework of analysis and explanation, and the narrative. Each, he argues, is animated by a different kind of imagination:
The imaginative application of the paradigmatic mode leads to good theory, tight analysis, logical proof, sound argument, and empirical discovery guided by reasoned hypothesis. But paradigmatic “imagination” (or intuition) is not the same as the imagination of the novelist or poet. Rather, it is the ability to see possible formal connections before one is able to prove them in any formal way. The imaginative application of the narrative mode leads instead to good stories, gripping drama, believable (though not necessarily “true”) historical accounts. It deals in human or human-like intention and action and the vicissitudes and consequences that mark their course. It strives to put its timeless miracles into the particulars of experience, and to locate the experience in time and place. […] In contrast to our vast knowledge of how science and logical reasoning proceed, we know precious little in any formal sense about how to make good stories. Perhaps one of the reasons for this is that story must construct two landscapes simultaneously. One is the landscape of action, where the constituents are the arguments of action: agent, intention or goal, situation, instrument, something corresponding to a “story grammar.” The other landscape is the landscape of consciousness: what those involved in the action know, think, or feel, or do not know, think, or feel.
Bruner considers the singular landscape of narrative:
Narrative deals with the vicissitudes of human intentions. And since there are myriad intentions and endless ways for them to run into trouble — or so it would seem — there should be endless kinds of stories. But, surprisingly, this seems not to be the case. […] We would do well with as loose fitting a constraint as we can manage concerning what a story must “be” to be a story. And the one that strikes me as most serviceable is the one with which we began: narrative deals with the vicissitudes of intention.
But this matter of intention remains forever mediated by the reader’s interpretation. What young Sylvia Plath observed of poetry — “Once a poem is made available to the public,” she told her mother, “the right of interpretation belongs to the reader.” — is true of all art and storytelling, whatever the medium. Bruner considers how the psychology of this interpretation factors into the question of what makes a great story:
It will always be a moot question whether and how well a reader’s interpretation “maps” on an actual story, does justice to the writer’s intention in telling the story, or conforms to the repertory of a culture. But in any case, the author’s act of creating a narrative of a particular kind and in a particular form is not to evoke a standard reaction but to recruit whatever is most appropriate and emotionally lively in the reader’s repertory. So “great” storytelling, inevitably, is about compelling human plights that are “accessible” to readers. But at the same time, the plights must be set forth with sufficient subjunctivity to allow them to be rewritten by the reader, rewritten so as to allow play for the reader’s imagination. One cannot hope to “explain” the processes involved in such rewriting in any but an interpretive way, surely no more precisely, say, than an anthropologist “explains” what the Balinese cockfight means to those who bet on it… All that one can hope for is to interpret a reader’s interpretation in as detailed and rich a way as psychologically possible.
This essential “subjunctivity” is the act of designating a mood for the story. “To be in the subjunctive mode,” Bruner explains, means “to be trafficking in human possibilities rather than in settled certainties.” Out of this drive toward unsettled possibilities arises the ultimate question of “how a reader makes a strange text his own,” a question of “assimilating strange tales into the familiar dramas of our own lives, even more than transmuting our own dramas in the process” — something Bruner illustrates brilliantly with an exchange between Marco Polo and Kublai Khan from Italo Calvino’s masterwork Invisible Cities, which takes place after Marco Polo describes a bridge stone by stone:
“But which is the stone that supports the bridge?” Kublai Khan asks. “The bridge is not supported by one stone or another,” Marco answers, “but by the line of the arch that they form.” Kublai Khan remains silent, reflecting. Then he adds: “Why do you speak to me of the stones? It is only the arch that matters to me.” Polo answers: “Without stones there is no arch.”
Bruner extracts from this an allegory of the key to great storytelling:
But still, it is not quite the arch. It is, rather, what arches are for in all the senses in which an arch is for something — for their beautiful form, for the chasms they safely bridge, for coming out on the other side of crossings, for a chance to see oneself reflected upside down yet right side up. So a reader goes from stones to arches to the significance of arches is some broader reality — goes back and forth between them in attempting finally to construct a sense of the story, its form, its meaning. As our readers read, as they begin to construct a virtual text of their own, it is as if they were embarking on a journey without maps — and yet, they possess a stock of maps that might give hints, and besides, they know a lot about journeys and about mapmaking. First impressions of the new terrain are, of course, based on older journeys already taken. In time, the new journey becomes a thing in itself, however much its initial shape was borrowed from the past. The virtual text becomes a story of its own, its very strangeness only a contrast with the reader’s sense of the ordinary. The fictional landscape, finally, must be given a “reality” of its own — the ontological step. It is then that the reader asks that crucial interpretive question, “What’s it all about?” But what “it” is, of course, is not the actual text — however great its literary power — but the text that the reader has constructed under its sway. And that is why the actual text needs the subjunctivity that makes it possible for a reader to create a world of his own.
Bruner concurs with Barthes’s conviction that the writer’s greatest gift to the reader is to help her become a writer, then revises it to clarify and amplify its ambition:
The great writer’s gift to a reader is to make him a better writer.
Actual Minds, Possible Worlds is a remarkable read in its totality, exploring the psychological realities of language, thought and emotion, and the self. Complement this particular portion with Susan Sontag on the task of storytelling, Oliver Sacks on its curious psychology, and Martha Nussbaum on how it remaps our interior lives, then revisit Bruner on creative wholeness, art as a mode of knowing, and the six essential conditions for creativity. |
Messenger has 900 million monthly active users, says Zuckerberg, and it's also the second most popular app on iOS globally. Further, there are 50 million businesses on it and over 1 billion messages sent every month. Head of Messenger David Marcus announced that the beta version of Messenger Platform is going live today so that developers can get started on creating bots for the chat app. Devs can incorporate "special bubbles" in Messenger that have unique images, buttons or calls to action.
Marcus showed a demo of a spring shopping app that guided him through buying a pair of shoes, where he could pick out the kinds of shoes and even get an order-confirmation update. He also showed off a Poncho weather bot that gives humorous conversational-style updates on the weather. Importantly, he pointed out that users can block messages from bots anytime they want if they've had enough. This is especially important given that Facebook is experimenting with allowing sponsored messages from a small number of businesses -- you're able to mute and block messages you don't want to receive.
How do you find out about these bots? Well, Messenger will now have a persistent search bar at the top of the app. Also when you have your cursor in the search field, Messenger will auto-populate several bot suggestions based on your preferences or what it thinks you might like.
What's even more interesting is that along with this new Platform, Messenger is also leveraging its learnings from M, its' AI-powered personal assistant. Developers will now have access to the same wit.ai bot engine that powers M, hence allowing for more complex conversations beyond just the usual phone tree chatter. |
Karben4 Kraziness, Fresh Releases, and More!
Wednesday, October 22th 2014 Dear Ray's Craft Beer Lovers, It's going to be a great week in the Ray-borhood! Karben4 is coming to town this Saturday to show off their new, Growler Gallery proprietary IPA called RAY-ley's Comet, CT Melm's will be stopping by this Thursday (tomorrow!) for a meet and greet in the Gallery, and if that's not enough a whole slew of seasonal gems are popping up daily downstairs! There's lots of good stuff packed into this week's newsletter, so lets just jump in!
Cheers, -Kaleb, Uncle Ray & the Gang PS: As I'm writing the newsletter this morning, a BUNCH of great beer just got delivered, so swing by Facebook and Twitter later to see all the goodies! Things in this Newsletter: Weyerbacher Imperial Pumpkin 3 Sheeps Harvest Ale Destihl Here Gose Nothing Goings on in the Growler Gallery Save the Dates! Weyerbacher Imperial Pumpkin
It's that time of year and pumpkin beers are everywhere. But with a whole plethora to choose from, which one should you use to celebrate the season? I personally tend to gravitate towards the big, rich, and hearty pumpkin brews with a serious spice component to them. And this one definitely fits the bill. Weyerbabcher's Imperial Pumpkin Ale clocks in at over 8% ABV (but it is well hidden) and is layered with luscious malts and rich spices. It pours out a burnt umber color and is capped off by a pillowy, white head that settles, leaving behind light lacing. The aroma is predominantly of spice and chewy caramel with a hint of baked pumpkin. It starts off with a strong ale flavor and malty sweetness that transitions into a spicy mid-palate of cinnamon, nutmeg, and cloves. The spices follow through into the finish and are backed by a light presence of baked pumpkin. It finishes dry, but with enough pumpkin pie spice to keep you coming back for more. 3 Sheeps Harvest Ale
This beer has three good things going for it: it is fresh, Fresh, FRESH! Oh, and the fresh hops came from a local farm, so I guess that's four good things! And when I say fresh, I mean it. Bottles were just delivered this morning at 9:28am after being shipped down from the brewery. Not only are the bottles fresh, but what went into the bottles was super fresh as well! When I was chatting with James and Grant from the brewery, they talked about how they got the centennial hops for this beer from a local farm and tossed them into the beer within 24 hours of harvesting! The beer is rich amber in color with an off-white head and light lacing. Its aroma is bready and biscuity with a healthy heaping of hops that are grassy, piney, and slightly citrusy. The hefty malt backbone supports the hops with enough sweetness to balance out the bitterness. This beer drinks beautifully and is another solid release from the boys up in Sheboygan! #freshisbest Destihl's Wild Sour 'Here Gose Nothing'
When we received this beer last week we didn't exactly know what we were getting ourselves into. We knew that Destihl crafts world-class sours, but haven't had a chance to try any of them because they've never made it north of the Illinois border before. So when this bright green can rolled in off the truck, all of the beer dudes immediately swarmed into the back room and cracked into a can. Oh. My. I'm a sucker for a good sour and this one blew me away. This is the first offering in the "Wild Sour Series" called "Here Gose Nothing". It was brewed in the style of a Leipzig Gose that incorporates salt and coriander to craft this old-world style sour. The aroma is beautifully tart with zested lemons and backed by a subtle herbal quality from the coriander. It drinks clean and crisp with a full mouthfeel, which benefits from an addition of oats (the traditional gose is made with at least 50% wheat in the malt bill, but I'm not sure what went into this one). There is a nice minerality mid-palate from the salt that is quickly squeegee'd off of the tongue by sharp acidity. It is so thirst quenching and refreshing that I think I found my new favorite summer beer... and fall beer... and winter beer... Who am I kidding, this is going to be one of my year-round fridge staples. This is just the first release in a series of some great sours. So keep on the look out for these other colorful cans! Goings on in Ray's Growler Gallery LLC www.raysgrowlergallery.com
Get your fresh news about the freshest beer! C.T. Melms Meet and Greet Thursday, October 23rd from 5-8ish
Milwaukee's oldest brewery is back and they are coming to Ray's Growler Gallery to show off their first two beers! This Milwaukee legend (you can read up on all the history here ) is being revived by a bunch of beer loving dudes, including local legend and homebrewing hero Brian Joas. Many of you will know Brian from his involvement with Beer Barons or his course for the Beer Judge Certification Program (being a Grand Master Judge himself means he knows a lil' bit about beer).
Their two current releases, Walker's Point Wheat and Czech Mate Imperial Pale Lager, have been fan favorites in the Gallery. Brian will be here, showing off these first two creations and answering any burning questions you might have about beer, brewing, or the history of beer in Milwaukee.
So drink local. Love Wisconsin beer. And support the resurgence of Milwaukee craft!
Pints and flights will also be available! So come and hang out and enjoy a bunch of great brews with like-minded beer lovers! Karben4 RAY-ley's Comet IPA Unveiling Saturday, October 25th (this Saturday) starting at 11am
Karben4 already crafts one of the best IPAs in the state with their Fantasy Factory, but they just took their hop game to the next level! They crafted a new batch of an IPA that features the new, experimental hop 'Comet'! To celebrate this beautiful, bitter brew, the folks from Karben4 are going to come out to the Gallery and kick things off in grand fashion! So come grab some great Karben4 brews and meet the dudes who crafted your new favorite IPA! Cheers, and see you there!
For the full draft list and pricing for the Karben4 event, please visit www.raysgrowlergallery.com on the day of. Save the Date! These are two days that you definitely want to mark on your calendar! An Unmissable Beer Dinner
Hosted by Kyle Cherek at The Rumpus Room
Wednesday, November 5th at 6:30pm
Once an understated source of beer and comfort food, gastropubs have become a national dining trend. Join Kyle Cherek, host of Wisconsin Foodie, for a dynamic evening of food and stories, tracing how a London pub and a handful of progressive young chefs turned simple, British pub cooking on its ear and inspired a dining trend so popular it bridged the Atlantic. Enjoy a delicious four-course dinner by Executive Chef Guy Davies, complete with beer pairings at The Rumpus Room, one of Milwaukee's foremost gastropubs.
or
Visit the Website Here To reserve your seat please call: 414.292.0100or Solemn Oath Gallery Gala and Halloween Party! Save
10%
Off -Weyerbacher Imperial Pumpkin 4 Packs
-3 Sheeps Nimble Lips #4 Harvest Ale 22oz
-Destihl Here Gose Nothing 4 Packs Offer Expires: Wednesday, October 29th at 9pm Thanks again for subscribing to and reading Ray's craft beer newsletter. If you have any questions, comments, or suggestions, please feel free to email me at [email protected].
Lastly, for up to the minute beer arrivals and release information, be sure to follow us on Twitter and Facebook.
Cheers!
Kaleb & the gang at Ray's |
Spread the love
“‘She wasn’t bitten, she was mauled.”
Cassandra Rules
July 22, 2014
Irene Collins, an elderly cancer patient of Middlesbrough has died over the weekend, after being attacked by an out of control Cleveland police K9 last Wednesday night.
The police had a heavy presence in her neighborhood that evening and were going door to door searching for an escaped alleged drug dealer.
Neighbors of the ill grandmother reportedly warned the officers she was frail and in bad condition. They went to her door to disturb her anyway.
The dog attacked the woman in her kitchen as she was leading the officers to her back yard.
One neighbor told the Daily Mail, ‘She wasn’t bitten, she was mauled. A relative told me the dog had punctured and broken her arm, ripped her other arm, and then managed to bite off her calf muscle after it had been restrained.’
The department has issued a statement saying:
“The police dog involved has been withdrawn from operational policing activities and support is being provided to the police officer who was handling the dog at the time of the event. We are committed to learning any lessons that may arise from the investigation and the daily use of police dogs remains operationally important in reducing crime and disorder and protecting the public. Our dogs are trained and licensed for use in accordance with national police guidance.”
This is why it is very important to never consent to a search, or let police into your home, even if you have done nothing wrong and have nothing to hide.
Please watch and share this video on how to handle police at your door, especially with any vulnerable loved ones you may have. |
Artist: Spheric Universe Experience
From: Nice, France
Song: "The New Eve"
Album: The New Eve
RIYL: Vanden Plas, Circus Maximus, Dream Theater
About the band:
The early beginning of 1999 Spheric Universe Experience began when guitarist Vince Benaim decided to create a progressive metal band with a few friends. In summer of 2004 S.U.E. signed a worldwide record deal with French label Replica Records. An American license was also inked with Nightmare Records. In 2007 S.U.E. released Anima , a strong follow up to their debut and saw the band at two ProgPower festivals. The band issued their third album, Unreal , in May 2009. S.U.E.'s upcoming album, The New Eve , finds the group taking yet another huge step forward creating one of the most compelling melodic prog-metal releases of 2012, bringing freshness again to the ever expanding genre.
Listen to 'The New Eve'
"This song is our way to mix "prog 'n' roll" riffs, SUE-style melodies and heavy sections, along with a special message about nowadays women," says the band about the track.
Spheric Universe Experience's fourth album, The New Eve , will hit stores on Sept. 11 via Nightmare Records. Pre-order the album on Amazon today! |
French Parliament (they, being French, spell it Parlement.)
Once again, libertarians miss the point. LewRockwell.com is complaining about the new surveillance law in France.
Unlike most Americans, who merely shrug at DC’s totalitarianism, France’s subjects vehemently condemn their government’s assault on freedom and privacy. And the worst insult they can hurl is to compare this legislation to–you guessed it–the USSA’s Patriot Act: “Pierre-Olivier Sur, the head of the Paris bar association” said that the bill will “put in place a sort of Patriot Act concerning the activities of each and everyone.”
Others compare the measure to that of another repressive regime: Russia. “‘The requirement that the Internet companies use the black boxes is a requirement that Russia has as well,’ said Cynthia Wong, a lawyer and senior Internet researcher at Human Rights Watch… . She was referring to the devices the [French] government plans to use to collect data from Internet companies.”
So there you have it. A country founded on the premise that “all men…are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights” has become a byword for oppression and surveillance, even in socialist, bureaucratic France. |
Italian star Andrea Pirlo will sign with New York City FC of Major League Soccer next week, a source with knowledge of the deal told ESPN Deportes' Roberto Abramowitz.
The MLS expansion franchise plan to annouce the deal on either Wednesday or Thursday, the source said.
Pirlo, 36, will sign an 18-month contract with NYCFC, taking him through the 2016 season, with an additional option for 2017, according to the source.
The midfielder will being training with the team on July 21 and be eligible to make his debut on July 26 when NYCFC hosts fellow expansion side Orlando City at Yankee Stadium.
