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Two new sightings of a bat-like creature have been reported in Chicago's Lincoln Park neighborhood.
The first report was submitted to Lon Strickler at Phantoms and Monsters. According to Strickler, he received a telephone call at midnight on Sunday from a couple who said they had encountered a 'large man with bat wings' in the 400 block of N. Arlington Place (between N. Clark St. & N. Lakeview Ave.) in the Lincoln Park community of Chicago.
A couple called me from the location after the encounter. It took them about an hour to search Google for similar sightings and to find my telephone number. The sighting was on Saturday 6/3/2017 at approximately 10PM CT local time.
Both witnesses talked to me. They were both shook up and assured me that neither of them drink alcohol or take drugs. Both are professionals and business owners in the Chicago area. They had just finished a late dinner at a local restaurant and noticed the flying anomaly as they were walking on the 400 block of N. Arlington Place. The street lights illuminated the figure enough to startle them, so it could not have been very high above the street.
They both described it as a 7-8 ft solid black humanoid with wide membrane wings, that resembled those of a huge bat. The wing span was at least 12 ft. The head was prominent, and thinner than a human head. The back end of the body tampered to a point. No legs were noticed, but could have been tucked up under the body. The figure was gliding quickly along the length of the street heading east, then suddenly ascended into the night sky. Neither heard any sound. Both witnesses told me that they felt a sense of foreboding and were still terrified almost an hour after the encounter.
Strickler plans on following up with the witnesses to gather a written report, and hopes that they will be able to provide a sketch of the creature.
A second report from the same area was submitted to UFO Clearinghouse at 11 p.m. on June 4th.
I was walking with my boyfriend in Lincoln Park around 10 pm tonight on Saturday, June 3rd and saw a huge bat or what I could only describe as a bat glide past. It was huge and long. I can’t explain what it was but it was not normal. It was pitch black and had no feathers. I thought it was an eagle or a bat, but it was definitely bigger than both of those. Its wings were skin-like and it made no sound. I called my boyfriend to see it but by the time he looked he only saw the tail end of it. We both felt very uneasy and more uneasy after googling and coming across similar reports. I’m not sure what to make of it but it was not normal. The wings were the longer than my boyfriends’ arms and he’s 6ft.
An investigative team from the website have contacted the witness and her boyfriend, and will release a full report after their investigation has concluded.
These reports bring the number of sightings of a bat-like creature in the lakefront area of Chicago up to ten since March of this year. |
Since then, variations of that strategy have been implemented in cities across the country. For example, according to a study by the Campbell Collaboration, a nonprofit organization that evaluates the effects of this type of intervention, Stockton, Calif., saw a 42 percent reduction in its monthly count of gun homicides in the first year of the strategy’s implementation; similarly, Oakland, Calif., saw just under a 30 percent reduction. (In 2017, the city is on track to have its second-lowest homicide rate in over 30 years.)
While movies, television and news outlets often give the impression that entire cities and neighborhoods are filled with thugs, criminals and killers, the reality is that those responsible for a majority of shootings represent a tiny percentage of the residents of any given city. In response to this fact, effective gun violence reduction strategies adopt a highly targeted, data-based approach in which the small number of individuals most at risk for shooting (and being shot) are provided with individualized programs of support and pressure to lay down their guns. To this end, law enforcement officials, clergy members, community leaders, social service providers and mentors who have themselves escaped violent lifestyles work in partnership with one another to help these individuals turn their lives around.
Part of the beauty of this approach is that unlike tactics such as “stop and frisk” policing, these strategies do not eat away at already fractured relationships between law enforcement and communities of color. Instead, they harness the leadership and experience of the people who live in and understand these communities. Unlike the national gun violence prevention policy efforts, which tend to be led by progressive white groups and individuals, they ensure that those who are directly affected — mostly people of color — decide how peacemaking and anti-violence initiatives are carried out.
Given the positive results, many astutely ask why these approaches have not been implemented more widely. The central answer is that the high death tolls in urban communities of color have proved to be socially and politically acceptable to mainstream America. For some reason, while mass shootings like the one we saw in Las Vegas are widely seen as symptomatic of a “national” problem, the continuing scourge of killings in our cities isn’t. The result is that neither Democratic nor Republican Justice Departments have funded these types of violence reduction strategies on a large scale.
Absent a targeted investment strategy from the federal government, some local communities have taken on the challenge for themselves. In most cases, this has been made possible through relatively small reallocations of city or county funds. Police departments in urban areas often account for large percentages of city budgets but end up spending more time and resources trying to solve murders rather than working to prevent them. The RAND Corporation estimates that a single murder costs the community over $8 million in court, police, hospital, incarceration and other expenditures. Even the most fiscally conservative among us can agree that a $1 million to $2 million investment at the city or county level would more than pay for itself with even minimal homicide decreases.
But even in cases in which cities have re-prioritized their funding and seen significant decreases in homicides, the strategy has been vulnerable to changing political winds. A new police chief, a new mayor or even the infighting of community-based organizations can disrupt the fragile political equilibrium that supports the work. So, what we have found is that focused and relentless community organizing is vital to helping ensure that the most vulnerable communities are able to demand the most effective strategies for keeping their neighborhoods safe — regardless of who is in office. To that end, we work with the clergy, youth, parents of murdered sons and daughters, police departments and government officials in cities and counties around the country to ensure that effective, lifesaving strategies are in place. |
Most of the time, I’m not sorry that all my dedicated, single-use devices are dead and gone. If you’re carrying a modern smartphone around, why would you miss your Discman, or your portable DVD player, or your dumbphone, or your tape recorder, or your point-and-shoot camera, or your PalmPilot? Not only can one device replace all of them, but that one device is usually better at all of that stuff than most dedicated devices ever were.
Yet there’s something pure about hardware that’s only designed to do one thing, at least when it’s designed well. A gadget that only wants to do a couple of things can tailor itself better to those specific uses while ignoring everything else. Maybe you could get better battery life out of your camera if it didn’t need to be a portable game console and full-featured computer all wrapped up into one.
Specs at a glance: Amazon Kindle Voyage Screen 1448×1072 6" (300 PPI) E-Ink Carta OS Kindle OS 5.5.0 Storage 4GB (non-upgradeable) Networking 802.11b/g/n, optional 3G Ports Micro-USB Size 6.4" x 4.5" x 0.30" (162 x 115 x 7.6 mm) Weight 6.3 oz (180 g) Wi-Fi, 6.6 oz (188 g) 3G Battery Unknown capacity; Amazon claims 6 weeks of life if used for 30 minutes a day with wireless disabled and brightness set to 10 Starting price $199 with Special Offers, $219 without; $269 for 3G with Special Offers, $289 for 3G without Price as reviewed $289
That’s the strongest argument there is for the Kindle line of e-readers, which continue to soldier on even though Amazon has branched out into full-on Android tablets, phones, and set-top boxes. The company's e-reader lineup changes only occasionally and very gradually; the biggest change was probably back in 2011 when Amazon switched out the physical keyboard for a software keyboard with navigation buttons and rudimentary touchscreens. The Kindle Paperwhite’s front-lit screen is a close second.
That brings us to the Kindle Voyage, which at $199 ($219 without ads; $269 or $289 for the 3G model) is by far Amazon’s most expensive e-reader. It’s also by far the nicest—if you can justify paying that much for a gadget that only does one thing.
Look and feel
The Voyage’s design has more in common with recent Fire HDX tablets than with past Kindles. Its soft-touch back is all angles, and it’s got the same rear-mounted power button. Its black bezel is flush with the 6-inch E-Ink screen, where previous Kindle displays have been slightly recessed.
Though its design is distinctly tablet-y, the reading experience is in line with previous Kindles. The front of the tablet has a matte finish that Amazon claims mimics the feel of paper—it’s not much like paper, really, but it does eliminate glare and minimize fingerprints. Two important things separate the Voyage from the $119 Kindle Paperwhite that still serves as Amazon’s midrange e-reader: it’s got a higher pixel density (300 PPI, up from 212) and an auto-brightness sensor.
Auto-brightness sensors in conventional phones and tablets often make screens just a little too dim for my tastes (in part to conserve battery, no doubt), but the Voyage’s sensor is a nice upgrade over the Paperwhite. I used the Voyage in a whole bunch of different situations—in brightly-lit and totally dark rooms, on daytime and nighttime flights jetting to and from last week’s Apple event to our yearly staff meeting. In all environments, the sensor did a pretty good job of making the screen look like a well-lit piece of paper. On my various Android and iOS devices, I usually set the Kindle app to display white text on a dark background just to avoid eyestrain, but it’s not a problem with the Voyage.
Andrew Cunningham
Andrew Cunningham
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There’s an additional setting called Nightlight, disabled by default, that makes the auto-brightness feature adjust itself more gradually. It’s primarily used to slowly dim the screen in dark settings as your eyes adjust, minimizing the amount of battery power used while keeping the screen readable.
If you’ve already got a recent Paperwhite, though, there’s not much else about the screen that will make you want to upgrade. I’ve never found text rendering to be a problem when I’ve used 212 PPI Kindles, and both Paperwhite and Voyage use E-Ink’s “Carta” technology. This gives these devices better contrast and less text “ghosting” than the Pearl screens used in the $79 Kindle and older models. Though the screen still flashes black to refresh itself every few page turns, you really have to be looking for it to notice much text or image ghosting.
The Voyage is mostly touch-driven. The first-time setup tutorial walks you through the “zones” of the touchscreen—the large area in the lower-right corner used to turn pages forward, the smaller area in the lower-left corner used to go backward, and the area across the top of the screen that brings up the navigation toolbar.
While generally accurate, the touchscreen isn’t significantly faster or more responsive than those in older models. Pressing keys too quickly is a great way to mistype things, and the need to tap each key slowly and deliberately adds time to everything from unlocking the device with a PIN to searching for books in the store. This hesitation affects things like highlighting, too. That activity is pretty quick work on an iOS or Android device, but it takes several seconds longer on an E-Ink screen, something that may be frustrating to more active readers.
The Voyage also includes capacitive page-turning buttons to the left and right of the screen—the long bars turn the page forward when pressed, and the small dots go backward, and gentle haptic vibration accompanies each button press. Turning the page requires a small but deliberate squeeze, so you can hold the Kindle by this part of the bezel without automatically turning the page, and you can disable the buttons entirely if you're happy with the touch controls. These capacitive buttons approximate the functionality of the physical buttons on older non-touch Kindles, though they’re quieter than physical buttons and are harder to find in the dark. I was happy with the touchscreen controls, so I found them a bit superfluous, but lefties and touchscreen haters will appreciate the addition. |
By Christine Yu for Life by DailyBurn
These days, foam rollers are everywhere—the gym, your physical therapist’s office, your living room and even your suitcase. After all, foam rolling has emerged as the darling of the fitness world and the cure-all for many different aches.
Essentially, foam rolling is a form of self-myofascial release, or self-massage, that gets rid of adhesions in your muscles and connective tissue. These adhesions can “create points of weakness or susceptibility in the tissue,” according to Chris Howard, C.S.C.S. and LMT at Cressey Performance. “If the muscle isn’t contracting uniformly from end-to-end, it could lead to injury and pain.” Foam rolling also increases blood flow to your muscles and creates better mobility, helping with recovery and improving performance.
Sounds great, right? Yes, foam rolling offers tremendous potential to relieve pain and help you move better—if used the right way. If not, you risk irritating, and possibly injuring, your body further.
Here’s a breakdown of five common mistakes people often make when using the foam roller.
When we feel pain, our first inclination is to massage that spot directly. However, this might be a big mistake. “Areas of pain are the victims that result from tension imbalances in other areas of the body,” says Sue Hitzmann, MS, CST, NMT, manual therapist, creator, and author of The MELT Method.
Let’s take the IT band, for example. Foam rolling is a commonly prescribed remedy for iliotibial band syndrome (ITBS). While religiously rolling out your IT band might feel good, “the idea that you are going to relax or release the IT band is a misconception,” Hitzmann says. The phrase roll out your IT band itself makes it sound like you are rolling out a piece of dough, but your IT band is anything but pliable. It’s a remarkably strong piece of connective tissue, and research has shown that it cannot be released or manipulated by manual techniques such as foam rolling. “If you iron out areas of inflammation, you can increase inflammation. And if you are in pain, your body will be too stressed to repair itself,” says Hitzmann.
The fix: Go indirect before direct. “If you find a spot that’s sensitive, it’s a cue to ease away from that area by a few inches. Take time and work a more localized region around areas that feel sore before using larger, sweeping motions,” suggests Hitzmann. For the IT band, work on the primary muscles that attach to the IT band first—specifically the gluteus maximus (the largest muscle in the buttocks) and the tensor fasciae latae (a muscle that runs along the outer edge of the hip).
While it might feel great to roll back and forth on a foam roller quickly, you’re not actually eliminating any adhesions that way. “You need to give your brain enough time to tell your muscles to relax,” says Monica Vazquez, an NASM certified personal trainer and USA Track and Field running coach.
The fix: Go slower so that the superficial layers and muscles have time to adapt and manage the compression. Feel where the tender spots are with the roller, and use short, slow rolls over that spot. “There’s no reason to beat up the whole muscle if there are only a few sensitive areas,” Howard says.
RELATED: 7 New Recovery Tools You’ll Love to Hate
We’re often told that if you feel a knot, spend time working that spot with the foam roller. However, some people will spend five to 10 minutes or more on the same area and attempt to place their entire body weight onto the foam roller. If you place sustained pressure on one body part, you might actually hit a nerve or damage the tissue, which can cause bruising, according to Vazquez.
The fix: “Spend 20 seconds on each tender spot, then move on,” Vazquez recommends. You can also manage how much body weight you use. For example, when working your IT band, plant your foot on the floor to take some of the weight off the roller.
Wait, what does your posture have to do with foam rolling? A lot. “You have to hold your body in certain positions over the roller,” says Howard, and that requires a lot of strength. “When rolling out the IT band, you are supporting your upper body weight with one arm.” When you roll out the quads, you are essentially holding a plank position. If you don’t pay attention to your form or posture, you may exacerbate pre-existing postural deviations and cause more harm.
The fix: Work with an experienced personal trainer, physical therapist, or coach who can show you proper form and technique. Or, consider setting up your smartphone to videotape yourself while foam rolling, suggests Howard. That way, you can see what you are doing right and what you are doing wrong, like sagging in the hips or contorting the spine.
“The thing that makes me cringe is when people foam roll their lower back. You should never ever do that,” say Vazquez. Hitzmann agrees. “Your spine will freak out and all the spinal muscles will contract and protect the spine.”
The fix: According to Vazquez, you can use the foam roller on your upper back because the shoulder blades and muscles protect the spine. “Once you hit the end of the rib cage, stop.” If you want to release your lower back, try child’s pose or foam roll the muscles that connect to your lower back—the piriformis (a muscle located deep within the glutes), hip flexors, and rectus femoris (one of the main muscles in your quads).
Most importantly, understand what the origin of your pain is before you start. Know what you are trying to achieve through foam rolling and how to do it properly. And don’t forget to stick with it. “To get the benefits of self-massage, it’s repeated exposure that’s most important,” says Howard. “You have to show up and put in the work.” |
Speaker criticises Brexit secretary for being unclear with MPs about assessment papers that turned out not to exist
David Davis has escaped the possibility of being held in contempt of parliament over the non-existence of Brexit impact assessment papers, but was criticised by the Speaker, John Bercow, for being unclear to MPs when he discussed the matter.
Bercow, giving a rare public rebuke to a minister, also told the Commons it was “most regrettable” that Davis had taken so long to hand papers over to the Brexit select committee, and that he had redacted information from them.
How the Tory rebellion could push May towards a softer Brexit Read more
The ruling follows complaints to the Speaker by Labour’s Chuka Umunna and others that Davis was in contempt over a Commons opposition motion passed on 1 November that called for the Brexit impact assessments to be released.
After the motion there was a long delay in passing any papers to the Brexit select committee, and when they arrived some MPs complained they were mainly background notes culled from public sources.
Then last week Davis told the select committee that there were in fact no studies forecasting the actual impact of Brexit on various sections of the economy, despite having talked previously about the existence of 58 papers containing “excruciating detail”.
Play Video 1:53 David Davis says Brexit impact papers don’t actually exist - video
Addressing MPs on Thursday Bercow said “several” members had alleged contempt by Davis and other ministers over the fate of the impact assessments, and that he had discussed the matter with the clerk of the Commons.
Bercow said: “Ministers could, with advantage, have been considerably clearer in their statements, particularly challenging lines of questioning in select committees, which were based upon a genuine misconception.
“However, from the evidence which I have seen to date I have concluded that the test that I am bound to apply, that there is an arguable case that there has in this matter been a contempt of the house, has not been met in this case.”
Bercow said other MPs had written to him to seek a ruling on whether Davis was in contempt of the 1 November motion by not handing over actual impact assessments.
He again rebuked Davis, but noted that the Brexit select committee had last week voted to not seek a contempt motion against him.
The Speaker said: “While it was most regrettable that the secretary of state – a point I made to him privately but I now state publicly – unilaterally excised some material from the paper which he provided, and that it took so long to provide the papers, I also feel bound to pay due attention to the formally recorded view of the committee that the secretary of state had complied with the order of 1 November.”
A contempt of parliament had again not taken place, Bercow said.
Davis was also criticised outside Westminster. The Institute for Government thinktank said he had “shown contempt for the principle of making decisions based on thorough evidence and analysis”.
Bronwen Maddox, the institute’s director, said: “David Davis said to the Commons committee on exiting the EU that the government had not undertaken formal impact assessments of Brexit.
“This not only appeared to contradict previous ministerial assertions but also showed a disregard for the principle of making decisions based on thorough evidence and analysis.”
The Liberal Democrat chief whip, Alistair Carmichael, said: “The lack of any meaningful government assessment of the effects of Brexit remains a scandal of historic proportions.”
MPs found in contempt of parliament can in theory be suspended, expelled or even detained in the parliamentary clock tower – though the latter punishment has not been used for well over a century. |
A feral pig has gone on the rampage at the DeGrey River rest area, just east of the town of Port Hedland in Western Australian, stealing three six-packs of beer and drinking the lot, before starting an altercation with a bystanding cow.
An onlooker commented, "in the middle of the night these people camping opposite us heard a noise, so they got their torch out and shone it on the pig and there he was, scrunching away at their cans. Then he went and raided all the rubbish bags. There were some other people camped right on the river and they saw him being chased around their vehicle by a cow."
The hog was last seen resting under a tree, almost certainly waiting for someone to bring it some nurofen for its monster hangover.
[via The Guardian]
(Images: Rex) |
Victim is third surfer fatally attacked in past two years at Reunion Island
A French surfer on his honeymoon was fatally attacked by a shark Wednesday at Reunion Island, while his wife was nearby on the beach.
The attack occurred at Brisants de Saint-Gilles, a popular surf spot on the west shore of the French-owned island. This marks the first fatal shark attack of the year on Reunion Island, but the third during the past two years.
Lifeguards pulled the 36-year-old surfer to shore after he was charged at least twice by the shark, but he had lost lots of blood and had gone into cardiac and respiratory arrest. He could not be revived.
Agence France-Presse is reporting that the unidentified surfer was bitten on the arm and thigh, and that his wife was being treated for shock.
Last summer two shark attacks, one of them resulting in a fatality, occurred just days apart at Reunion Island, which is located in the Indian Ocean east of Madagascar.
Sky News reports that after those attacks, surfers called for the closure of a vast marine reserve, which they blamed for an increase in shark encounters. Surfers were critical of the local government for not doing enough to protect swimmers and surfers.
Several studies are underway involving sharks in the area.
The honeymooning couple is from Morteau in eastern France. The species of shark implicated in Wednesday’s attack is not known.
–Find Pete Thomas on Facebook |
In the rural areas of Northern California, in the shadow of beautiful Mt. Shasta, lies a sleepy small town. In that town, however, lurks a menace. The town itself elicits laughs from degenerate drug users all over the nation. In fact, the town itself is a literal advertisement for drug use.
At least that’s what the BATF would have you believe:
The federal government has said no to Weed. Or at least to the bottle caps of beer brewed at a popular local brewery in this small Siskiyou County town, which has a name that no doubt would have kept 1970s pot-smoking duo Cheech and Chong giggling. Weed brewer Vaune Dillmann faces possible sanctions or fines from the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau if he continues to brew and sell beer with bottle caps printed with the label “Try Legal Weed.”
You see, in the world of the government, there is no room for humor. After all, in a country of 300 million people, a few of those people are going to get the wrong idea. Might they believe that a beer company is suggesting that they stop drinking beer and start smoking pot? Maybe so.
And the BATF (actually, the TTB) believes it’s their place to save those people from their own idiocy, and at the same time ruin it for the rest of us.
Now, it’s clear to me that this is nothing more than a clever marketing tactic. As a homebrewer and beer connoisseur, I often see store shelves lined with a dizzying array of six-packs, and outside of word of mouth and places like beeradvocate.com, I have very little way to tell one brewery from another. What might convince me to try something new? Perhaps if it catches my eye for some reason, I might buy it.
The use of the town’s name may elicit a chuckle from a few potheads, but it’s hardly an advertisement by a brewery for a competing (and illegal) product. It’s made even more ridiculous by the fact that a competing (and well-known) brewery has a similar double-entendre in their name and advertising, but is allowed to proceed with their own labeling and advertising.
Dillmann, who says his bottle caps both promote his beers and the community in which he brews them, has appealed the decision. After all, he said, the labels on his beers have a picture of the Weed arch and the city’s founding father, Abner Weed, on the label. Dillmann’s bottle caps also say a “A Friend in Weed is a Friend Indeed.” “We’re dealing with a surname that’s been used for hundreds of years,” Dillmann said Monday. The owner of the Mount Shasta Brewing Co. said he’s also outraged that his beer is being singled out for using a possible pot play on words when Anheuser-Busch has used “Bud” — another name for marijuana — to promote their Budweiser line of beers. “What’s the difference here?” Dillmann said. “They sell Bud — we sell Weed.”
There is no difference, Mr. Dillman. Some bureaucrat has a stick up his butt and the power of the federal government behind him. You’re bearing the brunt of it. This is the way government works.
In a letter to the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau’s administrator, Siskiyou County Supervisor Michael Kobseff said California tourism officials have identified Weed as the single most recognized name along I-5. “Surely, the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau is not in the business of suppressing the ingenuity of a small business owner, (and) the community of Weed . . .,” Kobseff wrote.
Of course that’s not what they’re trying to do. They’re trying to find some way to apply their one-size-fits-all rules, which don’t allow any room for variation or common-sense, to a situation that requires variation and common sense. It’s not that they’ve got a problem with the town of Weed. It’s much simpler than that. Rules are rules, and you’re not following them.
This is government, folks. Petty, with no sense of humor and a complete inability to understand why we find them ridiculous. You either conform or you get pounded down, in a high-stakes game of bureaucratic whack-a-mole. As Washington called them “a fearful servant and a terrible master”, they’ve been spending a lot more time being the latter. |
Last June the British lifestyle magazine Monocle called Copenhagen “the World’s Most Livable City.” It cited Copenhagen’s “world class design, gastronomy, culture, innovative city planning, and green sustainable lifestyle.” There is not much rotten in Denmark these days, and it’s hard not to love Copenhagen. Bicycles and pedestrians rule the streets, and the human beings mostly look as if they stepped out of a fashion magazine.
But there is another city within Copenhagen—the infamous “free town” of Christiania—and I couldn’t help but wonder how it might rate by *Monocle’*s high-minded, modernist criteria. Christiania is the 84-acre anarchic enclave founded in 1971 when a brigade of young squatters and artists took over an abandoned military base on the edge of town and proclaimed it a “free zone” beyond the reach of Danish law. They christened it Christiania (it’s in the borough called Christianshaven). Christiania is still in full swing with about 900 residents, some of them third generation, and it’s perhaps the largest and longest-lasting commune in history. To enter it you pass under a sign that reads, “You Are Now Leaving the European Union.” The people of Christiania fly their own flag and use their own currency.
I first went to Copenhagen in 1972. The youth movement was in full bloom. Even the soldiers had long hair. When I heard about Christiania, a neighborhood that had just been “liberated” and was now a commune where you could squat for free and do almost anything you liked, I headed right over.
There was a bit of East Village to it all, but the attitude was more determined. Thousands of young Danes—artists, feminists, hippies, anarchists—were turning their back on straight society and had actually conquered a part of town, were holding it, and were living there for free beyond the law. This was heady stuff back then. Christiania even had a mission statement: “to be a self-governing society . . . self-sustaining . . . and aspiring to avert psychological and physical destitution.” The possession of private property was thought to be immoral.
Back then, a walk through Christiania (no cars, of course) was mesmerizing. Everyone was young. There was a lot of hair. I’d seen American hippies, but the ones here were a bit more stylish—chic even—especially the girls, barefoot in their face paint and peasant dresses. People set up stands to sell macrobiotic food and Third World jewelry and beads, but the main attraction was the hashish. If people were not selling it or smoking it, they were bent over busily crumbling it into small pieces, mixing it with tobacco, and rolling joints. Its sweet smell was everywhere.
The free town seemed more a festival to me than a society. I could not imagine it lasting. People would flock there for a while, I knew, but criminal elements, motorcycle gangs, and party people, the usual potpourri of miscreants, would surely soon outnumber the idealists. The locusts would come, as they did in Haight-Ashbury. Inevitably, the government would forcibly close it down. Obviously I didn’t know the Danes.
I went back to Copenhagen for a visit this summer. I was curious about Christiania. It was 42 years old now. What had it become? The long, beautiful summer days made it the perfect time to find out.
Christiania has grown up to be a cool, verdant little village in a corner of Copenhagen. I had underestimated the work ethic and the diligence of the Danes. They have built an entire settlement of spare, humble, Hobbit-like homes that surrounds a lake and runs along gravel paths and cobblestone roads that wind through woods to the seaside. Older buildings have been restored and are often covered in murals. There are bars, cafés, grocery shops, a huge building-supply store, a museum, art galleries, a concert hall, a skateboard park, a recycling center, even a recording studio (inside a shipping container). I noticed electric hand dryers in a café bathroom. Buildings had satellite dishes. Children rode around on multicolored bikes and groups of young tourists wandered the streets in short pants, sandals, and black hoodies.
Christiania is now the second most popular tourist site in Copenhagen, right after nearby Tivoli Gardens, with up to a million visitors a year. Even elementary-school groups come see it. The main drag is “Pusher Street,” the biggest hash market on the planet. Some 40 shops there run 24/7, selling 30 to 40 different brands of hashish. No doctor’s prescription needed. Cannabis is officially illegal in Denmark but has been tolerated and sold openly in Christiania all along. Police estimate that sales amount to around $150 million a year. Pusher Street overwhelms whatever else you might see in Christiania. Imagine a quaint small town with a strip mall of 40 liquor stores at its center. Cannabis runs deep in the Christiania DNA, but it has been at a price. Gone are the hippie dealers with flowers in their hair. Now it’s skinheads with pit bulls. Folks like the Hells Angels (always a hippie buzz kill) control the business now. This has all led to crackdowns, violence, calls for eviction, and a generalized sense of intimidation in the neighborhood.
All this has not been easy on the Christianites. There have been decades of battles with politicians. At one point Christiania was officially deemed a “social experiment” and left alone. But the basic complaint that this was occupied government land, and increasingly valuable land, did not go away. And the hash business remained a huge concern in the eyes of some. Still, the residents have gone 42 years without eviction. This says a lot about Denmark’s respect for community and individual freedom, and its tolerance for the quirky.
In 2012, the government finally resolved the four-decade-long squatter issue with an unlikely solution. They offered to sell most of Christiania to the residents—people utterly opposed to the idea of private property. They offered it way below market price ($13 million for 85 acres in the World’s Most Livable City), made guaranteed loans available, and said that life in Christiania could remain largely intact. Quite the quandary and tough to swallow, but the residents took the deal, adding some semantic twists. Individuals would not actually control the land; the “collective” would. A foundation was set up and a board created. “Social shares” were sold to buy the land. Loans financed the rest.
