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A man from Coventry has become the first Briton to be charged by police over the “swatting” craze that sees computer gamers make fake calls to police to implicate other players in serious crimes. Robert McDaid, 21, is alleged to have called a terrorism hotline in the US state of Maryland posing as a man called Tyran Dobbs. Claiming to be armed with a gun and several bags of explosives, he said that he would kill three hostages unless $15,000 (£12,000) was delivered in a red bag to his address. Taking the threat seriously, armed police then raided Mr Dobbs’ home and shot the 20-year-old between the eyes and in the chest with rubber bullets, breaking bones in his face and bruising his lungs. Images taken after the incident show him with a heavily swollen, bruised and cut face. After realising their error, investigators said they traced the call to Mr McDaid, who has now been charged in the US with three offences, including conspiracy to produce false information and hoax. He faces a maximum 20-year prison sentence if convicted. The US Department of Justice said Mr McDaid was reportedly acting at the request of an American gamer called Zachary Lee, who contacted the Briton via an internet telephone service in February 2015 and asked for his help in “swatting” Mr Dobbs. Mr McDaid is said to have responded: “I’ll do it when I’m up”. The “swatting” trend – named after the Specialist Weapons and Tactics (Swat) teams that often respond to the calls - has seen police respond to hundreds of false reports by raiding the homes of completely innocent people who have been reported by their online rivals.  Protests call for stricter gun-control laws in Washington DC    12 show all   Protests call for stricter gun-control laws in Washington DC   1/12 Protesters hold up signs and flags to show solidarity with House Democrats after they staged a sit in over gun-control laws on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC on June 23. 2016. Andrew Caballero/AFP/Getty Images 2/12 A lone protester wears tape printed with the U.S. flag on her mouth while attending an open hearing of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence where intelligence chiefs, including Director of National Intelligence James Clapper, testified at the U.S. Capitol February 25, 2016 in Washington, DC. Clapper said that the group known as the Islamic State, or ISIS, has become a greater global threat than al-Qaida ever was. Chip Somodevilla/Getty 3/12 U.S. House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) waves to supporters along with House Democrats after their sit-in over gun-control law on Capitol Hill in Washington, U.S., June 23, 2016. Yuri Gripas/Reuters 4/12 Supporters of House Democrats taking part in a sit-in on the House Chamber shout encouragement from outside the U.S. Capitol on June 22, 2016 in Washington, DC. Led by civil rights icon Rep. John Lewis (D-GA) Democrats, have maintained control of the House chamber since this morning demanding a vote on gun control legislation. Pete Marovich/Getty 5/12 U.S. House Democrats walk out on the East Front on Capitol Hill in Washington, U.S., after their sit-in over gun-control law, June 23, 2016. Yuri Gripas/Reuters 6/12 A poster for the gun-control law support is left on the ground on Capitol Hill in Washington, U.S., June 23, 2016. Yuri Gripas/Reuters 7/12 U.S. House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) (R) applauds as Rep. John Lewis (D-GA) (L) waves to supporters along with House Democrats after their sit-in over gun-control law on Capitol Hill in Washington, U.S., June 23, 2016. Yuri Gripas/Reuters 8/12 Supporters of House Democrats taking part in a sit-in on the House Chamber shout encouragement from outside the U.S. Capitol on June 22, 2016 in Washington, DC. Led by civil rights icon Rep. John Lewis (D-GA) Democrats have maintained control of the House chamber since this morning demanding a vote on gun control legislation. Pete Marovich/Getty 9/12 U.S. House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) (R) and Rep. James Clyburn (D-SC) (L) walk out with House Democrats on Capitol Hill in Washington, U.S., after their sit-in over gun-control law, June 23, 2016. Yuri Gripas/Reuters 10/12 U.S. House Democrats walk out on the East Front on Capitol Hill in Washington, U.S., after their sit-in over gun-control law, June 23, 2016. Yuri Gripas/Reuters 11/12 U.S. House Democrats walk out on the East Front on Capitol Hill in Washington, U.S., after their sit-in over gun-control law, June 23, 2016. Yuri Gripas/Reuters 12/12 Protesters hold up signs and flags to show solidarity with House Democrats after they staged a sit in over gun-control laws on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC on June 23. 2016. Andrew Caballero/AFP/Getty Images Mr Lee has been charged with the same offences as Mr McDaid. Maryland US prosecutor Rod Rosenstein, who has been nominated by Donald Trump to be Deputy Attorney General at the US Department for Justice, said: “We are working with officials in the UK to ensure that Robert McDaid is held accountable for his alleged actions because the alleged criminal activity represents a grave threat to public safety.” Mr Dobbs, meanwhile, has criticised police for their response and asked why they did not check the authenticity of the call before acting. Officers reportedly ignored his father, Tom, and his cousin telling them there was no hostage situation and that the so-called hostage taker was actually asleep. In an interview with US news channel In an interview with US news channel ABC7 , Mr Dodds said: “How did y’all not trace this call back? How did y’all not figure out where it came from?” I want justice. I want them to pay for my medical damages and I want whoever shot me in my face to have to do some time." The Independent was unable to reach Mr McDade for comment.
2.7k SHARES Share Tweet These are hard times for women. The feminist movement of the 70s and 80s raised awareness about violence against women on a global scale. As a result, today, we are able to identify the murder of women and girls as systemic under patriarchy. In Latin America and the Caribbean, where violence against women is an epidemic, we even have a term for this: femicide (or “feminicidio’” in Spanish), meaning, “the murder of women on account of their sex.” Despite this, women’s lived reality has become unspeakable today. Those who acknowledge that females are oppressed as a class, under patriarchy, are labeled phobic and worse. In other words, feminist analysis of systems of power is set aside in order to accommodate the idea that womanhood is nothing more than a “feeling.” Over at Equality For Her, journalist Katelyn Burns writes: “So what does it mean to feel like a woman? It means that if you are a woman, it’s whatever you are currently feeling. Women are so diverse in their experiences that there can be no universal model of womanhood.” Apparently, womanhood is now so all-encompassing it can be experienced by anyone, based on “feelings.” Yet, at the same time, within this analysis, womanhood is rendered meaningless and without structural roots. “What is a woman?” is a question asked by those privileged enough to never have had to suffer the answer to this question. No one asks women what womanhood “feels” like, because, for us, being “women” is simply our reality. Most women around the world learn early on that, under patriarchy, their opinions about their subordination are irrelevant. As a structural force, patriarchy continues to degrade and violate women and girls, whether we like it or not, whether we agree with it or not — women’s feelings be damned. Male violence against women ensures our compliance. Femicide is the lethal extreme of this, but violence against women and girls manifests in a myriad of ways. In feminist circles, we talk about male violence against women often. Indeed, ending male violence is the most pressing point in the agenda for women’s liberation. But how can we eradicate male violence against women if we ignore the centrality of women’s bodies under male supremacy? How can we move beyond a patriarchal society if we refuse to acknowledge that women are a class of people, whose status is determined by their sex? On August 31st, this reality was laid bare in a Chinese hospital. A 26-year-old woman named Ma Rongrong started labour a week ahead of schedule. She was advised by the medical team at the Yulin Number 1 hospital, in the Shaanxi province, that the girth of her baby’s head was too big for her to give birth naturally. Ma and her husband, Yan Zhuangzhuang, signed a document, against medical recommendations, stating that Ma still wanted to try a vaginal birth. The Chinese newspaper Caixin reports that, as the labour pains intensified, Rongrong changed her mind and requested a cesarean section, multiple times. The problem was that, under Chinese law, a patient’s family must approve of all major surgeries their relative is to undergo. Rongrong’s family denied her the c-section. The article explains: “Hospital records showed that both the woman and the hospital requested permission from the family three times to perform the operation, but her relatives allegedly refused and insisted on a natural delivery.” There’s video footage of Rongrong trying to walk, but kneeling in excruciating pain, surrounded by half a dozen family members. Today, the family and the hospital staff blame each other for denying Rongrong the c-section she needed. But it seems that the last word laid with her family — specifically Rongrong’s husband, who had her written permission to decide on the method of medical treatment for his wife (after consultation with medical staff), but who still didn’t approve the surgery. In her desperation, Rongrong even tried to leave the hospital, but was caught and brought back inside. Eventually, she made a drastic and tragic decision: Ma climbed out of a window on the fifth floor, and jumped to her death. Why did Rongrong die? I’d argue that Rongrong died, ultimately, because of her sex. Nobody asked Rongrong if she “felt” like a woman, patriarchy simply treated her as one — governing her female body against her will, ignoring her thoughts and feelings. A nationwide policy dictating that all surgeries have to be approve by family members affects every patient in China. But, as Rongrong’s death shows, this policy has particular repercussions for those with female bodies. A similarly gruesome case took place around the same time in the Dominican Republic. A 16-year-old girl named Emely Peguero Polanco had been missing for over 10 days. Her disappearance and the search efforts were breaking news, in part because Peguero Polanco was five months pregnant in a country that fetishizes pregnancy. For almost two weeks, it seemed the country could talk of little else. As many people suspected, Peguero Polanco had been murdered. Her final hours and the manner of her death were ghastly. She had been ambushed by her boyfriend, an older guy named Marlon Martinez, who told her he would take her to a doctor’s appointment. Instead, he took her to his apartment where he (probably with the aid of other people) performed a forced abortion on her. The investigation is still open but the crime is both misogynistic and vile. Marlon’s mother, Marlin Martinez, was an influential politician in the community and actively helped her son cover up the crime. Marlin paid multiple employees to move Peguero Polanco’s body around the country so that the authorities couldn’t find it. Marlin even appeared with her son in a video recording where they pled with Peguero Polanco — who had already been murdered — to return to her loved ones, addressing her as though she were a runaway. The forensic report states that Peguero Polanco was a victim of psychological and physical violence, as well as torture and barbaric acts: “Inside the cadaver, there were pieces of the fetus that she was carrying in her womb, concussion to the uterine wall and vaginal canal, a perforation of the uterus, meaning that great force was applied in the area and various organs relating to a forced abortion.” The report also explains that she had “a blunt concussion with cerebral hemorrhaging, meaning the trauma was inflicted while she was alive.” Regardless of the “motives” her murderer and his accomplices might have had (some analysts argue that there was a class element because Peguero Polanco was poor and Marlon was upper class, so his family didn’t want a working class girl carrying his child), Peguero Polanco was killed because of her pregnant, female body. And I am certain that none of those who performed the forced abortion that killed her asked Peguero Polanco if she “identified” with the biological realities of her womanhood. Rongrong and Peguero Polanco are merely two recent examples, but the ways in which women are killed because they are women, under a patriarchal system, are infinite. But today’s queer theory and its advocates are casting aside this brutal reality in order to depict womanhood as abstract. Reducing “womanhood” to feelings, clothing, and personal identities is a slap in the face to most women and girls whose oppression is forced on them, regardless of how they dress or identify. Recently, British singer Sam Smith came out as “non-binary,” saying, “I feel just as much woman as I am man.” This newfound identity appears to be based solely on the superficial. He explains: “There was one moment in my life where I didn’t own a piece of male clothing, really… I would wear full makeup every day in school, eyelashes, leggings with Dr. Martens, and huge fur coats — for two and a half years.” Determining that you “feel like a woman” because you like to wear high heels, makeup, and dresses is deeply misogynistic, as these are merely the trappings of femininity — a projection of male fantasies about women — yet this idea appears to be gaining traction. Much like the upper class loves the aesthetic of the working class and similar to the way male authors fetishize women in the sex trade, hoping to appear “hip,” as Kajsa Ekis Ekman argues, this watering down of womanhood is a form of gentrification. In this case, womanhood is desired and coopted by those who benefit under patriarchy (males), while the uncomfortable and violent realities of womanhood remain relegated to the underclass, who don’t have a way out. In Being and Being Bought, Ekman writes: “A man who romanticizes the working class applauds the physical labourer and hopes that he has some of those attributes, but it is stereotypical masculinity he admires, not a living person trying to survive under difficult conditions. The ‘wigger’ feels like he is part of the black community, but is not upset about violence in the ghetto. What he fails to understand is that by fetishizing someone’s everyday life, he shows how distant he is from it. Living conditions become and identity, and then a fetish.” The gentrification of womanhood takes the gender stereotypes forced on women and presents them as though they define womanhood. This offers a subversive facade that functions only on an individual level, rather than a structural one, ignoring the suffering and oppression of women. Rather than advancing the rights of women and girls, this form of gentrification obscures them, erasing the reasons women need sex-based rights in the first place. Ekman argues: “The oppressed is keenly aware of the humanity of the privileged. For the privileged, on the other hand, the oppressed is an enigma living in a magical, half-human world. The fantasy of the privileged is having the ability to wallow in this world.” Indeed, men may wallow, but they will never be forced to exist within the constraints of womanhood, as they were not born with female bodies. Through superficial choices like clothing and make-up, women’s oppression is transformed into something liberating… For everyone but us. The casual cruelty of these nonsensical, circular arguments is playing out while girls and women around the world bear the brunt of what, for them, is a reality, not an identity. 2.7k SHARES Share Tweet Raquel Rosario Sanchez Raquel Rosario Sanchez is a writer from the Dominican Republic. Her utmost priority in her work and as a feminist is to end violence against girls and women. Her work has appeared in several print and digital publications both in English and Spanish, including: Feminist Current, El Grillo, La Replica, Tribuna Feminista, El Caribe and La Marea. You can follow her @8rosariosanchez where she rambles about feminism, politics, and poetry.
This article consists of nothing but Daredevil Season 2 spoilers. You don't want want to read this if you haven't seen the episodes yet. We have a completely spoiler free review for you to check out here in the meantime. NOTE: Hit the dropdown menu at the top and/or bottom of the article to navigate directly to whichever episode you want. Ready for something that is absolutely not a Daredevil Season 2 spoiler? Here it is. Just like the first one, this season is absolutely packed to the gills with crazy Marvel Universe goodness. Some of it is relatively obvious, but then there's other stuff hidden in the margins that you might miss. Stuff that might clue you in to the future of these Marvel Netflix shows. So, here's how this works. I'm rounding up every single Marvel Comics reference on Daredevil Season 2. I'm good, but I'm not so good that there isn't gonna be stuff I miss. And that's where you come in. Read and enjoy my deep dive into roughly 50 years worth of Marvel history, but if you spot something that I didn't, or if I'm flat out wrong about something, drop it in the comments or holler at me on Twitter. If it checks out, I'll update this piece and give you a shout! Now, I have to warn you. I will do my best to keep spoilers for future episodes out of the entries for current episodes, however, some of the stuff I write about might inadvertently spoil stuff for later in the series or future seasons. But also, if you're posting in the comments, I can't control what spoilers you might see from other people who are a few episodes ahead of you. So please read with caution down there if you aren't all caught up yet. There's no way for me to control what comments display for individual episodes, sadly! Use the dropdown menu at the top and bottom of the article to navigate to whichever episodes you want, but don't read ahead...unless you want spoilers. And from here on out, it's all spoilers! Alright hornheads, let's do this... Daredevil Season 2 Episode 1: "Bang" "In the void left by Fisk's removal, a new threat to Hell's Kitchen emerges. Murdock and Foggy take on a client with a questionable past." - I'm opening with a little bit of a stretch, I confess. Opening with a heat wave is something of a theme from another Frank Miller work, famously deployed at the start of The Dark Knight Returns. And as I've pointed out ad infinitum in previous Daredevil articles (and will continue to do in this one!), it's Frank Miller's shadow that tends to loom the largest over this show. - So Daredevil has some new threads, only lightly redesigned from what we saw at the end of season one. He's using his batons more, but we'll get to that in more detail in a future episode. There's one thing that club could do that this one hasn't yet. Since it was often disguised as Matt Murdock's cane, it had a hooked end. That could be "fired" like a grappling hook, and the club contained rope/wire that Daredevil could then swing from...like Batman or Spidey. - We do get a fully functioning (or dysfunctional) Nelson & Murdock law firm this time, right down to them getting payments in food from clients who can't afford to pay in cold, hard cash. My current unscientific analysis of this is that it's something we saw foregrounded during the recent (and extraordinarily wonderful) run on the comics by Mark Waid, Chris Samnee, and Paolo Rivera. Seriously, you need to read those. They're not as dark as the show, but they're some of the finest Daredevil comics ever produced. - The chatty Irish gangster, Mr. Nesbitt, was created by Garth Ennis and Leandro Fernandez in the pages of The Punisher (volume 6) #8 in 2004. He didn't meet his end at the hand of Frank Castle, though. It's a long story, and part of Ennis' notoriously colorful run as writer on The Punisher. - Focusing on the Irish Mob here is a little bit of a reminder of the actual ethnic history of Hell's Kitchen, which was settled by Irish immigrants and remained a working-class neighborhood until relatively recently. Matt Murdock's Irish heritage places him nicely in that historical Hell's Kitchen, as well. And really, we've had riffs on both the Mafia and the Yakuza on this show already, so it's only fair that the Irish get their criminal licks in, as well. But really, I know, you want to hear about the Punisher, so... - The Punisher first appeared in The Amazing Spider-Man #129 back in 1974. He was created by Gerry Conway and John Romita Sr. Punisher spent the early part of his existence as, if not a full-blown Spidey villain, certainly something of an antagonist. He was also nameless (other than, y'know "Punisher") and his tragic backstory was only alluded to. Truth be told, he was kind of boring. The character came into his own once he started squaring off with Daredevil during Frank Miller and Klaus Janson's legendary creative tenure, and there are moments of that which inform plenty of things we'll see on this show. But he really rose to prominence in the mid-80s when he was given his own headlining slot in a mini-series, the excellent Circle of Blood by Steven Grant and Mike Zeck. He was soon headlining three series of his own and guest-starring in virtually every Marvel book in the early-90s. - The violence during the Punisher's execution of those goons is like something out of a Paul Verhoeven movie. Holy moley. But this (and we'll see more of it as the episodes go on) also takes its cues from the over-the-top ridiculousness and gore of Garth Ennis' tenure as Punisher writer, often with his Preacher creative partner Steve Dillon on art. Also, did I hear that this place is the Byrne Club? It's probably a coincidence, but John Byrne is one of the most celebrated Marvel artists of the '70s and '80s. - We return to Josie's Bar in this episode, a familiar haunt to Daredevil fans (we covered this in our season one viewing guide). I've said it before and I'll say it again, if you want a more authentic Josie's experience while in NYC, go to Billymark's West. Go there and spend lots of money on lots of cheap drinks before NYC replaces it with an artisinal vape shop or a luxury salon for cats or something similarly terrible. Or you can go to the bar that they actually film in...that would be Brooklyn's Turkey's Nest Tavern. That's if you feel like going to Brooklyn, something that the MTA makes increasingly difficult these days. Anyway, back to the important fictional stuff... - It's interesting that they've chosen to make a character like "Grotto" such a central figure in this series. Grotto was really just a low level grunt, and an associate of Turk's (and we'll see more of Turk this year...more on him down below). But he coincidentally first appeared in the same issue that first introduced another central character for this season, Elektra. That would be 1981's Daredevil #168, by (who else?) Frank Miller. He never had these kinds of run-ins with the Punisher, Nelson & Murdock, or anything else, though. He was just someone else for DD to beat the living crap out of. - You'll hear the words "war zone" a lot in relation to how things look after Punisher has been around. Funny enough, his third solo title was called Punisher: War Zone. So was his third (and final) movie. - Is the scene where Punisher has hung these goons on meathooks from a comic? It seems like the kind of outrageous violence that Garth Ennis would gleefully write, but I'm not sure if it's from somewhere specific. - Officer Brett Mahoney is back, but that isn't much of a surprise. You may recognize him from some minor Marvel Comics, but also from Daredevil Season 1. - There's a crack about how The Punisher is "not fond of the Irish" considering the number he did on those gangsters. In the comics, it was once revealed that Punisher's last name of Castle was actually a shortening/Americanization of Castiglione, a Sicilian name, so Frank's distaste for Irish gangsters in particular could be a little bit of a play on the old Irish/Italian gang rivalries in NYC. Or maybe I'm just reading into this too much. - Turk is back! Turk is basically the bad penny who keeps turning up in Daredevil stories. He's really great on this show, and you almost feel bad for him when he's asking DD to let him go. That's about in line with his portrayal in most comics. His line about how "we both know I'll be back out by the end of the month" could be a sly reference to comics' monthly publication schedule, and how Turk just always seemed to be around, no matter how many times he got his ass handed to him. I really love Rob Morgan in this role. - So, we finally have an actual Agents of SHIELD crossover on a Marvel Netflix show. It's not what you expect, though. The Dogs of Hell appeared in Agents of SHIELD season 1, episode 15. That was the one where Asgardian temptress Lorelei came to town to make all the menfolk sweat a little. - Daredevil and Punisher have a proud history of rooftop fights, but we'll talk more about one of their most famous ones in a future episode. Be patient! The Punisher did shoot Daredevil in one of their earliest encounters (Daredevil #183) but it was with a tranquilizer dart. So now here's what I'm drawing a blank on from this episode, and maybe you good folks can help me out. I've got nothing on the names Alameda or Jacinto, but if anyone has any ideas where they might fit, I'm all ears. Also, who are the Detectives working the Punisher crime scene? I'm out of ideas, there, as far as potential comic book connections go. Daredevil Season 2 Episode 2: "Dogs to a Gunfight" "As Murdock recovers from an attack, Foggy and Karen fight to protect their new client from both the law and the Kitchen's newest vigilante." - Mahoney's joke about how the new vigilante is taking guys out "in a Death Wish way" is amusing. In case you're, I dunno, under 30, Death Wish was a movie starring Charles Bronson, about a man who starts shooting street criminals after his family is attacked. Despite what I wrote earlier about Death Wish having an influence on the creation of the Punisher, I am an idiot. Tomer down in the comments kindly pointed out that Amazing Spider-Man #129 pre-dates the book that Death Wish was based on by several months! - There's something to be said about Daredevil losing his powers here, albeit temporarily. Superman gave up his powers in Superman II. Spider-Man lost his powers in Spider-Man 2. So here we are in Daredevil Season 2, Episode 2, and Matt is briefly without his enhanced senses after that run-in with the Punisher. There were two instances during Frank Miller's tenure (both during the Elektra era) where Matt's senses either deserted him or went haywire. Once was in Daredevil #177, and the other in Daredevil #183. Neither appears to have much to do with what happened here, but it was pointed out to me by a nice anonymous person in the comments, and I figured it's worth noting. I'm kinda glad that they aren't going down that road this time, because seriously, enough. - Michelle Hurd is back as DA Samantha Reyes. You last saw her on Jessica Jones, though. - Blake Tower first appeared in Daredevil #124, where he was created by Marv Wolfman and Bob Brown. He's always been one of Daredevil's allies, although he's kinda doing it on the sly on this show. At least for now. - Karen is starting to allude to her mysterious past again with cracks like "what if I deserve it" and "drawing this stuff my way." I would happily go into detail about this, but it may spoil future seasons of the show, and I'm not sure what's really fair game here. But that all comes to a head in Daredevil: Born Again, a story that absolutely, 100% will make for an incredible season of Daredevil in the future. And a character from Born Again already spent some time with us on Jessica Jones Season 1, too. - I'm not crazy, and the word "Killdozer" is totally mentioned in this episode after all. There's a really minor Marvel armored character named Killdozer, and Marvel did a graphic novel adaptation of an old sci-fi prose novel, as well. Voice of Reason also reminded me of the band, too. I could kinda see Frank listening to Killdozer, now that I think about it. Melvin Potter is back! He's still promising "Betsy" that he won't be doing anything illegal anymore. Now, I wrote several entries about Melvin and his possible future as the semi-villainous Gladiator in my notes for season one, but he quickly picks up his trademark circular blades this time, which is one more step towards his Gladiator-dom. This might be a coincidence, but you can see that one of Frank's Crates has 007 stenciled on it. You know, the guy with the license to kill. Frank, on the other hand, is unlicensed, but that doesn't stop him! Daredevil Season 2 Episode 3: "New York's Finest" "Trapped face-to-face with the Punisher, Daredevil wrestles with the morality of vigilante justice. Meanwhile, Foggy and Karen work to save the firm." - Alright, can this be more spoiler-y than usual here for a minute or two? The nun who is tending to "Matty" in the dreamlike opening at St. Agnes is almost certainly going to turn out to be Matt Murdock's mother. Whether she's still at St. Agnes or not is another story, but I'd bet good money (actually, I will do no such thing...I'm writer with very little money and I'm an extraordinarily bad gambler) that Father Lantom totally knows what's going on. - Also...and this isn't a comic book reference or anything, but I need to get it off my chest. Can we please have a moratorium on "good morning sunshine" as a funny/ironic greeting for people who wake up in bad situations? That's some hack-ass nonsense and Daredevil should be better than this. - Daredevil waking up chained up with the Punisher looming over him is more than a little reminiscent of "The Choice" from 2001's The Punisher #3 by Garth Ennis and Steve Dillon. That's where we end up with the whole "gun taped to Matt's hand" thing. See? I told you there would be lots of Ennis/Dillon Punisher stuff on this show! We wrote a little more about "The Choice" (and other cool DD/Punisher stories) right here. - For the first time in the history of this show, Charlie Cox's accent slips a little when he's getting aggravated with Frank Castle. - Remember what I said earlier about Castle being an Americanization of Castiglione? Of course Frank Castle is a Catholic! - Frank's comparison of a soldier's mentality to that of someone who wears a mask is actually a fairly apt takedown of the secret identity trope in superhero mythology. As of now, Daredevil and Ant-Man are really the only characters in this version of the Marvel Universe who maintain traditional interpretations of a secret identity (although Spider-Man is about to change that once he comes on the scene in Captain America: Civil War). (thanks to the lycanthropic Lawrence Talbot for keeping me honest here) - It's not clear quite how serious Frank is about killing that old man on the roof and how much of the gun-cocking is for Matt's benefit. Even in the earliest days of the character, Punisher was borderline obsessed with not harming innocents, even pain-in-the-ass interlopers like Spider-Man. The old guy he's talking with served in Vietnam, and Punisher was originally conceived as a Vietnam veteran, before Marvel's sliding timeline moved him into more recent wars. Some of Jon Bernthal's mannerisms in this scene, and maybe even his close cropped cut on the sides is faintly reminiscent of another misguided gun happy NYC icon, Travis Bickle from Taxi Driver. We have more on that classic movie right here if you're in the mood. - It seems that Claire Temple has "pissed someone off" at her current job. This will help facilitate her move out of Hell's Kitchen and into Harlem, where we'll probably see a lot more of her on the upcoming Luke Cage series. Just as a side note, how completely wonderful is Elden Henson as Foggy Nelson in these hospital scenes? - The Dogs of Hell are (of course) listening to all-time classic Motorhead song, "The Ace of Spades" (Lemmy, we all thought you were immortal). Any chance that when we finally get to meet Bullseye on this show, he'll be a former Dogs of Hell member? Nah, probably not. Look, folks, cut me some slack. I'm hard up to see some Bullseye action, so I'm looking for anything that can get me through, so I'm even seeing Bullseye in an otherwise routine song playing in the background. - And, of course, the epic fight scene that tops this episode off is a kind of homage to the spectacular hallway fight from season 1 episode 2. This one is certainly longer, but I can't help but feel it's a little too self-conscious in its attempt to "out badass" that one. Don't get me wrong, it's cool...but it feels less organic than that one. Also, for all Matt's talk about not killing anyone, there's simply no way that a couple of these guys who are getting knocked down flights of stairs here aren't sustaining lethal injuries. - I'm sure I don't have to point out what this x-ray of Frank Castle's head looks like...right? I didn't find anything on any of the names that Karen mentions to Blake Tower, and I'm pretty sure there aren't any Marvel connections there. But if you know something I don't, throw 'em in the comments or give me a shout on Twitter! Daredevil Season 2 Episode 4: "Penny and Dime" "Karen uncovers shocking facts about the Punisher, who finds himself hunted by a powerful force in Hell's Kitchen. Daredevil ponders his next moves." - This episode wastes no time in introducing Finn Cooley. Finn was created by Garth Ennis (there's that name again!) and Leandro Fernandez in 2004. He was introduced (and dispatched) in the same Punisher story that introduced Nesbitt. Finn sticks around a little bit longer, though. The Finn of the comics was a little more, ummmm...distinctive looking. More on that in a minute, though. Can I just point out how happy I am to see Tony Curran return as a villain again? He was nothing less than wonderful as Datak Tarr on Defiance, so this was a pleasant surprise. I really miss this guy. - You don't take Punisher's dog from him. You just don't do it. Poor, terrified doggie. - The Punisher making his mobile HQ a van has plenty of precedent from the comics. He used to drive around a mobile command center known as his "battle van." What we get in this episode is a pretty low-key version of it, but it's definitely a piece of his comic book history. - Now that Melvin is getting paranoid about stuff like the Punisher running around, he's starting to build his own armor, too. Here's another look at what he usually looks like on the page... (ummmm...he's the one on the left) I do wonder who his "old contacts" are who are looking for outfits and gear, though. Also, you can totally spot Stilt-Man's armor and legs in the background of his workshop again, just like we did in season one. - George Bachs talks about "suits" who came to visit Frank Castle while he was comatose. I have to wonder if any of these might have been SHIELD agents. - It turns out that Frank Castle is a Navy Cross recipient. That's the second highest honor a soldier can receive, so that should give you an idea of what a supreme and selfless badass Frank was during his time in the military. There are plenty of notable real world Navy Cross recipients, but one in particular (who also happened to be a Marine) stands out: World War II hero John Basilone. Stick with me for a second, and I promise I'll bring this back to something superhero related in a minute. You may know Basilone's name from HBO's The Pacific. If you're looking for any kind of additional Marvel connection there, I feel there was more than a hint of Basilone's "I'm more use as a soldier fighting the actual war than staying stateside as a propaganda tool" narrative in Steve Rogers' story in Captain America: The First Avenger. By the way, thanks to Bricketh for reminding me that Bernthal also had a role in The Pacific, as Basilone's best friend! The series is taking a similar approach to Frank's origin story as Jessica Jones did to hers. They're alluding to it and teasing it out throughout the season. It doesn't look like we're going to have to watch Frank Castle's family die in order to know that they did, and that's just fine. - Remember when I pointed out above that the Finn Cooley of the comics had some, ummm...distinguishing features? This is what I meant: I don't think Finn is coming back, by the way, but the fact that he took a blast to the face from Frank Castle seems like it's kind of a reference to what Finn's comic book counterpart ended up looking like. - Frank and Matt have their little heart to heart in Green-Wood Cemetery in Brooklyn, NY. That place is incredible, and you should totally take a walk through it some time, as some of New York's most famous (and infamous) figures are buried there. You might even spot me visiting some relatives (none of whom are famous or infamous, so don't worry about that). If this were Cypress Hills cemetery, I'd say that the show is setting up the Danny Ketch version of Ghost Rider, but it isn't, and probably wouldn't be anyway. But wouldn't that be cool? The shot of DD looming over the cemetery like that reminds me of this Daredevil cover by Joe Quesada and Jimmy Palmiotti, too... If you want more on Elektra, well, I feel it's more appropriate to save that for the next episode... As usual, if I missed anything for this one, drop it in the comments or hit me on Twitter, and I'll make the updates as soon as I can. Daredevil Season 2 Episode 5: "Kinbaku" "A former lover arrives in Hell's Kitchen and turns Murdock's world upside down. Karen digs for truth about the Punisher." - Alright, we're just gonna go ahead and call this one the Elektra episode, since this is her proper introduction. Elektra first appeared in 1981's Daredevil #168 by Frank Miller, the same issue that introduced us to the somewhat less influential in the history of comics Grotto. Elektra became a rather transgressive, even subversive character shortly after her original stint in these Frank Miller comics, but that's an entire article in itself, and something that we'll have live on the site (and linked here) soon enough. The origins of her relationship with Matt are a little different than the comics, but that's not terribly important. The joyride in the red sportscar, though, is straight out of the after-the-fact origin story expansion Daredevil: The Man Without Fear by Frank Miller and John Romita Jr. That was the same comic that brought us Matt's ninja-esque proto-DD suit in season one. - Matt overhears one of the party guests saying "I like the way that The Jets are playing this year." That's how you know this is a flashback, because the Jets do nothing but give me agita. - Sorry to disappoint everyone, Foggy is reading The New York Bulletin in this episode. There's still no sign of The Daily Bugle yet, despite the fact that Spider-Man and his supporting cast are now available to Marvel Studios. I know, I know...it's not really important. I'm just impatient, that's all. But later in the episode, when Karen visits the Bulletin's offices, you can see some framed headlines on the walls. There's the expected "Battle of New York" front page referencing The Avengers, and a follow up about the new Stark Tower. But you can also spot one that says "Cybertek Settles." Cybertek is the company that created notorious cyborg, Deathlok, and we've seen them show up on Agents of SHIELD. So that's two Agents of SHIELD references this season...three if we choose to believe that the "suits" visiting Frank in the hospital were SHIELD agents, although that's kind of just in my imagination. UPDATE courtesy of Tyler Parrish in the comments! One of the headlines in the archives reads "Broadway Bimbos Busted," a potential reference to the brothel that a pre-supervillain Typhoid Mary worked at. I'm investigatin this one further, too... - "It's not like our boy was out collecting for the Red Cross." There's a great line in the original Dirty Harry that mirrors what Foggy says pretty closely, and it's pretty awesome. Check it out here. - I know it's almost certainly coincidental, but the infiltration of the fictional Yakatomi Building and the cat-and-mouse game that follows just can't help but remind me a tiny bit of Die Hard (which takes place in the fictional Nakatomi Plaza). - This season does a good job of not over-sexualizing Elektra, without sacrificing the seductive elements of her character. But that awkward and incredibly unsexy sex scene in the boxing ring at Fogwell's Gym seems like it comes out of the very worst parts of Frank Miller's subconscious. So bad that it's giggle-inducing, which isn't something I associate with any of the Marvel Netflix projects. - We're all familiar enough with fictional evil corporation Roxxon from various Marvel Studios thingies and the comics that I don't have to go into too much detail here, right? RIGHT?!? But the fact that Asano Robotics is a Japanese arm of Roxxon is, I believe, something new. It's also the second Asano Robotics mention we've had on this show. The first came during season one, episode seven, when one of their logos was visible on a shipping crate in the background: Cool, right? Daredevil Season 2 Episode 6: "Regrets Only" "A lethal foe returns with a vengeance, Foggy and Murdock risk the firm to ensure justice, and Karen sees a different side of the Punisher." - I believe this is the first time we've explicitly seen Matt's batons convert into his cane, and I'm way more excited than I probably need to be about it. That's right out of the comics. I'll have more detail on this in a bit. So, you have to stick with me on this one. When Matt and Elektra are creeping around where they shouldn't, you can see a monitor bank, which is monitoring...the 13th floor elevators in the building. Now, having a monitor bank that specifically says "13th floor elevators" tells me something, because those three words don't have to appear in that order. What does it tell me? That somebody is a fan of this really cool band from the '60s... Video of 13th Floor Elevators - You're Gonna Miss Me (Original Mono Mix) Now, I'm sure there's a more rational explanation here, mostly about how the 13 is considered unlucky and for awhile, many buildings didn't have a 13th floor, which ties into the mystical weirdness that Elektra is looking to steal here, but c'mon, is there any other site out there giving you some quality garage-psych with your weekend dose of Daredevil nerdery? No. No there is not. Crank this up when you need a break in between episodes. This one is a quality jam, too. - And with one line, "who said I was Yakuza" we know that The Hand are in town again to make everybody's lives miserable. Well, not our lives. OUR lives are going to be awesome, because it means there is going to be so much killer ninja action for the rest of this season! Earlier in the party, Elektra said hello to "Mr. Hiroshi." This is almost certainly Lord Hiroshi, who was the leader of a faction of The Hand for some time. Anybody have any idea if Mr. Roth, the Public Defender, is supposed to be anybody from the comics? Probably not, but I've got nothing. You know the drill. Drop it in the comments or yell at me on Twitter. Daredevil Season 2 Episode 7: "Semper Fidelis" "Murdock and Foggy take on the DA in the trial of the century, but their client refuses to play along. Murdock struggles to balance his dual identities." - I can't even begin to count the times that Punisher has been in prison in the Marvel Universe, so I'm not going to bother. It happens a fucking lot, though. - You hear the jurors mention both Bernie Goetz and Son of Sam, two famous maniacs with guns from New York City history. The "Son of Sam" killer was David Berkowitz, who killed six people and wounded seven others, all by gun, between 1976 and 1977. He heard voices of demons who told him to kill and wrote letters bragging about his crimes. Spike Lee made a pretty good movie set around this called Summer of Sam, which is totally worth checking out. Bernie Goetz was less nefarious, but not necessarily a great dude, either. He shot four guys on the subway when they attempted to mug him. Self defense is one thing, but firing shots on a subway car is something else. Coincidentally, one of the would-be muggers shares a name with a superhero, Barry Allen. The Goetz incident happened in 1984, when NYC was a ridiculously unsafe hellhole, and it's an era that helped spawn the "grim n' gritty" era of comics, of which Frank Miller's Daredevil is a piece, and it coincides nicely with the rise of Punisher's popularity. - This episode marks the first time we really get some proper Nelson & Murdock courtroom drama. I can almost imagine an alternate universe where Daredevil airs, not on Netflix, but on ABC or a similar broadcast network. Perhaps Earth-2 Daredevil (wait, wrong universe, sorry) has the same cast and reasonably similar production values. Ah, but that theoretical show isn't a cinematic, binge-watch affair. Instead, it's a network procedural, heavy on the courtroom drama, and comparatively light on the superheroics. I bet it would still be pretty cool, but not as cool as what we have here. Anyway, that was a weird digression, wasn't it? But the idea of two idealistic lawyers fighting in a seemingly unwinnable case recalls another recent Netflix success story, Making a Murderer. That's probably a coincidence, though. Foggy Nelson is exceptionally good in these scenes, though. - When DD and Elektra are in the railyard, you can see in the background that the Empire State Building is lit up blue and orange. Since this was shot in late summer/fall of 2015, those lights are in honor of our National League Champion New York Mets. For the record (and this is official, you can look it up), Spider-Man is a Mets fan, and I'm inclined to believe that perennial underdog (and the guy who fights for unwinnable cases in general) Matt Murdock is probably a Mets fan, too. - This weird conspiracy surrounding the death of the Castle family isn't from any comic book that I've read. If anybody knows something I don't, well, you know what to do! - This episode gives us our first reference to Elektra's Dad (believe it or not), with Foggy pointing out that she's "a diplomat's daughter." Also, the stuff about how Elektra nearly got Matt expelled is kind of analagous to their tumultuous relationship in the comics, too. - This episode is the first time in the whole series where we really see how all three sides of Matt's life intersect. We've had his personal vs. superhero stuff before, but we've never had the personal vs. professional vs. superhero element all converge like this. And in classic Marvel Comics fashion, none of them are working properly for him at the moment. It's really great stuff. - Alright, everyone...place your bets on what's in the hole! Daredevil Season 2 Episode 8: "Guilty as Sin" "As the firm's trial spins out of control, a figure from Matt's past returns to deliver shocking revelations about the future of Hell's Kitchen." - Well, this episode is now pretty safely "The Hand" episode of Daredevil, ain't it? The Hand were first introduced in 1981's Daredevil #174 by (who else?) Frank Miller. Since then, they've become the go-to ninja army of choice for Marvel. Elektra's history is almost inextricably tied to that of The Hand, as well. The Hand ninjas who were fighting with DD and Elektra around the big hole in the ground, though, well...those are probably undead ones. There's all this talk about the exploration of immortality, and maybe that's what the mysterious "Black Sky" from season one was all about. See? In the space of just a couple of episodes, two mysteries from season one have been re-opened (the other being Asano Robotics). I was half expecting the young ninja who gets his throat cut to end up vanishing in a puff of smoke and pile of ash or something. They're bound to give us this at some point. I'm also waiting to see if Nobu from season one was indeed intended as this show's Kirigi stand-in, or if we still have time to meet him in the future. Now, since this episode also brings back our favorite blind asshole, Stick, it makes sense that he's the one to explain to the audience what the hell is going on. This gives us the first official mention of The Chaste, the order that Stick belongs to who are here to keep the Hand from getting out of control. Remember how there was a big, scary guy that we saw Stick talking to at the end of season one, episode seven? Yeah, that was another member of The Chaste. So of Stick's Chaste crew, we've now met Stick, Stone, and (I guess) Elektra. And maybe whoever was driving Stick's car in this one counts, too. I dunno. - Elektra is a character who has had a complicated relationship with death throughout her history. - The incomprable Clancy Brown is here as Colonel Schoonover. Jameson Steed helpfully pointed out that Schoonover appeared in the early issues of Punisher: War Journal by Carl Potts and Jim Lee in 1989, and he's a bit of a footnote to the whole thing. But now that I know what issues these are from (and there have been other helpful suggestions courtesy of Shawn Thompson and others!), I'm going to do some quick reading to try and flesh this out some more. - I'm not familiar with this tale of heroism that the Colonel relates on the stand. Is this something from some Punisher origin story book that I haven't read? I'm not (as of this writing, at least) all that familiar with Punisher: Born for example. Please enlighten me, internet! - The Punisher is always such a stoic character, and I've never seen him behave like he does in the courtroom here. Even the ultra-violent Garth Ennis written stuff, Punisher is deadpan, and never lets his anger get the better of him. He's certainly always played low-key on screen, too. Jon Bernthal is quite brilliant here. - Frank's walk through the prison with everyone letting him know that they know who he is and that he's stuck with them is reminiscent of the opening of excellent Punisher story, Circle of Blood. There's also a hint of Rorschach's prison days in Watchmen. - As an aside, it would appear that no season of one of these Marvel Netflix shows is complete without a vile surgery scene. - One other side note, I know the big stairwell fight in episode three was supposed to be the "showcase" action moment for this season, and it was cool, but it was a little bit "look what we can do!" The fight with Matt and the ninja in his apartment I felt was at least as effective and less gimmicky. Daredevil Season 2 Episode 9: "Seven Minutes in Heaven" "Castle gets an offer he can't refuse. Foggy and Murdock question the future of their firm, but Karen won't give up so easily." Since there aren't a ton of specific Marvel references in this episode, I'm not going chronologically, I'm just grouping things as they make sense to me, just to make things read a little better. Hopefully. You never can tell with me. Welcome back to the Wilson Fisk show! Oh man, I didn’t realize how much we were missing Vincent D’Onofrio until he showed up. Kingpin always did look best in white, didn’t he? It's fun that we get another few minutes of "fill in the blanks" for Fisk after the end of last season, and it's also a nice contrast between how Castle was received at the prison compared to Fisk. I wonder if we'll get to actually see Vanessa again this season, or if she's off the table. Despite being in jail, Fisk certainly isn't "ruined" by any stretch of the imagination, and seems to be in control of his situation. While I'm sure he hates Daredevil plenty, we're probably not in Born Again "I'm going to ruin your life and the lives of everyone you care about" territory...yet. I promise, one of these days I will stop referring to Born Again at every opportunity. Wilson has spent plenty of time in the can in the comics, but none of the names here ring any bells. Certainly not Dutton. I'll look for some more specific examples for updates soon, too. I also absolutely love Fisk's fighting style here. I was really let down by the big Daredevil/Kingpin punch-up at the end of Season One. The whole thing felt a little canned, and didn't quite fit the tone of the rest of the series. Having him wail on Frank with that clubbing/free-swinging style was pretty cool. It's all about that size advantage. Speaking of size, we had some impressions of how strong Fisk is supposed to be in the first season, but holy moley, did you see how much he was putting up on that bench?!? That's one of the things with Fisk. He's a big guy, but it's not fat, it's solid muscle. Showing him benching what must have been about 500 lbs was a nice way to illustrate that. - Fisk's lawyer is an interesting case, though. He's Benjamin Donovan. Donovan was created by Steve Englehart and Billy Graham in the pages of Luke Cage, Hero for Hire in 1973. The Ben Donovan of the comics was a much bigger, almost super strong guy, though. I have a feeling we'll be seeing him again when the Luke Cage series hits on September 30th. - I can't find any references to a villain/drug dealer named "the Blacksmith" but feel free to correct me. There was a minor character called Blacksmith in Dan Slott and Christos Gage's underrated Avengers Initiative comic, but he was a Skrull, and that's probably not what they're going for here. '90s Avengers relic, Rage, aka Elvin Haliday also briefly went by the name of Blacksmith, but again...that's not where we're going, either. - It's not a Daredevil story until Nelson & Murdock split up! - Does anyone recognize the weird blood vat thingy that the Hand is working on down in the Roxxon warehouse? I'm drawing a blank. However, Alan Villegas helpfully pointed out in the comments that the Japanese characters on the vat stand for "rebirth" or "resurrection." But who cares? We're getting undead ninjas! And Peter Shinkoda is back as Nobu! You know what that means? He's totally Kirigi after all!!! Or maybe not. I feel like I've been chasing Kirigi around these articles since season one. Daredevil Season 2 Episode 10: "The Man in the Box" "Murdock and Foggy get caught in the crossfire of Punisher's revenge. Karen and Murdock dig for the truth in very different ways." The title of this episode shares a name with a big hit by Alice in Chains. The tune, "Man in the Box" is supposedly about censorship, but it's general themes seem to run nicely with this episode. For one thing, there's that whole misery/suffering thing that "St. Matthew" here sure loves doing to himself so much. Video of Alice In Chains - Man in the Box (Official Video) But the repeated line about eyes being sewn shut could refer to everyone's refusal to see what's in front of them, notably DA Reyes (RIP) trying to cover her tracks as the Castle cover-up gets deeper and deeper. By all means, dig into this for further meaning at your convenience, too. - Of course Frank and Wilson Fisk are housed in Cell Block D. Legendary super prison Alcatraz held its worst inmates in Cell Block D. But, well...don't be surprised if Matt ends up there one day himself. Ed Brubaker and Michael Lark had a Daredevil story called "The Devil in Cell Block D" (we wrote a little bit more about that one here) and, well, yeah. It's pretty much what you think it is. - Speaking of which...remember what I said above about Fisk not quite being at the Born Again (I did it again...sigh) point of "fuck this Matt Murdock guy so hard that his ancestors feel it, I swear" craziness? Well, we may have taken a nice step towards that here with Fisk losing his shit like that. By the way, Matt signs that form with his right hand. I'm calling bullshit, because like lots of great boxers (and also like this writer!), Matt Murdock is a southpaw. God, this show is just wasting my time if they're not going to bother getting basic details like that right! Why do I even bother?!? (I'm joking, calm down) - The Blacksmith's actions (if not the Blacksmith himself) with all of these narcotics will probably have some kind of impact on the Luke Cage series. Whenever you're talking about people moving such ridiculous quantities of hard drugs, you have to figure that Luke Cage is going to have to step in to protect his neighborhood. - It's funny when Karen Page mentions that Frank Castle "has his own internal code." Reyes' reaction, and even Karen's own headshake, are kind of an acknowledgment of how unsustainably real world bugnuts the Punisher's mission would actually be. Deborah Ann Woll has been brilliant this season, but I have to say, Karen's little crusade to uncover the truth about Frank is starting to irk me. Not because I don't think Karen Page is a smart/strong enough character to handle it or anything like that. But because it just sorta feels like her connection to the New York Bulletin is kind of a "square peg/round hole" situation. It's like the writers realized how badly they screwed up by killing Ben Urich last year. What's happening right now really screams for the Urich character, and making Karen his stand-in here just...it's not quite right. It's only really a crime, I guess, because we sort of know which character this stuff was really written for, but he's playing a harp and hanging out on a cloud these days, so, yeah. - You can now add a "Foggy in peril!" chip to your bingo card. I'm surprised it's taken us this long to get a "Foggy Nelson in mortal danger" scene. The better to give Matt existential crises about. - I got really excited about Jacques Duchamp, thinking that maybe he was Moon Knight's buddy. Then I remembered that's Jean-Paul Duchamp, and there's probably no relation. Then again, Moon Knight is so perfectly suited to this universe that I have to figure he's inevitable. Unless my fellow hornheads out here have any idea who he's supposed to be, I'm out of ideas. Maybe he's Jean-Paul's brother? Hold the phone! Loran Nagle thinks that perhaps the mysterious Jacques might actually be Jacques Duquesne, known as the Swordsman, the guy who helped train Hawkeye. Is it possible that the subtitles betrayed us here? Hey, at least we know where Elektra got her sai now, though, so that's cool. Daredevil Season 2 Episode 11: ".380" "The Punisher's war continues, and so does the body count in Hell's Kitchen. Murdock tries to finish what the DA started." So this is one of those episodes that makes me wonder if all of these Marvel Netflix shows really need to be a solid thirteen installments every time. There's a fair share of action, and more of Jon Bernthal being brilliant, but an awful lot of time is spent getting Claire Temple out of her current job. Of course, that's in service of getting her up to Harlem to hang out with Luke Cage in September but it's still a little off. - But if we just focus on the Punisher stuff this time around, it's another story. This is the closest we get to a straight up Punisher episode. It's kind of amusing that Frank is in the car zoning out to "Shining Star" by Earth, Wind, and Fire. It's a happy tune with fairly optimistic lyrics, although some of them hint at a redemption that surely isn't coming for Frank, "shining star for you to see, what your life can truly be." Poor bastard. - The scene in the diner when those two goons come for him, though, well...George Lucas and Han Solo post-1997 could learn a thing or two from Frank here. You always shoot first. Always. - I thought maybe the second goon with the serious Frank-inflicted facial damage would turn out to be a backdoor origin story for Jigsaw or something but, whoops. Bang. - Frank heading down to the waterfront to pick goons off one at a time reminded me a little of a scene in the somewhat unfairly maligned Punisher movie that starred Dolph Lundgren. I genuinely like that flick. I wrote much more about it right here. - Also, aside from the general wonderfulness of ninjas scaling the side of a building with practical effects, and Daredevil fighting ninjas in general, we also get something we haven't seen on this show yet: a midair rescue. And not just any midair rescue. We just don't see enough of Daredevil actually swinging on things on this show. This one definitely seemed light on the Marvel stuff, so let me know what I missed! Daredevil Season 2 Episode 12: "The Dark at the End of the..." "Daredevil goes underground to save an old friend. Karen follows a dangerous lead. The law firm of Nelson & Murdock may have reached its final chapter." - I got so used to the constant flashbacks in season one that this one, especially coming so late in the series, genuinely threw me for a loop. After the ones we had during Elektra's intro, it was back to business as usual, and now here we get young Elektra...who is a thorough badass, by the way. During her brutal training sequence, she does that weird little backflip, kick/stomp maneuver that we've seen Matt do a few times this season. That's a nice touch, and it's clearly something that came from Stick's training, not something he came up with on his own. - It is impossible for me to see ninjas underground and not think of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. And with the Hand being so prevalent in this final third of the season, it's best to remind everybody once again that Frank Miller's Daredevil comics were massive inspirations to Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird when they created the TMNT. I mean, it's all right there, the Foot Clan? The fact that Raph basically looks like a turtle version of Elektra albeit an unsexy one? Stick/Splinter? So yeah, subterranean ninjas = TMNT reference for me. I'm not ashamed of this. - Does anybody have any ideas who Maya Rosewood's redheaded character is supposed to be? Thomas Moore (via Twitter) hit me up thinking she might be an early version of Typhoid Mary, but there's nothing at all to back that up. But she did just seem to come out of nowhere, didn't she? That would kind of make sense. - In more concrete news, Laurence Mason as credited as "Star" in this episode. Star is a member of Stick's The Chaste. We actually got a lot of them this year, didn't we? - But after all this time to learn that Elektra is the Black Sky? Well...that sure was a surprise. But it's a reasonable in-story explanation for one of Elektra's many, many destinies. She has spent considerable time in the Marvel Universe as the leader of the Hand. We're not going to worry about how much of that time was while she was actually a Skrull impostor or anything like that because, dear reader, that way lies madness. Daredevil Season 2 Episode 13: "A Cold Day in Hell's Kitchen" "In the season finale, Daredevil is backed into the ultimate showdown for his own life -- and the future of Hell's Kitchen." Well. That was satisfying, wasn't it? - So, for one thing, we get the most satisfying connection to Jessica Jones (yes, there were namedrops, but those don't really count) thus far. An actual appearance by Jeri Hogarth as she recruits Foggy is pretty awesome. This means that Foggy could very well be dealing with Alias Investigations. Given how well he handled himself in tough situations this year, I think he can stand up to Ms. Jones' withering wit. - I love that we got a little more time with Turk Barrett before the end of the season. And the fact that Daredevil actually ends up saving Turk is another illustration of their complicated relationship and long history. Turk's never been evil, he's just a lousy, small-time crook. - So Daredevil's now fully-functional/comic accurate billy club is unsurprisingly designed by Melvin Potter. But in the comics, guess who designed it? Oh, that's right, the guy who had a hand in virtually everything you love about Marvel Studios, Jack Kirby. See, Daredevil didn't have quite as many bells and whistles as his other Marvel counterparts in the '60s. He had a not-great costume to start with, and despite the blindness and the radar sense, he didn't have something as neat as Captain America's mighty shield or Spidey's webshooters. Enter Mr. Jack Kirby and the billy club, to give DD some cool accessories. NOTE: This next image isn't by Jack Kirby, it's by Bill Everett, and it appeared in 1964's Daredevil #1...but the club was Jack's idea, as legend has it. And then what do they do? They give us the billy club/nunchucks/wire swinging thing. "Surely," I said to myself, "there will be no swinging from the wire, though." I love being wrong about stuff like that. I feel strangely vindicated by all of this. I'm really, really happy. But if you think that's the nerdiest thing I'm going to admit to in this, well, think again. - It's cool that Punisher gets his costume, right? We can all agree on that. But it's the way that skull logo comes to be that really is making me exceptionally happy this time around. Why? I'm glad you asked! So, as I've mentioned before, I'm a big fan of the Dolph Lundgren Punisher movie. Frank Castle doesn't wear a skull in that movie (but he does have these cool knives with skull handles). But the Marvel Comics adaptation of the movie, which was based on an earlier draft of the script, showed Frank spray-painting a white skull onto a black bullet-proof vest near the climax of the movie. I don't know if this was an intentional nod to that or not, but it's still pretty cool. - Frank digs out that old disc that says "MICRO" on it. That's a reference to Microchip, a tech guy who spent years assisting Frank in his war on crime. It looks like Frank has decided he can use a little help, so we should get to meet Micro in future installments. Shane Dobbs also kindly pointed out that this isn't the first mention of Micro in the MCU or the MCTVU or whatever. Agents of SHIELD brought him up in season 2 episode 7 as a hacktivist that Daisy/Skye knew of. Hell, we even noted it in our review at the time! - Nobu getting chucked off the roof like that is another thing that reminds me of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, notably how Shredder croaks at the end of the incomparably great 1990 Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles movie. - Tom Potts pointed out something kinda cool...Nobu's decapitation comes at the hands of someone in a brown trenchcoat (and that's where the sword gets hidden afterwards). Considering this season also had Clancy Brown in it, someone wanted to have an amusing Highlander in-joke in there, and Stick seems to be the guy to deliver it. And c'mon, that's the only way to stop an immortal, right?!? I've been trying to make Nobu our Kirigi stand-in since last year, but clearly Nobu is just Nobu and not Kirigi. And now he's headless and probably not coming back. But if he comes back again he's totally Kirigi. I don't know what to believe anymore. But Nobu also kind of substituted for another character here... - While there was no sign of Bullseye, Nobu took over one of that character's primary functions when he kills Elektra. I was fully expecting her to survive this season, until Matt's little "I'll follow you anywhere" speech, at which point, I knew she was toast. Still, really powerful stuff, couched in a spectacular rooftop ninja battle, and you guys know I love me some rooftop ninja battles. Also, it's good to see this show has been following along with the Frank Miller tradition of "puncture wounds managing to get through everything except that final layer of clothing" (thanks @MTylerJones!) We saw it when Elektra stabbed Stick's driver, for example. And then, of course, there's Elektra's death scene. - Elektra's burial gown looks more like her traditional comic book outfit than anything she wore in the course of the season. And make no mistake, she will be back, more ruthless than ever, and commanding an army of Hand ninjas, because everything is wonderful. And remember what we said above about the Japanese characters on the vat standing for "resurrection?" Well, it's safe to say that Elektra will be back for Daredevil season 3. I'm exhausted now, but I'll be back to update this more throughout the weekend with stuff I missed. Keep 'em coming down in the comments and/or directly at me on Twitter, and we'll make this the most comprehensive, nerdiest article imaginable!