Pirlo has won the Serie A title with Juventus in all four of his seasons there after playing 10 years for AC Milan. He won the 2006 World Cup with Italy.
Earlier on Saturday, ESPN FC reported that it was only a matter of time before Pirlo put pen to paper on an MLS contract.
Andrea Pirlo will complete his move to Major League Soccer next week, a source tells ESPN.
He has one year left on his contract at Juventus but is very close to Bianconeri president Andrea Agnelli, who would not stand in Pirlo's way if he wanted to join MLS this summer, especially as the Italian champions have already signed Sami Khedira as a possible midfield replacement.
Pirlo will be NYCFC's third Designated Player. He'll join former Chelsea legend Frank Lampard in the midfield and give the club a trio of European stars with Spanish striker David Villa also on the books.
Pirlo attended the Yankees' Old-Timers' Day celebrations last Saturday before going on holiday in Miami.
Speaking on Thursday, MLS commissioner Don Garber was hesitant to confirm any pending deals when asked about Pirlo.
"I don't want to spend a lot of time talking about a player that I don't know will be here," Garber said.
"Clearly [Pirlo's] a world-class player who just played in the Champions League final. He's a legend. I'm not gonna worry about rating him or talking about him until he makes a decision and New York City makes a decision as to whether or not he's gonna be here." |
Ministry: A third of Romanian schools do not have indoor toilets
Around 30% of the schools in Romania do not have indoor toilets, according to an Education Ministry document outlining a strategy to modernize the local educational infrastructure.
The situation affects a total of 2,200 schools and over 230,000 students nationwide, Mediafax reported. The same document notes the difference between rural and urban areas in this respect: 38% of the schools in rural areas are confronted with this situation, compared to 7% of the schools in cities.
The absence of indoor toilets in schools is more frequent in the Moldova region of Romania, especially in the north-east counties of Vaslui and Botosani. Both counties are part of Romania’s North-East Development Region, which is also one of the five poorest in the European Union.
One in three students in the counties of Vaslui and Botosani do not have access to indoor toilets, while one in four have the same problem in the counties of Vrancea and Teleorman, in southern Romania.
At the same time, 56% of the students in Romania learn in overcrowded schools, even though in urban areas 46% of the schools have vacant places, according to Education Ministry data. A total of 10% of the educational units in the country are overcrowded, while 60% of them have unoccupied places.
Only 30% of local schools run at an adequate capacity. In urban areas, 14.5% of schools do not have enough places, compared to 8.8% in rural areas faced with this situation. High schools tend to be the most overcrowded, as 14% of them have an insufficient capacity in relation to the school population. Only 2.4% of the primary schools encounter this problem.
The Education Ministry warned that the quality of the school infrastructure impacts the students’ results.
The strategy on the modernization of the education infrastructure, covering the 2017-2023 period, is under public consultation until November 16.
[email protected] |
Hi! Hi!
Today we are happy to share with you photos from recent PilsenKit exhibition. This time it was in a different place, so everyone was wondering how it will be. I can say that hall now is roomier and can fit more models with people. :) The only thing which might be improved - amount of sellers, because this time kits choice wasn't that big. Nevertheless, you are here for the photos, so enjoy.
Привет!
Сегодня мы рады поделиться с вами фото с прошедшей выставки PilsenKit. В этот раз она прошла в другом месте, поэтому каждому было интересно, как всё выйдет. Могу сказать, что помещение теперь более просторное и может вместить больше моделей с моделистами. :) Единственное, что хотелось бы улучшить - количество продавцов, потому что выбор моделей был небольшим. Тем не менее, вы явно пришли сюда за фото, поэтому не буду вас задерживать.
Не забудьте поставить лайк нашей странице Facebook, чтобы вовремя получать свежие статьи . |
Here’s Jackson County (Mississippi) Sheriff Mike Byrd on April 29 of this year, helping lead a local National Day of Prayer event:
The [National Day of Prayer] observance for Jackson County-Pascagoula is set for 11:30 a.m. at the Jackson County Courthouse in Pascagoula. Praise and worship music begins at 11:30 a.m., and the prayer ceremony begins at noon. The program should run approximately 50-minutes. … Praise and worship will be provided by Scott Capers and Church At The Square praise team. Guest soloists include Charlotte Watts, vocalist and music director at Central Elementary School, Rev. John White, music minister at First Baptist Church Pascagoula and Sheriff Mike Byrd.
And here’s Jackson County Sheriff Mike Byrd as of late last week:
A south Mississippi sheriff has been indicted on 31 counts, including charges accusing him of pushing an arrest in a murder case, even though a detective thought the suspect was innocent, and of snooping on employees at a restaurant that refused to accept a check from him. The indictment against longtime Jackson County Sheriff Mike Byrd was dated Thursday and made public Friday. It charges him with using his office to retaliate against people he considered political and personal foes, including the police chief and a city alderman in Ocean Springs, one of the cities in Jackson County. The charges include fraud, extortion, embezzlement, witness tampering and perjury.
Jesus may forgive him… in his mind… but, thankfully, we have more powerful forces here on earth.
(Thanks to Greg for the link!) |
After teasing the Internet with a poorly-worded Twitter announcement earlier in the week, Tesla Motors CEO Elon Musk this evening unveiled a new optional powertrain configuration for the entire line of the company's flagship Model S sedans: dual motors, powering all four wheels.
After making a few good-natured jokes about how he recently received a crash-course in the colloquial meaning of "the D," Musk kicked off the event by having a factory robot hoist an all-wheel drive Model S frame up from beneath the stage. USA Today jumped the gun with their announcement summary, and the report proved accurate. All-wheel drive will be an available option on all Model S trim levels and the new top-end P85D version will have a 0-60 time of 3.2 seconds. It will also feature a small increase in range, to 275 miles, over its rear-wheel drive predecessor.
Standard Model S sedans have until now all featured a single rear motor slung between and slightly behind the car’s rear axle, powering the rear wheels only; the new "D" models will add a second motor between the two front wheels. The new models will have a "D" suffix added to their model, so the entry-level Model S with the 60 kWh battery and all-wheel drive would be the "60D," and the top-end P85 performance model would become the "P85D."
The addition of a second motor to the mix obviously gives the cars surer footing in the wet and on ice. This is a big asset considering the accelerated sales rates of Tesla vehicles in northerly climates—like Norway, where Model S buyers get an enormous tax break for purchasing the electric car. The extra motor benefits the car in other ways besides simply giving all-wheel-drive stability, too: the top-end P85D is faster than even the P85 performance model, too—according to Tesla, the P85D turns in 0-60 mph times of 3.2 seconds, shaving a full second off of the P85+ model’s 0-60 time. Musk said the addition of the second motor will give the D models "half again" as much power as the rear-wheel drive versions. According to Musk, the high performance models will have three driving modes available to choose from: "normal," "sport," and "insane."
A second motor means more power consumption, too, but Musk said that the efficiencies designed into the new drivetrain actually yields an increase in range rather than a decrease. The car will dynamically shift power between the front and rear drive wheels, which Musk says allows the car to propel itself forward with the maximum amount of efficiency for any given speed. The maximum EPA-rated range of the rear-wheel drive 85 kWh models is 265 miles, but the all-wheel drive D variant ekes out an additional 10 miles of range. Based on our hundreds of miles of hands-on time with a Model S last October, we can say that spirited driving can drastically reduce that maximum range number—and adding a second motor and even more acceleration into the mix will almost certainly invite a heavier foot on the accelerator pedal.
But a second motor wasn't all that Musk announced this evening—semi-automous driving enhancements are also on the menu. Musk says that they have "accelerated autopilot," and that all Model S cars produced within the past two weeks has the necessary hardware to support the new "autopilot" features. This hardware includes forward-looking radar, image-recognition cameras, and 360-degree ultrasonic sonar. All these gizmos will give the Model S the ability to read speed limit signs and cruise at whatever the road's limit happens to be, along with the ability to automatically change lanes when a driver indicates with the car's turn signal. The updated autopilot package will also include standard driver assistance tools like lane departure warnings, adaptive cruise control, and automated braking.
Musk also said that the updated autopilot technology will allow the Model S to self-park, parallel parking by itself or even pulling itself automatically into your garage. He also teased that on "private property" (or at least not on public roads), an autopilot-equipped Model S would even be able to pull out of a garage and navigate to where you're waiting for it to pick you up—evoking images of Michael Keaton's Batmobile. You could even, Musk explained, program it to meet you at your doorstep at a certain time every day with the AC running and your favorite music already queued up to play.
The new autopilot functions bring with it a new interface, with the dashboard's central display ditching the round speedometer wheel and instead showing the car's speed and indications of what the sensors are detecting around the vehicle (other cars, obstacles, and so on). The car's electromechanical steering will actively resist being steered into other objects, too. Musk said that the force can be overcome if you try, but the car will push against the driver trying to send it into a collision.
Just last week, Musk told CNN in an interview that he wanted Tesla cars to be "90 percent" self-driving by the end of next year; these automation features help put the company’s products on course to hit that goal. Between the cars’ inbuilt GPS positional awareness and the new features, the majority of the tools necessary for self-driving would now in place. Musk said that the vehicles aren't yet capable of fully autonomous driving, but that is the eventual goal.
The 85 kWh version will be available for delivery in December, while the 60D and P85D models will begin delivery in February. The 60D and 85D will carry a $4,000 price premium over their read-wheel drive variants, while the top P85D adds $14,600 to the P85's already high $93,400 base price. Autopilot is rolled into the technology package, which is a $4,250 option. A stripped 60D with no options beyond the base configuration will cost $75,070, while a fully kitted out P85D with every option except for winter tires will cost $137,720 (both prices are without incentives and before taxes).
Musk didn’t have anything substantive to say about Tesla’s upcoming crossover SUV, the Model X, or the $35,000 Model 3 due out in 2017. Rumors have been swirling that the Model X will have a substantially altered appearance from the prototype and demonstration versions of the vehicle that have been revealed so far, but this evening’s event was focused solely on "the D." |
Happy Holidays! It may still be September, but the Fold is looking mighty scary! Patch 1.9 was released today with so many changes so let me esplain. No, there is too much. Let me sum up.
new hero
Phinn saunters slowly into the Fold slowly like a spun-up SAW. Did I mention he’s slow? Despite his slowness, he’s sure to be some stiff competition. A new support tank, Phinn will definitely change up the meta with his kit.
Unstoppable (Heroic Perk) – He can’t be stunned! Stuns are converted into Slows, and slows are reduced to a maximum of 30%. Try and stop him! He also gains bonus armor, shield, and health (15% of his items). He is the tankiest hero we have seen so far.
(Heroic Perk) – He can’t be stunned! Stuns are converted into Slows, and slows are reduced to a maximum of 30%. Try and stop him! He also gains bonus armor, shield, and health (15% of his items). He is the tankiest hero we have seen so far. Quibble – AOE (Area of Effect) slow in an radius in front of Phinn, at overdrive (at rank five) it becomes a stun with a five second cooldown. With some CDA (Cooldown Acceleration), this can seriously be a game changer.
– AOE (Area of Effect) slow in an radius in front of Phinn, at overdrive (at rank five) it becomes a stun with a five second cooldown. With some CDA (Cooldown Acceleration), this can seriously be a game changer. Polite Company – AOE pull that also provides a barrier of Armor/Shield/Health to any allies within range.
– AOE pull that also provides a barrier of Armor/Shield/Health to any allies within range. Forced Accord – GET OVER HERE! This is Phinn’s defining skill. He throws his anchor, pulling ALL enemies in its path towards him.
Phinn will shake up the meta as he is a strong counter to squishy carries with limited mobility such as Celeste, Skaarf, and Ringo. You simply can’t get away from Phinn. He’s a very strong late game hero as well, as he scales with defensive items. CaptainNeato also mentioned on stream that he’s the first member of a trio of heroes. It should be interesting to see how many people instalock a SUPPORT hero!
skins
We got a new map! Errr… a new map skin! The Fold is glowing an eerie green, with pumpkins, tombstones, and skulls littered everywhere. Be sure to check out some of the cool easter eggs! I won’t spoil them!
Celeste and Petal also got seasonal skins. They are available for a limited time (Until the end of October) and are purchasable via ICE only (1799 ICE each).
We also got two new tiered skins:
Shiro Kage Taka – Tier II
Death Metal Krul – Tier II
I know a certain Krul main who’s name starts with Ady that will be a happy camper today.
Autumn Season and skill tier reset
Your Pre-Season trophy will be finalized as of today. You’ll get to keep it forever in your shiny virtual trophy room! Autumn Season One begins and your current skill tier will be “compressed”. In a nutshell, this means it’ll be lowered by a certain amount (as will everyone else’s).
Breaking news! The compression formula was released by SurpriseBirthday.
(X/2) + 2, where X = your skill tier
EG: Vainglorious Skill Tier 10
(10/2) + 2 = 7
You’ll have three months to climb and attain a new trophy, as well as possible team and guild rewards!
Free Celeste (iOS) and Taka (android)
If you are an iOS player and don’t already own Celeste, you get her for free! Ardan must be pissed, he didn’t raise his daughter to be so cheap. Android users will have to settle for Taka. Sorry Android.
Guilds and teams
For ICE or Glory, you can now create a guild in game! Features include a guild-only chat, prioritizing guild members in your friends list, guild rewards, and a new leveling system. Guilds start at 20 maximum members, but can be increased to 50 by playing games together. You can also create Teams, which have a competitive focus. With a six member maximum, Teams are focused on ranked play. Playing games together ranks up your Team. This is important because the highest ranked teams will actually qualify for real life professional events like VGL and VIPL to win $$$$!
Hero and gameplay changes
Petal
Petal got a complete rework. She now gains 10-40% attack speed whenever her Munions attack a target she marks with a basic attack. To compensate, they reduced her base attack speed to 100% for all levels. Seeds now sprout into Munions automatically after 2.2 seconds, until Petal has three pets. Pets now have ticks of health, just like Fortress’s wolves. Seeds on the ground still provide vision, healing, and defense, but if an enemy walks over a seed it explodes, dealing crystal damage and knocking them backwards. Her range was also nerfed from 7m to 6m. Her new B ability is called Trampoline. Usable only when standing on a seed, Petal will leap in the direction she is facing. This gives Petal a new found mobility she never had before. It’s a step forward in the right direction. There were so many changes in this patch that I don’t think SEMC had enough time to get her numbers right just yet. She’ll be a blast to play with her new mechanics, go enjoy her new kit!
Vox
Another update, another Vox change. His Ult was still too strong, so they changed Reflex block to disable resonance bounces. They also split his Ult into two separate damage waves and increased the cooldown and reduced the Silence duration. To compensate, his A ability now grants 20% more weapon power damage to Vox when overdriven. I foresee a comeback of WP (Weapon Power) Vox with these changes, but CP (Crystal Power) Vox is definitely still viable.
Taka
Taka was dominating the jungle in 1.8, so of course, he gets a nerf. His 20% lifesteal was removed from his heroic perk. Also, his X-Retsu no longer grants three Ki stacks across the board. Instead it grants 1/2/3 stacks as you rank the ability. He does receive one buff to his Kaku ability, which grants him a heal per second for four seconds. However, now you cannot teleport while invisible. It will be interesting to see if Taka will still dominate jungle. I think a shift to WP lane carries may shift the Jungle meta.
Skaarf
Skaarf’s goops now can be lit from other burning goops! Goop train! Choo choo! The smaller of two lizards will continue to be a great lane carry in 1.9.
Ringo
Ringo was overnerfed in 1.8. His Twirling Silver now is a flat six seconds and increases his attack speed from 55% at rank one, to 100% at rank five (was 86%). Ringo will be back in lane as a viable WP carry option. RIP Faith My Left Arm.
Skye
Skye needed some love. She got a HUGE upgrade, and not to her Zettai Ryouiki. Her B ability now resets her A ability, just like SAW. She got reduced cooldowns across the board as well. She can now spam almost all over her abilities, making her very fun to play!
Glaive
WP Glaive was doing too much base damage on his abilities. They shifted his ultimate Bloodsong damage from base damage to a crystal ratio. They also reduced his energy costs on his B ability Twisted Stroke. Glaive will continue to rip arms off of people.
Rona
Rona was also doing a little too much damage. Both of her ratios were tuned down slightly on her B ability Foe Splitter. Her Weapon ratio (70%) now matches her heroic perk ratio of 70%.
Catherine
CP carries beware! Catherine shield now hurts! The biggest change to Catherine is her B ability, Stormguard, now has a CP ratio. On Overdrive, it increases the reflection damage by 25%! Her A ability was tuned slightly with a lower cooldown at max rank, but also a lower stun duration.
items
All of Infusion’s stats now scale for all levels. They were being used too early as a cheap way to gain the early lead and snowball games. How does this change things? Maybe Gadianton will have the answer for us soon. 😉
Stormguard Banner now damages turrets again, but only one Stormguard is effective per team. No more #poopstrat!
Broken Myth now has six stacks of 6%. It takes longer to get to 30%, but now you can gain 36% more crystal damage. It also no longer stacks on turrets or Kraken.
Frostburn got a bug fix where the slow wasn’t increasing with more Crystal Power. Also, the maximum slow was reduced from 40% to 35%.