I met with Ole Lykke, a youthful 67-year-old and self-proclaimed anarchist, who came to Christiania in 1979 and has raised two children there. I wanted to get his sense of the future. He is the archivist and a historian of the community. Thin and handsome, with wispy, shoulder-length blond hair, he bicycled over to see me at the “archival offices” one sunny afternoon. While not a fan of the government deal, he is a realist with mixed views about what the future holds.
He explains, “We now pay double for half the freedom, considering the interest cost and increased rent. We have moved into a capitalist structure. Money talks now. It’s possible for the state to keep turning the wheel on the rent and the banks to keep making the interest higher. It will be harder and harder for older people, disabled people, to keep a home here.” He adds that “[i]f we do not keep up our payments, we have three months’ notice and the state can throw everybody out.” He lives on a pension and estimates that 40 percent of the people of Christiania receive some form of state funding. “I never dreamed I would have to save for old age because I get a pension. I paid a quarter to live here, now I pay a half.”
His optimism hinges on the hope that Denmark will legalize cannabis, an idea the Copenhagen City Council overwhelmingly approved but that was turned down by the justice ministry. “Legalize it, and you take away the last claim that Christiania is illegal. We would suddenly become very much legal. It could be taxed and be a legitimate business.” Cannabis legalization is much in the air these days, including in the U.S. It is not hard to imagine. Christiania could become the Wal-Mart of cannabis with its head start.
There is a nice Danish contradiction to all this. For decades, the tolerant, prosperous, and bourgeois Danish welfare state has allowed Christiania the luxury of its alternative ideals. The anarchists criticize society’s basic values, but they get state pensions and sweetheart real-estate deals. It’s probably not much different from small hypocrisies we’ve seen before. Remember, medieval societies tolerated and supported the monasteries, which lived according to different values from those of secular rulers.
Despite all of its problems, Christiania’s survival is a good bet. The Danes are proud of it now. After all, these are people who built their own homes, who stood up to the government and criminal elements for decades, who took in the poor and disadvantaged, who were eco-friendly and racially diverse before anyone else, and who sent the world a strong image about the creativity and tolerance of Denmark. As Jonas Hartz, a Danish entrepreneur, told me, “It’s hard to imagine Copenhagen without Christiania. No Danish government could close it down. Thousands of people would immediately march in the streets for them.” It has been quite the Nordic saga. In Ole’s words, “We done pretty good.” |
Individuals usually seek out a psychic medium in the hope of contacting a loved one who has passed on to the other side. They yearn to receive a message from their loved one to be able to find comfort, as well as to validate the existence of an afterlife. The closest most people have come to experiencing this form of mediumship has been on the television. Psychic mediums, such as Tyler Henry, John Edward, John Holland and James Van Praagh, select individuals from their audiences and begin to give them specific names and details that only those chosen would know. Also events, illnesses and dates are revealed through these psychic mediums.
This form of mediumship is called evidential psychic mediumship. The medium is able to give the client direct evidence that proves he or she is truly connecting and communicating with people from the spirit world. The initial clue for the medium may not be the specific individual who has passed, it might be a possession of the individual, like a piece of jewelry or article of clothing or a name. Another initial clue might be another individual who has passed, who then serves as a catalyst for contacting the specified individual in spirit.The medium may also bring up names of people that are still very much alive who have or had some connection in your past or present.
As the psychic medium continues to gather clues and direct evidence, he or she will give the client direct names, places, events, illnesses, or maybe even an obscure song that had sentimental value. The medium may also provide details about a pet or an animal that played a role in the individual’s life For the client, this information further validates the accuracy and true connection to the spirit world. Skeptics may get impatient with the medium, especially if the medium is insistent about some information that is coming through and continually mentions a certain name. Usually, if the client does not initially recognize a name coming through, he or she will at some point in time, even days after the reading is over.
Psychic Library endorses all true psychics, however keep in mind that not all of them are evidential psychic mediums. For example, some psychics use the sciences of astrology, numerology and tarot in their readings. Others use techniques to help with healing work of the mind, body and spirit. These types of readings can be just as rewarding as one from an evidential psychic medium. It is just that the outcomes from these readings are not evidence based.
You may seek out a reading for its entertainment value, which is fine. However, oftentimes the reading becomes a very comforting and healing experience. In seeking a psychic medium, make sure you have the correct expectations and that you make sure you choose someone reputable. Your loved ones will come through with the right medium. However, you alone will be the ultimate judge of their credentials. A reading may also give you a little bit of faith that your loved ones are living in spirit and are surrounding you even now.
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The Chinese group looking to buy AC Milan may still not have the money to close the deal.
Sino-Europe Sports Invesment Management Changxing has an agreement to buy the Italian soccer team from Silvio Berlusconi for 740 milion Euro (U.S. $770 million). After previous delays, the deal was scheduled to close March 3. But Bloomberg is reporting this morning that "Berlusconi is considering accepting a third, non-refundable 100 million-euro ($105 million) deposit to give the Chinese investor group seeking to buy his AC Milan soccer team more time to complete the deal, according to people familiar with the situation."
The $770 million purchase price includes $210 million that has already been paid, $336 milloin of additional equity and $231 million of debt.
According to Bloomberg, "Berlusconi’s holding company, Fininvest SpA, is considering granting the new delay until the end of March in return for another non-refundable deposit, said the people, who asked not to be identified because the talks are private. SES and Fininvest declined to comment."
A few months ago a Chinese hedge fund contacted me via email inquiring about the team's value and prospects. At that time I suspected Sino-Europe didn't have the money to close the deal. A year ago, Berlusconi's sale of roughly half of AC Milan to Thai financier BeeBee Taechaubol was suppose to give the soccer team, "deep pockets" but turned into a debacle.
For the 2015-16 season, Deloitte calculated that AC Milan's revenue increased to $225 million from $209 million the previous year. But, according to Deloitte, the team fell "to their lowest ever position (in the soccer repport) after only a small increase in revenue in 2015/16. The club reached the final of the Coppa Italia and played two more home games than in 2014/15 leading to a small increase in matchday revenue, but keeping pace with the rate of new revenue generation of other major European clubs is proving challenging for one of the game’s most famous clubs." |
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and key cabinet ministers attending the APEC meetings in Manila sought to charm business leaders this morning on the importance they attach to Asia.
Trade Minister Chrystia Freeland joined Trudeau at the meetings, which included representatives of Canadian banks, the Canadian Chamber of Commerce and other groups.
"Please take this gathering as a real sign of the absolute importance that our government is placing on Canada's business relationships abroad, our real conviction that trade and international trade is a hugely important path to the middle class prosperity, which is a central part of our mandate," Freeland told the group.
"It's great when we can create leaders' dialogues and talk about better collaboration and sign trade deals and partnerships," Trudeau told the group. "But if we don't then follow up with investment, with business ties, with job creation and strengthening economic exchanges, we're not doing the full work that we need."
The previous Conservative government was often criticized for not paying enough attention to the Asia-Pacific regions, though it did conclude a free trade deal with South Korea and led Canada into the recently completed Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), a 12-nation trade deal that will become the largest free trade zone in the world if ratified.
But Freeland wasn't committing the Liberals to approving the TPP, noting her government didn't negotiate it and the 6,000-page text was only released 12 days ago — the day after Trudeau was sworn in.
Compensation not guaranteed?
The deal is garnering intense opposition from dairy farmers because it will phase out quotas for Canadian dairy products, and by thecountry's largest private sector trade union, Unifor, which says it will lead to massive job losses in the auto sector.
The previous Conservative government promised $4.3 billion over 15 years to dairy and poultry farmers to blunt any losses from foreign compensation for both the TPP and the Canada-Europe Comprehensive Economic Trade Agreement (CETA.)
But Freeland said the new government isn't just reviewing the text of the agreement, it's also examining the money the Conservatives promised to help out sectors that might take a loss.
"We appreciate the importance of compensation to affected sectors by TPP, and let me also say it would be very inappropriate for us to commit to specific packages given that we are actually reviewing the agreement."
Although the deal was announced during the election campaign, the 6,000-page text was not posted publicly until earlier this month.
When the deal was announced, negotiators estimated that the new market access offered to foreign dairy imports under TPP amounted to approximately 3.25 per cent of the Canadian market.
Based on the posted text, the Dairy Farmers of Canada estimates the impact will be between 3.4 and four per cent of the 2016 production forecast, resulting in a potential loss of between $190 million and $246 million a year for the Canadian dairy industry, should TPP be ratified.
"Everybody appreciates that we are a pro-trade government and everybody understands that we have to consult our people," Foreign Affairs Minister Stéphane Dion told reporters at a news conference. "Ratification is not tomorrow for [any] country so we'll have the time to engage Canadians seriously about this trade deal."
This APEC summit, Trudeau's first since being sworn in earlier this month, is his inaugural trip to Asia as prime minister. As he did at the G20 talks earlier this week in Turkey, he has caused a bit of a stir.
The Philippine Daily Enquirer ran a front page story with photos of Trudeau and Mexico's Enrique Pean Nieto asking who was more handsome. But the newspaper seems to have anointed Trudeau.
It said authorities have warned local journalists to avoid making ''giddy shrieks" in his presence. |
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Personal Health Jane Brody on health and aging.
I was born a full-term, normal-size infant (seven and a half pounds), but grew slowly, weighing only 27 pounds at age 3. Convinced that I had to eat better if I was to be a robust, healthy child, my parents boiled the meat I wouldn’t eat and gave me the juice to drink.
For years, my anxious parents catered to my limited food tastes: Libby, not Del Monte, peas; rib, not shoulder, lamb chops; canned, not homemade, tomato sauce; calf’s, not beef, liver. My grandmother tried to fatten me up with snacks of Velveeta cheese and butter.
But the more I was wheedled, cajoled and even bribed to try the many wholesome foods I rejected outright, the less likely I was to succumb. Now, after reading an insightful book, “It’s Not About the Broccoli” by Dina Rose, I better understand that one source of my resistance was control. I was as determined to be in charge of what went into my mouth as my parents thought they should be.
Even today, in many households with young children, you’re likely to hear commands, bribes and pleas like “just taste it,” “finish your vegetables if you want dessert,” “clean your plate – the children in (name a country) are starving.” My response to that one was: “So send it to them. I don’t want it!”
Perhaps most damaging was the subliminal message my parents conveyed — a link between food and love that led to a 40-pound weight gain in my 20s when a big romance fizzled.
Even now, you might think many American children are in danger of becoming seriously undernourished. Millions of parents never leave home without a bag of snacks — candy, crackers or carrots, it really matters not. Children today are continually nibbling, whether in a stroller, car, train or plane. And food is a popular pacifier, with treats offered to relieve physical or emotional pain. Little wonder that many youngsters refuse to eat what’s served for dinner.
Even the best of parental intentions too often program children’s taste buds at an early age to like foods that are not especially good for them. In counseling parents, Ms. Rose has found that those with a “nutrition mind-set” pay undue attention to the nutrients in each meal rather than to their children’s overall eating pattern.
“The more parents focus on nutrition, the worse their kids tend to eat,” she said. Sweetened yogurt, which can contain as much sugar per ounce as soda, and mac ‘n’ cheese, full of fat and salt, are featured because they contain calcium; chicken nuggets get a pass for their protein content, and French fries — well they are vegetables after all.
The other side of the coin can be just as damaging. Given modern concerns about sugar and fat, some health-conscious parents forbid their children to indulge in treats, even at birthday parties. I know a neighborhood boy from such a restrictive household who used to keep a stash of candy and cookies his parents forbade in his friend’s bedroom.
My own approach to feeding my children was limitation, not deprivation. I gave my young sons each two cookies and never brought the box to the table. They could use granola (sweet and fatty) as a garnish on their Wheaties or Cheerios. But a complaint that “Mike gets to eat Froot Loops,” was answered with “Go live with Mike if you want to,” which ended the discussion.
As Ms. Rose put it, “When systems don’t work, it’s usually because the parents are either overly controlling or overly permissive.”
Her book has a telling subtitle — “Three Habits to Teach Your Kids for a Lifetime of Healthy Eating.” She has used her training as a sociologist and parent educator to develop a systematic approach to introducing children, even the pickiest among them, to foods that are good for them. At the same time, the tactics she suggests allow children to respond to their internal signals of hunger and fullness, rather than trying to “earn” dessert or please parents by taking a few more bites or cleaning their plates after they say they are full.
Though Ms. Rose calls her three critical habits “proportion, variety and moderation,” they are really about understanding and adapting to children’s natural aversion to strangeness and how tastes develop for foods initially disliked.
When asked to taste an unfamiliar food, she suggests giving children only a small taste — without expecting them to eat a full serving, even if they like it — and then asking them about its characteristics: what it feels like, tastes like or reminds them of. Tastings may have to be repeated many times to foster acceptance, even for adults. I “trained” myself to like cilantro, which tasted to me like kosher soap, by trying it over and over again because I couldn’t escape it when I ate out. I’m now working on goat cheese, which reminds me of wild boar.
“You can’t make kids eat, but you can influence their decision-making,” Ms. Rose said in an interview. She advocates a gradual introduction to variety in both the kinds of foods children are served and the way in which they are prepared. She suggests starting with a “rotation” of foods a child already likes, as long as the same food in the same form is not eaten two days in a row.
The way a food is prepared may prompt a switch from revulsion to acceptance. One child who wouldn’t touch steamed spinach asked for more when it was sautéed with garlic and olive oil. “Flavor is important,” Ms. Rose said.
Having recently told a friend that I didn’t care for cauliflower, she replied, “Have you tried it roasted?” Well, now I have and now I love it, roasted with chopped garlic, a bit of lemon juice and drizzle of olive oil, then garnished after roasting with grated Parmesan. My twin grandsons, whose vegetable acceptance was long limited to broccoli and green beans, now eat baby carrots roasted with garlic and olive oil, and steamed asparagus pieces mixed with seasoned grains.
Portion size matters a lot, especially when introducing a new food, Ms. Rose said. Children are often intimidated by too much food on a plate, even if it is a food they like.
Do your children clamor for desserts of questionable nutritional value? I recently hosted two families whose young children adored the frozen Greek yogurt desserts sold on the corner. I served a fat-free dessert with no dairy or added sweetener: frozen bananas, strawberries, mangoes and pineapple puréed through a $40 gadget called Yonanas. The kids asked for more … and more … and more. One mother bought the device the next day.
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Merrick Morton / Paramount
It received 13 nominations and is the only Best Picture finalist this year to have earned more than $100 million domestic ($123 million so far). That's a respectable gross for a tough-sell epic with a star (Brad Pitt) whom fans are more eager to see on Access Hollywood than in a movie theater. Benjamin Button is also the kind of movie grand, popular, multi-generational, nobly sentimental that used to sweep the Oscars. Many would say it's exactly like the Oscar winner of 1995, Forrest Gump, which was written by the same guy, Eric Roth. ("If you see only one version of Forrest Gump this year," intoned the announcer in a viral parody of the film, "make it The Curious Case of Benjamin Button. It's exactly like Gump, except no AIDS." Yet the Button man from New Orleans might have been the one to beat this year, if the kid from Mumbai hadn't shown up and seized moviegoers' hearts. Which proves that movies, like politics, aren't always predictable. Benjamin B. is Hillary to Slumdog's Obama. Odds of winning: 10 to 1
Director: David Fincher
An impossible project, on a huge budget ($150 million), with no inherent suspense: a man is born old, gets younger, dies. Somehow Fincher, mostly associated with slick, grisly thrillers like Se7en and Zodiac, pulled it off. Directors know how hard it is to execute this sort of juggling act; Slumdog's Danny Boyle, for one, has expressed unbounded admiration for Fincher's work. Remember, too, that Hollywood is no slave to the auteur theory: four times in the past 10 years, Best Picture and Best Direction have gone to different films. But I don't think that'll happen this year. Slumdog should take both categories. The Academy will award a film it loves over one it admires. Odds of winning: 5 to 1
See TIME's top 10 films of 2008
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'This sheriff always gets his squirrel': The law catches up with Oklahoma's most wanted... a pesky varmint dubbed Scofflaw
Never let it be said that Oklahoma police are anything less than diligent – they’ll track even the smallest criminal for weeks until they get their man – or squirrel, in this case
A fugitive squirrel, wanted for two weeks by Oklahoma County deputies, has now been tracked down with a Twitter post and YouTube video celebrating her apprehension.
The rodent had caused hundreds of dollars of damage by chewing the wires of patrol cars, supposedly wasting officers’ time.
Scroll down for video
Furry fugitive: The Scofflaw Squirrel has been caught after a two-week rampage in Oklahoma County
But while the Oklahoma County sheriff’s office have proudly announced the capture of the fugitive, local residents might query whether a two-week squirrel hunt was a valuable use of their taxes.
The animal, dubbed the ‘Scofflaw Squirrel’ after she gave officers the run-around for a fortnight, has been taken into custody by the Oklahoma County sheriff’s deputies.
But while the sheriff celebrated the capture on his Twitter account, an account registered to the squirrel itself has been updated with posts complaining of a wrongful arrest.
‘Your run is officially over!’ said the Oklahoma County sheriff’s Twitter page on Tuesday and posted a link to a YouTube video of the squirrel in a cage.
The video caption added: ‘As promised the sheriff always gets his squirrel. It was a valiant fugitive two week run from the law, but the long arm of the law won.
‘"Chewy" you caused nearly $700.00 worth of damages to OCSO vehicles, but you have been pardoned. We will relocate you to better surroundings. Good luck squirrel.’
In custody: The squirrel had caused hundreds of dollars of damage by gnawing on the inside of deputies' cars
"Even though she caused nearly $700 in damages to an OCSO vehicle, the squirrel has been pardoned and is set for release in better surroundings,' said sheriff's spokesman Mark Myers.
They always get their man - or squirrel: The Oklahoma County sheriff's department tracked the rodent for a fortnight
But judging by tweeting from the squirrel – supposedly – she’s planning to escape from his new residence behind bars.
‘I was framed I tell ya! You have the wrong rodent!’ said the @OKCBadSquirrel account after the ‘arrest’, later demanding a ‘court-appointed lawyer’.
The account has also made reference to Nicolas Cage’s recent arrest for alleged domestic abuse while the squirrel’s plans might be evident from a tweet discussing Prison Break.
Yet according to the @OkCountySheriff account, the Scofflaw Squirrel has far more freedom than he claims.
The sheriff’s Twitter account today replied to the squirrel, stating: ‘You are not locked up. You are free to roam just not in our parking lot. Quit misleading your followers.’
'I was framed!' The Scofflaw Squirrel used Twitter to taunt police before complaining about her capture
The Oklahoma County Sheriff's Office Facebook page earlier this week described the squirrel as a ‘furry vandal’ and warned locals not to be fooled by its ‘innocent looks’.
But while the police celebrate tracking down the fugitive, one Oklahoma City resident said officers had taken the wrong rodent into custody.
‘The real squirrel has gone “underground” until the heat cools off,’ said Koco.com reader Zoomer. |
Barack Obama campaigned for the presidency in 2008 as a peace candidate. He signaled that he would fundamentally change America’s course after the reckless carnage unleashed by the George W. Bush administration. However, by the end of Obama’s presidency, the United States was bombing seven different foreign nations.
But Obama’s warring rarely evoked the protests or opposition that the Bush administration generated. Why did so many Bush-era anti-war activists abandon the cause after Obama took office?
One explanation is that the news media downplayed Obama’s killings abroad. Obama was nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize less than 12 days after taking office — not because of anything that he had achieved, but because of the sentiments he had expressed. Shortly after he accepted the Peace Prize, he announced that he would sharply increase the number of American troops in Afghanistan. Much of the media treated Obama’s surge as if it were simply a military campaign designed to ensure that the rights of Afghan women were respected. The fact that more than 2,000 American troops died in Afghanistan on Obama’s watch received far less attention in the press than did the casualties from Bush’s Iraq war.
In early 2011, popular uprisings in several Arab nations spurred a hope that democracy would soon flourish across North Africa and much of the Middle East. Violent protests in Libya soon threatened the long-term regime of dictator Muammar Qaddafi, who had become a U.S. ally and supporter in recent years. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and other advisors persuaded Obama to forcibly intervene in what appeared to be a civil war.
In March 2011, Obama told Americans that “the democratic values that we stand for would be overrun” if the United States did not join the French and British assault on the Libyan government. Obama declared that one goal of the U.S. attack was “the transition to a legitimate government that is responsive to the Libyan people.” Qaddafi, who was dealing with uprisings across the nation, sent Obama a personal message: “As you know too well, democracy and building of civil society cannot be achieved by means of missiles and aircraft, or by backing armed members of al-Qaeda in Benghazi.”
Even before the United States began bombing Libya, there was no sober reason to expect that toppling Qaddafi would result in a triumph of popular sovereignty. Some of the rebel groups had been slaughtering civilians; black Africans whom Qaddafi had brought into Libya as guest workers were especially targeted to be massacred. Some of Qaddafi’s most dangerous opponents were groups that the United States had officially labeled as terrorists.
Obama decided that bringing democracy to Libya was more important than obeying U.S. law. The War Powers Act, passed by Congress in 1973 in the waning days of the Vietnam War, requires presidents to terminate military attacks abroad after 60 days unless Congress specifically approves the intervention. Immediately after the bombing commenced, Secretary of State Clinton declared during a classified briefing for members of Congress that “the White House would forge ahead with military action in Libya even if Congress passed a resolution constraining the mission.” Echoing the Bush administration the Obama administration indicated that congressional restraints would be “an unconstitutional encroachment on executive power.”
According to the Justice Department’s Office of Legal Counsel, Obama “had the constitutional authority” to attack Libya “because he could reasonably determine that such use of force was in the national interest.” Apparently, as long as presidential advisors concluded that attacking foreigners is in the U.S. “national interest,” the president’s warring passes muster — at least according to his lawyers. Yale professors Bruce Ackerman and Oona Hathaway lamented that “history will say that the War Powers Act was condemned to a quiet death by a president who had solemnly pledged, on the campaign trail, to put an end to indiscriminate warmaking.”
The U.S. attack on Libya evoked almost no protests across the nation. After Qaddafi was killed, Secretary Clinton laughed during a television interview celebrating his demise: “We came, we saw, he died.” But U.S. missiles and bombs begat chaos, not freedom. Five years later, when asked what was the worst mistake of his presidency, Obama replied, “Probably failing to plan for the day after what I think was the right thing to do in intervening in Libya.”
Syria
In 2013, Obama decided to attack the Syrian regime of Bashar al-Assad. The Obama team alleged that the Assad regime had carried out a chemical weapons attack on Syrian civilians.
A front-page Washington Post headline blared, “Proof Against Assad at Hand.” But that hand remained hidden. On a Sunday talk show, White House Chief of Staff Denis McDonough admitted that the administration lacked evidence “beyond a reasonable doubt” proving that the Syrian regime had carried out the gas attack. But McDonough asserted, “The common-sense test says [Assad] is responsible for this. He should be held to account.” Obama administration officials also insisted that attacking Syria would boost American “credibility.” But unless “credibility” is defined solely as assuring the world that the president of the United States can kill foreigners on a whim, that is a poor bet. This type of credibility is more appropriate for a drunken brawl in a bar than for international relations.
The administration never provided solid evidence to back up its claim. Even Obama ally Sen. Tom Harkin (D-Iowa) characterized the evidence presented in a Capitol Hill classified briefing as “circumstantial.” Rep. Justin Amash (R-Mich.) commented, “The evidence is not as strong as the public statements that the president and the administration have been making. There are some things that are being embellished in the public statements. The [classified] briefings have actually made me more skeptical about the situation.”
Seeking to rally the nation behind the cause, Obama called on Congress to authorize bombing Syria. But the American people had little stomach for another adventure abroad. There were a few protests — including one outside the White House on the Saturday when Obama was expected to announce that he had commenced bombing. I was there that day, along with a smattering of conservative and libertarian opponents to another war. The protest was a bit anemic until a couple busloads of ANSWER Coalition activists arrived from Baltimore. They had great signs — “Bombing Syria Doesn’t Protect People — It Kills Them” —and they marched and chanted in unison better than most high-school bands. The U.S. Park Police were unhappy with the protest and rode their horses into the middle of the group. Federal officials came up and threatened to arrest anyone who did not clear away from the street behind the White House. A handful of arrests were made and the crowd simmered down.
But when Obama made his a radio speech to the nation that afternoon, the chanting from the protest could be heard in the background. Obama announced that he was postponing a decision on bombing.
However, in the summer of 2014, the ISIS terrorist group released videos of the beheading of hostages. That provided sufficient cover for Obama to commence bombing that group — and other targets in Syria. The media played its usual lapdog role. A Washington Post headline proclaimed, “Obama the reluctant warrior, cautiously selling a new fight.” So we’re supposed to think the president is a victim of cruel necessity, or what? A New York Times headline announced, “In Airstrikes, U.S. Targets Militant Cell Said to Plot an Attack Against the West.” “Said to” is the perfect term — perhaps sufficient to alert non-brain-dead readers that something may be missing (e.g., evidence). By mid 2016, the Obama administration had dropped almost 50,000 bombs on ISIS forces (or civilians wrongly suspected to be ISIS fighters) in Syria and Iraq. A September 2016 Daily Beast article noted, “In January, the Pentagon admitted to bombing civilians on at least 14 different occasions. In July, an off-target airstrike in northern Syria killed more than 60 people.”
Obama acted as if he was doing God’s work by again bombing the Middle East. But the supposed beneficiaries were not persuaded. On the eve of the 2016 U.S. November election, independent journalist Rania Khalek (who was visiting Syria) tweeted, “I’ve been asking Syrians who they want to win for president. The vast majority say Trump because they feel he’s less likely to bomb them.” Presidential rhetoric was not sufficient compensation for the lives and homes that would be destroyed by the increased onslaughts that Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton seemed to promise.
Anti-War or Anti-Republican?
Thousands of innocent foreigners were killed by U.S. bombings and drone attacks during the Obama administration. In his 2016 State of the Union address, Obama scoffed at “calls to carpet bomb civilians.” Perhaps he considered it far more prudent to blow up wedding parties instead (as happened during his reign in Yemen and Afghanistan). As long as White House or Pentagon spokesmen announced that the United States was using “precision bombing,” media controversy over innocent victims was blunted, if not completely avoided.
Why did Obama suffer far less backlash than George W. Bush? Salon columnist David Sirota summarized an academic study released in 2013: “Evaluating surveys of more than 5,300 anti-war protestors from 2007 to 2009, the researchers discovered that the many protestors who self-identified as Democrats ‘withdrew from anti-war protests when the Democratic Party achieved electoral success’ in the 2008 presidential election.”
Sirota noted that the researchers concluded that “during the Bush years, many Democrats were not necessarily motivated to participate in the anti-war movement because they oppose militarism and war — they were instead ‘motivated to participate by anti-Republican sentiments.’”
There have been plenty of stout critics of U.S. warring in recent years — including Antiwar.com, The Future of Freedom Foundation, Ron Paul, the Mises Institute, and some principled liberals and leftists such as CounterPunch and Glenn Greenwald and The Intercept. But overall, the media spotlight rarely shone on U.S. carnage abroad, as it did in earlier times. Perhaps the anti-war movement will revive if Donald Trump commences bombing new foreign nations. But it is clear that too many Americans have not yet learned the folly of “kill foreigners first, ask questions later.”
James Bovard is the author of Attention Deficit Democracy, The Bush Betrayal, Terrorism and Tyranny, and other books. Bovard is on the USA Today Board of Contributors. He is on Twitter at @jimbovard. His website is at www.jimbovard.com |
Apple News only launched last September, but the app might have more users than the company previously thought, Apple's Eddy Cue said yesterday — Apple has been underestimating the number of people who read stories on its Apple News app since its launch, The Wall Street Journal reports. Cue said that the company didn't notice the error until recently as it was focusing on other parts of the product. "We're in the process of fixing that now, but our numbers are lower than reality," Cue told the WSJ. "We don't know what the right number is."
