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Footage of dare, as part of online drinking phenomenon Neknominate, was seen by RSPCA, which prosecuted 33-year-old
A 33-year-old man who drank four fish in a cocktail of alcohol has walked free from court after admitting animal cruelty.
Paul Wooding, from Ross-on-Wye, Herefordshire, appeared at Hereford magistrates court for sentencing over two offences linked to the online drinking craze Neknominate.
Wooding was given an 18-month conditional discharge for causing unnecessary suffering to an animal and for failing to protect the fish, after being prosecuted by the RSPCA. He admitted both charges in court earlier this month.
In a video recorded at a pub in February, Wooding announces "this is my Neknominate" before downing a pint of wine, gin, vodka, rum and lemonade mixed together – along with the fish.
The footage came to the RSPCA's attention after it was seen on Wooding's Facebook page. Rafe Turner, prosecuting, said it was a vet's opinion that "the fish have been caused pain, based on the video evidence".
The Neknominate phenomenon is understood to have emerged in Australia, and Wooding's case is believed to be the fifth to come to court in the UK in connection with the craze.
After being questioned about the video, Wooding later posted on Facebook: "Some people's lives must be that sad and boring, to get any excitement they have to report me to the RSPCA for my Neknominate."
Wooding told investigators he had been nominated to drink by friends and "something was going around to get some fish, to make it different".
Turner said he told the RSPCA the fish were "little minnows" and he had got them out of his friend's fishtank an hour before carrying out the act.
Wooding said he had drunk about eight pints and six double gins before downing the cocktail at the Golf Inn in Ross-on-Wye.
Chris Morgan, in mitigation, questioned why the prosecution had ever made it to court when "other similar matters" had entailed cautions being issued.
He added: "Yes, those fish may have experienced pain and then died, but they are small fish, nothing more."
He said the offences should be looked at objectively, and that comparing the deaths of the fish to, for example, four horses would be "contrary to common sense".
Morgan said his client was "stupid, irresponsible and ashamed" but had already suffered having been exposed to "public ridicule" and the press spotlight.
He said Wooding had had no idea that drinking the fish was against the law. "If it can ever be said of a crime, that a defendant has learned the error of his ways, it can be said here," said Morgan.
Wooding was also ordered to pay £500 costs and a £15 victim surcharge. |
By 2050, the world’s population is projected to approach nine billion. With more people will come more developed land—a lot more.
Urbanization, agriculture, energy, and mining put 20 percent of the world’s remaining forests, grasslands, and other natural ecosystems at risk of conversion by 2050. With that kind of expansion, there are sure to be harms—namely clean water, clean air, and biodiversity.
To mitigate some of those risks, scientists and geographers at the Nature Conservancy have taken a crucial step by mapping the potential impact that human growth will have on natural lands. It’s the most comprehensive look to date at how major forms of development will take over fragile ecosystems, if left unchecked.
Using publicly available global datasets, the researchers projected how terrestrial ecosystems would be affected by nine sectors: urban and agricultural expansion, fossil fuels (conventional oil and gas, unconventional oil and gas, and coal), renewable energy (solar, wind, and biofuels), and mining. |
All content featured on our charity site is produced by young volunteers with the support and mentoring of our professional production team.
The Boris Johnson Experience
Conference season has come and gone once again. These three tedious weeks of posturing, gaffes, theatrical and shallow soul searching, gaffes, posturing, political infighting, and gaffes dominate autumn for those of us masochistic enough to pay attention to the proceedings. The reward for this political penance is the annual highlight of news coverage in the UK. I am of course referring to the inevitable moment when Jeremy Paxman and Boris Johnson meet in what could inaccurately be described as a battle of wills. More accurately it could be described as the meeting of an irresistible force and an immovable object if one takes “force” to mean “tide of charming insanity” and “immovable” to mean “visibly frustrated and increasingly irate.”
This conflagration of nonsense established its entertainment credentials in 2009 when these two giants of British public life met in a Newsnight interview. After failing to nail Mr Johnson down with his inimitable interviewing style – hardly surprising given that in such situations Boris tends to float like a butterfly and sting like a good natured classics professor – Paxman was driven to relinquishing control of his programme’s broadcasting equipment and allowed Mr Johnson to extol the virtues of David Cameron as a future Prime Minister direct to camera. 2010 brought similar joy when Paxman once again failed to turn the tide of whimsy as Mr Johnson cheerfully answered his questions about relations within the coalition with the revelation that the mooted cable-car across the Thames was to be named after his cabinet colleague Vince Cable, as a sign of unity. Once again conventions of news broadcasting were shattered when, under hard questioning, Boris once again broke the fourth wall and reminded the British public that the unelected and unaccountable Jeremy Paxman enjoyed a comfortable lifestyle on funds drawn from our pockets.
Each year the encounter is a delight and this year’s outing was no different. Whilst an almost familiar rhythm has clearly developed and Paxman now seems more resigned and amused than genuinely irritated, the joy remains palpable for those of us who enjoy politics with a dash of the absurd. The interview opened with Paxman attempting to highlight the apparent gap between Mr Johnson and David Cameron’s diagnoses of British society’s ailments. Mr Johnson has, in the past, described Mr Cameron’s claim that Britain is broken as “piffle” and the reactions of these two Tory giants to recent rioting appear to show this rift growing. Within seconds the line of questioning had descended into semantics over whether – “in common parlance” – a broken camera would or would not retain its function. I will not attempt to narrate how this tangent became prominent. Watch the interview.
Next in Paxman’s crosshairs was the possibility that Mr Johnson might lead the Tory Party once Mr Cameron’s reign ended. Speculation as to Mr Johnson’s future ambitions has surfaced and it was clearly Paxman’s intention to cause embarrassment for the blonde haired bumbler. Once again pantomime dominated politics with Mr Johnson stating that Mr Paxman’s chances of leading the Conservatives were higher than his own and – after further badgering – offered to run Mr Paxman’s campaign. Finally, the exchange descends into jibes about Mr Johnson failure to match Mr Cameron’s first class degree and takes on the tone of two old friends sniping at each other good naturedly over a couple of pints. Paxman maintains the illusion of professionalism until Johnson closes proceedings with the statement that “this is playground stuff,” and his interlocutor is forced to agree. “Playground stuff” it may have been but it was magnificent none the less.
So elated was I that the more mundane fare that proceeded the interview could not satisfy and so I took to the internet with the intention of basking further in the glory of Boris’s oratory. Google threw up some surprises. First, Helen Lewis-Hastley proved herself to be a joyless soul. Admittedly, a writer showing a distaste for the antics of a toff – and worse, a populist toff – is not terribly surprising. What did genuinely surprise me – and perhaps this shows how clouded with happiness my mind had become – was this article from the Huffington Post. It accuses Paxman of “giving Johnson something he rarely does with his subjects – an easy go.” The accusation is a hard one to deny, as are the twitter complaints from Polly Toynbee and Harriet Harman. Mr Johnson is the elected Mayor of London, after all. It’s certainly unimaginable that any other elected official would be treated with the warmth and humour that Boris seems to elicit in the normally fearsome Paxman. This idiosyncratic and – to my knowledge – unique political position that Boris Johnson appears to inhabit is under threat – or at least perhaps should be under threat – not only from his position as a relatively major elected official but also by his increasing credibility. His transition from loveable buffoon to stealth-serious politician (at least in the eyes of the media) is summed up by this Telegraph article which describes his conference speech as “shockingly “on message.”
The question of how the media should scrutinise the inscrutable Boris Johnson will become an increasingly important question if he wins re-election as London’s Mayor. More important still if he – as ridiculous as this sounds – becomes leader of Britain’s ruling political party. I find that I cannot bring myself to criticise Paxman’s rare weakness on this occasion. I find myself reminded of Paul Merton’s words on the subject from 2005: “I would make an exception for Boris definitely… I would be very happy for him to become our PM and represent us throughout the world. Wouldn’t it be great? Just for a week.” |
Trae Tha Truth is a national treasure. The Houston rapper was interviewed on Fox 26 today for his efforts in rescuing victims of Hurricane Harvey and he was riding in a boat to help out.
Trae, riding through the flood water, describes how he started saving people with the boat and assisting the fire department with friends to get to victims. When asked by a Fox 26 reporter why he was braving the elements, Trae gave an answer that showed his compassion and how his experience with the hurricane made him want to help others in need. "I felt helpless yesterday when I had to be rescued, so I know that feeling," he said.
Helping hurricane victims isn't the only way that Trae has been giving back this summer. This July, during his 10th annual Trae Day, the Houston rapper donated 75 scholarships to students in partnership with the Houston Public Library. In an interview with a local Houston ABC affiliate , Trae detailed why he gave away the scholarships. “We were trying to find a way to excite the people, because our reading rates are really low,” Trae said of his donation. “Sometimes you gotta give people that push to make them want to do better as a whole.”
He isn't the only rapper helping the victims of tropical storm Harvey either. Drake, Nicki Minaj and others in hip-hop are also taking concrete steps to aid the people of Houston.
Early this year, Trae dropped his album, Tha Truth Pt. 3 . Post Malone, Young Thug, Lil Durk, D.R.A.M., Maxo Kream, Tee Grizzley and Royce 5’9 all make appearances on the LP.
Trae is undoubtedly a hero for his city. Watch the video of Trae Tha Truth helping Hurricane Harvey victims below. |
DON'T MISS ANY PERSONAL FINANCE COVERAGE DON'T MISS ANY PERSONAL FINANCE COVERAGE prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" / Sign up for prefix = st1 ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" / USA TODAY's Personal Finance e-mail newsletter. Every Friday, you'll get a week's worth of USA TODAY's personal finance news and columns. The experienced columnists and reporters at USA TODAY give you the news you need and advice you trust. SIGN UP NOW. IT'S FREE One morning last month, the manager of a Stop & Shop in Methuen, Mass., noticed a man, along with his young daughter, leave the store without paying for several bags of shrimp. When police arrived, they found something else on him, too: 20 cans of baby formula. Call it a sign of the times. Steadily and alarmingly, shoplifting seems to be rising at many retail chains, and experts are pointing at a prime cause: the sputtering economy. "Wages aren't keeping up with inflation, especially the price of food and energy," says Diane Swonk, chief economist at Mesirow Financial. "It just leaves less money for everything else, and that breeds a lot of temptation." Retail and law enforcement experts agree that they've seen an increase in store theft during the current slowdown — and not only from customers. "It's clear that both employee theft and shoplifting are up," says Richard Hollinger, professor of criminology at the University of Florida who compiles the annual National Retail Security Survey. "The most recent rise is being driven by the economy. A lot of people are on the financial edge." When 116 retailers were surveyed recently about shoplifting, 74% said they believed that shoplifting incidents last year had risen from 2006, according to the National Retail Federation. And when a smaller group of retailers were asked about shoplifting so far this year, nearly all said it has continued to rise, says Joe LaRocca, vice president of loss prevention at the National Retail Federation. They also said they felt the economy had been a contributing factor. All told, retail theft is estimated to cost about $40.5 billion a year. And the rest of us, already squeezed by higher gas and food prices, end up paying for it: Stores pass on much of their losses to customers in the form of higher prices. "Retailers can't afford to just eat that loss," Hollinger says. "Their margins aren't large enough. So this hits right on the bottom line, and they're trying to plug up all of these leaks, because the economy is so tight." Among the reasons the sluggish economy is thought to be contributing to rising shoplifting by customers and store employees: •Rising prices and growing debt. "Unfortunately, it's to be expected that when the economy moves into a slowdown, and families have difficulties meeting week-to-week and month-to-month bills, shoplifting is going to go up," says Bruce Hutchinson, professor of economics at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga. Most police departments don't collect data on the profiles of shoplifting suspects. But some who deal directly with the problem say they've detected a shift. "In general, the shoplifter of the past was mostly trying to fuel a drug habit," says Sgt. Alfred Pratt of the Shrewsbury, Mass., Police Department. "But we've seen a change as the economy has declined. More common, everyday items are being stolen, such as groceries." The district attorney's office in Knoxville, Tenn., says it's seen a similar change. "We get a lot of shoplifters, and I see the trend upward," says Samyah Jubran, a Knox County assistant district attorney general. Now, she says, there's more food theft, and it tends to come from repeat offenders, many of whom seem to be struggling with financial issues. •Fewer store clerks. Squeezed by the tightening economy, stores are looking to trim costs. One easy way is to reduce the number of sales clerks on the floor. With fewer employees greeting people at the door and watching shoppers walk the aisles, it's easier for shoplifters to grab and stash merchandise. In April, when about two dozen retailers were asked about store theft so far this year, LaRocca says, most said they thought that reduced sales and staff cutbacks had been a contributing factor to the rise in theft rates, involving both consumers and employees. If stores "don't have a lot of people on duty in the store, particularly in these big-box stores," Hollinger notes, "it leaves what are called dead zones. That's where shoppers can stuff things up their shirts or in their pocketbooks, take off the tags and do all sorts of things." With fewer employees promoting merchandise, some retailers have felt the need to unlock and display high-price products, such as jewelry and watches, outside their usual glass cases. That might help spark more sales. But it's also likely to lead to more theft, says Mike Keenan, director of loss prevention at Mervyns department stores. Job turnover, whether of sales associates or store managers, is a leading predictor of employee theft, Hollinger says. In 2006, retailers estimated that employee theft had caused 47% of their company losses, according to his most recent National Retail Security Survey. Hollinger's survey found that employees accounted for nearly half the total cost of retail theft. Many employees who are caught are dismissed but not prosecuted. "After dismissal, most are also required to provide civil recovery and pay restitution," Hollinger says. "Just because retailers don't always prosecute does not mean that they do not know where their merchandise and money is going." •Rise in organized retail crime. The economic slowdown has led many shoppers to seek deeply discounted products through the Internet, says Paul Jones of the Retail Industry Leaders Association. Exploiting the opportunity, criminal teams are zeroing in on retail products and selling them cheaply, authorities say. "It's become more lucrative for them," Jones says. Gangs of professional thieves account for $15 billion to $30 billion in retail losses every year, the FBI and the retail federation estimated in 2005. This year, 85% of retailers said they thought they'd been victims of criminal enterprises in the past 12 months, according to a survey the retail federation released this month. The Internet has made it much easier for thieves to sell more stolen items, because "they used to have to sell at a garage sale or flea market or through a fence, and those were generally local," Keenan says. Now, he notes, it's easier to use the Internet to unload products across the country and the world. Many people are willing to grab those deals, even if they suspect they might be buying stolen goods. "Consumers are looking for a big bang for their buck," says Swonk, the economist at Mesirow Financial. "If it's stolen goods, they're going to get it at a better price than at the retailer. It's creating another market." Questionable medicine Yet, doing so could carry health risks in some cases. "We've found that many people buy infant formula through different online auction sites," Jones says. "But they don't know if that merchandise is properly stored, if it has the correct date on it or if it is even the right merchandise." Last week, after a two-year investigation with the FBI and IRS, the San Jose, Calif., Police Department busted a shoplifting ring whose thieves had stolen merchandise from grocery stores and discount retailers. Products that included Pepcid AC, Claritin and Tylenol were sold on the Internet and at flea markets, police said. Last year, the FBI joined with the retail industry, which it relies on for shoplifting data, to pool information and help combat organized retail theft. Only in recent years, though, have a majority of retailers been willing to discuss merchandise theft. "In 1991, when we started this process," Hollinger says, referring to his National Retail Security Survey, "it was like root canal." But shoplifting and employee theft have imposed such financial burdens on retailers that more of them are seeking answers. "It's the single largest category of property crime in America, bar none," Hollinger says. "Bank robberies, car theft — nothing comes close to this." As long as the economy remains weak, many experts think the trend will persist. "When the economy is down, shoplifting and other crime go up," says Mark Zandi, chief economist of Moody's Economy.com. "People are losing jobs or moving from a full-time to a part-time job. But they still have the mortgage to pay and the credit cards to pay." Guidelines: You share in the USA TODAY community, so please keep your comments smart and civil. Don't attack other readers personally, and keep your language decent. Use the "Report Abuse" button to make a difference. You share in the USA TODAY community, so please keep your comments smart and civil. Don't attack other readers personally, and keep your language decent. Use the "Report Abuse" button to make a difference. Read more |
U.S. prison cells are bloated with the bodies of black men, but the restrictive walls of our public imagination imprison black men too: From Emmett Till to Trayvon Martin, they are culturally imagined as "thugs," gangsters, deadbeat dads, emotionless lovers or sexually potent threats.
This stagnant image of the black male is not only offensive in its own right but is also dismissive of those black men who, because of their gender or sexual identities, don't fit the norm.
"I am a Negro faggot, if I believe what movies, TV and rap music say of me," the now-celebrated filmmaker and cultural critic Marlon Riggs once wrote in reference to black masculinity. "Because of my sexuality, I cannot be black. A strong, proud, 'Afrocentric' black man is resolutely heterosexual, not even bisexual. Hence I remain a Negro."
Now, Philadelphia-based multimedia artist Shikeith is using his photography to recast black men as subjects liberated from self-hate, internalized racism, sexism and homophobia. He is reimagining, and reclaiming, black masculinity as an expansive space available to a range of black bodies — gay, bisexual, trans and gender non conforming alike.
Warning: Some images contain nudity.
"Where Troubles Melt Like Lemon Drops," 2013
Where Troubles Melt Like Lemon Drops, 2013 Shikeith Cathey
Shikeith's work, similar to that of contemporary black male artists like Fahamu Pecou and Kehinde Wiley, celebrates and critiques representations of black manhood in our cultural imagination. His images reflect his lived experiences and challenge us to see black men as vulnerable, hurt, feeling, crying, smiling, living, loving and soaring.
In short, they tell the story of his "traumatic journey towards self-hood," and remind us that black men are human.
"Black Boys in Bed," 2014
Black boy in bed, 2014 Shikeith Cathey
"Growing up in the challenging environment of North Philadelphia I was not able to assimilate to the glorified behaviors of the black men around me," Shikeith told Mic. "As a result I was ostracized, and verbally and physically abused for many years. Experiencing that level of homelessness left me broken and depressed for a very long time. I did not know who to be to survive amongst other black boys."
"Dreams in Black and White," 2013
Dreams in black and white, 2013 Shikeith Cathey
"The work I make reaffirms the humanity of black males that has consistently been denied. I aim to dismantle the conceptions that are leading black males to their physical and emotional deaths." Shikeith said. "The truth is black males are often denied at childhood the opportunity to be their authentic selves. I believe the only way to challenge all pre-conceived notions of black manhood."
"Germinate," 2014
"Germinate", 2014 Shikeith Cathey
Shikeith's work is liberating the black male body from the cages of restrictive and dangerous perceptions. "It is necessary that all black males snatch back their narrative and write from their own individual perspectives. Knowing you are free to reside in your masculinity however you see fit I believe will save a lot of lives," he said.
"Not Quite Like the Other Boys," 2013
"Not quite like the other boys", 2013 Shikeith Cathey
"Droplets," 2013
"Droplets", 2013 Shikeith Cathey
"Neuroses in Blossom," 2014
"Neuroses in blossom", 2014 Shikeith Cathey
"Black Boy," 2013
"Black boy", 2013 Shikeith Cathey
"Black Out," 2013
"Black out", 2013 Shikeith Cathey
"The Moment You Doubt You Can Fly, You Cease Forever to Be Able to Do It," 2014
"The Moment You Doubt You Can Fly, You Cease Forever To Be Able to Do It" , 2014 Shikeith Cathey
"Portrait of a Black Boy," 2013
"Portrait Of A Black Boy", 2013 Shikeith Cathey
"Why Do They Forget the Way?" 2013
"Why Do They Forget The Way?" , 2013 Shikeith Cathey
"#Blackmendream," 2014 |
My father was, in many ways, a man of discipline, organisation and charisma - a regimental sergeant major no less. One of the very last men to be evacuated from Dunkirk, his third stripe was chalked on to his uniform by an officer when no more senior NCOs were left alive. Parachuted into Crete and Italy, both times under fire, he fought at Monte Casino and was twice mentioned in dispatches. A fellow soldier once told me, "When your father marches on to the parade ground, the birds in the trees stop singing."
In civilian life it was a different story. He was an angry, unhappy and frustrated man who was not able to control his emotions or his hands. As a child I witnessed his repeated violence against my mother, and the terror and misery he caused was such that, if I felt I could have succeeded, I would have killed him. If my mother had attempted it, I would have held him down. For those who struggle to comprehend these feelings in a child, imagine living in an environment of emotional unpredictability, danger and humiliation week after week, year after year, from the age of seven. My childish instinct was to protect my mother, but the man hurting her was my father, whom I respected, admired and feared.
From Monday morning to Friday tea time he worked as a semi-skilled labourer, and was diligent and sober. Often funny and charming, he was always rich in the personal stories of warfare and adventure that thrilled me. But come Friday night, after the pubs closed, we awaited his return with trepidation. I would be in bed but not asleep. I could never sleep until he did; while he was awake we were all at risk. Instead, I would listen for his voice, singing, as he walked home. Certain songs were reassuring: I'll Take You Home Again, Kathleen; I'll Walk Beside You . . . But army songs were not a good sign. And worst of all was silence. When I could only hear footsteps it was the signal to be super-alert.
Our house was small, and when you grow up with domestic violence in a confined space you learn to gauge, very precisely, the temperature of situations. I knew exactly when the shouting was done and a hand was about to be raised – I also knew exactly when to insert a small body between the fist and her face, a skill no child should ever have to learn. Curiously, I never felt fear for myself and he never struck me, an odd moral imposition that would not allow him to strike a child. The situation was barely tolerable: I witnessed terrible things, which I knew were wrong, but there was nowhere to go for help. Worse, there were those who condoned the abuse. I heard police or ambulancemen, standing in our house, say, "She must have provoked him," or, "Mrs Stewart, it takes two to make a fight." They had no idea. The truth is my mother did nothing to deserve the violence she endured. She did not provoke my father, and even if she had, violence is an unacceptable way of dealing with conflict. Violence is a choice a man makes and he alone is responsible for it.
No one came to help. No adult stepped in and took charge. I needed someone else to take over and tell me everything was going to be all right and that it wasn't my fault. I wanted the anger to go away and, while it stayed, I felt responsible. The sense of guilt and loneliness provoked by domestic violence is tainting – and lasting. No one came, but everyone knew. Our small houses were close together. Every Monday morning I walked to school with my head down, praying that I would not encounter a neighbour or school friend who had heard the weekend's rows. I felt ashamed.
Very occasionally one person would come to our aid – Mrs Dixon, our next-door neighbour, the only person who would stand up to my father. She would throw open the door and stand before him, bosom bursting and her mighty weaver's forearm raised in his face. "Come on, Alf Stewart," she would say, "have a go at me." He never did. He calmed down and went to bed. Now I wish I could take Lizzie Dixon's big hand in mine and thank her.
Such experiences are destructive. In my adult life I have struggled to overcome the bad lessons of my father's behaviour, this corrosive example of male irresponsibility. But the most oppressive aspect of these experiences was the loneliness. Very recently, during a falling-out with my girlfriend, I felt again as though I were shut out and alone, not heard or understood. I was neither, but it was such a familiar isolation that it was almost a comfort and consolation.
I managed to find my own refuge in acting. The stage was a far safer place for me than anything I had to live through at home – it offered escape. I could be someone else, in another place, in another time. However, whenever the role called for anger, fury, or the expression of murderous impulses, I was always afraid of what I might unleash if I surrendered myself to those feelings. It was not until 1981, when the director Ronald Eyre asked me to play the psychotic Leontes in The Winter's Tale, that the breakthrough came.
He quietly told me that the play would only work if I gave myself over, completely and totally, to the delusions, madness and murderousness of this man. "If you do that," Ron said, "I will be at your side. I will be available to you 24 hours a day." From that time forward I was never again afraid of my feelings on stage.
The truth is that domestic violence touches many of us. It is very possible that someone you know – a friend, sister, daughter or colleague – is experiencing abuse. One in four women will experience domestic violence at some point in her lifetime. And every week two women are killed by a current or former partner in England and Wales, and 10 women take their own lives as the only way they know how to escape a violent partner. You are almost certainly paying for it. Domestic violence costs around £26bn a year in medical, legal and housing costs.
This violence is not a private matter. Behind closed doors it is shielded and hidden and it only intensifies. It is protected by silence – everyone's silence. Which is why, in 2007, I became patron of Refuge, the national domestic violence charity. Every day the organisation supports more than 1,000 women and children through its national network of refuges and services. At Refuge, women and children are given psychological support to help them overcome the trauma of abuse. A team of independent legal advocates are on hand to protect women at high risk of violence through the legal process.
Thanks to Refuge's tireless campaigning, attitudes have changed. Police tactics have improved and most men are no longer able to get away with beating women. Yet the statistics still make for grim reading. More than two thirds of the residents in Refuge's network of refuges are children. I cannot express how sad – and angry – it makes me to think that we still cannot ensure the safety of women and children in their own homes.
Most people find the idea of violence against women – and sometimes, though rarely, against men - abhorrent, but do nothing to challenge it. More women and children, just like my mother and me, will continue to experience domestic violence unless we all speak out against it. You can do this by supporting Refuge's latest campaign, Four Ways To Speak Out.
Let us know what you think about how domestic violence victims are supported and protected in this country. Email [email protected] or write to Women, The Guardian, Kings Place, 90 York Way, London N1 9GU |
Running a lean startup? You will find here a list of tools you can use during the customer discovery phase.
Survey and Feedback tools
Although people tend to think of Survey Monkey or Survey Gizmo when I mention Survey, I actually think that Google Forms is very good already, and it is free.
Google Forms
Simply go to http://docs.google.com and select “Create new” / “Form” and you will be presented with a very good form designer.
Once you have created your form, Google publishes it and gives you the link, or you can embed it into your own website.
The answers are saved in a spreadsheet. You can be notified each time someone completes the survey, and you can even redirect the user after completion of the survey thanks to a hack.
KissInsights
KissInsights is a new service from the creators of KissMetrics that allows you to display a non-intrusive but highly effective widget on your website or blog.
Depending on which page the user is in, you can choose to ask some specific questions to better understand your user.
UserVoice
You probably know UserVoice or GetSatisfaction that allows you to add a side tab in your pages where users can leave feedback and ask questions. I don’t recommend these services because they are simply inefficient and slow your pages down.
A/B testing
As Ash Maurya mentioned on his blog, depending on whether you are in the Customer Discovery phase or another one, you will be testing different things.
In the Customer Discovery phase, you want to test your unique value proposition (the main tag line on the homepage for example)
I have used the three following tools to A/B test CoachFire and TaskArmy:
Google Website Optimizer is a classic
You can run A/B tests at the page level (send 10% of my traffic to variation1 and the rest in variation2) or multivariate experiments at the page content level.
Visual Website Optimizer is a recent startup that simply rocks
You just have to add a javascript code in your pages and you won’t have to touch your website again each time to create a new A/B test. I found VWO very easy to use with their user friendly designer.
ABingo
If you are writing your application in Ruby on Rails, you can integrate more complex split tests straight from your code.
Analytics
You need to understand your customers/users better. What are they looking for in your website? which sources send better traffic?
I am slowly going away from Google Analytics in favour of Clicky (although this is an affiliate link, I genuinely recommend this tool).
Out of the box, Clicky gives you actionable metrics, rather than a awful lot of useless data.
For example, it allows you to drill down to a visitor level to understand better how the users coming from a specific source interact with your website:
Did I mention that Clicky is real time?
Although a lot of people refer toKissMetrics when someone asks for an analytics tool, I have never understood what value they add in comparison to the other analytics tool like Clicky and Google Analytics. KissMetrics is all about funnel conversion, which any web analytics tool already offers and having to add yet another script on your page isn’t justified by having pretty conversion graphs.
MixPanel is about tracking events and cohorts in your web application (in real time). Something that differentiates MixPanel from other solution is the ability to track server side events too. A perfect use case for MixPanel is tracking the engagement of the users in your Facebook social game.
You can find more tool ideas on the Startup Tools Wiki.
What tools do you use to better understand your customers?(when you are not outside the building interviewing them) |
Johnson Varny is back after four months away, spent somewhere in the no man's land between Mali and Algeria. He'd been caught by the police here, who loaded him and 80 others onto the back of a truck, carting them back to Tin Sawatin. They spent two days and 700 miserable kilometers (400 miles) traveling southwest through nothing but sand and rocks. When they reached their destination -- a small collection of tin huts -- the police simply unloaded their human cargo and left them to fend for themselves.
"They treated us like animals," says Varny, 32. "One loaf of bread a day and water from a trough. They would never drink that themselves."
Yet here Varny is, back in Tamanrasset, southern Algeria, in the middle of the Sahara. He's a bit gaunter, perhaps, than he was before struggling through the 700-kilometer journey back here. He started out together with another man in Tin Sawatin, but only Varny has arrived. He says he buried his friend 40 kilometers (25 miles) short of the city, after the other man died of a burst appendix. "He didn't make it," he says simply.
Few refugees know the desert city of Tamanrasset as well as Johnson Varny does. He arrived here the first time in 1995, when he was 16 and had fled war-torn Liberia three years before. He's lost count of how many times he's been here since, both willingly and unwillingly. In 2000, he says, he made it on as far as Oran, an Algerian city on the Mediterranean coast. But before he could find a boat to take him to Europe, police caught him and deported him.
A Way Station
Surrounded by nothing but sand and rocks, Tamanrasset, with its population of 100,000, has been a way station for emigrants from sub-Saharan Africa for two decades. At first a few dozen people passed through the city each year, then suddenly it was hundreds, and now tens of thousands. Are they refugees, migrant workers, immigrants? Definitions are fluid here. They stay for weeks or months, often even years.
But then they move on, because ultimately, they all have the same goal: Europe, the continent that draws them north like iron filings pulled toward a magnet. Estimates say only around 15 to 20 percent actually arrive there. But these refugees don't let anything stop them from trying, not barbed wire or border guards, not bandits or the reports of the many hundreds of people who drown each year trying to cross the sea. They want to escape the hardship back home, so they chase after the dreams that satellite TV has planted in their minds.
In these 20 years, Tamanrasset has undergone an astonishing degree of development. There are paved streets now, sidewalks and electricity, entire new neighborhoods and even a university. These things were built with revenue from oil and smuggling, but also with the labor and the millions in cash left here by the city's short-term guests.
Where Undocumented Immigrants Live
The last residential neighborhoods at the western edge of the city give way directly to the desert. Another kilometer further out, slightly uphill from the city, is where the undocumented immigrants live. They have a few blankets, which get rolled up and stored under rocks during the day. There's some firewood and a couple of cooking pots, water bottles and a great deal of garbage. Other than that, they have no possessions beyond their own miserable living conditions.
No governments or aid organizations provide help. Algeria doesn't want to support migrant workers. A few good-hearted nuns occasionally bring blankets, an Italian organization donates money for medications and two or three doctors at the hospital will treat patients for free. There's no aid beyond that.
Varny coughs. He has tuberculosis and needs medication to treat it, but how is he supposed to pay for that? He, too, is living out here by the rocks. His entire group sleeps out here. In the mornings, they slip into the city, where they carry stones, paint walls or bake bricks. Or they simply wait. Even when they find work, it doesn't always go well. "You work for an Arab, for days, for weeks, and in the end, instead of giving you the money, he calls the police," Varny says.
Unstoppable Onslaught
Once they've saved enough money for their onward journey, these refugees could choose to board a bus for a comfortable ride to Algiers. Instead, armed with a bit of bread, a few cans of food and a water canister, they climb aboard a truck in the back courtyard of a building, setting out at night to avoid patrols. Once outside the city limits, the driver leaves the paved road and trundles northward on dirt tracks.
The journey to Morocco costs 4,000 ($5,000), Varny says, or 6,000 including the crossing to Spain, and Nigerians have a firm hold on this line of business. Women have it easier, he says, though there's the not insignificant drawback that they have to work off their debts in Spanish brothels.
Hundreds of thousands of people come northward hoping to scale the battlements of Europe, the old continent that's intent on building its walls ever higher, even considering using drones, offshore sensors and satellite-driven search systems to fend off this onslaught. The EU plans to spend up to 2 billion on new security systems at its external borders.
But that won't stop the immigrants, who start their journeys on the Ghanaian coast, in the villages of Côte d'Ivoire or in capital cities such as Kinshasa. In many cases, an entire family pools its resources, or even an entire village. Often it's the first-born in a family who sets out, sensing an inner obligation to seek out adventure. More than anything, though, they want to escape the miserable conditions they're leaving behind. |
Today, the European Union has taken an important step towards the further strengthening of the trade rules applicable to goods that could be used for capital punishment or torture.
On the proposal of the European Commission, the European Parliament has today approved newrestrictions on certain services and revised rules on goods that could be used to apply the death penalty.
"Today's vote in the European Parliament underscores the importance the European Union attaches to respect for fundamental rights. As the European Union, we promote the global abolition of the death penalty with all the means, tools and instruments that are available to us", said the High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy/Vice-President of the European Commission, Federica Mogherini. "The eradication of torture as well as the abolition of the death penalty requires political will and a joint effort of parliaments and civil society across the world. Today we are demonstrating that our European Union has always been and will remain at the frontline of this work", she added.
"We can never accept loopholes that allow instruments of death and torture to be traded or promoted", said EU Commissioner for Trade, Cecilia Malmström, adding: "From lethal drug injection systems to electric chairs or spiked batons, such terrible devices have no place in our societies. In addition to prohibiting sales and exports, we are now banning the promotion of these goods at fairs and exhibitions, and introducing a fast-track mechanism to make sure that new products of this kind can be banned quickly. It's imperative that we can keep up with new developments."
The European Union adopted a Regulation to ban trade in certain goods which can only be used for capital punishment or torture and to impose export controls on goods that could be used to these ends already in 2005. In January 2014, the European Commission made a proposal to amend this legislation to further strengthen these rules. Following discussions both with and within the Council and the European Parliament, an agreement was reached within a trilogue. Following today's vote in the Parliament, the changes should now be approved by the Council and then the text amending the original Regulation (1236/2005) will be published in the Official Journal of the EU and become Union law.
Background
Respect for human rights is one of the core values of the European Union. It is also an essential element of the Union's relations with third countries, including in trade. The Union's Charter of Fundamental Rights prohibits capital punishment, torture and inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.
Regulation 1236/2005 bans the export and import of goods which can only be used to apply the death penalty or to inflict torture or other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment and punishment. The Regulation also imposes an export authorisation requirement on goods that could be used for the purpose of torture or other ill-treatment.
The strengthened text includes a specific set of rules for the export controls applied to prevent goods from being used for capital punishment in a third country. A Union general export authorisation, an exemption that can be invoked by any exporter, is foreseen for exports to countries that, like the EU Member States, have abolished the death penalty for all crimes. Of course, this exemption is subject to a number of conditions which ensure that re-exports to other countries require prior approval. If the general exemption does not apply, exporters need to apply for prior authorisation, which may take the form of a global authorisation or an individual authorisation.
For the time being, these export controls apply to certain anaesthetics. A specific procedure empowers the European Commission to list additional goods that have been approved, or actually used, for capital punishment by one or more third countries. As usual scrutiny by the European Parliament and the Council of the EU is foreseen, but in urgent cases the amendment can enter into force when the scrutiny phase begins.
As regards the supply of certain services, the Regulation bans, in relation to goods whose export and import is prohibited, the supply of brokering services, technical assistance and training on their use. The presentation of such goods in international trade fairs in the EU, and the international supply and purchase of advertising space or time are also prohibited.
If the export of goods requires an authorisation but is not prohibited, the supply of brokering services and technical assistance in relation to the relevant goods also requires an authorisation. In some cases, the general authorisation may apply to technical assistance. The definition of brokering services is the same as that used in Council Regulation (EC) °428/2009 setting up a Community regime for the control of exports, transfer, brokering and transit of dual-use goods, but the new Regulation goes further and stipulates that an authorisation for brokering services is required whenever such services are supplied to a third country.
The Regulation also prohibits transit, which is defined as transport within the Union of non-Union goods which pass on their way to a destination in a third country. If the export of the relevant goods requires an authorisation but is not prohibited, the ban on transit applies if the transporter knows that the goods are intended to be used for capital punishment, torture or other ill-treatment.
More information:
Blog post by Cecilia Malmström: Laws on exports of products used for capital punishment and torture |
Things got a little too real for a home invader in New London, CT yesterday morning.
A 15 year old suspect, armed with a gun, broke into a home occupied by two brothers just after 3am on Wednesday morning. According to Fox CT,
New London Police said in a statement they were called to 308 Crystal Ave. after residents found an armed 15-year-old in one of the bedrooms of the home just after 3 a.m. Wednesday morning… …Kevin Dennis, a Navy veteran who fought in Iraq and Afghanistan, said he immediately grabbed his gun and ran downstairs to find his brother and the 15-year-old suspect in a tussle. After pointing his gun at the suspect, Kevin Dennis told the suspect to drop the gun he was holding. The suspect complied. Then, according to Kevin Dennis, the suspect broke down in tears and asked him to call the police because he was peer pressured into breaking into the home.
One of the brothers suffered minor injuries from the struggle with the suspect. The suspect, who is not being identified due to his age, is facing numerous felony charges and is currently being held in a juvenile detention facility. Interestingly, the suspect was armed with a single action .44 mag.
According to police there was a second suspect who ran out of the house after the pair was discovered. He remains at large.
This is only the 4th defensive gun use we’ve documented in the state of Connecticut and the 1,235th defensive gun use we’ve documented overall.
This incident is the one of the most common types of defensive gun uses. That is, one in which no one was actually shot. Despite this being one of the most common types of defensive gun uses, these incidents are often not included in statistics about defensive gun uses. Many of these statistics and studies focus solely on justifiable homicides, which represent only a fraction of total defensive gun uses. |
WASHINGTON -- Clean-energy jobs make up a small part of U.S. employment, but a new federal report shows they are growing much faster than other work, even healthcare.
The nation had about 3.4 million green energy jobs in 2011, the Bureau of Labor Statistics said Tuesday in its second annual and final look at this emerging category of employment. (More on why it's the last report later.)
In all, so-called green jobs accounted for just 2.6% of all employment that year, but a comparison with 2010 data shows that these jobs grew at four times the rate of all the others combined. Green employment jumped 4.9% in 2011 from the prior year. That compares with a gain of 1.2% for all jobs and 2.7% for restaurants, 1.7% for manufacturing and 1.8% for healthcare, which is often seen as the fastest-growing sector.
Green jobs of course cut across industries. By the BLS definition, they include work that is primarily involved in the production of green goods and services -- for instance, renewable energy, pollution reduction and recycling, and natural resources conservation. The agency also counts as green those jobs that involve education and training related to environmental compliance. |
This has been the softest launch of a game I’ve ever done. I spent about $100 total on facebook post boosts, I tweeted, I blogged and I posted to the ProductionLine facebook page. Since then…thats it, I’ve been pretty much going along on word of mouth, and even then, sales have exceeded my expectations! This is really good news, because so far the development of the game has gone exactly as I had hoped, with a lot more focus on what actual players of the game want, rather than me guessing, or doing just want I want, or me trying to guess what makes the press happiest.
This has resulted in a lot of bug reports! (many thanks for that) and some really good suggestions and ideas, some of which have already made it into the game. People do seem to be surprised how quickly stuff goes in or gets improved, but frankly thats because I worked on this game for about a year in silence so there is this whole huge library of decent engine code in the background that is *done* and thus I only really have to code new features and GUI stuff now. New GUI does not take that long, and thankfully I’ve got good enough at debugging multi-threading and recursive stuff that this is not a huge bottleneck either. I’m almost disappointed nobody is having frame-rate issues, because I love optimizing :D
This is just as well as there have been a LOT of ideas and suggestions. I’ve already seen factories way bigger and more efficient than anything I have managed to create. It never occurred to me to re-use the conveyor belts in cunning roundabout-style loops with the individual processing elements happening at different junctions…until someone found a bug in it.
Users feedback has been excellent, encouraging and invaluable.
But anyway! I’m actual;y sending out a puny mailing list today with 7,500 recipients, so that should open things up a bit, especially as some are press. I don’t expect massive press coverage, but I’m not relying on it either. The game remains very much in Alpha (not even beta) so I expect a lot of people, gamers and press alike will stay in a ‘wait and see’ mode.
In the meantime, I have just set a big patch(1.04) live, and here is the fairly hefty changelist. (not bad for about 4 days work).
[version alpha 1.04]
1) The task ‘make fuel tanks’ now unlocks when researched correctly.
2) Fixed some crashes and routing bugs caused by deleting resource importer bays.
3) Pop-up details on the slot-picker now should show decimal places for times.
4) Vehicle details windows limited to one per vehicle and can now be dragged by the player.
5) Fixed minute format bug in save games.
6) Pause now works as a toggle, and all speed controls have hotkeys.
7) Escape key now closes slot picker.
8) Slot picker has less visual ‘padding’.
9) Double-click on the relevant window now loads a save game.
10) The upgrades section of a slot details dialog is now hidden if there are no upgrades available for selection.
11) Any open dialogs are now correctly closed when going to the main menu.
12) Fixed crash bug when a single stretch of uninterrupted conveyor belt was over 64 tiles long.
13) Added new efficiency dialog which shows efficiency over time and also a snapshot of current slot efficiency.
14) Fixed bug where slots could be placed ‘spilling’ over into a locked factory area.
15) Fixed bug on low resolutions where the slot upgrades window did not fit on the screen.
16) Floating numbers fade out now even when paused.
17) Improvements to ‘load-balancing’ at junctions.
18) New ‘Efficiency’ dialog currently just showing global state of all slots now and over time.
19) Slight speedup of creating the load-game dialog.
20) New vehicle pop-ups show the reason a vehicle is stuck.
21) Some conveyor belt graphics now have darker, more obvious direction arrows.
22) Fixed incorrect sizes of some delivered resources.
23) New upgrade for painting slot: ‘High pressure paint nozzles’
24) Fixed bug where components built inside the factory at ‘make’ slots did not survive a save and load.
25) Corrupt resource deliveries to roof making and similar slots fixed.
26) New graphics for the tyre-making slot and the window making slot.
Thanks for everyone pre-ordering, and I also really appreciate it when people tweet or post online about the game, its really helpful. If you don’t have the game yet, here is the order form :D |
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Infinadeck, the active omnidirectional treadmill is back after it’s debut at SVVR Expo 2014. The latest prototype is on show at CES 2016 in a form that’s half the size, twice as quiet and now includes a harness to detect directional input. We took it for a spin.
Having debuted at SVVR Expo back in 2014, the Infinadeck is the brainchild of George Burger and in it’s original incarnation, was not an input device for the faint of heart. Weighing in at 1000 pounds, the monstrous yet ingenious omnidirectional treadmill used a looping belt powered by two motors which could propel a user standing atop it in the opposite direction they intended to walk. The upshot is, in theory you can walk for ever in any direction whilst on the Infinadeck and never actually travel anywhere.
Quite apart from the unit’s monumental proportions, the original version, built entirely by Burger, lacked the ability to detect user input, with manual control over the belts driving the user experience.
At CES this year, Burger is now back with new collaborators in tow, and a new version of Infinadeck, sporting some pretty major improvements. Firstly, the weight has been halved, now a comparatively lean 500 pounds. Secondly, the noise at which the treadmill operates (i.e. the sound of those motors) has also been halved. Most importantly however, it now sports a new, frame-mounted harness, which detects force applied by the user’s body, interpreting that force as input in order to drive the direction of the belts and keep them centred on the treadmill.
The latest prototype is fresh and a little raw, given the fact it had only been completed 3 days prior to being shipped to the show floor. Given that though, InfinaDeck Mark II is a surprisingly effective piece of kit.
Once strapped into the velcro harness, which secures around the waist, you hold a killswitch which, once depressed, kills any belt movement to prevent you getting into trouble. Leaning forward at different angles results in the belts moving in the opposite direction at a speed corresponding to that pressure. In other words, the further you lean, the faster the treadmill will move under your feet, at speeds of up to 4MPH.
My success with InfinaDeck was mixed, as it’s obviously not a device that mimics every day walking 1:1, there is learning curve here. That said, once I found my feet I was able to walk forwards, backwards and strafe left and right at varying speeds reasonably successfully. There is an element of trust required in yourself and the device, and the speed at which this trust develops will depend on the individual. I was pretty slow compared with our Executive Editor Ben Lang for example, whose experiences you can find below.
Ben’s Infinadeck Impressions
Having tried several other passive VR treadmills, Infinadeck provided the most natural gait. After all — the unit actually moves under foot, unlike others. This was most apparent when turning, because the friction between your foot and the ground (which allows you to turn) is actually there. That makes turning in continous wide arcs far more natural in my experience than passive VR treadmills which use low friction surfaces.