Piercing spear’s armor piercing was reduced again, from 10% to 8%. They don’t want us stacking too much pierce.
Turrets
Turrets now have a 300 health barrier per second that regenerates up to a max of 600 health if there are no minions or Kraken nearby. This means you can no longer “tank turrets” and plow through them. This is a major change and will make Minion Mines much more important. Lane Minion wave control will also be a thing. You can’t just get an Ace and kill three turrets anymore. This effectively destroys any #poopstrats as well. Minion mines also make Lane minions 15% tankier.
This patch is HUGE, and I’m not talking about Phinn. There were also miscellaneous bug fixes, and more. Read the entire patch notes here. That’s it. I’m done. I’m tired of writing about 1.9. Go play! |
Within the vast Amarr Empire you can peddle in anything from dull agricultural products to slaves and illegal hi-tech wares. Alternatively, you can plot with the Amarr Emperor or the Heirs behind the scenes. Just make sure you're not accidentally crushed by this behemoth of a state. The Remanaquie Federation is the exact opposition of the Amarr Empire. Here, you can wheel and deal as you please. Everything is condoned, even encouraged. The only question is, are you extravagant and decadent enough to make it to the top? The Caldar Empire has only one motto: efficiency. To cut it here you must be willing to follow the rules by the book. But the rewards can be astronomical. Everything the Caldarians do is of the highest quality. Sucker up to them and they'll give you access to the toys of your dreams. The Minmatar Republic is always on the lookout for talented individuals. This is the dream venue for all you clever and ruthless power players. Just remember that the Minmatars consider their promises the same as rubber: not to be broken, but easily bendable.
And then there are the mysterious Jovians. Are they truly human? What is their secret agenda? No one knows but them, but then again, knowledge seems to be what drives them. If it's worth knowing, you can bet the Jovians know. Roaming in their strange-looking ships, using technology far more advanced than everybody else; they truly are the enigma of EVE. But EVE is more than just dealing with the Empires; they're just the top of the iceberg. Underneath it all, at the core of the game, players are dealing with one another. Good or bad relations, nice or nasty - it doesn't matter. The fact that you're competing and cooperating with thousands of other like-minded players, makes EVE more than a game; it's an experience; an alternative reality where you pit your alter-ego against real people all over the world. |
Even the most carefree of pups must grow up eventually.
So, after a few years of study under his sophisticated older brother, it seems that Charlie is finally starting to get serious about his education. One of the things Harley has been trying to get across is an appreciation for the finer things in life.
Life isn’t just about eating as much as you can, as fast as you can! It’s always good to class things up from time to time and learn more about the world around you!
A Perfect Learning Opportunity
As proud brand ambassadors for Full Moon Dog Treats we recently received a package of their latest concoction – a line of gourmet dog treats.
Harley thought that this would be the perfect chance to set up a proper tasting and work on refining Charlie’s palate.
Introducing Full Moon Artisanal Dog Treats
Just like the rest of their products, Full Moon’s Artisinal treats are all natural, grain free and cooked in small batches. They are also sourced right here in the USA. What really sets these treats apart however, is the tantalizing flavor combinations!
Reading through these flavors, you will want to dig in! While they are 100% human grade, they are actually meant for your furry friends instead!
Black Cherry BBQ Beef Jerky
Honey Peach Pork Jerky
Rosemary Apple Chicken Jerky
Mmmmm….getting hungry yet?
Click here to check out these Treats on Amazon!
About Full Moon Pet
Full Moon is a subsidiary of Purdue, a family owned and operated company that has been in the food business for nearly half a century. One look at their mission statement will give you a great idea of just what they represent…
If it’s not good enough for us to eat, it’s not good enough for our pets.
We couldn’t agree more!
Full Moon sources all ingredients right here in America, to keep a close eye on the manufacturing process and better assure quality.
Check out our previous Full Moon Dog treat reviews to learn more about their natural cut jerky dog treats and gourmet chicken treats!
Back to the Artisanal Treats…
Let’s take a quick look at the flavor profiles before Harley lays out the taste test.
Black Cherry BBQ Beef Jerky
These savory treats feature tender beef that has been marinated in black cherry. Not only is this sauce especially tantalizing for dogs, but it is rich in antioxidants as well. Full Moon’s artisanal Beef Jerky treats are moist and easily digestible.
American ranch raised beef
Contains glucosamine and chondroitin which promote joint health
Honey Peach Pork Jerky
Peach marinated pork topped with a drizzle of honey. Are you getting jealous?!!
Cage free pork farm raised in America
Free of corn, wheat, soy and glycerin
Supports healthy skin & coat
Rosemary Apple Chicken Jerky
Tender, rosemary infused chicken with a hint of sweetness from orchard pressed apples.
Cage free chicken farm raised right here in the USA
Glucosamine and Chondroitin
Getting Down to Business – A Feast for the Senses
Harley carefully developed a lesson to teach his little brother how to properly evaluate the quality of a dog treat.
To start things off, one must know how to properly read an ingredient label. This is very important for any dog trying to refine his tastes and sharpen his skills. How can you get better at identifying flavors without knowing what they are?!
Harley made sure to point out that the first ingredient in all of Full Moon’s treats is meat – a lack of fillers is a true sign of quality!
Next, Harley set out all 3 flavors for the visual examination and smell test. He wanted to make sure that Charlie noted the texture and how the treats tear along the natural striations in the meat. Whole muscle meat is exactly what a dog want’s to see!
After careful inspection, Charlie was instructed to move on to the smell test. It is very important for dogs to be able to identify the scent of meat and jerky so as to know when his parents may be hiding something tasty from them. Charlie had a bit of a slip up during this portion of the lesson…instead of simply allowing his nose to fully appreciate the aroma he may have snuck a quick taste of his own!
Next up…the taste test! Both boys were more than ready to explore the last and most critical part of their evaluation. These treats were devoured in no time and both boys gave glowing remarks.
The final objective in the lesson was a blind taste test. Harley wanted to see if his brother had focused enough throughout the lesson to be able to properly identify flavor by smell and taste alone. We selected a strip of Honey Peach Pork Jerky for the test subject.
Harley was very proud of his brother for passing, but upon further review it looks like somebody may have been peeking!
Why MyDogLikes Full Moon Artisanal Dog Treats
It is always fun to spice things up, and we love that Full Moon has found a way to do this while sticking to their impeccable quality standards. As always, these treats are all natural and grain free. They recommend to refrigerate after opening which in our eyes is a great thing. Real food should go bad if it stays out! Anyways, it has been a long time since our fridge and freezer weren’t loaded with dog food or treats of some kind!
So whether your dog is still working on his manners (like Charlie) or already a sophisticated gentleman (like Harley), these may be the perfect gourmet treat for you.
Want to give these treats a try?
Click here to Purchase on Amazon! |
Microsoft already has the rights to the Halo series, and now it's adding another blockbuster to its stable of franchises: Gears of War. The company announced today that it has acquired the rights for the series from developer Epic Games. While no new Gears of War games were announced, development for the series will be handled by Microsoft Studios' Vancouver-based subsidiary Black Tusk Studios. Former series producer Rod Fergusson will be joining Black Tusk to "play a key studio leadership role" on the franchise.
"We hope to be able to share more news about Gears of War later this year."
It appears to be a similar arrangement to when Microsoft acquired the rights for Halo from developer Bungie, and passed development responsibilities off to a newly formed studio called 343 Industries, which went on to launch Halo 4. The deal includes the rights to "all existing and future games, entertainment experiences, and merchandise" in the Gears of War universe. As for when we might see the results of this new partnership, Black Tusk general manager Hanno Lemke says that "We hope to be able to share more news about Gears of War later this year." |
Conservative Republicans and the broader tea party movement have made a cause célèbre out of the little-known Export-Import Bank, which helps U.S. companies sell overseas by guaranteeing loans to foreign purchasers. The business community -- backed by many Democrats and President Obama -- says the federal agency is a critical tool that helps U.S. companies compete with foreign rivals. Many other countries provide the same type of financing to help their industries. Republicans, too, have long supported the bank, at least until the tea party started raising concerns in 2012 about whether it represented a giveaway to big business.
That year, then-House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-Va.) supported a deal that saved the bank. But amid howls that the bank is a symbol of "crony capitalism," Cantor's successor, Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.), has said he would like to see the bank's authorization expire, which is set to happen Sept. 30 without congressional action.
Now the twist: It turns out that the tea party had a prominent, onetime ideological ally in the fight against Ex-Im bank. His name was Barack Obama.
Weeks before he was elected president, Obama said the Ex-Im Bank was "little more than a fund for corporate welfare." A video of the remarks, above at the 30-second mark, was put online in 2012 by the Club for Growth, which opposes Ex-Im. Here were Obama's full remarks:
I am not a Democrat who believes that we can or should defend every government program just because it's there. There are some that don't work like we had hoped, like the Bush Administration's billion-dollar-a-year reading program that hasn't improved our children's reading. And there are some that have been duplicated by other programs that we just need to cut back, like waste at the Economic Development Agency and the Export-Import Bank that has become little more than a fund for corporate welfare.
I understand there are parts of these programs worth defending, and politicians of both parties who will do so. But if we hope to meet the challenges of our time, we must make difficult choices. As president, I will go through the entire federal budget, page by page, line by line, and I will eliminate the programs that don't work and aren't needed.
The administration now is strongly supporting reauthorization of the bank. I asked the White House how it reconciles its current position with Obama's remarks as a candidate. A spokesman, Eric Schultz, sent over this statement:
Since the President took office, the Ex-Im bank has served an important role in helping firms access financing when private sources of finance dried up as a result of the recession in the beginning of the administration. Since then, the Ex-Im bank has been a vital source for these firms, and is key to helping us achieve our export goals and supporting thousands of businesses across the country large and small. We urge Congress to act to reauthorize the bank
Pressed further on how Obama explains the change in his views since 2008, the White House added that Congress directed reforms to Ex-Im in 2012 that required, among other things, submitting quarterly reports to Congress about its default rate and submitting Federal Register notice for each transaction over $100 million. It also noted that President Ronald Reagan supported Ex-Im in the 1980s. |
The doors to same-sex marriage were flung open wide in Florida early Tuesday as hundreds of couples applied for licenses and then repeated wedding vows in ceremonies that served to mark a major shift in public acceptance.
Nowhere was the lifting of the state's ban on gay marriage more dramatic or emotional than in the main jury room at the Broward County Courthouse, where Clerk of Court Howard Forman married 106 couples in a wave of group ceremonies held between 2 and 5 a.m.
"Being part of the movement that equalized all marriages really punctuates the validity of our relationship and the validity of our marriage," said Donna Solomon-Carter after she and her partner Deb Solomon-Carter fulfilled a dream they had nurtured since becoming engaged more than three years ago.
The newlyweds said legal status as a couple would immediately give them health insurance through Deb's employer, Publix. The company "made a big announcement that they're going to acknowledge and allow same sex spouses to jump right in (and share benefits) so that's probably the first thing we're going to tackle," said Donna Solomon-Carter.
Added Deb Solomon-Carter: "As of Jan. 1, they were going to recognize not just couples married in Florida but anybody who's married in a state where it's legal."
Florida became the 36th state, along with Washington, D.C., to recognize same-sex marriage following the expiration of a stay on a federal ruling striking down the state's ban as unconstitutional. Seventy percent of Americans now live in states where same-sex couples can legally wed.
Same-sex marriage is legal in Florida as of Jan. 6, 2015. See and share photos of same-sex weddings around the state. ( Click here to upload your photos.
Marriages began in Miami-Dade County on Monday when Miami-Dade County Circuit Judge Sarah Zabel lifted the stay on her ruling in a case in which six same-sex couples challenged the marriage ban. Judge Zabel lifted the stay following a motion by Miami-Dade County Clerk Harvey Rubin in response to a federal judge's order.
At 12:01 a.m. Tuesday, the state's other 66 counties were allowed to issue licenses to same-sex couples.
In Palm Beach County, Irene Kalinowski and Dana Murphy went to the South County Courthouse in Delray Beach around 10:30 p.m. Monday with no intention of getting married. They wanted only to pick up a marriage license, they said.
But once there, joining some 100 other couples, the Jupiter couple of 15 years got swept up in the excitement. "Being able to be a part of Florida's history of equal marriage just felt right," said Kalinowski, 44.
"Oddly enough, I'm surprised that it feels this good to have this piece of paper," Kalinowski said, holding a marriage certificate. "I didn't think I'd feel any different. Now that it's legally recognized, we have the same rights and I don't have to worry if anything happens. I feel like I'll sleep so much better."
While the end of the ban was welcomed in much of South Florida, some objections were sounded in the more conservative northern sections of the state.
In Jacksonville, Duval County Court Clerk Ronnie Fussell shut down the courthouse chapel, saying no marriage ceremonies — gay or straight — would be allowed there. At least two other counties in northeast Florida did the same.
"The day is going to come very soon where America is going to wake up and say, 'Whoa! Wait a second! I wanted two guys to live together. I didn't want the fundamental transformation of society,'" said John Stemberger, president of the Florida Family Policy council. He led the petition drive to put the gay marriage ban on the ballot back in 2008.
But in gay-friendly Key West, the party was on. Aaron Huntsman and William Lee Jones received the Keys' first marriage license issued to a same-sex couple early Tuesday. They exchanged nuptials in matching black tuxedos with blue vests, in front of several hundred people on the steps of the Monroe County Courthouse.
Back in Broward, Tammy Lopez and her partner, Jessica Nielsen, arrived at the courthouse at 6:30 p.m.Monday, not wanting to get shut out.
"I didn't think I'd be No. 1, but I didn't want to be No. 100," Lopez said. The couple was No. 4. They were among the first group to get their licenses, though they decided to wait until the mass wedding to get hitched.
They could wait. Lopez and Nielsen met seven years ago. They were neighbors in an apartment complex. Two years ago, they had a commitment ceremony that had all the trappings of a big, traditional wedding ceremony.
"This just makes it official," Lopez said.
Stork's Bakery put out cake and coffee as a diverse group of gay and lesbian couples, about 200 by 12:15 a.m., milled about the room. It was hurry-up-and-wait as couples turned in their applications, waited to get them processed, waited to pay their fees, waited to get a hardship waiver in order to avoid the three-day waiting period and get married immediately.
Nancy Brodzki, the lawyer who successfully fought to have a Broward circuit judge overturn the state's same-sex marriage ban, stood at the front of one line. Once a lawyer fighting for a client trying to get her marriage recognized so she could divorce, now, Brodzki was waiting to get married herself.
She led another round of people down a hallway to pay their fees as the next 10 in line took their place.
Sheriff Scott Israel walked up to the front of the room as Brodzki disappeared through a door.
"Good evening everybody," Israel said. "I guess you could call this a historic night."
The crowd cheered as Israel congratulated two police officers who were getting married.
For many couples, exchanging vows had been a long time coming.
Donna Muratore and Alicia Maldonado tied the knot after 25 years together.
"It means a lot, it's historic, we never thought we'd see this in our lifetime and now that it's legal it makes it important because we have the same rights as man and wife, as spouses and as partners," said Donna Muratore.
"We've been waiting a long time," said Alicia Maldonado. "We're very happy."
Ashley Foulds and Cori Graham brought the whole family to the Delray Beach courthouse Monday night, deciding their three kids could skip school Tuesday to see them exchange vows.
"They want to know, 'Where's your wedding album?'" said Foulds, who wore a lace dress. "And we've had to tell them, We're not allowed to get married.' So this is for them as much as us." |
Low Tide Custom Putters offers a variety of personalization options on putters and also offers a "Putting Puck" which is great for practice any time, especially on a crowded green before tee off.
In case you didn't know, your options for high-quality/high-end putters isn't limited to what you find in your local golf shop.
There are quite a few boutique putter makers out there who not only build incredible putters that can double up as pieces of art, but they can also customize your flat-stick however you desire.
One of those boutique putter makers relatively new to the business are Josh Bumgarner and Zack Potts, owners of Charlotte, N.C.-based, "Low Tide Custom Putters."
TOURNAMENT OF CHAMPIONS: Insider's take on Kapalua | Five players to watch in Maui | Leaderboard
Like most great stories in these circles, Low Tide's started on the golf course.
In the spring of 2012, Bumgarner and Potts where playing a round of golf when they came up with the idea to design their own custom putters. They strived to come up with something that couldn't be purchased off the rack -- something that was more personal and could be passed down through generations for families.
Between the two, 10 years of design experience and another 12 years of machining and CAD experience, Bumgarner (Low Tide owner, putter designer, putter maker, CNC programmer and machinist) and Potts (Low Tide owner, putter designer, graphic designer and marketing specialist) were able to make their vision become a reality.
We recently caught up with Bumgarner and Potts for a Q&A about the new company.
PGA.com: Tell me a little about yourself. What is it that got you involved in making putters?
Potts: Josh and I met on the golf course. We knew that there were many putters available to the public, but we wanted to create something that was unique and personal. Having over 10 years of design experience and a dozen years of machining and CAD experience under our belts, we knew that we had the know-how to make it happen. We each have been playing the game for nearly 30 years, so we knew what we wanted. We came up with a couple of designs that we liked and started working on them.
RELATED: Salty Grips bring cork to your putter | Visit PGA.com's extensive equipment page
PGA.com: Was this a hobby that turned into a business?