Traffic is still "modest compared to iOS install base"
But that doesn't necessarily mean that Apple News — redesigned last year to partner with big media outlets such as The New York Times, Vice, and Time Inc. — is off to a stellar start. Some of Apple's partners say they expected more traffic from the deal: Julie Hansen, president of Business Insider, said that the traffic the site saw from its Apple News inclusion was "modest relative to the enormous install base of iOS devices." The Atlantic's Bob Cohn said that "the main thing" from the deal was the size of the audience that the app could create for his publication, but noted "that's still an open question."
Cue said that 40 million people have tried Apple News so far, but didn't say how many came back to use the app regularly, nor exactly how much traffic the company had sent to its partners. He did, however, say that he was surprised how many of Apple's publishing partners relied on the company to handle ad sales. Publishers can choose to sell their own ads into the app and keep all of the generated revenue, but many have reportedly elected instead to get Apple to do the deals for them, pocketing just 70 percent. Apple's underestimation of the app's viewer numbers might have contributed to this lack of commitment, as publishers saw deflated figures as a reason not to commit to Apple's ad platform over Google's. |
House Candidate Running So His Daughter Won ’ t Have to Learn Evolution
Aaron Miller is running to represent Minnesota in Congress to make a difference in someone’s life. One life, in particular, actually. The Iraq War vet explained at a district convention this weekend—as he has on several occasions since he started his campaign—that he his running for office to keep his daughter from learning evolution at her public school. The Mankato Free Press reported that Miller “repeated his story about his daughter returning home from school in tears because evolution was being taught in her class,” an anecdote that he apparently manages to fit into most of his stump speeches.
Steve King: Deport DREAMers Who Want to Join the Military
Rep. Steve King has never been one to hide his feelings about the DREAM Act and young, undocumented immigrants in general. In an interview with Breitbart News, the Iowa Republican suggested that the U.S. should deport DREAMers who want to enlist in the military. “As soon as they raise their hand and say, ‘I’m unlawfully present in the United States,’ we’re not going to take your oath into the military, but we’re going to take your deposition and we have a bus for you to Tijuana,” King said.
Missouri Rep: An Abortion Is a Big Choice, Like Buying a Car or Carpeting
Missouri State Rep. Chuck Gatschenberger wants to require women to undergo an ultrasound and wait three days before getting an abortion because choosing whether or not to terminate a pregnancy is a huge decision. Gatschenberger—who is sponsoring a bill that mandates such a requirement—has bought cars and picked out carpeting before, so he knows what it’s like to make a major life choice. “I have to look at it, get information about it, maybe drive it, you know, a lot of different things. Check prices,” the Republican lawmaker was filmed saying while advocating for his bill at the Missouri House’s Children, Families and Persons with Disabilities committee this week. There’s a lot of things that I do putting into a decision. Whether that’s a car, whether that’s a house, whether that’s any major decision that I put in my life. Even carpeting.” When another Democratic Rep. Stacey Newman called out the car comparison as “extremely offensive to every single woman sitting in here, whether they’re pregnant or whether they’re not,”Gatschenberger apologized but later reiterated, “I’m just saying this is a life-ending decision. You should think about it.”
Mississippi Tea Partier Mocked Minorities on Radio Show
The Wall Street Journal received a pretty damning clip from Senate hopeful Chris McDaniel’s talk-radio hosting days. In the clip, which dates back to late 2006 or early 2007, the Mississippi Republican is heard refusing to pay taxes if it means part of that money will go to slavery reparations, lamenting whiney minorities for complaining about racism, and wondering when is the right time to call a woman “mamacita.” McDaniels also compared Vanilla Ice’s career to a minstrel show without the blackface. McDaniel, who is now a state Senator is the tea party favorite to seek incumbent Sen. Thad Cochran’s seat in Congress. |
After India said it planned to order less Iranian crude oil, Iran has threatened to let Russian companies enter the race for developing the Farzad B gas field.
The Times of India reported that if Iran does indeed go through with this, the part of the oil field which the consortium of Indian state-run entities get will be much smaller.
Reports from Vienna quoted Iranian oil minister Bijan Zanganeh as saying that he expected Russian firms to develop a substantial portion of the oil field if the Indian consortium failed to come up with a satisfactory offer.
India's plans to order about a quarter less Iranian crude oil than it bought last year followed its threat to order state refiners — Hindustan Petroleum, Bharat Petroleum, Mangalore Refinery and Petrochemicals Ltd, and Indian Oil Corp — to reduce purchases from Iran if an Indian consortium is not awarded the rights to develop Iran's huge Farzad B natural gas field, reported Reuters.
The volume cuts would put India's imports of Iranian crude for this fiscal year at 3,70,000 barrels per day (bpd), according to the sources with knowledge of the planned deals.
India is Iran's top oil client after China, and last year imported about 5,10,000 bpd of crude from the country, according to shipping data in Thomson Reuters Eikon.
The reduced 2017/2018 imports include 1,99,000 bpd by state refiners, a decline of about a third from last year, the sources said. Private refiners Essar and HPCL-Mittal Energy Ltd (HMEL) have renewed last year's term contracts to buy 1,20,000 bpd and 20,000 bpd, respectively, they said.
Most of the state refiners did not respond to queries on the matter, while Essar Oil, MRPL and HMEL declined comment.
India's oil ministry also said it had no immediate comment.
Analysts said apart from the gas-field row, India is also taking advantage of a narrow price spread between European oil benchmark Brent and Middle East price-setter Dubai crude, which makes it attractive to bring more oil from Europe into Asia.
With inputs from Reuters
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New express bus routes, improved service enhancements and a new “two-tiered” classification system are just some of the recommendations outlined in a study being presented at the Toronto Transit Commission‘s monthly board meeting next week.
The improvements include adding new express routes on Lawrence West, Islington, Weston Road, Dufferin and Markham Road.
The TTC’s three-year Express Bus Network Study also calls for an express bus classification system which labels all-day and peak-only services.
‘It’s important to remember that 60 per cent of all people who travel on the TTC do it on the bus,” TTC Chair Josh Colle told reporters during a press conference at Lawrence West Station Thursday morning.
READ MORE: Expanded TTC express bus service promises to make commuting easier
Back in 2016, the TTC board approved five new express routes on Don Mills, Kipling, Finch, Victoria Park and Wilson. The study found that four of the five of are already exceeding ridership expectations.
The bus network study is recommending a 10-year strategy to enhance express service with improvements beginning this year and new routes starting in a couple of years.
Colle said phase one of the plan would include redeploying existing articulated buses on certain express routes, including all-door boarding on the Airport Rocket.
The five new routes will be rolled out in phase two, along with eight enhanced routes, and phase three would include another round of express bus service additions.
READ MORE: Are the TTC’s premium tickets worth the cost? It depends
According to the report, the net operating cost to implement the express bus network is approximately $13.1 million per year once the plan has been fully implemented and ridership fully matures.
It will cost the city an additional $34.2 million to procure 38 articulated buses to implement the plan.
The TTC currently operates express services on 24 bus routes during peak hours from Monday to Friday. |
Both consumers and businesses have long been unsure about what "free range" means. Credit:Justin McManus He will be pushing for this option at the state and federal consumer affairs ministers meeting on Thursday where it is likely they will agree to a long-awaited free range egg labelling standard. Consumer advocacy group Choice said the "meaningful access" aspect of the proposed definitions was "ridiculous", saying it essentially meant hens don't have to go outside. "If a hen doesn't go outside, that's barn-raised. To claim you can have a free range product with hens not going outside is ridiculous," said Choice spokesman Tom Godfrey. It is pushing for a legal definition based on a model code, developed by the CSIRO, that sets the stocking density for free range as 1500 hens per hectare. This has been dismissed by the industry.
Consumer affairs ministers are set to tick off on a mandatory information standard for free range egg labelling. Credit:Getty Images "Genuine free range farmers think it's going to put their businesses in jeopardy," he said. "These guys have worked for a long time to build up a brand that has integrity. That's clearly been hijacked, because the big supermarkets and Big Egg wants a price premium they haven't earned." Earlier this month, Coles and Woolworths egg supplier Sunny Queen Farms said it was committed to lowering free range stocking density to 1500 hens per hectare, based on in-house research on consumer expectations. A how-to-vote leaflet for Barnaby Joyce, authorised by caged egg producer Bede Burke. "In essence, each Sunny Queen Farms free range chook has more space outside than a king size bed," Sunny Queen's managing director John O'Hara had said.
Agriculture Minister Barnaby Joyce alarmed consumer and animal welfare groups when he revealed he and Small Business Minister Kelly O'Dwyer had resolved the egg labelling issue between them and Thursday's meeting would be the final tick-off point. "I'm basically as happy as I think I could be and have gone as far as I think we're going to get on the issue. And in talking to egg producers they're pretty well on side with where we are now," Mr Joyce, also Deputy Prime Minister, had said. Groups such as Choice and Humane Society International raised fears Mr Joyce, who has strong connections to industrial producers, exercised undue influence over the consultation process, leading to the list of legal definitions favouring larger farmers. Old election campaign material for Mr Joyce has surfaced that show were authorised by Bede Burke, an industrial egg producer who is also chairman of NSW Farmers' Egg Committee. Mr Burke told Fairfax Media that as the chairman of the NSW Nationals Party, and with Mr Joyce being his local federal member, he authorised the material during the last election.
He said there was an incredible growth in free range egg producers, something not seen with ordinary and barn raised production, and the industry wanted clarity and certainty. "We don't hide the from the fact we've been out there influencing [ministers] hard or harder than Choice has. That's the only way we're going to get a good outcome," he said. "This has been a battle royale for us, an ongoing battle. I've sat at the table with the Ministers and Choice, and Choice at times have no answer to the logic we put forward." He said the industry did not back the status quo option, which saw case law around free range being developed following a series of legal action by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission. Kelly O'Dwyer, also Assistant Treasurer, said her aim was to balance consumers' need for clear and accurate information with any potential red-tape burden for producers and retailers.
"The Government has consulted widely, beginning consultations in October. The matter will be considered by federal, state and territory Consumer Affairs Ministers when we meet this week," she said. Richard Langford, a South Australian free range egg farmer with 1500 hens per hectare, said he was disappointed by the final list of options. He said he was concerned My Joyce was "looking after a few industrialised, low employing egg producers that are keen to cash in on millions of dollars consciously spent by consumers purchasing what they believe to be a genuine ethical product." Mr Langford, who's run Fleurieu Free Range Eggs for 16 years, said the Treasury's consultation committee had asked for an alternative label name for 1500 hens per hectare, such as open range or low density free range. "It appears that the industrial producers who claim to be Free Range have convinced Treasury and the ministers that they are to use the Free Range label," he said. "Consumers are about to permanently ripped off and Genuine Free Range egg producers manouevred out of the market." |
The venerable Grouse Mountain resort in North Vancouver is being put up for sale after the family that has owned it for the past 40 years decided it was time to pursue other interests.
"This recent decision will ensure that Grouse Mountain continues to build on its strong heritage and further cultivate the Grouse Mountain brand and opportunities," said a statement Monday from the resort operation. In the statement, Grouse Mountain president Michael Cameron said the operation's management and staff look forward to continuing to offer positive experiences to visitors.
A spokeswoman for the McLaughlin family, which owns the resort, said it had concluded that selling the resort would allow it to focus on unspecified other interests. "The business is doing well so the current owners feel this is the time to do this," Julia Grant said in an interview.
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Related: Whistler Blackcomb aims for year-round appeal ahead of sale to Vail
Ms. Grant said Monday's announcement has nothing to do with plans, announced last month, to sell Whistler Blackcomb Holdings Inc. to Colorado-based Vail Resorts Inc. in a $1.4-billion cash-and-stock deal.
"It seems to be purely a coincidence in timing," Ms. Grant said.
She also said there was no time frame to disclose on selling the resort. Since 1989, Grouse operators have spent more than $55-million for capital improvements to turn Grouse from a winter-focused resort into an operation with four-season appeal that annually attracts about 1.3 million visitors, said the statement.
A senior official with CBRE Canada, which will market and sell the resort operations and nearly 500 hectares of land, all privately held by the McLaughlin family, said he expected strong interest in the assets.
"Grouse Mountain presents a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to acquire an iconic Vancouver landmark," Tony Quattrin, vice-chairman of national investment at CBRE, said in a statement issued by the resort operation.
"We anticipate a high level of local, national and international interest in acquiring Vancouver's premier year-round outdoor recreation destination."
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No prospective price was immediately announced for the resort, which includes a gondola system, ski runs, a restaurant, refuge for endangered wildlife and a zipline.
The operation does not include the Grouse Grind hiking trail, jokingly known as "Mother Nature's Stairmaster," which offers a 2,830-step climb over about three kilometres.
Editor's note: A previous version of this story incorrectly identified the name of the firm that will market and sell Grouse Mountain. It is CBRE Canada, not Commercial Real Estate Services Canada. |
Brett Bouchy believes in Jay Gruden. He is convinced the Washington Redskins’ new coach will be a smashing success.
“I’m telling you right now: Everyone thinks of Jay Gruden as Jon Gruden’s brother,” Bouchy said. “Ten years from now, Jon Gruden will be Jay Gruden’s brother.”
Bouchy could fairly be described as a champion of Arena League Football, in both the literal and figurative senses. As an owner, he has won multiple AFL titles, but also is an enthusiastic spokesman for the league. He has been involved with the AFL for most of the last two decades and is now part owner of a new franchise called the LA KISS, which bears the name of the iconic rock band that co-owns it.
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In 1997, Bouchy bought the Orlando Predators and was feeling his way around in football, which was new to him. The idea at first was to analyze the organization, top to bottom, do owner things. Then his coach retired and he quickly had to make the biggest football decision there is.
“Coming in as a former investment banker and a former business owner, I had no experience in sports management,” Bouchy said.
What he did have was plenty of experience hiring managers and presidents, and the responsibilities of an AFL coach are similar. They coach the team, of course, but they also make personnel decisions and manage the salary cap.
“I looked at it as hiring CEOs or presidents for my companies,” he said. “You’re looking for that guy that can run and do it all. … You don’t have a staff of 25 people who do football operations.”
And Bouchy has a point he’d like to make about this: 1998 did happen to be the same year Jay’s brother, Jon, was hired to coach the Oakland Raiders after eight years as an NFL assistant. But Bouchy had never heard of Jon Gruden.
“I didn’t know a Gruden from anything,” Bouchy said. “He (Jay) just had it. You just knew. He is a leader. He is a leader of men. He is a general. You just knew.
“Even though he was a young guy at the time, I offered him the job on the spot. He was the only (candidate) who was under contract. We had to pay and trade players to get the rights to him. That’s how highly I thought of him.”
Gruden spent nine years working for Bouchy, and “he took me to five championship games and two championships.”
That’s been a pattern. Gruden’s life in football has been a string of overlooked successes. He played quarterback at Louisville, and remains among the school’s top-five leaders in career passing yards, attempts, completions and touchdowns. He wasn’t drafted by an NFL team and in 1991 joined the AFL’s Tampa Bay Storm. The next year, he won the league MVP award and by 1996 had won four AFL championships.
He retired in 1997 to begin his coaching career as an offensive coordinator for the Nashville Kats.
That set him up to get the gig in Orlando, his first head coaching job. He won two AFL championships there, went to work under his brother for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, won a Super Bowl there, went back to the AFL from 2008-10, and took over as offensive coordinator for the Cincinnati Bengals in 2011. The Bengals made the playoffs in each of his three seasons in Cincinnati.
“This guy has been on a winning team for 28 out of 31 seasons,” Bouchy said.
The Redskins’ job is Gruden’s first as a head coach in the NFL, which means Jon Gruden’s little brother has something to prove.
Bouchy says he’s used to that feeling.
“He’ll be out on the field with Robert Griffin and Kirk Cousins, he’s 46 years old, and he’ll still think he’s the best quarterback on the field,” Bouchy said. “That’s what makes him so special.” |
Everything's going well for him. A decent government job, a few friends, and a comfortable routine. One night, that all changes as he watches a typical college girl play volleyball on a local sports network. He becomes infatuated and using any means at his disposal, legal or not, he finds out all he can about her. His first rule is that she never know that he even exists. However, the more he finds out about her, the more he becomes convinced that fate has demanded he intervene in her life to protect her from dangers that she doesn't know about. The closer he gets to her life and the lives of those around her, the more dramatic and extreme measures he finds himself willing to take to not only protect her, but make sure she never knows about any of it. It's not love. It's fate. |
Journalist Pavel Osipov of Sport-Express has interviewed Alexey Shved on the phone after the Russian guard tied Luke Ridnour in scoring with 16 points in Minnesota’s win.
Here’s my translation:
– Even though Minnesota won, it still had the same problem: during the second half, team inevitably struggles on offense. For example, during the third quarter today, Timberwolves couldn’t score for five and a half minutes. Why does it happen?
– We are doing our best, but at one moment it’s just – pow! – and we stall. We have missed a lot of open shots today, even though we executed well. It helped that we defended well, and also managed to recollect ourselves on offense just in time.
– Minnesota got a lot of help from you – those three-pointers were timely. You have made four three-pointers for the game – that’s your best record during the NBA career.
– (Laughing) Actually I don’t track my stats this closely. But of course it’s really good that I made it. It was time for me to start making the shots at last.
– Thanks to what exactly?
– I have started to feel my shot; I have more confidence shooting the ball in general. And maybe I got used to the American three-point arc after all.
– Is it more difficult for you to shoot from behind the arc that is about three feet farther away than in Europe?
– I wouldn’t say so.
– And you have proved it that distance doesn’t make any difference – when you made a shot from almost 30 feet away with less than two minutes to go.
– I have checked the scoreboard right when I received the ball. Also, teammates told me that time was running out. If we had at least five extra seconds then I wouldn’t shoot it from that distance and would try to do something else. But in that situation I had no choice. When you have the ball it your hands with two seconds left, you just have to shoot it anyway.
– You have made 9 of 17 shots from behind the arc during the last three games. Can you say that you managed to find your shot after all?
– Let’s wait for a few more games and make conclusions then. Before that, I had 10 games when I couldn’t make anything. If I continue to make shots, then it will mean that I got used to playing here.
– Do the opponents still doubt your ability to score from the distance, or did they start to guard you closer?
– They are guarding me closer. And they started to jump at my pump fakes too – before, they wouldn’t even move. Actually, it’s good that they are guarding me closer now. It’s much easier to drive to the hoop this way. When you can’t shoot, the defender would step away further and it’s easier for him to defend.
– It’s been a few games since Love, Pekovic and Barea returned. But you still play more than 30 minutes in every game. Did you think you would get so much playing time?
– Without a doubt, Andrei’s absence due to injury in those games affected that. I got some extra playing time. But it was also more difficult to play. Having Kirilenko on the floor helps, I feel much more comfortable playing with him.
Then, another shooting guard, Chase Budinger, is injured.
Of course I’m happy that so much trust is being put in me. And I want to justify it, to help the team as much as I can. Not just on offense, but on defense too. Even though I know it perfectly that I play bad defense.
– Is it harder to play defense in the NBA than in Europe?
– Of course! Take [Juan Carlos] Navarro and [Kobe] Bryant, for example. Both are superstars, but there’s a difference. Playing against Navarro you know that you need to deny him the open shot and his trademark ‘La Bomba’. But how do you defend Kobe, who knows how to do absolutely everything?
– Probably the best recent news for Minnesota is that Ricky Rubio returned to practice.
– Yes, he started to practice with the team and should be back on the floor soon. When exactly it will happen is unknown. But it will be soon. Players, fans and journalists are all waiting for his return.
– Will Rubio’s return affect your playing time?
– I don’t think so. After all, I rarely play point guard – mostly at shooting guard. Of course, we’ll see. But one thing is certain: I need to work hard all the time and earn my minutes, prove that I deserve it. Yes, some really bad off games happen. But coach still trusts me – and, believe me, it’s very important. |
TJ Cowgill’s King Dude alter ego has been making some major groundbreaking music since first entering into the neofolk scene with 2011’s Tonight’s Special Death on Italy’s brilliant Avant! imprint. Some may recall the write-up that I gave his 2012 full-length Burning Daylight around this time last year; Cowgill has since released another album entitled Fear on his own imprint Not Just Religious Music—on which this 7″ EP, Deal with the Devil, is shared—as well as a number of various splits and EPs. It’s been seemingly out of nowhere that King Dude has gone on to really make a name for himself, touring extensively with renowned acts from various genres such as heavy metal band Ghost and sister-artist Chelsea Wolfe.
With this latest EP in Deal with the Devil, the listener is given a sample of what is to be expected from his forthcoming album entitled Songs of Flesh and Blood – In the Key of Light. King Dude’s last album, Fear, certainly deviated away from the direction he had previously embarked upon with the album Burning Daylight. However, the signature sound that he is known for has remained. On Deal with the Devil, Cowgill has recorded a couple of much darker tracks than those that were featured on the previous full-length. For instance, the title track “Deal with the Devil” tells the tale of a man who has lost his lover and now seeks to make a—you guessed it—deal with the devil to not only bring his love back from heaven but also to seek vengeance. The music of the song matches up perfectly with the lyrics and presents a tenebrous atmosphere that is reminiscent of some sort of soundtrack hybrid between a spaghetti western and a crime drama. To a greater extent the song actually reminds me a bit of a newer take on Johnny Cash‘s particular style of Americana. The second song, titled “You Know My Lord,” is an interesting piece as it is almost entirely composed of piano and synth, very much done in a 50’s gospel style. It’s obviously not every day that you’ll find an opportunity to hear a self-proclaimed Luciferian break down into a full-blown gospel song.
Overall, Deal with the Devil appears to be a solid preview for a forthcoming album that is destined to have much buzz around it upon release. I have always greatly appreciated King Dude’s take on American folk music as well as his willingness to include a dose of authenticity through historic-tinged gospel as he has evolved as an artist over the years. This is an exceptional, if not the most unique side to his music, which I felt was unfortunately not nearly as present on his previous full-length, though to make it clear, Fear was still one of my favorite albums when 2014 came and went. I think it’s clear that many fans of King Dude’s earlier works, Pagan Eyes Over German Skies in particular, will greatly appreciate this EP, and it will undoubtedly get long-time fans salivating for what is yet hidden behind the veil.
_____________________________________________________
Track List:
A1) Deal with the Devil
B1) You Know My Lord
Rating: 10/10
Written by: Conor Wrigley
Label: Not Just Religious Music (United States) / NJRM009 / 7″
Neofolk |
SEOUL (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump’s defense secretary warned North Korea on Friday of an “effective and overwhelming” response if it chose to use nuclear weapons, as he reassured South Korea of steadfast U.S. support.
U.S. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis (L) shakes hands with South Korean Defense Minister Han Min-Koo (R) before their meeting at the headquarters of the Defense Ministry in Seoul, South Korea, February 3, 2017. REUTERS/Kim Min-Hee/Pool
“Any attack on the United States, or our allies, will be defeated, and any use of nuclear weapons would be met with a response that would be effective and overwhelming,” Defense Secretary Jim Mattis said at South Korea’s defense ministry, at the end of a two-day visit.
Mattis’ remarks come amid concern that North Korea could be readying to test a new ballistic missile, in what could be an early challenge for Trump’s administration.
North Korea, which regularly threatens to destroy South Korea and its main ally, the United States, conducted more than 20 missile tests last year, as well as two nuclear tests, in defiance of U.N. resolutions and sanctions.
The North also appears to have also restarted operation of a reactor at its main Yongbyon nuclear facility that produces plutonium that can be used for its nuclear weapons program, according to the U.S. think-tank 38 North.
“North Korea continues to launch missiles, develop its nuclear weapons program and engage in threatening rhetoric and behavior,” Mattis said.
North Korea’s actions have prompted the United States and South Korea to respond by bolstering defenses, including the expected deployment of a U.S. missile defense system, known as Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD), in South Korea later this year.
The two sides reconfirmed that commitment on Friday.
China, however, has objected to THAAD, saying it is a direct threat to China’s own security and will do nothing to bring North Korea back to the negotiating table, leading to calls from some South Korean opposition leaders to delay or cancel it.
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Lu Kang reiterated China’s opposition, which he said would never change.
“We do not believe this move will be conducive to resolving the Korean peninsula nuclear issue or to maintaining peace and stability on the peninsula,” Lu told a daily news briefing in Beijing.
South Korean Defense Minister Han Min-koo said Mattis’ visit to Seoul - his first trip abroad as defense secretary - sent a clear message of strong U.S. support.
“Faced with a current severe security situation, Secretary Mattis’ visit to Korea ... also communicates the strongest warning to North Korea,” Han said.
Once fully developed, a North Korean intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) could threaten the continental United States, which is about 9,000 km (5,500 miles) from North Korea. ICBMs have a minimum range of about 5,500 km (3,400 miles), but some are designed to travel 10,000 km (6,200 miles) or more.
Slideshow (6 Images)
Former U.S. officials and other experts have said the United States essentially has two options when it comes to trying to curb North Korea’s fast-expanding nuclear and missile programs - negotiate or take military action.
Neither path offers certain success and the military option is fraught with huge dangers, especially for Japan and South Korea, U.S. allies in close proximity to North Korea.
Mattis is due in Japan later on Friday. |
by Andrew Arnett
There are reports coming out from Kobani, Syria, of dead ISIS rebels being found with pills in their possession.
Ekram Ahmet, a Kurd who fled Kobani with his family, told Mirror: “They are filthy, with straggly beards and long black nails.”
“They have lots of pills with them that they all keep taking. It seems to make them more crazy if anything.”
“They become agitated and excited, desperate to punish even children for the smallest thing.”
The Kurds believe these pills are amphetamines, and this would go a long way to explaining why ISIS members are so maniacal and fight with suicidal abandon.
The International Business Times has reported on how voice analysis’ show that ISIS killer ‘Jihadi John’s’ “distinctive speech pattern” may indicate he was high on amphetamines when beheading captive David Haines.
Most likely, the amphetamines in question fall under the brand name Captagon.
In January of this year, Reuters reported on how Syria has become a major consumer and exporter of amphetamines, the most popular being captagon.
According to Reuters, captagon “generates hundreds of millions of dollars in annual revenues in Syria, potentially providing funding for weapons, while the drug itself helps combatants dig in for long, grueling battles.”
In 2013, the Lebanese government seized 12.3 million captagon pills near the border of Lebanon and Syria, while the Turkish police captured 7 million pills en route from Syria to Saudi Arabia.
In addition, Dubai authorities reported making a seizure of 4.6 million captagon pills in December of last year.
Captagon is a brand name for the drug Fenethylline, invented in 1961 by Degussa AG for the treatment of “hyperkinetic children,” or children diagnosed with ADHD.
Fenethylline: RS)-1,3-dimethyl- 7-[2-(1-phenylpropan-2-ylamino)ethyl]purine- 2,6-dione
Fenethylline is metabolized by the body to form the compounds amphetamine and theophylline. Theophylline is a chemical from the Xanthine class, which also includes caffeine.
Smarter Nootropics states that “When Captagon is taken, it becomes in vivo d-amphetamine and theophylline, and these two new compounds are absorbed into the blood stream, and can now cross the blood brain barrier and become centrally active.”
A study however, conducted in 2005 by Alabdalla MA for Forensic Science International of 124 batches of seized captagon, revealed they contained no fenethylline at all.
Rather, these counterfeit captagon tablets contained amphetamine, methamphetamine, ephedrine, metronidazole, caffeine, theophylline, chlorphenamine, procaine, trimethoprim, chloroquine, and quinine. In short, a drug cocktail far more potent than the original name brand version.
Indeed, reports suggest that Syrian insurgent groups ingest a far ranging and prodigious amount of potent drugs including “Baltcon”, “Afoun”,”Zolm”, Opium, Heroin, Cocaine, and Hashish.