In order for Infinadeck to work correctly, it needs to know which direction you’re moving so that it can counter-act your walking acceleration. I figured this would be done with some sort of optical or initerior tracking, but the creators of Infinadeck are using a more simple system that works better than I expected; a harness hanging above the platform detects against it as you begin walking. Using the direction of the pressure as a vector for your movement, the treadmill cancels out your acceleration and keeps you centred on the platform. There’s still improvements to be made so that the system accurately understands your walking (or stopping) intent, but it’s a promising and elegantly simple approach.
I was able to get my bearings walking on Infinadeck quite quickly, and walking backwards worked just as well as forward. This was all without using a headset however, which meant I had a good sense of my surroundings (and what the treadmill was doing below me) which aided in my balance. Once I tried putting on a VR headset, walking became much more challenging. It’s not clear to me yet how much of this was due to inherent challenges of walking while wearing a headset versus things that can be improved with better software integration (like making sure the real-world walking direction and virtual walking direction are perfectly aligned).
The Infinadeck team are under no illusions their locomotion solution will find a place in the average user’s home, at least not in its current, somewhat sizeable, form. They’re looking to industrial and military commercial applications for their somewhat unique device in the coming months as they refine the version on show at CES. |
Nick Cousins
Position: Forward (Center)
Birthdate: July 20, 1993 (22)
Acquired Via: 2011 NHL Draft - Round 3, Pick 68
2014-15 Team/League: Lehigh Valley Phantoms, AHL - 22 G, 34 A in 64 GP
Nationality: Canadian (Belleville, ON)
Size: 5'10", 169
Contract Status: Signed on entry-level contract through 2016
Ranking in August 2014 25 Under 25: 12
Nick Cousins came into last season looking to bounce back from a hugely disappointing 2013-2014 campaign. Two seasons ago, Cousins scored just 29 points (11 goals, 18 assists) in 74 games, the lowest point total in his career. However, just prior to this down year he was climbing up the ranks of the Ontario Hockey League with the Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds.
Cousins scored 32 points in his first OHL season (2009-10) before more than doubling that his next year: 29 goals, 39 assists for 68 points in 68 games. Nick also competed in the under-18 World Junior Championships for Canada and recorded four goals and four assists in seven games. He progressed along this path for the next two seasons, scoring 88 points in 65 games in the 2011-12 season and 103 points (including 76 assists) in 64 games in 2012-13.
Cousins also saw his first professional action in the 2011-12 season, just one game with the Adirondack Phantoms in which he was kept off of the scoresheet. He had a longer stint the following season, recording an assist and two penalty minutes in seven AHL games.
Nick hoped to use this experience to jumpstart his first professional season last year, but did just the opposite. As mentioned above he scored a lowly 29 points while posting a plus/minus of minus-9 in 74 games. Fortunately for both Cousins and the Flyers, he bounced back in a big way.
Cousins started off slow but led the Phantoms in scoring last season with 22 goals and 34 assists for 56 points in 64 games. From January to March he played at over a point per game pace with 14 goals and 24 assists in 29 games. Below is a video of his hat trick in the midst of this run.
This hot stretch in the 2015 calendar year led to him making his NHL debut on March 17th. He played 11 games in total with the Flyers between March and April. He didn't register a point, but was also playing limited minutes. He averaged just under nine minutes per game, and his most common linemate was Zac Rinaldo.
That brings us to this season. Cousins is expected to start the season as one of Lehigh Valley's top forwards. Cousins is blocked a bit in the organization at the center position behind Claude Giroux, Sean Couturier, Brayden Schenn and even fellow fringe-Phantom Scott Laughton. It is the last year of his entry-level contract and Cousins will have to make a huge impact if he wants to see ice time at the NHL level this season.
If Cousins can build on last season then he might be able to make an impression with the Flyers just in the Nick of time, as his contract expires at the end of this season.
How we voted for Nick Cousins:
Al Allison Andrew Charlie Collin Kelly Kevin Kurt Mary Meseret Ryan Travis 11 N/A 10 11 10 14 10 11 12 8 11 12
Who we voted for at No. 11: |
MUNICH -- Volkswagen Group's former top engineer, Wolfgang Hatz, has been arrested by German prosecutors in connection with the automaker's diesel-rigging scandal, press reports said.
Hatz was a close ally of former VW Group CEO Martin Winterkorn and, if confirmed, his arrest would make him the highest VW employee taken into custody by prosecutors, who earlier this year arrested an Audi engineer.
Hatz worked for Audi and Porsche during his career. He was VW Group's powertrains chief during the time the automaker developed and sold diesel engines manipulated to cheat tests for NOx emissions.
On Thursday, Munich prosecutors said they had arrested a second person in connection with Audi's part in VW Group' emissions scandal but did not name the suspect.
The Munich-based Sueddeutscher Zeitung, in a joint report with German television stations NDR und WDR, said the suspect was Hatz, who is being held without bail as a flight risk. The New York Times said two sources with knowledge of the arrest had confirmed the suspect was Hatz, who worked closely with current VW Group CEO Matthias Mueller while the two executives were at Porsche.
Audi said it has no knowledge of the arrest and continues to cooperate with authorities.
Audi admitted in November 2015, two months after parent VW Group's diesel emissions scandal broke, that its 3.0-liter V-6 diesel engines were fitted with an auxiliary control device deemed illegal in the United States.
Hatz was Audi's head engine developer from 2001 until 2007 when he was promoted to VW Group powertrain chief. He gave up the post in 2012 to focus on his Porsche r&d job that he added in 2011.
In March, Munich prosecutors searched offices at the carmaker's headquarters in Ingolstadt Germany, where about 44,000 workers are employed, and the premises of Jones Day, a U.S. law firm hired by VW to lead an investigation into the emissions scandal.
U.S. authorities are seeking to extradite former Audi manager Giovanni Pamio who was arrested in Germany in July in connection with the diesel investigation. Pamio remains in custody pending ongoing German investigations. He has been charged in the U.S. with conspiring to defraud U.S. regulators and consumers through software designed to cheat emissions tests in thousands of Audis.
Last month, former VW Group engineer James Liang was sentenced to 40 months in a U.S. federal prison and a $200,000 fine for his role in the scandal.
Oliver Schmidt, a former VW executive, who has pleaded guilty in federal court in Detroit in connection with the scandal will be sentenced on Dec. 6. He faces up to seven years in prison and a fine of up to $400,000 after admitting to conspiring to mislead U.S. regulators and violating clean air laws.
Reuters contributed to this report |
Well, that didn't take long. It's a matter of hours since the UK telecoms regulator Ofcom brought in new rules to protect mobile customers from mid-contract tariff increases, and already one network has ducked them by changing its T&Cs. As of today, any customer who signs up with O2 must explicitly agree that their tariff will go up each year in line with inflation, starting with a 2.7 percent increase on March 1st. By contrast, customers who had signed up before today had only been told that prices might go up with inflation. Why is this so ironic? Because, indirectly, Ofcom's involvement seems to have turned a possible price increase into a definite, contractual one, whereas the original intention was to ensure that "fixed means fixed." Anyhow, in O2's defense, it hasn't breached Ofcom's code, and other carriers may well be planning to do the exact same thing.
[Thanks, Anon]
Update: Unsurprisingly, other carriers are now making their feelings on the news public. In a statement, Three UK has announced that it'll follow the spirit of Ofcom's code, and won't push your prices up part-way through your contract. |
An Oklahoma senate panel approved a bill Monday to prevent city and county governments from outdoing state laws on employment and public accommodations.
The bill initially prevented local governments from going further than any state law. A committee substitute focused it on employment and public accommodations laws.
Senate Bill 694 author Sen. Joshua Brecheen sparred with Sen. Kay Floyd over the need to preemptively protect business owners' expression of sincerely held religious beliefs through refusing service to LGBTQ people.
"That's what some are asking for, is the ability to object to something but do it in a loving manner and it not be categorized as discrimination with the context of all that word conjures," Brecheen said.
"Does the senator recognize that's exactly the argument that was raised in the Civil Rights movement 50 years ago?" Floyd said.
"I wasn't alive during that argument," Brecheen said.
Brecheen said some small business owners want to be able to act on their religious beliefs without potentially facing a lawsuit. Floyd asked how many Oklahoma businesses have been sued.
"Tulsa is the first city that I'm aware of that has gone down this path toward public accommodations," Brecheen said. "It is already the case in five states that I've named, in Texas."
"Senator, I hate to interrupt, but I really am just concerned about what's going on in our state," Floyd said.
Sexual orientation and gender identity were added as protected classes to Tulsa's fair housing ordinance in 2015, which has not resulted in any lawsuits to date.
Brecheen's Senate bio notes he wants to promote local control. Sen. Stephanie Bice said she doesn’t see that in the bill.
"Our communities are electing council members and mayors to represent them and their needs, and so for this to be a blanket statement, I think, is concerning to me," Bice said.
Oklahomans for Equality Executive Director Toby Jenkins responded to SB694's advancement in a statement.
"Local municipal and county leaders across the state are working to create inclusive and welcoming cities and counties, because state senators and representatives refuse to make it unlawful to discriminate against lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer people," Jenkins said.
Brecheen said besides protecting religious freedom, he wants to prevent confusion caused by differences in state and local laws.
The bill passed out of the Committee on General Government 6–4. |
Nintendo detailed 54 features of its November 21-due Super Smash Bros. for Wii U during a Nintendo Direct broadcast this evening.
Catch a replay of the Direct and the list of features below.
1) Default Fighter Line-Up
More than 40 fighters to choose from right from the beginning. Additional characters are, of course, unlockable.
The move set of each fighter is the same across Wii U and 3DS.
2) Resolution
Compared to 3DS, which runs at 400×240 resolution, the Wii U version runs at 1920×1080 resolution.
3) 8-Player Smash
Wii U allows for battles between up to eight players simultaneously.
Available only on certain stages.
4) Bigger Stages
The Wii U version will have much bigger stages. The expanded “Big Battlefield” makes its debut in addition to the traditional “Battlefield” Stage.
5) Danger Zones
The “Great Cave Offensive,” based on the underground labyrinth found in Kirby games, challenges players to avoid potentially lethal danger zones—or throw their opponents into them. If a player with over 100% damage touches them, they’ll be instantly KO’d.
6) Dual-Plane Battling
Some stages includes dual-plane battling/ The “Jungle Hijinxs” stage, based on Donkey Kong Country Returns, lets players fight in the foreground and background. Blast barrels shoot players from front to back and vice-versa. Fighters will launch easier on the rear plane.
7) Number of Stages
The Wii U game offers more stages than any game in the series. The structures will be very different, as well.
8) Miiverse Stage
A Miiverse stage will post specific messages about each fighter in the background of the stage. It won’t be ready at the game’s launch.
9) Palutena’s Guidance
In “Palutena’s Temple,” Pit’s downward taunt invokes messages from Palutena.
10) Metal Face
“Gaur Plain” for the 3DS version is included. “Metal Face” will make a special appearance. You can also KO him.
11) Ridley
Samus Aran’s arch-nemesis, Ridley will appear. If a fighter attacks Ridley enough, he will join that player’s side and assist him in battle. If he consumes a certain amount of energy, he will become Mega Ridley. You can even earn a point for KOing Ridley when he’s fighting on your side.
12) Coin Battles
Coin Battles return in the Wii U version, and see players compete for coins that fall when they’re attacked.
13) Stamina Matches
This type of match is similar to a normal fighting game where you lose when your hit points are reduced to zero.
14) Special Smash
In Special Smash, you can change around the rules and create your own match just the way you like it.
15) Item Frequency
Adjust the frequency that items will appear, whether its often, rarely, or never. You can also toggle certain items on or off.
16) My Music
This function allows you to take all the songs from various stages and series and set how frequently they play during battles.
17) Menu Music
You can also use and change the basic menu music.
18) Tons of Music
There will be even more songs available in the Wii U version compared to the 3DS version. Almost all the music from the 3DS version will be included. The game includes hundreds of music tracks, songs and jingles that players can listen to and settings to customize what music plays during game play.
19) Composers
With the increase in songs comes an increase in composers.
20) CDs
One way to collect music is by finding in-game CDs. Players add songs to their library by collecting CDs that appear while smashing or after completing challenges.
21) Challenges
Complete various tasks to fill out all of the spaces. For the Wii U version, the Challenges section is all on one screen. Complete challenges to reveal additional spaces.
22) Classic
Classic mode has you fighting a series of battles until you release the final showdown. In the 3DS version, you choose your own path, but in the Wii U version, you’ll advance based on how well you survive. You’ll also have a rival and challenges to deal with. You can change the difficulty by adjusting the intensity. The more difficult, the greater the reward. Up to two players can play Classic Mode.
23) Clear Movies
When players clear Classic or All-Star modes, they’ll be treated to a brief movie featuring whichever fighter they used. Every fighter has a movie.
24) All-Star Mode
In this mode, you must take on all the fighters in the game with a limited number of healing items. In the 3DS version, you fought against each fighter in chronological order. In the Wii U version, you fight the newer fighters first. It will also support two players.
25) Event Mode
In this mode, you’ll take on set, themed battles by clearing stages and seeing the path forward. There are plenty of fun and unique themes to choose from, as well as two-player event battles with specific challenges.
26) Smash Tour
A board game-like mode exclusive to Wii U for up to four people where players use items, spin a wheel, and advance around the map. Instead of moving around pieces, you move Miis. As you advance, you’ll collect more fighters to use in battle. If your Miis arrive at the same space, you’ll be forced to face off. Defeat someone, an you can steal a fighter from their lineup. As you move, you’ll also collect power-ups like those found in the 3DS version’s Smash Run mode, which can be used in the final battle. The final battle is a stock battle made up of all the fighters you’ve collected up until that point.
27) Target Blast
This mode gives you a time bomb to launch at targets, blow them up, and earn points. In the Wii U version, the second bomb is bigger and has a more destructive explosion. It’s also heavier. The Wii U version will also have three types of stages. Your scores here will affect your Global Smash Power.
28) Multiplayer Stadium
Multiplayer is now available in the stadium. In Target Smash, up to four players can play together by taking turns. Multi-Man Smash can be played by up to four players simultaneously. And in Home Run Contest, players can play in two-player co-op or by taking turns with up to four players.
29) Special Orders
Master Hand and Crazy Hand have a set of challenges that make up the Special Orders mode. Battle by battle, you’ll try to advance depending on the order ticket you get. In Master Orders, you’ll receive rewards based on the difficulty of the order you undertake. Tickets are used separately and can only be tried once. In Crazy Orders, it costs gold or a pass just to enter. Then, within a set time limit, you’ll choose and fight battles with each becoming harder the longer you survive. When you feel you’ve had enough, you’ll face off against Crazy Hand. If you win, you keep all your rewards. In this most, higher risk equals higher profits.
30) Master Fortress
Master Core, the mysterious villain from the 3DS version, has a new form in the Wii U version known as Master Fortress. This form only appears on higher intensity levels and has players traversing a dungeon to defeat it.
31) Controllers
Players can use the following controllers to play: Wii Remote Plus, Nunchuck, GamePad, Classic Controller, Classic Controller Pro, Wii U Pro Controller, GameCube Controller, and 3DS.
32) GameCube Controller Adapter
A GameCube Controller Adapter is required to use a GameCube controller.
33) 3DS as a Controller
If you own the 3DS version, you can use your 3DS to control your fighter in the Wii U version of Super Smash Bros.
34) Connecting to 3DS
Bring your custom fighter from the 3DS version to the Wii U version by connecting them from the main menu.
35) Tons of Trophies
More trophies than ever before. In the 3DS version, there were many trophies from portable games. In the Wii U version, there are a lot of trophies from home console games.
36) Final Smash Trophies
New trophies that show the characters’ Final Smash movie. Survive All-Star mode to get your fighter’s Final Smash trophy.
37) Trophy Boxes
By collecting trophies, you’ll be able to display them in trophy boxes according to their theme.
38) Photo Studio
Arrange trophies like a diorama. Set up scenes and take just the right photo to show them off.
39) Trophy Rush
The best way to get more trophies is to play Trophy Rush. In the Wii U version, you can play with two players, either cooperatively or competitively.
40) Masterpieces
Take a peak into each characters’ previous lives by playing demos of their greatest hits, including The Legend of Zelda, EarthBound, Super Mario World, Pilot Wings, and more. If you find something you want to play fully, you can buy it in the Nintendo eShop.
41) Amiibo
Scan an Amiibo and it will join the fight as a Figure Player. Your Amiibo figures will level up and grow stronger as they fight. You can also help them grow by giving them extra equipment. You can fight against them, team up with them, or have them fight each other. Amiibo will also bring you presents from the battles they fight.
42) Internet Connection
When playing online, your connection environment is very important. The Wii LAN Adapter is recommended if you don’t have a stable Wi-Fi connection.
43) Notifications
You’l see notifications and recent topics of discussion in the main menu. You can also see a list of past notifications.
44) Friends & Tags
When battling online in “With Anyone” mode, you can team up with someone using the same Wii U. To play an online match together, select Team Smash and choose the two-player option.
45) Tourney
A post-launch mode will let you host your own Tourneys and join others’. You can set the conditions for each Tourney yourself, such as rules, items, stages, duration, and battles.
46) Tournaments
Up to 64 players can fight in a battle for survival. Replays will also be available.
47) GamePad
The GamePad screen can be used to display information, such as the amount of damage you’re taking.
48) Paint
You can use the GamePad to take in-game screenshots and then paint/draw on them. Following a future update, you’ll be able to send photos online.
49) Voice Chat
On the GamePad, there’s a microphone. Using it, you can talk with friends before an online match, but not during a match.
50) Stage Builder
The GamePad will allow you to easily design your own stages. You’ll be able to build platforms freehand, using the stylus as if you were drawing. There are five themes for custom stages and you can choose any music you like.
51) Sharing
Players will be able to share their photos, replays, Mii Fighters, and custom stages with friends online with the world.
Others
Features shared by both include Glory Battles, For Fun Battles, Battling With Friends, Conquest, Spectate, World Stats, Replays and the Replay Channel, Buttons, Sounds, Internet Options, Rules, Smash Battles, Team Smash, Training, Trophy Shop, Albums, Sound Test, Fighter Records, Stats, Milestones, Tips, and more.
52) Movies
In the Wii U version, all the “Joins the Battle” movies for the new fighters are included.
53) Sound Test
Anyone who buys both the 3DS and Wii U versions and registers with Club Nintendo will get a special two-disc soundtrack CD. The Red CD includes music from the 3DS game, and the Blue CD includes music from the Wii U game.
54) Mewtwo is on the Way
This special bonus fighter will be available as a free download in spring 2015 to those who purchased both the 3DS and Wii U versions of the game. |
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Spare parts warehoused in the the United States and Russia will help Boeing finish assembly of a third space station docking port to receive arriving astronauts aboard Boeing’s CST-100 Starliner and SpaceX’s Crew Dragon capsules, replacing a unit lost in a Falcon 9 launch failure last year.
Components left over from construction of the first two docking adapters will reduce the cost of fabricating an identical third unit, officials said.
NASA awarded Boeing a $9 million contract in March to assemble the third International Docking Adapter, or IDA 3, and deliver it to the space agency by March 2017.
IDA 3 replaces the first docking adapter lost in June 2015 aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket that broke apart about two minutes after liftoff from the Cape Canaveral, destroying a Dragon space station supply ship carrying the docking system in its unpressurized trunk.
Each docking adapter measures about 42 inches (1.1 meters) tall and 63 inches (1.6 meters) wide, and weighs approximately 1,159 pounds (526 kilograms).
Boeing had about 70 percent of the components — totaling 300 parts — for the replacement docking port in inventory, according to Kelly Kaplan, a Boeing spokesperson.
The docking adapter’s primary structure is made by RSC Energia in Russia, and it arrived at Kennedy Space Center’s Space Station Processing Facility in early April, Kaplan said.
Boeing is consolidating production of space station components like the IDAs at Kennedy Space Center. The first two docking adapters were manufactured at a Boeing facility in Houston that the company plans to shut down, according to Mark Mulqueen, Boeing’s space station program manager.
Boeing is NASA’s prime contractor for the space station.
The Boeing-built docking systems attach to pressurized mating adapters on the space station used to receive visiting space shuttles during the outpost’s assembly. The shuttle’s docking system and the station’s pressurized mating adapters were based on the Androgynous Peripheral Attach System, or APAS, designed to accommodate U.S. spacecraft connecting in orbit with Russian vehicles.
“The APAS was the Russian system that the U.S. and Russia built a derivative for Apollo-Soyuz, and also used for Shuttle-Mir and the International Space Station,” Mulqueen said. “We had to interface with that, so they had a lot of parts that we utilized.”
Spaceflight Now members can read a transcript of our full interview with Mark Mulqueen. Become a member today and support our coverage.
The Boeing-built International Docking Adapters are designed to receive any spacecraft, including the commercial SpaceX Crew Dragon and Boeing CST-100 Starliner spacecraft, future cargo freighters, and other craft yet to be designed.
They are built to a public standard capable of connecting with docking interfaces Boeing is building to fly on Sierra Nevada’s Dream Chaser cargo ship and the company’s own CST-100 Starliner crew capsule.
“It’s free for anyone to use,” Mulqueen said. “Sierra Nevada is using it, and SpaceX is designing their own similar system. They took our requirements and were able to make their own system. We’ll be using it for CST-100.”
Mulqueen said the second International Docking Adapter, or IDA 2, is complete and ready for launch this summer on SpaceX’s ninth operational Dragon supply mission to the space station.
NASA has tentatively planned to launch the third IDA on the SpaceX CRS 14 cargo mission in early 2018.
Two International Docking Adapters at the space station will allow Boeing and SpaceX commercial crew capsules to be attached to the complex at the same time.
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Follow Stephen Clark on Twitter: @StephenClark1. |
Mike Nudelman/Business Insider
Every day, a group of men and women around the world digitally congregate at a Reddit board called NoFap to specifically discuss not masturbating. Yes, just like the famous Seinfeld episode, "The Contest" - Jerry and the gang bet $100 to see who can remain "master of their domain" the longest. It's a community called NoFap, and it has its own theories, ideology, and mutual support.
"Fap" is a bit of Internet vernacular for the act of self-love. It first appeared in a 1999 web comic called Sexy Losers to denote the sound of a character pleasuring himself. On UrbanDictionary, it's the "onomatopoeic representation of masturbation." So "NoFap" is exactly what it sounds like.
There are currently more than 81,000 members of this community. They call themselves "fapstronauts," and attribute a number of major life changes to the practice, such as increased confidence, concentration, motivation, libido, and even penis size. For some it's a means of addressing concerns with their porn consumption, while others see it as a means to healthier relationships.
Still others engage in it as nothing more than a heavy-duty test in self-control.
How it started
"I've been able to do things I never thought I would be able to do. Asking a girl to prom, starting and holding conversations with strangers, being able to achieve when most people just throw in the towel at the first sign of adversity." -cjclear789
A June 2011 post on Reddit linked to a study from the National Institute of Health. The takeaway from that study is a simple one: when men don't masturbate for seven days, their testosterone levels increase by 45.7%. This inspired a weeklong challenge among Redditors, one of whom eventually posited that "fapstinence" could be a powerful motivational tool.
Things snowballed from there. The official NoFap subreddit was established and a standalone site appeared a year later at NoFap.org. Users now had a place to gather and discuss their various approaches to systematically not masturbating, as well as document any changes that they credit to NoFap.
A recent age breakdown of fapstronauts (click to enlarge). Straw Poll
Who is NoFap for?
There are as many stories about becoming a fapstronaut as there are community members themselves. It's quite literally for anyone who wants to give it a try.
"For porn addicts, it is about recovery," NoFap founder Alexander Rhodes told us. He's a 24-year-old web developer in Pittsburgh, Penn. "Some fapstronauts are here to improve their interpersonal relationships, whether it be for a marriage, a relationship, or single life. For others, it is simply a challenge of willpower - to seize control of your sexuality and turn it into superpowers. There are many, many different reasons to join but we're all on NoFap with one goal - to help each other abstain from PMO (porn/masturbation/orgasm)."
It's not a gender-specific idea, either. NoFap women are called "femstronauts."
Here's Rhodes again:
"Women are absolutely welcome, although the vast majority of us are guys, mostly in our 20s. I'd estimate that the NoFap community consists of 5% females, and although NoFap hosts hundreds of femstronauts, there is still a lot to learn about their experiences with the NoFap challenge. Pornography clearly is not a male-only problem [...] It seems like many of them are experiencing nearly identical problems that the men on NoFap report."
Although NoFap crosses gender lines, it may not be the difference-maker you need. As with any attempt at life improvement - working out, learning a new skill, whatever else - this isn't some magic bullet for changing your mood or outlook. Rhodes explained that "for some people, abstaining from porn and masturbation is absolutely life-changing. For others, it results in absolutely nothing. 'Your mileage may vary' is a term which we use constantly."
There are a few hundred female NoFap members as well. Shutterstock The theory of NoFap
"I feel completely different. I just like myself better. I feel happier, more confident. I know that [it] doesn't magically make one happy and confident; it's the changing of one's mindset that does that." -indy175
A NoFap challenge consists of setting an intention to abstain for a certain amount of time, then riding it out. Participants report diverse and overwhelmingly positive results from their efforts, like increased confidence, reduced anxiety, improved focus, and even seemingly being more attractive to females (you're inherently confident at having conquered something big and women like confidence).
Rhodes chalks these radical changes up to a concept in biology called inclusive fitness. It deals with the number of offspring an organism has and their ability to take care of new offspring as they arrive.
"While [regularly having sex] in a mated pair, a males' testosterone levels decrease, which causes morphological changes that adapts them to be better fathers," Rhodes suggests. "When they are not regularly partaking in sexual activity, the testosterone levels rise, causing them to be more aggressive and better adapted for 'single life.'"
The hypothesis is that masturbation tricks your body into thinking it's reproducing. And if your body thinks it's "reproducing" a lot, it's not going to feel terribly compelled to stay sexually competitive.
How not to do it
A lot of NoFap advice is about how to reconquer your domain when you feel the borders slipping, so to speak. Here's what Rhodes says to do if you get "the urge" and want to fight it:
Get away from the computer and do something else that isn't what you shouldn't be doing. Is it your ultimate life goal to abstain from pornography or masturbation? Of course not! Pursue what you're actually passionate about. If you fill up your schedule with cool things that matter to you, abstaining from PMO will be a lot easier.
Raise your awareness. Giving in to urges is always a conscious rationalization. Learn to recognize whenever this process is occurring. Whenever you are craving to dive back into porn, your mind is simply trying to justify a non-logical emotional decision that it has already made. Simply recognizing this may be enough to beat the urge.
If you're contemplating taking the plunge, Rhodes advises patience. He says participants should completely buy into the process ahead of time. NoFap challenges are "a marathon, not a sprint":
If you do not have a good reason for why you are doing this, you are probably not going to last ... You have to ask yourself before you start: Why do you want to do this? What are your goals? What type of person do you want to be? Usually the answers to these types of questions revolve around a central concept - something I like to call your "higher purpose." This higher purpose varies for all fapstronauts. Maybe you want to do this for someone you love, to combat loneliness, and a multitude of other reasons - but most importantly for self-improvement.
What Internet porn does to your brain
Shutterstock Fapstronauts will frequently cite YourBrainOnPorn, an Internet resource that catalogs research on the relationship between porn and the human brain. It puts forth the idea that porn is a long-term problem that can rewire your brain, and that porn is far more harmful than one would think.
Perhaps the most tangible effect of overconsumption of porn (for men) is porn-induced erectile dysfunction, PIED. It's not an officially established medical condition but early research suggests there's some evidence for the idea that it is possible to overstimulate yourself with porn to the point that your plumbing starts working (or not working) differently.
That's a more extreme example and certainly doesn't affect everyone, yet Rhodes acknowledges that porn may serve a concrete purpose for some. In our conversation, he likened it to cigarettes - "generally harmful to health and society," but "not the worst thing in the world for some people."
"I do have trouble thinking of positive things about pornography [but] I am not calling for porn to be banned or regulated," said Rhodes. "I think people should be educated about the negative effects it can have on some people. The only thing I am currently actively advocating is education."
The sense of community and encourage is strong. Shutterstock Brothers who understand the struggle
"[It's] more than just a fad, challenge or community to me. [It's] a lifestyle. It's like being reborn after years of death." -effancy
Instead of swimming through a sea of jokes, an outsider browsing the NoFap subreddit will notice that fapstronauts are pretty much entirely positive and constructive in their attitudes toward each other. New initiates are welcomed warmly. Men are "brothers" who "understand the struggle." The minority community of women seek each other out and offer male members points of view from the other half of humanity.
Fapstronauts are there to congratulate each other when they get phone numbers from three girls in a day just as they're there to talk through their frustrations.
Rounding it up
People struggle with all kinds of demons - drugs, alcohol, family, emotions. For some, masturbation could be a problem on the same level. While some may not understand it as a "problem," looking at it like that misses the point anyway. There is no specific downside to fapstinence, and those who sincerely commit to NoFap frequently go on to describe interpersonal improvement on some level.
One user, "borninthenorthwest," described how it altered his life and attitudes:
My relationship with porn began at the age of 13 with nude Playboy photos of Pamela Anderson and Jenny McCarthy. This was in the days of dial-up Internet, and I was initiated by my childhood best friend at the time. Although this did not seem pornographic, relative to what my peers were beginning to look at, I now see that this was the beginning. It began a cycle where every woman I met was judged by these photogenic standards, and felt no real attraction towards most girls in high school, despite being popular and well-liked for my prowess on the guitar. Enter college...
Going to a music school where I once again was a star, it became easy to retreat into the thing that brought me recognition (the guitar). But as I began to retreat, I continued to fill a sexual void with airbrushed photos of playmates and celebrities, which had now become a major weakness. Not so much pornography, but the cultural objectification of beauty ...
The man found himself unable to relate — or even be interested in — real-life women. "None of the girls I met in college could compare to the standards in my own mind. What few girls I was attracted to, I felt incapable of asking out for a date, and often would simply fantasize about them instead. In my imagination, there were no problems."
He was probably addicted to porn, he admits: "After college things took a turn for the worse when I graduated to more graphic forms of entertainment. By 31 I found NoFap."
It helped him get back to reality, he says:
Since then my relationship with both pornography and far more innocent triggers is vastly different. I no longer use porn at all, and no longer place the celebrity notion of beauty on the pedestal either, and am interested in real life and real people, slowly but surely engaging in reality.
It might be that NoFap represents such a dramatic lifestyle change for its participants that it forces them to develop new and better habits that would otherwise be lost to the time required for that other hobby. But let's not forget that all-impotant NoFap soundbite: Your mileage may vary. |
Attorney General nominee Sen. Jeff Sessions is testifying in front of the Senate Judiciary Committee today as part of his confirmation process. EFF has voiced concerns about President-elect Donald Trump’s nomination of Sessions to lead the Justice Department, citing past statements he has made and votes he has cast on a number of critical digital rights issues, including surveillance, encryption, net neutrality, and protections for the press.
While we can’t predict what Sessions would do as the head of an agency that oversees immigration enforcement, law enforcement and national security surveillance, and everything in between, we will be closely following the things he says and the commitments he makes during his confirmation process, beginning with a live blog below of his hearing.
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Click here to reload the page for more live-blogging.
10:56 a.m. (PST) -- The hearing has ended.
Sen. Amy Klobuchar
9:32 a.m. (PST) -- Sen. Amy Klobuchar noted that Sessions did not support the Free Flow of Information Act, a proposed shield law for journalists. She further noted that Sessions provided no concrete answers and said he would need to conduct more research when she pressed him on various measures Attorney General Holder undertook to protect the media. Klobuchar specifically noted Holder’s 2015 memo limiting when federal prosecutors can subpoena journalists and Holder’s commitments not to imprison reporters for doing their job and to release an annual report about investigations involving journalists. David Cole, legal director for the ACLU, agreed that our country’s democracy depends on the freedom of the press, which functions as an essential check on government overreach, especially when one party controls all the branches of government.
7:30 a.m. (PST) -- National President of the Fraternal Order of Police Chuck Canterbury stated that he endorses Sen. Jeff Sessions’ in part for his support for the “equitable sharing” program, which allows the federal government to share asset forfeiture funds (money seized in drug cases) with local law enforcement, even before a case has been adjudicated. As EFF has reported, asset forfeiture and electronic surveillance go hand in hand, with seized monies funding surveillance and surveillance assisting in seizing more funds.
6:35 a.m. (PST) -- The hearing has started.
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Liveblog from Day One
5:07 p.m. (PST) -- That’s a wrap for today. We’ll continue liveblogging when the hearing resumes with its third panel of witnesses tomorrow morning at 6:30 a.m. (PST).
5:06 p.m. (PST) -- Sessions said he would be receptive to whistleblowers if confirmed as the head of the Justice Department. In an exchange with Senate Judiciary Chairman Chuck Grassley, Grassley asked Sessions to “give encouragement to whistleblowing,” since “whistleblowers within an agency are usually treated like skunks at a picnic.”
Sessions responded that he would defend whistleblowers, including from retaliation from a government agency. “You cannot effectively manage this government without good citizens and good employees speaking up when they see wrongdoing,” he said.
3: 46 p.m. (PST) -- Sessions stayed mum on Trump’s embrace of Wikileaks—including the President-elect putting his faith in the organization over the conclusions from U.S. intelligence agencies about the 2016 hack of the DNC—during a prolonged line of questioning from Sen. Al Franken, which included Franken repeatedly reading Trump’s “I love Wikileaks” statement. Franken also cited Sessions’ condemnation of Wikileaks’ Julian Assange in the past.
“If Assange participated in violating the American law, then he is a person subject to prosecution and condemnation,” Sessions replied. He added that he needs “to be more cautious” about what he says as Attorney General nominee than he had been as Senator. “It’s just not appropriate for me to be the person [from whom] you seek political responses,” he said.
Sessions also declined to comment on today’s report that Trump surrogates communicated with intermediaries for the Russian government.
Sen. Maize Hirono
2:54 p.m. (PST) -- Sessions admitted that a registry of Muslim U.S. citizens would pose “serious constitutional problems.” In response to questions from Sen. Maize Hirono, Sessions also noted Trump’s inconsistent position on creating a registry of U.S Muslims.
2:29 p.m. (PST) -- Sessions said he does not support a registry of Muslims in the U.S. but left the door open for surveillance targeting mosques in certain cases. In response to questions from Sen. Chris Coons, Sessions repeated his previously stated position that it’s acceptable to consider religion when deciding whether or not to admit an individual to the country.
But, deviating from Trump’s calls for targeted surveillance of Muslim communities during the campaign, Sessions said he “would not favor a registry of Muslims in the U.S.” and said he thinks the government “should avoid surveillance of religious institutions unless there is a basis to believe that a dangerous or threatening illegal activity could be carried on there.” He added, “I’m not aware that there’s a legal prohibition on that under current law.”
1:52 p.m. (PST) -- Sen. Cornyn also asked Sessions to commit to supporting the Freedom of Information Act and the “public’s right to know.” Sessions agreed.
1:51 p.m. (PST) -- Sen. John Cornyn broached a series of national security and surveillance topics, including the Electronic Communications Privacy Act, national security letters, encryption, and Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, which is set to sunset at the end of the year. Cornyn pointed to a conclusion by the Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board that Section 702 has been effective, despite the fact that it allows warrantless spying on Americans, and said he hopes lawmakers make it a priority to reauthorize the law. Sen. Cornyn asked no question though, except to have Sessions make a verbal commitment to “put the safety and security of the American people first.” Sessions responded only with: “I will.” We think it’s time to END 702.
12:56 p.m. (PST) -- In response to a question by Sen. John Kennedy, Sessions admits that the Freedom of Information Act is law and would see it carried out. We heartily agree.
12:33 p.m. (PST) -- Sessions wouldn’t commit to recuse himself if the Justice Department ends up pursuing any legal action against the Trump campaign tied to the DNC hack in 2016. When pressed by Sen. Dick Durbin, Sessions drew a distinction between this hypothetical and his commitment to recuse himself from prosecutions involving Trump’s opponent Hillary Clinton, citing public statements he made about Clinton.
“I don’t think I’ve made any comments on [the DNC hack] that go to that,” he said. “I would review it and try to do the right thing.”
Durbin pushed back, calling an investigation into the DNC hack “an obvious case for a special prosecutor”. Sessions said an Attorney General would have to “carefully think his way through that, to seek advice, and to follow the normal or appropriate special prosecutor standards.”
Sen. Jeff Sessions answering questions about the USA FREEDOM Act
12:10 p.m. (PST) -- Sen. Patrick Leahy pressed Sessions to commit to enforcing the USA FREEDOM Act, which prohibited the bulk collection of Americans’ phone records by the NSA. Sessions opposed the bill in 2015. Sessions responded that the prohibition on bulk collection “appears to be” the governing statute for U.S. government surveillance and pledged to follow the law, although he couldn’t confirm it prohibited bulk collection in all cases. “I believe the statute must be followed,” he said.
11:52 a.m. (PST) -- There have been a number of questions since the hearing resumed, but so far no new digital liberties issues have specifically been raised.
11:24 a.m. (PST) -- Sen. Richard Blumenthal tells Sessions that the attorney general must be a “zealous advocate of rights and liberties that are increasingly under threat,” and raises questions of how Sessions would handle conflicts of interests and under what circumstances he would appoint independent counsel. Sessions was non-committal.
10:45 a.m. (PST) -- The hearing has resumed.
10:11 a.m. (PST) -- The hearing has recessed for a 30-minute break.
9:41 a.m. (PST) -- Sen. Amy Klobuchar asked if Sessions will commit to following the standards in place for investigating journalists and commit to not put reporters in jail for doing their job. Sessions said he does believe that the DoJ has “sensitivity” to this issue but noted that “you could have a situation where the media is not unbiased” and could be a “mechanism where unlawful intelligence is obtained.” So, no.
Sen. Mike Lee Sen. Mike Lee
9:29 a.m. (PST) -- Sen. Mike Lee asked what Sessions will do to ensure that the Office of Legal Counsel maintains its independence. Sessions responded that the OLC is extremely important as it adjudicates a number of disputes within the executive. While we agree that OLC is indeed important, we wish that Sessions had answered the question.
9:16 a.m. (PST) -- Sessions dodged a line of questioning from Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse about whether he would prosecute Trump and his associates if the intelligence community finds that Russia’s involvement in the DNC hack was tied in some way to the incoming president.
Whitehouse asked if the Justice Department under Sessions and the Trump administration would “be allowed to continue to investigate the Russian connection [to the DNC hack], even if it [shows ties] to the Trump campaign” and continue, “even if your duties require the investigation and even prosecution of the president, his family, and his associates.”
Rather than committing to prosecute Trump and his allies, Sessions pointed to using political means to retaliate. “The problem may turn out to be—as in the Chinese hacking in our hundreds of thousands, maybe millions, of records—has to be handled at the political level.”
8:42 a.m. (PST) -- In response to a line of questioning from Sen. Lindsey Graham, Sessions said he will need to briefed by the intelligence community, including the FBI, about Russia’s involvement in the hack of the DNC in 2016. He said he has done no research on the issue yet but—contrary to Trump's insinuations—is “sure [the FBI’s conclusion] was honorably reached.”
Sessions also said that the U.S. should “develop protocols to ensure that a price is paid” when other countries interfere with U.S. democracy.
8:32 a.m. (PST) -- The confirmation hearing has been interrupted four times now by protesters, with chants covering issues ranging from racism to the closing of Guantanamo Bay detention facility.
Sen. Patrick Leahy Sen. Patrick Leahy
8:28 a.m. (PST) -- In responding to a question from Sen. Patrick Leahy, Sessions said he believes that a person’s religious views can and should be a factor in determining whether they should be admitted into the U.S. He talked around a potential “Muslim registry” but indicated that he supported some sort of “strong vetting” for entrants coming from countries with high rates of terrorism.
8:18 a.m. (PST) -- Sessions committed to work with Sen. Orrin Hatch on the issue of law enforcement access to data stored in servers located abroad but said that he currently does “not have firm and fast opinions on the subject.”
Hatch—who has pushed for privacy protections for data stored abroad, especially in the wake of Microsoft's lawsuit against the U.S. government—asked Sessions to work with Senate staff “to strike the needed balance” between law enforcement and privacy concerns.
Sessions said he would work on “understanding the new technology but the great principles of the right to privacy, the ability of individuals to protect data that they believe is private and should be protected. All of those are great issues in this new technological world that we’re in.”
8:13 a.m. (PST) -- Would Sessions support speedy legislation enabling Rapid DNA scanning? “Rapid DNA analysis is a hugely important issue for the criminal justice system...it’s the kind of thing you can’t fake or mislead, and so I’m very strongly in favor of that.” We’re concerned about the system’s accuracy and its privacy implications.
Sen. Orrin Hatch Sen. Orrin Hatch
8:10 a.m. (PST) -- In answering a question from Sen. Orrin Hatch, Sessions says he’d consider reestablishing a unit within the DOJ to prosecute obscenity. We think that would be unnecessary and frankly would pose a threat to free expression.
7:41 a.m. (PST) -- Sessions’ opening statement was entirely free of any mention of free speech, privacy, or civil liberties. We’re not surprised—just disappointed. On the other hand, he did note that the Attorney General “must be willing to tell the President ‘no’ if he overreaches. He or she cannot be a mere rubber stamp to any idea the President has.”
Sen. Jeff Sessions Sen. Jeff Sessions
7:17 a.m. (PST) -- Sessions was light on digital rights issues in his opening statement, but he briefly and vaguely outlined his cybersecurity goals as a part of his plan to fight “the rising threat of terrorism.”
He touted “partnerships,” which he said will “be vital to achieving much more effective enforcement against cyber threats, and the Department of Justice clearly has a lead role to play in that essential effort.” The U.S. government “must honestly assess our vulnerabilities and have a clear plan for defense, as well as offense, when it comes to America’s cybersecurity,” he continued.
His comments on cybersecurity come as the government continues to grapple with recent high-profile cyber attacks, including this past summer’s hack of the Democratic National Committee, which the U.S. intelligence community has conclusively tied to Russia. President-elect Trump has repeatedly questioned the intelligence community’s conclusions and encouraged the “country to move on to bigger and better things” after the Obama administration imposed sanctions on Russia in retaliation for the hack.
7:06 a.m. (PST) -- During her opening remarks, Sen. Dianne Feinstein questioned Sessions’ ability to serve as an Attorney General, independent from the incoming administration. “Will he tell the President ‘no’ when appropriate?” she asked. “We cannot ignore there are deep concerns and anxieties throughout America. It is in this context that we must consider whether Jeff Sessions is qualified to become the top law enforcement official in this country.”
6:30 a.m. (PST) -- Liveblogging underway! |
A man was arrested late Monday night in connection with the failed Times Square bombing, administration officials said. The suspect, Faisal Shahzad, a 30-year-old U.S. citizen from Pakistan, allegedly purchased the sport utility vehicle that authorities found packed with explosives in New York on Saturday night.
He was arrested by Customs and Border Patrol agents at JFK International Airport as he tried to board a flight to Dubai. Authorities became aware of his identity Monday afternoon.
An FBI-led Joint Terrorism Task Force had taken over the investigation Monday amid growing indications of a possible international connection, U.S. officials and law enforcement sources said.
Shahzad, who lived in Connecticut, is believed to have used cash to purchase the Nissan Pathfinder that was set ablaze but failed to detonate Saturday night on a tourist-crowded block in Midtown Manhattan.
Investigators and agents also were scouring international phone records showing calls "between some of the people who might be associated with this and folks overseas," according to a U.S. official who has discussed the case with intelligence officers. Investigators uncovered evidence -- a piece of paper, fingerprints or possibly both -- that also indicates international ties, according to a federal official briefed on the investigation. The material points to "an individual who causes concern to [investigators], who has overseas connections, and they are looking for him," the official said.
An overseas angle does not necessarily mean that the incident was planned or financed by al-Qaeda or another organized group, investigators said. "Think smaller," said one senior law enforcement official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because the investigation is ongoing.
Even as investigators emphasized that the probe is in its early stages and little is definitively known, they pursued what Obama administration officials characterized as a flood of new leads, both foreign and domestic. The Pathfinder's registered owner, for example, told investigators that he sold it several weeks ago to a stranger, in a cash transaction through Craigslist.
