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I can’t remember a time when I really believed in God. Maybe as a small child when I still pictured him as a bearded old man in the clouds. Even then, however, God was a stranger to me. My parents never talked about Him, my father was a closet atheist, and I was the kid in Hebrew school who asked questions about the things I couldn’t wrap my head around—issues like the problem of theodicy, or how God’s omniscience conflicted with human free will. As an adolescent, the hypothesis of God seemed increasingly unnecessary and lacking in credible supporting evidence. Scientists seemed to be doing just fine accounting for the universe without Him, and Occam’s razor rendered Him superfluous.
Even if I could convince myself that He existed, what was He like and what exactly did He want from me? Which religion got Him right? Was he a God of love, or a God of hell-fire? Did He want me to avoid shellfish, stone adulterers, and put homosexuals to death? To offer burnt sacrifices? To love my neighbor? To wage jihad? To fight for justice and equality? To ban abortions? To prevent climate change? Was there one God, or many? Was He everywhere, or did He exist in some extra-spatial realm? How could one even begin answering these questions?
One could depend on holy texts or religious authorities, but which ones? The Torah? The Koran? The Upanishads? The Book of Mormon? Why believe one over the other? One could rely on mystical experiences, but how could one tell if they were veridical or merely the result of brain chemistry gone awry? Science, at least, provided intelligible criteria for discerning truth. Science had discovered genetics, nuclear energy, black holes, chemotherapy, and computers. Science was transforming the world. Science was the place to go for answers. At the age of thirteen I gave up thoughts of becoming a rabbi and decided to become a scientist instead.
But science has its own limitations. For one thing, science is unable to tell a coherent story of how consciousness fits into the material world. Scientists tend to believe in physicalism, the belief that the world is only made of one thing — physical stuff. Where does consciousness come from? Consciousness is said to be the product of the integral activity of the brain. And how does consciousness arise from the brain? We have to wait for that answer. Science has only been studying the brain for a relatively short time, and the brain is very, very complex. But don’t worry. Science will provide a full account of consciousness once it better understands the brain. When that happens, consciousness will be revealed to be—tada!—an “emergent” process.
Emergence is the idea that as systems become more complex they display novel properties which couldn’t have been predicted from their simpler components. A typically given example is that oxygen and hydrogen atoms lack “wetness,” but when combined to form H 2 O, voilà! — wetness “emerges.” It’s always been unclear to me why this is considered to be a good metaphor for the emergence of consciousness. What does the fact that water, oxygen and hydrogen become liquid at different temperatures have to do with “emergence?” Wetness, on the other hand, as opposed to liquidity, is a phenomenological property, a quale, a conscious experience that derives from human-chemical interaction. It isn’t a property that inheres to H 2 O itself. I’m not sure what’s emergent about wetness, either.
A better example of “emergence” involves insect colonies. Individual insects go about their business without any intention of serving a “higher purpose” in the colony or comprehending their role within it, nevertheless, the aggregate sum of their individual actions creates an emergent hive society, much as human free market economies emerge under the aegis of Adam Smith’s “invisible hand.” Similarly, simple electrical circuits, each of which are “dumb” in their own right, yield “smart” calculations when aggregated together in computers. Intelligent behavior arises from components which lack intelligence on their own. These are much better examples of “emergence,” but the premise that intelligence may be emergent is not the same thing as consciousness being emergent. Intelligence is an adaptive response to environmental circumstances, whereas consciousness is a felt experience. What the metaphor of emergence doesn’t do is offer any insight as to how non-conscious neurons, silicon chips, or any other non-conscious material, can produce the raw feel of consciousness. The experience of “redness” arises when humans interact with certain wavelengths of light, but there’s no raw feel of the quality of “redness” within the brain itself. When you look inside the brain, all you see are moving electrons and secreted neurotransmitters. Computers can calculate, but they aren’t conscious. Brains aren’t conscious either; we are. This explanatory gap between non-conscious brain processes and conscious human experience is what philosopher David Chalmers has anointed “the hard problem.” Now, there are some philosophers who don’t think this explanatory gap is as unbridgeable as I seem to think it is. They don’t see it as being “the hard problem.” Either there’s something they’re not getting that seems intuitively obvious to me, or there’s something I’m not grasping that seems obvious to them. Maybe the unbridgeable gap is not in the brain at all, but between us. In any case, I find “emergent” arguments for consciousness singularly unpersuasive. Emergence is a metaphor that gives the outward appearance of solving the problem of consciousness without really solving anything at all.
But there are more problems with the physicalist model than just the “the hard problem.” First, the standard neurological model also treats thoughts as the mere effluvia of neurological happenings, and since “mental” events can never have an impact on “physical” events, thoughts can never play a causal role in the physical brain. All the causal work is done by physical processes, not by thoughts. Thoughts, then, are something extra, like legs on a snake; they serve no identifiable purpose.
Second, the physicalist model is deterministic. Every brain event is determined by a prior chain of physical causes, so that the appearance of “making a choice” is illusory. Given a particular chain of circumstances, one can never behave any differently than one does. It’s meaningless, therefore, to assign credit for blame for behavior, or to ever employ the conditional tense.
Third, science holds that while things happen due to causes, they don’t happen for a reason. There is no meaning inherent in things, no ultimate grounding for human values, morals, or aesthetics other than in human preferences. While what you do may matter to you, it doesn’t matter to the indifferent universe. Today many people in advanced societies accept this notion that the universe is devoid of inherent meaning and that meaning is a human invention. Since Jean Paul Sartre, it’s been a basic existentialist premise — although Sartre, unlike physicalists, believed in the reality of human freedom and choice. But the reader should be aware that the meaninglessness of the universe is a metaphysical proposition, and that there’s no empirical evidence either for or against it.
Now, it’s all well and good to assert that consciousness is epiphenomenal and that choice is only apparent. These are defendable metaphysical propositions. Not provable, but defendable. The problem is, try living your life as if they’re really true. Try living your life as if you don’t have the power of choice, and that your thoughts have no causative power. Just try it. These propositions violate our deepest intuitions, and while it’s possible to verbally attest to them, it’s impossible to authentically live as if they were true. In addition, the scientific process itself requires scientists who are conscious and make decisions. Science presupposes consciousness and choice, then turns around and questions their existence. Can any determinist, epiphenomenalist philosophy truly be “adequate?” If the story the physicalist model tells us about the world isn’t adequate, what would be?
In the past six months I’ve been reading writers who tell a very different story about the universe: Eihei Dogen, the thirteenth century Japanese Zen monk, Baruch Spinoza, the seventeenth century Dutch Jewish philosopher, and Alfred North Whitehead, the twentieth century British-born mathematician and philosopher. Each of these original thinkers challenges the standard physicalist account of reality in his own unique way. While there are profound differences between them, there are also threads of commonality. I intend to focus on those threads, but first I need to describe their individual metaphysics.
Eihei Dogen
Eihei Dogen (1200-1253) was not what we in the West would call a “philosopher.” He was a Buddhist monastic devoted to the training of Zen monks, and his interests were matters of practical soteriology. He wasn’t interested in creating a metaphysics, and he interpreted the philosophy he drew upon from its Chinese T’ien T’ai and Hua-yen sources in his own unique way. He was a conjurer of words, and his metaphysics has to be wrestled from his difficult, enigmatic, and densely poetic prose.
So what is Dogen’s metaphysics like? As I’ve described in a previous post, Dogen’s universe is one in which space and time is fully integrated, and where every point in space and every time is immediately and intimately connected with every other. It’s a chiliocosm — a multiverse of infinite Buddhas and infinite worlds, even within a single atom or blade of grass. It’s a universe that makes no distinction between animate and inanimate, where mountains “walk” and walls, fences, tiles, and pebbles endlessly teach the Dharma. It’s a universe where all things are in a constant process of change and derive their being from their interrelationship with everything else. It’s a universe where all things conspire to encourage us to wake up and recognize our true nature: our non-dual, compassionate relationship with all of reality. There’s no God in Dogen’s world, but there are an infinite number of Buddhas. His multiverse is co-extensive with Buddha Nature, all of reality the Buddha’s dharmakaya, or “truth body.” Dogen’s universe is an integrated, benevolent, purpose-laden home for human beings.
Baruch Spinoza
Baruch Spinoza (1632-1677) lived in an entirely different culture than Eihei Dogen, and in an entirely different historical era with a different set of concerns. Spinoza was a Sephardic Jew who was born and lived in Protestant Amsterdam at the dawn of the modern scientific revolution. Although they neither met nor corresponded, Spinoza and Isaac Newton were contemporaries, and the nature of physical laws, cause-and-effect, and the relationship between mind and matter were topics of intense interest and debate.
Spinoza wrote his Ethics, in part, as a reaction against Rene Descartes’ claim that the world was divided into two substances, matter which has extension in space, and thought which has none. Spinoza thought there was only one substance in the universe, and that the one substance had both material and mental properties, which he called “attributes.” In Spinoza’a system, everything has both a material and mental side to it. You can describe events in physicalist language (e.g., as events occurring in the brain), or in mentalist language (e.g., as thoughts and experiences) but you have to stay consistent within whatever language frame you start in. Physicality and mentality are two poles of the same process described in different languages.
It’s “easy” to talk about the dual physical and mental properties of matter when we’re talking about the human brain, but what is the mental process of a rock like? We don’t know how it is to be a rock, but we can say that rocks, like living organisms, change in responsive ways to their environment. If we throw a rock, for example, its atoms and electromagnetic fields realign themselves to changes in gravitational force as the rock rotates through space, and its potential and kinetic energy undergo momentary changes throughout its arc of flight. There’s a lot going on. The rock isn’t inert. It responds in some genuine way to the world. It’s possible that these physical changes in relationship to changing external circumstances are in some way meaningfully analagous to whatever physical changes are occurring in our brains when we “have” experiences. Or maybe not. When we speculate that electrons, atoms, molecules, inanimate objects, and one-celled organisms have “experiences,” a question arises about whether we’re stretching the meaning of the word “experience” beyond recognition.
Spinoza’s universe was a true “uni”-verse. His “one substance” was identical to what he called Deus sive Natura, or “God or Nature.” Spinoza’s “God or Nature” was very different from the Abrahamic God. Spinoza’s “God or Nature” manifests everything imaginable out of His/Its infinite potential, the appearance of the many out of the one. “God or Nature” is infinitely creative. Everything that exists is perfect, since “God or Nature” is perfect, and He/It has no choice but to cause everything to be exactly as it is. Everything that is follows the laws of nature by inexorable cause and effect. God is as bound by the laws of causality as humans; neither have free will.
Spinoza’s “God or Nature” is not a supernatural Being. The natural universe in Spinoza’s system, depending on how you interpret his writings, is either coextensive with “God or Nature,” or resides within “God or Nature,” but “God or Nature” is immanent in the world, not transcendent to it. God is the logos, the underlying order of the universe, the generative force behind it. We are natural expressions of God’s infinite, endless creativity.
The reason why it’s uncertain whether Spinoza’s “God or Nature” is fully coextensive with the universe is because Spinoza defines “God or Nature” as having an infinite number of attributes, whereas Spinoza’s universe has only two: extension and thought. This leaves Spinoza’s system open to the possibility (although he does not say so) that our universe is one of an infinite number of possible universes, some of which might have more or different attributes, however unimaginable they might be. Spinoza’s universe, like Dogen’s chiliocosm, is friendly to speculative physics about the universe’s being a multiverse.
Spinoza’s “God or Nature” is not a God of love, however, and the universe wasn’t created with us in mind. God is indifferent to us, caring neither more nor less for us than for viruses or tornados. The universe wasn’t created for humankind’s benefit, but out of God’s infinite imagination. Nevertheless, Spinoza says that the person who is wise will love God and seek to gain adequate ideas about Him/It. Adequate ideas give us the power to overcome our passions, thereby increasing our ability to maintain and enhance our being. According to Spinoza, increasing one’s power to maintain and enhance one’s own existence is the prime directive of all being. Ethics flows from it as a consequence, since maintaining and enhancing our existence depends largely on optimizing our relationships with other people.
Alfred North Whitehead
Writing early in the 20th Century, at the dawn of the age of relativity and quantum mechanics, Alfred North Whitehead (1861-1947) wanted to create a metaphysics that was compatible, not only with newly emergent scientific facts, but with the things human beings are most certain of: that we have conscious experiences, that these conscious experiences have causal efficacy, and that we make meaningful decisions in the world. Whitehead wanted a metaphysics that found a place for consciousness and choice within the very heart of reality.
Whitehead’s philosophy shares certain features with Spinoza’s. Like Spinoza, he believed that mentality inheres in matter, and in the necessity of a God whose creative force is immanent in the world. But there their similarities end. Spinoza’s world is a deterministic one running entirely on a chain of causation, whereas decision and choice are real for Whitehead.
Whitehead’s philosophy is often called “process-relational” because it holds that the world isn’t made of substances, but of processes and relationships. Everything interacts with everything else in a constant process of transformation, only the “things” that are interacting aren’t really “things” at all. “Things” are abstractions from temporal slices of ongoing process. The “thing” we happen to designate a “flower,” for example, is an abstraction from a process occurring over time: seed becoming seedling, seedling becoming flower, flower becoming compost, compost becoming soil, ad infinitum. This beginning-less, endless process occurs within a web of mutually unfolding relationships with other processes, solar, meteorological, geological, ecological, and atmospheric. The flower’s existence is unfolding process and relationship. The same is true of everything without exception, from the smallest elementary particle to God Himself.
Whitehead was also a pan-experientialist. Not only does process and relationship go all the way down and all the way up, but every event within a process is also a “drop of experience.” Even elementary particles have experiences of some kind, whatever they might be. The future, in Whitehead’s view, does not yet exist. Unlike deterministic philosophies that decree the future a forgone conclusion given the constellation of causes set in motion at the moment of original creation, Whitehead’s future remains unwritten. Processes draw on their past experiences and their experience of current influences, but use them to creatively generate the next moment.
Complex processes have more choices in generating the future than simple processes. Humans, for example, have considerable choice; elementary particles, only a little. The reason why the Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle accurately characterizes the quantum world, according to Whitehead, is that elementary particles, in some meaningful sense, “choose” their location within their probability matrices. In Whitehead’s language, all processes “prehend” their past and the ways the world impinges on them to create the future out of the array of relevant options. We, and everything else, are forever at that moment of creation when past manifests as present.
Whitehead saw the necessity of including God in his metaphysical system. Like Spinoza’s God or Nature, Whitehead’s God is neither supernatural nor anthropomorphic. For Whitehead, God is that which transforms creativity and infinite potential into something concrete and definite, giving value and organization to an otherwise inchoate set of indeterminate possibilities. He is a kind of anti-entropic force encouraging greater complexity, interrelationship, and creativity. He is a patient persuader, guiding us towards love and mutuality. Whitehead calls him “the poet of the world, with tender patience leading it by his vision of truth, beauty, and goodness.” He co-experiences the experiences of all processes, past and present, “the great companion; the fellow-sufferer who understands.” He provides the universe with an Aristotelian telos, a general direction for the course of its unfolding evolution, as He gently nudges it in the direction of greater freedom, complexity, creativity, and mutuality.
While Whitehead’s evolving universe bears some resemblance to the Jesuit theologian Teilhard de Chardin’s (1881-1955) evolving universe, de Chardin’s universe evolves toward a final, fixed end, whereas Whitehead’s universe evolves as an undetermined, open-ended process. Although Whitehead’s God co-experiences all the experiences of all processes past and present, he isn’t omniscient. He doesn’t know the future, which remains uncreated possibility. Since He dwells in time, His co-experience of all experiences past and present changes how He meets the future. In a universe that’s process-relational all the way up and all the way down, God changes us, and we change Him. God and the universe co-evolve together.
Threads of Commonality
There are four crucial ideas expressed in Dogen’s, Spinoza’s, and Whitehead’s writings that hold my interest. The first, found in both Spinoza and Whitehead, is that of panpsychism—the idea that experience and materiality are both attributes of the same substance or process. The second, found in both Whitehead and Dogen, is process-relationality—the idea that reality is woven out of processes and relationships rather than our of “substances” and “things.” The third, found in Whitehead and Dogen, is the idea that values are inherent in the universe and not merely projections of the human mind. The fourth, found in Spinoza and Whitehead, is the idea of the existence of something that may best be labeled “God.”
Panpsychism
I’m intrigued by descriptions of reality that find mental activity woven into the essential fabric of being and becoming. That’s not to say that Spinoza’s and Whitehead’s “panpsychist” or “pan-experientialist” views aren’t problematic. The strengths and weaknesses of these views are a matter of active debate by contemporary philosophers like Galen Strawson, David Chalmers, and their critics. Panpsychism’s first problem is the fundamental unknowability of what the experience of elementary particles, nonorganic processes, plants, and simple animals such as protozoa are like. Second, there are explanatory gaps in how one gets from the proto-experience of elementary particles to the consciousness of human beings, or how human beings develop a unified consciousness when all of their cells and elementary particles are busy having their own experiences. Despite these significant problems, there seems to be something intuitively appealing about rooting consciousness deeply into the warp and weft of the world. In a way, there shouldn’t be any mystery to consciousness. It’s what we know best about the world; we understand embodied consciousness from a more intimate perspective than we understand anything else. We know what’s it like to be conscious; it’s matter that’s opaque and mysterious.
As a lengthy aside, it’s unclear how Dogen would weigh in on this controversy. Buddhism’s metaphysical stance on the ontological status of mind and matter is both complex and confusing, tending to muddy the waters rather than resolve problems. While the particular rabbit hole Buddhism goes down is slightly different from Descartes’, it’s a rabbit hole nonetheless. Buddhism views consciousness and physical form, under “usual” circumstances, as two tightly interacting, mutually affecting streams of momentarily arising processes. There are times and instances, however, when these mental and material processes separate out, e.g., during the formless jhana meditative states, in the “formless realm” where subtle mental beings reside, in the “astral” travels of the “subtle body,” during the bardo states and process of rebirth, and through the mind’s ability to manifest simulacra of the body (manomayakaya) in space. Dogen inherited this tradition and did little to question or clarify it. While Dogen makes frequent use of the Japanese word shinjin (“body-mind”) which implies a body-mind unity, it’s unclear what the deep ontological underpinnings of that apparent unity are. The best one can say is that Western ontological categories are completely irrelevant to Dogen’s soteriological project.
Process-Relational Metaphysics
I’m strongly drawn to process-relational descriptions of reality that clarify our mutual interdependence with all things. The crises of our era are essentially crises of failures in relatedness, whether with our biosphere or with our neighbors as we tribally-oriented humans— in other words, all of us—are necessarily confronted with the difficulties of living cheek-to-jowl with strangers-turned-neighbors in the global village. Beyond that, process-relational thinking helps us to understand identity and personhood in ways that accord with fundamental Buddhist insights into the nature of selfhood. Whitehead’s process-relational thinking precisely mirrors Dogen’s metaphysics of impermanence and radical inter-relationship. In Mahayana Buddhism, all dharmas (phenomena) are not only anitya (impermanent) but also śunya (empty), meaning lacking in “inherent self-existence” and deriving their momentary being from an evolving flux of inter-relationships. This is what Mahayana Buddhists call “dependent origination.” This natural affinity between Whitehead’s philosophy and Sino-Japanese thought is one reason why there is a growing interest in Whitehead’s philosophy in contemporary China.
The Value Laden Universe
I’m charmed by descriptions of reality that have moral and aesthetic values baked in from the get-go, and that argue for a universe that’s not morally or aesthetically neutral, but naturally inclined in the direction of goodness and beauty. Whitehead believes God moves the universe towards greater beauty, while Dogen believes the fabric of reality encourages us to realize our Buddha nature and awaken together with all things. The idea that in maximizing the good, the true, and the beautiful we’re living more in accord with reality, helping things to flow in their intended direction, makes for a wonderful story. Much nicer than the story that it’s a dog-eat-dog world and that we’re either sharks or sardines. Much nicer, also, than the story that nothing matters, so we can do whatever pleases us. I’m not sure I buy these nicer stories; there are plenty of reasons not to. But I find myself increasingly willing to at least consider them.
Spinoza, on the other hand, isn’t a member of the Inherent Values Club. He’s the father of our modern hard-edged “realism.” He denies the universe is flowing towards greater perfection; it’s already perfect — meaning the only way it can be — as it is. “Good” and “bad” are just categories the human mind projects onto nature:
“After men persuaded themselves, that everything which is created is created for their sake, they were bound to consider as the chief quality in everything that which is most useful to themselves, and to account those things the best of all which have the most beneficial effect on mankind. Further, they were bound to form abstract notions for the explanation of the nature of things, such as goodness, badness, order, confusion, warmth, cold, beauty, deformity, and so on; and from the belief that they are free agents arose the further notions of praise and blame, sin and merit.
But:
….things are not more or less perfect, according as they delight or offend human senses, or according as they are serviceable or repugnant to mankind. To those who ask why God did not so create all men, that they should be governed only by reason, I give no answer but this: because matter was not lacking to him for the creation of every degree of perfection from highest to lowest; or, more strictly, because the laws of his nature are so vast, as to suffice for the production of everything conceivable by an infinite intelligence… — Spinoza, Ethics
God
Which brings us back to the start of this post — my inability to believe in God. I could never believe in a supernatural, anthropomorphic God, an omniscient autocrat standing outside of creation, judging it, and miraculously intervening in accordance with our prayers and petitions—in other worlds, the kind of God that Whitehead describes as having the attributes of “a Caesar.” “God talk” doesn’t interest me or turn me on. As I’ve mentioned in another post, when I hear “God” mentioned in a Dharma talk, my mind wanders off. But how different — really — are Spinoza’s and Whitehead’s naturalistic, creative, immanent Gods from Dogen’s understanding of the dharmakaya? How different is Whitehead’s God who experiences the experiences of the world and nudges us towards love and beauty from Dogen’s compassionate Avalokitesvara who hears the cries of the world and awakens us to wisdom beyond wisdom? Even if one dispenses with Gods and Buddhas, if mentality, morality and aesthetics can be features of reality right down to the bone, why can’t reality also include some non-supernatural “spiritual” dimension as well? Some beneficial principle that encourages us and the world towards greater love and compassion, beauty and understanding, and our own best selves? I’m not convinced, like Whitehead and Spinoza, that God is either necessary or tenable, but I’m more open to consider it than I once was. That’s why I’m an agnostic rather than an atheist; it’s what keeps me from joining the secularist camp.
Final Thoughts
Of course, metaphysical speculations like these lie well beyond the realm of proof or falsifiability. They’re not scientific questions. That’s why they’ve fallen out of favor in contemporary philosophy. But to say they’re unprovable is different from saying they’re meaningless or useless. They’re stories, narrative devices, that help us to organize our behavior and orient us towards the future. They have their own realms of utility.
For a moment, let’s look at this from the Jamesian pragmatic perspective: Which description, if tentatively adopted as-if-true, would most likely enhance human flourishing? Where does a deterministic, physicalist, purposeless universe take us, and where does a pan-experiential, process-relational, value-laden world take us? I invite you to take some time and try to imagine the moral and social consequences of each.
It’s possible that a physicalist framework might be more useful for the purposes of certain scientific investigations, but that a pan-experiential, process-relational, value-laden perspective might be more useful for rearing children and good citizens, organizing social, political and economic relations, preserving the planet, and cultivating the beautiful and the good. And it just might be — it’s possible— that there are even certain scientific questions — ones related to ecology or quantum events, for example — where a process-relational perspective might prove more fruitful.
It’s something worth thinking about.
Many thanks to cosmologist, cousin, and Whitehead scholar Matthew David Segall who kindly reviewed an earlier draft of the Whitehead segment of this post and helped me avoid some errors. Any new errors in interpreting Whitehead that crept into this essay during the revision process are solely my own. Thanks also to Bob Brantl who commented on an earlier draft and helped this to become a better essay than it otherwise would have been — although I suspect he will still not be happy with what he considers to be my caricature of theism in the opening paragraphs. Thanks also to Susan Mirialakis for her many helpful suggestions to improve the readability and flow of this dense essay. |
Serie A side Palermo are interested in acquring New England Revolution midfielder Diego Fagundez, according to GazzaMercato.
The Italian news outlet reports that the Revolution are looking for at least 3.5 million euros for the 21-year-old. This isn't the first time that we've seen a transfer rumor about Fagundez as Torino, Atalanta, and Chievo have all been mentioned as possible destinations in the past. A previous Palermo rumor emerged in Jan. 2016.
Fagundez is currently in his sixth season playing for his hometown team. He's accrued 31 goals and 20 assists in 137 appearances. His value goes beyond his on-field contributions, as Fagundez is widely considered to be one of the faces of the Revolution.
On Jan. 6, 2016, it was announced that Fagundez signed a multi-year contract that would keep him in Foxborough for the foreseeable future. That said, the Revs might be tempted to sell him if the right offer comes along. |
Owen Jones appeared yesterday on Novara Media. For those readers from outside the UK, Novara Media is a “autonomous media collective” based in London that currently manifests itself as an hour long radio show on weekly at 1pm GMT on Fridays on Resonance FM but that in the near future hopes to expand to internet TV. It provides really excellent analysis of political conditions, interesting interviews with leading left-wing writers and thinkers and excellent analysis of events as they unfold. Worth tuning in every week or subscribing to their podcast. Their archive is also really worth listening to – all their shows are on their website.
Jones is a commentator for The Independent newspaper and a writer who is also a member and activist on the left of the Labour party. During the programme, Owen outlines his reasons for supporting the Labour party and mainstream unions. What interests us here is how much he concedes and shares with the analysis of the presenters of Novara, an analysis which finds much of its basis in the stream of Italian autonomist Marxism which began in the mid-1960s – detailed in a number of previous shows. Perhaps unknown to him and certainly not in theoretical terms he would endorse, Owen ends up on much the same page about the way in which the working class now looks, yet still believes in the mass organs of working class born and constituted by and for a composition of the working class that no longer exists. The question is: why?
Italian autonomist Marxism has a long and complicated history that flows from the early theory of Operaismo in the 1960s (workerism in journals Quaderni Rossi and Classe Operaia), through to the larger organisations until the mid-to-late 1970s (Lotta Continua and Potere Operaio especially) to Autonomia Operaia and then “post-Workerism” that includes analyses made famous by Michael Hardt and Antonio Negri in works such as Empire and Paolo Virno’s (superior) Grammar of the Multitude. One continuity between these brands of Italian Marxism is the idea of analysing “class composition”, understood as centrally important to organising the working class against capitalism (see note).
In its workerist period where it was most cleanly articulated, class composition called for attention to the close relationship between what they called the technical composition of the working class and its political composition. The technical composition – the way in which work was organised, the flow of the working day, the manner in which communication was allowed on the shop floor – resulted in a particular political composition of the working class – the manner in which they would struggle against the working conditions imposed upon them by capital. As Wright points out, this characterisation can sometimes appear rigidly mechanistic, but this was related to another classical workerist analysis, the so-called “Copernican inversion” instituted by the Operaist theorist Mario Tronti. Just as Copernicus had inverted the relationship between the Earth and cosmos, Tronti that the ruling classes respond to working class struggle, which is primary, rather than the other way around. Previously Marxists had written history from the perspective of capital – the point was to read it from the perspective of the living labour subjugated by capital, to which capital responded by changing. Thus the technical discipling of one era of the working class is the result of their struggle in the preceding era. This leads to an alternative history of the struggles between classes which can be extended to the digital sphere.
This means that careful attention was paid to the way the working class as they actually existed and struggled against capitalism in their day to day lives. This meant that this understanding of that life was to be finally the task of the workers themselves, with only the help of theorists and left sociologists – the idea of the ‘worker’s enquiry’ was central to workerist and then autonomist analyses. Since this early period analysts working in the tradition have paid close attention to the changes in the way work is composed, offering a series of new understandings that operate under the unstable, sometimes over wrought but provocative categories of post-Fordism, immaterial labour, affective labour, precarious labour, the Multitude, the cognitariat and so on. What is centrally important here though is that if the working class is to struggle, it must be understood as it is now. The problem with the political organisations of the day, the early workerists theorised, was that they had a view of the working class that was radically out of date, so they were totally unable to respond to its needs. The mass organisations of the unions and the Italian communist party (the PCI) could no longer represent in their idea of the working class, the new ‘mass worker’, partially formed by unskilled migrant labour and forced into an accelerated rate of production, that directly much of its rage against the idea of work itself. The figure of the proud skilled worker collecting their just reward and the unions promoting the dignity of work that flowed from this were out of date for the situation the real working class found itself.
Jones’ first book Chavs: The Demonisation of the Working Class is sometimes taken as a rather nostalgic book, pining for the days prior to Thatcher. However, as is clear from his Novara interview, Jones is rather more astute in his analysis of how class reproduces itself today. As Jones says, more people are now employed in call centres than were employed down the mines. The class composition of the working class has profoundly changed, which Jones seems to admit “If the miner was one of the iconic jobs of post-war Britain, then today, surely, the call centre worker is as good a symbol of the working class as any”. For the autonomist Marxists, these changes result in the need for a different approach to political organisation, the germs of which emerged in the Italian experience of the ‘movement of 1977’. Some post-autonomist theorists – such as Hardt and Negri – have been rather over enthusiastic about the political possibilities of this type of communication worker as being intrinscally collaborative and ‘communistic’ – something that has been heavily criticised. Those influenced by the autonomist tradition have published extremely detailed analyses of call centre work – the most famous being Kolinko’s Hotlines. Indeed, the best moments of Chavs are the descriptions of daily work that could well flow from one of these organisations.
So, the problem with Jones’ analysis is that on one hand he agrees with the idea that the working class has fundamentally changed in the UK under the conditions we might call “post-Fordism”, but that the organs of the working class must look to are still the organs of the period preceding it. Owen repeats that the times where working people clustered around a similar place, all doing the same job and therefore represented by the mass union have concluded, but then looks to the same things now to do the same job now. It is frustrating – why praise the organisational innovation of UKUncut then claim unions could do anything approaching this? When Jones’ details the numerous defeats for the Left inside the Labour party, he then places the burden of proof on the person who claims that maybe the Labour party isn’t the best place for a genuinely left wing project. Yet surely that burden should be on Jones to explain why now given all the preceding history, the Labour party could work out this time, especially given its current formation. Perhaps those attempts outside the Labour party would had had more success without these kind of arguments being produced? Despite all his pessimism of the current state of the Left, Jones believes the situation that preceded (say) the smashing of the unions by Thatcher can be restored. How when the form of work that allowed their formulation no longer exists as he himself admits? The same goes for the terminal decline in the membership of political parties as such, including the Labour party.
In short, Owen would be better served following the arguments of his own work to the logical conclusion, genuinely “starting where people are” as workers and abandoning hope in the mass organisations of the working class that serve a class that no longer exists. Come on outside Owen – the autonomia’s lovely!
Note: The best history of the early development of this period is Storming heaven: class composition and struggle in Italian Autonomist Marxism by Steve Wright. Wright’s book strikes a remarkably pessimistic tone – this review by one of the subjects of the book Sergio Bologna being an interesting counterpoint alongside an afterword to the Italian edition by participants. He has also written shorter articles on the subject and interviews. |
Easy, one-bowl Triple Chocolate Banana Bread. Loaded with chocolate chips and topped with a dark chocolate ganache.
We have an excessive amount of bananas in our freezer. Really, it’s reaching epic proportions. I’ve mentioned before that I consider bananas to have a ridiculously short life span. There’s a 1-2 day window when I consider them edible. Anything outside of that is just… no. Ryan actually prefers them when they are (what I consider) over ripe, aka rotten. You know, when they start to have brown specks on them and the banana smell is WAY too strong. No thank you. It’s usually around this point that they get shoved into the freezer to be used at some undisclosed later date, almost exclusively in banana bread.
I love banana bread. It’s so easy to make, and super versatile. You can jazz it up with chocolate chips or pineapple chunks, add some walnuts or coconut – the possibilities are endless. You can have it for breakfast, as an afternoon snack, or even dessert. This triple chocolate banana bread most certainly falls into the dessert category (though I won’t judge you if you sneak a piece for breakfast).
I have made banana bread before, and even fancied it up for a tropical Bundt cake (which was delicious), but I’ve never made a rich, chocolatey version, so that was my priority this week.
For this Triple Chocolate Banana Bread, I swapped out some of the flour for cocoa powder, and added some espresso powder to intensify the chocolate flavour. Adding espresso powder to chocolate baked goods is my favourite thing to do. You can’t often taste the coffee flavour itself, but it really adds a richness to the chocolate, which I love.
I had some leftover ganache from last week’s Mocha Chocolate Cake, so I decided to kick this chocolate banana bread up a few notches – because it clearly wasn’t chocolatey enough already. I originally intended to sprinkle chopped walnuts on top of the ganache to help cut some of the sweetness, but I loved the pattern of the ganache drizzle too much to cover it up.
This triple chocolate banana bread is delicious. It’s incredibly moist and chocolatey. If you want to tone it down a bit (and I wouldn’t blame you), you can skip the chocolate chips and ganache and have a delicious plain chocolate banana bread. Or you can swap the chocolate chips for walnuts or some other kind of nut. Really, it’s so versatile and fun to experiment with different combinations. Whatever you decide on, you won’t be disappointed!
Oh and the best part about this recipe? You can totally do it in one bowl.
Notes & tips for this Triple Chocolate Banana Bread:
You can do this easily in one bowl, just add the dry ingredients directly into the wet instead of mixing them in a separate bowl.
This bread is not super sweet and has a strong chocolate flavour. If you’d like to tone that down and prefer it sweeter, reduce the cocoa powder to 1/4 cup and increase the flour to 1 1/4 cups.
I use Dutch-processed cocoa powder, but regular cocoa powder will work too.
4.41 from 20 votes PRINT Triple Chocolate Banana Bread Easy, one-bowl Triple Chocolate Banana Bread. Loaded with chocolate chips and topped with a dark chocolate ganache. Prep Time 10 minutes Cook Time 1 hour Total Time 1 hour 10 minutes Servings 10 Calories 526 kcal Author Olivia INGREDIENTS Chocolate Banana Bread: 1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup Dutch-processed cocoa powder sifted, I use Dutch-processed
1 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1 Tbsp espresso powder (optional for flavour)
1 cup overripe bananas mashed (approx. 2 large bananas)
3/4 cup vegetable oil
3/4 cup light brown sugar
1 large egg
1 tsp vanilla
1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips optional Ganache (optional): 5 oz dark chocolate chopped
5 oz heavy whipping cream US Customary - Metric INSTRUCTIONS Chocolate Banana Bread: Preheat oven to 350F. Grease and flour a 9" x 5" loaf pan (I use homemade cake release ). Line with parchment (optional). In a small bowl, whisk together flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.** In a medium bowl, whisk together mashed bananas, oil, sugar, egg, and vanilla. Add dry ingredients to wet and mix until combined. Fold in chocolate chips. Bake for 55-65 mins or until a cake tester comes out mostly clean. Cool in pan on wire rack for 10mins, turn out and cool completely on wire rack. Ganache: Finely chop chocolate and place into a bowl. Bring cream just barely to a simmer and pour over chopped chocolate. Cover with plastic wrap and let stand 2 mins. Stir with a spatula until combined and smooth. Cool completely before drizzling over loaf.*** NOTES *This bread is not super sweet and has a strong chocolate flavour. If you'd like to tone that down and prefer it sweeter, reduce the cocoa powder to 1/4 cup and increase the flour to 1 1/4 cups. **One-bowl method - Skip this part and just add the dry right into the wet. ***I had leftover ganache stored in the fridge that I zapped in the microwave for 30 seconds.
The nutritional information and metric conversions are calculated automatically. I cannot guarantee the accuracy of this data. If this important to you, please verify with your favourite nutrition calculator and/or metric conversion tool. |
Americans suffer from 4 million urinary tract infections a year—they account for about one percent of all outpatient visits. Now, the primary means of diagnosing these conditions and other bladder-related problems is being called into question. A new study has shown that despite the common belief that urine is sterile, it isn’t at all. In fact, the new research shows bacteria in the urine of healthy women—a finding that could turn a time-tested diagnostic tool on its head.
For decades, scientists have thought that urine is sterile and that patients who test positive for bacteria in their urine have urinary tract disorders. In 2014, a team of scientists from Loyola University found discovered that might not be true.
Now, the team has used advanced methods to analyze urine specimens collected directly from the bladders of healthy women—and sure enough, they found bacteria in the urine. By using a technique called expanded quantitative urine culture (EQUC) and sequencing the subjects’ bacterial DNA, the team was able to identify bacteria not usually picked up by traditional urine cultures.
Study lead Alan Wolfe says that traditional tests have “limited utility” because of their inability to detect most bacteria. In a release, his team also revealed that some bacteria is more common in women who have bladder issues like urgent urinary incontinence. If researchers are able to determine which bacteria are linked to various symptoms, it could help doctors better identify and treat urinary disorders like infections, incontinence, pain and overactive bladder, notes a co-author.
But though the study debunked a long-held myth about sterile urine and suggested that modern testing tools aren’t sufficient to really understand urine, don’t rule out the power of pee. The Guardian reports that a university campus in the U.K. is using urine to power indoor lighting—a technique that could be expanded to help light refugee camps in developing countries. |
Source: Uber.
The Immaturity and Arrogance of Uber
Peter Sims Blocked Unblock Follow Following Oct 2, 2014
Last week, I wrote about an article here for Medium entitled “Can We Trust Uber?” in which I described a ridiculous incident a couple of years ago where the company used what I thought was my private Uber location data without my permission to promote its brand at one of the company’s launch events.
That article went viral and I received dozens of notes in response – from many “thought leaders” to everyday customers – all of whom expressed their disbelief and shock. Several people in the media asked if the company had offered a response or apologized? Uber leadership had not, and so on the advice of Medium Editor Steven Levy, I sent the following email five days ago to Uber CEO Travis Kalanick and cc’d Garrett Camp, a co-founder and chairman of the company:
Dear Travis,
I hope that this finds you, and that you had a good weekend.
I’m emailing you to follow up on the below piece that I wrote at the suggestion of a few people, including Aaron Blackledge, who suggested that the incident described below was likely a mixup, and suggested that I connect with you and Garrett. This was also the suggestion of Medium editor Steven Levy. I can believe that would be the case, and would be very open to a brief chat with you to clear it up. I’d also be very open to publishing a follow up with Medium.
I’m traveling for a friend’s memorial service early this week, but if you’re available, I could come by Uber SF this Wed. afternoon or Thursday or Friday. Or we could speak by phone if that’d be easier.
Thanks for letting me know.
cheers,
peter
I have not heard back from Kalanick, nor did I hear from Camp. (I’ve also asked Uber’s media relations team for comment.)
Perhaps Kalanick is too busy to respond to such concerns, but at this point, after getting a great deal of feedback about the operations of the company over the past week, I’ve come to believe that Uber is in a very precarious position right now.
Uber leadership not only consistently acts as if it is not only above the law, they act as if they are above everyone and every ethical norm.
I’m not here to write an article about Travis Kalanick and his management philosophy. Business Insider already did that in an article entitled: “All Hail The Uber Man! How Sharp-Elbowed Salesman Travis Kalanick Became Silicon Valley’s Newest Star.” The title nearly speaks for itself, although I will also include a key passage here:
Acquaintances seem to be of two minds about him: On the one hand, many agreed he is a phenomenon. “Travis is smart,” says Kalanick’s former investor Mark Cuban. “Busts his ass and is a true entrepreneur. Can’t be much more complimentary than that.”
Equally common was the view of Kalanick as — in a word that came up again and again in interviews, “an asshole.”
Or as one entrepreneur who has worked with him puts it, “Travis is ego personified.”
Often, those impressions overlap.
“Sometimes,” an acquaintance of Kalanick’s told Business Insider, “assholes create great businesses.”
Perhaps Kalanick is the next Larry Ellison, but far more often than not, assholes run businesses into the ground. As someone who has appreciated many aspects of Uber’s product and service, including the convenience and the fact that the business model is challenging a stale status quo, I now hope that the Uber board will show some leadership at this time.
Uber suffers from a paradoxical challenge. Its leadership is clearly smart and strategic as hell, yet at the same time, the company’s culture reeks of immaturity and a lack of ethics.
At this point in time, the company that Uber reminds me of the most is Groupon three or so years ago. At that time, Groupon was on top of the world. In 2011, as Groupon’s IPO approached, the Wall Street Journal reported that the company would be worth up to $25 billion. But thanks to voice of reason in Silicon Valley, most notably Vivek Wadhwa who called the IPO a “scam”, the IPO valuation landed at $12.65 billion.
I joined Wadhwa in voicing the belief that Groupon was over-hyped. The reason I did that was in part because of accounting gimmicks, yet also because I had seen Groupon CEO and founder Andrew Mason at events, and judged him to be very immature.
Groupon’s atrocious and immature leadership took the company down with it. Today, Groupon’s valuation stands at $4.4 billion. But, while many investors lost their shirts on the company, what’s worse are the countless employees and stakeholders who suffered from the exodus after an awful morale set in.
Wadhwa was right. Had only Groupon’s board listened to him and cleaned things up, the result could have been much different. It’s not too late for Uber’s board.
The canary in the coal mine has been singing about Uber’s immaturity and arrogance for months. The most interesting comment I received on last week’s article came from an Uber driver who described the math for how Uber makes promises to drivers, then cuts back fares without any regard for drivers. They aren’t employees, so why should Uber management care. As Kevin Roose described in a masterful article for New York Magazine, “Silicon Valley’s Contract Worker Problem”, contract workers have no voice.
So, while Kalanick and company enrich themselves, the joke is on everyone else. An arrogance and tone-deafness comes through in everything I see from the company, including its recent announcement pitching teachers to drive on Uber part-time. Several teachers emailed me in disbelief. Here’s an excerpt, presented as Uber doing good for the world:
As communities are heading back to school, we’d like to take a moment to celebrate the educators who are also our Uber partner drivers. Whether it’s an afternoon shift or a summertime gig, partnering with Uber provides teachers with the flexibility and opportunity they need to continue creating a foundation of excellence for students across the country.
Every day teachers are asked to do more with less, constantly faced with new challenges and limited resources. Uber opens the door for more possibilities and delivers a meaningful impact to the communities we serve.
What a bunch of bullshit. Who do they think will fall for this nonsense?
I don’t expect that Travis Kalanick will ever apologize to me for using my Uber location data to promote his brand at a launch event without my permission, but I haven’t given up hope in the Uber board’s ability to step up and lead. (There are no women on Uber’s board, by the way.) Bill Gurley of Benchmark is a respected guy in Silicon Valley, especially for his analytical mind. David Bonderman co-founder of TPG Capital has been a buyout king. David Drummond has impressed me from afar as the chief legal voice at Google. And, as I wrote last week, Garrett Camp, co-founder and now chairman of Uber, once impressed me with his product savvy. Now he must lead.
Now is the time to act, before Uber disappoints the public markets at the IPO and after. |
Matt Cohn-Geier is Backgammon’s new rising star. He played in his first tournament just 3 years ago and was recently ranked No. 15 in the world on the Giants of Backgammon list. By the way, he’s only been playing backgammon for 4 years! It is probably accurate to say that no player in the history of backgammon has gained such status and respect and proven ability in such a short period of time. It’s absolutely scary to think where Matt will be in 3 more years!
Matt is generally a man of few words. For example, after playing in chouettes with him in Chicago for several weeks last year, I asked him if he had noticed any flaws in my game. He said "Yes, you are dropping too many doubles." And I said, "Thanks, didn't realize it. What do you think is the best way I can correct that?" And he said, "Take more."
I am excited that he is willing to share a lot more information with us in this interview.
Tell us a little about your background and family.
I grew up in Evanston, Illinois. I have no siblings. I played games a lot growing up and was an avid computer and video gamer.
Tell us a little about your college life.
I went to the University of Wisconsin-Madison and studied philosophy. My grades were decent, better than they had been in elementary and high school, where I didn't really care. Early on, I spent my spare time getting drunk and playing chess. Later, I spent it getting drunk and playing backgammon. Still later, I gave up drinking altogether, and just spent it playing backgammon.
How did you get into backgammon?
I started playing chess when I was 15, at Evanston Township High School. I had some moderate success in chess, winning the HS State Championship in 2002, when I was 17.
I continued playing chess in college, but I didn’t really have the same kind of success with it that I did in backgammon. One day, in 2006, the local backgammon club was playing in the student union where I usually played blitz chess games (they didn’t normally play there, but had a special session that day). I watched with some kind of amazement. Everyone had their own cube and they seemed to be playing at a much faster pace and much stronger than I could ever have imagined. Looking back on it it's kind of funny how differently I perceive things just a few years later. Eventually, I burned out on chess and took up backgammon as my new game of choice.
What was your biggest backgammon victory?
I played in the intermediate in ABT events for a couple years and had only marginal results. My first time playing in the Open was Madison 2008. I went 7-2 to reach the Swiss knockout playoffs and played Neil Kazaross. That was a very tough match for me, maybe mentally and emotionally the toughest match I have ever played, and eventually, I won. I lost in the next round to eventual winner Tim Mabee and ended up with 3rd place. This was not such a bad result for my first time playing Open, but I still lost money due to travel expenses. Neil ended up winning the side pool.
My second tournament was Las Vegas 2008, 2 months later. I was very strapped for cash at the time and almost didn’t go because of the expenses. But when I did decide to attend, I learned from my previous mistake in Madison, and bought into the side pool. I ended up losing to Stacy Turner in the finals, but I won the side pool and got 2nd place.
One lesson I have learned is that if you are a strong player, the money will follow. At the time it seemed like a bad result for me in Madison to play well and outlast 45 other players just to end up with a financial loss, particularly at a time in my life when that money would have made a difference to me…but I learned from my mistakes and made it all back and a lot more 2 months later. After Vegas I went from being broke to bankrolled.
So you became a professional backgammon player?
About 6 months later, I quit my job. I consider myself a true professional player. On the other hand I don’t think it is really a viable profession in today’s atmosphere. I only know a tiny handful of professionals and 90% of them are playing poker now. Backgammon players are a dying breed.
It’s sad to me that the game has declined to this state. Things were different in the 70s, when backgammon was more popular than poker. Most top backgammon players today have a “real” job. Top chess and poker players make millions and are idolized as celebrities. I’d like to think that spectators and fans could appreciate the degree of tremendous effort and skill that goes into playing at the top of the game, but that only happens when a player can devote his life to his craft.
Is there a solution?
I don’t know. I am mostly known as a tournament player, even though I prefer cash games—I have been lucky enough to do better than break even at tournaments but I couldn’t come anywhere close to covering my living expenses. I would like to think that there could be enough interest, players, sponsors, and added money to make things closer to chess or poker, where top players can earn a living just from playing tournaments and of course everyone else wants to get their shot to beat some world-class players and win a tournament.
I feel almost obligated to become the best backgammon player I can be, to identify myself as a “professional”, and to attend as many tournaments as I can because of the state of the game. But I know fads and trends are beyond the scope of any one person.
In Japan, Mochy invited me to come to a high school where he helps out with running a backgammon club every once in awhile. It was amazing. There were probably 16 kids there and several others who didn’t show up that day. Some of them were quite strong, better than the average competition I face at ABT events. All of them had at least an intermediate knowledge of the game. Although there was a pretty large language barrier, everyone there seemed to be genuinely interested in backgammon. This group meets every day. It was not organized by Mochy or by a teacher interested in backgammon. There were enough students playing backgammon on their own so much that they collaborated to create the group themselves and found a teacher to run it. This scene was really inspiring to me. But it’s also something that I don’t think can happen in the U.S. under the current conditions.
What would you suggest to make backgammon more popular and exciting?
TV coverage would be a huge start. Another big improvement would be sponsorship for bigger tournaments with added money. Things were going in the right direction with the PartyGammon Million in the Bahamas, but the legislation really crippled the game in the U.S.
I think speedgammon is probably the way of the future, which is fun for spectators and would seem to lend itself to better TV coverage.
You say you enjoy money games—do you prefer heads up or chouettes? Do you enjoy the social aspects of chouettes or do you find that a distraction from serious play?
I like heads up play since it tends to go much faster than chouettes and I always get to play, but I do enjoy the social atmosphere in chouettes. Interlocking chouettes, as played in San Francisco, are lots of fun. Everyone is in 2 chouettes at the same time, and works as long as you have at least 5 players (though most prefer to do it with 6+). Everyone gets a lot of play in this way.
You became a world class player in a very short period of time—only 3 years of serious study. What books or lessons or individuals helped you the most?
There are a few decent books and articles. In particular, Robertie's Advanced Backgammon was a launching point for my game, and I really started to understand things on a deeper level with Woolsey & Heinrich's New Ideas in Backgammon. Woolsey’s article on the Five Point Match also helped.
The forums (first Kit's forums, then Stick's forums at www.bgonline.org/forums) did more for my game than any book. It’s too bad Kit’s archives aren’t there because it would be interesting, at least for me if not anyone else, to look back over the way my thought process progressed. In the beginning it was very clouded and I used to see lots of details that weren’t pertinent to the position.
Even more important than the forums was practice with the bots. Practicing with the bots was enormous for my game.
What was the best lesson you ever had?
I have had several moments of awakening and perspective shifts but the biggest one for me came when I was talking with Falafel in New York, January 2009. I rattled off a list of top American players and Falafel shot them all down, finally saying, “they don’t want to play me, because if they play me, they’ll lose.”
Falafel and I don’t always agree on everything but the realization I had in that moment shifted my perspective from an amateur’s to a professional’s. It’s one thing to play “on a world-class level” but it’s another thing to look at the entire world as your fish bowl. It’s the difference between looking at the Giants as your idols and looking at them as your customers. It’s the difference between lamenting your bad luck and knowing that you’ve seen it all a million times before and will see it all a million times again. It’s the difference between thinking that you can beat the game and having the confidence to stake your bank account on beating the game.
You just appeared on the Giants of Backgammon list for the first time, and in a very high spot--No. 15. Do you believe you are as good as the top 5 players on the list, and if not, do you think you will be there some day? What separates you from the top 5 players?
Well, that was really incredible, since I had only been playing backgammon at all for 3 years and was only frequenting tournaments in the last year, 2009. My results haven’t been spectacular and I thought most people outside of the US would never have even heard my name. The only tournament outside the US that I went to was Paris 2009, and that was my biggest loss to date. I guess I am the youngest and least experienced player to crack the top 15—maybe the youngest and least experienced player to make the list at all. So it basically all had to be based on the merit of my play, and I was surprised to hear that some Europeans voted me very high on the list.
I am not sure who can beat me on a consistent basis. No one has proven to me yet that he would be any kind of substantial favorite. My recorded matches have almost always been at a very low ER. Falafel & I play sometimes on GridGammon, and the ERs are quite close—I think his is slightly lower right now, but I’m not sure. We make a lot of bets on checker play and cube decisions (probably in the past year we have made maybe 100 or 200 bets). So far we are exactly even on the bets.
None of it really matters when it comes time to play over the board, though. I always prefer to do my talking over the board. I think if things continue at the current pace, in a year or two, no one will be able to beat me.
You distinguished yourself in the Denmark vs. the World competitions last a few weeks ago. What was your role on the world team; what was your record; and how did you play compared to others in the event?
I played DMP and doubles with Mochy. I went 5-2 in the DMPs and won the doubles with Mochy, trying to keep us alive while staring into the face of death. In the DMPs I played quite well. The only player who played at a lower ER was Stick, probably because he spent every game closed out as he was losing 1-6.
For some reason I really felt like I was going to win the Nordic. I've never had such a strong feeling that I was going to win a tournament, even when I was in the finals in Vegas. It sounds crazy, and it is, but it's true. I don't think I've ever been playing better than I am right now. Anyway, it didn't work out and I failed to cash.
If I were to make up a tremendously complicated test of knowledge and skill, showing 10 very complicated positions and asking players to estimate exact percentage of wins, losses, gammons and backgammons, and each player had 10 minutes to study each problem, which players do you think would be most likely to score highest on such a quiz?
My money would be on either Francois or Neil, but maybe some others like Nack, John O'Hagan, and Mochy would have a good shot. I have no idea how I would score and don't know how relevant it is to measuring backgammon skill.
What advice would you give to an aspiring player that wants to become a top player some day?
Identify where your thinking is flawed (usually errors you made) and change it. Errors are wonderful things because they give you a focus to improve your game. A pattern of errors is even better than a single error because it suggests an easy way to break the pattern.
Most players are preoccupied with their ERs and with trying to look like geniuses. I learned very quickly it was better to look like an idiot and take all the money.
What are your plans for tournament play this year?
Well, I have already been to Nordic, and I will also play in Cyprus, London, Estoril, and Monte Carlo. After that I’m not sure. Maybe a few ABT tourneys, and maybe the Japan Open.
Aside from backgammon, what are your other hobbies or interests?
Travel, food, philosophy. I love experiencing other cultures. I also love any kind of games, though not to the same degree as backgammon. I used to study chess far more than I study backgammon but that crashed and burned. I often read up on other games where the money is better, especially poker and stock trading, but haven’t been able to make the transition yet. They just don’t interest me enough.
What are some of your pet peeves about backgammon players or tournaments?
I’m tired of players (including, but not limited to, top players, weak players, serious players, casual players, and average players) complaining about their luck. In the end everyone has the same luck. No one cares how many times you fanned on a 2-point board.
Who are your heroes in backammon…people you respect either for their play or for other reasons?
I try to learn from everyone. I just take each person’s strongest points and try to do imitate him exactly the same way. Once I think I have reached that point, I try to do it better than he does.
I respect Stick quite a bit. Even though an untrained monkey plays better than him, he rolls like a true champion. Neil Kazaross is a serious student of the game, knows as much theory as anyone, consistently plays well, and always has great results on the ABT. Falafel understands backgammon as well as anyone I have met and also has incredible results. Gus Hansen really amazed me in Copenhagen; he is probably the most talented player I have seen. Mochy studies the game very well. He doesn’t have the same natural talent for the game as the other players I have mentioned but he impresses me by being able to play at least as well as them, if not better, due to his work ethic.
What are your personal strengths that make you better than other players?
I want to win more. I am not a natural player but when someone has a greater desire to win it’s practically impossible to compete with.
I also have better judgment. Most players know just as much theory as me but have no idea how to apply it. I see only what’s critical in a position.
You have stated that you don't believe you have to have terrific math skills to play backgammon. So what are the most important skills in order to become world class?
Desire is far more important than anything else. This is why I play backgammon and not poker or stocks. I just haven’t been able to really focus on those things because I don’t find it interesting enough. Even chess I couldn’t keep up with because in the end I didn’t have the passion for the game.
Of course you will still need to learn how to count pips and count shots and so on (match equities also help, etc.), but this can all be learned very easily if the interest is there. I am not sure if motivation can be learned.
Do you have any special tips or strategies that have helped your game?
I made a vow to myself that I will not make the same mistakes twice. Maybe I will overcompensate and I might make other, much bigger mistakes, but for damn sure I am not going to repeat the same mistake I made before. Bots are great tools for identifying mistakes but you need to be self-aware. I don’t cling to my judgments so I can change my thinking quite easily if I turn out to be wrong. Again, I don’t try to be a genius, I just try to be right. And I don’t have to be right all the time, I just have to be right more often than my opponent.
You have been writing many articles for Gammon Village, so you obviously believe you have things to tell the world that others have not or are not writing. There are some who say we know everything there is to know about backgammon except for small changes that might come from better rollouts from improved bots (ExtremeGammon in particular which has proven to be faster and more accurate than previous bots). Do you believe that statement is correct, or do you believe there are new ideas, concepts, and strategies yet to be found?
I think almost all of the strategical and tactical concepts are known. Most of them were discovered in the 1970s, some weren’t well known until the 1980s or after the bot revolution in the 1990s. But there really isn’t much about the game to know. That’s one thing that makes backgammon such a beautiful game.
The problem is judgment. Where I differ from most players is that I have a feel for the right play or the right concept. I don’t distract myself by looking at things that don’t matter. Maybe I remember a position I’ve seen somewhere before, maybe I am able to reason through it with some kind of analysis, maybe I haven’t seen this position but I’ve seen a similar one, maybe a mix of the above. Most players know all the theory behind backgammon but they are completely in the dark when it actually comes time to make a decision.
Backgammon is a game of technique, and I am a technician and a perfectionist. I reveal all my secrets. I don’t do anything new or profound or brilliant; I don’t do any crazy calculations or have some secret set of position cards. I just do what other people are doing, except I do it better than them. If someone thinks they can do it better than me then I welcome the challenge.
Can you give us an example of some new thinking that has surfaced in the past couple of years that the backgammon players of the 1990's didn't know?
In particular the understanding of match play and recubes is something that has only evolved within the past 10 years. METs and the theory were widely known but the practice is more complicated than the theory suggested.
Also the play of back games has become more sophisticated with the advent of stronger bots.
Do you know, from memory, most of the take points and MET's, or do you figure them out in your head at the table?
For a 5-point or 7-point match, especially on initial cubes, I know most from memory. I am a big fan of memorizing rather than calculating because it makes the rest of it so much easier. For something longer, where one side has a big lead, on recubes, or in a rather unusual situation (for --example, in Denmark I had to figure out what the gammon value was on a 4-cube at 2-away 7-away), I have to figure it out over the board. But I have certain methods that I use that are very accurate most of the time. I laid these out in my Match Equity 201 column on GammonVillage. I am working on a couple refinements so that it will be razor accurate in the near future, but I haven’t gotten there just yet.
Someone started a rumor that you were gay. Others said you were not gay, but just very shy, and you even wear a T-shirt proclaiming your shyness. Care to comment on this? Do you have a significant other and if so, who is he or she? (There was even a rumor about you and Stick Rice, but several said that is impossible because Stick is so ugly.)
I am straight, single, available, and unusually good-looking. I am very shy but that is an important part of my charm. A girlfriend probably wouldn’t do for me because I travel so much and play so much backgammon, so I guess I need to start setting up harems in my travels.
If I were gay I think I could do much better than Stick. That’s probably why he started the rumor, but I don’t think anyone believed it. I am sure that there is a great guy out there waiting for him though.
In recent years you have lived in San Francisco, Chicago and now Tokyo. Do you enjoy living in Tokyo and will you be there very long?
Japan is a wonderful country and Tokyo is a wonderful city, but I love to travel too much. I want to experience the rest of the entire world. Right now I am in Western Europe and will be living here for the next 3 months (Athens at the moment). When I return to the US in July, I would like to go to New York. |
Sometimes, you catch all the breaks. Sometimes, those breaks are not exactly what you want to catch.
When describing the San Jose Earthquakes' 2014 MLS season, the most succinct description might be "derailed by injury." Other than talisman's Jon Busch in goal and Chris Wondolowski at forward, the Quakes has seen a steady flow of players to the trainer's table. Clarence Goodson, Yannick Djalo, Matias Perez Garcia -- all were expected to provide San Jose with the talent required to make the playoffs, but they have all missed significant playing time.
And now, the latest addition to the list is target forward Steven Lenhart. Just a few weeks back from a knee injury that shut him down for most of the summer, Lenhart suffered a foot injury on Thursday that is expected to keep him out for the remainder of the regular season.
According to a club spokesperson, Lenhart cut his foot while riding his bike. The injury, described as a gash, required stitches and is expected to take a few weeks to fully heal. Given that the Earthquakes season ends in four weeks, on October 26 at Chivas USA, the likelihood of his return is doubtful.
The 28-year old forward, who was traded to San Jose prior to the 2011 season, has only appeared in 11 games this year. After a career year in 2012, when Lenhart scored 10 goals in 26 appearances and helped lead the Earthquakes to the Supporters' Shield, he has collected only 5 goals in 25 total appearances over the past two seasons.
With the Quakes apparent transition to a more ground-based offensive system, the need for Lenhart in 2015 and beyond might be minimal. The Earthquakes have already dealt his "Bash Brother" teammate Alan Gordon away; the possibility remains that Lenhart has also played his last game for San Jose. |
by David Hamilton (October 2011)
One of Edmund Burke's famous quotes from Reflections on the Revolution in France sums up the contemporary official attitude to architecture and planning: “I cannot conceive how any man can have brought himself to that pitch of presumption, to consider his country as nothing but carte blanche, upon which he may scribble whatever he pleases.” This is the universal versus the particular.
I am promoting a Conservative view of architecture and town planning which advocates the design of new buildings by developing from the traditional styles that already exist in diverse towns and cities rather than forcing incongruous buildings into a round hole: the exploitation of cities across the world for a Global style of architecture. There is enough disjuncture in British urbiscapes as it is after the Second World War blitzes and sixty years of depredations by local councils without adding incongruous excrescences to it.
It is difficult to get a hearing for a non-orthodox idea. The Liberal-Marxist online journal Spiked would not use an article I wrote as an alternative view to an article praising The Shard. They complimented it but asked me to chop it down and send it as letter! Why suppress a different point of view? The catalyst was an interesting piece by Tim Abrahams. (1)
Mr. Abraham's essay is enthusiastic about skyscrapers for London and gives an insight the background to the design of The Shard. It was originally planned to be an even taller building but planning permission was refused in 2000. The developers then brought in a new architect, Renzo Piano, to get the project through because Lord Rogers, who Piano had worked with on the Pompidou Centre in Paris, was an adviser to the London mayor, Ken Livingstone, who was keen to change London.
Livingstone had also supported the plans the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea Council had to redesign Sloane Square by creating two large piazzas connected with the buildings on each side of the square to replace the isolated central space. Livingstone also had plans to redesign ten of London's famous Squares. The residents of Sloane Square are highly articulate and professional people and defeated the plan. However ordinary communities have to suffer constant change and being uprooted.
Funding for The Shard is from Qatari Diar Real Estate Investment Company, who, agreed to provide a funding facility to LBQ Ltd, the Jersey registered holding company that is developing the Shard and London Bridge Place. The quantum of the loan is not disclosed.
Karl Sharro, a London based architect also mocked Prince Charles in an article for Spiked. It is a classic of modern ideological thinking and contempt for a country's traditions and the style of architecture that has developed there with the usual mocking arrogance and wild hyperbole. (2)
The Shard will be three times the height of St. Paul's Cathedral, thus cocking a snook at Prince Charles, who is a great lover of the magnificent Cathedral with its prominent dome.
The topic sentences in Mr. Abrahams article were:”the Shard is a feat of engineering and an important reminder that construction is a complex process. The revealing of the innards of the building has captured the imagination of visitors and residents of London: many have been enthralled at realising the process behind building skyscrapers, which are built around a concrete lift core."
When evaluating contemporary buildings reviewers commonly confuse engineering with architecture. The second sentence about “revealing the innards of the building” tells us it is part of a contemporary fashion.
Renzo Piano in naming the building used the term of contempt for “The Shard” coined by English Heritage, the advisory body to the government on historical preservation, his opponents, – The Shard!
Like other new skyscrapers it caters for the new rich. I am no Egalitarian but what we are seeing is the overthrow of local people and their culture and traditions for wealthy people who will not mix with them. The cost for an apartment at the tapered top of the building will be around £10million.
The contemporary fad is not only to build ugly, but silly or just ridiculous buildings that are bizarre and without character. The Selfridges building in Birmingham's Bullring Shopping Centre was voted the ugliest building in the country. It looks like a giant silver slug oozing past the Shopping Centre, and it glowers inhospitably at visitors entering the city.
These excrescences or an unattractive or superfluous addition or feature, have no lineage and grow out of no tradition but seemingly erupt like boils with no relation to the local character or the aggregate of features and traits that form the local ambience of an area and its community. A community no less than an individual has a particular nature from its past, its history, local culture and traditions. These universal buildings are growths that undermine and jar with the local ambience. They usually open with protests from local residents and calls for them to be demolished immediately.
Some examples of Global architecture: Lord Rogers', Millennium Dome (now the 02 Arena) in London, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland, USA, and the Ryugyong Hotel in North Korea - these are buildings which undermine the local character of the different areas and weaken local cultures and traditions and thereby dissociate local people. The Ryugyong Hotel was unoccupied for two decades, might never have been occupied.
It has 3,000 rooms, a series of three grey 328-foot long concrete wings shaped into a steep pyramid, with 75 degree sides that rise to an apex of 1,083 feet, known as The Hotel of Doom (also The Phantom Hotel and The Phantom Pyramid). In 1987, Baikdoosan Architects and Engineers made an optimistic start but over twenty years later, despite North Korea investing more than two percent of its gross domestic product in the project, it was never occupied, opened, nor ever finished.
Global buildings are constructed in diverse communities but share common features: they are extremely expensive, most were thought to be futuristic designs, and they divide opinion amongst local residents, architects, and the wider public. They are neither popular nor respected and are mocked and given nicknames because they do not look like what they are supposed to be. They have the effect of reducing the prestige of a city and making it look odd or silly. They are exciting for a time but it is a temporary excitement, yet the loss of prestige is permanent as the cities become disjointed by piecemeal developments and the local communities dissociated. This is not the grandeur of the great cathedrals, built in a higher cause, the glory of God, which is why they pointed to the heavens; but overstatement, arrogance, built to aggrandize individuals or an architects company or by interest groups to the detriment of a town or city.
Another Global horror is The Cube in Birmingham, the traditional home of both cold and grey as well as silly buildings. It has been said that the architects who designed Birmingham were influenced by the cigarette packets and cigarette lighters they had on their desks because so many of the city's buildings were shaped like cigarette packets and cigarette lighters. The Cube self-promotion blurb bears no relation to the common perception:
“Standing tall on the architectural world stage, The Cube, has transformed Birmingham’s skyline, raised its global profile and signifies a new era in the city’s evolution.”
It is instructive that these buildings always win awards. Just listen to this gushing twaddle: “inspired by the vision of award winning architect, Ken Shuttleworth, this most prestigious landmark building animates the canal side offering cutting edge design and breathtaking views in a designer neighbourhood”... apparently, its “intricate glowing tessellations blanket the exterior facade, to be admired from afar. Inside this fascinating ‘jewellery box”.
Like The Shard it aims for the new elitism – “a rich mix of slick residential apartments, exclusive retail, extensive office space, boutique hotel, private spa, a hi-tech automated car park and the city’s first rooftop restaurant reside.” Upmarket is the American term which refers to what we would in England describe as vulgar: money without taste.
The Cube is seen as “prestigious, world famous architecture such as London’s Swiss building known as ‘The Gherkin’, Hong Kong & Shanghai Bank and 55 Baker Street. A confident statement for a confident city.” To most people it just looks silly.
Architecture gives an impression of a place in people's minds. It makes a statement as they say. Birmingham was voted the ugliest city in the country in a national poll. That followed the city's Bullring Shopping Centre and Central Library being named as the number one and two ugliest buildings in the country. That was the current “Brutalist” library from 1974.
A new Library is being built but this is not so much ugly as ridiculous. It looks like Colditz wrapped in barbed wire. (3) Birmingham, it is said, used to look like Paris until the irrational scheme in the 1950s to make it an international city left it decultured and without an identity - an example to the rest of the country of what not to do.
Manchester is at it too! They have several which exemplify my point about these universal styles disjointing the overall ambience. Islington Wharf is one.
Heron Tower in London is another rupture of the character of the city and our inherited architectural traditions. It dwarfs St. Paul's Cathedral and the little Georgian church of St Botolph, Bishopsgate, and its surrounding churchyard, which are just over the road. It stands next to The Gherkin and The Cheese Grater who stand incongruous in London like The Three Witches from Macbeth.
Architect KPF designed the building which has upset people because it is another one dwarfing St. Paul's Cathedral. It is yet another skyscraper destroying London's character and presenting a muddled and disjointed skyline devoid of charm, grace and beauty but redolent with muddled and incompatible buildings. It has a 70,000 litre aquarium and what is becoming an obligatory shark. If Burj Dubai has gimmicks then these must follow suit.
St Paul's is one of the most beautiful building in London and, despite the high-rise buildings around it, you can still visualise what it would have looked like when it was built - a beautiful big Swan surrounded by ducks. London's officials are allowing the destruction of that.
In March 2007, it was stated that Heron had signed a funding deal with the State General Reserve Fund of the Sultanate of Oman to provide the equity for the development. Skanska, the firm that built The Gherkin, were main contractor.