According to Frank Lamb in CounterPunch: “Jihadists high on drugs apparently feel invincible and hostile and do not fear death. Many are indeed ferocious and fearless fighters during the day, as many media sources have reported. But by nightfall, when the drug wears off the fighters become exhausted and sometimes they are found asleep on the spot they were fighting from.”
To read more about drugs and ISIS by Andrew Arnett click here.
You can follow Andrew Arnett on Twitter at @AndrewArnett. |
US exceptionalism rhetoric poses extreme danger and is reminiscent of Nazi ideals and talk “before and during World War II,” Ecuadorian President Rafael Correa said in exclusive interview with RT Spanish.
Referring to US President Barack Obama’s statement that “America is exceptional” because it stands up not only for its own “narrow self interest, but for the interests of all," Correa said: “Does not this remind you of the Nazis’ rhetoric before and during World War II? They considered themselves the chosen race, the superior race, etc. Such words and ideas pose extreme danger,” President Correa said on RT Spanish’ Entrevista program.
As for cases of espionage in Latin America and the subsequent criticism from regional leaders, Obama said the US will try to respect the sovereignty of those countries “in cases where it will be possible.”
At the recent UN General Assembly, Brazil launched a blistering attack on US espionage, saying it “is a breach of international law.”
President Correa said the US will keep violating other countries’ sovereignty, but this will eventually change.
“What Plato wrote in his [Socratic] dialogues more than 2,000 years ago is true. Justice is nothing other than the advantage of the stronger. They are strong, that’s why they will continue lying, violating other states’ sovereignty, and breaching international law. But one day this unjust world will have to change,” Correa said.
When asked about whether the UN headquarters should be moved out of the US, Correa replied “definitely yes.” But, he pointed out that there are other things that carry more importance. For example, the headquarters of the American Convention on Human Rights is located in Washington, yet “the US did not ratify the Pact of San Jose, that is, the American Convention on Human Rights…but the headquarters of the organization is in the US and they finance their activities,” Correa said. “This is outrageous and an example of a relationship the US established with developing countries in the form of subordination.”
'US will not be able to hide the truth about Chevron’s oil disaster’
While responding to questions about Chevron-Texaco’s oil damages in Ecuador, Correa said that the US would not be able to hide the truth - despite having money, power, and hundreds of lawyers by its side. “Chevron has caused irreparable damage to the Ecuadorian jungle,” the president said. “Texaco did nothing to clear the area…At the time, there were cleaner technologies available, but they wanted to save a few bucks, and they destroyed the environment and did not even bother to pay for the damages.”
Correa pointed out that the scale of the disaster in Ecuador is 85 times higher than the BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, and 18 times higher than the Exxon Valdez spill in Alaska. “But they decided that if it happened in the Amazon region of Ecuador, then there is nothing to worry about.”
The case against Chevron-Texaco has been ongoing for two decades, and stems from the oil company’s operations in the Amazon, which date back to the period between 1972 and 1990.
In February 2011, a judgment by a provincial court in Ecuador produced a multi-billion dollar award against Chevron. However, as the company currently has no holdings in Ecuador, the plaintiffs have instead attempted to force payment in Canada, Brazil, and Argentina.
The $19 billion verdict was the result of a 1993 lawsuit filed in New York federal court by a group of American attorneys – including Steven Donziger - on behalf of 88 residents of the Amazon rainforest. In the intervening period, Texaco was acquired by Chevron in 2001, and plaintiffs re-filed their case in Ecuador in 2003.
For its part, Chevron insists that it was absolved of responsibility for the environmental damages by a 1995 cleanup agreement. The oil company places responsibility for the damages on Petroecuador, Ecuador’s national oil company.
At the end of September, Ecuador’s foreign ministry announced that the US had seemingly denied visas to a delegation that was set to travel to the UN General Assembly in New York to present their case regarding an ongoing dispute against Chevron-Texaco.
According to the ministry’s official announcement, visas for the five Ecuadorian nationals were returned by the US Embassy in Quito “without any explanation.”
The group was to present testimony during a special event at the UN regarding the ecological impact caused by Chevron-Texaco’s oil operations in the Amazon rainforest region of Ecuador, which contaminated two million hectares, according to the country’s government.
You may watch the full video of the interview with President Correa in Spanish here. |
North American esports organization Tempo Storm has purchased the North American Challenger Series slot owned by Dream Team, sources close to both organizations tell ESPN. The team has not finalized any form of roster or coaching staff but intends to do so before the beginning of the Challenger season in 2017. Editor's Picks Top women's CS:GO teams battle for charity at IEM Fierce rivals CLG Red and Team Secret faced off in a best-of-one exhibition match at IEM Oakland hosted by esports diversity organization AnyKey.
Upset central at OGN APEX quarterfinals Day 14 of OGN Overwatch APEX featured two stunning upsets that bolstered EnVyUs' and Kongdoo Uncia's chances heading into the semifinals. 1 Related
Sources say that the slot sold for roughly six figures, despite not stating a specific amount. Dream Team was among the five of six Challenger teams, including NRG eSports, Nova eSports, Eanix and Team Liquid Academy, fielding offers for their Challenger spots during the offseason.
The sale to Tempo Storm came after that organization attempted to enter the League of Legends competitive space for a over a year. In May, Tempo Storm owner Andrey "Reynad" Yanyuk spoke on his Twitch livestream about a failed deal between North American League Championship Series Team Impulse to purchase their spot, claiming that the owner of Impulse raised the price to nearly $1.5 million during the last minute of the deal. That spot later sold to Paramount Pictures President Rob Moore, his son Michael and Happy Madison partner Jack Giarraputo.
Tempo Storm, founded by former Magic the Gathering and current Hearthstone pro Yanyuk in 2014 as a Hearthstone guide site, expanded into esports later that year. Since then it became best-known for its participation in Blizzard titles, such as Hearthstone, Heroes of the Storm, Overwatch and World of Warcraft. It also houses players in fighting games and FIFA.
The spot is the first of the five up for sale to find a new home, although sources indicate NRG, Nova and Eanix are all likely to sell and be announced by December. Apex Pride's fate is uncertain, with no plans for the team announced after the sale of Apex and Team Dignitas to the NBA's Philadelphia 76ers in September.
Dream Team declined to comment on this report. Tempo Storm did not respond to a request for comment on this report. |
At just 19 years old, Hayley Haynes from London, England, was told she would not be able to have children. After passing puberty without ever getting her period, she decided to check with doctors, who gave her some shocking news. Even though Hayley never felt different, she didn't have ovaries, fallopian tubes, or a uterus.
Specialists also informed Hayley that she was born with XY chromosomes, making her technically male, and diagnosed her with androgen insensitivity syndrome. "When they told me I had no womb, I was so confused I felt sick. My biggest fear was never having children. Suddenly a huge piece of my life was missing," Hayley said.
Hayley eventually married her childhood friend Sam, with whom she shared her infertility struggles early on. They both had their hearts set on having a family, and that finally became a possibility after a doctor discovered something others had missed in the past — a small uterus. "It was only a few millimeters, but it was a start. He was optimistic it would grow. I still couldn't conceive naturally, but I could have the option of IVF," she told the Mirror.
After rigorous hormone treatment, she started IVF treatment in 2011, three years after her uterus was discovered. "I was so nervous. We only had one shot and couldn't afford to go through it all again. I desperately wanted to be a mother and knew if there were no viable eggs or the implantation wasn't successful, I'd be distraught." Only two of the 13 eggs harvested were viable for implantation, and she had only a 60% chance of getting pregnant.
The IVF proved successful when the couple discovered what they never thought possible — they were pregnant. They got even better news when scans showed they were expecting non-identical twin girls. The couple met their miracle babies on Christmas Eve, when Hayley gave birth to Darcey and Avery.
"Becoming a mother was the single most amazing moment of my life. When I held the babies in my arms for the first time, I was overwhelmed. I had spent nine years coming to terms with the fact this might never happen, but in that moment all the pain just washed away."
NEXT: After Hitting Menopause at 20, Woman Has Miracle Baby at 35 »
This story originally appeared on WomansDay.com
More from Woman's Day:
• Paralyzed Woman Not Only Walks Again But Also Gets Pregnant
• Couple Who Tried 8 Years to Conceive Gets HUGE Surprise
• Woman Gives Birth an Hour After Learning She Was Pregnant
[via Telegraph.com |
It's twenty years this year since Ireland became the first top tier rugby nation (from the old Five Nations and Tri-Nations) to lose an international match to Italy.
It was a World Cup warm-up in Treviso where the evil event took place. The World Cup was on earlier in the year in 1995 and so it was only a couple of months after the Five Nations that Ireland regathered and headed out to Italy.
Ireland had their standard 1990s Five Nations that year. They were soundly beaten by Grand Slammers England in Lansdowne Road (ending hopes of a remarkably improbable three-in-row over Will Carling's men), then lost to Scotland in Murrayfield, were defeated by a sizeable enough margin by France at home and then beat Wales in the wooden spoon decider in Cardiff (where else?).
The game against Italy took place on 6 May.
The events are well chronicled in Brendan Fanning's book 'From There To Here' (which examines how Ireland went from whipping boys in the late amateur and early professional era to consistent contenders in the new millennium).
Ireland were ostensibly coached by Dubliner Gerry Murphy who had been appointed coach after Ciaran Fitzgerald stepped down at the end of 1992. But, according to Fanning, it was team manager, former player and long-time committee figure Noel 'Noisy' Murphy (no relation) who had become de facto coach in the lead-up to the World Cup.
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According to Fanning, the problems started in Heathrow airport. The team assembled in London and trained at London Irish's ground. Their flight from Heathrow was delayed by a few hours. To kill the time, they were shown to a room 'with no ventilation and only tables to sit on.' They sat and suffered in this unaccommodating location for a few hours until the flight took off.
Once they arrived they got ready for training. The training pitch made the supposed car park in Saipan look state of the art. It was described as a farmer's field riven with potholes.
The game was scheduled for 6.30 the following evening. It was in the lead-up to that the craic really started. Noisy, replete in his IRFU blazer, was operations head. The bus was to collect them at 5.00.
Fanning takes up the story.
Kick off the next day was in the early evening. The bus was due to collect them at five. At 5.05 Noel Murphy was already anxious. By 5.20 his blood pressure was rising. By 5.30 the taxis he called at half ten still hadn't showed. So he risked life and limb and set about trying to flag down any passing bus. As it happened, the strip was a haunt for prostitutes, so motorists wouldn't have known what to make of the excited man in a green blazer waving a fistful of cash.
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They arrived at the ground with forty minutes left to kick off. English ref Tony Spreadbury wasn't having the idea that the game could be delayed.
Despite their smallness, the Italians were frightfully professional in those days while the Irish were the ultimate amateurs - with the IRFU more steadfast in their opposition to creeping professionalism than any other union.
Ireland lead at 12-9 at half-time through four Paul Burke penalties but failed to score in the second half. Diego Dominguez clipped over two penalties and then came only try of the game through full back Paolo Vaccari.
The Italians went nuts at the final whistle, while the Irish, who knew the drill as regards losing at this point, were far of heartbroken.
The Italians' hospitality improved considerably once Ireland were beaten.
Fanning again:
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The Irish retreated to their hotel where Guinness had kindly laid on a barrel of stout. Everybody - players, press and whatever supporters there were - tucked in. The bar was soon hopping and I was struck by the speed with which the players were able to put the defeat behind them. They had just become the first International Board country - as the world's top eight were called - to lose to Italy.
The following morning, supporters and press arrived down to breakfast only to witness Noel Murphy arguing with the staff behind the bar. He was dismayed by the size of the bill and felt there had to have been a mistake. The players couldn't have possibly drank that much?
The night porter was called. After some time, he arrived and gave a description of the individual who was responsible for bottles that had disappeared after the barrel ran dry. The description encouraged Murphy to settle the bill hastily.
Fanning later confirmed that it was one Davy Tweed who accounted for much of the Guinness that was sunk that night. Davy, who made his debut for Ireland in that year's Five Nations at the grand old age of 35, really enjoyed himself. One of the most controversial players ever to play for Ireland on account of his hardline loyalist politics, he famously remarked on the eve of his debut that he had already played for his country thirty times (aka, Ulster).
Nefarious intent was inevitably attributed to the bus driver's failure to turn up (not to mention the shitty training field laid on). The Italians were suspected. The incident had an impact on Leinster's preparations for their first ever Heineken Cup that November in Milan (see here).
The way winger Niall Woods tells it 'the Italians conspired allegedly that the team bus never arrived to bring Ireland to the match and so Jim Glennon had to go out and do a recce beforehand.'
So, the comical tale of amateurism and excess that was Ireland's first ever loss to Italy ended up having a direct on influence on the first ever Heineken Cup weekend, the tournament that would do much to encourage Irish rugby professionalise in future years.
Brendan Fanning and Peter O'Reilly's new podcast 'Down the Blindside' can be caught here. |
South Africa gives go-ahead to rhino horn auction
A South African court on Sunday gave the go-ahead for an online auction of rhino horns that has outraged conservationists.
South African authorities had moved to ban the three-day auction which they feared would undermine the global ban on rhino trade, refusing to issue a permit.
But the High Court in Pretoria ruled in favour of the auction's South African organiser John Hume, who runs the world's biggest rhino farm.
His lawyer had argued that the permits had been approved but not issued by the authorities in South Africa, where a ban on domestic rhino trade was lifted three months ago.
"We lost the case. We have to hand over the permit that was issued," said environment ministry spokesman Moses Rannditsheni.
Hume's lawyer Izak due Toit said they expected to collect the permit before the auction is due to start at 1000 GMT Monday.
Hume has stockpiled six tonnes of horns and wants to place 500 kilos or 264 horns under the hammer.
"We are happy. I hope that the government has learnt that they can't be unfair to us.
The judge expressed his dismay at the conduct of the minister and the department.
Rhino horns are highly prized, estimated to fetch up to US$60,000 a kilo on the black market - more than the price of gold or cocaine.
South Africa is home to around 20,000 rhinos, about 80 percent of the worldwide population, but in recent years has suffered record slaughter by poachers.
Hume and some other campaigners say poaching can only be halted by meeting the huge demand from Asia through legally "harvesting" horn from anaesthetised live rhinos.
But animal rights activists charge that the legal sale of rhino horns will only fuel poaching.
Rhino horn is composed mainly of keratin, the same component as in human nails. It is sold in powdered form as a supposed cure for cancer and other diseases - as well as an aphrodisiac - in Vietnam and China.
Johan Van Eyk of Van's Auctioneers who will conduct the auction said there is no set opening price because this will be the first ever rhino horn auction.
South Africa has over 300 private rhino breeders who say they have spent more than two billion rand (US$150 million) to protect their herds over the past nine years. (AFP) |
Thousands of Canadians were making snow angels across the country Saturday in hopes of break a Guinness World Record.
The record-attempting event was organized by the Canadian Ski Patrol.
More than 100 ski resorts from Newfoundland to Vancouver Island took part in the event, with the intent to have at least 15,851 people making snow angels in order to break the old record.
READ MORE: Manitoba participates in attempt to break snow angel Guinness World Record
“It’s a marketing tool for us as well because we want people to get to know what we’re doing. Everybody sees the red jackets and they’re not too sure what they’re all about. It’s going to help us do that,” Edmonton patroller Rich Henschel said.
“We’ve got incredible participation across the web. We’ve had hits from Ottawa, Newfoundland, Vancouver. We even have a group doing this on Parliament Hill.”
READ MORE: Can Canada break the snow angel world record?
Guinness needs to verify whether the snow angels record was broken Saturday, which takes time.
The event was part of Canadian Ski Patrol Day.
There are 4,500 volunteer ski patrollers at more than 220 ski areas across Canada. |
UN human rights investigators have urged China to halt a security crackdown on Tibetan monks in the country's south-west, warning that the measures are counter-productive and accusing officials of severe restrictions on freedoms of religion, expression and association.
The UN intervention follows a spate of self-immolations in Sichuan province, where nine monks and former monks as well as one nun have set fire to themselves since March. The Kirti monastery and others in Aba county have been under heavy security since the first case.
Beijing has issued increasingly angry responses to criticism over the issue. On Tuesday, state media invoked the 1993 siege of the Branch Davidian at Waco, Texas, in a piece attacking the Dalai Lama, the exiled Tibetan spiritual leader. Officials previously accused the Tibetan spiritual leader of "terrorism in disguise", saying that by holding prayers for the dead clergy he had incited further suicides.
In their joint statement, the UN's independent experts said: "The heavy security measures adopted have resulted in increased tensions between the Chinese authorities and members of the monastic community … The severe restrictions on freedoms of religion, expression and association, have led to hundreds of monks reportedly leaving the monastery, with many being arrested or subjected to enforced disappearance."
Heiner Bielefeldt, the UN special rapporteur on freedom of religion or belief, said the Chinese government should fully respect the right of clergy and the lay community to fully practise their faith.
Citing reports of armed officers, security raids and surveillance, he added: "Such restrictive measures not only curtail the right to freedom of religion or belief, but further exacerbate the existing tensions, and are counter-productive."
The special rapporteurs on the rights to freedom of expression, and of peaceful assembly and association, also raised concerns, as did the chair of the UN working group on arbitrary detention.
Jeremy Sarkin, who chairs the working group on enforced or involuntary disappearances, said: "Any enforced disappearance is unacceptable and such practices are in violation of international law … This heinous practice is not permitted under any circumstances."
He said he was concerned that a proposed revision to the Chinese criminal procedure law would legalise enforced disappearances.
Separately, Nepalese police detained more than 100 Tibetan exiles who had gathered to pray for the dead clergy on Tuesday.
Around 400 people had gathered at a Tibetan Refugee Centre in Kathmandu. They began protesting on the streets after police in riot gear entered and pulled down a banner showing the Dalai Lama.
The Nepalese government has said it cannot permit demonstrations against friendly nations. |
Many of you have asked what it would take to add another color to this run of knits. The answer was $7,000. At $107,000 of funding, we added a third color, which makes three colorway possibilities: Black + White, Black + New Color, White + New Color. You will get to vote on the color. Those who pledge more, have more weight in the color choice. Yarn is purchased in 100 pound pallets, so the new color will have to be something many of you love. You will be able to mix and match your orders. So if you are at the two scarf level, you will be able to choose one scarf in Black + White and one scarf in Black + New Color. No need to change your pledge or up your pledge for the new color, it is included for all backers. This stretch goal has been reached, so the third color option will ship!
Will the new color be green? Blue? Red? Or perhaps purple?
KnitYak is making noise! As seen on:
KnitYak: custom mathematical knit scarves
KnitYak makes custom provably unique knit scarves and other computationally fabulous knit items with mathematical algorithms.
Hi, I'm Fabienne, but you can call me fbz. I'm a passionate hand-knitter and mathematician who works with hardware and electronics. Four years ago I bought my first consumer knitting machine, modified it, and fell in love with knitting algorithmic computer generated designs. I tried to have a collection of unique pieces manufactured in a textile factory, but found that no one was producing one-off knitwear. Be a part of this project and help KnitYak purchase an industrial knitting machine and start a new kind of local on-demand textile industry.
Unique Scarves
When I started out modifying knitting machines it was because I wanted patterning that was beautifully non-repeating. I wanted something that looked great no matter how I draped it or wore it. To find algorithms that produce great knit patterns, I set out on a journey to find code that created images that look great "pixelly" as a knit. Knitting is made up of tiny "v"'s, not square pixels, so that also played into the choice of algorithms.
One of the algorithms I ended up loving was an elementary cellular automaton that generates great knit patterns which are non-repeating in some lengths, and yet not noise. Noise is the random "snow" that you used to get on an analog TV when it wasn't tuned to a channel. I was looking for outcomes where you could visually see that a pattern had order and meaning. I also wanted a pattern that looked great with many outfits and with prints or solids.
The final outcome is KnitYak: provably unique scarves and knits using elementary cellular automata. Your KnitYak scarf is something you will want to wear for a long time. I wanted patterns that wouldn't feel trendy. All of the scarves are provably unique; no one has the same scarf as you and I can prove it. KnitYak scarves ship with the specific code and generating key used to make the pattern on your scarf. There is something powerful about knowing the mathematics and code behind the pattern you are wearing. If you want to reorder the exact same scarf or a similar coordinating scarf in the future, you provide KnitYak with the source code. Perhaps you want to knit matching items on your modified consumer knitting machine or with hand knitting. With the source code and generating row and width constraints you receive with your KnitYak scarf, you can generate a number of coordinating items.
Quality
I am an obsessive hand knitter who loves high quality fiber. If I had produced an inexpensive run of scarves overseas, the scarves would have had to have been knit in squeaky acrylic yarn. Besides that, an overseas manufacturer can only produce 5000 copies of the same scarf. From KnitYak you receive a custom unique scarf in high quality merino. No two KnitYak scarves are the same.
I chose merino wool for the first run of scarves because it is soft, luxurious, warm, and comfortable to wear next to the skin. Merino won't pill or fuzz and lasts a lifetime. Wool knits don't wrinkle. As with other luxury fibers like cashmere, merino is hand wash cold, lay flat to dry or dry clean. KnitYak's yarn is sourced from one of the few remaining fiber mills in the USA. The merino wool is dyed and spun onto cones in the USA from New Zealand wool. Your KnitYak scarf is knit using black and white cones of this USA produced premium quality merino wool.
The other aspect of quality in these knits is that using a top of the line industrial knitting machine here in the USA means no hand work is required. All of the knitting and finishing is automated on the machine. This means that there are no sewn borders on your scarf; all of the casting on and binding off is done by the industrial knitting machine. I did not want to create any need for fiddly linking or hand finishing work for low pay. As I love hand knitting, I wanted to have my free time not fulfilling orders not to be taken up by hemming, casting off by hand or any hand linking of knit edges. Also, I did not want to pay someone a very low wage to do the tedious finishing work. The machine doing all the knitting and finishing frees me up to pack and ship all of your lovely custom orders and to hunt down and create fun new algorithms for knitting patterns.
Double Bed Jacquard
Your KnitYak scarf or wrap will be knit in a technique sometimes called double bed jacquard or just jacquard. Jacquard is a misnomer in that a jacquard loom weaves and a knitting machine knits. It was named jacquard in that it can produce "picture knitting" like a jacquard loom can produce woven images. In hand knitting terminology, this knitting technique is called double knitting. Regardless of what this technique is called, the resulting fabric is perfect for scarves and wraps. The fabric that comes from this technique has no floats (there are no un-knit strands of yarn that hang on the reverse side of the fabric) and double bed jacquard knitting will not curl. It is thicker than a single knit piece of fair isle fabric, and is therefore warmer. Knit in lace weight merino yarn, double bed jacquard still has lovely drape and is not stiff. Currently, the best you can do on a consumer knitting machine is to have one "smart" side of the fabric with an image and one striped or checkered side of the fabric. I am working very hard to make this first production run of KnitYak scarves and wraps have two "smart" sides to the fabric. The ultimate goal is to have the opposite colors knit on the back from the front, as with true double knitting in hand knitting parlance. This may very well be possible with this run of Kickstartered scarves, but they will have at least one beautiful patterned side, as with consumer knitting machines.
There is very little to no waste produced when knitting two color scarves in double bed jacquard. Exactly as much yarn as is needed is used from the cones of merino yarn for each scarf. There are no discarded borders or scraps. At the extreme, you could even unravel your scarf if you tire of it far in the future. Knitting can be unravelled back to yarn that you can use to knit something else. The high quality merino KnitYak uses won't wear out or pill and will be reusable far in the future as reclaimed yarn.
Elementary Cellular Automata
KnitYak makes scarves and wraps with elementary cellular automata algorithms. An elementary cellular automaton (plural: automata) is a computer algorithm which follows a set of simple rules.
The images that are generated from the algorithm are created as follows. Each elementary cellular automaton has rules explaining what happens to a cell for the next row, based on the cell above it, and the cells above and to the left and above and to the right. For example, Rule 110, (seven scarf-sized iterations of which are shown above), follows these rules:
Each cell is affected by the previous row above. Following the leftmost square on the diagram, a black cell in the previous row one cell to the left, and a black cell above, and a black cell above and to the right means that in this row, the cell will be white. Now take a look at the second square from the left on the diagram. If one cell up and to the left is black, and the cell above is black, and up and to the right is white, then the new cell will be black. You may have even recognized that 01101110 is the binary representation of decimal number one-hundred and ten. That is why this rule is named Rule 110. Mathematical!
Each of the seven scarf sized iterations of Rule 110 above have different initial conditions. Which cells are "turned on" or set to "one" in the first row determine the initial conditions. Below is a GIF that shows an iteration of rule 110 in a width of 61 cells with a first row where the cells (23,0) (42,0) and (60,0) are set to "one". Each new row below is generated according to the set rules of Rule 110 from the previous row.
When knitting the KnitYak scarves, each cell or pixel is represented as one knit stitch. With Rule 110 (notably a Turing complete rule), I have chosen to make the points of the "v"'s of the knit stitches correspond with the bottom points of the triangles. For other rules, such as Rule 73, I flip the knitting 180 degrees to line up with square edges produced by the emerging pattern of the rule. KnitYak scarves will be knit from many different rules of the elementary cellular automata algorithms, but only from the rules that look gorgeous in scarf and stole widths and lengths.
As the old saying goes, a GIF is worth a thousand words. Here below are some examples of Rule 110 pattern generation in scarf lengths. Would you like to generate your own Rule 110 GIFs? Here is the code I wrote for these.
Rewards
$1: Gain access to all of the KnitYak updates. If you like, your name will be added to our website thank you page as a funder. You will see all of KnitYak's project updates and receive our undying gratitude!
$40: The KnitYak black and white merino knit square. Provably unique 7 inch by 7 inch square of knit fabric using an elementary cellular automata algorithm. No two are alike! Your square is a special snowflake of the knit variety. Use it as a small piece of art, sew it into a decorative pillow cover, or just pet it longingly while dreaming of electric sheep. They are essentially the very beginning of a KnitYak scarf. These will be manufactured from black and white USA spun merino on demand for you in Seattle, WA.
$150: The KnitYak scarf is a luxurious black and white merino scarf, knit with a pattern generated by a computer algorithm called an elementary cellular automaton. No two scarves are the same. Your scarf is the only one like it in the solar system. The scarf is 7 inches wide by 75 inches long (17.78cm wide by 190.5cm long). It is made from USA produced soft merino wool in black and white. It will be manufactured on demand for you in Seattle, WA.
$300: Two KnitYak scarves in premium quality black and white merino, knit with patterns generated by elementary cellular automata algorithms. You can specify if you would rather the two scarves be similar or be very different before we produce them. Similar scarves are generated from the same rule with a different starting seed row and different scarves are knit from different rules. See the explanatory image here below:
Each scarf is 7 inches wide by 75 inches long (17.78cm wide by 190.5cm long). They are made from USA produced soft merino wool in black and white. They will be manufactured on demand for you in Seattle, WA.
$380: The KnitYak wrap is a custom unique large knit wrap (very wide scarf) in merino. KnitYak will generate a provably unique wrap for you with an elementary cellular automaton algorithm. No two wraps are the same. Your wrap is the only one like it in the world. The wrap is shown here in a seashell algorithm, but yours will be knit with an elementary cellular automaton rule. This wrap could also be used as fabric to cut and sew your own creation. If you are handy with hand sewing or a sewing machine, there is enough fabric here to perhaps cut and sew a small or medium sized sweater with 3/4 length sleeves. The wrap is 20 inches wide by 62 inches long (50.8 cm wide by 157.5 cm long). Made from USA produced soft merino wool in black and white. Manufactured on demand in Seattle, WA.