Bumgarner: It was completely a hobby, until we made our first putter... The night that we made the original FIN, we looked at each other and knew that we had started something special. After we shared our story online, we immediately received positive feedback. Within the first 30 minutes of our story being posted, we already had nearly a dozen inquiries of people asking how and where they could purchase one of our putters. We didn't expect that at all.
PGA.com: Boutique putter makers -- such as yourself -- seem to be popping up all over the place lately. Why do you think that is? Do you all just envision a need or want that you can't seem to find elsewhere?
Potts: There are many great putter makers out there but we live in a day and age where people want something different, something personal. Using the foundation for the designs of our putters, we allow the customer to have say in how their putter is made. We want it to fit their eye perfectly. Many off the rack companies don't make that accessible for the majority of golfers.
PGA.com: What separates Low Tide putters from others?
Bumgarner: We allow the customer to customize in more ways than one. Many manufacturers are mass producing their clubs and because of this, they limit the number of adjustments that can be made to their product. We're different. If someone calls us and wants a putter with 8 degrees of loft, 63 degree lie angle, and a length of 38.25 inches, we'll make it happen. We also like to keep our customers updated as much as possible during the process. We usually send pictures of the putters in progress so that they can see where their putter is during different stages.
PGA.com: Tell me about your current offerings. It looks like you've got three different models with seemingly endless customization options.
Potts: We set out to make putters that are different, not similar. We keep it simple. We use minimal lines with easy alignment. When we designed the first putter, the FIN, we wanted to make a wide body blade style putter that squared up to the target easily. The Whale Tail followed shortly after. We knew that Mallets were hot in the marketplace and that they were growing in popularity .
PGA.com: What has been the highlight of Low Tide so far? Any customer feedback that truly sticks out?
Bumgarner: We think that the customers deserve all of the credit. We have a lot of passion for what we do but to receive the kind of feedback that we do on a regular basis is incredible. We love getting emails or phone calls saying how they were completely blown away by their experience and how well the putter feels.
PGA.com: Can you tell us about the process involved in making a putter?
Potts: Each one of our putters is milled from a solid billet. Nothing is cast and every piece that we do, is done by us in Charlotte, N.C. Because each piece is milled on the CNC, the tolerances are extremely tight and we are able to produce a high quality and precise product for our customers.
PGA.com: How did you come up with the name, "Low Tide?"
Bumgarner: After brainstorming about 200 different names, we each picked our favorites. Low Tide was the one that we both picked as our first choice. We live in Charlotte and love the beach. We feel that the words alone can evoke a feeling or memory in people. We wanted something casual, laid back, and fun.
PGA.com: Along with the beautiful putters, you also offer something called, "the Putting Puck." Tell our readers about it. It looks like a fantastic tool to keep in the bag for those times when you want to warm up on a practice green only to find there are no holes cut out on the green -- or great even for putting practice at home.
Potts: We wanted to create something for our first 20 customers as a commemorative token, but we wanted it be useful. The putting puck was designed to be the exact diameter of a golf hole. You never want to show up at the course on a Saturday morning and try to compete for one of the five holes on the practice green. The putting puck is a great tool (and conversation piece) to have in your golf bag or at home. Because it's mobile, you can place it anywhere on the putting surface to practice the type of putts that you need to.
PGA.com: If someone was trying to decide between a Low Tide putter and one from a big-time manufacturer in a box store, why would you encourage them to lean toward Low Tide?
Bumgarner: During our research, we've discovered that most people are not using a putter that fits their stroke. Our goal is to not only make you a stellar flat stick, but also make sure it's set up for you. For years it seems the industrial standard has been 71-degree lie angle. We have found most golfers have a flatter lie angle. The average seems to be around 68 degrees. We believe that the optimal position for the putter head is for the sole to lay flat on the ground. The putter should be parallel with the ground at impact. All putters have loft and when the toe or heel is pointed toward the sky a compound angle is created causing the face angle to open or close.
PGA.com: I read on your site where you want your putters to be something that people can pass down in the family -- almost like a family keepsake. How satisfying is it when you complete a putter for a customer that tells a story? Is there any one in particular you can share with us?
Potts: When someone places a custom order we really want the experience to be personal. There have been some amazing stories that our customers have shared with us on why they have chosen the custom engravings that they want to include. From children and loved ones, to meaningful nicknames and lucky numbers, it is a piece of their story and we are happy to apply it to something that they will be proud to use out on the course. Golf is a social sport and we want our customers to be proud to share their personal story when someone asks about their putter during a round.
To learn more about Low Tide Custom Putters, visit www.lowtideputters.com. You can also find Low Tide on Facebook, YouTube and Twitter, @LowTidePutters.
Pricing for Low Tide Custom Putters start at $275 and go up depending on finish and level of personalization.
Follow T.J. Auclair on Twitter, @tjauclair. |
SCARBOROUGH, Maine — A Portland woman found with a gunshot wound in her head Thursday night in Scarborough was the victim of an accidental shooting, police said Friday.
Carol Dorney, 47, was transported to Maine Medical Center after Scarborough police responded to a reported shooting at 38 Running Hill Road and found the Portland woman wounded in the driveway.
Police received the call at 9:44 p.m. Thursday, according to a Friday morning news release issued by the department.
After detaining what the release called “several people” from the scene, investigators declined to press charges against anyone, Detective Sgt. Rick Rouse of the Scarborough Police Department said Friday.
“The initial investigation has indicated that this was an accidental discharge of a firearm, and it doesn’t look like there are going to be any charges,” Rouse told the Bangor Daily News.
According to Rouse, the homeowner at the location was confused about an altercation taking place in his driveway, heard somebody say, “I’ll kill you” and mistakenly believed the threat to be directed at him. The homeowner then came out of his residence with a gun, lost his handle on the weapon, and it fired as he bobbled it.
“He didn’t mean to aim it or anything,” Rouse said. “He was just carrying it out.”
Rouse, who did not name the homeowner, said no activity in the initial altercation rose to the level where criminal charges were necessary.
Dorney remained in critical condition Friday afternoon, according to a Maine Medical Center representative. |
Thinking > story
User-level Feature Specs With Cucumber
Summary
Applications are not just collections of technology. They are designed to provide meaningful functionality within the user's domain of experience. To achieve that, they encapsulate complex technical implementations under intuitive, human-friendly user interfaces.
Congruent to that, the specifications for said application functionality should also be on the level of user experience, with their underlying technical implementation encapsulated.
Cucumber is often misunderstood as an unnecessary detour from expressing feature specs more directly in code. In this blog post I demonstrate that Cucumber's code and language patterns emerge naturally when organizing/refactoring complex feature specs.
This substantiates the understanding of Cucumber as a set of patterns, tools, and programming languages specialized for expressing feature specs on the same semantic level as the functionality they describe, the level of user experience.
Introduction
An essential part of TDD are feature specifications (aka functional or integration tests). To verify that our application as a whole works, we fire up the complete application stack as well as a scriptable interaction device (browser or mobile application simulator). Using the latter we simulate users interacting with our app (clicking links and buttons, filling out forms etc) and check that our application as a black box exhibits the correct behaviors (displays the correct responses, sends the right messages to other apps etc). These feature specs can even drive the development of their features.
For simple feature specs we often don't need anything beyond a fixture and mocking library together with a UI driver. As feature specs grow in size, however, expressing complex user interactions solely using only these intentionally low-level tools becomes increasingly cumbersome. Here is a representative example: the feature spec for changing the password of a user account in a typical web application. We use Ruby, RSpec, Capybara and Factory Girl.
scenario 'changing the password' do user = create :user, email: '[email protected]', password: 'old password' click_link 'Login' fill_in 'Email', with: '[email protected]' fill_in 'Password', with: 'old password' click_button 'Log In' expect(page).to have_content 'Signed in successfully' visit '/' click_link 'my account' click_link 'change my password' fill_in 'New Password', with: 'new password' fill_in 'Password Confirmation', with: 'new password' click_button 'Update password' expect(page).to have_content 'Changed your password' click_link 'Log Out' click_link 'Login' fill_in 'Email', with: '[email protected]' fill_in 'Password', with: 'new password' click_button 'Log In' expect(page).to have_content 'Signed in successfully' click_link 'Log Out' click_link 'Login' fill_in 'Email', with: '[email protected]' fill_in 'Password', with: 'old password' click_button 'Log In' expect(page).to have_content 'Login not successful, please try again' end
Did you understand what this quite massive and cumbersome spec verifies? How does changing the password work? How long did it take you to understand all that? How much low-level source code did you have to read, parse, and execute in a virtual browser in your head in order to derive how the application is supposed to behave here? And that was still a relatively small, simple, and straightforward feature!
Although the spec nicely lists all the individual steps for changing a user's password, it is too low-level. It is hard to see how the product actually works, and I am not confident from just looking at this that we didn't forget to check something. This is merely what a developer thought the product should do, expressed in ways only a developer understands. But like all people, developers occasionally misunderstand requirements, or translate them incorrectly into code.
As a start, let's group related steps together and add some comments.
scenario 'changing my password' do # Create a user with email "[email protected]" and password "old password" user = create :user, email: '[email protected]', password: 'old password' # Log in as that user visit '/' click_link 'Login' fill_in 'Email', with: '[email protected]' fill_in 'Password', with: 'old password' click_button 'Log In' expect(page).to have_content 'Signed in successfully.' # Change that user's password to "new password" visit '/' click_link 'my account' click_link 'change my password' fill_in 'New Password', with: 'new password' fill_in 'Password Confirmation', with: 'new password' click_button 'Update password' expect(page).to have_content 'Changed your password' # Verify that we can log in with the new credentials click_link 'Logout' click_link 'Login' fill_in 'Email', with: '[email protected]' fill_in 'Password', with: 'new password' click_button 'Log In' expect(page).to have_content 'Signed in successfully.' # Verify that the old password doesn't work anymore click_link 'Logout' click_link 'Login' fill_in 'Email', with: '[email protected]' fill_in 'Password', with: 'old password' click_button 'Log In' expect(page).to have_content 'Login not successful, please try again' end
Great, this has already made more clear what we actually do here! But comments in front of blocks of code are an indicator that a method does too much (more than one thing), and that new methods want to emerge here. Also, this method is too long, and this code is not reusable. For example when testing other scenarios, we don't want to duplicate the code for logging in.
Extracting reusable methods
Lets extract reusable methods. Doing so also gives us a chance to remove a now unnecessary comment, because the respective code piece is now self-describing.
scenario 'changing my password' do # Create a user with email "[email protected]" and password "old password" user = create :user email: '[email protected]', password: 'old password' # Log in as that user login_with email: '[email protected]', password: 'old password' verify_login_succeeded change_my_password_to 'new password' # Verify that the new password works logout login_with email: '[email protected]', password: 'new password' verify_login_succeeded # Verify that the old password doesn't work anymore logout login_with email: '[email protected]', password: 'old password' verify_login_failed end # Helper methods def change_my_password_to new_password visit '/' click_link 'my account' click_link 'change my password' fill_in 'New Password', with: new_password fill_in 'Password Confirmation', with: new_password click_button 'Update password' expect(page).to have_content 'Changed your password' end def login_with(email:, password:) click_link 'Login' fill_in 'Email', with: email fill_in 'Password', with: password click_button 'Log In' end def logout click_link 'Logout' end def verify_login_succeeded expect(page).to have_content 'Signed in successfully.' end def verify_login_failed expect(page).to have_content 'Login not successful, please try again' end
The scenario is now more concise and reads better. And the extracted methods make sense. But it feels like we aren't quite there yet, and there is more we can do here.
I bet most of my feature specs have to create a user and then log in as that user. Let's combine those steps into one.
Also, our spec contains two separate levels of abstraction now: comments describe higher-level end-user perspective, i.e. what people want to do with the product, and the corresponding code blocks represent the respective technical implementation, i.e. how to do these things. Our current feature spec mixes these levels inconsistently:
Comments and methods like change_my_password_to are on the high-level end-user perspective.
are on the high-level end-user perspective. Code like create :user is on the technical implementation level.
is on the technical implementation level. Methods like login_with are in between: they already encapsulate pieces of end-user interaction, but need to be combined with other steps to form full end-user interactions.
All of that smells bad, so let's keep refactoring.
Separate product perspective from implementation
Let's make it so that our scenario solely describes the high-level end-user perspective, and all of the technical implementation is encapsulated in helper methods.
scenario 'changing my password' do create_user_and_login_with email: '[email protected]', password: 'old password' change_my_password_to 'new password' verify_login_works email: '[email protected]', password: 'new password' verify_login_fails email: '[email protected]', password: 'old password' end # High-level product-perspective methods def change_my_password_to new_password visit '/' click_link 'my account' click_link 'change my password' fill_in 'New Password', with: new_password fill_in 'Password Confirmation', with: new_password click_button 'Update password' expect(page).to have_content 'Changed your password' end def create_user_and_login_with(*args) create :user, *args login_with *args verify_login_succeeded end def verify_login_fails(*args) logout login_with *args verify_login_failed end def verify_login_works(*args) logout login_with *args verify_login_succeeded end # Reusable building blocks def login_with(email:, password:) click_link 'Login' fill_in 'Email', with: email fill_in 'Password', with: password end def logout click_link 'Logout' end def verify_login_succeeded expect(page).to have_content 'Signed in successfully.' end def verify_login_failed expect(page).to have_content 'Login not successful, please try again' end
Some parts of our scenario try to sound a bit too much like English for being actual method names. They are too long. This isn't well-factored, technically sound source code. We shouldn't start naming our methods like that in the rest of the code base.
And it's still doesn't really come together. It doesn't form a cohesive user story that makes me wave my credit card and say "Yes, I want that!" It's not clear why we do all these steps, and what we are actually testing here. That creating users works? That passwords can be changed? That logging in still works after a password has been changed?
Part of that is because such concepts have to be explained, but this is still nowhere near real, intuitive English. Trying to make a general-purpose programming language sound like a natural language only gets us so far. In my experience it will always feel like putting lipstick on a robot, and there is no good solution here.
Describing the product part in plain English
Ultimately it is questionable whether a general-purpose programming language is the most appropriate tool here altogether. Feature specs don't contain complex algorithms, loops, code paths, or inheritance. They don't even require functions or variables per se. Feature specs just express a number of linear user interactions with an application, expressed from a non-technical human perspective.
We only described our scenario in code because its underlying implementation is technical, and as developers code is our hammer. But not everything requires code. Let's try something more close to natural language: Gherkin
Scenario: changing my password Given I am a user with email: "[email protected]" and password: "old password" When I change my password to "new password" Then I can log in with email: "[email protected]" and password: "new password" And I can no longer log in with email: "[email protected]" and password: "old password"
Wow, that feels like a breath of fresh air. We expressed our interactions with the application in perfect English. For the first time, it's absolutely clear what we are actually doing and verifying here, and why.
Gherkin is part of Cucumber. Let's see how the corresponding step definitions look. If you wonder about Kappamaki below, it converts textual lists into collections.
Given /^I am a user with (.+)$/ do |user_data| user_data = Kappamaki.attributes_from_sentence user_data create :user, user_data login_with user_data verify_login_succeeded end When /^I change my password to "(.*)"$/ do |new_password| visit '/' click_link 'my account' click_link 'change my password' fill_in 'New Password', with: new_password fill_in 'Password Confirmation', with: new_password click_button 'Update password' expect(page).to have_content 'Changed your password' end Then /^I can log in with (.+)$/ do |login_data| logout login_with Kappamaki.attributes_from_sentence(login_data) verify_login_works end Then /^I can no longer log in with (.+)$/ do |login_data| logout login_with Kappamaki.attributes_from_sentence(login_data) verify_login_failed end
These are the same high-level product-perspective methods we had before, just with more descriptive English names. The bodies are almost identical to the ones written in Ruby. The reusable helper files don't change at all.
As we can see, Cucumber provides facilities to represent the abstractions that naturally emerge in well-factored, complex feature specs. And it allows to represent them in a more appropriate format than a general-purpose programming language can. Other advantages are:
Product experts can verify that feature specs describe the correct application behavior, resulting in better team play between the product and development departments.
User stories can be written directly in Gherkin. This means one less conversion step from product description to code, which means one less opportunity for things to get lost in translation. And less meetings.
Feature specs can be understood and executed by both machines and humans. Automation allows to catch bugs and regressions earlier, thereby making everybody's life easier. Knowing that this happens, Quality Assurance (QA) personnel no longer have to do the boring and repetitive task of re-verifying already-tested functionality, but can instead focus on finding new issues and ensuring that the product looks correct.
I hope it becomes more clear that Cucumber as a platform for intuitive, user-level feature specifications provides value to the entire agile organization, including the development team. It allows for better functional testing than general-purpose programming languages, and should be a part of most serious agile projects.
Robust and mature Cucumber implementations are available for Ruby, JavaScript, the JVM, Python, .NET, and many other platforms. You can even develop cross platform Android and iOS specs with it.
No more low-level Gherkin that merely wraps individual interaction steps. That's what Capybara is for. Cucumber is a high-level specification layer with end-user perspective, on top of the underlying technical implementation.
The future is green, friends! |
Share. Reduce eyestrain during those long multiplayer sessions. Reduce eyestrain during those long multiplayer sessions.