KPF are an International architectural practice recognised for design excellence and innovation in their buildings throughout the world, with offices in New York, London, Shanghai, Hong Kong, Seoul, & Abu Dhabi
One of the ugliest muddles I have ever seen is St. George's Wharf, in London. How architects can be so crass, planners be so benighted and local councillors so contemptuous of their cities, defeats me. To the contrary, St. George's website rejoices that:
”With breathtaking views and stunning apartments, shimmering on the waterfront with its fantastic architecture and design, St George Wharf is one of the most sought after riverside developments in London! “
The views may well be “breathtaking” but the architecture and design are repulsive.
There have been breaks in architectural styles when a new style takes over throughout history but these excrescences bear no relation at all to precious styles, neighbouring buildings nor the characteristic scale and are destroying the character, ambience and culture our towns and cities.
Jean Nouvel's One New Change in the City is another muddle that is ruining local character by being dumped between two historic Wren churches - St Mary le Bow and St Paul's. (4)
A standard development that has the usual high street shopping malls and a champagne bar which show the lack of imagination of planners, developers and architects. A Victor Heal building was demolished to make way for it. Like the others its has a stunning view, but only from the inside looking out. If any should make a mistake and look the other way they would be appalled.
In an interview with The Guardian, The City of London's planning officer, Peter Rees, said the shopping centre would help confirm that the City has shed its bowler-hatted image. "The City has become a much more rounded place. The quality of food available and the entertainment and leisure facilities have improved, and we're bringing shopping back to the City. It's not just a place to work any longer." It certainly is not just a place to work. It is being turned into a place with diminishing character and identity whose main attraction to visitors now is somewhere to go be disappointed. Whoever thought London was city of bowler-hatted people?
The Strata building plopped in the middle of The Elephant and Castle is out of place, a freak alone in a run down area not regenerating it but mocking it. It would have been better renovating the existing buildings from the 1960s, which are generally sound but neglected.
One Hyde Park cost £500 million and took five years for architects 3XN and AEW to build. It has been described as a:” "Great location but money can't buy you taste!"and derided by Building Design for having "sterile gardens", "desolate spaces" and the "barren feel of a corporate plaza."
BBC's Salford-based regional headquarters by Wilkinson Eyre, Chapman Taylor and Fairhurst Design Group cost £600 million to build and was described by Building Design editor Ellis Woodman: “Visiting Media City UK, it is hard to see how the corporation could set their aspirations any lower. How uncreative can a 'Creative Quarter' be?"
As a reminder of what beauty and grandeur are I have added a view of St. Paul's from down the River Thames showing two of the ugly sisters waiting for the third, Heron Tower, to join them. It shows clearly the ruining of the London skyline. Nearby is a host of threatening cranes: The cranes of destruction.
We have a sense of beauty, balance and harmony from God and these new buildings contravene that. We are being dissociated from our communities in towns and cities by architecture that jars with and offends our inborn need to belong and for the familiar. Contemporary architecture dissociates people and makes them feel out of place in their home towns. Our Urbiscapes are being disjointed by new developments that have no relation to their surroundings or preceding buildings. To Aristotle the golden mean was the desirable middle between the extremes of excess and deficiency. To the Greeks the Mean was an attribute of beauty which, they believed, had three aspects: symmetry, proportion, and harmony. That is a useful way to judge new buildings. I would also look for character, something individual but which nevertheless fits in. Scale is important as our traditional scale here is different from that in other countries. The great buildings were superior to contemporary ones because they made proficient use of decoration and ornament as our Cathedrals and churches show.
What architects need to do, be they international or otherwise, is respect the character of the towns and cities they are designing for and and develop continuity not turn them into characterless muddles with disjunctive buildings nor is it necessary to let architectural anarchy ruin harmony, balance and proportion. The local authorities are supposed to represent their communities not international corporations. I mentioned Aristotle now it is time to mention Plato. What is happening here is as he warned in book eight, chapter four of his famous work The Republic, our democracy is becoming an oligarchy.
I have written previously that: "Local councillors are only elected by a minority of voters and are not therefore fully representative of the public and we need an office appointed by the Crown like a lord lieutenant with responsibility for protecting communities not factions of it. The Office of the Lord-Lieutenant dates from the 16th Century and has the force of tradition behind it at a time when we are victims of unrestrained change for profit at our communities’ expense.”
That was offering a Conservative vision for the future but what can be done now, in practice, is to campaign for a return to local democracy where the elected officials put the interests of their communities first.
(1) Tim Abrahams is associate editor of Blueprint, the UK’s leading magazine of architecture and design
http://www.spiked-online.com/index.php/site/article/10008/
http://www.spiked-online.com/index.php?/site/issues/C20/
http://www.europe-re.com/system/main.php?pageid=2616&articleid=13019
http://www.building.co.uk/news/work-begins-to-lift-shard%E2%80%99s-spire-into-place/5025132.article
http://www.guardian.co.uk/artanddesign/2011/jan/30/shard-renzo-piano-london-bridge
(2) http://karlsharro.co.uk/ambition-architecture.htm
http://www.spiked-online.com/index.php/site/article/7915/
(3) http://www.birmingham.gov.uk/cs/Satellite/library-of-birmingham?packedargs=website%3D4&rendermode=live
(4) http://www.guardian.co.uk/artanddesign/2010/oct/20/one-new-change-st-pauls
http://www.knowledgeoflondon.com/modern.html
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I love raspberry jam and make several batches with my late summer raspberries every year; the glowing jars of ruby preserve are then served at breakfast, as well as saved to be given as gifts at Christmas. My recipe for raspberry jam is based on my grandmother’s recipe, a high fruit to sugar type with a soft set; however, I also like the more traditional jams with higher sugar content, and they keep much better too. (I think my grandmother had to be fairly thrifty with her sugar rations, a throwback from the war).
I was going to share my grandmother’s recipe with you today, but, I have discovered and new ruby gem of a recipe, one that uses organic (Fairtrade) vanilla and was created by the queen of all things jam, Vivien Lloyd.I have tweaked Vivien’s recipe, and she has given me permission to share my amended recipe here – if you want to see the original recipe for Vivien’s jam, you can visit her site here: Vivien’s Raspberry and Vanilla Jam. I did keep with family tradition when I made a batch of this jam recently however, as I used my grandmother’s old kitchen scales to weigh my ingredients, with old fashioned Imperial measures weights too. I love the fact that I have so many tangible links to my families’ culinary past, and the old Salter scales are just one of them.
My slightly amended recipe based on Vivien’s is shared below, and if you cannot source good organic vanilla, then the jam is just as delicious without it, although the vanilla adds a wonderful sweet and slightly musky flavour which only enhances the tartness of the raspberries. I find that making smaller batches is more manageable, so make a batch here and there as soon as I have at least 500g of fruit. For more preserves recipes, you can see what I have been making here: The Home-Made Jam Factory! Enjoy your jamming session! |
The San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department is not commenting on a photo shown in court as part of an ongoing civil trial that a plaintiff says shows a deputy dressed in a Grinch costume intentionally and illegally driving a patrol car through a stoplight in Victorville to prompt a red-light camera to snap a souvenir picture.
“It was posted around the station as if it was a big joke. I didn’t think it was funny,” testified Deputy Brian Moler, one of three plaintiffs who sued the county, alleging they were retaliated against for being whistleblowers.
Moler testified that he was removed from his prestigious assignment as a motorcycle traffic officer and ostracized by his colleagues after he ignored what he said were illegal ticket-writing quotas and continued to cite Victorville city officials and other employees as well as off-duty deputies.
His attorney, Christopher L. Gaspard, asked on the trial’s opening day last week whether any deputies at the station had committed serious offenses yet gone unpunished. Moler described the Grinch incident as Gaspard projected the photo on the screen.
Moler noted that, in addition to the red-light violation, the vehicle’s front license plate was covered, in violation of the state Vehicle Code.
On cross-examination Monday, attorneys for the county confronted Moler with a 2008 video showing him, in uniform, dancing at night in the middle of Seventh Street in Victorville to Michael Jackson’s song “The Way You Make Me Feel.”
Attorney Susan Coleman asked how his action was different from the December 2013 Grinch incident.
Moler answered that dancing in the street was not illegal and that he was asked to do so by his sergeant for the station’s Christmas party video. He said he looked for an empty roadway, although at one point, at least one person could be heard telling him to get out of the road moments before a large SUV drove past the deputy.
The Sheriff’s Department declined to comment on either the Grinch photo or the video, spokeswoman Jodi Miller said, citing the ongoing trial.
Left unanswered about the Grinch photo is whether anyone was cited for running the red light, whether the department investigated the incident and whether the person driving the patrol car — whose identity could not be confirmed by this news organization — was disciplined.
There is precedent for a public-safety employee being disciplined for running a red light to take a selfie.
In 2012, Calfire/Riverside County Fire Department Engineer Patrick O’Donoghue was demoted to firefighter after he took his hands off the steering wheel and gave the camera at a Corona-area intersection a “two-thumbs-up” sign while running a red light with his emergency lights and siren activated. The state Personnel Board also ruled he drove too fast through the intersection.
Staff writer Beatriz Valenzuela contributed to this report. |
Pol Lt Gen Suthipong Wongpin, acting Immigration Bureau chief, shows a police suspects' board of an Indian and two Nigerian men detained for involvement in an online romance scam based in Bangkok. (Photo by Pawat Laopaisarntaksin)
The Immigration Bureau (IB) has nabbed two Nigerian nationals and an Indian man in Bangkok for allegedly running romance scams.
The IB on Thursday announced that two Nigerians -- Lawrence Osita Nwaenyi, 32, and Peter Stanley Chukwuebuka, 33 -- were arrested at a condominium in Prawet district.
The duo allegedly used social media and chat programmes to trick unsuspecting women into wiring money to them, according to IB acting commissioner Suthipong Wongpin.
Pol Lt Gen Suthipong said the suspects had opened Facebook pages using false identities. They posed as rich Europeans and approached and befriended female Facebook users.
If the women agreed to a chat, the suspects would make romantic overtures and express interest in investing in businesses with the victims.
In most cases, the IB acting commissioner said, the suspects told the victims they had gifts for them, sending them photoshopped pictures to make the scam look believable. Other gang members would then call the victims, pretending to be either customs or embassy officials, to seek a fee for the delivery of gifts.
Many victims fell for the trick and wired money to the suspects' accounts.
The gang ceased contact with victims who became suspicious and would move on to find other people to hoodwink online.
Pol Lt Gen Suthipong said the two Nigerians spent most of their day working on the computer in their rented condo.
Police raided the room and caught the men red-handed as they were communicating with their victims, using chatting apps.
Police have charged Mr Osita with staying illegally in the kingdom and Mr Chukwuebuka with overstaying his visa.
They are reviewing evidence gathered from the condo to identify the victims, who will be interviewed later.
In a separate incident, the IB has arrested an Indian man, Vinay Mishra, 29, and charged him with theft.
The suspect allegedly used dating websites to lure women and asked to stay over at their houses, claiming he had been robbed and had no money.
He allegedly brought valuables stolen from his unsuspecting hosts to his hotel in Sukhumvit Soi 50. |
'Even momma got outta house to loot new shirt': Looters brag on Twitter
Police have arrested 13 people in New York City on suspicion of looting
Looters have especially targeted Queens and Brooklyn, some even posting photos of their bounty
National Guard deployed 1,175 troops to protect New York City and Long Island amid fears
Borough President has begged for more troops to be deployed to storm-ravaged South Brooklyn
A mob of more than 50 thieves rampaged through Coney Island, stealing alcohol, flat-screen TVs and even diapers or Kit-Kats
Several brazen thugs have robbed their neighbors and their local shops of everything from basic food stuffs to expensive electronics and they are taking to Twitter to broadcast their spoils.
'Check out this laptop I scored,' SevenleafB tweeted earlier today. 'It's easy just reach out an grab it.'
It appears the looters are organizing through the hashtag #SANDYLOOTCREW.
Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz has now called on New York Governor Andrew Cuomo to put a stop to the crime-wave sweeping South Brooklyn.
Scroll down for video
Looting for clothes: Tevon D'sean Jackson proudly announced on the social network that his mother had stolen him a new shirt
Catnapper: One person using the alias SevenleafB bragged about stealing a cat from a house during a looting-tour of New York
Police have so far arrested nearly a dozen people for the crime, but Mr Markowitz said that the FDNY, police, and other first responders are overwhelmed in the borough and desperately need relief.
Mayor Michael Bloomberg, however, has stated that the only people he wants on the streets are New York's finest.
'Governor Cuomo also acted quickly by activating the National Guard prior to the storm, and I urge him to allocate as many troops as possible to Brooklyn—troops from New York or any other states that can spare them,' said Mr Markowitz in a statement.
'The devastation is so widespread and overwhelming that it’s in the best interest of all of our residents for a more significant National Guard presence to supplement the great work being done by our brave—but overwhelmed—first responders.
'In addition to flooding, power outages, lack of utilities, sanitation and water issues, and no transportation in neighborhoods such as Coney Island, Sea Gate, Brighton Beach, Manhattan Beach, Gerritsen Beach, Mill Basin, Sheepshead Bay, DUMBO, Red Hook and others, there have been unfortunate incidents of looting in some locations.
Recruiting: As if the cat and the games was not enough, brazen thief SevenleafB also encouraged others to loot in the wake of Hurricane Sandy
'All of our resources have been stretched to the limit, but in the name of public safety we need to send more National Guard personnel into Coney Island, Manhattan Beach, Gerritsen Beach, Red Hook and any other locations the governor deems appropriate.'
Neighborhoods like Brighton Beach and Coney Island are still without electricity, and suffering form a lack of basic services, causing residents to fear the worst and either stay inside their ravaged homes or risk the streets.
A mob of more than 50 thieves made the most of the opportunity on Coney's Island, starting down Mermaid Avenue on Tuesday morning as the water receded.
'People were running in and out of Rent-A-Center carrying these big flat-screens,' witness Aisha John, 20, told the Daily News . 'They were holding on tight. I couldn't understand how someone could steal a big TV in broad daylight, but no one cared.'
She said people were running out of a nearby Rite Aid with bags of diapers and wipes.
A young man calling himself Jesse James claimed he had helped himself to a TV at the Rent-A-Center. 'Look, they've been looting our wallets for too long,' he added.
Looters used tools to break through the steel security gates of Joann’s Discount Wine and Liquors at around 11.30am.
Prepared: A boarded up pizza restaurant in Hoboken, New Jersey
Ron Troyano, owner of said the atmosphere was one of 'complete lawlessness'.
The thieves then shattered his storefront and helped themselves to thousands of dollars worth of Hennessy and Grey Goose, he said.
Two police guarded Joann’s over night but failed to stop more looters from sneaking in through the roof and passing bottles down to each other from there.
Mr Troyano said that between the flooding and plundering, his losses were too high to calculate and he is not sure when he will reopen.
'We are supposed to come together as a community during times of crisis, not pick at each other like vultures,' he said. 'Next time I'm getting a gun.'
Looters also hit The Fresh Market five blocks down, 'destroying everything', according to employee Fernando Mendoza.
'They stole anything they could get their hands on,' he said yesterday. 'Someone even ran off with the cash register.'
'It was a mob of people. Fifty to a hundred. They were just running down the street grabbing anything that wasn't nailed down.'
A Rite Aid employee, who declined to give her name, said: 'They were literally walking out with shopping carts full of merchandise. They didn't even look worried. They looked like they were casually shopping.
'I saw an elderly lady walking away with batteries and a bag of Kit Kats.'
Urgent request: Brooklyn Bourough President Marty Markowitz (pictured) urged New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg to send the National Guard to Brooklyn in order to put an end to looting
Although there have only been reports of a dozen or so arrests related to lootings, media coverage and online accounts indicate the actual problem is much more widespread.
Thieves have posted photographs of everything from video games to subwoofers to dehumidifiers.
Twitter user @OG_MLK posted a photo of a man grabbing hold of a big screen television with the caption Pics of my boy Demarcus swiping that tv #SANDYLOOTCREW.'
Another user posted a photo of a woman running on the street with a mannequin wearing a white shirt with the caption 'Last night even Momma got outta her house to loot me a new shirt... Luv U Momma #SANDYLOOTCREW'
Some accounts that claim they are participating in the illegal activities are clearly fake with only a few previous tweets. Others appear to be genuine.
Other people have used the hashtag to announce their disgust at the actions of the self-proclaimed 'loot crew.'
'Can we track down all the people on the #SandyLootCrew and give them the death penalty? Disgusting behavior in a tragic time,' said @randomscreenname.
Abandoned: Thousands of shops and businesses were boarded up before the superstorm struck, including this branch of Saks on Fifth Avenue in New York
Mayor Bloomberg has rebuffed Mr Markowitz's call for support, saying that the does not want the National Guard in Brooklyn.
'The NYPD had 80 light towers up last night in areas with power outages and the goal is to have 100 more for tonight,' he said earlier today.
Residents have said they are afraid to leave their apartments, even though they have no hot water nor electricity.
'People are turning on each other -- they're attacking each other,' said Dena Wells, of Ocean Towers.
'Even when there's no disaster, this building is disastrous,' the 39-year-old told the Huffington Post . 'But after the hurricane, it just got crazy. We have to get out of here.'
Photographs of alleged looters breaking into abandoned stores have been widely published, as well as tweets announcing the illegal intentions of some Brooklynites.
'It's getting dark, and it's real dangerous out here -- that's why there's a cop on every block,' said one NYPD officer. 'You could get your stuff stolen.'
Anybody in there? Firefighters believed the collapsed building in the north of Philadelphia was empty until they heard the man crawling out of the wreckage
The situation has been different in Lower Manhattan, however, and nearby Newark where the police have reported no instances of looting.
'There’s been no problems out here,' said one NYPD officer who asked not to be named to Fox News. 'It’s been really quiet and everyone’s been really helpful.'
Some Lower Manhattan residents have said that the neighborhoods above the devastated Financial District bustle as usual during the day and are desolate at night.
'It’s like a curfew,” Gina Williams, Lower East Side resident, said. 'As soon as it gets dark everyone goes upstairs because nobody wants to be out here.'
Newark Mayor Cory Booker announced on Twitter that his city came together after the hurricane.
'Police have reported ZERO looting or crimes of opportunity in Newark. And ceaseless reports of acts of kindness abound everywhere #Gratitude,' he said yesterday.
Emerging from the wreckage: The man raises a smile as he drags himself out of the collapsed building in Philadelphia... but he was arrested shortly afterwards on suspicion of looting
Looters, however, are becoming more greedy and more clever.
One cab driver described seeing the thieves in action when he returned to his home in Brooklyn’s Gerritsen Beach.
Eric Martine, 33, told the New York Post: ‘Guys were looting, pretending they were Con Ed and holding people up. It was sick.’
Police have allegedly warned locals that looters were disguising themselves as utility workers.
A police source told the Post that the ‘scumbags looting’ will not be tolerated and will be arrested ‘on sight’.
In the Rockaways, Queens, eight suspects were arrested: three at a petrol station, three at a Radio Shack electronics store and two at a clothing store.
The Rockaways were particularly badly hit by the storm. More than 80 homes in the Breezy Point section of the peninsula were destroyed by a fire whipped on by violent winds.
Furthermore, Queens and Brooklyn officers had an especially tough time tackling the looters as some police precincts had to be evacuated on Monday due to flooding.
None of the crimes were reported to have been violent and no one was injured.
History repeated: New York's 1977 blackout prompted riots, looting and mayhem causing millions of dollars worth of damage
Meanwhile, in South Street Seaport - a stone’s throw from Manhattan’s Financial District - multiple stores were allegedly ransacked.
While a visible police presence is deterring any potential looters, some businesses have also enlisted private security.
Mayor Bloomberg reassured residents and business owners on Tuesday that there is a ‘very heavy police presence’ in the areas worst hit.
Shortly before the super-storm hit New York, thousands of National Guard troops were mobilised to prevent looting sprees on homes and shops.
Scores of trouble makers took to Twitter threatening to ransack stores and burgle abandoned homes as Sandy passed.
Prepared: Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo quickly activated the National Guard before the storm
The online threats prompted the New York National Guard to deploy 1,175 troops in New York City, Long Island and the Hudson Valley to maintain law and order.
The National Guard said they had been mobilised to 'provide command and control and logistical support', adding that one of the troops' main duties would be to 'protect against looting.'
The move came as President Obama declared a 'major disaster' in New York and Long Island after the Superstorm hit overnight on Monday, leaving the area looking like the set of a disaster movie.
Sandy hit the mainland at 6.30pm local time on Monday, having battered the eastern coast all day with 13ft waves, causing widespread flooding, damage to buildings and power cuts.
On Wednesday morning, the storm had claimed the life of at least 50 people, 22 of whom were killed in New York.
The damage caused by Hurricane Sandy is estimated to be $50 billion (£31 billion).
Members of the National Guard load a truck heading to flooded areas caused by Hurricane Sandy in the New York area
On Monday, a Philadelphia man rescued from the wreckage of a collapsed building was promptly arrested for looting.
The abandoned three-storey building in the north of the city had been reduced to rubble after Superstorm Sandy battered the east coast.
Firefighters working to make the building safe didn't think anyone was inside, until they heard someone crawling out of the rubble.
After helping him to safety, police officers arrested him for disorderly conduct on the suspicion that he had crawled in to the building, located on Cumberland Street, looking for things to loot.
The exact cause of the building's collapse is still unknown but Philadelphia was buffeted by 50mph gusts as a result of the storm.
Help: A member of the Army National Guard delivers emergency drinking water to the Hoboken Homeless Shelter to aid victims from Hurricane Sandy earlier today
Saviors: A member of the National Guard takes charge of an evacuation of elderly victims in New Jersey
Stepping in: A man walks his dog past two National Guard vehicles in central New York as the city tries to recover from the after effects of Sandy
The use of Twitter to organise looting has echoes of last year's London riots and follows a phenomenon of 'flash robberies' in America in which organised mobs descend on stores or individuals to steal goods.
The plans are made on social networking sites such as Facebook or by e-mail.
One Twitter user called 'GT: OpTic TUMES' wrote on Monday: 'Just started a looting clan. LL - Luscious Looters. Message @OpTicPauL. for tryouts must have mask. #HurricaneSandy.'
Another, Matt Worman, posted on Sunday: 'Bout to do some looting when this hurricane finally hits...gonna get a new laptop and tv...this hurricane might be the best thing to happen.'
Lucas Emil wrote: 'If this hurricane gets real bad I'm looting stores! I always wanted to do that...'
Looters often take advantage of hurricanes to loot - the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina in 2005 became notorious for large scale lawlessness in New Orleans.
The practice became so commonplace that police officers were eventually told not to stop people ransacking stores.
Police were caught on camera looting a Wal-Mart store, later claiming 'they had received permission from superiors to take necessities for themselves and other officers.'
Evacuees: Victims in New Jersey were picked up by the National Guard and taken to safety
Hoping for a rescue: Brooklyn Borough President Markowitz has asked for the National Guard to be deployed to Brooklyn to bring order among looters
Abandoned homes were also pillaged during Hurricane Irene last year.
Some New Yorkers will remember the city's 1977 blackout which prompted riots, looting and mayhem that caused millions of dollars worth of damage.
Lightning knocked out electricity for 25 hours on July 13, 1977, at a time when the city was suffering from a financial crisis and high unemployment levels.
Reports at the time included 50 cars being hot-wired and driven out of the showroom to be dismantled for parts, and hundreds hospitalised after fires and fighting broke out.
Around 4,500 people were arrested after the blackout chaos which caused damage estimated at around 61 million. |
After the European Central Bank's most recent rate cut in March, private-sector banks are paying what amounts to an annual levy of 0.4 per cent on most of the funds they keep at the eurozone's 19 national central banks.
This policy, which has cost banks around €2.64bn since ECB rates became negative in 2014, is intended to spark economic growth by incentivising banks to lend money out to businesses instead of holding on to it.
European central bankers say they could cut rates again should economic conditions worsen, but private bankers and insurers are already thinking of creative ways to avoid those charges altogether.
More from the Financial Times
ECB faces QE dilemma after Brexit vote
'The Euro: And its Threat to the Future of Europe', by Joseph Stiglitz
German court backs ECB crisis-fighting tool
One way is by turning the electronic money they keep at central banks into cold, hard cash. Munich Re has experimented successfully with storing a double-digit million sum of euros in cash at what the insurer describes as a manageable cost. A few other German banks, including Commerzbank, the country's second-biggest lender, have also considered taking the step.
But when a Swiss pension fund attempted to withdraw a large sum of money from its bank in order to store it in a vault, the bank refused to provide the cash, according to local media reports.
If this practice becomes widespread, it would have big economic implications. If banks are not paying central bank interest charges, then they won't be as affected by further official interest rate cuts. They therefore would not be spurred to lend out more money. |
PA / NORTH NEWS Abdel-Aziz Al-Shamary enjoyed degrading and humiliating women who he believed were ‘lesser beings’
Kuwaiti-born Abdel-Aziz Al-Shamary enjoyed degrading and humiliating women who he believed were “lesser beings”, the court heard. Al-Shamary, 21, refused to talk to a woman police officer after his arrest for rape. He entered Britain illegally last year but won leave to stay two weeks before the attack. He struck after following his victim through streets for 18 minutes, Teesside Crown Court was told.
This was as much about degradation and humiliation as it was about sexual pleasure Sean Morris - Judge
The jury also heard that hours before the rape he watched outdoor pornography on his phone. Judge Sean Morris said: “This was as much about degradation and humiliation as it was about sexual pleasure. You will go to prison for 12 years and I sincerely hope you will promptly be deported at the halfway point.” Al-Shamary was convicted last month of raping and assaulting his victim, a British woman in her 30s, by first punching her on the nose to “terrify her into submission”. Bloodied and sobbing, she was found face down with her jeans and underwear around her ankles.
NORTH NEWS The woman was found face down with her jeans and underwear around her ankles
In a statement the victim, who was present to see him jailed, said: “The thought of the attack makes me feel very unclean and I feel as if I cannot get the thought or the feeling of this man off me and my body. “Every night when I go to bed, I always think about what happened.” Drunk Al-Shamary, who had downed two bottles of whisky, was arrested nearby but refused to allow a woman police officer to touch him. In police custody he was heard to shout: “I am Saddam Hussein, I will not talk to you, you are a woman.”
NORTH NEWS Al-Shamary struck after following his victim through streets for 18 minutes |
Let me start this post by saying I am a big fan of both companies and have no allegiance or bias towards one or the other. I also keep a keen eye on both companies and watched both keynotes for the products.
Some of the specs may not have been released at the time of this post, so please don’t give me too hard a time if the facts are not all there right away.
Both drones are aimed at beginner to intermediate drone users with a big focus on capturing video. Both are capable of shooting 4k video at 30fps and 12MP stills, be that through GoPro’s Hero4 Black, Hero5, Session5 or the fixed DJI camera.
The GoPro press event for the Karma and GoPro 5 series was good, over the top as usual, but showed some really nice tech. The Karma is GoPro’s first drone and amongst the first fold down ‘portable’ drones that offer the GoPro mount and the only one with the added bonus of being able to use the latest Hero5 and Session5 cameras. The latest hardware and software upgrades to the latest GoPro cameras obviously complement the drones ability to shoot great video.
The one feature I think that everyone felt was missing was some kind of auto follow or tracking feature. We have been teased with these features from the AirDog and Staaker drones. Its something that is super appealing, just being able to launch the drone and let it do the shooting hands free.
The trouble is that GoPro have said ’the technology for auto follow is not quite there’. Then a week later DJI quite boldly tested that exact tech in their live launch event of the Mavic, that takes some faith in the technology to do. The product and brands integrity was in that drones hands during that demonstration. Another blow to GoPro was that you could order it online that day for pre-order, as opposed to GoPros ‘register interest’ strategy.
DJI are also putting the technology out in the hands of customers at selected Apple stores for a limited time. They already parnter to sell products through the Apple stores which is a killer marketing play to get seasonal sales. Another plus for DJI is that they are also offering ‘DJI Care Refresh’, a replacement service that allows you to receive two spare parts with express delivery. This is designed to get your drone back up in the air as soon as possible after a bad days flying. This is a service that is currently not in place for GoPro but coming soon, |
Syrian activist: “Israel’s generosity towards Syrians proves conflict is not irreconcilable”
Aboud Dandachi, a Syrian activist and author of the blog “From Homs to Istanbul” talks to CIJnews about the Syrian civil war, on being a refugee in Turkey and on the chance of peace between Syria and Israel.
Aboud Dandachi was born in the Arab Emirates and moved to Syria in 2010, but couldn’t have chosen a worse time to do so. The Arab Spring started shortly after he bought a house in Homs.
Aboud didn’t start out as an activist. He sat on the political fence until the first anti-Assad demonstrations began by segments of the Syrian population who felt neglected and oppressed by the Alawite minority government.
Sometime in the middle of April, 2011 a funeral in Homs turned into a huge demonstration and Assad’s security people gunned down over 100 people that night. The massacre shocked Aboud and shocked the country. According to Aboud, it was a declaration of war against Homs and at that point he realized that he couldn’t stay silent in the face of injustice.
Aboud contacted the BBC and told them about the massacre in Homs. He believes that was the day he became an activist.
As the violence and killing escalated, Aboud began sending regular reports to the BBC. He explained to CIJnews that many activists at that time thought they will become instant media stars by getting on television. Unlike those activists, he was very cautious and only reported what he saw under an assumed name. Within a few months, most of the activists were in jail because they weren’t careful enough and tried to shine too brightly. He says that some of the best people were lost in the first year.
The government couldn’t afford to lose Homs because it was supposed to be the symbol of the Syrian urban renewal. In May 2012, following the collapse of a UN brokered cease-fire, the army moved into Homs with tanks and artillery and indiscriminate shelling had begun.
For several weeks Assad’s forces tried to get into Aboud’s neighbourhood and failed. After they started using artillery, it only took 6 hours to break through.
A few weeks later, during a ceasefire between Assad’s army and Free Syria Army, Aboud decided to get out of Homs and go back to his family’s village, and then to Tartus, where he spent the next 18 months. He said that no-one had expected the war to last for as long as it has.
While in Tartus, Aboud realized that no-one had won the war in Syria. According to him, the Syrian civil war may be the only war in history where both sides have lost. The areas under the control of the Assad regime are backed by Iran, and the opposition is beholden to other foreign powers. Additionally, there are dozens of groups fighting in Syria. “Our own fate is not in our own hands anymore” he says.
Aboud is very pessimistic about the future of Syria. “The war can go on for ever”, he says, “and outsiders – meaning Russians, Iranians, Turks and Saudis – will probably decide Syria’s fate.”
After spending 18 months in Tartus, and after giving up hope that the war will end, he left for Lebanon and from there he took a plane to Istanbul where he’s been living ever since, one of 1.7 million Syrian refugees who have been taken in by Turkey since the outbreak of the civil war.
“The last 4 years forced me to grow up”, says Aboud. “I discovered who our real friends are, and they are not Hezbollah, Hamas or Iran. Look, Israel was never obligated to treat a single wounded Syrian. But it has taken it thousands, and spent millions treating them, and some of them were not even casualties of war. Israel gave some Syrians life-saving cancer treatment.”
He believes that when two sides have been in conflict for as long as Syria and Israel, all it takes is for one side to show the other side that there is good will present. “Israel has proven that there is good will on its side. We [Syrians] should reciprocate the good will when we will be in a position to do so”.
According to Aboud, Israel’s generosity towards wounded Syrians has proven that whatever the conflict, it is not irreconcilable. “As a Syrian who has lived through a war, I don’t want war. I want to make my relations with my neighbours as good as possible and I believe that you can come to an arrangement with people who are your adversaries. There is definitely a huge amount of good will on Israel’s side. Absolutely. Syria and Israel are not destined to be enemies for their entire existence. Israel’s generosity in helping Syrians can be built on for a way that they can end their differences.”
When asked whether he believes there is a chance that one day Arabs and Jews can coexist in the Middle East, his answer is “absolutely”. “What is the alternative? Right now Iraq, Syria, Libya and Lebanon are burning themselves to the ground. There is only so much self-destructive behaviour you can engage in before one generation stands up and says – enough is enough. The rest of the world is prosperous and we are just burning ourselves. Some day it might happen, but unfortunately a lot more people will die before it will happen.”
Author:Ilana Shneider is the founding executive director of Canada-Israel Friendship Association, a non-profit organization dedicated to promoting the mutually beneficial, long-standing diplomatic, economic and cultural ties between Canada and Israel.. She can be reached at [email protected]
Syrian activist: “Israel’s generosity towards Syrians proves conflict is not irreconcilable”
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Posted on July 18, 2009
Filed Under Articles, V. Wedge |
The big story of the Honolulu Pro Tour wasn’t Kazuya Mitamura’s $40,000 victory in the finals. The big story happened in the first round, where a young boy known only as Hans did something that is causing many to call him a hero.
Hans’s game was looking unwinnable. He had a negative life total and was kept alive only by his Platinum Angel. His opponent had just cast a Molder Slug, threatening to remove the Angel — Hans’s only artifact — at the beginning of his next turn.
But when it got to that next turn, Hans would say a word that would put the whole series of events in motion. A word that would send ripples throughout Magic history. A word that would cement Hans’s legendary status.
Hans stared at his opponent and said, “No.”
His opponent was taken aback. “Judge!” said the opponent. “He’s refusing to follow my Molder Slug’s triggered ability.”
“Refusing?”
“Refusing.”
“Is this true, Hans?”
Hans nodded.
The judge said, “I have to issue you a game loss, Hans.”
Hans pointed to his Platinum Angel. “I can’t lose the game,” he said. And with that, he proceeded to his draw step, undaunted by the judge’s ruling. Then he skimmed through his deck for marked cards and put those into his hand as well.
“You’re violating multiple game rules,” said the judge, “in addition to ignoring my ruling, and I am issuing a game loss to you.”
Hans, his finger still stuck to the Platinum Angel, like a modern day Little Dutch Boy with his finger plugging the leak in the dike, said, “You can issue all the game losses you want, but with my Platinum Angel in play, they have no effect.” Hans proceded to the attack phase and swung for 4 with his Angel. He then looked at his opponent’s face-down morphs, referred to outside notes, and substituted cards from his sideboard.
The judge stood before him, flummoxed. Without saying a word, Hans merely looked at the judge while pointing to the Platinum Angel.
It was when Hans cast a Demonic Attorney that the head judge was called over. “Ante cards are banned,” the head judge said. “That’s a complete violation of the rules.” But when he saw Hans’s Platinum Angel in play, he was quieted. He knew he was defeated.
Hans said, “Since the Demonic Attorney’s in the game, we have to do what it says.” He proceeded to put the top card of his opponent’s deck into his trade binder.
The head judge frowned in disapproval. “He’s right.”
It was a matter of hours before Hans owned his opponent’s entire deck, as well many other cards from his opponent’s collection, thanks to a Mindslaver and Ring of Ma’rûf. Each time judges tried to issue Hans a game loss for casting cards without mana, or playing cards in his graveyard, Hans merely pointed to his Platinum Angel.
The cards Hans didn’t want to take from his opponent he tore up, due to interactions involving Chaos Confetti, March of the Machines, and Cytoshape.
Having by this time gathered quite a crowd, Hans produced a folded and wrinkled copy of the DCI Infraction Procedure Guide from his pocket and began skimming it for ideas. He noticed that kicking an opponent’s chair out from under them was listed under “Unsportsmanlike Conduct,” so he did just that. He also kicked the chairs out from under several other nearby players and spectators.
The sun was starting to set. The judges had not even attempted to give Hans a game loss for stalling. One by one, they had hanged their heads and walked away, resigned to their powerlessness in the face of the Platinum Angel. Then one of them hatched a plan. “I know who we can call,” the judge exclaimed.
The next morning, Hans was woken by a voice blaring across the room from a police loudspeaker. “Hans,” the voice said, “this is your mother. I love you. Please sacrifice your Platinum Angel to the Molder Slug’s triggered ability so this can all end.”
Hans lifted his head, looked around the room, and kicked his opponent’s chair out from under him once more.
“Hans,” his mother said, “we miss you. We just want you to come home.”
Hans yawned, cast the Unglued card Handcuffs, and ordered his opponent to touch his hands together.
It was Day Four of the standoff when another voice blared across the room. “Hans,” the voice said, “this is your fiancé. There are only two more days until our wedding, honey. Don’t you still want to get married? You have to end this game now, Hans. Please just sacrifice the Platinum Angel to the Molder Slug. We love you. We’re worried about you.”
Hans’s mouth hung open, agape. A tear came to his eye. “Marcia,” he said. “I love you too.” He looked about him, seemingly aghast at what he had done. “I…” he paused. “I concede.”
A flurry of applause burst through the room. Judges began high-fiving each other and giving Marcia hugs. “Unfortunately,” Hans said, “the concession has no effect since my Platinum Angel is still in play.”
It was two weeks into the game when the military showed up. “Hans,” came a voice from a helicopter. “We have you surrounded. If you do not concede immediately, we will open fire.”
Hans looked up at the helicopter, over at the tanks, and across the street at the snipers. He was still pointing to the Platinum Angel, as stoically as ever.
To this day, a sleeved Platinum Angel remains embedded in Hans’s tombstone. Hans may have lost his life that day, but he never lost the game.
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Wild killer whales captured in Russia for overseas marine parks, activists say
The seven whales were collected in two separate captures — three in mid-August and four sometime later — according to Erich Hoyt, a research fellow with the activist group Whale and Dolphin Conservation and the author of "Orca: The Whale Called Killer."
Seven wild killer whales have been captured off the eastern coast of Russia in recent months, according to a conservation group, in what activists say appears to be an effort to stock some overseas marine parks.
Hoyt said at least four — and probably all — of the animals are now being held in a facility near Vladivostok in southeastern Russia, where they have joined a young female killer whale named "Narnia" who was captured last year.
Hoyt said the orcas were captured under permits obtained by a Russian company called White Sphere, which, according to its website, designs, builds and operates "dolphinariums" and other marine-life attractions. It currently manages "Aquatoria," a marine park in the Ukraine, and aquariums in Sochi, Russia, and Hurgahda, Egypt, among other facilities.
The company says its "partners" include the International Association of Amusement Park and Attractions, the U.S.-based trade group representing the theme-park industry, and ProSlide Technology Inc., a Canadian company that builds water rides for clients such as SeaWorld Entertainment Inc. and Walt Disney Co.
"We had rumors that two [of the captured killer whales] were going to a Chinese aquarium and two were going to Moscow. But just rumors," Hoyt said.
Wild killer-whale captures are extremely rare, both because captures are very expensive and logistically difficult and because they can trigger an international uproar. Before Narnia was captured last year, Hoyt said he believed the last capture — as opposed to rescue — happened 15 years ago in Taiji, Japan.
The eight killer whales were taken out of the same sea as 18 beluga whales that a consortium of U.S. aquarium owners — led by the Georgia Aquarium in Atlanta and including Orlando-based SeaWorld Entertainment — have been trying to import. The National Marine Fisheries Service in August rejected an import permit but the Georgia Aquarium has sued to overturn the decision.
A spokesman for SeaWorld, which owns approximately half of the world's captive killer whales, said the company has not provided any support for the killer-whale captures in Russia nor was it even aware of the activity "beyond rumors on the Internet."
"If there was a killer-whale collection in the Sea of Okhotsk, SeaWorld had nothing to do with it," spokesman Fred Jacobs said.
SeaWorld says it has not collected a killer whale from the wild in more than 35 years because of the success of its own breeding program, though the company has acquired animals such as "Morgan," a young whale rescued off the coast of the Netherlands in 2010 who was later deemed unfit for release and transferred to a Spanish marine park where SeaWorld keeps some of its whales. Some anti-captivity groups, who argue that Morgan could be successfully reintroduced to the wild, have sued in hopes of having her set free.
SeaWorld declined to weigh in on the new Russia captures. "I'm afraid we can't render an opinion on a collection that we know nothing about it," Jacobs said.
[email protected] or 407-420-5414 |
North Dakota
Valley News Live checked on with schools in eastern North Dakota to see how they are responding to Obama’s directive:
Barnes County North: “As of right now, we do not have any students who this impacts. This is on the agenda for our next school board policy committee meeting. Hoping to have a policy in place before we have an issue.” Devils Lake Public Schools: “The Devils Lake Public Schools do not currently have a policy to address this. We have not encountered any requests for students to use a restroom that is not the sex identified on their birth certificate.” Fargo Public Schools: “Fargo Public Schools works with students and families if a need arises for accommodations on any issue pertaining to student needs. Those arrangements are made through the building principal.” Jamestown Public School District: “Our school board did recently bring up this topic as an area for future policy study. We have not had any student, family, or community requests in this area.” Kensal Public Schools: “I am hoping my board will adopt a policy where you can only use the bathroom based on your sex at birth.” Minnewaukan Public School: “We do not have any students who identify as transgender.” Northern Cass: “We have no students in our district that this currently impacts. In all reality, our Curriculum & Policy team has yet to discuss this matter, but it is clear we must address sooner than later. We will be having initial discussions at our next meeting.“ West Fargo Public Schools: “We do not have formal policy on this matter. However, any student that expresses a concern or need for a gender-neutral restroom is given access to one, like a staff restroom. We have had students utilize this process. As part of our annual policy review process, we are currently considering policies that would govern this matter.”
The North Dakota State Superintendent blasted the Obama directive, KFYR-TV reports:
Monday, State Superintendent Kirsten Baesler says she’s frustrated over what she calls overreach from the federal government. She says constant interference from Washington, D.C., makes it hard for the state to do it’s job. Saying the executive branch does not create law and if the federal government gets involved it’s our senators and congressman who make those laws. “It is clearly a local issue which is exactly where it belongs. These are decisions that are best determined by local school boards, local parents, community members to determine what’s best for their local school districts and the students attending those. So the Department of Public Instruction will be there to assist in whatever manor they would feel helpful to them but it clearly is a local issue that is best determined by our locally elected school board members,” said Baesler.
The station also reported on Gov. Jack Dalrymple’s statement on the directive:
“President Obama’s directive is another example of federal overreach and a blatant threat to withhold funding that is vital to student success. Local school districts are in the best position to ensure that all students are provided a healthy and safe learning environment.”
KEYZ Radio has more on the state response:
North Dakota joins a growing list of states that will ignore Friday’s White House directive to allow transgender students to use the bathroom that they sexually identify with, or risk losing Federal education funds. State Schools Superintendent Kirsten Baesler says this is yet another example of Federal overreach. “And I am frustrated by that. I believe that this is a local issue that should be decided by our local school board members and parents in our communities, and I think that anything more than that is a blatant example of overreach by the Federal government into the public education system,” says Baelser, who only two weeks ago announced the state would be abandoning the Federal Common Core teaching standards for math and English in favor of a new model that is written by North Dakotan’s for North Dakotan’s. As for the loss of Federal funds both Governor Jack Dalrymple and Baesler call that a “blatant threat”, and say for the time being our schools have more important issues to attend to.
“We’re advising our school districts to continue to focus on providing the high quality academic education to all of our students in North Dakota that our public has come to expect and that our students deserve in North Dakota,” Baesler tells news radio.
WDAZ checked in with central North Dakota schools:
I called Mandan Public Schools and they said they’re in compliance with everything the Department of Justice and Education issued as a guideline. Bismarck Public Schools was unable to release a statement by news time.
The Dickinson Press has a run-down of the responses from elected leaders:
“(Many students’) rights are violated because, by no choice of their own, they can be forced to use the restroom with someone of the opposite gender,” U.S. Rep. Kevin Cramer, R-N.D., said in an interview last week. “We should be helping young people with counseling, with encouragement, not enhancing their confusion, but helping with who they are and not on a given day who they feel like they want to be.”
…
Cramer blasted the Obama administration for executive overreach. He said the heart of the matter is a “choice,” as he called it, to use a bathroom that didn’t correspond to sex at birth, adding “if we accommodate transgender lifestyle at younger ages, you’re not just accommodating it, you’re encouraging it.”
When asked about the letter and similar state-level matters, Chase Iron Eyes, the Democratic candidate running to unseat Cramer, issued a statement noting his stance against discrimination.
“I’m against discrimination of any form in North Dakota, as well as everywhere else and that certainly includes our schools,” Iron Eyes said in a portion of the statement. “Kids need to be respected for who they are, and making this a political hot potato does nothing to help educate or make people more aware of this issue.”
U.S. Sen. John Hoeven, R-N.D., sees the matter of federal versus local control.
In an e-mail, Hoeven’s communications director, Don Canton, explained the senator “believes all people should be treated with respect” but feels the decision on the issue rests elsewhere.
“He disagrees with President Obama’s directive because he thinks it’s up to school districts, parents, teachers and administrators to determine privacy policy with regard to school bathrooms, locker rooms and showers,” Canton wrote.
State Rep. Eliot Glassheim, D-Grand Forks, who is running for Hoeven’s seat, said he supports the letter’s stand against discrimination. He countered Hoeven’s states’ rights argument by suggesting the letter does not tell local leaders how to set their policies — just that they cannot be discriminatory.
“We can’t have discrimination anywhere,” he said. “(The administration) didn’t mandate … whether you have unisex bathrooms or what you have. That would be up to the individual school district. They just have to be careful to make sure that whatever their policy is it’s not discriminatory.”
Staff for U.S. Sen. Heidi Heitkamp, D-N.D., noted in a statement a correlation between transgender students’ suicides and “denied access to bathrooms in schools.”
“These decisions impact a small but particularly vulnerable population of children, and the consequences of not being permitted to be themselves can be severely damaging and long-lasting,” Heitkamp said. “They, and all students, deserve to be treated with dignity.”
Wisconsin
Gov. Scott Walker criticized Obama’s directive, Wisconsin Public Radio reports:
Speaking to reporters in Manitowoc, Walker said that the decree is an overreach. “The bottom line is issues like that need to be addressed at the local level,” he said. “That’s what we elect school boards for. It’s not an issue the federal government should be involved in, nor should the state. It should really be left up to the local districts.”
WKOW takes a look at a religious school receiving federal funds while also panelizing LGBT students:
A Baraboo school is under fire for allegations of discrimination against the LGBT Community.
A complaint has been lodged against St. John’s Lutheran School in Baraboo, claiming the school, which takes federal money, added new rules to exclude gay and transgender kids.
It’s an issue that shocks transgender woman Jamie Cook. She went to the neighboring St. John’s Lutheran Elementary in Portage, before transitioning into a transgender woman.
“That somebody is willing to punish a child, that’s my biggest issue with this this,” Cook said about the new policies.
“To find out that it’s such bigotry, it is hiding behind religion,” she said.
The Freedom From Religion Foundation recently learned about a letter sent home to parents in February, requiring parents sign a handbook pledge and provide a copy of their child’s birth certificate to prove gender.
“I would say we’re surprised, but more disappointed,” Freedom From Religion Foundation Attorney Patrick Elliott said. Elliott says because Baraboo takes Federal funding for school lunches, there’s an ethical problem.
The Baraboo News Republic has more:
Like many educational institutions, St. John’s Lutheran School in Baraboo uses federal tax dollars to pay for certain programs, such as free and reduced-price lunches for disadvantaged students.
The funds for those programs are taken from all U.S. taxpayers, without discrimination. And federal civil rights protections say that any student who legally qualifies for the programs can participate, regardless of race, religion, gender identity or sexual orientation.
But taxpayers whose children are homosexual or transgender may not be able to take advantage of those programs, at least not at St. John’s. That’s because officials at the private religious school say they have the right to discipline students for making what they refer to as “sinful choices.”
“I didn’t mean any kind of move around, or to manipulate the law or anything like that,” St. John’s Principal Craig Breitkreutz said about a letter he wrote to parents in February.
In the letter, Breitkreutz outlined new rules that required parents to provide a birth certificate and sign a parent handbook agreement prior to enrollment.
The birth certificate allows the school to know the child’s born gender, and the handbook agreement — which apparently was recommended by the Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod — lists discretions for which a student can be disciplined and expelled, including homosexuality.
Because the school receives federal funds for its lunch program, transportation and through the No Child Left Behind program, it must comply with civil rights laws, Breitkreutz wrote. That means it can’t deny entry to protected classes, such as homosexual and transgender students.
“If we cannot legally refuse students who are struggling with homosexuality or gender identification, we must maintain our right to hold to the truths of God’s Word,” Breitkreutz wrote. “In other words, although we do not have the right to refuse admittance to people choosing an outwardly sinful lifestyle, we do maintain the right to discipline and dismiss students for these choices.”
Rep. Glenn Grothman added to his long list of anti-LGBTQ quotes at a political convention captured by Right Wing Watch:
Grothman closed his convention remarks by discussing “what is becoming of America right now” because “a lot of us see America changing a lot.” He read an excerpt from Charles Murray’s book “Coming Apart” that discusses a 1962 poll in which 86 percent of women said that they would not have premarital sex with someone they were going to marry.
This led him to transgender rights issues.
“Remember there was a show ‘M*A*S*H’ a while ago in which some, you know, one of the comedy guys was wearing a dress?” he said. “Hillary Clinton says one of the goals is to get the transgenders into the military. That’s one of the goals.”
Grothman concluded that “we do have a moral decline in our country,” adding that he prayed that the U.S. would “regain the moral bearings that we should have so that God continues to bless our great country.”
– See more at: http://www.rightwingwatch.org/content/gop-congressman-cites-mash-character-opposing-transgender-rights#sthash.utsJvUIk.dpuf
WSAU notes that the Stephen’s Point school district is prepared for transgender students:
Many school districts were prepared for the federal government’s directive two weeks ago concerning transgender students using bathroom facilities for which they identify themselves.
One such district is Stevens Point. Interim Superintendent Dr. Lee Bush and Director of Student Services Gregory Nyen told the Stevens Point City Times they have been discussing this for about a year already. Bush and Nyen confirm they received what was called a “joint guidance document” from the U.S. Department of Justice Civil Rights Division, the Department of Education Office For Civil Rights, and the Department of Public Instruction. Nyen says the district was already in line with the document’s best practices, and added language relating to inclusion of transgender individuals to several district policies last March.
The administrators say they can neither affirm or deny presence of transgender students in the district, and that they need to respect their privacy, and identifying them as a group opens up opportunities for undeserved bullying or harassment.
Nyan says as they are approached with transgender concerns and requests, they will have to look at each case individually. “Just as we want to provide for the dignity and uniqueness of student A, affording them their rights may create a level of uncomfortableness in student B, and we then need to address the needs of student B, so there is not clearly a one-size-fits-all that we can apply as a school district.”
Iowa
Sen. Joni Earnst responded to the Obama directive, KCRG reports:
“We honed in on this specific issue when we have so many other issues that we need to be addressing right now. This was a state issue to be addressed by the state of North Carolina. We have addressed it here in Iowa,” Ernst said.
Rep. Steve King wants Christians to engage in civil disobedience over the Obama directive, Raw Story reports:
We should call for civil disobedience here. And there’s no reason for us to follow an unconstitutional edict from the president, who is on his way out the door,” he said.
King also told Conway that the only reason the White House came out on this issue was because the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights’ “personnel needed to find more things to do.”
“That is the root of this school policy or where Obama got it from,” King said. “So we’re going to explore that more fully. I need to be more astute at how movements begin. The genesis of these kinds of policies. So that we can go find them before they proliferate and become contagious across the countryside.”
Conway remarked that his daughters won’t want to shower at the gym anymore out of fear.
“Well, and that will probably change our culture,” King agreed. “We’ll have a bunch of sweaty women around.”
Iowa’s nursing facilities are facing criticisms of discrimination against transgender patients, the Des Moines Register reports:
Last August, Edwards had a stroke. She went to a rehabilitation facility in Clarinda, Iowa, and arrived at Mercy Medical Center in Des Moines in March with bad wounds on her legs.
She was scheduled to be discharged Tuesday. But a hospital social worker said hospital staff checked with roughly 90 nursing homes and rehab facilities and none — except one that was 2 1/2 hours away in Muscatine — would take her.
Edwards’ legs are wrapped in compresses. She has very limited use of her right arm and needs help getting to a bathroom. She also struggles with mental health issues, including bipolar and post-traumatic stress disorders.
But those conditions aren’t all that unusual in the general population.
Carter said a hospital social worker told him Monday one of the reasons they can’t find a nursing or rehabilitation facility near Des Moines is that Edwards is transgender. He said the social worker told him that facilities are accepting new residents say men don’t want to room with a person who is biologically male but identifies as a woman. Neither do their female residents.
Gov. Terry Branstad was sharply critical of Obama’s directive, WQAD reports:
During a press conference, Branstad called the move “blackmail.”
“Well, I think it’s really the decision of local schools and now you have the federal government stepping and saying ‘If you don’t do it our way, we’re going to withhold your federal money.’ I think that’s wrong,” said Branstad.
Iowa’s National Guard has no plans to be inclusive of transgender members, the Des Moines Register reports:
The top uniformed officer in the Iowa National Guard said Monday that no accommodations are currently being made for transgender soldiers and airmen.
Maj. Gen. Tim Orr, adjutant general of the 9,100-member Iowa National Guard, told reporters at a news conference at Camp Dodge that the Guard falls under federal laws and regulations of the U.S. Department of Defense, which has not provided specific guidance or regulations regarding transgender military members.
“We know that we will probably see something in the future, but until that comes out, we have not made any accommodations in our facilities at this stage. No, sir,” Orr said.
Asked specifically if the Iowa National Guard has any soldiers or airmen who currently identify as transgender, Orr replied, “Not at this point in time, none.”
Two women say they were attacked by homophobes in Davenport, KWQC reports:
Emotions were high and tears we’re shed Monday afternoon when Megan and Tessa sat down to share their story.
The two women say they were leaving the night club, Connections, in Davenport, Iowa early Saturday morning when they were assaulted.
The couple says it all started when they were holding hands outside waiting for their Uber. The two say that’s when a man started yelling degrading comments at them.
“Like how we should die and our kind shouldn’t be around here,” describes Megan.
But the two say that was just the beginning.
“So Tessa and my friend Megan and I just ignored them,” said Megan. “And we were turning towards them and from the corner of my eye, he punched me in the left side of my face.”
Shortly after the couple says they were attacked by over 10 women.
“They came out of the alley way. Some of them did come out of the bar too so we aren’t sure if they were all together,” describes Megan. “But when they came out of the alleyway, it seemed almost like it was planned.”
South Dakota
Leaders in South Dakota pushed back against the Obama’s administration’s directive on transgender inclusion, according to KSFY:
Republican South Dakota leaders say those threats are concerning, but don’t believe they should legally binding. “This is another overreach by the Obama administration,” Governor Denis Daugaard’s Chief of Staff Tony Venhuizen said. “If the President believes this should be the law he should propose a bill to Congress.” South Dakota Attorney General Marty Jackley agrees. “The President of the United States issues an executive order or sends out a letter setting forth a directive or mandate just simply lacks the legal authority to do what he’s trying to accomplish here.” |
The GNOME project at 15
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On August 15, 1997, Miguel de Icaza announced the launch of the GNOME project. In the following years, GNOME has seen more than its share of ups and downs; it must be considered one of the community's most successful and most controversial projects. This is a moderately significant anniversary, so it makes some sense to have a look at where GNOME came from and speculate on where the project may be heading.
In the mid 1990's, the Linux desktop experience was provided by such aesthetically striking components as the fvwm window manager, the Xaw toolkit, and the Midnight Commander file manager. That was more than enough for many early Linux users, quite a few of whom, having written their own custom modelines to get X working with their monitors, felt no need for a desktop system beyond what it took to get their xterm windows arranged nicely. Every community has its discontents, though. In this case, one of the first groups to get itself properly organized was the KDE project, which started hacking on an integrated desktop environment in 1996 and which, by the middle of 1997, had some interesting results to show.
The problem with KDE, of course, is that it relied on the Qt toolkit, and Qt was not, at that time, free software. This decision led to epic flame wars that put current squabbles (GNOME 3, or systemd, say) to shame; they just don't make flames like they used to. Some attempts were made to get Trolltech to change Qt to a free license, but Trolltech was not yet interested in considering such a move. It is interesting to speculate on what might have happened had Qt been relicensed in 1997 rather than three years later; one of the deepest divisions within the free software community might just have been avoided.
Then again, maybe not. We're not entirely happy without something to fight about, and Emacs-versus-vi, by virtue of predating Linux entirely, was old and boring even in 1997.
The stated goals of the newly-launched GNOME project were straightforward enough: "We want to develop a free and complete set of user friendly applications and desktop tools, similar to CDE and KDE but based entirely on free software." The project would be based on the GTK toolkit which, to that point, had only really been used with GIMP. The project also planned to make heavy use of the Scheme language — an objective that faded into the background fairly quickly.
GNOME itself remained very much in the foreground. Compared to KDE it had a different license (even after Qt was freed), a different implementation language (C vs. C++), and a different approach to the desktop — all fodder for plenty of heated discussions. Miguel was from early on an admirer of Microsoft's ways of doing software development and tried to push many of them into GNOME. Companies were formed around GNOME, including Helix Code/Ximian (eventually acquired by SUSE) and Eazel (which followed the classic dotcom trajectory of burning vast amounts of money before its abrupt death). There was clearly a lot of activity around GNOME from the very beginning.
The project produced three major releases: 1.0 in 1999, 2.0 in 2002, and 3.0 in 2011. The 2.0 release provoked a flood of criticism as the result of the project's focus on removing options whenever possible. A perceived arrogance on the developers' part (one described some user-requested window manager options as "crack-ridden bogosity") was not helpful. The GoneME fork was started in response, but did not get very far. Over time, enough features returned to the desktop, and things improved enough overall, that most users made their peace with it and stopped complaining.
The 3.0 release, instead, has provoked a flood of criticism as the result of the removal of options and features. A perceived arrogance on the developers' part has not helped the situation much. The MATE desktop fork has been started in response; it's too early to say just how far it will get. Meanwhile, a few features have found their way back into subsequent 3.x releases, and some users, at least, have made their peace with it and stopped complaining. Others, needless to say, have not.
Where to from here?
Fifteen years in, it would be hard to argue that GNOME has not been a success. The project is arguably the most successful Linux desktop available. It has an advanced code base, lots of developers, a well established foundation with a fair amount of corporate support, and more. There must be no end of free software projects that can only dream of the level of success that GNOME has achieved.
That said, there is a visible level of concern within the project. The relentless criticism of GNOME 3 has proved discouraging to many developers, and the millions of new users that GNOME 3 was supposed to attract have not yet shown themselves. Distributors are making noises about trying other desktops, and Ubuntu, arguably the highest-profile GNOME-based distribution, has gone off in its own direction with yet another fork. Meanwhile, the desktop in general looks like a shrinking target; the cool kids have gone elsewhere and GNOME seems to not be a part of it. In this situation, what's a project to do?
Allan Day's GNOME OS post shines some light on what at least some of the project's developers are thinking. Much of it looks like a continuation of GNOME's recent work — completing the GNOME 3 user experience for example. Some seems like basic sense: making the system easier to build and test would be near the top of list. Others are unsurprising, but may not get the results the project is after.
The post never uses these words, but the GNOME project clearly wants to put together yet another "app store" infrastructure wherein third parties can offer proprietary applications to users. For whatever reason, enabling proprietary applications has always been seen as the path to success; the whole point of the venerable Linux Standard Base exercise was to attract that kind of application. Making it easier to add applications to the system can only be a good thing, but it will not, on its own, cause either users or developers to flock to the platform.
GNOME also clearly plans to target tablets and handsets. Again, the objective makes sense: that is where a lot of the buzz — and the money — is to be found. The problem here is that this space is already crowded with free (or mostly-free) alternatives. Android dominates this area, of course; platforms like Tizen, Plasma Active, webOS, Firefox OS, and ChromeOS are also looking for users. It is far from clear that GNOME has something to offer that will make it stand out in this crowd, especially since Allan does not expect a "touch-compatible" version of GNOME 3 for another 18 months. As Eitan Isaacson put it recently:
Our weak areas are apparent: We are not mobile and we are very far from it. We will never achieve any significant social critical mass, we have had limited successes in embracing web technologies, but the web will always be a better web. Deploying “apps” is a nightmare.
He has an interesting counter-suggestion: GNOME, he says, should aim to be the platform of choice for content creators. There could be some potential here; this is not an area that large numbers of projects are targeting, and incumbents like Mac OS seem vulnerable. Where content creators lead, others will often follow. There are some obvious obstacles (codecs, for example), but this is a target that could possibly be reached.
Most likely, though, GNOME will continue its drive for mainstream success and those millions of new users. The project might just get there: it retains a solid code base, many talented developers, and a supporting ecosystem. One should never underestimate what a determined group of developers can accomplish when they set their minds to it. The rest of us should either support them or get out of the way and let them follow their path. Watch this space over the next fifteen years, and we'll all see what they are able to achieve. |
“Get over it already,” Mom said, after I reiterated my shock that she and my father had helped elect Donald Trump and told them I strongly backed the recount in my home state.
“Move on,” Dad added on the other line. “Just worry about your own business.”
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While I usually called every night, I’d been too upset after the election to phone. As a Manhattan journalism professor still consoling distressed students of all backgrounds, this was my business — especially after swastikas were found in a Jewish student’s dormitory room at the college where I taught and a black friend’s daughter was texted “N***** Lynching” at her Pennsylvania university.
As weeks wore on, my folks’ candidate kept Twitter blasting "Saturday Night Live," the media and Democrats’ desire to challenge the election results but could not tweet, “Stop the hate speech and hate crimes” to the Ku Klux Klan and so-called alt-right groups he continued to empower. I felt sick, unable to sleep or concentrate. Never before had I been ashamed of my country — or my parents.
On a tight book deadline, I’d begged off from visiting for Thanksgiving. Hanukkah and Christmas fall on the same weekend this year, but the thought of fighting my family over politics made me panic. My mind flashed to the old Southside Johnny song lyrics: “Whatever happened to you and I/ that I don’t want to go home.”
Growing up in Michigan, I was proud of my mother and father: chic, funny, smart former New Yorkers who seemed more sophisticated than other Midwesterners. On the Festival of Lights, my favorite holiday, we’d light the menorah, eat potato latkes with apple sauce and open a present on each of the eight nights. Yet I never really fit into our suburb. Though my public elementary was filled with fellow Jews, I was awkward and friendless. Luckily, my parents let me attend the diverse, artistic private school I’d picked.
When I brought home a black classmate in sixth grade, my neighbor used a Yiddish derogatory term for blacks.
What’s that, I asked my parents, both from Lower East Side, Yiddish-speaking families.
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“It means our neighbors are idiots,” Mom said, insisting we never use that term.
“Ignore the racist assholes,” Dad snapped, surprising me with profanity. “We had relatives murdered in the Holocaust because Hitler scapegoated Jews.”
“We treat everyone equal. No slurs are ever allowed in our home,” my mother told us.
I didn’t understand how this lesson applied to us until, when I was 11, I was traumatized by TV coverage of 1972’s massacre of Israeli Olympic athletes in Munich, as well as news of wars against Israel that my cousins fought in. Yet my mom, a beautiful redhead, patronized stores owned by local Lebanese and Iraqi families. She taught me to hate only the enemies who had vowed to annihilate Israel and to never stereotype. My dad is a physician. Working at his Detroit office one summer, I was proud to learn he secretly treated many poor minority patients who couldn’t pay.
After Mom put Dad through medical school, she chose to be a housewife while raising four kids. Like many who get more conservative as they age, he veered right, pushing conventional politics and professions on me and my three brothers. In junior high, during in my raging Sylvia Plath stage, I was talking to Dad in his den and he said, “Go get me a cup of coffee.”
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“You already have one subservient female in the family,” I answered.
“Feminism is an abomination,” my brother joked.
“You know I’m the one paying tuition allowing you to learn that feminist crap,” Dad responded.
I reluctantly fetched him coffee, with sprinkled cookies Mom added to the saucer.
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As an English major at University of Michigan, which Dad dubbed “the People’s Republic of Ann Arbor,” and later at New York University, I was my family’s lefty outcast. Dinners with my Republican relatives were acrimonious, especially when my oldest brother turned into a staid doctor, raising four kids in the Midwest like Dad.
Now in my 50s with a liberal husband who gets his own coffee, I have analyzed how my blood relations could vote for someone I see as dangerously nationalistic as Hitler. Since I don't want to hate my own kin or half the country, I have desperately tried to see their side.
After my father suffered a near fatal heart attack at 80, he had retired. Dad grew up as a poor street kid and put his four kids through college and grad school. Now he was making trusts to help his grandchildren pay for higher education, too, and he was obsessed with the inheritance tax Trump promised to repeal.
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“You’ll inherit more money,” Dad wrote in an email.
That was why he voted for Trump? “Nothing’s worth having a president I don’t respect,” I replied.
“Poverty’s worse.”
Dad shared a story I’d never heard. When he first applied to medical school, he didn’t get in because of Jewish quotas. He worked a fellowship for a year before he was admitted. “It only paid $300 a week,” he wrote. “Your mother worked to support me. We lived paycheck to paycheck for five years, sleeping on a sofa bed. After working hard for 60 years, why should my money go to the government instead of my kids and grandkids?”
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OK, that I understood. As they aged, my parents worried about their finances and their legacy. So did I.
Still, I couldn’t fathom their inability to see how Trump went against everything they’d taught me. I loved my parents, but I couldn’t get over my devastation. Depressed and sleep deprived, I felt like I was sitting shiva. When a Jewish activist colleague whom my mom knew died, I called to tell her. Before we hung up, I asked, “Aren’t you afraid of Trump’s sexism and racism and the hate crimes he’s inciting?”
I didn’t know how my Mom, who’d been happily married 60 years, could pardon Trump’s five children with three wives and “grabbing pussy” tape.
“Look, Trump’s rhetoric is disgusting. But I find Hillary dishonest and condescending. I couldn’t stand either candidate the whole election,” she told me.
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“Trump’s not anti-Semitic, Ivanka converted and he has Orthodox grandkids,” Dad said. “The right is better for Israel.”
Was that true? As a proud Zionist myself (for a two-state solution), with close cousins in Jerusalem, I’d also been dismayed by what I saw as the left wing’s anti-Zionism. I’d been sickened by the whole boycott, divestment and sanctions or BDS movement against Israel, preferring instead the nickname “bald-faced lies, deception and slander." When an idiot burned an Israeli flag at the Democratic Convention, I was stunned that Hillary Clinton didn’t publicly denounce it. But even if Republicans were better for the Holy Land and the economy, I didn’t think that should be enough to win my parents’ votes. Then again, who was I to dictate what their main issues were?
Next Dad emailed me a Los Angeles Times op-ed about how maligned Trump supporters feel being called “racist, redneck and uneducated.” I found it hilarious how thin-skinned supporters of the nastiest candidate in history suddenly were. I responded, “Not all Trump supporters are racist. But all Trump supporters decided racism isn’t a deal breaker.”
Dad shot back a Conservative Free Press link blaming rich liberals for the hate crime increase. Oy. I returned fire with a piece quoting Trump’s decree that American Muslims had to “register,” the way Nazis made Jews wear yellow stars. I paraphrased the adage Dad once told me: “All it takes for evil to flourish is for good people to do nothing.”
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It seemed encouraging that my father kept attempting communication. Was it from guilt? For a month after the election, that was how we maintained contact.
“All identity politics is the mantra of ignorance,” my father said.
Wait! “So you do denounce Trump’s hate speech?” I asked.
“It’s all bluster and bullshit,” Dad answered. “But better than Bonnie and Clyde back in the White House.”
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I rolled my eyes at his nickname for Hillary and her husband, whom both my parents saw as crooked. I slowly conceded that Hillary came with too much baggage named Bill and citizens unhappy with Obama wanted change. Though my biggest disdain was actually for the 41 percent of voters who stayed home when I realized that the more than 95 million Americans who didn’t cast a ballot had decided the election.
“So all the kids are coming for the holidays. When are you visiting?” my father asked me.
“Not this year.” I decided to mail my Hanukkah cards and presents instead. I remained despondent, wanting to hide inside my home this December with my Democratic husband, a good book and no makeup, like Hillary.
Scrolling though my Facebook news feed, I took solace in the fact that my middle brother’s 17-year-old daughter posted “Pence Confirms Trump will be an anti-LGBT president” with other anti-Trump screeds. My older brother’s son, a 20-year-old Michigan college student, kept sharing Hillary photos, the Statue of Liberty sobbing and an image of Batman slapping Trump. I responded with lots of hearts. My blonde niece, an NYU freshman living around the corner from me, sent videos of herself at ongoing protests, chanting “Not My President.” At least my family’s next generation would carry the torch for anti-discrimination and diversity.