On a day of fast-moving developments from Manhattan to Washington, President Obama was repeatedly briefed on what a senior administration official called "a very active investigation.'' Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. said in the morning that it was too early to designate the failed bombing as an attempted terrorist incident. By afternoon, White House spokesman Robert Gibbs was calling it just that.
"I would say that was intended to terrorize, and I would say that whomever did that would be categorized as a terrorist," Gibbs said, sharpening the administration's tone.
Differences also emerged over the significance of a surveillance video that caught a man in his 40s changing his shirt in an alley and looking over his shoulder near where the Pathfinder was parked. New York City police officials had characterized the man as acting suspiciously, but multiple federal law enforcement officials said he may not be the focus of the investigation.
"It looks like he was just taking off his shirt because he was hot," said one law enforcement official. Investigators were seeking to find another person captured on video running north on Broadway away from the area where the smoking sport-utility vehicle caused an evacuation of Times Square on a crowded weekend night.
Police said the bomb would have created a fireball that likely would have killed or wounded many people, making it the most serious bombing attempt in the United States since the Christmas Day attack aboard a commercial flight bound for Detroit. |
PLAINFIELD, Conn. -- In the last week, rattled Plainfield residents have made more than 300 calls to 911.
"I just had a big explosion," said one caller. "I don't know what it is but my whole house shook."
Marian Diggs says she's felt every earthquake
"I was up sitting in bed drinking my early morning cup of coffee and all of sudden I heard this loud boom," Diggs said.
People have reported minor damage from the 12 earthquakes that have hit between the towns of Danielson and Plainfield. Most have been under a 2 magnitude. The largest, a 3.1, occurred Monday morning.
Seismologists at Boston College Weston Observatory are collecting data on the frequent tremors, hoping to find out why the so called "swarms" are happening.
Dr. John Ebel from Boston College Weston Observatory CBS News
"We've had a few scattered epicenters in the past from that part of the state but this is something that's new for us," said Dr. John Ebel.
Scientists tell us earthquakes are usually caused when underground plates move from side to side. In Connecticut the plates are moving up and down.
CBS News
Plainfield Police Chief Michael Supernant says without answers, the phone calls from worried residents continue.
"We can't put our finger on it and before you even know what's happening it's over," said Supernant. "It's taking up a lot of our time. I can honestly say I think for a week I've gotten no police work done."
Hydraulic fracking has been blamed for causing some earthquakes in Oklahoma and Pennsylvania. Officials here have ruled out any man made disturbances as a cause. |
Just in time for World Environment Day, Canadian scientists have announced the discovery of a new type of rock made from the scraps of melted plastic waste and ocean debris. According to researchers at the University of Western Ontario, this new material, known as plastiglomerate, is formed when melted plastic waste on beaches mixes with sediment, lava fragments and organic debris. These virtually indestructible plastiglomerates may become part of the Earth’s geologic record forever and could one day act as a sad geological marker for humanity’s impact on the planet.
According to LiveScience, this new material has so far only been discovered in one place on Earth: Hawaii’s Kamilo Beach – known as one of the dirtiest shorelines in the world. The new rock exists in two forms: in situ types are that are embedded in larger rock formations and clastic kinds that are loose rocks. In situ types are more rare and are formed when plastic is melted and incorporated into a larger rock formation, whereas clastic plastiglomerates are loose, rocky structures made up of shells, coral, basalt, woody debris and sand glued together with melted plastic. A lab analysis of clastic plastiglomerates from Kamilo beach shows that the material is much more dense than plastic on its own, which means that it is much more likely to get buried and preserved in the rock record than normal plastic waste.
Related: World’s First 3D-printed Wrench Made With Recycled Ocean Plastic Wins Innovation Award
When oceanographer Captain Charles Moore first discovered plastiglomerates, he thought that molten lava had melted the plastic to create the new rock material. Researchers, however, have pointed out that the lava hasn’t flowed in the area since before plastics were invented, which means human waste is likely to blame for the creation of this toxic new rock. Discovery News reports that the rocks were likely formed accidentally by locals burning plastic debris on the beach. With this in mind, researchers believe plastiglomerates could also be present on other beaches around there world where people camp and live.
Via Science Alert, LiveScience, Discovery News
Images by Polihale and Duncan Wright via Wikimedia Commons |
Summon Night 5 And Class Of Heroes 3 Coming To The West
By Ishaan . April 23, 2015 . 2:49am
Gaijinworks and Monkey Paw are localizing two PSP RPGs for Western release: Bandai Namco’s Summon Night 5 and Acquire’s Class of Heroes 3.
For both titles, Gaijinworks will conduct a poll to gauge demand for limited edition physical release that you will be able to acquire by pre-ordering. The physical release will include the physical media as well as a PlayStation Network download code in case you own a Vita and want to play the game there.
Summon Night 5 is planned for release in 2015, while Class of Heroes 3 doesn’t have a release window just yet. English screenshots for both games can be found below.
Summon Night 5 (Siliconera coverage here):
Class of Heroes 3 (Siliconera coverage here): |
Because Craig Sager is a serious journalist, he only does the choice athlete interviews - and few are better than this one with Kendrick Perkins' son.
Russell Westbrook's fashion choices have become a frequent topic of conversation, including tonight's shirt and especially this gem, and Craig Sager picked one of the kids playing basketball on the floor of the Chesapeake Energy Arena to interview after the Oklahoma City Thunder beat the San Antonio Spurs 109-103. He picked Kendrick Perkins Jr, who was dressed like Westbrook, and gave an outstanding interview.
When Vanity Perkins told Craig Sager that all Kendrick has to do is give him the scowl to make him be a good lad, I assuming she doesn't mean this. This is absolutely the best interview with a child since this Ricky Rubio fan was interviewed by Robby Incmikoski of Fox Sports North. |
Sundays are typically reserved for finishing up that homework assignment you forgot about until the last minute or football and day drinking to forget about the anxiety of the upcoming week. Thanks to Grandma’s House brewery, the latter of that can be achieved, either curled up on the couch or at one of the old dining room tables with a craft beer and crossstitch hoop in hand.
Grandma’s House hosts a weekly Foul-Mouthed Cross-Stitch gathering, where people of all ages and genders can enjoy one of their craft brews and cross-stitch playful designs. Among the works of art were
pieces that said “Nope” and “Nasty Woman,” along with other deisgns with varying levels of profanity. Recently, activities typically thought of as elderly activities, like cross-stitching and bingo, have been adopted by younger generations. The profanity is an odd matchup with the ages old craft, but the juxtaposition has become popular in the last few years. Ashley Nelson, a regular at the event, stitched away at a piece that will say “Eat S**t and Die.”
“We’re not our grandmothers obviously, and I don’t know, I’ve got a bad mouth,” she said.
The cozy environment provides a relaxing getaway for stressed out college students, or members of older generations who wish to reconnect with their hobby. The bar feels like your grandmother’s house, decorated with antique toys and a bar top made from an old quilt. The tap handles have knitted sleeves,
like the itchy sweaters your grandmother makes for holidays.
“I wanted it to be a relaxed, homey, comfortable vibe,” said Matthew Fuerst, owner of Grandma’s.
Patrons can order one of the many local craft beers and stitch away, without feeling self-conscious
about their crafting skills.
“It’s a chill atmosphere,” Nelson said. “It’s just kind of a place to do what you do, hang out with friends and catch up.”
Grandma’s House has been open for two and a half years, and hosting the cross-stitch events since the beginning of football season.
“Football on Sundays has never been particularly good for breweries in general, and it certainly wasn’t for us,” Fuerst said. “I spent a year promoting it as a place to watch football and it didn’t work. I decided to scrap that entirely and to give this a shot and it took off beyond what I could have expected.”
Sundays are typically slow days for breweries and bars, however, only a few empty seats remained once the event got into full swing.
Many women can feel intimidated at bars and breweries, as craft beer drinking has been considered a maledominated activity. Despite that, Grandma’s has grown to be a favorite of the local brewdrinking
ladies.
“Our vibe is more friendly to female craft beer drinkers. We have significantly more female followers than men followers, which is pretty abnormal in the beer industry,” Fuerst said.
The brewery is also welcoming to those who don’t drink, said Shy Yant, who’s been attending the weekly gatherings for three months.
“I don’t drink, and I don’t feel like I need to to fit in at all. The staff here are really friendly and
everybody is just nice. It’s just calm here.”
Foul-Mouthed Cross-Stitch Sundays are held from 12 to 3 p.m. at Grandma’s House brewery, located at 1710 South Broadway in Denver. Admission and supplies are free. |
The faces now have voices! The upcoming adaptation of Hajimete no Gal has just announced five voice actors for the project, including its two leads.
In the role of lonely loser Junichi Hashiba is Shintaro Asanuma (Hiroto Maehara, Assassination Classroom), with Yukana Yame, the "gal" herself, voiced by Yuki Nagaku (Arisa Ahokainen, Akiba's Trip: The Animation).
Other announced voice actors include:
Ranko Honjou: Eri Kitamura (Sayaka Miki, Madoka Magica)
Yui Kashii: Ayana Taketatsu (Azusa Nakano, K-ON!)
Shizune Fujinoki: Yui Ogura (Tomarin, Teekyuu)
In addition, visitors to AnimeJapan 2017 will get to meet Yuki Nagaku at their special "Hajimete no Gal: Hajimete no Stage" event. The appearance will be at the Kadokawa booth on Saturday, March 25, and marks Nagaku's first public appearance in association with the upcoming series.
Hajimete no Gal will begin airing in July.
Source: MoCa-News
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Kara Dennison is responsible for multiple webcomics, blogs and runs interviews for (Re)Generation Who and PotterVerse, and is half the creative team behind the OEL light novel series Owl's Flower. She blogs at karadennison.com and tweets @RubyCosmos. |
My favorite (and best) cooking inspiration has always been making things for the people I love. Especially birthdays. Birthdays are my favorite thing in the world, and nothing brings me more happiness than making the perfect treat to show my love.
In fact, to date my favorite recipe I’ve ever made was for Steve’s birthday last year. I have to tell you, though–these give them a run for their money!
When I saw this post on Brown Eyed Baker a couple of months ago, I immediately sent it to Nicole–the idea is genius, the photos are absolutely gorgeous, and I wanted to jump through my screen and lick every crumb.
So when I was deciding what to make Nicole for her birthday this year, I knew exactly where I wanted to start. Of course, I changed a few things to make these a little less indulgent, but they still tasted rich and decadent. The brownie layer is the fudgiest brownie I have ever tasted, and the peanut butter tastes like the inside of a Reese’s cup, and then that perfectly glossy glaze? I diiiieeee.
The good thing about cooking for your BBF (best blog friend–I know, we’re totally, like tweens) is they don’t mind that you cut into their birthday dessert to photograph it, and maybe sneak a tiny bite so that you can make sure it’s perfect before you give it to them. 😉 Thanks for taking one for the team blog, Nicole! |
Did you know that Basick� almost became a member of BTS
The 31-year-old rapper talked about his relations to Big Hit Entertainment and its founder�Bang Si Hyuk�during an interview on March 31.�
Basick�said, "Bang Si Hyuk offered me to join a new hip-hop idol group. It was around the time they were preparing to debut BTS."
However, Basick revealed that he rejected the offer. He explained, "I never wanted to become an idol. �At the time, I was taking time off of school and I was also thinking about marrying my girlfriend so it was hard for me to accept the contract."
Basick isn't the only one who was given the offer by Bang Si Hyuk. Basick�shared, "Later on, I heard that Beenzino�was also given an offer. If Beenzino did it then I probably would have too."
When asked what it would've been like if he did join BTS, Basick answered, "I believe BTS went through a lot of preparation and member changes. I think the current members are ideal." |
CLOUD ATLAS Photo: Jay Maidment/Warner Bros.
If you’ve watched Cloud Atlas and you’re still a bit confused, it’s easy to see why. Each of the six intertwined stories takes place in a different era and assumes the tropes of completely different genres. Actors play multiple roles across the film, switching ages, races, and even genders from tale to tale. Tracking those actors is somewhat key to understanding the connective plot, in which various souls are reincarnated or migrate over time — crossing the ages like clouds cross the skies. (In the book, you could track the reincarnation by the bodies that shared a comet-shaped birthmark; in the film, the birthmark just signals our protagonists, and the actor triggers the reincarnation.) See Hugo Weaving? Then you’ve got the bad soul who will only get worse over time. See Tom Hanks? Then you’ve got the recovering soul who starts off bad but will become (mostly) good over the course of his journey. Here is a guide to the karmic chameleons of Cloud Atlas. (Note: to avoid confusion we will mostly refer to the characters by the names of the actors who play them.)
OUR SETTINGS
A ship crossing the Pacific in 1849; the home of an elderly composer in 1936 Edinburgh; San Francisco and a nearby nuclear power plant in 1973; London and an Edinburgh nursing home in 2012; Neo-Soul, the capital of a half-ruined Korea in 2144; a valley and a mountain on a post-apocalyptic Hawaii in 2321.
TOM HANKS
Who he plays: A doctor poisoning Jim Sturgess in 1849 in order to rob him; a hotel manager in 1936 who extorts Ben Whishaw’s composer; a physicist working at a shady nuclear power plant in 1973 who agrees to help investigative journalist Halle Berry; a roughneck author in 2012 who throws a critic off a balcony; an actor playing Timothy Cavendish (Jim Broadbent’s character) in a movie watched in 2144; a cowardly (and birthmarked!) goatherd in 2321 who helps Halle Berry’s Meronym, a representative of the last vestiges of advanced civilization who reside on an off-world colony — the film’s bookmark scenes of an elderly Tom Hanks take place on a different planet.
His soul journey: He goes from a shady murderer who says, “The weak are meat; the strong do eat,” to someone who learns courage and selflessness.
Onscreen connections to other characters/story lines: His movie inspires a clone in 2144 to set off a revolution; that clone, Sonmi-451 becomes a goddess to his post-apocalyptic tribe; the turquoise buttons he steals from Adam Ewing’s vest in 1849 are around his neck in 2321, Hanks’s character having found them in the forest; Hanks’s goatherd has a nightmare in which he sees all the other timelines.
JIM STURGESS
Who he plays: Young and gullible (and birthmarked) lawyer Adam Ewing, on a journey from the South Pacific to notarize a contract between plantation owner Hugh Grant and Ewing’s father-in-law, Hugo Weaving. Ewing helps an escaped-slave stowaway (David Gyasi) and ultimately condemns slavery; a hotel guest in 1936; a father in 1973; a soccer fan in 2012 who gets in a pub fight to help some senior citizens; a Korean freedom fighter in 2144 who saves clone/slave Doona Bae and starts a revolution; a doomed tribe member in 2321, whose brother-in-law Tom Hanks is too scared to save him from cannibal Hugh Grant.
His soul journey: He starts off reluctantly helping one slave to becoming an abolitionist and ultimately becomes a revolutionary dedicated to ending all slavery.
Onscreen connections to other characters/story lines: He keeps a journal that Ben Whishaw’s 1936 composer becomes engrossed by.
BEN WHISHAW
Who he plays: A cabin boy in 1849; bisexual (and birthmarked!) composer Robert Frobisher in 1936, who apprentices himself to Jim Broadbent while sleeping with Broadbent’s wife, Halle Berry, and writes the beautiful Cloud Atlas Sextet; a record-store clerk in 1973 who can’t get the Cloud Atlas Sextet out of his head and helps Halle Berry find it; the wife of Hugh Grant in 2012 and sister-in-law to Jim Broadbent; a tribesman in 2321.
His soul journey: He doesn’t seem to learn much over time, remains morally ambiguous, and will sleep with anyone, no matter whom it hurts.
Onscreen connections to other characters/story lines: He writes letters to his true love, Rufus Sixsmith (James D’Arcy), in 1936, which Halle Berry reads in 1973; strains of his Cloud Atlas Sextet recur throughout several timelines.
HALLE BERRY
Who she plays: A slave from an aboriginal tribe in 1849; the white Jewish trophy wife of Jim Broadbent in 1936; the gutsy (and birthmarked!) journalist Luisa Rey who follows in the footsteps of her famous reporter father (David Gyasi); a hip Indian chick at a party in 2012 who intrigues Tom Hanks; a male Korean doctor in 2144 who helps free a clone; an advanced being in a primitive post-apocalyptic world in 2321.
Her soul journey: She goes from being someone with no power to humanity’s last hope, and she evolves into a higher being as she follows her impulse to help other people.
Onscreen connections to other characters/story lines: Her 1973 story becomes a manuscript that Jim Broadbent reads in 2012; she wears the same necklace in 1936, 1973, and 2012; her 1973 line “For the last half hour, all I could think about was throwing you off your balcony” literally comes true with Tom Hanks’s 2012 character.
JIM BROADBENT
Who he plays: An arrogant ship’s captain in 1849; a composer in 1936 who takes on apprentice Ben Whishaw and attempts to claim the younger man’s work as his own; the morally ambiguous (and birthmarked!) vanity press publisher Timothy Cavendish, who benefits from the death of a critic at the hands of his author, Tom Hanks; a Korean street musician in 2144 and an advanced being known as a Prescient in 2321.
His soul journey: He starts off by being pompous and self-serving but learns humility over time.
Onscreen connections to other characters/story lines: His grand mansion in 1936 is his nursing home in 2012; the film of his “ghastly ordeal” in 2012 is watched by a clone slave in 2144; his 1936 character has a dream of the Papa Song café in which Sonmi-451 works.
DOONA BAE
Who she plays: The white wife of Jim Sturgess and daughter of Hugo Weaving in 1849; the wife of Jim Sturgess and mother of James D’Arcy’s niece in 1973; a Hispanic woman working at a factory in 1973; Sonmi-451, a (birthmarked!) clone or “fabricant,” who is genetically engineered to be a worker drone but starts to think for herself and sparks a revolution when she’s aided by freedom fighter Jim Sturgess.
Her soul journey: She goes from being a powerless figure to a goddess revered by a simple tribe, the only link they have to their pre-apocalyptic past.
Onscreen connections to other characters/story lines: Her recorded statements become the tribal wisdom of a tribe in 2321.
HUGH GRANT
Who he plays: A reverend and a plantation owner in 1849; a hotel clerk trying to collect from Ben Whishaw; the owner of a nuclear power plant in 1973 who wants it to fail and kill millions; the cuckolded brother of Jim Broadbent who tricks him into committing himself to a nursing home; a Korean restaurant manager in 2144 who sleeps with his clone workers; the leader of a band of cannibal warriors in 2321.
His soul journey: Despite a charming exterior at first, he never really cares about anyone, and this only gets worse over time; he devolves into a pure savage.
HUGO WEAVING
Who he plays: The father of Doona Bae and father-in-law of Jim Sturgess in 1849, who is involved in the slave trade; a Nazi in 1936 who is a friend of composer Jim Broadbent; an assassin in 1973; a female nursing home orderly in 2012 who torments elderly Jim Broadbent; a Unanimity authority figure in 2144; a Devil-like figment of Tom Hanks’s imagination in 2321.
His soul journey: He’s a figure of evil, control, and enslavement who never displays any loyalty or learns anything over time, and eventually devolves until he’s just an idea.
Onscreen connections to other characters/story lines: His line as Nurse Noakes, “Because you’re new, I will not make you eat soap,” mirrors the food that fabricants eat in Neo Seoul; his line, “There’s a natural order to this world,” which he utters as a futuristic functionary, is repeated at film’s end by his slave-owning businessman.
KEITH DAVID
Who he plays: Like Halle Berry, a slave in 1849 working for Hugh Grant; the security chief at Hugh Grant’s nuclear power plant in 1973, who goes rogue to protect Halle Berry; the leader of a resistance movement in 2144; a Prescient working alongside Halle Berry in 2321.
His soul journey: He goes from being a slave to a leader, someone who throws off the shackles of evil employers/bad governments.
Onscreen connections to other characters/story lines: He appears to be a kindred spirit with Halle Berry.
JAMES D’ARCY
Who he plays: Ben Whishaw’s lover in 1936 and recipient of his letters; an older version of his previous character Rufus Sixsmith, who gives Halle Berry damning evidence that his nuclear power plant is unsafe; an orderly at Jim Broadbent’s nursing home in 2012; and finally, a patient Archivist in 2144 who interrogates clone Doona Bae.
His soul journey: A little muddled. He goes from being a passive listener to someone who takes a stand against a big wrong back to a passive listener of a tale of injustice.
Onscreen connections to other characters/story lines: The letters he receives from Ben Whishaw in 1936 are read by Halle Berry in 1973; Hugo Weaving’s assassin shoots him in the mouth, which mirrors the suicide-by-gun death of his lover, Frobisher. |
Carly Fiorina, who is running for political office whether she knows it or not, does not want to answer your stupid liberal elitist so-called gotcha “political questions” even if you work for Fox (video below).
WALLACE: But forgive me, Miss Fiorina, where are you going to cut entitlements? What benefits are you going to cut? What eligibility are you doing..
FIORINA: Chris, I have to say, with all due respect, you’re asking a typical political question.[…]
WALLACE: It may be a typical political question but that’s where the money is. The money is in Medicare and Social Security. We have baby-boomers coming. There will be a huge explosion of entitlement explosion and you call it a political question when I ask you to name one single entitlement you are willing to cut.
FIORINA: Chris, I believe to deal with entitlement reform, which we must deal with, we ought to put every possible solution on the table, except we should be very clear we are not going to cut benefits to those nearing retirement or those nearing retirement or those in retirement.[…]
WALLACE: I’m going to try one last time, and if you don’t want to answer it, Miss Fiorina, you don’t have to.
FIORINA: It’s not a question of not wanting to answer it! |
click to enlarge Photo via abcnews.go.com
In retaliation of Apple's refusal to hand over encrypted information following the San Bernardino shooting , Representative David Jolly (R-Fla.) has introduced a bill that would restrict taxpayer funding to the massive tech corporation.No Taxpayer Support for Apple Act (H.R. 4663) was brought to Congress on March 2, according to a press release from Jolly's camp.The bill aims to forbid federal agencies from purchasing Apple products until the company cooperates with the FBI. If this new legislature passes, Apple would have to provide technical support when approached with a warrant for encrypted information that may be relevant to terrorist acts."[Apple's] failure to comply [with a judge’s order] means that there is additional information out there that has already contributed to other incidents or will in the future contribute to other incidents of terrorism or national security, I think Apple leadership risks having blood on their hands," Jolly said during a congressional hearing with FBI Director James Comey.Govtrack.us, one of the most visited websites for government transparency, predicts that the No Taxpayer Support for Apple Act has a 1 percent chance of being enacted. |
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*Introductory pricing schedule for 12 month: $0.99/month plus tax for first 3 months, $5.99/month for months 4 - 6, $10.99/month for months 7 - 9, $13.99/month for months 10 - 12. Standard All Access Digital rate of $16.99/month begins after first year.
For unlimited access to the best local, national, and international news and much more, try an All Access Digital subscription:
We hope you have enjoyed your trial! To continue reading, we recommend our Read Now Pay Later membership. Simply add a form of payment and pay only 27¢ per article.
For unlimited access to the best local, national, and international news and much more, try an All Access Digital subscription:
We hope you have enjoyed your trial! To continue reading, we recommend our Read Now Pay Later membership. Simply add a form of payment and pay only 27¢ per article.
“See that guy up there in the stands?” Nill told them. “He is going to come in and take someone’s job, so you better start picking it up.”
Upset with what he was getting from his players, now huddled around him as the rain poured down, Nill saw it as the perfect time to send a message — and he had the perfect man to do it with.
Nill, a native of Hanna, Alta., had accepted the job with the Thunderbirds just three months before, taking over following a successful run with the University of Calgary Dinos and before that with the Saint Mary’s Huskies, winning two Vanier Cups in seven trips to the CIS title game.
It was spring 2015, just days into his first camp with the University of British Columbia football team when head coach Blake Nill, feeling frustrated and annoyed with how his defence was practising, called an impromptu meeting on the field.
Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 8/9/2016 (900 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.
Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 8/9/2016 (900 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.
It was spring 2015, just days into his first camp with the University of British Columbia football team when head coach Blake Nill, feeling frustrated and annoyed with how his defence was practising, called an impromptu meeting on the field.
Nill, a native of Hanna, Alta., had accepted the job with the Thunderbirds just three months before, taking over following a successful run with the University of Calgary Dinos and before that with the Saint Mary’s Huskies, winning two Vanier Cups in seven trips to the CIS title game.
Upset with what he was getting from his players, now huddled around him as the rain poured down, Nill saw it as the perfect time to send a message — and he had the perfect man to do it with.
"See that guy up there in the stands?" Nill told them. "He is going to come in and take someone’s job, so you better start picking it up."
In the stands was Taylor Loffler, a 6-4, 220-pound beast of a man who, in his only season with UBC, would become the driving force on defence.
"The plan worked just the way it was supposed to — it was a win-win," Nill, who with the help of Loffler led the Thunderbirds, a team that had gone 2-6 the previous year, to their fourth Vanier Cup in school history and first in 18 years, said in a telephone interview Thursday.
The plan: if Loffler, who had two tears to the ACL in his right knee and labral surgery on both his hips and therefore was limited to just one full season in four years at Boise State University of the NCAA, could help bring some stability to UBC’s football program then Nill, who over his decades of coaching in the CIS had built close relationships with CFL scouts, would help him get noticed.
"That was the biggest thing talking to him, knowing he’d had a lot of success and that he had a lot of connections," said Loffler, who first learned the game while living in Australia, where he played Aussie rules football. "That was my biggest goal going there, just to be able to move on and make it to the CFL, and I knew he would probably be the best man for that."
Months later, Loffler would get his wish, selected in the third round — 19th overall — by the Winnipeg Blue Bombers in the 2016 CFL Draft.
Now with the Blue and Gold, Loffler finds himself in the same position, only this time taking over the starting job at safety that once belonged to Macho Harris. Harris, who had played well before pulling up lame in Week 5, returned to practice this week and has been taking second-team reps with the defence behind Loffler.
BORIS MINKEVICH / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS Winnipeg Blue Bombers defensive back Taylor Loffler practises at Investors Group Field Thursday.
"He’s been getting better each week with his coverage, with reading offences while working with the other defensive backs," said Bombers defensive backs coach Tony Missick, speaking about Loffler. "He doesn’t take any practices off, he basically takes every rep at the free safety position and never complains. He’s still surprising us coaches as to what he can actually do."
In nine games with the Blue and Gold — five at safety — Loffler has 24 defensive tackles, two interceptions and a quarterback sack, while also chipping in with four tackles on special teams. In those games he’s shown a keen football IQ, flashed his deceptive speed, earned respect with his hard hits, all while building a trust within the team’s secondary.
Though he remains a work in progress — "we’re not ready to let him loose just yet," said Missick — Loffler has quickly emerged into one of the most compelling stories for the Bombers this year and maybe even in the CFL; a quick trajectory that has put him in the discussion for CFL rookie of the year.
Of all his upside, it’s his ability to throw the big hit that has Bombers fans eager to see how his story plays out.
"The biggest thing is it sets a precedent," said Loffler, who was born in Regina but grew up on a ranch in Montana before moving to Kelowna, B.C., where he played high school football. "You want to be physical out there, especially at safety. You want guys looking at you as you’re coming across the middle."
In his first start at safety in a Week 6 win over the Edmonton Eskimos, Loffler brought fans to their feet when he went toe-to-toe with former Bombers receiver Adarius Bowman, separating him from the ball with a crushing hit that left Bowman briefly dazed on the turf. Two weeks ago against the Montreal Alouettes, Loffler threw every inch of himself at receiver Nik Lewis, knocking the 5-10, 240-pounder off his feet.
"It’s like the nail and the hammer theory," he said. "If you’re the nail, that’s when injuries happen."
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For Darian Thompson, a former teammate of Loffler’s at Boise State and now a safety with the NFL’s New York Giants, it comes as no surprise to see Loffler doing so well. Thompson saw it first-hand as a teammate, both his ability to deliver punishing hits and his drive when it comes to overcoming injuries.
"One thing about Taylor, whether he’s practising or playing, is the sideline has to be aware because if somebody is running down that sideline he’s going to fly in full-speed like a missile," said Thompson. "He has an extreme love for the game of football, and a couple of serious injuries left him standing around watching sometimes for a full year before he was able to get back onto the field. You could tell when he got back out there he had been waiting for the opportunity and he tries to make the most of it."
That’s exactly what Loffler is doing, trying his best to enjoy the moment and not take things for granted.
"You just got to keep working every week. You can never get satisfied with how you’re playing," he said. "It’s been a great experience so far. I love the city, love the fans, love my teammates, and love my coaches — I couldn’t be happier."
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Twitter: @jeffkhamilton |
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KANSAS CITY, MO – In a recent Census of US Medical Students report, published in JAMA last week, researchers wanted to see which medical school students were attending.
Researches used the very popular forum website: Student Doctor Network, where many prospective medical students and active medical students go to discuss and seek advice. Often the users will post their MCAT score and which school they will be attending.
From the data, over 2500 new students will be attending Harvard Medical School this year. This comes as a surprise to Harvard Medical School Dean Dr. Ronald Foster. “I didn’t see this coming at all. We typically only accept 165 medical students every year, I will have to make some calls and get an addition built in time for next year!”
How the Harvard Dean of Admissions was unaware of the large number of new students will have to be investigated further, but Dr. Foster was pretty confident in the data. “One: this was printed in JAMA, and two: this is the Student Doctor Network! Nobody would lie on there, they’re future doctors,” he said. “Looks like there was an admin error and we let in a lot of new students this year. Those other medical schools are going to be so jealous!”
Dr. Foster was correct in stating that about a third of all medical students, according to the data on the Student Doctor Network, will be enrolled in Harvard Medical School this year. Many other medical schools are in panic at the thought of not filling their classes up.
Dr. Noonan, a dean at University of Washington, told reporters that besides being a top-tier medical school they would have to offer more incentives to medical students to get them to come out to Washington. “We’ll probably start offering a free box of steaks or something; Harvard can’t hog all these medical students. We want some too!”
Dr. Noonan was recently caught posting fraudulent numbers on SDN. He was inflating the number of steaks that he will be giving away to future students from 12 when the actual amount of Omaha Steaks is 6. SDN admin MedStudent17$ put his account on probation. “Here on SDN we hold the highest standards, no one is allowed to lie or inflate their numbers, he will be barred from posting for 3 months.”
In a follow-up survey the new average board score has risen from 201 to 247, according to scores released on the forum. |
"I'm Shipping Up to Boston" is a song with lyrics written by the folk singer Woody Guthrie, music written by A. Barr, K. Casey, M. Kelly, J. Lynch and M. Orrell and performed by the Celtic punk band Dropkick Murphys. It appeared on their certified gold selling 2005 album, The Warrior's Code. An earlier recording of it can be found on the Hellcat Records compilation Give 'Em the Boot: Vol. 4. The song gained world-wide attention along with boosting the band's popularity for its use in the 2006 Academy Award-winning Best Picture, The Departed and the soundtrack for the film.
The lyrics from the song were taken from a fragment of paper that Ken Casey found whilst looking through Woody Guthrie's archives.[1] The Dropkick Murphys put music to the lyrics as they also did with the song "Gonna Be A Blackout Tonight" from the 2003 album Blackout.
The single is the band's most successful to date and was certified double platinum. It reached #1 on the Bubbling Under Hot 100 chart and sold over 1,044,000 digital copies without ever entering the Hot 100 chart.[2]
The video features the Dropkick Murphys performing the song on the waterfront in East Boston. The band is also seen "hanging out" with hooligans while being chased by Boston police officers. The song's simple lyrics describe a sailor who had lost a prosthetic leg climbing the topsail, and is shipping up to Boston to "find my wooden leg."
Charts [ edit ]
Chart (2007) Peak
position US Bubbling Under Hot 100 (Billboard) 1
Chart (2012) Peak
position Ireland (IRMA) 54
In entertainment [ edit ]
Political appearances [ edit ]
2012 [ edit ]
A small Facebook meme grew up after Wisconsin State Representative and Speaker of the Wisconsin State Assembly Jeff Fitzgerald reportedly used the song during the 2012 Wisconsin Republican Convention in Green Bay. This usage prompted the band to release the following statement on Facebook:[8]
We just got word that Wisconsin State Rep and Speaker of the State Assembly Jeff Fitzgerald used "Shipping Up to Boston" as his walk-on song yesterday at the Wisconsin GOP Convention in Green Bay. The stupidity and irony of this is laughable. A Wisconsin Republican U.S. Senate candidate – and crony of anti-Union Governor Scott Walker – using a Dropkick Murphys song as an intro is like a white supremacist coming out to gangsta rap! Fitzgerald: if you and your staff can't even figure out your music you might wanna give up on the politics!!!!! We stand beside our Union and Labor brothers and sisters and their families in Wisconsin and all over the U.S!
2015 [ edit ]
In 2015, Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker used the song during political events.[9] In response, the official Dropkick Murphys Twitter account posted a tweet declaring that the band "literally hate[d]" Governor Walker and asking him to "stop using [their] music in any way".[10] |
A University of Connecticut student was taken into police custody after a profanity laced tirade and shoving match with a dining hall manager who refused to the apparently drunk student's demand to serve him bacon-jalapeno mac 'n' cheese.
Update: Oct. 9:
*Editor's note: This story has been updated to include a new version of the video of the incident. This version does not include the profane language. The original video posted on You Tube has been removed because of copyright issues, according to a note on that original You Tube link.
Original story: Oct. 6:
In a You Tube video (Warning: extreme profane language) that was posted on the social media website on Monday, Oct. 5, the student dressed in sweats and white socks and black sandals, can be seen berating the unidentified food service manager in an F-word laden tirade. The nine-minute video, which has had more than 51,000 views as of Tuesday morning, shows at least three of the manager's co-workers coming to his aid.
The manager can be heard telling the student, identified in reports as Luke Gatti, 19, of Bayville on Long Island, NY, that he wouldn't be served because he was drunk. "You can't come in here with an open bottle of booze. Think about it," the manager said. It is unclear exactly when the incident occurred. The manager accused the student of being under the influence and of underage drinking.
The student dared the manager to call police … who are seen arriving about eight minutes into the video. It was unclear whether Gatti, who was handcuffed and hauled out of the dining hall, is facing any charges.
As the officer handcuffed him, Gatti can be heard proclaiming, "I am absolutely F---ed."
According to a report by Heavy.com, this wasn't the first time Gatti has had run-ins on campus. The Heavy.com story can be found here. |
Across cultures, fools, clowns, and court jesters are powerful critics of any existing order. But what happens when they take power? Thanks to Donald Trump, this is a reality we now face – and one that anthropology can help us to navigate.
The president of the US makes a strange sort of jester, not least given how unfunny he often is. Recall the 2016 Alfred E. Smith Memorial Foundation Dinner, an American election tradition during which the two major party candidates engage in good-natured mockery. Trump’s inability to self-deprecate and lack of self-awareness made his performance practically unwatchable, as did his failure to draw a line between slander and satire.
So it’s easy to write Trump off as a failed, inept clown rather than a deft lampooner of his enemies. But his lack of self-awareness is largely irrelevant, and to simply proclaim him an idiot gets it wrong. His particular brand of foolery is in fact proving highly effective – and destructive.
On the surface, a court jester’s job is to conspicuously cross boundaries and use humour and mockery to ridicule and violate the norms their onlookers live by. The effect is ultimately conservative: the fool’s ludicrous failures contrast with the seriousness of his powerful audience, confirming they’re strong enough to withstand mockery and thereby cementing their status.
An example of how this works is the Hopi Tribe of Arizona’s summer-solstice ritual, niman, in which a central plaza is occupied by “kachina” deities, then invaded and taken over by yelling clowns. The clowns proceed to eat gluttonously, drink urine and perform burlesque acts. Warned by a lone deity that they must act moderately or perish, the clowns instead mistreat him and boast of their power. The kachina deities then return with whips and weapons, and retake the plaza to restore order and complete the ritual.
Similar processes play out at carnivals and mardi gras, where rules of behaviour and power structures are temporarily upended, only to come back into force more strongly. It’s also what happens at Washington’s storied White House Correspondents’ Dinner, an annual event where the most powerful leader in the world “officially” acts the clown, delivering a joke-laden monologue and enduring caustic jibes thrown their way. (Having famously been humiliated by Obama at the 2011 dinner, Trump declined to take part this year.)
But if the whole point of temporarily suspending normality to let fools run the show is to strengthen authority, not weaken it, the Trump administration is something very different.
When a political joker like Trump actually takes control, they duly subvert the norms of their political roles with their ludicrous behaviour – but instead of strengthening those norms, they weaken them, ultimately lowering the expectations to which all leaders are subject.
Trump’s presidency will hardly feel like a temporary suspension of normality if it lasts for its full term, and not if he is able to achieve even a few of his policy goals. This will not be a comic interlude at the end of which things cleanly return to normal; it will have real and enduring implications for millions of people’s lives.
Beyond that, the participants in this particular ritual drama do not agree on what status quo their fool should actually target. Is it the supposedly po-faced “liberal establishment” and those they defend, or the moneyed hegemony of Wall Street and those it favours? Sometimes Trump seems to think the answer is both, making him an interesting phenomenon: anyone’s fool.
The carnival is over
Broadly speaking, critics of Trump can respond to his foolery in one of two ways. They can attack the kind of fool Trump is – one who targets minorities, women, and immigrants – or they can attack the idea that foolishness is a viable substitute for governance. The idea that building a giant wall across the Mexican border is a policy, not a joke. The idea that peddling conspiracies about Obama’s birth certificate is an acceptable way to enter political life. The idea that ranting on Twitter at 3am is presidential.
While they may seem cruel and desperately unfunny, some of Trump’s pronouncements and blunders are perfect examples of what anthropologists call “hegemonic humour”: the use of humour to root out and emphasise difference. Making Mexico pay for a wall is politically (and probably financially) impossible, but many of Trump’s supporters seem willing to let it slide, suggesting his dogged commitment to it was more a farcical gesture to his audience than a statement of policy.
What obsessing over making Mexico pay really did was mark Trump out as a person who “gets it”, as opposed to a member of the “elite” – a cabal of people stupid enough to take a joke at face value.
A joker in charge is very difficult to challenge. Allow him to rile you up, and he wins; laugh with him, and you reinforce his nihilistic agenda. If the president’s opponents want his presidency to reinforce the US’s norms and institutions rather than destroy them, they can only respond one way: concentrate on achievable, serious goals, and refuse to get distracted by the absurd, surreal personality show with which their president is mocking them.
This means putting faith in politicians who treat their office and their role with dignity and respect, and not in just any fool who happens to come along. It is very citizen’s job to ignore fools and instead to deal in details. |
We all use battery powered devices every day. But it is so annoying when the batteries run out in the TV remote, clock or any of the 1001 other electronic devices we have around the house. And, of course, when the batteries do go dead it is a pretty safe bet that you wont be able to find a spare. So why not order your batteries from Ebuyer.com? We have all the popular sizes and all available in multiple quantities at low prices.
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But, if you would prefer rechargeable options, NiMH (nickel metal hydride) cells are suitable for use in most electronics. They hold their charges well and can be recharged up to 1,000 times, making them an economic and environmentally friendly option. And we also have battery chargers so you can top up the power whenever you need to. |
[JURIST] The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit [official website] ruled [opinion, PDF] Tuesday that probable-cause warrants are not required to access cell phone location information. In a 2-1 decision, the Fifth Circuit reversed lower court decisions that said the location data was protected by the Fourth Amendment [Cornell LII backgrounder]. The court stated that warrantless access is “not per se unconstitutional” because mobile location data is “clearly a business record” and therefore unprotected by the Fourth Amendment. Authorities were requesting cellphone data under the Stored Communications Act [Cornell LII backgrounder], part of the Electronics Communications Privacy Act, which the court stated gives authorities the option of obtaining a court order, but does not require the higher standard necessary for a search warrant. The Fifth Circuit is the third federal appeals court to allow authorities to track mobile devices without a warrant.
Courts and lawmakers remain divided on what types of warrants are required to perform cell phone searches. Last week the New Jersey Supreme Court ruled [JURIST report] that police must obtain search warrants before obtaining tracking information from cell phone providers, marking the first time a state supreme court has recognized a Fourth Amendment protection for cell phone location data. Earlier this month the Maine Legislature [official website] voted in favor [JURIST report] of a new law requiring police to obtain a warrant to track a cell phone. In May the Florida Supreme Court [official website] ruled [opinion, PDF] that police need a warrant [JURIST report] to search a defendant’s cell phone at the time of arrest. In 2012 the US Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit [official website] ruled [opinion, PDF] that a warrantless search [JURIST report] of a suspect’s cell phone to collect its phone number does not constitute a violation of Fourth Amendment protections against unreasonable search and seizure. |
Air Force security forces are investigating the online distribution of explicit pornographic images allegedly depicting a female non-commissioned officer engaged in sex acts.
But the pictures are fake, the Air Force said. The NCO is the apparent target of an online smear campaign to paint her as a porn actress by distributing pornographic images and falsely claiming them to be of her.
Air Education and Training Command officials emphatically said in interviews that the allegations are false, and the NCO and her husband are not being investigated. AETC officials said they have no idea why the NCO was targeted.
"This story is very concerning," AETC spokesman Col. Sean McKenna said. "It's another example of someone taking it on themselves to shame someone online."
Security forces has focused on a former airman who allegedly posted a pornographic photograph on the Air Force Recruiting Service's Facebook page on Jan. 26, said Lt. Col. Toni Whaley, spokeswoman for Air Education and Training Command. The Air Force did not disclose the identity of the suspect.
The face of the woman in the picture was blurred, Whaley said, but the suspect allegedly claimed in the post that it was of the NCO and that she was regularly starring in online pornography.
AETC started looking into the allegations, Whaley said, and investigators quickly learned that the NCO did not have tattoos that matched the woman in the pornographic image and concluded it was not her. Security forces immediately shifted their focus and began investigating the former airman who allegedly posted the picture for making false accusations.
The NCO has appeared in official recruiting videos produced by the Air Force. The phony pornographic image was posted in a Facebook comment thread below a recruiting video of the NCO talking about her career field, Whaley said.
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Two official Air Force videos featuring the NCO have now been hidden or taken down from several sites due to harassing comments alleging her pornographic involvement.
"This story is very concerning," AETC spokesman Col. Sean McKenna said. "It's another example of someone taking it on themselves to shame someone online."
Air Force Times is not naming the NCO to protect her privacy. Through AETC, she declined to comment. Whaley said the NCO has spoken to other airmen assigned to her unit "to squash any rumors floating around."
McKenna said it is possible that the investigation could broaden beyond the one former airman who posted the picture on the Recruiting Service Facebook page.
"Who knows where the investigation will lead us," McKenna said. "I've never seen one like this."
It is unclear whether or how civilian law enforcement may need to be involved if Air Force investigators conclude a law has been broken.
McKenna said this story is an example of how damaging online harassment and cyberbullying can be, and said airmen should think twice about engaging in such behavior online.
"If you do this, you will be investigated," McKenna said. "It will not go unnoticed. Something will come to bear." |
You can find the full article published here on the Charisma on Command blog.
Imagine, you’ve just met someone new on a networking event. . .
Maybe a potential investor, partner of a supporter. Maybe a senior VP or an old colleague who can get you in touch with the right people. It's very important to make a good impression, so people trust you and connect with you.
Conversation rolls for the first few minutes, but then a familiar roadblock: you both feel like you’re running out of things to say, so you implement a tactic you’ve heard before: To be interesting, be interested! Get them talking about themselves.
You unleash your probing and incisive questions, which are clever and you are obviously listening to the other person’s answers, but as time ticks on, you sense they want to speak less and less. After a few minutes, they excuse themselves to mingle with others. Or to go to the bathroom (riiiiight).
What the heck happened? Isn’t showing a genuine interest in people supposed to be a conversational cure-all?
Well, not exactly, because the conventional wisdom of: “get them talking about themselves” is incomplete. Sure, people like to talk about themselves, but not with everyone.
People only want to talk about themselves with people they have some reason to care about.
It’s not perfectly nice, but it’s the truth. When people we don’t know or respect barrage us with questions, we often just want them to scram.
So what should I do to have a good conversation if not ask questions?
Start with this principle: People admire, respect, and want to talk to those with non-judgmental conviction in their own values.
If ALL you do is ask questions, you’re not showing any conviction in your values. You’re not even showing your values. But if you make statements about your values or follow your questions up with those kinds of statements, it is a whole ‘nother ballgame.
Take the example of the senior VP at the networking event. Say you’ve gotten on the conversation of his interests:
Him: “Yeah my family and I took a trip out west to go skiing last week. It was fantastic.”
You: “Oh wow, had you been out there before?”
Him: “Yeah we try to go every year. The kids love it.”