As with every Call of Duty release, you're likely going to find yourself spending countless hours glued to your television in the heat of battle, and 69475.html" >Modern Warfare 3 will be no different. Gunnar Optiks wants to ease your impending eyestrain with their new officially licensed Gaming Eyewear.
Gunnar's Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 eyewear utilizes the company's i-AMP technology, and features custom spring hinges, a magnesium alloy frame and wide coverage lenses. As per usual, Gunnar's eyewear aims to reduce eye fatigue and glare through precise lens geometry, tinting, and lightweight structural design.
For those with less than stellar vision, lenses can be suited to your required prescription.
The Gunnar Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 eyewear will set you back $99 and will be available in the next coming months with pre-orders will starting at the end of August through BestBuy.com. If you just can't wait, you can sign up to be notified when they go on sale by signing up at Gunnar's website. |
The Guardian's film critic Peter Bradshaw recently blogged on his desire to think the best of Tom Hanks, despite misgivings about his latest movie, Larry Crowne. Now, new evidence has come to light confirming the impulse: Hanks has reportedly refunded the ticket price of two fans who expressed disappointment at his latest film.
The National Enquirer reports that Hanks was filling up his car at a petrol station in the wealthy Los Angeles district of Pacific Palisades when he was approached by a couple who had just seen him in Crowne, which Hanks also wrote and directed. When Hanks asked if they had enjoyed it, the man replied that it wasn't that good, while his partner politely explained that they had come to expect more from their favourite actor.
Hanks is then reported to have apologised and offered to refund their ticket money. He then reached into his pocket and pulled out $25, which the couple eventually accepted.
Larry Crowne was something of a passion project for Hanks, who starred as a man who goes back to school after being made redundant. It failed to attract much critical fervour and was also a dud at the box office. Despite having appeared in more than his fair share of turkeys recently, Hanks remains one of Hollywood's highest paid stars. He was recently reported to have banked $35m last year thanks largely due to his role as the voice of Woody in Toy Story 3. |
John Augustin Daly (July 20, 1838 – June 7, 1899) was one of the most influential men in American theatre during his lifetime. Drama critic, theatre manager, playwright, and adapter, he became the first recognized stage director in America. He exercised a fierce and tyrannical control over all aspects of his productions. His rules of conduct for actors and actresses imposed heavy fines for late appearances and forgotten lines and earned him the title "the autocrat of the stage."[1] He formed a permanent company in New York and opened Daly's Theatre in New York in 1879 and a second one in London in 1893.[2]
Biography [ edit ]
Augustin Daly was born in Plymouth, North Carolina to Captain Denis Daly a sea-captain and ship owner, and Elizabeth, daughter of Lieutenant John Duffy of the British Army. He was educated at Norfolk, Virginia, and in the public schools of New York City. His mother, early left a widow, brought her two boys to New York City, where they soon became frequent attendants at the theaters and were members of amateur groups, which under such names as the "Burton Association" or the "Murdoch Association" were the precursors of the Little Theatre Movement.[3]
He was dramatic critic for several New York papers from 1859, and he adapted or wrote a number of plays, Under the Gaslight (1867) being his first success. In 1869 he became the manager of the Fifth Avenue Theatre on 24th St. and in 1873 the Fifth Avenue Theatre on 28th. In 1879 he rebuilt and opened Daly's Theatre at Broadway and 30th Street in New York, and, in 1893, Daly's Theatre in London.[4]
Reading The Play (1882)
At the first of these, he gathered a company of players, headed by Ada Rehan, which made for it a high reputation, and for them he adapted plays from foreign sources, and revived Shakespearean comedies in a manner before unknown in America. He took his entire company on tour, visiting England, Germany and France, and some of the best actors on the American stage have owed their training and first successes to him.[4] Among these were Clara Morris, Sara Jewett, John Drew, Jr., Maurice Barrymore, Fanny Davenport, Agnes Ethel, Maude Adams, Mrs. Gilbert, Tyrone Power, Sr., Ada Dyas, Isadora Duncan, Maud Jeffries and many others. Daly's willingness to, as he put it, "stoop to the curb and bestow upon the low, untried actor a chance at greatness" earned him the nickname "Little Man Auggie" among his peers. His play Leah the Forsaken, adapted from Hermann Salomon Mosenthal's Deborah, was a star vehicle for Margaret Mather.
His Shakespeare productions were often severely criticized by George Bernard Shaw, who was active as a drama critic during those years. Shaw took Daly severely to task for cutting Shakespeare's plays and for presenting them in unorthodox ways. (Shaw was a strong believer in presenting Shakespeare's plays uncut.) Several of Shaw's criticisms of Daly's Shakespeare productions were reprinted in the anthology Shaw on Shakespeare.[5]
Daly was a great book-lover, and his valuable library was dispersed by auction after his death, which occurred in Paris. Besides plays, original and adapted, he wrote Woffington: a Tribute to the Actress and the Woman (1888).[4]
Dora Knowlton Ranous, a onetime actress in the Daly company, published a 1910 memoir of her experiences entitled Diary of a Daly Débutante.[6]
Notable works [ edit ]
Under the Gaslight (1867) is an example of Daly's mixture of realism and melodrama, seen in the authenticity of his depiction of real locations and in his use of social commentary.[7] The play introduced the now-clichéd device of the villain tying someone to railroad tracks, although in a reversal of the usual roles it was the hero who was tied up and the heroine who saved him.[8] In the book Vagrant Memories, the author, William Winter recalls how Daly came up with the device. He says: "He once told me under what circumstances he hit upon this device. He was walking home toward night, thinking intently about the play which he had begun to write, when suddenly the crowning expedient occurred to him and at the same instant he stumbled over a misplaced flagstone, striking his right foot against the edge of the stone and sustaining a severe hurt. "I was near my door," he said, "and I rushed into the house, threw myself into a chair, grasping my injured foot with both hands, for the pain was great, and exclaiming, over and over again, 'I've got it! I've got it! And it beats hot-irons all to pieces!" I wasn't even thinking of the hurt. I had the thought of having my hero tied on a railroad track and rescued by his sweetheart, just in the nick of time, before the swift passage of an express train across a dark stage.[9]
A Flash of Lightning (1868), like Under the Gaslight, is pure melodrama, with water and fire spectacles providing action scenes and special effects for its eager audiences.[7]
Horizon (1871) is an adaptation of a Bret Harte story about the westward expansion of the States; it is an example of the popularity of western drama, coupled with Daly's interest in realism of the local color variety, although it remains melodramatic.[7]
Divorce (1871) and Pique (1875), both adaptations of British novels, demonstrate Daly's attempts to create social comedy, although the plays remain somewhat melodramatic.[7]
References [ edit ]
Sources [ edit ]
Autograph letters signed from Miriam Coles Harris to Augustin Daly (1885) Google Books
Further reading [ edit ] |
The murder of Pavlos Fyssas seems to have served as a wake up call for the Greek authorities. An antifascist activist and rapper, Fyssas was stabbed to death on Wednesday (September 18) near Athens.
The suspected offender was a member of the neo-Nazi political party Golden Dawn. The party, which gained nearly 7 percent of the votes in the Greek parliamentary elections of 2012, has denied any involvement.
But the authorities are nevertheless determined to take a stronger stance against right-wing extremism. In several Greek cities, police officers have arrested party members who possess weapons.
Pan-European networks
Golden Dawn has allies all over Europe. In 2004, it joined the European National Front alliance together with other European far-right parties, including Germany's NPD and Spain's La Falange. In Germany, recent investigations into the murders committed by the neo-Nazi group NSU (National Socialist Underground) have revealed an extensive international network that serves the interests of right-wing extremists.
"Neo-Nazis began to network, also on an international level, in the mid-1990s or even earlier," said Berlin-based political scientist and right-wing extremism expert Hajo Funke.
Neo-Nazis have their own music scene
Andreas Speit, a Hamburg-based author of several books on right-wing extremism, says that neo-Nazi activity can be broadly divided into three different categories.
"You have to distinguish between three types: the subculture scene, the violent neo-Nazis and the politics," Speit said.
He has observed that, on the cultural level, networking is being done at right-wing rock concerts. German bands with racist song lyrics tour all around Europe.
"As a right-wing rock band, you can perform in countries like Italy or Greece," added Speit. CDs with songs that are banned in Germany are produced abroad and then brought into the country.
German neo-Nazis commit violence abroad
Experts have observed a form of cross-border cooperation between violent neo-Nazis. Internationally active groups such as the Ku Klux Klan, Combat 18 and Blood and Honour can help individuals wanted for right-wing crimes go into hiding in other countries.
"Such groups have become stronger in recent years because domestic intelligence agencies have allowed it to happen," Funke said.
This international networking results in violent German neo-Nazis committing crimes abroad.
"There have been incidents of German neo-Nazis traveling to the Czech Republic and taking part in attacks on Roma and Sinti people - or going to Greece to see how the Golden Dawn operates," explained Speit. "You could call this violence tourism."
However, right-wing extremists also attempt to gain influence through legal methods. The European Alliance for Freedom and the Alliance of European National Movements are two parties that plan to run for office in the next European Parliament elections.
Ideology of 'ethno-pluralism'
Speit has written extensively on the topic of right-wing extremism
But why do nationalists from various countries work with each other?
"Neo-Nazis don't think in terms of national borders," said Speit. "They don't hinder each other's activities but instead they want to see the white race maintain power around the world. And as long as foreigners stay in their own countries, the neo-Nazis have nothing against them. The ideology at play here is ethno-pluralism."
The one thing that unites the right-wing parties from all countries is hatred of Jews. This is a reason why many neo-Nazis had great respect for former Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who openly spoke against Israel and threatened to destroy it. The bond between Islamists and neo-Nazis is not a new phenomenon, however.
"Already in the 1920s there were strong alliances between the right-wing groups of Europe but also with the Arab world," said Speit, adding that the ideology behind this was banal. "The right-wing extremists realized that the other group was also fond of upholding its old traditions, including those pertaining to dealing with women."
Impact of economic crisis
According to Speit, right-wing ideology is spreading internationally. This is partly due to the effects of the economic crisis and the uncertainty felt by the middle class. The networking between neo-Nazis only exacerbates the problem.
"We can expect that they will get more mandates during the next EU parliamentary elections," said Speit.
The movement is also "unbelievably active" on the music scene. Young people from small towns are easily excited by the local right-wing extremists getting the chance to travel to Italy to attend a concert. This is why it is important to take preventative measures.
"Turning away doesn't solve the problem," said Speit. "If you confront right-wing extremists, you have a chance to change them." |
The US has scolded Russia for sending missiles to the Syrian government, with plans for an international peace conference promoted by the two major powers appearing to founder on diplomatic rifts over its scope and purpose.
General Martin Dempsey, the most senior US military officer, has described Russia's recent delivery of anti-ship missiles to President Bashar al-Assad as "ill-timed and very unfortunate".
"It's at the very least an unfortunate decision that will embolden the regime and prolong the suffering," he said in Washington DC on Friday.
He said the transfer of Russian arms risked extending the war which has already killed more than 80,000 Syrian people and which the UN says has driven 1.5 million abroad.
The divisions appear just 10 days after Russia and the US agreed to bury differences and push for an urgent international conference to end the war.
Russia has not responded directly to the media reports that said it has sent a new batch of upgraded Yakhont anti-ship missile systems that make a shipping embargo of Syria much more difficult to enforce.
However, during a visit by Ban Ki-moon, UN secretary-general, to Moscow on Friday for talks on Syria, Sergey Lavrov, Russian foreign minister, defended sending arms to the Middle East country, saying it was done "without violating any international agreements, or our own legislation".
With a range of 300km, the Yakhont could prove a threat to warships in the Mediterranean, should, for example, Western powers abandon their deep reserve and intervene to offer air support to the rebels, as they did in Libya two years ago.
Proposed meeting
No date has yet been agreed for the international meeting, which is intended to be attended by representatives from the Syrian government and the opposition, as well as international figures.
Ban met Putin in Russia on Friday, and said the conference should take place as soon as possible.
But highlighting the diplomatic challenge it poses, France has spelled out explicitly that it will oppose any meeting were Assad's regional ally Iran to be invited - contrary to the Russian position that Iran should be part of a solution.
The rebels and key Arab and Western backers will meet in Amman, Jordan, on Wednesday to discuss how to approach the conference.
It is also unclear that Assad's opponents can forge a united front or agree to meet his representatives.
After months of diplomatic stalemate, the US and Russia have been pushed to convene the conference as Syria's death toll and atrocities rise and amid signs of escalation across the country's frontiers.
Suspicions that chemical arms may have been used have also deepened the crisis.
A Western diplomat at the UN in New York said the target date for the peace conference was June 10-15, but it depended on the readiness of the Syrian parties.
An alternative plan would be to hold an international conference and then have the Syrians meet at a later date when they are prepared. |
Mind the gap: Where you fit in the changing jobs landscape
Updated
At what age are you most likely to be a sportsperson, barrister or bus driver? Turns out the answers can be very different, depending on your gender.
See for yourself.
The charts generated below show the age distribution of workers in different jobs. The higher the peak, the more workers that age (as a percentage of all workers in that job).
If you're at the highest peak, you're the typical age for your job.
We have good reason to think of some jobs as dominated by millennials (for example, kitchenhand or bar attendant) and others as clearly in baby boomer territory (think farmer or sewing machinist).
But the latest census data reveals some surprising patterns when we look at men and women separately.
We're going to show you 12 occupations with wide gaps in average age between male and female workers. See if you notice a difference between the kinds of jobs in which men are older than their female colleagues and vice versa.
Here are the age distributions for six jobs in which men are significantly older than women, on average.
Peaks to the left of a chart show a high percentage of young workers; peaks to the right show a high percentage of older workers.
Veterinarians have the largest age gap towards older men of all the jobs in the census. Male vets have an average age of 49, compared to 38 for their female peers — a difference of 11 years.
Barristers have the second-biggest gap. Male barristers have an average age of nearly 52; female barristers, 42 — a difference of 10 years.
Solicitors and dental practitioners both have a gender age gap of nine years. Their average ages are also the same: 47 for men and 38 for women.
GPs and paramedics both have a gender age gap of roughly 7.5 years.
The average ages for GPs are 49 for men and 41.5 for women. Among paramedics it's 43.6 and 36.
Let's turn now to the jobs with the largest age differences in the opposite direction: jobs where women workers tend to be significantly older than their male colleagues.
The difference is stark. Most of the jobs in which men tend to be much older than women are high-paying professions.
Jobs with large age gaps in the opposite direction, however, are mostly low-skill and low-pay.
Kitchenhands have the largest gender age gap of any occupation. The average age of women in this job is 38, compared to 26 for men — a difference of 12 years.
While a high percentage of female kitchenhands are teenagers (that's the first peak in the red line), a significant share are in their 50s (that's the second bump in the red line).
Cooks and shelf fillers both have a gender age gap of roughly 10 years. The average ages for cooks are 42 for women and 33 for men. For shelf fillers, it's 37 and 27.
The gender age gap for receptionists is seven years. The average age for women is 41, compared to 34 for men.
Fitness instructors and housekeepers both have a gender gap of 6.6 years.
Women fitness instructors have an average age of 40, while their male colleagues are roughly 33. For housekeepers, it's 42 for women and 36 for men.
So why are so many female baby boomers doing the same jobs as teenagers and students?
"There'd be one main reason: that's the only work they can get," Johanna Wyn, director of The University of Melbourne's Youth Research Centre, said.
Older women are less likely to have completed higher education, while those who did often find their qualifications are no longer relevant after taking extended time away from work to raise children.
"It's very difficult to get back into those high-skill, high-pay occupations after spending time out of the workforce to raise children," Angela Knox, from the University of Sydney business school, said.
"So women tend to downgrade when they return to work."
This also partly explains why highly-paid occupations having the widest gender age gaps in the opposite direction, between older men and younger women.
The other factor is more positive.
"Women attain higher levels of education than men now, so you're seeing more women coming into these professional occupations at a younger age," Associate Professor Knox said.
Sorry, this video has expired Video: Spot the difference (ABC News)
Recently-retired solicitor Helen Kennett is among the rare baby boomer women who continued working full-time after having children. The cultural barriers facing women in the profession were "huge", she said.
"It was definitely unusual to have young women in the occupation… There were a lot of older men in the profession who had not yet realised that women had the potential to do as good a job," the 63-year-old said.
Census figures show nearly half of Australia's female solicitors are millennials, for example, compared with 30 per cent of male solicitors. The drop-off in women aged 30 and older is both steady and steep.
Ms Kennett said she "absolutely" understood why so many of her peers did not return to work after having children.
"You don't have to be away from work for long to start losing your confidence… especially with litigation, which is quite an aggressive field," she said.
"As time goes by, employers, too, are less likely to think you'll be able to perform the way they need."
Professor Wyn said many workplaces were yet to catch up with dramatic changes in women's education.
"Women are in tertiary education in higher numbers than men but [this] data is showing that women really aren't yet getting the economic benefits of that… It's not being translated into their position in the workforce or their pay," she said.
She said longer periods spent studying meant the window of time between starting a career and a family was becoming increasingly narrow.