Green Party presidential nominee Jill Stein said early Sunday that she will file a lawsuit in federal court on Monday seeking a statewide recount in Pennsylvania. Stein in a tweet said she would “escalate” #Recount2016 and demand a recount on constitutional grounds. “The people deserve answers,” she added. On Monday, I will escalate #Recount2016 in PA and file to demand a statewide recount on constitutional grounds. The people deserve answers. — Dr. Jill Stein (@DrJillStein) December 4, 2016 Stein also said the state’s election law and recount process raise questions about due process and whether fundamental democratic rights are protected.” PA’s election law and recount process raise serious questions about due process and whether fundamental democratic rights are protected. — Dr. Jill Stein (@DrJillStein) December 4, 2016 ADVERTISEMENT Her lawyer on Saturday withdrew a state lawsuit seeking a recount in Pennsylvania, saying in a filing that the petitioners are “regular citizens of ordinary means” who “cannot afford to post the $1,000,000 bond required by the Court.” Stein has raised almost $7 million toward her recount efforts in Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin. She questioned late Saturday why millions of dollars must be raised in order to trust the results of the election. How odd is it that we must jump through bureaucratic hoops and raise millions of dollars so we can trust our election results? #Recount2016 — Dr. Jill Stein (@DrJillStein) December 4, 2016 She added that the recount is so expensive because leaders have refused to invest in modern voting systems. #Recount2016 is so expensive because of elected leaders who have refused to invest in a 21st-century voting system. — Dr. Jill Stein (@DrJillStein) December 4, 2016 Stein also said the state court was ill-equipped to handle the challenge. Stein is scheduled to hold a press conference and rally outside Trump Tower in New York on Monday, defending her push for recounts in several states.
The eurozone crisis has left UK banks unable to raise the funding they need to make loans to businesses, evoking the spectre of the crunch that followed the collapse of Lehman Brothers. And on one critical measure — the cost of insuring banks against going bust — lenders are already facing tougher conditions than at the height of the crunch, the Bank said. Sir Mervyn King, the Bank’s Governor, said that because of the eurozone crisis, households, companies and banks face a period of extraordinary uncertainty, including a possible slide back into recession. “There is weakness over the next few quarters. No one can know what precisely the outcome will be,” he said. “In the last three years, we have seen extraordinary events. Who knows what’s going to happen tomorrow, let alone next month?” The banks can only issue loans to companies and home owners if they can find sufficient funding on the markets. According to the Bank of England’s inflation report, banks’ funding in the three months to September fell to levels not seen since Lehman Brothers, the US investment bank, crashed in September 2008. But Sir Mervyn said markets should not be “too depressed” about bank funding, and insisted that British banks are stronger than their European counterparts. He conceded that he is considering “a variety of contingencies” if funding conditions do not improve. The Treasury is also understood to be contingency planning for a credit crunch. The report warned that if banks cannot find sufficient funds it will “curtail the amount they lend to businesses and households, through reductions in the availability of credit or increases in loan rates”. The Coalition has tried to enforce a rise in loans, but banks must raise a further £200 billion-£300 billion next year just to maintain their current lending levels. Averting a second credit crunch will depend on whether the eurozone can find a solution to its debt problems, Sir Mervyn said. “From August onwards, public markets have generally been closed, that in part is a response to concerns at what’s happening in the euro area,” he said. He admitted that he did not know if such a deal will be struck. “We have no idea how this will be resolved,” he said. The Bank cut its estimates for growth this year from 1.7 per cent to one per cent and more than halved its prediction for next year from 2.2 per cent to one per cent.
Snubbed Taiwan breaks off ties with Gambia by Staff Writers Taipei (AFP) Nov 18, 2013 Taiwan said Monday it had terminated diplomatic relations with Gambia, after the West African nation's move to cut ties shocked Taipei and left it with a dwindling number of foreign allies. Gambian President Yahya Jammeh caught Taiwan unawares Thursday when he said his government had broken off diplomatic ties after 18 years owing to "strategic national interest". Expressing "shock and regret" at the decision, Taipei sent two senior diplomats to Gambia in an attempt to rescue the relationship, but their request to meet Jammeh was twice rejected, foreign ministry officials said. "From Monday on, the government of the Republic of China (Taiwan) terminated its diplomatic ties with Gambia, evacuated the embassy and agricultural technicians and suspended all cooperative projects," Taiwan's foreign ministry said in a statement. Taiwan is now recognised by just 22 countries, mostly developing nations in Africa, Latin America and the Pacific. The move by Gambia also leaves Taiwan with just three diplomatic allies in Africa -- Swaziland, Sao Tome and Principe, and Burkina Faso -- at a time when China is pumping billions of dollars into the continent. China, which has growing investments and influence in Africa, swiftly denied it put pressure on Gambia, but said support for "the peaceful reunification of China is an irreversible trend". China's foreign ministry spokesman Hong Lei said his country had learnt of Gambia's move from overseas media. Taiwan has poured millions of dollars into the health, education, agriculture and infrastructure sectors of resource-poor Gambia, the smallest country on the African mainland. Lingering hostilities remain between Taiwan and China following their split in 1949 at the end of a civil war, although tensions have eased since 2008 after President Ma Ying-jeou came to power. He was re-elected in January 2012. The Ma administration claimed that the two sides have stopped engaging in a decades-long bitter diplomatic tug-of-war, luring away each other's allies with generous financial packages. However, Taiwan's opposition have questioned the wisdom of the diplomatic truce with China. Beijing still claims the self-ruled island as part of its territory awaiting reunification, by force if necessary.
The Turkish military confirmed that 16 soldiers had been killed Monday as operations continued, with helicopters dropping special forces in a mountainous area near the Iraqi frontier, while surveillance drones sought out targets for airstrikes. "Sixteen of our comrades in arms were martyred" in Sunday's attack on two armored military vehicles in the southeastern Hakkari region, the army said in a statement, adding that six other soldiers were wounded in those attacks. The outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), which sometimes exaggerates the casualties, claimed 31 Turkish soldiers had been killed in a combination of bombing and shooting attacks. But a security source told the Reuters news agency that 16 soldiers had been killed, which still would be the highest military death toll in a single attack for years. The Hurriyet newspaper reported that 400 kilograms (880 lbs.) of explosives were used in a roadside bomb and that around 150 PKK fighters had engaged in a seven-hour firefight with soldiers. Turkish leaders convene crisis meeting In a sign of the gravity of the attacks, Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu broke off a Sunday trip to central Turkey to watch a national football game and summoned an emergency midnight security meeting in Ankara. In retaliation, wo Turkish F-4 and two F-16 jets were deployed to carry out strikes in a "heavy air campaign" against 13 targets controlled by the militants, the military said. Many "terrorists" had been killed in the retaliatory airstrikes, the official Anatolia news agency said, without giving a precise toll. The PKK - designated a terrorist group by the European Union, the United States and Turkey - has been staging daily attacks against the armed forces, as the military presses a relentless operation against the group in southeastern Turkey and northern Iraq, which began in late July. Violence destabilizing country President Recep Tayyip Erdogan speaks next to the flag-draped coffin of a slain police officer. He has vowed to intensify the war with the PKK. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said in a statement that he strongly condemned "the atrocious attack that caused the martyrdom and injuries of our soldiers." As news of the attack broke overnight, nationalist Turks took to the streets in a show of support for the army, blocking a road between Antalya and Mersin in the south and scuffling with police in Gaziantep, television reports said. The pro-Kurdish Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP), accused by the government of being linked to the PKK, called for a renewed ceasefire and an extraordinary parliamentary meeting. HDP co-leader Selahattin Demirtas cut short a visit to Germany to fly back to Turkey. He also took to Twitter to condemn killings on all sides. "We will not surrender to war policies, which only deem death proper for the people's poor children and splatter blood on the mothers' dreams of peace," he wrote on Twitter, referring to the Daglica attack and conflict in the southeastern town of Cizre. The PKK took up arms in 1984 with the aim of establishing an independent state for Turkey's Kurdish minority. In recent years, it has retooled its demands, pushing for greater autonomy as well as and language and cultural rights for Turkey's ethnic Kurds. The unrest has raised questions over how security can be guaranteed for general elections slated for November 1. But Erdogan, who has dominated Turkish politics for over a decade and now seeks a parliamentary mandate to extend his executive powers, said the vote would go ahead regardless. jar/jil (AFP, Reuters)
Re: Ways to use Emacs when programming C++ with Visual Studio? From: Óscar Fuentes Subject: Re: Ways to use Emacs when programming C++ with Visual Studio? Date: Sun, 26 Oct 2014 03:47:38 +0100 User-agent: Gnus/5.13 (Gnus v5.13) Emacs/25.0.50 (gnu/linux) Thorsten Jolitz <address@hidden> writes: [snip] > - emacs can be used (after setting quite a lot of environmental > variables) to interact with the MSVS C++ compiler via the cmd line VS comes with batch files for setting those environment variables. You can write a .bat that takes an arbitrary number of arguments, executes the VS .bat that sets the environment variables and then executes those arguments as a command. This is mine: rem vc2013.bat @call "c:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Visual Studio 12.0\VC\bin\vcvars32.bat" %* >From Emacs you do M-x compile vc2013.bat <command> > I'm really new to this C++ thing, so I would appreciate some tips about > this topic, what can be done, what not, what is the state-of-the-art > (some prominent links I found are really old, like 10 years or so, > talking about Emacs 19...)? > > Are there actually C++ teams with both Emacs and Visual Studio users? I > could imagine that e.g. in a Scala (SBT or Maven) project some > programmers use Eclipse, others Emacs ENSIME, and they can happily > co-exist, but would a similar co-existance be possible in a C++ project > on Windows with Emacs and Visual Studio? Absolutely. I only use the VS IDE for debugging (which seldom happens.) 99% of the time is coding and everything is done from Emacs. You can use CMake too, that creates VC project files, makefiles, etc from the same build specification.
Whence the female orgasm? After 40 years of debate evolutionary biologists are no closer to deciding whether it evolved to give women a reproductive boost, or whether it is simply a by-product of male orgasm evolution. The latest attempt to settle the dispute involves quizzing some 10,000 twins and pairs of siblings on their sexual habits. Some evolutionary biologists reckon the female orgasm is adaptive and possibly influences mate choice, strengthens pair bonds or indirectly helps to suck sperm into the uterus. Others argue that women have orgasms for the same reason that men have nipples – being highly adaptive in one sex, the traits tag along for the ride in the other. Brendan Zietsch at the University of Queensland, Australia, and Pekka Santtila at Abo Akademi University in Turku, Finland, think they can help to settle the question. If female orgasm is a simple by-product of male orgasm, the duo argue, then similar genes would underlie orgasmic function in both men and women. As a consequence, opposite-sex twins and siblings will share more similarities in their susceptibility to orgasm – “orgasmability” as Zietsch calls it – than pairs of unrelated people. Timing’s everything To measure this orgasmability, the researchers used survey data from just under 5000 sets of identical and non-identical twins and pairs of regular siblings. The questionnaire asked about the time to orgasm in men and the frequency and ease of orgasm in women. Advertisement In keeping with previous findings, Zietsch and Santtila found that same-sex identical twins had more orgasmic similarity than same-sex non-identical twins and siblings, showing that genes do play a role in orgasmic function and apparently providing some evidence that the by-product scenario might be correct. However, contrary to the expectations of the by-product scenario, the two researchers found that opposite-sex twins and siblings had virtually no correlation in orgasmability. Premature extrapolation “This indicates that the genes that influence orgasmic function in men are not the same as those in women,” says Zietsch. In other words, male and female orgasm evolved through different genetic routes, and the by-product hypothesis is incorrect. Those who favour the by-product hypothesis think such a firm conclusion is premature. Kim Wallen at Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia, points out that the study measured different things in men and women – timing to orgasm versus likelihood of orgasm – and so a correlation would be unlikely. Zietsch counters that different measures were necessary because of the different nature of male and female orgasm. “Of course, it’s possible that different questions would reveal different results,” says David Puts, a behavioural anthropologist at Pennsylvania State University in University Park, who places himself in the adaptive camp. “But this study certainly isn’t helping the by-product theory.” Journal reference: Animal Behaviour, DOI: 10.1016/j.anbehav.2011.08.002
The media has it all wrong - securing mortgage approval and satisfying credit underwriting guidelines are not the difficulties plaguing mortgage consumers. It's in meeting the rigorous documentation requirements that most people fall flat. The good news is, the fix is simple. Just scan, photocopy, fax, and deliver every aspect of your financial life. Then, shortly before closing, check everything again. Mortgage consumers who enter the mortgage approval process ready to battle their chosen mortgage lender will come out with a nightmare story to tell. As the process, requirements, and guidelines are the same for everybody, your mindset is the game-changer. Accepting the redundant documentation necessary for lender approval will make everyone's life easier. When I was a kid, my father occasionally issued directives that I naturally thought were superfluous, and when asked why I needed to do whatever it was he wanted me to do, his answer was often: “Because I said so.” This never seemed to address my query but always left me without a retort, and I would usually comply. This is exactly what consumers should do during the mortgage approval process. When your lender requests what seems to be over-documentation and you wonder why you need it, accept the simple edict - “because I said so.” You will find the mortgage approval process much less frustrating. So, what's the perfect loan? Well, it's one that (a) pays back the lender and (b) pays back the lender on time. Underwriting the perfect loan is not the goal that mortgage lenders aspire to today. The real goal is the perfect loan file. Mortgage lenders have suffered staggering losses and gone out of business because of the dreaded loan repurchase. As mortgage delinquencies increased, FannieMae and FreddieMac began to audit mortgage loans they had purchased and discovered substandard and fraudulent underwriting practices that violated representations and warranties made, stating these were high quality loans. Fannie and Freddie began forcing the originating lenders of these “bad” loans to buy them back. So a small correspondent mortgage lender is forced to buy back a single mortgage loan in the amount of $250,000. This becomes a $250,000 loss to a small mortgage business for a single loan, because it will never be repaid. It doesn't take many of these bad loan buybacks to close the doors on many small mortgage operations. The lending houses suffered billions of dollars of losses repurchasing loans from Fannie and Freddie, and began to do the same thing for loans they had purchased from smaller originators. The small and medium sized mortgage originators that survived created underwriting guidelines and procedures to eliminate the threat of future loan repurchase losses. The answer? The perfect loan file. It's no longer necessary to have excellent credit, a big down payment and stable employment with income sufficient to support your debt service to guarantee your loan approval. However, you must have a borrower profile that meets the credit underwriting guidelines for the loan you are requesting. And, more importantly, you have to be able to hard-copy-guideline-document your profile. Every nook and cranny of your financial life has to be corroborated, double- and triple-checked, and reviewed again before closing. This way, if the originating lender has created a loan file that is exactly consistent with published underwriting guidelines and has documented while adhering to those guidelines, the chances are that your loan will not be subject to repurchase. Borrowers also need to prepare for processing and underwriting. Processors and underwriters are the people trained and charged with gathering (processors), all of your required-for-approval financial documents, and then approving (underwriters), your loan. You can assume these people are well trained and very experienced, as they are tasked with assembling and approving a high-quality-these-people-will-pay-us-back loan file. But just how do they go about that? The process begins with the filter - the loan originator (a.k.a loan officer, mortgage consultant, mortgage adviser, etc.) - tasked to match the qualifications of a particular mortgage deal to the appropriate underwriting guidelines. It is the filter’s job to determine if a loan scenario is approvable and to gather the documentation to support that determination. It is here, at the beginning of the approval process, where the deal is made or broken. The rest of the approval process is just papering the file. The filter determines whether the information provided by the borrower can be validated and documented. This is simple, since most mortgages are approved by automated underwriting engines such as Desktop Underwriter, and the automated approval generates a list of the documents needed to paper the loan file. An underwriter can, at this stage, request additional supporting documentation evidence at their discretion, as not all circumstances neatly fit into the prescribed underwriting box. If the filter creates a loan file with accurate information, then secures the documentation resulting from the automated underwriting findings, the loan will close uneventfully. So, let’s begin with the pre-approval call. Mortgage pre-approval is typically accomplished with a telephone interview. A prospective borrower calls a mortgage rep (filter), and the questions begin. There will be lots of questions as this critical phase of the process is akin to the discovery period in a trial - you'll need to disclose everything. Expect to answer queries on what you do for a living, how long you've been employed in your current field, and what your salary is. If there is a co-borrower, they will have to answer the same questions. Every dollar in checking, savings, investments and retirement accounts, also known as assets to close, as well as gifts from relatives and non-profit grants, has to be accounted for. Essentially everything appearing on a borrower’s asset-radar-screen has to be documented and explained. If you were previously a homeowner and sold your home in a short sale, or if you own a home now and plan to keep it as an investment or rental property, there are new and specific underwriting guidelines created just for you. In these cases, full disclosure of your credit and homeownership past can potentially eliminate unforeseen mortgage approval woes. For instance, FannieMae has a new underwriting guideline called “Buy-and-Bail,” for current homeowners’ planning on keeping their existing home as an investment/rental property. Properties not meeting the 30% equity test for “Buy-and-Bail” result in additional asset requirements to purchase a new home. Buyers with a short sale history may have to wait two to three years before they are eligible for mortgage financing again. Full vetting of your previous mortgage life will save you the dreaded we-have-a-problem call from your mortgage lender. It all comes down to your proof. If the lender asks for a specific document, give them exactly what they are asking for, not what “should be OK,” - because it won’t be. This is where the approval process tends to go off the rails, when the lender asks for specific documentation and the borrower supplies something else. Here, too, is where both sides get frustrated. So if the lender asks for a bank statement and there are 5 pages for that bank statement, send them all 5 pages, and not just the summary. If you send them the summary page and they ask again, don’t complain that the lender keeps asking for the same thing when you never sent it in the first place. This may sound elementary, but the vast majority of mortgage approval process woes stem from scenarios just like this. The reason the mortgage approval process is now so rigorous is simple. Avoiding defaults and loan buybacks has become the primary goal of mortgage lenders. Higher standards are reducing loan defaults, which should mean fewer foreclosures in the future. Government data shows that less than 2% of loans originated in 2009, that were resold to Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae went into default after 18 months, down from more than 22% default rates for 2007 loans. So when your lender requests specific documents from you, give it to them just “because they said so.” You can thank my dad for that.
× Navy to issue flame-resistant coveralls to sailors soon Norfolk, Va. – U.S. Fleet Forces and Pacific Fleet released a joint message Thursday detailing the use and wear of the new Flame Resistant Variant (FRV) coveralls, which will begin being distributed to sailors in the fleet before the end of the year. Scheduled to start arriving in December, the new coveralls will initially be provided to the crews of ships scheduled to deploy in early 2014. “We made the decision to supply flame-resistant coveralls to all Sailors assigned to ships as an added safety precaution,” said Adm. Bill Gortney, commander, USFF. “The information provided in the manner wear message will ensure everyone understands what is expected in the wearing of this new organizational clothing.” Previous: Navy announces plans for new fire-resistant uniforms Test reveals just how flammable the Navy’s uniforms are (video) Navy reviewing safety of flammable camouflage working uniforms According to the message, the FRV will be distributed to several fleet units before the end of the year. Early shipments will focus on next deployers and forward deployed naval forces. Commanders will hold a series of show and tell roadshows in November and December in fleet concentration areas to ensure sailors have an opportunity to see and feel the FRV. The goal is to provide an understanding on the basics of where, when and how to wear the new coverall. Based on production schedules, initial fleet outfitting should complete by October 2014. Flame resistant organizational clothing had previously been limited to Sailors working in engineering departments, on flight decks and in other high-risk areas, but the Organizational Clothing Working Group recommended every Sailor afloat be outfitted with the additional protection. Once outfitted, sailors are to wear the FRV while underway. The NWU type I and other polyester and poly blend uniforms are no longer authorized for wear while underway except for special events such as manning the rails, change of command or receptions held at anchor. There are two exceptions: – Personnel assigned to submarines will continue to wear the poly/cotton utility coverall due to its low lint characteristics. Once a long-term, all-purpose coverall solution that is flame resistant and low lint version is available, it is expected that it will be made available to the submarine force. – The FRV will not be worn in place of organizational clothing mandated for specific operational environments such as flight decks or while performing work on electrical systems requiring arc flash protection. The new coveralls are expected to maintain performance properties, durability and appearance for typical deployments of six to nine months, with an optimal wear life of 18-24 months. Like other organizational clothing, the FRV coveralls will be replaced by each ship over time based on normal wear and tear. The name/rank configuration of the FRV coverall will consist of a Velcro-backed name tag and metal collar devices. To build unit esprit de corps, each unit CO has the discretion to authorize the wear of the embossed leather name tag (same as worn on the V-neck sweater) or develop a fabric embroidered unit specific name tag similar to those worn on green Nomex flight jackets. Command ball caps are authorized for wear with the FRV. Materials making the coveralls flame-resistant are incorporated into the fabric fibers. Wear life is dependent on many factors, including wear and cleaning frequency, cleaning method and environmental exposure. The joint message from Adm. Bill Gortney (USFF) and Adm. Harry B. Harris (PACFLT) emphasized the Navy’s commitment on safety. “We operate in an environment that contains inherent risks. Given what has been learned through the organizational clothing working group analysis and NWU type I burn test, we are striving to make shipboard environments safer. We have made initial progress toward that goal and believe that providing the FRV coverall to all afloat sailors will help reduce the risk of injury aboard ship. When worn properly, the FRV offers significant protection from flame and flash fire. We are committed to always improving safety.”
We go about our daily lives in a city and it never seems to change. But really it reinvents itself every day, just as we all do. It’s just that change happens gradually, one building, one street reconstruction project or one wrinkle at a time. So you don’t really notice the alterations. But if you last visited Rockford, 25 or 30 years or even 50 years ago and hadn’t returned until now, you’d certainly notice big changes. It's the same surprise you get when you go to a 25th or 50th high school reunion. For instance, those stores you used to pass by? Many of those buildings are occupied by different retailers now. Some shopping centers are vacant while others have sprung up. Some well-known factories are gone, but others have taken their places. The configuration of some streets — Charles Street and South Main Street, for example — have been changed. Bridges have been rebuilt and new bridges added. That sleepy old airport is now a bustling air freight and jet repair hub. If you last knew the big red barn downtown as The MetroCentre, you might be surprised to see the signs announcing the BMO Harris Bank Center. But it’s the same big red barn. Schools have been closed; new schools have been built. There are whole, new parks and sports facilities. Churches have been built. And we now have a mosque. The minor league baseball team has yet another new name and owners, the Rockford Lightning vanished, but the IceHogs are going strong. Favorite restaurants vanished; new ones have taken their places. And that old factory downtown? It’s going to be a high class hotel. This special publication of the Rockford Register Star and rrstar.com explores in pictures the way the greater Rockford area has changed physically through a series of “then and now” pictures. We’ve combed through our archives, local history books and family collections to select pictures that illustrate how the city and suburbs have changed over the years by photographing the same scenes today. For years I have had a personal interest in local landmarks and in everyday life as pictured years ago. My grandfather, Leslie Sherman Sweeny, was a carpenter in Rockford in the early 20th century. He was also deeply into his hobby of photography, capturing scenes of daily life, parades, buildings and people in the community. He took pictures of downtown, iconic parks like Blackhawk, Sinnissippi and Fairgrounds. He captured images of Civil War veterans marching at the grand opening of Memorial Hall in 1902, when President Theodore Roosevelt came to Rockford to dedicate it. Many years later, in the 1990s, I was working here at the Register Star when one day I was asked to show a 60-something Swedish couple around the city. It seems the gentleman had been born in Rockford and had lived his first 14 years here. Then the Depression hit, and his immigrant father lost his job when a furniture factory closed. So, the family moved back to Sweden, where the son grew up, joined the Swedish border guards during World War II and then became an engineer working for the country’s transportation department. He rose to the rank of transport minister. When he retired, the man longed to return to Rockford to try and find his old house. That job fell to me, and it wasn’t very hard. His old house on 22nd Avenue was still there, and still in good shape. But everything around the east side was totally different — he’d gone home before such iconic structures as East High School, Rockford Plaza and the many subdivisions of post World War II Rockford had taken shape. He was amazed, and also saddened that the bustling downtown he’d known as a child was practically deserted. Being a frugal eco-friendly Swede, he and his girlfriend were shocked at what they called an appalling waste of land out on East State Street along Retail Row. Take a look, then, at what we’ve put together and see how much things have changed through the years for you. We think the pictures will rekindle old memories and perhaps give you some ideas about Rockford’s — and your own — future. Chuck Sweeny: 815-987-1366; [email protected]; @chucksweeny
EST McDonald’s, where a family of four can eat breakfast, lunch or dinner for less than it costs to prepare a meal at home, is blaming weak consumer spending for an unprecedented stretch of punk earnings . Someone should level with them: “It’s the hamburgers, stupid!” Q3 profits were down by 30%, generating a lot of hissing and clucking on Wall Street. Portfolio managers must be scratching their heads trying to figure out how the fortunes of an American icon could have fallen so swiftly. Doubtless, Mickey D’s oh-so-clever ad-men are hard at work on a rescue effort, crafting a powerful new “message” for the Super Bowl audience. What they really need to craft is a hamburger that tastes more like one. Face it, we’ve been eating mystery-meat patties under the Golden Arches by the tens of billions for three generations, and what little savor they provide has come solely from the ketchup, pickles, mustard and onion on top. Ironically, it is the soaring popularity of the hamburger itself that may have contributed most to McDonald’s weakening sales. America is very obviously in the midst of a hamburger renaissance, as witness the rapid growth of such real-burger chains as Smashburger, Freddie’s, In-N-Out and Five Guys. You can enjoy the actual taste of beef at all of these places – or fill up for cheap at McDonald’s. And if you want the deluxe experience, there are more great bar-burgers out there for $8 to $20 than America’s food critics, magazine polls and foodies can celebrate. Here in Boulder, just to mention a few, are Tom’s Tavern (which has continued to offer the original bar burger even though the place was transformed into the upscale Salt restaurant); Drakes Haus, which features merlot-infused beef; Larkburger’s black-angus-on-a-bun (“This isn’t a burger you hold. It’s a burger you behold. Down to the last detail…”), Mountain Sun Brewery, Murphy’s Bar & Grill and the Dark Horse Bar & Grill. And although “World’s Best Burger!” banners may hang from the walls of a thousand taverns across America, in many instances the claim, arguably, is only somewhat exaggerated. A Supply Problem So what is McDonald’s to do? So ubiquitous have the Golden Arches become around the world that merely altering the mix of condiments slightly, never mind the quality of the beef, would require major adjustments in the supply chain. However, any solution would surely include a simplification of the menu, which currently lists nearly 150 items. “Healthy choice” foods are also a must, although this marketing space has grown crowded with competition – most formidably from Chipotle and Subway. Even subs and pizza are promoted these days as heart-healthy, depending on the ingredients, so McDonald’s might have to go over-the-top to find something new. (Wheat grass shake, anyone?) One obvious pathway would be to allow franchisees much greater leeway in adding local favorites to the menu. This would require a radical shift in the company’s business model, however, since localizing the menu would diminish the economies of scale achieved by purchasing food ingredients in huge quantities from regional suppliers. A Solution May Be Impossible Of course, it’s always possible there is no solution – that McDonald’s sales will continue to decline because its business model cannot adapt to rapidly shifting tastes in food. Even bankruptcy may lie in prospect perhaps 30 or 40 years down the road – an end that some would have considered impossible for another icon of American business, Sears, which is probably no more than two years from flatlining. If more-aggressive, cleverer marketing were the answer, Coca Cola would not be tearing its hair out over Joe Consumer’s recent epiphany that every 12-oz can contains the equivalent of ten sugar cubes. The fact that Joe’s newfound aversion to sugar has come to include even orange juice suggests the marketing geniuses at Coca Cola face an uphill battle. Readers?
San Juan, Puerto Rico (CNN) Power workers with no fear of heights are being hoisted up by helicopter in the mountains of Puerto Rico to repair the island's devastated transmission lines. About 300 are in Puerto Rico already and 700 more are on the way, contracted by a fairly new company based in Montana, of all places. Montana may be 3,000 miles from Puerto Rico and far from tropical, but Andrew Techmanski, the CEO of Whitefish Energy, says his workers and contractors have the skills needed to get the island back on line. They're used to working in rough, mountainous terrain, dangling from a helicopter and clambering high up on transmission towers to get power lines up. Still, when the Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority agreed to a $300 million deal with Whitefish Energy without consulting the Army Corps of Engineers, it caused a stir. Techmanski demurs when asked about the deal with PREPA, the publicly owned utility notorious for high prices, rolling blackouts and a $9 billion debt. "It's a risk," he concedes. "But you know, when you come down here and you see what I've seen and have that skill set that can have an immediate impact on the people here, it becomes a mission." PREPA CEO Ricardo Ramos told CNN en Español that one reason Whitefish got the deal was because the company did not demand a big deposit up front . He said the other finalist, which he did not name, wanted a $25 million down payment. Andrew Techmanski says Whitefish Power has the expertise needed to get the lines up and running. Techmanski predicts the massive central line currently being worked on outside San Juan will be back up in three or four days. But, he says, it will take many months and thousands more people to meet Gov. Ricardo Rosselló's promise that 95% of the island will have power by December 15. "We have over 100 pieces of equipment -- bucket trucks, tool trailers, bulldozers -- stuck in ports in Florida," Techmanski says. When they are not dangling from helicopters or clinging to towers, he says, his men have been scouring neighborhoods for unused heavy machinery. The need for that power is obvious anywhere you go. At night, most places are dark because the lights don't turn on. Inside homes, there's no air conditioning, no refrigerator to keep food or even a beer cold. Schools are closed, and hospitals struggle. Dr. Rosita Arzuaga is still seeing patients in the dark. Dr. Rosita Arzuaga shows us around the hospital that serves La Perla, the low-income neighborhood of San Juan that had been enjoying a tourist boom since it was featured in the most viewed music video ever, for the Luis Fonsi and Daddy Yankee phenomenon "Despacito." Outside, the buildings are as colorful as ever, but Arzuaga explains she has to treat patients in the dark. Without power for freezers, residents of La Perla still rely on ice deliveries. This is a neighborhood where people look after each other. Even Fonsi has joined in, donating five generators to the people of La Perla. But they aren't turned on yet, still wrapped up somewhere in red tape. A month after Hurricane Maria took the power out, most buildings are still dark at night. There's no knowing when the lights will come back on in La Perla. But, as everywhere on this beautiful but battered island, it can't happen soon enough.
The world sure is changing. These changes didn’t happen overnight, but it feels that way. It happened quickly, but not so fast that I can pinpoint the exact moment. Science may have been the first casualty. I’m not sure how or when science became totally politicized, but I suspect it happened in part when government became the primary source of funds for public research, and when private entities began to turn away from academia, preferring to perform and conduct their own research. Related: Is Trump’s proposed budget DOA? Just this week, Maryland joined California in becoming the second state to pass more restrictive laws on antibiotic use than the new federal regulations. Whether it be antibiotics, the environment, GMOs or any of the other areas we deal with in agriculture, we’re facing an uphill battle. Science is no longer science. It is a tool to be used by activists on either side of the equation, and as such it has lost its value and meaning. Science was initially simply about discovering the truth regardless of where that might lead. Science as we have always thought of it is dead. Popular journalism, like science, is supposed to be about exposing the truth and getting accurate information in the hands of the people so they can use that information to make informed decisions. That, too, is dying rapidly. Related: Opinion: Of ranchers, bureaucrats and other opposites Journalism is largely agenda activism and promotion of ideological viewpoints. All one has to do is listen to Fox News or CNN to see how off balance it has become. Everyone has a filter or world view that distorts the presentation of facts, but there is no longer even any pretense or attempt to be unbiased or accurate. Advancing an agenda and promoting an ideology is what popular journalism has largely become. Actual journalism is rare, and when it occurs it doesn’t affect opinions anymore as the opponents disregard the source and motives of those presenting information that doesn’t conform to their way of thinking. Like popular journalism and science, debate is also becoming extinct. Without science and balanced journalism, the open exchange of ideas and the debate between competing viewpoints is no longer accepted. You are with us or you are against us, and anyone who holds an opposing view is considered to be ignorant or worse yet, simply immoral. And in the end, common sense has become a casualty as well with the death of science, balanced journalism and debate. Compromise and common sense in many ways are almost irrevocably linked, and the death of common sense has pervaded our two-party political system as a result. Partisanship, especially in a deeply divided nation, is akin to the old saying of cutting off your nose to spite your face. Politicians are no longer rewarded for statesmanship; in fact, they are punished for putting country ahead of party. It is counterproductive to not embrace common sense approaches, but common sense is more times than not seen as a lack of political purity. It is why I have come to believe that agriculture will play a key role in salvaging our country from the decline it has been embarked on. We still believe in sound science, the open exchange of ideas, a good debate, and a healthy dose of common sense. Ideology is important, but when it grows to the point of rejecting science, debate, journalism and common sense, it can be a very destructive thing as well. The opinions of Troy Marshall are not necessarily those of beefmagazine.com and the Penton Agriculture Group. Marshall is a Colorado rancher and a regular contributor to BEEF Cow-Calf Weekly newsletter.
Road crews are out in force to keep ice out of Tuesday's commute. (Photo: KOMO News) SEATTLE -- The Pacific Northwest got the white Christmas it wanted, but now all that snow and slush is freezing up again. Monday night, plows were scrambling to clear the roads as parts of the region braced for black ice and freezing fog. Drivers were bracing for a tricky Tuesday morning commute. "It's so important now because we're not really used to seeing all this snow in the Pacific Northwest,” said driver Edward Newell. “It's a beautiful sight but a little bit more cautious driving.” The Washington Department of Transportation is trying to get ahead of the freeze. Officials said three-dozen crews are plowing and treating roads—with more crews working the hardest hits areas from the Christmas Eve snow. First, crews working 12 hour shifts will clear left over snow, then they will throw down de-icer. "The roads have been pretty clear especially the highways. It's just those residential areas that we're you're know, worried about,” said driver Martin Hehn. Steven Soliz who was driving from Montana msaid he is more concerned about the drivers he has to share the road with. "That's my biggest concern is a lot of these cats from Seattle don't really know how to handle the snow,” said Soliz. WSDOT said the agency also has about a dozen incident response crews to help people who spin out or get stranded on the roads. The agency encouraged drivers to use caution on the highways.
Quasars are supermassive black holes located at the center of distant, massive galaxies. They are the brightest objects in the universe, and display a mysterious diversity in their appearance that has puzzled astronomers for over 20 years. According to NASA, quasars exhibit a broad range of outward appearances when viewed by astronomers, reflecting the variety in the conditions of the regions close to their centers. Now, this mystery can be solved by looking at two simple features of quasars — how quickly matter is getting fed into the quasars and the direction from which the quasars are seen. The study comes from the Carnegie Observatories‘ Hubble Fellow Yue Shen – who describes himself as a “quasarologist” – and Luis Ho of the Kavli Institute for Astronomy and Astrophysics (KIAA) at Peking University. They note that: Quasars are rapidly accreting supermassive black holes at the centers of massive galaxies. They display a broad range of properties across all wavelengths, reflecting the diversity in the physical conditions of the regions close to the central engine [black hole]. These properties, however, are not random, but form well-defined trends. Using the largest and most-homogeneous sample to date of over 20,000 quasars from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey, combined with several novel statistical tests, Shen and Ho were able to demonstrate that one particular property related to the accretion of the hole, called the Eddington ratio, is the driving force behind the so-called main sequence. The Eddington ratio describes the efficiency of matter fueling the black hole, the competition between the gravitational force pulling matter inward and the luminosity driving radiation outward. This push and pull between gravity and luminosity has long been suspected to be the primary driver behind the so-called main sequence, and their work at long last confirms this hypothesis. Of additional importance, they found that the orientation of an astronomer’s line-of-sight when looking down into the black hole’s inner region plays a significant role in the observation of the fast-moving gas innermost to the hole, which produces the broad emission lines in quasar spectra. This changes scientists’ understanding of the geometry of the line-emitting region closest to the black hole, a place called the broad-line region: the gas is distributed in a flattened, pancake-like configuration. Going forward, this will help astronomers improve their measurements of black hole masses for quasars. “Our work solves a two-decade-long mystery in quasar research,” lead study author Yue Shen, an astronomer at the Carnegie Observatories in Pasadena, Calif. “Our findings have profound implications for quasar research,” Shen said in a statement. “This simple unification scheme presents a pathway to better understand how supermassive black holes accrete matter and interplay with their environments.” Shen also noted there are several ongoing quasar surveys that will provide even more data. Source: http://goo.gl/kZBu0Z
Tory MP Accuses Party Whips Of Deliberately Leaking Telegraph's “Brexit Mutineers” Story A Tory MP pictured beside 15 rebels on the Daly Telegraph’s “Brexit mutineers” front page has accused party whips of “deliberately” leaking the story. Sarah Wollaston said she had been left scratching her head after her “private conversations” with the Whips’ Office had made it into the national spotlight. The MP for Totnes is among a number of Tories who were outed by the paper on Wednesday for preparing to vote against the government on the EU Withdrawal Bill's second reading. Ms Wollaston told Iain Dale she was not attempting to “frustrate” the Brexit process, insisting she was “doing her job” in trying to get the best possible deal for the UK. She said she wasn’t aware that she would be named in the Telegraph and only found out this morning while visiting her father in hospital. The politician told Iain: “It’s about having a private conversation with the Whips’ Office to express some concern and then suddenly finding yourself on the front page of the Telegraph as if you’re trying to frustrate Brexit, which could not be further from the truth.” Sarah Wollaston was one of 15 Tories named as a "Brexit mutineer" on Wednesday. Picture: PA Iain replied: “How do you think your name got into the Telegraph then?” To which Ms Wollaston responded: “I think it was probably deliberately given to them.” “This was a private conversation,” she added. “This wasn’t me out there rattling the cages and saying ‘I’m going to vote against it’. “And then suddenly you find yourself on the front page of the Telegraph and that’s the wrong way to go about these things.”
We postulated in November that the city of Houston's Office of Inspector General might be a "glorified HR department," given its lack of authority and reliance on the city attorney's office. Inspector General Robert Doguim had little legal power and the office was often relegated to petty internal quarrels. A little over two months after our story, Doguim has resigned . Our story was based on records we received as part of a public information request. And while we received some of the records we asked for, the city appealed part of our request to the state Attorney General's office, which ruled on Dec. 19 there are more records that need to be handed over in keeping with the law. Given the new development, these records may be of compelling interest to the public. But the city has held onto them for almost a month now, despite the AG ruling. The city is currently in violation of state law regarding open records release, which requires a government body to release the information or contest the AG opinion within 10 days. We contacted the city eight days ago and received this response from Tiffany Evans, an assistant city attorney: "The City will definitely be complying with the Attorney General’s ruling, and as such we are currently in the process of gathering the documents that are to be made available to you. We will contact you as soon as possible with a cost estimate as well as an estimated timeline for making the information available to you."
SWAK — And Baked Goods! For Christmas, my grandparents sent me a gift card to Williams Sonoma. That afternoon, I scoured the store’s website, as excited as a kid in a candy store as I browsed page after page of rolling pins, cookie cutters, and grill pans. During my search, I discovered two differed sizes of pretty gold loaf pans that, with tax, added up to almost the exact amount on the card. But at the mall, too many other post-Christmas shoppers liked the smaller loaf pan and snatched all of them off the shelves before I even set foot in the store. Disappointed, I still bought the larger size and resolved to send my thank-you card once Williams Sonoma restocked the mini pans. Unfortunately, life turned into a whirling tornado of activity shortly after the holidays, and I have yet to drive back to the store—or mail my letter. But I finally mixed up a moist batter to break in the first pan, and if I hadn’t devoured the entire loaf, I would have slipped a few slices into a box to send along with the belated thank-you card. Pear and Applesauce Quick Bread serves 16 This quick bread is extremely moist, perfect for breakfast, a snack, or even a sweet treat after dinner. Substitute apples for the pear if you prefer. 2 c. whole-wheat flour ½ c. granulated sugar 2 tsp baking powder ¾ tsp baking soda ½ tsp ground cinnamon ¼ tsp nutmeg ¾ c. unsweetened applesauce ¼ c. agave nectar 2 tsp vanilla 1 pear, diced Preheat the oven to 325° and coat an 8×4” baking tin with nonstick spray. In a large bowl, whisk together the dry ingredients (flour through nutmeg). Add in the applesauce, agave, and vanilla, stirring just until moist. Gently fold in the pears. Pour the batter into the prepared tin, and bake at 325° for 45-60 min or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Check after 30-35 min; if the top is browning too quickly, cover the tin with foil and continue baking until done. Cool in the pan for 10 min before turning out onto a wire rack to cool completely. Cover the bread in plastic wrap and tin foil, and refrigerate for 8 hrs or overnight to allow the flavors to deepen. Advertisements
Are vehicles ever parked too close to your driveway? What can be done? According to the Seattle Municipal Code (SMC 11.72.110) it is not permitted to park in front of a driveway. In fact, there is a five foot buffer on either side of the driveway where parking is prohibited. What can you do if people are breaking this rule at your driveway? SDOT recommends that property owners use yellow paint to enhance this five-foot area. Painting the curb yellow, five feet back from the edge of your driveway, will help to increase the sight distance for motorists to see all vehicles, including bicyclists. To view an example of how the curb should look, please visit http://www.seattle.gov/transportation/parking/drivewaymarking.htm. When you see parking violations occurring, call and report them to the Seattle Police Department non-emergency dispatch number at (206) 625-5011 to get the next available parking enforcement officer out to the location.
Godfrey asked the sixth-graders to rate their endorsement of the “American Dream” and system-justifying ideas—namely, that America is the land of opportunity where everyone who works hard has an equal chance to succeed. Youth were then asked to rate themselves on various qualities, including their self-esteem, risky behaviors (“stayed out all night without your parent’s permission,” “cheated on school tests,” etc.), and perceived discrimination (for example: “How often have others suspected you of doing something wrong because of your ethnicity?” and “How often have the police hassled you because of your ethnicity?”). At three points over the course of middle school, the youth rated their self-esteem, behavior, and experience with discrimination. The results revealed an alarming trajectory. In sixth grade, among students who believed the system is fair, self-esteem was high and risky behavior was rare; by the end of seventh grade, these same students reported lower self-esteem and more risky behaviors—with no significant differences based on race, ethnicity, gender, or immigration generation (youth from newly arrived immigrant families and native-born counterparts). What’s more, for youth who perceived more discrimination from an early age, system-justifying beliefs were associated with less-risky behavior in sixth grade, but with a sharp rise in such behaviors by seventh grade. Godfrey attributes this spike to a “perfect storm” in which marginalized young people are experiencing more discrimination; beginning to understand the systemic and institutionalized nature of that discrimination; and starting to strongly identify as a member of a marginalized group, seeing that group as one that’s being discriminated against. As for why this leads to more risky behavior, Godfrey points to research that suggests people who really believe the system is fair internalize stereotypes—believing and acting out false and negative claims about their group—more readily than those who disavow these views. And while it’s easy to attribute the increase in risky behavior to developmental changes such as puberty, the fact that the students’ outcomes started high in the sixth grade and then deteriorated suggests that psychosocial phenomena are at play. “I do think that there’s this element of people think of me this way anyway, so this must be who I am,” Godfrey said, adding that the behaviors—things like stealing and sneaking out—reflect stereotypes perpetuated about youth of color. “If you’re [inclined] to believe that things are the way they should be, and [that] the system is fair, then you’re maybe going to accept stereotypes about you more easily.” While the sample was relatively small, Godfrey said the findings are informative and mirror prior research. Indeed, previous analyses have found that system-justifying beliefs are associated with lower self-esteem in black adults and lower grade-point averages for Latino college students—though the same beliefs predicted better grades and less distress for “high status” youth.
Prolonged eye contact is a powerful feature of body language. It particularly powerful in flirtation and the building of intimacy. Body language gives so much away about us. But no aspect of body language is more remarkable than the eyes. The ability to maintain prolonged eye contact shows that you are socially comfortable. The eyes give away everything about a person. You cannot hide when somebody looks into your eyes. It has often been said that eyes are the window to the soul. If you are nervous and weak people can tell. Your eyes will spend most of the time looking at your shoes. Likewise if you are strong and powerful others will notice. If you are calm and in control the slow movement of your eyes and the ability to hold someone's gaze will communicate the message that you value yourself and are ready to interact. Check out these excellent articles on the power of eye contact: Why Men Struggle To Make Prolonged Eye Contact For many men making eye contact is not something that comes naturally. It makes them uncomfortable so whenever someone holds their gaze they look away. It's almost an apologetic act. As if to say, "Sorry I noticed you there, I'll just go back to being invisible and unimportant." The root of this cause is insecurity. Men who don't value themselves don't want others to see them. Obviously they can be seen physically, but they don't want people to see inside their mind or soul. They are afraid of what people might think, so they shield their eyes. By improving confidence and overcoming insecurity the desire to always avoid eye contact can be overcome. Yet practicing prolonged eye contact is also a method to build confidence and self esteem. By getting used to holding someone's gaze you learn how to be comfortable with someone looking deep within. You realize that it's not so bad if someone sees the real you. Using Prolonged Eye Contact To Flirt Eye contact is a very normal way you build connections with new people all the time. By looking someone in the eye upon first meeting them you gain an impression into their character. Using eye contact for flirting is just an extension of what we normally do anyway. It is a low risk, high reward play. Low risk in that the flirting can get started without you having to talk or without you having to approach. It is high reward because it is a very effective way of assessing whether a woman is open to being approached. Women can use eye contact as a quick filter. If you avert her gaze more than once then she isn't going to give you another thought. Avoiding her eyes shows that you aren't comfortable with the sexual tension and that you won't be able to handle her. If you hold your gaze when a woman looks at you then it opens the door. You have demonstrated your confidence and character and shown that you are in fact comfortable with the sexual tension. She will either approach you, or if she doesn't she has given a non-verbal signal that she is open to being approached. With flirting, eye contact will never be the whole interaction, but it is a very powerful opening interaction. These are some useful articles on using eye contact to flirt: Using Prolonged Eye Contact To Build Intimacy As well as flirting eye contact is a powerful way to build intimacy between lovers. Lovers who stare into each others eyes for long periods of time increase their feelings of connection, intimacy, love and affection. There's an excellent viral video by Soul Pancake that demonstrates this phenomenon. They get six couples to stare into each other's eyes for four minutes. The results are pretty amazing and it's well worth a watch. I'm sure it will inspire you to give it a go with your girl. I also recommend reading the analysis of the video on Mic. Using Prolonged Eye Contact To Show Confidence Eye contact is a way of showing confidence when flirting, but it is equally applicable in non-romantic settings. In the corporate world eye contact is an effective way to show confidence, sincerity and build trust. This might be in sales, a job interview or just business in general. Eye contact is a way to build charisma. You can make people feel incredibly valued by looking them in the eye when speaking with them. It demonstrates that you really value what they are saying and that you are genuinely listening. Charismatic people are skilled at being able to really engage people and prolonged eye contact is one of their tools. Eye contact can also be used to intimidate. We don't bash antlers or swing clubs but a stare down is a classic way for men to determine who ranks where on the alpha male pecking order. How To Engage In Prolonged Eye Contact 1. Practice If It Doesn't Come Naturally Some men naturally make eye contact all the time. Others don't do it naturally, but if they think about it consciously they can make it happen. For others the idea of making eye contact is quite scary as their default position is to avert their gaze. If it doesn't come naturally for you all you have to do is practice. Use your partner, a family member or a close friend. Just get used to looking them in the eye. It will be uncomfortable at first but you can build up to looking at strangers. 2. Look Between The Eyes Looking straight at the eyes can be difficult. It is intimidating and you have to look from eye to eye. One common tip is to actually look between someone's eyes. It will appear to them like you are looking straight at them, but it is much more comfortable for you. 3. Break If You Have To While you are getting more comfortable with prolonged eye contact don't be afraid to break early. The idea isn't to engage in a staring contest with everyone. If you get out of your comfort zone all you have to do is look away. It also helps to break contact to the side rather than down. Looking down is a sign of guilt or submissiveness, which is the opposite of the confidence you are trying o build. 4. Relax And Smile Eye contact is a powerful communicator but it is not the only body language signal. Make sure you are relaxed and smiling when you make eye contact, otherwise it can come off as creepy or confrontational. 5. Gaze But Don't Stare A gaze is where you look in a general direction. A stare is when you look directly at a point. When you look make sure you gaze, but don't stare. Prolonged eye contact is not staring, it is just holding contact longer than usual. and forcing the other person to look away. Don't stare at people because it is rude and comes across as creepy. If you are trying to flirt with women and you stare at them, they will think you are strange or even dangerous. 6. Overcome Insecurity The struggle to engage in prolonged eye contact often has insecurity at its root. Becoming more comfortable with eye contact is one way of helping insecurity, as you get more comfortable with people looking at the real you. At the same time working on your insecurity will help you become more comfortable making eye contact with people. You will have less reason to fear the intimacy that eye contact creates. 7. Use Self Hypnosis There is an excellent resource available called "Make Eye Contact - Your Eyes Speak Volumes." It is a self hypnosis mp3 that helps you develop the confidence to look people in the eye without fear or shyness. Hypnosis can be a powerful way to overcome many anxiety and confidence issues. If you aren't confident looking people in the eye then this will help. Conclusion Eye contact is a powerful and remarkable aspect of your body language. It is the most genuine and authentic way to communicate. Words and other aspects of body language can be manipulated but it is near impossible to fake it with your eyes. If you want to be more confident, particularly with women then learn to engage with more effective eye contact. Whether you are dating or with a partner improving your eye contact can work wonders. Image credit: Simon
The mysterious crusader known only as HonorTheCall gained viewers – and respect – when he blew the lid off a video game scandal O n June 27th, a bombshell of an investigative report rocked the Counter-Strike: Global Offensive community. Using irrefutable facts and public documents, it tore the lid off of a case in which several high profile professional YouTubers were illicitly profiting from the bizarre shadow economy that has sprouted up around the popular online shooter. The release of the report touched off what came to be known as the CS:GO Gambling Scandal. It led to several lawsuits, prompted follow-on coverage from many major news outlets, and sparked a conversation within the community about the legal and ethical rules around disclosure – a topic that has become increasingly hot as the popularity and followings of what marketers call YouTube "influencers" has ballooned, along with their earnings. Though the scandal blew up into a mini Watergate-for-gamers story, there was no Woodward and Bernstein in the picture. Neither mainstream media nor the specialist gaming press were responsible for what came to light. The report was entirely the work of one man – a regular shooter fan who started out making videos for fun and chooses to remain anonymous. Known only by the handle of HonorTheCall, this muckraking crusader is a mild-mannered engineer by day. "I make boring software that enables big enterprises to do their work," he says. But in his spare time, he creates fiery, profanity-laced video rants that excoriate wrongdoers in the gaming community. Only HonorTheCall’s immediate family and one close friend know his secret identity. All that his online audience of tens of thousands know about him is that he was born and raised in Northern India, that he now lives in Toronto, and that he dedicates a significant portion of his spare time to policing the community of online shooter game fans. He sees himself as a truth-teller and an advocate, and he doesn’t hesitate to call out stars in the YouTube community when he feels that they have transgressed. HonorTheCall didn’t set out to be a crusader. He initially got into YouTube because he was a fan of the Call of Duty franchise, and he enjoyed watching videos that offered tips and insights that helped him improve his play. He began posting his own clips late last year under the handle War God. At first, he simply presented straightforward information on the latest developments related to his favorite game. But he increasingly felt a responsibility to try to improve behavior in this community that he spent so much time in. He literally felt a call of duty, and he changed his handle accordingly. He started out six months ago with a video that castigated his fellow YouTubers for ignoring a worthy cause. “Let’s talk boots on the ground – the real heroes who keep us safe while we sit here and grind,” said HonorTheCall. He championed a new $3.99 content pack released for Call of Duty , the proceeds of which would go to an endowment that helps veterans find jobs. Then he singled out all of the popular streamers who were ignoring in favor of frivolous stuff. “ I used to get a hundred comments a month that were just saying something racist about my accent ” That video set him on a path towards a more advocacy-based approach. HonorTheCall’s most visible achievement to date was unearthing the so-called " CS:GO Gambling Scandal." His exposés on this topic earned him millions of views and a fiftyfold increase in his regular audience, plus a new level of respect. “I used to get a hundred comments a month that were just saying something racist about my accent,” he says. “Nowadays, that’s down to about five racist comments a month even though my traffic is way up.” To understand why HonorTheCall’s muckraking struck a nerve, you first have to understand how “gun skins” in CS:GO have become a form of digital wampum, akin to cigarettes in prison – something that has an actual use, but is more often employed as an illicit currency. A gun skin is an overlay that changes the appearance of your weapon in the game, giving it, say, a unique camouflage pattern, or leopard spots, or a purple lightning bolt motif. It is purely cosmetic, and has no effect on gameplay. The casual observer might wonder why players care so much about weapon skins. What does it matter what your weapon looks like? Who even sees it when you’re racing around a map, crouching behind cover, or sniping enemies from a rooftop? What they don’t understand is that killer and victim share a special moment of intimacy after each execution in a CS:GO match. This is thanks to a feature found in most shooters called the killcam. After getting blasted in the face, the doomed player can look forward to witnessing their final moments again through the eyes of their killer courtesy of the killcam. The killcam means that each frag you log is far more gratifying, because you know that your victim is reliving their moment of humiliating defeat while staring down the sights of your weapon. It’s literally adding insult to injury. Why not further personalize that delicious moment by embellishing your weapon with a unique overlay? Custom paint jobs – or "skins" – have become their own form of currency for the popular 'Counter-Strike: Global Offensive'. Steamcommunity.com / AléSSandroCaSSo Unusual and rare skins are highly sought after. CS:GO developer Valve boosted the desirability of gun skins by offering a wide array of them, creating a sort of metagame by randomizing how players can get them, and allowing people to buy and sell and trade them freely. Players could do this on Valve’s game marketplace Steam, or through third party sites built on top of the Steam platform. Those third party sites are where things begin to get weird. Instead of simply facilitating trades, many of these sites allowed players to use skins to gamble on the outcome of esports matches, or use them as betting chips in casino-style games. Because skins are such a new and murky form of pseudo currency, many of these sites could effectively skirt laws that constrain straightforward cash-based online gambling. The lucrative skin gambling sites became increasingly impossible for gamers to ignore. Prominent YouTubers who weren’t even known for playing CS:GO began recording videos of themselves winning huge sums through skin gambling. There was widespread speculation that these YouTubers were paid to promote these sites, and that they were faking their enthusiastic reactions to their alleged winnings in order to drive more traffic and income to these sites. That’s when HonorTheCall got interested. He noticed that several of his favorite full-time professional Call of Duty YouTubers were posting videos on their huge winnings from CS:GO gambling sites, and he decided to do some digging on the phenomenon. He posted his findings in late June. HonorTheCall singled out the popular YouTuber Trevor “TmarTn” Martin, who had been posting videos of himself gambling on a site called CSGO Lotto, including a clip where he shrieks with delight after apparently winning $13,000 on the site. “I did some digging into this, and holy shitballs,” says HonorTheCall. To emphasize the incendiary nature of his discovery, he splices in a clip of Walter White from Breaking Bad walking away from an explosion. What HonorTheCall learned is that the site CSGO Lotto Inc. was registered to Tmartn Enterprises Inc. “Trevor Martin, aka TmarTn, is the director of this site,” thunders HonorTheCall. “He fucking owns the damn site. He goes on his own site, pretends to allegedly win huge amounts of cash, and do pre-rehearsed reactions!” HonorTheCall posted screenshots of online listings for CSGO Lotto by the Better Business Bureau and the Florida Department of State Division of Corporations and a half dozen other sites. He added giant red arrows to the screenshots, pointing out where Martin was listed as principal and president of the site. (These sites also showed that YouTuber Thomas “TheSyndicateProject” Cassell, who also posted videos of himself on CSGO Lotto, is the vice president of that site.) Trevor Martin responded to the allegations, claiming that the fact that he and some other YouTubers owned CSGO Lotto “has never been a secret.” HonorTheCall published a followup video that excerpted footage of one of Martin’s videos in which he claimed to have stumbled upon the site, and claimed that the people behind the site were offering to sponsor him. “Why did you lie to your five million followers, Trevor?” he demanded. HonorTheCall has continued to release videos on the people behind CSGO Lotto. He has also gone on to excoriate other YouTubers who concealed their ownership of skin gambling sites, as well as YouTubers who presented fake results of PC performance benchmark testing, YouTubers who have failed to deliver on Kickstarter rewards, and YouTubers who stole the thumbnail images they use to promote their content. (A mortal sin in the community.) HonorTheCall has expanded his social media profile as his audience has grown. His Twitter account is full of strangers reaching out to him about other potential scandals that he should look into. He assures them that he answers every email he receives. The Torontonian insists that he doesn’t see himself a journalist. To his mind, what he’s doing doesn’t count as journalism because his videos only earn him enough to buy a nice restaurant meal once a month, and he doesn’t give his targets a chance to respond to his allegations before publishing his videos the way a reporter should. But he fits the definition of citizen journalist laid out by media critic and NYU professor Jay Rosen: “People formerly known as the audience who employ the press tools they have in their possession to inform one another.” HonorTheCall points out that YouTube receives far less scrutiny than other more traditional media sources. “There are so many different mediums through which people are consuming information now; twice as many people tuned into YouTube to watch the presidential debates than all the traditional TV channels,” he correctly points out. “But there aren’t many people who are actually following the scene on YouTube closely. No one is actually paying attention to what’s really going on here.” He has a simple message for prominent YouTubers who want to remain in his good graces. “Realize that your viewers made you what you are,” he says. “You shouldn’t rip them off.”