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Sensing my continued distress, my two younger brothers let me know they had voted for Hillary and couldn’t stand the president-elect. I hadn’t known! Then my oldest doctor brother texted me an image of Popeye saying “I Yam Digustipated.”
I thought he was making fun of my hurt. Until he texted, #imwithher.
He was? My eyes watered. When the Michigan election clerks began their re-tally, I calculated my family’s recount. Fascinatingly, all my brothers, sisters-in-law and their kids were with her, and with me, for the first time ever. While I lost my dream of a female president, this felt like a historic shift. I chose to take these votes as proof that my parents were still the good people I thought they were, having taught us the right values, after all. |
But is four the right number?
After all, most of its big competitors, including Toyota, Honda and Chrysler, build their businesses around three brands or fewer in the United States. Ford is moving to shed its foreign brands and plans to focus primarily on three — Ford, Lincoln and Mercury.
“A volume brand and a premium brand can get the job done. Toyota has proven that,” said Karl Brauer, editor in chief of Edmunds.com, a Web site that offers car-buying advice. “Cadillac, Chevy, done.”
The more brands a carmaker has, the more it must spread money around to develop vehicles and market them.
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As a result, “every brand suffers,” said A. Andrew Shapiro, a managing partner with the Casesa Shapiro Group. “No particular brand or brands can achieve the share of voice that they need.”
Its extensive brand lineup has long been G.M.’s primary weapon. Founded in 1908 by William C. Durant, who brought together a collection of car companies, G.M. made the concept of “a car for every purse and purpose” its strategy during the 1920s for retaining buyers from their first car to their last.
Brands were a crucial element in G.M.’s effort to thwart Ford, then the country’s biggest car company, whose founder joked that buyers could have any color they wanted, as long as it was black.
G.M.’s strategy paid off during its best years, when it controlled more than half the American car market. But it held only 22 percent of United States auto sales last year, with more than half of its share coming from a single division, Chevrolet.
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G.M. found out last decade just how expensive it could be to unwind a brand. It spent more than $1 billion to buy out dealers at Oldsmobile, which built its last cars in 2004.
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Rick Wagoner, G.M.’s chief executive, said the automaker had set aside money to buy out dealers, but declined to specify a figure. “We have reserves in our plan to facilitate that,” he said.
He cited the economic downturn as the reason G.M. was phasing out Saturn. “Frankly, the opportunity for any brand, and for our volume as a whole, just looks radically different,” he said. “It is unfortunate and it seems like a cruel twist of fate at a time when Saturn is loaded up with a fantastic product portfolio.”
In a letter sent Tuesday to Saturn dealers, G.M. said it would entertain a plan from Saturn dealers or other investors for a spinoff of the division to keep it operating. It said it would provide information to potential investors.
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But it warned a spinoff would be “a difficult and complex task, and some of the issues that must be resolved include product sourcing, capitalization and financing issues,” G.M. said in the letter signed by Mark LeNeve, a G.M. vice president for North American sales, and Jill Lajdziak, the general manager of Saturn.
When Saturn was started in 1990, as a “different kind of car, a different kind of car company” aimed at owners of small Hondas and Toyotas, its small cars were immediate hits. But G.M. executives decided in the mid-1990s that they needed to support G.M.’s other brands over Saturn, which by then had cost $5 billion.
G.M. did not add any new vehicles to the Saturn lineup for five years, despite pleas from dealers for bigger vehicles. Earlier this decade, G.M. decided to start selling vehicles from its Opel division, with some design changes, as Saturns in the United States.
Saturn sold 188,004 vehicles in 2008, down 21.7 percent from the previous year. Its best-selling vehicle was the Saturn Vue, a small sport utility vehicle.
Strict franchise laws protect dealers across the country from seeing their operations shut down without advance notice.
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G.M. dealers said they were led to believe that the company was committed to the division.
“G.M. is picking on Saturn,” said Sherrill Freeborough, who owns Saturn dealerships in Grand Ledge and Okemos, Mich. “I want G.M. to be successful but I don’t think that always happens the other way around.”
In 1992, when G.M. began discussing the end of Oldsmobile, the division sold 412,000 vehicles. Except for Chevrolet, none of G.M.’s current brands sold that many vehicles last year.
Mr. Shapiro, the analyst, said G.M. should have rethought its divisions in the 1980s, when a number of new brands appeared in the United States, including Acura, Lexus and Infiniti, the Japanese luxury brands, and the Korean makers Hyundai and Kia.
“There were always good short-term reasons for not doing something,” Mr. Shapiro said.
Ed Dena, a Pontiac dealer in Dinuba, Calif., said he would eventually have to focus on his other G.M. brands, including Chevrolet, Buick and GMC. “Of course we’re sad because Pontiac is an icon,” he said. “But right now, in this industry, nothing is a shock anymore.” |
We look at one teacher who's using blogging as a creative way of showcasing pupils' work
There was a time teachers lagged behind their pupils when it came to computers. "We have to show them what to do every time it crashes," eight-year-olds complained loftily to their parents.
But computers are at the centre of classroom learning these days, and are nowhere more creatively used than in the classroom blog. In the best of the class blogs I've seen, there's an opportunity for everyone to learn and everyone to teach – and there's built-in feedback and assessment .
Alex Wilson, who teaches years 5 and 6 at a school for children with learning difficulties, launched his class blog earlier this year, inspired by other class blogs and ideas circulating on Twitter. It's used mostly to showcase the work of the children, who have a wide range of difficulties including Down's syndrome and cerebral palsy.
What do they think of the blog? "They are really up for it – it's a very willing class," says Wilson.
"Before, if they learned a new song, they might get to perform it at assembly, or in an end-of-year concert for their parents. Now they can sing it, we record and upload it, and the same day their parents can hear them sing."
Wilson uses a variety of websites with his classes.
• Using voicethread.com, he puts a picture up that represents the topic under discussion. Each participant has an icon representing their voice, and when it lights up you can hear their comment.
• They like to use audioboo to record themselves singing. Delightfully, you can hear them singing We're Going to Hang Out the Washing on the Siegfried Line on the blog – it's part of their work on the second world war.
Audioboo is great to use when they're on the move, says Wilson. "We can be out and about, I take out my iPhone, the kids record something, and we upload it."
• A rich source of historical photographs is historypin. On this site, photos are entered according to their date and place, so they produce historical records of every part of the world. Wilson's class used it to look at pictures of buildings bombed during the blitz and to see what the areas look like now.
At the moment, he's steering all the activity and operating the technology. But he's aware that some blogs give pupils more control of the output and he has plans to start giving his students more free rein.
Wilson says it's really important to his class that people comment on their blogposts: "It gives them pride in their work, acknowledgement of their worth, and some understanding that there is a big wide world out there and people are listening to them.
"All the children in my class have learning difficulties, so how much they understand varies hugely, but when I read out the comments they are always quiet, always listening and always happy. They love it when people from different places comment, and they love it when their parents comment."
"It's made me realise the importance of leaving comments (however short) on other class blogs. If it matters that much to me and my class, then it's the same in other classes. My resolution is to try and leave at least one comment a day on whichever blog I visit, no matter how tired I am or what the day has been like."
More on class blogs
Tom Barret, a deputy headteacher, has some great advice about starting blogs on his website. You can also follow him on Twitter.
• Also look on Twitter at #classblogs
• Here's a class in New Zealand making short films about how earthquakes happen.
• And here's class 5 at John Davies primary getting to grips with punctuation
• There are a range of exciting class blogs from Healthfield CPS – the year 4s are doing Egypt. They've done a great slideshow using photopeach.
• It looks like aliens have invaded the blog of Class 9 at St John the Baptist in Southampton
• How to create a classroom blog by language teacher Jose Picardo on YouTube is a bit blurry but it has lots of good advice about using wordpress to set up a blog – and what to do with it once it's up and running. His website about technology and education is called boxoftricks.
So, what do you think? Are you running a class blog or thinking about starting one? Or do you reckon they're just the latest new-fangled plaything for geeky teachers? |
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Good Tuesday morning. It is indeed the thick of the August lull, but with candidates fighting either to build on momentum from the debates or to make up for any lost ground, there is still work to do. Of course, it remains hard to be heard when one voice continues to rise above the rest, especially when that voice enters its most packed stretch of the campaign so far.
Donald J. Trump begins his busiest day since making comments about Megyn Kelly of Fox News that rocked the presidential campaign and drew widespread condemnation from fellow Republicans.
It will begin and end, oddly enough, on Fox News. He is scheduled to speak first to the “Fox and Friends” morning program. Then he will appear on “Hannity” in the evening.
In between, Mr. Trump will be in Birch Run, Mich., for a local Republican Party dinner. He is the keynote speaker.
The event was scheduled well before the debate last week and Mr. Trump’s statement that Ms. Kelly was so worked up during the questioning that she had “blood coming out of her wherever,” a remark many took as an insinuation that she was menstruating. Mr. Trump has denied that.
But his presence before a county Republican Party event illustrates what a delicate situation the Republican National Committee finds itself in. The party leadership is deeply uneasy about Mr. Trump’s presence in the race, worrying that his tendency to inflame racial and cultural tensions will set back the party’s efforts to repair its image with minorities. Yet Mr. Trump has caught fire with many Republicans, and any efforts to nudge him from the race are likely to be seen as a plot by the party establishment to silence him and his followers.
— Jeremy W. Peters
Stay tuned throughout the day: Follow us on Twitter @NYTpolitics and on Facebook for First Draft updates.
Jeb Bush will give a foreign policy speech, billed as a lecture, at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation and Library in Southern California.
And in the week after the first Republican debate, as many of the candidates are sticking to the early primary states, New Hampshire will be full. Senator Rand Paul of Kentucky, who is lagging in the polls and has picked up the mantle of derailing Mr. Trump — “somebody has to challenge him” — will make several appearances in the state, and Hillary Rodham Clinton and Gov. John R. Kasich of Ohio will also hold events there. Mike Huckabee, the former Arkansas governor, and Gov. Bobby Jindal of Louisiana are in Iowa.
The crowd of hundreds grew restless and the sweet sauce on the meatballs grew cold, as Senator Ted Cruz of Texas was nearly 90 minutes late for his second bus-tour event of the day, a rally in Murfreesboro, Tenn.
But Mr. Cruz, on a weeklong bus tour through the Southeast, didn’t oversleep, nor did his bus take a wrong turn; he instead made a last-second decision to visit a memorial to the soldiers killed in Chattanooga.
His first event of the day, a biscuits and gravy breakfast at Graceworks Church in Chattanooga, was only a few miles from the memorial. The campaign had hoped to stop by if time allowed, but the event at the church ran long.
So Mr. Cruz decided to deal with the delays and visit the memorial anyway. He and his family stood outside the site, offered a prayer and laid down an American flag. He went inside the recruitment center to share his condolences.
“I want to apologize that we were delayed in Chattanooga,” Mr. Cruz told the crowd in Murfreesboro after he arrived. “We were at the memorial for the four Marines who were killed in an act of radical Islamic terrorism.”
The crowd didn’t seem to mind; it responded with a standing ovation.
— Nick Corasaniti
Jefferson-Jackson dinners, a staple of Democratic politics and regular stop on the presidential candidate circuit, are being renamed across the country because of the slave-owning pasts of Thomas Jefferson and Andrew Jackson.
Lawrence Lessig, the Harvard professor and democratic theorist, said he would explore a protest bid for the Democratic nomination if he could raise $1 million in small donations by Labor Day, and that he would tie his campaign to the issue of empowering small donors in politics.
And, “This is a tough business,” Ms. Kelly told viewers on Monday, brushing off Mr. Trump‘s comments, saying, “I’ll continue doing my job without fear or favor.”
In a statement filed under oath in federal court on Monday, Mrs. Clinton said that she had given the State Department all of the work-related emails that were on the personal account she used while she was secretary of state.
The sustained ability of Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont to draw large crowds, Brent Budowsky writes in The New York Observer, is beginning to translate into donations as well. “No other candidate can come even close to the size of his crowds or the clarity, passion and idealism of his message,” Mr. Budowsky argues. “Remember where you heard it first: When the next quarterly campaign finance reports are released in October the political world will be shocked by the breathtaking increase in small donor money to the Sanders campaign.”
The tax plans offered by Mrs. Clinton and Mr. Sanders “are more radical” than those pushed by President Obama during his White House runs, Vox writes. “Their real aim is far more ambitious: They want to change the way the economy actually works.”
And Reddit sought out Trump supporters for a question — serious answers only — asking them, “So why do you want Trump?” The answers — though often vulgar, so be warned — offer insight into the voters behind the poll numbers that have held strong even amid the accusations of sexism.”That tiny sliver of honesty,” one supporter wrote, “puts him ahead of most politicians in the eyes of the average American.”
In another sign of trouble for Mr. Paul, Politico reports, he faces increasing opposition in his efforts to get Kentucky Republicans to change rules to let him run both for president and for re-election to the Senate next year. |
Larceny, human rights abuses, and war damage in east Ukraine point to the emergence of a new “black hole” in Europe.
When Russia’s ambassador to the EU, Vladimir Chizhov, briefed press in Brussels this week in the run-up to Russia’s 9 May WWII memorial, he didn’t rule out escalation.
Student, retired or simply can't afford full price? No worries.
Unexploded mortar shell in Shirokine mud (Photo: Corneliu Cazacu)
He blamed Ukraine’s volunteer battalions for “intensified fighting” near Donetsk airport, saying “there are indeed different rumours, including of possible offensive operations by the Ukrainian army”.
His words fit the pattern of the past 16 months: Russian claims of ceasefire violations followed by military action.
But most EU diplomats believe Moscow’s interests are better served by the status quo.
“[Russian leader] Putin wants to keep the conflict simmering at a certain temperature, giving him the option to activate it at any moment which suits him”, one EU contact said.
He already has simmering conflicts centred round de facto states in Moldova, Georgia, and Azerbaijan.
Some of the entities, notably the Russia-occupied Pridnestrovian Moldavian Republic (PMR) in Moldova and Republic of South Ossetia in Georgia, are havens for organised crime. PMR, for instance, makes counterfeit medicine on an industrial scale.
The Donbas region in east Ukraine now hosts the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR) and Luhansk People’s Republic (LPR).
The DPR and LPR leadership is a hotch-potch of people who keep changing posts, arresting each other, and coming and going over the open border with Russia.
It includes local Russia sympathisers; shady businessmen with Russian interests; Russian intelligence officers; and Chechen or Cossack militiamen and mercenaries.
The war has caused devastation.
One million people have fled. Those who stayed have no pensions or social security.
Donetsk airport, a showpiece built for the Euro2012 football tournament, is in ruins. Roads, bridges, railway lines, and energy infrastructure have been destroyed. Coal mines are filling with water for lack of electricity to operate pumps.
“It’ll take a lot of money, and time, to rebuild things”, Anatoliy Kinakh, a former Ukrainian PM who now chairs the Ukrainian League of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs, a business lobby, told EUobserver.
But the new masters aren’t making things better.
Denys Kazanskyi, a journalist and blogger from Donetsk who now lives in Kiev, told this website that “the LPR and DPR authorities are looting everything, even cars, office equipment, and taking it to Russia. In future, it will be poor, like Pridnestrovia”.
The lawlessness also has a more sinister side.
“It’s not Russian territory. It’s not Ukraine. It’s a black hole on the map. People can disappear. You can be shot on the street because there’s no law and order”, Kazanskyi added.
Mariya Tomak, who works for Centre of Civil Liberties, a Kiev-based NGO, estimates that 1,500 people have vanished in the region since fighting began.
She says documents found by Ukrainian soldiers in some ex-DPR and LPR facilities indicate they practice “torture” and “extra-judicial executions”.
She added that people are afraid to criticise authorities, even in phonecalls to friends or relatives, because “they think the FSB [Russia’s intelligence service] is listening”.
The other side
The situation is different on the other side of the contact line.
It’s far from normal by European standards.
Tomak noted that Ukraine’s volunteer battalions are also guilty of human rights abuses, albeit “on a completely different scale” to LPR and DPR.
Olena Halushka, from Reanimation Package of Reforms, another Kiev-based NGO, said there’s resistance to reform, especially in law enforcement and judicial structures.
“Politicians are using the war and the devaluation of the hryvnia [Ukraine’s currency] as an excuse to postpone, postpone”, she told EUobserver.
Tomak added that some EU states’ Russia-appeasment has harmed pro-European feeling: “During the past year, what the EU means [to Ukrainians] has become much more realistic, less romantic”.
But both women said there’s still great appetite for change in Ukrainian society.
There's also optimism in Ukraine’s business community.
Kinakh, the industrialists’ chairman, said the entry into force, on 1 January, of the EU free trade treaty, will lead to “rule of law, modernisation of the economy”.
“For us, the EU is much more than just a market for Ukrainian goods. It’s also a source of high technology and private investment.”
He predicts exports to the EU will soar in the agricultural sector (corn, wheat, rape, sunflower oil, and poultry), in machine parts for aviation and ship-building, in pharmaceuticals, and IT services.
When EU leaders meet counterparts from six former Soviet states, including Ukraine, in Riga on 21 May, they won’t say anything on enlargement.
But for Kinakh that “won’t be a negative signal for investors”.
“The number one signal is predictability of doing business in Ukraine, protection of property rights, a level playing field, absence of corruption”.
Low hryvnia
He noted the low hryvnia means “now’s the time” for foreign firms to buy Ukrainian assets.
For Kinakh, it doesn’t matter if, say, a US venture capitalist buys a Ukrainian factory for $1: “The price is of secondary importance. The most important thing is that they bring modernisation, make Ukrainian firms more competitive, and create jobs”.
It’s a message that isn’t being lost on the outside world.
EUobserver spoke with a former US State Department official who gave up his post to join a company which is buying assets in Ukraine’s electricity production and transmission sector.
It also spoke with an Israeli businessman, in the metals sector, who has registered three new trading firms in Ukraine.
The Israeli contact, who asked not to be named, said business people don’t worry about EU silence on Ukraine accession: “It might take five years or 10 years, not 20 years, but Ukraine is heading into the European Union”.
Despite the EU-realism, some Ukrainians feel the same way.
“We’ve burnt our bridges with Russia, so there’s nowhere for us to go except the West”, Kazanskyi, the Donetsk blogger, noted.
Reconciliation
Tomak, from the Centre of Civil Liberties, said future reconciliation with DPR and LPR “won’t be easy”, not least due to Russian media, which has a monopoly in the region and which is propagating hatred of Ukrainian “neo-Nazis”.
But reconciliation will be easier if the rest of Ukraine becomes a decent place to live.
“For us, it’s very important that people in the occupied regions can see that we have a good standard of life, protection of human rights”, Kinakh said.
“The success of the reforms is no less important than military success in protecting the territorial integrity of our country”. |
A 44-year-old man is in serious condition after a hit-and-run Monday morning on St. Margarets Bay Road in Halifax Regional Municipality.
RCMP Cpl. Dal Hutchinson says the man was cycling at the head of St. Margarets Bay near the Train Station Bike and Bean café when he was struck at about 6:45 a.m. by a pickup truck, which left the scene.
The cyclist, Tim Lane, was on his way to work when the collision happened. His wife, Stephanie, says he rides the same route from their home in St. Margarets Bay to the Tantallon Park & Ride every day.
She says she got the call from RCMP around 7:30 a.m. and quickly made arrangements for their three young children before rushing to the hospital.
Out of surgery
"I had been told by RCMP that my husband had been involved in ... what they thought was a hit-and-run accident. He was struck off his bicycle and they didn't really have much more information for me," she said.
Lane was taken to hospital by ambulance with serious injuries. Stephanie Lane says he is out of surgery and expected to recover, but suffered fractures to his skull, face and thighbone, as well as a ruptured spleen.
"It's such a cowardly thing to do, to hit somebody on a bike and just leave them there on the side of the road, you don't even know if they're alive or dead. It's sickening. It's inhumane," she said.
The truck involved in the collision is described as black truck with a flat deck.
RCMP are asking anyone with information is asked to call RCMP or Crime Stoppers. |
The 2nd Sharknado film it set to make a splash this week as it premieres July 30th on SyFy. Since we enjoyed the first, there’s no doubt we’ll be checking out the sequel, and wanted to give you folks the heads up if checking it out live to try out these sweet rules.
Most of them modified from the original, we really don’t expect a brand new movie.
Let’s get to the rules!
Death from Sea– Whenever a human dies/is killed in this film, take a drink. Death from Land– Whenever a shark dies/is killed in this film, take a drink. Wind!- For every reference to the tornado or the “Storm”, take a drink. The Second One – For any callbacks/references to the original film, take a drink. SHARK!– Whenever shark is said in the movie, take a drink!
The Sharknado – Bonus Rule. Every time, Sharknado is said in the movie, take a shot!
We encourage everyone to use these rules and tell us what you think! Love to hear about your experiences! |
At my high school, it wasn't "cool" to make an effort during PE. I distinctly remember being told this during a basketball game where I out-hustled a kid six inches taller than me for a rebound. I paused for a moment, and then went back to hustling. "Nah," I thought to myself. "I'd rather win." Ever since then, I've always considered myself on the side of the tryhards. If you can win with seemingly zero effort, good for you. But in my opinion, it's better to break a sweat than to lose the game.
The part of this blog post where I talk about playing sports is now complete. Thank you for your patience.
It's hard to think of Google as a scrappy underdog, but in the hardware business that's absolutely the case. And, more importantly, in the Paul-buys-phones-sometimes business, Google is almost a non-player.
In the Paul-buys-phones-sometimes business, Google is almost a non-player
I've been an iPhone user since the day the first model came out in 2007. I've used a bunch of Android devices for work, and even bought a couple for my personal use over the years, but I always come back to iOS's welcoming arms. But something about Google's hardware event this week really spoke to me, in a way that Apple's recent iPhone X event didn't.
Google looks like a bunch of tryhards right now, and it's great.
It sounds like a stupid distinction, but it matters to me that the Pixel 2 is $649, while the iPhone 8 is $699. Is $50 a lot of money? Not really. But by undercutting Apple on price (even just a little), Google looks hungry to compete, while Apple looks like it just needed a way to get more cash out of its regular customers.
According to Apple, people like me who enjoy small phone form factors don't deserve the best cameras the company has to offer. Google begs to differ, and managed to put its version of Apple’s Portrait Mode in both the Pixel 2 XL and the regular-human-sized Pixel 2, using the exact same sensors in both phones. Thanks, Google!
In Apple land, if you take too many photos and video you basically brick your phone, and even if you pay for extra iCloud storage beyond the sad default of 5GB, it’s a chore to keep your local storage clean. My solution? Don’t take too many pictures. In Google's world, cloud storage is cheap enough to offer as a carrot, and with the Pixel 2 you can upload unlimited original-quality video and photos to Google’s cloud. As a company desperate to contend with Apple and Samsung as a hardware brand, it makes sense that Google is willing to spend a few extra 2017 dollars on data centers to win converts who might stick around into the future.
Google sadly missed an opportunity to dunk all over Apple by keeping the headphone jack. But I do prefer the neckbud form factor of Google's Pixel Buds to Apple's imminently losable AirPods. I'm not going to put this in the "Google wants it more than Apple" column, but at least Google's tastes here line up with mine.
I like that Google moved the search bar down to the bottom of the phone where it’s easier to reach with my thumb. I like that Google is going with OLED on phones that aren't $999. I like that Google is doing a low-key Shazam on the phone 24/7, and can show me information when the screen is "off." I like that the Pixel 2 does quick charging with the charger that comes in the box. I think the Pixel 2 is beautiful. And the Pixel 2 XL with that orange side button and tastefully sized top and bottom bezels is perhaps the best-looking phone since the iPhone 5, if it wasn't a big phone which I hate.
It's like Google really gets me right now, in a way Apple just doesn't.
In fact, Apple is increasingly getting on my nerves. The number one app I use on my phone is Audible, but Apple’s draconian app policies mean I can’t actually purchase new books from within the Audible app. Apple’s FaceTime doesn’t support multi-person video calls, so I’ve been transitioning to Facebook Messenger for those purposes. iOS has always had the best and highest-quality third-party apps, and I feel like that’s still true, but I’m seeing more small upstarts and experimental apps show up as Android exclusives.
Apple is increasingly getting on my nerves
Many of the things that make Android appealing right now aren't new to Android users, but as an Apple user who has trusted deeply in one company to manage a large portion of my digital life for me, it's much more appealing to see Google offer an alternative to the iPhone than another hardware player like Samsung or LG. Google, now more than ever, has a clear vision for what phones should be like, how they should be used, and how they should integrate with Google services. I already use Google's Inbox, YouTube, and Docs on my iPhone all the time. Now that Google's hardware looks mature and in sync with its services, it's finally made me take Android seriously in a way I never have before.
I think I can tolerate my iPhone 7’s cracked screen for a few more months (maybe a little bit longer). But when the time comes to upgrade, I'm going to have a really hard decision to make. The iPhone 8 seems boring and lazy, the iPhone X is big and expensive, and Google's got a $649 phone now that’s almost made exactly to my tastes.
The hardest part of leaving the iPhone would be becoming a green bubble to my friends and family. iMessage has a powerful hold over me. But if I switch, it won't be me leaving iMessage. It will be the platform that runs iMessage leaving me. |
The Road to Roota Theory
____________________________________________________
It was January 2007 when I first discovered the information released by the Federal Reserve Bank, Boston that changed my understanding of the gold & silver markets, the financial markets, the energy markets, the monetary system as well as the true essence of my country, the United States of America. Interestingly enough it came in the form of a children's comic book.
The Road to Roota Theory postulates that there is a group of people in the United States as well as around the world that are working to remove and destroy the financial banking powers that have secretly controlled all aspects of our lives for hundreds of years. The original idea of this group sprang from the mind of Alan Greenspan and involved rigging markets with computer programs that he had invented in the 1960's. The original articles can be found here:
The Original Road to Roota
//www.roadtoroota.com/public/120.cfm
My understanding of the way the world worked was blown to bits and replaced with a more unified theory on all things monetary... all things that lead us down The Road to Roota otherwise known as the Road to the Gold Standard.
Greenspan's Golden Secret
//www.roadtoroota.com/public/101.cfm
The following concepts are the key support pillars in The Road to Roota Theory and I have linked the support articles as back up. Once you understand these concepts you will understand what is happening all around you as the world you once knew comes crumbling down to be replaced by a new and better system.
KEY COMPONENTS OF THE ROAD TO ROOTA THEORY:
1) All markets have been 100% controlled by computer programs since the 1970's in order to steer and control prices thus prolonging the fiat monetary system.
//www.roadtoroota.com/public/94.cfm
2) A powerful cabal of the world's elite have taken over that market manipulation process and twisted it to enhance their own profits while pretending to service their nation's best interests.
//www.roadtoroota.com/public/133.cfm
3) In the early 1900's the United States embarked on a secret policy to hide all of its own natural resources and exploit the rest of the world's until resource scarcity was fully recognized.
//www.roadtoroota.com/public/181.cfm
4) In order to support the oil backed US Dollar and the world's petro-based economic system the "powers that be" have hidden new energy technologies that would greatly benefit the world's population as well as the environment.
//www.roadtoroota.com/public/141.cfm
5) Since 911 there is a group of people and governments that have decided "enough is enough" and are in the process of removing the banking cabal from their seat of power.
//www.roadtoroota.com/public/120.cfm
6) The planned destruction of the fiat monetary system is the type of "Creative Destruction" event that will force the implementation of a new Gold Standard within the United States.
//www.roadtoroota.com/public/117.cfm
You may argue all you want about my interpretation and conclusions but there will be no arguing the final results. When the final crash comes the facts will show that the Road to Roota Theory was the closest thing to a "correct analysis" of the gold market available at this time in history.
This is your peek behind the curtain of the Great and Powerful OZ!
As we read the papers today the events are unfolding before us. The real question now is what will happen in the future? Will we be cast into a deep and dark depression with no hope for future generations or will we survive and even thrive as we make this transition?
Here is my interpretation of all the information found in the RoadtoRoota.com archives:
//www.roadtoroota.com/public/department36.cfm
These conclusions may sound way too positive and outrageously naive but everything I watch points to a very bright future…even if it takes a few bumps to get there!
1) The collapse of the fiat monetary system will be total and complete equalizing the playing field between the "haves" and the "have-nots".
2) All paper/electronic debt and assets will evaporate with the collapse of the fiat money system.
3) Those who have perpetrated the outrageous and monstrous crimes of the past 100 years will be hunted down and prosecuted (if they are lucky).
4) The US will issue a new gold backed currency (domestically) allocating it according to future social security payments due.
5) The US will allocate much of the new gold backed money to support the funding of schools, police, health care, infrastructure and other necessities for a fully functioning society.
6) Globalization will end upon the collapse of the derivative structure and all countries will end global trade concentrating on their own internal commerce.
7) All US overseas troops will return home to protect our borders and ensure the safety of our citizens.
8) The US population will be fully employed working to replace all the overseas production lost in the reversal of Globalization.
9) The United States will tap into its VAST natural resources that have been hidden away for years in National Parks, Military Bases and sites deemed "Ecologically Sensitive".
10) A vast array of new energy technologies will be revealed since there will be no more need for the "oil standard" that has supported the US Dollar for the past 50 years.
11) The implementation of the new monetary system will usher in a glorious new "Golden Age" that the world will embrace after years of being lead around like "Sheeple".
We are on the cusp of something truly momentous in the history of the human race. With the full transition there is no need to lose the free markets system. Truthfully, a true "Free Market" system has never been given the chance it deserves with all the market rigging of the past 100 years.
We will be free again. We will resurrect our Constitution and we will make the United States of America the Land of Liberty that our forefathers envisioned.
Let's pray that the change is peaceful.
May the Road you choose be the Right Road.
Bix Weir
*Audio by Tamz Broderick |
DC Comics April 2016 solicitations Credit: DC Comics
DC Comics April 2016 solicitations Credit: DC Comics
HARLEY QUINN AND HER GANG OF HARLEYS #1
Written by FRANK TIERI and JIMMY PALMIOTTI
Art by MAURICET
Cover by AMANDA CONNER
1:25 Variant cover by MAURICET
On sale APRIL 13 • 32 pg, FC, 1 of 6, $3.99 US • RATED T+
Retailers: This issue will ship with two covers. Please see the order form for more information.
Straight from the pages of HARLEY QUINN comes the story of her strange new army of assistants, the Gang of Harleys! In this new miniseries, they’ve been on the job for just a few months, and the Gang is ready to stand up and show what they can do without Harley…and they just might have to, because Harley’s been kidnapped! The Gang’s homes, their loved ones—they’re all in danger from a strange new villain with a very personal grudge against Harley!
DC Comics April 2016 solicitations Credit: DC Comics
HARLEY QUINN AND THE SUICIDE SQUAD APRIL FOOL’S SPECIAL #1
Written by ROB WILLIAMS
Art by JIM LEE, SCOTT WILLIAMS and SEAN “CHEEKS” GALLOWAY
Cover by JIM LEE and SCOTT WILLIAMS
Variant cover by SEAN “CHEEKS” GALLOWAY
Blank variant cover
1:50 B&W Sketch variant cover by JIM LEE
ONE-SHOT • On sale APRIL 6 • 40 pg, FC, $4.99 US • RATED T+
Retailers: This issue will ship with four covers. Please see the order form for details.
Dr. Harleen Frances Quinzel, M.D., welcomes you to Evil Anonymous, the support group for super villains in need; where no problem is too insane or homicidal, and where discretion is assured as only a clown princess of crime can—which is to say, not at all. But when Harley Quinn starts using her patients’ own evil schemes against them, it turns out that a much bigger, far more dangerous, and truly life-altering joke is being played on her.
DC Comics April 2016 solicitations Credit: DC Comics
DC Comics April 2016 solicitations Credit: DC Comics
BLOODLINES #1
“HOSTILE TAKEOVER”
Written by J.T. KRUL
Art and cover by V. KEN MARION
1:25 variant cover by JILL THOMPSON
On sale APRIL 6 • 32 pg, FC, 1 of 6, $2.99 US • RATED T
Retailers: This issue will ship with two covers. Please see the order form for more information.
When a meteor crashes to Earth, bringing with it an unspeakable alien presence that terrorizes a nearby small town, the lucky ones die first. As for the rest, they find themselves locked in a hellish struggle for control of their bodies and their minds. This isn’t just an invasion. It’s an infestation. What would you do if the greatest threat to humanity was hidden away inside you?
Award-winning writer J.T. Krul (Teen Titans, Green Arrow, Jirni) and superstar-in-the-making V. Ken Marion (All New Soulfire, Jirni) bring you their dark and horrifying science-fiction epic about tortured souls who are cursed to a fate worse than death...much worse.
DC Comics April 2016 solicitations Credit: DC Comics
DARK KNIGHT III: THE MASTER RACE #5
Written by FRANK MILLER and BRIAN AZZARELLO
Art by ANDY KUBERT and KLAUS JANSON
Minicomic art by TBD
Cover by ANDY KUBERT
1:10 Robin variant cover by KARL KERSCHL
1:25 variant cover by KLAUS JANSON
1:50 variant cover by TBD
1:100 variant cover by FRANK MILLER
1:500 variant cover by JIM LEE and SCOTT WILLIAMS
On sale APRIL 20
32-pg comic: 6.375” x 10.1875”
16-page minicomic: 5.5” x 8.5”
FC, 5 of 8, $5.99 US
Retailers: This issue will ship with six covers. Please see the order form for more information.
Batman and Robin prepare for war with the Master Race, and an ally returns from an unlikely place…
DARK KNIGHT III: THE MASTER RACE #5 COLLECTOR’S EDITION
Written by FRANK MILLER and BRIAN AZZARELLO
Art by ANDY KUBERT, KLAUS JANSON and others
Sketch cover by JIM LEE
On sale MAY 4 • 40 pg, FC, 4 of 8, 7.0625” x 10.875”, $12.99 US
This oversized paper-over-boards COLLECTOR’S EDITION features both stories from DARK KNIGHT III: THE MASTER RACE #5 at the same size, with a cover that’s a pencils-only version of Jim Lee’s 1:500 variant for DARK KNIGHT III: THE MASTER RACE #5.
DC Comics April 2016 solicitations Credit: DC Comics
DC Comics April 2016 solicitations Credit: DC Comics
JUSTICE LEAGUE #50
Written by GEOFF JOHNS
Art and cover by JASON FABOK
Variant cover by JOHN ROMITA, JR. and SCOTT HANNA
On sale APRIL 20 • 48 pg, FC, $5.99 US • RATED T
Retailers: This issue will ship with two covers. Please see the order form for more information.
This is it!! The massive, 48-page conclusion to the critically-acclaimed “DARKSEID WAR” can hardly be contained between two covers! Don’t miss the final fates of the world’s greatest heroes and villains, along with world-changing revelations for Batman, Superman and Wonder Woman. It doesn’t get bigger than this as DC’s monthly super hero event comic sets the stage for the next year and beyond!
DC Comics April 2016 solicitations Credit: DC Comics
DC Comics April 2016 solicitations Credit: DC Comics
JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA #10
Written by BRYAN HITCH
Art by BRYAN HITCH and DANIEL HENRIQUES
Cover by BRYAN HITCH
Variant cover by JOHN ROMITA, JR. and DANNY MIKI
On sale APRIL 27 • 32 pg, FC, $3.99 US • RATED T
Retailers: This issue will ship with two covers. Please see the order form for details.
The League members in the ancient past catch up with those in the present, and the whole future is at stake! The League thought they had beaten Rao, at great personal cost, but his final solution for the people of Earth is far more than even The League can stand against.
DC Comics April 2016 solicitations Credit: DC Comics
DC Comics April 2016 solicitations Credit: DC Comics
AQUAMAN #51
Written by DAN ABNETT
Art by VICENTE CIFUENTES and JOHN DELL
Cover by BRETT BOOTH and NORM RAPMUND
Variant cover by JOHN ROMITA, JR. and DANNY MIKI
On sale APRIL 20 • 32 pg, FC, $3.99 US • RATED T
Retailers: This issue will ship with two covers. Please see the order form for more information.
In order to solve the mystery of the rage-monster Dead Water, Aquaman must turn to the only person with any answers: the notorious Scavenger!
DC Comics April 2016 solicitations Credit: DC Comics
BLACK CANARY #11
Written by BRENDEN FLETCHER
Art by SANDY JARRELL
Cover by ANNIE WU
On sale APRIL 20 • 32 pg, FC, $2.99 US • RATED T
The true scope of what Dinah’s up against stands revealed—and it’s an infernal evil that’s out of this world! What did this sinister presence do to Dinah’s missing mother…and what horrible bargain has the mysterious white ninja made with it?
DC Comics April 2016 solicitations Credit: DC Comics
CONSTANTINE: THE HELLBLAZER #11
Written by MING DOYLE and JAMES TYNION IV
Art and cover by RILEY ROSSMO
On sale APRIL 13 • 32 pg, FC, $2.99 US • RATED T+
Neron’s hostile takeover of New York City has left thousands of magical folk homeless, including John Constantine! But just when the Hellblazer has resolved himself to life as a refugee in Los Angeles, a relentless supernatural force attempts to compel him out of the City of Angels and back into the fight: Boston Brand, a.k.a. Deadman!
DC Comics April 2016 solicitations Credit: DC Comics
LEGENDS OF TOMORROW #2
Cover by LIAM SHARP
On sale APRIL 13 • 96 pg, FC, $7.99 US • RATED T
FIRESTORM
Written by GERRY CONWAY
Art by EDUARDO PANSICA and ROB HUNTER
Multiplex is back—but Jason is in a coma and in critical condition. If Professor Stein is right, finding Multiplex could save Jason—if Stein and Ronnie can fuse together to become Firestorm!
METAL MEN
Written by LEN WEIN
Art by YILDIRAY CINAR and TREVOR SCOTT
The government wants them destroyed. The mysterious hacker called Nameless wants to experiment on them. But Doctor Will Magnus just wants to keep them safe. Someone is going to get what they want...the question is: who?
METAMORPHO
Written by AARON LOPRESTI
Art by AARON LOPRESTI and MATT BANNING
Metamorpho and Sapphire are free of Simon Stagg’s control—but can they reach the Pyramid of Ak-Ton and discover the secret of the Orb of Ra before Kanjar Ro hunts them down?
SUGAR & SPIKE
Written by KEITH GIFFEN
Art by BILQUIS EVELY
Grab your flip-flops and sunscreen—Sugar & Spike are going to Superman Island, a tropical resort shaped like the Man of Steel! Their mission? Stop a group of land developers from uncovering the embarrassing and dangerous Kryptonian secret buried beneath the beach!
DC Comics April 2016 solicitations Credit: DC Comics
DC Comics April 2016 solicitations Credit: DC Comics
CYBORG #10
Written by DAVID F. WALKER
Art by FELIPE WATANABE and ALBERT OCLAIR
Cover by GUILLEM MARCH
Variant cover by JOHN ROMITA, JR. and DANNY MIKI
On sale APRIL 27 • 32 pg, FC, $2.99 US • RATED T
Retailers: This issue will ship with two covers. Please see the order form for details.
The government has confiscated Cyborg’s technology by imprisoning him. But they have no idea just how powerful Vic Stone has become—and neither does Cyborg himself! New abilities are revealed as Vic makes the prison break of the century! But even with his newfound powers, can he stop what’s going to happen next?!
DC Comics April 2016 solicitations Credit: DC Comics
DC Comics April 2016 solicitations Credit: DC Comics
DEATHSTROKE #17
Written by JAMES BONNY
Art and cover by TYLER KIRKHAM
Variant cover by JOHN ROMITA, JR. and SCOTT HANNA
On sale APRIL 27 • 32 pg, FC, $2.99 US • RATED T+
Retailers: This issue will ship with two covers. Please see the order form for more information.
Deathstroke has reached the end of the gauntlet on the road to save his daughter, but after battling everyone from the Suicide Squad to Red Hood, will he be able to save himself? As Ra’s al Ghul and Lawman enter the fray, Slade Wilson’s life will never be the same…
DC Comics April 2016 solicitations Credit: DC Comics
DOCTOR FATE #11
Written by PAUL LEVITZ
Art and cover by SONNY LIEW
On sale APRIL 20 • 32 pg, FC, $2.99 US • RATED T
The emperor Julius Caesar has reached out from beyond the grave to resume his campaign against the Egyptian people, and only the young Doctor Fate can protect his ancestral homeland from the ghost of its former conqueror.
DC Comics April 2016 solicitations Credit: DC Comics
EARTH 2: SOCIETY #11
Written by DAN ABNETT
Art and cover by JORGE JIMENEZ
On sale APRIL 13 • 32 pg, FC, $2.99 US • RATED T
Green Lantern learns that even a god can sometimes be powerless in the face of ordinary men. With the new world escalating toward war, Batman, Red Arrow and Ted Grant confront the double menace of Hourman and The Mist. Meanwhile, in distant Amazonia, Hawkgirl learns the dark and dreadful secret of the Amazon nation! Action, adventure and power-plays on a global scale!
DC Comics April 2016 solicitations Credit: DC Comics
DC Comics April 2016 solicitations Credit: DC Comics
THE FLASH #51
Written by ROBERT VENDITTI and VAN JENSEN
Art by JESUS MERINO
Cover by IVAN REIS and JOE PRADO
Variant cover by JOHN ROMITA, JR. and DANNY MIKI
On sale APRIL 27 • 32 pg, FC, $3.99 US • RATED T
Retailers: This issue will ship with two covers. Please see the order form for more information.
The Flash’s world is in utter chaos: he’s wanted by the police, headed by his adoptive father. His enemies, The Rogues, have been deputized to take him in. And it couldn’t be a worse time for The Riddler to stake his claim as the most dangerous man in Central City!
DC Comics April 2016 solicitations Credit: DC Comics
DC Comics April 2016 solicitations Credit: DC Comics
GREEN ARROW #51
Written by BENJAMIN PERCY
Art by SZYMON KUDRANSKI
Cover by PATRICK ZIRCHER
Variant cover by JOHN ROMITA, JR. and SCOTT HANNA
On sale APRIL 6 • 32 pg, FC, $2.99 US • RATED T
Retailers: This issue will ship with two covers. Please see the order form for details. This cover previously
In war-torn Africa, Green Arrow and Deathstroke are both hunting for the same man—Doctor Miracle—whose blood cures any disease. They’re battling not only each other, but also a militant group known as The Whites. There is no deadlier foe than the world’s greatest assassin, and against his blade Green Arrow may have met his end.
DC Comics April 2016 solicitations Credit: DC Comics
JUSTICE LEAGUE 3001 #11
Written by KEITH GIFFEN and J.M. DeMATTEIS
Art and cover by SCOTT KOLINS
On sale APRIL 27 • 32 pg, FC, $2.99 US • RATED T
Now that the Justice League is aware of Lady Styx’s ultimate plan, the team is forced to stand its ground to save the human race from extinction. Little do they know that Eclipso is hot on their tails! Plus, the Justice League may have a traitor in its midst.
DC Comics April 2016 solicitations Credit: DC Comics
THE OMEGA MEN #11
Written by TOM KING
Art by BARNABY BAGENDA
Cover by TREVOR HUTCHISON
On sale APRIL 27 • 32 pg, FC, $2.99 US • RATED T+
Crippled and desperate after their brutal defeat on Karna, the Citadel brings an all-out war to the Omega Men as the team attempts to unify all the worlds of Vega in a last stand against their conquerors.
DC Comics April 2016 solicitations Credit: DC Comics
DC Comics April 2016 solicitations Credit: DC Comics
RED HOOD/ARSENAL #11
Written by SCOTT LOBDELL
Art by JAVIER FERNANDEZ
Cover by LEONARDO MANCO
Variant cover by JOHN ROMITA, JR. and KLAUS JANSON
On sale APRIL 13 • 32 pg, FC, $2.99 US • RATED T
Retailers: This issue will ship with two covers. Please see the order form for details.
Business is booming for Red Hood and Arsenal! With a major win in their column, Jason and Roy have finally gotten the respect they deserve—but what will “going legitimate” mean for Joker’s Daughter? Skeletons from the closet emerge in “Dancing with the Devil” part two!
DC Comics April 2016 solicitations Credit: DC Comics
MIDNIGHTER #11
Written by STEVE ORLANDO
Art by ACO and HUGO PETRUS
Cover by ACO
On sale APRIL 6 • 32 pg, FC, $2.99 US • RATED T+
At last, it’s the moment we’ve all been waiting for: Apollo returns! Midnighter’s caught in the crossfire between the Suicide Squad and Spyral—now he must team up with his ex to stop Henry Bendix from creating a monster!
DC Comics April 2016 solicitations Credit: DC Comics
DC Comics April 2016 solicitations Credit: DC Comics
MARTIAN MANHUNTER #11
Written by ROB WILLIAMS
Art and cover by EDDY BARROWS and • EBER FERREIRA
Variant cover by JOHN ROMITA, JR. and KLAUS JANSON
On sale APRIL 20 • 32 pg, FC, $2.99 US • RATED T+
Retailers: This issue will ship with two covers. Please see the order form for more information.
A hero falls when the tyrant Ma’alefa’ak seizes upon the spirit of Mars itself in a last, desperate effort to escape the dying planet and conquer Earth, and not even the power of J’onn J’onzz may be able to save the people of two worlds from annihilation.
DC Comics April 2016 solicitations Credit: DC Comics
DC Comics April 2016 solicitations Credit: DC Comics
STARFIRE #11
Written by AMANDA CONNER and JIMMY PALMIOTTI
Art by ELSA CHARRETIER
Cover by AMANDA CONNER
Variant cover by JOHN ROMITA, JR. and SCOTT HANNA
On sale APRIL 13 • 32 pg, FC, $2.99 US • RATED T
Retailers: This issue will ship with two covers. Please see the order form for details.
Starfire’s underground adventure continues as she, Atlee and Stella find themselves all shook up in the kingdom of Strata, where they form bonds before heading back to Key West—where things have gotten a little...weird.
DC Comics April 2016 solicitations Credit: DC Comics
NEW SUICIDE SQUAD #19
Written by TIM SEELEY
Art and cover by JUAN FERREYRA
On sale APRIL 6 • 32 pg, FC, $2.99 US • RATED T+
The Suicide Squad’s freedom proves to be short-lived when their liberators are revealed to be none other than the Fist of Cain, the insane, ultra-violent death cult for whom murdering famous super-villains would be a thrilling path to glory. Harley Quinn and Deadshot fight for their lives while Amanda Waller and Captain Boomerang decide whether they even want to save these most bitter rivals!
DC Comics April 2016 solicitations Credit: DC Comics
SUICIDE SQUAD MOST WANTED: DEADSHOT/KATANA #4
Written by MIKE W. BARR and BRIAN BUCCELLATO
Art by DIOGENES NEVES, VIKTOR BOGDANOVIC and RICHARD FRIEND
Cover by CARY NORD
On sale APRIL 27 • 48 pg, FC, 4 of 6, $4.99 US • RATED T
Kobra has taken advantage of Katana and the Suicide Squad’s attack on his base to assault the capital and imprison Prince Brion of Markovia! As king, he can set his endgame into motion…but Katana is sure that he’s playing a double game!
And in “Deadshot,” Floyd Lawton is out—and Will Evans is in! But how will Harley Quinn, Captain Boomerang and the rest of the Squad respond to the new Deadshot? And is this truly the end of Floyd Lawton’s story?
DC Comics April 2016 solicitations Credit: DC Comics
DC Comics April 2016 solicitations Credit: DC Comics
TEEN TITANS #19
Written by GREG PAK
Art by IAN CHURCHILL and NORM RAPMUND
Cover by IAN CHURCHILL
Variant cover by JOHN ROMITA, JR. and DANNY MIKI
On sale APRIL 27 • 32 pg, FC, $2.99 US • RATED T
Retailers: This issue will ship with two covers. Please see the order form for details.
Life got confusing enough for the Teen Titans when Cassie Sandsmark discovered her true heritage. But now, the DC Universe’s greatest demigoddesses clash over the fate of Cassie’s soul! Don’t miss the shocking conclusion to “Who Is Wonder Girl”—and discover whether Cassie will walk with the gods...or stand with the Titans! Guest-starring Wonder Woman!
DC Comics April 2016 solicitations Credit: DC Comics
SECRET SIX #13
Written by GAIL SIMONE
Art by DALE EAGLESHAM
Cover by LIAM SHARP
On sale APRIL 27 • 32 pg, FC, $2.99 US • RATED T+
The League of Assassins presses in on Strix and threatens to kill her friends in the Secret Six if she doesn’t cooperate. She is then confronted by twisted replicas of her teammates, who she must face in combat one at a time. If she is beaten by any of them, the corresponding real member of the Six will be killed. Disoriented and alone, what chance does she—or her teammates—have to survive?
DC Comics April 2016 solicitations Credit: DC Comics
DC Comics April 2016 solicitations Credit: DC Comics
TITANS HUNT #7
Written by DAN ABNETT (Newsarama Note: Scott Lobdell was originally listed as the writer of this issue.)
Art by PAULO SIQUEIRA
Cover by ED BENES
Variant cover by JOHN ROMITA, JR. and SCOTT HANNA
On sale APRIL 20 • 32 pg, FC, 7 of 8, $3.99 US • RATED T
Retailers: This issue will ship with two covers. Please see the order form for details.
The Titans have found Mr. Twister...and that’s exactly what he wanted! As they deal with the danger he represents, it seems like someone else is hunting for the Titans...and that person is a deadly threat, too! Plus, a new Titan enters the fray!
DC Comics April 2016 solicitations Credit: DC Comics
SWAMP THING #4
Written by LEN WEIN
Art and cover by KELLEY JONES
On sale APRIL 6 • 32 pg, FC, 4 of 6, $2.99 US • RATED T
Alec Holland tries to help a friend learn the ways of the Green, but is he the same person Alec remembers? Could something far more sinister than dark magic be looming?
DC Comics April 2016 solicitations Credit: DC Comics
DC Comics April 2016 solicitations Credit: DC Comics
WONDER WOMAN #51
Written by MEREDITH FINCH
Art by MIGUEL MENDONÇA
Cover by DAVID FINCH
Variant cover by JOHN ROMITA, JR. and SCOTT HANNA
On sale APRIL 20 • 32 pg, FC, $3.99 US • RATED T
Retailers: This issue will ship with two covers. Please see the order form for more information.
Wonder Woman returns to Paradise Island and the Tartarus Pit in her quest to save baby Zeke. But as she betrays those she loves in her struggle to save Olympus, she slips closer to an abyss in which she may lose Wonder Woman entirely!
DC Comics April 2016 solicitations Credit: DC Comics
DC Comics April 2016 solicitations Credit: DC Comics
SUPERMAN #51
Written by PETER J. TOMASI
Art by MIKEL JANIN
Cover by JOHN ROMITA, JR. and KLAUS JANSON
Variant cover by JOHN ROMITA, JR. and DANNY MIKI
On sale APRIL 6 • 32 pg, FC, $3.99 US • RATED T
Retailers: This issue will ship with two covers. Please see the order form for more information.
It’s the start of a new chapter in the Man of Steel’s life that will change everything you know as the epic eight-part “Super League,” all written by Peter J. Tomasi, spans BATMAN/SUPERMAN, SUPERMAN/WONDER WOMAN and ACTION COMICS in April and May!
His time without powers made Kal-El realize that the world is in need of more protectors...more super-powered beings like himself. But where will he find such beings?
DC Comics April 2016 solicitations Credit: DC Comics
DC Comics April 2016 solicitations Credit: DC Comics
BATMAN/SUPERMAN #31
Written by PETER J. TOMASI
Art by DOUG MAHNKE and JAIME MENDOZA
Cover by YANICK PAQUETTE
Variant cover by JOHN ROMITA, JR. and KLAUS JANSON
On sale APRIL 13 • 32 pg, FC, $3.99 US • RATED T
Retailers: This issue will ship with two covers. Please see the order form for more information.
In part two of “Super League,” Superman enlists Batman’s aid in seeking out people that can help form his new super-league. A shocking discovery is made about a new super-being no one knew existed, and something is beginning to stalk Superman...
DC Comics April 2016 solicitations Credit: DC Comics
DC Comics April 2016 solicitations Credit: DC Comics
ACTION COMICS #51
Written by PETER J. TOMASI
Art by FERNANDO PASARIN
Cover by KARL KERSCHL
Variant cover by JOHN ROMITA, JR. and KLAUS JANSON
On sale APRIL 20 • 32 pg, FC, $3.99 US • RATED T
Retailers: This issue will ship with two covers. Please see the order form for details.
Superman is shocked to learn that Kara has been missing for some time as part three of “Super League” begins! Now, with Batman’s help, Kal-El is on his cousin’s trail—but he can’t believe where it’s leading him and who she has joined!
DC Comics April 2016 solicitations Credit: DC Comics
DC Comics April 2016 solicitations Credit: DC Comics
SUPERMAN/WONDER WOMAN #28
Written by PETER J. TOMASI
Art by ED BENES
Cover by PAUL RENAUD
Variant cover by JOHN ROMITA, JR. and SCOTT HANNA
On sale APRIL 27 • 32 pg, FC, $3.99 US • RATED T
Retailers: This issue will ship with two covers. Please see the order form for details.
In part four of “Super League,” Wonder Woman and Superman encounter the being that was discovered in BATMAN/SUPERMAN #31. But will this person be Superman’s savior—or destroyer? And what is Ulysses’s role in all of this?
DC Comics April 2016 solicitations Credit: DC Comics
DC Comics April 2016 solicitations Credit: DC Comics
SUPERMAN: LOIS AND CLARK #7
Written by DAN JURGENS
Art and cover by LEE WEEKS
Variant cover by JOHN ROMITA, JR. and DANNY MIKI
On sale APRIL 20 • 32 pg, FC, $3.99 US • RATED T
Retailers: This issue will ship with two covers. Please see the order form for details.
The cosmic menace of Hyanthis hits Earth—and this Superman may not be enough to stop her from obtaining the power of the Oblivion Stone. And is Jon starting to manifest superpowers of his own?
DC Comics April 2016 solicitations Credit: DC Comics
SUPERMAN: THE COMING OF THE SUPERMEN #3
Written by NEAL ADAMS
Art and cover by NEAL ADAMS
On sale APRIL 6 • 32 pg, FC, 3 of 6, $3.99 US • RATED T
As Superman tries to find answers as to why Darkseid’s son, Kalibak, has kidnapped a young Middle-Eastern boy and his dog, three other Kryptonians have come to watch over Earth. Meanwhile, the planet Nibiru, which became New Krypton for the liberated Kandorians, is preparing to host Darkseid as he attempts to subjugate their world to make it his New Apokolips.
DC Comics April 2016 solicitations Credit: DC Comics
DC Comics April 2016 solicitations Credit: DC Comics
SUPERMAN: AMERICAN ALIEN #6
Written by MAX LANDIS
Art by JONATHAN CASE
Cover by RYAN SOOK
1:25 Variant cover by JONATHAN CASE
On sale APRIL 20 • 32 pg, FC, 6 of 7, $3.99 US • RATED T+
Retailers: This issue will ship with two covers. Please see the order form for details.
Pete Ross and Kenny Braverman take a trip to Metropolis to catch up with their old friend Clark Kent, only to find that the “Superman” phenomenon has taken the city by storm! As Clark’s alter ego grows more famous, so do Pete’s concerns, and the rising tensions between the two friends inadvertently result in an epic encounter of an extraterrestrial nature!
DC Comics April 2016 solicitations Credit: DC Comics
DC Comics April 2016 solicitations Credit: DC Comics
BATMAN #51
Written by SCOTT SNYDER
Art and cover by GREG CAPULLO and DANNY MIKI
Variant cover by JOHN ROMITA, JR. and KLAUS JANSON
On sale APRIL 13 • 32 pg, FC, $3.99 US • RATED T
Retailers: This issue will ship with two covers. Please see the order form for more information.
Batman has battled everything from the Court of Owls to Mr. Bloom to the Joker, but how does he handle a quiet night in Gotham City…?
DC Comics April 2016 solicitations Credit: DC Comics
DC Comics April 2016 solicitations Credit: DC Comics
DETECTIVE COMICS #51
Written by PETER J. TOMASI
Art by FERNANDO PASARIN
Cover by GUILLEM MARCH
Variant cover by JOHN ROMITA, JR. and SCOTT HANNA
On sale APRIL 6 • 32 pg, FC, $3.99 US • RATED T
Retailers: This issue will ship with two covers. Please see the order form for details.
When Jim Gordon gets a call from his old Marine Corps friends, he sets off to their base to investigate a potential crime—and he’s bringing his Batman suit along, just in case.
DC Comics April 2016 solicitations Credit: DC Comics
BATGIRL #51
Written by BRENDEN FLETCHER
Art by ELEANOR CARLINI
Cover by BABS TARR
On sale APRIL 27 • 32 pg, FC, $2.99 US • RATED T
After the events of issue #50, Barbara Gordon is at a crossroads in her life—will new horizons beckon her away from her home in Burnside?
DC Comics April 2016 solicitations Credit: DC Comics
CATWOMAN #51
Written by FRANK TIERI
Art by INAKI MIRANDA
Cover by JOSHUA MIDDLETON
On sale APRIL 13 • 32 pg, FC, $2.99 US • RATED T+
The Faceless Mask is an ancient and essential part of the history of the False Face Society...as well as the history of both Gotham City and Selina Kyle! So when the artifact resurfaces in the present day after countless generations, will a piece of Catwoman’s past long believed to be gone return with it?
DC Comics April 2016 solicitations Credit: DC Comics
DC Comics April 2016 solicitations Credit: DC Comics
GRAYSON #19
Written by JACKSON LANNING and COLLIN KELLY
Art by CARMINE DI GIANDOMENICO
Cover by MIKEL JANIN
Variant cover by JOHN ROMITA, JR. and DANNY MIKI
On sale APRIL 27 • 32 pg, FC, $3.99 US • RATED T
Retailers: This issue will ship with two covers. Please see the order form for more information.
It’s the ultimate spy showdown! Civil war has broken out at Spyral, with Dick Grayson stuck in the middle. When true allegiances are revealed, which agents will be left standing—if any?
DC Comics April 2016 solicitations Credit: DC Comics
BATMAN BEYOND #11
Written by DAN JURGENS
Art by BERNARD CHANG
Cover by PHILIP TAN
On sale APRIL 6 • 32 pg, FC, $2.99 US • RATED T
Growing tensions between the citizens and refugees of Neo-Gotham have finally erupted into full-on revolt! The city’s in disarray and Batman’s fighting for his life—not just against the Splicers of Metropolis, but against the Justice League itself! A new power and a new ally will be key if Batman is to have any hope of leading both cities to the freedom they seek in this new world.
DC Comics April 2016 solicitations Credit: DC Comics
POISON IVY: CYCLE OF LIFE AND DEATH #4
Written by AMY CHU
Art and cover by CLAY MANN
On sale APRIL 20 • 32 pg, FC, 4 of 6, $2.99 US • RATED T
Catwoman and Poison Ivy—reunited! As the body count rises at the Gotham Botanical Gardens labs, Ivy needs Selina’s help to solve the puzzle...a mystery that seems to involve Ivy’s blossoming children!
DC Comics April 2016 solicitations Credit: DC Comics
DC Comics April 2016 solicitations Credit: DC Comics
HARLEY’S LITTLE BLACK BOOK #3
Written by AMANDA CONNER and JIMMY PALMIOTTI
Art by JOSEPH MICHAEL LINSNER
Cover by AMANDA CONNER
1:25 Variant cover by JOSEPH MICHAEL LINSNER
On sale APRIL 20 • 48 pg, FC, $4.99 US • RATED T+
Retailers: This issue will ship with two covers. Please see the order form for details.
The most ghost-filled mansion on Coney Island has been demolished—and unfortunately, every one of its spirits has decided that Harley’s hacienda is the hot new hangout to haunt! It sure is convenient, then, that Zatanna is currently booked at Big Tony’s cabaret show! It’s up to Harley and Zatanna to convince all of those ghosts to move on to the next world…but if you think Harley’s got problems now, just wait until you see the ectoplasmic baggage these specters are packing!
DC Comics April 2016 solicitations Credit: DC Comics
DC Comics April 2016 solicitations Credit: DC Comics
HARLEY QUINN #27
Written by AMANDA CONNER and JIMMY PALMIOTTI
Art by JOHN TIMMS
Cover by AMANDA CONNER
Variant cover by JOHN ROMITA, JR. and KLAUS JANSON
1:25 Variant cover by AMANDA CONNER
On sale APRIL 27 • 32 pg, FC, $3.99 US • RATED T+
Retailers: This issue will ship with three covers. Please see the order form for more information.
Harley’s known for her even temperament and economy of language—oh, we can’t even finish that sentence. Let’s face it: she’s crazy, and she talks too much. So what happens when she discovers a nemesis even more insane and more hyper-loquacious? It’s Harley vs. the unbelievable Redtool!
DC Comics April 2016 solicitations Credit: DC Comics
GOTHAM ACADEMY #17
Written by BRENDEN FLETCHER, FAITH ERIN HICKS, MICHAEL DIALYNAS and DAVID PETERSON
Art by ADAM ARCHER, FAITH ERIN HICKS, MICHAEL DIALYNIS, DAVID PETERSON and COLLEEN COOVER
Cover by MINGJUE HELEN CHEN
On sale APRIL 13 • 32 pg, FC, $2.99 US • RATED T
It’s the final chapter of “Yearbook”! Maps and Olive now have the entire gang involved in putting together the perfect yearbook—but which story will come out on top? With art and story by Eisner Award winners Faith Erin Hicks (Adventures of Superhero Girl), David Petersen (Mouse Guard), and Michael Dialynas (The Woods)!
DC Comics April 2016 solicitations Credit: DC Comics
DC Comics April 2016 solicitations Credit: DC Comics
ROBIN, SON OF BATMAN #11
Written by RAY FAWKES
Art by RAMON BACHS
Cover by PATRICK GLEASON and MICK GRAY
Variant cover by JOHN ROMITA, JR. and KLAUS JANSON
On sale APRIL 20 • 32 pg, FC, $3.99 US • RATED T
Retailers: This issue will ship with two covers. Please see the order form for details.
Robin, Maya and Goliath must team up with an old foe to recover a relic from Damian’s past and keep the forces of evil at bay!
DC Comics April 2016 solicitations Credit: DC Comics
DC Comics April 2016 solicitations Credit: DC Comics
WE ARE ROBIN #11
Written by LEE BERMEJO
Art by JORGE CORONA
Cover by LEE BERMEJO
Variant cover by JOHN ROMITA, JR. and DANNY MIKI
On sale APRIL 27 • 32 pg, FC, $3.99 US • RATED T
Retailers: This issue will ship with two covers. Please see the order form for more information.
Gotham City may be a place of violence, but it is also a place of heroes. With Smiley and the Jokers trying to take away everything the Robins hold dear, now’s the time for them demonstrate their value to their city—and to each other.
DC Comics April 2016 solicitations Credit: DC Comics
DC Comics April 2016 solicitations Credit: DC Comics
GREEN LANTERN #51
Written by ROBERT VENDITTI
Art and cover by RAFA SANDOVAL and JORDI TARRAGONA
Variant cover by JOHN ROMITA, JR. and KLAUS JANSON
On sale APRIL 6 • 32 pg, FC, $2.99 US • RATED T
Retailers: This issue will ship with two covers. Please see the order form for details.
Who—or what—are the Gray Agents? They’re deadly and determined—and they’ve captured Trapper, Virgo and Darlene the ship in order to track down Hal. And that’s just the start of their campaign to set themselves up as the new law in the universe! Pity anyone who gets in their way. The first of a two-part story that will usher in a new era for Hal Jordan.
DC Comics April 2016 solicitations Credit: DC Comics
DC Comics April 2016 solicitations Credit: DC Comics
SINESTRO #22
Written by CULLEN BUNN
Art and cover by BRAD WALKER and ANDREW HENNESSY
Variant cover by JOHN ROMITA, JR and KLAUS JANSON
On sale APRIL 27 • 32 pg, FC, $2.99 US • RATED T
Retailers: This issue will ship with two covers. Please see the order form for details.
The Sinestro Corps has a new leader...and a new set of problems! As Soranik Natu takes control of the most powerful police force in the universe, she discovers that walking in her father’s footsteps is no easy feat! With her every decision being second-guessed by those who follow her, will she lose control of the Yellow Lanterns?
DC Comics April 2016 solicitations Credit: DC Comics
GREEN LANTERN CORPS: EDGE OF OBLIVION #4
Written by TOM TAYLOR
Art and cover by ETHAN VAN SCIVER
On sale APRIL 13 • 32 pg, FC, 4 of 6, $2.99 US • RATED T
Can Guy Gardner’s strike team fight back against the cruel Marniel and her zealots? Or will they be overwhelmed and imprisoned? You won’t want to miss what happens when Guy Gardner ends up in chains!
DC Comics April 2016 solicitations Credit: DC Comics
BATMAN ‘66 MEETS THE MAN FROM U.N.C.L.E. #5
Written by JEFF PARKER
Art by DAVID HAHN and KARL KESEL
Cover by MICHAEL ALLRED
On sale APRIL 27 • 32 pg, FC, 5 of 6, $2.99 US • RATED E • DIGITAL FIRST
Batman and the agents of U.N.C.L.E. have pulled out every trick and invention at their disposal to combat the Magpie’s plans for world domination. But are they prepared for the grandest scheme yet—an open invitation for them to join and take control of T.H.R.U.S.H.?!
BATMAN and all related characters and elements are ™ and © DC Comics. THE MAN FROM U.N.C.L.E. and all related characters and elements are © and ™ Turner Entertainment Co. and Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc.
DC Comics April 2016 solicitations Credit: DC Comics
BATMAN/TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES #5
Written by JAMES TYNION IV
Art and cover by FREDDIE E. WILLIAMS II
1:50 Variant cover by KEVIN EASTMAN
On sale APRIL 13 • 32 pg, FC, 5 of 6, $3.99 US • RATED T
Retailers: This issue will ship with two covers. Please see the order form for details.
While Shredder enters an uneasy alliance with a deadly new partner, Casey Jones is arrested by the GCPD. At the same time, a crisis breaks out at Arkham Asylum, which is bound to keep both Batman and the Turtles busy. Meanwhile, a certain young resident of Wayne Manor returns home to find a new, green occupant in his room. Co-published with IDW.
BATMAN and all related characters and elements are ™ and © DC Comics. © 2015 Viacom International Inc. All Rights Reserved. TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES, and all related titles, logos and characters are trademarks of Viacom International Inc. Based on characters created by Peter Laird and Kevin Eastman.
DC Comics April 2016 solicitations Credit: DC Comics
INJUSTICE: GODS AMONG US: YEAR FIVE #7
Written by BRIAN BUCCELLATO
Art by MIKE S. MILLER
Cover by DAVID YARDIN
On sale APRIL 6 • 32 pg, FC, $2.99 US • RATED T+ DIGITAL FIRST
Catwoman’s departure from the insurgency seems complete as she returns to her life of crime. Harley decides to join her for a bit of fun. But things turn grim as they run into Damian, who is undergoing a transformation himself...into the new Nightwing!
DC Comics April 2016 solicitations Credit: DC Comics
INJUSTICE: GODS AMONG US: YEAR FIVE #8
Written by BRIAN BUCCELLATO
Art by BRUNO REDONDO, MIKE S. MILLER and JUAN ALBARRAN
Cover by DAVID YARDIN
On sale APRIL 20 • 32 pg, FC, $2.99 US • RATED T+ DIGITAL FIRST
Harley confronts a gathering of rebellion-minded Joker devotees in one of the late criminal’s old hideouts and doesn’t know quite what to make of them. Batwoman tries to break things up. And just when it looks like things are under control, tragedy strikes.
DC Comics April 2016 solicitations Credit: DC Comics
DC COMICS BOMBSHELLS #11
Written by MARGUERITE BENNETT
Art by ELIZABETH TORQUE and MIRKA ANDOLFO
Cover by ANT LUCIA
On sale APRIL 13 • 32 pg, FC, $3.99 US • RATED T • DIGITAL FIRST
The first of a two-part epic finale to the first year of the war! Tenebrus unleashes an undead army upon London as the Battle of Britain begins, and Amanda Waller’s Bombshells are united at last. But will even the combined might of Wonder Woman, Supergirl, Batwoman, Stargirl, Aquawoman, Dr. Light and Big Barda be enough to protect a city under siege? Or will one of the Bombshells be called upon to make the ultimate sacrifice?