"Women are a bit pincered… The biological clock is ticking but they're being pushed further down the age track with education and the time needed to set the foundations of a career."
It's a question solicitor Jacqui Fetchet, 27, has pondered, too. "It takes 12 years to make partner, if you're lucky, so if you're 26 and graduating from law school and then you start working, you go through the numbers and realise that 10-12 years is the prime time for young kids."
The attrition rate of young women in her profession can be discouraging, she said. "Particularly from a gender perspective and as a young person, the work hours and culture seem a bit intimidating… You're talking about people working 10- to 14-hour days on a regular basis.
"I think a lot of people are just saying, 'Well, I care more about having relationships and being healthy, and loving my family than I do about this career'. That's a really hard choice to make."
Notes about this story
The 2016 census asked employed people aged 15 or older about the main job they held in the week before census night.
Millennials includes people aged 15-34. Baby boomers includes people aged 54-71.
Credits
Topics: work, community-and-society, youth, business-economics-and-finance, economic-trends, australia
First posted |
Well kids, here we go again.
I got a message yesterday with no text, just a picture attached of this sign in the Yankee Candle plant in Whately, Mass., that was posted to a driver’s page on Facebook.
I’m not gonna lie, it fired me up. It also got about 200,000 truckers fired up, and they let their displeasure be known on the YC Facebook page. For several hours, I watched the messages appear, and then disappear, as the page moderator deleted them, and that fired me up even more. There were messages, phone calls and e-mails flying – and the trucking community did not waiver. Between the efforts of Maddog Trucker and several hundred other people, the messages continued to post faster than the moderator could delete.
In an unusual twist of fate — the trucking community wasn’t the only one offended by the sign. For whatever reason, denying someone the use of a toilet really upsets people. The general public was pretty horrified by it, and for once, public support was in drivers’ corner. There were quite a few posts from unaffiliated individuals, who vowed never to buy a Yankee Candle again.
Eventually, the company did respond. “We apologize to our customers regarding the concern related to the Whately plant signage. This update is to let you all know that the sign has been removed. It was originally placed there due to the fact that the bathrooms at that particular Yankee Candle facility are unsecured, as they currently allow access to the rest of the plant, meaning we could not let non-employees enter. However, these bathrooms are already in the process of a renovation that will alleviate safety and security concerns. We anticipate the changes will be completed in the near future, in the meantime, we welcome drivers to use the restroom facilities at our nearby distribution center,” and the company also noted two Sani-Cans would be on the plant’s property, one for men and one for women.
OK. We’ll take that as a win, even though the apology should have been directed at the truckers, and not the customers, and I have a very distinct feeling the “renovations” might have just begun yesterday. But that’s cool, because when you’re treated like a second class citizen most of the time, any scrap of respect or acknowledgment is a win.
Now here’s the other side of the pancake.
While the support was overwhelmingly in favor of the drivers having a place to relieve themselves, there were a lot of people who thought the company should have every right to deny use of the bathrooms. The frequently referenced “Well, truckers are dirty and they probably messed the stalls up so bad the company had no choice” was once again trotted out as an argument. There was also a lot of support for a company being able to do what they want on private property. Both of these are valid arguments we could discuss all day long, but the fact remains – human beings have certain body processes they absolutely can’t control, and some of these processes require the use of a toilet to be completed with a satisfactory degree of cleanliness. Providing said receptacles would prevent the need for people to use the parking lot as one.
Believe me, I know there are still people who are either terrified of bathrooms, or don’t know how to use one. I’ve seen more than one person whipping it out on the fuel island when a bathroom is literally 20 yards away. I get it. There are pigs among us. But we’re not all pigs, and we shouldn’t be treated that way.
We each have a personal responsibility to represent this industry as a respectable one, and I believe most truckers know and practice that. Unfortunately, the bad apples of the bunch have ruined the sauce for all of us. It’s time to cull those tainted fruits. |
The Simpsons series, see This article is about the 2007 video game. For other video games inseries, see List of The Simpsons video games
The Simpsons Game is an action platformer video game based on the animated television series The Simpsons and loosely on The Simpsons Movie, made for the Nintendo DS, Wii, Xbox 360, PlayStation 2, PlayStation 3 and PlayStation Portable. The game was developed, published, and distributed by Electronic Arts. It was released in North America in October 2007 and worldwide in November 2007. It features an original storyline written by The Simpsons writers Tim Long, Matt Selman, and Matt Warburton. In the self-referential plot, the family discovers that they are forced to participate in another The Simpsons video game. Similar to the show, the game pokes fun at popular culture, other video games, and Electronic Arts, its publisher.
The game follows the five Simpson family members—Homer, Marge (with Maggie), Bart, and Lisa—who learn they are part of a video game and are given superpowers to resolve several situations. Eventually, they must save their 8-bit predecessors from Will Wright, and the creator of their video game character selves, Matt Groening. The Simpson family travels to four scenarios in parodies of other games to collect key cards used to infiltrate their creator's mansion and ultimately to save their predecessors from destruction.
The game was met with mixed reception from video game critics. They praised its visuals and writing, which included many parodies of other video games, while they criticized its short length and poor camera system, which did not always function properly. The Simpsons Game received the Best Game Based on a Movie or TV Show award at the 2007 Spike Video Game Awards and was nominated for Best Video Game Writing at the 2007 Writers Guild of America Awards. As of January 31, 2008, four million copies of the game have been sold worldwide.
Gameplay [ edit ]
Players of The Simpsons Game are able to control the Simpson family (except Maggie), each with their own unique abilities.[1] Two different family members are playable in each level,[2][3] aside from the tutorial level, "The Land of Chocolate", in which only Homer is playable, and the final level, "Game Over", where all members of the family are playable.[4] The game contains sixteen levels, called episodes,[3] and each requires specific powers to complete. For example, in the fourth episode, "Lisa the Tree Hugger", the player is required to use Lisa's "Hand of Buddha" power to move large objects, and Bart's slingshot to shut down machines. Enemies unique to each episode are featured, with the exception of the final level, in which enemies that have already been defeated are "recycled" with different colors.[5]
Several challenges are made available after all episodes are completed. These include finding all the collectibles for each character,[1] finding all the video game clichés,[6] and in the PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, and Nintendo DS versions, completing a certain task related to each episode's plot in a time trial.[7][8]
The Simpsons Game's head-up display features health meters for both characters in each level, and an attack meter and special power meter for the character currently controlled by the player.[7] The game features a two player co-op mode, which has a split screen and allows each player to control one of the two characters featured on that level.[1][3]
The DS version of the game was developed separately from its console counterparts and is a side scrolling adventure. It also offers several features that are not available in the other versions. Several minigames are available to unlock and play, most which are updated versions of arcade games such as Frogger and Space Invaders, the latter which references the aliens Kang and Kodos from the Simpsons Treehouse of Horror episodes. A virtual pet is also accessible, called "Pet Homer", which allows players to feed, entertain, and save Homer from threats such as choking and heart attacks.[9]
Playable characters [ edit ]
Bart and Lisa battle Dolphins in the episode – "The Day of the Dolphin", showing both the gameplay and the cel-shaded graphical style.
Homer is the first playable character available to the player in "The Land of Chocolate" level. His abilities involve turning into the "Homer ball" by eating food power-ups to let him roll and slam objects;[2] turn into a Gummi Homer by eating small gummi Venus de Milos to shoot gummi grenades;[1] eat hot chili peppers to become Insanity Pepper Homer to use lava and fire bombs;[7] and inhale helium to become a balloon to float in the air.[10] Homer's special power is a giant burp, which can stun enemies.[1][10] Bart first appears in the second level of the game "Bartman Begins". He can turn into Bartman, allowing him to use zip-lines, climb certain walls, glide over long distances, and do other acrobatic feats.[2][3] Bart's special power is releasing a flood of bats towards enemies. He can use his slingshot to defeat enemies and hit targets from afar.[7][11]
Lisa is introduced in the fourth level "Lisa the Tree Hugger". Her main attack style is kicking, and her power is the "Hand of Buddha".[7] She can use it to flick, smash, freeze, or send lightning bolts to enemies, as well as lift certain items.[12] Lisa's special power is playing her saxophone to attack and stun enemies. As the levels progress, Lisa can use her saxophone to turn enemies against each other.[10] Marge is the least-playable character. Introduced in the fifth level, "Mob Rules", Marge learns her power is to make large crowds obey her.[2] She can use her mob to break down obstacles, build objects, attack enemies, and repair objects.[11] Maggie is, in effect, an extension of Marge, briefly playable in air ducts and other small spaces.[7][11]
Plot [ edit ]
The game begins with Homer having a candy-induced fantasy about a world of chocolate where he tries to catch and eat a white chocolate rabbit; upon waking up he is upset to find that it was all a dream.
Bart goes to the video game store and coerces the clerk to let him buy the new and violent Grand Theft Scratchy game, only to have it confiscated by Marge. While Bart mopes, a video game manual falls down from the sky in front of him. Reading through the manual, Bart discovers that he and the rest of his family have special powers. Later, Bart uses his Bartman powers to stop Jimbo, Kearney, and Dolph from stealing from the Natural History Museum send by Princical Skinner to use the museum exhibits for the science class, Homer uses his ability to become a huge ball and win an eating contest, Lisa uses her powers of meditation to stop a deforestation project, and Marge uses her powers to influence crowds to stop the release of Grand Theft Scratchy in Springfield, although Lisa points out it is ironic she used violence to stop a violent game.[5]
During dinner, the family is euphoric with their new powers. However, it leads to an argument about what they should be doing with them. Aliens Kang and Kodos decide to strike Earth, and an alien invasion unfolds. Realizing none of their powers are strong enough to defeat the aliens, Bart and Lisa visit Professor Frink. They visit his house to find him not there, but they stumble upon a portal that sends them to a place called the game engine where all video games are made. After saving him from a giant gorilla, Frink gives them The Simpsons Game's player's guide to teach them how to better use their powers as well as gain new ones, and the Simpson family soon sets out to try and stop the alien invasion. First, Bart and Lisa aid Captain McCallister in beating back mind-controlled dolphins that are attacking the city aquarium. Then, Bart and Homer defeat the Lard Lad statue which has come to life. Finally, they save the Springfield Mall and Cletus from the aliens.[5]
In order to find out the truth, the family turns to the Internet to discover more about the powers they have in the game, but are accidentally sent to the game engine when Homer spills beer over the keyboard. There, they discover Will Wright, who is destroying copies of an old 8-bit The Simpsons game and its characters. The family manages to save their 8-bit predecessors before they are destroyed by Wright, and discover that they will also become obsolete when the next The Simpsons game is released. The only way to prevent this is to talk to the creator of the games and convince him not to destroy them. In order to access his mansion, the family needs to acquire four key cards from four upcoming Simpsons games. First, Homer and Marge defeat a two-headed dragon whose heads are those of Patty and Selma in the Neverquest game. Marge and Lisa then travel to Grand Theft Scratchy, eliminating all offensive material and replacing it with more family-friendly material. Next, Homer and Bart travel to France during World War II to thwart Mr. Burns' plan to steal priceless French paintings, in the Medal of Homer game. Lisa and Homer then travel to ancient Japan to defeat the evil Mr. Dirt and his "Sparklemon" in the Big Super Happy Fun Fun Game.[5]
Once they have all four key cards, Bart and Homer infiltrate the creator's mansion. They are greeted by Matt Groening, who sends Futurama characters Bender and Dr. Zoidberg after them. The family manages to defeat them, however, and Groening admits that he is only creating new games for the money, and destroys the game engine. The Simpsons, along with several other characters from the games, escape to Springfield, where the aliens are still attacking. Lisa uses her power to create a stairway to heaven in order for the family to ask God for advice. After he is defeated in a game of Dance Dance Revolution, God reveals that the video game that they're in is a mini-game in another video game about Earth. He dropped the video game manual by accident, thus endowing the family with superpowers. Realizing his misdemeanor, he promises to restore Springfield, let them keep their powers, and to improve the working conditions of all video game characters. He also gives Homer three wishes. Lisa asks if God ever wonders if he himself is a character in a video game. As God nervously scoffs at this theory, it turns out that Ralph Wiggum is playing the entire game before he looks at the screen, wondering who was looking at him.[5]
Development [ edit ]
The Simpsons Game, and Electronic Arts published and distributed it. Electronic Arts' Redwood Shores team, based in Redwood City California , developed, and Electronic Arts published and distributed it.
The game's storyline was written by Tim Long, Matt Selman, and Matt Warburton, who are all regular writers on The Simpsons. They wanted to create something that appealed to the fans of the show, and was, in its own right, "a great new game".[13] Matt Groening and the writers had continuous feedback on the game's content, from its "look and feel" to its puzzles and gameplay. The game's executive producer, Scot Amos, said it was an amazing partnership between the writers and the developers.[13] Selman, the head writer, says the reason they decided to call it The Simpsons Game and not add a subtitle was because they felt it was a restart of "the 'Simpsons' gaming franchise [...] a big, new, fresh game that takes on video games and hilarious things of all time".[2]
The Simpsons Game. Matt Selman was the head writer of
The Simpsons Game was published by Electronic Arts and developed by its subsidiary, EA Redwood Shores; the company had signed a contract for the video game rights to The Simpsons in 2005.[14] The game's lead designer, Greg Rizzer, said that when he asked his bosses if they could parody some Electronic Arts games including Medal of Honor, they were enthusiastic about it.[15] The Simpsons Game, which parodies video games from 30 years prior to 2007, was forced to have some of its content removed after several video game companies complained about it. Rizzer, however, was still pleased with the amount of parody in the game and considered The Simpsons the "perfect vehicle to poke fun at the games industry".[16] At the 2007 Games Convention in Leipzig, Germany, a poster for "Grand Theft Scratchy", one of the levels in The Simpsons Game and a parody of Grand Theft Auto, was asked to be taken down by an employee of Rockstar Games, the company that develops the Grand Theft Auto series of video games. Several companies, however, embraced the game's parody of their video games, including developers from Harmonix, who were pleased with the game's "Sitar Hero", a parody of Harmonix's Guitar Hero video game.[16] In addition to game parodies, The Simpsons Game also features several cameos with satirical spins, including Matt Groening as himself and Will Wright as an antagonist.[1]
The graphics for the game's characters are cel-shaded, and an implemented technique helps flatten the character models from any angle that the camera views them from, in order to recreate the 2D, hand-drawn look seen in the show.[17] The development team found it particularly difficult to render Lisa's spiky hair as 2D in the game's 3D environment.[18]. There is a different cover for the game on each console.[15]
Reception [ edit ]
The game received mixed reception, receiving an aggregated score of 71% on Metacritic for the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 version of the game.[35] Praise focused on the game's visuals and writing, which lampooned the gaming industry and the show itself. The Simpsons Game won the award for Best Game Based on a Movie or TV Show at the Spike Video Game Awards 2007,[36] and was nominated for the first-ever award for Best Video Game Writing at the Writers Guild of America Awards 2007.[37] As of January 31, 2008, four million copies of the game have been sold overall.[38] Its PlayStation 2 and Nintendo DS releases each received a "Platinum" sales award from the Entertainment and Leisure Software Publishers Association (ELSPA),[39] indicating sales of at least 300,000 copies per version in the United Kingdom.[40] ELSPA presented the game's Wii, Xbox 360 and PlayStation Portable versions with "Silver" certifications,[41] for sales of 100,000 units or more each in the region.[40] Peter Nowak of CBC News named it the third-best game of 2007 and described it as "easily the best game starring the wacky residents of Springfield".[42]
The game's use of The Simpsons-style humor received a mixed reception. Both GameSpot and GameTrailers said that the game delivered more than enough laughs to make it worth playing through at least once.[23][26] It was considered enjoyable for both hardcore and casual The Simpsons fans by IGN and GameDaily, who also called it a particularly appealing game for diehard fans.[28][29] Despite the few problems that the game had, GameSpy said that it was worth it to see the humorous parodies.[25] Eurogamer's Tom Bramwell, however, believed that the game's humor could only carry it so far, and suggested that those interested in The Simpsons humor should purchase a box set of one of the television series' seasons instead.[11] Joe Juba of Game Informer called the game an average experience. He elaborated that the game would appeal primarily to fans of the television series, but would not be worth playing for people unfamiliar with it.[21]
Eurogamer praised the involvement of people from The Simpsons television series with the game's development[11] and GameZone enjoyed the two-character mechanics of the game and had fun collecting unlockable items.[20] GameTrailers thought the graphics and animations looked great and appreciated the hand-drawn appearances, even though they found it obvious that the characters were "never really meant to jump into the third dimension" because of their second-dimension roots.[26]
Criticism of the game focused on its short, uninspiring gameplay and troublesome camera system. GameSpot considered the gameplay "nothing special"[24] while GameZone called it a "pretty shallow" game that depended too much on repetitive jumping puzzles and a weak combat system.[20] The game disappointed IGN because it did not include an online feature and it was deemed too short.[28] The camera system was found to be problematic by both GameZone and GameSpy, who called it "a pain" and a "busted" feature;[20][25] GameDaily also found it bothersome because it often got stuck.[29]
The DS version of the game, which was significantly different from the other versions, received praise for its unique gameplay, but criticism for its short length. IGN lauded the DS version's unique gameplay experience[27] and GameSpot proclaimed that it was satisfying from start to finish.[22] GameSpot and GameZone, however, were both disappointed that the game was extremely brief.[19][22] 1UP found that even though The Simpsons Game parodied numerous 2D platform game conventions, it used them anyway, making it a pointless endeavor.[9]
Cancelled sequel [ edit ]
Electronic Arts planned to produce a sequel to the game, entitled The Simpsons Game 2, along with a Nintendo Wii version of Dead Space 2, but both were cancelled in 2011 because the studio decided to make room for other projects.[43] |
HOUSTON (Reuters) - The push to boost U.S. electric generation from wind and other renewable energy sources is forcing U.S. lawmakers to address the contentious issue of whether states or the federal government should have final authority to site new power lines, industry officials said on Friday.