$760: This reward level is for two custom unique large knit wraps in merino. KnitYak will generate two provably unique wraps for you with elementary cellular automata algorithms. The wraps shown here are in a seashell algorithm, but yours will be knit with elementary cellular automata rules. You can specify whether the two wraps should look similar, or if they should look very different (similar: same rule, different starting seed row, different: different rules). See the image here below:
With the two knit wraps pledge level, you can also specify to have the two wraps knit in one extra long piece from one iteration of an elementary cellular automaton algorithm along the whole length. This wrap or these wraps can also be used as fabric to cut and sew your own creations. You could sew the two together to make a small throw blanket. Two wraps of 20 inches wide by 62 inches long (50.8 cm wide by 157.5 cm long) or one long wrap of 20 inches wide by 124 inches long (50.8 cm wide by 314.9 cm long). Made from USA produced soft merino wool in black and white. Made in Seattle, WA.
$1337: Nine custom unique knit scarves in merino. KnitYak will generate nine provably unique scarves for you with elementary cellular automata algorithms. Each of your scarves will be unique. You can specify if you would rather some or all of the nine scarves to be similar or all very different before we produce them (similar: same rule, different starting seed row, different: different rules). Please see the explanatory image above under the two scarves reward. Each scarf is 7 inches wide by 75 inches long (17.78cm wide by 190.5cm long). Made from USA produced soft merino wool in black and white. Made in Seattle, WA.
$3400: Receive nine custom unique knit wraps in merino. KnitYak will generate nine provably unique scarves for you with elementary cellular automata algorithms. The wraps shown here are done in a seashell algorithm, but yours will be knit with elementary cellular automata rules. Also, all nine wraps will be different with unique patterns. You can specify if you would rather some or all of the nine wraps to be similar or all very different before we produce them (similar: same rule, different seed starting row, different: different rules). Please see the explanatory image under the two wraps reward. Each wrap is 20 inches wide by 62 inches long (50.8 cm wide by 157.5 cm long). Made from USA produced soft merino wool in black and white. Made in Seattle, WA.
How the scarves are made
Your KnitYak scarf starts as computer code which generates a pattern. The elementary cellular automaton algorithm generates a pattern and KnitYak makes sure it is a unique pattern using more code, so no two scarves are alike. You receive a preview of the generated scarf before it is knit to confirm that you love the pattern. The unique pattern is then sent to the knitting machine which knits it using two colors of merino yarn. Your finished scarf is shipped to you with a description of the algorithm used, the exact source code for your specific scarf, and the exact seed parameters and width used to generate the pattern on your unique scarf.
The Kickstarter goal amount
This Kickstarter will help KnitYak purchase an industrial knitting machine for manufacturing local to Seattle, Washington. The $100,000 minimum funding on this campaign covers the break-even minimum to: purchase an industrial knitting machine, ship a machine to Seattle, pay Kickstarter fees and payment provider fees, pay state and city use tax, pay state B+O taxes, pay state sales tax, purchase the yarn for this production run, pay for shipping and packaging, and pay the rent and electricity for a light industrial space for the machine. KnitYak wants to bring you the best quality locally produced knitwear possible. Our spreadsheets and our financial plan have been examined and revised by financial experts and people who run businesses. If we raise this Kickstarter goal of $100,000 we are confident we can deliver all of the knitwear sold in this Kickstarter campaign. We are going to need every dollar of this goal to get where we are going.
Previous work with knitting machines
For the last four years, I have worked with modified consumer knitting machines. It all started with a project called Multi threaded Banjo Dinosaur Knitting Adventure 2D Extreme!!!!! built by Travis Goodspeed, Arjan Scherpenisse and myself over three days in Amsterdam in 2010. We made an avatar creation station, a top scroller 8-bit video game in which dinosaurs were bad and banjos were good. If you won, your name was immortalized in a physically knit winner's panel displayed in a large window facing the street. Many months after we finished with the project and the gallery show in which it was displayed, I purchased the same machine back and had it shipped to Berlin where I was living at the time.
I then spent six months just understanding the maximum limits of modified consumer knitting machines. My machine, a Brother KH930, had a hack with an emulated floppy drive I had extended with Travis Goodspeed from work by Steve Conklin, Limor Fried, and Becky Stern. The extra scripts we wrote to control it all from the command line are here. Travis and I also made an extra button pushing matrix open source hardware and software board and the write-up is here.
In my six months of exploration on the machine, I figured out how to knit double bed jacquard on my old machine and I produced a set of Mate Cosies. The Mate Cosies were an experiment to see how far I could get with small production runs on my consumer knitting machine. I released the pattern here which also explains in detail how to set up Brother knitting machines for double bed jacquard which had been missing elsewhere online. Some of my consumer knitting machine work is documented here, here and here.
It turns out that even small production runs on my modified and improved consumer knitting machine were very hands-on and quite time consuming. The missing function of a consumer knitting machine is the ability to bind off or finish the last row. From the way the machines are built mechanically, there is not simple or even moderately complex solution to add on the functionality to bind off. Binding off by hand is very time consuming on the tiny stitches produced by even a consumer knitting machine. Pictured here below is the bind-off for one of my Mate Cosies.
Industrial knitting machines, it turns out, have had the ability to bind off for decades. That is why it is so important to get an industrial knitting machine with this campaign to bring back local and on-demand textile manufacturing. Please support KnitYak in purchasing an industrial knitting machine to change the way textile manufacturing is done.
Thank You!
This Kickstarter would not have been possible without you, the backer, and without the generous and way-beyond-the-call-of-duty help of:
Star Simpson, Dan Shapiro, Nuvelocity Video Production, Sam Muirhead, Lenore Edman, Michael Ossmann, Thorsten Haas, Joe Heinrich, Greater Seattle S.C.O.R.E., Ellen French, and many others. Thank You! |
As some of you folks may be aware there are a good deal of games that will play on Steam but still run off the Games for Windows Live back-end. While in the past this has not been an issue (although being a pain in the ass to setup and play is an entirely different story) the future may not be so good. If any of your games run on the Games for Windows Live service take note, while not official yet, we have word that Microsoft will be shutting the service down come July of this year. What does this mean short term? Nothing to be honest, but when the service does shut down, the game developer will need to covert it to Steamworks if you plan on playing it still (Multiplayer is 100% confirmed to need Steamworks, single player is in question still).
The good folks at Joystiq reached out to a few developers and publishers to see if they have already converted their game to Steamworks or perhaps plan to within the time frame we think they have before the service goes dead. Here is the latest updated list.
Green = GFWL has been removed.
Blue = GFWL will be removed.
Red = No plans.
Purple = We’ve reached out but are still awaiting response.
(Colorblind version)
2K Games
BioShock 2 (Steamworks) Bethesda
Fallout 3 (None. GFWL CD key requirement removed by Steam. Instructions are available for downloading and archiving DLC purchased through GFWL.) Capcom
Dark Void (No plans.)
Dead Rising 2 (No plans.)
Dead Rising 2: Off the Record (No plans.)
Lost Planet 2 (No plans.)
Lost Planet: Extreme Condition Colonies Edition (No plans.)
Resident Evil 5 (No plans.)
Resident Evil: Operation Raccoon City (No plans.)
Street Fighter X Tekken (No plans.)
Super Street Fighter IV / Arcade Edition (Steamworks) Codemasters
DiRT 2 (No Comment.)
DiRT 3 (Steamworks)
F1 2010 (Steamworks)
F1 2011 (Steamworks)
Fuel (No Comment. Delisted from Steam.)
Operation Flashpoint: Dragon Rising (No Comment.)
Operation Flashpoint: Red River (No Comment.) Double Fine Productions
Iron Brigade (No plans.) EA
Bulletstorm Microsoft
Fable 3 (No plans.)
Gears of War (No plans.)
Halo 2 (No plans.)
Microsoft Flight (No plans.)
Shadowrun (No plans.)
Tinker (No plans.)
Viva Piñata (No plans.) Namco Bandai
Ace Combat: Assault Horizon – Enhanced Edition (Exploring options, but no set plans yet.)
Dark Souls: Prepare to Die Edition (Exploring options, but no set plans yet.) Update: Namco Bandai descriptions altered from “will update” to “exploring options.” Nordic Games
Red Faction: Guerrilla (Will strip GFWL. May replace with an existing service or develop its own.) Rockstar Games
Grand Theft Auto IV + Episodes From Liberty City Sega
The Club
Stormrise
Universe at War: Earth Assault
Virtua Tennis 4
Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War 2 Shadow Planet Productions
Insanely Twisted Shadow Planet (Steamworks) Signal Studios
Toy Soldiers (Can choose between GFWL or Steamworks) Strategy First
Flatout: Ultimate Carnage Square Enix
Kane & Lynch: Dead Men Twisted Pixel
Ms. Splosion Man (Steamworks. No timeline.) Warner Bros
Batman: Arkham Asylum GOTY (Steamworks)
Batman: Arkham City GOTY (Steamworks)
Gotham City Impostors (Steamworks)
Mortal Kombat Arcade Kollection
Zombie Studios / Ignition Entertainment
Blacklight: Tango Down (No plans.)
The following games are extremely unlikely to be updated:
Activision
Quantum of Solace (Delisted. Publisher no longer has rights to franchise.)
Disney Interactive
Star Wars: Clone Wars – Republic Heroes (Original publisher [Lucasarts] Closed)
Tron: Evolution (Studio Closed)
Timegate Studios
Section 8 (Studio Closed)
Section 8: Prejudice (Studio Closed)
It is sad to say if one of your favorite games was developed or published by Microsoft it see’s zero chance of making the conversion to Steamworks. If they only knew how many of us would play Gears of War again… If only. |
The Senate HELP Committee is expected to release its proposal this week to stabilize the ACA's marketplaces. The broad outlines of that plan are still in line with what we've reported previously:
A commitment to fund the law's cost-sharing subsidies
Changes to the process by which states can obtain "innovation waivers"
Perhaps broader access to cheaper, less comprehensive insurance plans
Key term to know: A quick note of clarification on the cost-sharing subsidies, since we keep talking about an agreement to "fund" them, and some Republicans have referred to that step as a "bailout" of the law:
Bailouts inject new money into some system or institution, but that's not what would be happening here. A commitment to fund the ACA's cost-sharing subsidies would not require any new spending. These subsidies are being paid today, and have been since 2014.
The Congressional Budget Office has already said this proposal would maintain the status quo, and therefore would not create any new costs to the government.
Reality check: The $0 price tag is a big part of the reason this idea is on the table in the first place. HELP Chairman Lamar Alexander is working hard to keep this deal as narrow as possible. And this is something Congress can do, without spending any new money, to help bring some stability to the states. |
A father arrived home from his farm to find that his teenage son Jodré had narrowly escaped death after five armed black attackers had tied the boy up and threatened him. An innocent man named Mark was brutally murdered and his wife seriously assaulted and told to get undressed so her attackers could rape her. In yet another farm attack, at least ten armed black men assaulted four victims. It has been an ordinary week of murder and violence aimed at whites in South Africa.
Only in the latter case have the attackers been arrested.
The black attackers that tied up the 15-year old Jodré Lubbe as well as the murderers of Mark Hadiaris, have escaped and the police are still looking for them.
A mere four minutes after André Lubbe left his teenage son Jodré early on Thursday morning for his farm, black attackers stormed the house.
The boy was in the kitchen and as he turned to get his first soft drink from the refrigerator, he heard a knock on the door. Framed in a window, he saw a black man standing there, with a gun pointed directly at him. The door was open and the attacker entered. The black man then whistled and four other black men appeared, armed with guns and knives.
His father was relieved that they did not lay a finger on Jodré. FWM learned that his son escaped unharmed because he had managed to stay calm. They tied the boy to a chair at the safe and demanded the keys, but he did not know where it was.
The black assailants then ransacked every room, and tore into the ceilings in order to look for hiding places of valuables. The attackers eventually broke the safe from the wall and managed to cut it open.
Lubbe says they were clearly interested in guns and money, although they also stole other items. But he also says the assailants knew the house quite well. He believes they must have been watching the family’s home because they knew a lot about their movements. “It just shows you, they watch you,” he says.
A security company, Hi-Tech Security Nelspruit and Bossies Community Justice joined the SAPS in searching the bush into which the suspects had fled.
Mbombela police spokesman, Capt Dawie Pretorius, told The Lowvelder that the dog unit joined the search but it was called off when they lost their tracks on the N4 highway. This suggests that the assailants had a getaway vehicle waiting for them and that their attack had been well prepared.
According to Pretorius, the aggressors broke open the safe and made off with two pistols, a shotgun and an air gun.
“It could have been much worse,” André believes. “We were lucky. If I had driven back to the house earlier, it could have been much worse.”
The murder of Mark Hadiaris
For the latest farm attack survivor, Sue Hadiaris (49) it has actually been much worse.
She told The Lowvelder, a community newspaper, that she still remembered looking down the long barrel of a big black gun. The black assailant pointing the weapon at her, was tall and thin with sharp facial features. His partner’s gun resembled his. The two had just coldly slain her husband, Mark (55), 30 minutes earlier.
“Take off your clothes. We want to rape you,” the one attacker told her, moments before she was able to reach for the security panic button. If she had not called for help in pressing the button at that moment, she would have been killed too, she believes.
The farm attack on Heidelberg Farm happened in the early hours of the morning when two black men charged the couple, who were enjoying the weather in the garden, and forced them into the house at gunpoint.
Mark ran towards the bedroom, but his assailants followed him and shot Mark in the chest. He died instantly. According to Warrant Officer Gugu Phiri, spokesman for White River Police Station, the strike happened at around 02:00.
Then the pair assaulted Sue with what was presumably a sharpened screwdriver to gain access to the safe and stole all the valuables as well as cellphones.
Sue was then ordered to undress. She realised that they were planning to rape her, but managed to reach the panic button, a friend says. Thanks to her move, a security company called Full Circle arrived just minutes later and the assailants fled before they could carry out their threat.
The police and the security company’s owner, Jan Barnard, thoroughly investigated the scene, but the bullet that killed Mark was not found, even though the bullet had exited his body. This suggests that the farm attackers were well-trained not to leave behind incriminating evidence.
Sue sustained serious injuries to her hand and was taken to Nelspruit MediClinic via ambulance after she had been rescued.
In yet another incident, in a joint operation between a number of security companies, the police and members of the community arrested ten black attackers on Friday. It is believed that the black gang was responsible for a farm attack in the Lydenburg/Stofberg area in the early hours of Friday morning.
The victims, all white, were later treated for knife wounds at Middelburg Hospital.
Provincial police spokesman, Sgt Gerald Sedibe, said law enforcement had received a tip-off and had set a trap. Not long after, several assailants, travelling in an Audi believed to have been stolen during the farm attack, were apprehended. Shortly afterwards, another four travelling in a rented Volkswagen Polo were arrested in the same area.
One of the suspects was shot in a leg during a shoot-out which ensued at the Hazyview/Sabie intersection, before being arrested, while another suspect, travelling in an Opel Corsa bakkie, was also detained. The final suspect was apparently arrested in Stoffberg.
Goods, including firearms and laptops and an undisclosed amount of cash, believed to have been stolen during the farm attack, were found in their possession, confirmed Sedibe.
Albert Gryvenstein of Bossies Community Justice, said they had good reason to believe all the suspects had been caught. |
Beck: I Could Give A Flying Crap About The Political Process... We're An Entertainment Company"
An interesting portrait of Glenn Beck in Forbes pulls back the curtain on Beck's sincere, "I just want Americans to know what's going on in Washington" broadcasting persona to reveal a multi-millionaire obsessively focused on bringing home more dough.
The article states:
Beck insists that he is not political: "I could give a flying crap about the political process." Making money, on the other hand, is to be taken very seriously, and controversy is its own coinage. "We're an entertainment company," Beck says. He has managed to monetize virtually everything that comes out of his mouth. He gets $13 million a year from print (books plus the ten-issue-a-year magazine Fusion). Radio brings in $10 million. Digital (including a newsletter, the ad-supported Glennbeck.com and merchandise) pulls in $4 million. Speaking and events are good for $3 million and television for $2 million. Over several days in mid-March Beck allowed a reporter to follow him through his multimedia incarnations, with one exception, his 5 p.m. daily show on Fox News, which attracts just under 3 million viewers. (FORBES has a relationship with that channel via Forbes on Fox.)
Who could have guessed that the guy who loves his country so much he'd cry for it would prove that his biggest hope for America is that it will fork up more cash for his coffers? |
Javier Colorado offers condolences to family of six guards that were killed but said their deaths had nothing to do with him
A Spanish cyclist who was attacked last week in Pakistan while attempting to bike around the world has disputed the claim that six guards died while escorting him through a violent part of the country.
"The only one hurt in the attack was me," Javier Colorado wrote on his blog and Facebook page from Delhi, India.
"Many of you have heard about what happened to me in Pakistan. I want to explain the situation right here and now, since I'm the only person who really knows what happened."
Police in Pakistan said last week that gunmen shot and killed six guards who were protecting Colorado as he cycled through the remote western province of Baluchistan. The 27-year-old, who is attempting to cycle around the world, was accused on social media of putting others in danger for the sake of adventure.
Colorado's story differs considerably from that of the police in Pakistan. "That day I was travelling [in the car] with a driver and one armed police officer." A few minutes into the ride, he said, a grenade was thrown at the vehicle, landing just a few metres away and sending shrapnel flying towards his head.
As Colorado lay bleeding on the back seat, his ears still ringing from the attack, his driver sped away as more shots were fired at their vehicle. They took him to a clinic 15km away. "I was the only one treated at the clinic, since the guard and the driver weren't injured. Luckily the shrapnel only grazed my head, it was just a superficial injury."
Colorado was put in contact with the Spanish embassy in Pakistan, who evacuated him from the region. He offered his sincere condolences to the friends and families of the six guards who were killed, but stressed that it "had nothing to do with the attack I suffered".
Aware of the dangers of cycling through Pakistan, Colorado said his original plan was to take a train from Iran, but he didn't arrive in time to catch the train as it left Zahedan.
With two days left on his Iranian visa and trains only leaving a few times a month, he decided to risk the bus into Pakistan. Minutes after crossing the border, he was brought to the police station, where he was told the safest way to travel to Quetta would be with a guard. "It was impossible to turn down the offer," he wrote. "So I accepted it. I was enormously grateful."
On his blog, Colorado repeatedly thanked Pakistan's police and military for their protection. He plans to continue his journey around the world, he said, despite the criticism. "It's sad that you only hear about what's going on in Pakistan when a westerner like me is attacked. The reality faced by citizens of that country is incredibly difficult." |
Are you ready for me to shill some ska at you! Here it is, the first time I’ve played any of the songs off of the 7″ records that I made last year. Yes, I’ll admit it, this is an advertisement. I really want you all to know what great songs are on this record! Of course the records will sound a whole lot better, will be full (I made did some editing so everything fits) and won’t have my voice interrupting and talking about things. Hit up www.GrandpasCasino.com and get your set today! Woo! RECORDS! SKA RECORDS!
the Shifters – It’s Been Too Long (the Big Ska Gamble : July ’12)
the Action League – Space Attack (the Big Ska Gamble : August ’12)
Lockstep – the City is Burning (the Big Ska Gamble : September ’12)
the Georgetown Orbits – Domino (the Big Ska Gamble : October ’12)
Do It With Malice – Lindy Likes it Ruff (the Big Ska Gamble : November ’12)
Stop the Presses – Skankin’ Private Ryan (the Big Ska Gamble : December ’12)
Find & like 23min of Ska on facebook. Also, feel free to download this episode. Want to expand your ska vinyl collection? Hit up Grandpa’s Casino Recordings, we have what you need! |
This is one of my favorite breakfast recipes. It’s a little strange in that it’s a cross between a quick bread and a biscuit. The taste is very similar to a sausage, egg and cheese biscuit from one of those fast food places, only much better for you! It makes two large loaves, so it serves a lot of people – which is a good thing in my family! You can also add just about any ingredient to the filling. Spinach with feta cheese is especially nice. Another idea is to bake these in mini muffin tins, but be sure to reduce the cooking time!
Sausage, Egg and Cheese Bread
4 eggs
1 cup water
1 cup milk
1 teaspoon salt
5 teaspoons baking powder
4 cups flour
3 eggs, beaten
12 ounces cooked bulk sausage, cooled (your favorite kind, I use a breakfast sausage made by our local family run grocery store)
1 1/2 cups shredded mozzarella
1 cup shredded provolone
1/4 cup grated romano cheese
salt and fresh ground pepper
2 tablespoons melted butter
In a large bowl, whisk together eggs, water, milk and salt. Mix the baking powder into the flour and gradually add to the eggs. The batter will be very soft. In another bowl, mix cooled sausage with 3 beaten eggs, the cheeses, a pinch of salt and 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground pepper. Place 1/4 of the batter into a lightly greased loaf pan. Top with half the sausage mixture. Spoon 1/4 of the batter on top of the sausage and spread to cover. Repeat for the second loaf. Drizzle tops with melted butter. Bake in a 375 degree oven for about 40 minutes, until cooked through and lightly browned on the top.
I love this recipe because it serves a lot of people and it tastes great! The bulk of the cost is in the sausage and cheese – it totals around $5.00 for two loaves. Not bad since the full recipe serves 10 (2 slices each)! Ten sausage, egg and cheese biscuits cost $15.00! (at $1.50 each) To me that is a HUGE savings, not only in money, but in health!
Do you have any fast food remakes that your family enjoys? Do you find them to be less or more expensive? I’d love to hear from you and hope you give this recipe a try!
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For other uses of "Lost Stars", see Lost Star (disambiguation)
The Lost Fleet is a military science fiction series written by John G. Hemry under the pen name Jack Campbell. The series is set one-hundred-plus years into an interstellar war between two different human cultures, the Alliance and the Syndics. The protagonist of the story is discovered floating in a suspended animation escape pod one hundred years after he made a "heroic last stand" against an enemy fleet. In his absence, he has been made into a renowned hero in the Alliance, but his legend and actions are used to justify poor tactics and decisions. Awakened after being discovered during a secret mission that turns out to be an enemy trap, he is suddenly dropped into the role of fleet commander and expected to live up to the legend that has grown around him.
The series ended with Victorious (2010). The author, however, has continued the Lost Fleet series with two spin-offs: Beyond the Frontier, focusing on the main characters from the Lost Fleet, and The Lost Stars, focusing on the Syndicate Worlds,[1] as well as a prequel series, The Genesis Fleet.
Novels [ edit ]
The Lost Fleet
Beyond the Frontier
The Lost Stars
The Genesis Fleet
Plot summary [ edit ]
The Lost Fleet [ edit ]
The Alliance has been fighting the Syndicate Worlds (a union of planets under a tyrannical, corporate-like government) for a century. After obtaining a "hypernet key" from a Syndic traitor, they send a large fleet through a hypernet gate to directly attack the Syndic homeworld, but are ambushed by overwhelming Syndic forces.
During the approach to the Syndic homeworld, the fleet discovers the escape pod of Captain John Geary in an abandoned star system. Known as "Black Jack" in the present, his legendary exploits are taught to every schoolchild and he is revered for his heroic last stand in the early days of the war. The Black Jack Geary legend includes the expectation that one day he will return from the dead to lead the Alliance fleet to victory. Left as de facto fleet commander and with great reluctance takes it upon himself to lead the fleet to the safety of Alliance space.
Geary is also forced to retrain the fleet to fight in formation instead of the "modern" free-for-all tactics of charging straight at the enemy, supposedly inspired by Geary's example at his famous last stand, caused by decades of attrition and loss of experience.[2] Geary's attempt to change the fleet's culture causes tension with other senior officers, including one egomaniacal senior captain freed from a Syndic labor camp with a reputation almost as famous as Geary's, who proceeds to split off a portion of the fleet on a disastrous mission.[3]
To complicate the situation, a third faction wishes to stage a military coup upon the return of the fleet to Alliance space with Geary as dictator. Geary resists the temptation offered by this faction with great effort, though they continue to apply pressure to him throughout the series.
As the entire military force of the Syndicate Worlds continues to hunt the Alliance fleet, Geary is often forced to raid Syndic star systems for supplies and raw materials. During these raids, the fleet gradually uncovers evidence of a third party in this war. Geary believes they are an unknown alien civilization who may have tricked the Syndics into starting the war with the Alliance. These aliens may even have been responsible for humans "discovering" the hypernet and may have sinister reasons for giving humans this technology after Geary discovers that a hypernet gate can be used to destroy an entire star system. The hypothetical aliens also have a means of remote destruction of hypernet gates, which will allow them, given time, to extend the war between the humans indefinitely.
The alien civilization, whatever their designs for humanity are, do not appear to want the Alliance fleet to reach their home space. When Geary leads the fleet to attack the Lakota star system, the aliens manipulate the Syndic hypernet to divert a Syndic fleet to the system.[4]
Throughout the series, Geary is troubled by larger issues. First, he is concerned by the declining state of the Alliance civilian government, which is losing control of its member worlds and the support of the military forces after a century of futile warfare. Also, even though Geary is unswervingly loyal to the Alliance, he fears that the government may choose to imprison him as a threat to its own power. In addition, the Alliance Navy itself has allowed its standards to slip, frequently destroying entire planets and their civilian populations in retaliation for Syndic atrocities, murdering prisoners of war, and has ceased saluting and other traditions reaffirming the command structure. Geary therefore fears that the Alliance may not deserve any victory it might achieve. Combined with these is his speculation that, if the increasingly non-hypothetical aliens are perpetuating the war within human-controlled space, what might their actions be if he can somehow end it?