This issue’s cover joins with the cover to issue #12 to make one big image!
DC Comics April 2016 solicitations Credit: DC Comics
THE LEGEND OF WONDER WOMAN #4
Written by RENAE DE LIZ
Art by RENAE DE LIZ and RAY DILLON
Cover by RENAE DE LIZ
On sale APRIL 13 • 40 pg, FC, 4 of 9, $3.99 US • RATED T • DIGITAL FIRST
The seas have extracted a harsh price for Diana’s rescue of the outsider, casting her adrift upon the shores of Man’s World! A kind woman introduces her to this strange new home, and a new friend bolsters her confidence, but throughout the early days of her adventure, strange dreams of violence plague her nights.
DC Comics April 2016 solicitations Credit: DC Comics
LOONEY TUNES #230
Written by SHOLLY FISCH
Art and cover by DAVE ALVAREZ
On sale APRIL 6 • 32 pg, FC, $2.99 US • RATED E
Wabbit season! Duck season! Wabbit season! Insurance season? Salesman Daffy Duck accidentally sells insurance to an accident-prone Elmer Fudd, so when Bugs Bunny shows up during Elmer’s wabbit hunting trip, Daffy will have to throw himself in front of exploding TNT and falling anvils...if he doesn’t want to go bankrupt, that is!
DC Comics April 2016 solicitations Credit: DC Comics
SCOOBY-DOO, WHERE ARE YOU? #68
Written by SHOLLY FISCH
Art by WALTER CARZON and HORACIO OTTOLINI
Cover by SCOTT GROSS
On sale APRIL 13 • 32 pg, FC, $2.99 US • RATED E
A figure skating competition is unexpectedly put on ice when it’s interrupted—by the Abominable Snowman! Who’s behind it? The washed-up former champion? The front-runner’s rival? To solve the mystery, Scooby and Shaggy will have to take to the ice themselves. Let’s just hope they remember their skates...
DC Comics April 2016 solicitations Credit: DC Comics
TEEN TITANS GO! #15
Written by HEATHER NUHFER, PAUL MORRISSEY and MERRILL HAGAN
Art by MARCELO DI CHIARA and JEREMY LAWSON
Cover by DAN HIPP
On sale APRIL 20 • 32 pg, FC, $2.99 US • RATED E • DIGITAL FIRST
Raven and Cyborg create a pair of spooky-looking leggings from a pattern in one of Raven’s arcane books. But Robin’s in for quite the fright when he tries on these “Scaredy Pants”! Then, when Titans East instigates a friendly softball outing, Robin sees a vast conspiracy by Speedy to undermine his team. And when his mania spreads to the other Titans, they’re going to turn a friendly game into a high-stakes death match.
MAD #539
Written and illustrated by THE USUAL GANG OF IDIOTS
On sale APRIL 20 • 56 pg, FC, $5.99 US
April, that maddest of MAD months, is here! Show the world you care—buy MAD!
DC Comics April 2016 solicitations Credit: DC Comics
DC COMICS ESSENTIALS: BATMAN: DEATH OF THE FAMILY #1
Written by SCOTT SNYDER
Art by GREG CAPULLO and JONATHAN GLAPION
Cover by GREG CAPULLO
On sale APRIL 6 • 64 pg, FC, $1.00 US
The epic “Death of the Family” begins in this story, reprinted for just $1.00 from BATMAN #13, with pages from the 2016 edition of the DC ESSENTIALS CATALOGUE!
DC Comics April 2016 solicitations Credit: DC Comics
DC COMICS ESSENTIALS: JLA #1
Written by GRANT MORRISON
Art and cover by HOWARD PORTER and JOHN DELL
On sale APRIL 20 • 64 pg, FC, $1.00 US
Grant Morrison ushered in a new era for the World’s Greatest Heroes in JLA #1, reprinted here for just $1.00 with pages from the 2016 edition of the DC ESSENTIALS CATALOGUE! This tale introduces the Hyperclan, who come to Earth posing as saviors, but are in reality a dire threat to all of humanity!
DC Comics April 2016 solicitations Credit: DC Comics
HARLEY QUINN VOL. 4: A CALL TO ARMS HC
Written by AMANDA CONNER and JIMMY PALMIOTTI
Art by CHAD HARDIN, JOHN TIMMS, BRET BLEVINS, MORITAT, MIKE MANLEY and others
Cover by AMANDA CONNER
On sale JUNE 22 • 176 pg, FC, $24.99 US
Harley Quinn and her Gang of Harleys are hitting the road! As if Hollywood wasn’t weird enough already, now Harley’s made her way to Tinseltown, and she’s about to have the most destructive fifteen minutes of fame ever. Will the industry survive Harley’s Hollywood hijinks, or will the City of Angels fall from grace? And will Coney Island be able to contain Harley’s newfound celebrity status? Find out in these tales from issues #17-21 and the HARLEY QUINN ROAD TRIP SPECIAL #1.
DC Comics April 2016 solicitations Credit: DC Comics
THE JOKER: ENDGAME TP
Written by SCOTT SNYDER, JAMES TYNION IV, BECKY CLOONAN, CAMERON STEWART, BRENDEN FLETCHER, BRIAN BUCCELLATO, FRANK TIERI and others
Art by GREG CAPULLO, KELLEY JONES, GRAHAM NOLAN, JOHN McCREA, SAM KIETH, DUSTIN NGUYEN, ROGE ANTONIO, JEFF STOKEY, BENGAL and others
Cover by GREG CAPULLO and DANNY MIKI
On sale MAY 18 • 312 pg, FC, $24.99 US
Gotham City is overrun by Jokerized victims, and The Joker himself is prowling the streets. Even as Batman confronts the Clown Prince of Crime, ordinary citizens and Arkham inmates must confront the mark The Joker has left on the city and themselves. Is anyone truly safe? This jam-packed collection features stories from BATMAN #35-40, BATMAN ANNUAL #3, GOTHAM ACADEMY: ENDGAME #1, BATGIRL: ENDGAME #1, DETECTIVE COMICS: ENDGAME #1 and ARKHAM MANOR: ENDGAME #1.
DC Comics April 2016 solicitations Credit: DC Comics
THE FLASH BY GEOFF JOHNS VOL. 2 TP
Written by GEOFF JOHNS
Art by SCOTT KOLINS, RICK BURCHETT, PHIL WINSLADE and others
Cover by SCOTT KOLINS
On sale MAY 18 • 368 pg, FC, $24.99 US
In these stories from THE FLASH #177-188, THE FLASH: OUR WOLRDS AT WAR #1, THE FLASH SECRET FILES #3 and DC FIRST: THE FLASH/SUPERMAN #1, Wally West finds himself without his super-speed in a darker, mirror version of Keystone City. Can a powerless Flash defeat Captain Cold and Mirror Master to save the city he loves? Plus, The Flash is shocked to learn that a strange cult is killing all the people he has ever rescued.
DC Comics April 2016 solicitations Credit: DC Comics
BATMAN AND ROBIN VOL. 7: ROBIN RISES TP
Written by PETER J. TOMASI
Art by PATRICK GLEASON, MICK GRAY, ANDY KUBERT, JONATHAN GLAPION and others
Cover by PATRICK GLEASON
On sale MAY 4 • 240 pg, FC, $19.99 US
After Damian’s body is stolen by alien hordes, Batman must face down Darkseid himself to recover his son’s body! Collects issues #35-40, ROBIN RISES: ALPHA #1, ANNUAL #3, BATMAN AND ROBIN: FUTURES END #1 and a story from SECRET ORIGINS #4.
DC Comics April 2016 solicitations Credit: DC Comics
GRAYSON VOL. 3: NEMESIS TP
Written by TIM SEELEY and TOM KING
Art and cover by MIKEL JANIN
On sale MAY 11 • 160 pg, FC, $14.99 US
In these stories from issues #9-12, ANNUAL #1 and the Sneak Peek story from CONVERGENCE: HAWKMAN #2, Grayson faces some of his most difficult challenges! Not only must he take on Lex Luthor, and risk losing his position with Spyral, but Dick learns that to save Agent 1 he must face off with...himself! And who is the mysterious shadow leader behind Spyral, and what does he want with Dick? The super-spy finds himself in a clandestine hunt for the true identity of Agent Zero!
DC Comics April 2016 solicitations Credit: DC Comics
BATMAN: WAR GAMES VOL. 2 TP
Written by ED BRUBAKER, BILL WILLINGHAM and others
Art by PETE WOODS, BRAD WALKER, MIKE HUDDLESTON and others
Cover by JAE LEE • On sale MAY 18 • 520 pg, FC, $34.99 US
Gotham City is in chaos after a string of violence. It’s up to Batman—with the help of his allies and the GCPD—to keep the city from plunging into the depths of depravity! This new edition includes DETECTIVE COMICS #798, BATMAN: LEGENDS OF THE DARK KNIGHT #183, NIGHTWING #97, BATMAN: GOTHAM KNIGHTS #57, ROBIN #130, BATGIRL #56, CATWOMAN #35-36 and BATMAN #633.
DC Comics April 2016 solicitations Credit: DC Comics
BATMAN ‘66 VOL. 4 TP
Written by JEFF PARKER, LEN WEIN, HARLAN ELLISON and MIKE W. BARR
Art by RUBEN PROCOPIO, MICHAEL AVON OEMING, JOSE LUIS GARCIA-LOPEZ and others
Cover by MICHAEL ALLRED
On sale MAY 11 • 256 pg, FC, $19.99 US
In these tales from BATMAN ‘66 #17-22, the Dynamic Duo team up with Barbara Gordon to take on The Bookworm, a deranged zombie-creating professor, Lord Death Man and The Joker. And in BATMAN ’66: THE LOST EPISODE #1, an outline for an episode of the original
TV series introducing Two-Face is adapted to comics for the first time!
DC Comics April 2016 solicitations Credit: DC Comics DC Comics April 2016 solicitations Credit: DC Comics
CATWOMAN VOL. 5: BACKWARD MASKING TP
Written by WILL PFEIFER
Art by PETE WOODS, DAVID LOPEZ, ALVARO LOPEZ and others
Cover by ADAM HUGHES
On sale MAY 11 • 376 pg, FC, $24.99 US
After Zatanna reveals new information to Selina, how will she fight off the Black Mask and save those she loves? And after a yearlong break, Selina Kyle returns with a child! Who is the father—and what does this mean for Catwoman? Find out in these tales from issues #50-65!
GREEN ARROW VOL. 5: THE BLACK ARROW TP
Written by MIKE GRELL
Art by DAN JURGENS, GRANT MIEHM and others
Cover by DAN JURGENS and DICK GIORDANO
On sale MAY 4 • 264 pg, FC, $17.99 US
In these stories from the start of the 1990s, Green Arrow ventures into the last frontier, Alaska, to investigate an oil spill. And back home, Oliver must assist in a drug bust that goes terribly wrong, until Black Canary comes to his rescue. Collects GREEN ARROW #29-38.
DC Comics April 2016 solicitations Credit: DC Comics
GREEN ARROW: A CELEBRATION OF 75 YEARS
Written by MORT WEISINGER, JACK KIRBY, DENNIS O’NEIL, MIKE GRELL and others
Art by GEORGE PAPP, JACK KIRBY, NEAL ADAMS and others
Cover by GARY FRANK
On sale JUNE 29 • 400 pg, FC, $39.99 US
Celebrate over seven decades of Green Arrow’s crimefighting career, including appearances by his allies Green Lantern, Black Canary and more!
DC Comics April 2016 solicitations Credit: DC Comics
GREEN LANTERN/NEW GODS: GODHEAD TP
Written by ROBERT VENDITTI, VAN JENSEN, CHARLES SOULE, JUSTIN JORDAN and CULLEN BUNN
Art by ETHAN VAN SCIVER, BILLY TAN, DALE EAGLESHAM and others
Cover by LEE WEEKS
On sale MAY 25 • 424 pg, FC, $24.99 US
In these stories from GREEN LANTERN/NEW GODS: GODHEAD #1, GL #35-37, GL CORPS #35-37, GL NEW GUARDIANS #35-37, RED LANTERNS #35-37, SINESTRO #6-8 and GL ANNUAL #3, Highfather learns that ring-wielders stole secrets from beyond the Source Wall! Now, Highfather must breach the wall—but first, he needs his own set of rings!
DC Comics April 2016 solicitations Credit: DC Comics
JLA VOL. 8 TP
Written by JOHN BYRNE, CHRIS CLAREMONT, JOE KELLY and CHUCK AUSTIN
Art by JOHN BYRNE, JERRY ORDWAY, DOUG MAHNKE, TOM NGUYEN and RON GARNEY
Cover by JOHN BYRNE and JERRY ORDWAY
On sale MAY 4 • 360 pg, FC, $24.99 US
In this collection of JLA #94-106 and SECRET FILES 2004 #1, the team is under attack from a coven of vampires known as the Circle—and it’s only a matter of time before one of them will fall! And the JLA is forced to face their own failures—but can they help each other process the pain and go on?
DC Comics April 2016 solicitations Credit: DC Comics
JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA SILVER AGE OMNIBUS VOL. 2 HC
Written by GARDNER FOX and DENNIS O’NEIL
Art by MIKE SEKOWSKY and others
Cover by DARWYN COOKE
On sale JUNE 29 • 1,056 pg, FC, $99.99 US
In these epics from JLA #31-76 and MYSTERY IN SPACE #75, the world’s greatest superheroes face Brain Storm, the Key, the Royal Flush Gang, Felix Faust, and numerous threats from across the cosmos! Guest-starring Metamorpho, the Justice Society of America and more!
DC Comics April 2016 solicitations Credit: DC Comics
SENSATION COMICS FEATURING WONDER WOMAN VOL. 3 TP
Written by JOSH ELDER, TRINA ROBBINS, BARBARA KESEL, ADAM BEECHEN and others
Art by JAMAL IGLE, TOM FOWLER, GEORGES JEANTY, JOSE LUIS GARCIA-LOPEZ, SCOTT HAMPTON, CARLA SPEED McNEIL and others
Cover by JENNY FRISON •
On sale MAY 11 • 232 pg, FC, $17.99 US
In these stories from issues #11-17, Wonder Woman’s vacation is disrupted when Solomon Grundy shows up! Plus, Diana keeps an eye on Cheetah’s transfer to her new home in a psychiatric unit and more!
DC Comics April 2016 solicitations Credit: DC Comics
SMALLVILLE SEASON 11 VOL. 8: CHAOS TP
Written by BRYAN Q. MILLER
Art by AGUSTIN PADILLA, DANIEL HDR and others
Cover by CAT STAGGS
On sale MAY 25 • 176 pg, FC, $16.99 US
In this latest Smallville tale, Superman and Lois Lane are marooned in another dimension after Lex Luthor commandeers Ted Kord and Michael Holt’s breakthrough supercollider. Meanwhile, time is running out for the League to bring them back to Earth—and evil is multiplying in Metropolis as the city is besieged by an army of possessed Eclipsos! Collects CHAOS #1-4 and SPECIAL #5: HARBINGER!
DC Comics April 2016 solicitations Credit: DC Comics
SUPERMAN ADVENTURES VOL. 2 TP
Written by SCOTT McCLOUD, MARK MILLAR and others
Art by RICK BURCHETT, TERRY AUSTIN and others
Cover by JOHN DELANEY and MIKE MANLEY
On sale MAY 25 • 240 pg, FC, $19.99 US
In these all-ages tales from SUPERMAN ADVENTURES #11-16, ANNUAL #1 and SUPERMAN ADVENTURES SPECIAL #1, the Man of Steel faces off against Lobo, is split in two by Mr. Mxyzptlk, takes part in an intergalactic ball game, and searches for the cure for a deadly Kryptonian virus.
DC Comics April 2016 solicitations Credit: DC Comics
SUPERGIRL BOOK ONE TP
Written by PETER DAVID
Art by GARY FRANK, CAM SMITH, TERRY DODSON and KARL STORY
Cover by GARY FRANK and CAM SMITH
On sale MAY 25 • 304 pg, FC, $24.99 US
In this 1990s reimagining of the Girl of Steel, Lex Luthor’s familiar synthetic creation “Matrix”—who mimics Superman’s powers—merges with human girl Linda Danvers to create a new Supergirl! So why does everyone believe she’s dead? And what is the secret behind Linda Danvers’ evil past? Collects issues #1-9, SUPERGIRL PLUS #1, SUPERGIRL ANNUAL #1, and a story from SHOWCASE ’96 #8.
DC Comics April 2016 solicitations Credit: DC Comics
SUPERGIRL: COSMIC ADVENTURES IN THE EIGHTH GRADE TP NEW EDITION
Written by LANDRY Q. WALKER
Art and cover by ERIC JONES
On sale MAY 4 • 144 pg, FC, $12.99 US
Supergirl’s cosmic adventure is back in print! Supergirl meets Belinda Zee, a new junior high adversary, in this all-ages title collecting the six-issue miniseries. And that’s just the start of the fun that includes super-powered pets and cosmic adventure!
DC Comics April 2016 solicitations Credit: DC Comics
TEEN TITANS GO!: HEROES ON PATROL TP NEW EDITION
Written by ADAM BEECHEN and J. TORRES
Art by TODD NAUCK, DAVE BULLOCK and others
Cover by DAVE BULLOCK
On sale MAY 25 • 144 pg, FC, $12.99 US
In these epics from issues #7-12 now printed at DC’s standard format, Starfire’s sister Blackfire comes for a visit, Starfire and Beast Boy’s new clothes have a sinister effect on anyone who sees them, and more!
DC Comics April 2016 solicitations Credit: DC Comics
SUPERMAN/WONDER WOMAN VOL. 4: DARK TRUTH HC
Written by PETER J. TOMASI
Art by DOUG MAHNKE, JAIME MENDOZA and others
Cover by CARY NORD
On sale JUNE 8 • 176 pg, FC, $24.99 US
The truth is out and now the world now knows Superman’s secret identity as Clark Kent. After losing his powers, Superman needs all the support he can get and, luckily, the Amazonian warrior Wonder Woman has vowed to stand by him no matter what comes their way. But that might be harder than she thought when she and Superman must head to Clark’s hometown of Smallville, Kansas to investigate the mysterious disappearance of his first real girlfriend, Lana Lang. Collects SUPERMAN/WONDER WOMAN #18-24 and the Sneak Peek story from CONVERGENCE: THE FLASH #2.
DC Comics April 2016 solicitations Credit: DC Comics
WONDER WOMAN BY MIKE DEODATO TP
Written by WILLIAM MESSNER-LOEBS
Art and cover by MIKE DEODATO
On sale MAY 11 • 376 pg, FC, $24.99 US
Collecting Mike Deodato’s run on WONDER WOMAN from issues #85, 0 and 90-100! In her mother’s eyes, Diana has not lived up to the task of being Wonder Woman, and now the Queen of the Amazons sets in motion a contest where a new Wonder Woman will be crowned. But Diana sees things differently and decides take on any and all comers—until she is bested by Artemis!
DC Comics April 2016 solicitations Credit: DC Comics
WONDER WOMAN VOL. 7: WAR-TORN TP
Written by MEREDITH FINCH
Art by DAVID FINCH, RICHARD FRIEND, MATT BANNING, JONATHAN GLAPION and others
Cover by DAVID FINCH and RICHARD FRIEND
On sale MAY 18 • 176 pg, FC, $16.99 US
The new creative team of writer Meredith Finch and artist David Finch takes over! A mythological force seemingly tied to Wonder Woman’s role as War has attacked the Amazons, and as her own people lose faith in her, a new queen arises to take her place! Guest-starring Superman, Swamp Thing, Aquaman and more. Collects WONDER WOMAN #36-40 and ANNUAL #1.
DC Comics April 2016 solicitations Credit: DC Comics
DARK NIGHT: A TRUE BATMAN STORY HC
Written by PAUL DINI
Art and cover by EDUARDO RISSO
On sale JUNE 15 • 128 pg, FC, $22.99 US • MATURE READERS
The Caped Crusader has been the all-abiding icon of justice and authority for generations. But in this surprising original graphic novel, we see Batman in a new light—as the savior who helps a discouraged man recover from a brutal attack that left him unable to face the world.
In the 1990s, Eisner Award-winning writer Paul Dini had a flourishing career writing the hugely popular Batman: The Animated Series and Tiny Toon Adventures. Walking home one evening, he was jumped and viciously beaten within an inch of his life. His recovery process was arduous, hampered by the imagined antics of the villains he was writing for television including The Joker, Harley Quinn and the Penguin. But despite how bleak his circumstances were, or perhaps because of it, Dini also always imagined the Batman at his side during his darkest moments.
DARK NIGHT: A TRUE BATMAN STORY is the harrowing and eloquent autobiographical tale of Dini’s courageous struggle to overcome a truly desperate situation. It is a Batman story like none other and one that will truly resonate with fans. Art by the incredibly talented Eduardo Risso (100 BULLETS, DARK KNIGHT III: THE MASTER RACE).
DC Comics April 2016 solicitations Credit: DC Comics
ASTRO CITY #34
Written by KURT BUSIEK
Art by BRENT ANDERSON
Cover by ALEX ROSS
On sale APRIL 20 • 32 pg, FC, $3.99 US • RATED T
Steeljack goes up against Death Itself to save Cutlass. And that’s just for starters. But even if he survives, is he being set up to be the fall guy? A climactic tale of money, nostalgia, alibis, collecting, jail time and pure indestructible stubbornness.
DC Comics April 2016 solicitations Credit: DC Comics
CLEAN ROOM #7
Written by GAIL SIMONE
Art by ERIC CANETE
Cover by JENNY FRISON
On sale APRIL 20 • 32 pg, FC, $3.99 US • MATURE READERS
In this spectacularly disturbing standalone issue, we delve into the depths of Astrid’s terrifying personal history, and why demons have haunted her since birth. With guest artist Eric Canete (Iron Man, Love Run Kill).
DC Comics April 2016 solicitations Credit: DC Comics
ART OPS #7
Written by SHAUN SIMON
Guest art by EDUARDO RISSO
Cover by MICHAEL ALLRED
On sale APRIL 27 • 32 pg, FC, $3.99 US • MATURE READERS
Part two of “Modern Love” takes the Art Ops team to a fashion show in 1980s New York City that’s more than your average catwalk—and they’ll go halfway around the world to uncover the truth behind a mysterious poly-blend garment. Plus, Danny Doll’s first successful human art experiment astounds the team, leading up to a fateful decision by his wife, Gina. Drawn by superstar guest artist Eduardo Risso (100 BULLETS).
“You really need to do yourself a favor and get on board with this series. It’s not like anything else out there. I just can’t get enough.”—COMIC VINE
DC Comics April 2016 solicitations Credit: DC Comics
ART OPS VOL. 1 TP
Written by SHAUN SIMON
Art by MICHAEL ALLRED and MATT BRUNDAGE
Cover by MICHAEL ALLRED
On sale MAY 4 • 144 pg, FC, $14.99 US • MATURE READERS
When rogue figures from famous works of art come to life and escape their frames, it’s up to Reggie Riot and the agents of Art Ops to track them down before they wreak havoc on the unsuspecting public. But Reggie has secrets of his own that may affect his ability to interact with living works of art—and he wants no part in the agency his mother ran before him. Don’t miss this collection of the first six issues of the new series!
DC Comics April 2016 solicitations Credit: DC Comics
DMZ BOOK ONE TP
Written by BRIAN WOOD
Art by RICCARDO BURCHIELLI
Cover by BRIAN WOOD
On sale MAY 4 • 304 pg, FC, $24.99 US • MATURE READERS
In the first 12 issues of the acclaimed series, young photojournalist Matty Roth lands a dream gig in the DMZ once known as New York City. But when things go wrong, Matty finds himself lost in a world he’s only seen on television. Now, will he try to find a way off the island, or make his career with an assignment most journalists would kill for?
DC Comics April 2016 solicitations Credit: DC Comics
FABLES: THE WOLF AMONG US #16
Written by MATTHEW STURGES and DAVE JUSTUS
Art by ERIC NGUYEN, SHAWN McMANUS and TRAVIS MOORE
Cover by CHRISSIE ZULLO
On sale APRIL 13 • 32 pg, FC, $3.99 US • MATURE READERS • DIGITAL FIRST
It all comes down to this! In the Silvering, the final dowry has been set, and the wedding march has begun. Now it’s up to our villains to make sure that the bride arrives...dead or alive! And in Fabletown, Bigby’s caught the Crooked Man at last. But will justice be served in a jail cell, at the bottom of a bottomless well...or on the bloody fangs and claws of the biggest, baddest sheriff of them all?
DC Comics April 2016 solicitations Credit: DC Comics
THE DARK AND BLOODY #3
Written by SHAWN ALDRIDGE
Art by SCOTT GODLEWSKI
Cover by TYLER CROOK
On sale APRIL 13 • 32 pg, FC, 3 of 6, $3.99 US • MATURE READERS
As Iris learns about more killings and how they connect to his days in Iraq, the truth of what happened during his military tour and how that connects him to Ayah is finally revealed. As retribution gets closer, he has to think fast to find a way to keep the monster his violence created from walking through his front door.
DC Comics April 2016 solicitations Credit: DC Comics
“‘They’ say you can’t go home again, but I kind of feel like whoever ‘they’ are, they don’t know Lucifer. Black and Garbett do. 9/10.” —Comicosity
“Holly Black delivers the steak of LUCIFER #1...Lee Garbett and Antonio Fabela provide more than enough artistic sizzle.” —Newsarama
LUCIFER #5
Written by HOLLY BLACK
Art by LEE GARBETT
Cover by DAVE JOHNSON
On sale APRIL 20 • 32 pg, FC, $3.99 US • MATURE READERS
Lucifer and Gabriel finally solve the murder of The Almighty—but they have differing opinions on the culprit! Either suspect’s guilt would have cosmic consequences. Who’s right and what might that mean for our Guardian Gumshoes? Find out in the concluding chapter of “Cold Heaven.”
DC Comics April 2016 solicitations Credit: DC Comics
HELLBLAZER VOL. 13: HAUNTED TP
Written by WARREN ELLIS and DARKO MACAN
Art by JOHN HIGGINS, FRANK TERAN, PHIL JIMENEZ, GARY ERSKINE and TIM BRADSTREET Cover by FRANCIS MANAPUL
On sale MAY 11 • 336 pg, FC, $24.99 US • MATURE READERS
In this collection of issues #134-145, Constantine must investigate the horrific death of a former girlfriend, dig into an urban legend about the Devil’s child, exorcises a former torturer’s ghost, and help a Bosnian refugee family.
DC Comics April 2016 solicitations Credit: DC Comics
JACKED #6
Written by ERIC KRIPKE
Art by JOHN HIGGINS
Cover by GLENN FABRY
On sale APRIL 27 • 32 pg, 6 of 6, FC, $3.99 US • MATURE READERS
Can Josh be a hero without being super? Will he still have a family to go back to? One way or the other, kicking an addiction proves harder than kicking some guys in the face as JACKED reaches its shocking conclusion.
DC Comics April 2016 solicitations Credit: DC Comics
“The bleakness of 1977 England perfectly captured with an injection of plaid vitriol, new young rebels, and chaotic hilarity.”—Chynna Clugston Flores, creator of Blue Monday
LAST GANG IN TOWN #5
Written by SIMON OLIVER
Art by RUFUS DAYGLO
Cover by ROB DAVIS
On sale APRIL 27 • 32 pg, 5 of 6, FC, $3.99 US • MATURE READERS
Finally, it’s the heist the Gang have been training for! Is it “the crime of the century” or a voyage into the heart of darkness? The gang break into Buckingham Palace, where the Queen is home alone—and lying in wait.
DC Comics April 2016 solicitations Credit: DC Comics
NEW ROMANCER #5
Written by PETER MILLIGAN
Art and cover by BRETT PARSON
On sale APRIL 13 • 32 pg, FC, 5 of 6, $3.99 US • MATURE READERS
Awkward and adorable coder Lexy saved romantic poet Byron from a miserable death. Now, can he forget about his quiff long enough to return the favor? Meanwhile, dancer, courtesan and spy Mata Hari puts her ultimate scheme in motion—while the New Romancer web team discovers their “love algorithm” is having a terrifying impact on America’s lonely hearts.
DC Comics April 2016 solicitations Credit: DC Comics
“A brilliant example of a talented creative team working with a synchronicity that you wouldn’t ordinarily expect from the debut issue in a series.” —Graphic Policy on RED THORN #1
RED THORN #6
Written by DAVID BAILLIE
Art by MEGHAN HETRICK
Cover by CHOONG YOON
On sale APRIL 20 • 32 pg, FC, $3.99 US • MATURE READERS
“Glasgow Kiss,” the first RED THORN epic, comes to an end—and nothing in this world will ever be the same again. In our nerve-shredding finale, you’ll discover the nature of Thorn’s grand plan, and truly understand the many reasons for his rage. But in the end, there’s only one question that counts: can Isla possibly survive this, her greatest trial?
DC Comics April 2016 solicitations Credit: DC Comics
SLASH & BURN #6
Written by SI SPENCER
Art by MAX DUNBAR and ANDE PARKS
Cover by TULA LOTAY
On sale APRIL 13 • 32 pg, FC, $3.99 US • MATURE READERS • FINAL ISSUE
While Rosheen recovers in a hospital bed, there’s a literal change of perspective as Mayor Brand reminisces on the fate of the Sparky Club while doing his best to exercise control over Detective Morrow’s prying—but what’s the detective’s secret?
See why Fanboy Nation called SLASH & BURN the “best new series of 2015.”
DC Comics April 2016 solicitations Credit: DC Comics
SURVIVORS’ CLUB #7
Written by LAUREN BEUKES and DALE HALVORSEN
Art by RYAN KELLY
Cover by BILL SIENKIEWICZ
On sale APRIL 6 • 32 pg, FC, $3.99 US MATURE READERS
It’s the final boss battle! Chenzira takes on the haunted video game, Akheron. But who is playing whom? Double lives and dirty secrets are exposed, along with the monsters clawing their way out from under the bed. It’s all coming out, but that’s no guarantee the Survivors will survive the night.
DC Comics April 2016 solicitations Credit: DC Comics
“Bermejo successfully sets up his new book with intriguing characters, intensely brutal action, and a fascinatingly dark new world.” —IGN
SUICIDERS: KINGS OF HELL.A. #2
Written by LEE BERMEJO
Art by ALESSANDRO VITTI
Cover by LEE BERMEJO
On sale APRIL 27 • 32 pg, FC, 2 of 6, $3.99 US MATURE READERS
Things are heating up on the streets of New Angeles. Johnny stole the Coyote’s championship sword, and the mayhem he’s caused has brought not only the wrath of the former Suicider, but also unwanted police attention. Meanwhile, Trix has a secret growing inside her she’d rather her brother not find out about.
DC Comics April 2016 solicitations Credit: DC Comics
“A gritty crime story set in a location many of us will never see, and a world we truly know little about. This is a comic you’ll want to buy.”—Graphic Policy
SHERIFF OF BABYLON #5
Written by TOM KING
Art by MITCH GERADS
Cover by JOHN PAUL LEON
On sale APRIL 6 • 32 pg, FC, 5 of 12, $3.99 US • MATURE READERS
Now that Chris and Nassir have stuck their noses where some people wish they hadn’t, everyone seeks shelter behind the gates of the American stronghold within the Baghdad Green Zone. When both Chris and Nassir’s wife Fatima are unable to sleep, they have an unlikely meeting of the minds and share their experiences from the War on Terror. By morning, Chris will see the Iraqi woman in a whole new light. Now a 12-issue miniseries!
DC Comics April 2016 solicitations Credit: DC Comics
“A creepy-cool extraterrestrial mystery.”—The Nerdist
THE TWILIGHT CHILDREN TP
Written by GILBERT HERNANDEZ
Art and cover by DARWYN COOKE
On sale MAY 11 • 144 pg, FC, $14.99 US • MATURE READERS
When a white orb washes up on the shore of a remote Latin American village, a group of children poke at the strange object to see what it is. The orb explodes, leaving the children completely blind. And when a beautiful young woman who may be an alien is found wandering the seafront, she’s taken in by the townspeople, but soon becomes a person of interest to a pair of CIA agents, and the target of affection for a young scientist. Collects THE TWILIGHT CHILDREN #1-4!
DC Comics April 2016 solicitations Credit: DC Comics
“Vibrant and human.”—Fanboys Inc.
“Another huge success in Vertigo’s recent comeback.”—Geek Dad
UNFOLLOW VOL. 1 TP
Written by ROB WILLIAMS
Art by MIKE DOWLING
Cover by MATT TAYLOR
On sale MAY 18 • 144 pg, FC, $14.99 US • MATURE READERS
A dying social media mogul leaves his billions to be split between 140 random people—or however many are still alive at his death. In these stories from issues #1-6, a young black man trying to get by in St. Louis, an Iranian reporter in need of hope, a retired special forces soldier with a strange sense of purpose, and a thrill-seeking heiress all become involved in this thriller that shows we’re all still part of the food chain.
DC Comics April 2016 solicitations Credit: DC Comics
“Inventive, unique visuals and a razor-sharp, modern premise.”—Steve Orlando, writer of MIDNIGHTER and Virgil
UNFOLLOW #6
Written by ROB WILLIAMS
Art by R.M. GUERA
Cover by MATT TAYLOR
On sale APRIL 6 • 32 pg, FC, $3.99 US • MATURE READERS
The trees are on fire, a grizzly bear points the way, and the Lord has a holy mission for Deacon of the 140. But who was he before he was chosen to receive the social media golden ticket? And will Rubinstein and his death mask take Deacon off the list, permanently? R.M. Guera (SCALPED) returns to Vertigo as guest-artist in this visceral issue.
DC Comics April 2016 solicitations Credit: DC Comics
DC Comics April 2016 solicitations Credit: DC Comics
DC Comics April 2016 solicitations Credit: DC Comics
BATMAN: ARKHAM KNIGHT – HARLEY QUINN, THE JOKER AND POISON IVY ACTION FIGURES
Three of the Dark Knight's greatest foes are back in new action figures based on their appearances in the best-selling Arkham Knight videogame!
Each comes with character-specific accessories.
$28.00 US Each
On sale AUGUST 2016 * Allocations May Occur
EACH FIGURE SOLD SEPARATELY
1. HARLEY QUINN – 6.63”
2. THE JOKER – 6.88”
3. POISON IVY – 6.88”
DC Comics April 2016 solicitations Credit: DC Comics
BATMAN: ARKHAM BATMAN AND THUGS ACTION FIGURES 3-PACK
Batman takes on two well-armed thugs in this action figure 3-pack inspired by the best-selling Arkham Knight videogame!
Thugs come with accessories shown here
4. SOLDIER – 6.88”
5. BATMAN – 7.63”
6. COMBAT EXPERT – 6.75”
$75.00 US • On sale AUGUST 2016 * Allocations May Occur
DC Comics April 2016 solicitations Credit: DC Comics
DC Comics April 2016 solicitations Credit: DC Comics
DC Comics April 2016 solicitations Credit: DC Comics
DC Comics April 2016 solicitations Credit: DC Comics
DC COMICS DESIGNER SERIES: LEE BERMEJO — BATMAN, GREEN LANTERN, SUPERMAN AND LEX LUTHOR ACTION FIGURES
Lee Bermejo, the acclaimed artist behind the bestselling JOKER and LEX LUTHOR: MAN OF STEEL, lends his design skills to a new line of action figures, starting with four of DC’s most popular characters!
1. BATMAN – 6.75”
2. GREEN LANTERN – 6.75”
3. LEX LUTHOR – 6.75”
4. SUPERMAN – 6.75”
Each action figure comes with its own accessories.
RESOLICIT • $28.00 US Each • On Sale AUGUST 2016
* Allocations May Occur
EACH FIGURE SOLD SEPARATELY
Retailers: These figures are resolicited. All previous orders are canceled.
DC Comics April 2016 solicitations Credit: DC Comics
BATMAN BLACK & WHITE HARLEY QUINN BY LEE BERMEJO STATUE
DESIGNED BY LEE BERMEJO
SCULPTED BY JEAN ST. JEAN
Lee Bermejo's black and white vision of Harley Quinn is rendered in three dimensions in this new entry in the popular BATMAN BLACK & WHITE line of statues!
Limited Edition of 5,200
Measures Approximately 7.5" Tall
$80.00 US • On Sale AUGUST 2016 * Allocations May Occur
SUICIDE SQUAD STATUES
It feels good to be bad…Assemble a team of the world’s most dangerous, incarcerated Super Villains, provide them with the most powerful arsenal at the government’s disposal, and send them off on a mission to defeat an enigmatic, insuperable entity. U.S. intelligence officer Amanda Waller has determined only a secretly convened group of disparate, despicable individuals with next to nothing to lose will do. However, once they realize they weren’t picked to succeed but chosen for their patent culpability when they
inevitably fail, will the Suicide Squad resolve to die trying, or decide it’s every man for himself?
KATANA SCULPTED BY SAM GREENWELL
BOOMERANG SCULPTED BY ADAM ROSS
Based on the characters' appearances in SUICIDE SQUAD!
Each measures approximately 12" tall
Each statue sold separately.
$150.00 US Each • On Sale August 2016 * Allocations May Occur
DC Comics April 2016 solicitations Credit: DC Comics
BATMAN: RAINBOW ACTION FIGURE 6-PACK
Inspired by the cover of DETECTIVE COMICS #241, Batman dons the colors of the rainbow in this new action figure 6-pack!
Each figure measures approximately 6.625" tall
$70.00 US • On Sale AUGUST 2016 * Allocations May Occur
DC Comics April 2016 solicitations Credit: DC Comics
DC COMICS SUPER HERORES: GREEN LANTERN HAL JORDAN BUST
DESIGNED BY JIM LEE
SCULPTED BY ALEJANDRO PEREIRA
Hal Jordan, the greatest Green Lantern of all, is the subject of the latest bust designed by superstar artist Jim Lee!
Limited Edition of 2,500
Measures Approximately 6" Tall
$50.00 US • On Sale AUGUST 2016 * Allocations May Occur
DC Comics April 2016 solicitations Credit: DC Comics
DC COMICS ICONS STATIC SHOCK ACTION FIGURE
Straight from Dakota City, it’s Static Shock, star of his own Milestone Comics series and animated TV series! This action figure comes its own accessories.
17. STATIC SHOCK – 6" tall
RESOLICIT • NOW $28.00 US • On sale AUGUST 2016 * Allocations May Occur
Retailers: This item is resolicited. All previous orders are canceled.
DC Comics April 2016 solicitations Credit: DC Comics
BATMAN: THE ANIMATED SERIES DELUXE BATMOBILE
This amazing new Deluxe version of the Batmobile is loaded with extras, including light-up headlights, brakes and engine; two 6-inch action figures of BATMAN and ROBIN with cloth capes, independently moving wheels, and the Batsignal!
Batmobile measures approximately 24" long
Batsignal measures approximately 6.5” tall x 5.425” wide x 5.125” deep
$175.00 US • On Sale AUGUST 2016 * Allocations May Occur |
Birds of a feather may flock together, but that doesn’t mean they share a genetic background. Though birds were first classified into groups primarily based on appearance, research forthcoming in The Auk: Ornithological Advances by Brett Benz of the American Museum of Natural History, Mark Robbins of the University of Kansas Biodiversity Institute, and Kevin Zimmer of the Los Angeles County Museum of Natural History demonstrates that this method isn’t necessarily accurate: in a group of very similar-looking South American woodpecker species, genetic analysis has now shown one to be only a distant cousin of the others, in an intriguing case of visual mimicry. By copying the appearance of larger, socially dominant woodpecker species, it reduces the aggression and competitive interference that it receives from them and has more access to food resources as a result.
The most familiar type of mimicry typically involves warning or “aposematic” coloration, in which a harmless species apes the color patterns of a dangerous or unappealing one to avoid predators; a famous instance is the Viceroy butterfly, which shares the striking colors of the more noxious Monarch. By contrast, the Helmeted Woodpecker (Dryocopus galeatus) represents an example of a different and less well understood form of mimicry, known as interspecific social dominance mimicry or ISDM.
The shy and little-known species shares the red crest, black back, and barred underside of two larger woodpeckers, Dryocopus lineatus and Campephilus robustus, all of which occupy the same habitat and share similar food preferences. The Helmeted Woodpecker’s similarity in appearance makes the larger, more dominant woodpecker species less likely to attack it, due to the costs of aggression between members of the same species. Though they had been previously classified in Dryocopus due to the remarkable similarities in their appearance, genetic analysis by Benz and his colleagues suggests that the Helmeted Woodpecker is actually not closely related to other Dryocopus woodpeckers at all and belongs in a different genus, Celeus. An independent group of researchers using the same data recently reported similar results in a paper published in the Journal of Ornithology.
“Co-author Mark Robbins and I had just finished a phylogenetic study examining species limits and vocalizations in Celeus woodpeckers when Mark, who was attending a meeting in Brazil, had the opportunity to observe a Helmeted Woodpecker at Intervales State Park,” according to Benz. “Upon hearing the bird vocalize, Mark was stunned that its call sounded nothing like Neotropical Dryocopus, and immediately knew we needed to examine its taxonomic status in the context of our recent Celeus study given that the Helmeted Woodpecker calls were most similar to several other Celeus species. Upon returning from Brazil, Mark consulted with co-author Kevin Zimmer, who had independently arrived at the same conclusions about the Helmeted Woodpecker belonging with Celeus, based on his behavioral observations spanning 20 years of fieldwork in Brazil.” As Benz puts it, “The Helmeted Woodpecker is basically a typical Celeus in Dryocopus clothing.”
“After several decades working on the discovery of the avian Tree of Life, it is still amazing what we are discovering! Reconstructing the phylogeny of these woodpeckers has corrected a century-old classification mistake, but more interestingly, it has revealed an unexpected new example of avian mimicry,” adds Richard Prum of Yale University, one of the originators of the ISDM hypothesis. “It has only recently been appreciated that small species may benefit from deceptively mimicking larger species to protect themselves from aggressive attack. This is similar to how a 12-year-old kid walking home from school will look and act tough to try to prevent himself from being harassed by older, bigger kids.”
Relatively little is known about the ecology and natural history of the Helmeted Woodpecker, which is found in Brazil, Paraguay, and Argentina, but it has experienced dramatic population declines and vanished from much of its former range due to deforestation. Hopefully, this new discovery about its evolutionary relationships and visual deception may increase interest in the species, as it provides an opportunity for scientists to further test predictions associated with ISDM. Ultimately, bringing the Helmeted Woodpecker’s sneaky strategy into the light may be what saves it from oblivion.
Phylogenetic relationships of the Helmeted Woodpecker (Dryocopus galeatus): A case of interspecific mimicry? will be published on September 30, 2015, and will be available at http://www.aoucospubs.org/toc/tauk/132/4; a pre-print version is available at http://dx.doi.org/10.1101/023663. Contact: Brett Benz, [email protected].
About the journal: The Auk: Ornithological Advances is a peer-reviewed, international journal of ornithology that began in 1884 as the official publication of the American Ornithologists’ Union. In 2009, The Auk was honored as one of the 100 most influential journals of biology and medicine over the past 100 years.
Read more: |
China is a country of over 1.3 billion and, with domestic tourism booming, getting away from the crowds when travelling in China can be a real challenge. A good start is to move over from the highly populated megacities of the east coast and head out west. Yunnan province, in the southwest corner of China, is one of the country’s best travel destinations, offering one of China’s most pleasant provincial capitals, Kunming, some beautiful old towns and a wealth of incredible natural scenery.
Yunnan’s Old Towns
The most popular ‘old town’ destinations in Yunnan are Dali and Lijiang and, while very beautiful, get incredibly crowded and can begin to feel a bit like theme parks: with their entrance fees and every building set up as a restaurant, guesthouse or shop selling Chinese tourist knickknacks. During my time traveling in China, I found it much more rewarding when I slipped slightly off the beaten track and visited the town of Shaxi, in Yunnan province, southwest China, about halfway between tourism hotspots Dali and Lijiang.
Shaxi Old Town
When I arrived in Shaxi, after a rather long and cramped five-hour journey from Shangri-La, northern Yunnan, it felt instantly worth it; the quiet streets and picturesque houses of the old town were something I’d been looking for in the other old towns I’d visited on my 6-week China travels but hadn’t found. An afternoon exploring the village only proved this further. The old town of Shaxi is small but has been tastefully restored: cobbled lanes, crumbling adobe houses, old wooden interiors. There’s a peaceful riverside: children jumping in from a bridge, rice and corn fields, cows by the side of road, chili and tobacco plants growing. Artists paint in the town square and hardly anyone is around. It’s quiet, which is very rare for China; you can hear the sound of trickling water and your feet on the stone pathways. Little cafes in the old houses play relaxing, pleasant music and sell reasonably priced beer – including Beer Lao, one of Asia’s finest.
Just out of town
There are a number of hikes that can be done around Shaxi, through nearby rice fields and up into the surrounding hills. There’s information at the guesthouses in town about the routes. Be sure to take plenty of water on hot days because there really isn’t much development outside of town. I did a walk up Shibao Shan. There are stone carvings along the way, a temple at the top, and great views out over the villages and surrounding countryside.
Market time
Another highlight of Shaxi Yunnan is the weekly market, which takes place on a Friday. People from the surrounding villages descend on the small town and the streets are lined with stalls selling everything from fruit and veg to hair and teeth, as well as clothes, meat, pigs heads, household items and pretty much anything else you could ever imagine needing. Then, just over the river is the livestock market, where local farmers barter over piglets, mules, horses, cattle and all other manner of farmyard animals. Four years in Asia and it was one of the most fantastic markets I’ve ever seen. Once again, it didn’t feel staged and wasn’t full of tourist trinkets; it was something very different and clearly just a part of the everyday life of the area.
As I was on a tight schedule, I only had a couple of days in Shaxi but would have loved to stay in Shaxi Valley longer. It was very different to anywhere else I’ve been in China. It seems like a place where a small amount of tourism has been naturally and effectively assimilated into the daily life of the town without its charm being lost or overwhelmed by a massive influx of tourists. So, my advice, stick a couple of decent books in a bag, along with a camera or some art equipment, get yourself to Shaxi and stay for a while. It was a major highlight of my six weeks travelling in China and has stuck with me since. |
Last Friday, elections were held in Ireland. Fine Gael got 25.5%, Fianna Fáil, 24.3%, Sinn Féin, 13.8%, Labour 6.6%, the Anti Austerity Alliance 3.9%, the (new) Social Democrats 3%, the Greens 2.7% and a very large and very heterogeneous group of local independents get 18%. The big loser is Labour. The party loses 12.8% of the votes compared to 2011. The second biggest loser is Fine Gael (minus 10.6%). The big winners are Fianna Fáil (plus 6.9%), Sinn Féin (plus 3.9%), the Social Democrats (3.0%) and the Independent Alliance (4.2%).
Labour was expected to lose – polls have been predicting big losses for years. Yet, the Labour top never made any effort to readjust. It seemed to be insulated from reality. With the election gone, the party blames the management of the campaign, as if the biggest loss that the party ever suffered is due to public relations, bad communication and poor choices of candidates. It has nothing to do with any of it. People all over Ireland have been telling Labour for years that it should defend working class people, public services and natural resources, that it should work for social fairness and that it is not Labour’s role to implement austerity and take the crisis out on the poor. The Labour top never heard these voices. During the campaign, the party drifted so much to the right that everyone else, with the exception of Fine Gael, was left of Labour.
During the campaign, Fine Gael and Labour told the public that they made sacrifices, but that it had been absolutely necessary. In the meantime, however, it had become clear that the government’s master plan is working: austerity has been like chemotherapy – painful and sickening, but effective. Forcing the public to bail out bankrupt banks had been the right choice. The mistakes and blunders made by Fianna Fáil during the immediate aftermath of the financial breakdown had been corrected. Such systemic failures can no longer occur. As a result of all this hard work, the Irish economy is now growing fast again. The problem for the government parties is that the Irish never agreed to these policies. They never voted for it. They rejected austerity in 2011. They rejected the government policies in the local elections of 2014.
As Fintan O’Toole writes in The Irish Times, people do not believe much of anything from a government that introduced five regressive budgets in a row and presided over a near doubling of child poverty (see here). Regardless of ideological inclinations, many people realise that key parts of what makes a civilised society – public investment, housing, education and healthcare – have been devastated. They know Fine Gael’s promise to simultaneously cut taxes and improve public services was a lie. They know that cuts in social welfare increased poverty, that it brought some people to the brink. They know that wages went down and that many of the new jobs are low paid, low quality jobs (see here).
O’Toole holds the election result for ‘an enormous shift to the left’ (see here). This is a very strange conclusion. Fianna Fáil did well because the party moved onto mildly social democratic ground, promising greater fairness and investment in public services. If you define the left as those campaigning for substantially greater investment in public services, the case that the left of centre won can indeed be made: Fianna Fáil, Sinn Féin, the new Social Democrats, the Greens and the Anti-Austerity Alliance all did well or relatively well. This is, of course, a very heterogeneous company, but it represents a lot of voters that favour a shift of priorities towards decent services, a fair use of public resources and a reversal of the drift towards inequality.
But there is no question about an ‘enormous shift’ or anything radical. Housing in Ireland became an enormous issue after the property crash. The population was forced to bail out the banks. In the meantime, the banks mercilessly started to repossess mortgage holder’s homes. Between September 2014 and September 2015, the number of repossessions rose by 80%. This is, as Padraig O’Mara writes, without a doubt, an important determinant of the homelessness crisis in the country (see here). The dramatic decrease in social housing output by the local authorities is another determinant (see figure 2).
Figure 2
Source: Neri Institute.
Thirty per cent of the Irish population (1.3 million people) experience deprivation: food shortages, fuel poverty, insufficient means to buy clothing or schoolbooks or to pay for a medical doctor or a dentist. Those without private health insurance, have to wait for months, sometimes for more than a year, to see a consultant. There are not enough beds in the hospitals. In the meantime, the number of millionaires in the country increased by 462 per cent – from 16.000 in 2008 to 90.000 in 2015 (see here) Most of this was barely mentioned during the campaign. The consequences of austerity are visible all over housing, health, education and infrastructure. In 2013, the level of public infrastructure investment was the lowest in 50 years. Despite numerous protests across the country against Irish Water and the new water charges, this issue was also almost completely absent during the campaign. This does not strike me as a shift to the left. The parties very carefully moved a bit closer to the centre, within strict confines.
The rhetoric of the government about the improving economy may have even played against them. A recent survey showed that 85% of the respondents state that they personally have not felt any benefits from any betterment. It fuels the perception that the gains of the improving economy go to the rich and not to the middle class, let alone the poor. Ireland’s dual economy has a strong geographical component. Growth is mainly concentrated in and around Dublin. The negative equity generation is another group that is unlikely to be impressed with the improving economy. This group took out large mortgages at or close to the peak of the market. Their assets are now worth less than their mortgage, while many of them enjoy less income and often have more expenses (such as childcare) (see here).
What about Sinn Féin? SF won 13.6% of the vote and is now the third party in the country. There is one issue that the three main parties, Fine Gael, Fianna Fail and Labour, agree upon: they all want to keep Sinn Fein out of government. Sinn Féin’s historical links with the provisional Irish Republican Army remains a major stumbling block. The Irish Government alleged that senior members of Sinn Féin have held posts on the IRA army council. The SF leadership always denied it. Sinn Féin has also been accused of criminal acts. Great controversy erupted when SF chairman McLaughlin insisted on Irish television that the IRA’s killing of a mother of ten young children accused of spying for the English in the early 1970s was wrong but not criminal given the context of the conflict. Sinn Féin campaigns on state-led economic investment, affordable health care, protections for renters, more resources for social welfare and education. It sounds good. The problem is that, as the other parties never get tired of pointing out, Sinn Féin is in government in Northern Ireland. There it supports policies that are diametrically opposed to what it proposes to do in the South.
Sinn Féin will not become a coalition partner of the new government and Labour is certainly out. The most likely outcome is a government of Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil. If that happens, we will see a continuance of the policies of the past, perhaps with some improvement. There will be some modest investment in health care, social housing and education. But it won’t make much of a difference and discontentment and anger will continue to fester (see here).
Did Fine Gael and Labour spearhead the economic recovery? Stiglitz observed that in the years since the financial crisis hit in 2008 Ireland had overall, low or no growth. Is Stiglitz right? Did austerity ultimately work, as the government reaffirms ad nauseam? Is the Troika right when it shows off Ireland as the poster child of successful austerity? More than one commentator has argued that the expansion of traded services is an illusion (see here). Regan writes that ICT services now account for over 50 per cent of Irish service exports (see here). The supposed growth in service exports merely reflects an accounting entry by US multinationals. It is a tax evasion strategy that makes Ireland’s adjustment look like a success story. The revenues of companies such as Google and Apple are astronomical and a large part of it is booked in Ireland for tax purposes. Aidan Regan from UCD agrees: there is no doubt that the growth figures are grossly inflated. But this does not mean that no growth took place. According to Regan, 104.000 full time jobs in ICT have been created since 2012 (see here).
The answer to the second question – does Ireland prove the benevolence of austerity? – is a clear and unequivocal no. Regan argues that the Irish recovery has nothing to do with the Troika-led adjustment of austerity and that it has everything to do with a state-led developmental strategy. I will return to this in a follow-up article. |
© Sputnik / Alexei Druzhinin Impossible to Play Without Rules in Political Fight - Putin
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MOSCOW (Sputnik)Russian President Vladimir Putin said Thursday that Ramzan Kadyrov, acting head of the Chechen Republic, is convinced that Chechnya must remain with Russia.
"Where did he begin? He fought us in the forest. You haven't forgotten about that? With a weapon in his hands, alongside his father. No one recruited him, no one forced him. He himself came to the conclusion that Chechnya should be with the Russian people and with Russia. And this is favorable and it is in the interests of the Chechen people. It is a difficult transformation, an internal one, it really did come from within. And I know that Ramzan Kadyrov carries out his work with these beliefs," Putin said during his annual Q&A session.
He also expressed hope that the Chechen authorities, as well as the officials in other regions, would be aware of their responsibility toward the whole of Russia.
"[I hope] they will come to understand that the formulation of attitude toward those expressing opposing opinions with extreme methods does not mean contributing to stability in the country. On the contrary, this means to cause harm to this stability. If this awareness comes, I am sure that this will happen, since they earnestly work for the sake of national interests, then there will be no such statements. However, probably, it is my omission as well," Putin stressed.
The Chechen Republic is a federal subject of Russia, located in the North Caucasus. Kadyrov came to power as the leader of Chechnya in 2007,
On March 25, Putin said Kadyrov would assume the title of "acting leader" until elections are held in September. |
Never Tell Them The Odds: Cities Vie To Host 'Star Wars' Collection
Enlarge this image toggle caption Patrick Kovarik/AFP/Getty Images Patrick Kovarik/AFP/Getty Images
A short time ago, in a city not far away, Star Wars creator George Lucas decided to build a museum to house his movie memorabilia and his art collection.
There's just one looming question: Where should it go?
Lucas says he'll spend $300 million of his own money to build the proposed Lucas Cultural Arts Museum and will provide a $400 million endowment after his death. In addition to holding Skywalker artifacts galore, the museum would also host Lucas' private art collection, featuring works by Norman Rockwell and N.C. Wyeth, among others.
But after Lucas' original planned location fell through, it's not clear where the museum will be located. San Francisco and Chicago are both trying to win the right to host the museum, and Los Angeles just entered the fray as well.
San Francisco: 'It Is Our History'
The story begins in San Francisco, not far from Skywalker Ranch, Lucas' moviemaking center in Marin County.
Lucas originally wanted to build his museum in the San Francisco Presidio — a federal park near the Golden Gate Bridge. But park officials rejected that idea.
Now San Francisco officials are scrambling, trying to persuade Lucas to consider another site. They're offering a scenic waterfront location along the Embarcadero, the road that runs along the San Francisco Bay.
Mayor Ed Lee points to the area's Star Wars history to explain why the city wants to persuade Lucas to stay in the region. Lucas' ranch is nearby, and the Letterman Digital Arts Center, LucasFilm's headquarters, is located in the city.
"Digital Arts, through George Lucas' wonderful works, started here," Lee says. "To have that museum right here under his name would be a wonderful tribute to that. It is our history, and that's why we want George to be here."
But Lee knows that first rejection, of the Presidio location, opened the door to competition.
Chicago: Lucas' Second Home
In Chicago, city leaders say they're up to the fight to bring the Lucas Museum to their city. Kurt Summers, co-chairman of the task force that Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel directed to find a location for the museum, casts the struggle in familiar terms — like the dark side of the Force against the light.
"We are the protagonist in sort of a good versus evil," Summers says. It's not hard to imagine whom he sees as the Evil Empire. "We engaged fully ... and that created real competition. The result of that [is] we saw San Francisco step up its game as well."
The potential home of the Lucas Museum is near Chicago's lakefront, on the city's Museum Campus. The city would convert 17 acres that are currently home to two parking lots behind Soldier Field, the stadium home of the Chicago Bears.
Chicago would lease the land to Lucas for $1. City officials believe adding his museum to the Field Museum of Natural History, the Shedd Aquarium and the Adler Planetarium on the campus would bring in a couple of million additional visitors to the city each year, along with millions in tourist and tax revenue.
Lucas calls Chicago his second home, and he's married to influential Chicago businesswoman Mellody Hobson. That's a plus, says Summers, who believes that while San Francisco might once have had home field advantage, Chicago has a very compelling case.
Summers says he's not talking smack. But he does have a message: "I believe the Force is with us."
San Francisco would say the same thing. And so would Los Angeles, which has offered a museum-campus plan like Chicago's, at the site of the Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena in the city's Exposition Park.
But as the small Jedi Yoda would say, "Impossible to see, the future is" — until the decision, which is expected sometime this summer. |
Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton receives a warm reception from a capacity crowd at the Exposition Center of the North Carolina State Fairgrounds in Raleigh, N.C., on Wednesday, June 22, 2016. (Chuck Liddy/Raleigh News & Observer/Getty Images)
Hillary Clinton has just taken the stage at the Exposition Centre in the North Carolina Fairgrounds in Raleigh-Durham before a rapturous crowd: young, old, male, female, black, white, Hispanic, babies in strollers, elderly in wheelchairs. It’s late June, a month from the Democratic National Convention, and the Clinton campaign has chosen the economically embattled swing state to unveil her economic plan. North Carolina matters; Barack Obama won it by 0.32 per cent of the vote in 2008; Mitt Romney took it in 2012 by a slightly higher margin.
The space, typically home to gun fairs and scrapbooking festivals, is festooned with American flags and “Stronger Together” banners. Security is tight and ominously present. Bomb-sniffing dogs, body sweeps, Secret Service—marked and unmarked—monitor a crowd primed by hours of pop female empowerment anthems: Spice Girls’ “Wannabe,” Shania Twain’s “Man! I Feel Like a Woman,” Katy Perry’s “Roar”—and a parade of testimonials from politicians and common folk celebrating the woman touted to be the “first female president of the United States.”
Once on stage, Clinton basks in the adulation as she energetically outlines her plan in big rhetorical strokes: a national minimum wage, making college debt-free, making companies share profits with employees, and corporations and the one per cent paying their fair share of taxes. Throughout, she weaves the personal with political as only a former FLOTUS, mother, senator and former Secretary of State could. “If you notice anything different about me today, it could be because now I’ve got double the grandmother glow,” she says to cheers, referring to her daughter, Chelsea, giving birth days earlier. She pivots quickly: “I believe with all my heart that you should not have to be the grandchild of a former president or Secretary of State to have every opportunity available to you in this country.” The crowd erupts.
Presenting herself as a champion of women and families, she flouts her Republican opponent’s claim that she’s capitalizing on her sex: “And you know, whenever I talk about these family issues, Donald Trump says I’m playing the woman card. Right? Well, you know what I say, ‘If fighting for child care, paid leave and equal pay is playing the woman card—’ ” she pauses to cue an audience to shout in unison: “Then deal me in!”
As Clinton leaves the stage to Taylor Swift’s “Shake it Off” she’s swarmed by people wanting selfies. “She should be proud to play the woman card,” says Charles Keeling, a 69-year-old white man. “Hillary’s a friend to the women of America.” He and Clinton “see pretty much eye to eye,” he says: “She speaks to my priority issues like climate change and gun control.” Emily Giangrande, 22, who just completed a graduate degree, wants her dog-eared copy of Clinton’s 2003 memoir, Living History, signed. “I’ve been a Hillary Clinton supporter since middle school,” she says. That Clinton is a woman is part of her appeal: “It’s confounding that we’ve never had a female president,” she says. “It’s time we caught up with the world.” Her 45-year-old mother, Geri Maddox, agrees: “Hillary has paid her dues.”
That the first female U.S. presidential candidate for a major party has made gender an election issue is inevitable. But Clinton’s candidacy highlights another truth: American presidential elections have always been about gender—only male gender, as Jackson Katz points out in the recently published Man Enough?: Donald Trump, Hillary Clinton, and the Politics of Presidential Masculinity. From Ronald Reagan vs. Jimmy Carter onward, elections have been unspoken masculinity contests, debates about American manhood waged exclusively by white men until Barack Obama, Katz argues. The tough guy with certitude has prevailed; the nuanced or indecisive is emasculated, viz. Michael Dukakis or John Kerry. Sports, military, even cowboy imagery dominate: Ronald Reagan on his horse, Barack Obama on the basketball court, Donald Trump in his red baseball cap.
Were this a “normal” election—one in which Clinton was facing a moderate Mitt Romney-style Republican opponent—she’d be at a major disadvantage. Not only is she a woman but more than half of Americans (53 per cent) hold an unfavourable opinion of her (Clinton’s popularity has taken a nose-dive every time she has sought power). She’s also been dogged by accusations of greed and corrupt behaviour, giving rise to Trump’s “crooked Hillary” taunt.
But in Trump, who’s prone to sexist, racist remarks, and who plays the male gender card even more overtly, Clinton’s been handed a perfect foil, a gift of sorts. “Trump’s entire candidacy is based on the idea that the solution to our national problems is to put a tough, no-nonsense white man back in the White House,” says Katz. It’s all about his manhood—and by definition, theirs.”
That in turn frees Clinton to make gender politics a campaign issue in a way that otherwise would have seen blowback. Polling bears this out. As of early July, Clinton was ahead by seven points, largely on her strength with female voters; its the highest level of female support of any candidate in more than four decades and the widest gender gap recorded —24 percentage points in the latest Pew Research Center Poll. These voters are not only Democrats: Republican media strategist Mindy Finn has likened Trump to an “abusive boyfriend.” In early July, Republican Women for Hillary formed: “Vote to make sure Republican women don’t get Trumped,” its Facebook page proclaims. Trump, meanwhile, leads, by a narrowing margin, among white men: 50 per cent to Clinton’s 41 per cent.
The result is an unprecedented gender-centric showdown between characters who’ve achieved near mythological cultural resonance: the boorish, blustering billionaire and former reality-TV star who treats women as objects versus a woman whose 25 years in the public eye has rendered her protean, a shape-shifter who is variously a workhorse feminist advocate, a Lady Macbeth-style schemer, an accomplished stateswoman, a Wall Street shill and a master of Washington cash-for-access culture.
In the introduction to a new book of essays with the telling title Who Is Hillary Clinton? Two Decades of Answers from the Left, Katha Politt calls Clinton “a test of our attitudes—including our unconscious ones—about women, feminism, sex and marriage, to say nothing of the Democratic Party, progressive politics, the United States and capitalism.”
The election promises to be a watershed, says Katz: “It’s as close to a national referendum on the state of women’s advancement as you could possibly get.” Clinton frames it in bigger terms, with the country, a polarized tinderbox, at stake. “This election isn’t about the same old fights between Democrats and Republicans,” she said during speech at Planned Parenthood in June. “It’s about who we are as a nation.”
As contests of masculinity, presidential elections are about creating heroes, not policy. Clinton becoming the first female U.S. president isn’t enough, however. She has to defeat a foe representing a threat to both women and America, to make Trump “the loser” he so despises. Women are at risk, she told the crowd at Planned Parenthood. Trump “wants to roll back the clock . . . Back to the days when abortion was illegal, women had far fewer options, and life for too many women and girls was limited.” And she’s the one to vanquish him, she boasts. “We’re not just going to break that highest and hardest glass ceiling. We’re going to break down all the barriers that hold women and families back.”
On a campaign bus on their way from Portland to Seattle, American President Bill Clinton speaks with Washington state gubernatorial candidate Gary Locke (not pictured), while First Lady Hillary Clinton watches, Washington, September 20, 1996. (David Hume Kennerly/Getty Images)
The email scandal that saw Clinton and her aides rebuked by the head of the FBI for being “extremely careless in their handling of very sensitive, highly classified information” when she was Secretary of State, was the latest of a decades-long parade of controversies she has stoked since arriving on the national stage. The first was on a 60 Minutes interview during the 1992 presidential election, in which she sat beside her husband to address claims he’d committed adultery (there was no admission, only a call for privacy). Hillary Clinton incited fury with her remark: “I’m not sitting here as some little woman standing by my man like Tammy Wynette. I’m sitting here because I love him and I respect him and I honour what he’s been through and what we’ve been through together, and if that’s not enough for people then heck, don’t vote for him.” The comment, which overlooked the fact Wynette was married five times, revealed defiance unseen on the U.S. political stage: an alpha wife bristling against the conventional beta role.
She fanned the flames later that year after then-California governor Jerry Brown accused her husband of improperly benefiting from his wife’s legal practice in his capacity as Arkansas governor, charges never substantiated. “I suppose I could have stayed home, baked cookies and had teas,” Clinton said, outraging homemakers and winning the label “smug bitch.” (Media failed to report her full statement: “The work that I have done as a professional, a public advocate, has been aimed . . . to assure that women can make the choices, whether it’s full-time career, full-time motherhood or some combination.”)
The statement is befitting a woman born in 1947, raised in a middle-class household in a Chicago suburb, who came of age amid the social ferment of the ’60s: civil rights, the women’s movement and belief a new world order would bring equality to all. She attended Wellesley, an elite women’s college, in 1965, becoming class president. In 1969, she entered Yale Law School. There she’d meet Bill Clinton, the “Viking” from Arkansas. Hillary was the star; she introduced herself to Clinton in 1970 after he had followed her around campus for months. After graduation, she worked for the Children’s Defense Fund before marrying in 1975 and moving to Arkansas. She joined a prestigious law firm, becoming its first female partner, and continued to work after Chelsea was born in 1980. She kept her name after marriage, which saw her husband ridiculed when he ran for governor in 1978; he won, then lost in 1980; when he ran again in 1982, his wife was known as Hillary Rodham Clinton. (She dropped Rodham when she ran for president in 2008.)
Refusing the power-behind-the-throne role played by first ladies from Edith Wilson to Nancy Reagan, Clinton presented herself as an equal partner, a “two for one.” She moved her office to the West Wing and waged an unsuccessful bid for universal health care. Her ambitions were criticized by her husband’s foes and the media. In 1995, the satiric magazine Spy presented her as an androgyne, female on top, male below. (Spy also famously dubbed Trump a “short-fingered vulgarian.”)
Clinton rejected the traditional wife role but proved adept at dipping in and out of the script when needed. After her health-reform plan failed, she churned out first-lady feel-good books, including It Takes a Village and Dear Socks, Dear Buddy. She even agreed to a retrograde chocolate-chip-cookie bake-off with Barbara Bush during the 1996 presidential campaign; Clinton won (rolled oats were her secret ingredient). And she stood by her man during the scandal and impeachment arising from his relationship with White House intern Monica Lewinsky. In 2000, roles were reversed: her proximity to presidential power helped her become a U.S. senator in 2000 and secure an $8-million advance for her autobiography.
Throughout, the Clintons’ 41-year marriage, often described as an “arrangement” as if other marriages are not, garnered speculation. In Gail Sheehy’s Hillary’s Choice, Clinton revealed she was attracted to Bill Clinton because “he wasn’t afraid of me.” At a 2014 TED Talk, the anthropologist Helen Fisher suggested that the couple defied social norms: Hillary Clinton fit the “testosterone” neurochemical profile (logical, competitive, direct, demanding), while Bill was “estrogen” (a negotiator, philosopher king, good with language).