Six 1.5-megawatt wind turbines are pictured at work at the Exelon-Community Energy Wind Farm at Somerset, Pennsylvania, August 10, 2008. REUTERS/Stelios Varias
Denise Bode, head of the American Wind Energy Association, said national oversight of transmission development is critical to exploit the country’s abundant wind energy resources.
Thousands of miles of new high-voltage lines will be needed to move electric generation from the windiest regions in the center of the country to power-hungry cities.
“We need a national transmission policy,” Bode said at the Gulf Coast Power Association conference on Friday.
She expressed optimism the issue can be resolved with legislation in the current Congress which is looking at economic and other measures to encourage renewable power to lessen U.S. dependence on foreign oil and to create jobs.
The Energy Policy Act of 2005 gave the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission additional authority to oversee some transmission siting questions, but stopped short of giving the agency broad siting and planning responsibility.
Most power-line siting issues are handled by state regulators.
“The issue has matured” since that time, said Bode.
Pat Wood, former FERC chairman, said the agency is well-equipped to handle the task, given its experience regulating the nation’s vast interstate natural gas pipeline system.
“They were ready yesterday,” said Wood, from the conference sidelines. “It has worked great for gas.”
“Nobody talks about it because it works,” said Wood. “It’s paid for and it’s safe. That is what we want for the power grid.”
FERC’s new siting authority has been challenged in court, so statutory changes will be needed, Wood said.
Bode also said a federal mandate calling for a percentage of the nation’s the electric supply to come from less-polluting resources, known as a Renewable Portfolio Standard (RPS), is
needed if the administration wants to rebuild the economy with manufacturing jobs tied to wind and other clean energy sources.
“A state-by-state RPS cannot create the national market to bring these jobs in,” said Bode. “If you are trying to get manufacturing companies to grow in the U.S., chasing an RPS in each state won’t work.” |
Lovedrop Profile Joined April 2010 2579 Posts Last Edited: 2012-04-04 16:25:35 #1
The Battle.net World Championship, which will take place later this year, will be the culmination of more than 30 eSports events run by Blizzard and tournament organizers. These events are collectively known as the StarCraft II World Championship Series.
The goal of the StarCraft II World Championship Series is to identify a true global champion, as players enter and qualify through open tournaments starting at the national level. The National Championships are designed to allow local heroes to rise to the top and be recognized in their country. The top finishers at each National Championship will earn spots at their continental Finals events, which will be an all-out brawl between neighboring countries to decide who will represent their continent at the Battle.net World Championship.
Do you think you have what it takes to compete at the Battle.net World Championship?
Read more
+ Show Spoiler [FAQ] +
How do I qualify?
You must climb the ranks of the StarCraft II World Championship Series. The entry level will be made up of National Qualifiers and will give players a chance to earn a spot at their respective National Championship. Once you’ve made it through to your National Championship, you must then fight through your compatriots for an invitation to your Continental Championship. At your continent’s Finals, you’ll be up against other National Champions all vying to earn the right to represent their country and continent at the Battle.net World Championship.
What are National Qualifiers?
National Qualifiers are events, both live and online, that have been awarded slots that feed into a National Championship. Winners of National Qualifiers will receive an invitation, including travel expenses, to attend their National Championship. Some events will have Nationals slots added to their prize pool; others will be complete standalone events. More information about where to sign up for your country’s National Qualifiers will be made available soon!
Will the format of every National Championship and Continental Championship be the same?
Yes! The rules of play for each National Championship and Continental Championship will be identical. Each tournament will be a best-of-3 double-elimination format.
How do you define nationality?
For the 2012 StarCraft II World Championship Series, nationality is defined by your country of citizenship. Should you have multiple countries of citizenship you must choose one for the tournament year, and you will have to qualify through that country’s path in order to climb through the ranks.
My country is not listed here; will I be able to participate in the StarCraft II World Championship Series?
We plan to accommodate as many countries as possible. More information about participating countries not listed here will be posted at a later date.
What is the total prize pool of the StarCraft II World Championship Series?
More information about prize pools for the StarCraft II World Championship Series will be announced soon.
When are these events happening?
More information for National Qualifiers -- including details about your country’s National Qualifiers and the various organizations involved at the National Qualifier level -- as well as details on National Championships and Continental Championships, will be announced soon. Be sure to check back at StarCraft2.com for further updates.
The Battle.net World Championship, which will take place later this year, will be the culmination of more than 30 eSports events run by Blizzard and tournament organizers. These events are collectively known as the StarCraft II World Championship Series.The goal of the StarCraft II World Championship Series is to identify a true global champion, as players enter and qualify through open tournaments starting at the national level. The National Championships are designed to allow local heroes to rise to the top and be recognized in their country. The top finishers at each National Championship will earn spots at their continental Finals events, which will be an all-out brawl between neighboring countries to decide who will represent their continent at the Battle.net World Championship.Do you think you have what it takes to compete at the Battle.net World Championship?Read more here Writer undefeated thunderdome champion 。ﾟ+.(o´･ω･｀o)+.ﾟ｡ｲｨ!! :+:+: @lubdrop |
Hardware physical limits [ edit ]
There are several physical and practical limits to the amount of computation or data storage that can be performed with a given amount of mass, volume, or energy.
Processing and memory density [ edit ]
The Bekenstein bound limits the amount of information that can be stored within a spherical volume to the entropy of a black hole with the same surface area.
Thermodynamics limit the data storage of a system based on its energy, number of particles and particle modes. In practice it is a stronger bound than Bekenstein bound.[1]
Processing speed [ edit ]
Bremermann's limit is the maximum computational speed of a self-contained system in the material universe, and is based on mass-energy versus quantum uncertainty constraints.
Communication delays [ edit ]
The Margolus–Levitin theorem sets a bound on the maximum computational speed per unit of energy: 6 × 1033 operations per second per joule. This bound, however, can be avoided if there is access to quantum memory. Computational algorithms can then be designed that require arbitrarily small amount of energy/time per one elementary computation step.[2][3]
Energy supply [ edit ]
Landauer's principle defines a lower theoretical limit for energy consumption: kT ln 2 ln 2 joules consumed per irreversible state change, where k is the Boltzmann constant and T is the operating temperature of the computer.[4] Reversible computing is not subject to this lower bound. T cannot, even in theory, be made lower than 3 kelvins, the approximate temperature of the cosmic microwave background radiation, without spending more energy on cooling than is saved in computation. However, on a timescale of 109 - 1010 years, the cosmic microwave background radiation will be decreasing exponentially, which will make it possible to eventually get 1030 as much computations per unit of energy.[5]
Building devices that approach physical limits [ edit ]
Several methods have been proposed for producing computing devices or data storage devices that approach physical and practical limits:
Abstract limits in computer science [ edit ]
In the field of theoretical computer science the computability and complexity of computational problems are often sought-after. Computability theory describes the degree to which problems are computable; whereas complexity theory describes the asymptotic degree of resource consumption. Computational problems are therefore confined into complexity classes. The arithmetical hierarchy and polynomial hierarchy classify the degree to which problems are respectively computable and computable in polynomial time. For instance, the level Σ 0 0 = Π 0 0 = Δ 0 0 {\displaystyle \Sigma _{0}^{0}=\Pi _{0}^{0}=\Delta _{0}^{0}} of the arithmetical hierarchy classifies computable, partial functions. Moreover, this hierarchy is strict such that at any other class in the arithmetic hierarchy classifies strictly uncomputable functions.
Loose and tight limits [ edit ]
Many limits derived in terms of physical constants and abstract models of computation in Computer Science are loose.[11] Very few known limits directly obstruct leading-edge technologies, but many engineering obstacles currently cannot be explained by closed-form limits.
See also [ edit ] |
Ryerson University has ditched its long-time food provider for a company promising to put more “local and sustainable” food in campus cafeterias. In a move that surprised student officials, the downtown university has decided not to renew its contract with Aramark Canada Ltd., a multinational corporation that’s stocked most of the campus eateries for the last two decades.
An Aramark food services truck on Yonge St. near Ryerson University. The institution has switched to another provider after complaints about Aramark's food and controversy over financial losses. However the student union says Ryerson is replacing one conglomerate with another, and that the student body is skeptical that will result in better food. ( TORONTO STAR FILE PHOTO )
Ryerson came under fire earlier this year when the Star revealed the university was paying millions to Aramark for running its on-campus food operations at a loss. The switch to Chartwells, also a corporate food giant, was announced Wednesday in a bulletin to staff and students. Entitled “a new era of food at Ryerson,” Julia Hanigsberg, Ryerson’s vice-president of finance and administration, writes the agreement “is part of our ongoing commitment to improve food at Ryerson” with an aim to “provide eating options that enhance the well-being and enjoyment of students, faculty and staff.”
Article Continued Below
The bulletin stresses change is afoot and promises that in September students can expect “high-quality, affordable” food, healthier, more diverse culinary options and a commitment that 25 per cent of campus fare will be “sustainable and local.” But student officials aren’t impressed by the move from one large corporation to another and say they’re not convinced it spells the end of crappy, expensive, low-quality campus food. PREVIOUSLY: Ryerson spending millions to cover food conglomerate’s losses.
Students say money should go to better use. Attempts in the last year to affect culinary change at Ryerson sparked a food fight between students and the administration. Rajean Hoilett, a Ryerson Students’ Union vice-president, says the RSU wasn’t consulted about the new contract and he does not believe that private companies can deliver the accountability and transparency necessary to improve the food.
Article Continued Below
“We don’t see this as a step in the right direction,” he says. “We just see it as a step in a different direction.” To set the wheels of change in motion, Ryerson says it hired Joshna Maharaj, a chef and vocal food activist responsible for transforming menus at several Toronto hospital cafeterias. Maharaj says gluten-free, vegan, vegetarian, halal and seasonal food is on its way to campus this fall. As well, she says, students can expect innovative food programming, such as community feasts and markets. There may even be a Ryerson food app. “Food is going to be alive on campus in a way I don’t think it has been before,” she says. “I would not have stepped into a scenario if didn’t see a major commitment to significant change with a very sharp focus around sustainability.” Maharaj, who begins work Tuesday, believes the new contract gives Ryerson more power over its menus, food sourcing, and personnel. She says the company, which operates in more than 1,000 Canadian schools, colleges and universities, has committed to increasing the percentage of local and sustainable food it offers to students, with each year of its contract. Ryerson spokesperson Michael Forbes said the school signed a letter of intent with Chartwells on July 25. “Right now, we’re negotiating all of the terms of the contract,” he said. “We’ve agreed they will be our provider and now we’re just working out all of the details.” As of right now there are no contract details about length, cost or staffing levels required that can be made public because negotiations are still ongoing, said Forbes. He expects there will be a signed agreement within the next two weeks. Forbes said Chartwells will have a management team of six people on campus. Meanwhile there are about 70 OPSEU workers in the cafeteria, who will remain on Ryerson’s payroll and are not affected by the change. At this time, Chartwells, which will act as the overall supplier and manager, cannot disclose details of the contract. Maharaj will collaborate with Chartwells about the overall food services. While she isn’t apprised of specific details, Maharaj says the contractual kinks that required Ryerson to pay Aramark’s shortfalls have been ironed out of the current agreement. Ryerson paid $5.6 million to Aramark as per its most recent five-year contract. “That issue and that section has been addressed with a lot of conscientiousness and with as much transparency,” she says. |
Analyzing the players who made the Miami Dolphins' 53-man roster:
Quarterback (2): Ryan Tannehill and Matt Moore
Ryan Tannehill: He's made tremendous strides in this new spread offense (86.5 passer rating, 68.3 percent of passes completed), which will utilize his athleticism more and requires accuracy. But is Tannehill a top 15 NFL quarterback yet?
Matt Moore: He's one of the top five backup quarterbacks in the NFL, which should justify his $4M salary for this season. But the Dolphins have discussed trades involving him, and other quarterbacks.
Cut: Seth Lobato
Tailbacks (4): Lamar Miller, Knowshon Moreno, Damien Williams, Orleans Darkwa
Lamar Miller: Miller's speed will allow him to deliver stretch plays, but he needs to become a better inside runner to hold off Knowshon Moreno.
Knowshon Moreno: Moreno's ability to set up blocks should boost the Dolphins' running game, but only if he's healthy. He’s not there yet.
Damien Williams: This undrafted rookie from Oklahoma has been one of camp's more pleasant surprises, but he’s still an unfinished product.
Orleans Darkwa: Darkwa, who produced a team-leading 194 all-purpose yards in the exhibitions season, came on strong late. But his spot isn’t safe.
Cut: Daniel Thomas, Marcus Thigpen
Receiver (5): Mike Wallace, Brian Hartline, Brandon Gibson, Jarvis Landry, Rishard Matthews.
Mike Wallace: Wallace's ability to get open deep makes him one of the NFL's top big play receivers, but he needs chemistry with Tannehill.
Brian Hartline: Hartline's savvy route running and reliable hands will likely help him remain the team's leading receiver.
Brandon Gibson: He's a smart, tough route runner who continues to develop as a dangerous slot receiver. But he’s got competition now.
Jarvis Landry: This former LSU standout, whom the Dolphins selected in the second-round, is the second coming of O.J. McDuffie.
Rishard Matthews: He emerged as a reliable slot receiver last season, and his toughness could help him excel as this unit's top reserve.
Cut: Kevin Cone, Matt Hazel, Damian Williams (Aug. 31)
Tight ends (3): Charles Clay, Dion Sims, Gator Hoskins
Charles Clay: Clay is nursing a sore right knee, but when he gets healthy he should threaten the seam for this offense.
Dion Sims: He was adequate as a rookie last season, but this camp he's made significant improvements as an in-line blocker.
Gator Hoskins: This rookie from Marshall, who led the nation in touchdowns for two college seasons, has a knack for finding the end zone.
Cut: Kyle Miller, Evan Wilson
Branden Albert: He's a forceful pass block, which should be expected since he's a Pro Bowler. But his run blocking needs work.
Daryn Colledge: His experience level and durability helped him lock down the starting left guard spot, but can he stay healthy for his ninth NFL season?
Mike Pouncey: Pushing his rehab of a surgically repaired hip helped him avoid beginning the season on the PUP. He’ll begin practicing this week.
Shelley Smith: He's small compared to the rest of Miami's offensive linemen, but his athleticism should help him with run blocking.
Ja'Wuan Jame: James is a polished pass rusher, who has proven he can be durable. However, this tackles run blocking needs work.
Samson Satele: Satele has started 98 games in his seven NFL seasons, and will hold the center spot down until Pouncey's healthy enough to play.
Billy Turner: The 2014 third-round pick is a violent run blocker when healthy, but he needs to get technically sound, and get past his turf toe injury.
Nate Garner: Garner's versatility had helped him start 19 games in his six seasons with the Dolphins. He plays all five O-line spots. |
It looks like the American Association for the Advancement of Science is transforming itself into a partisan special interests group:
AAAS, the world’s largest general scientific organization, announced Thursday that it will partner with the March for Science, a nonpartisan set of activities that aim to promote science education and the use of scientific evidence to inform policy.
I suppose we should not be surprised by this effort to make science more political. Consider who is in charge of the AAAS:
AAAS CEO Rush Holt said, “AAAS will encourage and support its members and affiliate organizations to help make the March for Science a success. We see the activities collectively known as the March as a unique opportunity to communicate the importance, value and beauty of science. Participation in the March for Science is in keeping with AAAS’ long-standing mission to ‘advance science, engineering and innovation throughout the world for the benefit of all people.’”
According to Wiki:
Rush Dew Holt Jr. (born October 15, 1948) is an American politician who was the U.S. Representative for New Jersey’s 12th congressional district from 1999 to 2015. He is a member of the Democratic Party.
Holt is not politically moderate, but represents the extreme left wing of the Democratic Party:
As a Congressman, Holt maintained liberal viewpoints on several major issues, and consistently voted accordingly. For example, he supported abortion rights, opposed the privatization of Social Security, and supported a public health care option…..In 2009, the National Journal rated him as one of the eight most liberal members of the House of Representatives.[37] Holt’s rankings released by various interest groups reflect his liberal views. Since 2009, he has been rated 100 percent in accordance with the interests of the following interest groups, among others: American Public Health Association, Americans for Democratic America, and NARAL Pro-Choice America.[38] Holt was a member of the New Democrat Coalition and the Congressional Progressive Caucus.
I’m shocked, shocked I tell ya, that an extreme lefty from the Democratic Party would lead the AAAS into partnering with the Science Against Trump March for Science.