You: “What was the best part?”
Him: “I guess this one trail that is like 45 minutes long, it had beautiful views throughout.”
All questions. Good ones too. But people WILL tire eventually. Plus people may feel like they're being interrogated.
Contrast that with the following:
Him: “Yeah my family and I took a trip out west to go skiing last week. It was fantastic.”
You: “That sounds amazing. I’m not much of a skier, but I love to mountain bike. There is nothing like that heightened awareness you get when you’re flying down the side of a mountain. I’m an addict for all things that do that.”
Him: “Me too . . .”
Now you’ve shown something about yourself and it doesn’t matter that you’ve never skied or that he’s never mountain biked, because when you cut through the surface level facts of what you’re talking about, there are always deeper values. A love of adventure, of pushing boundaries, of escaping the mundane.
So when meeting new people don’t just barrage them with questions. Relate to them. Take the information you get in the first questions and use it as an opportunity to reveal something about yourself. Don’t worry if what you have to say doesn’t totally agree with their statement. You can even have opposite feelings. As long as you are revealing your values in a non-judgmental way, you’ll have lots to talk about and no one will be offended.
The next time you find yourself in a conversation asking more than 2-3 consecutive questions, slow down. Remember, the goal of conversation is not simply to get someone talking about themselves. It is to relate to one another’s values. So listen to their answers and see what values they are revealing. This will also help you get an idea of what kind of person you're engaging with and if you want to do business with them or not.
A good conversation is not about just getting someone to open up and talk about themselves. It is not about you agreeing with everything they say. It is not even about you connecting on things that you have in common.
It is about comparing, contrasting, and relating to one another’s values. Find opportunities to share yours with conviction and without judgment. Other people will follow suit and you’ll make connections like never before.
I hope you enjoyed reading this post! Let me know if you found it helpful and feel free to share your experience in similar situations.
For weekly inspiration, HowTos and tips on charisma and social skills please sign for our newsletter! |
The Haqqani network — a family-run syndicate that happens to be one of South Asia’s most fearsome militant groups — has long been a source of tension for the volatile U.S.-Pakistan relationship. And it’s easy to understand why.
U.S. military officials often describe the Haqqani network as one of its biggest threats in Afghanistan. John Allen, who commanded U.S. and NATO forces in Afghanistan from July 2011 to February 2013, says the group wounded or killed more than 500 of his troops. It’s been blamed for an attack on the U.S. embassy in Kabul. It held Bowe Bergdahl, the only U.S. POW in Afghanistan, in captivity. It has close associations with Al-Qaeda, and the State Department has formally designated it as a terrorist organization (this status does not apply to the Afghan Taliban, with which the Haqqani network is affiliated).
The Haqqani network also has links to Pakistan’s security establishment, which views the group as a strategic asset that limits the influence of archrival India in Afghanistan (it frequently assaults Indian targets in Afghanistan). In 2011, Mike Mullen, then the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, infamously described it as a “veritable arm” of Pakistan’s main intelligence agency. An angry Pakistan rejected the accusation and threatened to cut off ties with Washington.
Last year, unknown gunmen assassinated Nasiruddin Haqqani, one of the group’s top leaders. Tellingly, he was not gunned down in an isolated, mountainous, tribal-area redoubt — but rather as he strolled into a bakery in the suburbs of Islamabad, Pakistan’s capital (Rawalpindi, the city that houses military headquarters, is nearby).
For years, Haqqani fighters enjoyed a sanctuary in Pakistan’s North Waziristan tribal agency. Washington (to the irritation of Islamabad) pressured Pakistan relentlessly to target this safe haven, but to no avail.
Then, in recent weeks, Pakistan changed course and launched a military offensive in North Waziristan. Islamabad insists that its offensive is targeting all militant groups, including the Haqqani network. Pakistani officials report that the offensive has driven the group into Afghanistan, and they are asking U.S. forces to go after it there. In effect, Pakistan wants the United States, and its Afghan allies, to serve as the anvil to Pakistan’s hammer.
This should all be music to Washington’s ears. Unfortunately, it is not. That’s because the offensive is happening several years too late, and because there’s little reason to believe Pakistan’s claims about targeting the Haqqani network are actually true. As a result, U.S.-Pakistan relations face a new crisis rooted in an old problem.
Had Pakistan’s North Waziristan operation been launched several years earlier, at the height of the U.S. military surge in Afghanistan, then U.S. forces would have been in a strong position to handle an influx of fighters from Pakistan. Yet today, U.S. forces are headed for the exits.
Afghan troops aren’t in much of a position to help either. They have their hands full with a resurgent Taliban, which is staging stepped-up assaults. These have produced offensives in Helmand and Kandahar provinces and actual takeovers of territory in areas outside the cities of Kabul and Jalalabad. Some might argue that Pakistan’s North Waziristan offensive, by unloading Haqqani network fighters into Afghanistan, is contributing to this increased unrest in Afghanistan. The Afghan government, for its part, has blamed the Haqqani network for two recent major attacks — a mass-casualty market bombing and an assault on Kabul’s airport.
In effect, at the very moment U.S. forces are seeking some semblance of a smooth withdrawal from Afghanistan, a Pakistani military offensive is flushing some of the most ruthless anti-Afghan militants into that nation amid an intensified insurgency.
And it could get even worse.
Many Pakistani Taliban (TTP) fighters are based in eastern Afghanistan. The TTP (which mainly attacks the Pakistani state) and Haqqani network may focus on different targets, but they each share the same hardline ideology and loyalty to Afghan Taliban leader Mullah Omar. This all suggests that Haqqani fighters could conceivably cooperate operationally with TTP (and Afghan Taliban) forces in Afghanistan. Incidentally, one of the TTP’s founding leaders, the late Baitullah Mehsud, was once a Haqqani network commander.
At the same time, there’s little reason to believe Pakistan’s security establishment truly wants to take on its long-time trusted asset. Why would it want to sever ties now, given the uncertainties of Afghanistan’s future amid the U.S. withdrawal, and given that reconciliation with India remains a distant dream?
There’s also little reason to believe Pakistan wants the Haqqani network to stay out of Pakistan. The latter derives leverage over the Haqqani network by hosting it on its soil. By denying it a sanctuary, Pakistan would lose this leverage — and risk having the organization turn on the Pakistani state. Consider that some Afghan Taliban members have expressed deep unhappiness about Pakistan, and that when Baitullah Mehsud was a Haqqani commander, the group launched several attacks on the Pakistani military.
Little wonder, then, that a range of sources — from U.S. officials to North Waziristan locals — believe the Haqqani network was tipped off about the offensive by the Pakistani military and fled in advance. Pakistan’s own ambassador to Washington admits that many Haqqani fighters left North Waziristan before the offensive (in his view, this is simply because the operation was pre-announced).
So, despite all the spin about taking definitive action against militants of all stripes, Pakistan may have more nefarious objectives in North Waziristan: Smash the sanctuaries of anti-state militants such as the TTP, but shield the Haqqani network by sending it to Afghanistan (and to other Pakistan tribal areas), where the group can exploit rising political instability (stemming from an ongoing election crisis) and aid an increasingly emboldened Afghan Taliban. Then, when the offensive in North Waziristan has ceased, the organization can return to its Pakistani sanctuary and resume its cross-border strikes on Afghanistan.
This all has troubling implications for U.S.-Pakistan relations. Washington can’t be happy that Pakistan is merely displacing, rather than destroying, the Haqqani network — and especially into Afghanistan at such a delicate time. If the Haqqani network returns to its North Waziristan sanctuary and resumes attacks on Afghanistan, threats will likely intensify on Capitol Hill to reduce military aid to Pakistan. After all, a recent U.S. defense spending bill calls for $300 million in military aid to be withheld from Pakistan if the country has not “significantly disrupted” the Haqqani network’s “safe haven and freedom of movement.”
Such warnings won’t be received well in Islamabad, where officials often (and justifiably) note that Pakistan’s military has lost scores of soldiers fighting militant groups in the tribal belt, and complain that U.S. forces have failed to disrupt Pakistani Taliban safe havens in Afghanistan, which are used to mount attacks on Pakistan. Indeed, some of the TTP’s most vicious and hardline leaders — including supreme leader Mullah Fazlullah, who orchestrated the brief takeover of the Swat region in 2009, and TTP Mohmand tribal agency chief Omar Khalid Khorasani, who earlier this year ordered the execution of 23 Pakistani soldiers held in captivity — are reportedly based in Afghanistan.
The upshot? The current period of preternaturally placid U.S.-Pakistan relations could soon be shattered, thanks to the militant organization that so often bedevils them.
Michael Kugelman is the senior program associate for South Asia at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars in Washington, DC. He can be reached at [email protected] or on Twitter @michaelkugelman. |
By Suzanne Kelly
Republican senators are proposing cybersecurity legislation calling for a series of government incentives to make sure that companies comply with security issues.
The bill is meant to counter separate proposed legislation that seeks to designate the Department of Homeland Security as the lead agency for securing the nation's cybersphere infrastructure.
The Republicans have dubbed their bill the SECURE IT Act, or the Strengthening and Enhancing Cybersecurity by Using Research, Education, Information and Technology Act.
"As our nation faces increasing cyberattack in a critical economic environment, we must ensure that the private sector has the authority it needs to defend its own networks and share cyberthreat information to prevent future attacks," said Sen. Saxby Chambliss, R-Georgia, who was one of eight senators introducing the legislation Thursday.
"Now is not the time for Congress to be adding more government, more regulation, and more debt - especially when it is far from clear that any of it will enhance our security," he said.
The act is the Republican answer to a bill introduced by the Senate Homeland Security and Government Affairs committee last month. The Lieberman-Collins bill designates the Department of Homeland Security as the lead government agency to tackle cybersecurity issues, with a particular emphasis on requiring businesses that operate critical infrastructure, such as air traffic control and electrical grids, to prove to the government that they have adequate cybersecurity measures in place to protect them against computer-based attack.
Republican Sen. John McCain scoffed at the legislation when it was introduced and joined Chambliss and the other Republican senators to introduce their version of the bill, which does not designate a lead agency to coordinate the government's efforts to secure cyberspace.
Instead, the act relies on a series of government incentives to make sure that companies comply with security issues.
Leaders of the Senate Homeland Security Committee fought back by urging prompt consideration of the Lieberman-Collins bill - the Cybersecurity Act of 2012, which was introduced in mid-February - reiterating the threat that currently exists.
In an earlier hearing, Sen. Jay Rockefeller, D-West Virginia, used the example of an attack on the air traffic control system to lay out a worst-case scenario for a cyberattack.
"Cyberhackers can take that out," he said. "So the planes are literally flying in the dark and they will fly into each other and kill a lot of people."
Under the Lieberman-Collins bill, the Department of Homeland Security would be responsible for making sure that companies controlling critical infrastructure implement proper safeguards.
Critics who thought the bill didn't go far enough complained that the "self-reporting" was a weak point, but critics like McCain who are proposing even less government involvement argue that it would be a mistake to seat a new cybersecurity department within what he referred to as the "regulatory leviathan at DHS."
The critical need to come up with some kind of plan has been emphasized by officials such as FBI Director Robert Mueller, who has said that he expects the cyberthreat to surpass the threat of terrorism in the not-too-distant future. |
The legacy of that notorious underground online marketplace, Silk Road, is stronger than ever. This time New York Times journalist Nathaniel Popper gives us this front page story that reveals how the U.S. government tracked down Ross Ulbricht the alleged 29-year-old kingpin of the illegal website.
To his credit, Mr. Popper mentions the word “bitcoin” only once, somewhere in the middle of the article. As we’ve written on three previous occasions, once in May 2015, once on June 1st and once on June 18th, 2015, the news media is still catching up with the technical implications. Instead, Mr. Popper tells us that the trail that led federal investigators to Ross Ulbricht was nothing more high tech than a forum post on Bitcoin Talk in which someone left behind the E-mail address [email protected] The clue was so improbable that even the investigators refused to take it seriously the first time it was presented to them.
A second, even more dead obvious link was found many months before Ulbricht’s arrest when federal agents intercepted a package containing fake IDs that was addressed to Ulbricht’s home in San Francisco. When Ulbricht was questioned about the package at the time, he himself readily gave the agents the link to Silk Road without prompting, telling them that anyone could hypothetically go to the illegal marketplace to buy fake IDs. Whatever Ross’ role in Silk Road might have been, this behavior only strengthens the impression of him as a hapless fall guy, not so much the criminal mastermind behind an illegal million-dollar network.
What kind of “drug lord” would order fake IDs to his home address or post his own e-mail address to an online forum? Other mundane details about Ross Ulbricht’s life also reinforce this belief: He shared an apartment with three other roommates he met via Craigslist. He caught poison oak picking up trash in the park.
A “Silk Road” Culture
Maybe it’s cynical to believe that the real power — the ones who were really pulling the strings have a lot more technical ability, common sense and resources than Ulbricht and are safely far away. But that theory matches the anything-goes culture of the Internet underground and the so-called “golden rule” which simply states that he who has the gold, makes the rules. Those people haven’t been caught. As far as we know, they are the same ones behind the next generation of decentralized marketplaces that are now fluorishing in Silk Road’s place. The site DeepDotWeb published a comparison chart that on December 26th, 2015 listed 20 of what it calls “established dark web markets”. There’s clearly a lack of respect, and even worse, lack of understanding between the legal system and, let’s say, those hackers on the dark web, in a growing conflict for which Silk Road has only become one of the most talked about symbols.
Read “The Legacy of Silk Road and Ross Ulbricht’s Life Sentence”, “The Legacy of Silk Road Part 2: Decentralized Marketplaces” and “Is Bitcoin Anonymous: The Legacy of Silk Road, Part 3”. |
Swimming seems fun and all, right? The sand on your feet, wind in your hair, and it’s just the ocean, with you enjoying a moment that seems so calm and surreal. Yeah, it’s true, spending time swimming in the ocean can be quite calming. BUT, while the ocean is truly a wonder, it’s also home to some the most terrifying sights known to man
Check out the photos on the following pages if you want to see stuff that will make you think twice about swimming in the ocean ever again.
Fun fact: Approximately 70% of the surface of the planet is made up of the ocean, and yet, more than 90 percent of it remains unexplored and a mystery. Now, let that sink in.
Blue Whale
The biggest of all the animals on the planet found on land, it can be found swimming happily in the ocean.
Blue whales are known to grow to lengths of over 100 feet and could weigh more than 180 tons when fully matured. To give you an idea just how big they can be, blue whales can grow to be as long as a Boeing 737 plane, which are among the longest planes today, and weigh as much as 2,000 average men.
Eels or Kelp?
Well, don’t be afraid, it’s just kelp. But hey, we wouldn’t really blame you if you ran for the hills if you saw this in real life. We’d probably do the same!
Giant Pacific Octopus
Have you ever seen an octopus that big? No? Well, most people haven’t. But, as scary as the thought of seeing an octopus as big as that may be, what’s scarier is that the octopus on the above isn’t even the biggest. Case in point, the Giant Pacific Octopus are known to grow up to lengths of 16 feet and weigh as much as 110 pounds, with the largest ever recorded setting the bar at 30 feet and more than 600 pounds. |
India, which has in the past few years made tremendous advances in space technology, satellite launches, and interplanetary missions, launched yet another rocket into space earlier today.
The rocket, named the PSLV-C28, launched five satellites into space — all of them British-made — with pin-point accuracy. This was the biggest commercial launch ever executed by the ISRO (Indian Space Research Organisation), the Indian equivalent of NASA. The rocket launch, which off on without any hitch, happened at 9:28 p.m. local time on Friday, July 10. All the five satellites were in orbit in less than 20 minutes following the lift-off. The news of this successful rocket launch comes days after the failure of the Space X rocket that blew up minutes after the launch a few weeks ago.
According to the Times of India, the countdown for the launch of the PSLV-C28 had started at 7:28 a.m. on Wednesday. Sixty-two hours and 30 minutes later, the rocket took off for the 29th consecutive successful launch of a PSLV rocket. The venue for the satellite launch was the Satish Dhawan Space Center in Sriharikota, Andhra Pradesh State. This is the same venue from which the now-famous Mars Orbiter Mission originated back in November of 2013.
According to Firstpost, the PSLV-C28 launch will put three identical optical earth observation satellites (DMC3) into orbit. All three satellites weigh 447 kg each and were placed in a sun-synchronous orbit, 647 kilometers above the earth. Apart from these two, two microsatellites weighing 9kg and 7kg each were also injected into orbit. The smallest of the lot was the De-OrbitSail, and the other one was called the CBNT-1.
According to Indian Express, all the satellites will be launched into a single Low-Earth Orbit plane. They would be used for surveying the Earth’s surface and its resources. They would also be used to manage urban infrastructure and monitoring of disasters. The report adds that the DMC3 satellites and CBNT-1 were built by Surrey Satellite Technology Limited (SSTL), while De-OrbitSail was the brainchild of the Surrey Space Centre.
The PSLV satellite launch vehicle has been in use since 1999. With today’s launch, the number of satellites that have been sent into space using this rocket has risen to 45. making it one of the most reliable launch vehicle ever. The same rocket was used for India’s maiden lunar missions — the Chandrayaan series as well as the Mars mission — also known as the Mangalyaan.
[Image Via VSSC] |
Predicting the impending collapse of climate hysteria is a lot like predicting the impending collapse of Venezuela or North Korea. Yes, it is so transparently crazy that it can't possibly go on for too much longer. On the other hand, it is backed by an enormous propaganda apparatus, by near unanimity in the media and academia kept intact by ruthless orthodoxy enforcement, and, at least up until recently, by complete control over vast government funding. You can see cracks developing in the structure here and there, and clearly, as with Venezuela and North Korea, the entire edifice will definitely collapse eventually; but maybe it will take years or even decades before the final implosion.
Today brings two rather significant new cracks. First, EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt has announced that EPA will repeal the so-called Clean Power Plan. EPA's release can be found here. The CPP, a regulation promulgated by the Obama EPA in October 2015, was the centerpiece of the prior administration's program to achieve emissions reductions of so-called "greenhouse gases" as prescribed by the Paris climate accord. Back in February 2016 I called EPA's issuance of the CPP "the biggest-in-history see-how-far-we-can-push-the-envelope-and-get-away-with-it power grab." The goal was supposedly to reduce CO2 emissions from power plants by some 30 plus percent by 2030. To achieve that goal, the CPP basically set emissions limits that could not be met so long as coal-burning plants were part of the electricity system, thereby forcing all the coal plants to close. Likely, oil plants, and even those fired by natural gas, would have also come on the chopping block as the strictures tightened with the approach of the 2030 deadline. Associated with the CPP were many tens of billions of dollars of costs, all destined to make their way into your electricity bill.
In February 2016, in response to litigation brought by the majority of states and many other parties, the Supreme Court stayed enforcement of the CPP. Subsequently the litigation made its way before the en banc DC Circuit, which however has been holding the matter in abeyance while it waits to see what the Trump administration will do. Looks like that litigation will now be moot -- undoubtedly soon to be replaced by new litigation to be brought by the other states and environmental groups seeking to compel the government to regulate and restrict the GHGs.
EPA's release does not really get into the question of whether CO2 from power plants is any kind of environmental problem, or whether restricting CO2 emissions is or is not a good idea. Instead, its main thrust is that the section of the Clean Air Act mainly relied on by the Obama EPA, namely Section 111, does not in fact give EPA sufficient legal authority to support the CPP. According to the new administration EPA's legal analysis, Section 111 only authorizes EPA to regulate emissions from individual sources of pollutants, rather than completely transforming an entire electricity system. This was actually a principal argument advanced by the litigants in the case challenging the CPP. And it is a good argument. In any event, the CPP is going to be withdrawn.
Withdrawing the "biggest-in-history" government regulatory power grab -- that's a pretty big development on the climate front for one day. But I have another one, also from today, that may be even bigger. Tony Abbott, former Prime Minister of Australia, made a speech today at the Global Warming Policy Foundation in London. Here is a link to the speech. With this speech, Australia takes another big step among the governments of the world toward joining the ranks of the climate apostates.
I certainly will not claim to be any kind of an expert on the politics of Australia, but I'll share what I can learn from easily available sources. Abbott -- a member of the "Liberal" Party (we would call them "conservatives") -- was Prime Minister from 2013 - 2015. He has been succeeded by Malcolm Turnbull, from the same party. Prior to Abbott, the Prime Minister (briefly in 2013) was Kevin Rudd of the Labor Party, and before him, Julia Gillard (2010 - 2013), also of the Labor Party. The Labor Party of Australia strongly supports policies to "save the planet" through mandatory restrictions on GHG emissions. The Liberal Party has been somewhat conflicted in its positions on this issue. Abbott famously stated in October 2009 that the science of climate change was "absolute crap." That did not prevent him from becoming PM in 2013, but on becoming PM he substantially toned down his position on the issue. Within a couple of years, he lost the job to his colleague Turnbull, who could not be called a climate skeptic, and has moved forward with a so-called "clean energy target" to reduce Australia's emissions.
Meanwhile, Abbott remains a major force in the Liberal Party. And the "clean energy target" thing has not gone well in Australia. While remaining a major producer of coal and natural gas (increasingly for export only), Australia has been closing down coal plants and seeking to replace that energy with solar and wind facilities that basically don't work when you need them. South Australia -- ground zero for massive expansion of wind power -- has had several major blackouts. With that background, here are some excerpts from Abbott's speech today:
Hydro aside, renewable energy should properly be referred to as intermittent and unreliable power. When the wind doesn’t blow and the sun doesn’t shine, the power doesn’t flow. Wind and solar power are like sailing ships; cheaper than powered boats, to be sure, but we’ve stopped using sail for transport because it couldn’t be trusted to turn up on time. Because the weather is unpredictable, you never really know when renewable power is going to work. Its marginal cost is low but so is its reliability, so in the absence of industrial scale batteries, it always needs matching capacity from dependable coal, gas, hydro, or nuclear energy. This should always have been obvious. . . .
In the longer term, we need less theology and more common sense about emissions reduction. It matters but not more than everything else. As Clive James has suggested in a celebrated recent essay, we need to get back to evidence based policy rather than “policy based evidence”. Even if reducing emissions really is necessary to save the planet, our effort, however Herculean, is barely-better-than-futile; because Australia’s total annual emissions are exceeded by just the annual increase in China’s. . . .
Should Australia close down its steel industry; watch passively while its aluminium industry moves offshore to places less concerned about emissions; export coal, but not use it ourselves; and deliberately increase power prices for people who can’t install their own solar panels and batteries? Of course not, but these are the inevitable consequences of continuing current policies. That’s the reality no one has wanted to face for a long time: that we couldn’t reduce emissions without also hurting the economy; that’s the inconvenient truth that can now no longer be avoided.
I particularly like that part about Australia exporting coal but then not using it themselves. Is it really possible to be that dumb? But the push back has started.
The Sydney Morning Herald, reporting on Abbott's speech, suggests that the turn toward climate skepticism is driven by party backbenchers who think that energy prices are a far more significant concern than environmental purity. But whatever the driving force, it now appears likely that Australia will not be adopting a new "clean energy target".any time soon. Some semblance of rationality has returned. It has suddenly become acceptable in polite circles to care more about what working people pay for electricity than about multi-hundred-billion-dollar schemes to reduce global warming by 0.02 degrees over the next century. That actually is a momentous development. What country will be the next to join the ranks of the climate apostates? England? How about Germany? |
Photographers use all sorts of cameras to make portraits. But artists Adam Broomberg and Oliver Chanarin chose an unusual and slightly unsettling route–capturing people with 3-D surveillance technology.
Broomberg and Chanarin used a surveillance camera system called Vocord FaceControl 3-D to make portraits of 120 Russian citizens—including Pussy Riot member Yekaterina Samutsevic and poet Lev Rubinstein—for their series and photo book Spirit is a Bone. The system uses facial recognition technology to catalog the same features that make us unique and recognizable to the ones we love. "We're interested in the point when the natural and instinctive human ability to recognize faces is appropriated and utilized by the state and its machinery," Chanarin says.
Spirit is a Bone , MACK, 2016.
First developed in 2009, FaceControl 3-D creates photographic models of faces that look a bit like the magic mirror in Shrek. Four very sensitive surveillance cameras are positioned at the entrance to, say, a sports stadium or train station. As crowds pass through, the system captures faces from different angles and combine the images together. By mapping various points on the face, like the distance between eye corners, they render a 3-D model that goes into a database and can be matched against other images to identify suspects in real time. Vocord claims the 3-D system and simpler 2-D version have been tested in Moscow and Kazakhstan’s Almaty metro. It's also installed in transport hubs in Ryazan, as well as the Omsk Arena, where it's used to keep unruly hockey fans out of the stadium.
Vocord is one of many companies offering similar forms of surveillance. Yet the technology is still creepy to Broomberg and Chanarin, who created Spirit is Bone for a commission from state-owned news agency Ria Novosti for the G20 summit in St. Petersburg in 2013. They proposed to make a Russian version of German photographer August Sander’s landmark work Citizens of the 20th Century, a collection of Germans portraits categorized according to their occupations. But instead of using a large format camera like Sanders, they wanted to use FaceControl 3-D, which wouldn't require the subject to look at the camera or even be aware of its presence. "For us this signaled a departure in the history of portraiture,” Chanarin says. “[It’s] a new kind of portrait—one in which the relationship between the photographer and the subject is severed."
Ria Novosti agreed, and the pair quickly set about casting subjects from the streets of Moscow. They chose people who fit the same basic occupational profile as Sanders’s subjects—a writer, baker, boxer, farmer’s wife and more. Each person was invited into a makeshift studio where the system—on loan from Vocord—was set up. It looked as clandestine as it sounds, with just four lenses embedded into the walls and wired to a computer. The subject merely had to walk into the room and the portrait was complete.
The final images are cold and mechanical, with mask-like faces and hollow, expressionless eyes. Some, not properly recorded by the system, are warped and half-formed. For Broomberg and Chanarin, it perfectly illustrates the clinical way surveillance technology is used to identify and catalog people. "It’s more like scanning or photocopying a person," Chanarin says. |
Louie, a show that has been consistently hailed as one of the most innovative, heartbreaking TV comedies of the decade, is about to slide back onto your DVR without much fanfare. Certainly, this season won't attract nearly as much attention as the last, which brought with it a serious case of Louie Thinkpiece Fatigue (culminating in calls for us to just call the whole thing off). But in many respects, the show is closer to a conventional sitcom than it's ever been. And that's okay, because Louie’s own influence has made the show's constant evolution unnecessary.
Success comes from consistently giving audiences what they want; it's part of why long-running sitcoms often become so lazy, and why even generally respected series can collapse into fan service. But satisfying viewers is different from making a truly great show, one that's part of a broader conversation. If you've done the latter, then after a while you'll be stripped for parts—and that's exactly what happened with Louie. Five years after its debut, a string of phenomenal half-hour series have grown from its stem; they effortlessly blend comedy and drama, mining pathos and humor from human problems and pain and refusing to consider that these might be separate things. From Transparent’s lovingly shot sequences of trans women discovering themselves to Looking’s bright parties to Broad City’s impish chaos, each of these series have created a universe on their own terms, even while possessing some CKDNA.
And so, the show even appears to have reached a balance. Early on, its tendency was to bounce between often-disconnected short films; in seasons three and four, it developed a penchant for longer arcs. Now Louis (not Louie) seems to favor episode-length plots, with bumpers or tangentially related cold opens. The changes, though, are as substantive as they are formal; at least through the first five episodes, the show focuses far more on laughs than on brutal emotion. (Not that these things are ever fully separate—it's a question of emphasis.) Plots are relatively straightforward: Louie awkwardly finds himself at a cult meeting; Louie hangs out with an old friend; Louie goes on a date. His daughters, frequently the show's emotional wellspring, show up to confirm that their father is an object of mockery. There's a classic "Louie spends an evening exploring New York with a character who manages to be both archetypal and specific" episode. Hell, there's even a gloriously over-the-top poop joke.
Partly, this comes across as a reaction to last season's deep-dive into Louie's past and his loneliness. At one point this year, he goes to a depressing art movie with his long-term love interest and current sort-of girlfriend Pamela (Pamela Adlon), and when he starts telling her a story about his childhood, complete with a maudlin flashback, he's rudely interrupted. "I don't want to hear this" Pamela says, speaking for a good chunk of the audience. And Louie's myopic dating life, with or without Pamela, is only occasionally raised to a level of prominence. The show's history is rich enough that the scenes between Pamela and Louie play as an exploration of their specific relationship rather than a general "Why can't middle-aged socially anxious white men find love?" story. That writ-largeness plagued season four, but by now, even Louie the character has to admit that his life is actually pretty good—whereas his brother and bang-bang partner Bobby (Robert Kelly) is comically flailing, complaining about how he has "No money. No skills. No Twitter."
But again, that success has bred a twist: while Louie has bred a new generation of shows, Louie himself seems concerned with his increasing irrelevance to the generation of viewer that watches them. In one early episode, he's forced to host an open mic night, and awkwardly gives a die-hard comedy kid career advice. It doesn't seem like good advice coming from Louie, but it's successful, somehow. He doesn't know what he said or why, but some good came out of it.
In another episode, Louie finds himself in the familiar position of grumbling at a young woman, complaining about his treatment at the hands of an assertive shop-owner. After admitting that he always gets uncomfortable around youths, he's told (in Louis CK's own words from a stand-up routine), that it's because "we're the future, and you don't belong in it." As upset as Louie is, she says, he should be glad. "Doesn't it follow that if you're a good parent and your kids evolve and are smarter than you, they're going to make you feel kind of dumb?" Louie, and seemingly Louis, acquiesce: "So if you feel stupid around young people, things are going good." |
New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio walks with other officials in May. Brendan McDermid/Reuters
The new law protecting low-income tenants is the first in the nation.
On Friday, New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio signed into law an act that guarantees legal representation to any low-income resident facing eviction. This is the first law in the nation to establish a right to counsel in housing cases, the culmination of a push by activists and organizers that started in 2014. The law promises legal representation to any resident facing eviction whose income is 200 percent of the federal poverty level or less. The act could transform housing court in New York, where landlords appear with counsel in more than 90 percent of cases. Until 2014, tenants were represented in just 1 to 10 percent of cases. “When you have that kind of imbalance, not occasionally but almost guaranteed in every case, it starts to change the entire way that the court works and the entire way that the justice system works,” says John Pollock, coordinator for the National Coalition of the Civil Right to Counsel. “Cases are disposed of quickly. There’s not really any due process.”
Often, tenants have defenses to eviction lawyers would raise that could stop or at least postpone an eviction, such as improper notice or neglected repairs. Fewer illegal evictions also means fewer households experiencing transitional homelessness, a crisis on the rise in America. That means reducing suffering for families but also limiting a substantial burden carried by cities. The coalition predicts an overall savings of $320 million per year, well above the program’s costs. Even in cases where an eviction is warranted, legal representation can make the process less painful and interruptive. “Lawyers do a lot of things for tenants besides just [determining in court] whether or not they’re evicted,” Pollock says. “There’s some tenants who may not be able to stay in their units, but the attorney may be able to keep the eviction off their records. They may be able to find them alternative housing. They may be able to get them into subsidized housing. They can arrange a soft landing in so many ways.” With New York leading the way, several other cities may soon embrace so-called “civil Gideon” laws, namely San Francisco, Boston, Philadelphia, and Washington, D.C. However, budget plans by the Trump administration could affect how broadly a right to counsel can be embraced in other places. The tenant legal services community has pursued a right to counsel in housing court for decades, says Marika Dias, director of the Tenant Rights Coalition at Legal Services NYC. But that effort became much more aggressive in 2014, when a number of advocacy campaigns, bar associations, unions, and other groups formed The Right to Counsel NYC Coalition. They sought, and won, greater funding for legal representation for tenants.
Since 2014, evictions have already declined in New York by 24 percent, and the percentage of tenants who have appeared before housing court with representation has climbed to about 27 percent. “Over the course of the next five years, there will be a phase-in process, so it’s going to take five years to get to the point where all tenants who are under 200 percent of federal poverty guidelines get full representation,” Dias says. Cities are changing fast. Keep up with the CityLab Daily newsletter. The best way to follow issues you care about. Subscribe Loading... She adds, “But in addition to that, the legislation provides for tenants who are over that income threshold to also get some legal services as well. By the time we get through the 5-year phase-in, 100 percent of tenants in housing court will have access to either full representation or the advice of the lawyer.” The act, which the New York City Council passed in July (with a veto-proof majority), commits $155 million over five years to fulfill a right to counsel. The Right to Counsel NYC Coalition projects that the increase in legal representation will be met with a considerable cost savings for the city, as frivolous cases that might otherwise go unchallenged fall out of the justice system. San Francisco almost beat New York to the punch. Back in 2012, the San Francisco Board of Supervisors passed an ordinance declaring its intent to become the nation’s first city to establish a right to counsel in civil matters. California has led the way for years, in fact: The state’s 2011 Sargent Shriver Civil Counsel Act established seven pilot programs at about $9 million per year to provide legal representation to low-income residents in civil cases—mostly housing cases. One of the pilot programs, in Los Angeles, was originally designed to end in 2016; that’s now a permanently funded (but not comprehensive) program.
With the ordinance, San Francisco set up its own pilot. The results are revealing: An analysis by the John and Terry Levin Center for Public Service and Public Interest at Stanford University found an enormous potential costs savings for the city (albeit based on limited results). During the pilot, pro-bono lawyers helped more than 600 tenants avoid homelessness. The cost of sheltering a family runs about $30 per night, meaning a savings of more than $18,000 each day. Over the course of 60 days—the average shelter stay in San Francisco—the potential savings adds up to more than $1.1 million. Paying the lawyers for their time would not cost nearly as much. “A number of people from San Francisco contacted me and said, ‘We want to be next,’” Pollock says. The Philadelphia City Council has appropriated half a million dollars to give low-income renters legal representation in housing matters. Boston Mayor Marty Walsh is pursuing a civil Gideon bill in Massachusetts. (The name refers to Gideon v. Wainwright, the 1963 case in which the U.S. Supreme Court established a right to counsel in criminal cases.) In Washington, D.C., the Housing Right to Counsel Project, another coalition of legal-service providers and advocates, rallied behind a law expanding housing counsel that is currently under congressional review. (As D.C. is not a state, all its laws are reviewed by Congress.) Civil Gideon laws establishing a right to counsel for cases involving immigration, guardianship, and incarceration over fees and penalties are on the rise; housing is only the newest front. The budget proposed by President Donald Trump could curb the progress of these laws, however. The Trump administration wants to slash the budget of the Legal Services Corporation, a federal agency that provides legal-services aid to states. This federal funding accounts for 20 percent of the funding of Legal Services NYC, for example. While cutting funding out would not necessarily affect New York’s ability to implement its right-to-counsel plans, it would make public defense that much harder. For some places, these budget cuts could prove devastating, especially for rural and older communities. “In some states, legal aid funding comes almost entirely from the Legal Services Corporation,” Pollock says. If the worst does not come to pass—if federal funding for legal aid is retained—then more cities may soon try to adapt New York’s law. Dias says that members of The Right to Counsel NYC Coalition and Legal Services NYC recently gave a presentation at a conference in Austin in July attended by legislators, community board members, and school board members from all across the country. “In many places there’s some version of this, in the sense that they’ve appropriated funds or passed legislation,” Dias says, “but none of them have the comprehensive right that we now have.” |
GREEN BAY, Wis. -- The year after a torn ACL is supposed to be the hard one, yet last season Jordy Nelson looked like a post-ACL reconstruction Adrian Peterson.
On the way to NFL Comeback Player of the Year honors, Nelson defied conventional wisdom that says a player isn’t the same until two years after a torn ACL -- an idea that Nelson himself acknowledged last season.
Now here’s Nelson, the year after the year after he blew out his right knee in a 2015 preseason game, and the Green Bay Packers believe he could follow in the path of those who say they’re better two years after the injury than in the first season following it.
One season removed from his ACL tear, Jordy Nelson caught 97 passes in 2016, 14 for touchdowns -- one short of his career high in each category. AP Photo/David J. Phillip
“I hope he’s one of those guys who has an even better year the year after,” Packers receivers coach Luke Getsy said as OTAs began last week. “I think as the year went on, I think we saw him get better. And a lot of that, too, was he was not doing many football activities until we started our season. I think he was getting in game shape as the season was wearing on, so that’s probably why you saw a really good player by the end of the season again, and I expect nothing less than him to go out and perform at a high level again as soon as we get going.”
A year ago at this time, Nelson was a spectator at OTAs with his eye on a return for the start of training camp in July. But a self-described “hiccup” with his other knee -- he has never revealed exactly what happened -- kept him out until late in training camp. He wasn’t cleared to practice until Aug. 17, and even after that, he didn’t play a single snap in the preseason. Without a game rep in nearly 13 months, Nelson played 54 of a possible 64 snaps in the sweltering head of Jacksonville in the 21016 season opener.
But it wasn’t until much later in the year when Nelson began to resemble the deep-threat receiver he was in 2014, when he caught nine passes (including six for touchdowns) on balls thrown at least 30 yards in the air, according to ESPN Stats & Information. It was a 60-yard bomb to set up a game-winning field goal in Week 15 at Chicago that offered the first glimpse of the old Nelson.
“I think as the year went on, I think you guys saw a guy who got better, so that’s exciting,” Getsy said. “It’s really fun to have him here at this time. Since I’ve been here, I don’t know if he’s had an offseason with me, so that part of it is exciting -- to see how I can help him become a better player on a personal level. He’s a guy who attacks everything the right way all the time; those thoughts don’t even cross my mind. I’m very excited to see what he can do this year, and I’m sure it’s going to be great stuff and he’s going to help us win a lot of football games.”
Although his yards-per-catch average dropped from 15.5 in 2013 and 2014 to 13.0 last season, Nelson caught 97 passes, 14 for touchdowns -- one short of his career high in each category. In some ways, he reinvented himself, moving into the slot at times. He caught 34 of his 97 passes from the slot and totaled 498 of his 1,257 receiving yards from an inside position, according to ESPN Stats & Info. Both were career highs. Six of his 14 touchdown catches came from a slot position.
Yet Nelson isn’t ready to call himself a slot receiver just yet. “I don’t think it was an emphasis we put on last year,” he said. “I think it was the way game-planning came out. I didn’t even pay attention to it. It’s one thing that we’re all able to move around. It’s good for us to do, put us all in different situations and creating mismatches.”
Nelson isn’t a big-picture kind of player -- something that was reinforced during the grueling one-day-at-a-time rehab process. So all he’s thinking about now is how nice it is to actually be on the field for OTAs, which is why it wasn’t a surprise to see him vigorously attacking drills in practice last week just days before he turns 32 on Wednesday.
“When you're at practice, you go full speed,” Nelson said. “There's no half-speed out there, especially as receivers. You've got to do that, because you've got to work on timing and continue to grow on that. You understand the importance. If there's a 50-50 ball in the air, you've got to be smart on both ends, especially right now. You don't want something crazy happening. Just get to the spot where you're prepared for training camp and Week 1.” |
Looking for a video editer for my youtube channel
Hey! So I want someone to help me make youtube content on a weekly basis. It'll obviously be paid, and the amount is going to vary depending on the quality/effort invested in the videos.
The work I'm looking for is mainly shorter, 3-5 minute highlight video to start out with.
It would be paid per video, and around 1-2 videos per week. Working with me on tutorial videos and other types of content is also likely.
It'd be uploaded on my channel, but I'm happy to advertise the creator and you can link your own channel in the credits etc.
I'd like someone who can do this during all times of year, so someone who can only do this during the summer for example need not apply.
Here are some basic requirements:
-Good understanding of Melee, (other fighting games is a + too)
-Consistency, easy and reliable to work with.
-Good to very good editing skills while being smart enough to not overedit everything
-watches my stream/my tournament matches. If you don't it'll be a LOT harder to work with you
I've already gotten some good offers but I thought I'd keep my options as open as possible =)
Email me your resumes at [email protected] and we'll talk!
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Tell Your Lawmakers: Shut Down The New Debtors' Prisons
Americans are in more debt than ever before, and the banks are going to new extremes to squeeze us for every last penny: If you can't pay up, they'll try to get you locked up.
The Wall Street Journal has been investigating the disturbing resurgence of debtors' prisons throughout America -- here's one especially infuriating example of what the banks are up to: AIG got a $122.8 billion bailout from taxpayers. Jeffrey Stearns happened owed AIG $4,000 on a loan for his pickup truck. How'd the mega-corporation handle his debt? Did they forgive him because of the public's recent largess? No way: They had him arrested in front of his family.
After being handcuffed in front of his four children, Mr. Stearns, 29 years old, spent two nights in jail, where he said he was strip-searched and sprayed for lice. "I didn't even know I was being sued....It's the scariest thing that ever happened to me."
The Wall Street Journal's data reveals that across the country, banks are having tens of thousands of Americans arrested over their debts. What happened to Stearns could happen to almost anybody. Some state legislators are moving to outlaw the practice. Will you urge your lawmakers to join them?
PETITION TO MY STATE LEGISLATORS: The Wall Street Journal is reporting that banks across the country -- including those that got bailouts -- are getting Americans locked up for being unable to pay their debts. I urge you to investigate if and how that's happening here and take measures to end any debt arrests right away.
Just sign on at right and we'll automatically send an email to your state legislators.
Here's that recent Wall Street Journal article on the return of debtors' prisons. |
Whose side is Justin Trudeau on in Civil War II? Is the Prime Minister of Canada, making his comic book debut today in Civil War II: Choosing Sides #5, Team Tony or Team Carol? Turns out, he’s neither. He’s Team Justin Trudeau Doesn’t Give a Shit About Your Superhero Infighting Nonsense.
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You’d be forgiven for thinking that the Alpha Flight side of today’s issue of Civil War II: Choosing Sides #5, written by Chip Zdarsky and with art by Ramón Pérez, was meant to be about the Canadian superteam that now closely works with Carol Danvers as Earth’s first line of defene against cosmic threats.
But you don’t get Justin Trudeau, currently one of the most popular politicians around, to guest star in your comic and not turn him into the star. So really, instead of being titled “Alpha Flight” this story should be called “Justin Trudeau Could Probably End This Civil War Single-Handedly If He Wants To, Good God.”
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The tale opens with Trudeau calling Alpha Flight into his office after Carol tasks the team with bringing in a suspect divined through Ulysses’ Inhuman powers of foresight—and Prime Minister Trudeau is not happy that his Canadian team is being called in on American soil, or at Carol Danvers’ terrible reasoning for using Ulysses to fight crime:
Yes, even Justin Trudeau thinks that Carol is being ludicrous. If Marvel won’t listen to the Prime Minister of Canada about how they’re ruining one of their flagship characters in this event, who will they listen to?
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But don’t take Trudeau’s strong stance against Captain Marvel as him secretly stanning for Iron Man. Even though, apparently, the Marvel Comics version of Justin Trudeau boxes with Tony Stark every week, because of course he does:
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During Tony and Trudeau’s sparring match—which, by the way, features Trudeau easily trouncing Stark and apologizing with every solid hit he lands, because once again of course he does—Tony probes the Prime Minister about his meeting with Alpha Flight, desperate for insider intel on Carol’s plans. And then this happens:
Justin Trudeau floors Tony Stark. Pierre Trudeau would be proud. On top of that, he then basically tells Tony that he’s just as wrong as Carol is, and that there’s a middle ground that no one has even bothered to try fighting for it.
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And Trudeau is right. The forced conflict that kicked off Civil War II aside, neither Carol or Tony have done a great job trying to find common ground with each other. They’ve just divided into ridiculous factions and then gone at it, at great cost to the people around them. As Trudeau ends the story: “You all fight too much, with the wrong opponents.”
It only took the Prime Minister of Canada to realize that, amazingly. |
Students at a Denver middle school alerted administrators Friday morning that at least one of their classmates had a gun, leading to a lockdown, the arrest of three boys and questions about their intent.
Police say two of the students had each brought a handgun to Skinner Middle School and a third was in possession of some kind of smoke device.
Officers, some clad in tactical vests, scrambled to the school to search its hallways, causing frantic parents, some in tears, to rush to be with their children and hug them in relief.
“It’s a parent’s worst nightmare,” said Dolly Kilgore, who came to pick up son Nathan and left crying tears of joy.
School shootings across the country — including at Columbine High in 1999 and Arapahoe High in 2013 — prompted school officials to stress the importance of students speaking up about possible danger.
Unlike at Arapahoe, where some say warning signs were not acted upon, the alarm bells were sounded before it was too late.