San Francisco - The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) has launched a new version of HTTPS Everywhere, a security tool that offers enhanced protection for Firefox browser users against "Firesheep" and other exploits of webpage security flaws. HTTPS secures web browsing by encrypting both requests from your browser to websites and the resulting pages that are displayed. Without HTTPS, your online reading habits and activities are vulnerable to eavesdropping, and your accounts are vulnerable to hijacking. Unfortunately, while many sites on the web offer some limited support for HTTPS, it is often difficult to use. Websites may default to using the unencrypted, and therefore vulnerable, HTTP protocol or may fill HTTPS pages with insecure HTTP references. EFF's HTTPS Everywhere tool uses carefully crafted rules to switch sites from HTTP to HTTPS. This new version of HTTPS Everywhere responds to growing concerns about website vulnerability in the wake of Firesheep, an attack tool that could enable an eavesdropper on a network to take over another user's web accounts -- on social networking sites or webmail systems, for example -- if the browser's connection to the web application either does not use cryptography or does not use it thoroughly enough. Firesheep, which was released in October as a demonstration of a vulnerability that computer security experts have known about for years, sparked a flurry of media attention. "These new enhancements make HTTPS Everywhere much more effective in thwarting an attack from Firesheep or a similar tool," said EFF Senior Staff Technologist Peter Eckersley. "It will go a long way towards protecting your Facebook, Twitter, or Hotmail accounts from Firesheep hacks. And, like previous releases, it shields your Google searches from eavesdroppers and safeguards your payments made through PayPal." Other sites targeted by Firesheep that now receive protection from HTTPS Everywhere include Bit.ly, Cisco, Dropbox, Evernote, and GitHub. In addition to the HTTPS Everywhere update, EFF also released a guide to help website operators implement HTTPS properly. "Firesheep works because many websites fail to use HTTPS," said EFF Technology Director Chris Palmer. "Our hope is to make it easier for web applications to do the right thing by their users and keep us all safer from identity theft, security threats, viruses, and other bad things that can happen through insecure HTTP. Taking a little bit of care to protect your users is a reasonable thing for web application providers to do and is a good thing for users to demand." The first beta of HTTPS Everywhere was released last June. Since then, the tool has been downloaded more than half a million times. To download HTTPS Everywhere for Firefox: https://www.eff.org/https-everywhere For more on implementing HTTPS in websites: https://www.eff.org/pages/how-deploy-https-correctly Contacts: Peter Eckersley Senior Staff Technologist Electronic Frontier Foundation [email protected] Chris Palmer Technology Director Electronic Frontier Foundation [email protected]
The Vatican reopened the Priscilla Catacombs in Rome after five years of restoration work, notably the laser restoration of the frescos dating from the first centuries of Christianity. The frescoes were rediscovered in the 16th century. Additionally, an agreement between the Pontifical Commission for Sacred Archeology and Google Maps makes it possible to virtually visit the catacombs, witnessing the life of the first Christians. The Priscilla Catacombs are a labyrinth of corridors that extend for miles under the ground of Rome that have provided treasures for centuries for archeologists through paintings, artifacts and graffiti, including a fresco of a woman some claim proves the existence of female priests. This well-preserved fresco was created between the second and fifth centuries. The woman in the middle of the composition, wearing a habit that could be liturgical, lifts her arms in a manner of a priest during the eucharistic ceremony. The archeological superintendent of the catacombs believes the interpretation is sensationalistic, believing the scene in question is a funerary banquet, with the woman in the middle celebrated for her arrival in heaven. For Barbara Mazzei, of the Pontifical Commission for Sacred Archeology, the interpretation of the lady in the middle as proof of the ordination of female priests, "is a construction not founded in reality." The Vatican and Google Maps partner to map miles of catacombs under the streets of Rome. Satellite view of the entrance to the Priscilla Catacombs. Location of the entrance of the Pricsilla Catacombs in Rome.
Access to social media and sharing websites has been blocked in Access to social media and sharing websites has been blocked in Turkey following the arrests of 11 Kurdish-backed politicians, according to an internet monitoring group. At around 1am local time on Friday monitoring network Turkey Blocks, which provides a live feed of internet shutdown incidents in the country, confirmed that Facebook, Twitter and YouTube were all “blocked by throttling”, a method of slowing certain websites to the point where they are unusable. Minutes later another tweet was posted stating that Whatsapp had also been blocked – the first time the popular messaging app has seen nationwide restrictions in recent years. The block was still in place by mid-morning, with Turkey Blocks describing it as a “developing incident”. It was first detected on national provider TTNet, Turkcell and then on other major internet service providers, with users of other smaller providers reportedly not yet affected at the time of writing. The incident was believed to be related to the detention of the two co-leaders of a Kurdish-backed opposition party, People's Democracy (HDP), as well as at least nine MPs , as part of what the government said was a counter-terrorism inquiry. Internet restrictions are increasingly being used in Turkey to suppress media coverage of political incidents, a form of censorship deployed at short notice to prevent civil unrest. Earlier this week the internet was completely shut down in Turkey’s southeast, affecting some six million people and reportedly preventing the supply of medical supplies to patients and crippling the region's infrastructure.  In pictures: Turkey coup attempt    17 show all   In pictures: Turkey coup attempt   1/17 Turkish President Erdogan attends the funeral service for victims of the thwarted coup in Istanbul at Fatih mosque on July 17, 2016 in Istanbul, Turkey Burak Kara/Getty Images 2/17 Soldiers involved in the coup attempt surrender on Bosphorus bridge with their hands raised in Istanbul on 16 July, 2016 Gokhan Tan/Getty 3/17 A civilian beats a soldier after troops involved in the coup surrendered on the Bosphorus Bridge in Istanbul, Turkey, 16 July, 2016 REUTERS/Murad Sezer 4/17 Surrendered Turkish soldiers who were involved in the coup are beaten by a civilian Reuters 5/17 Soliders involved in the coup attempt surrender on Bosphorus bridge Getty 6/17 Supporters of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan wave flags as they capture a Turkish Army vehicle Getty 7/17 People pose near a tank after troops involved in the coup surrendered on the Bosphorus Bridge in Istanbul, Turkey, 16 July, 2016 Reuters 8/17 Turkish soldiers block Istanbul's Bosphorus Brigde Getty 9/17 A Turkish military stands guard near the Taksim Square in Istanbul Reuters 10/17 Pierre Crom/Twitter 11/17 Turkish soldiers secure the area as supporters of Recep Tayyip Erdogan protest in Istanbul's Taksim square AP 12/17 Murad Sezer/Reuters 13/17 Turkish soldiers detain police officers during a security shutdown of the Bosphorus Bridge Reuters 14/17 Turkish Army armoured personnel carriers in the main streets of Istanbul Getty 15/17 Chaos reigned in Istanbul as tanks drove through the streets EPA/TOLGA BOZOGLU 16/17 Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan speaks to media in the resort town of Marmaris Reuters 17/17 Supporters of President Erdogan celebrate in Ankara following the suppression of the attempted coup Reuters Turkey remains under a state of emergency that was imposed after a Turkey remains under a state of emergency that was imposed after a failed coup in July, which allows President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his government to bypass parliament when drafting new laws and to restrict or suspend rights and freedoms.
Image caption President Obama has defended US surveillance tactics, but whistleblower Ed Snowden said he was "horrified" by the activities Both international governments and the world's biggest tech companies are in crisis following the leaking of documents that suggest the US government was able to access detailed records of individual smartphone and internet activity, via a scheme called Prism. Ed Snowden, a 29-year-old former technical worker for the CIA, has since revealed himself to be the source of the leaks in an interview with the Guardian news website. US director of national intelligence James Clapper described the leaks as "extremely damaging" to national security, but Mr Snowden said he had acted because he found the extent of US surveillance "horrifying". What could the US government see? According to the documents revealed by Ed Snowden, the US National Security Agency (NSA) has access on a massive scale to individual chat logs, stored data, voice traffic, file transfers and social networking data of individuals. The US government confirmed it did request millions of phone records from US company Verizon, which included call duration, location and the phone numbers of both parties on individual calls. How surveillance came to light 5 June: The Guardian reports that the National Security Agency (NSA) is collecting the telephone records of millions of US customers of Verizon, under a top-secret court order 6 June: The Guardian and the Washington Post report the NSA and the FBI are tapping into US internet companies to track online communication, in a scheme known as Prism 7 June: The Guardian reports President Obama has asked intelligence agencies to draw up a list of potential overseas targets for US cyber-attacks 7 June: President Obama defends the programmes, saying they are closely overseen by Congress and the courts 8 June: US director of national intelligence James Clapper calls the leaks "literally gut-wrenching" 9 June: The Guardian names former CIA technical worker Edward Snowden as the source of the leaks How much do the spooks know? Why every call matters What can you learn from phone records? According to the documents, Prism also enabled "backdoor" access to the servers of nine major technology companies including Microsoft, Yahoo, Google, Facebook, PalTalk, AOL, Skype, YouTube and Apple. These servers would process and store a vast amount of information, including private posts on social media, web chats and internet searches. All the companies named have denied their involvement, and it is unknown how Prism actually works. National Security Agency (NSA) Director Keith Alexander said that the eavesdropping operations have helped keep Americans secure - yet cannot provide details. "If we tell the terrorists every way that we're going to track them, they will get through and Americans will die," he said Some experts question its true powers, with digital forensics professor Peter Sommer telling the BBC the access may be more akin to a "catflap" than a "backdoor". "The spooks may be allowed to use these firms' servers but only in respect of a named target," he said. "Or they may get a court order and the firm will provide them with material on a hard-drive or similar." What about data-protection laws? Different countries have different laws regarding data protection, but these tend to aim to regulate what data companies can hold about their customers, what they can do with it and how long they can keep it for - rather than government activity. Most individual company privacy policies will include a clause suggesting they will share information if legally obliged - and include careful wording about other monitoring. Facebook's privacy policy, for example, states: " We use the information [uploaded by users] to prevent potentially illegal activities". Are we all being watched? Image caption UK Foreign Secretary William Hague said "law abiding citizens" had nothing to fear The ways in which individual governments monitor citizen activity is notoriously secretive in the interests of national security, and officials generally argue that preventing terrorism over-rides protecting privacy. "You can't have 100% security and also then have 100% privacy and zero inconvenience," said US President Barack Obama, defending US surveillance tactics. Senator Dianne Feinstein, chairwoman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, said that phone records were only accessed by the NSA in cases where there was reason to suspect an individual was connected with al-Qaeda or Iran. Speaking to the BBC UK Foreign Secretary William Hague said that "law abiding citizens" in Britain would "never be aware of all the things... agencies are doing to stop your identity being stolen or to stop a terrorist blowing you up". Does it make a difference which country you live in? User data (such as emails and social media activity) is often not stored in the same country as the users themselves - Facebook for example has a clause in its privacy policy saying that all users must consent to their data being "transferred to and stored in" the US. The US Patriot Act of 2001 gave American authorities new powers over European data stored in this way. This method of storage is part of cloud computing, in which both storage and processing is carried out away from the individual's own PC. "Most cloud providers, and certainly the market leaders, fall within the US jurisdiction either because they are US companies or conduct systematic business in the US," Axel Arnbak, a researcher at the University of Amsterdam's Institute for Information Law, told CBS News last year after conducting a study into cloud computing, higher education and the act. "In particular, the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Amendments (FISA) Act makes it easy for US authorities to circumvent local government institutions and mandate direct and easy access to cloud data belonging to non-Americans living outside the US, with little or no transparency obligations for such practices - not even the number of actual requests." Are other governments involved? UK Foreign Secretary William Hague has so far refused to confirm or deny whether British government surveillance department GCHQ has had access to Prism. It is not known whether other governments around the world have been either aware of or involved in the use of Prism, which is reported to have been established in 2007. In a statement, the EU Justice Commission said it was "concerned" about the consequences of Prism for EU citizens and was "seeking more details" from the US authorities. "Where the rights of an EU citizen in a Member State are concerned, it is for a national judge to determine whether data can be lawfully transmitted in accordance with legal requirements (be they national, EU or international)," said a spokesperson for Justice Commissioner Vivane Reding. What does this mean for internet use? Image caption Edward Snowden (picture courtesy of the Guardian) said he "did not want to live in a society that does these sorts of things" William Hague insists that law-abiding citizens have nothing to worry about, and there is no legal way of "opting out" of monitoring activity carried out in the name of national or global security. However privacy concerns about information uploaded to the internet have been around for almost as long as the internet itself, and campaign group Privacy International says the reported existence of Prism confirms its "worst fears and suspicions". "Since many of the world's leading technology companies are based in the US, essentially anyone who participates in our interconnected world and uses popular services like Google or Skype can have their privacy violated through the Prism programme," says Privacy International on its website. "The US government can have access to much of the world's data, by default, with no recourse." Edward Snowden, the source of the leaked documents, said he had acted over concerns about privacy. "I don't want to live in a society that does these sort of things… I do not want to live in a world where everything I do and say is recorded," he told the Guardian.
Versatile Raiders defensive lineman Jihad Ward impresses teammates Raiders left tackle Donald Penn did a double-take the first time he saw defensive tackle Jihad Ward, the team’s second-round pick. “I didn’t know he was that big when we drafted him,” Penn said. “I love Jihad. Very quiet guy. Just comes in and works. He’s a big, powerful, strong guy. He moves well. He even has a couple of little pass rush moves, for being a young guy. “And he can play everywhere on the defensive line. ... That was a nice pickup.” The 6-foot-5, 297-pound Ward has been lining up with the first team since the first day of training camp. “It’s going well,” Ward said. “Learning the plays, paying attention to detail and getting out there and feeling loose. You don’t want to feel like a robot out there.” Ward looks like a slightly bigger version of Mario Edwards Jr., last year’s second-round breakout player. Ward is a little slower, but he has shown he is athletic enough to play both defensive tackle and defensive end. “Just moving around,” said Ward, who was a receiver/safety in junior college before going on to Illinois. “We try and be versatile up and down the line, so that if someone goes down in the game we have options.” At 6 foot 5 and 297 pounds, second- round pick Jihad Ward is listed as a defensive tackle, but he and his teammates believe he’s capable of playing any position on the line. At 6 foot 5 and 297 pounds, second- round pick Jihad Ward is listed as a defensive tackle, but he and his teammates believe he’s capable of playing any position on the line. Photo: Eric Risberg, Associated Press Photo: Eric Risberg, Associated Press Image 1 of / 1 Caption Close Versatile Raiders defensive lineman Jihad Ward impresses teammates 1 / 1 Back to Gallery Edwards is cool with the comparison. “Jihad is good,” Edwards said. “He is a hard worker and getting better every day. Strong and athletic. ... We’re going to have a hell of a rotation.” A big part of that is the experience and bruises gained going against what looks like one of the NFL’s best offensive lines. “Our offensive line is going to make me better, so that’s great,” Ward said. “I am working on getting off the ball, stopping the run and penetrating. Getting better with my hands too.” It’s important to the rookie that he is not a one-dimensional player. “I don’t want teams to study me and think I can only beat them with speed,” Ward said. “That’s why I work on my moves and developing a plan. I want people, when they go against me, to feel the difficulty.” In good hands: Head coach Jack Del Rio raved about the receiving corps of Amari Cooper, Michael Crabtree, Seth Roberts and Andre Holmes. “I love the way they’re working at it,” he said. “I think the communication level has gone to another level. I think it’s a really good group. We all expect, with them knowing each other and the subtleties of the route running, that we can take advantage of it and have a big year.” Briefly: First-round pick Karl Joseph and tight end Clive Walford returned to practice after a day off. They are coming off knee injuries, and Del Rio said the days off were planned. “We’ll push plenty, but there are times when you need to pull back a little bit,” Del Rio said. ... Defensive end Denico Autry also returned, from a wrist injury. ... The Raiders claimed defensive back Tramain Jacobs (Giants) and linebacker Lenny Jones (49ers) off waivers, waived/injured cornerback SaQwan Edwards and waived defensive end Damontre Moore. Vic Tafur is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: [email protected] Twitter: @VicTafur
The ACLU has been working in states across the country on a variety of laws pertaining to law enforcement agencies and their power to gather and access information about us—including location tracking, drones, automatic license plate readers, and access to our electronic communications content. From my vantage point in the ACLU national office working with our state affiliates to advance legislation, I have a unique view of legislative battles taking place across the nation. And what I have seen is that regardless of the issue or the state, there has been one common theme in law enforcement opposition to the bills: they don’t want you to know what they’re doing. With a few exceptions, the ideal bills on these topics follow a similar format: They contain legal protections, and require court oversight, when law enforcement wishes to use the technology in question in a criminal investigation. They contain notice requirements so that you are informed if police search your digital property, just as you would be informed if they search your physical property. They contain reporting requirements so that the public and the legislature can know how much a tactic is being used and how the new rules work in practice and can determine whether further tweaks to the law are needed. We have seen in state after state that, thanks to law enforcement pressure, the first two issues that get traded away during legislative negotiations—or never included in draft bills in the first place—are the notice requirements and the reporting requirements. Let me underscore that point: law enforcement agencies seem to resist notice and reporting requirements more stringently than they fight court oversight and legal standards. In Colorado, for example, we were informed that notice and reporting requirements were a non-starter for law enforcement and would be excluded from the location tracking legislation that recently passed the state Senate. In Maine, law enforcement lobbyists convinced lawmakers working on location tracking legislation to allow police to request a court order waiving the notice requirement in the law all together. Of the six location tracking bills that became law so far in the last two years, only two contain reporting requirements. Only four of the twelve new drones laws require reporting, and none (!) of the new laws governing law enforcement access to electronic communications content contains any reporting requirements whatsoever. Let’s be clear about the stakes. Reporting and notice are, by and large, not hard. But, without them, it is very difficult to know how often law enforcement agencies are using a particular tactic—and how often they’re obtaining the personal information of innocent people against whom charges are never brought. Absent notice and reporting, it’s also hard to know whether law enforcement is complying with the legal requirements and court oversight enshrined in these new laws. And perhaps that’s the point. The reality is that many law enforcement agencies already require internal reporting on their practices. It is hard to believe that it’s much more of a burden to compile those reports for legislators, courts, and/or the public. With regard to notice, law enforcement agencies argue that it would be difficult or prohibitively expensive to identify everyone whose information is obtained. That’s just not true. For example, where law enforcement uses cell phone location tracking, even in “tower dumps” (where they obtain the location information of every phone that connects to a particular cell tower), they could easily text or call the numbers they identify. Where they obtain electronic communications content (or social media check-ins), there is likely an e-mail address, social networking account handle, or IP address associated with the content that could be used to identify and notify the individual(s) whose information is obtained. And, the argument that notice might jeopardize criminal investigations is also empty. There are time-honored methods of delaying notice enshrined in current search and seizure law. Law enforcement can request a court order delaying notice of a search for various reasons (to avoid immediate danger to innocent people, a suspect’s flight from prosecution, a suspect’s destruction of evidence, witness intimidation, jeopardy to an investigation, or undue delays to a trial). There is no good reason to believe that the delayed notice that works in the offline world can’t work in the digital world as well. So, let’s make the debate about the issue that’s really at stake: will there be transparency and oversight of police surveillance practices and informed public and legislative debate about those practices? Come on, law enforcement, if you’re doing nothing wrong, what do you have to hide?
SOCIAL CONSERVATISM AS A COERCIVE TOOL OF THE STATE James Veverka Wed Jan 27, 2010 at 07:05:19 AM EST [ed: we're re-posting this brilliant analysis by atheist & libertarian James Veverka because it roundly rebuts Glenn Beck's new documentary "The Revolutionary Holocaust" which paints Nazism as a left-wing phenomenon and claims societal groups Hitler and the Nazis actually targeted were perpetrators of the Holocaust - ignoring the fact that along with Jews, according to the US Holocaust Museum, the Nazi regime threw many communists into concentration camps too.] PART I: Homosexuality under the governments of religious fundamentalism, fascism, and Stalinism Uncomfortable as it makes people to compare religion with dictatorships, the most dangerous dictatorships of the 20th century were also radically socially conservative in regards to family values and sexuality. Whether it was the Motherland, the Fatherland or the Christian Nation, the same rigid moral message of intolerance runs through them. Like religious conservatives throughout history and, indeed, in the present, they used the state as a coercive tool to force their version of a conscience upon the rest of people. While only one-third of people generally tend to be socially conservative, this does not make a difference to those possessed with the compulsion to force their morality upon all others for their own good. This is not to say fundamentalists and other religious extremists are Nazis or Stalinists, but that they hold very similar views on these 'family values' and sexuality subjects and employ similar language in their positions and propaganda. They represent similar dangers to free societies as they always have throughout all of western history. It is for the same reasons, and rather ironically, that many conservatives have coined the word "Islamafascists" to describe religious fundamentalists of Islam. But both religions have a fundamentalist wing that continually attacks modernity and secularism. Radical Islamists want to fight off the same forces of western modernity that Christian extremists do. At the UN, we see Islamic nations, the Catholic Church and Protestant fundamentalists on the same side in the matters of science and society, modernity and secularism. It may surprise many that hardline communists were also hardline social conservatives on the matters of family and sexuality. It is the nature of extremism to incorporate far out views on these matters into state policy. The answers to this perverse mix of despotism and family values lies in the natures of religion and nationalism. It is not about left versus right because social conservatism can be found in both as tools of the state. Social conservatism, both religious and secular, when wed to nationalism and embraced as state policy, has almost always turned into an enemy of tolerance and liberty. In fact, social conservatives in the USA, led by Christian conservatives, have fought or disagreed with religious diversity, religious equality, abolition of slavery, Suffrage, desegregation, integrating the armed forces, Brown v Board of Education, mixed race marriages, respect and equality for Jews (not in MY country club!), the Civil Rights Act of 1965, gender equality laws, women in authority, working women, reproductive education, family planning, contraception, condoms, gay rights and a host of others. It was humanists, both religious and secular that banded together to win the rights movements of the past. Such is the case presently with regards to gay, lesbian and family planning rights. "Such people are sinning against God and will lead to the ultimate destruction of the family and our nation. I am unalterably opposed to such things, and will do everything I can to restrict the freedom of these people to spread their contagious infection to the youth of this nation." . . . "If the widespread practice of homosexuality will bring about the destruction of your nation, if it will bring about terrorist bombs, if it'll bring about earthquakes, tornadoes and possibly a meteor, it isn't necessarily something we ought to open our arms to." In an Interview with Molly Ivins on September 14, 1993 (Fort Worth Star-Telegram), Pat Robertson added to his history of bigotry and ignorance when he said: "Just like what Nazi Germany did to the Jews, so liberal America is now doing to the evangelical Christians." Because of popular cultural myths and the religious right's propaganda, both misinformed and dishonest, most people don't realize that Nazi Germany and Stalin were on the same page as religious conservatives regarding homosexuals. The anti-gay propaganda of both the religious conservatives and the Nazis is nearly identical. One is religious, the other secular, but the message is the same. The views are the same. The doctrines are the same. The blind hatred is the same. Both embrace rigid patriarchal family views that see women as men-helpers and baby-makers. Both consider their views "virtues". Both are the moral crusaders to save the family in a nation that is supposedly threatened by decadence (Weimar Germany then and counterculture now). The sky is falling; civilization will crumble if the family isn't saved. Both are extreme right wing ideologies that embrace a state enforced social conservatism. Both are blends of extreme nationalism and extreme obsessions with law and order and the moral fiber of the nation. Both loudly proclaim their so-called family values as the salvation of the nation. Without them, civilization will collapse. Leviticus 20:13 If a man also lie with mankind, as he lieth with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination: they shall surely be put to death; their blood shall be upon them. After the German unification of January, 1871 a new legal code was established. At this time, Paragraph 175 was established in German law. 1. A male who indulges in criminally indecent behavior with another male, or who allows himself to participate in such activity, will be punished with imprisonment. 2. If one of the participants is under the age of twenty-one, and if the offense has not been grave, the court may dispense with the sentence of imprisonment. In this same period, the German journalist Wilhelm Marr coined the label, anti-Semitism. It more than expressed hatred for Jews, it referred to liberalizing trends than many social conservatives associated with Jews. Concepts like civil rights, equality, and constitutional democracy that social conservatives and nationalists saw as disrupting society were blamed on Jews. Like America's right wing nationalists and isolationists, these same people also railed against internationalism, antiwar ideas, open trade, socialism, cosmopolitanism, and university intellectuals. To this day, one can find social conservatives, secular and religious, posting quotes from the Protocols of the Elders of Zion which claim international Jewish conspiracies. Nevertheless, a gay and bisexual culture flourished in urban communities. "City air makes men free" is the German saying. Gays built support networks and a culture where they could express themselves. Meetings, pubs, restaurants, literature, art, theater, fashion, etc. In the public sphere of urban areas, because of the openness, homosexuality was more tolerated, if not more accepted. More discussions meant a more open public and that is what transpired. The social conservatives, like the conservative state and religious leaders of the Imperial Christian era who banned open religious debates on the nature of God in public, did not take kindly to this open atmosphere of intellectual discourse. Not successful in the goal of having paragraph 175 repealed, a strong gay rights movement commenced in the 1890s. The experience of the German LGBT community is very instructive because it was in Germany that the first modern gay rights movement was born. Germany was the most liberal and socially tolerant nation in world. It became global leader in gay rights. The goals of the 1890s gay rights movement was to repeal Paragraph 175, educate the public, and excite gays into activism. At this time, Magnus Hirschfield founded the Scientific Humanitarian Committee (SHC). The organization established a petition drive for the repeal of 175 and it won the support of thousands. The organization also sponsored a drive which sent educational materials to newspapers, politicians and justices in the court system. The committee had more support than any other gay rights organization than any other in the world. In Britain, the organization under Edward Carpenter had to operate much more quietly because of the Calvinism (USA had this problem) of the region. Carpenter's organization was supported by many working class groups. Like the Suffrage movement in Europe, it had the support of the democratic left. One of the German SHC's popular publications was the annual publication, the "Yearbook for Intermediate Sexual Types". The SHC held the belief that "Uranians" as homosexual men and women were termed, were the third sex. Hirschfield's politics were democratic left (Communism isn't democratic). His movement had support from both the Social Democratic Party (SDP) of Germany and the Marxist Social Democratic Party (MSDP). The two parties varied in times and degrees of support. Although the movement weathered some backlashes such as one after highly publicized trials of gay men in 1907, the movement prospered and found much support. Its influence continued to grow right up until the start of WW1, when operations were suspended. After the war and the failed socialist revolution of 1918, the SCH reorganized as Institute for Sexual Sciences (ISS). Its Motto was "per scientiam ad justitiam", which meant Justice Through Science. The Institute was involved in research, publications and forums regarding sex laws, sex crimes, abortion, homosexuality, family planning, contraception, and sexually transmitted diseases. It had marriage counseling and did research on marital problems. Hirshfield started and led the World League for Sexual Reform. Members came from European nations, the United States, the Soviet Union, Japan, Australia, China, and India. When the Bolsheviks took power in Russia, homosexuality was decriminalized. Denmark was also becoming liberalized. Gay activist and filmmaker Rosa von Praunheim, Director of 'The Einstein of Sex', spoke regarding Hirschfield: "Magnus Hirschfeld was one of the first sexologists ever, and after 200 years of sexual repression by the church he stood up and said I'm fighting for gay rights. As a doctor, as a scientist, as a respected person in society he was close to losing everything and making a lot of people very angry. But he managed in his very humanistic, diplomatic way to convince people at the time; a lot of intellectuals - who were trying to change the law, known as Paragraph 175." After World War 1 the Weimar Republic did not persecute gays with the same intensity as the First Reich did. German society became more open and more tolerant. Gays opened clubs and theaters; literature and film with gay themes increased. One of the principles espoused by Hirschfield and his organizations was biological determinism. This proved fatal to the movement when the Nazis rose to power because some Nazis seized upon it as reason for the imprisonment and extermination of broken and genetically inferior people. The liberal atmosphere was increasingly attacked in the mid-1920s as the ultra nationalist Nazi Party gained power. Nazis considered increased social tolerance as a sign of Germany's fall. Like the Nazis, Christian fundamentalist's also take this view. Pat Buchanan, fundamentalist and ultra nationalist said in 1977: Homosexuality is not a civil right. Its rise almost always is accompanied, as in the Weimar Republic, with a decay of society and a collapse of its basic cinder block, the family. Of course, no such thing was happening when Germans were becoming more open. In fact, they were going in the opposite direction that the Nazis would take the nation. It was the Nazis, like Buchanan, that claimed that homosexuality was ruining the family; that the nation was decaying. How many times have we heard the right wing propaganda telling us that America is decaying? How many times have we heard the baseless claim that homosexuality brought down great empires? Hitler believed that fable regarding Greece and Rome. Nothing of the sort happened. It is bunk. Religious fundamentalists also use this popular myth as a propaganda tool. Hitler's first chief of the Gestapo, Rudolh Diels, once said: "He lectured me on the role of homosexuality in history and politics. It had destroyed ancient Greece he said. Once rife, it extended its contagious effects like an ineluctable law of nature to the best and most manly of characters, elimination from the reproductive process those very men on whose offspring a nation depended. The immediate result of the vice, however, was that unnatural passion swiftly became dominant in public affairs if it were allowed to spread unchecked". . The Nazis became moral crusaders for "National morality' and 'German purity". Christian fundamentalists take this same position in their propaganda wars against liberalizing laws and expanding liberty. They almost always have. Time and time again, they cite laws of nature and the breakdown of the family just as the Nazis did when Germany was finally relaxing and liberalizing. Religious conservatives offered the same arguments against abolition and suffrage. Society will break down, they claimed. "Anyone who thinks of homosexual love is our enemy. We reject anything which emasculates our people and makes it a plaything for our enemies, for we know that life is fight, and it is madness to think that men will ever embrace fraternally." Heinrich Himmler, May 14, 1928 The religious point of view adds the authority of scripture, which makes homosexual acts a capital offense. That is the reasoning behind the signs that say "God Hates Fags" and "Death Penalty for Fags", "Thank God for AIDS". The Nazis hated gays for a variety of reasons and eventually killed thousands. As they rose in power, the Nazis sought to make laws harsher. When the vote in Reichstag finally came in 1929, the Nazis lost by a narrow majority. Regardless of their loss, the Nazis made a claim that Jews were leaders of homosexual movement and they sought to undermine German morality. After the vote, the official party newspaper, Volkisher Beobachter, stated: "We congratulate you, Mr Hirschfeld, on the victory in committee. But don't think that we Germans will allow these laws to stand for a single day after we have come to power; These efforts are nothing but vulgar, perverted crimes and we will punish them by banishment or hanging." To the Nazis, Homosexuals also had a negative impact on German strength because gays didn't reproduce and increase family sizes. Like religious fundamentalists, Nazis were intensely patriarchal and pronatalist. Like religious right leaders such as Lou Sheldon, nazis were obsessed with family, marriage and strict fatherhood. Because of this obsession with a domestic ideal for women, their status in the Third Reich depended on their reproductive activity. Mussolini also held similar views, recommending 12 children per family to boost the Italian population. Mussolini banned contraception and abortion, closing all the family planning clinics in Italy. Women in the Reich were paid to have extra children and those with four or more were honored by with the 'Cross of Honor of the German Mother'. Women who had abortions were punished severely. In tandem, Nazis blamed gays and lesbians for a lower birthrate. In the Nazi scheme of things, women's place was in the home and homosexuality must be wiped out. All these things hold true with the religious right. I have seen the population theme fundamentalists pushed in internet newsgroups by religious fundamentalists. Many times, people of the religious right would post articles about how the west is going to fall because we don't procreate as much as others. To the right wing Christian, as was with the Nazis, homosexuality will contribute to the fall of the nation. Pat Buchanan's book on the fall of the west is full of this baseless myth and propaganda. Pat, like the fascists, attacks liberty as a source of anarchy and the fall of the west. Nazi propaganda was obsessed about German reproduction rates and the higher reproductive rates of 'inferior races'. While White Supremacists are up front on these issues, the average extremist fundamentalist veils their remarks with statements on how 'third world' countries have big families and people of the west don't. If one looks closely at statements by right wing Christian extremists, 'superior religion' has replaced 'superior race' in their propaganda. While political and social liberals and centrists are tolerant of other religions, Christian conservative activists are not. From Georing's Nine Commandments for the Worker's Struggle: "take hold of the frying pan, dust pan and broom and marry a man." Collosians 3:18: Wives, submit yourselves unto your own husbands, as it is fit in the Lord. Pat Robertson quotes: "I know this is painful for the ladies to hear, but if you get married, you have accepted the headship of a man, your husband. Christ is the head of the household and the husband is the head of the wife, and that's the way it is, period." Robertson, 700 Club, January 8, 1992 "As long as the husband is following the mandate of the Lord, the wife should submit to his leadership even though she may disagree with it. God's standard is true. Yet in many marriages, the wife is more able than her husband. Regretfully a woman with great abilities sometimes marries a man who does not have much ability. This wife must resist the temptation to dominate her husband. Her husband will sometimes make decisions that the wife feels are wrong. She must either gently persuade her husband or pray that God will change her husband's mind." Robertson, 700 Club, July 27, 1995 "The feminist agenda is not about equal rights for women. It is about a socialist, antifamily political movement that encourages women to leave their husbands, kill their children, practice witchcraft, destroy capitalism, and become lesbians." Robertson Fundraising letter, 1992 On January 30, 1933 Hitler took office. The Nazis were in now in power and Pat Buchanan's decadent Weimar Republic would be saved from itself by the salvation of authoritarian social conservatism. Hitler then convinced his cabinet to declare a state of emergency to deal with, among several things, the decadence of civil liberties. The Nazis had the same view of democratic institutions favoring expansion of individual freedoms as the religious conservatives do regarding the ACLU and other civil rights watchdogs. The police were suspicious at first but were happy, too, because they were no longer hindered by due processes of law that protected the rights of citizens. Police could now make "preventative" arrests and cases would no longer be thrown out because police violated someone's rights or acted illegally. The 12 year experiment in liberal democracy with constitutional protections would collapse as the Nazi social conservatives rose to power. Soon, alongside Nazi racism and elimination of civil liberties, all homosexual and lesbian organizations were banned. Storm troopers in brown shirts raided the gathering places, pubs, and cafes. Gays and lesbians were increasing driven underground. The decadent liberties of the 1920s were gone. The Pat Buchanan's of Weimar Germany had finally ended that decadent experiment in democracy and liberties. Not surprisingly, after the USSR fell, many Russians in the early days of freedom and market principles yearned for the return of the "order" of Communism. "I really believe that the pagans, and the abortionists, and the feminists, and the gays and lesbians who are actively trying to make that an alternative lifestyle, the ACLU, 'People for the American Way' --all of them who have tried to secularize America -- I point the finger in their face and say, "You helped this happen! ...God continues to lift the curtain and allow the enemies of America to give us probably what we deserve," -- Jerry Falwell immediately after the 9-11 attacks May 6, 1933 Nazi storm troopers in brownshirts raided, ransacked and closed the Institute for Sexual Science. Thousands of books from the institute's library were thrown in the infamous book burnings of May 10 at the center of Berlin. Burned were 12,000 books, 35,000 photographs and thousands of other files, tracts and research papers. Into the same bonfires the Nazis threw thousands of Jewish books and religious texts. Like Saint John Chrysostom in the fifth century, the Nazis railed against Jews and homosexuals. All over Germany there were book burnings to save the Republic from democracy, civil rights and itself. In 1933, the Nazis enacted the "Law Against Dangerous Habitual Criminals and Measures for Protection and Recovery". Courts could now order castration for sex crimes and what nazis considered deviant behavior. Rape, sex with boys under 14 (doesn't include raping underage girls) and open homosexuality (Paragraph 183) could merit castration. If one killed for sexual excitement, punishment would include castration along with the sentence (Paragraphs 223-226). Homosexual Ernst Roehm was a leading Nazi and an imagined contender for Hitler's power. Roehm was a member of Hirschfeld's League and was active in meetings. During 1933 and 1934, Roehm was the leader of the SA (Storm troopers) which numbered 2 million. Himmler and Hitler worried that he would use the Storm troopers as is own personal militia to seek power. The death of Hindenberg in 1934 brought Roehm's possible power challenge into Hitler's view. Like the Stalinists, the German left had used Roehm's homosexuality to discredit the Nazis, even though there was only one gay Nazi in power. This same dishonest propaganda is used by Christian fundamentalists in their attack on gays and lesbians. June 30, 1934, Roehm was murdered with his associates in the infamous "Night of the Long Knives." During this night, over 1000 of Hitler's enemies were also murdered. ("Night of the Shattered Glass" was when storm troopers destroyed thousands of Jewish businesses) For the Nazi hierarchy, this was two birds with one stone. A homosexual and a contender for power. Both were unacceptable to most Nazis. Hitler and Himmler used his homosexuality as an excuse to serve anti-gay propaganda needs while eliminating a powerful player and suspected challenger in the Nazi party. There is no evidence, then or now, that this was Roehm's intention. Regardless of the truth in the matter, it served the Nazis well as propaganda to strengthen the appearance of the Nazis as moral crusaders for German family values. The Nazis sought to be seen as a family values party with a strong stand on law and order. Religious conservatives, like the Nazis, go to the extremes in this. The propaganda covers the same family values territory. Himmler took over the leadership of the Storm troopers and initiated plans to rid the organization of all homosexuals. Hitler then ordered that all homosexuals in Germany were to be registered. In 1934 a special division was created for investigating and arresting homosexuals, Division IIS. The Gestapo was given the job of creating files on each homosexual. Immediately, local police forces all over Germany were instructed to maintain lists of all men who were suspected of being homosexuals. These dossiers called 'pink lists'. Homosexuals now joined the list of antisocials in the Nazi party's moral crusade to 'rescue Germany from the decadence of the Weimar Republic'. Of course, it was nothing more than a reactionary right wing crusade against a liberal society. This is the same mindset and message we hear from leaders and activists of the religious right in western nations, but most especially the USA where right wing hate groups and their hate speech have more liberties. No democratic nation in the world but us would allow a website called God Hates Fags to exist. This is the use of liberty to destroy the liberty of others. THE NEW YORK WORLD-TELEGRAM, December 17, 1934 "Adolf Hitler's secret police, aided by the Elite Guards, began a nationwide drive today to purge the Reich of sexual abnormality. They threw into jail between 500 and 700 men accused of perversion. In recent conferences of the party, Herr Hitler emphasized a determination to stamp out sex perversion among all Nazi organizations. It was recalled that after his purge of June 30, he made a pledge to German mothers that their sons would never be contaminated if they joined his Storm Troopers'." On June 26, 1935 the Ministry of Justice drafted "The Amendment to the Law for the Prevention of Offspring with Hereditary Diseases" which expanded the list of crimes in Paragraph 175. Under this revised law, if a man was convicted under Paragraph 175, and if he consents, he could be castrated. The amendment defined homosexuals as antisocials who, to Nazis threatened to undermine national morality. Freedom is destroying the family. This kind of rhetoric is identical to Rick Santorum's. Nazi propaganda painted gays as socially aberrant and offending nature, endangering the fabric of society. So did Castro and Stalin. "Those shameful acts against nature, such as were committed in Sodom, ought everywhere and always to be detested and punished. If all nations were to do such things, they would be held guilty of the same crime by the law of God, which has not made men so that they should use one another in this way" (Augustine Confessions 3:8:15) "There is among some animals a powerful sex drive, an irresistible urge (Grk oistrus) no different from madness. Even so, they do not experience this type of love but remain within the bounds of nature. Although roused ten thousand times, they never transgress the laws of nature. ('Saint' John Chrysostom; "Against the Opponents of Monastic Life 3") [ image: Cardinal Wilhelm Frick and the clergy join Joseph Goebbels and Nazi leaders with a Hitler high-five. ] Chrysostom, like many Christian fundamentalists, takes the same view as many Nazis. Chrysostom and Augustine were wrong, of course. It was a time of great ignorance in matters of natural science. Homosexual bonding, bisexuality and same sex parenting are very common and natural in animal societies They are part of the social glue in these animal's social structures. It is a mistake to think that the only social units in a society are reproductive ones or imitate them. Nature is far more diverse in it's social units than the rigid views of patriarchal totalism. In Nazi Germany, "Chronic homosexual" offenders found themselves in the concentrations camps wearing pink triangles with the number 175 boldly displayed on the backs of their jackets. The new law went into effect on September 1st. "175a: Penal servitude up to 10 years or, where there are mitigating circumstances, imprisonment of not less than three months shall apply to: (1) a male who, with violence or the threat of violence to body and soul or life, compels another male to commit a sex offense with him or to allow himself to be abused for a sex offense; (2) a male who, by abusing a relationship of dependence based upon service, employment or subordination, induces another male to commit a sex offense with him or to allow himself to be abused for a sex offense; (3) a male over 21 years of age who seduces a male person under twenty-one years to commit a sex offense with him or to allow himself to be abused for a sex offense; (4) a male who publicly commits a sex offense with males or allows himself to be abused by males for a sex offense or offers himself for the same." Paragraph 175b: An unnatural sex act committed by humans with animals is punishable by imprisonment; the loss of civil rights might also be imposed. Paragraph 174: incest, sexual offenses with dependents paragraph 176 pedophilia. Persons convicted under these laws also wore the pink triangle. Lumping incest and pedophilia in with homosexuality as the Nazi laws did, recently unelected US Senator Rick Santorum (PA) said some pretty bizarre things in an interview right before the Lawrence V Texas ruling. When the ruling did come down, it was a bright day for the decadence of liberty and a dark day for the religious right. "We have laws in states, like the one at the Supreme Court right now, that has sodomy laws and they were there for a purpose. Because, again, I would argue, they undermine the basic tenets of our society and the family. And if the Supreme Court says that you have the right to consensual sex within your home, then you have the right to bigamy, you have the right to polygamy, you have the right to incest, you have the right to adultery. You have the right to anything. Does that undermine the fabric of our society? I would argue yes, it does. It all comes from, I would argue, this right to privacy that doesn't exist in my opinion in the United States Constitution, this right that was created, it was created in Griswold -- Griswold was the contraceptive case -- and abortion. And now we're just extending it out. And the further you extend it out, the more you -- this freedom actually intervenes and affects the family. You say, well, it's my individual freedom. Yes, but it destroys the basic unit of our society because it condones behavior that's antithetical to strong healthy families. Whether it's polygamy, whether it's adultery, where it's sodomy, all of those things, are antithetical to a healthy, stable, traditional family." Later on, he throws in bestiality for good measure, using the phrase, man on dog. Santorum's right wing Christianity, like the Nazis and Islamic extremists, downplays any right to privacy and claims homosexuality can destroy a society. Like the Nazis' declaring a state of emergency to end the Weimar decadence of democracy and individual freedoms, Santorum attacks individual freedom and uses the same family values rhetoric in order to protect civilization. Perpetuating ignorance, he equates homosexual relations and love between consenting adults with child molestation, which is felony rape. I guess Rick is also not aware that some say 25% of straight couples practice anal intercourse. One of the reasons why the Texas legislature banned anal intercourse for gays only is that after field research, they found it to be too popular with straights to completely outlaw it. Heinrich Himmler had this to say regarding privacy in a speech to SS leaders at Bad Lodz on February, 18, 1937 "I would like to develop a couple of ideas for you on the question of homosexuality. There are those homosexuals who take the view: what I do is my business, a purely private matter. However, all things which take place in the sexual sphere are not the private affair of the individual, but signify the life and death of the nation, signify world power..." Due to the belief held by many Nazis that homosexuality was a sickness that could be 'cured', camp policy was to re-educate them through humiliation and hard labor. In the present there is a Christian conservative organization named NARTH which also takes this pseudoscientific view and tries to "repair" homosexuals with a religion-based 'therapy'. Some Nazis, however, took the biological point of view and sought to exterminate them as genetically inferior human beings. Some feared their effect on German masculinity. Some homosexuals were even forced to visit brothels weekly as part of their reparative therapy. Some were even subjects in biological experiments although no scientific knowledge was ever gained. According to Auschwitz commander Rudolf Hess' memoirs, gays were segregated to prevent the spread of homosexuality. Homosexuals were often chosen for the deadliest work in munitions factories and quarries. Spread? This is the same viewpoint that is constantly shouted out in the religious right's propaganda. Without thinking, they propose that gays will convert children to a lifestyle that invites violence and discrimination. Why would anyone do that? Everywhere you look in their world they speak of "spreading" homosexuality. "All other frenzies of the lusts which exceed the laws of nature, and are impious toward both bodies and the sexes, we banish, not only from the threshold but also from all shelter of the Church, for they are not sins so much as monstrosities" (Tertullian, Modesty 4) Under the Reich Office in Germany, thousands of homosexual men were sent to concentration camps in Buchenwald and Flossenbuerg, where there were dangerous quarries to be worked. Gays in the Berlin area ended up on the train to Sachsenhausen. There were no ghettos for gays in fascist Germany. It was prison, hard labor or death in the camps. Later on during the war, the Danish Nazi doctor, Carl Peter Vaernet, would be working on his hormone implant cure for homosexuals at the Buchenwald concentration camp. Castration was another 'cure' for deviant behavior and a way to safeguard German hereditary flow. Initially, a homosexual could plead out to a lower sentence by allowing the justice ministers to order castration. In short order that ended; the prisoner had no say in the matter because courts and camp officials could summarily order castration "I do not characterize every Jew as inferior, as Negroes certainly are.." Nazi Anthropologist Eugen Fischer, June 20, 1939 Homosexuals and Jews were not the only people worked to death in the camps. Alongside the persecuted were Blacks. Although no major program was organized, Blacks in Germany also faced discrimination and violence, including being worked to death in the camps. A Nazi propaganda poster showed a mixed race friendship with the caption: "The Result! A loss of racial pride". 'Diluting' the white race was a major concern of racist religious conservatives who sought to keep slavery legal and then afterwards, segregation. Like Christian conservatives of the Bible Belt, Nazi propaganda painted black men as rapers of white women, which led to murders. In the Bible belt and other rural strongholds of religious conservatives this belief about Black men led to thousands of lynchings in the Bible belt. The violence was designed, among other reasons, to protect the virtues of white women, which of course defended white manhood. Hitler claimed in Mein Kampf that "the Jews had brought Negroes into the Rhinland with the clear aim of ruining the hated white race by the necessarily-resulting bastardization". This viewpoint was also held by anti-abolitionists and supporters of laws against interracial marriages. This sentiment is still alive and well among the most extreme right wing Christians. Just surf the internet. An 1863 Miscegeny tract designed to attack the abolitionist Republican administration was entitled "Miscegenation: The Theory of the Blending of the Races, Applied to the American White Man and Negro". The pamphlet's aim regarded the producing of children by mixed marriages, thereby diluting the white race. Like the Nazis, religious conservatives feared the extermination of the white race by race mixing and made it a propaganda tool to instill fear and bigotry in the people. Racial pride was nearly as much a part of the anti-abolitionist's propaganda as it was the Nazis. They took the same approach, appealing to "white purity". To this day, Christian white supremacist groups' main agenda is to keep Black and Jews from diluting the white race. It wasn't long ago that almost all the laws in this nation regarding marriage and social relations between blacks and whites were Christian and white supremacist: Typical of the religious conservative communities were laws such as Section 4189 of the Alabama Code which declared: "If any white person and any Negro, or the descendant of any Negro to the third generation, inclusive, though one ancestor of each generation was a white person, intermarry or live in adultery or fornication with each other, each of them must, on conviction, be imprisoned in the penitentiary or sentenced to hard labor for the county for not less than two nor more than seven years." The Nazis defined Jewishness in a similar manner in the Nuremburg laws on race. A person was a Jew if they had three Jewish grandparents or two Jewish parents. Echoing the Christian Council of Elvira of the year 306, Jews could not hold public office, marry, have sexual relations with or eat with German Christians. Due to Christian traditions, laws against mixed race marriages existed at one time or another in most of the US until the Supreme Court put a stop to them in 1967. In this regard, the USA was lawfully a racist nation for almost 200 years. It is a good thing the 1960s came along with all of it's activism and challenges to traditional dogma. The good old days of American tradition were racist, sexist, anti-Semitic and homophobic. The fourteen states that didn't have miscegenation laws used bigotry and intimidation with violence to keep mixed race marriages down. This is the same tactic used against homosexuals. The Bible Belt and religious conservatives throughout America fought interracial marriage to the bitter end just as they did racial segregation. Some states even left these laws on the books after they were ruled unconstitutional. See my miscegeny article for a more detailed look at how these laws were ended in the USA. Latin America is another place where these human rights have never quite taken hold. Left and right, dictatorships have persecuted homosexuals. The key to understanding why conservative Christianity is similar to dictatorships is their demand for enforced social and sexual conformity and a uniform society. Both do not recognize a right to privacy or a liberty of conscience and sexuality. In that regard there is very little that separates dictatorships from right wing Christianity when it comes to their rhetoric and demands regarding homosexuals. Pluralism is considered an evil. It leads to the fall of civilization. Communist dictator Fidel Castro considered homosexuality to be a result of the decadent social liberties of the Batista regime and spoke of "revolutionary puritanism" as the national cure. There is something wrong with liberty according to the fringes This attitude against pluralism and the expansion of liberty is prevalent in conservative Christian groups. After a couple of years of relative quiet for homosexuals, Castro adopted the Stalinist model and began a two decade persecution of gays and lesbians. Gays were "sexual deviants" and "agents of imperialism". Like Stalin's Russia, Cuba's homosexuals were "antisocials". As they were in Nazi Germany, Cuba's homosexuals were rounded up, held without any legal process, and sent to machine gun surrounded labor camps for "reeducation" and "rehabilitation". Reparative Therapy, dictator style. The motive is the same. And by force if they can get away with it Communist Cuba's First National Congress on Education and Culture held in 1971 pointed to "the social pathological character of homosexual deviations" and decided all manifestations of homosexual deviations are to be firmly rejected and prevented from spreading". "Bourgeois decadence" and "capitalist degeneration" as they called it, had to be stopped with the tools of 'revolutionary morality'. Homosexuals were hunted down, publishers were closed down, magazines were outlawed, writers were disgraced and lost jobs, books were rejected at publishing houses, and people disappeared at night. Socialist morality required the criminalization of homosexuality. Universities, the theater, the arts, and the press was purged of homosexuals. Professors, actors, reporters, editors and dancers were arrested and imprisoned. Paralleling left wing authoritarian social conservatism in Cuba was Pinochet of Chile's right wing persecutions of gays and lesbians. Under Pinochet, homosexuals disappeared the way Argentinean dissenters did. In a seven year battle and after loosing in 1996, the gay and lesbian community finally won in the Chilean Senate when laws criminalizing same-sex sexual relations were repealed. Law 1047 and 18216 issued in December, 1998, repealed the same-sex law, Law 365, and ended the imprisonment of convicted gay men for up to five years. Unfortunately, the madness of machismo, the Latin version of the fascist mannerbund is alive and well as neo-fascist vigilantism. In 2001, off duty military set fire to a gay bar in Santiago with over four hundred gay and lesbian patrons inside. No charges were filed. Ever. In the USA gays and lesbians are still murdered by American Mannerbund and religious zealots. Religious zealots even call for the death penalty. Every month, gays and lesbians are murdered in the USA by the machismo and the religious. This can easily be seen by keeping up with GLBT news at 365gay.com. In El Salvador, neo-fascist paramilitary groups target gays for violence. In Bagota, Columbia, right wing death squads "cleanse' the neighborhoods of homosexuals. In Mexico, a long time abuser of civil liberties, the governor of the state of Chiapas said at a luncheon that all homosexuals should be killed. Over the next twenty months, twelve gay men were murdered. In Brazil where male machismo is so strong, as is the case in Muslim nations, that wives and gays are beaten or killed without subsequent arrests. Tradition is no friend of liberty in these matters of machismo, family values and religion. This male machismo factor was also found in the Nazi concept of Mannerbund. It is also part of the conservative Christian onslaught against gays as effete and/or effeminate. The fascist's Mannerbund celebrated rugged maleness and separated itself from all things effeminate in an extreme way. Fascist society was to be built around the Mannerbund ideal of men in which the only way men loved each other was in a chaste way. Mannerbund was shot through and through with concepts of moral cleanness and a nationalist masculinity with its military model of manliness. Homosexuals had to be cleansed from the nation because they didn't not meet this machismo ideal that shunned everything feminine. The Mannerbund ethic required that all men were to separate themselves from all things feminine. This exclusivist concept of masculinity, like that of the conservative Christian and Muslim place of men in their ideal society, denigrates gay men as less than human and seeks to silence and persecute them out of existence. Or to repair and re-educate them in order to destroy their identity. The outcome is the same. Foremost in the mind of the religious fundamentalist, like the fascists and the Stalinists, for whatever reason, is their radical authoritarian agenda to deny the GLBT community of equal rights under the law. It is all about equality under the law, not age old traditions. After all, tradition gave us violent religion-state alliances, slavery, gender inequality and religious intolerance for thousands of years. The principles of liberty are not religious principles. Homosexuality was finally decriminalized in Cuba in the 1979 Penal Code but gays are routinely persecuted nonetheless. Gay and lesbian newspapers, publications and organizations are still against the law. Clubs are routinely raided and shit down. Huge fines are still levied. In today's Cuba, homosexuals are considered unfit to join the Communist Party. They violate "communist morality". In 1936, Heinrich Himmler created the Reich Central Office for the Combating of Homosexuality and Abortion. Joseph Meisinger ran the organization. Under Meisinger, the Gestapo created a sophisticated network of spies and informants. Arrested homosexuals were used to create lists of other homosexuals. Their address books were seized in arrests and raids upon their homes and persons. Teachers feared their students. The workplace became a nest of spies. Bosses feared workers. Workers feared bosses. Nobody could be trusted. A cold fear swept Germany's gay community. After Hitler took power, 100,000 men were arrested for the crime of homosexuality. About 50,000 went to prison. Although nobody knows for sure due to the destruction of records by the Nazis in the closing days of the war, 15,000 gays may have been sent to the camps for reeducation or extermination. One expert on this matter, Rudger Lautmann, believes about 60% of gays were killed in one way or another. The figures may be way off, too. Some have suggested that 100,000 gays were sent to the camps. The camp records were destroyed but many police and court records exist. As mentioned above, the German left, Stalin and the religious right make hay out of homosexual nazis even though there was only one in leadership. Here is part of Himmler's Speech at Bad Tolz to the SS Group Commanders on February 18, 1937: "In the SS, today, we still have about one case of homosexuality a month. In a whole year, about eight to ten cases occur in the entire SS. I have now decided upon the following: in each case, these people will naturally be publicly degraded, expelled, and handed over to the courts." "Following completion of the punishment imposed by the court, they will be sent, by my order, to a concentration camp, and they will be shot in the concentration camp, while attempting to escape" After Paragraph 175 was revised and the Gestapo's Special Office IIS was created, the arrests of homosexuals rose dramatically. This culminated with a Gestapo directive on April 4, 1938 that opened up the gates of the concentration camps to gays and lesbians. Although lesbian networks, clubs, and cafes were also destroyed by Storm troopers, there weren't any laws regarding lesbian acts in Germany. Writers like Erhard Eberhard published booklets that grouped homosexuals, feminists, individual rights activists, Constitutional democrats and Jews as those people who sought to destroy Germany. In Eberhard's booklets, he claimed that the women's rights movement was nothing more than a front for seducing women to lesbianism. This Nazi propaganda is frightfully similar tot the Pat Robertson quote below. And all that's missing in Jerry Falwell's post 9-11 statement are the Jews. Conservatives failed at having laws against lesbian acts enacted but managed to end press freedoms for them with the 'Protection of Youth from Obscene Publications Act.' A religious conservative's dream come true, of course. All in all, a major reason why lesbians weren't targeted like the men was because in Germany, women did not have any public role in society. To the fascists of Germany, Italy, and Spain, women were inferior to men. They were baby-makers and man-servers. This is also the view of religious traditionalists. I am absolutely persuaded one of the reasons so many lesbians are at the forefront of the pro-choice movement is because being a mother is the unique characteristic of womanhood, and these lesbians will never be mothers naturally, so they don't want anybody else to have that privilege either." Pat Robertson, The 700 Club, May 18, 1993 There were police lists of lesbians, however, because they were deemed sexually aberrant and antisocial, and not expected to reproduce; a threat to Germany's moral fiber and national strength. People who were a threat to "Germanhood" had to be monitored closely. One Lesbian, Henny Schermann, was arrested in 1940. On her prison photo was the label "licentious lesbian". Also a Jew, she ended up at the Ravensbruck concentration camp. Marked for extermination, she was gassed at the Bernburg Psychiatric facility in 1942 where she was being 'treated' for her lesbianism. Bernburg was one of the Nazi's euthanasia centers for those the Nazis considered antisocials, perverts or aberrants who should not be allowed to reproduce. An interesting fact is that in both Nazi Germany and Stalinist Russia, many gay men and lesbians married each other in order to protect themselves from persecution and violence. Shades of NARTH. After the war started, homosexuals that found themselves in the concentration camps at Buchenwald and Neuengamme were experimented upon by the Danish SS doctor, Carl Vaernet. The SS gave him a research position, a staff, laboratories, financial support, and camp inmates with which to experiment upon. His treatments included castration for the incurable and hormones for the others. Under the Nazi doctrine of "reeducation" Vaernet had developed a hormone implant for homosexuals. Vaernet was able to get three Danish patents and one American patent after his escape from postwar detention. A British patent is suspected. The conservative religious policy found at NARTH, also sees gays as sick and curable. Religion based 'Reparative Therapy" is the religious fundamentalist's version of reeducation. To continue reading the entire article, click HERE
Report also criticises Bank of England and regulator for being slow to notice events leading up to Barclays' £290m fine MPs have attacked the former Barclays boss Bob Diamond for being "highly selective" in the evidence he gave to their emergency hearings on rigging key Libor interest rates, in the first comprehensive report on the way bankers and regulators handled the scandal. The Treasury select committee also criticised the Bank of England and the chief City regulator for being slow to notice the events that led to the £290m fine for Barclays in June. "It doesn't look good," said Andrew Tyrie, the Conservative MP who chairs the committee, pointing out that neither spotted the problems with Libor. Speaking about Diamond's appearance before the committee last month, he said: "Select committees are entitled to expect candour and frankness from witnesses before them. Mr Diamond's evidence, at times highly selective, fell well short of the standard that parliament expects, particularly from such an experienced and senior witness." The "poor state" of the culture at Barclays was also criticised, as was its board. In response, Diamond made a strong defence of his 16-year tenure at the bank, arguing that Barclays had not needed a taxpayer bailout. He insisted he had answered "truthfully, candidly and based on information available to me" and that the image being created of Barclays "could not be further from the truth". Tyrie said the episode had damaged the City. "The sustained rigging of a crucial benchmark rate has done great damage to the UK's reputation. Public trust in banks is at an all-time low. Urgent improvements, both to the way banks are run and the way they are regulated, [are] needed if public and market confidence is to be restored," he said. The MPs took evidence from Diamond barely 48 hours after he resigned as chief executive of Barclays, and were frustrated by his refusal to acknowledge that the City regulator, the Financial Services Authority, had expressed concerns about the culture of the bank to the Barclays board in the runup to the Libor fine. But the committee's 122-page report entitled "fixing Libor: some preliminary findings" also shows that the MPs believe the FSA and the Bank of England took the steps that led to Diamond's departure only after digesting public and media reaction to the Libor fine. "Regulators should not decide the composition of boards in response to headlines. Many will agree with the removal of Mr Diamond. However, many will wonder why the regulators did not intervene earlier, for example, at the time of the publication of the [fine]," Tyrie said. The committee describes the Libor fine – the first of many expected to be imposed on big financial firms – as a "reputational disaster for Barclays". It forced the chairman, Marcus Agius, to quit, only to be reinstated 24 hours later after Sir Mervyn King, governor of the Bank of England, told him that regulators had lost confidence in Diamond. Correspondence published for the first time today between Agius and Tyrie appears to support Diamond's evidence to the committee, as Agius admits that Diamond had not seen some of the documents in advance when he was asked about them last month. The committee said the Barclays fine should be seen in the context that other banks were being investigated for rigging the rate and that investigations should be accelerated, particularly at banks owned by taxpayers – a possible reference to Royal Bank of Scotland. Diamond's appearance before MPs was followed by those of Agius and Jerry del Missier, the top Barclays banker who quit after issuing an instruction to cut the bank's Libor submissions in October 2008, as well as those of King and his deputy, Paul Tucker. The hearings also put candidates to replace King as Bank of England governor next year on the back foot, as Tucker and Lord Turner, chairman of the FSA, were forced to defend their actions during the period. The MPs said one question the inquiry became focused on may have been a "smokescreen" to distract from more serious issues underlying the scandal. At one point there was confusion about whether a Bank of England official had instructed Barclays to cut its Libor submissions in an attempt to avoid any impression that the bank was in difficulty during the financial crisis. Del Missier admitted he had instructed Barclays staff to reduce submissions after a conversation with Diamond, who was relaying a conversation with Tucker at the Bank. At the time, October 2008, a higher submission to Libor would have given the impression Barclays was finding it more difficult to borrow from other banks. Del Missier, Diamond and Tucker were cleared of "deliberate wrongdoing". "If they are all to be believed, an extraordinary, but conceivably plausible, series of miscommunications occurred," Tyrie said. The Bank of England is accused of "naivety" in not realising there was "dishonesty" taking place in setting Libor. The FSA's shortcomings are "more serious", the MPs said, revealing the regulator was conducting an internal review into what it should have done better. The MPs said the so-called Tucker-Diamond dialogue "may have been a smokescreen put up to distract our attention... from the most serious issues underlying this scandal". This is a reference to the two stages of the Libor rigging - the period 2005 to 2008 when Barclays treaders were manipulating rates to make potential profits and the period 2007 to 2009 when Barclays was lowing its submissions through "low balling" to avoid negative publicity.