Beyond the Frontier [ edit ]
Beyond the Frontier: Dreadnaught : Admiral "Black Jack" Geary is given command of the "First Fleet" and sent to the far side of space. The series follows Geary as he leads the fleet through previously unexplored star systems, and to explore the threat of the previously encountered non-human "Enigma" race. [5] [6]
: Admiral "Black Jack" Geary is given command of the "First Fleet" and sent to the far side of space. The series follows Geary as he leads the fleet through previously unexplored star systems, and to explore the threat of the previously encountered non-human "Enigma" race. Beyond the Frontier: Invincible : After stumbling upon a second non-human race, which are dubbed the "Bear-Cows" due to their resemblance to teddy bears and their herbivorous nature and herding tendencies, which attack with torpedo-like ships in massive waves and numbers, Admiral Geary jumps farther into unknown space. There, they find a third non-human species, apparently waiting to engage the Bear-Cows. Turning to engage the Bear-Cows with the new aliens alongside them, Geary defeats the force through luck and the Bear-Cows' inability to divert from a charge, after which Admiral Geary jumps farther into unknown space. There, Admiral Geary and his fleet officially meet the first friendly aliens that humanity has met so far, the Spider-Wolves. With the help of the Spider-Wolves, Admiral Geary and his fleet disable one of the bear-cows' massive super-battleships, and capture it, to return to their home in Alliance space, Varendal. Realizing that the Enigma race will note their absence from Midway, Geary intercepts another Enigma race attack at Midway, which the Syndicate Worlds are observing. With assistance from the Spider-Wolves (known afterwards as the Dancers), they defeat the Enigma fleet and engage in an uneasy standoff against the Syndicate Worlds force, who demand the surrender of the Bear-Cow super-battleship and the Dancers. [7]
: After stumbling upon a second non-human race, which are dubbed the "Bear-Cows" due to their resemblance to teddy bears and their herbivorous nature and herding tendencies, which attack with torpedo-like ships in massive waves and numbers, Admiral Geary jumps farther into unknown space. There, they find a third non-human species, apparently waiting to engage the Bear-Cows. Turning to engage the Bear-Cows with the new aliens alongside them, Geary defeats the force through luck and the Bear-Cows' inability to divert from a charge, after which Admiral Geary jumps farther into unknown space. There, Admiral Geary and his fleet officially meet the first friendly aliens that humanity has met so far, the Spider-Wolves. With the help of the Spider-Wolves, Admiral Geary and his fleet disable one of the bear-cows' massive super-battleships, and capture it, to return to their home in Alliance space, Varendal. Realizing that the Enigma race will note their absence from Midway, Geary intercepts another Enigma race attack at Midway, which the Syndicate Worlds are observing. With assistance from the Spider-Wolves (known afterwards as the Dancers), they defeat the Enigma fleet and engage in an uneasy standoff against the Syndicate Worlds force, who demand the surrender of the Bear-Cow super-battleship and the Dancers. Beyond the Frontier: Guardian : Furious with the standoff and the Syndicate Worlds' attempt to reconquer Midway, Geary orchestrates a trap for The Syndicate Admiral, tricking him into firing first on a ship under Alliance protection. They defeat the Syndicate Worlds forces, but realize that the Syndicate Worlds have managed to shut down their hypernet system, denying the Alliance fleet a quick trip home. With their massive fleet, they drive straight for home, winning numerous small engagements and other asymmetrical warfare attacks, thinly disguised by the Syndicate Worlds to be the work of pirates and other non-official parties. Returning to Varandal, Geary learns that the forces of the Callas Republic and the Rift Federation are on the verge of revolt due to their ridiculously long deployment time, and immediately orders them to return home under radio silence, prohibiting them from receiving contradictory orders. The situation defused, Geary escorts the Dancers to Earth, encountering a splinter fleet of humanity, which arrogantly declares the Earth under their control. Despite being outnumbered 5 to 1, Geary smashes the enemy fleet, which lacked any modern weaponry or understanding of tactics, evidenced by their insistence on attacking in fixed formations. Arriving at Earth, the Dancers land in Kansas, returning the body of an ancient deep space explorer whom they recovered. [8]
: Furious with the standoff and the Syndicate Worlds' attempt to reconquer Midway, Geary orchestrates a trap for The Syndicate Admiral, tricking him into firing first on a ship under Alliance protection. They defeat the Syndicate Worlds forces, but realize that the Syndicate Worlds have managed to shut down their hypernet system, denying the Alliance fleet a quick trip home. With their massive fleet, they drive straight for home, winning numerous small engagements and other asymmetrical warfare attacks, thinly disguised by the Syndicate Worlds to be the work of pirates and other non-official parties. Returning to Varandal, Geary learns that the forces of the Callas Republic and the Rift Federation are on the verge of revolt due to their ridiculously long deployment time, and immediately orders them to return home under radio silence, prohibiting them from receiving contradictory orders. The situation defused, Geary escorts the Dancers to Earth, encountering a splinter fleet of humanity, which arrogantly declares the Earth under their control. Despite being outnumbered 5 to 1, Geary smashes the enemy fleet, which lacked any modern weaponry or understanding of tactics, evidenced by their insistence on attacking in fixed formations. Arriving at Earth, the Dancers land in Kansas, returning the body of an ancient deep space explorer whom they recovered. Beyond the Frontier: Steadfast
Beyond the Frontier: Leviathan
The Lost Stars [ edit ]
The Lost Stars deals with the collapse of the Syndicate Worlds, and specifically the efforts of Midway System's system CEO commander and ground force CEO commander to deal with the aftermath.[9] The series expands the story to include the viewpoint of Syndicate Worlds citizens and how the leaders of the Midway star system react to the collapse of central authority, occurring at the same time as the events in the Beyond the Frontier series.
The Lost Stars: Tarnished Knight : CEO Artur Drakon has been betrayed. The Syndicate Worlds’ government failed to protect its citizens from both the Alliance and the alien enigmas. With a cadre of reliable soldiers under his command, Drakon launches a battle for control of the Midway Star System—assisted by an ally he’s unsure he can trust… CEO Gwen Iceni was exiled to Midway because she was not ruthless enough in the eyes of her superiors. She proved them wrong by commandeering some of the warships at Midway and declaring the star system’s independence on behalf of the people though staying in charge as “President.” But while she controls the mobile fleet, she has no choice but to rely on “General” Drakon’s ground forces to keep the peace planet-side. If their coup is to succeed, Drakon and Iceni must put their differences aside to prevent the population of Midway from rebelling against them, to defend their star system from the enigmas—and to ferret out saboteurs determined to reestablish Syndic rule…
: CEO Artur Drakon has been betrayed. The Syndicate Worlds’ government failed to protect its citizens from both the Alliance and the alien enigmas. With a cadre of reliable soldiers under his command, Drakon launches a battle for control of the Midway Star System—assisted by an ally he’s unsure he can trust… CEO Gwen Iceni was exiled to Midway because she was not ruthless enough in the eyes of her superiors. She proved them wrong by commandeering some of the warships at Midway and declaring the star system’s independence on behalf of the people though staying in charge as “President.” But while she controls the mobile fleet, she has no choice but to rely on “General” Drakon’s ground forces to keep the peace planet-side. If their coup is to succeed, Drakon and Iceni must put their differences aside to prevent the population of Midway from rebelling against them, to defend their star system from the enigmas—and to ferret out saboteurs determined to reestablish Syndic rule… The Lost Stars: Perilous Shield : Following a successful coup against the tyrannical Syndicate, the leaders of the rebel Midway Star System work to forge a government free enough to please its citizens yet strong enough to secure power. But in a world where former rulers have become new foes, an alien threat to humanity may turn old adversaries into uncertain allies. President Gwen Iceni believes Midway is their only defense against the enigmas. Syndicate training taught her self-preservation in a crisis, yet she’s determined to fight for the star system’s fate…even if it means joining forces with another former Syndicate CEO—and an officer of the hated Alliance. Despite General Artur Drakon’s misgivings, he partnered with Iceni to overthrow Syndic forces. Now, with an enigma fleet menacing their hard-earned independence, he can ill afford to trust her—or lose her support. But in the back of his mind, there are three words that describe someone who confides in a Syndicate CEO: Stupid. Betrayed. Dead.
: Following a successful coup against the tyrannical Syndicate, the leaders of the rebel Midway Star System work to forge a government free enough to please its citizens yet strong enough to secure power. But in a world where former rulers have become new foes, an alien threat to humanity may turn old adversaries into uncertain allies. President Gwen Iceni believes Midway is their only defense against the enigmas. Syndicate training taught her self-preservation in a crisis, yet she’s determined to fight for the star system’s fate…even if it means joining forces with another former Syndicate CEO—and an officer of the hated Alliance. Despite General Artur Drakon’s misgivings, he partnered with Iceni to overthrow Syndic forces. Now, with an enigma fleet menacing their hard-earned independence, he can ill afford to trust her—or lose her support. But in the back of his mind, there are three words that describe someone who confides in a Syndicate CEO: Stupid. Betrayed. Dead. The Lost Stars: Imperfect Sword : President Gwen Iceni and General Artur Drakon have successfully liberated the Midway Star System—but the former rulers of the Syndicate Worlds won’t surrender the region without a fight. The dictatorial regime has ordered the ex–Syndicate CEOs terminated with extreme prejudice and the system’s citizens punished for their defiance. Outnumbered and led by junior officers hastily promoted in the wake of the uprising, Midway’s warships are no match for the fleet massing and preparing to strike. But the Syndicate isn’t the only threat facing Iceni and Drakon. Another former CEO has taken control of the Ulindi Star System, the first calculated move toward establishing his own little empire. With Drakon’s ground forces dispatched to Ulindi, Midway erupts in violence as Syndicate agents and other, unknown enemies stoke a renewed revolt against Iceni’s power—leaving both her and Drakon vulnerable to trusted officers just waiting for an opportune moment to betray them…
: President Gwen Iceni and General Artur Drakon have successfully liberated the Midway Star System—but the former rulers of the Syndicate Worlds won’t surrender the region without a fight. The dictatorial regime has ordered the ex–Syndicate CEOs terminated with extreme prejudice and the system’s citizens punished for their defiance. Outnumbered and led by junior officers hastily promoted in the wake of the uprising, Midway’s warships are no match for the fleet massing and preparing to strike. But the Syndicate isn’t the only threat facing Iceni and Drakon. Another former CEO has taken control of the Ulindi Star System, the first calculated move toward establishing his own little empire. With Drakon’s ground forces dispatched to Ulindi, Midway erupts in violence as Syndicate agents and other, unknown enemies stoke a renewed revolt against Iceni’s power—leaving both her and Drakon vulnerable to trusted officers just waiting for an opportune moment to betray them… The Lost Stars: Shattered Spear: The Syndicate Worlds continues to splinter as more star systems pledge allegiance to President Gwen Iceni, General Artur Drakon, and the new government they're establishing at Midway. But the toxic legacy of Syndicate rule undermines their efforts as the rebels encounter difficulty trusting one another and believing their new leaders' promises of freedom from tyranny. Before Iceni and Drakon can put their house in order, they must deal with another threat. An enigma warship has appeared and vanished near a Syndic colony. If the aliens are capable of jumping into other human-occupied star systems, then billions of people could be vulnerable to a hostile invasion fleet anywhere it chooses to strike. But an even greater liability lies with Iceni and Drakon as a once-trusted adviser turned saboteur plans revenge...
The Genesis Fleet [ edit ]
A Prequel to The Lost Fleet series, envisioned as a trilogy detailing the formation of the Alliance and the first clashes with the Syndicate Worlds.
The Genesis Fleet: Vanguard (Published 16 May 2017)
(Published 16 May 2017) The Genesis Fleet: Ascendant (Published 15 May 2018) [10]
(Published 15 May 2018) The Genesis Fleet: Triumphant (Publishing 21 May 2019)
Major themes [ edit ]
Hemry acknowledged in an interview that The Lost Fleet was inspired by Xenophon's Anabasis, detailing the return march of the Ten Thousand, and myths about kings returning to save their nation. In the same interview, Hemry, based on his own military experience, found Geary to be his ideal commanding officer:
Ancestor worship is a belief system fairly homogeneously embraced within Hemry's universe. This allows Hemry to explore a few aspects of the role of religion in military life without making comment on any current or modern religious group. Personnel in the Alliance fleet are mostly believers, and concerned with the morality of their actions in relation to their religious beliefs. In addition, they think a great deal about the afterlife, which makes sense considering that they constantly face death in the line of duty. Religious concerns, prayer, and terminology are infused throughout all aspects of the lives of the sailors and officers in the fleet, and are often included in official communications and events. Some comments from the narration indicate that there are those in the society who have more or less belief in the existence of their ancestors but no characters are openly identified as such.
A primary theme of John Hemry's work as a whole, and the Lost Fleet series in particular, is the importance of the rule of law, particularly military and naval regulations and the laws of war. Specifically, he deals with the proper treatment of enemy combatants, prisoners, civilians, and saboteurs, as well as traitors within one's own organization. The separation of civilian and military authority is also important to the messages the series conveys. Hemry, through John Geary, continually reinforces the concept that military forces must be subordinate to civilian authority, and shows democratic systems of civilian government (the Alliance) to be superior to a commercial-military autocracy (the Syndics). At the same time, the military must follow established systems of rank and seniority, rather than a democratic system which is essential to civil society. The character of Co-President (and Alliance Senator) Victoria Rione gives advice and assistance to Geary when necessary, but does not and cannot give actual orders or dictate military policies.
As with other works by Hemry, relationships are an important aspect of the plots of the novels and the proper expression of romantic interest between military personnel is explored and clearly defined as being strictly controlled by those regulations which concern fraternization. Geary's relationship earlier in the novels with Victoria Rione are legally safe, but politically dangerous. This is in contrast to his relationship later in the novels with Captain Tanya Desjani, an officer who is directly subordinate to Geary as the captain of his flagship, making any romantic situation legally impossible but politically safe within the culture of the fleet. The refusal of Geary and Desjani to act upon any feelings that are legally forbidden continues Hemry's message of the importance of the rule of law and military regulations.
Honor and duty are also strong themes. The double edged nature of honor is explored in the latter half of the series, showing how honor can be both a bulwark against attack, and a knife to one's own throat.
Reception [ edit ]
We Read Science Fiction reviewed the series and gave it a good review, giving positive comments on the narrative and the detailed battle scenes. The only complaint directed at the series in the review was Hemry's tendency to repeat details from earlier books in later books. Hemry himself replied to the review thanking them for their comments and explaining that he repeats information for the readers who picked up later books but have not had the chance to read from the beginning of the series with Dauntless.[11]
British company Titan Comics announced the release of an all-new comic series based on Lost Fleet in October 2016, written by Jack Campbell, penciled by Andre Siregar, inked by Bambang Irawan and coloured by Sebastian Cheng. The first five-issue series was published from June 2017[12] to January 2018[13].
The series is set after the end of a century-old war between the Alliance and the Syndics, and centers on Captain Michael Geary, Black Jack Geary's grand-nephew, who's been MIA since the novel Dauntless.[14] |
What lives in a barn, hasn't moved for decades and is red and white with rust all over? A 1969 Dodge Charger Daytona — oh, and it's worth $180,000.
After sitting dormant in an Alabama barn for decades, this 1969 Dodge Charger Daytona will hit the auction block next month in Florida. (Mecum Auctions)
A Greenwood, Alabama man found the classic muscle car wasting away in a barn roughly 60 miles south of Montgomery, sold it to a restoration specialist and now the car is set to hit the auction block where it's expected to fetch a top bid between $150,000 and $180,000. He discovered the rare muscle car when checking out another car nearby, and was pointed to the barn that housed the Daytona. After much convincing, the old man who owned the barn agreed to sell the relic.
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Despite the rust and moss that have formed around the exterior of the vehicle, Mecum expects this 1969 Dodge Charger Daytona to sell for as much as $180,000. (Mecum Auctions)
Now, perhaps you're asking why a car that's covered in rust and moss with a tattered interior and an engine that likely doesn't run anymore would have such a high asking price. Fair question. But even if it is a rust bucket, it's an incredibly rare rust bucket, as Dodge made just 503 Charger Daytonas that year, most of which were meant to meet NASCAR racing standards.
The car, which has a flames painted on the front fenders, has a 440 Magnum V-8 engine with nearly all its original parts and a mere 20,553 miles on the odometer, although we don't suspect it'll be adding any more any time soon.
Though it's in questionable (at best) running order, the 440 Magnum V-8 engine in this Dodge Charger Daytona once made 375 horsepower. (Mecum Auction)
The car goes on sale next month at the Mecum Kissimmee 2016 auction.
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As the founder and COO of the first and largest cryptocurrency retirement program in the U.S., I’m seeing enormous demand from individuals and experiencing Bitcoin’s dramatic growth in price and adoption firsthand.
Bitcoin had a record-breaking year in 2017, taking a volatile growth course from $900 at the start of the year to $6,300 by October. But skeptics like hedge fund manager Ray Dalio and JP Morgan CEO Jamie Dimon have thumbed their proverbial noses and given cries of “bubble” and “fraud.” While other investment experts like Tom Lee, former JP Morgan director and popular Wall Street strategist, believe that the price of Bitcoin will continue to climb, likely reaching $55,000 within five years.
Based on my experience in the space, I believe it will become the best high-growth investment of 2018, far surpassing its meteoric rise already this year. Here are my top five reasons why:
1. Bitcoin’s Adoption Will Explode In 2018
Bitcoin is growing in adoption across the world.
In April 2017, Bitcoin officially became a method of payment in Japan. Now, over 260,000 food establishments and retail locations stores are accepting cryptocurrency. Japan’s widespread adoption and acceptance of Bitcoin sets a precedent for other countries. As other governments consider how to approach cryptocurrencies, the success of Bitcoin in a leading country like Japan is likely to be influential
Trading volumes are also up worldwide. Bitcoin has seen a 55% increase in transaction volume in 2017, along with 30,000 new wallets created daily. Rumors that Amazon will soon begin accepting Bitcoin are persistent. If the retail giant does begin accepting Bitcoin, the movement of cryptocurrency will be unstoppable.
2. Formal Regulatory Oversight Will Flood The Market With Institutional Money
In 2018, we expect to see a dramatic increase in oversight and regulation for cryptocurrencies and, as a result, we expect to see established financial institutions invest billions of new money in the space.
ETFs are widely expected to be approved by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in 2018. This would allow major financial institutions to start investing in the space and provide their clients with new investment options. ETFs would open Bitcoin to a significantly larger group of investors who are uncomfortable with buying coins and storing them securely.
Aside from ETFs, the newly launched LedgerX is now available for options trading and is licensed as both a swap execution facility (SEF) and a derivatives clearing organization (DCO). An Overstock.com subsidiary called tZero has also recently gained regulatory compliance with the SEC and FINRA for an alternative trading system (ATS) for blockchain assets.
CME Group, a strategic partner of BitGo, recently announced its intentions to launch Bitcoin futures in the final quarter of 2017. The growth of Bitcoin derivatives is another step toward the establishment of Bitcoin. CME Group, the leading global exchange for options and futures trading, is the latest entrant into offering derivatives for Bitcoin.
These new government-compliant companies represent the beginning of a larger movement toward oversight and safety that will allow larger financial institutions to jump on board.
3. Disruption Of The Status Quo Will Continue
Technologies like Uber, Airbnb and Alibaba have disrupted major industries almost overnight, and Bitcoin is poised to do the same with the monetary system.
The blockchain technology upon which Bitcoin is built is revolutionary and expanding rapidly. There are now 1,200 new cryptocurrency variations available on the market attempting to solve unique problems using the technology.
Ripple (XRP) is set to completely change the way transactions across borders happen around the world. Instead of fighting blockchain, banks are beginning to work with Ripple to build a new, more transparent system. In a similarly disruptive fashion, Civic coin is using blockchain for identity verification and protection for both businesses and individuals. Civic is giving power back to the people to protect their identities.
And it’s only the beginning.
4. Trust In Wall Street Is Gone: Blockchain Is The New Messiah
The world hasn’t yet forgotten the subprime business dealings that led to the 2008 financial crisis. We watched in disbelief as our own tax dollars were used to save the very banks that had caused the stock market to crash in the first place. JP Morgan received a $13 billion bailout, and Wells Fargo had more recently created large-scale fake account fraud under their customers' names for years to pump up their stock price.
Wall Street can no longer be trusted by financial institutions.
Bitcoin was developed after the poor financial practices from the economic collapse in 2009. At that time, the transferring of funds between parties required a middleman, a bank or a broker. Bitcoin, however, with its innovative blockchain technology, entirely eliminates the need for a central bank by providing a way to safely transfer money directly from one individual to another. It’s fully transparent and bypasses the unnecessary fees and systematic failures from traditional banks.
As a greater number of companies recognize Bitcoin’s technology applications, we’ll likely see a fundamental paradigm shift in the landscape. Rules that have existed for decades -- even centuries -- will shift.
5. Bitcoin’s Accessibility Will Dramatically Increase
When Bitcoin first launched, it was solely a peer-to-peer currency system, and it took an industrious and tech-savvy person to figure out the process of buying Bitcoin and storing it safely.
Today, sites like Coinbase.com have made Bitcoin easy to use and accessible to the masses. These sites provide a one-stop shop for cryptocurrency, making it easy to buy, sell, trade and store a variety of cryptocurrencies.
Major retailers like Overstock and Expedia have also begun accepting it as payment, and countries across the world have begun opening up exchanges and accepting bitcoin as an official currency. Our company, BitcoinIRA.com, allows investors to hold actual Bitcoin in their retirement accounts.
These five reasons will be a pivot point for Bitcoin in 2018, and savvy investors with strong volatility and risk tolerance could see explosive gains. |
TORONTO — New CFL commissioner Randy Ambrosie suspended and fined defensive back Will Hill of the Hamilton Tiger-Cats on Tuesday for two separate incidents in last week’s game against the Saskatchewan Roughriders.
Ambrosie, who began his tenure Monday, suspended Hill for one game after the Hamilton player grabbed the jersey of an official in the third quarter. Hill quickly let go but was still ejected from the game, which Saskatchewan won 37-20 in Regina.
"It is a fundamental principle in all of sport: you cannot and must not lay your hands on an official," Ambrosie said in a statement. "I acknowledge that in this case, the player involved appeared to quickly realize the inappropriateness of his actions, and released the official.
"But that does not erase the fact that the player crossed a line that should never be crossed in sport at any level, and which certainly should be respected in an elite professional league such as the Canadian Football League."
Ambrosie also fined Hill an unspecified amount for punching a Saskatchewan player on the same play.
"Furthermore, by punching an opponent, this player has not only displayed the opposite of sportsmanship, he has undermined the commitment to player health and safety that must be shared by the league and its players alike," Ambrosie said. "Just as player safety is critical to our game, so too is the safety of our officials.
"I’m committed to developing a policy in the very near term to improve and codify the safety standards to further protect our officials."
This isn’t the first time Hill has got into trouble.
During his NFL career with the New York Giants and Baltimore (2012-15), Hill was suspended four times for testing positive for a banned substance. He received a 10-game sentence from the league in March 2016 for violating its substance abuse policy and was subsequently released by the Ravens.
Ambrosie’s suspension and fine were imposed immediately, meaning Hill would miss Hamilton’s home opener Saturday against the B.C. Lions unless he decided to appeal. If Hill chose to do so, he’d be able to continue playing unless the ruling was upheld by an independent arbitrator.
Last season, then commissioner Jeffrey Orridge fined Hamilton coach Kent Austin $10,000 and banished him to the spotter’s booth for one game for making contact with an official. It marked the first time in CFL history that the league had disallowed a coach from being on the field with his team for a game.
Austin made contact with official Tom Cesari when he swung his hand in frustration while protesting a call on the field during a game. Austin said he had apologized to Cesari, but in his ruling Orridge said he couldn’t overlook that Austin actually made contact with the official on the field.
Also last season, then Montreal receiver Duron Carter received a one-game suspension for bumping Ottawa head coach Rick Campbell during a game. Carter appealed the ban but it was later upheld by an arbitrator.
Carter is now with the Riders and have seven catches for 63 yards and a TD versus Hamilton.
The Austin ruling certainly established a precedent for the CFL in the Hill case. And had the league issued a more stringent sentence, it likely would’ve presented Hill with a better chance to successfully appeal it before an arbitrator.
In 2007, B.C. Lions offensive lineman Jason Jiminez received a one-game suspension for delivering an illegal block against defensive lineman Anthony Gargiulo of the Calgary Stampeders that shattered Gargiulo’s leg and forced him to retire at age 23. But the suspension was overturned on appeal due to inconclusive video evidence.
Three years later with Hamilton, Jiminez was fined $2,777 — half a game’s pay and the maximum allowable at the time — for a low hit on B.C. defensive end Brent Johnson during a regular-season game.
It was suggested then that Jimenez wasn’t suspended because the CFL was concerned it would be overturned by an arbitrator upon appeal.
Losing Hill would be yet another blow to Hamilton (0-2), which is already without 1,000-yard receivers Andy Fantuz and Terrence Toliver, both out with knee injuries. |
The NFL has had a rough year when it comes to public relations. And now a major change is coming to the NFL’s public relations department.
Via Daniel Kaplan of SportsBusiness Journal, executive V.P. of communications and public affairs Paul Hicks is leaving the NFL. He’ll join the Glover Park Group, a firm that provides P.R. advice to the NFL. It’s not known whether Hicks will be working directly with the league.
It’s also unclear whether Hicks chose to leave, was nudged, or feared that a nudge was coming. Some believe that the ultimate fallout of #DeflateGate won’t be a new Commissioner but a new structure beneath him — a process that apparently commenced with the hiring of Tod Leiweke to serve as the NFL’s Chief Operating Officer, a position that had been vacant since Roger Goodell had been promoted from COO to Commissioner.
As one source explained it after Leiweke arrived, the goal will be to cut down on the number of people who directly report to Goodell. Also, Leiweke will assist with day-to-day management and coordination between departments while serving as the conduit between Goodell and those departments.
In many respects, Hicks and general counsel Jeff Pash served previously as the conduit between Commissioner and the various departments he supervised. With another layer added between Hicks and Goodell, it’s not surprising that Hicks would decide to move on voluntarily — especially if he sensed that an involuntary parting was inevitable.
UPDATE 11:20 a.m. ET: Per a source with knowledge of the situation, Hicks will continue to contribute to NFL projects as part of Glover Park Group’s New York office. Leiweke will lead the search for an internal replacement. |
Tens of thousands of Iranians took part in the funeral of a senior dissident cleric in Isfahan on Tuesday, which turned into the biggest anti-government protest in years, the BBC reported.
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The protesters chanted slogans against the government and the supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, calling for the "death to the dictator." Among other slogans, they chanted "The political prisoners must freed" and "Mousavi and Karroubi must be freed," referring to the leaders of the reformist green movement who are under house arrest in Tehran.
Ayatollah Jalaluddin Taheri, who died at the age of 87, was a major opponent of the hardliners in Iran's government and resigned in protest.
Iran's presidential elections are due to take place in 10 days.
The slate of candidates, vetted last week by Iran's Guardian Council, is dominated by conservatives and hardliners seen as close to Khamenei.
The eight approved candidates listed by Mehr included chief nuclear negotiator Saeed Jalili, Tehran mayor Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf, former nuclear negotiator Hassan Rohani and former foreign minister Ali Akbar Velayati.
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Saeed Jalili, who is seen as the frontrunner in the elections, has been Iran's top nuclear negotiator since 2007. Jalili, 47, began his career as a diplomat in 1991. He has the support of ultraconservative cleric Ayatollah Mohammad Taghi Mesbah Yazdi, who was previously seen as Ahmadinejad's spiritual mentor.
The council banned two independent contenders, moderate former president Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani and Ahmadinejad ally Esfandiar Rahim Mashaie.
Iran's clerical rulers are keen to secure a high turnout that would underpin their legitimacy. They are also wary of a repeat of 2009's protests.
In 2009, protests erupted following the Iranian presidential election against the victory of Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. The demonstrations were called the Green Revolution and rallied in support of Mousavi and Karroubi.
The funeral-turned-protest in Isfahan Tuesday. Rohani News
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Below is an approximation of this video’s audio content. To see any graphs, charts, graphics, images, and quotes to which Dr. Greger may be referring, watch the above video.
People going on low-carb diets may not see a rise in their cholesterol levels. How is that possible? Because weight loss by any means can drop our cholesterol. We could go on an all-Twinkie diet and lower our cholesterol if we were unable to eat the dozen daily Twinkies necessary to maintain our weight. That’s why a good cocaine habit can lower cholesterol. Chemotherapy can drop cholesterol like a rock. Tuberculosis can work wonders on one’s waistline. Anything that drops our weight can drop our cholesterol. But, the goal isn’t to fit into a skinnier casket. The reason we care about cardiovascular risk factors like cholesterol is because we care about cardiovascular risk—the health of our arteries.
Well, now we have studies that have measured the impact of low-carb diets on arteries directly, and a review of all the best studies done to date found that low-carb diets impair arterial function, as evidenced by a decrease in flow-mediated dilation—meaning low-carb diets effectively cripple people’s arteries. And, since the meta-analysis was published, another study found the same thing. A dietary pattern characterized by high protein and fat, low carbohydrate, was “associated with poorer peripheral small artery function”—again measuring blood flow into people’s limbs. Peripheral circulation is great, but what about circulation in the coronary arteries that feed our heart?
There’s only been one study ever done measuring actual blood flow to the heart muscles of people eating low-carb diets, and this is it. Dr. Richard Fleming, an accomplished nuclear cardiologist, enrolled 26 people into a comprehensive study of the effects of diet on cardiac function using the latest in nuclear imaging technology—so-called SPECT scans—enabling him to actually directly measure the blood flow within the coronary arteries.
He then put them all on a healthy vegetarian diet, and a year later, the scans were repeated. By that time, however, ten of the patients had jumped ship onto the low-carb bandwagon. At first, I bet he was upset, but surely soon realized he had an unparalleled research opportunity dropped into his lap. Here, he had extensive imaging on ten people following a low-carb diet, and 16 following a healthy high-carb diet. What would their hearts look like at the end of the year? We can talk about risk factors all we want, but compared to the veg group, did the coronary heart disease of the patients following the Atkins-like diets improve, worsen, or stay the same?