The Clintons have survived a host of scandals: Whitewater, Travelgate, the suicide of White House counsel and Clinton friend Vince Foster, Lewinsky and, more recently, claims that the Clinton Foundation launders money and had undue influence at the State Department. But accusations of carelessness, greed, arrogance, and seeing themselves above the law linger. In 1998, Hillary Clinton blamed a “vast right-wing conspiracy” for creating the Lewinsky disgrace without evidence. Yet she is no doubt a target. The Republican-led investigation into the 2012 attack in Benghazi, Libya—where four Americans were killed and Clinton’s State Department was blamed for not properly protecting installations—lasted longer than the investigation into 9/11, with no smoking guns produced. Yet Benghazi, not the capture of Osama bin Laden, remains her legacy. High speaking fees she commands have also led to charges she’s in Wall Street’s pocket, yet 20 organizations paid her more. With the exception of one speech to Deutsche Bank, Clinton received $225,000 each for eight Wall Street speeches. She received $275,000 from Canada 2020, the Vancouver Board of Trade and the Board of Trade of Metropolitan Montreal, which would suggest, if anything, she’s in Canada’s pocket.
Discomfort with Clinton’s ambition is evident in her approval ratings, which hit an all-time high of 67 per cent in December 1998 after the Lewinsky scandal, when she was the humiliated wife. When she asked for power —introducing health care reform to Congress, declaring her first Senate run—her favourables plummeted. They’d rise after she withdrew from the 2008 presidential race and stayed high, peaking when she stepped down as Secretary of State; they dropped when she declared her second presidential run.
In a telling scene in August 2001, Clinton was among the 12 of 13 female senators interviewed on Larry King Live. King asked who had presidential aspirations, a question never asked of male senators. None said yes. Even today, Clinton’s Twitter handle lists the personal first: “Wife, mom, grandma, women+kids advocate, FLOTUS, Senator, SecState, hair icon, pantsuit aficionado, 2016 presidential candidate.” Given a body of research showing discomfort with high-achieving women, that’s not surprising: “Women are expected to be nice, warm, friendly, and nurturing,” concluded sociologist Marianne Cooper, a Stanford professor and lead researcher for Sheryl Sandberg’s Lean In, in a 2013 study published in the Harvard Business Review: Those who act assertively, competitively or exhibit decisive leadership, are “deviating from the social script,” Cooper wrote. “We often don’t really like them.” Tellingly, the 2015 book Unlikeable: The Problem with Hillary Clinton, written by conservative Edward Klein, reported Steven Spielberg was enlisted to make the candidate cuddlier; she fired him.
Calls for Clinton to be “authentic” also are unreasonable, says Katz: “What does it mean to be authentic when you’re under the glare of public scrutiny she’s been under since she was first lady? Everything is a performance at that point.”
Former Secretary of State and Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton greets supporters while taking a break after testifying before the House Select Committee on Benghazi, on Capitol Hill in Washington DC. Clinton was questioned about the 2012 attack on the US diplomatic compound in Benghazi, Libya, as well as her use of a private email server for government business while she held the position as U.S. Secretary of State. (Brooks Kraft LLC/Corbis/Getty Images)
Clinton’s performance now is focused on harnessing her sex, and female accomplishment, as a strength, contrary to the tack taken in 2008 when advisers recommended she downplay the historical import of her run. “I have to say, pink never looked so good,” Clinton told a crowd at Planned Parenthood in June.
It’s a stragetic counterpunch to Trump, the former owner of the Miss USA and Miss Universe pageants, and his clarion call to downwardly mobile white men, one that taps into a malaise decades in the making. In her 1999 book, Stiffed: The Betrayal of the American Man, Susan Faludi traced the decline of traditional postwar masculinity resulting from globalization, downsizing and the women’s movement. The resulting loss of purpose and sense of betrayal gave rise to so-called “Angry White Man” politics seen in the Promise Keepers movement, she wrote. Faludi presciently observed a shift to an “ornamental” or celebrity culture that measures masculine success in terms of fame and wealth, factors that paved way for a non-politician candidate like Trump, who has the advantage of not being part of the nation’s political wallpaper, with no record to attack, unlike Clinton. Stiffed was published before 9/11, and the resulting xenophobia, nativism and fear that the Trump campaign also stokes with messaging drawn directly from white-supremacist forums.
“Make America great again” is code for “white men who feel betrayed by the system,” Katz says. “Trump rejecting ‘political correctness’ gives cover to publicly criticize women and people of colour and do it forcefully rather than cowering and being fearful [that] people will call him names. He doesn’t care if he’s called racist or sexist.” The resentment he stokes is evident in “Trump that bitch” T-shirts worn by supporters, 47 per cent of whom are “mostly voting for him,” with 39 per cent mostly voting against Clinton, according to a July USA Today/Suffolk University Poll. (Almost three-quarters of Clinton supporters say they’re mostly voting for her.) It’s evident too in Trump’s defence of his “manhood” during the Fox News Republican debate when he responded to taunts about his hands: “If they’re small, something else must be small,” he said, “I guarantee you there’s no problem. I guarantee.”
That presidential elections are traditionally manhood contests gives Trump ground to say Clinton “doesn’t even look presidential!” as he tweeted during her Raleigh speech. Sarah Palin also employed gender-laden language in July: “You seen some of the left’s rallies? Cranky. Demanding. Shrill.” But in making history as the Democratic nominee, Clinton has begun redefining the iconography of the American presidential race—and finding her more authentic alpha voice in the process.
A new Hillary, a warmer Hillary—or at least a Hillary warmed by hard-won success—entered Brooklyn Navy Yard alone on June 7 to deliver her acceptance speech. Eschewing the traditional family backdrop tableau (they’d join her later), she greeted and hugged supporters before taking the stage, arms outstretched as if hugging the nation. Hours earlier, the campaign released “History Made,” a video that placed Clinton’s victory within a continuum of historic female advancement: the Seneca Falls convention of 1848, which passed a resolution in favour of women’s suffrage, and alongside trailblazers Gloria Steinem, Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsberg and Shirley Chisholm, who ran for president in 1973, the first woman to do so. “We need to learn from the women of the world who blazed new paths,” Clinton says in the voiceover.
She presented herself as a trailblazer and protector: “As your president I will always have your back,” she said. The cover of the next week’s New Yorker depicted Clinton in the boxing ring, a contender, reflecting the paucity of gender-neutral imagery surrounding political victory.
The maternal fighter metaphor continued in new commercials for Clinton highlighting her lifelong support of children’s issues. She also engaged in female bonding with progessive Sen. Elizabeth Warren, “a pair of tough broads, teaming up to chew up and spit out Donald Trump,” as journalist Rebecca Traister put it. Her Twitter feed has become more aggressive. “Delete your account,” she ordered Trump after he tweeted: “Obama just endorsed Crooked Hillary. He wants four more years of Obama but nobody else does!”
Clinton clearly revels in goading Trump, whom she calls “Donald” as if referring to a wayward child. Last week, in front of one of Trump’s shuttered Atlantic City casinos, she attacked the basis of his masculine cred, his wealth, pointing to his record running up debt, defaulting on loans and employees, and bankrupting companies. The campaign has an arsenal of recyclable one-liners. In Raleigh, Clinton called Trump the “self-proclaimed king of debt,” taking a shot at his bankruptcies: “We need to write a new chapter in the American Dream—and it sure cannot be Chapter 11.” His reality-TV show history is also fodder: “Maybe we shouldn’t expect better from someone whose most famous words are, ‘You’re fired!’ ” Clinton said in Raleigh. “Well, here’s what I want you to know, I do have a jobs program, and as president, I’m going to make sure you hear, ‘You’re hired!’ ”
Trump’s emotional volatility, a trait historically associated with women, is another target. “Imagine if he had not just his Twitter account at his disposal when he’s angry, but America’s entire arsenal,” Clinton has said. It’s touchy territory for Clinton, who has been attacked for her support of the invasion of Iraq and backing escalation of the war in Afghanistan. Katz sees her hawkish stance as necessary, even strategic: “You have to be living in a complete fantasy world to think that a woman could get within one step of the presidency without firmly establishing her masculine credentials as the potential commander-in-chief.” Last week, Clinton was the more active candidate in addressing racial violence, speaking at the African Methodist Episcopal Church community in Philadelphia. Trump was uncharacteristically muted, issuing a Facebook message and taped video.
Clinton is rewiring the political landscape in other ways. Last week, the New York Times reported she plans to strike gender parity in a cabinet that is currently 35 per cent female. She wants to bond with Republicans over drinks, a more-gender neutral setting than the traditional golf game. Tellingly, her female-centric Instagram feed features a photo of her raising a pint of Guinness among men in Ohio, a nod to the maxim that people vote for a president they want to have a beer with. The site also includes a plea for bipartisan unity: there’s a post of a gracious letter George H.W. Bush left Bill Clinton when he became president. “That’s the America we love,” she wrote.
“Republican Women for Hillary” (hashtag: #GOPWITHHER) have responded in kind. “Our decision to support Hillary Clinton is not a gender thing, though it’s wonderful she’s a woman,” Meghan Milloy, who’s on the group’s steering committee, tells Maclean’s. The 29-year-old, who works for a conservative think tank, says Trump’s “racist, misogynist and bigoted” comments scare her. “His lack of experience and the way he flies off the handle is concerning,” she says, adding that the group has been criticized for turning their back on the party. “My response is, ‘No, we’re doing our party a favour. This is the party of Lincoln and a party for the people. We don’t want to be rebranded the party of Trump’.” Hundreds have contacted them, she says; they met with the Clinton campaign last week. Hers is not purely an anti-Trump vote, Milloy says: “I have enough common ground with [Clinton] that it’s a vote of support for Hillary.” Clinton’s experience is a plus: “You can disagree with Hillary all you want but she’s been in the situation room; she knows how things work.”
That means she also knows she has a fight before her, despite the fact that Trump’s campaign is in a shambolic state—48 per cent of Republicans want another candidate, according to a June CNN poll—and that more of the electorate (60 per cent) dislike him more than her. That a candidate known for hateful, false, often incoherent statements is only behind seven points reflects a country severed in a true gender war. Last week, Clinton and Obama were back in North Carolina, in Charlotte. Trump was in Raleigh, where things turned ugly; his supporters called to “Hang that bitch!” and “Hang Hillary!” When a mosquito landed by Trump he became discombobulated, yelling, “I don’t like mosquitos!” He then addressed it: “Hello, Hillary,” as the crowd roared.
It was a different mood outside the Exposition Centre in June, where vendors sold Hillary T-shirts and buttons with positive messages: “Love trumps hate,” “I’m with her,” and “Hills yes!” Yet on the edge of the parking lot two girls—no older than seven—with sticks bashed a piñata shaped like a tiny Trump. A crowd gathered to egg them on as a cameraman filmed it. Love may trump hate, rhetorically speaking, but this is a political war, one whose stakes have never been higher. |
Tea Party Nation president Judson Phillips sent out a conspiratorial email to members yesterday responding to the Obama campaign’s demand that Mitt Romney disclose his tax records, saying that Obama should release his college records to prove that he didn’t attend school “on a scholarship reserved for foreign students” and release medical records to show that he is not a drug addict, citing the report of “a man named Larry Sinclair claims that in 1999 he and Barack Obama had sex and then smoked crack cocaine.”
There are a lot of records that Americans should want to see from Barack Obama. To start with, there are his records from Occidental College so that the allegation that Obama attended that school on a scholarship reserved for foreign students can be resolved. Another record that Americans should be demanding Obama release are his records from Columbia and Harvard.
How does someone who is a self-admitted poor student, get into two of the most prestigious schools in America? Obama was admitted to Harvard law. Generally you need to have almost a perfect 4.0 to even have a shot at Harvard. Anyone want to bet Obama’s GPA was nowhere near that?
So how did he get in?
The important records that everyone should demand Obama release are his medical records. George Bush, John McCain, even John Kerry and Bill Clinton released voluminous medical records.
What did Obama release in 2008? It was a one page statement from a doctor saying he was in good physical condition.
That was it.
Why is this so important?
Obama by his own admission was a very heavy marijuana user in his youth. He has also admitted to using cocaine, though he denies using drugs such as heroin. He also says he was a significant drinker.
Why is this important?
Because these are all symptoms of addiction.
A man named Larry Sinclair claims that in 1999 he and Barack Obama had sex and then smoked crack cocaine. This is 1999, nine years before Obama would run for President.
Crack cocaine is very addictive. It is very destructive. Addiction specialist will tell you that a crack addiction is very tough to break.
Is Obama an addict? Was he an addict in the past? |
This article is about the French artist. For other uses, see Doré (disambiguation)
Paul Gustave Louis Christophe Doré (; French: [ɡys.tav dɔ.ʁe]; 6 January 1832 – 23 January 1883[1]) was a French artist, printmaker, illustrator, comics artist, caricaturist, and sculptor who worked primarily with wood engraving.
Biography [ edit ]
Doré was born in Strasbourg on 6 January 1832. By age 5 he was a prodigy artist, creating drawings that were mature beyond his years. Seven years later, he began carving in stone.[citation needed] At the age of 15, Doré began his career working as a caricaturist for the French paper Le journal pour rire.[2] Wood engraving was his primary method at this time.[3] In the late 1840s and early 1850s, he made several text comics, like Les Travaux d'Hercule (1847), Trois artistes incompris et mécontents (1851), Les Dés-agréments d'un voyage d'agrément (1851) and L'Histoire de la Sainte Russie (1854). Doré subsequently went on to win commissions to depict scenes from books by Cervantes, Rabelais, Balzac, Milton, and Dante. He also illustrated "Gargantua et Pantagruel" in 1854.[citation needed]
In 1853 Doré was asked to illustrate the works of Lord Byron.[4] This commission was followed by additional work for British publishers, including a new illustrated Bible. In 1856 he produced 12 folio-size illustrations of The Legend of The Wandering Jew, which propagated longstanding antisemitic views of the time,[5] for a short poem which Pierre-Jean de Béranger had derived from a novel of Eugène Sue of 1845.[6][7][8]
In the 1860s he illustrated a French edition of Cervantes's Don Quixote, and his depictions of the knight and his squire, Sancho Panza, have become so famous that they have influenced subsequent readers, artists, and stage and film directors' ideas of the physical "look" of the two characters.[9] Doré also illustrated an oversized edition of Edgar Allan Poe's "The Raven", an endeavor that earned him 30,000 francs from publisher Harper & Brothers in 1883.[10]
Doré's illustrations for the Bible (1866) were a great success, and in 1867 Doré had a major exhibition of his work in London. This exhibition led to the foundation of the Doré Gallery in Bond Street, London.[11] In 1869, Blanchard Jerrold, the son of Douglas William Jerrold, suggested that they work together to produce a comprehensive portrait of London. Jerrold had obtained the idea from The Microcosm of London produced by Rudolph Ackermann, William Pyne, and Thomas Rowlandson (published in three volumes from 1808 to 1810).[12] Doré signed a five-year contract with the publishers Grant & Co that involved his staying in London for three months a year, and he received the vast sum of £10,000 a year for the project. Doré was mainly celebrated for his paintings in his day. His paintings remain world-renowned, but his woodcuts and engravings, like those he did for Jerrold, are where he excelled as an artist with an individual vision.[citation needed]
The completed book London: A Pilgrimage, with 180 engravings, was published in 1872. It enjoyed commercial and popular success, but the work was disliked by many contemporary critics. Some of these critics were concerned by the fact that Doré appeared to focus on the poverty that existed in parts of London. Doré was accused by The Art Journal of "inventing rather than copying".[13] The Westminster Review claimed that "Doré gives us sketches in which the commonest, the vulgarest external features are set down".[14] The book was a financial success, however, and Doré received commissions from other British publishers.[citation needed]
Doré's later work included illustrations for new editions of Coleridge's Rime of the Ancient Mariner, Milton's Paradise Lost, Tennyson's Idylls of the King, The Works of Thomas Hood, and The Divine Comedy. Doré's work also appeared in the weekly newspaper The Illustrated London News.[citation needed]
Doré never married and, following the death of his father in 1849, he continued to live with his mother, illustrating books until his death in Paris following a short illness. The city's Père Lachaise Cemetery contains his grave.[15] At the time of his death in 1883, he was working on illustrations for an edition of Shakespeare's plays.[16] The government of France made him a Chevalier de la Légion d'honneur in 1861.[citation needed]
Gallery [ edit ]
Works [ edit ]
Doré was a prolific artist; thus the following list of works, though extensive, is by no means comprehensive (e.g., it does not include his paintings, sculptures, or many of his journal illustrations):
References [ edit ]
Further reading [ edit ] |
NEW YORK -- Lisa Raymond, the pride of Norristown, Pa., was the quintessential college player. She won NCAA singles titles in 1992 and 1993 and led the Florida Gators to their first-ever team championship.
Liezel Huber, a South African by birth, turned professional the same year Raymond won her second NCAA title. She was 15.
Nearly two decades later, these players from disparate backgrounds came together last year and became U.S. Open doubles champions. This past April, at an age when most players are retired, they were ranked as the WTA's No. 1 team. They may not have the eerie telepathy of the Bryan brothers, but Raymond and Huber play a pleasing, fluid and intelligent game.
Lisa Raymond and Liezel Huber took vastly different paths to professional tennis. It's working out for both of them. Alex Trautwig/Getty Images
They arrived at the same place after traveling vastly different paths; the college experience might be the biggest difference between them.
Ask Huber if she has any regrets and she'll surprise you.
"My husband [and coach Tony Huber] disagrees with me, but I wish I had gone to college," Huber said. "I think it would have benefited me. I partied a lot. I didn't eat right. College would have allowed me to be undisciplined, so I could learn to develop discipline."
The success of so many young Americans during the first week here has underlined the difficulty of the college choice for the elite 17- and 18-year-old players.
To go -- or turn pro?
Andy Roddick was ready to go out of the box at the age of 18, when he went pro a dozen years ago. He was the youngest player in the year-end top 200 and three years later won the U.S. Open just after turning 21. James Blake went to Harvard for two years before matriculating to the ATP World Tour. Being part of a team, he has said, was good for him. The Williams sisters? They are their own team. They skipped to the head of the class, with Serena winning the U.S. Open at 17; Venus' first title here came at age 20.
Three young U.S. wild cards opened eyes here, winning their first two main-draw matches. One was Blake, recovering from a lingering knee injury. The other two -- Steve Johnson and Mallory Burdette -- went all in for college. The increasing physicality of the game demands that players be stronger and fitter. As a result, players are succeeding at older ages than ever before.
A college education is always a good investment, but even budding professional tennis players are now seeing an immediate return.
Johnson, a 6-foot-2, 190-pounder from Orange, Calif., led USC to four consecutive NCAA titles. The two-time singles champion won his last 72 collegiate matches but found the transition to the professional game a bit jarring.
He lost his first ATP-level match against Steve Darcis in San Jose in straight sets. His first victory came against Donald Young -- we'll examine Young's decision a little later on -- but Johnson was 1-4 when he decided to skip qualifying in Cincinnati in lieu of a softer, gentler Challenger in Aptos, Calif. Johnson blew through the field (the highest-ranked opponent was No. 150 Dmitry Tursunov) and won the title.
"I felt a little more pressure because I had come off a great college season and I hadn't lost in a while," Johnson said. "I just didn't feel comfortable with the surroundings. I had a nice week to train back at home. I think everything worked out pretty well."
He brought that confidence to New York. After beating fellow American Rajeev Ram, Johnson stunned Ernests Gulbis in the second round.
This was roughly the trajectory that Burdette followed into the third round, beating Timea Bacsinszky and Lucie Hradecka to get there. Still affected by a violent stomach virus, she eventually lost to No. 3 seed Maria Sharapova 6-1, 6-1.
Mallory Burdette maintains college prepared her for life on the tennis tour. Al Bello/Getty Images
In her previous news conferences, Burdette had always qualified her responses about returning to Stanford for her senior year. Would she have considered immediately turning pro if she had beaten Sharapova?
"Possibly," she said carefully. "I'll sit down with my parents in a few days and talk about what I'm going to do going forward."
There were rumors on the college circuit Tuesday that Burdette is going to forgo her senior year.
College, Burdette said, taught her to manage her time -- and people, too.
"As a captain, I was managing classes, teammates, myself," she said. "It gives you a great preparation for the pro tour; teaches you to juggle a lot of different things. Your focus for each one has to be intense.
"You practice from 2:30-5, work out from 5-6 -- and that's just tennis. You have no choice but to get everything done."
Her first year was a huge learning experience, she said. There was the inevitable Freshman 15 and never enough sleep.
"The next year I took better care of myself," Burdette said. "I got more rest because I was more organized. You know, not waiting to the last minute and staying up all night to write a paper."
The best example of the long-term benefits of accepting a scholarship and playing four years of college ball is John Isner. A four-time All American, he played at Georgia and carried the Bulldogs to the NCAA title in 2007, the same year he reached the singles final.
He turned pro that year, at the age of 22.
"Without college I wouldn't be here today," he said emphatically. "I can say that with 100 percent certainty. I wasn't nearly good enough to go pro after high school. I didn't even have pro aspirations.
"I got so much better at Georgia. Once I did get so much better, I realized I could maybe play professional tennis. For me it was the right decision. I had to go there. But everybody's different."
Which brings us back to Donald Young.
Born in Chicago in 1989 to tennis teaching professionals, Young was a certifiable phenom, at age 16 becoming the first American to win the Australian Open junior title and finish the year at No. 1 since Roddick in 2000. He won Wimbledon juniors in 2007 -- three years after he turned pro.
Young never developed the tools to fully succeed on the ATP World Tour. By all accounts, he didn't practice hard or long enough to hone his physical and mental stamina. He finished the 2007 season ranked among the top 100 but spent the next three years on the outside -- formative years when many kids are in college.
In 2011, though, with a more professional attitude, he rose to a career high of No. 31. This year, after beating Grigor Dimitrov in the first round at Memphis in February, Young managed to lose 17 consecutive matches over a numbing six-month period.
"The game is more physical," Isner said. "The average age of the top 100 is 26. It's not how it used to be in the '80s and '90s where you would have 19-year-olds, 20-year-olds inside the top 10 in the world. It doesn't happen like that now.
Ryan Harrison has been dubbed one of the next budding stars. Would he have made faster progress if he'd gone to college? Elsa/Getty Images
"In my opinion, it takes longer for guys to develop. Look at Mardy Fish. He's playing his best tennis and he's 30. A guy like [Janko] Tipsarevic is playing his best tennis at 27. The game has gotten more physical and more mature, for sure."
Ryan Harrison, a 20-year-old native Louisianan who passed on college, is considered the young American with the best chance to become a top-10 player. Jack Sock, a 19-year-old from Lincoln, Neb., has promise, too. He won two main-draw matches here and, in the third, pushed No. 11 seed Nicolas Almagro into three tiebreakers but lost in four sets.
"Even through junior year, senior year of high school, I always thought college is what I was going to do," Sock said. "I was really looking forward to playing on a team, having teammates, enjoying that experience.
"But I felt I was ready. Just made the decision to turn pro. Just still getting used to the traveling and playing week after week."
Raymond feels strongly that every young player thinking about turning professional should experience at least one year of college. After all, it got her enshrined in the University of Florida sports hall of fame; she's officially a "Gator Great."
"Even one year," Raymond insisted, "goes a long way. It teaches you independence and how to organize your time. There are so many benefits; I can't begin to count them." |
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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.
*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.
Thank you for supporting the journalism that our community needs!
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.
Thank you for supporting the journalism that our community needs!
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Can youth, after absorbing negative feedback from parents, teachers and friends about the suitability of entering the trades, be persuaded skilled trades careers are a viable option?
But there is another element that needs to be considered.
And while the consequences of skills shortages and mismatches are a serious problem for both business and Canada's economic interests, those same businesses as well as politicians are focusing on finding solutions only within their control, such as supports for the apprenticeship system and employers who actively develop skills in their employees.
Ottawa -- Employers in the skilled trades across Canada are reporting they face difficulties finding people with the skills required for their businesses. Yet, according to our research, only about 19 per cent of those same skilled trades employers are actually training tomorrow's journeypersons.
Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 23/10/2013 (1951 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.
Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 23/10/2013 (1951 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.
Ottawa — Employers in the skilled trades across Canada are reporting they face difficulties finding people with the skills required for their businesses. Yet, according to our research, only about 19 per cent of those same skilled trades employers are actually training tomorrow's journeypersons.
And while the consequences of skills shortages and mismatches are a serious problem for both business and Canada's economic interests, those same businesses as well as politicians are focusing on finding solutions only within their control, such as supports for the apprenticeship system and employers who actively develop skills in their employees.
But there is another element that needs to be considered.
Can youth, after absorbing negative feedback from parents, teachers and friends about the suitability of entering the trades, be persuaded skilled trades careers are a viable option?
A good place to start changing that negative perception would be to increase the emphasis on hands-on learning during secondary school. How many students today are encouraged to pick up a hammer, install baseboard (a true test of three-dimensional problem-solving) or change a tire? Mechanical skill is rarely developed sitting at a desk. Many students are still directed away from those rare, magical classrooms that smell like wood or engine oil or food — usually by adults who truly believe working with your hands is an option of last resort. Students need to see daily examples of the trades in action to give them tangible proof of the opportunities that could be awaiting them.
One of the most interesting discussions I hear in the apprenticeship community revolves around the age young people start to think about their career decision choices. Embedded in those choices are their perceptions and understanding about what it means to be a skilled tradesperson.
In a recent national survey of more than 870 students, my organization captured a snapshot of the skilled trades from the perspective of today's 13-to-17-year-olds. When compared with a similar survey in 2004, youth in 2013 are more open to considering a career in the trades and a vast majority say they believe being a plumber, welder, electrician or auto mechanic are valued on par with being a lawyer, doctor or accountant.
In their comments, students expressed the value of hands-on learning, the importance of doing work you enjoy and respect for the contribution of tradespeople. This is good news for employers ready, willing and able to train an apprentice.
However, while young people may be willing to consider a career in the trades, their parents, guidance counsellors and friends are not supportive. Comments from students indicate those with the greatest influence on their career choices don't value apprenticeship the same way they do a university education. As a result, university remains the first-choice destination after high school.
The survey raised a number of other red flags. Roughly a quarter of survey respondents said the trades offer better opportunity to men than women, reflecting a stereotype that persists decades after women have proven they too excel in male-dominated fields. Today's youth are also less likely to agree the skilled trades will always be in demand, which tells us they don't put much faith in the ever-changing job market or in the promise of a job.
Our findings suggest business and governments have a long way to go to solve skills shortages in Canada. The implications for public policy are significant because, while we need university-educated workers, we equally require people able to build, operate and maintain Canada's infrastructure. Canada needs doctors and millwrights, teachers and boilermakers because they all play a significant and valued part in the economy.
But while youth appear to be accepting the skill trades as a career choice, the challenge lies in changing both the public's perception and for the job market to keep up.
Sarah Watts-Rynard is the executive director of the Canadian Apprenticeship Forum, a non-profit organization that connects Canada's apprenticeship community.
— troymedia.com |
The multitude of labels on food packaging can wrong-foot even the most health conscious consumers. Keen to increase your fibre intake? You might think cereal labeled "high fibre" will do the trick, but how much salt and sugar are you pouring into your breakfast bowl, too? You might opt for "lite" crisps believing they are low in fat, but they could contain more calories than the standard version of another brand.
EC regulations have changed in recent years to stop food manufacturers making wild health claims on packaging, but some experts believe consumers are still being misled. Professor Mike Rayner, an expert in population health at Oxford University, says the EU has “failed miserably” to come up with a labeling system to help consumers make healthy choices. He would like to see packaging carry a nutrition profile, such as the system used in Australia, which rates a food’s overall healthiness on a scale from ½ a star to 5 stars, with high-starred foods considered the better nutritional choice.
“Labeling and health claims on packaging are not good guides to healthiness,” Professor Rayner says. “If the packet says the product is high in fibre or contains whole grains or has added vitamins and minerals, that doesn’t really mean anything, because the product might also contain high levels of salt or sugar or saturated fat. These terms create a halo effect around products to make them appear healthy when they might not be. “ He added that many food manufacturers opted not to use traffic light labels that indicate low, medium or high amounts of fat, saturated fat, sugars and salt.
Charlotte Stirling-Reed, a registered nutritionist and media expert with the Nutrition Society, urges consumers to avoid packaged food when possible or else read nutrition labels carefully – not the front of packets – before buying. “Most food packages are misleading. As consumers, we often want to believe that if something is making a health claim or even that its images denote health, it’s going to be good for us,” she says. “It's hard to understand that some of these 'healthy options' are nothing but very clever marketing. It's so important to look beyond the front of packet and check out what's actually in the ingredients list before making the final decision.”
• How to kick the sugar habit
The guide below will give you the full picture behind common food labels.
The claim: Light or lite
The truth: must contain 30 per cent less fat or calories than the standard version, but does not mean the product is low fat or healthy. For example, ‘light/lite’ crisps can contain the same amount of fat or calories as the standard version of another brand. A product light on fat can also be heavy on calories by way of added sugar.
The claim: Low-fat
The truth: must contain less than 3g of fat per 100g for food or 1.5g of fat per 100ml for drinks. But this does not mean the product is healthy or low-calorie. Many low fat foods and drinks are loaded with added sugar and can be high in calories.
A low-fat yoghurt might be high in calories (ALAMY)
The claim: No added sugar
The truth: must have no sugar or sweetener added, but does not mean the product is low in sugar or sugar-free. The product could contain natural sugars, such as those found in dairy and fruit, in which case the label should state ‘contains naturally occurring sugars’. These products are often high in fat and/or calories.
The claim: Fat-free
The truth: must contain less than 0.5g fat per 100g, but again, this does not mean the product is healthy or low-calorie. The claim sometimes appears on products that do not contain fat anyway, such as sweets, and can disguise high levels of unhealthy ingredients such as sugar. Nutritionists point out that fat-free is not necessarily desirable anyway, as good fats are essential in a balanced diet.
The sugar content of 'healthy' supermarket products |
Jermain Defoe has admitted that leaving West Ham in 2003 was "a massive, massive mistake".
The Tottenham striker, who coincidentally happens to be searching for a new club having fallen down the pecking order at White Hart Lane told a TV programme that the manner in which he left the Boleyn Ground was the result of bad advice from his agent at the time.
"It was a massive mistake. I didnt really want to do it," he told ITV4's Sports Life Stories. "Were talking about leaving the club I was in love with at the time because I came through the youth system with my friends, the fans loved me there. They were brilliant - every game they sang my name.
"The person who represented me at the time said, 'You need to hand in a transfer request and get in early because all the lads are going to leave.' I remember going in and I was so nervous. It was (Chief Executive) Paul Aldridge and I gave him the letter and he said, 'Whats this?' I said, 'Its a transfer request'. And he looked at me as if to say, 'Are you kidding?'
"The backlash was crazy. I felt like I was on my own and people were absolutely abusing me. To this day I can imagine West Ham fans look at me and think, 'Who does he think he is? How can you do that? Youre a Judas'. And its quite sad really because I can honestly say I still love that club."
Defoe's transfer request, which was handed in less than 24 hours after West Ham were relegated from the Premier League read: "I am very ambitious and hungry to achieve at the highest levels of the game for both club and country.
"The club staff and especially the fans are very dear to me and have been unbelievable in the early part of my career. It will always be a special place for me to play."
Defoe previously apologised for the manner in which he left the club seven years ago, when he stated, 'I was young, badly advised and made a mistake. I didn't have enough experience to deal with what I was being told'.
* Sports Life Stories featuring Jermain Defoe may be seen on ITV4 at 10pm tonight [Tuesday]. |
BIG Changes Underway At Cleveland Golf
Written By: Tony Covey
The Future of Cleveland Golf
Perhaps you haven’t noticed, but big changes are underway at Cleveland Golf. For those who haven’t been paying attention, Cleveland and its parent company SRI Sports (Srixon) have been dropping breadcrumbs for the better of the season. We touched upon the trail briefly in our lead-in to the Tour Rack Wedge giveaway, but for the sake of clarity, let me briefly walk you down the path of recent history.
Cleveland kicks off the MY CUSTOM WEDGE Program
Cleveland release super game-improvement Smart Sole wedges
Cleveland develops a video series with short game tips from Dave Pelz
Cleveland hosts short game clinics all over the country
Cleveland launches Limited Edition Tour Rack Wedge program
Srixon makes its most aggressive US launch ever with Z F 545 and 745 Irons and metalwoods
What does this all mean?
Do you notice a trend?
Let me spell it out for you. There’s a new plan underway at SRI Sports. While Cleveland isn’t completely going away, the brand’s role in the larger company will be significantly diminished. The Srixon brand will seek to make inroads into the US Market with its own metalwood and iron offerings, while the Cleveland brand will be used for short game clubs, as well as ultralight and game-improvement models (the Altitude series) most specifically designed for seniors. As it was explained to us, Cleveland’s new target market for all things not wedge is The Villages.
Outside of Florida’s friendliest hometown, Cleveland, it appears, is all but exiting the larger iron and metalwoods markets.
Allow me to reiterate. If what closely connected sources are telling us is accurate (and we think it it is) Cleveland Golf will no longer produce drivers, fairway woods, hybrids, or irons for the full market. Instead, it will focus its efforts on wedges, and a niche segments of the metalwoods and irons market.
No doubt some of you are saddened by that news.
Rumors Swirling for Years
Over the last several years, there isn’t another golf company on the planet that’s been the subject of more rumors than Cleveland Golf. Here’s just a quick sample of what’s come up this year alone:
Under Armour wants into the club market. It’s buying Cleveland.
Go Daddy founder, Bob Parsons, he’s buying Cleveland too.
Nobody is buying Cleveland because the company is going out of business.
Callaway Golf is buying Cleveland just so Roger Cleveland can put his name on a wedge again.
I totally made-up that last one, but those first ones, and a few others continue to circulate.
The reality as we understand it today is that Cleveland Golf isn’t going away. It’s not even being sold. Sources I’ve spoken with tell me that Cleveland’s parent company – Japan’s Sumitomo Rubber Industries (the SRI in SRI Sports and SRIxon) actually likes being in the golf business. SRI wants to stay in the golf business.
Srixon Matters
On this side of the world Srixon is certainly better known for its golf balls than its clubs, but elsewhere in the world, Japan to be totally specific, Srixon is the #1 selling hard goods company in the market. Basically Srixon kills it over there, which is pretty damn impressive considering that Japan has the second largest golf market on the planet. The US and Japanese markets combined (according to Golf Datatech) make up 70% of the total worldwide market for golf.
Basically, Japan matters…a lot. Srixon is big in Japan. Therefore Srixon matters.
I just got 5 points on a 4th grade logic test.
Why Is This Happening?
Like just about everything else in the golf business, change is necessitated by the bottom line. Whatever you may think about Cleveland, the brand and its products, the fact is that the company’s market share in the iron and metalwoods categories has steadily declined over the last several seasons. We know there are plenty of you out there who love your Cleveland clubs (the Launcher driver comes up quite a bit), but one could make a reasonably compelling argument that Cleveland has failed to generate any real excitement since the Hi-Bore came out.
In that lies the problem.
According to the most recent Golf Datatech reports, Cleveland’s share of the metalwoods market has dropped to 1%. That means that 99 of every 100 dollars spent on woods goes to someone else. The iron business isn’t doing much better. That same report shows Cleveland with a 1.67% share of the market.
Obviously, that’s not where Cleveland once was, and it’s certainly not where it wants to be.
Wedges? Well, as you might imagine given the company’s position as one of the iconic wedge makers in the game, Cleveland does significantly better there. The recent report has them at 21% of the market (trailing only Vokey at ~40%).
The bottom line is that wedges are the last true bright spot in the Cleveland club lineup (and even there, Cleveland is down 7% from last season), so it makes sense for SRI to do whatever it can to focus the Cleveland brand on what’s still working.
The upside for Cleveland fans is that the company apparently has plans to substantially expand its wedge lineup. In addition to the multiple loft and bounce options currently available, Cleveland will finally offer multiple different grinds as well.
Can Srixon Make It In the USA?
Once upon a time Srixon golf balls were little more than a curiosity with a funny name. Over time the brand has grown to a point of respectability within the US Market, although (in the interest of painting a complete picture), the brand currently ranks only #6 on Datatech’s golf ball market share report. The point is that while many US-based golfers might be familiar with the name, it would be a stretch to say that we’ve completely embraced it.
That said, Srixon’s percentage of the ball market is higher than Cleveland’s in both the the iron and metalwoods market (combined), and the brand does have a strong overseas presence, which, if leveraged correctly could have some impact on our market.
The bigger issue is distribution. As it stands now, other than the ball shelf, it’s difficult to find Srixon products anywhere. As big box shops like Dick’s downsize the golf business while other seek to eliminate outstanding inventory, getting shop managers to buy into a largely unknown brand that doesn’t currently even register in Datatech’s numbers won’t be easy. Srixon is currently included in other.
Srixon makes clubs? That will be asked, and asked often.
It’s more difficult for a new brand to make inroads into golf, and while Srixon isn’t exactly new, its less of a known commodity than Bridgestone, who will also be making a big push in 2015. Quite frankly, I don’t
But Wait, There’s More
As you might imagine, the realignment will have some implications on tour as well. While we fully expect current Cleveland staffers to keep their Cleveland gear in their bag as long as they so desire, as soon as each is ready, the Tour guys will bag Srixon woods and irons. Srixon name will eventually be the primary branding for all things tour related (other than wedges). We also expect SRI Sports will launch a marketing campaign designed to raise awareness of the brand’s usage on tour.
You’re likely going to hear a lot more about Srixon.
As an interesting aside to all of this, SRI Sports will look to expand the footprint of the lesser known XXIO brand (SRI’s premium offering). Although US distribution is currently limited to less than 2 dozen accounts nationwide, the brand has generated roughly one million in sales this year. This, despite wholesale pricing for irons and woods that’s roughly double the street price for the average club.
And So It Continues
We’ve talked several times about the ongoing consolidation of the golf industry, and so here’s your latest example. Once one of the most iconic brands in the golf business, Cleveland’s days as a full line manufacturer appear to be over. Srixon will step in to fill the void while attempting a serious run at the US Market.
Given the changes, it’s not unrealistic to think that we’re on the verge of losing another of golf’s formerly great brands. The pink elephant in the room, however, is the slow demise of Adam’s Golf. The shifting of operations to TaylorMade’s Carlsbad headquarters has many predicting that it won’t be long before Adams simply ceases to exist. If those doom and gloom predictions become reality it could conceivably open the door for Cleveland to gain a foothold in those areas where the Adams brand performs well (seniors and game-improvement).
You could make a serious argument that the demise of Adams represents Cleveland’s best chance for survival.
The impending changes are perhaps sad. They’re perhaps frustrating, and some will argue that the modern business of golf made it impossible for Cleveland to compete. Ultimately, like everything else, it is what it is.
Stay Tuned
Unfortunately, we don’t believe the industry is done realigning and downsizing. There’s almost certainly more yet to come. |
About This Game
FEATURES:
Over 150 non-Linear missions in 9 campaigns and a high-action Skirmish Mode
Aggressive and intelligent computer-controlled opponents - a true challenge
Over 100 different units and structures
Easy-to-use map editor for creating own missions and campaigns
At least hundreds of hours Single player action and endless Multiplayer fun
Over 50 Multiplayer maps for LAN, Internet and EarthNet
Unmatched battle variety: build fortified bases, blitz the air, storm with armor, engage with naval units, even dig tunnels for surprise attacks.
EARTH 2150: ESCAPE FROM THE BLUE PLANET
EARTH 2150: THE MOON PROJECT
EARTH 2150: LOST SOULS
Your heroes and your armies will need strong leadership to take them on a spellbinding odyssey that has everything a gamer’s heart could wish for breathtaking worlds in space, battles against cunning enemies and even downright treason from your own government faction - are you up to it?Accept the challenge…let this gripping EARTH 2150 RTS trilogy thrust you into the far future… and YOU will decide the fate of the universe!The Trilogy includesandThe 21st century was supposed to herald the dawn of a new age. The wars, famines and suffering of the last 20 millennia were to become a distant, fading memory, as scientific advances brought global peace and prosperity. Toward the end of the 20th century, a now forgotten US president even went so far as to officially proclaim the arrival of a New World Order, in which right, not might, would govern international relations. This bright future was not to be. First came a meltdown of the international stock and currency exchanges. Then the major international conglomerates were dissolved in a vain attempt to stop the fiscal hemorrhage. By 2012 the world economy had collapsed. Poverty and hunger caused social and political tensions to flare. As the crisis wore on, few were bold or naive enough to predict anything positive for the future. Most realized that the planet was on the verge of global conflict.In 2048, the anticipated global conflict broke out with a violence that shook the planet to its core. All major centralized governments were destroyed in the maelstrom. Europe and Eastern Asia bore the brunt of the devastation, as entire urban centres, from Madrid to Moscow and from Seoul to Singapore were literally wiped off the map.The human race has always been known for its resiliency. Within a dozen years, the Earth's inhabitants had begun to restore their old nationalities - with a few twists. Twelve states of the former United States joined together to form a new country, called the United Civilized States. The UCS citizens had essentially given up their old roles as producers and leaders. Nearly all work was being performed by robots which are controlled by expert computer systems. Not surprisingly, the human inhabitants of the UCS had become lazy and decadent.The 20th-century dream for a better world had ended in death and destruction.The year 2150 … one of the blackest chapters in the history of mankind. While the Lunar Corporation, Eurasian Dynasty and the United Civilized States are preparing themselves for the last all-encompassing battle, work is being feverishly carried out on a secret project on the Moon. Only the code name of this project is known ………… "SUNLIGHT"It is the 7th of December 2150 – in a few hours our beloved planet Earth will no longer exist.Devastating wars between the Eurasian Dynasty and the United Civilized States have wreaked havoc and caused mortal wounds to our planet, but that is not all, a series of nuclear explosions close to the Antarctic had changed the Earth’s orbit around the sun, glaciers melted, the sea rose to a threatening level, and meteorite showers buried whole parts of the world. Famous scientists from the Lunar corporation, a long forgotten colony on the moon first recognized the signs of the imminent catastrophe. According to their calculations the distance between the sun and earth would decrease in the next few years by 17%, which would lead to terrible consequences.The only hope left for the population was the escape to the red planet Mars. Hurry up, cause time is ticking away.... |
The red Ford Expedition mounted the sidewalk along DeKalb Avenue in Fort Greene, Brooklyn, on Saturday afternoon not once, but twice.
The first time, it narrowly missed two people at the southwest corner of Clermont Avenue, crashing into a parked car, jumping the curb and hitting another vehicle, the police said.
But the second time, pedestrians along the busy Brooklyn thoroughfare were not so lucky: The S.U.V. struck and killed a 9-year-old boy, Lucian Merryweather, who was with his mother on the northeast corner. His 5-year-old brother and a woman who had been in the crosswalk were hurt.
At first glance, the crash seemed likely to attract attention but unlikely to result in criminal charges. The driver, Anthony Byrd, 59, of Clinton Hill, remained at the scene and was not intoxicated, the police said. |
Why A Leading Gun Activist Frequents Extremist Conspiracy Shows GOA's Pratt: I'll Talk To "Anyone That Will Let Us Have Their Microphone" May 30, 2013 12:26 PM EDT ››› Blog ›››››› JOE STRUPP
Gun Owners of America Execuive Director Larry Pratt is happy to appear on talk shows hosted by conspiracy theorists who believe 9/11 was an inside job, think white Christians should arm themselves for the coming race war, or want to shoot Hillary Clinton in the vagina. Pratt told Media Matters in a lengthy interview this week that outlandish, discredited claims by the likes of talk show hosts Alex Jones and Pete Santelli do not bother him as long as his interviewer "has an audience and he provides a microphone for us to reach that audience." "As long as I have a chance to present what Gun Owners of America is doing ... ideally seek support for Gun Owners of America, get [people] on our alert list, receive the alerts, then that's all good," Pratt said. In the interview, Pratt also defended conspiratorial claims he had made on extremist programs, including his suggestion that the government might have been involved in the 2012 mass shooting at a movie theater in Aurora, Colorado. Pratt's organization has become an important player in the gun debate, with The New York Times in April heralding their role as an "increasingly potent group" that was "emerging as an influential force" over then-pending Senate gun legislation. This high-profile role has come in spite of Pratt's long record of extremism. As Media Matters has documented, discredited conspiracies and outlandish and offensive statements are the stock-in-trade of several radio talk show hosts whose regular guests have included Pratt, as well as gun advocates Ted Nugent and former NRA President David Keene. Among the radio shows that Pratt has frequented are those hosted by Jones, Santelli, and Stan Solomon and Gary Franchi. Solomon, a race-baiting host who is convinced a war between a "black force" and a "white resistance" is set to break out at any moment, also believes the December 2012 mass shooting at the Sandy Hook elementary school was a "programmed event" designed to help pass gun legislation. Franchi is an avid conspirator who drew unwanted attention when NBC News highlighted his history of promoting conspiracy theories, including his extensive involvement in the "9-11 truth" movement and his belief that the government is secretly building FEMA concentration camps to round up American citizens. Jones believes the government actively carried out or was otherwise involved in the 9-11 attacks, the Space Shuttle Columbia disaster, the Oklahoma City bombing, and the mass shooting in Newtown. (He also recently suggested a government "weather weapon" could possibly have created the devastating tornado in Oklahoma.) Santelli in recent weeks has been in the news for repeatedly expressing his desire to shoot Hillary Clinton "in the vagina" over her supposed treasonous acts. Asked if he agrees with these hosts or finds any problem with their views, Pratt stated, "If they will provide an audience, we're happy to speak to their audience."
He compared his appearances on those shows with his organization's work in 2011 with the American Civil Liberties Union to oppose a South Dakota statute that barred legal permanent residents from carrying a concealed weapon, saying that while those groups had differences on other issues, "when there are areas that we can agree, we work together."
Pratt dismissed the idea that appearing on conspiracy shows hurts his image and credibility or that of GOA.
"I don't think it hurts us anymore than it did when we participated in news conferences with the ACLU," he said. "It brings forward the interests that gun owners have in a particular issue, that's what's involved."
Pratt said he has not been aware of all of the hosts' outlandish stances, but added that they do not upset him.
"They don't bring [conspiracies] up, so it is kind of news to me," he said about choosing to go on the shows, adding that a booking agency finds the talk show options for him. "I recognize Franchi's name, I had no idea that he was into any of the conspiracy theories, but so be it."
Stressing that he simply wants a place to push his agenda, Pratt added, "I'm glad to talk to his audience, hopefully we'll get some members as a result of it."
Pratt recalls turning down only one talk show because during his last appearance the host would not let him speak. He said he could not remember the person's name, only that he was a "rabid guy that I told them never to book me on again."
But Pratt has appeared on plenty of other shows and in many cases either agreed with a controversial or outrageous comment or declined to criticize it.
Asked about being on Santelli's show after the host made the comment about shooting Hillary Clinton, Pratt said, "That's not the way we talk, that's not called for as far as we're concerned."
But he said it would not keep him from returning.
"If we can reach out to people and get them to become members of Gun Owners of America and part of our grass-roots lobbying effort, that's where we're going, that's what we're after."
While Pratt insists that he's simply there for the microphone and professes ignorance about the conspiratorial nature of some of the programs, he's participated in the conspiracies during his interviews.
During a January appearance on Solomon's show, the host said that people need guns because "black Muslim atheist have-nots" are planning to attack "Christian heterosexual haves." At the time, Pratt replied that Solomon's claim wasn't a stretch. Asked by Media Matters if he really believed that, Pratt recycled a false claim about President Obama.
"The president had talked in his '08 campaign about a civilian defense force that would have equal strength to the military and frankly I think he has achieved that with the Department of Homeland Security, which now has 100,000 armed agents," Pratt said. "If that's a correct figure, which I had read, that means that that's more than just TSA because most TSA agents are not armed."
Pratt appeared to be referring to Obama's promise in 2008 to expand the Foreign Service, AmeriCorps, and the Peace Corps, a statement over which many on the right have fearmongered.
Asked about how this equates to the Muslim army Solomon had warned against, Pratt said, "It means that it's a lot of unconstitutional concentration of power and that is very concerning and we do have a president who seems to follow the Alinskyite principles of division of setting one group against another."
Pratt also defended his July 2012 comment to Jones that the Aurora movie theater shooting may have been planned by the government, saying that he did not have any proof, but also would not rule it out. Pratt had told Jones that while he thought that "the evil of the human heart is sufficient to account for somebody that wants to go and shoot people at random," nonetheless "we have to admit that maybe this is something that our government is capable of."
"I said 'we don't know, there hasn't been any definitive [proof],'" he told Media Matters. "But I don't think it's necessary to go after some idea that the government is involved, you've got enough people in this country that are not well put together, that are full of hate, you don't need to involve the government, I don't think."
He later backed away more from his July 2012 comments, saying, "I would be open to anybody bringing the information, but certainly no suggestion of that at this time."
Pratt excuses his conduct during interviews with conspiracy theorists, saying that he is not on the shows to challenge the hosts, just to advance GOA's positions.
"I don't go on these shows to take these guys on, I go on to talk about gun owners and wouldn't it have been better to have somebody in the theater that could have shot back?" he said. "That's where I think the conversation needs to go and where typically I would head the conversation."
The GOA executive director is not worried about being judged by the company he keeps.
"People are going to do that anyway, especially you on the left," said Pratt. "You're making that connection and that is not what we're all about, we're all about the right to keep and bear arms."
Pratt says he has no intention of changing his guidelines for appearing on talk shows, saying that he will continue to appear with "Anyone that will let us have their microphone." |
DHS Boss, In Charge Of Cybersecurity, Doesn't Use Email Or Any Online Services
from the that-would-be-a-problem dept
Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano, who is a key player in national cybersecurity efforts, said on Friday she doesn't use e-mail.
"Don't laugh, but I just don't use e-mail at all," she said during a discussion at a Cybersecurity Summit hosted by National Journal and Government Executive. She didn't explain what communications tools she does use.
President Obama, who appointed Napolitano, broke precedent by carrying his own BlackBerry device. But in response to a question about her personal cybersecurity practices, Napolitano said she avoids many online services. "I don't have any of my own accounts. Some would call me a Luddite," she said.
We've talked in the past about the problematic efforts to push for new cybersecurity regulations, especially when little to nothing has been done to show the actual problem. There has been quite a turf war over who would "own" cybersecurity within the federal government, with some wanting to give it to the Defense Department, where the NSA would control it (along with all your info), and others wanting to give it to the Department of Homeland Security. While neither option is ideal, DHS is clearly the lesser of two evils should it come to pass. It makes much more sense for this issue to be in the hands of a civilian organization rather than a military one -- especially a military one with a horrible track record when it comes to privacy. That said, it's tough to be enthusiastic about DHS either, given the various problems and abuses we've seen in that Department as well. Making matters even worse, it appears that the DHS boss, Janet Napolitano, who would effectively be in charge of cybersecurity, doesn't know much (if anything) about the internet, and seems rather proud of that fact, referring to herself as a Luddite I don't think anyone should be laughing, but perhaps they should be very, very worried. Or, perhaps they should be asking why she's in that job when she doesn't seem to have the necessary experience. If it does come to pass that DHS gets control over new cybersecurity efforts, this seems like a good reason to find someone else who actually has some grasp on what it is that they're regulating.
Filed Under: cybersecurity, dhs, email, homeland security, janet napolitano, luddite, online services |
A drone has been donated to the city of Birmingham for use in public safety emergencies like the massive snowstorms of January 2014.
"We could have launched it from the back of a patrol SUV and flown the interstates in sections," Birmingham 911 Director Greg Silas told Birmingham City Council members at a November committee meeting. "It has a lot of uses. I think you'll see this in the future."
The drone will be available to the Birmingham Police Department, the Birmingham Fire and Rescue Service and the Jefferson County Emergency Management Agency.
The donor, Dawson Lee Williams, will also pay for six people to undergo the necessary training to fly and operate the drone.
The city council on Tuesday approved a resolution to accept the donation of the DJI Phantom Inspire Drone, two controllers, two iPad minis, four batteries to power the drone, a camera and a case for storing the drone and its accessories.
In his presentation to the public safety committee, Silas said the donor simply enjoys being able to help others. He decided to donate the drone after witnessing several disasters in Alabama and realizing how helpful it would be for surveying damage and searching for missing people.
Using a drone is preferable to a helicopter, which can't get as close and is extremely expensive. Current regulations require the drone to remain in the operator's line of sight, Silas said.
Officials also plan to use it to help other cities throughout the region during emergencies. |
Britons are among the least likely in the world to say religion is important to them, a new survey reveals.
Just 30 per cent of British people agree that religion or faith is significant for them, compared to 53 per cent globally.
The UK is joined at the bottom of the table with notoriously secular countries such as Sweden on 29 per cent, Belgium on 27 per cent and Japan down at 22 per cent.
Pixabay
The poll also said Britons were among the least likely to say they were interested in spirituality.
It highlighted that only 40 per cent of Britons said they were interested in having a more spiritual dimension to their lives with only Poland, Belgium, Germany, Sweden and Japan having a lower rate of interest.
The findings from Ipsos-Mori's global trends survey highlight a growing pessimism about the future despite rapid economic growth.
Ipsos MORI The survey revealed Brits were among the least likely to say they were interested in having a spiritual dimension to their lives.
Chief executive of Ipsos Mori's Ben Page says: 'What this latest Global Trends survey should remind us is that despite increasing longevity, rising incomes in emerging markets, more connectivity, computing power and storage than we could ever have imagined, the human condition is one of anxiety and striving for more.
'There is a growing gulf between the generations in terms of opportunities, there is a sense of pessimism about the future in western Europe and there are increasing demands on our time leading to a battle for attention.'
Britons are particularly gloomy, the poll also reveals, with just eight per cent thinking their healthcare will improve in the coming years.
The results were compiled after online surveys with 18,180 people aged 16-64 in 23 countries in September and October last year. |
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How weird, weird, weird is the Iraq-Syria civil war? Well, consider this: not only is the United States increasingly involved in military support to Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki and his Shiite-sectarian government, but it finds itself in direct military alliance not only with Iran but with Syria, too. Ad Policy
Unlike the United States, which supports the Baghdad government against the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria in Iraq but supports ISIS’ allies in the rebellion against Syria’s Bashar al-Assad, Iran strongly backs both Maliki and Assad. Now Syria, which is battling not only ISIS but other Islamist fanatics in Syria who have US and Saudi support, is intervening militarily in Iraq in support of Maliki! According to the Associated Press:
A US official says there are indications Syria launched airstrikes into western Iraq yesterday to slow the al-Qaida-inspired insurgency fighting both the Syrian and Iraqi governments.… The US official said the strikes appear to be the work of the Assad government but offered no other details.
Meanwhile, The New York Times today carries an extensive account of Iran’s military support for the government of Iraq, including massive arms shipments, surveillance drones and military advisers:
Iran is directing surveillance drones over Iraq from an airfield in Baghdad and is secretly supplying Iraq with tons of military equipment, supplies and other assistance, American officials said. Tehran has also deployed an intelligence unit there to intercept communications, the officials said.
Rather hilariously, the Times quotes that noted geopolitical strategist, Sen. Saxby Chambliss (R-GA) saying, “The Iranians are playing in a big way in Iraq.” Well, duh, senator: Iran has been active in Iraqi politics, military affairs, economics and intelligence since long before the US invasion of Iraq in 2003, when the United States topped Iran’s chief enemy and handed Iraq over to the control of Shiite groups closely affiliated with Iran since the 1980s.
Running the show in Iraq for Iran is General Qassem Soleimani, who leads the Quds Force of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, its foreign intelligence arm. Soleimani is the coordinator of Iranian support for both Syria and Iraq against ISIS as well as against other Sunni-led forces supported by Saudi Arabia. And, according to the Times, Soleimani is less willing than some of Iran’s political leaders to cooperate with the United States. Indeed, those who believe that the United States can work with Iran in Iraq while opposing Iran in Syria ought to have their heads examined. The Iraq-Syria crisis is now a single war, and one can’t end without the other. That means that Washington has to sit down with Tehran to discuss Iraq and Syria simultaneously. And since the United States isn’t part of the neighborhood, Iran’s interests in the region—in having a nonthreatening, Iran-leaning government in Iraq and an ally in Syria that can work with the pro-Iranian Hezbollah in Lebanon—are paramount. Long distance, there’s not a lot that the United States can do about any of this, other than to seek a diplomatic accord among Iran, Saudi Arabia and Turkey that takes into account all three countries’ strategic needs.
Inside Iraq, a new political coalition could conceivably emerge to replace Maliki with a broader, more unifying government that could appeal to Shiites, Sunnis and Kurds. But it’s hard to see that happening until the various parties test the limits of what they can win on the ground. The ISIS forces are every day getting more support from Sunni tribal military councils and the Baath party, especially in the battle for control of Iraq’s main oil refinery/power plant complex, while Maliki is falling back on Iranian support and on uncontrollable Shiite militias, including forces led by firebrand cleric Muqtada al-Sadr. Meanwhile, the greedy Kurds—taking advantage of Baghdad’s weakness—have seized control of Kirkuk and no doubt plan further expansionism on the way to their imagined, but impossible, “independent Kurdistan.” (It’s sad to see The Nation publishing outright Kurdish propaganda, too.)
As long as Iraqi factions believe that they can win by fighting, the war will go on. In the end, perhaps some accord can be reached by which Iraq holds together, but that will depend on serious outreach by Baghdad to Sunnis (including the Baath party) and Kurds. |
Unable to make the digital media dollars add up to their liking, Viacom will remove “The Daily Show with Jon Stewart,” “The Colbert Report” and other Comedy Central television shows from Hulu next week.
Although the companies said Tuesday evening that they were parting amicably, the decision represents the first major fracture between television show owners and the wildly popular video Web site.
Viacom’s decision is a serious loss for Hulu — this week “The Daily Show” is listed as the third most-watched TV show on the site — and it is a reminder that content owners can control just how much video — or how little — is placed online for all to view. At the moment, that spigot is being tightened, in part to protect the industry’s primary revenue stream, cable and satellite distribution.
However, the severing of ties with Hulu does not represent a strategic shift for Viacom. Comedy Central will continue to stream full episodes of the shows on TheDailyShow.com and ColbertNation.com, respectively.
Viacom’s Comedy Central channel reached a programming agreement with Hulu in mid-2008 that placed “The Daily Show,” “The Colbert Report” and a sampling of other shows on the service.
“In the past 21 months, we’ve had very strong results for both Hulu and Comedy Central, in terms of the views and revenue we’ve generated,” said Andy Forssell, senior vice president of content and distribution for Hulu, in a blog post Tuesday evening.
Mr. Forssell said that Hulu’s viewers had been “extremely vocal and passionate” about “The Daily Show” and “The Colbert Report.”
In a message that seemed written specifically for Comedy Central, he said that Hulu had “driven steadily increasing revenue per view” for the shows “as advertisers voted with their budgets to take advantage of innovative ad formats and very strong advertising effectiveness.”
“After a series of discussions with the team at Comedy Central, though, we ultimately were unable to secure the rights to extend these shows for a much longer period of time,” he said in the blog post.
Hulu said it was talking to Comedy Central about “a number of opportunities,” and said viewers should “stay tuned.”
TV episodes and individual films regularly rotate on and off of Hulu, in accordance with the site’s agreements with the content providers. The site’s candor is impressive; it explains the limits placed on each show, and episodes and clips are marked with icons that indicate their expiration dates. But the removal of entire shows is unusual, especially one as popular as “The Daily Show.”
The three-year-old Hulu dominates the burgeoning market for online TV viewing, with more than 44 million monthly visitors, according to ComScore. The site’s monthly video view totals have skyrocketed in recent months, from 580 million last September to 1.01 billion last December.
Three of the broadcast networks, ABC, NBC and Fox, own stakes in Hulu. Viacom’s decision may suggest that the economics of Hulu make less sense for content providers that lack equity in the Web site.
“We tried to reach a deal; we got close; we continued to talk even over the weekend. But we could not agree on a price,” said a person involved in the Viacom negotiations who requested anonymity because the process was conducted in private.
The companies declined to say what prices were discussed. Hulu’s deals with content owners revolve around an advertising revenue split; the owners typically receive 50 to 70 percent of the revenue, and Hulu keeps the rest, according to industry executives. Because “The Daily Show” and “The Colbert Report” are so popular on the service, Viacom may have insisted on an upfront payment as well, although representatives for the companies would not confirm this.
“There have certainly been instances where there was a premium paid for what you might call the ‘halo effect,’ ” the person involved in the negotiations said. In Hulu’s case, the “halo effect” would be the users who come for Mr. Stewart’s jokes and stay to watch other shows.
A Comedy Central spokesman declined to say whether the channel would strike a distribution deal with one of Hulu’s competitors.
In a statement, the channel said:
Comedy Central has made “The Daily Show with Jon Stewart” and “The Colbert Report” available to consumers through Hulu since June 2008. Although that agreement has concluded, full-length episodes of each show will remain available at TheDailyShow.com and ColbertNation.com, respectively. Hulu was one of the many digital distribution partners we’ve worked with over the past few years to add new outlets for our valuable and powerful content and to help drive the businesses of our partners. We had a great experience with Hulu, and we hope to work with its team again in the future.
Hulu users who have added “The Daily Show” and “The Colbert Report” to their queue will be informed of their removal later today, a spokeswoman said. |
An election victory by Robert Mugabe and his party usually means trouble for opposition supporters in Zimbabwe, especially those living in remote rural areas.
Following results of the July 31 disputed polls that saw Mr. Mugabe and his Zanu PF party shock the opposition with a two-thirds majority, a long-running tradition of post-election violence has returned.
International human rights group Amnesty International raised the first alarm last week, after some villagers, most of them women, were forced to flee their homes in Mashonaland Central Province, following alleged retributive violence from Mugabe supporters.
More and more villagers in rural Mashonaland, along with Zimbabweans in the capital, Harare, have been internally displaced on accusations that they either supported or voted for challenger Morgan Tsvangirai and his opposition MDC party.
Mugabe and his allies accuse the opposition of being "Western puppets," created to effect an "illegal" change of regime in the landlocked southern African nation, a charge denied by Mr. Tsvangirai.
The MDC said this week that hundreds of its supporters were facing intimidation and torture, while others had been displaced after the polls. Tsvangirai last week launched a court challenge to have the election nullified and a fresh one announced in 90 days,
The allegations of intimidation have been confirmed by Amnesty International and other human rights groups inside and outside the country.
“Women political activists in rural Zimbabwe told Amnesty they had been threatened with violence and forced to flee with their children for refusing to reveal their vote to supporters of Robert Mugabe's party during harmonized elections," said Noel Kututwa, Amnesty International’s deputy director for Africa.
The women allegedly resisted instructions from Zanu PF members to feign illiteracy, blindness, or physical injury, which would have allowed someone else to mark the ballots on their behalf. The Zimbabwe Election Commission, the official body, last week said that more than 200,000 civilians had been “assisted” in casting their ballot, implying it was irregular.
At least six women, accompanied by more than a dozen children, said they were forced to leave their homes after facing intimidation from village heads in Mukumbura district, Mashonaland Central Province, soon after the July 31 poll.
Mugabe supporters apparently wanted to ensure these women did not vote for the other parties and tried to compromise the secrecy of the ballot, said the Amnesty official.
The numbers of “assisted” votes were significant in rural areas for reasons that included illiteracy even though Zimbabwe has a literacy rate above 90 percent, the highest level in Africa.
Numerous families in the Mukumbura district are living under threats of violence. Cases of threats are reported in the Mberengwa and the Midlands regions; the latter area is where an MDC political candidate was forced to flee her home with three children last weekend.
Violence and intimidation have been reported even in constituencies where Mugabe won the elections, as the party made sure it "converts" all opposition supporters.
More threats have been reported in the Midlands, where Emmerson Mnangagwa, one of Mugabe's possible successors, won an election for the first time in three tries.
“MDC officials and perceived supporters of our party are being visited during the night and threatened, being accused of being sellouts," said Fransisco Masendeke, the MDC's deputy chair for Midlands South.
That area saw considerable violence in the runup to the presidential election re-run of 2008, when Zanu (PF) terrorized suspected MDC supporters by amputating their hands. This has hardly been forgotten. Victims were asked if they preferred a “long sleeve” – an amputation from the shoulder – or a “short sleeve,” a wrist amputation.
Amnesty had challenged the Zimbabwean police to guarantee the safety of political activists in rural areas following increased reports of politically motivated displacements.
Such calls have failed to solicit a positive response from the Zimbabwe Republic Police, whose commissioner-general, Augustine Chihuri, publicly proclaimed his support for Mugabe and his party. The police are also accused of playing a part in the violence.
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Bishop Paul Verryn, who assists more than 2500 Zimbabwean refugees at the Central Methodist Church in Johannesburg, reported an increased number of new arrivals before and after the vote.
"More and more people are coming here and they say they are running away from violence," said Mr. Verryn. |
A COUPLE lost more than £30,000 after the solicitors’ firm they hired to sell their holiday home was duped by an online fraudster, in what is believed to be the first case of its kind in Scotland.
Alan and Lizanne Richards, from Dunblane, say they are furious that the firm has never apologised or reimbursed them since mistakenly transferring the profits from the sale of their two-bedroom property in Pittenweem harbour into the scammer’s bank account in July last year.
Exactly £30,366.65 was stolen when the fraudster hacked into online correspondence between the Richards and their solicitor at the Glasgow branch of Wright, Johnston & Mackenzie (WJM), before duplicating the couple’s email to request that the firm pay the funds to a new sort code and account number. It turned out to belong to a bank account in Birmingham.
Mr Richards, who owns a window-making factory in East Kilbride, said the couple are “at the end of our tether” trying to recoup the lost cash.
He said: “From the minute it happened, they’ve never spoken to us since. Not one member of that organisation has been on the phone to apologise. They could just say ‘we’re sorry and we’ll do everything we can to help you get the money back’.
“But nothing – not a jot. It just beggars belief.”
The businessman said plans to use the money to buy a new property in Dunblane or a student flat for their son were now “out the window”.
Despite the error, the firm collected its fee of £1,261 for the sale.
Mr Richards, 57, added: “They were in charge of our money, we never got it – and they got paid for it anyway.”
An initial investigation by the Scottish Legal Complaints Commission has also infuriated the couple.
The agency concluded in April that the firm was not at fault because “nothing in the content, email address or sender of the emails would, on the face of it, have caused the solicitor to have concern that the email was not genuine”.
The couple are seeking a review of the decision. Mrs Richards, 51, said: “It’s left me feeling very vulnerable. You feel like you’ve been burgled, but nobody has been in your house – it’s virtual.”
She has had to take medication for depression and anxiety and admits that some days the stress of the situation means she cannot get out of bed.
“We can’t afford to lose that kind of money. I try not to think about the amount,” she said.
The type of hoax, which has been nicknamed “Friday afternoon fraud”, is already known to have cost law firms in England and Wales some £85 million over the past 18 months.
According to the Law Society of Scotland, such cases count as negligence and would be covered by insurance.
However, similar cases in England have seen homeowners spending months fighting for compensation because legal firms refuse to accept liability for the hoax.
Murdo Fraser, MSP for Perthshire and a former solicitor, said the case had “quite severe implications” for the public.
Mr Fraser said: “If you can hand over large sums of money to a professional who then pays it to the wrong account and you have no comeback, that just seems extraordinary to me.
“Your heart goes out to the Richards, who are entirely innocent in all this.
“It just seems very odd that the solicitors’ response seems to be to wash their hands of the situation and refuse to take any responsibility.
“I think there’s a huge moral imperative on the solicitors to settle.”
A spokesman for WJM said: “This matter is currently under consideration by the Scottish Legal Complaints Commission so we are unable to comment specifically on the allegations.
“Any complaint is treated extremely seriously and is thoroughly investigated, with measures taken to address any shortcomings or failings discovered.
“WJM has rigorous IT standards in place which are audited by independent specialists for protecting our clients’ assets and follows best practice policies and guidelines.