Rasmussen is considered a “right-leaning” polling firm the same way PPP is considered “left-leaning”. Consequently all data, especially this year, should be taken with a grain of salt. Raw data -when honestly collected- is of value; but the espoused interpretations of that data should be viewed skeptically regardless of delivery vehicle. Today Rasmussen’s weekly tracking poll finds Donald Trump (40%) slightly ahead of Hillary Clinton (39%) and easily within the margin of error (+/- 3). Of additional interest, Rasmussen joins with a growing number of other data sources to seek the answer to the possibly hidden Trump voter (ie. the monster vote). By surveying “likely voters” about their willingness to share who they are voting for, Rasmussen discovers 25% of Independent voters are not willing to tell others who they are voting for. 17% of Republican likely voters are also unwilling; only 10% of Democrat voters feel the same way. Because Rasmussen doesn’t delve into “why” people are reluctant, the issue remains an unquantified unanswered question. However, a person doesn’t need to be all that politically in-tune to recognize the vitriol and hatred spurred on by the constant MSM antagonisms toward Trump supporters is one most likely factor. Social media is filled with examples of Trump supporters lawn signs resulting in theft, vandalism, and sometimes worse. Similarly, putting a candidate bumper sticker or supportive emblem on a vehicle is, for many, considered a risk or invitation to find their vehicle damaged. As indicated in the rallies, speaking events and various Trump venues, the overwhelming majority of this type of Alinsky violence goes one way, Trump supporters are attacked. Liberal ideologues are generally predisposed to violent outrage whenever they are challenged. It is a common and historical refrain: …Free speech liberals do not support they call violence. Violence liberals do support they call an expression of speech… This weird incapacity to ever consider an alternative to the indoctrinated herd world-view is what underlines the world of the “triggered” sensibility crowd. Educational safe spaces are needed when shallow minds become risk adverse toward hearing opposing points of view. Leaders of the herd mindset support the avoidance, because it helps them to continue teaching an odd and incompatible ideology. Law of the farm -vs- Law of the school. You can’t cram for a test on a farm and harvest a crop. You have to do all the necessary hard work: seed, fertilize, nurture, cull etc. The rules of successful farming are natural laws. However, it’s entirely possible to skip class, blow off studying, then cram for exams and gain a college degree. The diploma is not a natural evolution; it’s a man-made precept. Therefore, it’s a safe hypothesis to state the majority of those “independent likely voters”, who are holding back expressing their political opinion, are Trump supporters simply making a decision to avoid engaging with the traditional “triggered” leftist community. Who want’s their car keyed, and who needs the annoyance of a barking moonbat howling at them on the sidewalk. Most Trump supporters have jobs to continue in order to pay taxes for the non-Trump supporters shallow life choices which are generally dependent on some form of tax subsidy. Will 2016 be the year when the host is finally finished with allowing the existence of the parasite? Only a few more months to actually find out. However, Rasmussen like all other predictive entities have a business model of data sales, and there are a lot of Wall Street customers right now willing to pay exorbitant prices to find an answer to that question. Advertisements
An exotic binary star system 380 light-years away has been identified as an elusive white dwarf pulsar -- the first of its kind ever to be discovered in the universe -- thanks to research by the University of Warwick. Professors Tom Marsh and Boris Gänsicke of the University of Warwick's Astrophysics Group, with Dr David Buckley from the South African Astronomical Observatory, have identified the star AR Scorpii (AR Sco) as the first white dwarf version of a pulsar -- objects found in the 1960s and associated with very different objects called neutron stars. The white dwarf pulsar has eluded astronomers for over half a century. AR Sco contains a rapidly spinning, burnt-out stellar remnant called a white dwarf, which lashes its neighbour -- a red dwarf -- with powerful beams of electrical particles and radiation, causing the entire system to brighten and fade dramatically twice every two minutes. The latest research establishes that the lash of energy from AR Sco is a focused 'beam', emitting concentrated radiation in a single direction -- much like a particle accelerator -- something which is totally unique in the known universe. AR Sco lies in the constellation Scorpius, 380 light-years from Earth, a close neighbour in astronomical terms. The white dwarf in AR Sco is the size of Earth but 200,000 times more massive, and is in a 3.6 hour orbit with a cool star one third the mass of the Sun. With an electromagnetic field 100 million times more powerful than Earth, and spinning on a period just shy of two minutes, AR Sco produces lighthouse-like beams of radiation and particles, which lash across the face of the cool star, a red dwarf. As the researchers previously discovered, this powerful light house effect accelerates electrons in the atmosphere of the red dwarf to close to the speed of light, an effect never observed before in similar types of binary stars. The red dwarf is thus powered by the kinetic energy of its spinning neighbour. The distance between the two stars is around 1.4 million kilometres -- which is three times the distance between the Moon and the Earth. Professor Tom Marsh comments, "The new data show that AR Sco's light is highly polarised, showing that the magnetic field controls the emission of the entire system, and a dead ringer for similar behaviour seen from the more traditional neutron star pulsars." Professor Boris Gänsicke comments, "AR Sco is like a gigantic dynamo: a magnet, size of the Earth, with a field that is ~10.000 stronger than any field we can produce in a laboratory, and it is rotating every two minutes. This generates an enormous electric current in the companion star, which then produces the variations in the light we detect." The latest research, 'Polarimetric evidence of a white dwarf pulsar in the binary system AR Scorpii', is published in Nature Astronomy.
A federal judge ruled Monday that a controversial National Security Agency metadata collection program is likely unconstitutional, violating the Fourth Amendment’s prohibition against unreasonable search and seizure. “The government, in its understandable zeal to protect our homeland, has crafted a counterterrorism program with respect to telephone metadata that strikes the balance based in large part on a thirty-four year old Supreme Court precedent,” Judge Richard Leon wrote, “the relevance of which has been eclipsed by technological advances and a cell-phone centric lifestyle heretofore inconceivable.” Citing the “almost-Orwellian” technology available to the government, Leon wrote that “records that once would have revealed a few scattered tiles of information about a person now reveal an entire mosaic–a vibrant and constantly updating picture of a person’s life.” The lawsuit was filed by conservative activist Larry Klayman. Leon, who was appointed to the bench by President George W. Bush, granted Klayman and his fellow plaintiff Charles Strange’s request for an injunction that would bar the government for collecting their communications records and to destroy any information that the government has already collected through the program. However, Leon also stayed his own order – which means that the government won’t have to comply unless it also loses its appeal. In his ruling, Leon expressed skepticism that the NSA’s metadata collection program is effective. “The government does not cite a single instance in which analysis of the NSA’s bulk metadata collection actually stopped an imminent attack, or otherwise aided the government in achieving any objective that was time-sensitive in nature,” he wrote in his opinion. “I have serious doubts about the efficacy of the metadata collection program as a means of conducting time-sensitive investigations in cases involving imminent threats of terrorism.” The ruling is the first big victory for opponents of the NSA’s metadata collection program since former NSA contractor Edward Snowden leaked documents revealing the extent of the agency’s data gathering. In a statement to the New York Times, Snowden said “Today, a secret program authorized by a secret court was, when exposed to the light of day, found to violate Americans’ rights. It is the first of many.” Klayman, who is founder of the activist group Judicial Watch, is known for having what you might call eccentric views towards Democratic presidents. He has compared protesting the Obama administration to protesting the apartheid-era government in South Africa, demanded Obama’s “overthrow,” once hoping that the American people would tell the president to “put the Quran down, get up off your knees and come out with your hands up!” A World Net Daily columnist, Klayman warned last year that conservatives would “soon become the “new ni**ers,” relegated to the back of the bus.” Klayman is not the only one challenging the constitutionality of NSA surveillance however. Other lawsuits seeking to limit the government’s spying powers have been filed by civil liberties groups. Jameel Jaffer of the ACLU, one of the groups challenging the program, issued a statement Monday afternoon praising Judge Leon’s ruling. “This is a strongly worded and carefully reasoned decision that ultimately concludes, absolutely correctly, that the NSA’s call-tracking program can’t be squared with the Constitution,” Jaffer said.
It’s the end of the year, and with the final couple of episodes of Impact recapping their 2016, we figured it was time to take our own look back at TNA these last 12 months. Like any promotion, there was some good, and there was some bad. So what made the best list and what made the worst list? Let’s take a look, shall we: Best: The Decay In January, TNA debuted a new trio with a scary movie motif and these three would go on to captivate the crowd at every turn. The two male members of the group were TNA stars who were floundering with nothing to do. The third would be a woman from the indie scene who would end up stealing the show. There was Crazzy Steve, who debuted as a kooky clown alongside Mike Knux’s menagerie. With much of that stable long gone, there was nothing left for Steve. His comedic clown was a dead end. So in a year that would see clowns become a major villain, TNA got started earlier by simply transforming the funny clown into a scary clown. And that’s all it took. Steve embraced the role, which fit like a glove. At his side was the monster Abyss, who has been in TNA so long that there really was nothing left for him to do. He seemed as stale as can be. But this new gimmick rejuvenated the Monster. He ended up losing the mask and donning some face paint so he matched his teammates. The Decay has given Abyss new life and a character that is perfect for the veteran. Leading the charge is TNA newcomer Rosemary. She debuted on the stage that January episode wearing an old dress, creepy face paint, walking with a gait right out of a horror movie. This ghoulish gal would become the voice of Decay and the heart of it as well. This year, this captivating group has held the tag titles, including a big feud with the Broken Hardy brothers, and Rosemary won the Knockouts title at the end of the year. In a year with a bunch of good characters in TNA, the Decay may have stolen the show. Worst: The Tag Team Division While Decay was a great addition to the tag division, the division as a whole had a pretty down year. Early in the year, Beer Money reunited just to have Bobby Roode leave for NXT. The Wolves were riding high until Davey Richards suffered a leg injury that kept him out for the year. The Helms Dynasty (Andrew Everett and Trevor Lee) were rarely used as a team. The new team of the Tribunal (Baron Dax and Basile Baraka) never got a chance to get off the ground. While the Hardys and Decay had a great year, they pretty much were the entire tag division. That’s not a recipe for a successful long term tag division. Best: More Room at the Top There was a lot of talent who ended up parting ways with TNA this year. But for the promotion and for that talent, it ended up being a good thing. In the men’s division, Bobby Roode, Kurt Angle, and Eric Young all decided to make their exit from TNA. Roode and Young ended up in NXT and seem reinvigorated there. Angle still works independent dates (or is sitting next to his phone eagerly picking it up on the first ring in case it is WWE). But Angle had gotten stale in the company as well. With room at the top, new young talent could take those spots. Guys like EC3 and Drew Galloway, who were already near the top, could settle in there. A newcomer like Mike Bennett made the most of the opportunity given to him. And of course, Bobby Lashley was able to reinvent himself in his best year. The same happened with the women. Awesome Kong was released and Velvet Sky left on her own. Instead of creative trying to find something for the veterans to do, focus was shifted to the new brand of Knockout: the likes of Jade, Maria Kanellis, Sienna, Allie, and Rosemary. This new batch of men’s and women’s talent has given TNA new life in 2016 and showcased new talent to fans who may not have seen these wrestlers in other promotions prior. Worst: Galloway’s Injury and its effect on the Grand Championship Drew Galloway sustained a serious enough injury to keep him out of action from wrestling for a couple of months. Unfortunately, the timing of this was right before Bound for Glory, where he was to have a match with Aron Rex (the former Damien Sandow) for the new Grand Championship. This is a secondary title that is defended in a World of Sport/MMA style, with timed matches and judges deciding the rounds unless the competitors won by pinfall or submission. It was a title that needed a big talent to support it. Given TNA’s taping schedule, Drew’s injury caused him to miss the rest of the year (even though he was able to resume wrestling about a month earlier). Though even if it were taped live weekly, Drew was going to be gone too long to be involved in the early days of the new title. The Grand Championship could have used Galloway in that title picture to give it some legitimacy. Drew is a former TNA champion and even if the plan was always for Rex to go over at Bound for Glory, Galloway being in the title picture would have given the title a bit of a boost. Instead, Aron Rex ended up feuding with Jessie Godderz for the title in a feud that made that title feel like it wasn’t that important. Rex is not the technical wrestler that this belt is made for and Godderz is a wrestler who is most known as being part of the BroMans tag team. Luckily, Drew returned on the last taped Impact in a non-contact role to set up a feud with the current Grand Champion, Moose, for when TNA returns in 2017. (Moose won the title the episode prior in the first round.) That sounds like more of a feud to help give the Grand Championship some meaning. Best: Bobby Lashley This was Bobby Lashley’s best year of professional wrestling, and that includes on the microphone. I bet that’s hard to believe for people who just remember him from WWE, wrestling as Donald Trump’s WrestleMania surrogate. But the man was a top promo in TNA this year. Lashley started the year as babyface, but after defeating Kurt Angle in the Olympian’s final TNA match, he immediately turned heel. This created a cool, calm, confident Destroyer who knew he could beat anyone and didn’t mind telling his opponents with a wry smile. He won the TNA title from Drew Galloway at Slammiversary and then went on a tear. At the Destination X special, he convinced X Division champion Eddie Edwards to go title vs. title and won the X Division title. He then beat James Storm to win the King of the Mountain title, holding all of the men’s singles titles in the company at once. He ended up getting stripped of the lesser titles since he wouldn’t defend them, but that didn’t stop him. He was poised for another big feud at Bound for Glory against one of the company’s biggest stars: EC3. Carter is known for his fiery promos and Bobby Lashley was able to go toe to toe with him without problem. He ended up defeating Carter, continuing on as TNA’s unstoppable force. He was a man who had the look, could wrestle in the ring, delivered on the microphone, and had a legit MMA background. That’s why it was so disappointing that they just dropped it. Worst: The abrupt end of the Lashley story Unfortunately, on the Impact after he defeated EC3 at Bound for Glory, Lashley suddenly dropped the title to Eddie Edwards. While Edwards isn’t a bad choice to be champion, they invested so much time into building Bobby Lashley as an unstoppable force that there was no reason not to take their time building to a payoff. If they wanted Eddie winning to be that payoff, that would have been fine. But after creating an unbeatable force in the Destroyer, they should finish telling the story and not abruptly end it. In October, Lashley dominated his competition at Bellator 162, making the move even more curious. They could have had a man who dominated not only in scripted pro-graps but also inside an octagon. After building a great character and telling a great story, the sudden end to it was a major letdown. Best: The Knockouts Division Despite turnover and a rather thin division, the Knockouts made the most of what they had. They lost Awesome Kong, who was let go due to a confrontation with Reby Hardy. Velvet Sky then decided to part ways with the company. However, those two leaving opened up some room and it was filled was some superb characters and talent. Maria Kanellis entered TNA and brought her fire on the microphone to become the top villain of the division, despite rarely wrestling. She added new talent to her stable and they performed well. Joining Maria’s team was her muscle Sienna, another TNA newcomer, who held the KOs gold this year. Even former Tough Enough contestant Chelsea Green displayed good character work as the spoiled, entitled rich girl. Jade was no longer saddled with the Doll House gimmick and was allowed to flourish as a badass. Gail Kim, a long time Knockout, had the honor to be the first woman inducted into the Hall of Fame. Rosemary turned heads as the captivating leader of Decay. With a creepy character, she was magnetic in TNA all year. She debuted in January and left 2016 holding the Knockouts title. And then there’s Allie (the former Cherry Bomb) who started as Maria Kanellis’ bubbly but clueless assistant. Originally meant as a heel who’s shrill announcements were aimed to annoy fans, they soon fell in love with Allie. Playing a character who had no clue how to wrestle, she accidentally defeated her ally Sienna in a match to win the Knockouts championship to the crowd’s delight. It wasn’t long, however, until Maria forced her employee to lay down for her so she could pin her for the title, igniting a strong feud that will continue into 2017. Hopefully, TNA can add a few more ladies to the division and build off what they did this year and continue to put forth a growing women’s division full of potential. Worst: The X Division The X Division continues to be the forgotten stepchild of TNA. While Josh Mathews loves to talk about how you can’t see this type of action anywhere else (which isn’t true), there’s no care put into the division. Like the women, they have talent. But they never have any direction or stories. More often than not, it’s just matches for the hell of it. There were only a few real stories. Braxton Sutter and Rockstar Spud had a brief program that ended in an empty arena match, and they pretended to care about the division around the Destination X special, but there was little to remember. In fact they ended the year with random trios matches for no reason. They’ll need to learn that flippy stuff alone isn’t a draw any more. They’ll need to actually work on building characters and storylines if they really want the X Division to be a success going forward. Best: Improved public opinion It’s obvious that TNA has a poor reputation amongst wrestling fans. Years of poor booking decisions and mismanagement has given way to some very negative opinions of TNA, and many deservedly so. LOLTNA is a stigma that the company continually has to fight against. However this year they seemed to have some good press surrounding them. Yes, they had their typical rough ride (more on that in just a bit). But with the unique world that Matt Hardy created with his Broken Universe, fun characters such as Decay, Eli Drake, EC3, and Allie, and some good longform storytelling, some people started to realize that TNA was often putting on a fun show. Of course, not everyone is going to give TNA another chance. That’s inevitable. But just a quick look at comment sections on article posted here about TNA and on the Twitter feed, there’s been much more positive feedback regarding the promotion in 2016 than years past. Unfortunately, given a management shake up yet again, that’s not guaranteed to continue into 2017. Worst: Their annual bad press While public opinion may have improved somewhat, they weren’t without their typical problems. Going into Bound for Glory, there was word that they didn’t have money to run the show. Billy Corgan had already loaned them a bunch of money to keep taping, but his goal was to own the company and he didn’t want to continue without some assurance that he would be able to buy the company. Out of all of the “TNA is out of money” scares, this one felt the realest. As the person who does all the prep for the promotion’s pay-per-views, I was legitimately wondering if I should bother to start writing early or if their doors would close prior to BFG. Of course, this is TNA and they found a final influx of money from a third party. But all was not well. Billy Corgan was getting frustrated about his position in the company. Realizing that Dixie Carter would never sell to him like he believed, he decided to take her to court. Citing a clause in the contract that if TNA was insolvent, he would become owner, he tried to win the company in the court. However, that clause was not deemed legal in Tennessee and eventually he was bought out by Anthem, who was the third party that funded Bound for Glory. Anthem, the owners of the Fight Network, have become TNA’s new financial source with restructuring of the company coming if it has not happened already. Losing Corgan could be a big loss. He said he was the one who pushed for Matt Hardy’s Broken vision. (In character, Matt seemed to back up that claim or at least say that he’d be happy with Corgan owning the company.) Mike Bennett was a big supporter of Corgan and seemed a bit miffed when he lost the suit. With Anthem very possibly in charge in 2017, the fate of TNA is unfortunately just as big of a question mark as it has been in the past. We’ll be back next week with part 2 of our look back at TNA this year. We’ve got plenty more to cover, including which talent flourished and which floundered, what creative strengths they had, and what made TNA tough to watch at times. Until then, sound off below!
Space shuttle Discovery lands, ends flying career CAPE CANAVERAL, Florida Discovery ended its career as the world's most flown spaceship Wednesday, returning from orbit for the last time and taking off in a new direction as a museum piece. NASA's oldest shuttle swooped through a mostly clear noontime sky to a touchdown at its home base. "To the ship that has led the way time and time again, we say, 'Farewell Discovery,'" radioed the Mission Control commentator. Florida's spaceport was packed with shuttle program workers, journalists and even some schoolchildren eager to see history in the making. The six astronauts on board went through their landing checklists with the bittersweet realization no one would ever ride Discovery again. They said during their 13-day space station delivery mission that they expected that to hit them hard when the shuttle came to a stop on the runway. At three minutes before noon Eastern Time — Discovery landed and ceased being a reusable rocketship. "For the final time: wheels stop," Discovery's commander Steven Lindsey called out as the shuttle rolled to a stop. Even after shuttles Endeavour and Atlantis make their final voyages in the coming months, Discovery will still hold the all-time record with 39 missions, 148 million miles, 5,830 orbits of Earth, and 365 days spent in space. All that was achieved in under 27 years. Discovery now leads the way to retirement as NASA winds down the 30-year shuttle program in favor of interplanetary travel. NASA estimates it will take several months of work — removing the three main engines and draining all hazardous fuels — before Discovery is ready to head to the Smithsonian Institution. It will make the 750-mile journey strapped to the top of a jumbo jet. Throughout the flight, Lindsey and his crew marveled at how well Discovery was performing. They noted that the spacecraft was going into retirement still "at the top of her game." "A dream machine," observed Lindsey's co-pilot, Eric Boe, on the eve of landing. Discovery's last mission ended up being flawless despite a four-month grounding for fuel tank repairs. Perhaps more than any other shuttle, Discovery consistently delivered. It made its debut in 1984 following shuttles Columbia and Challenger, dispatched the Hubble Space Telescope in 1990, flew the first shuttle rendezvous to Russia's Mir space station and carried the first female shuttle pilot in 1995, and gave another ride into space to John Glenn, the first American to orbit the Earth, in 1998. It got NASA flying again, in 1988 and 2005, following the Challenger and Columbia disasters. And it flew 13 times to the International Space Station, more than any other craft. On its last trip, it delivered a new storage compartment packed with supplies and a humanoid robot. NASA's boss, Charles Bolden, a former shuttle commander, led the welcoming party. He'll announce the final homes for Endeavour and Atlantis on April 12 — 30 years to the day that Columbia soared on the first shuttle flight. NASA planned to move Endeavour out to the launch pad Wednesday night for its April 19 liftoff, but delayed the move until Thursday because bad weather was expected. The mission will be commanded by the husband of wounded Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, Mark Kelly. His identical twin brother Scott is currently the skipper of the space station; he returns to Earth next week on a Russian Soyuz spacecraft. Atlantis is slated to make its last trip at the end of June. NASA is under presidential direction to spread its wings beyond low-Earth orbit. The goal is to send astronauts to an asteroid and then Mars in the decades ahead. There is not enough money for NASA to achieve that and maintain the shuttle program at the same time. As a result, the shuttles will stop flying this summer after 30 years. American astronauts will keep hitching rides to the space station on Russian capsules, until private companies are able to provide taxi service to and from orbit. NASA expects to get another nine years out of the space station. Copyright 2011 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Brent Jones. For publication consideration in the newspaper, send comments to For more information about reprints & permissions , visit our FAQ's. To report corrections and clarifications, contact Standards Editor. For publication consideration in the newspaper, send comments to [email protected] . Include name, phone number, city and state for verification. To view our corrections, go to corrections.usatoday.com
The evangelical firm, which relies on donations for its prosperity, rose to prominence after defending Kentucky county clerk Kim Davis and has taken up the mantle of ‘restoring the culture by advancing religious freedom’ The ruling that came down from a grand jury in Texas last week was a surprise – jurors declined to prosecute Planned Parenthood, and instead indicted two people involved in the video sting that attempted to show the abortion provider was selling fetal body parts. There was no surprise, however, about the firm that jumped to defend one of those indicted. Sandra Merritt, the anti-abortion activist who posed as a biomedical research executive in order to gain access to the women’s health organization and film covert videos, will be represented in her case by Liberty Counsel. The misleading Planned Parenthood videos shouldn't be 'free' speech \| Jessica Valenti Read more Liberty Counsel is the same firm that hit the big time last summer when it defended Kim Davis, the elected Kentucky county clerk who cited “God’s authority” when she blocked marriage licenses for gay couples after the supreme court legalized same sex marriage in every state. When the district court ruled Davis in contempt and sent her to jail when she refused to back down, the story became a lightning rod in the fierce national debate around religious freedom, attracting media attention from around the world – just the kind of case that is red meat for Liberty Counsel. The stridently evangelical law firm based in Orlando has made a name for itself by taking on high-profile legal battles aimed at “restoring the culture by advancing religious freedom”. From same-sex marriage to abortion rights and gay conversion therapy, Liberty Counsel is busier than ever these days, much to the delight of its founder, Mat Staver, who says the firm has quadrupled in size since he started in 1989. “From the year 2000 to the present, we’ve grown exponentially,” Staver said. “Cases in the areas of abortion and human sexuality have become a lot more complex [...] and there are lots of new areas where we can find cases where people don’t even realize yet that there could be a constitutional argument.” According to Staver, the firm employs only 10 lawyers as part of a small, permanent staff of 40, but draws on a pool of 600 to 700 affiliated lawyers spread across the US, who share the “Biblical values” at the heart of his firm and work on cases ad hoc, sometimes for fees paid by the head office, sometimes pro bono. Liberty Counsel represents all its clients pro bono and relies entirely on donations for its prosperity. ••• Before he trained as a lawyer, Staver was a Seventh-Day Adventist pastor in Kentucky, subscribing to a branch of Protestantism that proclaims Jesus Christ is poised to return to earth imminently; he was also a prominent anti-abortion activist. His desire to attend law school, he said, stemmed from realizing that he could do more to advance the pro-life cause in court than in church. He met his wife, Anita, while still a preacher. After they married and finished law school, they picked Orlando as their base to open a commercial law firm in 1987. “I got tired of living in the cold. I really wanted to go back to Florida,” said Staver, who is a Florida native. Two years later, he formed Liberty Counsel and closed down his commercial business so he and his wife could focus entirely on work driven by their “Christian passion”. The firm made a splash with stunts such as threatening to sue a library for handing out playful “witchcraft certificates” to kids after a Harry Potter reading. Facebook Twitter Pinterest The stridently evangelical law firm based in Orlando has made a name for itself by taking on high-profile legal battles aimed at “restoring the culture by advancing religious freedom”. One of its clients was Kim Davis, pictured here with Mat Staver and Mike Huckabee. Photograph: Timothy D. Easley/AP But its bread and butter cases focused on defending pickets outside abortion clinics and the principles of religious expression in public spaces, ranging from displays of the Ten Commandments to Christmas events. Then the Stavers found an urgent purpose when the tide began turning in favor of gay marriage in state after state and, ultimately, the nation. Staver makes it clear that in many circumstances – mainly those involving his fervent opposition to abortion and homosexuality – he believes scripture is the highest legal authority in the country. But he doesn’t immediately fit the image of the Bible-thumping Christian extremist. Rather, he presents a calm, reasonable manner. He shares this temperament with his co-counsellors, and it serves them well inside the courtroom. “I can’t say anything bad about them as lawyers,” said Daniel Canon, who faced two Liberty Counsel lawyers in court while representing several couples whom Kim Davis refused to marry. “They performed professionally – they were neat and normal. But I’m divorcing that from the substance of their arguments, which is dangerous and without legal precedent.” The firm’s professional reputation aside, it still faces opposition. The Southern Poverty Law Center has labelled Liberty Counsel a hate group, based on its public statements online and on religious radio stations. “It’s despicable. That’s the kind of rhetoric we do not need. It labels people. It attacks someone’s human dignity,” Staver said of SPLC’s move. He compared it to being categorized alongside skinhead gangs or the Ku Klux Klan. The Human Rights Campaign publicly deplores the firm’s stance, pointing out, among many examples, that the firm described a workplace LGBT protection bill as “one of the most dangerous and discriminatory pieces of legislation in modern times”. And the American Civil Liberties Union is often on the other side of the courtroom, challenging Liberty Counsel on key cases. One of Liberty Counsel’s newest causes is in mounting legal challenges to state bans on gay conversion therapy for children. Staver told the Guardian that such bans are “harmful for the country” because teens who “don’t want to have feelings that conflict with their values” and whose parents “are at their wits’ end” should have access to such programs, which have been widely discredited. And he asserted that being raised by a gay couple is detrimental to children’s wellbeing, based on “research and talking to people who have gone through this”. ••• While the firm’s doctrine may turn off many mainstream Americans, it appeals strongly to a vital segment at the right wing of the religious and political spectrum, and the donations are pouring in. Documents filed with the Internal Revenue Service show that Liberty Counsel is a non-profit, tax-exempt company that in 2013, the most recent year on public record, earned total revenue of $4.2m and had total expenses of $3.8m, leaving a comfortable surplus. Staver said Liberty Counsel received $8m in donations last year. He declined to go into much detail but confirmed a Reuters report that the firm has received a total of $1.5m from fracking billionaire and radical Texas pastor Farris Wilks, who runs a church called the Assembly of Yahweh that decrees homosexuality a crime, all abortion murder and is part of a project called the Salt & Light Ministry Biblical Citizenship. That project emanates from something called the Salt & Light Council, based in California and which, according to its website, encourages pastors to send volunteers for training in how to be politically active about the church’s sacred causes, especially restoring “the Bible’s relevance in the critical areas of government and citizenship”. The Salt & Light Council, according to the IRS records, is controlled by Liberty Counsel, and Staver acknowledged he is chairman of its board. Farris Wilks and his family have given $15m to a Super Pac supporting Ted Cruz for president. Liberty Counsel also has a Pac but hasn’t tilted toward a candidate yet. Staver is waiting for the Republican primary to play out and then is likely to spend on TV ads as the main race heats up, he said. He also predicted confidently that with the help of Liberty Counsel, Merritt, the anti-abortion activist, will beat the rap. As a force to be reckoned with, Liberty Counsel is just getting started. “The opportunities are extensive ... where I see injustice I can’t sit on the sidelines,” Staver said.
A unique program pairing guard dogs with livestock could hold the key to saving the cheetah, Africa's most endangered cat. NBC 7's Dagmar Midcap reports. (Published Friday, May 9, 2014) A unique program pairing guard dogs with livestock could hold the key to saving the cheetah, Africa's most endangered cat. Laurie Marker, Ph D., visited Escondido recently as part of her U.S. tour to raise awareness about threats to the animal revered by many for its speed. "What people don't realize that they're running their most important race and that's for their very survival," Marker said. With an ongoing loss of habitat and an increase in illegal wildlife trade, their population has dwindled. “There are only 10,000 cheetahs left in the world," she said. Outside of hunters seeking fur, the biggest threat to cheetahs are African farmers. Because cheetahs have been known to kill and eat livestock, many farmers kill the cats to protect their herds. Cheetah Day at NBC 7 How does NBC 7 News in the Morning celebrate Cheetah Day? (Published Wednesday, Dec. 4, 2013) As Executive Director and Founder of the Cheetah Conservation Fund, located in Namibia, Marker has developed a unique guard dog program to help stop the killing. Marker’s team trains Anatolian Shepherd Dogs to live with a farmer’s livestock. The dogs then serve as a security system when they sense a cheetah is near. "We've put out about 500 dogs into our rural communities," Marker said. "The dog acts as a guardian they protect the livestock they bark loudly there is a lot of avoidance from the predators,” she said. “They don’t want to come near a herd that is protected." The program is working. By tracking the dogs, what they've discovered is that herds protected by guard dogs have 80 percent less livestock loss than those that were unguarded. Marker said there is a long waiting list for dogs and she's touring the U.S. this spring asking those who care about the cheetah to help sponsor the program. She believes that those rare opportunities when humans can get close to one of nature’s true wild wonders, will help save the cheetah. "They listen to the cheetah purr. They see what it is looking at and they can actually kind of feel that cheetah next to them and understand why it is this beautiful animal needs help," she explains. For those interested in learning more about the Cheetah Conservation Fund or to adopt a cheetah or a guide dog go to the organization's website.
The Seattle Seahawks' game against the San Francisco 49ers on Dec. 23 has been moved to prime time, the NFL announced. The game was originally scheduled to be played at 1:25 p.m. at CenturyLink Field and televised by FOX. That schedule has been changed, and the game will now start at 5:20 p.m. and be televised by NBC as its Sunday Night Football broadcast. The game between the 49ers and Seahawks could be for the division lead. San Francisco is 9-3-1, currently a game and a half ahead of Seattle. The 49ers play at New England next week while the Seahawks face Buffalo. San Francisco has won the last four games against Seattle, including three in a row since Jim Harbaugh became the 49ers' head coach. It is the third prime-time game for the Seahawks this season after they hosted Green Bay on Monday night in Week 3 and played at San Francisco on Thursday night in Week 7. Here's how the NFC West stacks up with three games remaining and a chance that three different teams could finish with a winning record this season:
Joseph Schooling's rise from relative unknown to Asian Games gold medalist has been nothing short of spectacular. As a 14-year-old, he served notice of his potential by clocking a time in the 200m butterfly than was almost three seconds faster than the US age-group mark. But it was not until the former Anglo-Chinese School (Independent) student – who joined The Bolles School in the United States in 2009 - that he really blossomed into the swimmer he is today. The Straits Times takes a look at the rise and rise of 19-year-old Joseph Schooling. 2010 Barely a year since moving to Florida, the 1.82m teenager is ranked the fastest in the US for his age in the 100 yards butterfly (short-course). 2011 April Schooling, now 16, is part of a school relay team which shatters the country’s age-group (15-16) 4x100 yards medley relay record by almost six seconds - although the achievement was not counted because he is not a US citizen. Swimmers from The Bolles School, a college preparatory institution in Florida's Jacksonville, include (from left) Teo D’Alessandro, Singaporean Joseph Schooling, Ryan Murphy and Ian Apple. --PHOTO: MAY SCHOOLING June Sets three new national records in 100m butterfly (54.19sec), 200m butterfly (2:00.05), and 200 individual medley (2:05.07) in June's National Swimming Championships Joseph Schooling clocked 54.19sec for the men's 100m butterfly event at the National Swimming Championships on June 22, 2011, rewriting Bryan Tay’s 54.46sec mark set in 2009. -- PHOTO: ST FILE July Breaks the 50m (24.95sec) 100m (53.71sec) and 200m butterfly (1:57.95sec) national records again at the Asean School Games. National swimmer Joseph Schooling (centre), the gold-medal winner of the 200m butterfly at the 2011 Asean Schools Games, pose with his medal along with fellow compatriot Quah Zheng Wen (left), who won the silver medal and Thai swimmer Navaphat Wongcharoen, who won the bronze. -- PHOTO: ST FILE November At the SEA Games 2011 in Palembang, Schooling is busy rewriting records again. He wins the 200m fly in 1:56.67 (a new Games and national record) and became the first Singapore swimmer to meet the “A” qualifying mark for the 2012 London Olympics. He also wins the 50m fly in 24.06sec, also in a new Games and national record time. He finishes second in 200 individual medley but his time of 2:04.85 is another new national record. He comes in third in the 100m fly (new national record of 53.18sec). National swimmer Joseph Schooling celebrating his win for the men's 200m butterfly event at the South-east Asian (SEA) Games in Indonesia on Nov 15, 2011. -- PHOTO: ST FILE December At the US Short-Course Junior National Championships, the Singaporean surpasses American superstar Michael Phelps’ age-group (15-16 years) time over the 100 yards butterfly (short course). 2012 May Aged 16, he becomes youngest winner of the Sportsman of the Year award for his exploits in 2011. July He makes his Olympic debut with Singapore's contingent in London. But his swim cap and goggles were rejected before the 200m butterfly heat as they fail to meet Olympic regulations. Scrambling to find replacement equipment, he eventually clocks 1:59.18, and does not make the semis. Schooling also fails to make the semi-final of the 100m fly in London, clocking 53.63sec, off his PB of 53.18, Singapore swimmer Joseph Schooling reacts after competing in the men's 100m butterfly heats at the London 2012 Olympics. -- PHOTO: ST FILE November The teenager bounces back from his London disaster to set a US high school national record when he won the 100-yard butterfly at the Florida state high school championships. He also becomes the fastest Under-18 butterfly swimmer in the US after clinching the 100 and 200-yard titles at the Speedo Winter Junior National Championships. 2013 March The Singaporean beats American star Ryan Lochte to win the 100m butterfly (long course) final at the Speedo South Sectional Championships in Florida. Schooling touched home in 54.71sec while 11-time Olympic medallist Lochte had to settle for second (55.20) at the Fort Lauderdale Aquatic Complex. July Schooling clocks 1:56.27 in the men's 200m butterfly semi-final at the Fina World Championships in Barcelona, re-writing his own national record of 1:56.67. However, he does not qualify for the final. He also becomes the first Singapore swimmer to go below the two-minute barrier in the 200m individual medley, when he clocks 1:59.99 in Barcelona. October Schooling is granted deferment from National Service to allow him to prepare for the 2016 Rio Olympics. He also agrees to join the University of Texas at Austin. Its men’s swim team is ranked second in the National Collegiate Athletic Association’s top division, and is coached by Eddie Reese, the assistant coach of the US men’s team at the London Olympics. December He emerges as Singapore's most bemedalled athlete at the 2013 SEA Games in Myanmar with five gold medals and one silver while setting four meet records on the way. Singapore's Joseph Schooling with the gold medal from the men's 200m individual medley in the 27th South-east Asian (SEA) Games in Naypyidaw's Wunna Theikdi Swimming Complex, Myanmar on Dec 13, 2013. -- PHOTO: ST FILE 2014 July Wins Singapore's first-ever Commonwealth Games swimming medal, finishing second to South African star Chad le Clos in 100m butterfly with a time of 51.69sec. The time is the eighth fastest in the world this year. (Left to right) Silver medallist Singapore's Joseph Schooling, Gold medallist South Africa's Chad le Clos and Bronze medallist England's Adam Barrett pose on the podium during the Men's 100m Butterfly medal ceremony at the Tollcross International Swimming Centre during the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow on July 28, 2014. -- PHOTO: AFP September Schooling brings more joy to Singapore when he clinches a bronze in the 200m butterfly final with a time of 1:57.54. He then strikes gold in the 100m fly final with a Games record time of 51.76sec. That makes him the first male swimmer at the Asiad to win a swimming gold since Ang Peng Siong in 1982. He also adds a 50m butterfly silver to his collection, after he touched home in 23.70sec to come in second in behind Chinese winner Shi Yang, who set a Games record of 23.46. It earns him a unique haul of three medals - one of every colour. Singapore's Joseph Schooling wins Singapore's first gold in the 17th Asian Games Incheon 2014 Men's 100m butterfly event held at the Munhak Park Tae-Hwan Aquatics Center in Incheon, South Korea on Sep 24, 2014. - ST PHOTO: NEO XIAOBIN FOUR FAST FACTS ABOUT SCHOOLING 1) His surname may not be your typical Singaporean surname but he is a born and bred Singaporean. Born to Colin and May Schooling, the former ACS (I) student counts Singapore food as the thing he misses most when in the United States. He loves milo "dinosaur" and carrot cake, the more black sauce the better. 2) He has good genes. His grand-uncle is Lloyd Valberg, who became Singapore’s first Olympian when he competed in the high jump at the 1948 London Games. 3) He may be a swimmer, but he is also a big football fan and counts Chelsea as his favourite team. 4) Schooling swam against Michael Phelps at the 2012 Olympics. But they had actually met four years ago, when Phelps was training in Singapore before the 2008 Beijing Games.