Those sticking to the vegetarian diet showed a reversal of their heart disease, as expected. Their partially clogged arteries literally got cleaned out. They had 20% less atherosclerotic plaque in their arteries at the end of the year than at the beginning. What happened to those who abandoned the treatment diet, and switched over to the low-carb diet? Their condition significantly worsened. 40 to 50% more artery clogging at the end of the year. Thanks to the kind generosity of Dr. Fleming, we can actually see the changes in blood flow for ourselves.
Here are some representative heart scans. The yellow, and particularly red, represent blood flow through the coronary arteries to the heart muscle. This patient went on a plant-based diet, and their coronary arteries opened right up, increasing blood flow. This person, however, started out with good flow, but after a year on a low-carb diet, significantly clogged down their arterial blood flow.
This is the best science to date demonstrating the threat of low-carb diets, not just measuring risk factors, but actual blood flow in people’s hearts on different diets. Of course, the reason we care about cardiac blood flow is we don’t want to die. And, a meta-analysis was recently published that finally went ahead and measured the ultimate endpoint, death, and “low-[carb] diets were associated with a significantly higher risk of all-cause mortality”—meaning low-carbers living a significantly shorter lifespan.
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Adam Rose Jail Release Update.
According to PWInsider.com, Raymond Leppan (WWE’s Adam Rose) has been released from jail this afternoon at around 4:00 EST after making bond (Reportedly $1000).
As we reported earlier, he is set to have another court date later in June. He was told by the judge that he has to attend weekly counselling sessions with his pastor until he goes back to court. This came after the report today of his wife asking the judge not to place a retraining order on him. Where you can find more details at below:
[irp posts=”11928″ name=”Update On Adam Rose’s Thursday Court Appearance”]
Rose remains suspended from the WWE until his court case is resolved. If he is found guilty of the charges his contract is automatically terminated.
We will update you with anything more that comes about! Including future statements made by Rose or the WWE in the upcoming days. |
A 12-year-old Spanish boy who set up a website to promote his brass band has accidentally racked up a bill of 100,000 euros in advertising fees.
In August, Jose Javier - from the city of Torrevieja - created an account with AdWords, a Google pay-per-click service.
He was under the impression people clicking on the adverts would earn him money.
But instead he was charged every time someone clicked on the link.
Google has now said it won't make him pay the fee.
More related stories When businesses mess up
The company realised that "it was all a mistake and that he did it without thinking," a Google spokeswoman said Wednesday.
"A 12-year-old boy doesn't want to start spending 100,000 euros."
Jose's mother Inma Quesada told the El Pais daily that her son "wanted to buy instruments" for his band Los Salerosos (loosely translated as "The Salties"), in which he plays the trumpet.
A savings account had been opened in the boy's name and he used those details when signing up for AdWords.
A 12-year-old boy doesn't want to start spending 100,000 euros Google spokeswoman
His parents only realised what was going on when the bank called them to let them know about the charges.
AdWords puts advertising higher up Google's search results and on other websites.
The advertiser only pays when someone clicks on one of these links.
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Rachel Jeantel, star witness in the Trayvon Martin murder trial, was asked in Seminole Circuit Court in Sanford, Florida this week to read from a letter that she allegedly "wrote" to Mr. Martin's mother. The letter detailed what Ms. Jeantel allegedly heard while on the phone with the late Mr. Martin moments before he was fatally shot by 29-year-old defendant George Zimmerman.
However, when prompted in court, Ms. Jeantel couldn't read that letter.
Though she pored over the page, Ms. Jeantel could not, in fact, read one word outside her own name, the date, and the words "thank you."
In explaining her difficulties, Ms. Jeantel, a 19-year-old rising senior at Miami Norland High School, claimed, "I can't read cursive."
The heartbreaking spectacle of Ms. Jeantel being unable to read her own words in this most public of murder trials -- an admission that could damage the appeal of this critical witness -- brought tears to my eyes. I felt her shame and helplessness so profoundly that I had to look deeper.
How could a 19-year-old woman, raised in America's public education system -- on the verge of graduating high school no less -- be unable to read her own words? Surely, Ms. Jeantel must have been nervous and distraught from having to testify about an emotionally difficult subject under cross-examination in a packed, charged courtroom -- with millions watching via TV -- while still mourning the loss of her late "friend." Surely, it must truthfully be a case where Ms. Jeantel cannot read handwriting, but can read non-cursive writing. After all, most students in the digital age are not taught handwriting anymore. Surely, her courtroom difficulties were not because she is unable to read her own writing in any form.
And, surely, in a country, in an age, where we hear daily exhortations that America must no longer pass along those failing to keep up, in an America of No Child Left Behind, Race to the Top, and the wide embrace of Common Core standards, surely in this America, Obama's America, we would never again allow any of our precious children to make it all the way to senior year of high school unable to read their own words. Surely, we would never again tolerate such "soft bigotry of low expectations."
Right?
Wrong.
According to several news reports, and the comments of several black leaders, it is distinctly possible that Ms. Jeantel cannot consistently read standard English at any level, let alone the grade level we demand as a requirement for graduation. That does not mean Ms. Jeantel is completely illiterate. After all, say her vociferous defenders, she does have a suddenly scrubbed Twitter account. Moreover, we've learned that she speaks Spanish and Haitian Creole.
However, Ms. Jeantel's command of written English is shaky at best. That is not even open to debate, especially after we learned that the letter she "wrote" was actually dictated by Ms. Jeantel to someone else.
How can this be? How did this happen?
First, we should look to Ms. Jeantel. Surely somewhere in the last 14 or so years of public schooling, she has had a chance to learn basic reading.
Nevertheless, in all such cases of gross academic and cultural failure, there is a wider cast of culprits. Naturally, this starts with the Miami-Dade County principals, teachers, and counselors, who year after year seemed to have passed Ms Jeantel along. And there's the district superintendent, and other education personnel, who clearly failed to monitor her progress, set clear bright lines for excellence, and provide meaningful carrots and, yes, sticks, to insure that excellence.
And one also has to blame the Trayvon Martin legal team, who put the last person on earth (besides George Zimmerman) to talk with Trayvon Martin on the witness stand for two days and never once previously checked whether she could read the very letter she had dictated. Is that because they thought it would be "culturally insensitive" or "racist" to ascertain whether Rachel Jeantel could read? Is not their failure to perform this minor bit of due diligence -- and to take pains in the year and a quarter since Mr. Martin's tragic death to insure that Ms. Jeantel could publicly read just one short document -- grounds for legal malpractice?
Regardless of your political, ethnic or pedagogical persuasion, if you want to know what's wrong with American education, you simply have to look at how Rachel Jeantel was passed along every step of the way right down to the most important two days in her life. Now when she could have done the most good for the departed Trayvon Martin and his devastated family, her vital testimoney was undercut.
There are many parties to this travesty, but ultimately the blame rests with us. We are enabling such abject educational failure by not caring enough to enforce our own edicts for excellence. We are to blame because we would rather give a passing grade for just showing up, instead of doing the far harder and politically courageous thing: denying the sundry perks of modern America -- all kinds of government assistance, a drivers license, a cell phone, a Twitter account, the right to "get high" -- unless you get your academic act together. That's what real compassion, real parenting, real leadership is about. |
The 9/11 advance-knowledge conspiracy theories center on arguments that certain institutions or individuals had foreknowledge of the September 11 attacks in the United States in 2001.
Some of the primary concerns include whether the Bush administration or the United States Armed Forces had awareness of the planned attack methods, the precise volume of intelligence that American agencies had regarding al-Qaeda activities inside the United States, whether the put options placed on United Airlines and American Airlines and other trades indicate foreknowledge, and why the identities of the traders have never been made public.
Additional facets of the conspiracy theories include debate as to whether warnings received from foreign agencies were specific enough to have warranted preventative action, whether domestic intelligence about planned al-Qaeda attacks was thorough enough to have mandated intervention, the extent to which the alleged hijackers were under surveillance prior to the attacks, and whether Mossad or the Pakistani Inter-Services Intelligence were aware of an imminent attack.
Using planes as missiles [ edit ]
Immediately following the attacks, President George W. Bush stated that: "Nobody in our government at least, and I don't think the prior government, could envisage flying air planes into buildings" and National Security Advisor Condoleezza Rice claimed: "no-one could have predicted that they would try to use an airplane as a missile". An Air Force general called the attack: "something we had never seen before, something we had never even thought of."[1] A few days after the attacks, FBI Director Robert Mueller announced: "There were no warning signs that I'm aware of that would indicate this type of operation in the country."[2] However, Mueller noted that an FBI agent in Minneapolis said Moussaoui might be "that type of person that could fly something into the World Trade Center."[3] Mueller said this warning should have been followed more vigorously.
Some mainstream media reports have conflicted with these statements, claiming that the FBI, CIA and Executive Branch[4] knew of the threat of planes being used as missiles as early as 1995, following the foiling of the Bojinka Plot. In September 2002, one year after the 9/11 attacks, The Chicago Sun-Times reported that:
The FBI had advance indications of plans to hijack U.S. airliners and use them as weapons, but neither acted on them nor distributed the intelligence to local police agencies. From the moment of the September 11 attacks, all high-ranking federal officials insisted that the terrorists' method of operation surprised them. Many continue to stick to that story. Actually, elements of the suicide hijacking plan were known to the FBI as early as 1995 and, if coupled with current information, might have uncovered the plot.
The book The Terror Timeline includes numerous articles that are often cited to suggest that the method of flying planes into buildings was known by U.S. officials:[5]
In 1994, there were three examples of failed attempts to deliberately crash planes ito buildings, including one where a lone pilot crashed a small plane into the lawn of the White House. [6]
The Bojinka Plot was a foiled large-scale al-Qaeda terrorist attack to blow up eleven airliners and their passengers as they flew from Asia to America, due to take place in January 1995.
The 2000 edition of the FAA's annual report on Criminal Acts Against Aviation said that although Osama bin Laden 'is not known to have attacked civil aviation, he has both the motivation and the wherewithal to do so,' adding, 'Bin Laden's anti-Western and anti-American attitudes make him and his followers a significant threat to civil aviation, particularly to U.S. civil aviation.'"
In April 2001, NORAD ran a war game in which the Pentagon was to become incapacitated; a NORAD planner proposed the simulated crash of a hijacked foreign commercial airliner into the Pentagon, but the Joints Chiefs of Staff rejected that scenario as "too unrealistic" [7] [8]
In July 2001 at the G8 summit in Genoa, anti-aircraft missile batteries were installed following a report that terrorists would try to crash a plane to kill George Bush and other world leaders. [9]
On the morning of September 11, 2001, the National Reconnaissance Office, which is responsible for operating U.S. reconnaissance satellites, had scheduled an exercise simulating the crashing of an aircraft into their building, 4 miles (6 km) from Washington Dulles International Airport.[10]
A 2004 USA Today article, "NORAD had drills of jets as weapons," describes pre-9/11 NORAD drills that suggest they were prepared for such an attack as happened on 9/11:
In the two years before the September 11 attacks, the North American Aerospace Defense Command conducted exercises simulating what the White House says was unimaginable at the time: hijacked airliners used as weapons to crash into targets and cause mass casualties. One of the imagined targets was the World Trade Center. In another exercise, jets performed a mock shootdown over the Atlantic Ocean of a jet supposedly laden with chemical poisons headed toward a target in the United States. In a third scenario, the target was the Pentagon — but that drill was not run after Defense officials said it was unrealistic.[7]
That NORAD was aware of the threat of terrorists hijacking commercial airliners within the United States, and using them as guided missiles, was flatly denied by the 9/11 Commission, which asserted several times in their report that "The threat of terrorists hijacking commercial airliners within the United States – and using them as guided missiles – was not recognized by NORAD before 9/11."
The Joint Inquiry of 2002 confirmed that the Intelligence Community had received at least twelve reports over a seven-year period suggesting that terrorists might use planes as weapons. After briefly discussing each of them, it says that "The CIA disseminated several of these reports to the FBI and to agencies responsible for preventive actions. They included the FAA... Despite these reports, the Intelligence Community did not produce any assessments of the likelihood that terrorists would use planes as weapons, and U.S. policymakers apparently remained unaware of this kind of potential threat."[11] Former National Security Advisor Sandy Berger testified to the Joint Inquiry:
We heard of the idea of planes as weapons, but I don't recall being presented with any specific threat information about an attack of this nature, or highlighting this threat, or indicating it was more likely than any other[12]
Insider trading [ edit ]
The Times reported on September 18 that investigations were under way into the unusually large numbers of shares in insurance companies and airlines sold off before the attack, in the UK, Italy, Germany, Japan, Switzerland, France and the US.[13][14] News accounts in the weeks that followed reported a notable pattern of trading in the options of United and American Airlines[15] as well as Morgan Stanley and other market activity.[16] An article published in The Journal of Business in 2006 provides statistical evidence of unusual put option market activity days before 9/11:
Examination of the option trading leading up to September 11 reveals that there was an unusually high level of put buying. This finding is consistent with informed investors having traded options before the attacks.[17]
In a statement to the 9/11 Commission in 2003, Mindy Kleinberg, of the 9/11 Family Steering Committee, said:
Never before on the Chicago Exchange were such large amounts of United and American Airlines options traded. These investors netted a profit of at least $5 million after the September 11 attacks. Interestingly, the names of the investors remain undisclosed and the $5 million remains unclaimed in the Chicago Exchange account.[18]
The 9/11 Commission Report concluded that "Exhaustive investigations by the Securities and Exchange Commission, FBI, and other agencies have uncovered no evidence that anyone with advance knowledge of the attacks profited through securities transactions."[19] The report further stated:
Highly publicized allegations of insider trading in advance of 9/11 generally rest on reports of unusual pre-9/11 trading activity in companies whose stock plummeted after the attacks. Some unusual trading did in fact occur, but each such trade proved to have an innocuous explanation. For example, the volume of put options — investments that pay off only when a stock drops in price — surged in the parent companies of United Airlines on September 6 and American Airlines on September 10 — highly suspicious trading on its face. Yet, further investigation has revealed that the trading had no connection with 9/11. A single U.S.-based institutional investor with no conceivable ties to al Qaeda purchased 95 percent of the UAL puts on September 6 as part of a trading strategy that also included buying 115,000 shares of American on September 10. Similarly, much of the seemingly suspicious trading in American on September 10 was traced to a specific U.S.-based options trading newsletter, faxed to its subscribers on Sunday, September 9, which recommended these trades. These examples typify the evidence examined by the investigation. The SEC and the FBI, aided by other agencies and the securities industry, devoted enormous resources to investigating this issue, including securing the cooperation of many foreign governments. These investigators have found that the apparently suspicious consistently proved innocuous.[20]
WTC hard drive restoration operation [ edit ]
In December 2001 and early 2002, there was extensive media coverage of the efforts by the German data retrieval company Convar to reconstruct, using laser scanning technology, data from damaged hard drives recovered from the WTC as part of the investigation into a surge in financial transactions just before the two hijacked planes crashed into New York's World Trade Center.[21] The company's CEO, Peter Henschel, noting that the investigation was being conducted for a number of U.S. based clients cooperating with the FBI, said that there was suspicion that criminals had used inside knowledge about the attacks to make and authorize financial transactions during the chaos. According to Convar's data retrieval expert Richard Wagner, criminal transactions in excess of 100 million dollars could have been made in the hope that their trail would have disappeared as a result of the destruction of the WTC mainframe computers.[22][23] As reported by the Heute Journal, a news programme by the German ZDF TV channel, by March 2002 Convar had been able to restore several hundred hard drives from the WTC.[24]
However, the 9/11 Commission, in a memorandum entitled "FBI Briefing on Trading" dated October 18, 2003, said that when asked about the media coverage of the hard drive restoration operation, the "assembled [FBI] agents expressed no knowledge of the reported hard-drive recovery effort", further noting that one New York agent argued that it was "extremely unlikely that any hard-drives survived to the extent that they data [sic] be recovered."[25]
Later research [ edit ]
The papers of several finance researchers also suggest that some profited from foreknowledge of 9/11. In 2006, Allen Poteshman, a professor of Finance from the University of Illinois, published an analysis of the airline stock option trades preceding the attacks. This peer-reviewed study, published by the University of Chicago Press, came to the conclusion that an indicator of long put volume was "unusually high which is consistent with informed investors having traded in the option market in advance of the attacks".[26] In January 2010, a team of Swiss financial experts published evidence for at least thirteen informed trades in which the investors had apparent foreknowledge of the attacks.[27] Finally, in April 2010, an international team of experts showed that there was a significant abnormal increase in trading volume in the option market just before the 9/11 attacks in contrast to the absence of abnormal trading volume over periods long before the attacks, concluding that their findings were "consistent with insiders anticipating the 9-11 attacks".[28]
Intelligence warnings [ edit ]
The 9/11 Commission Report states that "the 9/11 attacks were a shock, but they should not have come as a surprise. Islamic extremists had given plenty of warnings that they meant to kill Americans indiscriminately and in large numbers."[29] The report continued:
During the spring and summer of 2001, U.S. intelligence agencies received a stream of warnings about an attack al-Qaeda planned, as one report puts it "something very, very, very big." Director of Central Intelligence George Tenet told us "the system was blinking red."[30]
The US administration, CIA and FBI received multiple prior warnings from foreign governments and intelligence services, including France, Germany, the UK, Israel, Jordan, Afghanistan, Egypt, Morocco and Russia.[5][31] The warnings varied in their level of detail, but all stated that they believed an al-Qaeda attack inside the United States was imminent. British Member of Parliament Michael Meacher cites these warnings, suggesting that some of them must have been deliberately ignored.[32] Some of these warnings include the following:
March 2001 – Italian intelligence warns of an al-Qaeda plot in the United States involving a massive strike involving aircraft, based on their wiretap of al-Qaeda cell in Milan.
July 2001 – Jordanian intelligence told US officials that al-Qaeda was planning an attack on American soil, and Egyptian intelligence warned the CIA that 20 al-Qaeda Jihadists were in the United States, and that four of them were receiving flight training.
August 2001 – The Israeli Mossad gives the CIA a list of 19 terrorists living in the US and says that they appear to be planning to carry out an attack in the near future.
August 2001 – The United Kingdom is warned three times of an imminent al-Qaeda attack in the United States, the third specifying multiple airplane hijackings. According to the Sunday Herald, the report is passed on to President Bush a short time later.
September 2001 – Egyptian intelligence warns American officials that al-Qaeda is in the advanced stages of executing a significant operation against an American target, probably within the US.
Able Danger [ edit ]
A classified military intelligence program known as "Able Danger" was created in October 1999 specifically targeting al-Qaeda. Lt. Col. Anthony Shaffer and Congressman Curt Weldon (R-PA) charged before the Senate Judiciary Committee that Able Danger had identified Mohamed Atta, and three of the other hijackers, prior to 9/11.
The existence of Able Danger, and its purported early identification of the 9/11 terrorists, was first disclosed publicly on June 19, 2005.[33] On June 27, 2005, Weldon stated to the House:
Mr. Speaker, I rise because information has come to my attention over the past several months that is very disturbing. I have learned that, in fact, one of our Federal agencies had, in fact, identified the major New York cell of Mohamed Atta prior to 9/11; and I have learned, Mr. Speaker, that in September 2000, that Federal agency actually was prepared to bring the FBI in and prepared to work with the FBI to take down the cell that Mohamed Atta was involved in in New York City, along with two of the other terrorists. I have also learned, Mr. Speaker, that when that recommendation was discussed within that Federal agency, the lawyers in the administration at that time said, you cannot pursue contact with the FBI against that cell. Mohamed Atta is in the U.S. on a green card, and we are fearful of the fallout from the Waco incident. So we did not allow that Federal agency to proceed.[34]
There is no mention of Able Danger in the 9/11 Commission Report. Two 9/11 Commission members, Timothy J. Roemer and John F. Lehman, both claimed not to have received any information on Able Danger.[35] Weldon alleged that intelligence concerning Able Danger was provided to the 9/11 Commission but was ignored.[36]
Following coverage in the national media of Weldon's claims in August 2005, Thomas Kean and Lee H. Hamilton, former Chair and Vice Chair of the 9/11 Commission, issued a statement[37] in which they stated the Commission had been aware of the Able Danger program, and requested and obtained information about it from the Department of Defense (DoD), but none of the information provided had indicated the program had identified Atta or other 9/11 hijackers.[38][39]
Curt Weldon issued a response to this statement clarifying the mission of Able Danger, expressing concern over the statements made by various members of the 9/11 Commission, and promising to push forward until it is understood why the DoD was unable to pass the information uncovered by Able Danger to the FBI, and why the 9/11 Commission failed to follow up on the information they were given on Able Danger.[40]
al-Qaeda investigations [ edit ]
Numerous whistleblowers and officials have surfaced, claiming that there was a deliberate effort, from high-ranking officials, to prevent investigations into al-Qaeda.[citation needed]
In 2002, FBI agent Coleen Rowley wrote to FBI director Robert Mueller describing her experience working with Minneapolis FBI agents tracking suspected terrorist Zacarias Moussaoui prior to the attacks.[41] She describes how FBI HQ personnel in Washington, D.C. had mishandled and failed to take action on information provided by the Minneapolis Field Office, and had failed to issue a warrant to search Moussaui's computer despite having probable cause.[42][unreliable source?] Senator Chuck Grassley later wrote that "If the application for the FISA warrant had gone forward, agents would have found information in Moussaoui's belongings that linked him ... to a major financier of the hijacking plot". Rowley was credited as a whistleblower and jointly awarded the TIME Magazine "Person of the Year" for 2002. Her testimony to the 9/11 Commission was omitted from their final report.[citation needed]
FBI agent and al-Qaeda expert John P. O'Neill warned of an al-Qaeda threat to the United States in 2000. He retired from his position in mid-2001, citing repeated blocking of his investigations of al-Qaeda by FBI officials. After his retirement from the FBI, the World Trade Center hired him as its chief of security. He started work on August 23, 2001; 9/11 rescue workers found his body in a staircase inside the south tower rubble.[43]
Shortly after the attacks, David Schippers, the chief prosecutor for the impeachment of Bill Clinton, stated that the government had been warned in 1995 about a future attack on a government building and that later he was contacted by three FBI agents who mentioned uncovering a possible terrorist attack planned for lower Manhattan.[44] According to Schippers, as the agents informed their superiors, they were briefed not to pursue the issue and were threatened with prosecution. Schippers declared, "Five weeks before the September 11 tragedy, I did my best to get a hold of Attorney General John Ashcroft with my concerns." According to Schippers, Ashcroft responded that the Justice Department does not start investigations at the top. Author William Norman Grigg agrees with Schippers in his article "Did We Know What Was Coming?" According to the article, three unnamed veteran federal law enforcement agents confirmed "the information provided to Schippers was widely known within the Bureau before September 11."[45]
According to Senator Bob Graham, who was chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee from June 2001 through the buildup to the Iraq war, "Two of the September 11, 2001, hijackers had a support network in the United States that included agents of the Saudi government, and the Bush administration and FBI blocked a congressional investigation into that relationship," as reported by the Miami Herald. And in Graham's book, Intelligence Matters, he makes clear that some details of that financial support from Saudi Arabia were in the 27 pages of the congressional inquiry's final report that were blocked from release by the administration, despite the pleas of leaders of both parties on the House and Senate intelligence committees."[46] In March 2012 as part of a lawsuit by 9/11 victims families Graham and another former U.S. Senator Bob Kerrey said in affidavits that they were certain there were direct links between the Saudi government and the attacks.[47]
There have also been allegations that the hijackers' preparations may have been given assistance by U.S. intelligence. According to CBS News, "two of the Sept. 11 hijackers who lived in San Diego in 2000 rented a room from a man who reportedly worked as an undercover FBI informant... the FBI informant prayed with them and even helped one open a bank account."[48] Doubts have been raised about the speed with which the hijackers were identified, leading to suggestions that the FBI already had the names of the hijackers in advance. In his book Against All Enemies, Richard Clarke said that at 9:59 am on September 11, which is the time when WTC2 collapsed and 8 minutes before NORAD even knew Flight 93 had been hijacked, the FBI already had a list of the 19 alleged hijackers.[49] A former high-level intelligence official said that "Whatever trail was left was left deliberately—for the F.B.I. to chase."[50]
Foreign government foreknowledge [ edit ]
It has been suggested that some foreign governments and intelligence agencies may have had some foreknowledge of the attacks.
Iran [ edit ]
Sibel Edmonds, an FBI translator, was told by another translator that the FBI received information in April 2001, from a reliable Iranian intelligence asset, that Osama Bin Laden was planning attacks on 4–5 cities with planes, and that some of the plotters were already in the country and the attacks would happen in a few months. The translator described the interviewing agents' reaction that the warnings were not specific enough to act upon.[51][52]
In 2004 the 9/11 Commission "found no evidence that Iran or Hezbollah was aware of the planning for what later became the 9/11 attack." Just before their report was published the committee received evidence which caused to add to the report that the topic required further investigation.[53]
On December 22, 2010, a United States Federal Judge signed a default judgment holding Iran, the Taliban and al-Qaeda liable following an open court hearing in which the evidence was produced by the plaintiffs' attorneys which they said showed that Iran assisted the hijackers. 9/11 commission members and witnesses who claimed they were Iranian defectors and members of Ministry of Intelligence and National Security and the Iranian Revolutionary Guards also testified during the hearing. The suit Havlish, et al. v. bin Laden, et al was brought in 2001 by Fiona Havlish whose husband died in the North Tower. Abolghasem Mesbahi, who claimed he was a former Ministry of Intelligence operative in charge of Iran's espionage operations in Western Europe testified that he was part of a task force that designed contingency plans for unconventional warfare against the United States code-named Shaitan dar Atash/Satan in Flames which included crashing hijacked passenger airliners into the World Trade Center, the Pentagon, and the White House, and that in the summer of 2001 he received three coded messages telling him to activate the plan. An Iranian government memorandum was presented as evidence that Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei had pre knowledge of the attacks.[54][55] Several days after the ruling a spokesperson for Iran's Foreign ministry said charges that Iran "had a hand in planning the attacks and that one of al-Qaeda's members was present inside the country is baseless" and said "With the repetition of such claims to back its political aims the U.S. is putting the peace and security of the world in jeopardy,".[56]
In February 2012 President Obama's Director of National Intelligence James Clapper testified before the Senate Armed Services Committee that "Iran has harbored al-Qaida leaders, facilitators," and that they have been "under house arrest conditions. (Iran's rulers) have had this sort of standoff arrangement with al-Qaida, allowing (al-Qaida) to exist (inside Iran), but not to foment any operations directly from Iran, because they're very sensitive about, 'Hey, we might come after them there as well.'... So there has been this longstanding, as I say, kind of, shotgun marriage, or marriage of convenience."[53]
Israel [ edit ]
It was reported that the Mossad informed the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) in August 2001 that as many as 200 terrorists were slipping into the United States and planning "a major assault on the United States." The Israeli intelligence agency allegedly cautioned the FBI that it had picked up indications of a "large-scale target" in the United States and that Americans would be "very vulnerable."[57]
In September 2001, The New York Times and Israeli newspaper Haaretz reported that four hours after the attack, the FBI arrested five Israelis who had been filming the smoking skyline from the roof of a white van in the parking lot of an apartment building, for "puzzling behavior". They were charged with illegally residing in the United States and working there without permits. The Israelis were said to have been videotaping the disaster with what was interpreted as cries of "joy and mockery".[58][59] Police found the van and a search revealed $4,700 in cash hidden, along with foreign passports and a boxcutter which aroused suspicions and led to the detention of the occupants. The men were held in detention for more than 2 months, during which time they were subjected to interrogation and lie detector tests, before being deported back to Israel; one of the men (Paul Kurzberg) refused to take the test for 10 weeks, and then failed it.[60]
The five men worked at the company Urban Moving Systems, owned and operated by Dominik Suter. After the men were arrested the FBI searched their offices and questioned Suter, however Suter fled to Israel before he could be questioned further. Eventually, Suter's name appeared on the May 2002 FBI Suspect List, along with the Sep 11 hijackers and other suspected extremists.[61][full citation needed]
According to a former CIA chief of operations for counterterrorism Vince Cannistraro, there was speculation that Urban Moving Systems may have been a front for an intelligence operation investigating fund-raising networks channeling money to Hamas and Islamic Jihad. On March 15, 2002, The Jewish Daily Forward claimed that the FBI had concluded that the van's driver, Paul Kurzberg, and his brother Sivan, were indeed Mossad operatives, who were in America "spying on local Arabs".[62] ABC news cited this report on June 21, 2002, adding that the FBI had concluded that the five Israelis had no foreknowledge of the attacks.[63]
In March 2001, the US Office of the National Counterintelligence Executive had issued a warning about people identifying themselves as "Israeli art students" attempting to bypass security and gain entry to federal buildings, and even to the private residences of senior federal officials. A French intelligence agency later noted "according to the FBI, Arab terrorists and suspected terror cells lived in Phoenix, Arizona, as well as in Miami and Hollywood, Florida, from December 2000 to April 2001 in direct proximity to the Israeli spy cells". The report contended that Mossad agents were spying on Mohammed Atta and Marwan al-Shehi, two of leaders of the 9/11 hijack teams.[64][65][66][67] In 2002 several officials dismissed reports of a spy ring and said the allegations were made by a Drug Enforcement Administration agent who was angry that his theories had been dismissed.[68]
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said in an August 2010 speech that no "Zionists" were killed in the attacks since, according to him, "one day earlier they were told not go to their workplace." He also remarked, "What was the story of September 11? During five to six days, and with the aid of the media, they created and prepared public opinion so that everyone considered an attack on Afghanistan and Iraq".[69] However, contrary to such conspiracy theories about Jews being warned not to go to work that day, the number of Jews who died in the attacks is variously estimated at between 270 and 400,[70][71][72] while a few Israelis died in the attack as well.[73]
France [ edit ]
On December 5, 2007, French authorities filed preliminary charges against Guillaume Dasquié, a reporter for the daily Le Monde, for publishing state secrets related to the 9/11 hijackings. Dasquié's April 16 article in Le Monde, titled "September 11: the French had long known" reported that the General Directorate of External Security (DGSE), had warned the U.S. of a possible terrorist plot that involved al-Qaeda hijacking planes and crashing them into buildings some eight months before 9/11. The article contained excerpts from a 328-page classified DGSE report on al-Qaeda activities which included maps, analyses, graphics, and satellite photos.[74]
Afghanistan [ edit ]
Moderate elements of the Taliban are reported to have given the USA advance warning of the attacks.[75] The BBC reports that Wakil Ahmed Muttawakil, the Taliban's Foreign Minister, sent the USA an advance warning of the attack following a tip-off he received from Tohir Yo'ldosh, the leader of the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan. Like al-Qaeda, the Taliban allowed the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan to place training camps in Afghanistan. Tohir Yo'ldosh was reported to have been concerned that if al-Qaeda was not stopped prior to launching the attacks, the USA would retaliate against all of Afghanistan, which would have a negative effect on his movement's efforts.