“We are constantly reviewing those policies and guidelines to protect our clients’ assets from increasingly sophisticated scams.” |
Photo: Lynda Bowyer
Over 800 Stonewall supporters recently took to the streets of Brighton for the charity’s tenth annual Equality Walk. The annual fundraiser – supported by American Express and Square Peg Media – made over £65,000. Stonewall will use the funds to support its new DVD film for primary schools, FREE, which will help strengthen the charity’s campaign against homophobic bullying.
Zoe Lyons hosted this year’s walk and was joined for a picnic in the Royal Pavilion Gardens by hundreds of families and fundraising teams. MPs John Bercow, Caroline Lucas and Simon Kirby, and the Mayor of Brighton & Hove Bill Randall, also attended the 10k walk, which ended at sea-front bar Coalition. There Zoe congratulated the top fundraising team (PwC, who made nearly £2,700) and the best individual fundraiser, Jason Sloan, who made over £1,000 and won a weekend in Paris courtesy of American Express.
Stonewall Head of Education Wes Streeting said: ‘We’re truly bowled over by how hard our 800 walkers worked to raise such a huge sum for our anti-bullying work. While we all enjoyed the sunshine, we always keep in mind the fact that over half of gay young people in Britain face a gloomy nightmare of homophobic bullying at school. Every penny raised this weekend will help us make sure those young people can look forward to better days.’
Stonewall’s new DVD for primary schools, FREE, will help teachers tackle homophobia, which is one of the most common causes of bullying in primary schools. The film follows the success of the charity’s popular secondary school film FIT, which was distributed to every secondary school in Britain. Playwright Rikki Beadle-Blair produced FIT and has returned to work on Free, which is currently in production and will be released later this year.
For more information about FREE visit www.stonewall.org.uk/free
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Excerpt: 'Predictably Irrational'
So we live in two worlds: one characterized by social exchanges and the other characterized by market exchanges. And we apply different norms to these two kinds of relationships. Moreover, introducing market norms into social exchanges, as we have seen, violates the social norms and hurts the relationships. Once this type of mistake has been committed, recovering a social relationship is difficult. Once you've offered to pay for the delightful Thanksgiving dinner, your mother-in-law will remember the incident for years to come. And if you've ever offered a potential romantic partner the chance to cut to the chase, split the cost of the courting process, and simply go to bed, the odds are that you will have wrecked the romance forever.
My good friends Uri Gneezy (a professor at the University of California at San Diego) and Aldo Rustichini (a professor at the University of Minnesota) provided a very clever test of the long-term effects of a switch from social to market norms. A few years ago, they studied a day care center in Israel to determine whether imposing a fine on parents who arrived late to pick up their children was a useful deterrent. Uri and Aldo concluded that the fine didn't work well, and in fact it had long-term negative effects. Why? Before the fine was introduced, the teachers and parents had a social contract, with social norms about being late. Thus, if parents were late — as they occasionally were — they felt guilty about it — and their guilt compelled them to be more prompt in picking up their kids in the future. (In Israel, guilt seems to be an effective way to get compliance.) But once the fine was imposed, the day care center had inadvertently replaced the social norms with market norms. Now that the parents were paying for their tardiness, they interpreted the situation in terms of market norms. In other words, since they were being fined, they could decide for themselves whether to be late or not, and they frequently chose to be late. Needless to say, this was not what the day care center intended.
But the real story only started here. The most interesting part occurred a few weeks later, when the day care center removed the fine. Now the center was back to the social norm. Would the parents also return to the social norm? Would their guilt return as well? Not at all. Once the fine was removed, the behavior of the parents didn't change. They continued to pick up their kids late. In fact, when the fine was removed, there was a slight increase in the number of tardy pickups (after all, both the social norms and the fine had been removed).
This experiment illustrates an unfortunate fact: when a social norm collides with a market norm, the social norm goes away for a long time. In other words, social relationships are not easy to reestablish. Once the bloom is off the rose — once a social norm is trumped by a market norm — it will rarely return.
The fact that we live in both the social world and the market world has many implications for our personal lives. From time to time, we all need someone to help us move something, or to watch our kids for a few hours, or to take in our mail when we're out of town. What's the best way to motivate our friends and neighbors to help us? Would cash do it — a gift, perhaps? How much? Or nothing at all? This social dance, as I'm sure you know, isn't easy to figure out — especially when there's a risk of pushing a relationship into the realm of a market exchange.
Here are some answers. Asking a friend to help move a large piece of furniture or a few boxes is fine. But asking a friend to help move a lot of boxes or furniture is not — especially if the friend is working side by side with movers who are getting paid for the same task. In this case, your friend might begin to feel that he's being used. Similarly, asking your neighbor (who happens to be a lawyer) to bring in your mail while you're on vacation is fine. But asking him to spend the same amount of time preparing a rental contract for you — free — is not.
Excerpted from Predictably Irrational by Dan Ariely. (c) Copyright 2008 by Dan Ariely. Reprinted with permission of HarperCollins Publishers. All rights reserved. |
Image caption Microsoft's blog shows how Windows RT computer designs have evolved from an early prototype
Microsoft has revealed five manufacturers will offer Windows RT PCs after the operating system launches.
It said Samsung, Dell and Lenovo would sell PCs powered by the software, adding to previous announcements about Asus and Microsoft itself.
Windows RT is designed to work on chips based on British firm ARM's designs.
It is the first version of Microsoft's flagship system made for consumer devices not powered by the x86 chip architectures used by Intel and AMD.
Windows RT devices will become available on 26 October alongside the release of other Windows 8 products.
But unlike the other versions of the system it will not be offered as a stand-alone purchase, and can only be obtained by buying one of the computers it is installed upon.
Publicising partnerships
Microsoft's announcement in June that it would offer its own Windows RT tablet - Surface - had led to speculation that the firm's relationship with other manufacturers could become strained.
The company acknowledged the risk in a filing with US regulators saying: "Our Surface devices will compete with products made by our OEM [original equipment manufacturer] partners, which may affect their commitment to our platform."
But in a blog post announcing the names of the device makers Microsoft was keen to stress the importance of its partnerships.
"Our engineering collaboration on these Windows RT PCs has been strong, collaborating with the PC manufacturers, silicon partners, and operators to focus on hardware, software and services integration," wrote Windows chief Steven Sinofsky.
"Product designs were informed and revised by our collective efforts through development and testing."
Acer has said it intended to release Windows RT devices next year.
But Toshiba said it wanted to "monitor market conditions" before making a decision, while Hewlett Packard said it wanted to focus on x86-based alternatives for the time being.
Image caption Windows RT will only offer users Microsoft's new touchscreen interface
Gaming controversy
Windows RT devices will offer full access to the system's touchscreen interface - previously known as Metro - but will not run third-party apps when switched to desktop mode.
They are likely to be marketed as offering extended battery life and the ability to turn on in less than a second from standby mode.
Microsoft has also signalled that its own Windows RT tablets would be cheaper and thinner than its Intel-based ones.
However, the company's decision to limit Windows RT devices to installing software from its store - which is not the case for other Windows 8 computers - has attracted criticism.
The move replicates a similar restriction imposed by Apple on its ARM-based iPads, but has still been attacked by video games developers who are unhappy that Microsoft will take a 30% cut of sales.
Gabe Newell, chief executive of Valve, which makes the Half Life and Portal series, branded it a "catastrophe".
An executive from Blizzard, the firm behind World of Warcraft, said the move was "not awesome", while indie developer Stardock's founder has said Microsoft was pursuing a "wrongheaded approach". |
http://m.bismarcktribune.com/news/local/crime-and-courts/last-minute-trial-cancellations-corner-protesters/article_16a3f452-a394-5d05-b880-a7a7ea64f633.html
Jeffrey Hush, a Dakota Access Pipeline opponent arrested during a protest in October, was headed back to North Dakota this week.
He was to face trial on charges of criminal trespass and engaging in a riot on Friday. Hush charged two plane tickets — one for himself and one for a friend to serve as his witness — from Middletown, Conn., to Bismarck.
“I was told I could count on trial, so I could buy the plane tickets,” Hush said.
Come Tuesday, the prosecutor called to tell his attorney that he would be cancelling the trial, dismissing these charges and re-filing new ones later. Unless Hush wanted to take a plea bargain.
Week by week, the Morton County State’s Attorney’s office has dismissed cases such as Hush’s, which arose from a mass arrest on Oct. 22, when 126 protesters were jailed during a demonstration against the Dakota Access Pipeline.
So far, 34 cases have been dismissed, just days before trial was scheduled, according to Sandra Freeman, criminal case coordinator for the Water Protector Legal Collective.
The situation has put some protesters in a bind.
Hush, a movement therapist who qualified for a public defender, said he can hardly afford to pay for the non-refundable plane tickets he bought. And he does not think he could buy tickets for another trial.
“Essentially, they’re trying to force me to plea bargain,” said Hush, who maintains his innocence.
Defense attorneys involved in these cases said prosecutors are offering protesters a deal in which they can plead guilty to a Class B misdemeanor, with a penalty of no jail time and forfeited bond money, or they can wait to be re-charged with another crime.
“The state’s attorney has been candid,” Freeman said. “This person can plead to a charge we cannot prove or we will dismiss the charge we cannot prove and we will file a new charge and get an arrest warrant on the eve of trial.”
Two phone messages and an email message left for Brian Grosinger, the prosecutor handling the cases, were not returned on Wednesday.
The prosecutors have been dismissing the charges, because they were unable, in several instances, to prove criminal trespass cases at trial. A judge found repeatedly that protesters were not given proper notice that they were trespassing.
On Oct. 22, about 200 protesters walked through private property to a pipeline construction site where several people had attached themselves to equipment. They were intercepted by police, who surrounded the group and arrested them. Authorities said, at the time, that protesters tried to breach a police line and turned pepper spray on an officer. Hush said people were leaving during the arrest, and he did not know the land was private.
Freeman said that, so far, three people arrested on Oct. 22 have taken up the state on its plea offer. Three people failed to appear, and bench warrants have been issued for them, she said.
It’s not clear yet what crime Hush would face if re-charged. On cases from Oct. 10, the prosecutor has re-charged at least eight people with obstruction of a government function, a Class B misdemeanor, according to court records. No one has yet been re-charged from the Oct. 22 date, Freeman said.
Reach Caroline Grueskin at 701-250-8225 or at [email protected] |
Questions over supply remain and there is no doubt Apple ’s new iPhones are already proving immensely popular. But two problems have been discovered which may cause owners of the iPhone 7 to regret their purchase...
#1: Goodbye Sapphire?
The first concern comes courtesy of popular YouTube channel JerryRigEverything. The famously diligent test site ran the iPhone 7 through the durability tests and claims Apple has ditched its premium sapphire glass from both the new home button and the camera lens:
The revelation comes after JerryRigEverything used hardness picks to determine the makeup of both surfaces on the Mohs’ scale of mineral hardness. Previously his tests on the iPhone 6S confirmed the presence of sapphire, but this time both the new home button and larger camera of the iPhone 7 scratched easily using picks that do not damage sapphire.
He concludes: “we know for sure that it is regular glass and not sapphire.”
And here’s where it gets interesting, because Apple still advertises that both the iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus as using sapphire (which is considerably more expensive than toughened glass) on the home button and camera lens. Given the new iPhones are marketed as more durable than ever this would be a major let down. I have put these claims to Apple and will update when/if the company responds.
Note: As JerryRigEverything has not tested the iPhone 7 Plus we cannot make assumptions here. Being the more expensive model, it’s possible sapphire is still used there.
#2: New Home Button, New Limitations
The controversies around the new home button continue as well following a discovery by Myke Hurley, eagle eyed founder of RelayFM, who spotted the button only responds to capacitive touch not pressure.
This means the button will not react should you be wearing standard gloves since there is no response anymore to physical movement. As he points out, if you want to test this for yourself then put some material (such as your shirt/t-shirt) over the button and try pressing.
That’s right, you get nothing. Hardly ideal when winter and you need to wear gloves.
There are a couple of ways around this. Firstly you can invest in ‘touchscreen gloves’ which use conductive thread to transfer the mild electrical charge in your skin to which capacitive touchscreens respond (note that’s a bogus claim that these don’t work, but I’ve tried two pairs and they do).
Secondly you can setup AssistiveTouch, though that's primarily used for when an old physical home button is broken outside warranty. Feel free to insert your joke of choice here.
Designed By Apple - For Apple?
All of which leaves me in two minds about the iPhone 7’s biggest external changes and who they really help the most.
For example, the new home button kills a weak spot in iPhone design for Apple as the old physical button was notorious for going wrong - it saves on warranty claims. But the taptic engine required to simulate physical movement uses all the space vacated by the headphone jack (as the photo from iFixit illustrates below).
I’m not convinced many users would consider this the best way to utilise the additional space the headphone jack used. Personally a far bigger battery would’ve been top of my list.
Then there are little cost cutting omissions. If sapphire has indeed been dropped from the iPhone 7 then that is a notable one (sapphire is 5-10x more expensive than toughened glass). Meanwhile there are little packaging shortcuts such as the removal of the earphone case. Instead earphones with the iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus are just wrapped around a piece of card.
This despite the fact iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus prices were increased compared to the iPhone 6S and iPhone 6S Plus in every country.
Yes there are good surprises in the new iPhones as well (most notably in the iPhone 7 Plus) but if you didn’t buy an iPhone 7 just yet, waiting a little longer for some answers is probably a good idea…
___
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Despite narrowly losing out to Hillary Clinton in last week's Nevada Caucuses, US Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders is gaining ground on his rival in several key US states. Sanders, an outsider for the Democrat nomination for president, is pressing his establishment opponent hard, managing to close what was a 25-point deficit in the southern state of Nevada to take 47% of the vote.
And while according to all the polls in South Carolina, the next state to weigh in on the presidential race on 27 February, Sanders faces near-certain defeat, his campaign is being bouyed by strong predictions in several other major swing states.
Prior to the Iowa caucus which fired the starting gun on the race, Sanders was down by as much as 28 points in the key state of Colorado – but after unexpectedly strong showings in each of the three states to vote so far, the Vermont senator seems now to be leading by six, according to numbers in the Washington Free Beacon. He is leading with under-30s by a whopping 46 points, and with Hispanics by three. Colorado votes on 1 March.
In Massachusetts, Sanders is ahead of Clinton by seven points, according to a PPP poll conducted between this month, which again marks a significant rise from earlier surveys, which had him behind by between 25-34 points. And in his home state of Vermont, the same poll has him ahead by the trivial matter of 76 percentage points.
It's not all smooth sailing for veteran social democrat, however. While he passed Clinton in a national poll for Fox News for the first time, he is struggling to win over the black vote, which he'll need if he is to win over a number of other states.
"According to the entrance poll in Nevada, Clinton won black voters 76% to 22%," said Harry Enten of US polling prediction site fivethirtyeight.com. "To put that in context, Clinton's margin is only slightly smaller than Barack Obama's 83% to 14% win with black voters in 2008."
He added: "Many of the upcoming primaries will feature a much higher percentage of black voters than Nevada did. While only 13% of Nevada caucus-goers in 2016 were black, their share in South Carolina will be much higher (55% of South Carolina Democratic primary voters were black in 2008). That's why Clinton is up by 25 percentage points in the South Carolina polls."
More voters wanted
Sanders himself blamed a lower voter turnout than he had wanted.
On the US political show Meet The Press, he said: "We will do well when young people, when working-class people come out. We do not do well when the voter turnout is not large. We did not do as good a job as I had wanted to bring out a large turnout."
The next stop in the Democrat campaign is the South Carolina Primary on Thursday. |
Some 150 years ago, Alexis de Tocqueville wrote: “The greatness of America lies not in being more enlightened than any other nation, but rather in her ability to repair her faults.”
Today, America’s financial well-being is threatened by its continued reliance on an antiquated regimen of tax laws and regulations to generate the revenue needed to support our government’s spending priorities.
Many of these provisions served their purposes well when enacted and implemented. For most, that time has passed.
The House Committee on Ways and Means recently examined itemized deductions for charitable contributions as part of its tax reform deliberations.
Some will applaud the committee for focusing on a high-visibility deduction such as charitable giving. We at Americans For Fair Taxation feel strongly that by looking at single provisions of the tax code, the committee is effectively abdicating its responsibility to analyze and critique the current tax code as a whole to determine whether it is the right tool to vouchsafe America’s economic viability in the 21st century.
Instead, we urge the committee to discard this aging taxation infrastructure and replace it with the FairTax plan, an approach without the revenue-depleting deductions and exemptions that are relevant to the economic needs of our nation today.
I can already hear the tsunami of lobbyists talking about how any tax code changes will forever destroy their particular special interests.
Since Americans For Fair Taxation did not testify during the committee’s hearings earlier this year, I would like to provide the committee with an additional perspective from someone with considerable experience in charitable giving.
The Giving USA Foundation announced in its Annual Report on Philanthropy for 2012 that total charitable contributions by individuals, corporations and foundations had reached $298 billion in 2011, down from a record high in 2007.
“Experts” will postulate that any modification that reduces the taxpayer’s charitable deduction and captures more revenue will discourage philanthropy by diminishing a donor’s incentive to give. This is a myth that must not be perpetuated.
People give because they believe in what an organization does — with or without a tax incentive. In fact, two-thirds of all taxpayers never submit an itemized tax return, yet they still regularly donate to their favorite charities.
But for donors who do itemize, the incentive does impact their total contribution depending on whether they are using pre- or post-tax dollars.
Let’s look at someone who has a fixed charitable contributions budget of $1 million. Under the current tax system, if the intended charity has tax-deductible status, e.g. a 501(c)(3), they will receive the donor’s entire $1 million contribution.
If, however, the organization does not have tax-deductible status, e.g. a 501(c)(4), the federal government will first take $400,000 in income taxes from the donor, thereby reducing the donor’s available contribution dollars to just $600,000.
In both examples, the donor allocated $1 million for a charitable donation, but in the latter case, the charity was shortchanged $400,000 because of the current income tax code. Therein lies the problem.
What the committee is failing to take into account is the considerable financial shortfall the broader income tax code is causing charitable organizations across this great nation.
Under the FairTax plan, there are no tax deductions, exemptions or exclusions. By concurrently eliminating the income/payroll tax system and replacing it with a single rate tax on consumption, the FairTax plan effectively taxes wealth and borrowing when spent.
As a result, that same donor who allocated $1 million for charitable giving has all of the money the donor earned — in this case, $1 million — available for donation to any charitable organization. And the organization will receive the entire $1 million donation.
The 113th Congress has the chance to provide the leadership that seems to have been missing in the eyes of the overwhelming majority of Americans — Democrats, Republicans and Independents alike.
Instead of conducting a mind-numbing, piecemeal examination of a tax system that has consistently proven its ineffectiveness, it is time for congressional decision makers to cease renovating a broken infrastructure and instead rebuild it. It is time for FairTax.
Robert McNair is co-founder of Americans For Fair Taxation and chairman and CEO of the Houston Texans. |
The most common type of hospital-associated infection may be preventable with a vaccine, new research in mice suggests.
The experimental vaccine, developed by researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, prevented urinary tract infections associated with catheters, the tubes used in hospitals and other care facilities to drain urine from a patient’s bladder.
Each day a catheter is present in the urethra and the bladder, the risk of urinary tract infection increases. Nearly every patient who has a catheter for more than 30 days acquires a urinary tract infection. The infections make urination painful and can damage the bladder. If untreated, bacteria can cross into the bloodstream and cause sepsis, a potentially life-threatening complication.
“Catheter-associated urinary tract infections are very common,” said first author Ana Lidia Flores-Mireles, PhD, a postdoctoral research associate at the School of Medicine. “Antibiotic resistance is increasing rapidly in the bacteria that cause these infections, so developing new treatments is a priority.”
The study is available online Sept. 17 in Science Translational Medicine.
Manufacturers typically coat catheters with antibiotics to reduce the risk of infection. But Flores-Mireles and her colleagues in the laboratory of Scott Hultgren, PhD, showed that inserting catheters into the bladder provokes an inflammatory response that results in the catheter being covered with fibrinogen, a blood-clotting protein.
Fibrinogen shields bacteria from the antibiotics and provides bacteria with a landing pad to adhere to and food to consume as they establish an infection, the research revealed.
“The bacteria use long, thin hairs known as pili to anchor themselves to the fibrinogen, and then they can start to form biofilms, which are slimy coatings on the surface of the catheter composed of many bacteria,” said co-author Michael Caparon Jr., PhD, professor of molecular microbiology. “The biofilms protect the bacteria from antibiotics and immune cells, further prevent them from being washed from the body by the flow of urine, and make it possible for bacteria to seed the lining of the bladder with infections.”
The urethra and bladder of a mouse are too small to insert a full catheter into, but the scientists showed that surgically implanting a small segment of catheter into the bladder via the urethra increased vulnerability to infection in a similar fashion.
Working with Enterococcus faecalis, a common cause of catheter-associated urinary tract infections, Flores-Mireles showed that a protein on the end of the pili, EbpA, binds to fibrinogen and makes it possible for the bacteria to begin forming biofilms.
When Flores-Mireles prevented the bacteria from making EbpA, they couldn’t start infections.
“This protein is like the anchor of a boat,” she said. “Without the anchor, the infection is at the mercy of the waves and gets washed away.”
Next, the researchers injected the mice with a vaccine containing EbpA. The vaccine caused the animal’s immune systems to produce antibodies that blocked EbpA and stopped the infectious process.
The scientists are testing to see if the vaccine helps mice clear established infections of E. faecalis. They also are working to develop a monoclonal antibody that blocks EbpA to prevent catheter-associated infections in the urinary tract and elsewhere in the body.
“We took a closer look at this protein and found that one-half of it is essential for binding to fibrinogen to induce infections,” Flores-Mireles said. “The segment of genetic code that makes this part of the protein is also found in the genes of many other bacteria that cause urinary tract infections, so a vaccine, antibody or drug that blocks this part of the protein may help prevent other infections linked to catheters in the urinary tract and in other parts of the body.”
The research was based at Washington University’s Center for Women’s Infectious Disease Research, which is directed by Hultgren, the Helen L. Stoever Professor of Molecular Microbiology.
This work was supported by a Berg-Morse Postdoctoral Fellowship and National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases grants R01-DK051406 and P50-DK0645400 from the National Institutes of Health (NIH).
Flores-Mireles AL, Pinkner JS, Caparon MG, Hultgren SJ. EbpA vaccine antibodies block binding of Enterococcus faecalis to fibrinogen to prevent catheter-associated baldder infection in mice. Science Translational Medicine, online Sept. 17. |
In late 2006, the writer John Green came up with the idea of communicating with his brother, Hank, for a year solely through videos posted to YouTube. The project wasn’t quite as extreme as it sounds. John, who was then twenty-nine, and Hank, who was three years younger, saw each other about once a year, at their parents’ house, and they typically went several years between phone calls. They communicated mainly through instant messaging. Hank was living in Missoula, where he’d started a Web site about green technology. John was living on the Upper West Side while his wife, Sarah Urist Green, completed a graduate degree in art history at Columbia. He had published two young-adult novels, “Looking for Alaska,” in 2005, and “An Abundance of Katherines,” in 2006, and was working on a third. Like the best realistic Y.A. books, and like “The Catcher in the Rye”—a novel that today would almost certainly be marketed as Y.A.—Green’s books were narrated in a clever, confiding voice. His protagonists were sweetly intellectual teen-age boys smitten with complicated, charismatic girls. Although the books were funny, their story lines propelled by spontaneous road trips and outrageous pranks, they displayed a youthfully insatiable appetite for big questions: What is an honorable life? How do we wrest meaning from the unexpected death of someone close to us? What do we do when we realize that we’re not as special as we thought we were? Green was more forgiving toward adults than Salinger was, but he shared Salinger’s conviction that they underestimate the emotional depth of adolescents. Green told me, “I love the intensity teen-agers bring not just to first love but also to the first time you’re grappling with grief, at least as a sovereign being—the first time you’re taking on why people suffer and whether there’s meaning in life, and whether meaning is constructed or derived. Teen-agers feel that what you conclude about those questions is going to matter. And they’re dead right. It matters for adults, too, but we’ve almost taken too much power away from ourselves. We don’t acknowledge on a daily basis how much it matters.” Y.A. novels are peculiarly well suited to consideration of ethical matters. It seems natural when a high schooler like Miles Halter, of “Looking for Alaska,” is depicted struggling to write essays on topics like “What is the most important question human beings must answer?” Miles is equally preoccupied with girls and with collecting the dying words of famous people. (His favorite: Rabelais’s “I go to seek a Great Perhaps.”) Though “Looking for Alaska” sold modestly, it won the Michael L. Printz Award, the American Library Association’s honor for best Y.A. book of the year. At the time, Green was living in Chicago, working at the association’s magazine, Booklist, where he had reviewed books in a peculiar constellation of subjects: conjoined twins, boxing, and theology. Upon graduating from Kenyon College, in 2000, Green had thought of going to divinity school, and he worked for six months as an apprentice chaplain at a children’s hospital in Columbus. He found the experience almost too sad to bear, and decided that such a life was not for him. Still, he remained deeply interested in spiritual matters, with one exception: “Is there a God?” struck him as “one of the least interesting questions.” After “Alaska” won the prize, Green quit his day job. He got more writing done, but he missed the intellectual camaraderie that he’d always had with his peers. The YouTube project was, in part, an attempt to fill that void. (It was also a smart marketing stunt, though Green could not have predicted how smart.) Hank had reservations about becoming the repository for John’s excess energy. He told me, “I found John exciting and smart and interesting but also a little dramatic. He gets frustrated easily. He’s anxious. Hypochondriacal.” At the same time, he said, “John, for me, has always been the baseline of what was cool and valuable and important. If he liked a band, I’d buy all of their CDs and memorize them and become a bigger fan than he ever was.” In 2006, YouTube was entering its second year, and people were starting to post video diaries, which, in their more theatrical moments, looked like performance art staged in somebody’s basement. John Green was a fan of several such series, especially “The Show with Zefrank,” which enlisted viewers in quirky projects, such as dressing up their vacuum cleaners as people. Hank shared John’s enthusiasm for these experiments, and it trumped any hesitations that he had. “We really believed in the importance of online video as a cultural form,” Hank said. The Greens started posting videos several times a week, under the name the Vlogbrothers. The project was less a conversation than an extended form of parallel play. They shared personal stories—John confessed that the only sports trophy he ever got was made by his parents, and bore the inscription “All-Star in Our Hearts”—but mainly they exchanged ideas. The brothers had signature preoccupations, which they discussed with excitable urgency, talking into the camera at tremendous speed. John discussed books, existential anxiety, and pizza; Hank was into science, math, and corn dogs. John invented a highly undignified “happy dance”; Hank wrote and performed songs, many of them about Harry Potter. The tone of their monologues ranged from goofily informative (how giraffes have sex) to wonkish (“Why Are American Health-Care Costs So High?”). Many posts dispensed adult wisdom, but in a reassuringly modern way. In a post advising boys on how to charm a girl, John jokingly said, “Become a puppy. A kitten would also be acceptable or, possibly, a sneezy panda”—an allusion to a popular clip on YouTube. But he also said, “If you can, see girls as, like, people, instead of pathways to kissing and/or salvation.” The Greens’ vlogs were filled with in-jokes and code words that rewarded dedicated viewing. “D.F.T.B.A.” stood for “Don’t Forget to Be Awesome,” and John referred to his wife as “the Yeti,” because she was much talked about but—by her choice—never seen on camera. When a brother broke a rule that they’d established, such as posting a video longer than four minutes, the other brother could impose a punishment. Hank once had to spend fifteen consecutive hours in a Target; John had to eat a generous helping of “slobber carrots.” (His toddler, Henry, provided the slobber.) In February, 2007, John was stuck at the Savannah airport, and he spotted an arcade game called Aero Fighters. He initially misread the name as “Nerdfighters,” and later, in a video, he started riffing: what if Nerdfighters were a real game? As he put it, “The band geek would be, like, ‘I will destroy your ears with my tuba!’ And the theatre guy would be, like, ‘I am an expert at sword fighting!’ And the English nerd would be, like, ‘Hmm, I know a lot of Shakespeare quotes!’ ” Why did people still pick on nerds, anyway? Who did the popular guys have on their side—George W. Bush and Tom Brady? Green declared, “I raise you an Abraham Lincoln and a Franklin Delano Roosevelt and . . . an Isaac Newton, a William Shakespeare, a Blaise Pascal, an Albert Einstein, an Immanuel Kant, an Aristotle, a Jane Austen, a Bill Gates, a Mahatma Gandhi, a Nelson Mandela, and all four Beatles. We win.” Fans loved the term “nerdfighter” and started using it to identify themselves. Initially, Green talked about nerdfighters with a hostile edge: they stood against the popular people. But the word soon took on a more celebratory, inclusive cast. Nerdfighters weren’t against anything; they were simply proud to immerse themselves in interests that others might find geeky or arcane. Indeed, the nerdfighter community is strikingly civil and constructive for an Internet subculture. Through an annual charity event, the Project for Awesome, nerdfighters have raised hundreds of thousands of dollars for one another’s favorite causes. Their comment sections, on YouTube and elsewhere, are filled with earnest suggestions for further reading and mock complaints that Green has made them care about a distant war that they’d been ignoring. Rosianna Halse Rojas, a pioneering nerdfighter, recalls the moment the concept caught on. “It was like the formation of a nation,” she told me. “Only we weren’t fighting anybody to do it.”
On June 6th, Twentieth Century Fox releases “The Fault in Our Stars,” the movie version of John Green’s wildly successful 2012 novel about teen-agers with cancer. “T.F.I.O.S.,” as fans call it, has been on a Times best-seller list for a hundred and twenty-four consecutive weeks, and has spent forty-three weeks as the No. 1 Y.A. book. The trailer for the movie, which stars Shailene Woodley and Ansel Elgort, has been viewed nearly twenty million times. Publishing executives talk about successful books as if they were lightning strikes, but the popularity of “The Fault in Our Stars” was no accident. Nerdfighters, who by then numbered in the millions, were evangelical about it, tucking notes into copies of the book and encouraging readers to join their movement. In fact, “The Fault in Our Stars” reached the No. 1 position on Amazon six months before it was published, when Green announced its title online. Many authors do pre-publication publicity, but Green did extra credit: he signed the entire first printing—a hundred and fifty thousand copies—which took ten weeks and necessitated physical therapy for his shoulder. In recent years, whenever Green has appeared at a book signing he has been greeted by hundreds, often thousands, of screaming fans, mostly teen-age girls. The weirdness of this is hard to overstate. Green is a writer, and his books are not about sexy vampires. “Stars” is a novel about young people with a deadly disease; its title is taken from Shakespeare, and it has an uncompromising ending. In the movie, as in the book, the lead character, Hazel Lancaster, wears an oxygen tube in her nose. Green did not write the film’s script, but he was an informal consultant, and it was important to him that the film retain this detail: “It flies in the face of the notion that romance, particularly about teen-agers, has to be straightforwardly ‘aspirational,’ as they always say.” Green, now thirty-six, is thin and tall, with light-brown hair that shifts around like a haystack in a stiff wind; he often rakes his hands through it, causing random clumps to stand up straight. He has the charm of the middle-school teacher you secretly thought was cute, but he is no match for Elgort, the twenty-year-old who plays Hazel’s romantic interest, Augustus Waters. I attended a preview of the movie in Manhattan this spring. Thousands of fans had lined up for free tickets, and, after the screening, they screamed when Elgort strode down the aisle for a Q. & A. But they screamed louder for Green. “We love you, John!” they called out. When Green told the crowd that, though he was proud of the movie, it wasn’t his movie, someone shouted, “But it’s your plot, John!”—which marked the first time I’d ever heard heckling about the nature of authorship. One questioner, who had to apologize for hyperventilating as she spoke, asked the five actors onstage to name their favorite lines from the book. Woodley was partial to “I fell in love the way you fall asleep: slowly, and then all at once”; Elgort cited “The world is not a wish-granting factory.” I had never watched a movie in a theatre where there was mass crying—not discreet nose-blowing, or stifled sniffles, but wracking sobs. (I was not immune.) Green told me that he had loved and hated Erich Segal’s “Love Story” when he read it in high school, and that he had wanted to write “an unsentimental cancer novel.” A story about dying teen-agers would be too wrenching, he decided, if it weren’t also romantic, and funny in a way that offered “some basis for hope.” Much of the novel’s vibrancy comes from the first-person voice of Hazel, which is irreverent but never nihilistic. After she reads online tributes to a girl who’s died of cancer, Hazel observes that the girl “seemed to be mostly a professional sick person, like me, which made me worry that when I died they’d have nothing to say about me except that I fought heroically, as if the only thing I’d ever done was Have Cancer.” When Green initially tried to write about kids with cancer, he centered the narrative on a young chaplain—“the worst kind of wish-fulfillment version of me.” The result, he once said, was “like a terrible ‘Grey’s Anatomy.’ ” Then, in 2007, he became aware of a girl from Quincy, Massachusetts, named Esther Grace Earl, who was one of the earliest nerdfighters. Esther had thyroid cancer, as Hazel does in the book, and was dependent on an oxygen tank. Green got to be friends with her online, and later visited her in person. Green is careful to say that Hazel—whose middle name is Grace—is not Esther, but Esther’s father and sister have spoken, appreciatively, of how much Green’s creation reminds them of her. Esther died in 2010, at the age of sixteen. “I could not have written it without her friendship,” Green said, adding that “there is definitely something weird about her not being here to give her blessing or not.” (“This Star Won’t Go Out,” a collection of writing drawn from Esther’s journals, letters, and blog posts, came out in January from Green’s publisher, Dutton, with an introduction by him.) When Green finished the manuscript of “Stars,” he and his editor, Julie Strauss-Gabel, felt that they had something special. Most Y.A. readers are girls, but because Green is male and his first books featured boys as protagonists his new novel seemed capable of reaching both genders. “Stars” is a love story, but Strauss-Gabel successfully pushed for a cover that did not look like a traditional Y.A. romance: no pink, no photograph of a pretty girl. Instead, the title dominates, and the background is blue. The stripped-down cover also meant that adults could read it on the subway without embarrassment. Adults have become big consumers of Y.A. fiction, and Green treats his grownup characters with unusual empathy. Hazel worries a good deal about how her death will affect her parents: “There is only one thing in this world shittier than biting it from cancer when you’re sixteen, and that’s having a kid who bites it from cancer.” Green gives Hazel’s mother not only a devoted temperament but a sense of humor; she watches “America’s Next Top Model” with her daughter and takes her to Amsterdam to meet her favorite author, Peter Van Houten. Green’s books seem calibrated for an era in which parents—vigilant and eager not to seem out of touch—often read the books that their children are reading. Lizzie Skurnick, who runs a publishing imprint that reissues Y.A. literature from the past, told me that “Green writes books that are appropriate for teen-agers and for the adults who want books to be appropriate for teen-agers.” Such parents may be pleased that their child is touched enough by a book to cry over it, but they don’t want the experience to be too unsettling. Skurnick feels that Green’s approach is a bit tamer than that of Y.A. authors from earlier eras: Judy Blume, Lois Lowry, Richard Peck. In Katherine Paterson’s beloved 1977 book, “Bridge to Terabithia,” a fifth grader’s best friend dies alone in the woods after falling from a rope swing, and there is little consolation in the form of either teachable ideas or romantic spark. “John Green’s books all have a point and a lesson,” Skurnick said. “They’re sophisticated points, but they’re there.”
In April, I visited Green in Indianapolis. He has lived there since 2007, when Sarah took a curatorial position at the Indianapolis Museum of Art. In the Midwest, the Greens added to their household, in this order: Willy, a West Highland terrier; Henry, their now four-year-old son; and Alice, their daughter, who just turned one. When Sarah was pregnant with Alice, the Greens did a Google Hangout with Barack Obama, during which they asked him which name he preferred: Eleanor or Alice. The President demurred, saying, “The main thing is, tell either Eleanor or Alice not to forget to be awesome.” I was staying downtown, and Green picked me up in his car, a Chevy Volt, to take me to his office and video-production studio, in the Broad Ripple neighborhood. He was wearing a checked shirt, jeans, and Adidas sneakers with green-and-turquoise Argyle socks. At one point, he told me, “I don’t see why anyone would ever wear socks that are not Argyle.” Broad Ripple is as cute as its name. There are coffeehouses tucked into bright-painted wooden buildings and brewpubs in older brick ones. Green’s office occupies the third floor of a solid, Midwestern-looking building. Nearby, there’s an encampment of youngish homeless people, known locally as the Bridge Kids, and a weekly farmers’ market that makes an appearance in “Stars.” At work, Green has surrounded himself with people who are approximately as smart as he is, but a lot calmer. When I asked Sarah how anxious John was, she laughed and said, “The word ‘very’ comes to mind.” But, she said, “it’s part of his identity and the way he experiences the world, and it’s not a wholly inward-focussed anxiety. It also helps him to be empathetic.” Green told me that he had been prone to “obsessive thought spirals for as long as I could remember”—but he’d had good therapy, starting when he was a teen-ager, and felt that his emotions were “fairly well managed.” Besides, “from a novelist’s perspective, the ability to cycle through all the possibilities and choose the worst is very helpful.” Vlogbrothers, which has more than two million subscribers, has become the anchor of an online empire. In 2011, after YouTube approached the Greens about doing additional series, they launched Crash Course videos—short educational lectures with animation accompaniments. John handles the humanities, Hank the sciences. The videos, which have the jump-cut aesthetic and speedy delivery of the Vlogbrothers posts, are the pedagogical equivalent of Red Bull shots, and if you watched them all you’d know a lot, but you’d also think you knew more than you did. Raoul Meyer, a history teacher who taught John Green in high school, and who now writes scripts for Crash Course, is sometimes bothered when people say that John is the best teacher they’ve ever had, because in real life teachers tell you when you’re wrong. “This is delivery of content and we do a really good job of it, but that’s just one part of teaching,” he said. The walls of Green’s office are covered with framed nerdfighter-themed art work, most of which has been thrust into his hands at book signings. In one corner is an Aero Fighters arcade console, a birthday gift from Hank to John. Another gift from Hank hangs on a nearby wall: a photographic mosaic, amassed from hundreds of images of fans, of the “nerdfighter salute,” a gesture in which the hands are crossed at the wrists in a way that makes actual fighting impossible. A video blog may not sound like an intimate medium, but it has brought John and Hank closer. After the first year of Vlogbrothers, they resumed other forms of communication; John told me that they now talk on the phone every day. “If anything, we talk to each other too often,” he said. “Now our collaboration is so deep, and our work together feels so intertwined, that I can’t imagine we were ever so distant. But we still need projects. We still don’t talk about personal stuff.” They say “I love you” once a year—on Esther Day, which is a holiday that Esther Earl asked nerdfighters to observe on her birthday. Her idea was that it could become a celebration of non-romantic love—a day when you’d say “I love you” to people who don’t often hear it from you. “Oh, and Happy Father’s Day.” John walked me into his inner sanctum, where a grubby, oatmeal-colored La-Z-Boy hulked in a corner. “I know it’s not a physically beautiful item,” he said. But his mother gave it to him for his twenty-second birthday, and he has written parts of all his books in it. “It has moved successively farther from the center of our house,” he observed. “In New York, it was dead in the middle of the apartment.” A bookshelf held translated editions of his books. The Norwegian edition of “Stars” is called “Fuck Fate.” Green laughed. “That is, arguably, a better title than ‘The Fault in Our Stars,’ ” he said. “You’ve got to love Norway—you can put ‘fuck’ on the cover of a young-adult book!” That morning, Green was making a Crash Course video about “Beloved,” the Toni Morrison novel. Unlike his Vlogbrothers posts, Green’s Crash Course videos are written not by him but by hired experts. He revises them, however, and as he read the script on a teleprompter he added jokes and asides. The video was being filmed by Stan Muller, a tall, broad-shouldered guy who answered a Craigslist ad placed by Green three years ago. Muller adopted the role of fond, soothing parent. Green reveres “Beloved,” but it’s harrowing—Sethe, a runaway slave, kills her baby—and he was worried about getting the tone right. In Crash Course videos, Green often performs as Me from the Past, a jaded younger version of himself who asks obvious questions. In the guise of this alter ego, Green slouched in a chair and said into the camera, “Like, do you think Beloved is a ghost or not?” As his current self, he complained, “You’re ruining it, Me from the Past. We were having a moment there.” They stopped filming for a second, and Green said, hopefully, “That was kind of a joke. It was almost a joke. It’s about to get really unfunny, though.” One of his knees was jiggling. “Oh, man! How about if I add, ‘You have a special gift for finding the least interesting question’? Can I say that, or is it too dismissive of a large body of scholarship? I don’t care—I think it’s funny. Stan, do you like it?” “I do,” Muller said. “It is the least interesting question you can ask.” “I agree.” Nerdfighters have a term for assessing the heights that Green’s hair achieves when he worriedly tugs on it—“puff levels”—and this morning they were rising. “Fuck, it’s literally haunting, this book,” he said. “Like there’s a ghost in the room.” It was a little surprising to hear Green use “fuck” so often, because he is careful not to do so in his videos or his books. He continued reading the script, evoking the book’s themes of dehumanization, buried memory, and love that’s “too thick.” He then described the moment when Sethe, caught by her slave-owner, takes her kids “out back to the woodshed to kill them all before he can take them.” In an unusually slow voice, he noted, “She only manages to kill one, sawing through its neck.” Afterward, he worried some more: “Gaaaaah. This is going to get, like, the least views of any Crash Course video ever made.” “Nah,” Muller replied. “It’ll get a hundred thousand.”
Afterward, in Green’s office, we talked about the years of his life that might be chronicled in a Y.A. novel. He grew up in Orlando, Florida, where his father, Mike, was the state director of the Nature Conservancy; his mother, Sydney, stayed home with John and Hank when they were little, then worked for a local nonprofit called the Healthy Community Initiative. Green’s parents now live near Asheville, North Carolina. “They have goats and chickens and a vegetable garden and make goat’s-milk soap,” Green said. “I was so worried about them leaving their home of twenty-five years and, like, an hour after they arrived they were the happiest they’d ever been.” In middle school, Green said, he was a regrettable combination: a nerd who was not a good student. He was also bullied and unhappy. When he was fifteen, his parents sent him to Indian Springs, a boarding school outside Birmingham, Alabama. It was an excellent move. Green had always loved to read—he had a soft spot for “girl books,” like the Baby-Sitters Club series—but in high school he read Salinger, Vonnegut, Morrison, and Chabon, and found other people who liked to talk about books. Indian Springs offered the kind of verdant, self-contained setting where one could have a preëmptively nostalgic coming-of-age. You could almost feel yourself missing it while you were still there. Green captures this delicious melancholy in “Looking for Alaska,” which tells a story of friendship, first love, and intellectual questing at a school very much like Indian Springs. Green was much happier in Alabama, but he remained a “genuinely poor student.” He told me, “I had always been told I was smart and had potential, but I had never shown the ability to deliver on it. It’s a bit cliché to say, but I think I actually was scared I wasn’t smart.” (After a beat: “I was actively bad at math. And languages.”) Raoul Meyer, then a young teacher at Indian Springs, has a different take. He told me, “John was very vocal about his relationships with his friends being more important than his schoolwork. He broke a lot of rules—he smoked very visibly, for instance, and frequently got caught. You had the impression that if he’d wanted to be an A student he could have been, but that wasn’t the identity he wanted.” The writer Daniel Alarcón was in Green’s class, and remembers that they both wanted to be writers then, and “shared a seriousness about it that wasn’t exactly normal for adolescents.” Not until Alarcón enrolled in the M.F.A. program at Iowa was he again around people who, like Green, “talked about literature the way other people talked about sports, and who could break down a story over beer and not think of it as pretentious or boring.” Alarcón recalled a road trip to Orlando that he took with Green and Townsend Kyser, the scion of a catfish-farming family. Once there, they “spent, like, a week writing oblique and inscrutable messages on construction paper and planting them in public places, like the manicured lawns of branch banks.” At Indian Springs, Green also became friends with boarders who staged brazen pranks. In one infamous episode, someone invited a woman who was supposedly an academic expert on teen sexuality to speak at an assembly; in fact, she was a stripper, and started disrobing in response to the urging of a guy in the audience. In “Looking for Alaska,” a similar incident occurs, but the stripper is a man, the student in the audience is a young woman, and the whole stunt is an homage to a troubled girl who has died in a car accident—all of which makes it far more palatable. When Green was at Indian Springs, a girl at the school was killed in a car accident. She wasn’t a close friend, but it was a small school, and, as he said, “it’s so hard to get your head around that when you’re a kid.” He went on, “Infinite sets are a difficult thing to get your head around generally, but the forever of it—I just felt so bad for her. I still feel so bad for her.” Although Green often suggests that he was a sad-sack dork as a teen-ager, his old friends don’t remember him that way. Alarcón said, “At our school, we didn’t really have jocks. It was a pretty high-achieving school. I’m not saying it was paradise. Plenty of kids are socially awkward, and there’s nothing that will save them from other adolescents. But John wasn’t like that at all. John was funny and charming, and people looked up to him.” Green was sensitive, and he fell hard for the girls he had crushes on, but Alarcón said that “John exaggerates his haplessness with women,” adding, “This is just speculation, but if your fans are a lot of thirteen-to-fifteen-year-old girls, it seems kind of smarmy if you come across like a ladies’ man.” Green enrolled in Kenyon in 1995. He chose a double major in religion and literature. His friend Kathy Hickner, who also hung out in the religion department, remembers him as “one of these really huge personalities” who was “always talking,” but also as the person she could count on “to go to church with me and discuss the sermon.” She added, “We were both into this whole layer of Christian thinkers who were very open-minded, scholarly types.” Green continued to pursue writing, particularly in an evening seminar that he took with the novelist P. F. Kluge, who was, Green recalled, “encouraging of my work but also very, very critical of it—I once titled a story ‘Things Remembered, Things Forgotten,’ and he said, ‘Green, you don’t get to title your stories anymore.’ ” When Green was not accepted into the advanced creative-writing course at Kenyon, “it was crushing,” he recalled. “Kluge took me to his house and poured me a drink and said, ‘I think you should have gotten into the class. But your writing isn’t that great.’ I think he called it a ‘solid B-plus.’ But, he said, ‘the stories that you tell during the smoke break—if you could write the way you told those stories, then you would write well.’ ” Kluge told me that what he remembered most about Green was not his writing but his “spoken energy.” “He was so rapid-fire,” he said. “Also decent, self-deprecating, and funny.” In class one evening, Green read aloud a story with a sex scene in it. When he was done, the other students offered polite critiques. Kluge then said, “Green, you’ve never had sex before, have you?” Green said no. In subsequent classes, he provided updates on the status of his virginity, which for a long time was “nothing new to report.” Upon graduating, he moved to Chicago, where he eventually ended up at Booklist. He was hired to do data entry, but he found mentors in the editor-in-chief, Bill Ott, and Ilene Cooper, a staff editor who also wrote children’s and young-adult books. Cooper said of Green, “He was a horrible slob, and he didn’t do his job all that well,” recalling that he failed to send out checks to freelancers. “He was smoking but trying to quit, so he was chewing tobacco, which was kind of gross. But he was so engaging, and he would want to talk about things like our place in the universe.” Green’s older colleagues chided him for what Ott called “some of his outrageous young-person pronouncements,” such as the claim that black-and-white movies are a waste of time. Ott said that he and Cooper, who are now married, saw him through a “ ‘Sorrows of Young Werther’-like downturn” after a girlfriend dumped him; Green told me that Ott ordered him to watch the profoundly silly 1950 film “Harvey,” which both lifted his spirits and cured him of his antipathy toward black-and-white. Eventually, Ott started assigning Green reviews, and Cooper did several edits on the manuscript of “Looking for Alaska,” which she passed along to her publisher, Dutton. When Green was twenty-six, he met Sarah Urist, who was managing an art gallery in Chicago. She had been three years behind him at Indian Springs, and they became reacquainted through the woman Green was then dating—Sarah’s sparring partner at a boxing gym. After Green and the girlfriend broke up, he and Sarah started a friendship with a large epistolary component. “We e-mailed back and forth for a year and talked about everything,” Green said. “It was one of the most invigorating conversations I can remember having.” When I met Sarah, she was wearing red lipstick, black boots, and tortoiseshell glasses; she is at once hipper than Green—she’s grounded in theory and cutting-edge art—and steadier, with a quieter, more skeptical sense of humor. She left her job at the Indianapolis museum last fall, and now works with Green on a Web series called “The Art Assignment,” in which she showcases contemporary artists who then “assign” viewers to make a specific work of art. Sarah told me that she had an intellectual interest in fandoms like her husband’s, but found them difficult to identify with. “It’s a bias I have to get over, because being a fan is so much a part of young life now,” she said. “But there’s part of me that’s always wondering, How much could you really love all of these things?”
One of the themes of “The Fault in Our Stars” is the relationship between authors and readers. Hazel says, “Sometimes, you read a book and it fills you with this weird evangelical zeal, and you become convinced that the shattered world will never be put back together unless and until all living humans read the book. And then there are books like ‘An Imperial Affliction’ ”—Peter Van Houten’s novel—“which you can’t tell people about, books so special and rare and yours that advertising your affection feels like a betrayal.” In a different era, “The Fault in Our Stars” could have been that kind of cultish book. For many young people today, however, reading is not an act of private communion with an author whom they imagine vaguely, if at all, but a prelude to a social experience—following the author on Twitter, meeting other readers, collaborating with them on projects, writing fan fiction. In our connected age, even books have become interactive phenomena. Green, for his part, seems to feel that it is a betrayal not to advertise your affections. Every day, he gives his fans a live stream of his stream of consciousness. In addition to posting on YouTube, Green contributes indefatigably to Tumblr and Twitter. Even when he’s feeling anxious, he’s willing to chat with people who approach him in public. As his fame has grown, he has discovered the need for a few limits: he doesn’t like it when fans show up at his house or make Tumblrs about his kids. Green’s boyishness and his energy make a lot of what he does look easy. But it’s hard for him to channel the emotional kid inside while remaining an analytical adult—to embrace simultaneously the voluble aesthetic of the Internet and the contemplative sensibility of the novelist. Raoul Meyer, the history teacher, told me, “John strikes me in some ways as the same teen-ager he once was, just trying to figure out his place in the world. Only now the world is changing much faster and he’s an agent of that change, creating the world he’s trying to fit into. And that’s a tough role.” Green’s online projects keep proliferating along with his fans, and he seems determined to keep up with them all. He told me that he has sketched out some scenes for a new novel, about “two male best friends who live less privileged lives in a world of privilege,” and that he hopes to work on it after the movie junkets are over and he has taken a few days of vacation with his family, in a Tennessee farmhouse devoid of electronic devices. One wonders, however, when he’ll actually find the hours to recline in the La-Z-Boy. E. Lockhart, an acclaimed Y.A. novelist, is an old friend of Green’s. She said, “Most of us look at what John does and say ‘That’s awesome,’ but we’d rather be in our pajamas writing.” |
A new report from the United Nations says plastics labelled biodegradable rarely disintegrate in the ocean because they require industrial composters and prolonged exposure to high temperatures to break down.
Plastic waste is a serious concern in the world's oceans, where as much as 20 million tonnes of plastic ends up each year, according to recent estimates from the United Nations Environment Programme.
Biodegradable plastics were created to help reduce waste. However, the report released this week says some polymers need to be exposed to prolonged temperatures of above 50 C to disintegrate.
Peter Kershaw is one of the authors of the report. (Peter Kershaw)
These conditions are hard to come by in nature, says Peter Kershaw, one of the authors of the study.
"When you get in the ocean, the rates of degradation are even lower because UV light penetration is very limited," said Kershaw.
"It's cold, there's less oxygen. So once it's in the sea it's just going to stay there for an extremely long period of time."
Kershaw says it could take two or three years for some biodegradable plastics to disintegrate.
"Essentially the ocean is being used as a waste basket and the waste basket is getting fuller and fuller, and so the impacts of that plastic litter are just going to keep on increasing."
Forget recycling
The report says biodegradable plastic also poses a problem for recycling.
"If you're recycling plastic you don't want to have anything to do with biodegradable plastics," Kershaw says. "Because if you mix biodegradable with standard plastics you can compromise the properties of the original plastic."
A lot of the plastic that WWF-Canada finds on the country's shorelines are from every day waste, such as grocery bags, food wrappers and water bottles. (WWF-Canada)
He says even when biodegradable plastic does disintegrate, the fragments can pose a threat to ocean life.
"Each of those fragments then behaves exactly the same way as a standard piece of polyethylene," adds Kershaw.
"The objects may disintegrate, but you're still left with an awful lot of microplastics and those have their own problems in terms of impact on the environment."
Some evidence also suggests that labelling products as 'biodegradable' increases people's tendency to litter because they think they are not creating waste.
Arctic ice compounds the issue
Plastic distributes toxic chemicals throughout Canada's oceans, says David Miller, president and CEO of World Wildlife Fund Canada.
"It can have an impact on all sorts of marine life, from marine mammals to corals, and of course it can get ingested and become part of the food chain," said Miller.
'In the Arctic, because the ice traps them, the abundance of microplastics are at least three times more than in other areas in oceans,” says David Miller the President and CEO of WWF-Canada. ( WWF-Canada)
In the Arctic, ice compounds the issue.
"In the Arctic, because the ice traps them, the abundance of microplastics are at least three times more than in other areas in oceans, including the Great Pacific Garbage Patch, which is THE concentration of plastics."
Miller says a lot of the plastic that WWF-Canada finds on shorelines is from everyday waste, such as grocery bags, food wrappers and water bottles.
"What we can do, each of us, is dramatically reduce the amount of plastic we use; the second thing is to dispose of it properly," said Miller.
He adds that the good news is that more and more organizations are getting involved in clean up efforts to help restore our coastlines, such as the Great Canadian Shoreline Cleanup in Iqaluit this past June. |
Microsoft's Windows Strategy Gets Muddy
Microsoft reportedly doubles down on its own platforms while also taking a hard look at Android.
7 Mistakes Microsoft Made In 2013 (Click image for larger view and slideshow.)
Indications of Microsoft's push to update its Windows 8.1 and Windows Phone 8 operating systems continue to mount. Expected new features include a long-awaited notification center for Windows Phone and tweaks to make Windows 8.1's touch-oriented Modern UI more palatable to mouse-and-keyboard users.
However, a new leak suggests Microsoft is barreling toward one of its new platforms' most anticipated milestones: the merging of the Windows Phone and Windows app stores. Paradoxically, reports also say Microsoft is considering opening Windows to Android apps -- a move that could undermine the appeal of a combined app store.
A unified app store hasn't shown up in leaked Windows update builds, but Twitter user @AngelWZR, a known leaker of pre-release Windows information, posted images that indicate Microsoft is hard at work on one. The images, allegedly taken from a Microsoft presentation for developers, promise not only a single app store but also a version of Visual Studio that will allow developers to target both Windows and Windows Phone without having to write separate apps for each.
[Details emerge on Microsoft's latest Windows update. Read Microsoft Windows 8.1 Update Takes Shape.]
Windows and Windows Phone updates will reportedly debut around April, when Microsoft will hold its Build conference for developers. It's not clear whether the unified app store will launch that soon. The roadmap reportedly already includes rough plans to launch Windows 9 in early 2015.
As for Android, The Verge, citing unnamed sources, reported that Microsoft is "seriously considering" opening Windows and Windows Phone to Google's app ecosystem. ZDnet subsequently published a corroborating report, which also cited unnamed sources familiar with Microsoft's plans.
(Source: A purported Microsoft presentation slide promises a unified Windows Phone-Windows app store and development pipeline.(Source: @AngelWZR
The Verge said Microsoft insiders are divided on the idea; some dissenters contend it could doom the Windows platform. There has been substantial speculation that Nokia, whose device business Microsoft is acquiring, could release an Android phone soon. Those alleged plans have provoked mild debate, but if Microsoft took the more radical step of welcoming Android into Windows, the ensuing controversy could be fierce.
The company's app ecosystem lags far behind Apple and Google offerings, and a unified app store could help address this deficit. But what incentive would developers have to focus on native Windows apps if Microsoft embraced Android, as well? This question was raised last month when Intel announced at CES that it had developed a "dual OS" chip that could run both Windows and Android natively, enabling users to switch between the two quickly with the click of a button.
"I think [dual OS] won't be necessary if Microsoft gets its act together," Carolina Milanesi, who specialized in mobile devices as an analyst at Gartner and now is director of insight at Kantar Worldpanel, told us at that time.
Milanesi said a dual OS reinforces the perception that Windows is useful only for legacy software. "What good does that do? How is that helping Microsoft stay relevant?" Rather than stacking up quasi-solutions to fundamental problems, Microsoft needs to find a foundation that convinces people to "actually choose to spend time" with Windows.
Moreover, earlier experiments with Windows and Androids haven't exactly set the world on fire. AMD and BlueStacks partnered last year to allow Android apps to run on Windows 8 devices, but if any would-be customers cared, the sentiment hasn't translated into meaningful gains in marketshare.
With Satya Nadella taking over as CEO, it's possible Microsoft is simply putting all options on the table. The company is in strong shape overall, but its Windows strategy clearly isn't working, due to problems with the product itself and external disruptions such as Google's recent pact with VMware to run virtualized Windows desktops on Chromebooks. Time will tell which path Microsoft takes, but with new leaks and speculation from well-placed sources emerging almost daily, Nadella will undoubtedly face formidable expectations when he finally addresses developers in April.
Engage with Oracle president Mark Hurd, Box founder Aaron Levie, UPMC CIO Dan Drawbaugh, GE Power CIO Jim Fowler, former Netflix cloud architect Adrian Cockcroft, and other leaders of the Digital Business movement at the InformationWeek Conference and Elite 100 Awards Ceremony, to be held in conjunction with Interop in Las Vegas, March 31 to April 1, 2014. See the full agenda here.
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The FIA World Endurance Championship could have an increased presence in North America next year with the potential addition of rounds in Montreal and Mexico City.
Speaking to Sportscar365, series boss Gerard Neveu confirmed talks have been ongoing with both Circuit Gilles Villeneuve and Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez Circuit, although no announcement has been made for either potential event.
“We are always looking for interesting places around the world,” Neveu told Sportscar365. “For sure Montreal and Mexico are on the short list we are looking for because there is an interest.
“But we have to take into consideration many things, such as the slots available, the facilities, the contracts, the local promoter, the interest for the manufacturers and partners, the right opportunity or not.
“This is under discussion now but we will communicate on the new calendar very soon. We also have to consider the situation on the different places.”
One of the considerations is that upgrades to the Mexico City circuit, which will host F1 in November 2015, have not yet been completed, while Neveu said Montreal is set to receive a new pit complex in the coming months.
Work is also being done to Interlagos, which is due for a pit lane refresh as well. Neveu didn’t indicate whether that could also have an impact on the 2015 race. So far, only Le Mans and Bahrain have been confirmed for next year.
Neveu said he expects the 2015 schedule to be released during next month’s round at Japan’s Fuji Speedway, or possibly sooner if everything falls into place.
“It’s always about opportunities and it’s about the balance and a compromise between the number of races and the right opportunity you have,” he said. “What I’m sure is that we don’t like to do one shot.
“The strategy with the promoter and the partner is to try to establish a long-term event. When you decide to go somewhere, you have to be sure you can stay there for enough time.”
This weekend’s event at Circuit of The Americas could prove crucial in determining it’s long-term presence in the FIA WEC calendar, as the series is currently on a single-year contract with the track.
It came following a challenging inaugural event last year, which saw low attendance and complications with track management on the shared weekend with the ALMS.
Neveu, however, helped turn things around for 2014, which has seen the six-hour WEC race shift from Sunday to Saturday evening to follow the TUDOR United SportsCar Championship event, giving fans nearly nine hours of racing action in a single day.
“We were facing some dissolution regarding the result of the weekend last year,” Neveu said. “We feel that this year looks better. We’re not at the final point that we’re looking for but we’ve grown up since last year.”
Advance ticket sales are up from last year, while hospitality suites have sold out. More entertainment options have been added, including a fireworks show and a concert from the Blue Oyster Cult.
Neveu said it’s their intention to return to COTA next year, with the goal of establishing it as a long-term event.
“We know that in the United States there’s not a lot of options for us and for the style of racing we have,” he said. “Historically you can say Sebring, Petit Le Mans and Laguna Seca were the logical places to welcome endurance races. But we know that it’s technically impossible [now].
“In the end, Austin is a very impressive facility and the Circuit of The Americas is a top, world-standard race track in the USA. It’s exactly corresponding to the facilities we’re looking for LMP1 or very fast GT cars.
“I think it’s the place that we have to be at in the USA. The only difference is that at Sebring, IMSA has been organizing endurance events for many years and there is long [history].
“Austin just started last year. If we can get better figures this year, there is no reason to stop. We have to continue and we have to be passionate and build year after year on the right base, a long-term event.” |
This post is a translation of Erik Bordeleau’s ‘The Transindividual and the Demonic according to Bernard Aspe’i. Erik Bordelau is a postdoctoral researcher at the Free University of Brussels. We met at Gestes Spéculatifs (a colloquium with Stengers, Latour, Harraway and others) in France last year and discovered some strong political and philosophical resonances. I posted a translation of his presentation from Gestes Spéculatifs entitled ‘Dreaming the dark: Speculative presence and the politics of contraction ‘ several months ago on this blog – worth checking out again if you haven’t seen it already. You can also find various articles by him on his Academia.edu page (here), including an English translation of an interview by him with Bernard Aspe (here). For me, the translation process has presented a welcome opportunity to be introduced to the work of Bernard Aspe as well as Simondon’s work beyond ‘On the mode of existence of technical objects’.
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The Transindividual and the Demonic according to Bernard Aspe
A revolutionary war against the modern metropolitan state can only be fought in hell.
Nick Land
What appeared as politics and imagined itself to be so, will reveal itself a religious movement
Søren Kierkegaard
Bernard Aspe, so far relatively unknown in the English speaking world, is one of the most interesting emerging figures in contemporary French political philosophy. Born in 1970 and agrégé in philosophy, he is the author of L’instant d’après: projectiles pour une politique à l’état naissantii(La Fabrique, 2006) and Les mots et les actesiii (Nous, 2011), and collaborated in various publications such as Alice, Persistances, Chimères et Multitudes. He is part of the group Collectif pour l’Intervention, to whom we owe Communisme: un manifeste (Nous, 2012), a proposal for the renewal of forms of struggle and revolutionary political organization which echos l’Appeliv(‘The Call’), an anonymous text of Tiqqunian inspiration from 2003 which has had a significant impact in militant milieus. More recently, he published a collection of articles called Horizon Inverse (Nous, 2013) and Simondon, politique du transindividuel (Dittmar 2013), which constitutes a reworked version of his doctoral thesis conducted under the direction of Jacques Rancière and defended in 2001 before a prestigious jury composed of Alain Badiou, Etienne Balibar and Isabelle Stengers.
The work of Bernard Aspe is characterised by the acuity of his theoretical positions and the remarkable coherence of the ensemble. It is founded on the idea of individuation and the transindividual (of Simondonian inspiration), but resists all solutions based on philosophical continuity and affirms the irreducibility of political subjectivations to speculative thought and ontology. Aspe elaborates this constitutive distinction through the works of Foucault, Badiou, Marx, Rancière and, most of all, on the spiritual side, Kierkegaard. One finds a first expression, no doubt too schematic but illuminating nonetheless, of his programme of thought in the first pages of his thesis:
“Ontology is not up to the task of providing a complete account of what is contained in the idea of a politics of truth. It is a dimension that the philosophical point of view, characterised by the real inclusion of the subjective in the effectiveness of thought, cannot confront directly. Once this dimension is forgotten, idealism appears, that is, a perspective capable of resolving the sole point of view of the thinking subject, to which what is known as ‘political philosophy’ has held. [There is] a necessity in order to think politics, to think the ‘presupposed real’ (Marx) in its concreteness and to envisage the acts that it requires.”v (emphasis added)
Aspe takes as a point of departure for his analysis the fact that philosophy and politics’ subjective modes of implication differ essentially from one another. In contrast with the pragmatist and speculative turn found in contemporary French thought under the influence of Bruno Latour and Isabelle Stengers, or else with the ‘monadological jubilation’ (which he doesn’t miss stigmatising amongst certain Deleuzians), Bernard Aspe’s approach is characterised by a certain sense of the tragic, employing himself in “marking the heterogeneity of saying and doing” and “grappling with [faire l’épreuve de] the gulf that separates them”vi. His thought is entirely strung upon this primordial question: what is a political act? Paraphrasing Wittgenstein, and in opposition to what he considers the “philosophical temptation” of the speculative, Aspe would say: “How is the path from saying to existing made: this does not tell itself, it shows itself; we cannot theorise this passage”vii.
This “mystic” tension – in the Wittgensteinian sense of that which arises and can be shown only on the indirect mode of example and affinity – animates political subjectivations and assures their inscription in the real. All the works of Aspe tend, thus, to demonstrate a spiritual component inherent to the modes of subjective implication which define collective militant engagement. Critically, his thinking portrays, with admirable clarity and confidence, the way in which collectives – those “groups in fusion” as Sartre called themviii – place their stakes intensely and irreversibly, risking themselves on the “infernal” threshold of what Aspe, following Kierkegaard, calls the ‘demonic’. Transindividual experience is what allows life to gain amplitude; the incandescent intimacy gives affective and effective consistency to collectives, and particularly those revolutionary collectives which are “sincerely ready to put the world on fire so that it shines brighter.” Nothing can a priori protect such groups from the danger of self-combustion in the intensity of a present with no return, as captured in the tragic Latin palindrome celebrated by Guy Debord: In girum imus nocte et consumimur igni (we turn around in the night and are devoured by the fire).
Communist incorporation
For Aspe, Communism constitutes itself as a political option in as much as it operates as a “subjectivating scission” whose associated partiality is the guarantee of its effectiveness. “We must relearn to hate”ix, he writes with great caution, in order to establish [instaurer] a dividing line that simultaneously binds the community and differentiates the adversaries. Against the disarticulated subject of the economy, neutralised in larval scepticism and reduced to being “nothing other than one’s own trajectory“, the political subject makes the choice of incarnating a truth on the basis of which he is able to constitute himself collectively and “effectuate the work that connects thought and existence”x. In this, Aspe shows himself loyal to the Badiousian conception of political incorporation. For the latter, in effect, the authentic revolutionary subject is the one who realises this imaginary operation by means of which the truth of communism integrates itself with the individual and becomes a subjective “body of truth”. This militant conception of truth, modelled on the Paulinian profession of Christian faith that Badiou takes as a model, demands to be declared on a mode that is at once public and performative. Thus, for Aspe as for Badiou, political revolutionary subjects “litteralise discourses of truth by inscribing them in the world through their acts.”xi
Meanwhile, and differently from Badiou, Aspe envisages this decisional and rather voluntarist element of political subjectivation in close relation with what he calls, following Simondon, the transindividual experience. We can define the transindividual in a number of ways. Primarily, for Aspe, the transindividual is that from which flows the possibility of a full and accomplished life, a life that is worthwhile. It is in this sense that Aspe says: “there are not atomised individuals, but mutilated transindividual consistencies.”xii On a more technical level, the transindividual concerns the affective-emotional dimension of the process of collective individuation. In her influential work, Simondon, individu et collectivité: pour une philosophie du transindividuel, Muriel Combes – who not only shared her life with Aspe for several years but also a common basis of thought – defines the transindividual as the intimacy of the common thus:
“intimacy arises less from a private sphere than from an impersonal affective life, which is immediately in common […] The transindividual ultimately refers just to that: an impersonal zone of subjects that is simultaneously a molecular or intimate dimension of the collective itself.“xiii
In this impersonal and pre-individual affective dimension, emotion serves as a force of individuation. Emotion unifies and polarises diffuse affectivity; it converts affective plurality in a unity that operates a signification. In this sense, it is emotion which, in Simondon’s eyes, constitutes the veritable foyer of transindividual experience, in that it coincides with the effective structuration of a collective. Conversely, the collective is necessary for emotion to actualise itself and resolves itself with action: “For there to be a resonance of action and emotion, there must also be a superior individuation that encompasses them: this individuation is that of the collective.”xiv Surprisingly, Simondon calls this transductive relationship between action and emotion “spiritual unity.” And it is thus, as Aspe observes it, that for Simondon “spirituality and the instauration of a collective appear as two aspects of the same process,”xv transindividual emotion incorporating itself in the learning and transmission of gestures that fabricate forms of life.xvi
Incandescence or the good usage of the negativity-that-consumes
Aspe’s interest in the question of the transindividual is rooted in a profound concern for the challenges and obstacles that are faced by collectives trying to constitute themselves as political forces. The Simondonian frame is supple and dynamic; it sensitises us to the impersonal and pre-individual dimension of collective life and, moreover, enables us to collectively incorporate the unassignable affects of the various agents of metamorphosis that transit between individuals. But, and this is an element that a number of commentators on Simondon have the tendency to pass over too quickly, it equally permits us to think the subjective necessity of closure and the production of a common interiority (Simondon speaks of “group of interiority”) in which the link between action and emotion operates effectively – “the effectiveness of a divide that assumes the existence of a real inseparation between a number of beings.”xvii
It is in Aspe’s affirmation of the reality of relations and the radical contingency of any political leap that the tragic inflection of his thought is most poignant, finding its fullest expression in his most recent work Horizon inverse. Allergic to the “subjectivities sunken in the comfort of multi-relational solipsism”xviii, Aspe revitalises the work of dialectics in order to better expose us to the “possibility of the abyss”. He asks, following René Char, how revolutionary politics can muster up poetry in its task of “expanding the blood of gestures”. It is unsurprising, then, that his dramatisation of political existence ends up in the domain of theology where the questions of freedom and radical evil are posed with the greatest intensity. It is here that, following Jacob Taubes, but also Marx, he interrogates the manner of linking forces of interiority (religion) and exteriority (politics). For as with Simondon, access to the presence of the transindividual relation is understood as being intimately linked to crossing the threshold of anxiety and solitude, to the point of identifying religion as the privileged domain of the transindividualxix.