“My wife works full-time as a labor-and-delivery nurse, and I have the kids,” Rob Crow explains. “Our daughter is too young to go to school, so she naps all day, and there are piles of things I have to do if I want to continue doing this dumb music thing.” Crow’s tasks might sound familiar. “Just keeping the house from being a complete wreck is a full-time job; I am supposed to be doing dishes as we speak,” he said. “I look in the dining room, and say, ‘Oh, my God,’ then I pick up the kids in a few hours, and I haven’t even had a chance to listen to these test pressings. It will be interesting to try and go away for a month and tour.... “I don’t know what’s going to happen,” Crow admits. As his band Pinback seems to be on indefinite hiatus, Crow has formed a new band, Rob Crow’s Gloomy Place, and released an album, You’re Doomed. Be Nice, his first “solo” record with a full band. “Usually, I am playing all the instruments and recording everything in my room.” So, Crow recorded the album by himself in his room, taught it to a band, and brought it to producer/engineer Ben Moore at Singing Serpent Studios. “I’ve never been able to have a record that sounds like my live shows as a solo artist,” Crow said, until You’re Doomed. Be Nice, that is. “I enjoy it — there is a lively sense to it, and there’s a lot of energy.” The writing and recording process would have been easier and less expensive if Crow had recorded the album in his room like past solo efforts. Past Event Rob Crow's Gloomy Place Casbah 2501 Kettner Boulevard , San Diego 21+ / $10 - $12 “When you have to talk someone into spending money on you, and then not waste it, and get everything done as fast and as cheap as possible, that can be stressful,” he said. “I still went over.... “After you pore over something for so long, and in such detail, it’s, like, I think it’s done and I think it’s been done correctly, I can relax now and maybe get some sleep. I deserve a nap, I guess.” Bassist Tony Gidlund (Fever Sleeves), guitarist Travis Nelson (Heavy Vegetable/Other Men), drummer Greg Sudor (Ghetto Blaster), and keyboardist Chris Fulford Brown (Singing Serpent) round out Rob Crow’s Gloomy Place. Their tour started on February 28, the day the album came out on Temporary Residence, and ends March 28 at the Casbah.
Image copyright Reuters Supermarket chain Asda has predicted another year of "intense pressure" for the struggling sector as the global economy remains "turbulent". Asda boss Andy Clarke said he would sink another £500m into the price war with his rivals, as part of "radical action to win back our customers". The move comes at the start of a big week for the grocery trade. The other big UK supermarkets - Tesco, Sainsbury's and Morrisons - are set to unveil Christmas trading figures. Asda, which is owned by US chain Walmart, does not release its figures until February. However, Asda appears to have been suffering more than its rivals, with analysts viewing it as the most vulnerable of the big four to discount stores Aldi and Lidl. Gruelling conditions Asda's latest price-cutting investment is in addition to £1bn of investment announced in 2013 and due to be rolled out over a five-year period. Mr Clarke said: "The structure of UK grocery retailing has permanently changed to reflect the way that customers shop today." He described the change as "a global phenomenon", adding: "We saw the change coming and responded in 2013, but we didn't move fast enough." Conditions in the UK grocery market are particularly gruelling, with all of the big four chains struggling. Image copyright PA Morrisons, which reports its Christmas trading results on Tuesday, saw a 2.6% fall in its like-for-like third-quarter sales. The retailer dropped out of the FTSE 100 list of the UK's most valuable companies in December. Tuesday also sees the publication of the latest Kantar Worldpanel figures indicating the relative size of retailers' share of the grocery market. Sainsbury's, which publishes its third-quarter and Christmas results the following day, saw a 1.6% fall in its like-for-like first-half sales, which strip out the impact of new store openings. Tesco's third-quarter and Christmas results come out on Thursday. In the first half of the financial year, its UK like-for-like sales were down 1.1%. As for Asda, its like-for-like sales fell 4.5% in the three months to the end of September, marking its fifth consecutive quarter of falling revenue. Sales woes Retailers including Marks and Spencer and Waitrose have already released their figures for trading over the Christmas period. Last week, M&S said third-quarter sales of general merchandise were down by 5.8% for the 13 weeks to 26 December, although food sales were up 0.4%. It also said chief executive Marc Bolland would step down in April, to be succeeded by Steve Rowe, executive director of general merchandise. Like-for-like sales at Waitrose supermarket, which is part of the John Lewis Partnership, fell 1.4% over the Christmas period, although John Lewis sales overall rose 5.1%.
In L.A., getting paid to go green DWP customers can add to the city grid through solar panels. Goal is 150 megawatts. For The Record Los Angeles Times Saturday, June 29, 2013 Home Edition Main News Part A Page 4 News Desk 2 inches; 102 words Type of Material: Correction Solar power: An article in the June 27 Business section about the Clean L.A. Solar program, which allows the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power to pay customers to generate solar power, said four megawatts were reserved for smaller projects that can generate 30 to 150 kilowatts per hour and that the remaining 16 megawatts in the first portion of the program were reserved for large projects that can generate 150 kilowatts to 3 megawatts per hour. The correct way to describe the power-generation capacity of solar panels is in kilowatts or megawatts, not kilowatts per hour or megawatts per hour. "It is really a no-brainer," said Christian Wentzel, chief executive of Solar Provider Group, which installed the North Hollywood panels. Long-term contracts with the DWP cemented the Los Angeles company's plans to invest $50 million in 17 projects to tap the region's sun-drenched climate. The goal of the effort, the brainchild of the Los Angeles Business Council, is to generate 150 megawatts of solar electricity, or enough to power about 30,000 homes. The council hopes to attract investments totaling $500 million from a growing list of companies that want to invest in L.A.'s push to go green by setting up large clusters of rooftop solar panels. Called Clean L.A. Solar, the program allows the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power to pay customers to generate solar power across the city's vast expanse of flat roof space. Atop a beige apartment complex in North Hollywood, rows of solar panels began providing energy Wednesday as part of what backers say is the nation's largest urban rooftop solar program. Four years in the making, Clean L.A. Solar serves as part of the city's answer to the state mandate to generate 33% of electricity using renewable sources by 2020. DWP officials project the solar purchasing program will help L.A. reach 25% of the state mandate by 2016. Clean L.A. Solar proponents have their sights set high, aiming to expand the initial 150-megawatt goal over the next several years to 600 megawatts. Mayor-elect Eric Garcetti voiced support for the upgrade during his campaign in January. "If we have political commitments to expand, you're going to see a large amount of the industry come in and commit resources. This lowers the cost of solar over the long-term," Wentzel said, "and that can only benefit Angelenos." Wentzel said Solar Provider Group would hire 30 people locally to operate its planned projects, with jobs including engineers, project managers, construction workers and sales representatives. The business council estimates Clean L.A. Solar will create about 4,300 jobs. Mary Leslie, president of the council, said several studies conducted in collaboration with UCLA and USC revealed a waste of solar power training programs in the city, preparing Angelenos for jobs in a green market too small to employ them. "At any one point a year and a half ago," Leslie said, "we had 1,300 solar installers in training. About half were working, and of that half, many were having to go outside of the county to find work." Further studies determined the city's neighborhoods with the highest amounts of light available also tended to overlap with L.A.'s lower-income communities, neighborhoods that could likely benefit from more job opportunities. Many of these areas, or "hot spots," are home to the programs that offer solar power training, such as those by Homeboy Industries and local chapters of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers. Leslie said so far, 20 of the 35 approved solar projects were in hot spots. Despite those potential gains, Clean L.A. Solar has its share of critics. DWP ratepayer advocate Fred Pickel warned the utility would be paying companies much more than necessary for the electricity, which he said would fall on DWP customers. DWP General Manager Ron Nichols said Pickel's numbers were off, and that the utility had carefully researched market prices and the results of a competitive bidding process during the demonstration phase last year to set the current rate.
If Hemp’s So Great, Why Can’t I Buy Hemp Plastic Bottles In Stores? Ministry of Hemp Blocked Unblock Follow Following Dec 4, 2017 Plastic is an inescapable part of our everyday lives, so why is almost all of it still made from polluting, non-renewable petrochemicals? You may have heard that agricultural hemp, the non-mind-altering cousin of cannabis (commonly known as marijuana), has dozens of potential uses from clothing to paper. Since virtually all climate scientists agree that we must replace our dependence on fossil fuels, and given that hemp can even make the soil cleaner, it’s surprising that this miracle crop isn’t in wider use. When we looked into the topic, we found that hemp is already appearing in some commonplace objects, including cars, and could soon find it’s way into more. But there are also remaining barriers that keep hemp plastics more expensive and less versatile, for now. Alternatives needed as plastic pollutes water & land Not only are the harmful effects of global warming increasingly clear, conventional plastics linger in the environment and can even enter the food chain to detrimental effect on human and animal health. In one especially shocking recent example, researchers from the University of Tasmania and the UK’s Royal Society for the Protection of Birds found 38 million pieces of plastic waste on Henderson Island, an uninhabited coral island in the South Pacific. “I’ve travelled to some of the most far-flung islands in the world and regardless of where I’ve gone, in what year, and in what area of the ocean, the story is generally the same: the beaches are littered with evidence of human activity,” Jennifer Lavers, a marine scientist from the University of Tasmania, told The Guardian. The oceans are in a similar or even worse state, thanks to the risk of microplastics, or tiny fragments of plastic that pollute the waters and are often eaten by marine life. The infamous “Great Pacific Garbage Patch” is actually largely composed of millions of these tiny particles — as much as 1.9 million per square mile — according to a 2014 report from National Geographic. Hemp cellulose fibers a good source for many plastics Some of the earliest plastics were made from cellulose fibers obtained from organic, non-petroleum-based sources. “Hemp cellulose can be extracted and used to make cellophane, rayon, celluloid and a range of related plastics,” reported Seshata, a writer at Sensi Seeds in 2014. “Hemp is known to contain around 65–70% cellulose, and is considered a good source (wood contains around 40%, flax 65–75%, and cotton up to 90%) that has particular promise due to its relative sustainability and low environmental impact.” While 100% hemp-based plastic is still a rarity, some “composite bioplastics” — plastics made from a combination of hemp and other plant sources — are already in use. Thanks to their high strength and rigidity, these plastics are currently used in the construction of cars, boats, and even musical instruments. Bioplastic is promising, but can’t solve all our pollution problems Many plastic products are made from polymer resins, including polyethylene terephthalate, or PET, found in everyday products like plastic bottles. While advocates hope to someday see 100% hemp-based plastic bottles on supermarket shelves, the technology just isn’t ready for prime time. Companies like Coca-Cola have experimented with 100% plant-based bottles, but commercially available products are made from no more than 30% plant-based materials, while the remainder is made from traditional fossil fuel sources. The good news is that many corporations are investing heavily in researching replacements to traditional PET. It’s likely the first company to produce a viable commercial product could stand to earn millions. Unfortunately, even plastic that’s deliberately designed to be biodegradable can still be a source of pollution. Almost nothing biodegrades in a landfill, and hemp microplastics could still cause problems when introduced to the oceans. Biodegradable plastics need to be sent to commercial composting facilities for efficient disposal, and these facilities aren’t available to everyone. In addition to creating better alternatives to plastic, we’ll still to create more responsible attitudes toward disposable products. Cost and the war on drugs are barriers to successful hemp plastic While fossil fuel costs are kept low with subsidies, hemp products for the most part remain costly luxury items. While some hemp is grown in the United States under pilot programs legalized by the 2014 Farm Bill, most is still imported from other countries. Though hemp requires fewer pesticides and has a smaller environmental footprint than many other crops, growing and harvesting it remains labor intensive. Another drawback is that hemp requires “significant fertiliser in some soils, and also has relatively high water requirements,” as noted by Seshata. However, hemp prices would almost undoubtedly come down, and technology improve, if we ended the war on drugs — particularly the many restrictions on legally growing hemp and cannabis. One of the most provocative examples of hemp’s potential plastic future could come from LEGOs, the ubiquitous building block toy. which is promising to phase out fossil-fuel based resin by 2030. “Hemp might just be the cost effective, environmentally sustainable alternative material that LEGO is looking for,” speculated Emily Gray Brosious in a February 2016 investigation from the Sun Times. Whether or not we’re ever able to build a spaceship from hemp bricks, the full promise of hemp plastic remains tantalizingly close, but just out of reach.
This bracelet is two-in-one for a fabulous stacked up boho look! Using real copper geometric beads, gold and white glass, real Betel Nut beads and dalmatian jasper, this bracelet has a unique and stylish mixed-metal-meets-tribal-chic look that is neutral in tone, making it easily matched up with any outfit! Now that I think about it, this bracelet can fit into many different fashion trends going on this season-- mixed metal, steampunk, tribal chic, boho... the list goes on! Don't you just love versalitity? =) (p.s. ... this bracelet, like all my pieces, is one of a kind! yay!) This bracelet is approximately 8" or 20cm around and was strung with high-quality elastic cord that fits over the wrist easily. Please refer to my policies for info on guarantees, returns, exchanges, and custom orders! As you can see from this listing, I have lots of little unique odds and ends that are sitting pretty waiting to be transformed into a beautiful piece of jewelry, so let's talk! =)
By Nick Halling Kell Brook is currently at his training camp in Tenerife wondering what’s happening with his IBF welterweight title fight with Shawn Porter. This one’s been up in the air for the last couple of weeks now, with all kinds of misinformation being bandied about – and most of it has been coming from Porter’s end. The original 9 August date has definitely gone, but it looks like the delay is going to be a short one. Pencil in the 6th of September as the new date, with a venue to be confirmed in the near future. Whispers out of the IBF corridors of power are that Porter has finally signed his contract, so all necessary paperwork is finally in place. This one looks like it’s definitely happening. Ever since his proposed fight with Devon Alexander was postponed three times, then scrapped altogether, Brook’s desire for a world title fight has been called into question by some, but on this occasion, the unbeaten Sheffield fighter is completely blameless. All the delays have come from Porter’s end. Brook initially agreed to step aside to allow Porter to fight Paulie Malignaggi, but that contract called for the winner to defend against Brook. It seems Porter’s people were keen to look at alternative options. There were rumours of a possible fight with Floyd Mayweather, as well as talk of a proposed engagement with Adrien Broner. As Porter is looked after by Al Haymon, it’s not hard to see why such rumours were being kicked around. It sounds like the talk has come to nothing, however, and with Brook’s promoter, Eddie Hearn, keeping the pressure on the IBF, the champion has been given the stark option of facing Brook, or being stripped. With no alternative scenario currently on the radar, Porter will therefore have to defend against Brook. Whether any of this horse trading will have an effect on the notoriously-skittish Brook remains to be seen. The indications are that he has maintained his focus, and that the four-week delay will have little effect on his preparations. Barring any last-minute injuries (and Brook has had one or two of those in the past), his long wait for a world title fight finally appears to be coming to an end. ************************************* Brook isn’t the only British fighter currently awaiting confirmed details of a world title opportunity. British super middleweight champion Paul Smith is also on deck, waiting for news on his proposed challenge to WBO boss Arthur Abraham. This one has already been unofficially announced as taking place on the 27th of September, and all the ducks appear to be in a row. Both fighters want it, both promoters are happy with it, and the fight has a confirmed slot on German television. So why the long wait for official confirmation? The problem is a simple one, and it’s to do with finding a venue. Abraham wants the fight in his adopted hometown of Berlin. But the preferred venue, the 12,000-seater Velodrome, is already booked out on 27 September. Promoters Sauerland are currently looking around for an alternative location in the city. If they can’t find something suitable in Berlin, that will not mean the fight is off. It will simply be held somewhere else in Germany. Smith will definitely get his shot at the title in September – he just doesn’t yet know which German airport he will be flying into. **************************** Scott Quigg will be defending his WBA super bantamweight title in Manchester on 13 September, but while it wont be a big-money unification fight against WBC title-holder Leo Santa Cruz, there’s a good chance that a Mexican will be in the opposite corner. Insider gossip suggests that former WBC boss Victor Terrazas is the name being lined up as the proposed opponent. If true, it makes a lot of sense. As a former champion, Terrazas brings solid credibility. In terms of style, he is similar to Santa Cruz, so he would be a perfect opponent in terms of preparing Quigg for a future bout with Santa Cruz. This is the route being planned by Quigg’s ambitious trainer, Joe Gallagher. Gallagher is keen to launch his fighter onto the American scene, and would happily fight Santa Cruz on the West Coast. He believes Quigg’s style would be popular among American and Latino fight fans, and sees a tempting scenario of a succession of big-money fights against well-known opposition. But as Quigg has yet to be completely proven at elite level, Terrazas would represent an intelligent stepping stone. If Quigg can look good against the former champ, he’d certainly be well-placed for Santa Cruz. If he can then successfully unify the titles, he becomes a legitimate bigtime player. If Terrazas does come over, he’ll be hoping for better fortunes than his last visit to the UK four years ago. Then, the disruption caused by the Icelandic volcanic ash cloud meant that he had to drive overland across Europe for 48 hours to make his rendezvous with Rendall Munroe in a WBC eliminator. Suitably drained, Terrazas started fast, only to fade just as quickly, before eventually succummbing in nine. No doubt he’ll be checking Icelandic volcanic activity reports before booking his passage to Manchester. ********************************** Super middleweight prospect Callum Smith (younger brother of WBO title hopeful Paul), is facing a change of opponent when he is back in action in his home city of Liverpool on 12 July. Smith was booked to fight American southpaw Vladine Biosse, but official word out of New England is that Biosse has damaged a hand and isn’t coming. That’s the official word. The unofficial word is that Biosse’s people have checked out Smith’s work on youtube and decided they have better places to be than Liverpool next month. Smith’s entire camp has been spent working with southpaws, including a recent sparring session with one-time fringe middleweight world title contender Craig McEwan, so the search is on to find a replacement to step in at relatively short notice. It’s not going to be an easy ask. Although still an 11-fight novice, the younger Smith is widely recognised as one of the brightest prospects in world boxing. With nine straight stoppages to his name, the2 4-year-old already looks well beyond domestic class, and there’s a chance he might never fight for the British title. He’s on the outer edges of world level already. You don’t have to travel far to find respected, knowledgeable fight observers who think he might already be too good for the likes of George Groves. But a southpaw is essential for the next step in his education. The hunt is on, and the new opponent can be virtually certain of two things. First, he’s going to be in for a short night’s work. And second, he can expect a hefty pay packet for his efforts. Nick Halling is a commentator for Sky Sports
Star Ocean 5 producer: “there was something not really right” about Star Ocean 4 "We don’t want to repeat that," Kobayashi assures. Star Ocean 5: Integrity and Faithlessness won’t be a repeat of Star Ocean 4: The Last Hope, producer Shuichi Kobayashi assured during an E3 interview with GamesBeat. “As you may know, Star Oceans 1, 2, and 3 were a kind of trilogy, if you like,” Kobayashi said.”That was over. When they started making 4, they didn’t continue to take on the same attitude about development. The feel of the game was slightly different, and the way they produced the story was different as well. I was the producer for 4, and looking at it, there was something not really right. Something didn’t really click. I knew some things weren’t in the right places. “When we were making Star Ocean 4, when it comes to the visual aspect, it was part of Square Enix’s business strategy at that time. In those years, the company was really keen to expand their business in the west. There was a general idea that we should make sure our games had global appeal, not just Japanese appeal. That made things very complicated, really. We used outsourcing companies to establish the story, not just tri-Ace. Our mission back then was to expand the universe, rather than sticking to what we’d already created. We derailed a bit from the main plot, which was another issue we had. We learned a lesson from that experience. “In Star Ocean 5, we’d like to bring back the attitude we had in the first three games. Our priority is going to be to push out a very tri-Ace creative direction. That’s our main pillar and we’ll stick with it. Story-wise and visual-wise, number five is going to have the feel of a direct sequel to Star Oceans one, two, and three. It’ll be very different from Star Ocean 4.” Earlier in the interview, Kobayashi mentioned how people liked the JRPG aesthetic of Star Ocean 3: Till the End of Time, and how “we don’t want to make it halfway toward a game specifically formulated for Western fans,” which he admits they did “exactly that” for Star Ocean: The Last Hope. “We wanted to give the visual element which we believed would be appealing to western gamers, and it didn’t really work for either western or Japanese fans,” Kobayashi said of Star Ocean: The Last Hope. “It was a bit of a muddle, really. We don’t want to repeat that. We just want to establish our image and stick with it.” On of the new details extracted from Star Ocean: Integrity and Faithlessness‘ E3 trailer were the six-character parties. However, the game will actually have parties of more than six characters, Kobayashi confirmed. “Maybe the scene you looked at [in the new trailer] had six characters, but in actual gameplay there will be more than six,” Kobayashi explained. “In more traditional RPGs, as the story unfolds, you get more and more people joining the party. Sometimes, at some point, if you have more than four or six, you have to choose who to form the party with. In this game we don’t have that. We’re going to make all party members featured and physical in the field.” Kobayashi explains that they want to avoid forcing players to pick and choose which members of the cast they keep in their party when they meet new characters. He wouldn’t reveal the exact number of maximum party members, but said that it will be more than six, and “depending on the situation, the phase of the battle, the numbers will be different.” “In some parts of the story, sometimes the party members engage in a fight together with some sort of semi-party members who will not completely join the party, but still participate in battles,” Kobayashi said. Kobayashi also confirmed the return of Private Action scenarios, item creation, and so on. He also added that with so many characters in battle, the AI is going to be “very complex.” You’ll even be able to customize the AI to an extent. Star Ocean: Integrtiy and Faithlessness is due out for PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 3 this winter in Japan, for PlayStation 4 early 2016 in North America and Europe.
"Snapimals is the Pokémon Game the Rest of Us Have Been Waiting For - Everything about Snapimals oozes with charm. It’s a simply feel good game, obviously built with a lot of heart, and has already stolen ours" - Jillian Werner, Gamezebo "I'm addicted to this amazing game. Reminds me of Pokemon Snap, only better" - LoverOfGames_007 Discover extraordinary and quirky animals, snap their photos and build the greatest museum on Earth in Snapimals! With incredible animations, a heartwarming cast of animals and a relaxing soundtrack, kids and adults alike are sure to love the safari photo snapping action waiting to be discovered in Snapimals. Join The Captain and venture to the ends of the world to photograph the rarest, funniest and wildest animals ever spotted! SNAPIMALS FEATURES * EXPLORE Distant Exotic Lands: From the Dino to the Wilds, explore unique islands and discover amazing wildlife. * SNAP Photos of Amazing Animals: Cute, funny and ferocious – There’s an animal for everyone waiting to be discovered in Snapimals! * ENCOUNTER Prehistoric Wonders: Travel to the island of the dinosaurs to see what life was like before man – and capture it with your camera! * BUILD Your World: Expand your museum and collect new photos to become the best builder. Visitors will come from around the world to see your gallery! * LIVE the Moment: Experience a vibrant world through the lens of your trusty camera. * GO WILD: Venture among the animals and see what they really do when nobody's watching. * PLAY with Animals – See the wild side of your favorite animals! Toss goof-balls to discover rare hidden behaviors. * GIFT and SHARE special gifts, including a possibility of Camera Rolls from your friends * UPGRADE your Camera – Unlock upgrades to zoom in and get up close and personal with the animals. Use special 3D Touch controls for Zoom and ‘Peek and Pop’ for iPhone 6s. * COMPLETE the Captain’s Collection - Snap and Collect all the Captain’s sought after pics * CONSERVE and Collect: Spread awareness of natural wonders, one photo at a time. Most recent update: * NEW * DAILY SNAP EVENT - Complete the Daily Snap challenge to unlock tours to yet uncharted lands! * NEW * FERRIS WHEEL OF FORTUNE- Engage in delightful Spins for rewards like Gems and Golden Tickets! Snapimals is a wildlife adventure unlike any other! Join your favorite animals in the wild, snap pics to fill out your collection, and build the most amazing museum the world has ever seen!
The first thing you instinctively want to do after strapping on a VR headset and diving into a virtual world is to reach out and touch what you see. Unfortunately, this is not a reality on today's most popular VR headsets. Well, official support isn't. Instead, VR headsets either rely on traditional gamepads like the Xbox One controller (Oculus Rift), custom hand controllers (HTC Vive/Rift), side-mounted touchpads on the headset (Samsung Gear VR), or wireless remotes (Google Daydream View). I've tried all of these controls, and while they work fine, none of them feel completely intuitive or natural; there's a learning curve for all of them. The Vive's hand controllers and the Rift's Touch controllers are good attempts at mimicking your hands, but neither provides full-finger tracking. The people at Leap Motion have figured out how to change that. The startup has been working on its hand-tracking technology, called Orion, that works with its motion controller sensor. With the sensor strapped to the front of a VR headset and Orion running, users can experience VR with their hands (and every finger and joint) without the need for any physical controllers. Orion has been available for the Rift and Vive since earlier this year, but now the company is taking it to the next level with the "Leap Motion Mobile Platform" which is the same setup but designed for mobile VR. Michael Buckwald, Leap Motion's CEO and co-cofounder, told me the company is targeting mobile VR headsets because it's the easiest entry point into VR for consumers since they don't need a powerful PC; all they need is a headset and a smartphone. Leap Motion isn't getting into the VR headset business. The Leap Motion Mobile Platform is really a system the company hopes VR headset makers will license and integrate. Leap Motion built a reference design for the Gear VR with the Leap Motion module embedded within a cover. Image: raymond wong/mashable As a proof of concept, Leap Motion built a reference design that straps over the front of the latest Gear VR and connects via its pass-through USB-C port. What I saw won't be released as a consumer product, but if mobile VR headset makers like Samsung incorporate the technology into their headsets, the issues of immersive controls will be a thing of the past. Having never tried Orion, I was a little skeptical of its hand-tracking. When the Leap Motion sensor launched in 2013 and promised Minority Report-esque air gesture controls for computers, it didn't exactly set the world on fire. It was laden with buggy software and inaccurate gestures. But all of that is in the past. The Leap Motion Mobile Platform is the real deal. Leap Motion increased the speed by 10x and the controller' dual camera field of view from 140 x 120 degrees to 180 x 180 degrees. The result from the new, more sophisticated module (see below), is faster hand-tracking with virtually no latency for more realistic 1:1 hand controls. The new Leap Motion module is 10x faster. Image: raymond wong/mashable My demo was only about 15-20 minutes, but it was enough to convince me that real hand-tracking is the future of VR controls. The demo I tried put me in a rudimentary cyberspace chamber (nothing graphically fancy) that felt very much like the toy box demo I tried with the Oculus Rift at CES earlier this year. With my hands held out in front of me, the Leap Motion sensor embedded within the Gear VR cover replicated them into the VR world. When I wiggled my fingers in real life my virtual fingers also wiggled. I was blown away by how accurate the tracking was; there was no motion blur and even when I held my hands out in a chopping like position with my ring and pinky fingers obscured by the fingers in front, the sensor still knew they were there. Image: raymond wong/mashable Within seconds I built blocks and balls and stacked them on one another in virtual space using simple gestures. All I had to do was select the shape from a menu that appeared when I opened my palm and then use both hands (thumbs + index fingers) to pull them apart to make them larger and smaller. I launched a ball into the air with a makeshift catapult I made out of a long block. I played catch with another person (that's right, multiple people can connect and interact simultaneously with all virtual objects). I high-fived and fist-bumped another person's virtual hand. I was able to reverse gravity by raising the virtual ground up with two hands and manipulate objects as they floated in zero-gravity. Your hands are the ultimate controller for VR. Image: raymond wong/mashable I felt like a god, making objects out of thin air and hurling them into the air. I felt like a god, making objects out of thin air and hurling them into the air. All of the objects have physics to them, too. Although, since there's no haptic feedback, you can't really get a sense of depth, so for example, when I threw an object, I wasn't sure how far it would go. Still, the ability the touch objects in VR with my real fingers was enough to get me hooked. I'm also told the Leap Motion sensor for VR is very low-power and only eats up about 5 percent of a phone's battery life. Despite the short demo, the lag-free hand-tracking was so darn impressive (and didn't make me nauseous) that I could have spent hours playing with the VR blocks. I genuinely didn't want to take off the headset. Compared to PC-based VR headsets, mobile VR headsets are somewhat handicapped when it comes to controls. Gear VR cleverly integrates a touchpad and DayDream View has a slot to store the touchpad remote, but neither are perfect. It's tiring to hold your hand up to the headset and you could lose the remote. With Leap Motion Mobile Platform, there are no remotes to misplace and your arms don't get any more fatigued than real life. Virtual reality has this stigma of being a very isolated experience; you are, after all, cut off from the outside world. But VR can also be very social, as Facebook CEO Mark Zuckeberg demonstrated with the Oculus Rift and Oculus Touch controllers at F8 this year. Adding realistic hand-tracking to mobile VR is only going to accelerate its social use case, if only because the Leap Motion Mobile Platform doesn't even need any external cameras (like with the Rift and Vive) for hand-tracking to work. I can already picture a near future where people, millions of miles apart, put on a Leap Motion-equipped Gear VR and enter a virtual forum or playground and play ping pong in VR with nothing but their hands. The goal right now is to get VR makers and developers on board with its hand-tracking sensor and software tools. There are certain experiences like shooting games where a physical controller makes more sense and feels more realistic with a trigger and buttons, but for most typical VR experiences, hands are the most natural input and Leap Motion is way ahead of the pack.
(Image: Screenshot/YouTube) No matter who is in charge of the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) they just always seem to find a way to get themselves in the news for negative reasons. The latest atrocity with the VA involves U.S. Army veteran Sgt. John Toombs. A friend of Toombs posted a video to YouTube on Nov. 24, in which Toombs explaining that he had been discharged on Nov. 22 from the VA hospital in Murfreesboro, Tenn. for “trivial reasons” after seeking treatment for Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and severe depression. Just hours after recording the video, Toombs committed suicide by hanging himself in an abandoned building on VA grounds. Toombs said in the video: Earlier today I was discharged for trivial reasons. They knew the extent of my problems. When I asked for help, they opened up a Pandora's box inside of me and kicked me out the door. Toombs' father, David, claimed that his son had been discharged for confronting a doctor at the VA hospital. The Health System Director, Jennifer Vedral-Baron, released a statement regarding the situation: A tragic incident occurred at the VA Tennessee Valley Healthcare System (TVHS) Alvin C. York campus in Murfreesboro, TN. At approximately 6:40 a.m., Wednesday, November 23, 2016, personnel arriving for work discovered Mr. John Toombs, an Army Veteran, deceased in an apparent suicide. This is a heart wrenching tragedy for everyone involved. Out of respect for the Veteran and his family, we are unable to speak further about the specifics of his care and benefits in accordance with his privacy rights under HIPAA. Management and staff of TVHS offer our sincere condolences, and our thoughts and prayers are with Mr. Toombs’ family and friends. Suicide is a tragic outcome and even one suicide is one too many. VA is committed to ensuring the safety of our Veterans, especially when they are in crisis. Veterans, Servicemembers, and their loved ones in crisis can call the Veterans Crisis Line at 1-800-273-8255 and press 1, send a text message to 838255, or chat online at VeteransCrisisLine.net to receive free, confidential support 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year, even if they are not registered with VA or enrolled in VA health care. If the VA truly is “committed to ensuring the safety of our veterans,” then the question here is, why didn't they ensure the safety of someone who came to them for help? It's not a question that's readily answered in Toombs' video or the VA's statement, but it's definitely one worth asking. “There’s got to be some kind of reform, and this is the time to start,” Toombs' father said. “That’s why he made the video – he wanted to say that.” We can only hope that the VA continues to correct its many well-documented failings and better strives to help all those who have sacrificed to serve our country. Rest in Peace, Sgt. Toombs. For the video of Toombs' last public words, watch below: H/T: American Military News
BREAKING: James Comey plans to testify that Trump pushed him to end FBI probe into aide’s Russia ties, a source says https://t.co/V6AskneABk pic.twitter.com/RV2GkY1Dr1 This of course, according to CNN. However, if true, then he’s going to have a difficult time explaining why he didn’t report it or why his testimony and that of his chief deputy disputes it. Via Free Beacon Former FBI Director James Comey will publicly testify before Congress as early as next week that President Trump pressed him to end the investigation into former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn’s ties to Russia, according to CNN. Comey reportedly kept notes on his private conversations with Trump. Regarding the probe into Flynn’s links to Russia, the New York Times reported that Comey wrote a memo that Trump told him “I hope you can let this go.” In another conversation, the president asked for Comey’s “loyalty.” Keep reading…
The ecological challenges of Tesla’s Gigafactory and the Model 3 A long but well researched article on the limitations of the materials needed for a transition to EVs….. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Many electric car advocates are heralding the advent of Tesla’s enormous battery factory, known as the “Gigafactory,” and its new Model 3 electric sedan as great advances for the environment. What they are overlooking are the large quantities of energy and resources that are consumed in lithium-ion battery manufacturing and how these quantities might increase in the future as the production of electric vehicles (EVs) and battery storage ramps up. Most of the credible life cycle assessment (LCA) studies for different lithium-ion chemistries find large large greenhouse gas emissions per kWh of battery. Here are the CO 2 -eq emissions per kWh with the battery chemistry listed in parentheses: Hao et al. (2017): 110 kg (LFP), 104 kg (NMC), 97 kg (LMO) Ellingsen et al. (2014): 170 kg (NMC) Dunn et al. (2012): 40 kg (LMO) Majeau-Bettez et al. (2011): 200 kg (NMC), 240 kg (LFP) Ou et al (2010): 290 kg (NMC) Zackrisson et al (2010): 440 kg (LFP) Dunn et al. and Hao et al. are based on the GREET model developed by Argonne National Laboratory, which sums up the steps in the process and is based on the estimated energy consumption for each step. In contrast, Ellingsen et al. and Zackrisson et al. are based on the total energy consumption used by a working battery factory, which better captures all the energy in the processing steps, but the data is old and the battery factory was not very energy efficient, nor was it operating at full capacity. Battery manufacturing is getting more energy efficient over time and the energy density of the batteries is increasing by roughly 7% a year, so less materials are needed per kWh of battery. It is also worth noting that no LCA studies have been conducted on the NCA chemistry used by Tesla. NCA has very high emissions per kg due to the large amount of nickel in the cathode, but is very energy dense, so less total material is needed per kWh, so it is probably similar in emissions to NMC. The big debate in the LCA studies of battery manufacturing is how much energy is consumed per kWh of battery in the battery factory. In terms of MJ per kWh of battery, Ellingsen et al. estimate 586 MJ, Zachrisson et al. estimate 451 MJ and Majeu-Bettez et al. estimate 371-473 MJ. However, the energy for the drying rooms and factory equipment is generally fixed, regardless of the throughput. Ellingsen et al (2014) found that the energy expended to manufacture a kWh of battery could vary as much as 4 times, depending on whether the factory is operating at full capacity or partial capacity. Since the Gigafactory will probably be operating a full capacity and energy efficiency is improving, let’s assume between 100 MJ and 150 MJ per kWh of battery in the Gigafactory (which converts to 28 – 42 kWh per kWh of battery). It is unlikely to be significantly less, because it is more energy efficient to burn natural gas for the drying rooms than use electric heaters, but the Gigafactory will have to use electric heaters to meet Musk’s goal of 100% renewable energy. If producing 105 GWh of batteries per year at 100 – 150 MJ per kWh, plus another 45 GWh of packs with batteries from other factories at 25 MJ per kWh, the Gigafactory will consume between 3,229 and 4,688 GWh per year, which is between 8.3% and 12.0% of the total electrical generation in Nevada in 2016. I calculate that 285 MW of solar panels can be placed on the roof of the Gigafactory and they will only generate 600 GWh per year, assuming a yearly average of 7.16 kWh/m2/day of solar radiation, 85% (1.3 million m2) of the roof will be covered, 20% efficiency in the panels and a 10% system loss. Solar panels in dusty locations such as Nevada loose roughly 25% of their output if they are not regularly cleaned. Although robots have been developed to clean panels with brushes, water will most likely be used to clean the Gigafactory’s panels. A study by Sandia National Laboratory found that photovoltaic energy plants in Nevada consume 0.0520 acre-feet of water per MW of nameplate capacity per year. The solar panels at the Gigafactory will probably have 25% less area per MW than the solar panels in the Sandia study, so we can guesstimate that the solar panels on the Gigafactory roof will consume 11.1 acre-feet or 13,700 cubic meters of water per year. Solar panels can also be placed on the ground around the factory, and but consider the fact that the Gigafactory will only receive 4.23 kWh/m2/day in December, compared to 9.81 kWh/m2/day in July. With less than half the energy from the panels during the winter, the Gigafactory will need other sources of energy during the times when it is cloudy and the sun’s rays are more indirect. Even during the summer, the Gigafactory will probably have to use temporary battery storage to smooth out the solar output or get additional energy with electric utilities which use gas peaking, battery storage or buy energy from the regional grid to give the Gigafactory a stable supply of electricity. The original mockup of the Gigafactory showed wind turbines on the hillsides around the plant, but wind energy will not work onsite, because the area has such low wind speed. A weather station in the Truckee River valley along I-80, near the Gigafactory, measures an average wind speed of 3.3 m/s at a height of 6 meters, although the wind speed is probably higher at the site of the Gigafactory. Between 4 to 5 m/s is the minimum wind speed to start generating any energy, and between 5 and 6 m/s is generally considered the minimum for wind turbines to be economically viable. It might be possible to erect viable wind turbines onsite with 150 m towers to capture better wind, but the high costs make it likely that Tesla will forgo that option. The region has good geothermal energy at depths of 4000 to 6000 feet and this energy is not variable like solar and wind. However, there is a great deal of risk in geothermal exploration which costs $10 million to drill a test well. It is more likely that Tesla will try to buy geothermal energy from nearby producers, but geothermal energy in the region is already in heavy demand, due to the clean energy mandates from California, so it won’t be cheap. Despite Musk’s rhetoric about producing 100% of the Gigafactory’s energy onsite from renewable sources, Tesla knows that it is highly unrealistic, which is why it negotiated to get $8 million in electricity rebates from the state of Nevada over an 8 year period. It is possible that the Gigafactory will buy hydroelectric energy from Washington or Oregon, but California already competes for that electricity. If Tesla wants a diversified supply of renewable energy to balance out the variability of its solar panels, it will probably have to provide guaranteed returns for third parties to build new geothermal plants or wind farms in the region. I would guesstimate that between 2/3 of the electricity consumed by the Gigafactory will come from the standard Nevada grid, whereas 1/3 will be generated onsite or be bought from clean sources. In 2016, utility-scale electricity generation in Nevada was 72.8% natural gas, 5.5% coal, 4.5% hydroelectric, 0.9% wind, 5.7% PV solar, 0.6% concentrated solar, 9.8% geothermal, 0.14% biomass and 0.03% petroleum coke. If we use the grams of CO 2 -eq per kWh estimated by IPCC AR5 WGIII and Bruckner et al (2014), then natural gas emits 595 g, coal emits 1027 g, petroleum emits 880 g, hydroelectric emits 24 g, terrestrial wind emits 11 g, utility PV solar emits 48 g, residential PV solar emits 41 g, concentrated solar emits 27 g, geothermal emits 38 g and biomass emits 230 g. Based on those emission rates, grid electricity in Nevada emits 499 g CO 2 -eq per kWh. If 2/3 comes from the grid and 1/3 comes from rooftop PV solar or a similar clean source, then the electricity used in the Gigafactory will emit 346 g CO 2 per kWh. If consuming between 3,229 and 4,688 GWh per year, the Gigafactory will emit between 1.12 and 1.62 megatonnes of CO2-eq per year, which represents between 3.1% and 4.5% of the greenhouse gas emissions that the state of Nevada produced in 2014 according to the World Resources Institute. Aside from the GHG emissions from the Gigafactory, it is necessary to consider the greenhouse gas emissions from mining, refining and processing the materials used in the Gigafactory. The materials used in batteries consume a tremendous amount of energy and resources to produce. The various estimates of the energy to produce the materials in batteries and their greenhouse gas emissions shows the high impact that battery manufacturing has on the planet. To get some idea of how much materials will be used in the NCA cells produced by the Gigafactory, I attempted to do a rough calculation of the weight of materials in 1 kWh of cells. Taking the weight breakdown of an NMC battery cell in Olofsson and Romare (2013), I used the same weight percentages for the cathode, electrolyte, anode and packaging, but scaled the energy density up from 233 kW per kg in the NCA cells in 2014 to 263 kW per kg, which is a 13% increase, since Telsa claims a 10% to 15% increase in energy density in the Gigafactory’s cells. Then, I estimated the weight of the components in the cathode, using 76% nickel, 14% cobalt, and 10% aluminum and some stochiometry to calculate the lithium and oxygen compared to the rest of the cathode materials. The 2170 cells produced by the Gigafactory will probably have different weight ratios between their components, and they will have more packaging materials than the pouch cells studied by Olofsson and Romare, but this provides a basic idea how much material will be consumed in the Tesla cells. The estimates of the energy, the emissions of carbon dioxide equivalent, sulfur dioxide equivalent, phosphorous equivalent and human toxicity to produce the metals are taken from Nuss and Eckelman (2014), which are process-sum estimates based on the EcoInvent database. These are estimates to produce generic metals, not the highly purified metals used in batteries, and the process-sum methodology generally underestimates the emissions, so the estimates should be taken with a grain of salt but they do give some idea about the relative impact of the different components in battery cells since they use the same methodology in their calculations. At this point we still don’t know how large the battery will be in the forthcoming Model 3, but it has been estimated to have a capacity of 55 kWh based on a range of 215 miles for the base model and a 20% reduction in the size of the car compared to the Model S. At that battery size, the cells in the Model 3 will contain 6.3 kg of lithium, 26.4 kg of nickel, 4.9 kg of cobalt, 27.9 kg of aluminum, 56.6 kg of copper and 21.0 kg of graphite. Even more concerning is the total impact of the Gigafactory when it ramps up to its planned capacity of 150 GWh per year. Originally, the Gigafactory was scheduled to produce 35 GWh of lithium ion batteries by 2020, plus package an additional 15 GWh of cells produced in other factories. After Tesla received 325,000 preorders for the Model 3 within a week of being announced on March 31, 2016, the company ambitiously announced that it would triple its planned battery production and be able to produce 500,000 cars a year by 2018–two years earlier than initially planned. Now Elon Musk is talking about building 2 to 4 additional Gigafactories and one is rumored to have signed a deal to build one of them in Shanghai. If the components for 1 kWh of Gigafactory batteries is correct and the Nevada plant manages to produce as much as Musk predicts, then the Gigafactory and the cells it packages from other battery factories will consume 17,119 tonnes of lithium, 71,860 tonnes of nickel, 13,292 tonnes of cobalt, 154,468 tonnes of copper and 75,961 tonnes of aluminum. All of these metals except aluminum have limited global reserves, and North America doesn’t have enough production capacity to hope to supply all the demand of the Gigafactory, except in the case of aluminum and possibly copper. When the Gigafactory was originally announced, Telsa made statements about sourcing the battery materials from North America which would both reduce its costs and lower the environmental impact of its batteries. These claims should be treated with skepticism. The Gigafactory will reduce the transportation emissions in battery manufacturing, since it will be shipping directly from the refineries and processors, but the transportation emissions will still be very high because North America simply doesn’t produce enough of the metals needed by the Gigafactory. If the Gigafactory manufacturers 150 GWh of batteries per year, then it will consume almost 200 times more lithium than North America produced in 2013. In addition, it will also consume 166% of the cobalt, 133% of the natural graphite, 25.7% of the nickel, and 5.6% of the copper produced by North American mines in 2016. Presumably synthetic graphite will be used instead of natural graphite because it has a higher purity level of carbon and more uniform spheroid flakes which allow for the easier flow of electrons in the cathode, but most synthetic graphite comes from Asia. Only in the case of aluminum does it seem likely that the metal will come entirely from North America, since Gigafactory will consume 1.9% of North American mine production and the US has excess aluminum refining capacity and no shortage of bauxite. Even when considering that roughly 45 GWh of the battery cells will come from external battery factories which are presumably located in Asia, the Gigafactory will overwhelm the lithium and cobalt markets in North America, and strain the local supplies of nickel and copper. Shipping from overseas contributes to greenhouse gases, but shipping over water is very energy efficient. The Gigafactory is located at a nexus of railroad lines, so it can efficiently ship the battery materials coming from Asia through the port of Oakland. The bigger problem is that most ships on international waters use dirty bunker fuels that contain 2.7% sulfur on average, so they release large quantities of sulfur dioxide into the atmosphere that cause acid rain and respiratory diseases. A larger concern than the emissions from shipping is the fact that the production of most of these battery materials is an energy intensive process that consumes between 100 and 200 mejajoules per kg. The aluminum, copper, nickel and cobalt produced by North America is likely to come from places powered by hydroelectric dams in Canada and natural gas in the US, so they are comparatively cleaner. Most of the metal refining and graphite production in Asia and Australia, however, is done by burning coal. Most of the places that produce battery materials either lack strong pollution controls, as is the case in Russia, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Zambia, Philippines or New Caledonia, or they use dirty sources of energy, as is the case in China, India, Australia, the DRC, Zambia, Brazil and Madagascar. Most of the world’s lithium traditionally came from pumping lithium rich subsurface water out of the salt flats of Tibet, northeast Chile, northwest Argentina and Nevada, but the places with concentrated lithium brines are rapidly being exhausted. The US Geological Survey estimates that China’s annual production of lithium which mostly comes from salt flats in Tibet has fallen from 4500 tonnes in 2012 to just 2000 tonnes in 2016. Silver Peak, Nevada, which is the only place in North America where lithium is currently extracted, may be experiencing similar production problems due to the exhaustion of its lithium, but its annual production numbers are confidential. Since 1966 when brine extraction began in Silver Peak, the concentration of lithium in the water has fallen from 360 to 230 ppm (parts per million), and it is probably around 200 ppm today. At that concentration of lithium, 14,300 liters of water need to be extracted to produce 1 kg of battery-grade lithium metal. This subsurface water is critical in a state that only receives an average of 9 inches of rain per year. Parts of Nevada are already suffering from water rationing, so a massive expansion of lithium extraction is an added stress, but the biggest risk is that brine operations may contaminate the ground water. 30% of Nevada’s water is pumped from underground aquifers, so protecting this resource is vitally important. Lithium-rich water is passed through a series of 4 or 5 evaporation pools over a series of 12 to 18 months, where it is converted to lithium chloride, which is toxic to plants and aquatic life and can contaminate the ground water. Adams-Kszos and Stewart (2003) measured the effect of lithium chloride contamination in aquatic species 150 miles away from brine operations in Nevada. As the lithium concentrations fall in the water, more energy is expended in pumping water and evaporating it to concentrate the lithium for processing. Argonne National Laboratory estimates that it takes 3 times as much energy to extract a tonne of lithium in Silver Peak, Nevada as in the Atacama Salt Flats of Chile, where the lithium is 7 times more concentrated. Most of the lithium in Chile and Argentina is produced with electricity from diesel generators, but in China and Australia it comes from burning coal, which is even worse. For every kg of battery-grade lithium, 4.4 kg of slaked lime is consumed to remove magnesium and calcium from the brine in Silver Peak. The process of producing this lime from limestone releases 0.713 kg of CO 2 for every kg of lime. In addition, 5 kg of soda ash (Na 2 CO 3 ) is added for each kilo of battery-grade lithium to precipitate it as lithium carbonate. Production of soda ash is also an energy intensive process which produces greenhouse gases. Although lithium is an abundant element and can be found in ocean water and salty lakes, there are only 4 places on the planet where it is concentrated enough without contaminants to be economically extracted from the water and the few places with concentrated lithium water are rapidly being exploited. In 2008, Meridian International estimated that 2 decades of mining had extracted 20% of the lithium from the epicenter of the Atacama Salt Flats where lithium concentrations are above 3000 ppm. According to Meridian’s calculations, the world only had 4 million tonnes of high-concentration lithium brine reserves remaining in 2008. As the best concentrations of lithium brine are being exhausted, extraction is increasingly moving to mining pegmatites, such as spodumene. North Carolina, Russia and Canada shut down their pegmatite operations because they couldn’t compete with the cheap cost of lithium from the salt flats of Chile and Argentine, but Australia and Zimbabwe have dramatically increased their production of lithium from pegmatites in recent years. Between 2004 and 2016, the percentage of global lithium from pegmatites increased from 39% to 44%. In 2016, Australia produced 40.9% of the global lithium supply by processing spodumene, which is an extremely energy-intensive process. It takes 125 MJ of energy to extract a kilo of lithium from Chile’s salt flats, whereas 850 MJ is consumed to extract the same amount of lithium from spodumene in Australia. The spodumene is crushed, so it can be passed through a flotation beneficiation process to produce a concentrate. That concentrate is then heated to 1100ºC to change the crystal structure of the mineral. Then, the spodumene is ground and mixed with sulfuric acid and heated to 250ºC to form lithium sulfate. Water is added to dissolve the lithium sulfate and it is filtered before adding soda ash which causes it to precipitate as lithium carbonate. As lithium extraction increasingly moves to pegmatites and salt flats with lower lithium concentrations, the energy consumption will dramatically increase to produce lithium in the future. Likewise, the energy to extract nickel and cobalt will also increase in future. The nickel and cobalt from Canada and the copper from the United States, generally comes from sulfide ores, which require much less energy to refine, but these sulfide reserves are limited. The majority of nickel and cobalt, and a sizable proportion of the copper used by the Gigafactory will likely come from places which present ethical challenges. Nickel from sulfide ores generally consumes less than 100 MJ of energy per kg, whereas nickel produced from laterite ores consumes between 252 and 572 MJ per kg. All the sulfide sources emit less than 10 kg of CO 2 per kg of nickel, whereas the greenhouse gas emissions from laterite sources range from 25 to 46 kg CO 2 per kg of nickel. It is generally better to acquire metals from sulfide ores, since they emit fewer greenhouse gases and they generally come from deeper in the ground, whereas laterite ores generally are produced by open pit and strip mining which causes greater disruption of the local ecology. Between 2004 and 2016, the percentage of global primary production of nickel from laterite ores increase from 40% to 60% and that percentage will continue to grow in the future, since 72% of global nickel “resources” are laterites according to the US Geological Survey. Cobalt is a byproduct of copper or nickel mining. The majority of the sulfide ores containing copper/cobalt are located in places like Norilsk, Russia, Zambia and the Katanga Province of the Democratic Republic of Congo, where there are no pollution controls to capture the large amounts of sulfur dioxide and heavy metals released by smelting. The refineries in Norilsk, Russia, which produce 11% of the world’s nickel and 5% of its cobalt, are so polluting, that nothing grows within a 20 kilometer radius of the refineries and it is reported that Norilsk has the highest rates of lung cancer in the world. The Democratic Republic of Congo currently produces 54% of the world’s cobalt and 5% of its copper. Buying cobalt from the DRC helps fuel a civil war in the Katanga Province where the use of children soldiers and systematic rape are commonplace. Zambia, which is located right over the border from Katanga Province, produces 4% of the world’s cobalt and copper and it also has very lax pollution controls for metal refining. Most of the cobalt and nickel produced by the DRC and Zambia is shipped to China for refining by burning coal. China has cracked down on sulfur dioxide and heavy metal emissions in recent years, and now the DRC is attempting to do more of the refining within its own borders. The problem is that the DRC produces most of its energy from hydroelectric dams in tropical rainforests, which is the dirtiest energy on the planet. According to the IPCC (AR5 WGIII 2014), hydroelectric dams typically emit a medium of 24 g of CO 2 -eq per kWh, but tropical dams accumulate large amounts of vegetation which collect at the bottom of the dam where bacteria feeding on the decaying matter release methane (CH4) in the absence of oxygen. There have been no measurements of the methane released by dams in the DRC, but studies of 3 Amazonian hydroelectric dams found that they emit an average of 2556 g CO2-eq per kWh. Presumably the CO 2 from these dams would have been emitted regardless of whether the vegetation falls on the forest floor or in a dam, but rainforest dams are unique environments without oxygen that produces methane. If we only count the methane emissions, then Amazonian hydroelectric dams emit an average of 2044 g CO2-eq per kWh. Any refining of copper/cobalt in the DRC and Zambia or nickel/cobalt in Brazil will likely use this type of energy which emits twice as much greenhouse gases as coal. To avoid the ethical problems with obtaining nickel and cobalt from Russia and cobalt and copper from the DRC and Zambia, the Gigafactory will have to consume metals from laterite ores in places like Cuba, New Caledonia, Philippines, Indonesia and Madagascar, which dramatically increases the greenhouse gas emissions of these metals. The nickel/cobalt ore from Moa, Cuba is shipped to Sherritts’ refineries in Canada, so presumably it will be produced with pollution controls in Cuba and Canada and relatively clean sources of energy. In contrast, the nickel/cobalt mining in the Philippines and New Caledonia has generated protracted protests by the local population who are effected by the contamination of their water, soil and air. When Vale’s $6 billion high pressure acid leaching plant in Goro, New Caledonia leaked 100,000 liters of acid-tainted effluent leaked into a local river in May 2014, protesters frustrated by the unaccountability of the mining giant burned a third of its trucks and one of its buildings, causing between $20 and $30 million in damages. The mining companies extracting nickel and cobalt in the Philippines have shown so little regard for the health of the local people, that the public outcry induced the Duterte administration to recently announce that it will prohibit all open pit mining of nickel. If this pronouncement is enforced, the operations of 28 of the 41 companies mining nickel/cobalt in the country will be shut down and the global supply of nickel will be reduced between 8% and 10%. Most refining of laterite ores in the world is done with dirty energy, which is problematic because these ores require so much more energy than sulfide ores. Much of the copper/cobalt from the DRC and Zambia and the nickel/cobalt from the Philippines is shipped to China where it is refined with coal. The largest nickel/cobalt laterite mine and refinery in the world is the Ambatovy Project in Madagascar. Although the majority of the electricity on the island comes from hydroelectric dams, the supply is so limited that Ambatovy constructed three 30 MW coal-powered generators, plus 30 MW diesel powered generators. It is highly likely that many of the LCA studies of lithium-ion batteries have underestimated the energy and greenhouse gas emissions to produce their metals, because they assume that the lithium comes from brine operations and the copper, nickel and cobalt come from sulfide ores with high metal concentrations. As lithium extraction increasingly shifts to spodumene mining and nickel and cobalt mining shifts to laterite ores, the greenhouse gas emissions to produce these metals will dramatically increase. As the global production of lithium-ion batteries ramps up, the most concentrated ores for these metals will become exhausted, so that mining will move to less-concentrated sources, which require more energy and resources in the extraction and processing. In 1910, copper ore in the US contained 1.9% copper. By 1950, this percentage had fallen to 0.9% copper, and by 1980 it was at 0.5% copper. As the concentration of copper in the ore has fallen, the environmental impact of extraction has risen. In a study of the smelting and refining of copper and nickel, Norgate and Rankin (2000) found that the energy consumption, greenhouse gas emissions and sulfur dioxide emissions per kg of metal rose gradually when changing from ore with 3% or 2% metal to 1% metal, but below 1% the environmental impacts increased dramatically. MJ/kg, CO2/kg and SO2/kg doubled when moving from ore with 1% metal to ore with 0.5% metal, and they doubled again when moving