“Our students are to be commended for seeing something and saying something right away,” Cmdr. Paul Pazen said at a news conference. “These types of tragedies are averted by students that have been taught, reinforced and shared that if you see something, you let the staff know.”
No injuries were reported Friday. Police said two students were arrested on suspicion of being in possession of a handgun and a third on investigation of having a suspicious device. Police say they are working to determine what the suspicious smoke device was.
“We are going to make sure we know all of the ‘whys’ in this,” Pazen said, stopping short of speaking on any possible motive. “We are going to make sure to dig deep with everything we have possible to find out how and why this happened.”
Sixth-grader Ella Rodriguez said one of her best friends reported one of the students to the principal as being suspicious. She said her friend saw what looked like a gun in one of their bags.
“I thought we were on a drill at first,” Rodriguez said. She said she heard police officers outside her classroom saying “It’s clear!” and “Keep searching!”
Parent Lisa Archuleta said the principal told her the weapons were found in lockers.
Still, at least one student said he initially kept silent.
Leonel Loya, an 11-year-old in sixth grade, said his friend and his friend’s brother brought the guns to school. Another friend brought the smoke bomb.
“I asked them what they were going to do with it, but they (didn’t) want to tell me,” said Loya, who was with his mother and older sister. “They said not to tell anyone because they didn’t want to get in trouble.”
Loya said the boys showed him the two guns and the bullets loaded inside.
“They didn’t want to tell me,” Loya said of what the boys planned to do with the weapons. Loya said he didn’t speak to administrators because he was scared of retaliation and was afraid of getting his friends in trouble.
Officials declined to identify the boys or disclose their ages because they are children. Police said they don’t plan to release further details immediately.
“We’re still digging,” said police spokesman Sonny Jackson.
Denver Public Schools train once a semester for lockouts and lockdowns, district officials said. Within the past several weeks, Denver police and a hospital conducted joint training on a school catastrophe scenario.
Officials credited their preparedness and school education with Friday’s swift response.
“This successful outcome did not happen by accident,” Pazen said.
John McDonald, executive director of security and emergency management for Jefferson County Public Schools, praised Denver for its work with students.
Staff writer Joey Bunch contributed to this report. |
Adaptive executives say their scavenging approach gives them an advantage over bigger studios that are competing for fresh scripts from writers who are in demand, or wrestling over the same picked-over comic book franchises.
Adaptive controls the intellectual property across all media, and uses the books to promote the films, which it hopes in turn will help book sales. The novels also offer a relatively inexpensive way to market-test high-concept stories — those with a simple, basic hook — and build an audience for a new franchise, Adaptive’s executives say.
Booksellers have warmed to the concept. The company recently announced an unusual partnership with Barnes & Noble, which is giving prominent placement to Adaptive’s titles in its 640 stores and has exclusive rights to sell the books for the first six months.
With the release of “Coin Heist,” which is now in postproduction, Adaptive faces its first big trial with audiences and critics.
The project has a long and tortured history going back to 1998, when a screenwriter, William Osborne, wrote a script titled “The Hole With the Mint,” an action-comedy about a British schoolteacher who recruits his former students to rob the Royal Mint. He sold the idea at the first pitch meeting and wrote three drafts, only to have it languish in the studio vault for 15 years.
Then, in 2013, Adaptive bought it as part of a bulk deal for 25 moribund Miramax scripts.
Adaptive executives took the script apart. They changed the setting and condensed it into a five-page narrative blueprint. They auditioned five writers before hiring Elisa Ludwig to reimagine the story as a young-adult novel set in a Philadelphia prep school.
After the novel was published, they brought in a new screenwriter, Emily Hagins. She adapted it into a movie about four students who team up to rob the Philadelphia Mint. (Producers are describing it in Hollywood-speak as “The Breakfast Club” meets “Ocean’s Eleven.”) |
CABOOL, Mo. — The only sounds inside Vikings bar are the clacking of billiard balls and the drone of a TV set to whatever-is-on. At 8:30 on a Friday night, the sound of a car door shutting on deserted Main Street in front of the town’s only tavern is enough to make you jump. Inside, the near silence makes the closing of the front door go off like a gunshot.
Boom! Heads turn.
Cabool, an Ozarks outpost of 2,700 souls is the nearest town of note for tiny Tyrone, where on Thursday night Joseph Jesse Aldridge went on a killing spree that left seven dead, and ended with the 36-year-old blowing his brains out behind the wheel of his pickup. The three people inside Vikings Friday night didn’t know Aldridge but they knew some of his victims. So did Aldridge.
As the 10 o’clock news approached, the three Cabool residents and one new face in town added up the bodies.
“Let’s see, there’s Garold and Harold. Brothers,” says Carol, who along with her husband Leon Loman owns Vikings.
“I knew Garold,” Leon chimes in.
“Now, they were cousins of the Aldridge boy,” Carol goes on, looking up from her phone’s screen and above the cheaters on the end of her nose. “Then there’s their wives. And I guess there’s three more after that.”
They would be the Shrivers. In addition to Garold and Harold Aldridge and their wives, Julie and Janell, there is Darrell Shriver, 68, his son Carey, 46, and Carey’s wife, Valirea. All dead. An eighth would-be victim — Darrell’s wife, Martha — is “currently recovering” after apparently being shot by Aldridge, the Texas County Sheriff’s Office said in a press release Saturday afternoon. Another survivor, a 15-year-old girl who hasn’t been identified, escaped a violent death by running to a neighbor’s through a briar patch in the middle of the night. If not for her bravery, police might not have been called until more had been murdered.
At 10, the news goes top volume in Vikings. The chyron reads “Rural Rampage,” and two reporters are stationed in front of the sheriff’s office in Houston, 20 miles away from Cabool and a bit farther than that from Tyrone. A new angle follows the rehashing of Aldridge’s deeds: Apparently there’s been a glut of suicides and murder-suicides in Texas County in recent years, one of the reporters has found. He shares with the viewers some troubling statistics, then adds, “Maybe there’s some way to find some good out of a situation even as bad as this one.”
Perhaps. And today that will be the job of the preachers, of which there are many around here.
“We got more churches than we know what to do with,” Leon says.
Cabool, like Tyrone and the county seat Houston, is God’s country.
“Baptists, Jehovah’s Witnesses, lot of Pentecostals. We even got a few Catholics,” says Steve, the only paying customer at Vikings on a Friday night besides me.
While Texas County may be blessed with a glut of houses of worship, what it lacks is the one thing that makes for rowdier Saturday nights and sleepy Sunday mornings.
“No jobs,” says Leon. “Used to be a shoe factory here but that left 20 years ago. You got the dairy plant, some logging, cattle farming. And that’s about it.”
Work may have been what Aldridge was looking for. The Shrivers owned a cabinet-making company, among other other businesses, and ran it from a group of buildings not far from where Aldridge went door-to-door with a handgun, killing whomever he found.
“I heard he was looking for work and they wouldn’t hire him,” Steve says.
The cops haven’t said where Aldridge worked, or even if he did. He apparently lived at home with his mother, who police say died of natural causes at some indeterminate time before the rest of the deaths. There’s been some speculation that Aldridge discovering her body may have set him off. But the only way to know went out the window when Aldridge splattered his brains all over the windows of his truck.
Whatever his motive, it doesn’t appear that the Shrivers were caught in the crossfire. The homes in which they lived aren’t as close as the “cluster” of houses that some media reports have described. Aldridge clocked a few miles in his truck Thursday night, driving up and down County Highway HH stopping at one house after another and firing away.
In news stories about the killings, Tyrone is described as a “close, tight-knit community.” It’s a hackneyed phrase that appears any time something terrible happens outside a city larger than, say, Toledo.
While it may be true in Tyrone, and in neighboring Cabool, not every town with more churches than bars is a modern-day Mayberry. There are some things in Texas County that aren’t very godly.
“It’s probably the meth capital of Missouri,” Steve jokes.
After a few hours, Leon explains that it’s not just a lack of jobs that’s keeping his bar empty at night. The churches around here frown upon drinking so much that “they bought up all the liquor licenses,” making it impossible to start up a tap, according to Leon. Then there’s the stigma of being seen walking into or out of a bar, in the first place. That leads to having some explaining to do on Sunday morning in church, Steve says.
“But I tell ‘em all the time. There’s nothing in scripture that says anything about drinking alcohol,” he tells me.
The scripture provides Steve with his rules for living, he says. It’s filled with stories that offer advice, soothe the troubled, and sometimes entertain. Steve knows many of these stories, and he knows quite a few from around Cabool, as well. As the 10 o’clock news fades into the background, he tells us one of these more local tales, a story about an old friend of his named Danny Ray Roberts. Danny was a fuck-up, Steve says, but he wouldn’t hurt a fly. He was kind of slow, maybe mentally challenged, but definitely not evil.
“One time he asked me to borrow $40, and I gave it to him. Next thing I know he’s in the bathroom with two guys, and he comes out with $60! I don’t know if it was sex or drugs but I’d rather not know,” Steve laughs.
One day, Danny went missing. You won’t find a news story about it, and there was no press release from the Texas County Sheriff’s Office for carpetbagging reporters. But just like the speculation surrounding Aldridge’s motive, there’s a lot of guessing about what happened to Danny — stories told and twisted by the years.
“He must’ve screwed over the wrong people, maybe on some drugs,” Steve says of Danny, claiming to know the truth. “So they killed him. Chopped up his body and fed him to the hogs.”
Steve doesn’t laugh after this line. Just stares into his beer for a second as the room grows quiet.
The portrait that some would like to paint of Texas County as an unassuming Bible-belt town may not be entirely accurate. There are some ugly things that go on in these hills, Steve’s story served to remind his small audience. And there is plenty of judgment to go around. Many people don’t even want to bother with the consequences of being seen walking into or out of Leon’s bar, Steve says. But he doesn’t worry about it — not everyone has grown as thick of skin as Steve has.
Why?
“I’m a registered sex offender.” |
ERBIL, Kurdistan Region – Russia’s President Vladimir Putin accused Turkey of shooting down a Russian jet Tuesday, in which at least one pilot was killed.
“This incident stands out against the usual fight against terrorism,” Russia’s official RT television quoted Putin as saying on its website. “Our troops are fighting heroically against terrorists, risking their lives. But the loss we suffered today came from a stab in the back delivered by accomplices of the terrorists.”
Putin dismissed Turkish claims that the Russian plane had violated Turkish airspace. Ankara said the pilot had not responded to warnings.
But Putin accused Turkey of acting in the interests of the Islamic State (ISIS) group, accusing the NATO ally of being more interested in the money to be made in dealing with the militants than to fight the war against. He added that Moscow has long known about Ankara’s economic ties to ISIS, which is also known as IS.
“IS has big money, hundreds of millions or even billions of dollars, from selling oil. In addition they are protected by the military of an entire nation,” Putin said, pointing at Turkey without naming it.
“One can understand why they are acting so boldly and blatantly. Why they kill people in such atrocious ways. Why they commit terrorist acts across the world, including in the heart of Europe,” RT quoted the Russian leader as saying.
Meanwhile, in a meeting with King Abdullah of Jordan Tuesday, Putin said the plane was shot down over Syria.
“Our plane was downed over Syrian territory by an air-to-air missile from a Turkish F16. It crashed inside Syria, 4 kilometers from the Turkish border," Putin was reported as saying.
"At the time it was engaged it was at 6,000 meters altitude and one kilometer from the Turkish border. In any case our pilots never threatened the territory of Turkey. This is obvious," Putin said.
He warned that the incident would tarnish Moscow’s relations with Ankara.
Footage from Turkish media outlets, including Anadolu Agency, appears to show the aircraft crashing in a place known as “Turkmen Mountain” in northern Syria. Two pilots can be seen parachuting from the fiery plane before it crashed.
RT said that one pilot was killed and the fate of the other remained unknown.
A Syrian rebel group has claimed to have captured the other aviator. Two videos were released separately Tuesday morning from different Syrian rebel groups each claiming to have the pilots in custody. |
WASHINGTON — If you’re behind on your government student loans, your mobile phone soon may begin ringing with calls from debt collectors.
WASHINGTON — If you’re behind on your government student loans, your mobile phone soon may begin ringing with calls from debt collectors.
Your friends and family may hear from them, too, thanks to Congress.
A provision stuck in the recently approved spending bill last week exempts the U.S. Department of Education from a 1991 law that prevents harassing, automated phone calls.
The Telephone Consumer Protection Act barred pre-recorded messages or auto-dialing, known as "robocalls," made to cellphones without the consent of the person called.
The budget grants an exemption to government debt-collectors, allowing them to auto-dial and make twice as many calls as they can by hand.
It’s unclear when cellphones will start buzzing.
In a letter sent Monday, four senators urged Education Secretary Arne Duncan not to allow robocalls until the Federal Communications Commission creates rules for the exemption. Congress gave the FCC nine months to act.
"We are concerned that this provision will subject student loan borrowers to a barrage of unsolicited calls — and possibly leave them with no refuge to stop the calls," wrote Sens. Elizabeth Warren and Edward J. Markey, both Massachusetts Democrats, and Sens. Mike Lee and Orrin Hatch, Republicans from Utah.
The senators say the provision can be read to allow robocalls to friends and family of those who owe money, as well.
An Education Department spokesman declined comment on when debt-collecting robocalls might begin, or if friends and family will get them, too.
The change comes as the Federal Reserve reports total student debt has doubled since 2008, to about $1.3 trillion, though loan default rates have dropped for recent graduates.
Even so, the Obama administration asked Congress to allow more aggressive collection techniques.
In an Oct. 1 report, the Department of Education asked Congress to give its debt collectors the freedom to use "modern technology."
Reaching those who owe money spurs repayment, the department argued, and allows it to advise borrowers of options such as repayment plans that help avoid default.
Many borrowers, especially those who’ve just graduated, move around and do not have landlines, the report said. A prohibition on auto-dialed calls to cellphones made it "virtually impossible" to reach them.
One contractor, Nelnet, made a business decision in 2013 to stop even trying to call borrowers whose phones it had to dial manually, according to a December 2014 inspector general’s report. The company’s contract with the government did not say how many calls it had to make.
As a result, the report said, borrowers with landlines were reached within 20 days of the last time they were contacted. Those who could not be auto-dialed did not hear from the collection agency for as long as 328 days.
Nelnet and other companies lobbied and failed to get the FCC to relax robocall rules earlier this year.
According to information provided by Nelnet to the FCC, student loan borrowers who receive auto-dialed calls have default rates seven times less than those who cannot receive robocalls.
But the FCC in June mostly rejected the petitions of 21 companies or groups in various industries to weaken aspects of the law.
In remarks at the time, Commission Chairman Tom Wheeler said, "It’s simple: Consumers should be able to make the decision about whether they receive automated calls. If they want them, they can consent. And if they don’t consent, they should be left alone."
Consumers Union spokesman Tim Marvin said Congress last week acted in the opposite direction.
"It’s kind of ironic this happens as the FCC chairman is trying to clamp down on robocalls," he said.
The senators, meanwhile, questioned whether allowing robocalls will truly bring in more money.
"The federal government should focus on giving students the tools they need to repay their debts and to avoid default," Sen. Warren said in a press release, "not on squeezing them even harder."
Distributed by Tribune Content Agency. |
Recently there has been a lot of discussion regarding Bitcoin transaction fees and the time it takes to confirm transactions. This conversation can be seen on the front page of the subreddit r/bitcoin over the past week, and nearly every day on the r/btc forum. The two highlighted topics within the debate are whether or not fees are too large at the moment and if over 10 minutes is too long. Some people have said to have been waiting for six hours or more for one confirmation, and some are paying much larger fees to move their Bitcoin.
‘I don’t Care What Side of The Debate You Favor, Jaded Vet’s Could Be Kinder to Newbies’
The price of Bitcoin has got everyone amped up as it touched over $700 per BTC the other day and is wavering just below that range as of press time. Of course, when the value lifts there are signs of more transactions taking place within the network. This consists of people selling off to make gains, people buying more in anticipation for increases, day trading, and day-to-day common purchases and transactions.
Within the network, we have seen large amounts of buying on Chinese exchanges and LocalBitcoins and record daily volumes in numerous other countries around the world. The world economy is shuddering, and new users globally are appearing left and right within our community. Some people are just learning about the cryptocurrency for the first time and are investing a tiny bit or a whole lot of wealth into the market. One thing is for sure new people eager to be educated on the subject most likely don’t need to be badgered or made fun of.
Lately, the animosity has gotten so bad that users are scaring away new Bitcoiners. No matter what side of the block size debate you are on making fun of people who don’t know what they are doing isn’t progressing our efforts. For instance, some new user complains about a slow confirmation time and are told, “Show me the Txid or GTFO.” First and foremost this is the typical reply by many seen across multiple forums.
In my humble opinion simply asking to see the Txid kindly would probably motivate the conversation better. But we all know there are trolls out there making stuff up so really we need proof. The funny thing is within some of the forum discussion even when the proof is given it’s still not good enough. Typically after evidence is shown you then see the next typical reply which is, “My transaction went just fine. You didn’t send the right fee. The wallet you use sucks.” and so forth. Today one particular commenter writes this particular statement to a person having a problem:
“I sent two transactions in the last 24 hours, both cleared in less than 30 minutes. Why do you special snowflakes post about your crap transactions, when it all comes down to two things: Unconfirmed inputs from a previous transaction, and being too cheap to throw in a few fractions of a bitcoin to get your transaction processed. I mean really, pay the goddamned fee you cheap assholes.”
I honestly can’t imagine how a new user would feel after seeing such a reply, and again no matter what side of the debate you are on its a bit rude. Jaded veterans now assume everyone should have a ‘21 inc. Fee Handbook‘ at their side at all times. They explain this is just the way it is and if you haven’t gotten the latest update on fees GTFO. It is pretty despicable really that the split within our community has gotten to this point. Over the past six months, the bickering has been pretty bad, and logical conversation with solid reasoning is far and few between.
I love Bitcoin and really dig this community. I’ve made some excellent friendships with people who love decentralization, peer-to-peer networking and open source technology just as much as I do. I have been passionately exploring this space since 2011 and have written hundreds of articles on the subject. In this small opinionated editorial, I’m wondering if we can all take a deep breath and stop attacking new users with ‘jaded-vet semantics’ and ad hominems. In my humble opinion, this is the last thing we need even if you are for an off the chain solution or someone who wants bigger blocks. Besides all that smoke people having issues should be helped and supported. The Bitcoin game is so young and still there is only a small percentage of users out there. We can let ourselves get jaded or take a deep breath and a step back and maybe act more kindly. One statement that has really stuck with me was a response from security expert Kristov Atlas when I interviewed him last year about this very subject. Atlas told me:
“I’ve noticed a lot of people in Bitcoin, including myself at times, fall prey to ego identification with Bitcoin. We’re so excited by it, so moved by its potential, and work so hard on growing it that we mistake it for ourselves. Then, when others loft criticisms at it — usually piggishly thoughtless, ignorant ones — we take personal offense. When I notice I feel hurt by a criticism of this kind, I find it helpful to take a step back and remind myself that it’s not personal for the critic. It’s usually driven by the fact that Bitcoin makes some people uncomfortable. We’re upsetting the status quo,”
New users are coming to see us every day. Explain to them about the current fee market in a kind manner. Ask to see proof nicely and explain the current solutions on the development table. Point them in the right directions of a better-operating wallet instead of telling them the software they chose to use sucks. They don’t know any better, they were recommended by Google or another type of browser. Explain to them patiently waiting is the best method for slow confirmations and they will receive their coin back from the mempool, or it will eventually confirm. Support is best told with kindness and empathy and your side of the debate matters not in these particular situations. New users will not come back when we approach them like Buttcoiners do.
~ My two Satoshis
Images courtesy of Pixabay, and Crypto-Graphics.com
Disclaimer:The statements,views and opinions expressed in this column are solely those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of Live Bitcoin News |
Earlier this month, in Monterey, Calif., a meeting organized by the Produce Marketing Association provided an opportunity for a group of local growers of crops such as lettuce, artichokes and strawberries to find out how the latest digital technologies were changing agriculture. Participants heard about how technologies like robots, drones and predictive analytics could help them improve their operations.
That same week, just up the road from Monterey, a conference called AgTech Silicon Valley was held at the Computer History Museum in Mountain View. Along with actual farmers, the meeting was attended by a dozen venture capitalists, who identified agriculture as a field that is ripe (pun intended) for disruption by technology. In good Silicon Valley fashion, the meeting included a session in which entrepreneurs from agtech startups pitched their companies to angel investors and VCs.
A number of large tech vendors such as HP and IBM have also become interested in this sector. According to attorney Roger Royce, organizer of the Silicon Valley conference and the founder of an agtech incubator, agriculture has been identified as “the last frontier for technology companies.” And it is a substantial sector: In 2013, agriculture and agriculture-related industries contributed $789 billion to the U.S. gross domestic product, which represented a 4.7% share. Farming alone was responsible for approximately 1% of overall GDP.
Of course, the use of technology in farming is hardly new. A century ago, the introduction of tractors and other mechanized equipment vastly increased farm yields and dramatically reduced the portion of the labor force that worked in agriculture, which now accounts for less than 5% of U.S. jobs. The so-called Green Revolution of the 1960s provided another boost in agricultural productivity through the development of higher-yield, pest-resistant crops and the introduction of modern irrigation techniques. By the end of the 20th century, farms had already adopted a lot of technology. The cab of a modern tractor has begun to resemble an airplane cockpit, with GPS capabilities and computer screens that display information about everything from mechanical performance to the tractor’s position and current weather data.
The third revolution
The revolution that is taking place now on the farm involves the addition of intelligence to the technologies already in place to enable what is known as “precision agriculture.” Its goal is to provide farmers with abundant, real-time, actionable information about the state of their fields: how crops are growing, how much water or fertilizer is needed, what weeds and insects may be invading the fields. Like many other industry sectors, farmers are beginning to see the value of getting access to big data that can provide them with a new level of knowledge and control over their production processes.
A number of big names in agriculture are promoting the value of the new technologies. John Deere is now selling self-driving, GPS-guided tractors that, it claims, can make 7% more furrows in a field than a human-driven tractor. The company also offers a data management service that helps farmers collect and analyze the abundant data that is generated by the operation of the autonomous tractor. In 2013, Monsanto, the leading supplier of seeds for agriculture, spent $1 billion to acquire Climate Corp, a company that provides detailed hyperlocal weather information. Using this data, Monsanto is able to offer customized seeds for each field based on the composition of the soil — in some cases, down to the level of each square foot — and the weather pattern above it. The company is also developing machines that automate other tasks, including harvesting crops, probably the most labor-intensive of all farm chores.
Precision agriculture is making it possible to optimize the delivery of key inputs in other ways as well. You can, for example, increase the yield of a crop by deliberately stressing out a plant at just the right time. New monitoring technology makes it possible to identify when to withhold irrigation and when to provide it in order to maximize production.
This kind of data-driven, precision agriculture has other benefits as well. In the wake of the severe drought that has gripped California in recent years, awareness has grown of agriculture’s vast demand for water, which accounts for nearly three-quarters of all water used in the state. (For example, it has been reported that it takes a gallon of water to produce a single almond, and growing alfalfa is even more water-intensive.) If farmers could identify just which plants in a field need water and when, total water use for crop irrigation could be significantly reduced, which would be a much more effective response to a drought than having city dwellers take shorter showers.
And by enabling farmers to track the development of their crops in detail, it allows them to satisfy the demands of consumers who are increasingly interested in knowing where their food comes from and how it was grown.
Broadband is the key
The technology that underlies all of these promising applications is broadband, and especially wireless broadband. Pervasive network connectivity makes it possible to monitor growing conditions on an ongoing basis and to communicate with and control the machines that operate autonomously in the farmer’s fields. And this connectivity enables the collection of data that drives the predictive analytics that can provide quantum improvements in farm productivity and efficiency.
From this perspective, the wired farm is just another example of the Internet of Things. But in this case, the things that are being connected are not machines but plants and livestock. (An infographic created by Cisco to illustrate the power of the Internet of Things included a section that showed a group of “connected cows” in the Netherlands equipped with sensors that automatically keep a farmer informed of their health status.)
But there is a problem: Rural areas have consistently lagged behind urban areas in broadband access. While virtually all Americans (99%) now have access to broadband Internet connections, broadband adoption rates among the country’s nearly 60 million rural residents is lower than among urban residents. Although the U.S. leads the world in adoption of high-speed 4G/LTE wireless broadband, and rural communities are benefiting from the expansion of these networks nationally, a gap remains between rural and urban coverage.
According to a 2014 study published by the PCIA, “network investment has been concentrated in metropolitan markets mainly because these markets have higher population density [while] investments in rural markets would cover far fewer customers and have higher fixed costs per customer.” This logic makes sense if the only thing that is being connected is people. But if farmers are wiring up their fields, potentially putting one or more sensors on each plant, a very different kind of financial equation may emerge. As the PCIA report argues, “the economic model for mobile broadband in rural areas should be based on the number of devices and connections, not simply the number of connections.”
A business case for expanding broadband to rural America should recognize that the connectivity needs of a farm are distinctly different from those of a populous urban area. A tomato plant or even a cow is not likely to spend time watching YouTube videos or playing online games — not even Farmville. A plant will need connectivity to make periodic reports on its status, but this data will not require instant connectivity or massive bandwidth. What farms will need is widespread coverage and reliable connectivity. At the same time, farmers themselves will need robust connections that will enable them to carry out the sophisticated analyses that turn the massive amounts of data they have collected into actionable information.
Urban vs. rural telecom: Think different
The differences between urban and rural usage patterns suggest that different architectures may be appropriate for different areas. For example, to fill gaps in wireless broadband service on farms, big companies like John Deere and smaller startups like Ayrstone have developed solutions based on deploying networks of wireless repeaters to expand the reach of connectivity and supplement conventional cellular coverage in farmers’ fields.
New policy approaches can also help. Several states, including New York, have launched programs to expand the availability of high-speed broadband to both rural and urban residents. Proposed legislation in Iowa would provide an accelerated depreciation deduction, a tax credit and a property tax exemption for broadband infrastructure deployed in targeted rural areas.
On the federal level, the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 included funding to accelerate broadband deployment in rural areas. One of the goals of the Federal Communications Commission’s Connect America Fund is to expand access to high-speed Internet access for rural residents.
A modernized Communications Act will also be important in removing impediments to broadband development and encouraging continued private investment in new communications technologies. Wireless spectrum is a finite resource, and demand for it is growing exponentially. According to Cisco, U.S mobile data use will increase by 650% by 2018. Policymakers and regulators need to act to address this growing demand. In 2010, the FCC’s National Broadband Plan set a goal of making 500 MHz of new spectrum available for mobile broadband use over 10 years, including an additional 300 MHz of spectrum within five years. However, the FCC has only made about 135 MHz of licensed spectrum available thus far.
Policymakers must develop strategies to bring more wireless spectrum into the marketplace, not only expand the reach of wireless networks, but also create a pipeline of spectrum for emerging technologies. Congress should consider a more modern spectrum policy to determine who gets spectrum and how it is used. Relying on market mechanisms to allocate and use spectrum could be more efficient and beneficial for the public than the current government allocation process, which is slow to react to market conditions and typically takes years to complete. Moreover, Congress must set forth a path to better manage the federal government’s own large spectrum holdings, which is often not used efficiently.
Regulations should be flexible enough to allow companies to design and deploy innovative solutions that serve the needs of rural as well as urban residents. One possibility cited by the PCIA report is the use of lower-frequency spectrum bands, which cover a wider range, for rural cellular service. Another possibility is to permit greater sharing of spectrum bands in less densely populated rural areas to increase utilization.
Hacking the farm
If the technology is available, farmers are ready to use it. Perhaps the most interesting event in the development of agtech took place in April of this year when a group of computer coders spent a weekend working with a group of farmers deep in the middle of California’s agricultural heartland. This was the first Apps for Ag Hackathon whose goal was to create new apps that met farmers’ specific needs. It was the brainchild of Robert Tse, State Broadband Coordinator for the U.S. Department of Agriculture in California, who described the event as “a rare occasion where the government took a risk on an unconventional initiative.”
Six teams participated in the two-day competition, which was held on the campus of a community college in the small farming community of Coalinga. The winning entry was SWARM, a Tinder-like phone app designed to help farmers quickly identify unknown insects they find in their fields and determine whether they are dangerous or benign. The organizers considered the event a success and hope that it will be the first of many similar events in the future.
Rogers and Hammerstein’s hit 1943 musical Oklahoma! included a rousing song about how “The Farmer and the Cowman Should Be Friends.” Today, it would seem, it’s time for the farmer and the hacker to be friends.
Richard Adler is a distinguished fellow at the Institute for the Future in Palo Alto, Calif. He has written widely about the future of broadband and its impact on fields such as education, healthcare, government and commerce. |
Disruptor is a high-performance library for passing messages between threads, developed and open sourced some years ago by LMAX Exchange company. They created this piece of software to handle an enormous traffic (more than 6 million TPS) in their retail financial trading platform. In 2010 they surprised everyone how fast their system can be by doing all the business logic on a single thread. Even though a single thread was an important concept in their solution, a Disruptor (which is not part of business logic) works in a multithreaded environment. Disruptor is based on ring buffer which is definitely not a new concept.
Ring Buffer
Ring buffer has many names. You might have heard of a circular buffer, circular queue or cyclic buffer. All of them mean the same. It is basically a linear data structure in which the end points to the beginning of the structure. It’s easy to reason about it as a circular array without the end.
As you can imagine, a ring buffer is mostly used as a queue. It has a read and write positions which are used by consumer and producer respectively. When read or write index reaches the end of the underlying array, it is set back to 0. This activity is usually called “wrapping around” and it requires a bit more explanation.
Wrapping around
Consider the following situation: We have the write index at the end of the array and the read index at the beginning. Is it safe to wrap around?
Well, it’s easy to imagine a streaming example where stale data is not needed anymore because the fresher and more relevant data keeps coming, but usually, we do care about not yet processed data. If that’s the case, either returning a false boolean or blocking, as traditional bounded queues do, would work. If none of these solutions satisfies us, we can implement a ring buffer which can resize itself (but only when it gets full, not just when a producer reaches the end of the array and it can safely wrap around). Resizing would require moving all the elements to a newly allocated bigger array (if an array is used as an underlying data structure) which is an expensive operation, of course.
Ring Buffer in Disruptor
What kind of problem does ring buffer solve in Disruptor? Let’s look at the typical use case for Disruptor:
As you can see, we have a single message being sent to the input queues of multiple consumers (1-4) – so it’s a typical multicast (sort of publish and subscribe semantics). Then we have a barrier – we want all consumers to finish processing the message before we move to the next step. When the barrier is passed, the message goes to the input queue of the last consumer. To sum up, we have four independent (and thus potentially parallel) tasks (Consumers 1-4) operating on the same data and one task (Dependant Consumer) which requires all the previous tasks to be finished before it starts working.
And where is the ring buffer in this architecture? Well, a ring buffer is actually this architecture.
Let’s imagine that a message is a single item in our ring buffer. Ring buffer represents our actual queue (or multiple downstream queues if you prefer). Each consumer is a separate thread traversing ring buffer round and round (or consuming messages from the queue if you prefer).
The barrier is implemented in a way that dependant consumer cannot go past any of the consumers which are required to be finished before it starts processing a ring buffer item (a message).
Single Writer Principle
Even though the most performant way of using Disruptor is to have a single producer and multiple consumers, a multi-producers scenario is also possible. In that case, there might be a write contention on the same cursor. Disruptor doesn’t use traditional locks to solve this problem – so it’s lock-free (with the exception of BlockingWaitStrategy). Instead, it relies on memory barriers and/or high-performance CAS operation.
What if the dependant consumer requires some data produced by any of the previous consumers? Can a consumer also modify the item in the ring buffer and thus be a writer? It turns out that a very simple rule is used here – each item in a ring buffer consists of set of fields and each field has at most one consumer which is allowed to write to it. This prevents any write-contention between consumers.
Summary
There are many other things which makes Disruptor fast, for example:
consuming messages in a batching mode
CPU- cache – friendly benefits using data locality in a ring buffer
cache friendly preallocation of the messages in ring buffer to avoid frequent garbage collection of the items (so they are reused)
As I explained here, even though ring buffer is a relatively simple data structure, it can be easily used to implement way more complex scenarios and Disruptor is just an example. |
CBO Projects Rising Wage Inequality
Last month the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) released its Budget and Economic Outlook report for 2016 to 2026. While various aspects of the report have gotten major play in the media, one important yet overlooked detail is what CBO says about wage inequality. Specifically, CBO expects to see a “continued increase in the share of wages earned by higher-income taxpayers” (pg. 88). It indicates that another 4 percentage points of wage income will be redistributed from the bulk of the workforce to the roughly 7 percent of workers who earn more than the cap on wages subject to the Social Security tax (currently $118,500):
“The share of covered earnings above the taxable maximum amount is projected to rise to more than 20 percent in 2026, 4 percentage points more than the share in 2015...” (pg. 94)
This ceiling on the amount of wages subject to taxation rises in line with average wage growth every year. If inequality goes up and high-wage workers’ earnings rise faster than average, a greater share of overall wages are exempt from taxation. Due to rising inequality, the share of wages going untaxed has nearly doubled from one-tenth to nearly one-fifth over the past thirty years.
CBO expects that 33 percent of all wage growth between 2016 and 2026 will occur above the tax ceiling. As can be seen below, CBO’s projections imply that earnings above the ceiling will grow 92 percent between 2015 and 2026, while earnings below the ceiling will grow just 48 percent (in nominal dollars).
This translates to about a 6 percent wage cut for low- and middle-wage workers by 2026 compared to a scenario in which the wage distribution did not change: |
The Vanderbilt Commodores gave the No. 4/6 Florida Gators everything they could handle on Saturday night at Vanderbilt Stadium in Nashville, TN, but it simply was not enough to pull off the upset as Florida (6-0, 5-0 SEC) always had an answer for Vanderbilt (2-4, 1-3 SEC) and picked up a hard-fought 31-17 victory.
The Gators out-rushed the Commodores 327-126 in an effort led by Florida sophomore Jeff Driskel, who scored three rushing touchdowns and bested Tim Tebow by setting a school single-game record for a quarterback with 177 rushing yards.
Vanderbilt got on the board first, completing a six-play, 66-yard drive that resulted in quarterback Jordan Rodgers’s first touchdown pass since the second week of the season. The Commodores benefited from a 15-yard penalty at the beginning of the drive when kick-catch interference was called on Gators sophomore cornerback Loucheiz Purifoy for hitting the punt returner too soon after he caught the ball.
Purifoy then got beat by wide receiver Chris Boyd for a 37-yard reception, and Florida junior safety Matt Elam was leapt over in the end zone three plays later as WR Jordan Matthews hauled in the touchdown. It was the first touchdown UF had given up in nine quarters dating back to the Tennessee game in week three.
The Gators finally registered some points on their first possession of the second quarter. Florida took over at its own nine yard line and put together an 11-play, 91-yard drive to score its first points of the game. Senior running back Mike Gillislee tallied 27 yards on the possession, but it was sophomore QB Jeff Driskel who scampered 37 yards down the left sideline for the touchdown.
UF then decided to go for two and converted as junior RB Trey Burton took a keeper into the end zone on a spread-out formation to give the Gators an early 8-7 lead.
Read the rest of the Florida-Vanderbilt story…after the break!
Faced with another long field, Florida took over from its own 12 and wound up at Vanderbilt’s two-yard line after Driskel completed 4-of-6 passes and ran for 36 yards on the drive. UF also benefited from a 15-yard pass interference call in the end zone. The Gators then nearly lost the ball as redshirt senior tight end Omarius Hines fumbled at the one, though Florida recovered and got another opportunity.
A 13-men-on-the-field penalty pushed the Gators back a bit and Florida threw incomplete on the next two plays, settling for a 23-yard field goal by redshirt senior kicker Caleb Sturgis to take an 11-7 lead at the half. UF’s drive lasted 3:09 and consisted of 12 plays going for a total of 83 yards.
The Commodores got the ball to begin the second half and drove 75 yards down to the Gators’ eight-yard line in 14 plays. Vanderbilt then got called for a false start before Rodgers was sacked by senior safety Josh Evans for a 14-yard loss, forcing VU to try a 44-yard field goal. That attempt was blocked by redshirt senior defensive lineman Earl Okine and recovered by Purifoy, keeping the Commodores off the board despite the fact that they had possession for the first 8:43 of the second half.
Florida appeared to go three-and-out on the ensuing possession but instead of punting on 4th-and-5 from UF’s 43-yard line, junior WR Solomon Patton took a fake 54 yards down to Vanderbilt’s three. After a 10-yard holding penalty, Driskel ran a keeper 13 yards into the end zone to give the Gators an 18-7 lead with 4:31 left in the third quarter.
After the teams traded punts, Florida forced Vanderbilt into a 3rd-and-8 at its own 20-yard line. Senior Mike linebacker Jon Bostic sacked Rodgers when he dropped back to throw on the play, and the ball was immediately recovered by redshirt sophomore LB Neiron Ball. The Gators were held to a 29-yard field goal and took a 21-7 lead with 13:30 left in the game.
The Commodores got a new burst of energy after the field goal, running right down the field to be faced with a 1st-and-10 from UF’s 22-yard line. Rodgers was intercepted by sophomore S De’Ante Saunders on that play, but a defensive holding negated the turnover and gave Vanderbilt another chance. The Commodores used that opportunity to complete an 11-play, 75-yard drive capped by a one-yard touchdown by RB Zac Stacy to reduce their deficit to 21-14 with just under nine minutes left.
Stacy’s touchdown accounted for the first points allowed by the Gators’ defense in the fourth quarter all season.
On the ensuing kickoff, Florida redshirt junior WR Andre Debose registered his best return of the season, bringing the ball 60 yards down the field before being knocked out at Vanderbilt’s 37-yard line. The Gators stalled inside the 10 and settled for their third field goal of the night, a 26-yard attempt, to go up 10 points with 5:22 to play.
The Commodores did not waste any time getting back into scoring position. On the first play from scrimmage after the kickoff, Rodgers completed a 53-yard pass to Matthews to bring Vanderbilt down near Florida’s red zone. Five plays later, Stacy dropped what would have been a touchdown pass and VU settled for a 22-yard field goal to get within a touchdown of UF with 2:35 remaining in the contest.
The Gators downed the kickoff at the 30 but did not wait long to regain their 10-point lead as Driskel took a zone read 70 yards down the field for his third touchdown of the game. The Commodores were unable to answer and failed on a 4th-and-Goal with less than a minute remaining.
Florida had a huge rushing advantage on Vanderbilt, but the Commodores outdid the Gators in the passing game by registering 237 yards to the visitors’ 77. UF’s 10 penalties for 80 yards were devastating, as was the team’s 2-for-11 mark on third-down conversion attempts. Vanderbilt was 7-for-17 on third down and also out-possessed Florida by 6:20, a rare occurrence this season.
The Gators have another tough test next week when they host South Carolina in Gainesville, FL on Saturday at a yet to be determined time. |
So much for beyond a reasonable doubt. According to a new report by the FBI, the bureau’s forensic experts have made numerous mistakes in linking evidence to defendants in death penalty cases. The report noted 27 instances of incorrect testimony that helped convict defendants in death penalty cases.
An unprecedented federal review of old criminal cases has uncovered as many as 27 death penalty convictions in which FBI forensic experts may have mistakenly linked defendants to crimes with exaggerated scientific testimony, U.S. officials said… It is not known how many of the cases involve errors, how many led to wrongful convictions or how many mistakes may now jeopardize valid convictions. Those questions will be explored as the review continues.
The full extent of the impact of the study is still unknown, but the report already led to a stay of execution in Mississippi last May. There may be more reviews and stays on the way.
The FBI and Justice Department worked with the Innocence Project and the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers (NACDL) in authoring the review.
Under terms finalized with the groups last month, the Justice Department will notify prosecutors and convicted defendants or defense attorneys if an internal review panel or the two external groups find that FBI examiners “exceeded the limits of science” when they claimed to link crime scene hair to defendants in reports or testimony. If so, the department will assist the class of prisoners in unprecedented ways, including waiving statutes of limitations and other federal rules that since 1996 have restricted post-conviction appeals. The FBI also will test DNA evidence if sought by a judge or prosecutor.
Though there are only 27 cases listed even more could be influenced by the review. The Innocence Project has said that one of the criteria for faulty hair evidence has been met in 2000 cases. The implications of the review could be extensive.
America is one of the few developed countries that still has the death penalty. Now, upon learning of faulty evidence in many death penalty convictions, perhaps it is time to rethink the death penalty.
Photo by KimChee under public domain. |
After suffering from several delays during its development, the Model X, which Tesla first unveiled in 2012 and planned to start deliveries in early 2014, started going into low volume production only in September 2015 and production didn’t pick up to high volume for another 6 months.
Tesla CEO Elon Musk pointed to several difficulties in the design like the second-row seats, but the Falcon Wing doors were always the main recurring suspects for the cause of the delays, and it was all but confirmed to be the cause when Tesla sued the company behind the original design of the mechanism of the Falcon Wing doors, Swiss-based auto supplier Hoerbiger, for delays in January 2016.
Now we learn that Tesla and Hoerbiger settled the case, but the terms of the settlement have not yet been disclosed.
Reuters reports that Tesla and Hoerbiger “have delayed filing for a dismissal because certain conditions of the settlement will not be fulfilled until Oct. 4, according to an Aug. 18 filing by the companies.”
In the original lawsuit, Tesla claimed that it contracted and paid Hoerbiger to develop a hydraulic system for Falcon Wing doors of the Model X, but between February 2014 and May 2015, the German auto part supplier couldn’t produce a prototype that passed Tesla’s engineering standards because it “leaked oil and sagged or produced excessive heat”.
The automaker claimed to have then cut ties with Hoerbiger in May last year. It claimed to have designed and built its own electromechanical door system to replace Hoerbiger’s hydraulic system and hired a new supplier at a premium to rush the production of the new system.
The company says it also incurred “millions of dollars in damages, including, but not limited to costs of re-tooling the entire vehicle in order to support a different engineering solution.”
But Tesla only filed a lawsuit after Hoerbiger demanded to be paid “a large sum of money” as per the contract, which Tesla believed had been breached. The automaker was seeking for Hoerbiger to pay damages and attorney fees as well as punitive damages for negligence, but it later dropped the claim.
Now it’s apparently settled and we will know the terms next week. |
The Liberal Democrats are heading for their first coalition showdown with the Tories since last week's elections in the House of Lords when they will mount an attempt to delay the introduction of elected police commissioners.
The move will be the first material test of the Lib Dems' weekend promise to be a "louder voice in government" after last week's disastrous election results.
It comes as Nick Clegg is due to reaffirm his party's support for refugees and asylum seekers. In a speech at the Refugee Council's 60th anniversary celebrations, Clegg is to argue that "Liberals, progressives and true patriots" must reclaim Britishness and not surrender its meaning to "bigots and xenophobes like the BNP".
The deputy prime minister is also to criticise the "constant hum of cheap populism" from politicians of right and left and parts of the media that vilifies refugees and paints asylum seekers as a threat to the country.
Labour have made clear they will back Lib Dem amendments to the police bill in the Lords that seek to delay the first elections for police commissioners due next May by calling for their introduction to be piloted in up to six police force areas first.
The home secretary, Theresa May, slapped down the Lib Dems' home affairs spokesman, Tom Brake, who backed the demand for pilots and argued that stronger "robust checks and balances" were needed to ensure that the commissioners did not interfere in operational police matters.
She said the new police and crime commissioners would be introduced in every police force across England and Wales outside London next May.
The move follows mounting concern from senior police officers, including the Metropolitan Police Commissioner, over the threat to their operational independence posed by elected commissioners.
Two Lib Dem amendments are scheduled for debate and a possible showdown vote during the committee stage of the police bill.
The first, by Baroness Hamwee, calls for pilots to be held in six police force areas each lasting two years before a final decision is taken to roll them out nationally.
The second by Lord Bradshaw is tougher urging that two 3-year pilot schemes be introduced from next May which would take the final decision beyond the next general election. It is possible – but not guaranteed – that the debate will go to a vote.
Labour said they would support any Lib Dem amendment on pilots for police commissioners. The shadow home secretary, Yvette Cooper, said Clegg had called for a "'louder Liberal Democrat voice'. Well it sounds like they are shouting, but she [May] is not listening."
In his Refugee Council speech Clegg is to argue that the Coalition is "unwinding the damage of years of mismanagement" of the asylum system in Britain. He says that they inherited a system in which innocent children were imprisoned bars and thousands of asylum seekers were forced into a forgotten underclass as their applications were lost in limbo for years.