But it gets a little more interesting.
If you click on the red Donate button for the March for Science, you will learn that:
ScienceDebate.org is the fiscal sponsor of the March for Science
And check out your url. When you clicked on “Donate” you were redirected to the ScienceDebate.org webpage.
What is a fiscal sponsor?
Using a fiscal sponsorship arrangement offers a way for a cause to attract donors even when it is not yet recognized as tax-exempt under Internal Revenue Code Section 501(c)(3). In essence the fiscal sponsor serves as the administrative “home” of the cause. Charitable contributions are given to the fiscal sponsor, which then grants them to support the cause.
I see. So by donating to the March for Science, you are donating to ScienceDebate.org.
So who is running that show?
One of the co-founders is none other than atheist activist Lawrence Krauss, the extremist who argues that teaching children creationism is child abuse and argues that religion is bad for society.
But that’s not the interesting thing to note. Is it that that another founding member is a contributing editor for the anti-religious The Skeptical Inquirer?
No.
Check out the Advisory Committee:
Rush Holt, CEO, American Association for the Advancement of Science; Executive Publisher, Science magazine; Former Democratic congressman from New Jersey
Hmmm. So the recent ex-politician who heads the AAAS has helped steer the AAAS into supporting the political March for Science. This will likely increase donations for the March, which means more money being sent to ScienceDebate.org, the organization that Holt himself is part of as its Advisory Committee.
Advertisements |
A man who was fatally struck by a train at an Upper East Side subway station on Thursday evening has been identified as Alex Gardega, the artist who placed a statue of a pug urinating on the "Fearless Girl" statue.
Gardega was pronounced dead at the 77th Street station after being hit by a southbound 6 train just after 6:30 p.m. on October 12th. The Daily News spoke to the motorman, James Muñoz, who "said the train was about 100 feet away from the station when the emergency brake kicked in."
“So I just had to investigate and see what was the cause,” Muñoz said. “I have a flashlight, I was able to see it clearly." Muñoz said he found Gardega between the seventh train car and the maintenance catwalk that runs along the tracks. He said Gardega was likely on the tracks when he was struck.
In May, Gardega decided to add his statement to the popular "Fearless Girl" statue that was placed in Bowling Green, facing the "Charging Bull" statue. Gardega called the statue "corporate nonsense," referencing the fact that it was the work of a huge financial services firm ( which was eventually accused of gender discrimination ). He told the Post, "It has nothing to do with feminism, and it is disrespect to the artist that made the bull."
In an interview with Gothamist, Gardega further explained, "I wanted it to be, like, punk rock lo-fi as a statement.... I would respect ["Fearless Girl"] if it was done by a random artist standing up against Wall Street."
Gardega's family told the News, "Alex was a brilliant and passionate artist who loved to provoke reactions from people with his work." |
Twitter has been completely emphatic about where developers should stake a claim, with Twitter Platform Lead Ryan Sarver warning the ecosystem to stay away from building “client apps that mimic or reproduce the mainstream Twitter consumer client experience.”
Well if Sarver stays true to his word the Twitpics and Yfrogs of the world can just give it up now. According to multiple sources, Twitter is on the verge of announcing its own built in Twitpic competitor. Like tomorrow, if things go according to plan (naturally this post might change that).
This shouldn’t really come as a surprise to anyone, as photosharing is the next logical step of Twitter expanding its in app experience. It’s basically grabbing at low hanging fruit.
Twitter is flinging money around; It just spent $40 million on power user client Tweetdeck which represents 13% of its userbase. It’s only natural that they would spend more resources on photosharing, especially considering how much money is being poured into the white hot space and that images were the crux of the success of competitor Facebook.
I’ve got no details on what exactly the photosharing URL shortener will be if any (Twitter has owned Twimg.com for a long time) or what the Twitter for Photos product will look like. Just that it’s coming, soon. And if they’re smart they’ll put ads on it. |
In an attempt to rearrange the subreddit a bit better and make it easier to read and filter through posts you aren't interested in without having to read the full title, I started setting up flairs today.
There's been a small hick-up since we realized we don't have full permissions as moderators of the subreddit, which means we can't add more users to moderate it and play around with the css of flairs and since I'm the least technical person for this we will have to figure out some other ways. This also means though that we can't sticky important posts or news on top of the subreddit which would've been really needed for important developments and news such as posts from @steemitblog or @steemitdev for visitors of the subreddit.
What you can do now though is set up flairs, we currently only have 4 user flairs that you can choose from: Minnow, Dolphin, Whale and Visitor.
For post flairs we have a selection of this to make it easier for people to read so I recommend anyone posting on the subreddit to set their flairs depending on what your post is about, here is what you can choose from so far and if you have any more recommendations feel free to tell them here in this post.
This means that when you write a submission to the subreddit you can afterwards click on "flair" under your post title and choose one of those corresponding to your post.
Here on the sidebar is where you can find user flairs to choose your own flair, more will be coming soon and made more pleasing to the eye.
I will soon be starting to curate through posts listed on the subreddit as well to grow some activity on there so make sure to create a Reddit account and subscribe to https://www.reddit.com/r/steemit/ in case you haven't done so yet!
Thanks for reading! |
Please turn on JavaScript. Media requires JavaScript to play. Advertisement
A 250m-long crop circle of a jellyfish has appeared on farmland.
The owners of the land in Oxfordshire have urged visitors to stay away from the circle, which is also 60m (197ft) wide, to avoid further crop damage.
Sally Ann Spence and husband Bill, who own Berry Croft Farm near Ashbury, said hundreds of visitors have been trampling over their field.
They said it was "beautiful" but the flattened crops were now "useless" and the damage would cost about £600.
"We have not given permission for people to walk on our land," Mrs Spence said.
"The pattern has already cost a great deal of damage - possibly about £600.
"People can get a better view from the air."
She said she was not concerned about tracking down the culprits and the incident has not been reported to the police.
It is not the first time crop circles have appeared on their land, they said, but the jellyfish is one of the most spectacular.
Correction: Mrs Spence inadvertently provided a figure of £600,000, rather than £600, for the damage caused, which was used in an earlier version of this story. |
Ten years ago I started my own business. At that time I felt this was the best decision ever in my entire life. Ten years after I still feel the same with all my heart.
Having your own business is one of the most challenging situations in which you can put yourself. And I’m not talking only about the financial part of a business. Most of the crash-courses on how to start your own business have a strong focus on the profit and financial facts. They are all selling you methods to reach profit quickly. And, to some extent, those are good and proven methods, but they have nothing to do with the pre-conscious choice of having a business. Those profit making courses are assuming you already took the decision.
In fact, having a business is not at all about profit. If you are serious about it, and if it proves to be a good and mature choice, you will have to face the profit challenges sooner or later. It’s in a business nature to have profit in order to survive. But making profit the most important part in having a business is just wrong. It’s something that you deal with months or years after you started your business for real.
The choice of starting your own business is more like an adventure than a spreadsheet. It’s more about risk taking than financial security. It’s more about personal development and growth than bank statements and material wealth.
In today’s post I’ll share some thoughts about how I decided to start my own business, and how this decision still benefit me after ten years.
The Drive
I was 29 year old when I started my own business. Until that age I was mostly dragging around, living by talking out loud (really, I was working as an anchor man on FM radios, I have a pretty radiophonic voice) and never making plans for tomorrow. For several years in a row I was mostly drinking my evenings out with the same people, borrowing their misery and trying to find reasons to wake up the next day.
But around that age something started to change in me. Never knew how to define that. It was a drive for deep, fundamental and meaningful change. And that desire for change was spreading over all areas of my life: personal, as well as professional. To make a long story short, it was a mix of bad personal choices and amazingly risky professional decisions that lead to the final result: setting up my own company.
I won’t go into technical details about how and when exactly I did it. I want to focus more on the inner reasons that took me there. And those inner reasons are made of only three main qualities: courage, curiosity and enthusiasm. All three qualities mixed together created a powerful drive for change.
Courage
The definition of courage is for me the ability to change at any given point a status-quo without hesitation and with all available energy. Regardless of the overall context, of course.
And the overall context at that time was simply horrible for starting a business. And when I say horrible, I mean it. Cash was simply intangible as a resource, you couldn’t borrow money from the bank without accepting an interest higher than 80%. Yes, higher than 80%, which means credit was simply prohibitive.
Cash was the smallest problem, by the way. You had to face corruption, lack of qualified people – which made me to learn a lot of different skills, and an almost desert market for online products. Basically, you were far better at that time if you could secure a job and get on with it.
But against all odds I started this business. And my very first project was worth over 20.000 USD, an amount who let me finance my activities for the first year, until I set up a qualified team and a location. Not even my associates believed me at that time, until they saw the contract.
I started the business as an act of conscious change, despite of an unfriendly context.
Curiosity
Curiosity as a quality is often underrated. It’s amazing how useful curiosity is for a balanced life and for constant growth. I think boredom is a chronic imbalance with curiosity. I also think curiosity is somehow related to our ability to create and maintain happiness.
Although I was working as an anchor man – well, ok, I was climbing on the hierarchy and go through all the levels of a FM radio diagram, up to the position of program manager – well, besides that, I was constantly expressing interest in other, completely unrelated areas.
I remember that I was fascinated by fractals at that time. I was also into computers and internet, and bought my first books on programming. I started to learn Borland C++ on the bus, while going at the radio. I was literally obsessed with learning new stuff.
And out of curiosity I decided to have a business in the online field. At that time online was something yet to be defined, of course, nobody could predict in 1999 that we will actually have the Internet as we have it today. But I had this unstoppable urge to do something in that field and learn as much as I can.
I started the business so I can learn more of what I liked.
Enthusiasm
The first three years of my company I worked 16 hours a day, no weekends. I actually worked more than 1000 days in a row, and I can tell you in all honesty that I’ve never been tired. Not a single day. I was fueled by enthusiasm.
Enthusiasm is such a gift. It’s a state of your conscience in which you are channeling a lot more energy than usual. But enthusiasm is also a function of what you like and don’t like. You can’t really get excited about something you don’t like, and then spend 16 hours a day, 1000 days in a row on it. You simply can’t.
I was doing something that I liked, soaking myself in a completely new field of activity. I was courageously spending each day looking for ideas, people or resources in order to build something that I truly believed in. Of course I was literally exhaling endorphins.
If I didn’t have enthusiasm I couldn’t make it over the first three years. And my enthusiasm was a consequence of my choices: I was doing something that I loved and with courage and determination. I finally found something that put me in that enthusiasm state and let me there for good.
I started my own business because I was so excited to do something I really loved to do.
***
As you can see, my drive to start my own business had nothing to do with money. There wasn’t any single mention of the money and profits in my first 4-5 months. I was so confident that things will go well that I simply overlooked this part. And for that period, that was a very clever thing to do, because it allowed me to focus on other, more important areas. Later on, I had some periods in which I overlooked the money flow the same way, but with some disastrous consequences. Maybe I’ll blog about those times some day. Having a business is not at all a pinky lifestyle and every mistake develop a strange tendency to blow everything away.
Starting your own business is not a matter of money and profit. It’s really a matter of courage, curiosity and enthusiasm. Whenever you mix those three fundamental qualities of your being, something big happens in your life.
In my life that mix gave birth to my own business. In your life, that mix can manifest something different, but it will always challenge your core for growth and personal development.
Maybe it will be your relationship that needs courage, curiosity and enthusiasm, maybe it will be your social life. Whatever field it will chose to manifest in, the alignment of courage, curiosity and enthusiasm will change your life for good.
The Catch
I’m sure you already learned by now that “starting your own business” has nothing to do with bank statements and formal certificates of incorporation. It’s all about creating value out of genuine curiosity, with great courage and backed up with enthusiasm.
You can as well work for somebody else as an employee, but if you do that with courage, curiosity and enthusiasm, it would be like you already started your own business, and your boss is just your most important client. |
The Modern Masters 2015 full spoiler is now available and the first thing I like to do to evaluate a set in Limited is look at each archetype.
UW Artifacts
This is a returning archetype from the first Modern Masters, except we now have metalcraft. Building a good deck will require finding the right balance between non-artifact cards such as Somber Hoverguard, Dispatch, Thoughtcast, Myrsmith and cheap artifacts such as Darksteel Citadel, Court Homunculus, Flayer Husk, and Everflowing Chalice.
WB Spirits and Arcane
Oh nostalgia, I started drafting Magic in Kamigawa block. This deck gets a major upgrade from back then… Nameless Inversion! Not only does it trigger cards like Waxmane Baku and Thief of Hope, but you can rebuy it with soulshift.
Prioritize Waxmane Baku, Thief of Hope, Moonlit Strider and Scuttling Death when building your deck, don’t forget that some rather unexciting cards such as Kami of Ancient Law, Terashi’s Grasp, Waking Nightmare, and Otherworldly Journey are all Spirit/arcane related and become better filler cards than you think.
WR Equipment and Double Strike
This strategy is very linear and there seem to be more than enough double strikers in the set to reliably have the amount you need. Mighty Leap and Blades of Velis Vel are at their best here. Kitesail and Apostle’s Blessing both found a home.
Darksteel Axe is your #1 equipment, but there’s a chance Cranial Plating is also stellar if you picked up enough artifacts.
WG Tokens
The game plan is easy, flood the board and cast Fortify, Overwhelm, or Sigil Blessing. Kozilek’s Predator and Nest Invader are both awesome commons on their own and in any deck, this one is no exception. I’m not sure about Root-Kin Ally, but it’s probably good enough.
This archetype in a draft would be fighting with BG tokens and sacrifice decks for all the green tokens producers, so make sure you’re not seated next to someone stealing them!
UB Value
I wonder what the designers were trying to do with this color combination—it is obviously bloodthirst, -1/-1 counters, and proliferate, however it’s very unimpressive. Besides bloodthirst, everything this color is trying to do is play good value cards such as Dimir Guildmage and hopefully premium cards like Mulldrifter, Air Servant, and Spread the Sickness. None of those fit particularly well with aggressive bloodthirst cards because they are slow.
I’m not saying this can’t make a good deck, but it’s going to lack synergy. I suspect you end up in this deck when you have a bunch of premium cards, draw spells, and removal.
UR Elemental
Versatile creatures and ways to play them faster. You can make this color combination more aggressive by going heavy-red with Ashenmoor Gouger, bloodthirst creatures, and just a small touch of blue for tempo with Vapor Snag, Repeal, Narcolepsy, and Aethersnipe.
On the other hand, playing with Smokebraider is SUCH a blast. They even put Incandescent Soulstoke at uncommon. Grab your favorite: Cloud Elemental, Water Servant, or Inner-Flame Igniter and have some fun !
UG Proliferate Graft
Most of these are rather crappy of their own, despite that, they are insane with each other. Imagine playing Steady Progress that puts a counter everywhere AND draws you a card. Thrummingbird gets out of hand—graft becomes insane and Tumble Magnet, good on its own already, is crazy with proliferate.
Thrive is a card that might be good in this deck, but I’m still hesitant.
BR Bloodthirst
I expect this strategy to be among the best, it doesn’t mess around and is lightning fast. Daggerclaw Imp is at its best here, it’s aggressive and should be able to enable bloodthirst most of the time. Mortarpod and Kitesail are also both great enablers. You could maindeck Wrap in Flames as Magmatic Chasm with upside. This deck is basically M12 Limited and Goblin Fireslinger was incredible back then—prioritize him and Vampire Lacerator.
BG Sacrifice
This one is my favorite, it’s close to an Aristocrats deck and the color combination is extremely deep. Many underwhelming cards like Reassembling Skeleton, Tukatongue Thallid, and Culling Dais are actually great in this deck. You can even try to ramp up to Ulamog’s Crusher and other Eldrazi by sacrificing Cathodion and Eldrazi Spawn.
Mortarpod is astonishing. There are a lot of premium cards that other people will take like Bestial Menace, Scatter the Seeds, Pelakka Wurm, and the green Eldrazi Spawn producers, still, you are left with Scavenger Drake, Algae Gharial, Bone Splinters, and Bloodthrone Vampire that should go late because it mainly only fits in this archetype.
RG Domain
Splashing seems to be very rewarding and if you have most of the good fixing you’re having access to the domain and sunburst cards as well. Sylvan Bounty is not exciting, but you’re going to need your land drops and colors. Don’t pick up too many win conditions, Worldheart Phoenix and Dragonsoul Knight should be go very late and those are enough to close a game. You want to build primarily around fixing, ramp, and excellent removal spells.
Splashing a 3rd color?
Even if the most obvious ones are 2-color archetypes, the format allows easy splashes in the form of Wayfarer’s Bauble, Sphere of the Suns, Alloy Myr, Evolving Wilds, and bouncelands.
Don’t be shy to add these amazing spells: Oblivion Ring, Dismember, Mulldrifter, Lightning Bolt, Arrest, Burst Lightning, Narcolepsy, Nameless Inversion, Sunlance, Tribal Flames, Agony Warp, Electrolyze, Necrogenesis, Pillory of the Sleepless, Savage Twister, Vengeful Rebirth, Wrecking Ball and obviously some of the rares and mythics. |
Subsets and Splits
No saved queries yet
Save your SQL queries to embed, download, and access them later. Queries will appear here once saved.