to 0.25% metal. Producing a kilo of copper today in the US has double the environmental impact of a kg of copper half a century ago and it will probably have 4 times the impact in the future. The enormous demand for metals by battery manufacturers will force the mining companies to switch to less and less concentrated ores and consume more energy in their extraction. If the Nevada Gigafactory produces 150 GWh of batteries per year, then it will dramatically reduce the current global reserves listed by the US Geological survey. The Nevada Gigafatory will cut the current global lithium reserves from 400 to 270 years, assuming that current global consumption in other sectors does not change (which is highly unlikely). If the Gigafactory consumes metals whose recycled content is the US average recycling rate, then the current global copper reserves will be reduced from 37.1 to 36.9 years, the nickel reserves from 34.7 to 33.9 years, and the cobalt reserves from 56.9 to 52.5 years. Recycling at the Gigafactory will not dramatically reduce its demand for metals. If we assume that 80% of the metal consumed by the Gigafactory will come from recycled content starting in 15 years when batteries start to be returned for recycling, then current global reserves will be extended 0.04 years for copper, 0.09 years for nickel, 0.9 years for cobalt. Only in the case of lithium will recycling make a dramatic difference, extending the current reserves 82 years for lithium. The prospects for global shortages of these metals will become even more dire if the 95.0 million vehicles that the world produced in 2016 were all long-range electrics as Elon Musk advocates for “sustainable transport.” If the average vehicle (including all trucks and buses) has a 50 kWh battery, then the world would need to produce 4750 GWh of batteries per year just for electric vehicles. With energy storage for the electrical grid, that total will probably double, so 64 Gigafactories will be needed. Even that might not enough. In Leonardo de Caprio’s documentary Before the Flood, Elon Musk states, “We actually did the calculations to figure out what it would take to transition the whole world to sustainable energy… and you’d need 100 Gigafactories.” Lithium-ion batteries will get more energy dense in the future, but they are unlikely to reach the high energy density of the NCA cells produced in the Gigafactory, if using the LMO or LFP chemistries. For that kind of energy density, they will probably need either an NCA or an altered NMC chemistry which is 70%-80% nickel, so the proportion of lithium, nickel, cobalt and copper in most future EV batteries is likely to be similar to the Gigafactory’s NCA cells. If 4750 GWh of these batteries are produced every year at an energy density of 263 Wh/kg, then the current global reserves will be used up in 24.5 years for lithium, 31.2 years for copper, 20.2 years for nickel, and 15.4 years for cobalt. Even if those batteries are produced with 80% recycled metals, starting in 15 years time, the current global lithium reserves would be extended 6.6 years, or 7.4 years if all sectors switch to using 80% recycled lithium. Using 80% recycled metal in the batteries would extend current copper, nickel and cobalt reserves by 0.7, 0.5 and 0.1 years, respectively. An 80% recycling rate in all sectors would make a difference for copper, extending its reserves by 11.5 years, but only 2.8 years for nickel and 0.2 years for cobalt. In other words, recycling will not significantly reduce the enormous stresses that lithium-ion batteries will place on global metal supplies, because they represent so much new demand for metals. As the demand for these metals increases, the prices will increase and new sources of these metals will be found, but they will either be in places like the DRC with ethical challenges or in places with lower quality ores which require more energy and resources to extract and refine. We can expect more energy-intensive mining of spodumene and more strip mining of laterite ores which cause more ecological disruption. The ocean floor has enormous quantities of manganese, nickel, copper and cobalt, but the energy and resources to scrap the bottom of the ocean will dramatically increase the economic and ecological costs. If battery manufacturing dramatically raises the prices of lithium, nickel, cobalt, copper (and manganese for NMC cells), then it will be doubly difficult to transition to a sustainable civilization in other areas. For example, nickel and cobalt are essential to making carbide blades, tool dies and high-temperature turbine blades and copper is a vital for wiring, electronics and electrical motors. It is hard to imagine how the whole world will transition to a low-carbon economy if these metals are made prohibitively expensive by manufacturing over a billion lithium-ion batteries for EVs. Future batteries will probably be able to halve their weight by switching to a solid electrolyte and using an anode made of lithium metal, lithiated silicon or carbon nanotubes (graphene), but that will only eliminate the copper, while doing little to reduce the demand for the other metals. Switching the anode to spongy silicon or graphene will allow batteries to hold more charge per kilogram, but those materials also dramatically increase the cost and the energy and resources that are consumed in battery manufacturing. In the near future, lithium-ion batteries are likely to continue to follow their historical trend of using 7% less materials each year to hold the same amount of charge. That rate of improvement, however, is unlikely to last. An NCA cathode currently holds a maximum of 200 mAh of energy per gram, but its theoretical maximum is 279 mAh/g. It has already achieved 72% of what is theoretically possible, so there is little scope to keep improving. NMC at 170 mAh/g is currently farther from its theoretical limit of 280 mAh/g, but the rate of improvement is likely to slow as these battery chemistries bump against their theoretical limits. Clearly the planet doesn’t have the resources to build 95 million long-range electric vehicles each year that run on lithium-ion batteries. Possibly a new type of battery will be invented that only uses common materials, such as aluminum, zinc, sodium and sulfur, but all the batteries that have been conceived with these sorts of material still have significant drawbacks. Maybe a new type of battery will be invented that is suitable for vehicles or the membranes in fuel cells will become cheap enough to make hydrogen a viable competitor, but at this point, lithium-ion batteries appear likely to dominate electric vehicles for the foreseeable future. The only way EVs based on lithium-ion can become a sustainable solution for transport is if the world learns to live with far fewer vehicles. Currently 3% more vehicles are being built each year, and there is huge demand for vehicles in the developing world. While demand for cars has plateaued in the developed world, vehicle manufacturing since 1999 has grown 17.4% and 10.5% per year in China and India, respectively. If the developing world follows the unsustainable model of vehicle ownership found in the developed world, then the transition to electrified transport will cause severe metal shortages. Based on current trends, Navigant Research predicts that 129.9 million vehicles will be built in the year 2035, when there will be 2 billion vehicles on the road. On the other hand, James Arbib and Tony Seba believe that autonomous vehicles and Transport as a Service (TaaS) such as Uber and Lyft will dramatically reduce demand for vehicles, lowering the number of passenger vehicles on American roads from 247 to 44 million by 2030. If 95% of passenger miles are autonomous TaaS by 2030 and the lifespan of electric vehicles grows to 500,000 miles as Arbib and Seba predict, then far fewer vehicles will be needed. Manufacturing fewer electric vehicles reduces the pressure to extract metals from laterite ores, pegmatites, the ocean floor, and lower-grade ores in general with higher ecological costs. Ellingsen et al (2016) estimate that the energy consumed by battery factories per kWh of batteries has halved since 2012, however, that has to be balanced by the growing use lithium from spodumene and nickel and cobalt from laterite ores, and ores with lower metal concentrations that require more energy and produce more pollution. Given the increased energy efficiency in battery manufacturing plants and the growing efficiencies of scale, I would guesstimate that lithium-ion battery emissions are currently at roughly 150 kg CO 2 -eq per kWh of battery and that the Gigafactory will lower those emissions by a third to roughly 100 kg CO 2 -eq / kWh. If the Model 3, uses a 55 kWh battery, then its battery emissions would be roughly 5500 kg CO 2 -eq. Manufacturing a medium-sized EV without the battery emits 6.5 tonnes of CO 2 -eq according to Ellingsen et al (2016). Electric cars don’t have the huge engine block of an ICE car, but they have large amounts of copper in the motor’s rotor and the windings and the Model 3 will have far more electronics than a standard EV. The Model S has 23 kg of electronics and I would guesstimate that the Model 3 will have roughly 15 lbs of electronics if it contains nVidia’s Drive PX or a custom processor based on the K-1 graphics processor. If the GHG emissions are roughly 150 kg CO 2 -eq per kg of electronics, we can guesstimate that 2.2 tonnes of CO 2 -eq will be emitted to manufacture the electronics in the Model 3. Given the large amount of copper, electronics and sensors in the Model 3, add an additional tonne, plus 5.5 tonnes for its 50 kWh battery, so a total of 13 tonnes of CO 2 -eq will be emitted to manufacture the entire car. Manufacturing a medium-sized ICE car emits between 5 and 6 tonnes, so there is roughly a 7.5 tonne difference in GHG emissions between manufacturing the Model 3 and a comparable ICE car. A new ICE car the size of the Model 3 will get roughly 30 mpg. In the US, a gallon of gasoline emits 19.64 lbs of CO2, but it emits 24.3 lbs of CO 2 e when the methane and nitrous oxide are included, plus the emissions from extraction, refining and transportation, according to the Argonne National Laboratory. Therefore, we will need to burn 680 gallons of gasoline or drive 20,413 miles at 30 mpg to equal those 7.5 extra tonnes in manufacturing the Model 3. At this point, the decision whether the Model 3 makes ecological sense depends on where the electricity is coming from. Let’s assume that the Model 3 will consume 0.30 kWh of electricity per mile, which is what the EPA estimates the Nissan Leaf to consume. The Model S will be a smaller and more aerodynamic car than the Leaf, but it will also weigh significantly more due to its larger battery. If we also include the US national average of 4.7% transmission losses in the grid, then the Model 3 will consume 0.315 kWh per mile. After driving the Model 3 100,000 miles, the total greenhouse gas emissions (including the production emissions) will range between 14.1 and 45.3 tonnes, depending on its energy source to charge the battery. In comparison, driving a 30 mpg ICE car (with 5.5 tonnes in production emissions) will emit 42.2 tonnes of CO 2 -eq after 100,000 miles. If we guesstimate that manufacturing a Toyota Prius will emit 7 tonnes, then driving it 100,000 miles at 52 mpg will emit 28.2 tonnes. Only in places like Kentucky which get almost all their electricity from coal is an ICE car the better environmental choice. The Model 3, however, will have worse emissions than most of its competitors in the green car market, if it is running on average US electricity, which emits 528 grams of CO2-eq per kWh. It will emit slightly more than a plugin hybrid like the Chevy Volt and an efficient hybrid like the Toyota Prius and substantially more than a short-range electric, like the Nissan Leaf. Most previous comparisons between electric cars and ICE cars were based on short-range electrics with smaller batteries, such as the Nissan Leaf, which is why environmental advocates are so enthusiastic about EVs. However, comparing the Model S and Model 3 to the Nissan Leaf, Chevy Volt and Toyota Prius hybrid shows that the environmental benefits of long-range EVs are questionable when compared to short-range EVs, plugin hybrids and hybrids. Only when running the Model 3 on cleaner sources of electricity does it emit less greenhouse gases than hybrids and plugin hybrids, but in the majority of the United States it will emit slightly more. Many of the early adopters of EVs also owned solar panels, so buying a Model 3 will reduce their carbon footprint, but the proportion of EV owners with solar panels on their roofs is falling. According to CleanTechnica’s PlugInsights annual survey, 25% of EV buyers before 2012 had solar panels on their roofs, compared to just 12% in 2014-2015. Most people who own solar panels do not have a home battery system so they can not use their clean energy all day, and most EV charging will happen at night using dirtier grid electricity. Another factor to consider is the effect of methane leakage in the extraction and transport of natural gas. There is a raging scientific debate about what percentage of natural gas leaks into the atmosphere without being burned. A number of studies have concluded that the leakage of methane causes electricity from natural gas to have GHG emissions similar to coal, but there is still no consensus on the matter. If the leakage rate is as high as some researchers believe, then EVs will emit more greenhouse gases than hybrids and efficient ICE cars in places like California which burn large amounts of natural gas. On the other hand, many people believe that EVs will last 300,000 miles or even 500,000 miles since they have so few moving parts, so their high emissions in manufacturing will be justified. However, the EV battery will probably have to be replaced, and the manufacturing emissions for a long range EV battery can be as high as building a whole new ICE car. Another factor that could inhibit the long life of Telsa’s cars is the fact that the company builds cars described as “computers on wheels,” which are extremely difficult for third parties to fix and upgrade over time. Telsa only sells its parts to authorized repair shops and much of the functionality of car is locked up with proprietary code and secret security measures, as many do-it-yourselfers have discovered to their chagrin. When Tesla cars are damaged and sold as salvage, Tesla remotely disables its cars, so that they will no longer work even if repaired. The $600 inspection fee to reactivate the car plus the towing fees discourage Teslas from being fixed by third parties. These policies make it less likely that old Teslas will be fixed and their lifespans extended to counterbalance the high environmental costs of producing the cars. Although the Model 3 has high greenhouse gas emissions in its production and driving it is also problematic in parts of the world that currently use dirty energy, those emissions could be significantly reduced in the future if they are accompanied by a shift to renewable energy, more recycling and the electrification of mining equipment, refining and transport. The car’s ecological benefits will increase if the emissions can be decreased in producing battery materials and the greater energy density of batteries is used to decrease the total materials in batteries rather than keep extending the range of EVs. Producing millions of Model 3s will strain the supply of vital metals and shift extraction to reserves which have higher ecological costs. However, the Model 3 could become a more sustainable option if millions of them are deployed in autonomous Transport as a Service fleets, which Arbib and Seba predict will be widespread by 2030, since TaaS will cost a tenth of the price of owning a private vehicle. If the Model 3 and future autonomous EVs become a means to drop the global demand for private vehicles and that helps reduce the demand for lithium, nickel, cobalt and copper down to sustainable levels, then the high environmental costs of manufacturing the Model 3 would be justified. Nonetheless, the Model 3 and the NCA 2170 batteries currently being produced by Tesla offer few of those possible future ecological benefits. Most of the metal and graphite in the battery is being produced with energy from fossil fuels. In the short term at least, Telsa batteries will keep growing in capacity to offer more range, rather than reducing the total consumption of metals per battery. The extra sensors, processing power and electronics in the current Model 3 will increase its ecological costs without providing the Level 4 or 5 autonomy that would make it possible to convince people to give up their private vehicles. In the here and now, the Model 3 is generally not the best ecological choice, but it might become a better choice in the future. The Model 3 promises to transform the market not only for EVs, but cars in general. If the unprecedented 500,000 pre-orders for the Model 3 are any indication of future demand, then long-range electrics with some degree of autonomous driving like the Model 3 will capture most of the EV market. Telsa’s stunning success will induce the rest of auto-makers to also start making long-range EVs with large batteries, advanced sensors, powerful image processors, advanced AI, cellular networking, driving data collection and large multimedia touchscreens. These features will dramatically increase the environmental costs of car manufacturing. Whether these features will be balanced by other factors which reduce their environmental costs remains to be seen. Much of this analysis is guess work, so it should be taken with a grain of salt, but it points out the problems with automatically assuming that EVs are always better for the environment. If we consider sulfate emissions, EVs are significantly worse for the environment. Also, when we consider the depletion of critical metal reserves, EVs are significantly worse than ICE vehicles. The conclusion should be that switching to long-range EVs with large batteries and advanced electronics bears significant environmental challenges. The high manufacturing emissions of these types of EVs make their ecological benefits questionable for private vehicles which are only used on average 4% of the time. However, they are a very good option for vehicles which are used a higher percentage of the time such as taxis, buses and heavy trucks, because they will be driven many miles to counterbalance their high manufacturing emissions. Companies such as BYD and Proterra provide a model of the kinds of electric vehicles that Tesla should be designing to promote “sustainable transport.” Tesla has a few ideas on the drawing board that are promising from an ecological perspective, such as its long-haul semi, the renting out of Teslas to an autonomous TaaS fleet, and a new vehicle that sounds like a crossover between a sedan and a minibus for public transport. The current Model 3, however, is still a vehicle which promotes private vehicle ownership and bears the high ecological costs of long-range lithium batteries and contributes to the growing shortage of critical metals. Clearly, EVs alone are not enough to reduce greenhouse gas emissions or attain sustainable transport in general. The first step is to work on switching the electric grid to cleaner renewable energy and installing more residential solar, so that driving an EV emits less CO2. However, another important step is redesigning cities and changing policies so that people aren’t induced to drive so many private vehicles. Instead of millions of private vehicles on the road, we should be aiming for walkable cities and millions of bikes and electric buses, which are far better not only for human health, but also for the environment. A further step where future Model 3s may help is in providing autonomous TaaS that helps convince people to give up their private vehicles. However, autonomous EVs need to be matched by public policies that disincentivize the kind of needless driving that will likely occur in the future. The total number of miles will likely increase in the future due to autonomous electric cars driving around looking for passengers to pick up and people who spend more time in the car because they can surf the web, watch movies, and enjoy the scenery without doing the steering. Plus, the cost of the electricity to charge the battery is so cheap compared to burning gasoline that people will be induced to drive more, not less.
Freddie Gibbs nearly lost his life last night during a shooting that took place after his concert in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. The show actually went off without incident on Tuesday evening (Nov 3) at the Rough Trade record store. Following the successful performance, Gibbs was in a black SUV parked at North 9th Street near Wythe Avenue. That’s when a lone gunman fired multiple shots at Gibbs and two people with him. Gibbs’ DJ reportedly suffered a minor leg wound and another victim was struck in the hand. According to police, the shooting took place at 1:13 a.m. and no arrests were made in the case. Freddie’s crew members are reportedly in stable condition at Bellevue hospital in New York. “They tried to kill Tupac. They tried to kill me,” Gibbs told The Post outside the club. “I’m still alive.” Check out Freddie’s first Instagram post after the shooting below… Yep. Still Livin. Thanks NYC. A photo posted by @freddiegibbs on Nov 11, 2014 at 2:12am PST Related: Freddie Gibbs & Madlib Feat. Action Bronson, Joey Bada$$ & Ransom “Knicks (Remix)” New Video: Freddie Gibbs & Madlib “Harolds” Album Stream: Freddie Gibbs & Madlib ‘Piñata’ Freddie Gibbs Responds to YouTube Comments On His “Thuggin” Video
poster="https://v.politico.com/images/1155968404/201604/2611/1155968404_4830839894001_4830767250001-vs.jpg?pubId=1155968404" true Clinton camp: Wisconsin win won't help Sanders much Regardless of Tuesday night's primary results in Wisconsin, Hillary Clinton's campaign is adamant that Bernie Sanders will not be able to close the gap in pledged delegates even if he scores an expected victory. “I don’t think he can narrow the gap materially in pledged delegates in Wisconsin," Clinton chief pollster and strategist Joel Benenson told MSNBC's "Andrea Mitchell Reports" on Monday afternoon. Benenson then explained that Wisconsin favors Sanders because it "is much less diverse than most of the states we compete in in Democratic primaries." "It’s got a lower population of African-Americans, a very small population of Latinos. We’ve done very well in building a diverse coalition, which is why we’ve won far more primary elections than Sen. Sanders has and compiled a bigger net delegate lead in those primaries by a lot, than he has," Benenson said. "The key here in Wisconsin is to, you know, compete hard, try to win this state. But in either way this state comes out, I think it’s close enough there isn’t going to be a big shift in the 230 or plus pledged delegate advantage that Hillary Clinton has right now.” Wisconsin allocates its 86 pledged delegates on a proportional basis. A Fox Business poll released late last week showed Sanders with a five-point advantage over Clinton, though the spread is about two points smaller in the Real Clear Politics polling average since March 24, at 47.8 percent to 44.7 percent.
In Ohio, Kaptur ousts fellow Democrat Kucinich from House USA Today March 7, 2012 FLASHBACK: (Infowars June 2011) On the Democratic side, Paul’s closest ally Dennis Kucinich is facing the prospect of losing his district altogether with immediate effect in Ohio, following the state’s loss of two House seats. Kucinich has intimated that he may run for Congress in Washington state if this likely scenario unfolds. >>>Read more —- WASHINGTON – Rep. Marcy Kaptur won her primary Tuesday and ended fellow Ohio Democratic Rep. Dennis Kucinich’s 16-year career in the U.S. House, making him the first incumbent to lose their re-election bid in 2012. […] The Kaptur-Kucinich match-up overshadowed other congressional primaries on Tuesday. It was the first member-versus-member primary fight sparked by the redistricting process. Kaptur, who was first elected in 1982, and Kucinich, who was elected in 1996, were thrown into the same northern Ohio district by the redistricting process that follows each Census. Ohio had lost two House seats for 2012. […] Kucinich, 65, has served in local and federal office most of his life. He has built a national profile as a reliably anti-war, liberal Democrat, even if he was a lonely one at times in advocating some positions, such as his support for abolishing nuclear weapons and his efforts to impeach Vice President Cheney. Read full article
The cofounder of the popular social news site Reddit has called on the leaders of Google, Facebook and Twitter to help defeat a controversial cybersecurity bill that would compromise the privacy of their users if passed by lawmakers. "I'm hoping that all of these tech companies take the stand that their privacy policies matter, their users' privacy matters, and no legislation like CISPA should take that away," Alexis Ohanian, former owner of Reddit (Wired's parent company Conde Nast currently owns Reddit), said in a video posted yesterday. "If someone wants access to our private home or to our mail we would say, Well go get a warrant. Right? CISPA basically says, uh, not necessary. Your digital privacy is irrelevant." The video shows Ohanian trying to call Google CEO Larry Page to urge him to oppose the Cyber Intelligence Sharing and Protection Act (CISPA). But when he reaches the company – through the switchboard – the operator tells him that no one by that name works at Google. "I am pretty sure there's a Larry Page at Google," he replies. Ohanian, who is on the steering committee for the Internet Defense League and is very active in the fight to preserve internet freedom, also called on the public to sign a petition to defeat CISPA in the way users helped defeat the Stop Online Piracy Act and Protect Intellectual Propert Act in 2011. "Since we couldn't get in touch with the deciders, maybe you can," he says. "Sign the petition, get on the social media, because this is what defeated SOPA and PIPA and this is what will defeat CISPA and this is what will defeat whatever they throw at us. Internet freedom, internet privacy matters." The bill opens the way for government agencies and the private sector to share information about cyberattack threats, but critics say it lacks protections to preserve the privacy of users and gives companies immunity for repercussions that might come as a result of sharing information. The White House announced this week that President Obama planned to veto the bill if passed without protections that would force companies to anonymize and minimize data they provide the government and other companies. In a statement the White House said it remained "concerned that the bill does not require private entities to take reasonable steps to remove irrelevant personal information when sending cybersecurity data to the government or other private sector entities. Citizens have a right to know that corporations will be held accountable—and not granted immunity—for failing to safeguard personal information adequately.” Despite Ohanian's plea and the White House veto threat, the House passed the CISPA bill on Thursday by a vote of 288 to 127. A companion bill is planned for the Senate. The American Civil Liberties Union said today, following the passage of CISPA in the House, that it will continue working to correct the problems with CISPA. "CISPA is an extreme proposal that allows companies that hold our very sensitive information to share it with any company or government entity they choose, even directly with military agencies like the NSA, without first stripping out personally identifiable information," Michelle Richardson, legislative counsel at the ACLU's Washington Legislative Office, said in a statement. "We will work with Congress to make sure that the next version of information sharing legislation unequivocally resolves this issue, as well as tightens immunity provisions and protects personal information. Cybersecurity can be done without sacrificing Americans' privacy online."
1 in 6 Nodes Now Support Bitcoin Classic The Bitcoin block size debate is still in effect as we speak, and things are heating up once again between Bitcoin Core and Bitcoin Classic supporters. Now that a working client for Bitcoin Classic users has been released, various Bitcoin nodes seem to be favoring this solution over Bitcoin Core. However, the battle is far from over, as not everyone is for supporting blocks that are larger than 2MB in size. Also read: Bitcoin Summer School Announced in Greece Bitcoin Classic Nodes on the Rise By taking a look at the number of Bitcoin Nodes active on the network right now, the picture becomes clear for anyone to see. Bitcoin Core nodes are still in the lead, with close to 4,000 nodes in operation at the time of publication. Keeping in mind how easy it has become to run a Bitcoin Node off of any device these days, that number could rise higher shortly. At the same time, Bitcoin Classic is starting to make its presence felt on the Bitcoin nodes list as well. With over 850 nodes in operation, Bitcoin Classic is gaining a lot of support from people who seem to favor a much larger block size shortly. However, this situation might not be viable for the Chinese miners, due to Internet restrictions in the country. This is one of the main reasons why Chinese mining pools have reluctantly agreed to increase the block size to 2MB for now, as the Bitcoin Core approach is far less taxing on their infrastructure. Mining Bitcoin requires a stable internet connection, and with Chinese connectivity being rather on the slow end, a major block size increase is not favorable. A recent post has surfaced on the Bitcoin.com forums, explaining how it is possible to run a Bitcoin Classic on a Synology device. Needless to say, these devices are always powered on and connected to the Internet, making them a perfect solution to run a node off of. Plus, Synology devices are housing tons of hard drive space, which removes any friction when it comes to storing the Bitcoin blockchain. But there is another interesting factor to take into account in this game of Bitcoin nodes. Up until a month ago, Bitcoin XT seemed to be the main contender to Bitcoin Core regarding increasing the block size. However, ever since Mike Hearn left the digital currency space, things have gone eerily quiet regarding that project. As a result, the number of Bitcoin XT nodes is dropping to just above 130, putting Bitcoin Classic in the second spot on the charts. Convincing the Miners is More Difficult While it is interesting to see so many people taking a liking to the idea of running a Bitcoin Classic node, it will not change matters much unless miners are on board as well. An interesting discussion thread has started on Reddit, asking users what it would take to switch to Bitcoin Classic as a miner. Changing the mind of mining pool operators may prove to be a daunting task, though. In a recent Bitcoin Roundtable letter, Bitfury, BTCC, F2Pool, BW Pool, and Ghash.io rejected the Bitcoin Classic solution altogether. This solution would hard fork the Bitcoin code, which could lead to two separate versions of Bitcoin competing with one another in the not-so-distant future. Keeping in mind how a successful adoption of Bitcoin Classic requires 75% – or more – of the hash power to activate the new block size, the debate is far from resolved. The increase in Bitcoin Classic nodes will certainly be interesting to watch, but ultimately, it will be up to miners and mining pools to choose whether they will adopt this solution. What are your thoughts on the number of Bitcoin Classic Nodes increasing? Let us know in the comments below! Source: Reddit Images courtesy of Bitcoin Classic, Shutterstock
In this image, taken of the space shuttle Endeavour in 2010 by an astronaut on the ISS, the orange layer is the troposphere, the whitish layer is the stratosphere and the black layer is the mesosphere. Veteran skydiver Felix Baumgartner plans to take a supersonic tour of Earth's atmospheric layers on Tuesday (Oct 9). The Austrian daredevil will attempt the world's highest skydive, a daring leap from 23 miles up that will send him plummeting earthward faster than the speed of sound. On the way down, Baumgartner, 43, will pass through the stratosphere and troposphere, two of the four gaseous layers that enshroud and protect our planet. Each of these layers has unique properties. Earth's atmosphere starts 430 miles (690 kilometers) up. This is the upper boundary of the thermosphere, the outermost layer of the atmosphere. Solar radiation bombards this layer, striking its sparse air molecules and causing them to emit flashes of light: the auroras. At an altitude of 53 miles (85 km), the thermosphere transitions into the mesosphere, an atmospheric layer known for its faint clouds, as well as electrical discharge events called red sprites and blue jets. Below the mesosphere is the stratosphere, and below that is the troposphere. These are the two layers through which Baumgartner will dive. [Infographic: Earth's Atmosphere Top to Bottom] Baumgartner, sitting inside a custom-built capsule, will be lifted by a helium balloon to an altitude of 120,000 feet (36,576 meters). This altitude registers in the upper echelons of the stratosphere, the second layer of the atmosphere. Near Earth's mid-latitudes, the stratosphere extends from an altitude of 6 miles (10 kilometers) up to about 30 miles (50 km) above the surface. The air pressure drops from 10 percent of its value at sea level to just 0.1 percent of its sea-level value; no one can survive here without an oxygen tank. The stratosphere is defined by the fact that in this layer, unlike in the layers above and below, absorption of ultraviolet sunlight by ozone causes the temperature to increase as you move up in altitude. This coupling of temperature with altitude prevents convection from happening, and so the air in this layer is dynamically stable. Because the air is so thin in the stratosphere — the air pressure is just 0.1 percent of its sea-level value at the top of the layer and 10 percent of its sea-level value at the bottom — Baumgartner will freefall through it at speeds that surpass the sea-level speed of sound (760 miles per hour, or 1,225 kilometers per hour). As the air thickens, he'll gradually slow down before plunging into the troposphere, the innermost layer of Earth's atmosphere, where we live and breathe. The troposphere, which includes everything from an altitude of 6 miles down over most of Earth (up to 12 miles down over the equator), is where all weather happens, as well as longer-term processes such as the jet stream. In this layer, temperature and pressure both drop as you move up in altitude. This story was provided by OurAmazingPlanet, a sister site to SPACE.com.
A man who planned to rob a bank in Union, Maine on Thursday afternoon arrived just a little too late to commit the crime. Knox County Jail According to the Knox County Sheriff’s Office, deputies were dispatched to the Damariscotta Bank & Trust shortly after 3 p.m. when bank personnel reported a suspicious man wearing a ski mask had approached the front door and found it to be locked. The bank lobby had been closed just a few minutes earlier. Witnesses told police that the man hopped into a silver car with a cardboard license plate and drove off. Within minutes, officers pulled over a vehicle fitting that description across town near the Camden National Bank. Sheriff’s deputies say they found a ski mask in the front seat of the car, but there was no sign of a weapon. Police charged 31-year-old Joseph M. Lewis of Waldoboro with attempted robbery and he was taken to the Knox County Jail in Rockland. Lewis apparently told police that he had planned to rob the bank until he found the doors were locked. He had no previous criminal record.
Delta Shelter is a steel-clad box on stilts that can be completely shuttered when the owner is away. The 1,000 square-foot weekend cabin is situated near a river in a floodplain in Washington, USA. This project was completed by Olson Kundig Architects. Description: “Delta Shelter – a 1,000 square-foot cabin – is essentially a steel-clad box on stilts that can be completely shuttered when the owner is away. The 200 square-foot footprint of the house rises above a 40-acre, 100-year flood plain adjacent to the Methow River. The verticality, coloring and raw nature of the materials used for construction directly respond to the wildness of the setting. The owner sought a compact, easy to maintain, virtually indestructible building to house himself and his friends for fun and adventure in the mountains. With an exterior of steel, the house is virtually indestructible. The cabin is composed of three levels: the lowest level is half carport, half utility/storage room; the middle level consists of the entry, two small bedrooms and bathrooms; the top level is one large space which includes living, dining and cooking areas. Cantilevered steel decks extend from the top and middle levels and provide space for outdoor sleeping and entertaining. The cabin is supported by four steel columns. Floors are 3” x 6” tongue-and-groove wood car-decking, and exterior wood infill walls are clad in 16-gauge, hot-rolled steel sheets with exposed steel fasteners. Most of the structure, including the steel structure, roof panels, shutters, and stairs, was prefabricated off-site, thereby reducing on-site waste and site disruption. Due to prefabrication and the use of plywood for all interior surfaces, typical construction wastage was kept to a minimum. Aside from building as small a structure as possible and limiting the impact on the landscape, Delta Shelter’s most unique sustainable strategy was to be able to open the structure to the environment and to use human power as the means to do it. All four shutters, which measure 10’ x 18’, can be opened and closed simultaneously by using a hand wheel that moves the shutters over the glazed portions of each façade. The shutters are operated by a series of mechanical devices including a hand wheel, drive shafts, u-joints, spur gears and cables. All windows are operable. No air conditioning is included in the project.” Photos by Olson Kundig Architects / Tim Bies
Another one of Donald Trump's former GOP rivals is falling in line. Former Texas Gov. Rick Perry, who less than a year ago called the presumptive GOP nominee a "cancer on conservatism," threw his support behind Trump Thursday evening. "He is not a perfect man," Perry told CNN by phone. "But what I do believe is that he loves this country and he will surround himself with capable, experienced people and he will listen to them." Perry, who suspended his presidential campaign in September, had previously endorsed and campaigned for Texas Sen. Ted Cruz. He addressed the calls for him to run against Trump as a third-party candidate, saying it would be a "quixotic" effort. Trump isn't Perry's first choice, he acknowledged, but said the business mogul is "one of the most talented people who has ever run for the president I have ever seen." Asked if he would consider being Trump's running mate, Perry said yes. "I am going to be open to any way I can help," he said. "I am not going to say no." When Perry announced his endorsement Thursday, his website still had a page titled, "Defending Conservatism Against the Cancer of Trump-ism" -- illustrating just what a reversal it is to see GOP leaders falling in line behind Trump after being highly critical of him in the past.
This time last year, Novak Djokovic was about to complete his fourth consecutive Grand Slam win—as dominant a run as the tour has ever seen. But this year, since the first week of January, he has yet to get further than the quarterfinals of any tournament at all. What happened in between? What’s the explanation for this sudden collapse? Djokovic is still only 29, which is no death sentence in the modern game, and he’s arguably still the most fit and flexible player around. There have been plenty of murmurs, but here’s what’s known: Djokovic was upset by Sam Querrey in the third round of Wimbledon as well as Juan Martin del Potro in the first round of the Olympics, and lost to Stan Wawrinka in the U.S. Open final. Djokovic vaguely attributed attributed his subpar Wimbledon performance to “private issues” in his life and denied any physical problems. “I apologize but it’s tough to go back now and talk about that ... It was nothing physical. It’s not an injury. It was some other things that I was going through privately ... It is resolved and everything is fine. I am in a position, like everybody else, like all of you, we all have private issues and things that are more challenges than issues, more things that we have to encounter and overcome in order to evolve as a human being.” Djokovic withdrew from the China Open, citing an elbow injury. Djokovic discussed extreme mental pressures and said that the top ranking and Grand Slam titles were no longer priorities for him. “I psychologically felt huge pressure, and now I’m no longer thinking about the number of titles. If they come, super, I will accept them ... After all, tennis is not the only thing in the world.” Advertisement Djokovic showed up at to the Shanghai Masters and Paris Masters with his coach Boris Becker conspicuously absent. In Shanghai he lost to Roberto Bautista Agut (who he’d beaten in all five of their previous encounters), and in Paris he lost to Marin Cilic (who he’d beaten in all fourteen of their previous encounters). Djokovic surrendered the No. 1 rank to Andy Murray after a hard-fought ATP Finals. Djokovic parted ways with Boris Becker, his coach of three years—the most successful years of his career. Becker described the previous six months as “challenging on many levels,” and suggested that the star’s focus had wavered: “He didn’t spend as much time on the practice court in the last six months as he should have, and he knows that ... Success like this doesn’t happen by pushing a button.” Advertisement Djokovic seemed to want more direct control over his regimen and schedule, per a Facebook post that announced his split with Becker: “The goals we set when we started working together have been completely fulfilled, and I want to thank him for the cooperation, teamwork, dedication and commitment. On the other hand, my professional plans are now directed primarily to maintain a good level of play, and also to make a good schedule and new goals for the next season. In this regard I will make all future decisions.” Djokovic grew closer to Pepe Imaz, a former tennis pro turned spiritual advisor, and peddler of New Age positivity. Imaz calls for peace and love—for a while you could regularly spot him in Djokovic’s box wearing a “amor y paz” shirt—and long hugs. An excerpt from his tennis academy’s homepage: Human beings have infinite capacities and skills, the problem is that our mind limits us. Telepathy, telekinesis and many more things are all possible. The problem is that we have never been helped to develop these skills, on the contrary we have been made to believe that these things are impossible. Advertisement Djokovic and his wife Jelena accidentally livestreamed a small dispute on Facebook, in which she accuses of him of being rude for taking the camera without thanking her. Djokovic was targeted by Serbian tabloids, which suggested that he had been unfaithful to Jelena. Djokovic started 2017 by beating Murray at the Qatar Open, but since then has not beaten any player ranked higher than No. 19 in the world. Even his wins have been tough; he’s dropped a set in 11 of his last 15 matches. Djokovic sounded especially contemplative at the start of Indian Wells, though he would go on to lose in third round of a tough draw: “I don’t regret things in life ... Maybe I should have had a longer break after Roland Garros, to have more time to recharge emotionally in every aspect of my being. It didn’t happen, I kept on going and I don’t regret it because I believe there was a lesson to be learned from that. “I think having those four or five months in the second half of 2016 was actually very important for me, for my growth as a player and as a human being. I learned a lot. I keep going. I’m obviously motivated to keep playing on a very high level. “I had a couple of months where I wasn’t myself on the court and now I’m in a better place ... I hope and believe that I’m heading in the right direction.” Advertisement Djokovic withdrew from the Miami Open, again citing an elbow injury. Djokovic has lost to Denis Istomin, then ranked No. 117; Nick Kyrgios (twice); and David Goffin, the smaller, weaker version of himself. He had never lost to Istomin or Goffin in his five previous matches versus each. Between his disappointing on-court performance and his curious off-court remarks, there seems to be a story here that no one is telling. 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Story highlights Protesters from two anti-war groups were on what the groups called a "torturers tour" Police said two were arrested when they refused to leave Dick Cheney's property Washington (CNN) Two anti-war protesters -- one of them an 83-year-old woman -- were arrested Saturday outside the home of former Vice President Dick Cheney in suburban Washington, police said. The two were part of about 20 activists affiliated with the anti-war groups Code Pink and Witness Against Torture, demonstrating Saturday morning at various locations on a "torturers tour." The protesters were inside Cheney's fenced property in McLean, Virginia, when police arrived, "and the homeowners said they were not allowed to be there," said Fairfax County police spokesman Roger Henriquez. He did not know whether Cheney was home at the time. "Police asked them to leave or face trespassing charges," Henriquez said. "Two refused to leave the premises." Tighe Barry, 57, and Eve Tetaz, 83, were arrested, according to Code Pink and Henriquez. They were processed within an hour, and released pending a court date. Read More
During a Saxony-Anhalt state parliament session last week, AfD (Alternative for Germany) representative Andreas Gehlmann said something that alarmed other law makers. Left Party representative Henriette Quade was arguing that certain countries considered by asylum laws to be safe were in fact not, giving the example of places where homosexuality is still punishable with prison time. “In particular for homosexuals, safety is more than precarious. Homosexuality is forbidden and is a taboo to the highest degree,” Quade said, according to the session’s minutes, which she posted on Twitter. “Whoever lives openly as gay is threatened with a prison sentence.” “We should also do that in Germany,” interjected Gehlmann. Quade’s tweet of the exchange last Friday set off a firestorm online, with her post being retweeted some 800 times. AfD in Sachsen-Anhalt fordert laut vorl. stenografischen Bericht Gefängnisstrafe für Homosexuelle. #keinenazis pic.twitter.com/yqpDiC4vkT — Henriette Quade (@HenrietteQuade) June 3, 2016 Now the regional Saxony-Anhalt branch of AfD says their party colleague had not actually called for gay people to be thrown in jail, and are demanding a revision to the session minutes, according to the Mitteldeutsche Zeitung (MZ) on Thursday. In a Facebook post, the party branch said that Gehlmann had in fact meant that “it should be a taboo for homosexuals to openly live as gay”. “In terms of this statement, Gehlmann remains without reservation, because he rejects the moral decline of living as openly gay,” the party wrote, explaining that he was responding to Quade’s statements about taboos rather than about prison sentences. The party has already filed to change the minutes, according to MZ. While the AfD began as a Eurosceptic party in 2013, it has more recently taken on increasingly far-right views which have stirred up outrage among its more moderate countrymen. The national party adopted anti-Islam platforms in May, which included calls to ban minarets on mosques, the call to prayer, full-face veils for women and female headscarves in schools Earlier this year, party leader Frauke Petry suggested that police should threaten to shoot immigrants at the border. And a branch of the AfD in North-Rhine Westphalia in March drew the ire of the Internet when they compared themselves to Jewish Holocaust victims when a welfare organization said it would not hire AfD members. More recently, the party's deputy leader Alexander Gauland suggested that most Germans wouldn't want national football player Jerome Boateng, whose father is from Ghana, as a neighbour. The remark met widespread disapproval and has been used to explain a recent drop in the AfD's popularity in polling.
It’s a big weekend for Robert Kirkman. The first ever Image Expo is underway celebrating the 20th anniversary of the publisher. The Walking Dead fans are in a frenzy with news that David Morrissey has been cast as the Governor and will join the series next season. I wanted to share part of this Comic Book Resources interview with Kirkman. I think it sums up why the show is a hit. “The Walking Dead should never have been made in to a TV show. I’ll just say that right now. When I was doing the comic, never in a million years did I think that anyone would ever go “oh, zombies on TV? Good idea!” It’s not a good idea. It’s a huge risk. It’s gotta be gory, it’s gotta have characters dying. It’s like you said, it’s a very hard thing to adapt for TV.” “Anyways, it took AMC to have the guts to say “oh you know what, that is a good idea, that would be kind of neat, we would like to try and make that a TV show.” So no, I haven’t gotten any pushback. They read a large portion of the comic; I think issue 65 was out by the time they were trying to make it in to a show. They knew what they were getting in to. They loved the comic and they wanted to adapt that. There was no push back because they knew what they were doing. I can’t gush about AMC enough.” As I fan I have to agree with the praise for AMC for allowing the same unpredictability you have in comics on television. If you’re a reader of Kirkman’s series it’s hard to imagine a network allowing the kind of brutality the Governor delivers in the comics to be on television. For Kirkman’s entire interview here’s the Comic Book Resources link.
The Toll of Austerity in Europe The NYT had an interesting piece giving profiles of several young people who are struggling to find full time jobs in Europe. All of the people profiled have college degrees, several have considerably more education. While the article notes that the situation faced by these young people is the result of the weak economy following the crash in 2008, it would have been helpful to point out that this weakness is the result of policy choices by Europe's leaders. They have deliberately decided to run low budget deficits in spite of the fact that most of the continent is operating well below its potential. Long-term interest rates are very low and inflation remains below the European Central Bank's 2.0 percent target, which itself is absurdly low. In short, the plight of these young people and tens of millions of others should be seen as the fruit of the economic policy pursued by dogmatic leaders across Europe. It is not something that just happened.
A surveillance camera has recorded the horrifying act : a man is seen throwing gasoline ,or another flammable liquid, all over the victim,who is asleep. Then, he lights him on fire.Rescuers rushed to his help,but when they arrived the man was already totally carbonized.The victim,in the photo, was Marcello Cimino, 45 yo . Police has started a manhunt. Few hours before his murder,Cimino has been seen arguing with an unidentified man,near to a greengrocer,who is now being interrogated by the police.UPDATE A man has been arrested and has confessed. The murderer is Giuseppe Pecoraro 45 yo, employee at a gas station nearby . He told the police he was jealous of Cimino and of his wife. He thought that Cimino had been responsible of his separation from his wife. (For the murderer's photo see the comments,I can't add it here.)
In other books, these etyms are hidden, and must be found by a careful reader. But in “Zettel’s Traum” they are brought much closer to the surface, often emerging into full view. Aeronauten (aeronauts) is written as Ero’naughties, faculty as fuckculty, and fixen (fixed) as fickSn, playing off ficken, or “fuck” in German. Franziska’s Plisseerock (pleated skirt) becomes Pleas’see=Rock. Schmidt violates the rules of orthography and punctuation throughout the book, and its sprawling conversations cover James Joyce, trees, magic, the moon, and Xerxes, among many other things. After getting “Zettel’s Traum” out of his system, Schmidt would go on to write his best works. “I had to write it,” he said. “And such a book had to be written sometime.” “Zettel’s Traum” is both Schmidt’s most famous book and his least read, and for the same reason: it is dedicated almost entirely to applying a Freudian theory of language to the works of Poe. (This was familiar ground: Schmidt spent years translating Poe, in collaboration with Hans Wollschläger.) Dan argues that words are composed of units of sound, or “etyms,” that reveal an author or speaker’s unconscious thoughts. To say “whole” is to think “hole,” for instance. With his ear cocked to sexual harmonics, Dan finds in Poe an impotent man who is possessed by the erotic and, unable to express his sexuality in bed, resorts to voyeurism, notably of what people do on the toilet. Schmidt, who was born in Hamburg in 1914, to a policeman father and a mother who would one day urge her son to “quit the whole writing thing” (she thought science suited him better), was a contrarian at heart. Many of his short stories, novellas, and novels are narrated by polymathic men who loathe organized religion, think having children is stupid, and hold authority in contempt (“A decent person is ashamed of being a boss !”). Their voices are electric with intellect and libido—flashes of light in a landscape darkened by human folly and destruction. Schmidt was drafted at the beginning of the Second World War, and was later taken captive by the British; upon the war’s end, he became a refugee. His fiction is frequently set in Germany during the war and in its aftermath, an ashen land of the lost and the displaced. “What I trust most are the beauties of nature,” one narrator says. “Then books; then roast with sauerkraut. All else changes, legerdemains.” In 1970, the German writer Arno Schmidt published his magnum opus, a novel called “Zettel’s Traum.” Its narrator is Dan Pagenstecher, an aging writer who lives in the fictional village of Ödingen and is an expert on Edgar Allan Poe. Dan is visited by a married couple, Paul and Wilma Jacobi, who are translating Poe into German. They have come seeking Dan’s expertise on Poe, and they have brought along their sixteen-year-old daughter, Franziska. She and Dan flirt intensely. The novel, which takes place over twenty-four hours, consists mostly of conversations between the characters. It is thirteen hundred and thirty-four pages long. Late last year, I went to see the translator John E. Woods at his apartment in Berlin. Woods, who is in his seventies, has received numerous awards for his work; all that stood between him and retirement was “Zettel’s Traum.” Woods is perhaps best known for his translations of Thomas Mann’s major novels, but Schmidt’s fiction has been the backbone of his career. The first translation he published, in 1980, was Schmidt’s novel “Evening Edged in Gold.” Now Woods was tackling the big one. During my visit, Woods took down the German edition of “Zettel’s Traum” from his shelf with a groan—the torso-size thing weighs eighteen pounds. (Schmidt superfans buy lecterns to read it.) We sat with the novel open between us on the couch, and pages from his translation, composed in the course of ten years, scattered across our laps. Each page of the novel measures eleven by fourteen inches and features three columns of text. The center is the widest: it relays the main narrative, unfolding in Ödingen. To the left are quotations from the works of Poe; text from the center column extends leftward when the characters quote or discuss the writer. On the right side are marginalia from diverse sources, such as dictionaries and recipe books. No typesetter had the technological means to exactly reproduce Schmidt’s design, so the writer simply published a photo-offset of his typewritten pages, which remained generously pockmarked by his cross-outs and edits. “One could not tell if this was amazing, or if this was something for crazy people,” Susanne Fischer, the head of the Arno Schmidt Foundation, which manages the writer’s literary estate, told me. In the past few years, Schmidt has been increasingly recognized among critics and scholars as a radically idiosyncratic voice in postwar German literature, but Fischer and her colleagues at the foundation believe there is still work to be done. In 2010, the foundation released a typeset edition of “Zettel’s Traum,” removing the bar to entry for those who balked at the draft-like feel of the photo-offset. Woods’s English translation, “Bottom’s Dream,” published this fall by Dalkey Archive Press, is the latest effort to bring Schmidt to a wider audience. At his apartment, Woods guided me through his translation of a page in which Dan and Franziska (also called Fränzel, or “Friendsel,” by Dan, the etym-hunter) have rejoined the others after spending some time alone. Wilma is growing suspicious about what’s going on between them; meanwhile, a zeppelin passes overhead. Here is an excerpt: (She was already, peevishly, regarding the little chain round My Comradette’s lovely, slitely tanned=incarnadine neck : – ; then, jellously) : » – trùmpery – «; (ironic) : » – back to playin’ côôkie & môuse : hand=over the binòx ! – «; (She took aim at the cumullumpy noonday air . . . – / (P; limply=curious) : » – ’t’s that written on it ? «. / (And W; deciphering with slo=effort; – : ? – (aided by the fâct that, dodging two cloud banks, the advert=zippelina now turned ass=side : ? – ) :> » – › G R O T J O H A N N ’ S ‹ – ? – « – (’nd there iD waS=again. First, the punctuation. Guillemets, those double arrows, encase speech; parentheses enclose stage directions, more or less. Beyond that, there are no firm rules. When punctuation marks are put in a series (“ – : ? – ”, for instance), their shapes can be interpreted visually. Schmidt explained it like so: “When I write : , the out=come … is that the colon becomes the inquiring opened face, the question mark the torsion of the body turned to ask, and the whole of ‘The Question’ retains its validity.” He also abbreviates names into letters (P = Paul) and, when rendering dialogue, is faithful to the smudged noises that people actually make (’t’s = what’s). In the scene above, Wilma eyes Franziska’s new necklace, given to her by Dan. She then eyes—with the help of binoculars, the voyeur’s favorite toy—a zeppelin branded with "GROTJOHANN_,_" or “bigjohn,” which Woods says is a penis reference. All is musky with sex. In the last line, you can see Woods following Schmidt’s lead by switching out letters for their phonic cousins of S or D (iD = it), or, more simply, capitalizing S or D in the “wrong” places (waS = was). According to Woods, S represents the “constant drumming” of the words “sex” and “sexual,” and refers to Freud’s concept of Es (the id). The meaning of D is less clear; Woods said that it could refer to Dan. Many of Schmidt’s visual or acoustic puns defy English translation. For example, Schmidt turns the German word “falls”—“in the case of”—into “phalls,” exposing the etym that brings “phallic” to mind. Woods did not see a way to reproduce this move in English. To compensate for such losses, he created numerous puns that do not appear in the original German—changing folgn (short for folgen, or “follow”) to phollo, for instance, and thus hewing to Schmidt’s ph– twist. In the passage quoted above, Woods translated neidisch as jellously, rather than the literal “jealous,” in order to evoke “jelly” and “louse” (Wilma is overweight and unpleasant). He changed bei=drehte to turned ass=side to accentuate “ass” as much as possible. Corresponding with Woods by e-mail, I tried my hand at uncovering an etym. Woods, I surmised, had rendered the translation of the German word “etwas” as “slitely,” rather than “slightly,” to make the word look svelte, like the neck it describes. “That’s a lovely idea,” he told me. “It shows you’re thinking in Schmidtian terms.” But he chose slitely simply out of preference to “somewhat,” he said, and he cut the gh in words like “slightly” throughout the book in order to rough up the text, as Schmidt had. But regardless of his intention, Woods said, my reading was neither right nor wrong—it was one of many valid possibilities. “The nirvana of what I do is to capture for an English-speaking reader, let’s hope, most of the aesthetic and intellectual charm, delight, and beauty of the original,” Woods said. “More, I can’t do.” The impossibility of perfect translation is what grants him creative license. When Woods exposes an etym where there seems to be none in the German, he believes he is “in no way debasing or exaggerating this facet of Schmidt’s prose.” (Woods has the advantage that English and German “share etyms with a common heritage.” A proper translation of Schmidt into Finnish or Thai would be far more difficult.) To re-create the feeling of the landscape, Woods must re-lay the bricks of every street—hence his indignation, when reviews of his translations praise the author’s prose as if it were not his as well. Schmidt can be hard on the eyes. Last December, a mostly older audience gathered at the Academy of Arts, in Berlin, to hear Woods read from his translation. He sat onstage beside a giant projector screen featuring two pages from the original German. A ricochet of cries: “The writing is too small!” “Can you make it bigger?” One woman suggested using a laser pointer to follow the text, word by word, in tandem with the reading of the English version. Then, somewhere from the audience: “I found my glasses!”
(AP) DALLAS - A Texas woman has pleaded guilty to injury to a child, acknowledging she beat her 2-year-old daughter and glued the girl's hands to a wall. The Dallas Morning News reported that Elizabeth Escalona told reporters as she left the courtroom Thursday: "Only God can judge me. That's all I gotta say." Her daughter was in a coma for two days after the Sept. 7 incident. The girl and her siblings were then taken into state custody. Police records show that the toddler's siblings told investigators their mother kicked the girl in the stomach repeatedly and hit her with various objects before gluing her hands to the wall. Dallas police say Escalona was mad about potty training problems. Escalona faces up to life in prison. Sentencing is set for Sept. 10.
If you haven’t heard of Maria Tash, you’ve no doubt seen the influence of her work. A piercing specialist with her own label of jewellery, Tash is known for dotting delicate earrings all over the ear—to an effect that’s decidedly more elegant than punk. She’s the bona fide leader when it comes to body piercing art, bringing piercings well into the consciousness of the luxury fashion industry. Case in point: late this summer, Tash opened a new, permanent salon and boutique at Liberty London, arguably the U.K.’s grandest and most historic luxury department store. “Liberty invited us to do a pop-up in February 2016,” recalls Tash, “and they were very generous with the amount of space and the design of our permanent store.” The 1500-square-foot shop-in-shop opened in August, and is Tash’s first space outside of New York, where she’s run an eponymous salon since 1992. If the new Liberty boutique isn’t enough, Tash also boasts a healthy celebrity clientele, having pierced everyone from Uma Thurman and Meg Ryan to former model Yasmin Le Bon—as well as all their respective daughters. She also regularly styles and supplies jewellery for shoots for Vogue, ELLE, Marie Claire, and Harper’s Bazaar, and has styled Julianne Moore, the singer FKA Twigs, Jennifer Hudson, and recently pierced Marchesa designer Georgina Chapman. So why the sudden resurgence in piercings as a fashionable form of self-expression? “The jewellery has evolved over time, and is much better than what I had in the early nineties,” explains Tash. “Back then, it was about a steel, industrial look, with layered, thick rings that could only be opened with special pliers.” It’s a stark contrast to the jewellery of today, which is “durable, beautiful, and small enough for daily wear—and an important part of one’s personal style,” she continues. Tash is the bona fide leader when it comes to body piercing art, bringing piercings well into the consciousness of the luxury fashion industry. In terms of the piercings themselves, it all sounds relatively conventional—until Tash starts discussing daith, high first lobe, and high conch piercings. “These are some ‘new’ areas that are requested,” she says. Daith piercing—a piercing through the ear’s innermost cartilage fold—was developed in the nineties and has seen a resurgence, thanks in part to the belief that it can relieve migraines and headaches through pressure points often targeted by acupuncturists. “High first lobe piercing is a nice way to accent the main lobe and is a quick healer,” says Tash, “while high conch piercing is a new, unexplored area.” High first lobe equates to approximately a sixth or seventh piercing up your earlobe, while high conch is the flat part of your inner cartilage. Given the fashion industry’s current obsession with the nineties, it’s a relief to hear from Tash that tongue piercings have been left in the past, although she does say that nipple piercings have become popular again. In general, “it’s difficult to keep inventing new piercing locations in the body,” she notes. “There are still some to be explored and it’s our challenge to do so, [but] the jewelry is easier to keep evolving.” Venus by Maria Tash, Tash’s jewellery line, features ornate pieces with decorative embellishments. Her aesthetic is influenced by traditional Indian jewellery as well as elements of modern architecture—hidden and recessed lighting in particular. Her collections include everything from gold spikes on tiny hoop rings to diamonds set in scalloped gold. However, it’s her classic diamond eternity ring—which features up to 22 diamonds—and single diamond heart and arrow studs with proprietary Tash threaded backings that are still her most requested pieces. “By themselves, these designs are not very unusual,” she says, “but they do look flattering on all skin tones and complement most personal styles.” It’s not surprising these are her most popular styles: right now, it seems, everyone wants a piece of Tash when it comes to piercings.