He argues that this was against a backdrop of "a constant hum of cheap populism. Politicians on the right, on the left, and parts of the media vilifying refugees; lumping anyone seeking asylum into the same category; and then painting those people as a threat to the country.
"We must not surrender the meaning of Britishness to the bigots and xenophobes. Liberals, progressives, true patriots must reclaim this ground."
This is language that is unlikely to feature in a David Cameron speech. |
Rhus javanica, a medicinal herb, has been shown to exhibit oral therapeutic anti-herpes simplex virus (HSV) activity in mice. We purified two major anti-HSV compounds, moronic acid and betulonic acid, from the herbal extract by extraction with ethyl acetate at pH 10 followed by chromatographic separations and examined their anti-HSV activity in vitro and in vivo. Moronic acid was quantitatively a major anti-HSV compound in the ethyl acetate-soluble fraction. The effective concentrations for 50% plaque reduction of moronic acid and betulonic acid for wild-type HSV type 1 (HSV-1) were 3.9 and 2.6 microgram/ml, respectively. The therapeutic index of moronic acid (10.3-16.3) was larger than that of betulonic acid (6.2). Susceptibility of acyclovir-phosphonoacetic acid-resistant HSV-1, thymidine kinase-deficient HSV-1, and wild-type HSV type 2 to moronic acid was similar to that of the wild-type HSV-1. When this compound was administered orally to mice infected cutaneously with HSV-1 three times daily, it significantly retarded the development of skin lesions and/or prolonged the mean survival times of infected mice without toxicity compared with the control. Moronic acid suppressed virus yields in the brain more efficiently than those in the skin. This was consistent with the prolongation of mean survival times. Thus, moronic acid was purified as a major anti-HSV compound from the herbal extract of Rhus javanica. Mode of the anti-HSV activity was different from that of ACV. Moronic acid showed oral therapeutic efficacy in HSV-infected mice and possessed novel anti-HSV activity that was consistent with that of the extract. |
An accused burglar is dead in an unusual turn of events after a homeowner caught him breaking into his Leroy residence on Friday night, Washington County Sheriff Richard Stringer said.
In an attempt to stop a string of burglaries at his mobile home, Stringer said Nathanial Johnson, 68, of Spurgeon Road set a trap.
Johnson parked his vehicle at a neighbor's place on Friday night, went back to his home and waited.
Sometime before midnight, Johnson told sheriff's deputies he heard someone knock on the front door of his home. When he didn't answer, the person went to the backdoor and broke the lock.
Alabama man who tied burglar to tree: 'I was just trying to stop a thief' Wearing a fluffy green camouflage robe, a black leather cap and gold ring on his right pinky finger, he said he was done talking about the incident last Friday night where he tied up a burglar and waited for police to come.
Johnson told police he met the burglar, identified as Cleveland Jones Gully, 31, at the door and chased him outside.
Stringer said Gully, who has a reputation for breaking into houses, then either fell or jumped off the back steps of the mobile home.
That's when Johnson jumped on Gully and tied his hands behind his back, he said.
Stringer said Johnson put duct-tape on Gully's mouth and tied him to a tree. He wrapped Gully to the tree with insulated electrical tape and clothesline, he said.
Johnson told police he then went back to his neighbor's house and called police.
"(Gully) was still alive at that point, and there was no indication that he was dying," Stringer said.
When sheriff's deputies arrived about 10 minutes later, though, Gully was dead, he said.
Stringer said Gully didn't have any visible injuries except for cuts around his body from the wire.
An autopsy will be performed to determine cause of death, he said.
Bystanders told police that Johnson didn't intend to kill Gully. He just wanted to stop him from breaking into his home, Stringer said.
He said Johnson wasn't armed with a firearm.
No criminal charges have yet been filed against Johnson, and Stringer isn't sure if any will be in the future.
"We will probably present it to the grand jury to see what they say about it," Stringer said. |
While grumblings over Facebook’s privacy standards continue one website is asking users to take a definitive step to protest. The goal of the website? To get you to quit Facebook on May 31st.
The website, appropriately named Quit Facebook Day, asks for people to add their name with others who plan to quit the social network. The campaign was created by Matthew Milan and Joseph Dee who believe Facebook does not offer its users fair choices nor does it have the best intentions for users. Though the two acknowledge issues around privacy are a legitimate concern, they believe this is “just a symptom of a larger set of issues”. To date, 3045 people have committed to quit Facebook on May 31st. That current number represents 0.00076125% of the current user base of Facebook assuming an active user base of at least 400 million.
While the Quit Facebook Day site offers up current alternatives to Facebook for users quitting cold turkey, one future alternative has already received overwhelming support financially. Diaspora is an open platform which will decentralize the sharing of personal information and allow each individual to host their own personal web server. The initiative is the brain child of four young programmers from NYU’s Courant Institute. The group (pictured above) has sought donations for the project via the Kickstarter website and has received overwhelming support. Their initial goal of $10,000 has already been well surpassed with current funding standing at over $175,000.
The funding will allow the group to give up “internships and summer jobs” for three months to focus on the creation of the platform. Once completed, the group will open source their source code and provide a paid turnkey solution for those want to use it, but don’t want to go through the hassle of setting it up themselves.
Read more at QuitFacebookDay , Diapora’s Kickstarter page, and JoinDiaspora.com. |
IFC
Scott Aukerman is a busy man. Yet despite writing, producing and starring in television shows for cable and Netflix, working on a few major awards-show programs, and hosting and appearing on more podcasts than anyone can count, Aukerman was more than happy to chat with Uproxx after a grueling day of press and production.
The season-four finale of Aukerman’s talk show parody Comedy Bang! Bang!, which features the sultry swagger of singer Josh Groban, airs tonight, Dec. 10, at 11 p.m. EST on IFC. It will mark 90 episodes for the cult-comedy hit — an achievement that Aukerman is very excited about. The comedian is also happy about his popular Comedy Bang! Bang! podcast, Chris Hardwick’s work ethic, the improv skills of Kid Cudi, and more. So we asked him about it.
Let’s get right to it.
[Sings.] Let’s get into it! Let’s hammer it all out!
Between podcasts, shows, and your work on the 2015 Emmy Awards, this has been a really busy year for you.
In January we started filming the second half of Comedy Bang! Bang! with Kid Cudi. In between, we paused season four so I could be a part of W/ Bob & David. Not only did I write on the Emmys for Andy Samberg, I also hosted the local Emmys and presented at the Creative Arts Emmys. Now we’re writing Comedy Bang! Bang! season five and I’m producing my wife Kulap Vilaysack’s show, Bajillion Dollar Propertie$, for NBC’s Seeso streaming service. Let’s not forget doing 60 or so episodes of the Comedy Bang! Bang! podcast and a few episodes of U Talkin’ U2 To Me? So yeah, it’s really been an exhausting year. Today I’m at peak exhaustion. |
The Big Bang Theory crew is bringing joy for all of us for 9 Seasons now while 10th is in the make, and this news isn’t striking anybody as anything out of the ordinary. This crew is, according to Forbes, the top paid on TV in 2016.
Jim Parsons (Sheldon) in this hit series takes the first place for the second year now after he collected $25.5 million over the past year according to Forbes. His show-mates Johnny Galecki (Leonard), Simon Helberg (Howard) and Nayyar Kunal (Rajesh) take the other three places.
If you remember last year’s headlines about The BBT cast, it was reported that they are doing a Friends and were negotiating a $1 million per episode for Parsons, Galecki and female co-star Kaley Cuoco.
According to Forbes‘ annual list of actors, we can see that the earnings by gender between males and females have gone down on TV while on movies there is still a huge gap between them. For instance, Dwayne Jonson (earned $64.5 million) by far out-earns his female colleague Jennifer Lawrence (earned $46 million). When we go to top paid actresses category, we can see that Kaley Cuoco the female star of The Big Bang Theory takes second place with annual earnings of $24.5 million just after Modern Family’s leading lady Sofia Vergara who cashed in $43 million last year. This figure has been significantly boosted by numerous endorsements and licensing deals.
Forbes’s spokesperson Madeline Berg stated for the Independent “The gender wage gap between men and women on TV is a lot smaller than on film, and that ensemble casts tend to negotiate their contracts together. That is why Kaley Cuoco makes $1 million per episode just like her castmate Jim Parsons”
One more interesting thing to know is that the Forbes calculates the earnings based on the data as well as interviews with agents, managers, lawyers and industry insiders and all estimated earnings shown are before management fees and taxes. |
Start with a problem: Eldrazi
Thought-Knot Seer is too good vs combo and demands your deck run tons of removal for it. Ideally instant speed removal. Also your deck can't be synergistic because Thought-Knot Seer takes synergistic cards away
Reality Smasher is too good vs removal.
Matter Reshaper is too good vs early game decks. Is only weak to some removal and creatures that beat it in combat.
-Other Eldrazi are color dependent and need to be dealt with on a case by case basis. Also Eldrazi Mimic usually isn't that oppressive as it's almost always going to be a 1 for 1.
White has the best removal for large eldrazi since they don't target Reality Smasher till they've entered the battlefield.
The other option is blue counterspells but I tried building a deck with counterspells and didn't like it.
Constraints: The deck must be cheap
The deck must survive rotation
Since the khans trilands are rotating out of Standard you need a dual colored deck unless SOI provides trilands.
New problem:
Monowhite can't card draw.
Then to start the deck I have to pick a card I want to play 4 of: [Knight of the white Orchid]. Which makes my mana base very white heavy which means I can only splash for a second color. And with 4 Knights I have to always pick to be on the draw.
Either go in black for Read the Bones or red for Frontier Siege. Frontier Siege rotates soon.
Elemental Bond in G also works
Ojutai's Command works too
For the sake of time I'll choose read the bones. |
Hibiki Tachibana (CV Aoi Yuuki), Tsubasa Kazanari (Nana Mizuki), Chris Yukine (Ayahi Takagaki), Maria Cadenzavna Eve (Yōko Hikasa), Shirabe Tsukuyomi (Yoshino Nanjō), Kirika Akatsuki (Ai Kayano), Miku Kohinata (Yuka Iguchi) and Carol Malus Dienheim (Inori Minase) stand together in newly previewed jacket art for Symphogear Live 2016, set to be released on DVD and Blu-ray on August 24th.
Films of the February 28th performance from Nippon Budokan features 48 tracks of music from the action sci-fi anime.
This was the event that announced that seasons four AND five of anime are in the works, with a game also mentioned by the staff and Hobby Stock working to keep up on the merchandise side.
With 48 page photo booklet, it goes for 7,000yen.
Art for store bonuses
earlier live cover art
Elsewhere, Sankyo has previewed their Symphogear pachislot machine.
------
Scott Green is editor and reporter for anime and manga at geek entertainment site Ain't It Cool News. Follow him on Twitter at @aicnanime |
The following story was originally published in Grimscribe (1991) but can now be found in a new collection from Penguin Classics called Songs of a Dead Dreamer and Grimscribe .
Instructor Carniero was holding class once again.
I discovered this fact on my return from a movie theater. It was late and I thought, “Why not take a short cut across the grounds of the school?” This thought led to a whole train of thoughts that I often pondered, especially when I was out walking at night. Mainly these thoughts were about my desire to know something that I was sure was real about my existence, something that could help me in my existence before it was my time to die and be put into the earth to rot, or perhaps have my cremated remains drift out of a chimney stack and sully the sky. Of course, this desire was by no means unique to me. Nonetheless, I had spent quite a few years, my whole life it seemed, seeking to satisfy it in various ways. Most recently, I had sought some kind of satisfaction by attending the classes of Instructor Carniero. Though I had not attended his classes for very long, he seemed to be someone who could reveal what was at the bottom of things. Lost in my thoughts, then, I left the street I was walking along and proceeded across the grounds of the school, which were vast and dark. It was quite cold that night, and when I looked down the front of my overcoat I saw that the single remaining button holding it together had become loose and possibly would not last much longer. So a short cut on my return from that movie theater appeared to be the wise move.
I entered the school grounds as if they were only a great park located in the midst of surrounding streets. The trees were set close and from the perimeter of that parcel of land I could not see the school hidden within them. Look up here, I thought I heard someone say to me. When I did look up, I saw that the branches overhead were without leaves, and through their intertwining mesh the sky was fully visible. How bright and dark it was at the same time. Bright with a high, full moon shining among the spreading clouds, and dark with the shadows mingling within those clouds — a slowly flowing mass of mottled shapes, a kind of unclean outpouring from the black sewers of space.
I noticed that in one place these clouds were leaking down into the trees, trickling in a narrow rivulet across the wall of the night. But it was really smoke, dense and dirty, rising up to the sky. A short distance ahead, and well into the thickly wooded grounds of the school, I saw the spastic flames of a small fire among the trees. By the smell, I guessed that someone was burning refuse. Then I could see the misshapen metal drum spewing smoke, and the figures standing behind the firelight became visible to me, as I was to them.
“Class has resumed,” one of them called out. “He’s come back after all.”
I knew these were others from the school, but their faces would not hold steady in the flickering light of the fire that warmed them. They seemed to be smudged by the smoke, greased by the odorous garbage burning in that dark metal drum, its outer surface almost glowing from the heat and flaking off in places.
“Look there,” said another member of the group, pointing deeper into the school grounds. The massive outline of a building occupied the distance, a few of its windows sending a dim light through the trees. From the roof of the building a number of smokestacks stood out against the pale sky.
A wind rose up. It droned noisily around us and breathed a crackling life into the fire in the decayed metal drum. I tried to shout above the confusion of sounds. “Was there an assignment?” I cried out. But they appeared not to hear me, or perhaps were ignoring my words. When I repeated the question they briefly glanced my way, as if I had said something improper. I left them hunched around the fire, assuming they would be along. The wind died, and I could hear someone say the word “maniac,” which was not spoken, I realized, either to me or about me.
Instructor Carniero, in his person, was rather vague to my mind. I had not been in his class very long before some disease — a terribly serious affliction, one of my fellow students hinted — had caused his absence. So what remained, for me, was no more than the image of a slender gentleman in a dark suit, a gentleman with a darkish complexion and a voice thick with a foreign accent. “He’s a Portuguese,” someone told me. “But he’s lived almost everywhere.” And I recalled a particular phrase of reproof he used to single out those of us who had not been attending to the diagrams he was incessantly creating on the blackboard. “Look up here,” he would say. “If you do not look, you will learn nothing — you will be nothing.” A few members of the class never needed to be called to attention in this manner, a certain small group who had been longtime students of the instructor and without distraction scrutinized the unceasing series of diagrams he would design upon the blackboard and then erase, only to construct again, with slight variation, a moment later.
Although I cannot claim that these often complex diagrams were not directly related to our studies, there were always extraneous elements within them which I never bothered to transcribe into my own notes for the class. They were a strange array of abstract symbols, frequently geometric figures altered in some way: various polygons with asymmetrical sides, trapezoids whose sides did not meet, semicircles with double or triple slashes across them, and many other examples of a deformed or corrupted scientific notation. These signs appeared to be primitive in essence, more relevant to magic than mathematics. The in structor marked them in an extremely rapid hand upon the blackboard, as if they were the words of his natural language. In most cases they formed a border around a familiar diagram allied to chemistry or physics, enclosing it and sometimes, it seemed, transforming its sense. Once a student questioned him regarding what seemed his apparently superfluous embellishment of these diagrams. Why did Instructor Carniero subject us to these bewildering symbols? “Because,” he answered, “a true instructor must share everything, no matter how terrible or lurid it might be.”
As I proceeded across the grounds of the school, I noticed certain changes in my surroundings. The trees nearer to the school looked different from those in the encompassing area. These were so much thinner, emaciated and twisted like broken bones that had never healed properly. And their bark seemed to be peeling away in soft layers, because it was not only fallen leaves I trudged through on my way to the school building, but also something like dark rags, strips of decomposed material. Even the clouds upon which the moon cast its glow were thin or rotted, unraveled by some process of degeneration in the highest atmosphere of the school grounds. There was also a scent of corruption, an enchanting fragrance really— like the mulchy rot of autumn or early spring — that I thought was emerging from the earth as I disturbed the strange litter strewn over it. This odor became more pungent as I approached the yellowish light of the school, and strongest as I finally reached the old building itself.
It was a four‐story structure of dark scabby bricks that had been patched together in another era, a time so different that it might be imagined as belonging to an entirely alien history, one composed solely of nights well advanced, an after‐hours history. How difficult it was to think of this place as if it had been constructed in the usual manner. Far easier to credit some fantastic legend that it had been erected by a consort of demons during the perpetual night of its past, and that its materials were pilfered from other architectures, all of them defunct: ruined factories, ravaged mausoleums, abandoned orphanages, penitentiaries long out of use. The school was indeed a kind of freakish growth in a dumping ground, a blossom of the cemetery or the cesspool. Here it was that Instructor Carniero, who had been everywhere, held his class.
On the lower floors of the building a number of lights were in use, weak as guttering candles. The highest story was blacked out, and many of the windows were broken. Nevertheless, there was sufficient light to guide me into the school, even if the main hallway could hardly be seen to its end. And its walls appeared to be tarred over with something which exuded the same smell that filled the night outside the school. Without touching these walls, I used them to navigate my way into the school, following several of the greater and lesser hallways that burrowed throughout the building. Room after room passed on either side of me, their doorways filled with darkness or sealed by wide wooden doors whose coarse surfaces were pocked and peeling. Eventually I found a classroom where a light was on, though it was no brighter than the swarthy illumination of the hallway.
When I entered the room I saw that only some of the lamps were functioning, leaving certain areas in darkness while others were smeared with the kind of greasy glow peculiar to old paintings in oil. A few students were seated at desks here and there, isolated from one another and silent. By no means was there a full class, and no instructor stood at the lectern. The blackboard displayed no new diagrams but only the blurred remnants of past lessons. I took a desk near the door, looking at none of the others as they did not look at me. In one of the pockets of my overcoat I turned up a little stub of a pencil but could find nothing on which to take notes. Without any dramatic gestures, I scanned the room for some kind of paper. The visible areas of the room featured various items of debris without offering anything that would allow me to transcribe the complex instructions and diagrams demanded by the class. I was reluctant to make a physical search of the shelves set into the wall beside me because they were very deep and from them drifted that heady fragrance of decay.
Two rows to my left sat a man with several thick notebooks stacked on his desk. His hands were resting lightly on these notebooks, and his spectacled eyes were fixed on the empty lectern, or perhaps on the blackboard beyond. The space between the rows of desks was very narrow, so I was able to lean across the unoccupied desk that separated us and speak to this man who seemed to have a surplus of paper on which one could take notes, transcribe diagrams, and, in short, do whatever scribbling was demanded by the instructor of the class.
“Pardon me,” I whispered to the staring figure. In a single, sudden movement, his head turned to face me. I remembered his pitted complexion, which had obviously grown worse since our class last met, and the eyes that squinted behind heavy lenses. “Do you have any paper you could share with me?” I asked, and was somehow surprised when he shifted his head toward his notebooks and began leafing through the pages of the topmost one. As he performed this action, I explained that I was unprepared for the class, that only a short time before did I learn it had resumed. This happened entirely by chance, I said. I was coming home from a movie theater and decided to take a short cut across the school grounds.
By the time I was finished illuminating my situation, the other student was searching through his last notebook, the pages of which were as solidly covered with jottings and diagrams as the previous ones. I observed that his notes were different from those I had been taking for Instructor Carniero’s course. They were far more detailed and scrupulous in their transcriptions of those strange geometric figures which I considered only as decorative intrusions in the instructor’s diagrams. Some of the other students’ notebook pages were wholly given over to rendering these figures and symbols to the exclusion of the diagrams themselves.
“I’m sorry,” he said. “I don’t seem to have any paper I could share with you.”
“Well, could you tell me if there was an assignment?”
“That’s very possible. You can never tell with this instructor. He’s a Portuguese, you know. But he’s been all over and knows everything. I think he’s out of his mind. The kind of thing he’s been teaching should have gotten him into trouble somewhere, and probably did. Not that he ever cared what happened to him, or to anyone else. That is, those that he could influence, and some more than others. The things he said to us. The lessons in measurement of cloacal forces. Time as a flow of sewage. The excrement of space, scatology of creation. The voiding of the self. The whole filthy integration of things and the nocturnal product, as he called it, drowning in the pools of night.”
“I’m afraid I don’t recall those concepts,” I confessed.
“You’re new to the class. To tell the truth, you don’t seem to understand what the instructor is teaching. But soon enough he will get through to you, if he hasn’t already. You can never know. He’s very captivating, the instructor. And always ready for anything.”
“I was told that he recovered from the sickness that caused his absence, and that he was back teaching.”
“Oh, he’s back. He was always ready. Did you know that the class is now being held in another part of the school? I couldn’t tell you where, since even I haven’t been with Instructor Carniero as long as some of the others. To tell the truth, I don’t care where it’s being held. Isn’t it enough that we’re here, in this room?”
I had little idea how to answer this question and understood almost nothing of what the man had been trying to explain to me. It did seem clear, or at least very possible, that the class had moved to a different part of the school. But I had no reason to think that the other students seated elsewhere in the room would be any more helpful on this point than the one who had now turned his spectacled face away from me. Wherever the class was being held, I was still in need of paper on which to take notes, transcribe diagrams, and so forth. This could not be accomplished by staying in that room where everyone and everything was degenerating into the surrounding darkness.
For a time I wandered about the hallways on the main floor of the school, keeping clear of the walls which certainly were thickening with a dark substance, an odorous sap with the intoxicating potency of a thousand molting autumns or the melting soil of spring. The stuff was running from top to bottom down the walls, leaking from above and dulling the already dim light in the hallways.
I began to hear echoing voices coming from a distant part of the school I had never visited before. No words were decipherable, but it sounded as if the same ones were being repeated in a more or less constant succession of cries that rang hollow in the halls. I followed them and along the way met up with someone walking slowly from the opposite direction. He was dressed in dirty work clothes and almost blended in with the shadows which were so abundant in the school that night. I stopped him as he was about to shuffle straight past me. Turning an indifferent gaze in my direction was a pair of yellowish eyes set in a thin face with a coarse, patchy complexion. The man scratched at the left side of his forehead and some dry flakes of skin fell away. I asked him:
“Could you tell me where Instructor Carniero is holding class tonight?”
He looked at me for some moments, and then pointed a finger at the ceiling. “Up there,” he said. “Look up there.”
“On which floor?”
“The top one,” he answered, as if a little amazed at my ignorance.
“There are a lot of rooms on that floor,” I said.
“And every one of them is his. Nothing to be done about that. But I have to keep the rest of this place in some kind of condition. I don’t see how I can do that with him up there.” The man glanced around at the stained walls and let out a single, wheezing laugh. “It only gets worse. Starts to get to you if you go up any further. Listen. Hear the rest of them?” Then he groaned with disgust and went on his way.
But by that point I felt that any knowledge I had amassed— whether or not it concerned Instructor Carniero and his night classes — was being taken away from me piece by piece. The man in dirty work clothes had directed me to the top floor of the school. Yet I remembered seeing no light on that floor when I first approached the building. The only thing that seemed to occupy that floor was an undiluted darkness, a darkness far greater than the night itself, a consolidated darkness, something clotted with its own density. “The nocturnal product,” I could hear the spectacled student reminding me in a hollow voice. “Drowning in the pools of night.”
What could I know about the ways of the school? I had not been in attendance very long, not nearly long enough, it seemed. I felt myself a stranger to my fellow students, especially since they revealed themselves to be divided in their ranks, as though among the degrees of a secret society. I did not know the coursework in the way some of the others seemed to know it and in the spirit that the instructor intended it to be known. My turn had not yet come to be commanded by Instructor Carniero to look up at the hieroglyphs on the blackboard and comprehend them fully. So I did not understand the doctrines of a truly septic curriculum, the science of a spectral pathology, philosophy of absolute disease, the metaphysics of things sinking into a common disintegration or rising together, flowing together, in their dark rottenness. Above all, I did not know the instructor himself: the places he had been… the things he had seen and done… the experiences he had embraced… the laws he had ignored… the troubles he had caused… the fate that he had incurred, gladly, upon himself and others.
I was now close to a shaft of stairways leading to the upper floors of the school. The voices became louder, though not more distinct, as I approached the stairwell. The first flight of stairs seemed very long and steep, not to mention badly defined in the dim light of the hallway. The landing at the top of the stairs was barely visible for the poor light and unreflecting effluvia that here moved even more thickly down the walls. But it did not appear to possess any real substance, no sticky surface or viscous texture as one might have supposed, only a kind of density like heavy smoke, filthy smoke from some smoldering source of expansive corruption. And it carried the scent of corruption as well as the sight, only now it was more potent with the nostalgic perfume of autumn decay or the feculent muskiness of a spring thaw.
I climbed another flight of stairs, which ascended in the opposite direction from the first, and reached the second floor. Each of the four stories of the school had two flights of stairs going in opposite directions between them, with a narrow landing that intervened before one could complete the ascent to a new floor. The second floor was not as well‐lighted as the one below, and the walls there were even worse: their surface had been wholly obscured by that smoky blackness which seeped down from above, the blackness so richly odorous with the offal of worlds in decline or perhaps with the dark compost of those about to be born, the primeval impurity in which all things are founded, the native putridity.
On the stairs that led up to the third floor I saw the first of them — a young man who was seated on the lower steps of this flight and who had been one of the instructor’s most assiduous students. He was absorbed in his own thoughts and did not acknowledge me until I spoke to him.
“The class?” I said, stressing the words into a question.
He gazed at me calmly. “The instructor suffered a terrible disease, a monumental disease.” This was all he said. Then he returned within himself and would not respond. There were others similarly positioned higher on the stairs or squatting on the landing. The voices were still echoing in the stairwell, chanting a blurred phrase in unison. But the voices did not belong to any of these students, who sat silent and entranced amid the scattered pages torn from their voluminous notebooks. Pieces of paper with strange symbols on them lay scattered everywhere like fallen leaves. They rustled as I walked through them toward the stairs leading to the highest story of the school.
The walls in the stairwell were now swollen with a blackness that was the very face of a plague — pustulant, scabbed, and stinking terribly. It was reaching to the edges of the floor, where it drifted and churned like a black fog. Only in the moonlight that shone through a hallway window could I see anything of the third floor. I stopped there, for the stairs to the fourth were deep in blackness. Only a few faces rose above it and were visible in the moonlight. One of them was staring at me, and, without prompting, spoke.
“The instructor is holding class again despite his terrible disease. Can you imagine? He is able to suffer anything and has been everywhere. Now he is in a new place, somewhere he has not been.” The voice paused and the interval was filled by the many voices calling and crying from the total blackness that prevailed over the heights of the stairwell and buried everything beneath it like tightly packed earth in a grave. Then the single voice said: “The instructor died in the night. You see? He is with the night. You hear the voices? They are with him. And he is with the night. The night has spread itself within him. He who has been everywhere may go anywhere with the disease of the night. Listen. The Portuguese is calling to us.”
I listened and finally the voices became clear. Look up here, they said. Look up here.
The fog of blackness had now unfurled down to me and lay about my feet, gathering there and rising. For a time I could not move or speak or form any thoughts. Inside me everything was becoming black. The blackness was quivering in my bones, eating away at them, making everything black within my body. It was holding me, and the voices were saying, “Look up here, look up here.” And I began to look. But I aborted my gesture before it was completed. I was already too close to something I could not endure, that I was not prepared to endure. Even the blackness quivering inside me could not go on to its end. I could not remain where I was nor look up to the place where the voices called out to me.
Then the blackness seemed to exude from my being, washing itself out of me, and I was no longer inside the school but outside it, almost as if I had suddenly awakened there. Without looking back, I retraced my steps across the grounds of the school, forgetting about the short cut I had meant to take that night. I passed those students who were still standing around the fire burning in an old metal drum. They were feeding the bright flames with pages from their notebooks, pages scribbled to blackness with all those diagrams and freakish signs. Some of those among the group called out to me. “Did you see the Portuguese?” one of them shouted above the noise of the fire and the wind. “Did you hear anything about an assignment?” another voice cried out. And then I heard them all laughing among themselves as I made my way back to the streets I had left before entering the school grounds. I moved with such haste that the loose button on my overcoat finally came off by the time I reached the street outside the grounds of the school.
As I walked beneath the streetlights, I held the front of my overcoat together and tried to keep my eyes on the sidewalk before me. But I might have heard a voice bid me, “Look up here,” because I did look, if only for a moment. Then I saw the sky was clear of all clouds, and the full moon was shining in the black spaces above. It was shining bright and blurry, as if coated with a luminous mold, floating like a lamp in the great sewers of the night. The nocturnal product, I thought, drowning in the pools of night. But these were only words I repeated without understanding. My desire to know something that I was sure was real about my existence, something that could help me in my existence before it was my time to die and be put into the earth to rot, or perhaps have my cremated remains drift out of a chimney stack and sully the sky — that would never be fulfilled. I had learned nothing, and I was nothing. Yet instead of disappointment at my failure to fulfill my most intense desire, I felt a tremendous relief. The urge to know the fundament of things was now emptied from me, and I was more than content to be rid of it. The following night I went to the movie theater again. But I did not take a short cut home.
____
“The Night School” by Thomas Ligotti. From Grimscribe. Copyright © 2015 by Thomas Ligotti. All Rights Reserved. Reprinted by arrangement with The McIntyre Agency. |
NFL clubs were notified today that the NFL Competition Committee has unanimously recommended, and Commissioner Roger Goodell has approved, a limited adjustment to officiating procedures for the 2015 playoffs. The change permits communication between the referee and NFL Vice President of Officiating Dean Blandino -- based in the league's officiating headquarters in New York -- regarding the correct application of rules in specific situations not currently covered by the instant replay rule.
The specific language of the approved change states:
For the 2015 Postseason, consultation may occur between the Referee and the VP of Officiating or his designee located in the league's officiating headquarters in New York regarding the correct application of playing rules. In addition to the VP of Officiating's current role in Instant Replay, this consultation will only include the appropriate assessment of penalty yardage, the proper administration of the game clock, the correct down, or any other administrative matter not currently reviewable.
This will not include the ability to call or change a foul, or otherwise become involved in on-field judgment calls that are not subject to the current Instant Replay system.
"The committee feels strongly that giving the referee and Dean the ability to consult with each other in certain situations beyond instant replay will further support officiating in the playoffs," said NFL Competition Committee Chairman Rich McKay. "The officials do a very difficult job exceedingly well, and we think this adjustment in the playoffs will make them even better."
Blandino and his staff in New York will not call or change a foul or become involved in on-field judgment calls beyond what is already part of the instant replay review process. Communication on administrative matters can be initiated either by Blandino or the referee.
Commissioner Goodell mentioned the concept for the playoffs with NFL owners at the December 2 league meeting in Dallas and said the Competition Committee was expected to make a recommendation shortly.
"We constantly strive to make our game progressively better for the players, coaches and fans," said NFL Executive Vice President of Football Operations Troy Vincent. "This change will assist our officials with an additional resource for clarity and consistency in game administration." |
For my current Ember.js project, I found myself needing some pagination controls. Thankfully,Zurb Foundation provides me some markup and CSS to base my pagination controls on, so I was free to focus more on the functionality. Essentially, all I needed was a little widget with three properties:
current page number
total number of pages
optionally, the maximum number of pages to display before the list is truncated
This looked like the perfect use case for an Ember Component. I wouldn’t even need to have the component trigger any actions, because anything using it could simply observe changes to the current page property! Let’s take a look at how I solved this.
Displaying a List of Clickable Page Numbers
To begin, I created a component with two properties: currentPage and totalPages. In order to actually display a list from this, I created a computed property named pageItems that would generate some objects to drive the UI. I also added an action handler to support selecting a new page:
LabCompass.PageNumbersComponent = Ember.Component.extend currentPage: null totalPages: null pageItems: (-> currentPage = Number @get "currentPage" totalPages = Number @get "totalPages" for pageNumber in [1..totalPages] page: pageNumber current: currentPage == pageNumber ).property "currentPage", "totalPages" actions: pageClicked: (number) -> @set "currentPage", number LabCompass.PageNumbersComponent = Ember.Component.extend currentPage: null totalPages: null pageItems: (-> currentPage = Number @get "currentPage" totalPages = Number @get "totalPages" for pageNumber in [1..totalPages] page: pageNumber current: currentPage == pageNumber ).property "currentPage", "totalPages" actions: pageClicked: (number) -> @set "currentPage", number
Then, my user interface was as simple as iterating over this list and displaying some markup. I’d recommend you take a look at the documentation for Foundation’s pagination to have a better idea of why things are being structured as they are.
.pagination-centered ul.pagination each item in pageItems if item.current li.current: a = item.page else li: a click="pageClicked item.page" = item.page .pagination-centered ul.pagination each item in pageItems if item.current li.current: a = item.page else li: a click="pageClicked item.page" = item.page
You may notice that I’m not using Ember objects to represent the individual pages. This is because I’m returning a new array each time the property is recomputed after being invalidated by its dependent keys, causing everything in the template to re-render. Since I don’t see any other reason why I’d be updating the individual pageItem objects, I left them as regular javascript objects, which the template can handle just fine.
Using the component is easy:
.row .small-12.column page-numbers currentPage=myCurrentPage totalPages=myTotalPages .row .small-12.column page-numbers currentPage=myCurrentPage totalPages=myTotalPages
Adding Buttons for Previous/Next
The next step was adding some arrow controls for stepping forward or backwards in the list of pages. This was easy enough; add some markup for the arrows and a couple of action handlers. I also wanted to have them reflect to the user whether they are currently clickable, so I added two computed properties (canStepForward, canStepBackward) to inform the template.
LabCompass.PageNumbersComponent = Ember.Component.extend currentPage: null totalPages: null pageItems: (-> currentPage = Number @get "currentPage" totalPages = Number @get "totalPages" for pageNumber in [1..totalPages] page: pageNumber current: currentPage == pageNumber ).property "currentPage", "totalPages" canStepForward: (-> page = Number @get "currentPage" totalPages = Number @get "totalPages" page < totalPages ).property "currentPage", "totalPages" canStepBackward: (-> page = Number @get "currentPage" page > 1 ).property "currentPage" actions: pageClicked: (number) -> @set "currentPage", number stepForward: -> @incrementProperty "page" stepBackward: -> @decrementProperty "page" LabCompass.PageNumbersComponent = Ember.Component.extend currentPage: null totalPages: null pageItems: (-> currentPage = Number @get "currentPage" totalPages = Number @get "totalPages" for pageNumber in [1..totalPages] page: pageNumber current: currentPage == pageNumber ).property "currentPage", "totalPages" canStepForward: (-> page = Number @get "currentPage" totalPages = Number @get "totalPages" page < totalPages ).property "currentPage", "totalPages" canStepBackward: (-> page = Number @get "currentPage" page > 1 ).property "currentPage" actions: pageClicked: (number) -> @set "currentPage", number stepForward: -> @incrementProperty "page" stepBackward: -> @decrementProperty "page"
.pagination-centered ul.pagination if canStepBackward li.arrow: a click="stepBackward" « else li.arrow.unavailable: a « each item in pageItems if item.current li.current: a = item.page else li: a click="pageClicked item.page" = item.page if canStepForward li.arrow: a click="stepForward" » else li.arrow.unavailable: a » .pagination-centered ul.pagination if canStepBackward li.arrow: a click="stepBackward" « else li.arrow.unavailable: a « each item in pageItems if item.current li.current: a = item.page else li: a click="pageClicked item.page" = item.page if canStepForward li.arrow: a click="stepForward" » else li.arrow.unavailable: a »
Truncating the Full List of Pages
Now things are looking good and working well. There’s one caveat, though: if there are a very large number of pages, things become a bit unwieldy. The next step is to specify a maximum number of pages to display, after which the clickable numbers get truncated and ellipses are inserted.
I decided to fix this by specifying a maximum number of options to display. If the number of pages exceeded this, then I would intelligently trim out some options and replace them with ellipses. This was easily the most complicated part of the entire process. E.g., if you’ve selected page number 4, it’s unlikely you want to see page 2 or 3 truncated out of the list. Similarly for the last few pages.
The solution I came up with was to take the array of objects we were already generating, then strip out and replace excess items with an ellipses marker. I also added a new property, maxPagesToDisplay, that controls when the page numbers will begin to be truncated.
LabCompass.PageNumbersComponent = Ember.Component.extend currentPage: null totalPages: null maxPagesToDisplay: 11 #should be odd pageItems: (-> currentPage = Number @get "currentPage" totalPages = Number @get "totalPages" maxPages = Number @get "maxPagesToDisplay" # ensure that maxPages is odd maxPages += 1 - maxPages % 2 pages = for pageNumber in [1..totalPages] ellipses: false page: pageNumber current: currentPage == pageNumber if pages.length > maxPages # determine position in truncated array (1 to max) positionOfCurrent = ((maxPages - 1) / 2) + 1 # does the position need to be shifted left? if positionOfCurrent > currentPage positionOfCurrent = currentPage # does the position need to be shifted right? if (totalPages - currentPage) < (maxPages - positionOfCurrent) positionOfCurrent = maxPages - (totalPages - currentPage) # if distance from max is greater than delta of values, truncate if (totalPages - currentPage) > (maxPages - positionOfCurrent) maxDistance = maxPages - positionOfCurrent overspill = totalPages - currentPage - maxDistance toRemove = overspill + 1 idx = totalPages - 1 - toRemove pages.replace idx, toRemove, [ ellipses: true ] # if distance from 1 is greater than delta of values, truncate if currentPage > positionOfCurrent maxDistance = positionOfCurrent overspill = currentPage - positionOfCurrent toRemove = overspill + 1 idx = 1 pages.replace idx, toRemove, [ ellipses: true ] pages ).property "currentPage", "totalPages", "maxPagesToDisplay" canStepForward: (-> page = Number @get "currentPage" totalPages = Number @get "totalPages" page < totalPages ).property "currentPage", "totalPages" canStepBackward: (-> page = Number @get "currentPage" page > 1 ).property "currentPage" actions: pageClicked: (number) -> @set "currentPage", number stepForward: -> @incrementProperty "currentPage" stepBackward: -> @decrementProperty "currentPage" LabCompass.PageNumbersComponent = Ember.Component.extend currentPage: null totalPages: null maxPagesToDisplay: 11 #should be odd pageItems: (-> currentPage = Number @get "currentPage" totalPages = Number @get "totalPages" maxPages = Number @get "maxPagesToDisplay" # ensure that maxPages is odd maxPages += 1 - maxPages % 2 pages = for pageNumber in [1..totalPages] ellipses: false page: pageNumber current: currentPage == pageNumber if pages.length > maxPages # determine position in truncated array (1 to max) positionOfCurrent = ((maxPages - 1) / 2) + 1 # does the position need to be shifted left? if positionOfCurrent > currentPage positionOfCurrent = currentPage # does the position need to be shifted right? if (totalPages - currentPage) < (maxPages - positionOfCurrent) positionOfCurrent = maxPages - (totalPages - currentPage) # if distance from max is greater than delta of values, truncate if (totalPages - currentPage) > (maxPages - positionOfCurrent) maxDistance = maxPages - positionOfCurrent overspill = totalPages - currentPage - maxDistance toRemove = overspill + 1 idx = totalPages - 1 - toRemove pages.replace idx, toRemove, [ ellipses: true ] # if distance from 1 is greater than delta of values, truncate if currentPage > positionOfCurrent maxDistance = positionOfCurrent overspill = currentPage - positionOfCurrent toRemove = overspill + 1 idx = 1 pages.replace idx, toRemove, [ ellipses: true ] pages ).property "currentPage", "totalPages", "maxPagesToDisplay" canStepForward: (-> page = Number @get "currentPage" totalPages = Number @get "totalPages" page < totalPages ).property "currentPage", "totalPages" canStepBackward: (-> page = Number @get "currentPage" page > 1 ).property "currentPage" actions: pageClicked: (number) -> @set "currentPage", number stepForward: -> @incrementProperty "currentPage" stepBackward: -> @decrementProperty "currentPage"
.pagination-centered ul.pagination if canStepBackward li.arrow: a click="stepBackward" « else li.arrow.unavailable: a « each item in pageItems if item.ellipses li.unavailable: a … else if item.current li.current: a = item.page else li: a click="pageClicked item.page" = item.page if canStepForward li.arrow: a click="stepForward" » else li.arrow.unavailable: a » .pagination-centered ul.pagination if canStepBackward li.arrow: a click="stepBackward" « else li.arrow.unavailable: a « each item in pageItems if item.ellipses li.unavailable: a … else if item.current li.current: a = item.page else li: a click="pageClicked item.page" = item.page if canStepForward li.arrow: a click="stepForward" » else li.arrow.unavailable: a »
This could definitely be done more efficiently. The best way would be to generate only items needed, deciding beforehand which ranges to cut out. Frankly, the performance appears to be fine, so I’m willing to leave things as-is until I notice a good reason to improve it.
Wrap-up
I’m really quite happy with how this turned out — largely due to Ember’s awesomeness. Ember’s computed properties and bindings are excellent. Without them, the implementation of a pagination control couldn’t have been so easy or fast to create, and it couldn’t have provided such a simple interface to its client code. |
When Killa Ace’s song became a rallying cry for change, he was forced to flee Gambia. Elections on Thursday might decide if he — and thousands of others in exile — can finally return home.
Marco Longari / AFP / Getty Images Supporters of Gambian President Yahya Jammeh in Banjul.
DAKAR — As a skinny, hot-headed teenager growing up in the Bronx, Ali Cham used rap as a safety valve to blow off steam about social injustices. He listened to Nas and Lupe Fiasco, and his own run-ins with the police inspired his lyrics. Cham’s friends called him AC. His Gambian parents, who’d moved to the US when he was 4, were disapproving when he added an E to the nickname and became Ace. Then he began skipping school to take part in rap battles, where friends would cheer him on. “Ace is a killer,” they’d yell. By the time Cham started calling himself Killa Ace, his parents decided it was time to return home. For a teenager stepping off a plane from New York, everything about Africa’s smallest country was a shock. “The situation in Gambia is crazy, especially if you come from an environment where you are free,” said Cham, wearing his usual baseball cap over his crown of spiky locs. “You can’t even have a conversation and say the president’s name out loud without somebody becoming scared. You have to use codes to say the president’s name.” That president, Yahya Jammeh, has ruled with an iron fist for 22 years. Gambians go to the polls on Thursday, but for the first time, they will have a credible opposition to choose from. Gambia has had only two presidents since independence in 1965, so the election raises the possibility of a third one finally being voted in. And for thousands like Cham who’ve fled the regime, the results could decide whether they can finally return home.
Courtesy of Ali Cham
When he returned home in 2000, Cham threw himself into the nascent hip-hop scene. He featured in Gambia’s first ever hip-hop compilation, set up a rare open mic night, released a solo album, and clinched his own radio show. Fans were drawn to his rhapsodies on social ills and pan-African themes. Invitations to regional hip-hop festivals followed and he even chipped in to Nigeria’s Bring Back Our Girls campaign by releasing a single. But something was troubling him. “I realized if I can do a song speaking out against a situation in another country, and I can’t actually speak out against what’s happening in my own country, it technically makes me a hypocrite, right?” Cham said in a recent interview in Dakar. So, last June, he released a song about Gambia’s own political woes. “If you don’t hear from me after this / you all know where I’m at and what’s going on,” he signed off on the track. In one of the world’s worst police states, it wasn’t hyperbole.
“Ku Boka C Geta G” — a proverb in the local Wolof language that means “if you’re part of the herd, you’re entitled to drink from the milk the cows provide” — instantly went viral. Overnight, it was played 24,000 times on SoundCloud, where it was first uploaded.
Over a heavy, grime-influenced beat, Cham took aim at the corruption that has deprived ordinary citizens of everything from employment to food security to freedom of expression. “But the main foundation and pillar of the song is that we Gambians are part of the country and we have a say,” he said. It was a dangerous truth to preach under Jammeh, a megalomaniac who during his two decades in power has cultivated a habit of jailing citizens for far smaller acts of defiance. Those languishing in overcrowded jails include a man who set up a social media profile using Jammeh’s name, another who lacked official permission to distribute T-shirts at a rally, and a third who failed to secure a permit to use a microphone. “I knew what was gonna happen next,” Cham said. Within two hours of the song’s release, he started receiving death threats from anonymous numbers. Officials turned up at his relatives’ houses. He and his family packed their bags and fled to Dakar, Senegal’s capital. They’ve been there since. But the song didn’t die with Cham’s departure. Instead, it became more popular. In the biggest nightclubs of Banjul, the Gambian capital, crowds screamed when the song came on. Students used it as cell phone ringtones. It became the country’s most popular hip-hop song, and a rallying anthem for change.