If, therefore, the confrontation with the religious option is so crucial for Aspe, it is primarily because he is not content with thinking communist politics as a simple redistribution of riches. Rather, it is bound to the criteria of the transindividual, and thinks political life as the carrier of a promise of happiness. The process of politicisation is thus conceived as a leap of secularised faith. It is in this enlarged theological context that the question is posed, for Aspe, of what I have earlier called the incandescent intimacy of revolutionary political collectives; an intimacy which activates the potentially destructive force of their charge of negation and which, when they turn themselves away from the dramas of private interiority, drives them to give way to sensual immediacy and “the enthusiasm of revolting crowds”xx. Marx described this revolutionary process as a manner of turning the flame of religious fervour toward the outside in order to consume that which, though of this world, deserves to be destined to destruction. To this characterisation of the revolutionary force as a “spark of spirituality that the bourgeois world is unable to put out”, is opposed Kierkegaard’s analysis, for whom “the force of communism is visibly the ingredient of religiosity and even Christian religiosity”, while it presents itself in the opposite manner, which is to say, contained in a “demonic” mannerxxi. In the last instance, Kierkegaard sees in the revolutionary adventure an escape before the trial of solitude and interiority, a movement of revolt that misrecognises the religious nature of its being-against and betrays its latent hopelessness. Whichever way we look at it, the politicisation of the suffering of being-in-the-world – founded on the passion for totalisation and related to an ultimate political antagonism – cannot escape from the spiritual question of how to make the best use of the negativity-that-consumes.
* * *
“I return here to the question left in suspense: does something like a transindividual collective really exist? The structural inconsistency of collectives, no doubt, has psychological, or rather subjective, reasons. They condense in what we could call the desire for deception, the need to be disappointed and to assure that our initial mistrust had its reasons; in the anticipated nostalgia of what would have been important ‘despite everything’ in such and such experience (which is to say in that which is reduced to being nothing but ‘experience’); in the jouissance which finds itself in the fact of knowing too well the limits of some other people, and of being able to foresee their errors; in the jouissance, as well, of undoing what we had constructed ourselves; in brief, in what Kierkegaard called “the demonic”, the anxiety one faces before the good. What the demonic refuses, is what it foresees as being able to give it a good that is too great, something that would oblige it to stretch its limits, to live more fully, be more full of life, and, for the same reason, be more exposed. We have been educated to want to always return to familiar structures that have already been explored, already known (even if of a knowledge that is unknown). But, the return to structures is the return to the already individuated, to the ‘purely’ individuated – and as Simondon says, the only ‘pure’ individual is death.
Anxiety in the face of ‘the good’ is, thus, nothing more than the anxiety in the face of freedom. “The demonic does not enclose itself with something. It encloses itself alone. And it is here, in the depths of existence, that non-freedom makes itself prisoner.” (The concept of anxiety and other texts, Paris Gallimard, “TEL”, 1990). The demonic wants to redouble non-freedom, as if to guarantee that no escape will be possible – that one wouldn’t even consider hoping for it. If freedom is what expands, the demonic is what, in us, desires the return to narrowness and the locking down in this narrowness. This is not to be confused with folding back on individuality: it can just as well experiment – and it is generally the case – in the very centre of collectives, so long as the transindividual relation no longer transits or transits all too rarely.
The challenge is on for revolutionary collectives – which is to say those that would be prepared to risk themselves to take up anew that word ‘revolution’ so often destined for disuse – to find the way to struggle against the demonic.”xxii
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Endnotes
i A shortened version of this text was published in Spirale, N.54, Montréal, printemps 2014.
ii Translates as: The instant After: projectiles for a politics of the nascent state.
iii Translates as: The Words and The Acts.
iv The text is available at the following address: http://www.bloom0101.org.
v Bernard Aspe, Simondon, politique du transindividuel, Éditions Dittmar, Paris, 2013, p.25.
vi Bernard Aspe, Les mots et les actes, Nous, Caen, 2012, p.17. Or on a more technical mode: “It has been a question of considering speculative thought as that with which a distance must be marked in order to adequately carve out the dimension of the act.” p.181
vii Érik Bordeleau, « Le temps de l’œuvre, le temps de l’acte : entretien avec Bernard Aspe », Inflexions N.5, available at: http://www.inflexions.org/n5_t_Aspe%20Bordeleau.pdf
viii “Struggle requires new agents to arise with hitherto unknown powers. In Sartrian logic, it can only be a matter of individual acquiring a different status: Sartre calls those actors capable of tearing men out of the hell of inertia and to hold, if not to exorcise, evil, groups in fusion.” Bertrand St-Sernin “Pouvoir et figures du mal chez Sartre”, 1983, available at: http://1libertaire.free.fr/SartrePouvoirMorale.html
ix Bernard Aspe, « Notre part de violence », Grumeaux, N.3, Nous, Caen, Novembre 2012.
x Les mots et les actes, p.76, 44.
xi Bernard Aspe, “Notre part de violence”. “What have the contemporary thinkers of the revolutionary event discovered really? They discovered, first of all, a new concept of truth: one that does not refer to the necessity, for a subject, to accomplish in the real what has been thought. What has been thought is true only on the condition that it passes from the order of thought to the real.” Bernard Aspe, Horizon inverse, Caen, 2013, p.28.
xii Bernard Aspe, Horizon inverse, p.37.
xiii Muriel Combes, Gilbert Simondon and the Philosophy of the Transindividual translated with preface and afterword by Thomas LaMarre, MIT, Massachusetts, 2013, p.51. The French original Simondon, individu et collectivité : pour une philosophie du transinsdividuel, PUF, Paris, 1999, is available at:
http://www.cip-idf.org/article.php3?id_article=4433
xiv Gilbert Simondon, L’individuation psychique et collective, Aubier, Paris, 2007, p.108.
xv Simondon, politique du transindividuel, p.208.
xvi “All forms of life define themselves through the ensemble of gestures, corporeal or incorporeal, that animate them. In this sense, all forms of life are transindividual; they are, so to say, the mark of transindividuality in each of us.” Bernard Aspe, Horizon inverse, Nous, Caen, 2013, p.29
xvii Bernard Aspe,Horizon inverse, p.20.
xviii Bernard Aspe, Horizon inverse, p.55. “The spontaneous ontology of the contemporary human, in the most modern societies, is an ontology of singularities. We accept to mourn the old ‘Me’, but on condition that there is nothing else besides trajectories, comparable to monads that would consist of nothing but their unfolded selves, with no internality.”
xix “The true transindividual relation only begins beyond solitude; it is constituted by the individual who has put him/herself in question, and not by the convergent sum of inter-individual relations” Gilbert Simondon, L’individuation psychique et collective, p. 154-155.
xx Bernard Aspe, Horizon inverse, p. 28.
xxi Bernard Aspe, Horizon inverse, p.26, 25.
xxii Bernard Aspe, « Notre part de violence ». |
Revolution, Violence, and Nonviolence
While absolute pacifists are a small minority in the general population, they are a large proportion of anarchists. Pacifists are completely against war or any type of mass violence under any circumstances, even in defense from military invasion or to make a democratic revolution. Naturally many pacifists are also anarchists — being against armies, they also oppose the police. It has been said jokingly (with what truth I do not know) that during retreats of the pacifist War Resisters League, softball games are played between the anarchists and the Socialist Party members.
When I first became an anarchist, it was of the anarchist-pacifist tendency. I admired the pacifist Paul Goodman, who was perhaps the most influential anarchist of the sixties. I also admired leading radical pacifists, such as the great A.J. Muste, David Dellinger, David McReynolds, and Bayard Rustin. These people combined pacifism with a radical, even revolutionary, critique of capitalism and the war-waging state. I studied Gandhi, who was no anarchist (he led a movement for a national state for India) but was a decentralist.
It should not be surprising that many good radicals are attracted to pacifism and its nonviolent program. The history of war-making has come to its climax in the potential for nuclear war. Humanity has to find a way to end war, if it is to survive. The history of violent revolutions has produced gains, but still leaves humanity with societies ruled by minorities which exploit the workers and wage wars of extermination. “Terrorist” tactics of violence by small groups of would-be revolutionary heros have had little result except to let the state increase repression.
But eventually I was persuaded that pacifism (and the version of anarchism which went with it) was not sufficient to make the revolution which was needed — but I respect those who believe in it. I do not share the views of Ward Churchill (1998, Pacifism as Pathology, Winnipeg: Arbeiter Ring) that a political belief in pacifism is a mental illness.
Rejecting pacifism does not mean that I am “for” violence. Personally I hate violence, like most sane people. But like 99.999...% of humanity, I believe that sometimes violence is justified, particularly in defense against the violence of others. I believe that there are two basic programmatic weaknesses in pacifism: nonviolence does not always work and some conflicts are irreconcilable.
Nonviolence Does Not Always Work
Pacifists argue that if negotiations fail, it is possible to use techniques of mass nonviolence. This includes strikes, boycotts, sit-ins, pickets, demonstrations, and other forms of civil disobedience. In mass nonviolence, the activists permit themselves to be arrested or beaten by the police or army, but do not fight back in any way. “If blood be shed, let it be our blood.” Presumably this leads to winning over the opponent, to reaching out to the good that is within them. Less emphasized is that this includes a certain use of power: boycotts and strikes cause financial loss to businesspeople and pressure them to do what they do not want to do, to make a deal with the demonstrators. Similarly, brutality against peaceful demonstrators, if widely reported, can appeal to decent people elsewhere, embarrassing the government, and causing outside forces to put pressure on local powers to let up (when the local cops or vigilantes would just as soon massacre the people).
These techniques work part of the time. The problem is that they do not work all the time. Pacifists do not say, Let us consider how to use nonviolent tactics when we can, or as much as possible. Pacifists say, Only nonviolent tactics should be used. Violent self-defense should never be used. To refute pacifism it is not necessary to show that nonviolence never works, just to show that it does not work all the time, that sometimes armed struggle is necessary.
Nonviolent tactics will fail when faced with an absolutely ruthless enemy. Gandhi suggested that the Jews should have used nonviolence against the Nazis. This would have been pointless. The Holocaust could have only been prevented by a workers’ revolution in Germany. Instead, it was finally ended through the Allied military victory. Similarly, a Nazi occupation of India — or a Japanese invasion, which could have happened — would have killed Gandhi and the membership of the Congress Party. Also, successful nonviolent methods require publicity, so the rest of the world knows about it and can put pressure on the oppressors. The Nazis or Imperial Japanese would not have let nonviolent campaigns be reported. Gandhi and Nehru would have vanished without the world’s knowledge. The same can be said of nonviolence methods when used against other ruthless and secretive regimes.
The two most famous nonviolent campaigns are the independence struggle in India and the civil rights movement of African-Americans. In India, the movement succeeded due to the weakness of the British imperialists. In the past, they had been willing to simply massacre the Indians, as they did with the Amritsar massacre (shown in the movie “Gandhi”). But they were being replaced by the U.S. (and the Soviet Union) as the world’s greatest imperialists. They no longer had the power or wealth to hold down India. The Japanese army softened them up in World War II. Had they repressed Gandhi’s movement, they knew they would have faced an armed struggle instead (after all, the Chinese revolution was happening next door). Finally, they knew that the issue was not all-or-nothing for British capitalism; after independence they had more investments in India than before.
Nonviolence worked in the African-American civil rights struggle because the South was part of the larger U.S. The national capitalists, while not supporters of Black people, had no essential need for Southern racial segregation. National politicians were embarrassed internationally as they competed with the Communists. Internationally and domestically their pretense of “democracy” and “freedom” were being given the lie. So they put pressure on the Southern racists to clean up their act and end overt Jim Crow. African-Americans remained on the bottom of U.S. society but were freed from legal segregation.
But if the Southern racists had been left to themselves, uncontrolled by national forces, they would have drowned the nonviolent movement in blood.
Nonviolence was always limited. Nonviolent demonstrators were often protected at night by local Black people patrolling their neighborhoods with rifles. As mentioned, boycotts and strikes were also means of coercion against the local power structure, not just means of appealing to their consciences. Efforts to use courts and to get laws passed are only seen as nonviolent because we are taught to ignore the violence of the state. Actually, court rulings for integration and laws against discrimination only work if they are backed by the armed power of the state. This became clear when the federal government had to call up the National Guard to integrate colleges and schools.
A test case came in South Africa after World War II. As parts of Africa won independence, the Afrikaners imposed a system of apartheid on South African Blacks. The Blacks organized a mass nonviolent movement. The apartheid regime brutally repressed the movement, shooting down demonstrators in cold blood at Sharpesville and elsewhere. The movement was disorganized and driven underground. Nelson Mandela and others had to give up nonviolence in favor of armed struggle. The system lasted for decades more, until economic weakness, combined with a violent rebellion forced the rulers to give up apartheid (although they kept the capitalist system under which Black workers remain oppressed and exploited). South Africa demonstrated that a ruthless enough power structure can defeat nonviolent methods.
Some Struggles Have to be Fought Through
Some social conflicts are simply irreconcilable. The two sides cannot come to an agreement. The enemy cannot be won over, except as isolated individuals here and there.
In India and the U.S. South, there were political changes but capitalism was not challenged. This was even true of South Africa. It was also true of the changes in Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union. The rich mostly kept their wealth and power (Communist bureaucrats became private capitalists). They were willing, when it was necessary, to make changes which did not take away their control and ownership of the economy.
A socialist revolution would be quite different. The workers would take away the total wealth, power, and position of the ruling class. The capitalist class has educated itself that it stands for God and civilization. It believes it stands for law and order, against chaos and barbarism. It will not permit itself to be easily overturned. It will fight with the fiercest of barbaric brutality. Right now the U.S. ruling class supports dictatorships all over the world and wages cruel warfare against the people of several countries. It would not do less inside North America if it felt it was necessary. Like the rise of German Nazism or of Pinochet’s coup in Chile, the capitalist class is capable of overturning even its limited democracy and replacing it with the most horrific repression. We must not underestimate the vileness of the capitalist class of the big imperial states.
Such repression cannot be avoided by any attempt at humanistic or Christian reconciliation. I do not advocate any sort of premature or minority violence. But eventually there will be a confrontation between the working people and oppressed and the capitalists and their hangers-on and agents.
In my country, the United States of America (and in similar countries), I foresee one of two outcomes for a revolution. One is that a revolution may be a particularly bloody conflict, a vicious civil war. After all, the U.S. has a large middle class and a well-off layer of workers, with traditions of patriotism, religious superstition, racism and sexism, as well as the already-mentioned reactionary ruling class. Such forces may oppose a working class rebellion to the bitter end. It may be necessary for U.S. rebels to bring in a revolutionary army from Mexico.
On the other hand, it is possible that a U.S. revolution could be fairly peaceful and almost nonviolent. Unlike many other countries, the big majority of U.S. people are working class (perhaps 80%). Most of the military ranks are from the working class. Unity among the workers, as well as other oppressed groups, could prevent much violence. Especially if revolutions have been successful in other countries, the ruling class and its agents could be demoralized and easier to overthrow.
But even in the preferred case, violence will be kept to a minimum precisely if we are prepared, organized, and unified. The more prepared our class is to defend itself, the more likely the enemy is to be demoralized and to give up easily. And if an armed conflict becomes inevitable, as per the first possibility, then obviously it will be better to have been prepared. So either way, it is better for workers and the oppressed not to have illusions in the peaceful nature of the capitalist enemy.
Revolutions always use elements of what is otherwise regarded as “nonviolence.” Revolutionary struggles often include strikes and other mass actions which are often unarmed, at least at first. Also, revolutions always try to win over the troops on the other side (and no future revolution will succeed without winning over the troops of the empire’s army), as well as to raise the morale of the troops in any revolutionary army. Revolutions seek to win over the population behind the troops on the counterrevolutionary side as well as to encourage the population on the revolutionary side. Revolutions try to demoralize the core of hardened counterrevolutionary forces. These effects are done by propaganda but more than that, by politics. Revolutionaries raised demands for land, freedom, an end to poverty and oppression, and peace, and implement these ideas in whatever territory they control.
Strikes, propaganda, and political moves are all part of any revolutionary struggle — but they are not enough. For example, troops will not lightly come over to the workers’ side. After all, it is a very serious matter for soldiers to disobey their officers — they can be shot. Rebellious troops must believe that the people are prepared to go all the way, to protect them through a successful revolution. Nonviolent methods may be used, but are not sufficient.
We anarchists want a world without war or any sort of violence. But to get it, there will have to be a social revolution to completely change society, overturning the ruling class and its state. We will try to keep revolutionary violence to a minimum, but the vicious, brutal, nature of the capitalist class will require at least the threat of mass violence. |
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July 31, 2015, 1:07 AM GMT / Updated July 31, 2015, 1:13 AM GMT By Alex Johnson
Hercules and Leo, the research chimpanzees whom an animal rights group went to court to set free, will stay put because chimps aren't "legal persons," a New York judge ruled Thursday.
The Nonhuman Rights Project, a non-profit activist group in Coral Springs, Florida, sued on behalf of the 8-year-old chimps in March, arguing that they're autonomous, intelligent creatures and that holding them at the State University of New York at Stony Brook is illegal imprisonment. It said Thursday it would appeal the ruling.
In a ruling filed Thursday in Manhattan, New York State Supreme Court Justice Barbara Jaffe turned down the group's request to approve a writ of habeas corpus — the legal mechanism under which people are freed from unlawful detention. But she indicated that she sympathized with Hercules, Leo and their supporters. |
AP Microsoft will be rolling out its Office suite of products for the iPad in November, a source familiar with Microsoft's Office sales team tells us.
According to our source, the suite is likely to be introduced at Microsoft's SharePoint conference in Las Vegas, which starts on November 12. It will be available to buy for the holiday season, and our source says Microsoft will be doing volume licensing at the start of 2013.
Other news outlets have been reporting a similar timeline. Last week, The Daily reported Microsoft was going to release Office for iPad in November. Two weeks before that BGR also reported the same.
Microsoft is a company supported largely through two cash cows: Windows and Office.
Selling Office on the iPad might seem odd because it makes Apple's Windows-killing tablet computer stronger. However, Microsoft will make a lot of money on Office for iPad. And it just can't afford to miss this market.
Further, as Dan Frommer noted earlier this year, if the only thing that makes Windows, or Windows tablets special is the fact that it has Office, then Microsoft is going to be in trouble. |
It didn’t take long for Dean Ambrose’s exploding-television mishap (Magnavox Overdrive?) to become subject of ridicule. The fact that Ambrose is winless in all pay-per-view bouts post-Shield split (that’s since June 2) only makes an incendiary monitor more the source of caustic feeling.
The ending of a WWE pay-per-view is generally the lasting impression left on viewers. There may have been some enjoyably crisp match in the undercard (certainly the Dolph Ziggler/Luke Harper ladder match from TLC fits this profile), which may have to yield in the face of a thudding finish. Ambrose being defeated by technology, an incident more likely to do in Cosmo Kramer or Kenny McCormack than wily-whackjob Ambrose, is such a thud.
Over the years, harebrained ideas have punctuated these events, earning their rightful place in negative lore. Your mileage may vary, and with all matters wrestling among distinct fan tastes it will, but I’ve concocted a list of what I feel are the 25 most absurd final acts in WWE pay-per-view history.
CAVEAT 1: this list doesn’t necessary include instances where ‘the wrong guy went over’. That’s certainly subjective. You’re better off writing, “25 times I think Triple H and John Cena should have put someone over.” Now THAT’S a subjective list. But there are a few examples littered in here.
CAVEAT 2: Montreal is disqualified. No incident that turns Vince McMahon into the grandest of villains for Steve Austin to combat with weekly, spurring wrestling’s vaunted Attitude Era into the highest of gears, can count as lame. Unfair to Bret Hart? You can pick a side. Lame? Hardly.
CAVEAT 3: Chances are, you’re going to see something on this list that you personally enjoyed. That’s what friendly debate is for. I once inducted WrestleMania XXVII into WrestleCrap and I still get raked over the coals from time to time for it. Once again, this is all subjective. Just play along, if you would.
CAVEAT 4: For those who DO take offense to anything written, keep in mind it’s almost always written with a playful grin than with a scowl. So many of these moments provided unintentional bits of comedy, how *can* you hate them? Wrestling is fun, even when it’s garbage. Sometimes it takes years to see the humor in these happenings, and other times it’s instant. But hey, it’s why we still watch.
And now, here go the list.
25. THE WHAT GENERATION? (King of the Ring, June 19, 1994)
In 1994, WWE earnestly promoted its hard-hitting, fast-paced “New Generation”, with prime talents like Bret Hart and Shawn Michaels leading the way. To contradict this fresh sentiment, the King of the Ring closed with Jerry Lawler wrestling Rowdy Roddy Piper, both men well into their forties. While both men have forged storied legacies, this match is best left out.
Piper fought the insipid Lawler for the right to donate his ‘winning money’ to a Toronto children’s hospital, and Lawler was set on stopping him, like something out of a Marx Brothers movie. The match felt just as aged, and the slow finish didn’t help: Piper hitting a slow-motion back suplex with an awkward bridge that Lawler somehow could not escape.
24. A GRADUAL BURIAL (Rock Bottom, December 13, 1998)
Stone Cold Steve Austin could do no wrong in 1998. It goes without saying that bits like whacking Vince McMahon with a bedpan, or humoring McMahon’s attempt at making him over in corporate stylings, could have bombed with a performer of lesser personality. Austin’s cool factor buoyed many moments, even ones that were just beyond his control.
Closing out 1998, Austin would defeat the increasingly-Satantic Undertaker in a Buried Alive match. While Undertaker lay prone in the grave, Austin instructed a backhoe operator to pile on the dirt. After fidgeting with the controls, to noticeable crowd groans, the driver managed to dump the soil on after what felt like an agonizing hour, with a possibly comatose ‘Taker.
23. MONTREAL: THE SEARCH FOR MORE MONEY (Breaking Point, September 13, 2009)
While Montreal, polarizing as the moment remains, was undeniably the source of great growth for a blissfully-seedy WWE, attempts to rip it off have been lacking. Survivor Series 1998 gets points only for the Rock-Mankind double-turn. Other occurrences of ‘ringing the f–king bell’ since only make the home viewer want to smash their monitors, a la Bret Hart.
At WWE’s lone Breaking Point event, highlighting submission matches, World Champion CM Punk defeated Undertaker in a criminally short match when that bell f–king rang as ‘Taker was in the process of countering the Anaconda Vice. The sort-of explanation: a galvanized Teddy Long orchestrated the screwjob to impress Vince McMahon. Well, it WAS in Montreal….
One major change from the Attitude Era’s closing was, to a degree, serious slowing down of storylines. The good: an exciting story has time to breathe and build (see: Jericho vs. Michaels, 2008). The bad: you’re liable to get a screwy finish on pay-per-view, with the rematch coming the following month. At $45-55 a pop, this can be very irksome to tight-budget viewers.
A fresh-faced Brock Lesnar had just become WWE Champion, and warred with Undertaker in a decent brawl that ended after 20 minutes with a double-DQ that was simply rare in post-Attitude, re-education-filled 2002. The Los Angeles fans blew a gasket in response, and rightly so. The Hell in a Cell rematch a month later is legendary, though the road there had this pothole.
21. TV TAPING (Extreme Rules, April 25, 2010)
There’s two ideas that clash like oil and water: the concept of violent wrestling, and the Bugs Bunny-like comic mischief of John Cena. Hey, Hulk Hogan did plenty of goofy stuff in his matches (many of his Saturday Night’s Main Event moments are beautiful in their intricate silliness), and Cena certainly runs to that well in order to ‘create smiles’, per company mantra.
Cena and Batista put together a pretty good Last Man Standing match for the WWE Championship, and Cena did emerge as ‘last man standing’. That’s because Cena duct-taped Batista’s ankles around the ringpost, taking just long enough for the 300-pound Batista to look foolish in his inability to kick his muscular legs free. Admittedly, that stuff is potent.
20. THE RIGHT/WRONG MAN (In Your House: Triple Header, September 24, 1995)
Bait and switch, thy name is Titan. Immediately following SummerSlam 1995, WWE went into hype overdrive for the third In Your House, booking a true rarity: a match in which the World, Intercontinental, and Tag Team Titles would be on the line. Diesel and Shawn Michaels would defend their respective belts against tag champs Owen Hart and Yokozuna.
Hart would end up making the PPV late following the birth of his daughter Athena, but that only triggered an obvious escape clause. Davey Boy Smith, freshly-turned heel on Diesel, substituted for his brother-in-law. Late in the bout, Owen ran in from out of nowhere, and was immediately powerbombed and pinned by Diesel. The title change was nullified the following morning.
19. WWE LOSES CONTROL (Cyber Sunday, November 5, 2006)
Any sort of celebrity endorsement of WWE is gratefully accepted like a sandwich by a beggar. There is literally almost no D-or-E-lister that WWE won’t latch onto for a quick sniff. These days, middle-of-the-road TV stars are the preferred wagons to hitch to, though WWE has a history of scraping Hollywood’s barrel base for some sort of bad-boy connection. Enter Kevin Federline.
Remember Britney Spears’ ex-husband? At this time, ‘K-Fed’ released a unanimously-panned rap album, Playing With Fire, and WWE’s Attitude-lite product was attempting to make him their new Mike Tyson. Federline cost John Cena the World Heavyweight Title in a triple threat match via distraction, beat him on Raw two months later, and then vanished forever.
18. GASSED CHAMBER (SummerSlam, August 24, 2003)
The case against Triple H from diehard wrestling fans can be extensive, but give the man credit: his pedigree, pun intended, of great matches is a lengthy one, and he’s capable of delivering a believable main event. This wasn’t always the case; in 2003, as World Heavyweight Champion, Triple H reached a career nadir with Raw in a slump, and he quite literally couldn’t carry things.
By SummerSlam, Triple H was badly out of shape, thanks to a serious thigh/groin injury that kept him from working out to his overzealous liking. This meant in SummerSlam’s Elimination Chamber title defense, Helmsley (in garish bicycle shorts) watched Goldberg pulverize everyone before pinning “The Man” with a solitary sledgehammer blow, doing two minutes of work.
17. PULLING THE STRINGS (King of the Ring, June 27, 1999)
One of the en vogue story tropes of the Attitude Era was the “WHODUNNIT” mystery. Who ran down Austin in the parking lot? Who hit Kevin Nash with the Hummer truck? Who is the Higher Power? After Vince McMahon was hastily revealed as that last shrouded figure, the mysteries lost their luster considerably. At least the Higher Power, though, had a payoff.
Steve Austin battled Vince and son Shane for total control of WWE at King of the Ring in a ladder match, with the ownership certificates suspended in a briefcase above the ring. Austin had the match won, and made his climb, when the briefcase was suddenly jerked out of Austin’s reach. The McMahons won full power, and the assailant was never, ever revealed.
16. THIS IS A RECORDING (Over the Limit, May 22, 2011)
John Cena doesn’t quit. Period. Wisenheimer fans will note that Kurt Angle and the redacted Chris Benoit have made Cena tap (for $9.99, you can watch Angle do it at No Mercy 2003), but those are bits of buried history in the primary narrative. Cena, unless he turns heel, is never submitting. Otherwise, those hand-towels he displays are worthless. Well, even more so.
After tormenting WWE Champion Cena in an I Quit match, The Miz managed to draw a submission with a chair-shot beating. The referee then deciphered that it was a recording of Cena previously saying the words in a promo, via Alex Riley’s cell phone lying near Cena’s head. Cena came to life, chased Miz up the rampway, and made him submit seconds later.
15. HELP ME, OBI-WYATT (Hell in a Cell, October 26, 2014)
If the feud between Dean Ambrose and Seth Rollins has not truly ended, then this entry wouldn’t be so bad. As it stands, it’s a detour for WWE’s best feud of 2014 (assuming it picks up in 2015 sometime). That doesn’t extinguish the randomness of the moment, as well as the all-too excessive nature of what took place. It did take away from an enjoyable brawl.
As Ambrose and Rollins concluded their violent-minus-blood Hell in a Cell bout, Ambrose was about to win when *gasp* the lights went out. Some sort of plain-spoken Middle-Eastern chant was played on loop for what felt like hours. Then a hologram of Bray Wyatt appeared over a smoking lantern in the ring. Wyatt appeared, randomly attacked Ambrose, and Rollins won.
14. SOME PARTING GIFT, BROTHER (WrestleMania VIII, April 5, 1992)
WWE began something of a free-fall in 1992, in regards to a major roster purge. By year’s end, The Ultimate Warrior, Davey Boy Smith, Rowdy Roddy Piper, Jake Roberts, Legion of Doom, and Sid Justice would all leave the company. Hulk Hogan, the biggest star WWE had known by a country mile, was finishing after WrestleMania VIII, a fact that the company vaguely hyped as true.
Hogan headlined against Sid in what was a pretty bland match, building to the Hogan Formula Finish. That’s when Sid kicked out of the legdrop in a shocker, purportedly because an interfering Papa Shango was late. The fact that WrestleMania ended with a disqualification was a considerable letdown, even with Ultimate Warrior making the save in a startling return.
13. OH, THAT’S WHY THEY…. (Royal Rumble, January 29, 2006)
In the 1990s, the company experimented three straight years with putting the World Title match on after the Rumble match. WWE soon figured out that nothing could follow the one-hour tradition, and by 1999, they reverted back to closing the event with the signature gauntlet. An exception has been made twice since: 2013, so Rock could close, and this mind-boggler.
In 2006, the 30-man classic went on fourth out of six matches. Kurt Angle and an ice-cold Mark Henry went on last for the World Title in a plodding affair, headshaking until Angle’s victory celebration. Undertaker arrived on a chariot and caused the ring to collapse as a means of challenging Angle. Boy, good thing WWE changed the match order before that supernatural act.
12. DEAL WITH IT (Royal Rumble, January 26, 2014)
A rare entry on this list that exclusively criticizes the choice of winner than an actual convoluted finish. You won’t need much reminding: Daniel Bryan was by the time the most popular wrestler in the industry, shaking off pointless refuge in the Wyatt Family by destroying the trio in a memorable conclusion to Raw, with the thunderous crowd “YESes” shaking the venue.
Two weeks later, WWE excluded Bryan from the Royal Rumble match, having him put Bray Wyatt over cleanly to start the show. As the crowd gradually grew more sour, an unwelcome Batista ended up winning the Rumble match. When Rey Mysterio entered at No. 30, the realization of Bryan’s absence drew the sort of caustic rage that every heel dreams of.
11. STEP ASIDE, JABRONIES (WrestleMania XXVII, April 3, 2011)
When The Rock made an unexpected return on the February 14 Raw, shockwaves coursed. It’d been seven years since “The Great One” made any sort of meaningful appearance in an actual WWE arena. The Attitude cornerstone would take on the dreaded ‘guest host’ role at WrestleMania, though his diatribes against John Cena were positively right out of 1999.
Problem: Cena wasn’t facing Rock. Instead, Cena was challenging WWE Champion The Miz, with whom he had as unspectacular a main event as you could have on the biggest stage. Miz wound up retaining after Rock cost Cena the match. Then Miz would ‘know his role’ by getting Rock Bottom’d in the aftermath, leaving Rock, a non-wrestler, as the only man standing tall.
10. GREAT MAIN EVENT? NO CHANCE (Royal Rumble, January 24, 1999)
As the previous entry suggests, a bad main event is made much worse with a ridiculous ending. A bad match that lasts one hour and has an equally insulting finish? Much worse, as you’d probably guess. When a bad Royal Rumble came down to the first two entrants, a barely-active Steve Austin and Vince McMahon, jaded fans half-heartedly expected a swerve, which they got.
After Austin beat McMahon half to death, with a World Title match hanging in the balance, he didn’t eliminate the boss, choosing to inflict more damage. This brought The Rock out to distract Austin, giving carte blanche to years of distraction finishes. A suddenly stupid Austin fell under Rock’s spell and tangled with him, allowing the cadaver of Vince to dump Stone Cold.
9. SPONSORED BY JIMMY-JOBS (Extreme Rules, April 29, 2012)
Brock Lesnar’s return following a bountiful UFC run created plenty of excitement. His post-WrestleMania arrival, in which he F5’ed John Cena, nearly blew the roof off of the arena. The vignettes hyping their match four weeks later at Extreme Rules were a paradox of simple, and outside-the-box. Lesnar was now a crossover star, the magnitude of which WWE covets.
So then after bloodying Cena with stiff blows, and nearly breaking the man’s arm with a kimura lock, Lesnar would lose the high-profile bout cleanly. Making matters more confusing was a post-match Cena promo, in which he claimed he may be going away for a while to rest. Not only did Cena not go anywhere, but it undermined the marquee return of beastly megastar.
8. CRANE POSITION (Survivor Series, November 19, 2000)
When topping a heinous act with a measure of revenge, never underestimate WWE’s ability to veer too far into the realm of the absurd. One year earlier at Survivor Series, Steve Austin would be struck by a car in a plot masterminded by Triple H (with Rikishi as the driver). Austin and HHH would war one year later. In Attitude Era WWE, they knew they had to top a speedy rundown.
The match spilled all over the arena, and into the parking lot. Austin fought off the interfering Radicalz, while an ill-tempered Triple H started up a nearby car. As he started it up, Austin appeared inside a crane, lifted the car a few stories off the ground, and let it drop with Helmsley inside. Instead of being, well, dead, Helmsley reappeared not long after with nary a scratch on his body.
7. PLOD DEVICE (No Way Out, February 20, 2005)
One of the common elements on the list: the sudden stupidity of babyfaces. For many of these ideas to ‘work’, the purported hero has to lose 50 IQ points at the worst possible time. Take the barbed wire steel cage match for the WWE Title between JBL and Big Show. On many occasions, Show has played the ogre-like fool, but none moreso than the ending of this No Way Out.
The bloody affair saw Show chokeslam JBL off the top rope, through the actual canvas. Instead of dragging JBL out of the pit and pinning him (Nick Patrick was officiating in the ring), Show slowly kicked open the locked door, walked 1.3 MPH out of the opening, and slowly walked down the steps. Surprise: JBL won when he crawled into the pit, and out from under the ring.
6. TV IS BAD FOR YOU (TLC, December 14, 2014)
I feel fairly confident with the high placement of this entry. Factoring in that Dean Ambrose hasn’t won a pay-per-view bout since June 1, in spite of the favorable reception he receives for his masterful selling, mannerisms, and presentation, WWE has yet to really throw him a bone in his singles run. The ending of TLC has become a new running gag, rightfully so.
Branching off the “sudden stupidity” theory from the previous entry, Ambrose had Bray Wyatt beaten following a car-crash of a TLC match. That wasn’t enough, so Ambrose brings in a plugged-in monitor from under the ring, admires himself in it, and tries to nail Wyatt, only for the plugs to explode and blind him. Say it with me now: Sister Abigail for the pin.
Battleground wound up earning the honor of Worst WWE PPV of 2013 across most outlets, and it’s easy to see why. Other than the Rhodes Brothers taking on the Shield, everything else ranged from dull to downright bad. The PPV was the third paying installment of the Daniel Bryan/Randy Orton/Abeyance World Title angle, so at least there’d be a payoff, right?
After 20 minutes of wrestling, Bryan had Orton enveloped in the Yes Lock, only for Big Show to jog down, pull the ref, and lay out Bryan with the WMD, at the behest of Brad Maddox. Show pulled a second referee after a change of heart and then KO’ed Orton, who he was supposed to be helping. Sixty of your dollars later, and the belt remained vacant until the next PPV.
4. EARLIER SHOW STOPPER (Over the Limit, May 20, 2012)
This one features all of the elements of a bad finish: hacky comedy, a plot hole, a bad match, and a worse ending. John Laurinaitis was forced into action against John Cena, with his job on the line. Anyone who interfered would be fired. There’d be no disqualifications otherwise, allowing Cena to drag the former Johnny Ace through some ha-ha-larious predicaments.
Days before the match, a surly Laurinaitis had fired Big Show on Raw. After 15 minutes of Cena pounding Laurinaitis (he could have pinned him at any time), the VP tries to escape, only to conveniently run into a loitering Show. Show brings him back, and then KO’s Cena in a swerve. You know, after Laurinaitis nearly lost a bunch of times. Ace wins, and Show was rehired.
3. GET EM, HULK! (WrestleMania IX, April 4, 1993)
Anyone shedding tears over Hogan’s half-hearted farewell one year earlier will either be overjoyed at the end of WrestleMania IX, or be further appalled. As WWE’s roster shifted into promoting gifted workers with realistic bodies, Bret Hart became its flagbearer and World Champion. A match with portly Yokozuna at WrestleMania IX would put him over strongly.
Hart lost, somehow knocked unconscious by salt to the eyes. This brought out a suddenly-slimmer Hogan to protest this great injustice. Then Mr. Fuji stupidly challenged Hogan to a title match on the spot. Seconds later, Hogan beat Yokozuna to become champion, wiping The Hitman off the slate completely. Hogan then devalued the belt while touring New Japan.
2. STARS AND SWERVES FOREVER (SummerSlam, August 30, 1993)
After Hogan vanished following his title loss back to big Yoko, WWE did not reinsert Hart back into the picture. Instead, they stripped Lex Luger of his ho-hum Narcissist persona, costumed him in all colors Americana, effectively trying to make him the new Hogan. Luger slammed Yokozuna in a public challenge on the Fourth of July, and seemed poised to win the gold.
After Yokozuna’s spokesman Jim Cornette deemed this Lex’s *only* shot at Yokozuna, the two proceeded to actually have a good match. Luger would indeed win, but by countout. Using the steel plate in his forearm, Luger blasted Yoko and knocked him out cold, but through the ropes. Luger celebrated with other babyfaces while balloons and confetti fell, but without the title.
1. LEGACY CEMENTED (Great American Bash, June 27, 2004)
The Undertaker has had his share of unrealistic storylines, many unworthy of equaling the supernatural grace he so easily portrays. In 2004, Undertaker reassumed his ‘Dead Man’ image after a few years performing as an amped-up version of his real life grizzled biker self. With the return to the Dark Side came the package deal of far-fetched incidences as well.
At this event, Undertaker faced the Dudley Boyz in a handicap match with Paul Bearer (back on Taker’s side) sitting in a clear cubicle. If Taker didn’t lay down, Paul Heyman would authorize dumping wet cement on him. The goop built, but Taker won anyway. Then, for reasons unknown, Undertaker himself filled the cubicle, presumably killing Bearer. This wasn’t a heel turn, by the way.
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Comparing Hero Usage between Tiers
Hero Usage by Tier and Tier Lists
Grandmaster Tier List
Tier 1 (>75% Usage Rate): None
Tier 2 (>50% Usage Rate): Soldier76 (65%), Zarya (58%), Reinhardt (53%), Roadhog (53%), Lucio (52%)
Tier 3 (>25% Usage Rate): Mercy (40%), Ana (37%), D.Va (35%), Tracer (34%), Pharah (33%), Zenyatta (28%), Genji (28%)
Tier 4 (>15% Usage Rate): McCree (20%)
Master Tier List
Tier 1 (>75% Usage Rate): None Tier 2 (>50% Usage Rate): Reinhardt (61%), Soldier76 (60%), Lucio (59%), Zarya (54%) Tier 3 (>25% Usage Rate): Roadhog (47%), Mercy (42%), Ana (41%), D.Va (40%), Zenyatta (34%), Pharah (25%), Tracer (25%) Tier 4 (>15% Usage Rate): Genji (23%), McCree (17%), Mei (15%)
Diamond Tier List
(>15% Usage Rate):
Tier 1 (>75% Usage Rate): None
Tier 2 (>50% Usage Rate): Reinhardt (60%), Lucio (59%), Soldier76 (58%), Zarya (53%)
Tier 3 (>25% Usage Rate): D.Va (46%), Mercy (44%), Roadhog (41%), Ana (37%), Zenyatta (35%), Pharah (25%)
Platinum Tier List
Tier 1 (>75% Usage Rate): None Tier 2 (>50% Usage Rate): Lucio (61%), Reinhardt (58%), Soldier76 (58%), D.Va (57%) Tier 3 (>25% Usage Rate): Zarya (47%), Mercy (43%), Roadhog (36%), Zenyatta (35%), Ana (29%), Pharah (27%) Tier 4 (>15% Usage Rate): Tracer (20%), Mei (20%), Genji (19%), Reaper (17%)
Gold Tier List
(>15% Usage Rate):
Tier 1 (>75% Usage Rate): None
Tier 2 (>50% Usage Rate): D.Va (67%), Lucio (61%), Soldier76 (59%), Reinhardt (55%)
Tier 3 (>25% Usage Rate): Mercy (40%), Zarya (39%), Zenyatta (35%), Roadhog (33%), Pharah (27%)
Silver Tier List
Tier 1 (>75% Usage Rate): D.Va (79%)
Tier 2 (>50% Usage Rate): Soldier76 (60%), Lucio (56%)
Tier 3 (>25% Usage Rate): Reinhardt (47%), Mercy (39%), Zenyatta (35%), Roadhog (30%), Junkrat (29%), Zarya (26%), Pharah (25%)
Bronze Tier List
Tier 1 (>75% Usage Rate): D.Va (79%)
Tier 2 (>50% Usage Rate): Soldier76 (61%), Lucio (55%)
Tier 3 (>25% Usage Rate): Reinhardt (38%), Junkrat (37%), Mercy (37%), Zenyatta (31%), Roadhog (27%), Pharah (26%)
Welcome to OmnicMeta's report on the state of competitive Overwatch on Console from Season 3. In this report, we mainly look at the meta of hero usage trends across tiers from Grandmaster through Bronze.What this report is: A report and tier list of Overwatch hero usage and player trends across competitive ladder tiers (Grandmaster -> Bronze), covering the entirety of Season 3 (all ~3 months). Players are divided into tiers by their SR at the end of the season.What this report is not: We do not report any data from professional or Esports tournaments, only competitive ladder within the game of Overwatch.For information on our data, see the About page.The above chart breaks down average usage of a hero by tier, grouped into the same categories (Offense, Defense, Tank, Support) as found in the game. Generally speaking, higher tiers prefer higher skill cap characters that can reward them for their play, while lower tiers prefer heros that are easier to learn and be productive with. One particularly interesting bit of trivia is the wider range of heroes being played on Console, as compared with PC.Forheroes, Soldier:76 was the meta in S3 on Console. However, he had serious competition depending on tiers. Interestingly, Pharah is popular regardless of tiers, peaking in usage with Grandmaster players. At lower ranks, Reaper was significantly more popular as was Sombra. Higher skill-cap heros such as Genji, McCree, and Tracer gain traction with more competitive tiers. Particularly eye-popping is the 10% usage bump that Tracer sees between Master and Grandmaster tiers (a trend also found on PC).heroes see significant play at lower tiers, with Junkrat being a very popular hero at bronze. Mei is consistently popular across tiers, seeing a small dip at the Master and Grandmaster levels. Bastion, Torbjorn are much more popular at lower tiers on Console. Widowmaker and Hanzo, two heroes very dependent on precise aim, make relatively little impact at high levels of competitive Console play.the meta this season, and we can see that in the data. D.Va in particular saw serious buffs, and was the most popular hero and tank for the Bronze and Silver tiers, before gently fading in popularity in more competitive tiers, giving way to Reinhardt, Roadhog, and Zarya. Zarya steadily climbs from 20% usage at Bronze, to 59% usage at Grandmaster. Winston does not see very much play in comparison to the other tanks, regardless of tier.usage paints an interesting picture, as the most meta-defining hero on PC (Ana) is the 3rd or 4th most popular support on Console. Ana's heavy reliance on accurate shots for healing make her a more difficult pick, while Lucio, Mercy, and Zenyatta don't rely much accurate aim for healing. Lucio, Mercy, and Zenyatta see similar play regardless of tier, while Ana sees more play at higher tiers, and Symmetra more play at lower tiers.(>15% Usage Rate):(>15% Usage Rate):(>15% Usage Rate):(>15% Usage Rate): |
Just a day after President Trump issued a prepared statement condemning extremists and racism, he pivoted once again, coming to the defense of those who protested the removal of a Confederate monument in Charlottesville, Virginia, over the weekend at a rally that turned violent. In their defense, Trump posed that the people involved were not all necessarily neo-Nazis, and were there to simply fight against the removal of the Robert E. Lee statue.
He asked a room full of reporters during a press conference, "George Washington was a slave owner. ... Are we gonna take down statues to George Washington? How about Thomas Jefferson?" He also asserted that the so-called “alt-left” “came charging” at the alt-right during the rally. “Do they have any semblance of guilt?” he asked.
His comments, in which he admonished “both sides” for the violence on Saturday, shifted blame for the deaths and injuries away from the far right, and toward the counterprotesters that he’s calling the “alt-left.”
Just as Trump’s comments have changed, so have the reactions of leaders within the alt-right, white nationalists, and white supremacists such as former Ku Klux Klan leader David Duke. After initially scolding Trump for his tweets holding far-right extremists accountable, he congratulated Trump Tuesday for his “courage to tell the truth.”
Thank you President Trump for your honesty & courage to tell the truth about #Charlottesville & condemn the leftist terrorists in BLM/Antifa https://t.co/tTESdV4LP0 — David Duke (@DrDavidDuke) August 15, 2017
Ann Coulter, Richard Spencer, and Tim Gionet have all also tweeted praise for Trump’s statements.
We were Gideon's army without Gideon. Today, we got our leader back! @realDonaldTrump press conference: https://t.co/NiR2kwJkjT — Ann Coulter (@AnnCoulter) August 15, 2017
I'm proud of him for speaking the truth. — Richard ☝ Spencer (@RichardBSpencer) August 15, 2017 |
San Diego County District Attorney Bonnie Dumanis announced Thursday she is resigning in July. The district attorney said she is being encouraged to run for the San Diego County Board of Supervisors.
RELATED: District Attorney Bonnie Dumanis Will Not Seek Re-Election In 2018
Dumanis said she has not yet decided whether to pursue a candidacy. But in a letter to her staff sent Thursday morning, she said she believes her experience coupled with the role the board plays in public safety and policy issues would make her an effective supervisor.
Carl Luna, Mesa College political science professor, said the transition could be an easy one.
“The only downside is you may not have the experience as a district attorney that you have as an administrative supervisor, it’s a much more political role than the district attorney’s role.”
Dumanis said serving as district attorney has been an “absolute privilege and one of the highest honors” of her professional life.
RELATED: New Documents Show San Diego DA And Former US Attorney Texted About Azano Case Despite Recusal
The Chair of the San Diego County Democratic Party, Jessica Hayes, released the following statement:
“Just two days prior to the District Attorney’s resignation announcement, press reports revealed that the DA was a ‘subject of the investigation’ in the Azano corruption saga and had improper contacts regarding the case with the then-U.S. Attorney.
“The public deserves to know the extent of the District Attorney’s involvement in the Azano corruption scandal, and whether any other personnel in the DA’s office acted improperly.
“I’m calling on the County Board of Supervisors to launch an independent investigation headed by a special prosecutor into the Office of the District Attorney’s connection with this far-reaching case – the largest political corruption scandal in San Diego history.
“Adding to a story already steeped in backroom politics and insider dealing, Dumanis’ early resignation now paves the way for the Board of Supervisors to appoint her replacement before the voters have a say. Anyone seeking to become San Diego’s next District Attorney should pledge to support an independent investigation into the DA’s role in this political corruption case.
“Because San Diego’s chief law enforcement officer is implicated, an independent investigation is the only way for justice to be served. This is no time for business-as-usual politics.
“It would be a grievous breach of the public’s trust to appoint a new DA until the independent investigation is concluded. The public has the right to know the full extent of the involvement of personnel in the DA’s office with this scandal.”
Read Dumanis' letter below:
Ladies and gentlemen:
As you know, I am not seeking re-election and therefore, my time as San Diego County District Attorney is coming to an end. Since I first announced my intentions to you in January, many of you have been asking about my future plans. As I have weighed that future, among the many things I have been encouraged to consider is a run for San Diego County Board of Supervisors.
To be clear, I have not decided if I will be a candidate or not. I believe my experience, and the critical role that the Board plays in public safety and policy issues, would make me an effective member. However, I do not want to create any conflict with, or distraction from the important work of the District Attorney’s Office. Therefore, I feel it’s appropriate for me to resign at this time as I explore my potential candidacy.
As you can imagine, having spent 30 years of my life in this office, this has been a difficult decision. I’ve spent 43 years in public life and it has been my honor to work on behalf of San Diegans rising from an entry-level Clerk Typist, to Investigative Assistant, Deputy District Attorney, Juvenile Court Referee, Municipal Court Judge, Superior Court Judge and elected District Attorney.
As I have considered the choices before me, I have decided my last day on the job will be Friday, July 7, 2017.
As you have heard me say many times before, serving as District Attorney has been an absolute privilege and one of the highest honors of my professional life. Working as DA alongside an incredibly talented group of professionals for nearly 15 years to deliver justice to the people of San Diego has been a richly rewarding experience. Each and every one of you has contributed to public safety in our County and collectively, your dedication continues to make this office among the best in the nation. Together, we have been leaders in change and a voice of justice for so many. I’m very proud of the unparalleled crime prevention and public outreach programs we’ve put in place and your unwavering commitment to supporting victims of crime.
It has not been an easy decision to close this chapter of my career as District Attorney. But knowing I have served with some of the most skilled professionals in the country makes me proud of what we've accomplished together. I believe the office is stronger than it was 14 years ago, that together we've made a difference in the lives of countless crime victims, and that you will no doubt continue to accomplish great things in the years to come.
San Diego District Attorney Bonnie Dumanis To Step Down In July GUEST: Amita Sharma, investigative reporter, KPBS News
Transcript for audioclip 34594
San Diego County District Attorney Bonnie Dumanis announced Thursday she is resigning in July. The district attorney said she is being encouraged to run for the San Diego County Board of Supervisors.
To view PDF documents, Download Acrobat Reader. |
Recommended Books to start
Plato's The Republic [circa 380 BC] and Dialogues [387 BC] Aristotle's Nicomachean Ethics [349 BC] and Politics [384-322 BC] Rene Descartes' Meditations in First Philosophy [1641] Baruch Spinoza's Ethics [1677] Gottfried Leibniz's Monadology [1714] John Locke's An Essay Concerning Human Understanding [1689] George Berkeley's Three Dialogues beteween Hylas and Philonous [1713] David Hume's Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding [1748] Immauel Kant's Groundwork on the Metaphysics on Morals [1785] & Prolemogena to any Future Metaphysics [1783]
I highly recommend NOT to start off with any contemporary philosophers. This is because the contemporary field is highly specialized and fragmented, and will get you lost. One very important reason not to is that one of the hallmarks of philosophy is to get you to think for yourself, and so it is essential to know the history and origins of ideas and where they come from, and why is it they are as they are now.
First of all, Western Philosophy after Kant in the late 19th century broke up into various strands.
Analytic philosophy
was founded by Frege, Russell, von Quine and Wittgenstein, who emphasized a mathematical approach to philosophy. Their emphasis was on conceptual clarity, linguistic analysis and logical understanding. This led later to Logical Positivism and subsequently to current philosophy as it is now prevalent in Anglo-American universities.
Continental philosophy
includes the field of Phenomenology (Later Existentialism); Hegelism, who exposed a form of Idealism (Marxism and Critical Theory arose as a reaction to this); Freud and Psychoanalytic Theory. Structuralism and Post-Structuralism is in part influenced by Wittgenstein.
The Whole and The Part
Why is it important to know how it all started and begin similarly yourself? Because in the realm of philosophical inquiry, there generally may be what is considered the 'Whole' and 'Part'. It is better to start off with the whole so you can firstly, try to figure out the problems for yourself, and identify what questions concern you the most. Is it the quandary of existence? The idea of a purpose? The question of an ideal society?
Most, probably all philosophy starts off with such questions as relates to our life and existence, relating to us as we are and our mortality. It starts off as speculation and wonder about the nature of things. It is only in the last 2 centuries that philosophy became mathematical and linguistic in nature - partly influenced by the scientific age and its insistence of empirical certainty, partly as a result of a dissatisfaction with vague metaphysical concepts. Modern philosophy tilted towards the material world, in one way or another.
Linguistic analysis
arose as result for our need for clarification in order to understand the underlying meaning behind words so as to understand what we are talking about, that is also an offshoot of the scientific age.
It is not clear however that the answers are to found as we become clearer, or if there is even such a thing as an 'answer' at all. A large part of analytic philosophy, influenced by Wittgenstein, accepts the role of philosophy as simply conceptual clarity. A large part of Continental philosophy rejects that. A good part of both strides both sides. The question remains nevertheless whether the role of philosophy is merely to clarify, or to find specific answers. Normative questions continue to remain important to us, philosopher or not.
Good references
Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. Written by experts in their fields and refereed. Some are quite technical. Heavily analytic but adding a lot of continental topics.
Early Modern Texts. Many ancient and modern philosophy Works translated with erudition and adherence to the original by Jonathan Bennett, an Oxford philosopher.
Contemporary Debates in Philosophy series. Very good series showing both sides of the arguments of philosophical topics, written with clarity and clear explanation. You can actually find some of them free on Google.
Note about Reading Original Texts
If you acquaint yourself with the language written long before, the use of the words may be different, and have a different sense of meaning. Many of these texts however, have good translations. It is important to read them as they are so that you can get a good idea of what those philosophers are trying to convey, and as best as possible, what they mean in the way they say it. Likewise, to get a feel of the concerns of those philosophers in their own time in the way they convey their thoughts to you through their style and language. |
Lowest Ratings SORT BY: | Highest Ratings 40 Reviews. Average Rating: 4.9 of 5 Stars! 5 stars: 90% (36 of 40) 4 stars: 5% (2 of 40) 3 stars: 5% (2 of 40) 2 stars: 0% ( of 40) 1 star: 0% ( of 40) Display All Reviews Reviewed By: Jake M on 01/30/2019 Rating: 5 of 5 Stars!
Reviewed By: stetson s on 09/04/2018 Rating: 4 of 5 Stars!
Solid gun. 2 things off the bat to consider. One. The rail is 0 MOA. So. Ranging 1000 is your limit in large part
Two rear bags on the standard AR butt stalk is somewhat tough to manipulate/maintain.
Not a deal breaker. Still shooting a fair group but things to consider Reviewed By: Weldon P on 08/01/2018 Rating: 5 of 5 Stars!
I personally love this gun.Besides its great looks it is one of the most fun guns I have ever shot. The only down side i have with the rifle is it magazine. There is not an actual 6.5 mag but you can buy magpul 7.62 AC AICS Short Action mags that'll fit just the same. Reviewed By: David B on 07/30/2018 Rating: 5 of 5 Stars!
Went back and forth between the stealth and rpr for a while. I like the look and feel of the stealth as well as the fact that you can buy a mid level scope with the $ saved versus the rpr. I\'ve only got 20 rounds of factory match ammo though it, but my last 4 rounds fit under a quarter....and I\'m not some great marksman by any means. The magazine feels cheap with some play in it, but it feeds fine. I feel I got my money\'s worth of rifle. Wish it came with 20 moa rail instead of 0 moa. Reviewed By: Todd B on 07/03/2018 Rating: 5 of 5 Stars!
Very pleased overall with the value and quality of the firearm. The action is a little tight, but I'm certain that will improve with use. The adjustments on the stock work well. I'm 6' tall and the stock all the way extended is too tall and all the way retracted is too short so somewhere in the middle is where I will end up. The cheek riser gets me where I need to be as well. The trigger is very nice from the factory. I could probably take a little of the effort out eventually, but I will put some rounds through it before I make that adjustment.
I was trying to order a muzzle brake for it while I was waiting for the funds to clear Bud's for the amazing cash discount and couldn't find the spec on external barrel diameter at the shoulder of the threads so I knew what OD brake to purchase. Thread info is everywhere. The answer for those wondering is .75". The advise I got from the forum was to call the customer service line. Let me say that the customer service phone people would like to be less than helpful. I'm in the central time zone and called at 4:00 P.M. and it was already shut down. I tried the next morning at 9 AM. I asked the dude on the line for the dimension on the barrel and he gave me thread count. I asked him for the dimension just down barrel where the threads stopped and explained why I wanted it. He said, we don't list that dimension you would have to measure that on the gun. I told him I don't have the gun yet for the 2nd time, I'm trying to purchase an accessory to arrive when the gun does. There is dead silence while I wait on him to process this information. I let it stretch out to 15 seconds and it was clear he had either given up or fully understood and didn't want to do it. So I just asked if he would please go measure one for me. He said a gunsmith would have to do that. I again let the silence go for about 7 seconds this time and I finally broke it with could you ask them to take that measurement please. He says hold on and he's gone off line for about 15 seconds and says the gunsmith is on break. Like there is only one of them working in the Savage Arms company capable of working a set of calipers. I asked how long this poor overworked person would be on break and if they had a direct line I could call. He just said he would leave a message to have him call me. I'm dubious but I go along with it. Sure enough 4:15 PM He calls me back with the measurement. (Note it's after I can't get an answer when I call). I'm certain if I had let the service rep control things I wouldn't have gotten the info.
Great rifle, great value Savage. Improve you customer service experience from the crazy two line/two time/two number infrastructure to the attitude of the reps to the info the reps have at their disposal. Minor effort that will pay dividends on your reputation. Reviewed By: Mike M on 04/09/2018 Rating: 5 of 5 Stars!
Shot 3 factory Hornady Match loads...120 gr., 140 gr., and 147 gr.... at 200 yds. 147 gr shot .75 MOA, 120 gr shot shot .5 MOA and 140 gr shot a "life best" 3 shot .125 MOA. I had to quit at 3 shots as I didn't want to screw it up with a flier. Weather was 55 degrees with a 5-10 MPH crosswind. I will soon try all 3 loads again to see if I can replicate them while using a chronograph so I can start building a reload. Had a SWFA SS 16X42 Tactical scope on the rifle. Needless to say, I'm very happy with the rifle. I hope I can build a load as good as Hornady's factory load. Reviewed By: AL D on 03/25/2018 Rating: 5 of 5 Stars!
What can I say, right off the bat after putting a Nightforce NXS 5.5-22x56 rifle scope on, it took me five rounds at 50 yards to sight the rifle, 5 rounds at 100 yards to get it on target, the next 10 rounds from 100 yards were less than 1/2" MOA. I was using Hornady Precision Hunter 6.5 Creedmoor 143 gr ELD-X factory rounds.
Next week I'll be going to the Homestead Training Center to site in at 300 yards then to Okeechobee Rifle Range a 1,000 yard range to give it a good.
Totally awesome rifle.
Your service with ordering and shipping was outstanding also. I'm looking forward to purchasing another rifle from you soon. A Ruger Rimfire Precision Rifle, 22LR. Reviewed By: karl c on 03/13/2018 Rating: 5 of 5 Stars!
Love the rifle! Just the rifle I was looking for! Thanks to Budsgun fast service, fast delivery. Will be doing business again! Reviewed By: Timothy M on 03/12/2018 Rating: 5 of 5 Stars!
I have been very happy with this rifle. Make sure you remove the rail and reinstall it with loctite so it doesn't loosen up like mine did. Otherwise, wonderful rifle. Sighted it in and normally get 0.4 to 0.6 moa groups. Reviewed By: Michael D on 01/19/2018 Rating: 5 of 5 Stars!
This gun was the first time I have ordered a gun at Buds. I really only like to buy things that are in stock, but because of the timeframe of the rebate being offered, I had to order it to get the rebate. The gun arrived at Buds sooner than expected, and was in perfect condition. I will order in the future without hesitation. I haven’t had a chance to shoot the gun yet. I’m waiting on the right scope, and the weather to warm up. Show More Reviews |
It’s not uncommon to see a type-A city like DC at the top of lists such as “The 10 Most Stressed Out Cities in America.” But it’s also possible the District is getting a bad rap work-wise. Finally, there’s some evidence to prove it.
According to Project: Time Off, a project of the US Travel Association, people in the Washington area are above the national average when it comes to taking advantage of their days off.
But don’t celebrate too quickly. Apparently, the country’s entire workforce has been neglecting its paid vacation for the past decade and a half. In 2015, Americans used an average of 16.2 vacation days, compared to 20.3 days in 2000.
In the south Atlantic region, which includes DC, Virginia, and Maryland, 54 percent of people had days to spare, just below the national average of 55 percent. Compare that to the West Coast, where 64 percent of people had leftover time off.
One of the reasons for this downward trend is an increased reliance on electronics, which has made employees feel like they have to be connected around the clock, according to the Project: Time Off report.
“The deeper a technology is woven into the patterns of everyday life, the less choice we have about whether and how we use technology,” Nicholas Carr, the former executive director of the Harvard Business Review, says in the report.
Other reasons people are hesitant to leave the office for longer periods of time are anxieties that they’ll return to a hefty amount of make-up work and that others just can’t do their jobs.
In other words, this country is full of workaholics. But Washingtonians, shockingly, aren’t the worst of them. |
Do you think Judge Judy is a member of the Supreme Court? Yes? Maybe?
Doesn't matter. Anything less than "absolutely not" shows you've been failed by higher education, and our country is therefore in a state of peril. Oh, and you probably don't understand the First Amendment, either.
"There is a crisis in American civic education," reads an alarmist press release for a study published by the right-leaning nonprofit American Council of Trustees and Alumni this month.
The Judge Judy question comes from the "Constitutional Survey" conducted by the group in August to test college grads and the general population on basic constitutional and civic knowledge.
"If 'Judith Sheindlin' is a name that could be confused with one of the justices, something's gone badly off," the group's vice president of policy, Michael Poliakoff, told HuffPost. Indeed, that's the part that many major publications focused on in reports about the poll.
But before we decry the state of the American higher education system, let's take a look at the actual question:
ACTA / A Crisis in Civic Education / Screenshot A screenshot of the question in the online survey.
The majority of college grads, 61.6 percent, correctly chose Elena Kagan. The second-most selected option was Lawrence Warren Pierce, a former federal judge with a name that's relatively unknown to the general public.
Almost as unknown is "Judith Sheindlin," the real name of "Judge Judy." While the hugely popular, nationally syndicated TV judge's moniker has become somewhat of a household name, "Judith Sheindlin" is just another vaguely familiar name on a list.
Studies like this show how pollsters can focus on relatively peripheral results to inflate their findings and call attention to their studies. Last month, another organization's survey showed Americans were divided over whether they wanted to bomb Agrabah, the fictional home of Aladdin. Most people said they weren't sure, but the fact that anyone fell for the trick was the widely reported "troubling" outcome.
The American Council of Trustees and Alumni uses the results of its Judge Judy poll to argue that the "culture of civic ignorance fuels student efforts to quash First Amendment rights and expunge historic figures from campus."
Some universities have been in turmoil over their handling of complaints of racism. Racial slurs and threats have become so prevalent that some students have publicly said they're uneasy about bigoted language being protected by the First Amendment.
"We did draw the connection between the basic gaps in people's knowledge about the Constitution and specifically about what we're seeing on college campuses," Poliakoff said.
But is 9.6 percent of people selecting the wrong answer to a multiple choice question about a different part of the Constitution really an indicator of campus "civic ignorance" that's leading to student calls for curbs on the First Amendment?
In short, no. That's a serious stretch. A few people messed up a poll question. Big whoop. A wrong answer happens to belong to a TV judge, but no one seemed to care that more people wrongly opted for a real judge.
This doesn't prove students are calling for increased safety on campus because they're "out of touch" with American history, or are incapable of understanding the First Amendment.
The American Council of Trustees and Alumni's goal of empowering young people with comprehensive historical knowledge and holding universities accountable for providing this education is noble.
But hyping a relatively irrelevant answer to a trick poll question doesn't prove the group's argument. It proves how easily polls can be twisted. |
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A probe of the 2012 Benghazi attacks may have violated congressional ethics rules, House of Representatives Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi said on Thursday after a top Republican indicated it was aimed at hurting Democrat Hillary Clinton’s presidential candidacy.
U.S. Representative Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) speaks during a ceremony commemorating the 70th anniversary of the signing of the UN Charter in San Francisco, California June 26, 2015. REUTERS/Elijah Nouvelage
Angry Democrats called for the Benghazi panel to be disbanded following the remarks on Tuesday evening by House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy. He is campaigning to be the next speaker of the House when the current speaker, John Boehner, retires on Oct. 30.
McCarthy on Thursday voiced regret for making the remarks after some House Republicans said they thought he should apologize for, or explain, them. Others expressed understanding for what they saw as a media stumble.
“Everybody thought Hillary Clinton was unbeatable, right?” McCarthy told Fox News on Tuesday. “But we put together a Benghazi special committee, a select committee. What are her (poll) numbers today? Her numbers are dropping.”
Democrats said McCarthy’s comments revealed the truth about the committee and countered the long-standing Republican contention that the panel was set up to find out what happened in the 2012 attacks on U.S. facilities in Benghazi, Libya, that killed four Americans.
Pelosi said political efforts by the Benghazi committee could violate ethics laws that ban using taxpayers’ dollars for political purposes.
“The question is, is this an ethics violation of the rules of the House?” she said. “I think he (McCarthy) clearly, gleefully claimed that this had a political purpose and had a political success.”
McCarthy told Fox News on Thursday he “did not intend to imply in any way” that the committee’s work was political.
Asked if he had apologized to the panel’s chairman, Representative Trey Gowdy, McCarthy said: “I talked to Trey and I told him I regret that this has ever taken place ... and Trey goes: ‘I know it’s not your intention.’”
Boehner, a Republican, said the committee would continue its work. “This investigation has never been about former Secretary of State Clinton and never will be,” he said in a statement that did not mention McCarthy.
McCarthy’s words were widely considered a major gaffe. They were some of his first public remarks after jumping into the race to replace Boehner as speaker. He is the leading candidate for the post.
Asked if his comments could hurt his chances, McCarthy told Fox News: “This is not what you’re going to see as speaker of the House.” |
Two Conservatives on Daventry District Council have defected to UKIP.
Councillor Stephen Pointer and Councillor Elizabeth Wiig said they felt ‘let down’ by the Conservative party so have left to represent UKIP.
Councillor Pointer, who was embroiled in a row over the council-funding of iPads for politicians in August, said: “I got disillusioned with the Conservative party about seven months ago. I’m sick and tired of the way David Cameron carries on not caring about local people, and that’s the reason I decided to leave.
“Another reason was that as a Conservative I was having to agree to houses being built where we don’t want them to be built in Brixworth and I didn’t want that.”
Councillor Pointer will inform his constituents of his decision shortly, though he believes representing a different party won’t bring much of a change on a local level.
He said: “Some people may be unhappy with my decision but it’s not going to alter what I do and what I fight for.”
Councillor Wiig echoed Councillor Pointer’s sentiments, insisting it was the right decision for them.