I am three months into my medical residency, and I am getting fat. Not the noticeable change-in-pant-size fat, not yet. But I am most certain that what was once muscle is now just "padding," and I can no longer solely attribute the words "muffin top" to the anatomy of the snacks that I scrounge to stay alive during the long hours in the hospital. I am three months into my medical residency, and I am stressed. Not the bug-eyed, frazzled-haired stress, not yet. But I am most certain that what once were exciting thoughts surrounding my life as a physician have now been acutely replaced with persistent fears of making mistakes on the job that I cannot afford to make. In short, I cannot say that I am in a state of good health. And if you or anyone you know is in the midst of medical training, I am confident that you will agree with me that I am not alone. So whose fault is this? It's hard to say. I'd like to attribute my declining sense of well-being to the intrinsic stress of caring for the sick, the lack of time for more than just sporadic trips to the gym, and the plethora of unhealthy food options served daily to the hospital's house staff during meetings and lectures. However, I know that the job of a resident physician itself is only partially to blame. Add the work-hard-play-hard culture surrounding medical residency and my personal lack of motivation for self-care beyond basic survival needs and we may be on to something. Regardless of the source of our health issues and the obvious problems that we residents have with this almost-expected physical and mental de-conditioning, we should be aware that by not actively addressing our own well-being, we are perpetuating a crude "do as I say, not as I do" dialogue with our patients that we know deep down in our fatty livers may not be the best approach to patient care. Which brings up the Resident's Hypocrisy: In an environment where it is so easy to slip away from acting personally accountable for our own well-being, it is our duty as physicians to educate, motivate, and ensure that our patients become personally accountable for their own well-being. This is bad. I wouldn't go as far to say that we are infringing on medical ethics and morals by choosing to spend our limited free afternoons watching Breaking Bad on the couch instead of hitting the gym (guilty as charged), but I do think that care is optimized in settings where physicians practice what they preach. After all, no one wants to see his or her doctor plow through a pile of fried onion rings in the hospital cafeteria before an office visit focused on weight management (very guilty as charged, sentence pending). Despite the difficulties of staying hale and hearty during the busiest few years of a physician's career, medical residents not only have a personal responsibility for their well-being but also an obligation to their patients to engage in the same healthy behaviors that they recommend. Special thanks to my friend and co-resident JZ for bringing up this issue. If you have any topics relating to health care, medical training, or preventive care that might be interesting to explore, please write to [email protected]. For more by Brian Secemsky, M.D., click here.
With an estimated 50 million active users worldwide, Tinder is one of the most popular dating apps among singletons looking for love. Every day 26 million matches are made - leading to 1.5 million dates around the world every week - and now the identities of the most right-swiped people in the UK have been revealed by Cosmopolitan. The most popular daters include a 23-year-old fashion marketeer, a 34-year-old game company director and a 28-year-old singer/songwriter. THE MOST POPULAR WOMEN... Cressida Barrett: 23, fashion marketer Cressida, who works in fashion and has been on Tinder for over a year, was once wooed by a partner purely through the medium of sheep facts Time on Tinder: 1 year, 6 months Matches a day: 6 Number of first dates: 4 Embarrassing admission: Cressida says she was once wooed by a partner purely through the medium of sheep facts. She said: 'I think quite hard about the photos I put up. They say you judge someone within the first seven seconds of seeing them.' 'Obviously it makes you happy, it's a very pleasant feeling,' says Cressida. 'I knew I got attention on it – but had no idea of the extent.' Her type? Tall, dark and handsome men who 'do something active' Jade Orvis: 24, internal recruitment Jade, 24, has been on 13 first dates during the two years she's been using Tinder Time on Tinder: 2 years (after coming out of a long-term relationship) Matches a day: 5 Number of first dates: 13 Embarrassing admission: The best opening line Jade ever got was, 'Do you like dragons?' Her type? Jade, who right-swipes about 'one in 10' men a night whilst she is watching TV after work, finds that she matches with most of the people she swipes. I like to see a bit about their life – a friendship group or a hobby. I find that most people I swipe, I match with.' Sharing her secrets to success, she says having a mix of photos is important - including ones with friends, her pets and selfies. She also has a motivational quote from her favourite book, The Secret. She maintains that since she's tweaked her profile, it has improved the quality of her matches - and she chats to eight out of 10 of them. If you want to snag a date with her, don't compliment her ('they make me feel awkward') and don't ask: 'Hey, you OK?' Holly Mattar: 21, film student and model Film student Holly Mattar is one of the most popular women on the dating app Time on Tinder: 8 months Matches a day: 10 Number of first dates: 1 Embarrassing admission: Holly's bio is her Instagram name and a dolphin emoji. She thinks the dolphin speaks for itself. Speaking about her success rate, she said: 'I think it's my hair that makes me stand out. 'But I also select my photos really carefully. I like to include ones of me on holiday as I want people to think I have a fun life.' If you want to impress Holly, don't bother using selfies as your Tinder picture because she believe it makes you look very 'self-obsessed.' But it's not all plain sailing for these popular users, who have also confessed to some embarrassing dating disasters - like being stood up at Winter Wonderland and being forced to ride the Ferris Wheel alone. The team behind the match-making platform has also disclosed the top tips that lead to a successful search. Tinder's in-house sociologist, Dr Jessica Carbino, said: 'Individuals that do well on Tinder are not necessarily the most attractive people in the room, they're the ones who are creating a profile that presents an authentic self, and then go about matching with people who they believe will be compatible.' The expert revealed you are 14 per cent more likely to get a right swipe if you are smiling with your teeth showing. 'You're signaling that you're kind, warm and approachable,' said Dr Carbino. Wearing glasses can reduce your chances of a right swipe by 12 per cent, according to the dating expert, because 'seeing the iris gives us clues as to whether you can be trusted.' ...AND THE MOST RIGHT-SWIPED MEN Ryan Gray: 27, financial consultant One of Ryan's matches was a Fifty Shades fan and pulled out a box of toys after a date Time on Tinder: 3 years, 7 months Matches a day: 4 Number of first dates: 18 Embarrassing admission: One of Ryan's matches had a Fifty Shades of Grey fetish (Ryan's surname is Gray, which was close enough for her). She pulled out a box of toys and asked him to act out some scenes. Stephen Ski: 27, business consultant A girl once fell asleep in Stephen's car on the way to their date, then stole his iPhone when he said he just wanted to go home Time on Tinder: 18 months Matches a day: 15 Number of first dates: 10 Embarrassing admission: A girl once fell asleep in his car on the way to their date, then stole his iPhone when he said he just wanted to go home. Stephen was 'surprised' to discover he was one of the most right-swiped men. If you want to impress him, he looks for 'friendly' women who smile a lot in their pictures and seek adventure. Jay: 30, model and personal trainer Model and personal trainer Jay, 30, is one of the most right-swiped men on Tinder Time on Tinder: 4 years Matches a day: 5 Number of first dates: 6 Embarrassing admission: Jay got stood up by a girl at Winter Wonderland. He waited for two hours before deciding to ride the Ferris wheel alone. Tom: 27, events company owner Events company owner Tom, 27, also features in the list of Tinder's most popular users Time on Tinder: 1 year, 2 months Matches a day: 10 Number of first dates: 5 Embarrassing admission: A date once slapped Tom after he said, 'I've got you all figured out.' He enjoyed it and continued seeing her for a couple of months. Stefan: 26, model and TV presenter Even when he's on boys' holidays, model Stefan still has one eye on his Tinder account Time on Tinder: 2 years Matches a day: 20 Number of first dates: 5 Embarrassing admission: Stefan once took a Tinder date out for dinner while on a boys' holiday in Marbella. Arthur: 19, musician It doesn't take much to make 19-year-old musician Arthur swipe left on a picture Time on Tinder: 1 year, 6 months Matches a day: 6 Number of first dates: 3 Embarrassing admission: He once swiped left on a girl because her headphones were tangled in her photo. Loui Blake: 26, entrepreneur The 26-year-old entrepreneur said he thought being vegan might put people off - but he's as popular as ever on Tinder Time on Tinder: 2 years Matches a day: 1 Number of first dates: 8 Embarrassing admission: He once took a date to a vegan sushi-making class, followed by an open-top bus tour. Loui believes he is popular on the app because he is 'approachable' and doesn't pose in his pictures. Loui, who has been single for four years, doesn't just look for love on Tinder; he also uses the app to meet new friends. He saw his right swipes increase when he added that he was a vegan. 'I recently put that I'm vegan in my profile and thought it would put people off but it didn't,' he said. Rich Lown: 28, singer/songwriter Tell Rich he looks like Gerard Butler for the best chance of a reply to your message Time on Tinder: 2 years Matches a day: 6 Number of first dates: 10 Embarrassing admission: Girls often flirt with Rich by telling him he looks like Gerard Butler, which he admits works every time. Rodney: 22, sports student Rodney has a tried and tested method for messaging a girl for the first time on Tinder Time on Tinder: 3 years Matches a day: 15 Number of first dates: 3 Embarrassing admission: He always opens conversations by sending a GIF of a guy sweating to insinuate that the girl is hot. Daniel: 34, gaming company director Daniel, 34, is a 6ft4in gaming company director who has used Tinder for six months Time on Tinder: 6 months Matches a day: 5 Number of first dates: 15 Embarrassing admission: His biggest turn-off is girls who request a certain height in their bios. However, Daniel has listed his own height in his. (He's 6ft4in). Other tips include wearing colours to make a good impression - even though 72 per cent of users wear neutrals like navy, beige, black and grey. Facing the camera in your photo also makes you 20 per cent more likely to get a positive reaction. The dating expert added: 'The one thing I tell people to include in their profile is information that will start a conversation – things that are unique to you. Facing the camera in your photo also makes you 20 per cent more likely to get a positive reaction. Left to right, Ryan Gray, Stefan, Cressida Barrett, Arthur and Loui Blake According to research, 66% of users have matched with someone and never messaged them. Left to right, Stephen Ski, Jade Orvis, Rich, Rodney and Holly Mattar 'Individuals who ask a question are pretty successful because they are providing an easy way to start talking.' The final piece of advice is to follow up on your matches. According to research, 66 per cent of users have matched with someone and never messaged them. Stephen Ski, a 27-year-old business consultant, suggested the key to success is being 'genuine.' Wearing colours helps to make a good impression - even though 72 per cent of users wear neutrals like navy, beige, black and grey. Left to right, Jay, Daniel and Tom He said: 'I had no idea how my profile compared to other guys until I was with a couple of female friends looking at their Tinder accounts. 'I was intrigued to see what guys were putting on there and I was pretty shocked. 'Topless photos, pictures of animals… it made me think maybe I'm just a bit more genuine.' The full feature appears in the February 2017 issue of Cosmopolitan, on sale today'
Yoshimitsu, Tekken's perennial bonkers cyber ninja, is in the next game in the series. That's no surprise. But his design is. Bandai Namco released a video, below, showing Yoshimitsu as he appears in Tekken 7, which is set to hit Japanese arcades next week. While many of his ninja-style moves will be familiar to Tekken veterans, his design will not. Yoshimitsu now has tentacles and a... squid face? Also, what's up with his swords? The radical design is in keeping with Bandai Namco's work on the Yoshimitsu character, considered one of the weirder in the Tekken franchise. With each version of the game his design has changed. In Tekken 4 he had insect wings. Bandai Namco is yet to confirm a console version of Tekken 7 but it's expected on PlayStation 4 and Xbox One at some point.
It was all those railway wagons that got the speculation rolling over Russian intentions with its military exercises this week along its western borders. Thousands of flat-bed wagons have been used over the past few months to transport an army of Russian troops, tanks and other heavy equipment to Belarus, the focal point of the drills, which are slated to last until 20 September. It didn’t take long for Western commentators to make the inevitable comparison with the First World War and the mass train movements that set it in motion. MOBILIZING FOR WAR? With NATO officials quoted as saying up to 100,000 troops will be involved in the “Zapad” (which means “West”) exercise, it has prompted warnings on social media that Russia “is mobilizing for war on a July 1914 scale.” And this all comes against the background of Russia’s annexation of Crimea three years ago, and its continuing military presence in Ukraine. Ukraine — which neighbors Belarus – is especially worried by Zapad. President Petro Poroshenko has called it “a smokescreen” aimed at pre-positioning reinforcements ready for a new “invasion of Ukrainian territory.” And Russia has past form here. It used drills to get ready for real war in Ukraine itself in 2014, and Georgia in 2008. All the speculation is “nonsense”, according to Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, who slammed claims that it was planning to leave troops behind in Belarus. The US military commander in Europe, Lt General Ben Hodges, echoed such concerns in an interview this summer, admitting that: “people are worried this is a Trojan horse.” All of it “nonsense”, according to Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, who slammed claims that it was planning to leave troops behind in Belarus. And Russian officials say no more than 13,000 troops will be involved in the drills – to which NATO observers have been invited in accordance with international treaties. At least according to Russian statements, the exercise’s primary aim is internal. Its forces are linking up with Belarusian troops for a war game where they pacify a separatist movement in western Belarus, near the border with NATO-member Poland. But Russia’s defense ministry is also running concurrent exercises in other regions, including Kaliningrad on the Baltic Sea. Western analysts say the figure of 100,000 personnel taking part in Zapad comes from aggregating all these drills. And NATO’s Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg has complained that Russia is not giving as much access to the exercise for its monitors as it has claimed. WWI echoes? Credit: Mikheil D OVERHYPED The Russian defense ministry must have expected some reaction in Western capitals when it announced a tender for 4,162 railcars to transport troops and equipment for Zapad 2017. As it said only around 3,000 personnel would be involved in the exercise, it looked like a clear sign it was hiding something. But military analysts on both sides say the figures were misunderstood, and that the number of troops Russia claims to have sent west do stack up. “This has been overhyped by the Western media,” says Vladimir Frolov, an independent Russian foreign policy analyst in Moscow. But Belarus has also played a role, he believes, with its intelligence services using “active measures” to exaggerate the size of the Russian deployment for their own internal and external political reasons. Some Western statements are “akin to crying wolf,” agrees Michael Kofman, an expert on the Russian military at the Center for Naval Analysis, a US think tank. But he says there is also “cause for prudent vigilance.” If Russia was planning a major offensive move, one might expect to see elements of its powerful Northern Fleet joining in the exercise. While some of these large ships, such as the Russian flagship Petr Veliky, entered the Baltic Sea in July for Russia’s annual Navy Day celebration, they have since left for deeper waters. Perhaps not surprisingly, Russia’s nearest Western neighbor, Finland, is keen to play down any immediate threat. “Western countries have taken the bait completely,” said its Defense Minister Jussi Niinistö in a recent interview, calling Zapad “primarily a propaganda exercise.” CRYING WOLF Some Western statements are “akin to crying wolf,” agrees Michael Kofman, an expert on the Russian military at the Center for Naval Analysis, a US think tank. But he says there is also “cause for prudent vigilance.” The US military has been responding to Russian maneuvers, reinforcing NATO units in Eastern Europe, as well as taking charge of operations there. And few believe NATO’s claim that a naval exercise already underway in the Baltic Sea – and which is due to last until late September – is unconnected with Zapad. There is an information war going on for public opinion in NATO-member states too, with Western governments keen to bolster their case for increasing military spending to counter a resurgent Russian military. So who to believe? Maybe neither side. After four years of Cold War-style standoff between Russia and the West, sparked by Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine, the trust gap between the two sides is immense.
In light of the very likely failure of the tax extenders bill, Steve Benen speculates: It's unpleasant to think about, and I really hope it's not true, but it may be time for a discussion about whether GOP lawmakers are trying to deliberately sabotage the economy to help their midterm election strategy. After all, these same Republicans have supported deficit-financed tax-extenders before -- there's no credible reason to change course now. On the contrary, with the economy struggling to break through, the need for this package is more obvious, not less, if your goal is to actually improve economic conditions. Losing this bill definitely would sabotage the economy. Estimates of additional jobs lost without the key funding in this bill ranger from 200,000 to 900,000. Because of the loss to state budgets, those will be jobs that will be particularly obvious--teacher, police, firefighters. Lost jobs that will infuriate the public and maybe, just maybe, help the Republicans if there's an anti-incumbent wave because of it. Of course, Republicans can't kill this on their own. Not with 49 41 votes. On the last vote they had both Ben Nelson and Joe Lieberman. And if they do kill it with a failed loture vote, it's completely dead. There isn't time in the schedule to bring it back up. So, if you've got some time today, call Snowe, Collins, Voinovich, Scott Brown, Ben Nelson, and Lieberman. Here's a toll free number: 888-254-5087. Ask them if their seats really are worth further wrecking the entire economy.
299 SHARES Facebook Twitter Google Pinterest Reddit Tumblr IMPACT WRESTLING RETURNS TO UNIVERSAL STUDIOS March 2-5 for LIVE TV TAPINGS WHAT: Be part of the adrenaline-pumping action March 2-5 as the Stars and Knockouts of IMPACT WRESTLING return to Soundstage 21 on the backlot at Universal Studios, Florida for four days of televised events, including the LIVE broadcast of IMPACT WRESTLING on Thursday, March 2, airing at 8/7c on Pop TV! WHEN: March 2-5, 2017 Thursday, March 2 Event starts at 6 p.m. ET Doors open at 5:30 p.m. ET Friday, March 3 Event starts at 6 p.m. ET Doors open at 5:30 p.m. ET Saturday, March 4 Matinee Event starts at 1 p.m. ET Doors open at 12:30 p.m. ET Evening show Event starts at 6 p.m. ET Doors open at 5:30 p.m. ET Sunday, March 5 Event starts at 6 p.m. ET Doors open at 5:30 p.m. ET *Times are subject to change. Updates on any changes can be found at impactwrestling.com and on all of IMPACT’s social media channels @IMPACTWRESTLING WHERE: Soundstage 21, located on the backlot at Universal Studios Florida in Orlando. TICKETS: Admission to the event is complimentary. VIP EXPERIENCE: A limited number of VIP Experiences are available for $99 at ShopTNA.com The ultimate VIP Experience includes: -Priority seating to the LIVE IMPACT WRESTLING broadcast and all other TNA events inside Soundstage 21 at Universal Studios, Florida. -A special VIP credential -A commemorative event 11×17 poster -A nightly meet-and-greet photo and autograph session with a select IMPACT WRESTLING Star or Knockout GET YOURS HERE !!!!! Questions about our VIP experience? Contact: Amy Zack ([email protected]) WHO: IMPACT WRESTLING features a diverse roster of professional athletes and entertainers including Jeff and Matt Hardy, Ethan Carter III (EC3), Bobby Lashley, Drew Galloway, James Storm, The Miracle Mike Bennett, Moose, the best female wrestlers in the world – the Knockouts – featuring Gail Kim, Maria Kanellis Bennett, and Brandi Rhodes! You’ll also see the likes of our no limits, high-flying X-Division Stars like DJZ.
Share this... As climate observations continue their now obscene divergence from the earlier IPCC model projections, some media outlets are becoming harsher in their criticism of a science that increasingly appears corrupt and politicized. Moreover climate scientists are looking ever more shrill and desperate. Hat-tip: hajo. A recent feature story by Markus Schär in the print edition of Swiss news weekly Weltwoche even goes so far as to call IPCC lead author Thomas Stocker a “butler for politicians”. Weltwoche’s introduction reads: Climate scientists, foremost some from Switzerland, are issuing increasingly louder warnings of catastrophe. This is because next year the global community should obligate itself to a strict treaty on protecting the climate. Despite the alarm, hardly anyone desires to keep playing along.” Weltwoche adds later in the article that the way things stand now, the chances that of a new binding treaty getting ratified “are close to zero“. As a result global warming alarmists are mounting another scramble to salvage a hypothesis that is increasingly looking unsustainable. With the next large climate conference in Lima, Peru in December, more than ever scientists are coming under pressure to explain why warming has stopped and the models have been so embarrassingly wrong so far. The steam (science) that is supposed to be powering climate policy forward has blown a major gasket. Ironically science is beginning to act as a brake. Weltwoche writes that the final (up-to-now confidential) Synthesis Report scheduled for release in October is designed to salvage the movement and supply the necessary urgency to get the binding climate treaty process to replace the expired Kyoto Protocol back on track. Here Weltwoche writes: “Dramatic proclamationS are in demand in order to wake up the global public.” It adds: The authors of the Synthesis Report, among them as always are environmental activists, have to threaten with an apocalypse.” Clearly among those involved in the effort, Weltwoche writes, are Swiss scientists Thomas Stocker of the University of Bern and Reto Knutti of the ETH Institute, a leading climate modeling center. As part of the effort to rescue the alarmism, Weltwoche describes how Reto Knutti, once a student of Stocker, was the lead author of a recent paper that systematically analyzed the reasons behind the global warming pause. The paper concluded that it was due to ocean cycles and solar activity, and that these factors merely needed to be adjusted in the models, and so there was “no reason to doubt the newest climate models“. But Weltwoche writes Knutti’s paper got “more ridicule than praise worldwide“. Weltwoche quotes the Science & Environmental Policy Project (SEPP): “Unwittingly the study only proves once again that the IPCC got it all wrong with its claims of 95% certainty.” Weltwoche then informs how there have been a number of recent papers showing that the sun is a major driver in climate change, citing papers by Joos, Beer, and even Stocker himself. The Swiss weekly also sharply criticizes the “method” used by climate scientists who rather than applying the scientitfic method, stubbornly insist their theory can’t be wrong: The climate scientists, on the other hand, have been working a quarter century using all means to prove their theory. When they fail to do so, they instantly conjure up – like Reto Knutti – a new hypothesis.”
Anyone watching the nightly broadcasts of the Tour de France knows cycling takes courage. The extraordinary distances ridden day after day, the long, tough climbs, terrifying descents, and feverish sprints are all difficult enough. Accidents, like the spectacular high-speed crash that ended this year's campaign for Australia's Richie Porte, can make cycle racing seem an extreme sport, a marginal activity. Competition aside, investing in cycling as a business also takes courage – especially in Australia, and especially in Sydney. In this city more than any other, a poisonous antagonism between motorists and cyclists has been cultivated to the point where it threatens the public's safety. To ride, to invest in, or to advocate cycling here all take courage. That stand-off, which is experienced all too frequently on our roads, has been fostered by rancorous media commentators and servile politicians too eager to do their bidding. It is not fanciful to see a link between the antisocial hysteria whipped up this way and incidents such as the 2013 death of Steve Jarvie, killed by the motorcyclist and cyclist-hater Ben Smith, sentenced this month to eight years' jail for his appalling crime. Less dramatically, it has produced the endless, shameful sledging of Lord Mayor Clover Moore for trying to make Sydney's roads safer for cyclists. This unpromising Sydney environment makes it doubly welcome that Reddy Go, a private company, has had the courage to set up a bike hire service, like those in Melbourne and Brisbane and many overseas centres. As we report today, users download an app to their mobile phone, and use it to find and unlock bikes. Once their ride is over, the app lets them lock the bike and pay for its hire. Unlike some schemes, bikes are not returned to bike stations, but can be left anywhere. This last point may cause problems. It remains to be seen if users leave bikes where they are an obstruction to others. That possibility aside, the scheme is more than welcome. It may help to reverse the slight decline in cycling evident in recent surveys in Sydney, caused almost entirely by the baffling, negative attitude of the state government in removing cycleways and imposing oppressive fines on cyclists for minor transgressions of road rules. This strange, gratuitous and irrational campaign against cycling has solved no problems worth the name, but has created many. By discouraging people from riding, it pushes them by implication back into their cars for transport where they only increase the length and severity of traffic jams. And since cycling brings benefits to health and to the environment, discouraging it harms both. The government should come to its senses and reverse these oppressive impositions on cycling. It should reinstate its aim to double the number of trips made by bicycle in Sydney, and devote sufficient resources to well-designed cycling infrastructure to achieve it. Until it comes to its senses however – and given its record, that may take some time – private initiatives that support cycling, like Reddy Go, deserve the community's support.
This is a factory 20-round magazine for 9mm MPX pistols & carbines. Patterned after the venerable AR-15 and featuring a revolutionary new gas piston design, Sig Sauer’s MPX is the operator’s choice for 21st Century combat and competition. These 20-round magazines provide the perfect balance of firepower and maneuverability, with a smaller profile that’s ideal for target shooting, moving around in vehicles, or just keeping reloads handy. Factory magazines are built to Sig Sauer’s strict specifications, featuring reinforced feed lips and durable translucent polymer construction. Multiple capacities available. Note: Generation 1 magazines will usually work in Generation 2 guns. But for optimal performance we strongly recommend purchasing the magazine that matches your gun. Just check an existing mag if you’re not sure (Black follower = Gen 1, Green follower = Gen 2).
Vulcun pick up 2 wins by complete shut-out Today's explosive action came with not only Dignitas growing stronger and stronger, but a major upset against Counter Logic Gaming as well. Michale “DreXxiN” Lalor Starcraft: Brood War Veteran and League of Legends Crew Lead. Events Attended 2013 [f]Poland[/f] Intel Extreme Masters Katowice 2013 [f]Germany[/f] Intel Extreme Masters World Championships Counter Logic Gaming ended the day unexpectedly receiving two painful losses. However, the day wasn't a downer for everybody as Vulcun not only won both of their games butDignitas'also received his birthday wishes by pulling ahead of CLG and keeping themselves even with Team Solomid for 2nd place in the North American Championship Series standings.The day opens up with Counter Logic Gaming vs. Vulcun Command with a staggering variety of wild picks including Nasus, Vayne, Syndra, Alistar, and Singed. To fortify the early game weakness of Vayne on purple side, CLG makes the swap towards top. Vulcun, however, calls their bluff and swaps Zuna and MuffinQT up to the top lane.The first piece of action begins at 6 minutes, where Sycho Sid Singed teleports top to take out Aphromoo and Doublelift early. For the better portion of early game, Vulcun grasps the lead, taking many advantages and utilizing their roaming capabilities and wielding much stronger results than CLG.Their reign wouldn't end up stopping there, however, as they took 3 towers and a dragon worth of global advantage without penalty. As the battle progressed, Vulcun would take an incredibly huge lead on CLG by taking a 25-minute inhibitor. Though many would have expected a throw, Vulcun very decisively and thoroughly stomped through their opposition, methodically stomping Counter Logic Gaming for their first win.The next game would see even more strange picks coming out as Good Game University locks in Fizz top and Leona in the jungle using the utility tree. Good Game University almost takes a 4 minute tower, but Akali holds it off by threatening Graves with a near-death experience. Cop and Elementz manage to take the first turret instead.15 minutes in the game would wind up even with GGU closing out a dragon, tying up the gold. Unfortunately, the second dragon would not yield the same results as GGU does grab the dragon, but Curse capitalizes on it with superior teamfight potential by acing GGU.The ace-spree would continue as Curse's experience shined through, taking both inhibitors and climbing up to a whopping 5k gold lead and washing out GGU.The third game of the night would feature one of the most famous rivalries between North American teams since the dawn of LoL E-Sports. The games were neck and neck with Dignitas showing preparation by constantly pulling ahead by just a hair.However, this would not stay the case for long with CLG pulling a 2k gold lead around the 220 minute mark after a superior teamfight from CLG. The lead wouldn't last forever in CLG's favor either and CLG has begun to regret their terrible drafting phase by letting Dignitas get champions they are very strong with at this point. This is apparent as Imaqtpie becomes huge on Dignitas and they take a middle inhibitor turret.Eventually, Counter Logic Gaming makes far too many graves mistakes and Dignitas takes the game home.The ending would certainly be the least climactic match of the night unfortunately, with a double kill coming off straight away from Vulcun's bottom lane against Complexity. What looked like a typical snowbally solo queue game was actually the final professional match of the LCS. Certainly not the largest of crowd pleasers, Vulcun succeeds in maintaining the lead and not throwing significantly in any sort of way.Despite the massive deficit, Complexity holds on longer than expected. They are 0-9 in the midgame but still manage to fend off their inhibitors. However, they were still at the whim of their enemies and could not dictate their own game decisions. They couldn't hold off forever, however, and Zuna closes the game out with afrom downtown to blindly finish off Lux and take the game home.
Target has been the subject of a boycott petition created by the American Family Association, which contends the transgender fitting room and bathroom policy would give sexual predators access to victims. Authorities in Idaho charged a transgender woman this week with secretly taking pictures of an 18-year-old woman changing in a Target fitting room. The national retail chain drew praise from transgender advocates and condemnation from conservative groups when it announced in April that it would allow customers to use the restroom or fitting room corresponding to their gender identity. Target has been the subject of a boycott petition created by the American Family Association, which contends the transgender fitting room and bathroom policy would give sexual predators access to victims. The petition has collected nearly 1.4 million signatures since April, according to the group’s website. The retailer, which has 1,792 stores nationwide, said in a statement that it was committed to creating “a safe and secure shopping environment” and that it immediately cooperated with local law enforcement as soon as it learned of the case. Officers from the Bonneville County Sheriff’s Office were called to a Target in Ammon on Monday evening by a woman who said she saw someone reach over the wall separating the fitting rooms there with an iPhone taking pictures or a video. After interviewing witnesses and reviewing surveillance footage, detectives on Tuesday arrested Shauna Smith, 43, on one felony count of voyeurism, according to the sheriff’s office. She was booked into Bonneville County Jail as a male, using her legal name, Sean Patrick Smith. The 18-year-old told authorities she had been trying on swimwear when she noticed the iPhone, according to a court document obtained by EastIdahoNews.com. Her mother confronted the suspect, who fled. Both later identified the voyeur as a white man wearing a dress and blond wig, according to the document. Another witness reported seeing the suspect leave in a vehicle that was later discovered to be registered to Smith. Smith’s roommate confirmed to police that she is, indeed, a transgender woman and identified clothes worn by the suspect in surveillance footage as belonging to Smith, according to the document. In an interview with a detective, Smith said she had made videos in the past of women undressing for the “same reason men go online to look at pornography,” according to the document, an affidavit of probable cause for warrantless arrest. Smith told the detective that she gets sexual gratification from such videos and later showed the detective a video of a woman changing in a Target fitting room. Smith is represented by a public defender.
“We’ve rarely seen this kind of rapid and quick change in climatic conditions.” — Juber Ruiz, of Peru’s Civil Defense Institute ***** During September through November, wildfires tore across parts of drought-stricken Peru. Peru’s Amazon was then experiencing its worst dry period in 20 years. And, at the time, over 100,000 acres of rainforest and farmland was consumed by flash fires. Rainforest species, ill-adapted to fires, were caught unawares. And a tragic tale of charred remains of protected species littering a once-lush, but now smoldering, wood spread in the wake of the odd blazes. (Last November, wildfires burned through the Amazon rainforest in Peru as a record drought left the region bone-dry. From Drought Now Spans the Globe. Image source: LANCE-MODIS.) At the time, scientists noted that the after-effects of El Nino had combined with a warmer world to help spur the drought and the fires. And they warned Peru to prepare for more extreme weather in the future as Earth continued to heat up. Fast forward to 2017 and we find that the moisture regime has taken a hard turn in Peru as the droughts and fires of 2016 gave way to torrential rains. Since January, more than 62 souls have been lost and about 12,000 homes destroyed as flash floods ripped through Peru. Over the past three days, the rains have been particularly intense — turning streets into roaring rivers and causing streams to over-top — devouring roads, bridges and buildings. As of yesterday, 176 districts within the country have declared a state of emergency due to flooding. (Flooding in Peru leaves tens of thousands homeless. Video source: TRT News.) The rains come as coastal waters off Peru have seen sky-rocketing temperatures. Sea surface readings over recent months have climbed from an average of 24 degrees Celsius to 29 degrees Celsius. These extremely warm waters are pumping a huge plume of moisture into the local atmosphere. And it’s this extraordinarily heavy moisture loading that is spurring the massive rainstorms now plaguing the state. Scientists call this phenomena a coastal El Nino. And the last time Peru experienced one was in 1925. Though the coastal El Nino probably helped to spur the extreme rains now plaguing Peru, the peak sea surface temperatures of the very warm waters off Peru have also been increased by the larger human-forced warming of the world (primarily through fossil fuel burning). So many scientists are also now saying that the severe rainfall events now occurring in Peru were likely contributed to by climate change. (Sea surface temperature anomaly map shows that ocean surfaces are more than 5 C above average off coastal Peru. Image source: Earth Nullschool.) New Peru movement leader Verónika Mendoza noted earlier this week: “We know the ‘coastal El Niño’ comes from time to time. We know we are a country that is extremely vulnerable to the effects of climate change. We should have prepared ourselves better.” The climate extremes Peru has experienced — flipping from flash drought and wildfires to flash flood in just 5-6 months is exactly the kind wrenched weather we can expect more and more from climate change. For as the Earth warms, the amount of moisture evaporated from lands, oceans, lakes and rivers increases. As a result, the hydrological cycle gets kicked into higher gear. And what this means it that droughts and fires will tend to become more intense even as rains, when they do fall, will tend to be heavier. Links: Deadly Flooding in Peru Sparks Criticism over Climate Change Preparedness Wildfires Tear Across Drought-Stricken Peru With Temperatures Hitting 1.2 C Hotter than Pre-Industrial, Drought Now Spans the Globe LANCE-MODIS Earth Nullschool TRT News Hat tip to Vic Hat tip to Colorado Bob Advertisements
^I'm from Australia and I can open it no problem.Kudos to PD for remembering about this appI bought the Anniversary edition and just about given up hope of ever getting the book, so it's a nice surprise. Bummer for those on Android, but give it a few months and someone will probably rip it in PDF format or similar.The contents itself are pretty similar to the BA book included with GT5's Collector/Signature Edition. There are more pages on car mechanics, but the section on tuning is exactly the same. The track database only includes new tracks that were not in GT5, but is more detailed with pictures and different colours for track configurations (it's nice to see how the different Matterhorn configurations look together). The car database is useful, but I was hoping they'd stop with the -- values crap. The pentagon performance map makes it pretty cool to compare cars - just see the difference between Veyron and Citroen 2CV
Doris Davis (Photo: submitted) MURFREESBORO — A Murfreesboro police officer got an unexpected view out of the station window Tuesday afternoon. According to the police report officer Aaron Price saw a woman walking in front of the police station. “I then observed the female, later identified as Doris Davis, pull her pants down while on the sidewalk, squat down and begin urinating,” Price reported. Price said he went outside and observed the same thing. When he asked the woman what she was doing, “she said she was peeing,” the report stated. Price said he asked Davis if she could not find a bathroom and she said no. “Doris then turned around, bent over and spread her butt cheeks showing me where she urinated on herself,” Price said. The officer said Davis told him she had consumed a quart and a half of beer. “Doris had bloodshot eyes, slurred speech, and was unsteady on her feet,“ Price said. Davis, 43, of Gunnerson Avenue, was charged with public intoxication and indecent exposure. Her bond was set at $1,000. Read or Share this story: http://on.dnj.com/1tdE86P
Some thoughts in note form as we digest a wild couple of days for the Toronto Maple Leafs. – Whatever you think about the contract, it’s pretty unbelievable to be sitting here, 14 months after the Leafs finished dead last and had only a 24% chance of winning the draft lottery to look forward to, talking about how the Leafs just added Patrick Marleau at age 38 to help them go on playoff runs in the next two-to-three years. – There’s no getting around the fact that Marleau’s production has seen a steady, natural decline as he’s aged: two consecutive seasons with under 50 points is a first since 1998-2000 (when he was 19-20), and his 46 points last year was his lowest since 2001-02. His 27 goals last season came despite his lowest shots on goal total in nine seasons. Marleau’s SOG totals have fallen steadily over the last three years — 233, 216, 190 — and his 17:09 TOI in 2016-17 was his lowest since 2001-02. The recent decline was driven by special teams, however, and not his 5v5 rates: 5v5 Shots EVS/60 PP Shots PPS/60 EV TOI/G PPTOI/G 2016-17 144 7.82 35 8.68 14:02 3:01 2015-16 133 7.32 59 12.41 14:41 3:31 2014-15 138 7.29 65 15.19 14:54 3:16 In addition to a 30-second reduction in PP ice time for Marleau individually last year, the Sharks power play struggled — it finished 25th overall (16.7%) and 16th in shots on goal per hour. Not that Marleau didn’t have a hand in that given he played three minutes a game on the PP, but he now joins a Leafs team that was second in the NHL with a 23.8% success rate and fifth in shots on goal per 60. As far as the ice time: The reduction last season was due to Pete DeBoer cutting his power play time slightly and moving him off the penalty kill entirely. He’s remained within a few seconds of Tomas Hertl for third among Sharks forwards in even strength ice time per game over the past three seasons, behind Thornton and Pavelski. He’s slowing down, but by no means does it look like he’s teetering over the cliff face at this point. – Here is a list of players 38 and older who have recorded 20+ goal seasons since 2005-06: Rk Player From To Count 1 Teemu Selanne 2009 2012 4 2 Bill Guerin 2009 2010 2 3 Jaromir Jagr 2014 2016 2 4 Mark Recchi 2007 2009 2 5 Brendan Shanahan* 2007 2008 2 6 Martin St. Louis 2014 2015 2 7 Daniel Alfredsson 2012 2012 1 8 Shane Doan 2016 2016 1 9 Marian Hossa 2017 2017 1 10 Jarome Iginla 2016 2016 1 11 Mike Knuble 2011 2011 1 12 Joe Nieuwendyk* 2006 2006 1 13 Gary Roberts 2007 2007 1 14 Ray Whitney 2012 2012 1 It’s been done 22 times by 14 different players in the last 11 years. St. Louis (x2), Selanne (x4), Shanahan (x2), Jagr (x2) and Guerin (x2), Recchi (x2) are the six 38+ players to do it multiple times. Selanne is the only one to have done it three or more times. If we stretch the sample back to 1995-96 when the 82-game season was implemented, the list grows only from 14 players to 19. Only five 38 and older players managed to break 20 goals between 1995-96 and 2005-06, compared to 14 from 2005-06 to 2016-17. That certainly says something about the modern NHL athlete and the advancements in sports science in general. – In terms of 25+ goal scorers at age 38 and older since 2015-16 — seven have done it once: Alfredsson, Doan, Hossa, Jagr, Nieuwendyk, Shanahan, and St. Louis. Only one has done it more than once (Selanne, four times). – If we go by Marleau’s commitment to his preparation late in his career, it sure sounds like he’s got a good shot at joining the multi-20+ goal club among 38 and over players. Here’s Sharks head coach Pete DeBoer, who also coached Jaromir Jagr in New Jersey: I think all guys who have played that long I’ve coached — No. 1, it’s a passion for the game. They love the game, they love to come to the rink and they love the extra work you have to do in the gym, the sacrifices you have to make. Not everyone has that, especially when you get 15-20 years in and you have a family and you’ve made enough money that you don’t have to put your body on the line every night. It’s a rare breed who can do that that long. And his physical tools allow him to keep playing. He’s a generational skater, a big man, a linebacker-type body, which is a great recipe for playing a long time.” As has been mentioned elsewhere, Marleau hasn’t missed a game since April of 2009, when he sprained his MCL. That puts his games played streak at 563 games (regular season), which is behind only Keith Yandle and Andrew Cogliano among active players. Marleau has never played fewer than 74 games in an 82-game season. Here was Marleau earlier this year speaking about his durability: Probably good genetics and I’ve had a really great supporting cast with the trainers here throughout my career. They always bring new ideas to the forefront. Honestly, when I first came in guys weren’t taking vitamins every day or eating healthy. It’s evolved over the years. More and more guys are turning to that healthier lifestyle. It helps players such as myself stay young, stay fit, and keep the fire burning. Every player has little things they do away from the rink as well, whether that be a massage person that they go see from time to time. There’s many different types of massage now, like the cupping you saw at the Olympics. You go around and you try different things and you see what works for you and you apply it, and those people become part of your supporting cast. I’ve had numerous massage therapists with different techniques. You get to know a lot of therapist around the league so even when you’re on the road you know who to call. It’s about staying on top of all the injuries. Those little bumps and bruises—if you don’t take care of them they add up and turn into something major. – Mike Babcock’s quote when asked by NHL.com’s Nick Cotsonika about the three-year term: “Have you seen the guy skate?” Joe Thornton shared a similar thought after Patrick Marleau scored his 500th goal in February: “I think he is still one of the most explosive players in the league.” – Marleau should be set up pretty well to succeed in Toronto for the next couple of years. With what’s already in place, there isn’t the expectation that he’ll step in, play first-line minutes, and lead the team in goal scoring. When Babcock had the new influx of offensive talent at his disposal last season, he optimized the forward lines pretty quickly and received career years out of Kadri, Bozak and JVR up front, on top of the big years from the rookie class. There are several spots where Marleau could slide nicely into the Leafs’ highly-skilled top nine; you could foresee him with Bozak and Marner at times this year, where he’d have two right-handed playmakers feeding him passes in secondary matchups. He mostly played with left-handed centers in San Jose between Couture and Thornton the last two years — both fantastic players who Marleau enjoyed considerable success with, and in Thornton’s case one of the best playmakers to ever live, but it would be a different dynamic. Of course, him taking over Hyman’s spot on Nylander and Matthews’ line is a tantalizing prospect as well, although we’ll see if Babcock is willing to forgo the “digger” role on the left side of that line. We can be sure Babcock is tearing through pens and napkins at his cottage with all of the possibilities here. – As of now, however, the Marleau add does bump a kid off the team who probably deserves a spot in the lineup and it’s hard not to see that player being Kasperi Kapanen (still waiver exempt) as things currently stand. Where Josh Leivo or Nikita Soshsnikov’s futures lie at this point is about as clear as mud, but it’s hard to see them staying on the Leafs roster past October as it stands. Could Kasperi Kapanen emerge as a 15-20 goal, 40-point player for a small fraction of Marleau’s pricetag within the next two years if afforded top-nine minutes plus his PK shifts and potentially some secondary power play time? As a RW, Kapanen is stuck behind Nylander, Marner and Brown right now unless Babcock feels he can be trusted on his off side. How about Soshnikov, or Leivo? Hard to bank on 20+ goals from any of them in the next two years like you’re getting from Marleau, and there are factors beyond the points (“He can play against the best players and do it right,” said Babcock). – It’s still premature to assume JVR won’t be a Leaf come October. Certainly, things look to be pointing strongly in the direction of him not being in Toronto past 2017-18, and if the Leafs can get the right defenceman for him, he’ll be on the next plane out of town. But to load up on short-term veterans (medium term, in Marleau’s case) with the goal of capitalizing on an entry-level window and then turn around and deal JVR — still the team’s best LWer offensively, in his prime, and a top-25 scorer in the league since 2012-13 — for whatever the team can get in terms of futures, be it picks or young defencemen in need of development time, doesn’t make a lot of sense. It would obviously have to be for the right piece, and that’s the case now more than before the Marleau signing. – Without that piece, the concern with the Marleau signing is whether the Leafs just shifted into win-now mode without the defensive strength to do it. It’s not “win-now” in the sense that the Leafs sacrificed significant future assets in the form of quality picks or prospects, but $6.25 million in cap space for three years is a pretty substantial commitment that comes with certain expectations and risks (there are all sorts of ways the Leafs could get out of that third year if Marleau is going to retire or accept a trade, or both, but we don’t know how it will play out. Could even be a lockout). If the Leafs do nothing else of significance this offseason, we’re left with lots of maybes defensively: How much does the team improve just by virtue of having a more mature forward group that now includes Marleau and Dominic Moore (for a full 82 games, versus Brian Boyle for 20) and a collection of talented rookies with a year of NHL experience now under their belts? Does Morgan Rielly have another level to find, entering his age-23 season and his third year playing tough minutes under Babcock (after an up-and-down regular season, he was fantastic in the playoffs)? Does Nikita Zaitsev have more to give in his second year in North America? How close to ready are Calle Rosen, Andreas Borgman, Andrew Nielsen, and Travis Dermott? – We can get this out of the way: Barring further moves, Ron Hainsey is going to play some significant minutes for the team this season, and it won’t always be pretty at his age and foot speed. But he’s averaged 21+ minutes a game for the last ten years on five different teams, and over 21 minutes a game during the Penguins Cup run last season while taking on the top matchups each night. He can play the right side, where the Leafs had only Nikita Zaitsev and Connor Carrick (who played 15:31 per game in the final month of the season, and 12:16 on average in the team’s six playoff games) among their regular NHL defencemen, with no one in the system ready to step in. That’s unless Babcock thinks Calle Rosen, who played some RD in the SHL, is not only ready for regular NHL duty but can also be introduced to the league on his off-side, which seems unlikely and ill-advised. Hainsey is also 20th in the NHL in shorthanded time-on-ice per game in the last ten years among active defencemen with more than 200 games played, including over three minutes per game in Carolina this past year. When the Hurricanes traded Hainsey on February 23rd, their PK was ranked second in the league. It ranked 18th in the league from February 23 onward. Over the last three years, Hainsey’s 45.7 shots against per hour of PK time is 17th of 151 defencemen (minimum 200 SH minutes). As far as stopgap measures go, there are worse solutions than Hainsey on a two-year deal. But for a team that was 28th in shots against and 22nd in goals against (worst among the 16 playoff teams in both categories), the Leafs don’t appear to have a core assembled defensively that is capable of putting them over the top, unless you believe they can really pull off a 2017 Penguins, Hainsey and all. That’s not news to anyone here and it certainly isn’t lost on Leafs management.
Rebranding: How A Good Web Design Helps You Grow The Question of Rebranding With brutal competition online and everywhere else, it can be said that a company’s brand is the only differentiating factor. And in a world where trends are constantly changing, the question of rebranding a company’s web design often arises. Because in a digital space where customers base their buying decisions on looks alone, your image could very well be your everything. No doubt, a decision of rebranding your web design cannot be taken lightly. Surely if you have an existing website that your customers have come to know and love, why would rebranding be of any benefit? Strengthen your brand and grow your business Ninety-four percent of site visitors report a website’s appearance (web design) as the primary reason why they leave or stay on a site. Truthfully, savvy internet users will evaluate a website based on its appearance as compared to that of the competition. With so much on offer and literally thousands of websites on display everywhere every day, the challenge to run ahead of the pack becomes literal. Rebranding a web design does not necessarily mean to re-create your company’s logo. Often this is a major consideration as well. Whether your website is due for a major overhaul or just a small adaptation, the objective must always be to strengthen your brand’s identity. With the intention to keep it strong. The development of an online brand must be consistent across all contexts. Your company website, social media profiles and all related advertising should ultimately focus on long-term business growth. Is our website responsive? Another important consideration when it comes to rebranding a website is technology. Strange, as it’s usually the graphic design which changes. What we mean to say is that technology changes. And it changes very fast. In the last couple of years, the way people view and use websites have changed. Therefore the technological requirements of websites must be adapted as well. One of these major adaptations is the fact that your website should look as good on a mobile phone and tablet as what it does on a computer screen. Having a responsive website with high-quality graphics is a definite requirement if you want your website – and your business to be accessible to all. Change for the better Whilst on the subject of technology, Google constantly improves upon the methods by which consumers search the internet. With this in mind, search engine optimization is important to make your company’s products and services easier to find on the internet. Justification for a rebrand? Improvements to a website are mostly visual, definitely. But a decision to rebrand your website also includes the content of your pages. Content improvements definitely help with SEO. And it also offers you the opportunity to tell your story in a new and different way than before. Keeping it fresh Chances are that when customers – old and new, see there is change happening on your website, that they will look closer to investigate. The message you send to your consumers is that you are staying current and relevant. It shows that you are a forward-thinking company and always looking to improve things rather than standing still. The bottom line A renewed image and rebranding can draw the attention of a new demographic, and an opportunity to expand your business. In conclusion, the primary reason why rebranding or having a fresh web design by some reputable web design company should ever be considered is to improve a company’s bottom line. And having a brand that stands out, is trustworthy and stays current is a great way to improve your image, generate better sales and grow your business.