Marco Longari / AFP / Getty Images Adama Barrow is leading the opposition coalition against Jammeh.
Adama Barrow, a real estate developer who once worked as a store security guard in London, is now the regime’s biggest headache. Eight opposition parties have rallied behind him, which means the votes splintered among numerous candidates in previous elections could add up to defeat Jammeh in Thursday’s election. The only other candidate is a former ruling party MP, who some see as a decoy meant to split the coalition votes.
“This is an election which I will call the final test to his dictatorship. And it’s coming from the people’s power. People are out on the streets. Nobody would have ever, ever imagined that,” said Essa Bokarr Sy, a former ambassador to multiple countries in Jammeh’s administration. But challenging Jammeh comes at a high price. The coalition’s growing popularity has been matched by increasing arrests. At least three people have since died in detention, including a popular opposition leader. This month, two journalists were rounded up for broadcasting images of opposition supporters. Jammeh has called for his own supporters to remain calm ahead of what he says is certain victory. Meanwhile, he’s accused the opposition of being “evil vermin” who are being paid by Western governments to destabilize the country. “I don’t think that anyone is naïve enough to believe that a dictatorship that has entrenched itself for this long could easily be disposed of in a democratic election,” said Sidi Sanneh, a former foreign minister who is now a US-based dissident.
"He’s crude, he’s rude, he’s disrespectful, and he likes using force."
Still, he said this year would easily be the closest election since 1994. What began then as a hopeful revolution has long since morphed into something bordering a caricature of dictatorship. Jammeh was a 29-year-old officer who was largely welcomed when he overthrew the president, the sole ruler since the country’s independence. “Some people were even dreaming of another [Thomas] Sankara,” one of the continent’s most revered post-independence icons, said Sy, the former ambassador, who didn’t participate in the coup but had trained in the barracks alongside Jammeh. In the early days after Jammeh took power, literacy levels rose. Roads and schools were built. Basic services taken for granted elsewhere were seen as privileges in a country that still languishes at the bottom of development indexes. Today, Jammeh has amassed a personal fortune while 70% of the population live on less than $2 a day. “He’s crude, he’s rude, he’s disrespectful, and he likes using force — that one I know — but the flamboyant lifestyle, that one surprised me. He never showed any signal of wanting to be flashy in the barracks. He preferred wearing simple fatigues. Along the way, I don’t know what happened,” Sy said in a phone interview. Jammeh soon swapped military fatigues for flowing white gowns and a scepter, cementing his rule through a mind-boggling mix of calculated generosity, mysticism, and brutality. He threatened to “cut off the head” of gay people, and claimed he could cure a long list of maladies — from erectile dysfunction to a herbal mix that could cure HIV if applied on Thursdays. Human rights abuses piled up. He declared he would stay in power for a “billion years.” His most powerful weapon: convincing Gambians he is everywhere, all the time. The president’s face adorns everything from billboards to bars of soap, telephone credit cards to hotel lobbies. Enforcing his all-seeing eye is a feared private army, known as the “Junglers.” Nicknamed the “black blacks” for their black fatigues and balaclavas, the group report directly to the president, and reportedly keep a list of regime opponents to assassinate.
Marco Longari / AFP / Getty Images Jammeh listens to one of his aides during a rally.
Cham, aka Killa Ace, is typical of two-thirds of the population who have only ever known life under Jammeh.
He’s online a lot. He’s unemployed. And he’s also, like many, not a resident in the country. Despite having a population of only around 2 million, Gambia saw more migrants flee to Italy at the beginning of this year than any other country in the continent. If young people account for the bulk of those taking “the back way,” as it’s referred to locally, they’re also the driving force behind those increasingly speaking out against Jammeh’s rule. “Gambians are starting … to have courage. He can’t kill us all, obviously. He can’t arrest us all,” Cham said. Gambia’s sole neighbor and one of Africa’s most stable democracies, Senegal has become a home for thousands fleeing the regime. BuzzFeed News spoke with several exiles in Dakar, some of whom agreed to speak only on condition of anonymity because they didn’t want to endanger family members who are still in Gambia.
"He can’t kill us all, obviously."
One of them had served time in jail without ever being charged; another is so traumatized by his frequent contact with Jammeh that he still changes location every few weeks in Senegal, convinced the president has sent his guards to kill him. But everyone who spoke to BuzzFeed News agreed the anti-government rallies taking place were unlike anything they’d ever seen. “Before, my friends wouldn’t even post the president’s name on Facebook. Now I’m seeing people criticize him online,” one said. Another exile said that paranoia was most acute at State House, the official residence in Banjul, where the president frequently paced around in a rage. “It was just horrible. He’s always angry. You never know why. He will call you bastard, call your mother a bastard.” Leaving Jammeh’s inner circle — whether as a domestic worker or senior official — was dangerous. “The very day I started work, I regretted it. It doesn’t take you long to know that you’re in the wrong place but you can’t resign,” a former civil servant said. A security official recalled Jammeh storming into workers’ quarters and pouring freezing water on the sleeping staff. “Another time I saw him come and start spraying insecticide on a security guard. He was screaming, how can he have three security guards and one of them is sitting down. I said [to myself] — this guy, is he human or what?” Although few would deny that cracks are widening, Gambians are divided on whether Jammeh’s regime can be split apart from within — if at all. “The fear factor that exists among Jammeh’s [inner circle] is more than the fear factor among the general population,” said Sy. “Outside though, the fear factor has been removed; in part because of social media, people can see beyond the borders of Gambia.”
Marco Longari / AFP / Getty Images Gambians will vote by inserting marbles into metal drums.
Late in June, Cham sat on a cramped balcony overlooking a bustling street in a noisy Dakar district. In the room behind him, a slender woman lay on a mattress next to a sleeping toddler.
It was the end of Ramadan, and the city was celebrating. Cham had come to visit Sanna Camara, a Gambian journalist who is also living in exile. Camara’s crime: publishing a report on human trafficking. The two men drank tiny cups of sweet mint tea. At dawn, Camara’s wife and youngest child would take the bus back to Banjul, reversing the same journey her husband made on foot, in disguise, two years ago. “I’d prefer them to stay here — it’s not safe in Gambia, but I don’t have the money here,” Camara said. There’s a polite version of a saying in Wolof, one of several common languages in both countries, that refers to Gambia as “a banana shoved in the mouth of Senegal” — diplomatic bickering between the two countries centres around the outsized power Gambia wields as it effectively splits its much larger neighbor in two. “Jammeh is a thorn in Senegal’s side. But I think it’s a case of preferring the devil you know. [Senegalese President Macky] Sall and his government’s fear of who, or what, could be next in the Gambia if Jammeh goes likely outweighs their disdain for the status quo,” said Joshua Shrager, a former US diplomat based in Gambia until 2014. But Jammeh may have much more to lose. In addition to common languages, similar cultures interweave between the two countries. Rappers are a powerful political force in Senegal; twice in recent years, a coalition of rappers, including Positive Black Soul and Y En A Marre (French for “fed up”), derailed attempts by the former president to tinker with the constitution and run for a third term. From Banjul, Cham watched their movements closely. “I realized there was a bunch of rap artists from Senegal, some were part of the Y En A Marre movement, they did a song speaking out against Yahya Jammeh. I realized that if brothers from Senegal can do [that], as a person who has been a victim of police brutality, a person that has a lot of friends that took illegal immigration to Europe and so on, I realized, it’s just time. The time is now.”
Courtesy of Ali Cham
Soon after fleeing to Senegal, Cham appeared on a popular rap news show, called Le Journal Rappe, which broadcasts in both French and Wolof. This episode was dedicated to Gambia. “OK, now, can you tell us about the freedom of speech in your country?” the presenter asked in French-accented English. For saying the wrong thing you end up in detention TV is controlled by his name I can’t mention Hey yo, it’s crazy how we living out here Cos we scared to speak our minds Cos we really living in fear As soon as you cross the border you feel it in the air Since the beginning of this year, Jammeh has effectively closed the border between the two countries by imposing a blockade.
Marco Longari / AFP / Getty Images Opposition supporters during a campaign rally. |
The opening up of Eastern Europe to the rest of the world in the early 1990s brought about tremendous benefits. The inflow of capital and innovation has led to better institutions, better economic management, and higher efficiency. On the flip side, it has also led to sizable and persistent outflow of people.
Close to 20 million, mostly young and skilled Eastern Europeans—equal to the combined population of the Czech Republic and Hungary—left their countries over the past 25 years to seek better opportunities abroad (Chart 1). And even as they have contributed to the riches of the receiving countries and the EU as a whole, their departure has slowed growth and convergence of their home countries to the living standards of advanced Europe. A study by IMF staff proposes policy options to balance the scales. Emigration slowed growth in Eastern Europe Economic migration is driven by personal choices. For Eastern Europeans, the motivation to leave is mainly better jobs and higher pay (Chart 2). Many of these economic migrants are highly skilled (e.g., doctors, architects, engineers) and younger than the average person at home. The less effective the government and the weaker the institutions (guarding the rule of law, upholding accountability and fighting corruption) in their home countries, the more likely the young and educated are to seek better opportunities abroad. While emigrants themselves tend to be better off and their families back home often benefit from remittances, their departure weakens the economic potential of their home countries. This has left Eastern European countries worse off (Chart 3). Large and persistent emigration appears to have slowed both overall and per capita output growth rates. In the absence of emigration between 1995 and 2012, real GDP growth would have been altogether 7 percentage points higher on the average in the region, according to analytical work by IMF staff. Some skills are in short supply, lowering productivity growth in the East. And while the large inflow of remittances has supported investment and consumption, it also led to exchange rate appreciation, making economies less competitive. Moreover, the money sent back to relatives pushed up starting wages and reduced incentives to work. As a result, wages have risen faster than productivity, eroding returns on investment and weakening incentives to invest in home countries. With lower output, government spending on social benefits has increased in relation to GDP. The departure of the young adds to the already existing trend of the elderly occupying an increasing share in the population, leading to more spending on retirement benefits relative to GDP. Governments have tended to respond to these budgetary pressures by raising labor taxes that lower employers’ incentives to create jobs, thus making budgetary structure even less jobs and growth friendly. The departure of some of the youngest and brightest makes Eastern Europe’s process of catching up to advanced Europe more challenging. Boon for Europe as a whole How about the impact of the east-west migration on receiving countries? The westward migration seems to have contributed to stronger growth in Western European countries and been an economic boon for the European Union as a whole. As such, economic migration is an indicator of success of the European Union project, which sees freedom of movement as necessary for greater economic integration and, ultimately, higher incomes for all. With income and institutional differences between East and West remaining wide, the push and pull factors driving emigration from the east are likely to persist for some time. What’s more, the trends could further intensify with new countries getting ready to join the European Union. Making it work for all Overall, European Union membership brought substantial benefit for Eastern Europe. Now what can be done to ensure that the free flow of people leads to a win-win outcome for both labor sending and receiving countries? Although there are some tasks to be done locally, there is also room for a pan-European response.
For Eastern Europe: better institutions and economic policies in home countries would make it more attractive for people to stay, for emigrants to return, and for people from other countries to seek jobs in Eastern Europe. Further liberalization of immigration regimes, especially for skilled workers, could be considered as well. Governments can do more to work with diasporas abroad in order to leverage their expertise and savings, and to provide more incentives for people to invest rather than spend remittances. In addition, more can be done to retain and better use the existing workforce, for example, through better matching of education to employment needs and providing more opportunities for on-the-job training. The choice of policy responses to emigration-related fiscal pressures matters as well: avoiding increases in labor taxes and relying more on consumption taxes would be more conducive for investment and long-run growth.
For the European Union: given that the East-West migration has benefited the European Union as a whole, there is a case for better redistributing the gains. For example, the size and composition of the European Union structural and cohesion funds—transfers from wealthier to poorer European Union regions—could explicitly account for the negative effects of emigration on sending countries’ economic potential. This would also be consistent with the European Union’s goal of reducing economic and social disparities across regions and promoting sustainable development.
You can watch the video about Eastern Europe's emigration here |
In recent months, a new online charitable organization has exploded in popularity. Their mission: to distribute as many Facebook likes as possible to desperate and starving children all over the world.
The Silicon Valley-based non-profit, Likes4Hunger, has already motivated thousands of young people across the country to break free of their apathy and finally do something about the state of world hunger. Meanwhile, the starving children and their ruined families are no doubt elated at how popular they have already become.
“The difficult part isn’t really getting the Likes,” said founder and CEO Joe Dillson in an interview, “it’s actually bringing the likes to the children that need them which proves more complicated.” The organization has tried a variety of means to bring the Likes to the starving children, including setting up internet in remote African towns, and airdropping thousands of printed copies of their Facebook page across rural Southeast Asia.
Dillson concluded by saying that if he were to receive the Nobel Peace Prize he would similarly share it with as many impoverished youngsters as he can, so they can know how far they’ve come. |
Jordan Spieth turned 22 years old Monday, July 27. With his U.S. Open victory last month, Spieth became the youngest player to win two majors since Gene Sarazen in 1922.
Now the second-ranked player in the world, how does he stack up against some of the game’s greatest talents? Here’s a breakdown of Spieth’s early career accomplishments alongside that of Rory McIlroy, Tiger Woods and Jack Nicklaus.
Spieth:
77 PGA Tour starts
5 victories (2 major championships)
29 Top 10 finishes
13 missed cuts
$17.3 million in earnings
McIlroy:
32 PGA Tour starts
1 victory (0 major championships)
1 Euro Tour victory
9 Top 10 finishes
5 missed PGA Tour cuts
$3.7 million in earnings
Woods:
43 PGA Tour starts
6 victories (1 major championship)
14 Top 10 finishes
9 missed cuts
$2.8 million
Nicklaus:
Less than 25 PGA Tour starts
0 victories
3 missed cuts
Had turned pro for just 2 months
For more news that golfers everywhere are talking about, follow @golf_com on Twitter, like us on Facebook, and subscribe to our YouTube video channel. |
As the city of Joplin deals with the devastation from Sunday's tornado, some people might wonder whether these extreme weather events are getting more common because of climate change. The answer is that no one really knows.
A tornado is a rotating column of air that stretches from the bottom of clouds to the Earth's surface. They can occur in a wide range of shapes and sizes, typically manifesting as a funnel of condensation surrounded by a cloud of dust and debris. Wind speeds in an average tornado reach more than 100mph (160km/h) and the system itself is less than 100 metres across, but extreme events can be several miles across, with wind speeds of more than 300mph.
It is difficult to relate any individual weather event to climate change and, unlike with hurricanes, there is little robust research on whether the warming planet is causing any noticeable effects. Grady Dixon, assistant professor of meteorology and climatology at Mississippi State University, told AFP: "If you look at the past 60 years of data, the number of tornadoes is increasing significantly, but it's agreed upon by the tornado community that it's not a real increase. It's having to do with better (weather tracking) technology, more population, the fact that the population is better educated and more aware. So we're seeing them more often."
Writing on the Climate Central website, the policy analyst Andrew Freedman said climate change was already changing the environment in which severe thunderstorms and their associated tornadoes form, and that it was bound to have some influence on tornado frequency or strength. "But as of now, no discernible trend has been detected in the observational data, and studies of how tornadoes will fare in a warmer world show somewhat conflicting results."
He added: "Since more moisture gets added to the atmosphere as the climate warms, additional water vapour may help severe thunderstorms and tornadoes to form. On the other hand, wind shear is expected to decline due to climate change, which would argue against an increase in tornado numbers."
Around a thousand tornadoes hit the US every year, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Though every state experiences them, tornadoes have tended to be most common around an area between the Rocky mountains and Appalachian mountains, nicknamed "tornado alley". For the most part, they form during the spring and summer, with the season coming earlier in the south and later in the north. |
Why Bitcoin Will Get Scaling Without Segwit or Large Blocks
Jimmy Song Blocked Unblock Follow Following Feb 20, 2017
If you’re like me, you’re pretty sick of the bitcoin scaling debate. On the one side, you have the big blockers who want 2MB blocks, entertaining the notion of a network fork to do so. On the other, you have the small blockers, who want to keep the 1MB block limit, but add more scaling through segwit, lightning network and so on. This debate has been going on for literally, years, and there really isn’t an end in sight. Segwit signalling began back in December, and hasn’t even reached 30% of mined blocks signaling (95% is required). Similarly, the current favorite among big blockers is Bitcoin Unlimited, which similarly has consistently less than 30% of mined blocks signaling (it needs 75%).
The reality of the situation is that neither side are going to reach their goals and given that this split in the community has lasted a few years already, I don’t see this being resolved anytime soon. What’s curious to me is that neither side really is planning on anything but winning. The big blockers seem intent on getting 2MB blocks, breaking the stranglehold that Core has on development and move on to even larger block sizes in the future with a hard fork. The small blockers seem intent on crushing the dangerous hard-fork intentions of the Bitcoin Unlimited folks, get Segwit out and work on stuff that depend on Segwit like Schnorr signatures and the Lightning Network. Essentially, both sides seem to be planning for a parade when a stalemate for years seems like the much greater possibility.
This is why I’m writing this article. I’m going to go through a thought experiment of what will happen in a future where neither side wins (hint: that’s the most likely result at this point). Note that this is mainly a thought experiment and the things I am speculating about may or may not come to pass.
Feeeeees!!!
If you haven’t heard by now, there are a lot of transactions floating in the mempool that don’t seem to be getting into blocks. The main complaint of the big blockers is how hard it is to use bitcoin when their transactions aren’t confirmed for 12 hours or more. The usual response by small blockers is something like “then you should get miners to signal for Segwit”, which usually devolves into another small blocker vs. big blocker shouting match.
At this point in bitcoin’s history, the fees for a 250 byte transaction are about $0.50. Now you may say this is too expensive or too cheap, but one thing you can’t deny is that fees have gone up compared to last year. This is largely due to more transactions that want to get in, but having fees not high enough. This market of transactions that need inclusion in blocks and what they should pay is what bitcoiners call the fee market.
Many people have speculated that the fees will just keep going up linearly as more and more transactions get stuck, more and more transactions stay in the mempool and so forth and that we’d be facing $5+ fees in a few years’ time. This may happen, and though I don’t know the future, allow me to map out what I think is the most logical sequence of events that flow from our current situation.
At some point, even with 1MB blocks and no Segwit, transactions will move dramatically off-chain. How is that possible without Segwit or lightning network, you ask? First, notice that a lot of transactions already happen off-chain. Xapo claims that they do more off-chain transactions than on-chain. Coinbase, Localbitcoins, Purse.io, most bitcoin exchanges and services have some type of off-chain transactions service already.
A significant number of the on-chain transactions are actually between these services. In a typical example, perhaps someone wants the Purse.io discount and goes to Coinbase to move from dollars to bitcoins, transfers that to the Purse.io wallet and buys something from Amazon. There is one on-chain bitcoin transaction in this scenario, one between Coinbase and Purse that probably happens many times a day.
A Modest Improvement
Once fees are high enough and transactions between them frequent enough, Coinbase and Purse will want to form a bilateral agreement. For example, Purse.io can open a business account with Coinbase where they can deposit or withdraw bitcoins. Whenever some bitcoin is being sent out from Coinbase, Coinbase can ask Purse, hey, is this an address you control? If so, Purse can respond with cryptographic proof that it does and instead of putting that transaction on chain, Coinbase can simply credit Purse.io’s account and let Purse.io know so they can credit the customer. No need to transfer on-chain, no need to wait for confirmations, no money spent on fees, and instant credit of bitcoin on Purse for the customer.
Notice that everybody wins in this scenario. Coinbase gets to keep bitcoins on its system, Purse gets to credit the customer instantly and the customer doesn’t have to pay any fees on chain nor leak more privacy by having the transaction on chain. The same thing can happen for transactions going in the other direction. When someone is sending bitcoins out of Purse, Purse can ask Coinbase, is this an address you control? If Coinbase sends back cryptographic proof that it does, Purse can ask for a debit to its account at Coinbase and credit the account associated with the address instead of an on-chain transaction. Again, there is no transaction necessary on the blockchain, no fees spent, no need to wait for confirmations for the customer. In short, a win for everybody.
Now every once in awhile, it would be in Purse’s interest to withdraw large balances from Coinbase on-chain so that Purse doesn’t risk losing bitcoins should Coinbase go under. Similarly, it would be in Coinbase’s interest to demand Purse deposit some bitcoins when the balance is low, but all three of Coinbase, Purse and the customer transferring between them get the benefits of such an arrangement.
Notice that if there’s significant volume between Coinbase and Purse, you can essentially compress many off chain transactions into a single on-chain transaction. If these two companies typically do 1001 transactions per day back and forth on-chain before this system and settle instead on the blockchain once per day, the savings per day is 1000 fees, or about $500/day at current transaction fee rates. Such an arrangement would also relieve transaction congestion on-chain, so it’s not only a win for the three parties here, but also for the entire Bitcoin Network!
If this sounds familiar, it should. It’s basically what bidirectional payment channels are in bitcoin, except we’re making our own ad-hoc payment channel using an account at Coinbase instead of using bitcoin’s more restrictive and complicated, though more secure, payment channel. Furthermore, the agreement between these two companies can have loan agreements should a balance fall below 0, legal contracts to protect each company and perhaps even insurance should one party fail in some way. In other words, such a bilateral agreement is a lot more useful and tailored to the needs of the companies involved than a bidirectional payment channel is.
So why hasn’t this happened already? Perhaps it has and we don’t know since such transactions would by definition be off-chain. More likely, however, is that the fees are not high enough where it’s worth it for companies to make such agreements, not to mention the cost of updates to their software to make this happen. As fees get higher, we can expect agreements like this between popular bitcoin services to put downward pressure on fees as more transactions start happening off-chain.
The Start of a Network
Now as more companies agree to bilateral agreements, someone will notice that if A has a bilateral relationship with B and B has a bilateral relationship with C, A can send or receive bitcoins to C using B off-chain without a direct bilateral agreement between A and C. B may or may not agree to cooperate, and in order to incentivize B to cooperate, A and C should agree to pay B something lower than the on-chain cost of the transaction.
In fact, the bilateral agreement path can be fairly long. If A has a bilateral relationship with B, B with C, C with D and D with E, A can do off-chain transactions with E if B, C and D all agree to facilitate the transaction for a cost lower than the on-chain cost. The bilateral relationships form a network of relationships where any one participant can send to any other connected participant.
If this sounds familiar, it should. This is how the Lightning Network is supposed to work, except the relationships I’m describing are based on ad-hoc bilateral agreements. And indeed, some sort of ad-hoc routing through a network of bilateral relationships like this will be the obvious next step so A can send to C without having a bilateral agreement in place.
The Inevitable Consolidation
As the network of bilateral relationships grows, the natural incentives for each new participant will be such that they will want bilateral relationships with parties that are well-connected, that is, they’ll want to have bilateral relationships with companies that have more bilateral relationships with others. In general, companies will want to open as few bilateral relationships as possible (each bilateral relationship has a cost), but will want each bilateral relationship to route to the most nodes as possible.
The incentives then naturally grow towards a specific network topology called a hub-and-spoke network, where a large number of nodes (spokes) have a direct relationship with a central node (hub). This minimizes the number of bilateral relationships (1 per spoke) and maximizes the network reach (access to the entire hub-and-spoke encompassing at most 2 bilateral agreements). You can think about hub-and-spoke transactions as two customers of a bank that want to transfer money between each other. The bank facilitates a transfer by moving money on their ledger from one customer’s account to another, sometimes for a fee, but sometimes free. In fintech parlance, this central hub is what’s called a clearing house. Such a clearing house, instead of transferring cash would transfer bitcoins off-chain.
The benefits of this arrangement would be proportional to the fees on-chain. You would have instant transfers between most services, no on-chain record and most importantly no fees on-chain. Notice that this is a win for the bitcoin services, for the customers and for the Bitcoin Network. And this should reduce the congestion still further as really the only transactions left are to/from bitcoin services not on this network and user wallets.
The main drawback to hub-and-spoke is that there’s a central authority/single point of failure since the hub suddenly becomes a chokepoint for regulation, which brings us to the next evolution.
The Final Step
At some point, the risk of a centralized network will become an issue, perhaps even before the hub-and-spoke network comes to pass. But how can we take out centralization from a network? How can we have a ledger that’s not controlled by a single company? In order to mitigate the risks of a central authority, what the collective of bitcoin services will want is a distributed ledger that can keep track of who has how much and be able to transfer value quickly and not in the control of a single entity. In essence, they will want a multi-lateral agreement providing a permissioned ledger without a central authority.
If this sounds familiar, it should, because it’s what’s been unfairly mocked as nonsensical: private blockchains. Private blockchains are itself a big topic, but the main features are that there is no central authority and there is a ledger based on cryptographic proofs.
The main difference between this private blockchain and bitcoin is the way immutability of the ledger is handled. In Bitcoin, proof-of-work mining is used. In this private blockchain, we’ll most likely use signatures from a supermajority of members. Using signatures as the basis of immutability is feasible since the participants are known and the agreement underwritten by insurance and/or backed by legal contracts. Each member of the consortium will be able to add money to their account on this ledger by sending bitcoins to a multisig address. Each member will be able to withdraw on-chain by having the supermajority sign off, providing an on-ramp and off-ramp between this chain and Bitcoin.
The main benefit of this second-layer network will be frequency, reliability and scalability. Since this second layer network is controlled by the members of the network, the network can scale to the limits of the members’ hardware and bandwidth capacity. Classes of possible problems like selfish mining and indeterminable waits for confirmation disappear since there’s no proof-of-work. And given that the costs of running this network are likely much less than paying transaction fees, each member can do a very large chunk of business on this chain.
And this won’t be a bad thing. Most transactions on credit cards or banks are on systems that most consumers have no clue about. What’s important is that this ledger has a lot of desirable properties (no central authority, permissioned transfers of ownership) and uses the bitcoin network for net amounts. What’s more, this second-layer network will relieve the congestion on the Bitcoin Network massively and allow the number of transactions to scale without requiring any scaling changes to the bitcoin network.
The Future
What I’ve described is a private blockchain for a commercial bitcoin network. It’s the natural progression of the status quo because it will give both the small blockers and big blockers what they want, though not in the form of changes to bitcoin. Small blockers get to avoid a hard fork. Big blockers get a network that’s much faster and has more transaction capacity. This scenario may not be what each side wants now, but a future where bitcoin is the bottom layer of a larger system seems very likely.
What’s interesting is that there’s no reason why the same type of distributed ledger can’t work for other assets besides bitcoin. Bitcoiners are getting frustrated at $0.50 fees per transaction and 3 hours to settle, imagine how securities people feel paying $10 per transaction and 3 days to settle! The evolution of many financial transaction networks has followed a very similar path to what I’ve been predicting for bitcoin in this article.
Conclusion
So what does this mean for bitcoin?
First of all, the doom and gloom coming from both sides of this debate about how we need to scale right now is a lot of hot air. Large demand is often the fertile ground from which innovation sprouts. Demand for block space will allow businesses and individuals a chance to create solutions.
Second, on-chain fees will not be increasing linearly. If anything, there will be times when transaction fees go down, not up, as large numbers of transactions move off-chain. Thus, any predictions of future transaction fees are speculative at best and we should not be paying much attention to them.
Third, the dream of paying for everything on-chain is dead. No, you’re not going to pay for your coffee every morning with an on-chain transaction. There will be more convenient services designed with better user experiences in mind that use bitcoin to transfer value off-chain, though.
In short, bitcoin is maturing and the market is starting to define what bitcoin is going to be. I’m sure there are people on both sides of the debate that won’t like what it’s going to become, but that’s what you get with a decentralized currency.
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Staff at the RBC Convention Centre are using food to provide comfort for evacuees in crisis.
Close to 500 people are currently at the RBC Convention Centre after being driven from their homes by a wildfire in northern Manitoba, but that number fluctuates as some people have gone home to their community, and others have found a place to stay in Winnipeg or elsewhere, says to the centre's president and CEO, Klaus Lahr.
Lahr says meals are served buffet style in a dining area in a massive room typically used for graduation ceremonies.
"A thousand people, three thousand meals a day but during grad season we serve way more meals than that," said Lahr. "I wouldn't say we're out of our element, in fact I think this is just right up our alley, we are in the business of looking after people, we're in the business of making people happy, the situation is a little different but we adjust to it and it has worked very well.
"They've been very great people to have under our roof."
The entire third floor of the convention centre—which is designed for 9,000 people—is the temporary home for the evacuees.
Food is very important in a crisis. - Quentin Harty, executive chef for the RBC Convention Centre
In two massive rooms, Hall 'A' and Hall 'B', cots with blankets are set up grid-style.
The far banquet room, otherwise known as "Hall C," has the dining area, activities for children, two movie theatres, and stations for health and social services.
Pizza, perogies and now hamburger soup are on the weekly menu.
"Food is very important in a crisis," said Quentin Harty, executive chef for the RBC Convention Centre. "If you can imagine being flown out somewhere, and being in a surrounding with people you're not familiar with... I think that's why food is everybody's go-to."
Don Taylor from St. Theresa Point, left, and Rex McDougall from Wasagamack First Nation are among the 500 wildfire evacuees from northern Manitoba staying at the RBC Convention Centre. (Erin Brohman/CBC)
Harty said hearing from the evacuees has been crucial in meal-planning.
"We're getting good feedback. They have the odd suggestion that they're offering up to us and we're responding to that," he said. "We're trying to take really good care of them."
He says many people have asked for hamburger soup, and now, ragout, pizza and jackfish have been added to this week's menus.
"No doubt it's a crisis they're experiencing, it's a life altering experience so we're trying to be as accommodating as possible," he said. "I'm happy that we were here to help and fulfil the need and serve, that's what it's all about."
Don Taylor from St. Theresa Point appreciates the effort.
"The food is good and everything's great," said the 25-year-old, who is looking forward to getting to his community and checking on his house soon.
Taylor says Tuesday's lunch—sausage and perogies—helped to relieve his stress, something echoed by his friend, Rex McDougall from Wasagamack First Nation.
"Food's pretty good. They got good chefs. Give 'em two thumbs up," said McDougall.
Lahr says the convention centre can keep the status quo until September 12; beyond that, it will take some room re-arranging, but he adds the evacuees can stay until the end of September.
He said there have been some challenges with children pulling the fire drill, but after the elders spoke to them, that stopped.
"If this was me I don't know whether I would be able to handle it as calmly and as civilized as they do," said Lahr. "So my feeling goes out to them and my hat goes out to them."
The Canadian Red Cross is providing round-the-clock support to evacuees and buses leave the convention centre every half hour. The buses go to Walmart so people can buy their necessities, the Pan-Am Pool so people can shower, and to the other relief centre on Leila Avenue so evacuees can visit friends. |
Photo by Christy Mannering
Within the majority of cities and municipalities across the United States, real property is taxed based on the value of the land and of the improvements made to it — such as any enhancement to an individual home or a business facility.
As a consequence, there is a disincentive for individuals and businesses to invest in their homes and facilities, because such investments will increase the assessed value of the property for tax purposes. A new study led by the University of Delaware’s Josh Duke constructs a “virtual city” to see if, when given the choice, individuals would select a different kind of non-distortionary tax — known as land value taxation — instead of the traditional form of property taxation.
The study is part of Duke’s year-long fellowship with the Lincoln Institute of Land Policy, located in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The Lincoln Institute of Land Policy is an independent, nonpartisan organization whose mission is to help solve global economic, social and environmental challenges to improve the quality of life through creative approaches to the use, taxation, and stewardship of land.
Duke, professor in the Department of Applied Economics and Statistics in UD’s College of Agriculture and Natural Resources, said that land value taxation is usually associated with the 19th century economist Henry George, although the idea probably precedes George’s time.
“The idea is that if you’re going to tax anything in society, probably the best thing to tax is the value of land. Not the value of the improvements on land, like a house, just the value of land, and the reason is that it’s non-distortionary. That means that it doesn’t provide the incentive to do less property improvement than is optimal,” said Duke.
Land value taxation in theory should be the best way for governments to raise revenue and yet it has not been widely adopted. In Delaware, the town of Arden was founded as a Georgian community and some cities in Pennsylvania — such as Harrisburg — employ a split-rate property tax in which the land is taxed at one rate and the buildings are taxed at another, but for some reason, land value taxation hasn’t caught on.
“It really would make society a lot better. It’s one of these major things we could do. We don’t have to create anything, we can just change the way things are taxed and increase society’s wealth,” said Duke.
In addition to stopping the disincentives to fully utilize land that are imposed by the current property tax system, Duke said that it could reduce all the distortionary ways revenue is currently raised.
“Right now, we raise lots of revenue through income and employment taxes, which create a disincentive for workers to work and employers to hire. So you could shift the government’s tax burden from income to land, therefore allowing more jobs,” said Duke. “It’s been known for hundreds of years that it’s a great way to raise tax revenue but it just doesn’t get used enough in the real world and so I wanted to explore why that might be.”
Experimental economics
Duke decided that to determine why land value taxation has not been widely adopted, he would use experimental economics to try to provide some insight.
By building a virtual city where people have the incentives to improve their land through buildings and then have them interact through the tax system, Duke is trying to see if he can replicate the voters’ rejection of the land value taxation.
Duke worked with Tianhang Gao, a doctoral student in the Alfred Lerner College of Business and Economics, to build an experimental economics platform that will be utilized by students in the Center for Experimental and Applied Economics (CEAE).
While Duke realizes that the word “virtual city” might conjure up images of games such as “The SIMS,” he said that this virtual city won’t look anything like the popular game.
“Economics is all about simplifying reality. What we’re trying to do is reduce problems to the fundamental incentives that we want to study. You have an amount of income; how much of your income do you devote to improving your land and how much do you devote to consumption? Then do you feel that, over time, you’re being treated fairly by the tax system and do you vote to reject it? So we set up a little democracy using our computer program where participants in our experimental economics platform can vote,” said Duke.
The study will be run with 100 students during the fall semester and Duke said that he will target business, economics, and engineering students to take part in the study because of their financial backgrounds and quantitative skills.
“We want to see how people make decisions when they’re strictly interested in profit and not bringing their ethics to the questions until they vote,” said Duke.
Using an experimental economics program called Z-Tree, there will be an administrator computer and then 15 students will use Microsoft Surface Pros to make decisions, interacting through the network created by Z-Tree in the programmed virtual environment.
“Everybody sits at their own computer and makes their own decisions. It’s all private. They can still interact, but they interact only through their decision on the tablet computer,” said Duke.
Moving forward, Duke said he hopes to extend his research to see if he can get participants to overcome political objections to land value taxation and offer policy advice to people in the real world on how to get voters to find land value taxation to be in their best interest. |
Tattoos can cause cancer and mutations - and one colour is potentially more toxic than others, according to scientists.
Research by the European Chemicals Agency to be published imminently is investigating possible risks associated with being inked.
The agency said: “Many reports show significant concerns for public health stemming from the composition of inks used for tattooing.
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“The most severe concerns are allergies caused by the substances in the inks and possible carcinogenic, mutagenic or reproductively toxic effects.”
Inks are not currently regulated in the EU. If any particular chemicals are found to be harmful as thought, they will be banned.
An agency spokesman said: "If it is found that a restriction is needed, a formal proposal to restrict the substances will be submitted within one year to initiate the process."
Red ink has been linked to dermatitis - swelling and soreness - due to it containing mercury sulphide.
Meanwhile red, blue, green and purple ones are more likely to cause granulomas – little ridges of bumps on the skin.
The public will be asked to contribute to the research. The NHS has also warned of the dangers of ‘black’ or ‘neutral’ henna.
Different to authentic henna, which is orange in colour, this darker substance it may contain levels of a chemical dye ‘so powerful and toxic that it is illegal to use it on the skin’.
The NHS warned: “If you see a shop or stall offering to paint black tattoos onto your skin, don’t be tempted to get one. It could leave you scarred for life and put you at risk of a life-threatening allergic reaction.”
Anyone suffering an allergic reaction should contact a doctor as soon as possible.
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At The Independent, no one tells us what to write. That’s why, in an era of political lies and Brexit bias, more readers are turning to an independent source. Subscribe from just 15p a day for extra exclusives, events and ebooks – all with no ads.
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C-Murder released his last album, Screamin' 4 Vengeance, in 2007
Rapper C-Murder has been convicted of second-degree murder for the 2002 shooting of a teenage fan in Louisiana, at his second trial in the killing.
The jury returned a 10-2 verdict on the second day of deliberations.
The rapper - real name Corey Miller - was jailed for life in 2003, but won a retrial over witness testimony. He faces a mandatory life sentence.
The 16-year-old fan, Steven Thomas, was shot outside a nightclub, where he had taken part in a rapping contest.
"I'm not rejoicing," George Thomas, the boy's father, was quoted as saying by AP news agency.
"I feel bad for [Miller's] family. But at least they can see him. What have we got but a gravesite and a photograph," he added.
The 38-year-old musician's lawyer declined to comment. His family has vowed to fight the latest conviction over the shooting in Harvey, Louisiana.
A district judge ordered Miller's retrial in 2004 on the grounds that prosecution witnesses had failed to disclose their criminal history.
Miller has been in jail since May, after pleading no contest to two counts of attempted murder in a separate Baton Rouge nightclub altercation in 2001. He is due to be sentenced later this month in that case.
His last album, Screamin' 4 Vengeance, was released in 2007. |
A square-shaped copper mask pulled from a tomb in the southern Andes is resetting our notions of where and when sophisticated metallurgy first appeared in pre-Hispanic South America.
Archaeological evidence suggests that metallurgy in pre-Columbian America first appeared in the Andes, with Peru being the likely point of origin. But as a new study published in Antiquity shows, the discovery of a 3,000-year-old mask in the Argentinean southern Andes suggests that more than one region was involved in the development of this important technology.
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The highly corroded copper mask was discovered back in 2005 in La Quebrada in the Cajón Valley. Villagers noticed the mask sticking out of the ground, and notified a team of archaeologists who had been working near the area. A subsequent excavation revealed the scattered skeletal remains of 14 individuals in a single mass grave. The pit is located near the archaeological site of Bordo Marcial, which hosted a vibrant community around 1,800 to 1,900 years ago.
The grave appears to have been some kind of tomb, featuring a stone wall, and containing a copper pendent and the copper mask. The mask was laid down atop the bodies, suggesting it was used during a funeral ceremony. Because some of the bones were stained green from the copper mask, the archaeologists suspect it was buried along with the bodies in the pit.
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Radiocarbon dating placed the bones to some time between 1414 and 1087 BC. Historically, this was an important time for the region, as pre-Hispanic Americans transitioned from hunter-gatherers to early farming settlements. And as the new analysis of the mask by Leticia Inés Cortés and María Cristina Scattolin from the University of Buenos Aires points out, this particular population had already come across the wonders of copper.
The mask measures seven inches high, six inches wide, and one millimeter thick. Holes were punctured through the mask to form a pair of eyes, a nose, and a mouth. Nine circular holes were made along the edges; a thread or some other material could have been weaved through these holes, allowing a person to wear the mask on their face. Alternately, the mask could’ve been part of a larger display, the remnants of which have not been found.
The mask itself is made from pure copper, with impurities lower than one percent. The source of the raw copper probably came from the the Hualfín Valley in the Catamarca Province, which is about 43 miles (70 km) from the site, and which today hosts a major copper mine. Archeologists say the mask was manufactured by a repetitive technique in which the copper was reheated and cold hammered.
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The emergence of metallurgy, and copperworks in particular, represents an important stepping stone for ancient civilizations. As humans began to experiment with metals, and as they got better at crafting it to their will, civilizations developed along with it. In turn, this resulted in the expanded use of copper and, importantly, the development of bronze (bronze is a very tough metal that’s made from copper, arsenic and tin), which were better suited for weapons and tools.
Plenty of archaeological evidence of early metalwork exists in the central Peruvian Andes, a technology that eventually spread to other areas of Central and South America. Evidence of copper smelting has been uncovered in Bolivia dating to between 3,160 and 2,200 years ago, and fragments of laminated copper were found in Mina Perdida, Valle del Lurín dating back to around 3,000 to 3,120 years ago. But none of these artifacts had been intentionally shaped into a recognizable form, nor where they perforated with holes or made into three-dimensional objects.
The discovery of a human-like copper mask in the Cajón region suggests this region was an important origin point of copper metallurgy, or at least a place where the technology emerged independently. As the researchers conclude in their study, this 3,000-year-old mask “pushes back the timeline for the production of an intentionally shaped copper artefact in the Andes.”
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[Antiquity via History Blog] |
Dyēus or Dyēus Phter (Proto-Indo-European: *dyḗws ph₂tḗr, also *Dyḗus Ph 2 tḗr or Dyēus Pətḗr, alternatively spelled dyēws) is believed to have been the chief deity in Proto-Indo-European mythology. Part of a larger pantheon, he was the god of the daylit sky, and his position may have mirrored the position of the patriarch or monarch in Proto-Indo-European society.
This deity is not directly attested; rather, scholars have reconstructed this deity from the languages and cultures of later Indo-European peoples such as the Greeks, Latins, and Indo-Aryans. According to this scholarly reconstruction, Dyeus was known as Dyḗus Ph 2 tḗr, literally "sky father" or "shining father", as reflected in Latin Iūpiter, Diēspiter, possibly Dis Pater and deus pater, Greek Zeu Pater, Vedic Dyáuṣ Pitṛ́. As the pantheons of the individual mythologies related to Proto-Indo-European religion evolved, attributes of Dyeus seem to have been redistributed to other deities. In Greek and Roman mythology, Dyeus remained the chief god; however, in Vedic mythology, the etymological continuant of Dyeus became a very abstract god, and his original attributes and dominance over other gods appear to have been transferred to gods such as Agni or Indra.
Later figures etymologically connected with Dyeus [ edit ]
Rooted in the related but distinct Indo-European word *deiwos is the Latin word for deity, deus. The Latin word is also continued in English "divine" and "deity". The Old English word for Tuesday, "Tiwesdæg", means "Tiw's Day", while in Old Norse tívar' may be continued in the toponym Tiveden ("Wood of the Gods", or of Týr).
The Roman god Jupiter is a form of Dyeus.
The following names derive from the related *deiwos:
Estonian Tharapita bears similarity to Dyaus Pita in name, although it has been interpreted as being related to the god Thor.
Although some of the more iconic reflexes of Dyeus are storm deities, such as Zeus and Jupiter, this is thought to be a late development exclusive to Mediterranean traditions, probably derived from syncretism with Canaanite deities and Perkwunos.[5] The deity's original domain was over the daylight sky, and indeed reflexes emphasise this connection to light: Istanu (Tiyaz) is a solar deity (though this name may actually refer to a female sun goddess[6]), Helios is often referred to as the "eye of Zeus",[7] in Romanian paganism the Sun is similarly called "God's eye"[8] and in Indo-Iranian tradition Surya/Hvare-khshaeta is similarly associated with Ahura Mazda. Even in Roman tradition, Jupiter often is only associated with diurnal lightning at most, while Summanus is a deity responsible for nocturnal lightning or storms as a whole.
As an ordinary noun [ edit ]
Dyēus's name also likely means "the daytime sky":
In Sanskrit as div- (nominative singular dyāus with vrddhi), its singular means "the sky" and its plural means "days".
(nominative singular with vrddhi), its singular means "the sky" and its plural means "days". Its accusative form *dyēm became Latin diem "day", which later gave rise to a new nominative diēs . The original nominative survives as diūs in a few fixed expressions. [9]
became Latin "day", which later gave rise to a new nominative . The original nominative survives as in a few fixed expressions. Finnish taivas , Estonian taevas , Livonian tōvaz etc. (from Proto-Finnic *taivas ), meaning "heaven" or "sky," are likely rooted in the Indo-European word. The neighboring Baltic Dievas or Germanic Tiwaz are possible sources, but the Indo-Iranian *daivas accords better in both form and meaning. Similar origin has been proposed for the word family represented by Finnish toivoa "to hope" (originally "to pray from gods").
, Estonian , Livonian etc. (from Proto-Finnic ), meaning "heaven" or "sky," are likely rooted in the Indo-European word. The neighboring Baltic or Germanic are possible sources, but the Indo-Iranian accords better in both form and meaning. Similar origin has been proposed for the word family represented by Finnish "to hope" (originally "to pray from gods"). Old Irish día could mean either "God" or "day"; these give rise to the modern Irish dia and Dé / Scottish Gaelic di- respectively.[10]
See also [ edit ]
References [ edit ]
Bibliography [ edit ]
Further reading [ edit ] |
Money to provide for his family has been Daniel Vidot's motivating force throughout his career but the hulking winger has revealed that 12 months in England convinced him that it was more important to be close to them.