She said: “We both feel very let down by the Conservative party. We don’t feel they’re supporting local people anymore and not supporting local issues.
“We’ve thought about the move to UKIP long and hard and it has been a difficult decision to make, but we both felt it was the right thing to do.”
The leader of the district council, Conservative councillor Chris Millar, said: “Obviously it’s disappointing when Conservatives decide to move to another party, but I have to respect their decision and their individual views.”
Councillor Millar said the defection leaves 28 Conservatives councillors on Daventry District Council, making up the majority of the council.
There are also five Labour councillors, one Liberal Democrat and now two UKIP members. |
ABOUT THAT BALANCED-BUDGET PROMISE…. The notion that John McCain can inherit a half-trillion dollar deficit, cut taxes by hundreds of billions of dollars, respond to a massive financial crisis, keep two wars going, and eliminate the entire budget shortfall in four years is utterly ridiculous. This week, the McCain campaign walked the senator’s promise back a bit.
The financial crisis has “thrown a wrench” in the plan of U.S. Republican presidential candidate John McCain to balance the budget in his first term, his economic adviser Doug Holtz-Eakin said on Monday. McCain has pledged to reduce government spending and balance the federal budget by 2013 and has insisted that the current financial crisis will not alter his campaign promises. “The events of the past few months have completely thrown a wrench into that, there’s no way round it. He would still like to balance it. It’s going to be harder, take longer,” said Holtz-Eakin at a debate with his Democratic counterpart at Columbia University in New York.
I think the word the kids use is “duh.” Of course it’s going to be “harder” and will “take longer” to balance the biggest deficits in American history. What bugs me, though, is the constant claims to the contrary. McCain and aides started the campaign vowing to balance the budget in four years.
Then they changed their mind, and said McCain wouldn’t balance the budget in four years.
Then they changed their mind again, and said McCain would.
A week later they changed their mind again, and said McCain wouldn’t.
At the third presidential debate, McCain changed his mind again, and said he would.
Less than a week later, they’ve changed their mind yet again, and said he wouldn’t.
So, for those keeping score at home, McCain does, doesn’t, does, doesn’t, does, and doesn’t promise voters to eliminate the deficit by 2013.
Remember when McCain considered his straight-talking consistency one of his selling points? |
Obaika Racing announces VroomBrands, a unique vacation experience provider, delivering exquisite and memorable vacations from the four corners of the earth – to sponsor their Chevrolet #97 NASCAR Xfinity Series starting at Richmond International Raceway. VroomBrands, with a home-office in North Carolina, offers the picture-perfect experience to satisfy all travel needs. Their salacious chunks of diverse cultures, sights and tours, cover Africa, Asia, North America, South America and the Middle East. When it comes to affordability or exclusivity, VroomBrands’ mission is simple; to serve their guests as they explore unreservedly to the highest standards.
As the first African-owned NASCAR team, Obaika Racing designed the paint scheme with their rich heritage in mind. The noteworthy Zebra print in reference to Safari packages offered by VroomBrands will be a memorable design for the Xfinity Series. |
NEW YORK -- Devils No. 1 pick Nico Hischier is living the life of a tourist this week.
Sunday's stop?
Meet the Devils' draft class
Yankee Stadium for Old-Timers' Day and then the Yankees-Texas Rangers game.
"I've never been to New Jersey or New York before, so it's great to see how things are going here," Hischier said from the Yankee Stadium press box with a Yankees jersey on his back and a Devils cap on his head.
Since hearing his name called first overall at the NHL Draft last Friday night, the 18-year-old center has made trips to Newark to tour the Prudential Center and to Harrison to take in a Red Bulls' soccer game.
By the way, while baseball isn't popular in Hischier's native Switzerland, caps from Major League clubs are and ...
"I think my first one was a Yankees hat," he said.
During the action-packed three days, Hischier also met up with Devils forward Kyle Palmieri on Saturday for dinner.
"It was great to meet him," he said.
There will be more touring on Monday when Hischier appears as a guest on WFAN's Boomer and Carton before sightseeing around Times Square. He'll then head to Newark for lunch to get a taste of Hobby's Deli before returning to the Prudential Center for a news conference Devils alongside general manager Ray Shero and head coach John Hynes.
The youngster is having a blast so far.
"It's unbelievable," he said. "I really like it here."
Mark Fischer may be reached at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @nhlfisch21. Find NJ.com on Facebook. |
Does it ever seem like every holiday is an occasion for candy? Are you looking for something besides candy to put into eggs? Or something in addition to candy to give to the little ones? Free printable Easter gift certificates are a great non-candy/non-food option to give your kids a treat without giving them sweets. I’ve also included a page of “blanks” for you to write in your own ideas if you want! (Yes, I am thinking of you, my dear readers.)
Instructions:
• Print options: regular paper works, but I suggest card stock for durability.
• All of the files are in pdf below. Or click on the image. It will open in a new window and you can either print directly or save to computer.
• The default size of these is full-page. However, if you want smaller, simply reduce the print size!
Check out the “Easter Printables” page for more Easter-related free printables. |
No matter how you slice it, My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic, the most recent reboot of the classic franchise, has been a rousing success. Beloved by everyone from its target demographic – my three-year-old daughter is a rabid fan – to a growing community of adult, generally male viewers known as bronies, it's become a veritable pop culture juggernaut.
Still, despite its nigh universal acclaim, Hasbro has done little to favor the fanbase with a proper home video release. Sure, individual episodes are available via iTunes, but physical media releases have been few and far between. A Target exclusive DVD entitled Celebration at Canterlot (boasting a scant two episodes) was made available in 2011, but this month at last sees a more substantial collection make its way to the awaiting masses.
My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic - The Friendship Express is a disc that ably explores an enchanted world inhabited by Manticores, baby dragons, Windigoes and, of course, bizarre anthropomorphic ponies. It's a character-driven affair punctuated by music and adventure, not to mention powered by the golden touch of former Executive and current Consulting Producer Lauren Faust. More importantly, though focused on the exploits of a predominantly female cast, its skillful blend of satisfying action and good-natured comedy help make the recurring themes friendship and acceptance palatable even to an audience trained to ignore the trappings of traditional "girls' cartoons."
This collection primarily consists of five episodes from the show's two seasons. Titular two-parter "Friendship is Magic" introduces viewers to the principle cast – narrative voice of reason Twilight Sparkle, noble country girl Applejack, timid animal lover Fluttershy, fashion plate Rarity and the sugar-fueled Pinkie Pie – while simultaneously highlighting the fantastical world-building that is a hallmark of the series. "Over a Barrel" finds your favorite ponies cast against a western pastiche as settlers and native buffalo vie for control of a disputed frontier, while the holiday-themed "Hearth's Warming Eve" tells of the founding of the magical land that is Equestria. Finally, "The Last Roundup" sees Twilight and the gang facing the possibility of Applejack abandoning them and their quaint hamlet of Ponyville. (It also features the first proper acknowledgment of fan-favorite character Derpy Hooves and a nice homage to I Love Lucy, which made it an easy highlight in my house.)
It's a solid selection of episodes that proves a great introduction to the series, but The Friendship Express also includes some newer material for longtime fans – specifically the latter two episodes – that make it more than a simple by-the-book rehash. Similarly, its supplemental material, while not overly substantial, is equally inspired.
A "Meet the Ponies" feature offers bios on the principle players, and a bonus sing-along provides karaoke-style on-screen lyrics for the show's theme song. There's also a bonus episode of another recent Hub network re-launch, Pound Puppies. The only head-scratcher is the included printable coloring sheet. Yes, I said sheet. Singular.
Still, Friendship is Magic succeeds more by virtue of quality than quantity, and The Friendship Express reinforces this by offering five great episodes in one handsome package. It might not be the full series that the community is clamoring for, but it's certainly a start. So if you and/or your geeklings are existing fans looking to relive your favorite moments or are only now discovering this world of spirited Pegasi, magical unicorns and industrious earth ponies, this DVD is an ideal way to do so.
My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic - The Friendship Express will be available at retailers everywhere at month's end for a suggested retail price of $14.97. Consequently conscientious bronies can pre-order now from Amazon for a mere $9.99.
Review materials provided by: Shout Factory |
A Tree Is Nice
Picture Book
Ages 2-7
By Janice May Udry
Illustrated by Marc Simont
32 Pages
HarperCollins
1956
1957 Caldecott Medal Winner
Janice May Udry wrote seven picture books, including Let’s Be Enemies and Moon Jumpers, both illustrated by Maurice Sendak. A Tree is Nice was her first picture book, and it is divine. Her unpretentious text is direct and expressive.
Marc Simont has appeared on TurtleAndRobot before, see The Philharmonic Gets Dressed and My Brother Ant. In A Tree is Nice his drawing style is loose and unrestricted; he doesn’t squander lines. Giving just enough information and omitting fine details, he’s creating a feeling with each scene as much as a picture.
The spreads alternate between black and white and color. The luxuriant, saturated color art arouses warm, joyous feelings.
In the black and white illustrations Simont uses a gray wash and thicker, more strategic strokes, generating a quiet, meditative feeling.
And every spread evokes serenity and comfort.
Trees are nice. They offer shade, they make the woods, they’re good for hanging swings on and they make sticks!
This exquisitely simple picture book provides many reasons trees are nice, and some reasons just one tree is nice too.
This book will make you want to plant a tree, or climb a tree, or lie down under a tree and take a nap. And really, don’t all of those things sound perfectly delightful?
Buy the book!
IndieBound / Powell’s / Amazon |
Hardware
I've had the Moto X for five days now and the bond I've formed with it has nothing to do with its body. In the sea of tech products that litter my home, the Moto X is the least conspicuous -- my eyes are never drawn to it. The woven white unit, a Verizon variant, is too plain-Jane for my tastes. It's unspectacular, but that superficial fail can be easily overturned by a visit to Moto Maker. Having seen the litany of custom hues possible at the product's unveiling, I can assure you, the Moto X's beauty is truly in the eye of the prospective owner -- a luxury sadly reserved for AT&T at launch. And just wait until you can get a wooden Moto X. As soon as Motorola's wood-backed prototypes pass testing and hit the market in Q4, I'm confident the Moto X'll become the "it" phone to have, the new black... the new-iPhone-that-isn't.
Motorola never specified just what materials make up the 130 grams that is the Moto X's composite shell, but you can safely eliminate Kevlar and metal (Droid staples) from that list. The backs of the woven white and black models have a trippy, Magic Eye-like effect, with a 10.4mm thickness that tapers to 5.6mm at the edges. Centered on the uppermost part of this backplate is the 10-megapixel ClearPixel rear camera with an LED flash below and speaker grille to its right. Motorola's "M" logo lies just beneath in a circular depression that's acutely placed; here is where your pointer finger will naturally rest when holding the phone. From what I've seen of carrier-locked models, branding for each operator will appear towards the backplate's bottom end and nowhere else. Remarkably, it's even somewhat demure, as Verizon's silvery logo, and that of the AT&T models we've seen, have a way of fading into the background.
Quality craftsmanship isn't the first association that springs to mind when looking at the Moto X. The glossy white plastic that frames the device looks chintzy. I use the HTC Droid DNA on a daily basis -- a phone that also retailed for the same $199 contracted price -- and despite the obvious design similarities (curved back, blunt edges), the Moto X ends up looking like a Fisher-Price toy in comparison. But much like those toys made for toddlers, the Moto X also looks like it's prepped to endure hard knocks and drops. That precious woven white backplate, however, will get messy. I know because within one hour of owning the device, an innocuous rubber stand we'd used as a photo prop managed to scuff the backplate. No amount of soap, water or Clorox wipes were able to completely eradicate these dark black scars. Keep that in mind when you're making your purchase. Like the bellies of swans, the white Moto X's backplate can get ugly pretty quickly.
The volume rocker and power button, both slivers of painted plastic on the device's right edge, are loosely secured and flimsy. They actually make a slight noise when you jiggle them in their sockets. I don't know about you, but when I plunk down $199 and sign away two years of my life to a carrier, I want to know that the two buttons used most on a phone will be sturdy and everlasting. Which doesn't appear to be the case here. Moving on, smack dab atop the Moto X's sloping top edge, you'll find the 3.5mm headphone jack, while the nano-SIM tray, which requires a pack-in key (or paper clip) to open, occupies the left edge and, finally, the micro-USB port lies at the base.
Remember the "edge-to-edge" claims Motorola made with the Droid RAZR M? The Moto X is launching with nary a mention of that jargon. But Motorola's Rick Osterloh, SVP of Product Management, did tell us that 70 percent of the device's front face is all screen. And with the Moto X's reliance on Android soft keys for navigation, that particular boast is unsurprising. Head-on, the Moto X is anonymous -- save for a 2-megapixel camera, earpiece and ambient sensors up top, all branding has been stripped from it, thankfully. Neither you, nor I need to be constantly reminded of the manufacturer and carrier when staring at our phones. Buying the phone, using it on a daily basis and paying the monthly wireless bill are reminders enough. So kudos to Motorola for avoiding that stamp of corporate insecurity.
Display
Yes, 1080p panels make for great bullet points in device announcement posts and headlines -- even as talking points in podcasts. But let's be real, for those folks that don't pretend to know the difference between AMOLED and Super LCD 3, 720p is good enough and especially on a 4.7-inch screen. The Moto X's AMOLED display packs a pixel density of 316 ppi, looks great from most any angle and has that signature vibrant pop of saturated color associated with this panel type. In short, I like it and you will, too. That said, it's not the brightest display I've ever seen on a smartphone and the glaring light of a bright summer sun does make it difficult to discern onscreen content.
Software
When you first power on the Moto X, you'll be treated to the new Motorola boot animation; one where the "M" logo is its own world, literally. A couple of things are presented to the user before delving into the typical Android sign-in procedure. First, users will be allowed to opt-out of data collection and then they're prompted to take advantage of Moto Migrate, a new tool that requires the installation of a similarly named app on your soon-to-be-former smartphone for data migration. I've yet to test this tool because I prefer a virgin experience with any new smartphone and an unfettered view of any existing app bloat.
Despite being the product of a Google company, the Moto X does not ship with Android 4.3 out of the box, nor is it immediately receiving that over-the-air update like its Nexus brethren -- perhaps the confirmed Google Play edition will. Instead, it comes with an almost pure version of Android 4.2.2 Jelly Bean. It's not lightly skinned in the way last year's Droids were, what with their use of different icons throughout. Jelly Bean on the Moto X looks near identical to stock Android. It's the minor customizations Motorola's made to the camera UI, notifications and always-on voice commands that separate this from the Nexus line; tweaks you'll wish Google would carry over to stock.
Among these tweaks, my favorite, and what should be considered Motorola's new killer Android feature, is Active Display. This is, in a sense, what makes the Moto X smarter than your average smartphone and one of the reasons Motorola developed that specialized contextual computing core. Pull the phone out of your pocket and a portion of the display immediately illuminates with the time, any new notifications and an unlock icon. You can even preview those lingering notifications by tapping the blinking icon onscreen and then fully access them by sliding your finger upwards. Not to worry, you can manage which notifications show up, when they do or even prevent them from displaying altogether when using password protection in this sleep mode -- called a "breathing cycle," since it fades on and off once triggered. Active Display can also be initiated by flipping the phone over, specifically if it's been face-down on a table while you're at a meeting or eating out with friends.
I haven't really found much use for Touchless Control, the always-on voice recognition feature launched by saying, "Okay, Google Now." I'm sure there will be instances where I'm otherwise occupied and will need to shout at my phone for assistance, but it still seems to me a gimmick. One thing's for sure, you won't ever have to worry about friends, family or pesky strangers accidentally launching the feature. There's a three-step personalization process when you first start it up to prevent that and it's kind of foolproof. Trust me, I've tried to trick it with the voices of various friends to no avail. So, what can it do? You can instruct it to place calls, get directions, launch apps, send texts, set alarms and reminders, ask questions and even play music (through Google Play Music). I've gotten particular amusement out of asking it, "Who is Jennifer Aniston?" and then listening to the robo-voiced reply.
I'll circle back to Quick Capture, the last of Motorola's custom tweaks, in the camera section. For now though, let's explore the other aspects of Android 4.2.2 on the Moto X, like bloat. Because, yes, it's on there and, yes, it's Verizon's fault. Apps like NFL Mobile, VZ Navigator, Voicemail, Verizon Tones, Quickoffice, My Verizon Mobile, Mobile Hotspot and Caller Name ID all live on the Moto X. (Ugh is right.) What's more, none of it can be uninstalled, only disabled. (Ugh, ugh.) These are in addition to Migrate and Assist, Motorola's duo of actually useful pre-installed software. I've already detailed the purpose of Migrate, so let's talk about Assist. Assist backs up Osterloh's promise of a "smarter phone" that's contextually aware. Case in point, if you want to enable driving mode, which uses the accelerometer and GPS to detect when you're behind the wheel and then reads your texts and phone calls out loud, you'll need to set up Assist. The same goes for silencing notifications during meetings or keeping the phone quiet at designated times while you sleep. Buried in display settings, advanced users will also find an option for Wireless Display. This function uses Miracast to mirror the phone's content on compatible displays and can be toggled on or off.
Performance
Don't call it an SoC because it's not. The X8 custom architecture Motorola's embedded within the Moto X (and new Droid line, as well) is a combo of a dual-core Snapdragon S4 Pro clocked at 1.7GHz, a quad-core Adreno 320 GPU and two specialized cores -- one for the aforementioned contextual computing, the other for natural language processing -- plus 2GB of RAM. Those latter two custom cores were made specifically to enable optional features like Active Display, Quick Capture and Touchless Control to function in a low-power state. That means that even when your screen's off, these features are only a flip, wrist twist or voice command away. I'll be honest, it does take some getting used to, seeing your display illuminate and then wondering / worrying about the hit on battery life. So far, that 24-hour battery life claim has proven true and that's without the battery saver option turned on.
Lately, the smartphone buzz has centered on processors like the Snapdragon 600, or 800 -- burly quad-core CPUs that translate into nimble performance. Throw something like the mutant X8 into the mix and you're left with confused spec-freaks that don't know how to compare the length of their swords. All we have now is real-world performance. Sure, the requisite benchmark testing is part and parcel of this review, but with recent allegations of rigged results, I'm more inclined to lean on my personal experience as a yardstick and not a chart of numbers.
It was Steve Sinclair, VP of Product Management at Motorola that referred to the Moto X, more than once, as being "butter smooth." He was, of course, alluding to Project Butter, the 60 frames per second made possible by Jelly Bean. And he was right, the Moto X does glide along in every action. The transitions are smooth and the app launches are seamless; nothing about its performance is herky-jerky. Take my word for it. I'm what you'd consider a heavy user, with tons of tasks living in the background at any given moment, and I've yet to witness the Moto X flinch. It's that good. It also never heats up in hand. Thank you, Motorola.
Moto X Motorola Droid Ultra, Maxx, Mini Samsung Galaxy S 4 (T-Mobile) HTC One (global) Nexus 4 Quadrant 2.0 8,958 8,775 12,684 12,495 4,949 AnTuTu 3.x 18,585 18,553 26,143 25,140 16,294 SunSpider 0.9.1 / 1.0 (ms) 1,030; 1,023 844; N/A 772; 723 991; 630 1,975; 1,016 CF-Bench 14,092 14,357 28,111 25,267 13,954 GFXBench 2.7 16 N/A 16 15 13 Vellamo 2,427 N/A 1,903 2,429 1,382 SunSpider: lower scores are better.
Alright, let's move on to benchmarks. Take a look at the chart above and you'll see there's not one clear Android rival for the Moto X. Its $199 on-contract price is the sole commonality between it and current Android kings: the Galaxy S 4 and HTC One -- Google's Nexus 4 is the lone outlier. Pitted against those two top-tier smartphones and their Snapdragon 600 hearts, the Moto X just can't keep up. It is, by virtue of that X8, comparatively slower, although graphics performance seems to be on par with its rivals since all four share an Adreno 320 GPU. (Update: GFXBench 2.7 score corrected for accuracy) Contrast it with the Nexus 4's Snapdragon S4 Pro and you're looking at a fairer fight, but graphic testing outpaces Google's reference device.
Battery life
As I write this, my Moto X is still carrying a 28 percent charge after one day, two hours, 12 minutes and three seconds. And I'm a heavy user. To give you a better idea of how I arrived at this number, allow me to explain my personal usage habits. Spotify is nearly always running on my phone when I'm in transit, which, here in New York City, means almost any time I'm not sitting. When I'm idling, I usually launch Pocket to catch up on news, voraciously refresh and scan Twitter (set to sync every 15 minutes), have constant emails pouring in and out that I read and respond to, Hangouts that I periodically indulge in, Maps for rushing off to various meetings around town and Chrome for the 20-plus links I have open at any given time.
It's sad, but I am that person at dinner or drinks who's always staring at his phone. And that sort of behavior nets you a 28 percent charge on the Moto X after one day, two hours, 12 minutes and three seconds without battery saver enabled. That result bests even Motorola's own conservative claim of 24-hour battery life. Under the strain of Engadget's formal battery rundown protocol, in which an HD video plays on a loop, the Moto X's 2,200mAh cell lasted 11 hours and 15 minutes. Clap your hands, people. This is the battery life you didn't know you were missing.
Camera
I'm not a cameraphone person -- never have been and never will be. I just don't feel compelled to snap and share photos as much as everyone else on planet Earth. It's that quality that makes me the perfect test case for the Moto X's pared-down camera UI and Quick Capture feature. According to the company, users will be able to wake the phone into camera mode via a wrist-twisting gesture and then capture photos in just under two seconds. There's no dedicated dual-detent hardware key to press, nor is there a software shutter button. You just tap anywhere on screen and the 10-megapixel ClearPixel camera snaps away. And if you continue to hold your finger pressed to the glass, it'll keep on shooting (much like a burst mode) and record the number of images with an onscreen counter. Since autofocus and exposure are automatically handled, the Moto X's camera is basically idiot-proof. You don't need to know what an ISO is or worry about white balance. HDR is even set to auto by default. All that said, you will need to give the RGBC sensor time to adjust to a scene before you snap away. Quickly grabbed shots will often appear out of focus and in low-light conditions, moving objects will appear extremely blurry. |
Press Release The EU's Assembly of Regional and Local Representatives COR/10/71 Brussels, 6 October 2010 Europe needs a U-turn from its neo-liberal past, says CoR President Mercedes Bresso has hailed the Europe 2020 Strategy as a first step in the right direction away from the neo-liberal agenda which Europe has pursued so far. But more steps are necessary to re-establish the right balance between the economic, environmental and social goals of Europe, the Committee of the Regions President said in a keynote speech last Thursday. It would be wrong to believe that economic growth leads automatically to economic and social development, Bresso stressed. "We must stop giving almost systematic priority to economic criteria over human ones, stop encouraging mobility if it adversely affects standards of living or environmental conditions, stop developing ever more sophisticated financial mechanisms, when local private savings are harnessed." In an opinion adopted during this week's plenary session, the Committee of the Regions demands that per capita GDP should no longer be the sole criteria for the structural funds and suggests instead the use of additional indicators like a comprehensive environmental index and a harmonised social survey, that would give a more rounded figure of the 'well-being' of Europe's regions and cities. "The Europe 2020 Strategy is a credible response to the many challenges facing the EU today, particularly globalisation and the recession. It remains; however, strongly inspired by the neo-liberal model reigning during the post-2000 years, which has damaged the planet's environment and climate, reinforced income disparities and social exclusion and has created the degeneration of public services. Europe, and its future EU regional policy, should dare to cross the Rubicon and leave neo-liberalism behind," the CoR President added. To know more about the recently adopted CoR opinions "Measuring progress – GDP and beyond" (read the draft opinion) and "The role of cohesion policy in the Europe 2020 strategy," (see the press release) please follow the links. Visit the CoR's website: www.cor.europa.eu The Committee of the Regions The Committee of the Regions is the EU's assembly of regional and local representatives. The mission of its 344 members from all 27 EU Member States is to involve regional and local authorities and the communities they represent in the EU's decision-making process and to inform them about EU policies. The European Commission, the European Parliament and the Council are obliged to consult the Committee in policy areas affecting regions and cities. It can appeal to the EU Court of Justice if its rights are infringed or it believes that an EU law violates the subsidiarity principle or fails to respect regional or local powers. For more information, please contact: Christian Gsodam Tel.: +32 2282 2121 [email protected] Athénaïs Cazalis de Fondouce Tel. + 32 2282 2447 [email protected] To read previous press releases, click here. |
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Enlarge By Mari Darr-Welch for USA TODAY Spa owner Carol Cole, 71, says her $2,500-a-month payments are "a terrible challenge," because the recession has hurt business. MORE ON MORTGAGE RATES MORE ON MORTGAGE RATES Nationwide rates: Chart mortgage rates, see rates in your state and more CALCULATE: Your mortgage payments under different scenarios | More calculators TIPS: Have a stress-free refinancing AUDIO: Why Interest-only mortgages are risky EXPERT OPINION: Will mortgage rates rise? fall? | Bankrate.com's full rate trend report Tens of thousands of financially strapped homeowners who have asked lenders to lower their mortgage payments are instead winding up with higher monthly payments and larger debts on their homes. Homeowners who were hoping for lower payments are discovering to their dismay that lenders roll late fees, back taxes or other costs into the principal, sometimes turning a difficult payment into an impossible one. That is one reason that many reworked mortgages are sliding back into default. It's too early to know if this pattern will continue under the Obama administration's $75 billion initiative to get lenders to reduce monthly payments for homeowners struggling to make their mortgages. A total of 360,165 mortgage modifications are now in a three-month trial period under the government's plan announced in March. But the initiative focuses on reducing interest rates rather than cutting principal, which has been found to be one of the most effective modifications for helping homeowners avoid defaulting a second time (known as a "re-default"). Of loans modified from Jan. 1, 2008, through March 31, 2009, monthly payments increased on 27% and were left unchanged on an additional 27.5%, according to a recent report by banking regulators. Many modified mortgages fall delinquent — 25% to 40%, depending on the type of mortgage — often because of homeowners' loss of income or additional outstanding debt, according to a report last month by CreditSights, a financial research firm. "Payments have gone up …. (and) the payment relief can last for the first few years and then go up (again)," says Alan White, assistant professor of law at the Valparaiso University School of Law in Valparaiso, Ind. He has studied the subprime mortgage situation for 10 years. "(The lenders) focus on today and not on the future." Even under the Obama plan, they don't focus on permanent debt reduction, White says. The majority of borrowers who've gotten mortgage modifications have seen their overall principal balance go up, according to an analysis by CreditSights and ICP of about 660,000 mortgages modified this year. In about 90% of the modifications, the principal balance after a modification was larger, CreditSights said. Hit with a 1-2 punch That's the situation facing Samantha and Steve Jensen. When the couple bought their $550,000 home in Scottsdale, Ariz., six years ago, they thought they'd found the perfect place to raise their three children. But when their adjustable-rate mortgage reset to a higher rate, they could no longer afford the monthly payments that jumped by about $1,000 a month, to $3,300. So they were relieved when their bank in June offered to modify their mortgage by lowering their interest rate. Under the modification they were to pay $2,600 a month — but then they discovered they also had unpaid property taxes. Once the bank added taxes to their principal, they say, their monthly mortgage payment grew to $3,500. They got a modification in June and are now two months behind on their mortgage payments and facing possible foreclosure. "The bank could have done more and reduced our principal," says Samantha, 40, a special education teacher. "You have the anticipation of relief and then you realize it's not going to make it better. It's like being punched in the stomach twice." How most modifications work A mortgage modification can take several forms. Lenders may allow borrowers to skip payments and then add the skipped payments to the amount of the loan. They may reduce the interest rate charged, extend the loan term, or reduce the total amount of the loan by forgiving principal. Many lenders say that reducing principal remains the modification of last resort. More than 80% of loan modifications that Wells Fargo has done in the past three months have led to lower payments for borrowers, but most involve rate reductions, the bank says. Wells Fargo has done more than 240,000 modifications, and more than 30,000 of those have been under the Obama administration program. At CitiMortgage, about 92% of modifications involve reducing rates, lengthening terms of the loan, or both. About 8% provide principal reduction. Providing relief to borrowers is complicated because of the financial interests of the parties on the other side of the loan. Many mortgages are commonly sold to investors, and borrowers' payments are collected by servicers, which may be the original lender or a different company. Certain types of loans cannot be modified without the investors' approval. Lenders and investors may shy away from reducing a mortgage's principal balance because that requires them to write down the value of the loan. But temporarily reducing interest payments while adding to the mortgage's principal avoids any loss. Some research suggests lenders may gain financially if they don't modify a mortgage at all. According to a paper published this year by the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston, more than 30% of delinquent borrowers fix their situation on their own and are able to pay even if no action is taken. Another reason lenders might resist modifications is the combined impact of high re-default rates and falling property values in many markets. A lender might calculate that helping a borrower avert foreclosure now only risks a deeper loss if the house goes to foreclosure anyway a year later. And some lenders say even if they modify loans, so many homeowners are underwater — meaning their homes are worth less than their mortgages — that some borrowers are defaulting on purpose, "walking away" after the lender has spent money and time renegotiating the loan. "We have customers who can afford the payments but are underwater. They default not because they have to, but because it's better for them," says Jack Shackett, Bank of America's head of credit-loss prevention. "They can act like they want the modification and then they still default, so they've stayed for three to four months in the house for free." The Obama administration's plan tries to overcome some of these barriers by imposing a three-month trial period during which borrowers must pay the renegotiated mortgage, discouraging them from walking away. Also, the emphasis under the Obama administration plan is on getting lower monthly payments for homeowners. Servicers must follow an established process to reduce the monthly payment to no more than 31% of the borrowers' gross monthly income. To do that, lenders will first reduce the interest rate on the loan and then extend the original term of the loan to up to 40 years. "In the past, modification increased the burdens on borrowers. Under the president's plan, it reduces payments to a meaningful level," says Michael Barr, assistant secretary for financial institutions at Treasury. "Investors and servicers get incentives and are paid only if loans succeed." Under the program, mortgage holders and investors receive a one-time government payment of $1,500 for each modification agreement completed with borrowers who are current when they begin the program. Short-term vs. long-term help Mounting unemployment and loss of income threaten to complicate efforts to prevent foreclosures, even for mortgages that are substantially modified. That's why some banks and economists are pushing for short-term personal loans to the jobless, or a break for several months in making payments. A recent Federal Reserve Bank of Boston study suggests that to reduce foreclosures, the government should shift its focus from providing mortgage help to directing more financial assistance to those who lose their jobs. The authors say one strategy might be giving loans or grants to individual homeowners for a year or two to help them through difficult periods so they don't lose their homes. Some lenders are already trying similar tactics on their own. Bank of America is occasionally offering temporary mortgage forgiveness for three to six months in hopes the borrower will find a new job in that time. It is pushing the government to initiate such a program nationwide. "Our view all along is that that will be a very effective way to address the problem," says Paul Willen, one author on the Federal Reserve study. "A lot of what's being done is a misplaced focus on modest, long-term relief when what they need is fast, short-term, massive relief (due to job loss)." One such homeowner is Carol Cole, 71, who received a modification in February that cut her payments from more than $3,000 a month to $2,500. That's still $500 more a month than she was paying when she bought her $575,000 house in Santa Rosa Beach, Fla., about five years ago. With income from her spa business falling, she's worried she'll become delinquent on her mortgage as soon as this winter. Cole has applied for another modification, but she says her bank has told her she has to wait 12 months to qualify for help. Her lender, Bank of America, said it had to deny her request for a further modification because the investor who holds her mortgage does not participate in the government's modification program. However the bank is continuing to pursue the case. "It's a terrible challenge (making the payments) and I'm trying not to fall behind, but it's going to get to the point I can't make it," Cole says. "This affects your health, your relationships. You don't eat or sleep." 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 |
Elastic Stack is a great big data and analytics platform that can be used for multiple purposes and its core functionality is free. We are using it internally on different projects but I want to share today how you can use it to collect and visualize some analytics from VMware.
Elastic Stack is composed of different pieces:
ElasticSearch is a schema-less NOSQL database with powerful search capabilities and very scalable
Logstash allows to receive data from multiple unstructured sources (syslog, snmp, files, etc) and parse and store them in ElasticSearch.
Kibana is a web-based data visualization tool used to query ElasticSearch, run analytics, and create great dashboards from the data
There are multiple tutorials on the internet detailing Elastic Stack installation, so we will not cover it in this post.
We are also not covering Logstash, but you can use it to redirect vSphere hosts syslog output to store on Elastic Stack in order to search for patterns across all hosts logs.
In this post, I am going to explore how to use VMware PowerCLI to collect VMware metrics, store them in an ElasticSearch database which is explored using Kibana allowing you to create nice reports.
First, we have to open PowerCLI, connect to our vCenter and retrieve one VM. Virtual machines have a lot of properties but we are only going to collect five, indexing them in ELK.
PowerCLI C:\> $vm=get-vm agonzalez.ubuntu15|Select-Object -Property name,version,guestid,memorymb,numcpu,CoresPerSocket PowerCLI C:\> $vm Name : agonzalez.ubuntu15 Version : v8 GuestId : ubuntu64Guest MemoryMB : 524288 NumCpu : 1 CoresPerSocket : 1
With this command we have in $vm variable our vm with the properties in which we are interested. ElasticSearch exposes a REST API service so we are going to invoke a POST operation with our VM data. Let’s check first if we can reach ELK and if it is working:
PowerCLI C:\> Invoke-RestMethod -Method GET -Uri http://10.10.10.2:9200/ name : elastic01 cluster_name : unitrends tagline : You Know, for Search Now let’s index the VM as a document: PowerCLI C:\> Invoke-RestMethod "http://10.10.10.2:9200/vmware/vm" -Method POST -Body (convertto-json $vm) _index : vmware _type : 1 _id : AVpEUiC7LQmMQ8OiO47E _version : 1 result : created _shards : @{total=2; successful=1; failed=0} created : True
Go to Kibana http://10.10.10.2:5601
Create Index Pattern, Settings->Index Patterns->Add New. Uncheck “Index contains time-based events” and enter index name “vmware*” and Click Create.
Go to Discover and select vmware* index, you will see one document with the properties you indexed.
Let’s now index all VMs instead of just one:
PowerCLI C:\> $vms=get-vm |Select-Object -Property name,version,guestid,memorymb,numcpu,CoresPerSocket PowerCLI C:\> $vms|%{Invoke-RestMethod "http://10.10.10.2:9200/vmware/vm/" -Method POST -Body (convertto-json $_)}
If we go to Kibana we will see all VMs, each indexed as a new document:
Once we have the data we can start using some of the visualization charts included.
Go to Visualize->Pie Chart->Select Index “vmware*”->Split Slices Aggregation Terms, Field: GuestId.Keywork. You will see a pie chart with each of the guest OS types we have. If you move your mouse over it, you can see there are 17 Centos6 guests.
Do you want to calculate how much memory have been assigned to all VMs? You can use Visualize->Metric->Select Index “vmware*”->Aggregation=Sum Field=MemoryMB.
Go to Visualize->Tag Cloud and do the same to see most commonly used OS’s in a different way:
You can see how powerful this is. PowerCLI allows you collect thousands of metrics and properties that can be indexed, allowing for the creation of powerful visualizations.
In the same way as explained here you can use Unitrends PowerShell Toolkit to collect data from our appliances for indexing and visualization in Kibana and for creating great reports.
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“We tend by a secret law of the soul to move toward our mental image of God.” ~ A.W. Tozer, The Knowledge of the Holy.
What a true word! What we worship, we become–even when we worship God! And what danger, because when we worship a false, a broken, an imperfect image of God, those imperfections themselves get imprinted on our faith. Do you believe God is cruel and harsh? You are likely to be cruel and harsh. Do you believe God is unforgiving? You are likely to be unforgiving yourself. Do you believe God is an abstraction of power? You are likely to find yourself worshipping power in all its forms. Do you think God is love (in such a way that you could also say “love is God”)? Then your faith will be all sentiment, and no cross.
There can be no substitute, no exchange, no replacement of the image that God desires to place on our hearts, for the image that we choose for God in our hearts. God’s image must always win. Our image must always be shattered. How much better when we are the ones who wield the hammer and cry, “Not this, but the real You! Not what I want, but what You will!” God, let Yourself be all in all, and may we willfully shatter all our false idols in sacrifice to know you more.
[Related Post: The One-Way Ladder (On the Doctrine of God).] |
Sometimes bad things happen, and you must recover your desktop or server from an error.
For this delicate work there are some specialised Linux Live Distributions that once booted allow you to make a lot of tasks, like mounting and repairing disk partitions and file system, for this it’s important that the live Distro has support for many different File System type and LVM, it should also have a good support for the network, it’s possible that you need to download or move something on the computer, and so it’s also important to have a wide range of network support, wi-fi too maybe.
I’ve know Finnix because it’s the recovery solution choosed by my the hosting company that i use, Linode.
Finnix is a self-contained, bootable Linux CD distribution (“LiveCD”) for system administrators, based on Debian. You can mount and manipulate hard drives and partitions, monitor networks, rebuild boot records, install other operating systems, and much more. Finnix includes the latest technology for system administrators, with Linux kernel 3.0, x86 and PowerPC support, hundreds of sysadmin-geared packages, and much more. And above all, Finnix is small; currently the entire distribution is over 300MiB, but is dynamically compressed into a small bootable image. Finnix is not intended for the average desktop user, and does not include any desktops, productivity tools, or sound support, in order to keep distribution size low.
New versions of Finnix are released every 3 months on average, with updated software from the Debian “testing” tree, along with new Finnix-specific functionality, the latest release it’s version 102 released on 23 July 2011.
Features
This is a list of packages and features available on release 102
Linux 3.0 as kernel
Based on Debian testing (2011-07-21)
Support to many file systems: ext3/4, btrfs, Macintosh HFS, cifs, JFS, NTFS, NTFS-3G and XFS
Support to LVM and EVMS
A lot of network tools: tcpdump, ethtool, snmp tools, wirelesstools
A lot of other tools like wipe (to delete securely files)
And if you need for a specific tool or program you can check the online package list
GRML Grml is a bootable live system (Live-CD) based on Debian. Grml includes a collection of GNU/Linux software especially for system administrators and users of texttools. Grml provides automatic hardware detection. You can use Grml (for example) as a rescue system, for analyzing systems/networks or as a working environment. It is not necessary to install anything to a harddisk; you don’t even need a harddisk to run it. Due to on-the-fly decompression Grml includes about 2.1 GB of software and documentation on the CD.
It includes an X server along with a few minimalist window managers such as wmii, fluxbox, and openbox in order to use the graphical programs like Mozilla Firefox which are included in the distribution.
Grml provides several scripts and utils which make life easier. The default interactive shell is Zsh and is configured with a very powerful setup, including a nifty completion mechanism. grml-x is a wrapper for configuring and using the X window system. grml2usb is a tool for installing grml ISO(s) on a usb device for booting. grml-crypt is a program that provides an easy wrapper arround cryptsetup, mkfs, losetup and mount. grml-live is a build framework based on FAI (Fully Automatic Installation) for generating a grml and Debian based Linux Live system (CD/ISO).
The latest release of GRML it’s the version 2011.05 released on 29 May 2011, and the new features are available here
Details about shipped packages and their versions on Grml are available at the Debian section. Visit dpkg_get_selections for a main package listing and dpkg_list for a detailed list of packages shipped with Grml 2011.05.
systemrescuecd
SystemRescueCd is a Linux system rescue disk available as a bootable CD-ROM or USB stick for administrating or repairing your system and data after a crash. It aims to provide an easy way to carry out admin tasks on your computer, such as creating and editing the hard disk partitions.
SystemRescueCD is not intended to be used as a permanent operating system. It was designed by a team led by François Dupoux, and is based on the Gentoo Linux distribution.
SystemRescueCD is capable of graphics using the Linux framebuffer option for tools such as GParted. It uses version 2.6.38.8 (or 3 as alternative) of the Linux kernel and has options such as connecting to the Internet through an ADSL modem or Ethernet and graphical web browsers such as Mozilla Firefox.
The latest version it’s the 2.3.1 released on 23 August 2011, this page tells you more about the linux software which comes with this system rescue
Conclusions
I like all 3 of these distributions, and if you ever will have some problem I’m sure you’ll love them too.
Like I wrote Finnix it’s the default tool used by my hosting company, it’s the smaller of the 3, but it’s updated often (it’s only one to have as default Linux 3.0 as kernel) and still has a lot of tools that can help you in recovering your system.
In the middle i place systemrescuecd there is more software available in this distribution, and a graphic environment, that can be useful if you need to browse the net for a solution or to copy and paste some files/configurations from internet websites. In the past I’ve used this distribution and I’ve been satisfied of it.
The bigger, as size of the image, of the 3 it’s GRML that it’s the one with a lot more of software and graphical options. This can be useul if you don’t know the exact problem and need more tools to analyse, check and repairs different things.
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PROVIDENCE, R.I. — Roman Catholic Bishop Thomas J. Tobin posted "Three Reasons Not to Give to Panhandlers" on Tuesday, a day after a protest of Cranston's new antipanhandling ordinance.
While Bishop Tobin quoted Pope Francis in his post, the bishop's reasons for not giving to beggars conflict with the pope's view that giving to someone in need "is always right."
"Throwing some loose change at a panhandler while passing by is demeaning of his or her human dignity," Bishop Tobin wrote as his first reason. "While it might make us feel better, in fact it sustains a very unhealthy and degrading lifestyle."
Bishop Tobin said people should donate to the "legitimate and structured means of helping the poor and needy."
The other two reasons were that giving to roadside panhandlers created a safety hazard and that the practice "enables a few dishonest individuals to prey upon the compassion of others."
Bishop Tobin's Facebook post quoted Pope Francis as saying, “The great danger, or temptation, when aiding the poor is falling into an attitude of protective paternalism that, at the end of the day, does not allow them to grow. A Christian’s obligation is to integrate the most deprived into the community in whatever way possible.”
Speaking directly about beggars in an interview published Feb. 28 in a Milan magazine run by homeless people, Pope Francis said "There are many excuses" to justify why one doesn't help when asked by someone on the street.
But giving something to someone in need "is always right," and it should be done with respect and compassion because "tossing money and not looking in [their] eyes is not a Christian" way of behaving, the pope said.
Even if the person uses the money to buy alcohol, the pope said, "that's OK," because it might bring a little happiness.
[email protected]
(401) 277-7411, @donita22 |
Image copyright Alexander Reben Image caption "The First Law" machine is designed to prick fingers sometimes but not always
A robot that can decide whether or not to inflict pain has been built by roboticist and artist Alexander Reben from the University of Berkeley, California.
The basic machine is capable of pricking a finger but is programmed not to do so every time it can.
Mr Reben has nicknamed it "The First Law" after a set of rules devised by sci-fi author Isaac Asimov.
He said he hoped it would further debate about Artificial Intelligence.
"The real concern about AI is that it gets out of control," he said.
"[The tech giants] are saying it's way out there, but let's think about it now before it's too late. I am proving that [harmful robots] can exist now. We absolutely have to confront it."
Kill switch
Mr Reben's work suggests that perhaps an AI "kill switch", such as the one being developed by scientists from Google's artificial intelligence division, DeepMind, and Oxford University, might be useful sooner rather than later.
In an academic paper, the researchers outlined how future intelligent machines could be coded to prevent them from learning to override human input.
"It will be interesting to hear what kill switch is proposed," said Mr Reben.
"Why would a robot not be able to undo its kill switch if it had got so smart?"
In a set of three robotics laws written by Isaac Asimov, initially included in a short story published in 1942, the first law is that a robot may not hurt humans.
Mr Reben told the BBC his First Law machine, which at its worst can draw blood, was a "philosophical experiment".
"The robot makes a decision that I as a creator cannot predict," he said
"I don't know who it will or will not hurt.
Image copyright Alexander Reben Image caption Alexander Reben's Blabdroids were filmmaker robots designed to get people to confide in them.
"It's intriguing, it's causing pain that's not for a useful purpose - we are moving into an ethics question, robots that are specifically built to do things that are ethically dubious."
The simple machine cost about $200 (£141) to make and took a few days to put together, Mr Reben said.
He has no plans to exhibit or market it.
Mr Reben has built a number of robots based on the theme of the relationship between technology and humans, including one which offered head massages and film-making "blabdroid" robots, which encouraged people to talk to them.
"The robot arm on the head scratcher is the same design as the arm built into the machine that makes you bleed," he said.
"It's general purpose - there's a fun, intimate side, but it could decide to do something harmful." |
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A group of seventy-five leading economists signed a letter to President Obama and congressional leaders in support of raising the federal minimum wage from $7.25 to $10.10 an hour by 2016. Ad Policy
The letter, released by the Economic Policy Institute, endorses a Democratic proposal to raise the minimum wage by ninety-five cents a year over the next three years, and then to tie further increases to inflation. The plan, which is sponsored by Senator Tom Harkin (D-IA) and Representative George Miller (D-CA), received the support of President Obama in November.
The letter’s signees, including seven Nobel laureates, say the Miller-Harkin plan would increase the wages of close to 17 million low-wage workers.
“The vast majority of employees who would benefit are adults in working families, disproportionately women, who work at least 20 hours a week and depend on these earnings to make ends meet,” the letter reads, “At a time when persistent high unemployment is putting enormous downward pressure on wages, such a minimum-wage increase would provide a much-needed boost to the earnings of low-wage workers.”
The letter also disputes claims that an increase would have an adverse affect on employment of minimum-wage workers. A recent analysis by the EPI determined that raising the minimum wage to $10.10 would grow the US economy by about $22 billion and create 85,000 new jobs. The study also found that the Miller-Harkin proposal would bring the minimum-wage value, adjusted for inflation, back to that of the late 1960s:
Source: Economic Policy Institute
A December Wall Street Journal/NBC poll revealed that 63 percent of Americans support raising the minimum wage to $10.10 an hour.
Take Action: Tell Congress That It's Time to Raise the Minimum Wage |
A rare genetic deformity that affects an estimated 1 in 10,000 births is known as lobster claw syndrome. But chances are you've never seen anyone who has the condition.
From shows in Austin to Coney Island, he is the ultimate entertainer. "My act comes from my experiences," says Jason Black, known by his stage name as the Black Scorpion.
They're experiences he didn't choose but embraces.
On stage, the black scorpion seems invincible. Off stage, 36-year old Jason Black is struggling with Ectrodactyly Ectodermal Dysplacia -- a rare genetic disorder that causes clefting on the face, hands and feet.
"When you first meet a patient with EEC, the first thing that jumps out are the hands and feet just because they are noticeably different, interestingly that's often not the part that bothers the patient the most," says Dr. Jeffrey Cone, a craneofacial surgeon with St. David's Children's Hospital.
Jason agrees, "I've never been ashamed of my hands, I've always been proud of my hands but my teeth, they always hurt."
The genetic mutation affects the body's ability to create a tooth, so it's primarily missing the enamel. Dr. Cone compares EEC's effect of a person's teeth to Star Wars. He says, "The enamel is basically the shield around the Death Star and so without the enamel the shields are down and the teeth are much more vulnerable to infections and to cavities."
Jason has state health insurance and receives disability benefits but it's not enough. Restoring Jason's teeth will cost nearly $20,000. "I'm disabled but I work every day that I'm allowed to and I earn as much as much money as I'm allowed to," says Jason.
Jason has several jobs, including part-time work at KEYE TV, but the dental work he needs is way beyond his financial reach. "I suggested that he ask for help and that we could do it through gofundme," says his friend Samantha X, who is also a performer.
She says, "Jason is really really special and to have him on stage and to have be able to get his message out to the world, I think is really essential and to not have teeth and not be able to chew it makes it really hard to be able to perform."
So far Jason has raised less than half of what he needs. "I haven't reached that goal and I'm scared I won't because I want to be able to eat again," says Jason.
But he finds comfort knowing people are reaching out to him. "Even though you feel terrible about yourself because you're asking for help and can't chew, just to know that people still love you anyway means something," says Jason.
Through it all, he's hoping sharing his experience will inspire others. "You be you, if you have the heart to be it, you be it. God gave you what he gave you and he gave it to you for a reason and you can prove to people that you're worthy," says Jason.
If you want to find out more about Jason and how you can help, go to https://www.gofundme.com/ectrodactyly.
Follow us on Twitter @keyetv and LIKE us on Facebook for updates. |
John Beale, the former EPA official who fooled his bosses into believing he worked for the CIA, was deeply involved in crafting costly environmental standards which still are having an impact today -- though he came into the job with little, if any, environmental experience.
The details were included in a 67-page report from Republicans on the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works, which claims the fraudster's role should now throw those rules into question.
The report is the product of months of research into the case of Beale, a top official in the Office of Air and Radiation, who was sentenced to prison in December for defrauding the agency with his CIA lie. It details Beale's role in crafting an aggressive regulatory approach which the report dubs the "EPA Playbook."
"Ultimately, the guiding [principle] behind the Playbook is the Machiavellian [principle] that the ends will justify the means," the report says.
Sen. David Vitter, R-La., top Republican on the committee, said in a statement that the study "connects the dots between John Beale and the numerous air regulations that he's responsible for."
The EPA already has come under scrutiny for failing to act earlier on warning signs about Beale's behavior and fraudulent activity. But the report also calls into question the regulatory work Beale had done over an EPA career that began in the late '80s -- and its lingering impact on businesses today.
"The product of his labors have remained intact and have been shielded from any meaningful scrutiny, much the same way Beale was protected by an inner circle of career staff who unwittingly aided in his fraud," the report says. "Accordingly, it appears that the Agency is content to let the American people pay the price for Beale and EPA's scientific insularity, a price EPA is still trying to hide almost twenty years later."
Beale was first brought on as a career employee by his friend Robert Brenner in 1989, after a stint working as a consultant for the agency. According to the Senate GOP report, he had no environmental experience, and his federal legislative experience was limited to an unpaid internship for a senator. Yet he was brought on at the maximum pay level for an employee of his kind -- at a level typically reserved for people with 20 years' experience, according to the report.
In 1995, Beale and Brenner apparently began working on what are known as National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) for Ozone and Particulate Matter (PM). This was a far-reaching process to regulate pollutants in the air -- the push to regulate Particulate Matter covered small particles ranging from smoke to soot to fumes to dust. According to the report, Beale and the rest of the agency ran with the project.
"Under Beale's leadership EPA took the unprecedented action of proposing standards for the two pollutants in tandem and aggressively tightened the standards to controversial levels," the report said.
The report goes on to argue that the 1997 standards that resulted "set in motion" the way the EPA issues regulations under the Clean Air Act. The report alleges that this included "inflating benefits while underestimating costs."
Asked for comment on the Republican report, EPA spokeswoman Alisha Johnson acknowledged Beale's role in the air quality rules but noted he was among many people involved in that process.
"While Mr. Beale did work on the rules mentioned in the report, he was just one of a large number of people from a number of disciplines across the Agency who provided input on those rules," she said in an email. Those rules, she noted, for the most part were upheld by the courts.
"Since that time, both standards have been re-reviewed and re-issued by the EPA," Johnson said. "The standards followed the routine open, transparent and public process, providing opportunities for public and interagency review and comment prior to their finalization."
Despite Republican accusations, the agency defends its air quality standards as firmly grounded in science.
The Senate GOP study details specific regulations that relied on these standards, including the EPA's controversial regulations on coal-fired power plants. Amid these and other rules, dozens of power plants have been slated for retirement in recent years.
The report says the air quality standards have also been used to defend 32 major rules since 1997, which together account for billions of dollars in costs to U.S. businesses.
The so-called "playbook" for implementing EPA rules began during the 1997 process, and allegedly included inflating benefits of proposed rules, as well as using a controversial tactic known as "sue-and-settle" -- where a "friendly" group sues the agency and settles on "mutually agreeable terms." The report says Brenner and Beale were behind that "playbook."
Republicans argue in the study that Beale reached the "pinnacle of his career" during that 1997 process, and used that status to defraud the agency for years.
The inspector general's investigation, which later uncovered the fraud, found Beale received improper bonuses until 2013 -- the improper bonuses ended up totaling about $500,000. This, while he was taking off time supposedly to work for the CIA.
Since the fraud was made public, EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy has been credited by some with initially flagging Beale's activities and expenses. EPA bosses say they were duped by his CIA story, despite the warning signs.
An EPA spokeswoman said earlier that Beale "went to great lengths to deceive and defraud the U.S. government over the span of more than a decade" and the agency has "put in place additional safeguards to help protect against fraud and abuse related to employee time and attendance."
Brenner retired from the agency in 2011. |
Ship Name Audio Japanese English Notes
Mutsuki Play およ? 提督、一泳ぎに行くのかにゃ? 睦月もお付き合いするの、水着水着―! Oyo? Admiral, are you going for a swim? I'll come along too! Ah, swimsuit, swimsuit~! 2015 Summer Line
Kisaragi Play ほら、海に行きましょう。ああ、艤装や服や脱いで、ね?如月の水着、どう? Hey, why don't we go to the beach? Ah, we can take off our clothes and equipment, right? Hey, how do I look in my swimsuit? 2015 Summer Line
Satsuki 司令官、皆とスイカ割り楽しいね! え、ボクに挑戦するの? ふふ、可愛いね♪ Commander, splitting watermelons with everyone is so fun! Eh, you want to challenge me? Fufu, that's cute♪
Fumizuki ふぇー、スイカ割りー? するするー、したーい♪ 私、得意なのー。いーい? えいっ♪ わぁっ!? Fue~, watermelon splitting? Let's get to it~♪ It's my speciality. Hrm~? Eii~♪ Waah!?
Nagatsuki よし! かなり元気が出てきたぞ。ああ、夏真っ盛りは得意だ、任せておいてくれ。 Right! I feel great right now. Ah, I love summer in full swing, leave everything to me.
Mikazuki ふぅ、今年も夏をどうにか乗り越えられそう。司令官、感謝です。はい! Fuu, feels like I'll be able to get through summer this year too. Commander, I'm grateful. Yes!
Mochizuki うぅ~、マジ暑し。もうダメだ、もうダメ。ラムネないし、アイスないし…もうダメだ! Uuugh~ it's so hot. I can't, I really can't. No ramune, no ice lollies... I can't!
Kikuzuki ああ、スイカか。いいな。スイカ割りの太刀筋なら…この菊月、負けんぞ。 Ah, watermelons huh. That sounds good. I won't lose to anyone... in watermelon splitting swordsmanship.
Akatsuki もー、砂浜のお城作りは遊びじゃないわ! 立派な諸島防衛の築城演習なのよ。 Humph~, building sandcastles on the beach isn't fun and games! It's fortification practice for the coastal defense of islands.
Inazuma 雷ちゃん、暁ちゃんの砂のお城邪魔しちゃダメなのです。あ、喧嘩はダメなのですー! Ikazuchi-chan, don't mess with Akatsuki-chan and her sandcastles. Ah, no fighting-nanodesu~!
Ikazuchi 暁、そんな壁じゃ波にすぐやられちゃうわよ? そんなんじゃダメよ! あ、ほら。 Akatsuki, those walls will be brought down by the waves in no time you know? That won't work at all! Ah, hey.
Hibiki 暁、防波堤をもっと高く作らないと。あ…また作ればいいさ。手伝おう。 Akatsuki, the breakwater isn't high enough. Ah... just remake it. I'll help.
Akebono Play 夏本番か! 潮、アンタ少しダイエットした方がいいわ。あたし? あたしは別に…… It's the height of summer! Ushio... have you thought about going on a diet at all? Me? I'm fine, really. The kusoest.
2015 Summer Line
Ayanami Play 夏は……やっぱり暑いですね……。司令官、敷波が持ってきてくれたスイカ、切りましょうか! Summer... really is hot, isn't it. Commander, why don't we split the watermelon that Shikinami brought? 2015 Summer Line
Fubuki Play 特型駆逐艦集合! 夏の演習を始めます! 二隻一組になって! あ……あ、そうだ! 私と組もう? ね? Special-type destroyers, assemble! Summer practice, start! Two ships per group! Ah... ah, that's right! Would you like to pair up? 2015 Summer Line
Asashio 司令官、夏です! 冷えたラムネでも酒保から持ってまいりましょうか? いつでもお命じ下さい!! Commander, it's summer! Would you like a chilled ramune from the canteen? Just give me the order!!
Ooshio 司令官、アゲアゲの夏がやってまいりました! 第8駆逐隊もかき氷食べて、アゲアゲです! ガッツーンっ!? Commander, the lively summer is here! Have some shaved ice from the 8th Destroyer Squadron, it'll pump you up! Cheers~!
Kagerou Play ほーらっ、十八駆、海に行くわよ。ちゃんと服の下に水着着た? 不知火、あんたもよ Come on, 18th, to the beach! 'Everyone have your swimsuits on under your clothes? Shiranui, you too! 2015 Summer Line
Shiranui Play いや、海にはいつも行っています……夏だからといって、水着で行く必要なぞ…… No, see here, we're always on the sea anyway... just because it's summer doesn't mean we need to wear swimsuits. Response to Kagerou's line.
2015 Summer Line
Kuroshio Play 司令は~ん。一緒に、海行かへん? いんや、遠征とかやなくって、砂浜や Commander, won'cha come down to the sea with me? No, not another expedition, to the beach! 2015 Summer Line
Hatsukaze Play いよいよ夏本番ね。なに?泳ぎに行く?いいわよ。あ、不知火とかも誘う?ああ...そう It's finally midsummer, huh. What? Go swimming? Sure. Ah, why don't we invite Shiranui, too? Oh, is that... so. 2015 Summer Line
Amatsukaze もうすっかり夏ね。暑い…島風、あんたは何時も涼しそうね…いいけど。 Jeez, it’s really summer now. So hot…Shimakaze, you always look like you’re so cool…must be nice.
Arashi 萩、なになに? え、水着で、浜辺へ? いいよ、俺はそういうのは…司令も、行くんだ? Hagi..What is it, what is it? Eh, to the beach in swimsuits? Sounds good, count me in…commander, wanna come too?
Hagikaze 嵐、浜辺に行かない、司令と。夏だし、水着でどう…かな? ぇえ、興味なし~!? Arashi, doesn't want to go to the beach with Commander. It's summer so... what do you think about swimsuits? Eh, you're not interested!?
Maikaze Play 夏が来ました~! それ ワン~ツ~! あっ、香取~! また一緒に踊る~? Summer's heeeeere!! One, two! Ah, Katori! 'Wanna dance some more~? 2015 Summer Line
Murasame Play はいはい~夏です夏!提督、一緒に海にいきましょう、出撃とかじゃなくて! Hai hai~ it's summer, summer! Admiral, let's go down to the sea - no, not for a sortie! 2015 Summer Line
Oboro Play 提督? 夏真っ盛りですね! 朧、この季節大好きなんです! カニさんも嬉しそう! ほら! Admiral? The height of summer's come! Oboro, really loves this season! And the crabs are living it up too - look! 2015 Summer Line
Samidare Play 夏ですね夏!提督、一緒に海に行きましょう、て、ああ毎日いでますね。 Summer's here, summer! Why don't we go down to the sea? Ah, I guess we do do that every day. 2015 Summer Line
Sazanami Play 夏本番キタコレ!水着だヽノわっしょい! …でぇ!? ご主人様も早く水着に着替えるべし! Midsummer's heeeere! Swimsuits, yaaaay! Huh? Master, you change into your swimsuit too! 2015 Summer Line
Shigure Play やっぱり夏は暑いね…提督、大丈夫かい?…そう、提督は立派だね。見習うよ! Summer really is hot, after all. Admiral, are you good with the heat? I see, you're really something. I'll follow your example! 2015 Summer Line
Play どうだろう? やっぱり装甲が薄いのかな? How is it? I wonder if my armor is thin.
Play うん、ちょっぴりぼくも恥ずかしい……かな Yeah, I'm a little embarassed too..
Shikinami Play 夏だよ、司令官。スイカ食べる? あ、綾波にも持って行ってやろう。なんか……いいよね It's summer, commander. How about some watermelon? Ah, I'll give some to Ayanami, too. Don't you enjoy this kind of atmosphere? 2015 Summer Line
Shimakaze Play 夏ー! 連装砲ちゃんと泳ぎにいこう。泳ぎ比べも負けませんよ! だって早いもん! Summertime! I'm going to take the Rensouhou-chans swimming. I won't lose at swimming competitions either. Cause I'm fast! 2015 Summer Line
Shiratsuyu Play やった、夏だ!水着に着替えて海に行こ?海に。あたし一番乗り~ Hooray, it's summer!!! Why don't we get changed and go down to the beach, the beach! I'm number one at getting into the mood! 2015 Summer Line
Suzukaze Play キタキタこの季節最高だぜ!やっぱあたいは夏が好きだな~いい感じだぜ! Finally, finally, summer's the best! In the end, I really love summer the most! Feels great! 2015 Summer Line
Takanami Play 夏ですね、司令官。氷小豆食べたいかもですね。間宮さん…あ、私出します! It's summer, Commander! Doesn't it make you want shaved ice? Mamiya-san... ah, my treat! Specifically, shaved ice with red beans. The classic. 2015 Summer Line
Tokitsukaze Play しれー、夏だよー、海に行こー?出撃じゃなくってさー ほーら、はやくはやくはーやーくー! Commander, it's summer~ Won't you come down to the sea~ No, not for a sortie~~ Come on, already~ Hurry up~ hurry up~ hurry up! 2015 Summer Line
Ushio Play あ……やっぱり、潮少し太ったかも……。曙ちゃん、わたし少し痩せるように頑張るね。 Ah, I guess I might have put on some weight after all... Akebono-chan, I'll do my best to lose some weight. Response to Akebono's line.
2015 Summer Line
Yuudachi Play ちょっと暑すぎっぽい~。艤装も服も脱いで、ひと泳ぎするしかないっぽい!
気のせいか装甲が薄いっぽーい。ぽーい
これはこれで動き易いっぽい。ぽーい♪ It's a bit too hot-poi~ At times like this, you've gotta ditch equipment and uniform and go swimming-poi!
I don't know but I feel like my armor is thin-poi!
This makes it easier to move-poi! 2015 Summer Line
Play 気のせいか装甲が薄いっぽーい。ぽーい I don't know but I feel like my armor is thin-poi!
Play これはこれで動き易いっぽい。ぽーい♪ This makes it easier to move-poi!
Kawakaze 夏本番だー! くぅ~、あっついねー!! いやいや、これは水着じゃないとやってらんないでしょ? お、提督も脱いでいいよ。 Summer is here~! Hngh~ it's hot~!! Tsk tsk, it would be a waste to not wear a swimsuit now ya know? Oh, you strip too Admiral.
Umikaze 提督、夏ですね。日差しが本当に強いですね。あ、大丈夫です。一応肌にはオイル塗っています。てへへ♪ Admiral, it's summer. The sun is really shining hard down on us. Ah, I'm fine. At least once I've applied sunscreen. Tehehe♪
Teruzuki 夏だー、やったー! 照月、スイカ割りしたい! スイカ割り! 目隠ししてー、ていっ! お、この手応え…って、え? 提督?! It’s summer, all right! Teruzuki wants to go split some watermelons! Watermelon Splitting! Blindfold set, here I go! Oh, that voice…that was..eh? Admiral?!
Hatsuzuki この季節、ボクは嫌いじゃないな。一部の艦は、少し物資が足りないのか、装甲に問題があるようだ。心配だな。 This season, I can’t say that I dislike it. Some of the ships seem like they have an armor deficiency issue though. I’m worried about them.
Yuugumo いやーね、秋雲さん。止めなさい、もう…あまりジロジロ見ないでね。頼みますよ? Nooo~ Akigumo-san. Please stop, hrumph... please stop staring. I'm begging you ok?
Makigumo 秋雲ー、なんでビーチにそんなもの持ち込んでるの? も~、こんなところでラフ起こすのやめてよ~! も~…あ、夕雲姉さんはだめ! Akigumo, why did you bring something like that to the beach? Really, don't draw your sketches here~! Really... ah, don't draw Yuugumo nee-san!
Okinami 少し暑くなってきましたね、司令官。え、水着ですか? あ、そういうのは…沖波は…え、そんな…そ、そうですか? It's getting a little bit hotter now right Commander. Eh, a swimsuit? Ah, that is... I'm... eh, that... re... really? |
Aaron Blake of the Washington Post tweets a Quinippiac Poll with this finding thusly:
Interestingly, Q poll shows women more supportive of 20-week abortion ban than men. Women back it 60-25, men 50-35. http://t.co/R8g2CqicWQ — Aaron Blake (@AaronBlakeWP) August 2, 2013
Yes, it is interesting, even counterintuitive, but only if you’ve ignored the similar result in pretty much every poll on the subject. I’m not after Blake, in particular on this point, but the entire media makes it its mission to characterize any restriction on abortion as prima facie “extreme,” without ever noting the obvious and inconvenient fact that late-term restrictions are, by definition, mainstream. They are supported by a majority of Americans, even many of those who believe abortion should be legal in the first trimester, and even more solid majorities of women.
Quinnipiac is just another example in a long line of data points:
On another matter, the Republican-led effort in Congress and in many state capitols to reduce from 24 weeks to 20 weeks the time period during a pregnancy in which almost all abortions should be legal is striking a chord with voters. A total of 55 percent want a 20-week limit while 30 percent favor the current 24 week limit.
Looking a little deeper, there is not a major demographic that prefers 24-week unrestricted legality to 20-week. Republicans prefer a 20-week cut-off 62-17, Independents 59-26, Men 50-35, Women 60-25, White 55-32, Black 53-28, and Hispanic 59-20. Democrats come closest, only preferring a 20-week cut-off by a 46-44 margin.
Looking a little deeper, there are precious few groups who don’t prefer a 20-week cut-off by a clear majority. Those with no college degrees, Catholics, Protestants, Evangelicals, moderates, and conservatives all favor a 20-week cut-off in numbers well over 50 percent. Among age demographics, 18-29, 30-44, 45-64, and 65+, every single group is favorable to a 20-week cut-off, with 18-29-year-olds the most friendly to restrictions and 65+ the least friendly. Again, counterintuitive unless you’ve read polls on this ever before in your life. I imagine the numbers would look even more favorable to restrictions if you phrased the questions in months of gestation as opposed to weeks.
The groups who prefer 24-week legality to a 20-week cut-off are as follows: people with college degrees (still not over 50 percent), those who identify as non-religious, liberals, and those who make over $100K a year (again, not over 50 percent).
The only two groups that support unrestricted 24-week abortions at over 50 percent are those who identify as liberal (54-39) and “none” in the religion category (53-37). So, given that, could we please stop acting like something a majority of Americans— white, black, Hispanic, men, women, Catholics, Protestants, Evangelicals, moderates, conservatives, young, middle, and 65+ people—prefer is extreme?
It’s not like this is the first time we’ve learned something akin to this.
Previously:
Polls: Americans favor abortion bans after 20 weeks |
Here is a summary of the Republic of Gilead as portrayed in that book (from Wikipedia):
-Beginning with a staged attack that kills the President and most of Congress, a Christian fundamentalist movement calling itself the "Sons of Jacob" launches a revolution and suspends the United States Constitution under the pretext of restoring order.
-They are quickly able to take away women's rights, largely attributed to financial records being stored electronically and labelled by gender.
-In Gilead, the bodies of women are politicized and controlled. The North American population is falling as more men and women become infertile (though in Gilead, legally, it is only women who can be the cause of infertility)
-African Americans have been relocated en masse to "National Homelands" in the Midwest, which are suggestive of the Apartheid-era homelands set up by South Africa
-Roman Catholics: nuns who refuse conversion to Christian Fundamentalism are considered "Unwomen" and banished to the Colonies due to their reluctance to marry and refusal/inability to bear children. Priests unwilling to convert are executed and hung from the Wall
-Jews refusing to convert to Christianity are allowed to emigrate to Israel, and most choose to leave. However, it's later revealed that many of the emigrating Jews ended up being dumped into the sea while on the ships ostensibly tasked with transporting them to Israel. Many Jews who chose to stay were caught secretly practicing Judaism and executed.
-In Gilead, women are the property of and subordinate to their husband, father, or head of household. They are not allowed to do anything that would grant them any power independent of this system. They are not allowed to vote, hold a job, read, possess money, or own anything, among many other restrictions
-Gilead's society values reproduction by white women most highly. The prevailing opinion is that women are considered intellectually and emotionally inferior to men. |
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