A Rare Foster Care Success Story At any given time, 115,000 kids live in the foster-care system. Only a small fraction of those will be adopted. Tony Jones is one of the lucky few, adopted by his mother, Jackie, when he was only four. Farai Chideya talks with them about the foster-care system. FARAI CHIDEYA, host: From NPR News, this is NEWS & NOTES. I'm Farai Chideya. For most kids, 18 is an exciting birthday. But for those who age out of foster care it can be terrifying. Eighteen in most states means the government and foster homes don't have to take care of you anymore. That leaves too many teens with no home, no family, and no idea where the next meal is coming from. At any given time there are 115,000 kids in foster care, one-third are African-American. Today we bring you two very different and personal stories. Later, we'll hear from a young man who turned 18 and left the system with nothing, but now he's thriving. But first we'll take a look at the kids who get adopted from foster care -that's only 18 percent. One of those lucky few is Tony Jones. His mother, Jackie, told me about the first time she got to observe Tony, part of the adoption process. Tony was four and Christmas shopping with his social worker. Ms. JACKIE JONES (Foster Mother): He was watching the train in a display, you know, looking to go visit Santa Claus. And then he got a sandwich. And so we sat at a table nearby and listened to him. And the thing I remember was they asked him, his social worker asked him, what he'd been for Halloween. And he said he was a devil. And then he had a little knot on his head, and Mr. Jankora(ph) said, well, what happened? He said I was running, and I was running, and I was running down the steps and then I hit the wall. And I just thought that was so funny. I mean he was just full of energy and just kind of, you know, this happy-go-lucky kid. And he was cute as a button, so I just instantly fell in love. So they said, well, you know, take some time to think about whether you want to follow up with this kid and it was like, nah, I don't like to wait, we can start. CHIDEYA: Did you have any concerns at the time or did the issue come up of parental rights, of whether or not he had family that might try to claim him while you were going through this process? Ms. JONES: They had waited as long as they could to see if he could be returned to his family. And that they had already had what they call a goodbye conference, where the family understood that he wouldn't be coming back and that he was going to be placed for adoption. So the courts had only made him eligible for adoption maybe a couple of months before I met him. So the whole time, from the time he was taken from his mother until I met him, he was pretty much in foster care and under the court's supervision. And then once they decided there wasn't an opportunity for him to go back to his biological family, then they made him eligible for adoption. But there was some concern that maybe the family would come and look for him, and they asked me if I would be willing to be contacted by them if they want to visit or something like that. And we had talked about that, but… CHIDEYA: What did you think? Ms. JONES: I was fine with it. I thought that, you know, he was old enough to understand something was going on, that there was an adoption process. I think he knew that I obviously wasn't his birth mother, so I thought it would be OK. When I first adopted him I put him in a nursery school and his older sister was there. She had been adopted by another woman who lived not far from me. And they recognized each other and they told the other kids in the daycare that they were brother and sister. And one day of the kids said, well, if you all are brother and sister, how come you all got different mommies? And so Angela's mom and I got on the phone and exchanged, you know, we exchanged numbers and tried to work out something where we would have them spend some time together. But before that could happen, Angela was returned to the agency and her adoptive mom cancelled the adoption. And so Tony didn't meet Angela again until they were adults. CHIDEYA: I remember you, Tony, saying that you had an easier road than your sister because your mom was really committed to you, even at times when you might have had some issues about acting out. Tell me about what it is that you went through, you know, how you felt about the whole process of having to learn someone, new rules, and how your mother expressed love and all of those things that come with being part of a family. Mr. TONY JONES: I think that the acting out part of it has a lot more to do with me, personally, before the adoption took place than anything that had to do with my mother. It took me a couple of years to really get used to the idea of being adopted but I mean, you know, once I got used to it, I got used to it because, you know, that was the only mother that I ever knew. I think the issues that I have when I was growing up were, you know, feeling insecure about a lot of things, asking my mother, like, okay, are you going to be my mother tomorrow? Are you going to be my mother the next day? And, you know, she'd have to constantly like reassure me, like, yeah, I'm always going to be here. You know, as she stuck by me and as I can see that her love for me was unconditional, then my mind eased up and I was able to, you know, see her as the mother that she is. CHIDEYA: Jackie, it sounds like, you know, you really cultivated a relationship with your son while he was feeling like he didn't know whether or not to trust you. Ms. JONES: I can't say that I was a perfect mom. You know, there were times when I would kind of lose it and yell at him and that kind of stuff. But, you know, I would tell him, I'm the mom you got, you know, I'm the one who's here everyday. You know, one day he got really mad at me, he said, you're not my mom - you're not my real mother, that's what he said. And I said - I said, oh, I'm real all right. I said I'm the real one who puts breakfast on the table everyday. I'm the real one who comforts you when you're sick. I'm the real one who washes your clothes and takes you to school. And if that's not real enough for you, I'm sorry, but I'm the mom you got and I'm the one you've got to live with. And so, you know, that will go back and forth. But most of the time Tony was worried about whether somebody was going to come and take him away. He would always worry when - especially when he was little. He'd always say, what if somebody steals me? And I'd say nobody's going to take you. I got you. Don't worry about that. Or he worried about who he looked like. And after the first couple of years he really seemed to kind of settle in pretty well, and then, you know, puberty hit and it was just kind of buck wild for a while. And so I found out that there was stuff that the agency had withheld from me. He had been a failure to thrive baby. And those… CHIDEYA: And failure to thrive is when kids who are often, you know, neglected just don't gain enough weight and don't progress. And so… Ms. JONES: Right, they're not fed enough, they're not held enough. And so they have had, you know, it's sort of deep-seeded abandonment issues that they aren't even really aware of because they've been neglected. CHIDEYA: Tony, did you ever feel like you were testing your mom throughout all this? I mean, obviously, when you were younger and you were asking her those questions, you know, are you going to be my mom tomorrow? But when you were older, did you feel like you were trying to test her and see how far her love went? Mr. JONES: I was so self conscious of it I did it constantly. To this day in some of my relationships with other people, I test them. You know, seeing how much they really care for me, I think that - I think that's a whole bi-product of, you know, what I went through. And it's weird to sit here and analyze myself and not being able to totally quell it. When I was young I mean I could test my mom. But there's only so much you can do. But, you know, when you are a teenager, I mean, you know, you're upward, you're mobile. CHIDEYA: The sky is the limit. Mr. JONES: It's funny because a lot of people say, oh, your teenage years are your best years and this and that, and I thought that my teenage years were the worst years of my life, from about the time I was about 14 to about the time I was about 22, 23. CHIDEYA: Well, you got out of college, so, hey, you know, you got to give yourself some credit. But, Tony, let me ask you this, you're a father now. Mr. JONES: Yes. CHIDEYA: You're a sportswriter; you've got a good life. What have you learned about love and parenting from your mom, and how do you bring that into your life today? Mr. JONES: I mean I try to pattern myself as a parent after my mother. I think that's the best compliment that I could give my mom is to raise Kelsey(ph) in the manner that she raised me. You know, I constantly let her know that I'm there for her, constantly. I mean even if she is two, you know, hopefully that works. CHIDEYA: I'm sure it will. And, Jackie, you know, listening to Tony, I mean that's one of the best tributes I mean if not the best tribute I think a parent can probably get. But, you know, considering that there are so many African-American kids in foster care, considering that so many of them will age out at 18: First off, if you had it to do over, would you go for being a single mother by choice, you know, adopting a child out of foster care? And second, what advice could you give to people who were thinking about this? Ms. JONES: You know, I go back and forth. And Tony and I have talked about this, you know, that there were moments when somebody would come and say oh, I'm thinking about adopting, you know, would you do it again? And I'd say oh, no. It's too crazy. I couldn't do it by myself. This is insane. And then at other times when I say absolutely, you know. I think if I had to do it again, I would plan it a little more carefully. I probably would have gone into intense counseling sooner, you know, like as soon as I got him. Just to kind of get some sense of what was going through his 4-year-old mind and kind of how he was feeling. I would definitely tell people to find out as much background as they can. I would get the child in at least play therapy, at the very least. Maybe more counseling just to kind of get a sense that, you know, you're in the right space as you start out. And then, you know, you just kind of do the best you can. You know, you love them a lot. You reassure them that they're loved, and you do what every other parent does. You know, you try to give your child the best education you can. You spend - you have to spend a lot of time with them, you have to reinforce a lot of things. You know, when I got Tony, they told me that at best he would be, you know, an average student that - you know, there were low expectations for him from the agency coming in, and I just never accepted that. And I said oh, this is a smart kid. I'm sure he'll do fine. And I took him to the museum and had him repeat the names of the most complicated dinosaurs I could find. We started working on learning to read before he got to kindergarten and all of those things. And once I realized he could to that, I said all this stuff that they were throwing at me is garbage, you know, because he's a smart kid. He just didn't get a lot of the opportunities that, you know, a lot of people, especially a lot of the middle-class people give their kids when they're starting out. But given the opportunity to catch up, he did. And so I think you have to set your own agenda for what your expectations are for you and your family, you know. And you just have to be able to trust your own judgment. CHIDEYA: Well, Jackie, that is so much needed advice. I'm sure there are lot of people who are thinking about this, and I really appreciate your words. And, Tony, I appreciate your words as well. Mr. JONES: Thank you very much for having me. Ms. JONES: Thank you. CHIDEYA: Jackie Jones is an adoptive mother, journalist and founder of Jones Coaching LLC. She joined us from NPR's Washington, D.C. headquarters. And her son, Tony, is a sportswriter for the Daytona Beach News-Journal. (Soundbite of music) CHIDEYA: Coming up, a Muslim congressman wants to be sworn in on the Koran, and the U.S. citizenship test just got harder. Copyright © 2006 NPR. All rights reserved. Visit our website terms of use and permissions pages at www.npr.org for further information. NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by Verb8tm, Inc., an NPR contractor, and produced using a proprietary transcription process developed with NPR. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Accuracy and availability may vary. The authoritative record of NPR’s programming is the audio record.
Published online 22 September 2011 \| Nature \| doi:10.1038/news.2011.545 News Ecologists hope to avert public-health disaster without a cull. On the menu. Ivan Kuzmin / Photolibrary Serious viruses carried by bats pose a considerable risk to people in West Africa, warn epidemiologists cataloguing bat–human interactions in the region. Bats are thought to have been the source of several of the nastiest viruses to jump to humans from animals during the past 40 years, including Ebola haemorrhagic fever and severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS), an outbreak of which killed more than 900 people in 2002–03. Researchers hope that by studying how the viruses jump to people they can come up with ways to limit the spread of disease without culling the bats, which in many regions function as important fruit pollinators. Andrew Cunningham, a wildlife epidemiologist at the Institute of Zoology in London, and his colleagues fear that the next big epidemic could come from henipaviruses, which can cause fatal encephalitis or respiratory disease in humans. There is no vaccination to protect against Hendra virus or Nipah virus, the two established species of henipavirus. "We are concerned the solution will be to just kill the bats to control the virus," says Cunningham. "We need to find another way that protects bats and people at the same time." Urban exposure Spread of infection from bats to humans is an increasing problem in Asia and Africa, in part because people are living in closer contact with bats than ever before. As forest habitats are destroyed, many bats are moving into urban areas. Bats are also increasingly on people's menus because larger, traditional bushmeat species such as apes and antelope are no longer easily available owing to over-hunting and, in some cases, their protected status. "Zoonotic spill-over only occurs where you have contact," says Peter Hudson, a wildlife epidemiologist at Pennsylvania State University in State College. "As urbanization spreads we become more exposed. Conservation and disease must be managed together." “We spend millions on hunting down new viruses but very little on working out what causes viruses to jump species.” Andrew Dobson Princeton University Cunningham and his team started investigating the risk from henipaviruses five years ago. The viruses were then thought to be restricted to Asia and Australasia, but in 2008 the team reported finding antibodies to them in Eidolon helvum fruit bats in Ghana, West Africa, indicating that these bats had been infected too1. The expanded virus range is cause for alarm, says James Wood, a veterinary researcher at the University of Cambridge, UK, who co-leads the project with Cunningham. This is because bats live in closer proximity to people in West Africa than in Asia or Australasia. For example, a colony of more than half a million bats lives in the roof of a major hospital in Accra. Patients and doctors are showered daily with bat urine, which could be infected with the virus. Such huge colonies in residential areas are uncommon in Asia and Australasia. People in West Africa also eat bats to a greater extent than previously thought. The team has discovered that at least 128,000 E. helvum bats are sold each year in southern Ghana, revealing the "previously unrecognized scale" of their use as bushmeat. The findings, due to be published later this year in the journal Biological Conservation, were collected from a survey of 551 Ghanaian bat hunters, vendors and consumers. "There is a massive bat-bushmeat industry in Ghana that has not been picked up in previous studies of the bushmeat trade," says Cunningham. All this adds up to a potentially disastrous public-health problem in West Africa, says Cunningham — and one that is currently not recognized or being treated. He suspects that people who fall ill may not know they are infected with henipavirus because doctors are unlikely to be looking for it and may misdiagnose it as cerebral malaria. Pig spill Cunningham says it's too early to say for sure how many people are infected with the viruses in Ghana. "We are getting some interesting results, however these have not yet been fully validated," he says. But the team has found evidence of a 'henipa-like' virus in domestic pigs from two villages about 70 kilometres north of Accra. In a paper published on 22 September in Plos ONE, the team reports finding antibodies against members of the Henipavirus genus in 5% of 97 pigs studied. ADVERTISEMENT Nipah virus is known to multiply in pigs, and the species had a key role in a 1999 outbreak in Malaysia that killed more than 100 people. "It looks like there is spill-over from bats to pigs in Ghana," says Cunningham. "This is the first step along the line to a public-health threat." Wood agrees. "I would be surprised if there was no spill-over to humans," he says. "We spend millions on hunting down new viruses but very little on working out what causes viruses to jump species," says Andrew Dobson, an infectious-disease ecologist at Princeton University in New Jersey who commends the project's focus. To control the increasing occurrence of diseases making the jump from animals to humans, he says, researchers need a deeper understanding of the triggers for such spill-over events.
Everybody has one absolute classic film that they haven’t seen, right? The film that will come up time and time again, and excuses for... Everybody has one absolute classic film that they haven’t seen, right? The film that will come up time and time again, and excuses for not having seen it get weaker and weaker each time. At Filmoria, our ‘I’ve Never Seen’ feature allows all of our writers to finally banish that monkey that’s hanging over our backs, with ET, Psycho and The Goonies amongst the entries so far. I had that. I hadn’t seen Gone with the Wind, Casablanca, or Citizen Kane (amongst many, many others). So I watched the entire IMDB Top 250 movies within one year. Whilst this may not match up with everybody’s lists of ‘must see’ films, this certainly filled a lot of my gaps, as well as introducing me to some of my now-favourite films (looking at you, Rope, The Kid and The Killing). So what am I left with? ‘Must see’ movies are usually either incredibly well-reviewed and well-liked, influential on cinema or movies that have nostalgia for people/a cult status. My pick, The Rocky Horror Picture Show, is certainly in the latter camp. I don’t think I could name a bigger cult film if I tried. I grew up having an awareness of the film (and even the fan screenings that followed it). I can remember a specific time when my dad put it on and it was loud, brash, and I was simply too young to appreciate it. Since then, I’ve begun to understand the unique place it holds in pop culture. I have friends who love it. And I mean LOVE it: dressing up for singalong screenings and meeting the cast whenever possible. I’ve seen people cosplay it at conventions, and I’ve also countless references to it in movies and television shows. This made me all the more curious, but I still don’t think I’d have watched it without this feature ‘forcing’ me. When I told people I was going to watch it for the first time, reactions were very much divided equally between ‘how have you never seen that?!’ and ‘rather you than me.’ But watch it I did! It got off to a really good start: I love when films do twists on the traditional 20th Century Fox fanfare (e.g. Scott Pilgrim and Pitch Perfect), and that was the case here. What comes next is a whole song being sung by just a mouth on screen whilst the credits flash up. Already this is unlike anything I’ve seen before. I didn’t actually know a thing about the plot of ‘TRHPS’, and I didn’t anticipate it really having much of one. This proved to be not too far from the truth. A couple, played perfectly by Susan Sarandon and Barry Bostwick, end up at the house of Dr. Frank-n-Furter (Tim Curry), where they enter a world of the truly weird. And this is where Rocky Horror really does prove to be unlike anything else. It’s all just so ridiculously over the top, by design. Curry is absolutely fascinating to watch; I don’t think I’ve ever seen a performance like it. The costumes, the make up, the songs, the acting, the third wall-breaking – there’s so much going on, and so much to take in, that I flicked between thinking ‘am I enjoying this?’ and ‘this is so cool!’. Overall, I don’t think I completely know what I thought of it. There are definitely parts of TRHPS that I really enjoyed. I like some of the songs a lot (‘Damn it, Janet’ probably the pick of the bunch), and some of the performances are excellent (I really enjoyed the Doctor, who appears towards the end of the film but has a fun role in the finale). Everybody is so committed and seems like they’ve thrown everything into this that it’s hard not to let their enthusiasm rub off. It’s also really funny in places. And anything with Meat Loaf in can’t be all bad. Tonally the whole film is absolutely all over the place, which is completely intentional, but it makes it a somewhat hard watch. It’s spoofing cheesy b-movies but didn’t quite convince me it’s good enough in its own right to completely pull this off. Did I connect with the film on an emotional level? No. Am I glad I’ve seen it? Definitely. Would I watch it again? Yes, but I feel that to fully appreciate this film I need to embrace it and it’s fans, dress up and go to a singalong screening; that’s where this unique film is best understood and enjoyed. Is there a film hanging over your head that you’ve never seen? Stay tuned to Filmoria where one of our writers will be sharing theirs each week.
A Wisconsin U.S. Congresswoman criticized a fellow Congressman from her state on Friday after he called on African American legislators to do more to protect minority women and babies from abortion. The Blaze reports that U.S. Rep. Gwen Moore, an African American from Wisconsin, verbally attacked her state colleague, U.S. Rep. Sean Duffy, in a statement Friday, calling him a “hypocrite” and saying she did not expect him “to understand why his comments are offensive.” “After nearly 30 years in public office, not much surprises me anymore,” Moore said. “So you can imagine my lack of astonishment when my dear friend and colleague from Wisconsin, Sean Duffy, rolled out abortion statistics among African American women to lecture black legislators like me about defending the welfare of our constituents.” Duffy told the news site that he never meant to attack Moore or anyone else. He said he used statistics to defend the lives of unborn babies and their mothers, and to encourage legislators to work together “against a powerful industry that targets them and preys on their vulnerability.” “It is worth noting that Rep. Moore did not refute the harrowing statistics – more African American abortions than live births in NYC – because they are irrefutable,” Duffy said. Duffy said he wants to work with Moore and other legislators to offer hope and non-violent solutions to black families who face difficult or unplanned pregnancies. The original remarks that angered Moore came Thursday on the House floor when Duffy asked members of the Congressional Black Caucus why they were not being more vocal about “how their communities are targeted in abortion,” The Huffington Post reports. “My liberal friends, Congressional Black Caucus members, talk about fighting for the defenseless, the hopeless, and the downtrodden,” Duffy said. “There is no one more hopeless and voiceless than an unborn baby, but their silence is deafening. I can’t hear them. Where are they standing up for their communities, advocating and fighting for their right to life?” Click here to sign up for pro-life news alerts from LifeNews.com Duffy cited the fact that African Americans are 15 percent of the U.S. population but have 40 percent of the abortions. He added that more black babies are killed in abortions in New York City than are born. Moore responded by calling on Duffy to support the abortion giant Planned Parenthood, which she described as “an organization committed to ensuring all communities, and especially those most in need, have access to high-quality care.” “Rep. Duffy’s hypocrisy on this issue is as predictable as it is offensive. If he truly, truly wants to fight for the hopeless and voiceless, he should join us,” Moore continued. The so-called “care” that Planned Parenthood offers includes aborting about 330,000 unborn babies every year – more than any other group in the U.S. The abortion chain also targets minorities for abortions by planting its clinics in minority neighborhoods. After Moore called Duffy a hypocrite, U.S. Rep. Dave Brat from Virginia, who was presiding over House proceedings Friday, told Moore that House rules prohibit personal attacks between members, according to The Hill. Moore reportedly left and “did not stop or look back.”
I’ve always admired the state of Israel and the Israeli people as a whole. From an Irish point of view the historic parallels between our nations are obvious. Both share a sense of ethnicity and cultural continuity that reach into a far distant past, with roots that are of greater import than any transient political or ideological beliefs. There is a depth to my own identity, to my Celticness, that I recognise in Jewish and Israeli friends. Reflections of it can be glimpsed in the works of writers, poets and artists from both peoples. And in the intellectual underpinnings of our revolutionaries too. Yet, as the years have passed, it has become harder and harder to sustain that admiration for Israel. A certain embarrassment has overcome those of us on the Left who speak up for Israel, who defend it’s re-foundation and right to exist. There is a feeling of awkwardness, almost shame, to find oneself in the company of some less than savoury characters or ideologues who express similar views (albeit in less nuanced or more bellicose terms). To be associated with some Fox News “journalist”, however tangentially, on the issue of Israel is enough to make your skin crawl. The actions and attitudes of the Israeli state itself have moved far away from the centre-left and secularist impulses of many of its founding members. Today one increasingly perceives an Israel that is only marginally different in composition to the countries which surround it. When I watch a video of Israeli soldiers standing and praying before a military rabbi holding up a torah I find it hard to distinguish them from their Palestinian counterparts. They look the same, they pray the same, their languages and accents sound the same… yet we are told they are not the same. Now we have a ceasefire after the latest ramping up of the conflict in that part of Occupied Palestine known as the Gaza Strip and it is hard to disagree with this summation from professor John J. Mearsheimer in, of all places, The American Conservative: “…when a ceasefire comes, Israel will declare victory. Don’t believe it. Israel has foolishly started another war it cannot win. The campaign in Gaza is said to have two objectives: 1) to put an end to the rockets and mortars that Palestinians have been firing into southern Israel since it withdrew from Gaza in August 2005; 2) to restore Israel’s deterrent, which was said to be diminished by the Lebanon fiasco, by Israel’s withdrawal from Gaza, and by its inability to halt Iran’s nuclear program. But these are not the real goals… The actual purpose is connected to Israel’s long-term vision of how it intends to live with millions of Palestinians in its midst. It is part of a broader strategic goal: the creation of a “Greater Israel.” Specifically, Israel’s leaders remain determined to control all of what used to be known as Mandate Palestine, which includes Gaza and the West Bank. The Palestinians would have limited autonomy in a handful of disconnected and economically crippled enclaves, one of which is Gaza. Israel would control the borders around them, movement between them, the air above and the water below them. The key to achieving this is to inflict massive pain on the Palestinians so that they come to accept the fact that they are a defeated people and that Israel will be largely responsible for controlling their future. This strategy, which was first articulated by Ze’ev Jabotinsky in the 1920s and has heavily influenced Israeli policy since 1948, is commonly referred to as the “Iron Wall.” What has been happening in Gaza is fully consistent with this strategy. If Israel wanted to stop missile attacks from Gaza, it could have done so by arranging a long-term ceasefire with Hamas. And if Israel were genuinely interested in creating a viable Palestinian state, it could have worked with the national unity government to implement a meaningful ceasefire and change Hamas’s thinking about a two-state solution. But Israel has a different agenda: it is determined to employ the Iron Wall strategy to get the Palestinians in Gaza to accept their fate as hapless subjects of a Greater Israel. This brutal policy is clearly reflected in Israel’s conduct of the Gaza War. Israel and its supporters claim that the IDF is going to great lengths to avoid civilian casualties… The best evidence, however, that Israel is deliberately seeking to punish the broader population in Gaza is the death and destruction the IDF has wrought on that small piece of real estate… … Israel is unlikely to stop the rocket fire for any appreciable period of time unless it agrees to open Gaza’s borders and stop arresting and killing Palestinians. Israelis talk about cutting off the supply of rockets and mortars into Gaza, but weapons will continue to come in via secret tunnels and ships that sneak through Israel’s naval blockade. It will also be impossible to police all of the goods sent into Gaza through legitimate channels. Israel could try to conquer all of Gaza and lock the place down. That would probably stop the rocket attacks if Israel deployed a large enough force. But then the IDF would be bogged down in a costly occupation against a deeply hostile population. They would eventually have to leave, and the rocket fire would resume. And if Israel fails to stop the rocket fire and keep it stopped, as seems likely, its deterrent will be diminished, not strengthened. More importantly, there is little reason to think that the Israelis can beat Hamas into submission and get the Palestinians to live quietly in a handful of Bantustans inside Greater Israel. Israel has been humiliating, torturing, and killing Palestinians in the Occupied Territories since 1967 and has not come close to cowing them. Indeed, Hamas’s reaction to Israel’s brutality seems to lend credence to Nietzsche’s remark that what does not kill you makes you stronger. But even if the unexpected happens and the Palestinians cave, Israel would still lose because it will become an apartheid state. As Prime Minister Ehud Olmert recently said, Israel will “face a South African-style struggle” if the Palestinians do not get a viable state of their own. “As soon as that happens,” he argued, “the state of Israel is finished.” Yet Olmert has done nothing to stop settlement expansion and create a viable Palestinian state, relying instead on the Iron Wall strategy to deal with the Palestinians. The bottom line is that no matter what happens on the battlefield, Israel cannot win its war in Gaza. In fact, it is pursuing a strategy-with lots of help from its so-called friends in the Diaspora-that is placing its long-term future at risk.”
Misconceptions About Introverts I hear people all the time tell me, "I'm an introvert." And this very well may be the case. However, using the label "introvert" does not always mean what we think or want it to mean. The first misconception is that introverts don't like people. This is simply untrue. Introverts actually love people very much. They can be warm and friendly and be very strong leaders. I myself am the quintessential introvert but people accuse me all the time of being "non-relational." This is simply not true and is unfair. Being an introvert is not a weakness. Reading Caity's comics I can tell she is a warm and friendly introvert that actually loves people. Relational Maturity It is important not to confuse being an introvert with lacking relational maturity. There are individuals who simply lack the relational maturity to emotionally connect with others. This causes fear and anxiety and using the term introvert is a mask to avoid discomfort. My kids, by virtue of only being nine and twelve, fall into this category. This may sound harsh, but it is the self-awareness we need to grow. Highly Sensitive Some people are actually extroverts but are highly sensitive. Therefore, they choose to act introverted in order to align with their environments and relationships. In fact, individuals with high empathy and emotional intelligence are very powerful and appear as introverts when the opposite is true. I like to say these individuals "walk softly but carry a big gun!" This describes my wife perfectly. She is a highly sensitive extrovert where I thought the opposite for over a decade of marriage. Knowing this, we can synchronize our relationship better as friends, spouses and parents. Trauma Emotional trauma can cause introverted behaviour. For example, I have met many adults that were extroverted as children but traumatic experiences changed everything. Shame is a very powerful trigger here. Shame is the feeling of wanting to hide. If we grow up being shamed and lack the tools to process shame, we get stuck in toxic shame and can, whether really introverted or not, suffer our whole lives in isolation. It is important to address past emotional trauma and this is where coaching or counselling is very helpful. Introversion Can be Useful In our hyper-networked-socially-connected-media-driven world, introversion skills can be highly useful for personal development. Some of the skills I teach as a coach are based upon introversion which require a high degree of emotional intelligence such as: Reflective Listening Ability to Hold Silence Resting After Intense Experiences Being Alone So, are you an introvert? There are many resources out there to help you explore this. Just remember some of these many facets of introversion next time you hear the word "introvert."
As of late, the WWE has begun to air programs that pull the curtain back on the current product, breaking kayfabe on the Network with current stars, as a way to drive up ratings. In 1989,Vince McMahon famously began to call his company sports-entertainment as a way to avoid required fighting licenses and taxes in each state, much in the way boxing and mixed-martial arts are regulated. Previously, wrestling’s fixed match results had been an industry secret, so much so that wrestlers who traveled together had to be mindful of being seen by fans, as to continue to keep their “hatred” for each other real. In one particular instance, Hacksaw Jim Duggan and the Iron Sheik made headlines across legitimate news outlets when they were pulled over during a traffic stop in 1987 and were found guilty of possessing marijuana and cocaine. One reason this story received so much attention was that people were shocked to hear that the supposed patriot Duggan was actually friends with the Iranian scourge, the Iron Sheik. However, the times have changed. The WWE periodically releases documentary style retrospectives about the wrestlers, as well as periods of wrestling history. During these, fans become privy to the real life goings on that occured in the life of the wrestler or the events discussed. In the past, we have found out why Shawn Michaels lost his smile, as well as how the idea for Wrestlemania began. But with the Network, we are finally getting a glimpse into the current product. Shows such as Table for 3 and Breaking Ground have allowed us to peek behind the curtain in real-time. Although these ideas were not available at the launch of the Network, it seems someone has finally realized the potential opportunity to draw in more subscribers by moving away from dwelling on the past, such as Monday Night Wars, and instead letting us see wrestlers be real people. Breaking Ground is a behind the scenes look at talents like Baron Corbin and Baley working their ways through WWE developmental. Narrated by William Shatner, a documentary veteran, this series shows us the relationship between trainers such as Norman Smiley and others who cut their teeth in small independent promotions and the nascent stars of today. The NXTers learn the humbling work of building rings and setting up venues, a bygone art that their trainers are trying to impart to them. Although Total Divas has been a view into the lives of the female wrestlers, it does so by building drama with what seems to be scripted material, this Breaking Ground documentary is rife with real raw emotion, something that is refreshing in this reality era phoniness that pervades entertainment and pop culture. Table for 3 is another fantastic program being produced by the WWE Network. The premise is that three wrestlers sit around a table for lunch or dinner and just talk about their shared stories from the road and observations about anything else they choose to discuss. Recent episodes have had predictable pairings like the New Day, but have also featured odd trios like R-Truth, Miz and Curtis Axel as well as the random triumvirate of Neville, Bo Dallas and Samoa Joe. The episodes generally ran just under 25 minutes, which is a blessing and a curse: the program seems to end abruptly at times, but the entirety of the program is edited to be entertaining. The WWE finally seems to be “getting it” in terms of programming. The curtain has been pulled years ago and there is no reason not to use that to attract more viewers. Most wrestling fans above the age of 12 know that wrestling match results are fixed, but that doesn’t deter them from watching the product. Instead of insulting our intelligence, continue to provide meaningful programs for my 9.99. Main Photo:
Of the many Morneau Shepell conspiracy theories going around the past few weeks, the one that probably irritates me the most is the Bill C-27 iteration, especially in the way that fellow reporters and pundits will opine on the topic. The theory goes that Bill Morneau is allegedly in an “apparent” conflict of interest because a) when he was with Morneau Shepell, he advocated for the creation of targeted benefit plans; b) when he became finance minister, he sponsored Bill C-27, An Act to amend the Pension Benefits Standards Act, 1985, which allows for the creation of targeted benefit plans in federally regulated sectors, and c) because he still had shares in Monreau Shepell (albeit indirectly) that it would enrich him if the bill passed, and hey, the share price of Morneau Shepell went up when the bill was tabled (never mind that it returned to its former price weeks later). It’s all ludicrous when you actually understand what’s going on, but since the NDP proffered this latest theory as part of Morneau’s alleged misdeeds, it’s been repeated uncritically, and it’s starting to get on my nerves. First of all, last I checked people get into politics all the time to advance issues that they care about, and Morneau was a recognized expert on pensions. And pension reform was one of the things he was charged with undertaking when he became finance ministers. The pension debate has been going on for years, and targeted benefit plans are a recent iteration that several groups, including CARP, have been advocating for. Now, the NDP are opposed to them because they think that everyone should get a defined benefit plan like was the case in the 1950s, never mind that the actuarial tables don’t actually support them anymore, given that people stopped smoking two packs a day and dying early. (No, seriously – talk to an economist and they’ll tell you that this is a real thing). And Morneau Shepell is just one company that deals with administering these kinds of plans, and C-27 would not mandate them – it would simply give federally regulated industries the option to use them. But the bigger issue is this notion that it was somehow inappropriate for Moneau personally to sponsor the bill. The problem? That ministers don’t sponsor bills as individuals. Government legislation is put forward on behalf of the government – meaning Cabinet as a whole. A minister sponsors the bill as the office holder because they have to answer for how this bill affects their departments, and in this case, it’s the Department of Finance. If there was a cabinet shuffle tomorrow and someone else became finance minister, it wouldn’t affect the bill because the office holder sponsors it to respond on behalf of the department. It has little to do with Morneau himself, and ministers don’t sponsor bills because they’re interested in the subject matter. (Note: This is why it’s a problem that there is no Government Leader in the Senate to sponsor government bills introduced in the Senate). Trying to say that it was inappropriate for Morneau to sponsor this bill, or that it can’t go ahead under his name, is civically illiterate nonsense, and reporters should know this. But they don’t. As for Morneau’s shares, if they had been in a blind trust, we would likely still be having this conversation because he would have still been making money on them if they increased in value as they were gradually divested at a pace nobody would know about. A blind trust is not some panacea, but people have glommed onto it like some kind of ethical talisman. That’s likely why Mary Dawson said that an ethics screen was a more appropriate mechanism, and lo, it was established; likewise, it’s why she was apparently surprised by Moreau’s decision to divest his shares – because it’s unnecessary, but a number of pundits have declared that this is the thing to do without necessarily thinking it through. Also, Dawson didn’t say she was “concerned” about C-27, or that she was about to launch an investigation into it – she said she would follow-up with Morneau, and I’m pretty confident that she is going to come back and say that there is no actual issue here. And this is partially why I’m getting tired of this constant wailing and gnashing of teeth about Morneau’s “apparent” conflicts – because if you actually stop to think about them, there are no apparent conflicts. The “appearance” of conflict has been put forward by people lining up information in a way that looks bad in order to make political gain, and We The Media have been repeating it uncritically rather that running it through a bullshit filter and declaring that yup, this is bullshit. (Most especially the attempts to drag the Bank of Canada and the Bombardier loan into this). But there is also some Tall Poppy Syndrome at work here (Morneau’s wealthy? Well we couldn’t have that!), and this urge by some of the punidtariat to moralize without thinking through the facts, while at the same time the Twitter mobbing ramps up. We really haven’t been doing our jobs here. My last thought on this is that this is really endearing the Ethics Commissioner position for someone to apply for it. Given the strict requirements, and the fact that this latest episode has demonstrated that MPs can’t get their act together on their own ethics regime (seriously – they adopted this system, refused to change it when the flaws were pointed out, and then turn around an insist that the it’s not enough to just follow the rules that they put into place), I’m increasingly having a hard time imagining someone wanting to take on this job. We may wind up with Mary Dawson in this job forever. Good reads: Apparently the lesson the Liberals are taking from the Lac Saint-Jean by-election is that they can succeed without a Quebec lieutenant or specific policies to pander. As our Sea Kings get set to be retired, there has been an expression of interest from six other parties (including India) to acquire them afterward. The government will be setting up winterized trailers near the irregular Quebec border crossing to deal with any migrant arrivals over the winter months. The government will be setting the immigration levels at an increased 300,000 next year, and could go higher still. Now comes the job of integrating them. The government is set to put more pilot evaluations onto the industry, which has reignited concerns about eroding safety standards. Here’s a look at the issue of unfunded pension liabilities, and why it’s hard to strike laws to guarantee them when businesses go bankrupt. Here’s a look at how Canada is interacting with the Facebook “election integrity initiative. Jason Kenney won the UCP leadership over the weekend, but may have trouble wooing the general population. He’ll seek a seat in a by-election right away. Jen Gerson delves deeper in to Kenney’s win and the problem his social conservatism will play in the next election. Susan Delacourt writes about Jean Yip, Arnold Chan’s widow, who has decided to seek the nomination to replace him. My weekend column responded to the Samara Canada report on heckling, put some context around things, and talked about what they got right and wrong. Odds and ends: Nunavut has a general election today, but it will take some time to determine who will form a new government given their consensus-based system.
Trudging through an icy, snow covered parking lot at 7AM in the middle of January isn’t most people’s idea of a “good time.” They don’t know why the cold, dark days of a Western New York winter will always be the best days of the year. They don’t know how refreshing it is hearing crunch of skates digging in to the ice or the hollow pop of a clean pass hitting a stick on the tape. Those people will never understand any of it. Those people are not hockey players. When the 2016 NHL Draft commences this Friday night at the First Niagara Center in Buffalo, NY, four local players, who all grew up playing in rinks you’ve likely been to, will be sitting by waiting to hear their name called. Waiting for a dream that began during those cold, dark, Western New York winters to become a reality. For Austin Osmanski, Stephen Dhillon, Matthew Ladd and Tyler Johnson, those dreams might come one step closer to being realized this weekend in the same city that they all grew up in. One of the local players likely to hear their name called this weekend is Stephen Dhillon, a 6’4” 185 lb goaltender from Buffalo, NY. Dhillon, a product of the Buffalo Regals program has just completed his second season with the Niagara IceDogs of the Ontario Hockey League. After a successful 2013-2014 season with the Buffalo Regals U15, Dhillon was drafted in the 3rd Round, 52nd overall by the IceDogs and quickly signed with the Niagara for the following season. Dhillon is already an incredibly accomplished goaltender with very impressive resume even at this early point in his career. In addition to appearances at the USA Select 15, Select 16 and Select 17 festivals, Dhillon was also invited to participate in the CCM All-American Prospects game, an event designed by USA Hockey to showcase the best draft eligible talent from the United States. Adding to his already impressive resume as an elite American goaltender, Dhillon was a member of Team USA U18 Team that traveled to the Czech Republic in August of 2015 for the Ivan Hlinka Tournament. Dhillon is in a unique situation this year as his talent and future projection will make him an enticing pack on Day 2 of the draft, yet he was not the IceDogs starting goaltender for the second half of this season. The IceDogs, who were one of the best team in the OHL and made a run all the way to the OHL Finals, traded for veteran netminder Alex Nedeljkovic (A 2014 Second Round pick of the Carolina Hurriances) mid-way through the season. For some players this might not sit well but from the OHL personnel I have talked to, Dhillon handled the move very well. The trade for Nedeljkovic should not be seen as a slight against Dhillon or an indictment of his play. As it stands, Dhillon will only make the cutoff for the 2016 NHL Draft by a few days and had he been born two weeks later, would not even be eligible for the NHL Draft until 2017. The IceDogs were simply looking for a veteran goaltender to help take their team as far in to the OHL playoffs as possible. Dhillon, plays a very aggressive style for a goaltender, frequently coming out of the crease to attack and challenge shooters, a trait that is very rare in a young netminder. The enticing combination of size and quickness the young Dhillon possess are something more and more NHL teams covet and I would not be surprised if Dhillon was the first Western New York player to come off the board. He has an incredible amount of potential and will have two full season as the #1 option in Niagara to develop his game further following his selection. Look for Dhillon to hear his name called somewhere between the 2nd and 4th Round of this weekend’s draft. Although Dhillon will almost certainly be the first local goaltender to hear his name called this weekend, he could have some real competition as the first Western New York Hockey Prospect to be selected as East Aurora native Austin Osmanski is also ranked in the same range. Standing 6’4″ and weighing in at a solid 205 lbs, the left shot Osmanski already possesses something nearly every scout and general manager covets; an NHL-ready build. Osmanski, who has just finished his first OHL season with Mississauga Steelheads, was ranked #153 among North American prospects when NHL Central Scouting released its mid term rankings. Likely to be selected somewhere between Rounds 3 and 7, there is a lot to like about Osmanski’s game. Above everything, it’s hard work that he takes the most pride in: “In my opinion, my work ethic and dedication to the sport is what separates me from others. I have no problem spending 5 or 6 hours a day, everyday in this sport because I know that’s what it takes. I may be under the radar now but I’m confident that if I continue to do things the right way on and off the ice, I have a chance to make a living playing this game. I know defense wins games and I try to be the toughest player to play against in my own end each and every night.” Following the 2013-2014 season with the Buffalo Regals U15 of the SCTAMM, Osmanski was selected in both the OHL and USHL Draft. After deciding to stay at home for one more season, he moved to the Buffalo Jr. Sabres program and tallied 9 goals and 15 assists while splitting time between the Jr. Sabres U16 and U18 teams. After weighing his options following the 2015-2016 season, Austin and his family decided the jump to the OHL would be the best move for his career. Now that he’s looking at potentially being selected this weekend, it appears it was the right move. When I asked Austin what it would mean to hear his name called this weekend he told me: “That’s something that I try not to think about right now but in all honesty it’s impossible not to think about it. Growing up as a kid it’s a dream you have every night but now that its finally here you find yourself feeling anxious, nervous, etc. but my family has done a great job of preparing me for what might happen whether it goes in our favor or not. When the time comes I’m sure it will be a special moment for not only me but my family, friends and supporters who have helped me get this far. “ In addition to Stephen Dhillon and Austin Osmanski there are two other Western New York players who could slide in to the later rounds on Saturday and both players happen to be goaltenders in Matt Ladd and Tyler Johnson. Ladd, an imposing presence in the net at 6’3″ and 200lbs spent the first three years of high school with both the Buffalo Saints and Buffalo Regals programs before moving on to play last season with New England Prep powerhouse Avon Old Farms. During his time with the Buffalo Regals, Ladd played under former Buffalo Sabres forward Matthew Barnaby, an opportunity that Ladd relished: “Playing for Coach Barnaby was great and he is one of the best coaches I ever had. With him playing in the NHL and having so much experience it helped my development and our team succeed, as well. He is a great guy and coach. He expects a lot of you and pushes you to the best that you can be. Playing for him last year really improved my play.” Ladd’s play certainly did improve during his time with the Regals and it showed at Avon Old Farms as Ladd was one of the best goaltenders in New England and is now the highest rated Prep goaltender heading in to the 2016 NHL Draft. Currently uncommitted to an NCAA Division I program, Matt has caught the of some NHL scouts and will likely play in the USHL next season for the Cedar Rapids RoughRiders, the team that took him in the 4th Round of USHL Entry Draft. Matt told me he tries to model his game off of Carey Price and Braden Holtby because of their calm demeanor, a trait he says is very important for goaltenders and a sentiment echoed by Cedar Rapids scout Daniel Reidel who told me “I like that he’s calm in the net. He’s very imposing to shooters and very technical in his game. He’s very fluid and he battles for every puck.” When I asked Matt what the strongest part of his game was he told me “The strongest part of my game would be my size and my crease movements and athleticism. As a big goalie, it is important to use your size to your advantage and to take away space for the shooter. It is important to be athletic and be able to move quickly as well. As a goalie you need to be the best skater on the team because hockey is a game of inches and you need to be able to get around the crease easily.” Tyler Johnson is yet another imposing Buffalo netminder who could hear his name called in the later rounds on Saturday as well. Standing 6’3′ and 185 pounds, the Amherst native has found himself playing all over the country the past few seasons with stops in New Hampshire, Michigan, Kansas and Illinois. After spending last season with Compuware U18 of the HPHL, Johnson moved on to Junior Hockey and has posted a 2.27 goals against along with a .911 save percentage this season with the Topeka Roadrunners of NAHL. Currently ranked as the #18 North American goaltender headed in to the 2016 NHL Draft. Much like Stephen Dhillon and Matt Ladd, Johnson excels at using a combination of size and athleticism to keep the puck out of the net. It is his size and athleticism that caught the eye of quite a few college programs and Tyler recently committed to play NCAA Division I hockey for the 2016-2017 season at the University of Maine. Before joining Maine Johnson will have one hurdle to clear however. During his time with Compuware last season Johnson was called up and played one period of hockey for the Plymouth Whalers of the OHL, the team that selected him in the 7th Round of the OHL Priority Selection, putting his college eligibility in to question. The NCAA has since given Tyler a 1 year suspension, forcing him to sit a next season, a ruling that both John and the University of Maine will be appealing. When I asked him what it would mean to be drafted, I think Tyler summed of the feelings of all these players pretty well.
HAIR RAISING: People pay good money for a hairdo like this but one Eden Thomas has a style all of his own. He may be only a few months old but Eden Thomas is already turning heads. The Porirua baby's frizzy mane of hair draws so much attention, his mother Katrena Thomas resorts to covering his head when out in public. Ms Thomas opted to take advantage of some sparkling weather and ditch the hat at the Parent and Child Show at Wellington's Westpac Stadium yesterday, and found Eden was inundated with people wanting to check out the four-month-old's hair. "He's a bit of a crowd-stopper. Usually when we are out I put a hat on him, otherwise you can't get anything done." Eden was born with his spiky mop, but Ms Thomas said it came as no surprise, his hair was so long it appeared on ultrasounds before he was born. "You could see a whole bunch of hair waving in the womb [on the ultrasound]." Though the unusual hairdo is a family trend, it is likely to be shortlived. "I had hair like that when I was a baby - it must be hereditary," Ms Thomas said. "As it got longer it stopped [being spiky]. But it took about a year-and-a-half, according to my mother." For the time being, Eden is enjoying being the centre of attention, while his mother admits she would prefer if her child was slightly less conspicuous. "He loves it, but I'm not that good with crowds," Ms Thomas said.
Mr. Bullock, one of Mr. Downey’s new customers, said that Bloomberg had long been the subject of complaints among his colleagues, who criticize the company’s unwillingness to negotiate on the price of terminals, even when companies are paying for hundreds of them. Bloomberg has been able to remain firm on its prices because the terminals have had few significant competitors other than Thomson Reuters. Thomson Reuters has made several efforts to revamp its terminal to take on Bloomberg’s dominance among elite traders and has had success in certain niches, like foreign currency trading. But Thomson Reuters terminals are not notably cheaper than Bloomberg’s, and the company has continued to lag in the United States — where its revenue was only two-thirds that of Bloomberg, data from Burton-Taylor shows. Other competitors, like Markit and FactSet, are cheaper but have tried to challenge Bloomberg only for smaller corners of the markets. Mr. Downey said that banks had been frustrated with Bloomberg prices for a long time, but had become more active in looking for alternatives since Bloomberg was accused in 2013 of allowing its journalists to snoop on some personal details of customers. A 42-year-old Irishman, Mr. Downey is largely paying Money.Net’s costs with the proceeds from his lucrative first career as a commodities trader. He is reluctant to reveal his client numbers, but so far he counts them in the thousands, not yet enough to scare Bloomberg. Mr. Downey, though, has big ambitions, and at least some of his new customers have been impressed enough that they have essentially served as volunteer boosters for the company. Hamza Khan, the 28-year-old head of commodities strategy at ING Bank in Amsterdam, said that since his company signed up last year, Money.Net has not been able to do everything that a Bloomberg can. But it has all the essentials and offers a more modern and intuitive interface and user experience than the Bloomberg system, he said.
Watch CNN live on TV, online and on your iPhone to get all the news and results from the hotly contested 2010 midterm elections. And share your election experiences with CNN iReport. Washington (CNN) -- Republicans took voters' distress over the stubborn jobless rate and stalled economy and turned it into a sweeping takeover of the U.S. House of Representatives in Tuesday's midterm elections, while Democrats were able to hang onto their majority in the Senate, though in smaller numbers. With results still coming in, the extent of the Republican takeover of the 435-member House was still to be determined. But CNN projected that Republicans would win at least 60 more House seats than they currently hold to wipe out the Democratic majority of the past four years. President Barack Obama called House Minority Leader John Boehner of Ohio to congratulate him. They had a brief but pleasant conversation, according to Boehner's aides. The two discussed working together to focus on the top priorities of the American people, which Boehner has identified as creating jobs and cutting spending. Boehner thanked the president for the call. Republican candidates also were running strong in governors' races, while Democrats were guaranteed of holding at least 50 of the 100 Senate seats with a handful of close races still outstanding, according to the projections based on CNN's analysis of exit poll data. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nevada, retained his Senate seat by defeating Republican Sharron Angle, a Tea Party favorite. An energized conservative electorate, fueled by the anti-establishment Tea Party movement that emerged in 2009, helped Republicans to what could be their biggest gain in congressional elections in decades. "It's clear tonight who the real winners are, and it's the American people," said Boehner, who is expected to become House Speaker in January when the new GOP majority takes over. "With their voices, the American people are demanding a new way forward in Washington," Boehner said, calling for conservative policies favored by the Tea Party such as cutting spending and reducing the size of government. Tea Party-backed Republicans Rand Paul in Kentucky and Marco Rubio in Florida won their Senate races, while another GOP candidate, John Boozman, will defeat incumbent Democrat Blanche Lincoln in Arkansas, according to the projections. In Indiana, conservative Republican Dan Coats was the projected winner to take over the Senate seat held by retiring Democrat Evan Bayh, while the GOP's Ron Johnson toppled Democratic incumbent Sen. Russ Feingold in Wisconsin. The projected victories by Coats, Boozman, Johnson and John Hoeven in North Dakota gave Republicans four pick-ups in the Senate. However, Democrat Chris Coons was the projected winner over Republican Christine O'Donnell, another Tea Party-supported candidate, in Delaware's Senate race for the seat formerly held for decades by Vice President Joe Biden. In Connecticut, Democratic Attorney General Richard Blumenthal will defeat Republican Linda McMahon, the former professional wrestling executive, for the Senate seat held by retiring Democrat Chris Dodd. Another big Democratic victory came in West Virginia, where Gov. Joe Manchin was projected to win the Senate seat formerly held by the late Democratic Sen. Robert Byrd, who died earlier this year. The projected victories by Coons, Manchin and Blumenthal were vital for the Democrats' chances to retain their majority in the Senate. But Obama's former Senate seat in Illinois went to Republican Mark Kirk, who defeated Democrat Alexi Giannoulias. Whatever the final make-up of the Senate, it will include no African-American members. The only current African-American senator, Roland Burris of Illinois, is retiring, and none of the three African-American candidates won on Tuesday. Both Paul, the son of Rep. Ron Paul of Texas, and O'Donnell rode Tea Party support to defeat mainstream Republican candidates in their GOP primaries. Paul's projected victory to claim the seat held by retiring Republican Sen. Jim Bunning showed the influence of the movement that emerged in 2009 in opposition to expanded government and the growing federal deficit. At the same time, the loss by O'Donnell could badly hurt Republican chances to win majority control of the Senate. Many Republicans believed the veteran congressman whom O'Donnell beat in the primary, former Gov. Mike Castle, would have defeated Coons. Another Tea Party backed candidate, Republican Carl Paladino, will be handily defeated by Democrat Andrew Cuomo in the New York governor's race, the projections show. CNN projects Democrat Jerry Brown will defeat Republican Meg Whitman in California for the governorship now held by Republican Arnold Schwarzenegger, who is stepping down under term limits. Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer, who gained national attention for her support of Arizona's controversial new immigration law, defeated Democrat Terry Goddard to retain office. In other gubernatorial contests, Republicans Bill Haslam in Tennessee, Sam Brownback in Kansas, Rick Perry in Texas, Nikki Haley in South Carolina, Susana Martinez in New Mexico, Mary Fallin in Oklahoma, Tom Corbett in Pennsylvania, Matt Mead in Wyoming and Rick Snyder in Michigan will be victorious, according to the projections. Democratic winners for governor included incumbents Martin O'Malley in Maryland and Deval Patrick in Massachusetts, the projections showed. Republicans needed a net gain of only three governorships Tuesday for a majority nationally. Often overshadowed during midterm campaigns, governorships can impact national politics by their influence in the redistricting of state electorates. Exit poll data analyzed by CNN showed the economy was the dominant issue on the minds of voters and indicated that key constituencies shifted from supporting Democrats in 2008 to voting for Republicans this time. For example, senior citizens who comprised 24 percent of the total electorate supported Republicans much more strongly on Tuesday than they did two years ago, the exit polling showed. According to the data, 39 percent of senior citizens voted for Democrats, compared with 49 percent in 2008, while 58 percent supported Republicans, compared with 49 percent two years ago. One reason is likely opposition to the health care reform bill pushed through Congress over Republican opposition by President Barack Obama and Democratic leaders. While Obama pledged the reforms would improve Medicare, Republican opponents warned of service cuts and higher costs. The long and bitter campaign season drew more than $3.5 billion in spending, making it the most expensive nonpresidential vote ever, according to the nonpartisan Center for Responsive Politics, a watchdog group. The rise of the Tea Party movement added a new element to the election cycle, roiling Republican races by boosting little-known and inexperienced candidates to victory over mainstream figures in GOP primaries across the country. No matter how many of the so-called Tea Party candidates win against Democratic opponents Tuesday, the influence of the movement has shifted the Republican agenda to the right. "They tell me they want people who can work together in Washington," DeMint, one of the leading backers of Tea Party candidates, said in his victory speech. "I tell you this: I'm ready. I'm ready. Anyone whose guide is the constitution and whose goal is limited government, I'm ready to work with them today. But I'm not going to compromise with anyone who doesn't believe in that." Exit polling showed voter dissatisfaction with both parties, as each received a 53 percent unfavorable rating. The economy was rated the most important issue by 62 percent of voters, far eclipsing health care reform (19 percent), immigration (8 percent) and the war in Afghanistan (7 percent), according to the exit polling. Most voters, 88 percent, rated economic conditions as not good or poor, and 86 percent said they were very worried or somewhat worried about the economy, the exit polling showed. Voters across the country offered a variety of reasons for their choices Tuesday. In Wolfeboro, New Hampshire, restaurant manager and internet entrepreneur Stephen Smith, 40, went to the polls hoping "that the entrenched incumbents get booted out of office," he said. Melissa Bacon, 24, of Sacramento, California, cast her ballot partly for the thrill of the experience, she said. "You don't get to vote every day. It's sort of its own holiday. You research the issues, vote and then wait to see if your position was the majority. It's as exciting to me as the World Series last night," she said on the heels of the San Francisco Giants' victory. Nadya Alvarez of Parrish, Florida, went to the polls with her son to teach him about the importance of voting. "My youngest is almost 2 years old, and I showed him the ballot, and he wanted to help fill in the circles," said Parrish, 28. "It is good to teach them from an early age to be involved in the welfare of our country and that we all have rights and duties to preserve." Unemployment, at a rate of 9.6 percent amid a slow recovery from economic recession, has been the dominant issue, with Republicans accusing Obama and the Democrats of pushing through expensive policies that have expanded government without solving the problem. Obama has led Democrats in defending his record, saying that steps such as the economic stimulus bill and auto industry bailout were necessary to prevent a depression, while health care reform and Wall Street reform will lay the foundation for sustainable future growth. Observers warned that the expected Republican gains offer little chance of compromise or bipartisan approaches on major issues. Boehner already has signaled little appetite to negotiate with the White House or congressional Democrats, saying last week that "this is not a time for compromise." In the Senate, legislative gridlock is likely as Republicans strengthen their current minority of 41 seats. Obama and Democrats accuse Senate Republicans of using obstruction tactics as a political tool, showing the distrust and animosity that already exists. Democrats are also wary of a recent comment by Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell, who told the National Journal, "The single most important thing we want to achieve is for President Obama to be a one-term president." The first test of a new relationship will come in mid-November, when Congress convenes a post-election lame-duck session to try to clear unfinished legislation before the newly elected Congress gathers in January. Among other issues, lawmakers must decide whether and how to extend Bush-era tax cuts. CNN's Tom Cohen, Michael Pearson, Dana Bash, Ted Barrett, Deirdre Walsh, Paul Steinhauser, Rebecca Sinderbrand and Jessica Yellin contributed to this report.
Syrian rebels have said they had captured a helicopter base near Damascus after a battle with government forces, the second military facility on the outskirts of the capital to fall to President Bashar al-Assad's opponents this month. An Internet video which activists said was filmed on Saturday overnight at the Marj al-Sultan base, 15km east of the capital, showed rebel fighters carrying AK-47 rifles touring the facility. An anti-aircraft gun could be seen positioned on top of an empty bunker and a rebel commander was shown next to a helicopter. "With God's help, the Marj al-Sultan airbase in eastern Ghouta has been liberated," the commander said in the video. Eastern Ghouta, a mix of agricultural land and built-up urban areas, has been a rebel stronghold for months. Activists said two helicopters were destroyed in the attack as well as a radar station, and that 15 personnel were taken prisoner. The reported takeover of the base came amid continued shelling in several areas in the outskirts of Damascus. Helicopter gunships pounded Zamalka town, northeast of Damascus, as rebels clashed with troops in nearby Harasta, activists said. Further advances The opposition fighters have set up rear bases in orchards surrounding the capital, where they had made advances during the summer but have since been driven out. In the north, rebels pressed on with an offensive against troops stationed at the strategic Tishrin dam, which straddles the Euphrates River and connects the provinces of Aleppo and al-Raqqa. The rebels, according to a local resident, have been closing in on the area for the past week. Opposition fighters already control one of the main routes to al-Raqqa and the dam would give them a second passage, connecting a wide expanse of territory between the two provinces, both of which border Turkey. Last Thursday, rebels captured an army base in the eastern province of Deir Az-Zor, striking another blow against Assad's military and further weakening his control in the strategic region bordering Iraq. In a separate development, Iran on Sunday said the deployment of Patriot defence missiles near Turkey's border with Syria would worsen tensions, as fears grow of the Syrian civil war spilling across the region. Turkey asked NATO for the Patriot system, designed to intercept aircraft or missiles, last week after talks about how to shore up security on its 900km border. "The installation of such systems in the region has negative effects and will intensify problems in the region," Ali Larijani, Iranian parliament speaker, said on returning from a trip to Syria, Lebanon and Turkey on Saturday evening, according to Iranian state news agency IRNA. 'Provocative request' Ramin Mehmanparast, Iran's foreign ministry spokesperson, told the Iranian Students' News Agency (ISNA) on Sunday that deploying the Patriot system "will not only not help solve the situation in Syria, it will actually make the situation more difficult and complicated as well". Syria has called Turkey's request for the Patriot missiles "provocative", and Russia said the move could increase risks in the conflict. Iran has steadfastly supported Assad throughout the 20-month-old uprising against his rule. Turkey's missile request may have riled Damascus because it could be seen as a first step toward implementing a no-fly zone over Syrian airspace. Syrian rebels have been requesting a no-fly zone to help them hold territory against a government with overwhelming firepower from the air, but most foreign governments are reluctant to get sucked into the conflict. Turkey fears security on its border may crumble as the Syrian army fights harder to contain the rebels, some of whom have enjoyed sanctuary in Turkey. Heavy fighting has often erupted along Syria's border with Turkey. Ankara has scrambled fighter jets and returned fire after stray Syrian shells and mortars landed in its territory.

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