Leaving English Super League club Salford with a year still to run on his contract, Vidot has taken a major pay cut in order to return to south-east Queensland but with the blessing of his mother is adamant that it is the right decision.
Vidot's cut-price two-year contract with the Titans was last week registered by the NRL and sees the former Raider, Dragon and Bronco return to the NRL with 53 tries from 111 games to date.
The 26-year-old spoke prior to his departure for England that leaving the NRL was the best thing for his mother, stepdad and four siblings whom he provided financial assistance to but has come to the realisation that being close to loved ones is more important than money.
"It was one of those things where I went away for the money to help the family out but there were times where I was homesick and just thinking about the family too much and I was missing them," Vidot told NRL.com.
"It became a thing where time with my family was more important than the money. That's why I made my decision to come back.
"It was obviously a massive move for me being on the other side of the world but I knew what I was doing it for and I was happy at the start.
"A few months over there it kind of started kicking in and when I got back after the season it became a thing where I thought whether I could do that again.
"Obviously I was missing my mother a lot and that's what drove me to come back.
"I came back at Christmas and my little nephew was starting to walk and talk and stuff like that and it kind of got me.
"After that Christmas period when I returned to England I had a big think about things and the opportunity at the Titans came up and me being from south of Brisbane I took it with both hands."
Vidot agrees to terms with Titans
Titans Nines hopes suffer further blow
Ryan James re-signs with Titans
Lure of a premiership keeps James at Titans
In addition to the offer from the Titans there were a number of Sydney-based clubs who expressed interest in bringing Vidot back to the NRL but the Samoan international said the tyranny of distance made the Titans the most appealing alternative.
Head coach Neil Henry and head of high performance Matt Ford were both at the Raiders when a sometimes wayward Vidot made his way through the junior grades but he says time and his experience in England have reinvigorated his desire to play to his potential.
Former Raiders coach David Furner once revealed that Vidot showed more interest in acting in local plays than training at times but he has set the highest goal possible with his new club.
"I want to get a premiership. I haven't come here to muck around," Vidot said.
"I reckon we'll definitely be contenders for the premiership this year. We're not here to make up the numbers, I reckon the boys are ready to dig in and we're looking good out there on the park.
"I was having a watch at them at the end of last season and they were getting some really good wins. There was lots of signs of life there and with the boys we've got, we've got the talent there to do it.
"I definitely had to take a pay cut to come back but those are the things I talked to my family about. I had a good chat to my mum about it but I think it was the right thing to do.
"I wasn't entirely happy over there, I got quite homesick at times but since I've been back I've been buzzing and my work ethic on the field has been a lot better than what it was in England.
"I'm really looking forward to the season and getting back into the NRL." |
How does voLTE Certification work? My understanding is that only phones on this approved list by T-mobile are supported on Band 12. Band 12 is the new Extended Range LTE band and T-Mobile is investing heavily in. My understanding is that voLTE Certification is something that T-Mobile does to ensure that a phone connected to Band 12 but out of range of other T-Mobile services to fall-back on (ex. 2G, GSM, and 3G HSPA+) can still dial 911.. If the phone lacked this ability, when they went to dial out on Band 12 they'd find they couldn't. Even if I'm wrong, VoLTE seems to have something to do with data and voice integration.
VoLTE calls already go through faster (twice as fast as other calls), and while on VoLTE, customers can enjoy wicked-fast LTE data while they’re on a call. Customers on the old carriers’ CDMA networks still can’t do that. Today, 27 million T-Mobile customers on 40 models of VoLTE-enabled phones are making over 300 million calls a day— well over half of all calls on T-Mobile’s network.
The voLTE process is expensive for the OEM and almost sounds like a shake-down by T-mobile:
Speaking off the record to one major smartphone vendor, we have learned that there are very real costs and complexities associated with obtaining that certification, and it must be done on a device-by-device basis.
And, one of the OnePlus developers said this
In terms of technical specs, supporting VoLTE is actually not so hard, but there's still a long way to go for users can actually use it. Why? Because VoLTE is carrier-specific, we needs to meet the carrier's requirements firstly then our users will be able to actually use it.
As if to say, we're only waiting on testing and certification.. Further, because T-Mobile had to ask Motorola to remove Band 12, I take it that the OEM (client side) has to disable B12 and not the carrier (server side).
Does that mean Cyanogen or other AOSP's can re-enable B12? I would think so, but even small OEM's selling unlocked universal phones like OnePlus have commented that they're having problems with voLTE Certification, so I guess it's not entirely software?
I understand T-Mobile's concern, but I simply don't care. Give me LTE if Band 12 is available and if my phone can't connect, well at least I've got decent data and I can use Google Hangout Dialer. |
Mughniyeh was wanted in connection with a series of attacks
Mughniyeh is widely believed to be behind a wave of Western hostage-taking in Lebanon during the 1980s.
He had been in hiding for years and was high on US and Israeli wanted lists.
The Israeli prime minister's office later issued a statement rejecting "the attempt by terror groups to attribute to it any involvement" in the killing.
Mughniyeh, in his late 40s, is variously described as special operations or intelligence chief of Hezbollah's secretive military wing, the Islamic Resistance.
Correspondents say his death is a significant blow to Hezbollah, which battled Israel in the 2006 Lebanon war, and its Iranian and Syrian backers.
Neighbourhood in shock
Syrian police kept media and other onlookers well away from the scene of the overnight blast in the well-to-do Kafar Soussa district.
With all pride we declare a great jihadist leader of the Islamic resistance in Lebanon joining the martyrs
Hezbollah's Manar TV
Notorious 'terror mastermind'
"Scores of police and intelligence officers rushed to the site. People in the neighbourhood are shocked," said one resident quoted by Reuters news agency.
"We saw security officers hauling the body away," said one witness quoted by Reuters news agency.
Hezbollah-owned Manar TV in Beirut announced the death saying: "With all pride we declare a great jihadist leader of the Islamic resistance in Lebanon joining the martyrs... the brother commander hajj Imad Mughniyeh".
"After a life full of jihad, sacrifices and accomplishments ... he died a martyr at the hands of the Israeli Zionists," it quoted a Hezbollah statement saying.
Later, the Syrian government confirmed Mughniyeh had been killed and said investigations were still underway to find the perpetrators.
IMAD MUGHNIYEH Born southern Lebanon 1962 Indicted for 1985 hijack of TWA airliner Accused of involvement in 1990s Buenos Aires bombings On FBI Most Wanted list since 2001
Who are Hezbollah?
"Syria, which condemns this cowardly terrorist act, expresses condolences to the martyr family and to the Lebanese people," Interior Minister Bassam Abdul-Majeed said in a statement.
Iran also condemned the killing, praising Mughniyeh as a martyr and describing the attack as "yet another brazen example of organised state terrorism by the Zionist regime".
Hezbollah said a funeral service would be held in its stronghold in the southern suburbs of Beirut on Thursday.
The city has been tense ahead of a mass rally also on Thursday to commemorate three years since the assassination of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri.
There have been repeated clashes between supporters of the pro-Western government and the opposition, which includes Hezbollah.
High-profile attacks
Hezbollah was founded in 1982 by a group of Shia Muslim clerics after the Israeli invasion of Lebanon.
It has emerged in recent years as a major political and military force in Lebanon, after military successes against Israel.
Shia militants who went on to become members are thought to have planned some of the most high-profile kidnappings and attacks of the 1980s, including the 1983 suicide bombings in Beirut that killed hundreds of US and French service personnel.
Mughniyeh was among several suspects indicted in the US for the 1985 hijacking of a TWA airliner in which a US Navy diver was killed.
Israel believes he was involved in planning the 1992 bombing of Israel's embassy in Argentina in which 29 people were killed, and the blast at a Buenos Aires Jewish centre two years later that killed 95.
The Israeli government, which has been accused of a series of assassinations of its enemies in various countries over the years, stopped short of an outright denial that it had killed Mughniyeh.
HAVE YOUR SAY As a Syrian citizen, I have the right to be scared that Israel could bomb many sites inside the country Khalil, Syria
"Israel rejects the attempt by terror groups to attribute to it any involvement in this incident," Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's office said in a statement.
Israel was still investigating all reports as they emerged, it added.
But a former head of Israel's Mossad secret service, Danny Yatom, called the killing "a big achievement for the free world against terrorist organisations."
A spokesman for the US state department, Sean McCormack, described Mughniyeh as a "cold-blooded killer, a mass murderer and a terrorist responsible for countless innocent lives lost".
"The world is a better place without this man in it," he added. "One way or another he was brought to justice." |
The day Robert James Campbell quit his job, he went home and started plotting revenge against everyone he felt had wronged him in life. He says he didn’t leave his Ottawa apartment for seven months.
The online campaign of harassment and hatred he’s accused of launching spanned more than a decade. He is accused of creating fake online profiles to destroy reputations in short order, presenting his targets to the world as child predators, members of a Nazi party, exotic dancers and prostitutes.
Police roused Campbell on the morning of July 31 and arrested him on 181 charges of criminal harassment, identity theft and defamatory libel.
In what police called a cowardly and sophisticated online campaign, Campbell, 42, has been accused of terrorizing 38 victims in the United Kingdom, the United States and in Canada, 18 of whom are from Ottawa.
Awaiting his first trip through the legal system, he’s now at the Innes Road jail, where he shares a cell with two other inmates who sleep on the floor.
In an interview with the Citizen, Campbell publicly apologized to his alleged victims and says he has instructed his lawyer to file a guilty plea.
“I want to take the opportunity to apologize wholeheartedly to the people I have hurt. I hope in time they can forgive me, and I hope they can go about their lives, assured that I will never trouble them again,” Campbell said.
“Basically, I did what I did because I wanted some sort of revenge against the people who harassed me. At the same time, I didn’t think anyone would take the fake emails and LinkedIn accounts seriously,” he said.
He is resigned to a jail sentence, and said the Crown is seeking a five-year federal term. He said a sentence at a federal penitentiary would afford him the help he needs.
“As I pay my debt to society, I will continue to seek help with my mental health issues. My goal is that upon my release I can become a productive member of the community,” he said.
Born on July 29, 1972 in London, England, Campbell moved to Canada in 1993, and became a citizen in 1997.
He sounds proud when he talks about his Canadian citizenship, but then ashamed of what he is accused of doing.
In 2001, he says, he quit his job after he claims to have been subjected to unbearable ridicule, “general bullying stuff,” over 18 months at the office. He claimed colleagues mocked his accent and repeatedly made derogatory remarks.
The cyber attacks he’s been accused of perpetrating have been described as a constant online campaign of harassment.
Campbell, by his own account, says he had “escalated” his actions in the last year before a joint-police operation dubbed Project Winter led to his arrest.
“I got carried away and became desensitized to what I was doing,” he said. “I was under extreme mental duress when I did those things. I was deeply traumatized by past experiences and plagued by bad memories virtually every waking hour of every day.”
The online cyber-bullying not only attacked former colleagues of Campbell, but their families and friends.
Campbell is also accused of targeting people from his life back in England.
Everyone, it seemed had somehow wronged him but he now acknowledges that it was he who became the aggressor.
He is accused of creating fake email accounts designed to humiliate victims at their workplace with messages to co-workers about sex parties, their poor parenting skills and in one case, the intimate details of someone’s failed pregnancy.
He likens his arrest to an intervention and told the Citizen he is now focused on getting the help he says he needs.
“Thanks to the intervention of the police and the Crown, I now accept that I crossed the line into harassment. That said, I’ve never threatened anyone and I would never dream of hurting anyone physically. I know, though, that I am in the wrong and therefore I have co-operated fully with the police,” said Campbell, who said he’s been diagnosed with anxiety and obsessive-compulsive disorder.
At a recent court appearance, one victim, after 12 years of alleged harassment, expressed relief about Campbell’s arrest.
“Today is a great day,” said the victim. “It’s been a quarter of my life. That’s crazy.”
[email protected]
Twitter.com/crimegarden |
IXT Token Distribution
Insurex Team Blocked Unblock Follow Following Jul 23, 2017
23 July 2017
We are pleased to announce that our IXT tokens have been generated. Tokens that were bought during our regular crowdsale are now transferrable.
We would like to take the opportunity to thank you for all your contributions, support and patience.
If you participated in the regular crowdsale your wallet should already contain the IXT tokens. You would typically need to add IXT as a custom token with your own description for it to be displayed correctly. For example, in MyEtherWallet, click on Add Custom Token then enter:
Address: 0xfca47962d45adfdfd1ab2d972315db4ce7ccf094
Symbol: IXT
Decimals: 8
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Those who participated in our presale will now be able to claim their tokens with the 56% bonus (1 Ether = 1758 IXT). Please follow the instructions below.
Make a transaction from the same account you made the first deposit. Your tokens are transferred to this account instantly.
Note: For those who used a different contract please replace the address below with the address you used.
Amount to send: 0 ETH
Address: 0x914774D266f39100b56C53C0563C3792f9403e0c (OR THE CONTRACT ADDRESS YOU USED).
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If you fell victim of the scam caused by the Twitter or Intercom problem, you can claim the IXT by filling in the form below. Unfortunately there are people who are trying to take advantage of the scam and we want to protect our contributors and community and minimise the impact.
Note: We will only pay out to the original addresses who sent transactions to the scam contract. A 30 second Skype chat will be required before claims are paid out.
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Over the next century, numerous nations may become interested in starting their own Martian colonies, which could lead to murky political and legal waters. Whose laws will apply where and to whom? What happens if rival colonies go to war? And what if the colonists decide to throw off the yoke of earthly oppression? How will Earth handle a Martian uprising? The authors ask these questions and more.
The first astronauts on Mars will be under unique psychological stress, they write, which logically leads to the first ethical issue the authors believe astronauts might face on their voyage: what to do with the body of a crew member that dies on the trip over. Jettison the body to float eternally in space? The Weekend at Bernie's approach? There's no simple answer.
The authors, an interdisciplinary team from the University of Information, Technology and Management in Rzeszow, Poland, argue that attention needs to be given to the challenges that will undoubtedly arise in the "new Martian ecological niche."
Wherever you go, there you are--even if it happens to be Mars. That's the gist of an essay recently published in the journal Space Policy. Colonizers of Mars may very well escape the grind of terrestrial life, but they likely won't escape the darker sides of their own natures, the authors suggest. This could lead to all sorts of interpersonal strife, legal quandaries, political chaos, and even existential crises, all of which could doom a fledgling colonial community.
"We suggest that the best situation could be the artificial acceleration of the biological evolution of the astronauts before they start their space deep mission."
At the heart of the essay's argument is the human tendency to do bad stuff to one another. In small "in-group" situations, like what you'd see in early Martian settlements, natural selection favors egoists and defectors over cooperators and altruists, the authors point out. Basically, jerks will rule on Mars. They will put the "ass" in astronaut, as it were.
Kids born on Mars may lack the sense of duty and lust for adventure of their astronaut parents. "Generations born on Mars will require specific pedagogical model," they write. "We suppose that a good cultural tool could be a new Martian religion."
Religion, say the authors, could help those born on Mars gain a sense of purpose and quell any existential dread they might feel due to the fact that they live on a planet that is entirely hostile to their very existence. What effect religion might have on the colonists' aforementioned white-hot lust for conflict, the authors don't say.
The essay ends with a rather bold proclamation: "We suggest that the best situation could be the artificial acceleration of the biological evolution of the astronauts before they start their space deep mission." That's the final sentence of the essay, so one can only wonder whether they are referring to a selective breeding program, gene therapy, or something else. But the suggestion is clear: human beings as we are today, with all our belligerence and egotism, just weren't built for life on Mars.
The authors' most lucid suggestion may have come earlier in the essay when they write that given all that could go wrong and the tremendous expense, the colonization of Mars might be too risky to justify. "Perhaps it would be better to focus on increasing the chances of survival on the Earth and for preventing the climate change."
That said, the establishment of a Martian colony would no doubt provide the basis for some truly great reality television. And given all the problems we face here on earth, it could prove cathartic.
Things are rough here, we'd say, but hey, could be worse. Could be Mars. |
The question hovering over the Alabama U.S. Senate election, at least for the pundits, was simple: Would Alabama Republicans rather vote for a child molester or a Democrat? The answer was sadly predictable: Even though the allegations against Republican Roy Moore -- that he had pursued or molested teen girls when he was in his 30s -- were entirely credible, white conservative voters still picked Moore over the KKK-fighting Democrat Doug Jones.
In the end, however, in a true miracle that concludes a bizarre year in American politics, Jones won the Alabama race in a squeaker. (At this writing, his margin over Moore is barely over 10,000 votes.) In the end, Jones' unexpected victory came because Democrats -- depressed after many years of never winning statewide elections in Alabama -- were fired up to vote, and turned out in big numbers sufficient to drown out the hard right.
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As Nate Cohn of the New York Times tweeted, the Alabama result was the direct result of the turnout gap closing:
The lesson here for Democrats is simple: Stop trying to win over Republican voters. Instead, turn out the Democratic base. Indeed, the lesson of Alabama, which Democrats should carry with them into the 2018 elections, is to focus on motivating the base. This was true in 2016, when Hillary Clinton lost largely because black turnout was down in several key states. It proved true in Alabama, where Jones was able to win the reddest of red states because black voter turnout was incredibly high, despite extensive Republican attempts at voter suppression in the state. Some of this was due to the high profile of the race, but a lot of it was due to aggressive efforts to get out the black vote in the state.
Clinton's biggest mistake in 2016 was believing she could use Donald Trump's obvious piggishness to chip off white female voters who usually vote Republican. It didn't work. The white conservative woman who has had enough of men's nonsense is a nice fantasy, but the reality is that such women are both too motivated by racial politics and too loyal to the men in their lives to break free. Jones' victory shows a different path forward. The focus on turning out the liberal base, and black voters in particular, paid off with a Democratic victory almost no one believed would happen.
Despite all the hope from pundits that all that talk about sexual morality would translate into white evangelicals voting against Moore, CNN exit polls show that 81 percent of such voters stuck with the tainted Republican nominee. None of this should be surprising. Posturing about sexual morality and the protection of children has always been a fig leaf for the true Christian-right goal, which is mandatory male-dominated heterosexuality for all. That's why so many Christian conservatives moved seamlessly from claiming that LGBT people were a threat to children to defending Moore for allegedly preying on children. It's also why the people who wax poetic about fetal life repeatedly vote against food, shelter and health care for actual children. They have never cared about children. It's always been a feint, a way to justify ugly attitudes about women's equality and LGBT rights.
As I argued last month, after the initial shock of the allegations wore off, conservatives were always going to rally around Moore: "Republicans in that state are likely familiar with the fetish that far-right evangelicals have for young teenagers. They aren't going to be all that surprised by any of this, let alone interested in holding Moore accountable."
That largely turned out to be true. A focus group organized by Frank Luntz for Vice showed that while some Moore voters tried to write off the accusations as lies, others simply made excuses for him, arguing that chasing young girls wasn't as big a deal — at least back in the glorious 1970s — as the supposedly "liberal" media was making it out to be.
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And of course this election was about race. CNN's exit polling shows 70 percent of white voters going for Moore and 95 percent of black voters backing Jones. While the allegations of sexual abuse and general creepiness dominated national headlines, the election was as much about racial politics as anything else. On one hand, Moore was an obvious racist, who invoked nostalgia for slavery and has championed the "birther" conspiracy theory about Barack Obama. Jones, on the other hand, famously put away the Klansmen responsible for the Birmingham church bombing. These differences matter to black voters, of course, but they also matter to white voters. The politics of white supremacy still matter, which is why candidates like Moore or Donald Trump can be overt racists and not only retain the white vote, but sometimes run up higher margins.
The lesson here is simple: Democrats should stop chasing those elusive Republicans who have had enough. Generally speaking, they will vote for a child molester over a Democrat. There is no "too far" for Republicans, at least when it comes to beating Democrats. Instead, stop treating constituencies that loyally vote for Democrats as an afterthought, and put them first, both in policy and in organizing. In June, a letter from black female leaders to the Democratic Party made exactly this point, calling on the party to spend more time valuing its core voters instead of chasing the white whale of the "moderate" Republican. Alabama's results prove that.
It's not just because Moore was repeatedly and credibly accused of being a child molester. The liberal base is angry, organized and ready to go. A Democrat won Alabama -- in an off-year special election. In less than a year, the question will be whether the Democrats can replicate that victory on a large scale across the country. Odds are looking good, if the party pays attention to the real lessons of this miraculous victory.
After Alabama votes, what's next? Tune in to "Salon Talks" Wednesday at 12 p.m. ET and 9 a.m. PT to watch Salon's Amanda Marcotte, Alyona Minkovski and Jeremy Binckes break down what the results of Tuesday's Senate election mean now and looking ahead to 2018. Watch "Salon Talks" on Facebook, Periscope and Salon. |
In a country where women often have to walk miles to find and collect drinking water for their families, the WaterMaker project to produce water from thin air is no less than magical. It is, in the words of one grateful recipient, “khuda ka paani.”
What is the first thing that comes to mind when you hear the words: “producing water from air”? When Meher Bhandara, the founder and director of WaterMaker India, heard them, she was intrigued. “Water from air? How is that possible?” she wondered.
Today, Meher and her small team of eight people, are making it possible for many places in rural India to enjoy clean and pure drinking water produced right out of air.
“When we first heard of this technology in 2004 from a scientist in the US, we laughed. But after he told us more about it, the first thought that struck us was that India needed clean drinking water desperately. We checked out the machines that use this technology and were really amazed. As social entrepreneurs, we decided to make these unique Atmospheric Water Generators (AWGs) in India, so we could provide clean and healthy drinking water to people who needed it the most…Today we are proud to say that we have the largest range of AWGs — producing from 120 litres to 5000 litres per day. We also export these WaterMakers (AWGs) to many other countries,” says Meher.
Meher and her team took part in an exhibition in Delhi, where they showcased one AWG machine just to see how people would react to it. “The people were completely amazed. They could actually see drops of water forming from thin air. People were literally walking around the machine and looking under it to see if there were any hidden pipes.”
It was then, in 2004, that they decided to manufacture the machines in India itself so as to have control over the quality and delivery of the machines.
How does it work?
So how does air lead to the production of water? The machines work basically on the simple refrigeration technique of condensing the humidity in the atmosphere and collecting the resultant water. After the condensation process, the water is passed through various filters to purify it, resulting in clean drinking water.
“Our technology is most effective in areas where the temperature is between 25 and 32 degrees Celsius, with relative humidity conditions over 65-75% or more. Producing water directly from air, WaterMakers need no water source. Using electricity or any alternate energy source, we use techniques optimized to condense water from air. Water quality complies with WHO/BIS standards and the water contains no harmful chemicals, bacteria, pesticides, or minerals,” explains Meher.
Inside villages in India
WaterMaker India is a for-profit company, which aims to give back to society through its CSR (corporate social responsibility) initiative. With the help of this amazing technology, the company has made Jalimudi in Andhra Pradesh the first village to have drinking water supplied from air. Like many other parts of rural India, this village too was facing several issues like lack of pure drinking water, ground water being contaminated, and villagers walking long distances to collect water.
“Our very first project was our own CSR project at Jalimudi village in Andhra Pradesh, where we set up an Air Water Station in 2009 to provide safe drinking water to over 600 villagers. We have just installed another Air Water Station at Gandhigram in Gujarat for the local water authorities. The first one was already installed for the villagers in April, 2015, and consisted of two 1000 litre WaterMakers, which generate 2000 litres of fresh drinking water per day, and three storage tanks. An insurance company has also set up WaterMaker drinking water stations at night libraries for students in Mumbai and more projects are in the planning stages.”
The Future
“We are not a completely green technology yet because we need power to run the machines. We hope to change this in the future with solar, wind, and alternate power sources. Can you imagine if we have alternate power giving alternate water, what a great thing that would be? That is my ambition right now,” says an excited Meher. She also plans on expanding the reach of WaterMaker by working with more government initiatives and NGOs, so as to impact as many people as possible.
The Impact
“When we set up our very first Air Water Station at Jalimudi village in 2009, the villagers were thrilled to see water being produced from air, drop by drop. I was extremely touched when a very old lady came up to me and blessed me, saying ‘you have given us Khuda ka pani!’ She had tears in her eyes and so did I. The women and young girls who had to walk almost 3 kms every day to collect water couldn’t thank me enough for this ‘magical water,’ which would save them precious time for more productive activities. I will never forget the look in their eyes and am determined to set up many more WaterMakers wherever I can. Though we are a for profit organization, I also firmly believe in giving back – drop by drop!” concludes Meher.
To know more about WaterMaker India, you can visit their website here.
Like this story? Or have something to share? Write to us: [email protected], or connect with us on Facebook and Twitter (@thebetterindia). |
New Labour combined two fundamental elements in its energetic break with the lethargy, nostalgia and incompetence of Old Labour: emancipation and centralisation. The long struggle to modernise the left culminated in a coup, staged with exceptional discipline and determination by Tony Blair, Gordon Brown and Peter Mandelson. Their authoritarianism was in part a response to the equally bullying sectarianism of the left. At the same time, it drew inspiration from the audacity of the boardroom, the idea of human rights and the world of international wealth and power. New Labour's "market pluralism" offered freedom from the narrow oppressions of both the labour movement and ruling-class elitism. Along with its grasping for power, celebrity and control, there was the liberating potential for democracy and reform. But that promise has now been sacrificed to the claims of an enlightened despotism.
At the time of the 2005 election, the columnist Polly Toynbee, concerned the Tories might win because of Labour abstentions over the Iraq war, offered anyone who would go to the polls rather than sit on their hands in disgust "a free wooden nose peg with Vote Labour on it". If you wanted a better society, you should hold your nose and vote the party back in, was her influential call - and it succeeded.
Rightly, Toynbee had a positive assessment of what Labour had initially achieved. And, looking forward, she argued that the main reason for re-electing the party in 2005 was that Blair would be replaced by Brown. Toynbee seemed to believe, as I and many others did, that Brown would reignite the democratic, progressive and egalitarian side of New Labour when finally he had the chance to lead it. He read books. He knew the arguments. He was passionate about helping the poor and was a dedicated constitutional reformer, convinced of the need to engage with the public.Many saw through this, however - Scots especially. When I argued that Brown would be different, the journalist and former New Statesman editor John Lloyd, a Blair supporter, was emphatic that I was projecting my desires on to Brown, who would prove to be no better. Lloyd was right.
The pity of it was that Brown did launch his premiership with the promise of constitutional renewal, and the initial popularity he gained was more than just relief at Blair going. Voters wanted a new approach. Brown had the capacity and the advisers to understand this. But to summarise what happened between July 2007 and June 2009: he could have chosen democracy; instead he chose Mandelson.
Last summer he had another chance. The MPs' expenses scandal broke. Among leading British politicians outside the Liberal Democrats, he was perhaps the only one who could claim he had always wanted bold measures to sweep away a broken system with a new settlement. He chose not to. I mention this history to distinguish the situation now from that which obtained in 2005. One has to make a judgement about the direction a party's leaders are taking. The government is firmly in the hands of Brown and Mandelson, who have an unquenched will to power. Any victory will be theirs. We can judge them by their settled support for global capitalism, inequality, authoritarianism and deception.
Global capitalism
In the 1980s the left lost its sense of the future while capitalism, turbocharged by new technology and world trade, projected itself as a planetary project now known as "globalisation". Brown embraced globalisation as socialism in a new guise: a wealth-creating substitute for internationalism that would provide the levers to transform Britain.
Though an obvious shift to the right, his move retained a vanity that often blemishes the left - the belief that one's role is to be the vanguard of the inevitable force of history. New Labour had its own version of this peculiar combination of determinism and voluntarism: in its jargon, we had to embrace science-based, market-driven modernity, or else suffer the ignominy of becoming yesterday's story.
On 19 February this year, speaking at an event for "progressive governance", Brown positioned himself for the coming election with a restatement of this creed:
With globalisation we have a unique chance to recognise our global independence as citizens and work towards a truly global society: towards a world free from climate-change catastrophe; and a world free from terrorism, poverty, disease, illiteracy and inequality.
Together my proposals are the modern progressive way of achieving our historic goals of economic progress, social justice and environmental care.
To achieve this, he called for nothing less than a "constitution for the global financial system". This was a proposal of Blair-like hubris. But what was the contribution regular folk were expected to make towards achieving Brown's "historic goals"?
I believe that as we [develop] the skilled jobs of the future we should see social mobility as the modern route to social justice and devise together the radical measures to massively accelerate the rate of social mobility in our societies.
Apparently we must adopt a planetary form of Tebbitism, where everyone has to get on their bike and pedal all the harder to achieve social justice - mobility without liberty.
Behind this supposedly inspiring vision, the hard edge of Brown's global economics had been set out by Mandelson in a speech to the Work Foundation early the previous month. This was a well-crafted case announcing some sharp proposals, appointments and intelligent policies to encourage economic development outside the financial sector but:
First and foremost we need to foster a new climate for enterprise in Britain. There is no substitute for this - no substitute for the drive and ambition that it brings. It can sometimes be a touch ruthless and raw. But it is the single most important engine of economic progress . . .
Enterprise and reward go hand in hand.
Much as it shocked many of my friends when I said I was comfortable with people making themselves "filthy rich", in the context I was speaking I was simply stating a simple truth: that enterprise and effort should be rewarded. It sets goals to spur people and brings gains to us all. And it is often forgotten that I added the important rider "as long as people pay their fair share of taxes".
That's people paying taxes, not businesses. There was no recognition in the speech that public spirit and investment can also drive growth and progress. Mandelson restated an approach that led to Private Finance Initiatives, privatising the delivery of the health service, and now the disastrous subordination of scholarship to commerce. At first he was a tart for deregulation. Now a touch of government is needed. But we can rest assured that it is only in order to manage Britain as a free market for the good of global capitalism.
Inequality
New Labour's embrace of globalisation has turned it into an offshore government, judging domestic policy by its appropriateness for international finance and investment. This has disabled Labour's social democrats (and they do exist, in both government and party) from addressing inequality with the self-belief required to make a lasting difference. There is no point to social democracy if it doesn't make society less unequal. How to do this with respect to education, opportunity and income may be complicated, but an egalitarian state is, in my view, a prerequisite to succeeding. Debate on these matters, however, can't begin unless the fundamental ambition is articulated in the first place and acted upon. New Labour has made Britain a better place to live, but is it attempting to make it more equal? Is it a social-democratic or a right-wing government?
Equality here is not a matter of assisting the poor, imperative though that is. As Richard Wilkinson and Kate Pickett show in their book The Spirit Level, it involves diminishing the overall levels of difference, holding down the corrupting and degrading effects of widening inequality between top and bottom.
The answer under Blair was clear; he refused to countenance greater equality. Now, under Brown, with Harriet Harman's Equality Bill and the creation of the Government Equalities Office, a serious effort is being made to measure what is happening. This is one of the tricks of Brown's trade. However superficial his policies may turn out to be, he exercises his hegemony by occupying what can be described as the mental terrain of an issue. Raise the question of a social problem under Labour, and a barrage of reports, initiatives, consultations and other evidence will be produced to show how deeply the party knows and how seriously steps are being planned - as if Labour were in opposition, struggling to make a difference. An example is the outstanding report from the National Equality Panel, An Anatomy of Economic Inequality in the UK, published in January. It shows that Britain would have been even more unequal had the Conservatives won the 1997 election - hardly a cause for self-congratulation - and maps the Himalayan rise of top pay and wealth. They know what they are doing.
The housing shortage symbolises the nature of Brownian policy towards inequality. He had more than ten years to see it coming. He saw it coming. New Labour permitted housing shortfalls that fed the inflation of property prices and could only exacerbate unfairness. When he became Prime Minister and planned a snap election, he pledged an additional 250,000 homes. As with constitutional renewal, the promise makes the failure all the more despicable. So what was Brown doing? Instead of building homes, he was doing all he could to help the City. After he had been anointed Labour leader, but just before he was to replace Blair, Brown gave his final Mansion House speech as chancellor on 20 June 2007. On his watch, the City had become the world's leading financial centre. No sign of shortages here:
I congratulate you, Lord Mayor and the City of London, on these remarkable achievements, an era that history will record as the beginning of a new golden age for the City of London . . . And I believe it will be said of this age, the first decades of the 21st century, that out of the greatest restructuring of the global economy, perhaps even greater than the Industrial Revolution, a new world order was created.
Don't just blame the bankers.
So let me say as I begin my new job [as Prime Minister], I want to continue to work with you in helping you do yours, listening to what you say, always recognising your international success is critical to that of Britain's overall, and considering together the things that we must do - and, just as important, things we should not do [my italics] - to maintain our competitiveness . . .
Top of his list of what we should not do was "a British Sarbanes-Oxley", the act passed in the US in 2002 after the collapse of Enron. Thus Brown explicitly opposed the need for regulation that he now maintains is essential to the construction of his new world order. Helping make Britain a more equal society was not openly listed as one of the things "we should not do", but the implication was obvious.
Given its tremendous differentials of wealth and income, Britain needs a major party whose core mission is greater equality. This ought to be the Labour Party. Its policy advisers are now much better equipped to introduce intelligent and effective ways of achieving this. But if the government remains under the control of Mandelson and Brown, it won't embrace them. Labour has to sort itself out in opposition before it can present the electorate with a credible commitment to a "fairer way forward".
Authoritarianism
In the mid-1980s, Robin Cook told me a story whose veracity I have not been able to confirm, but which has stayed in my mind. Cook had been at a private gathering in Europe during Jim Callaghan's premiership. Monetarism (what today we would call "neoliberalism") was the subject under discussion. Nigel Lawson told the gathering that Britain did not have the conditions to introduce monetarism. Asked what these were, Margaret Thatcher's future chancellor answered, "Water cannon."
That was at the dawn of neoliberalism. Thatcher and her cabinet subsequently found the requisite conditions: a successful war, a stupid miners' leader who opened the way to a confrontation that destroyed Labour's praetorian guard, huge cash surpluses generated by North Sea oil, Rupert Murdoch, and a realignment of economic power that brought immense productivity increases in its train.
The political culture that accompanied this change replaced the stiff upper lip and consensus politics with a boastful, authoritarian spirit. But if intimidation was essential to the implementation of the free market it also helped unstitch a historic nation. Thatcher incarnated the tension, agreeing to an EU single market while trying to say "No" to Brussels. It proved even harder for her successors. Blair tried to become a war leader, too, but, unable re-create her populism, turned to faith. Brown attempted a redefinition of Britishness, to deserved derision.
But below the radar, and from early in the New Labour years, he and Blair initiated an audacious and sustained "transformation of government". Its ample official documents, never debated by parliament, set out to restructure the relationship between the state, citizens and business. It is a programme for a "database state" in which government departments can transfer information on citizens without them knowing, where surveillance is ubiquitous and government becomes the corporate deliverer of Britain's inhabitants to the marketplace. The "DBS", as it is cheerfully known, presents a novel and formidable challenge. A supporter recently told me that the database state is "inevitable and desirable. What we need are strong rights within it, iron-clad privacy within a context of the DBS."
But there cannot be "iron-clad privacy" within its context. That is the whole point. And I was struck by the combination of the “inevitable" and the "desirable", of fate and enthusiasm, the coin of New Labour from the start, merging delight in power with historical inevitability.
We are entering a new kind of constitution, one overseen not by judges, but by the Association of Chief Police Officers, organised as a private company outside the reach of Freedom of Information. The state that results can penetrate our daily lives at will without a warrant, log our movements, demand to know our intentions when we travel and compile, as with the DNA database, police records that imply guilt irrespective of charges, let alone a verdict.
Central to this redefinition of what it will mean to be British is the National Identity Register, with the ID card as its visible expression. This is not a card that permits us to claim our rights as with a passport, which was meant, as the name itself records, to be a laissez-passer, a right to travel. The UK identity card is closer to the electronic tag worn by criminals allowed out on probation. It belongs to the state and will entail an obligation to keep it informed and updated as the state manages our identity for us. Should it become compulsory, it will mark our subordination to the electronic leviathan.
Hardly popular, you might say, and opinion polls bear this out, which is why the policy itself is also being managed rather than debated. A marvellous example was provided by Brown himself in his party conference speech at the end of September last year:
In the last two years we have looked again at how we can give the best security to our British citizens whilst never undermining their liberties. We will reduce the information British citizens have to give for the new biometric passport to no more than that required for today's passport. And so conference, I can say to you today, in the next parliament there will be no compulsory ID cards for British citizens.
I think it is fair to say that without the Convention on Modern Liberty organised by Henry Porter and myself the previous February, such "looking again" would not have occurred. The announcement of no compulsory ID cards got one of the loudest cheers of Brown's conference speech. But what he was really saying was, "Re-elect me and there will be compulsory ID cards after the next parliament." What appeared to be a welcome retreat was in fact a blatant, yet devious, decision to carry forward the creation of the state management of our identities, while sterilising it as an election issue.
We don't live in a police state. But the potential for a modern authoritarianism has to be reversed, or else its forms of intimidation, far more sophisticated than hosing protesters into the gutter, may become irreversible. On this issue, above all, Brown is imposing his will, and he will have his way, circumventing open debate, unless he is defeated at the polls.
Deception
Deception is a New Labour hallmark. Its routines were established early in what we can call "the Campbell Code", in which presentation is substance, projection a form of media war and the appearance of truth its warrior sword. It was on display at the Chilcot inquiry as Blair insisted that the invasion of Iraq was a matter of his "judgement" as prime minister. But when Lawrence Freedman queried Blair's judgement for telling parliament it was "beyond doubt" that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction, Freedman was told that this was what the former prime minister "genuinely believed". An effortless transformation of the issue into one of sincerity.
Blair got away with it. And the bankers got away with it, without even as feeble an inquiry as Chilcot. For the public, the scandal of MPs' expenses was decisive - it was a "Gotcha!" moment. Trust won't be "restored" by somehow instilling financial propriety among MPs, because the crisis involved a ruling culture of deception and entitlement having its cover blown. David Cameron can't oppose it credibly, since he presented himself as the heir to Blair. So, when the government attacked the Conservatives over the influence on them of Michael Ashcroft's money, Cameron's reply was that "people in glasshouses shouldn't throw stones". In parliamentary terms, the riposte worked. But the episode confirms that ordinary voters are right to see both parties as living in the same corrupt conservatory. And the taint of corruption is embedded deep in the system. In 1985, in his Mackintosh Memorial Lecture (which Brown would have read at the time), Neal Ascherson argued:
It is not possible to build democratic socialism by using the institutions of the Ancient British State. Under that include the present doctrine of sovereignty, parliament, the electoral system, the civil service - the whole gaudy heritage. It is not possible, in the way that it is not possible to induce a vulture to give milk.
Part of the appeal of New Labour before 1997 was the implicit promise that it would tackle this culture head-on. Instead, its leaders stripped away such decrepit checks as parliamentary procedure and cabinet deliberation, so as to exercise all the more fully what is, in effect, royal power. Power thus exercised is intrinsically corrupt. Personally unimpeachable politicians, such as the Miliband brothers, are just as contaminated by it all as Blair.
Brown could have stopped the rackets that kept backbenchers quiescent in the Commons. He could have abolished the crony appointment of half of our parliament that besmirches the UK's claim to be a democracy. He could have, but he didn't. Instead, he drank the vulture's milk.
Here is a test. Ask a Labour candidate if he or she is politically honest. They will assure you that they are. Ask them if they will accept the will of voters in their constituency on election night if they fail to get the largest number of votes. "Of course," they will reply. Then ask them whether, should they be elected, they intend to accept the will of the voters across Britain? Here, there might be a pause for calculation. Taking advantage of the pause, develop the question. Suppose that the Conservatives were to get 5 per cent more votes than Labour - in other words, a clear majority of the popular vote between the two parties - but Labour were to win as many seats. Wouldn't it be dishonest to support Labour in forming the government? Shouldn't they agree that they will not defy the clear preference of British voters by preventing the Tories from realising a chance to exercise power? It will take no time at all for your honest candidate to dismiss such a suggestion as naive. You will be told that you "do not understand" how things work. In fact, you will have understood it very well. It goes to show that we do not have an honest politics, however honest individual MPs may be.
Brown and Mandelson love being in power. They will do everything they can to stay there. Maybe they have lost interest in the tiresome country that they also have to "run", preferring to call for global constitutions instead. But they need national office, if only as a base from which to advance their planetary pretensions. They long ago replaced their socialist hearts with a triple-bypass that beats to the pulse of globalisation and international finance. And to secure their base, they have initiated a staggering reconstruction of the British state, using their unchecked executive power to modernise our government and policing, and to pre-empt the democracy of constitutional citizenship with hi-tech subjecthood. Brown, Mandelson and Blair are not the only begetters of the corruption of this country's political system; the responsibility lies with the political class as a whole, something that the public understands pretty well. But they alone inherited the power to reform it and they must take the responsibility for failing to do so.
The alternative
I watched David Cameron talking recently about Brown's suggestion of a referendum on the voting system. He said that what this country needs is "strong government". An involuntary shudder passed through me. Have they learned nothing? What this country needs is an opposition: an alternative to the two-party bad faith on Afghanistan (pity, but we have to stay), the EU (pity, but we have to stay), the House of Lords (pity, but it will have to stay), strong government (got to keep it in order to ensure the above). When the expenses scandal struck, Cameron declared that it was time to give "power to the powerless", while Brown pleaded that he was a long-time supporter of Charter 88. Who are they kidding? Neither will deliver change.
As there isn't an opposition, we should start to invent one by opening up the political space from which it can emerge. It would be best to do this with the Liberal Democrats, but if not with them, then without them. The slogan is short enough: "Hang 'em".
We need to hang parliament and hang the two main parties. We need to vote Brown and Mandelson out, first of all, but not vote Cameron and company in to carry on where Labour has left off. We need a hung parliament so that invention and new voices are registered, so that the public can express how it has lost trust in the political class, and different forces be allowed to reshape the political scene. In my view, one of these should be an English voice, so that the United Kingdom can move, at last, to a grown-up federal model. I note this to signal that I am not afraid of such an outcome. Naturally, other populist sentiments will emerge. But the longer they are bottled up, the more twisted and resentful they will become. If we want a progressive realignment, it has to come from below.
How should we hang 'em? By voting for the candidate most likely to increase the number of independent and third-party MPs of all kinds. That means Lib Dems in constituencies where the party looks the most promising. And Caroline Lucas in Brighton for the Greens; Plaid Cymru and the Scottish National Party where they have the best chance; even, despite his loathsome attack on Herman van Rompuy, Nigel Farage of Ukip against the Speaker of the House of Commons (who anyway endorses the need for rough justice). Ideally, the Lib Dems would seek English electoral pacts wherever possible, and likewise in Scotland and Wales. Alex Salmond got it right when he said that the SNP should aim to hold the balance of power. This, surely, is the bold approach Nick Clegg, Vincent Cable and Chris Huhne should take. A single list of independents, nationalists, Greens and Lib Dems should be negotiated, on the basis of who is most likely to open up politics, so that everyone can vote to hang the two main parties. And to hot things up, the list should also include maverick MPs from the Tories and Labour - Frank Field and David Davis come to mind. This would send out a different kind of signal from the one the political class expects: that it pays to rebel.
It's easy to imagine the headlines - especially from the Sun, which "prayed" for Britain to become great again when it switched allegiance to Cameron. It would lead to confusion, it would make us look weak. We'd lose our credit rating and Argentina would invade the Falklands. But think of the upside. Arguments that attract popular support might have influence - thanks to a public, it should never be forgotten, that was wiser than the political class about Iraq. Real thinking could begin, and, who knows, there may be a role for websites and magazines such as the New Statesman in debating the future of the British system, rather than supporting this or that party, this or that faction.
Those on the left should help Britain vote out New Labour, but frustrate the Cameroons. Brown, Mandelson and Blair had an unprecedented opportunity to reform the British system with public support. Instead, they chose to intensify the centralisation of power. There were important reforms, yet these have only moderated but not reversed the construction of an authoritarian government, dating back to Thatcher, the function of which is to support a profoundly unequal and exploitative global order. Voters don't want this. As the New Statesman's Mehdi Hasan argued recently, the public is "to the left not simply of New Labour, but the political and media classes as a whole". If he is right, then, in order to let the people speak, we must break open our political-media class and, above all, the two-party system. The best way to do this is to hang 'em.
Anthony Barnett is the founder of openDemocracy and co-edits its British blog, OurKingdom. We will be publishing replies to this essay in the next few issues, beginning here with David Marquand.
This article appeared in the New Statesman under the headline "Hang 'Em" |
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