Possible warnings given to individuals [ edit ]
There have been claims that some individuals received warnings in advance of the attacks.[76]
Other related events [ edit ]
On September 6, 2001, a freshman from a class of Pakistani immigrants at New Utrecht High School in Bensonhurst, Brooklyn was overheard by his English teacher, Antoinette DiLorenzo, to say that the two World Trade Center towers "won't be standing there next week." After DiLorenzo reported the incident on September 13, the youth and his older brother were questioned by the FBI and local police. According to police, the youth admitted to making the comment but he and his brother said he had been kidding.[89]
Kurt Sonnenfeld, a former videographer for the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) who documented the aftermath of the attacks at the World Trade Center complex, claims that he has videotapes proving that U.S. government officials had prior knowledge of the 9/11 attacks. Sonnenfeld is currently living in Argentina, where Denver police are seeking his extradition on charges of murdering his wife.[90]
On August 30, 2001, an online posting was made with the subject "911". It warned, "Something is going to happen tomorrow . . . REPENT!" On September 4, 2001, the author of the first message, "Xinoehpoel" wrote, "Wait 7 days". This was dismissed by people reading the discussion at the time, but seven days after the message, on September 11, the World Trade Center and the Pentagon were attacked.[91]
See also [ edit ] |
The rise and fall of acid rain is a global experiment whose results are preserved in the geologic record.
By analyzing samples from the Greenland ice sheet, University of Washington atmospheric scientists found clear evidence of the U.S. Clean Air Act. They also discovered a link between air acidity and how nitrogen is preserved in layers of snow, according to a paper published this week in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
Forty-five years ago, acid rain was killing fish and dissolving stone monuments on the East Coast. Air pollution rose beginning with the Industrial Revolution and started to improve when the U.S. Clean Air Act of 1970 required coal power plants and other polluters to scrub sulfur out of their smokestacks.
UW researchers began their study of ice cores interested in smog, not acid rain. They discovered a link between the two forms of pollution in the geologic record.
Nitrogen is emitted as a short-lived compound, NOx, which causes ground-level ozone, the main ingredient in smog, and relates to compounds that are the "detergent" of the atmosphere. Sources of NOx include smokestacks and vehicle tailpipes, as well as wildfires, soil microbes or reactions triggered by lightning strikes.
Teasing out the sources of NOx through history might tell us about the atmosphere of the past, how methane, ozone and other chemicals change in the atmosphere, and also provide a measure of global human emissions.
"How much the nitrate concentrations in ice core records can tell about NOx and the chemistry in the past atmosphere is a longstanding question in the ice-core community," said lead author Lei Geng, a UW postdoctoral researcher in atmospheric sciences.
Unlike other gases, short-lived NOx can't be measured directly from air bubbles trapped in ice cores. Within a day or two most of the NOx changes into nitrate, a water-soluble molecule essential to life that gets deposited in soil and snow.
Earlier research by co-author Eric Steig, a UW professor of Earth and space sciences, suggested that comparing amounts of the two stable forms of nitrogen - nitrogen-15 and nitrogen-14 - in nitrate could pinpoint the emission sources of NOx. Ice cores from Greenland and North American lake sediments showed the nitrogen-15 ratio gradually decreasing since 1850, suggesting a corresponding rise in human emissions.
The new research says: not so fast. The detailed measurements of nitrate, NOx and sulfur show the nitrogen isotope ratio leveling off in 1970, and suggests that ratio is sensitive to the same chemicals that cause acid rain.
"This shows that the relationship between emissions and the isotopes is less direct than we thought, and the final signal recorded in the Greenland ice cores is actually not just the nitrogen emission, but the combined effect of sulfur and nitrogen emissions," Steig said.
The ice cores used in the study were collected in 2007 at Summit Station, Greenland. Total amounts of nitrate for each year were measured and calculated at South Dakota State University, where Geng did his doctoral work. The different forms, or isotopes, were measured in UW's IsoLab. Geng's work showed that the long-term decrease in the nitrogen-15 isotope since 1850, and its leveling off in 1970, are linked to changes in air chemistry. Airborne nitrate can exist as a gas or a particle, and nitrate with lighter isotopes tends to exist as a gas. But he found that the total fraction of nitrate present as gas or particle varies with the acidity of the atmosphere, and the acidic air causes more of the light isotopes to exist as a gas.
"The isotope records really closely follow the atmospheric acidity trends," said co-author Becky Alexander, a UW associate professor of atmospheric sciences. "You can really see the effect of the Clean Air Act in 1970, which had the most dramatic impact on emission of acid from coal-fired power plants."
What's more, airborne nitrate dissolves in water and falls at the poles as snow. While that snow sits on the ground, sunlight bouncing off the surface triggers chemical reactions that send some of it back into a gas form. Acid air can also influence the reactivity of nitrate in snow and thus the preservation of nitrate in ice cores.
Other ice core records might also be affected by acidity in air, Alexander said. No effect would be expected for stable gases like carbon dioxide and oxygen, or for the water molecules used to calculate temperature variations through time. But acidity in air could influence deposition and preservation of other volatile compounds such as chlorine, mercury or organic materials in ice cores.
Eventually, better understanding of the air chemistry during formation of the layers could allow researchers to correct for the effect, extracting better information of the past from these compounds in the geologic record.
###
The research was funded by the National Science Foundation. Other co-authors are Eric Sofen and Andrew Schauer at the UW, Jihong Cole-Dai at South Dakota State University and Joël Savarino at University of Grenoble in France.
For more information, contact Geng at 206-543-4596 and [email protected], Alexander at 206-543-0164 or [email protected] or Steig at 206-685-3715 or [email protected].
Note for reporters: The lead author of the earlier study is Meredith Hastings, now at Brown University. |
WATCH: @Nigel_Farage tells @susannareid100 it was a 'mistake' for Leave to claim there'd be £350M a week for NHShttps://t.co/JNkl5k8IlK — Good Morning Britain (@GMB) June 24, 2016
Nigel Farage, head of the UK Independence Party, and #Brexit advocate, in the wake of the reality of England’s exit from the EU, is feeling a little fear-mongers’ remorse, Mediaite reports.
Farage after the Brexit: “Dare to dream that the dawn is breaking on an independent United Kingdom.”
Farage hours after, while being roasted by ITV’s Susana Reid, sang a different tune.
“The 350 million pounds a week we send to the EU, which we will no longer send to the EU, can you guarantee that’s going to go to the NHS?” asked Reid.
“No I can’t, and I never would have made that claim,” Farage said. “One of the mistakes that the Leave campaign made…”
“That was one of the Leave campaign adverts! That that money was going to go to NHS! That’s why people — many people — voted!” Reid annihilated.
“They made a mistake in doing that,” admitted Farage.
“You’re saying after 17 million people have voted for Leave, based — I don’t know how many people voted on the basis of that advert, but that was a huge part of the propaganda — you’re now saying that’s a mistake?” Reid pressed.
“You must understand, I was ostracized by the official Leave campaign,” oozed Farage.
“Do you think there are other things people are going to wake up this morning and find out aren’t going to happen as a result of voting this way?” Reid asked.
We’re doomed.
Featured image via screengrab |
Cross-posted at Montclair SocioBlog.
If a person thinks that the media are infiltrating his mind and controlling his thoughts and behavior, we consider him a nutjob, and we recommend professional help and serious meds. But if a person thinks that the media are infiltrating other people’s minds and affecting their behavior, we call him or her an astute social observer, one eminently qualified to give speeches or write op-eds.
The previous post dwelt on economist Isabel Sawhill’s Washington Post op-ed channeling Dan Quayle, particularly Quayle’s speech asserting that a TV sitcom was wielding a strong effect on people’s decisions — not just decisions like Pepsi vs. Coke, but decisions like whether to have a baby.
That was Quayle, this is now. Still, our current vice-president can sometimes resemble his counterpart of two decades ago. Just a last month, Joe Biden echoed the Quayle idea on the power of sitcoms. On “Meet the Press,” in response to David Gregory’s question about gay marriage, Biden said that “this is evolving” and added:
And by the way, my measure, David, and I take a look at when things really begin to change, is when the social culture changes. I think “Will and Grace” probably did more to educate the American public than almost anything anybody’s ever done so far.
“Will and Grace” ran for eight seasons, 1998-2006. Its strongest years were 2001-2005, when it was the top rated show among the 18-49 crowd. Biden could point to General Social Survey (GSS) data on the gay marriage question. In 1988, ten years before “Will and Grace,” the GSS asked about gay marriage. Only 12% supported it, 73% opposed it. The question was asked again in 2004, six years into the W+G era. Support had more than doubled, and it continued to rise in subsequent years.
We don’t know just when in that 18-year period, 1988-2004, things “really began to change.” Fortunately, the GSS more regularly asked the respondent’s view on sexual relations between same-sex partners. Here too, tolerance grows in the “Will and Grace” period (gray on the graph):
The graph is misleading, though. To see the error, all we need do is extend our sampling back a few years Here is the same graph starting in 1973:
The GSS shows attitudes about homosexuality starting to change in 1990. By the time of the first episode of “Will and Grace,” the proportion seeing nothing wrong with homosexuality had already doubled. Like Quayle’s “Murphy Brown” effect, the “Will and Grace” effect is hard to see.
The flaw in the Quayle-Biden method is not in mistaking TV for reality. It’s in assuming that the public’s awareness is simultaneous with their own.
Why do our vice-presidents (and many other people) give so much credit (or blame) to a popular TV show for a change in public opinion? The error is partly a simplistic post hoc logic. “Will and Grace” gave us TV’s first gay principle character; homosexuality became more acceptable. Murphy Brown was TV’s first happily unwed mother, and in the following years, single motherhood increased. Besides, we know that these shows are watched by millions of people each week. So it must be the show that is causing the change.
It’s also possible that our vice-presidents (and many other people) may also have been projecting their own experiences onto the general public. Maybe Murphy Brown was the first or only unwed mother that Dan Quayle really knew – or at least she was the one he knew best. It’s possible that Joe Biden wasn’t familiar with any gay men, not in the way we feel we know TV characters. A straight guy might have some gay acquaintances or co-workers, but it’s the fictional Will Truman whose private life he could see, if only for a half hour every week.
Does TV matter? When we think about our own decisions, we are much more likely to focus on our experiences and on the pulls and pushes of family, work, and friends. We generally don’t attribute much causal weight to the sitcoms we watch. Why then are we so quick to see these shows as having a profound influence on other people’s behavior, especially behavior we don’t like? Maybe because it’s such an easy game to play. Is there more unwed motherhood? Must be “Murphy Brown.” Did obesity increase in the 1990s? “Roseanne.” Are twentysomethings and older delaying marriage? “Seinfeld” and “Friends.” And of course “The Simpsons,” or at least Bart and Homer, who can be held responsible for a variety of social ills. |
Illinois lost 1 resident every 7 minutes in 2013
Newly released IRS data show Illinois lost on net over 81,000 taxpayers and their dependents, and $4.1 billion of annual taxable income to other states in 2013.
Illinois lost 81,000 people and $4.1 billion of annual taxable income during the 2013 tax year on net, by far the worst loss Illinois has ever seen, according to newly released IRS migration data. This amounts to losing one resident and $50,000 worth of annual taxable income every 6.5 minutes. The IRS data compare where taxpayers filed tax returns in spring 2014 with where they filed tax returns in spring 2013.
Illinois is also home to the worst employment recovery in the country since the Great Recession, and is the only state in the region where more people have begun receiving food stamps than have started jobs since the Great Recession ended.
Out-migration from Illinois has spiked as taxes have shot up and job creation has faltered. During the first three years of Illinois’ 2011 income-tax hike, Illinois lost increasing numbers of people and income:
2011: 49,728 taxpayers plus dependents and $2.5 billion of annual income
2012: 66,922 taxpayers plus dependents and $3.8 billion of annual income
2013: 81,117 taxpayers plus dependents and $4.1 billion of annual income
Illinois lost one person and $48,000 of annual income on net every 10 minutes in 2011. By 2013, that rate had accelerated to one person and $50,000 of annual income every 6.5 minutes.
All told, Illinois sustained a net loss of 200,000 people and $10.4 billion of annual taxable income from 2011-2013. That makes the first three years of the record 2011 income-tax hike Illinois’ worst three years ever recorded for loss of taxable income.
The IRS numbers paint a dismal picture for Illinois:
1. Illinois lost a record number of taxpayers, dependents and annual income in 2013.
During the 2013 tax year, Illinois sustained net losses of 38,600 taxpayers, 81,100 taxpayers plus dependents, and $4.1 billion of annual adjusted gross income.
2. Illinois lost a record number of taxpayers, dependents and annual income in 2013.
During the 2013 tax year, Illinois sustained net losses of 38,600 taxpayers, 81,100 taxpayers plus dependents, and $4.1 billion of annual adjusted gross income.
3. Illinois lost state-to-state migration battles with 45 of 50 states, plus Washington, D.C., in tax year 2013.
Texas’ strong jobs growth and lower cost of living attracted more Illinoisans than did any other state – the Lone Star State gained a record of nearly 15,000 Illinoisans on net in 2013. The other states to which large numbers of Illinoisans flocked were primarily warmer states and neighboring states with better jobs growth.
For information on Illinois’ taxpayer migration to and from all 50 states and the District of Columbia, click here.
4. Illinois lost migration battles with every neighboring state and every state in the Midwest.
Illinois’ regional migration losses prove that Illinoisans are heading for states with better economic climates and job opportunities, not just warmer weather. Even Rust Belt states like Michigan and Ohio, which have lost people to Illinois in the past, now gain Illinoisans every year.
5. Illinois lost annual income to 43 of 50 states, plus Washington, D.C., in tax year 2013.
Illinois lost annual income to a vast majority of states because its residents are pursuing better economic opportunities elsewhere.
However, higher-income Illinoisans move for a variety of reasons, and therefore, Illinois’ migration of income does not perfectly align with its migration of residents. For example, Texas ranks No. 1 in gaining people from Illinois, but ranks No. 3 in gaining Illinois income.
Illinois’ income-tax hikes would have encouraged higher-income earners to relocate to zero-income-tax states like Florida, Texas and Tennessee. And although states like Florida and Arizona do outpace Illinois in jobs and economic growth, the magnitude of income losses to Florida and Arizona are influenced in part by retirement migration, which is often higher-income migration.
Illinois’ migratory losses to Texas and California provide an interesting comparison. Both Texas and California have experienced a more robust economic recovery than Illinois, with Texas’ energy boom and broad economic growth outpacing California’s tech-driven growth. Texas is attracting Illinoisans through job creation at all income levels, which likely explains why the Lone Star State ranks No. 1 for gaining Illinoisans.
By comparison, one of the great success stories of the post-recession American economy is the growth of technology firms in Silicon Valley, along with related service providers. High-earning engineers and tech-sector workers have likely moved to California from Illinois, which would explain why Texas gained more people from Illinois, but California gained more income.
For information on Illinois’ income losses with respect to all 50 states and the District of Columbia, click here.
The IRS data show that Illinois’ No. 1 budget problem is taxpayers fleeing the state, and that only structural economic reforms that lead to job creation can keep Illinois’ residents working and paying taxes in Illinois. The IRS data also reveal the folly of a state’s trying to tax its way out of its revenue problems. Gov. Bruce Rauner is demanding structural economic reforms because Illinois will never end its annual budget crises without sustained growth.
The alternative to Rauner’s proposal is to repeat the 2011 disaster: more massive tax hikes with no reform. This path leads inevitably to less economic growth, fewer jobs, more out-migration and even worse budget problems down the road.
Taxpayers move to where they can best fulfill their dreams, taking jobs and economic growth with them. Until Illinois implements structural reforms, taxpayers will continue to view the Land of Lincoln in the rearview mirror.
Note: IRS migration data should not be confused with U.S. Census Bureau migration data. The IRS data are an important input for the Census Bureau’s data, but the census data usually show larger changes in the number of people moving. This is because IRS data capture only taxpayers and their dependents, while the Census Bureau also estimates the movement of people who are not filing taxes, such as new students out of college. |
NEW YORK -- When you hear Kabula Nkarango Masanja's story, the idea that she could smile seems unimaginable.
"In 2010, I was sleeping with my mom," Kabula said. "To the room, two men came inside."
The 17-year-old girl from Tanzania lost her right arm five years ago. She was hunted in her homeland by human poachers for her albinism - a condition that leaves her with little to no pigment in her skin, eyes and hair.
Hunters killing albino children for limbs
She said the two men attacked her with a machete, cutting off her entire arm.
"They kept it," she said.
In Tanzania, albino body parts can sell for thousands of dollars on the black market. It's believed - by some - the parts hold supernatural powers and can be used in potions to bring good luck and wealth to the consumer.
Between 2000 and 2014, the United Nations reported that the country had seen more than 150 cases of attacks on people with albinism.
Elissa Montanti runs the Global Medical Relief Fund, a nonprofit she founded in Staten Island 17 years ago to help kids injured by war or natural disasters receive prosthetics. Her organization was featured on "60 Minutes" in 2011.
"I have never, never experienced anything like this before," Montanti said. "I've seen kids that have kicked a can and it exploded, dangled from a tree in Indonesia from the tsunami, the earthquake in Haiti. But this is something unimaginable."
Earlier this year, Montanti read of an attack on 5-year-old Baraka Cosmas Lusambo. Men broke into his family's home in March while he was asleep.
"They hit my mother twice on her head," Baraka said in Swahili, through a translator. "Then they came to me. They cut off my hand."
Global Medical Relief's mission
Montanti brought Baraka, Kabula and three other children to the United States from Tanzania in June to receive prosthetics. The five children received their prosthetics at the Shriners Hospital for Children in Philadelphia.
"I feel good because it is going to help me in many different areas, which I cannot do with one hand," Kabula said.
"They will be able to grasp to pick up a pen, to write, to pick up a fork and eat," Montanti said. "This will definitely make them feel more whole, give them a sense of empowerment."
When they return home, they will be sheltered in safe houses run by Under the Same Sun - a Canadian organization that protects people with albinism in Tanzania.
Montanti plans to bring the children back to the United States as they grow to get their prosthetics refitted.
"There will be lots of tears, but I know I'm going to see them again," Montanti said.
Broadcast associate Matthew Kwiecinski contributed to this report. |
An elusive parameter quantifying the rate of oscillation of ghostly subatomic neutrinos from one type to another has been measured with precision for the first time.
In a paper released online on 8 March, the Daya Bay Reactor Neutrino Experiment in southern China reports a measurement of the disappearance of antineutrinos produced in the world’s fifth-largest nuclear power plant as they travelled about a kilometre between two sets of three 20-tonne, fluid-filled detectors. It finds that a parameter known as sin2(2θ 13 ) is 0.092. Physicists had speculated that the quantity, the last of three ‘mixing angles’ that quantify rates of neutrino oscillation to be measured precisely, might be as low as zero. That would have made several future neutrino experiments that plan to compare the oscillation rates of neutrinos to those of antineutrinos virtually impossible to carry out; the positive result suggests that those are on firm territory to proceed.
“It’s a happy surprise,” says William Edwards of Lawrence Berkeley National Lab in California, who is the US project and operations manager for the experiment.
In 2011, measurements by the Japanese T2K neutrino experiment, by MINOS at Fermilab in Illinois and by the French reactor experiment Double Chooz, had all pointed to a non-zero value of the last mixing angle, but did so without reaching statistical significance. The Daya Bay measurement “is a perfect confirmation and a beautiful result,” says Herve de Kerret of Paris 7 University.
Future planned experiments, including NOvA (NuMI Off-Axis Electron-Neutrino Appearance Experiment) at Fermilab, will compare the oscillations of neutrinos to those of antineutrinos in a bid to discover whether matter and antimatter behave in the same way. A finding that they do not — termed a violation of charge–parity (CP) asymmetry — might help to explain why there is so much more matter than antimatter in our universe. “Now we know this is non-zero we can go forward and hunt for CP violation,” says Kam-Biu Luk of Lawrence Berkeley National Lab, who is co-spokesman for the experiment.
The relatively large value of sin2(2θ 13 ) has led the US Department of Energy (DOE), in its 2013 budget request to Congress, to speculate that NOvA might be able to resolve outstanding questions in neutrino physics. That might remove the need for a future, more ambitious neutrino experiment known as the Long Baseline Neutrino Experiment (LBNE), which will send a neutrino beam more than 1,000 kilometres across the United States to compare the rates of neutrino and antineutrino oscillations. A decision on whether LBNE will go ahead is expected from the DOE later this year. Milind Diwan, co-spokesman for LBNE, says that the ability to cast light on CP violation is independent of the value of sin2(2θ 13 ) — provided the parameter is not zero — and a large baseline experiment such as LBNE will be needed to measure it.
Photo: Photomultiplier tubes line a detector chamber at the Daya Bay Reactor Neutrino Experiment in Guangdong province, China. (Roy Kaltschmidt, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory)
Corrected 9 March: this news blog has been updated to reflect the fact that the content of the detectors is liquid scintillator, not water. |
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A mass-casualty incident was declared and four people were hospitalized after a roof holding some 40 partygoers collapsed during an early St. Patrick's Day celebration near Cal Poly San Luis Obispo Saturday morning, according to the local police department.
The incident occurred at a celebration attended by more than a 1,000 students in the 300 block of Hathaway Avenue (map), according to the San Luis Obispo Fire Department. The location is less than 1/2 a mile south of the university campus.
About 30 to 40 people were standing on top of a garage structure when it collapsed, causing at least eight injuries, a San Luis Obispo Police Department news release stated.
One of those injured was impaled in the thigh by a piece of wood, the release stated. They were considered moderately injured.
Four other people were hospitalized, police said. The extent of their injuries and their conditions were not known.
Responding officials declared a mass-casualty incident and area law enforcement agencies helped police clear the streets and "quell the unruly behavior," the news release stated.
Three people were also arrested in the area for alcohol and drug-related crimes, police Lt. Jeff Smith said. The arrests were not connected to the roof collapse, he added.
Responding units included personnel from the city's fire and police departments, CalFire, the California Highway Patrol, Cal Poly University Police Department, Atascadero Police Department and the San Luis Obispo County Sheriff's Office. |
Rafah Hospital Unable to Cope with Mounting Numbers of Dead and Injured
5:50 AM
The Ministry of Health Gaza is reeling from the reports coming out of Rafah, according to Al Ray Palestinian Media Agency, who informs that scores of people have been killed and injured, today, including 10 dead and over 30 injured in yet another attack on an UNRWA school — this time the Anas Ibn Malik Prepatory School sheltering thousands of forcibly displaced persons.A group of women, children and elderly were sitting against the wall which stands at the entrance to the school, seeking shade from the sun when they were attacked by the Israeli military.
Missile and mortar attacks are continuous in Rafah, Al Ray reports. This puts enormous pressure on the 20-bed Kuwaiti Maternity Hospital, which is now overflowing with the dead and injured.
At the time of this report, there were 30 bodies lying on the floor of the dental clinic, with children’s bodies stored in ice-cream, flower, and vegetable freezers, as morgue facilities are not an option. Other bodies have apparently been taken to the western cemetery for burial. The eastern cemetery is inaccessible due to Israeli fire.
Fatma Abu Musa, who is a lab technician at Kuwaiti Maternity Hospital states:
“We desperately need blood, we do not have enough for transfusions… we only have two operating theatres, one for minor surgery. They have to operate on two people at the same time on one operating table, major surgeries, with intestines on the outside, eyes on the outside. It is impossible to deal with all the wounded.”
See: ‘Explosion of Infectious Disease in Gaza Threatens Public Health’ |
City, state and federal law-enforcement agencies converge on Boston this weekend for a 24-hour "public safety exercise" across the city, but Boston channels its inner Kevin Bacon and yells, "Remain calm!"
Residents in the area may hear simulated gunfire, observe officers responding to simulated emergencies, or see activity in the Boston Harbor. Each scenario will be run multiple times, and organizers urge residents not to be alarmed. There is no danger to anyone in the area, and exercises will be done in cordoned-off areas away from the public.
Why, yes, of course, something this large needs a code name: Urban Shield.
Among the places that will come under simulated siege: The shuttered Circle Cinemas, where local police will stage a simulated bank robbery and "hostage situation."
Other areas in which you probably don't have to worry about whether that gunfire is real: the old B-2 police station in Roxbury (SWAT exercises), the Bowdoin T stop (simulated hazmat spill), Boston Harbor Anchorage #1 (ponder a chemical spill on a ferry boat).
The climactic conclusion will come at UMass Boston, where Transformers, asteroids and the Death Star law-enforcement participants will converge on Sunday for "a culminating exercise involving all agencies and a variety of exercises."
Meanwhile, eight hospitals in the area will be running their own drills for dealing with mass victims of violence and chemical spills.
Participating agencies include regular police from Boston, Cambridge, Somerville, Winthrop, Revere, Quincy, Everett, and Chelsea, SWAT units from several of those communities, Manchester, NH and Staet Police, the Coast Guard, MBTA Transit Police and of course, Homeland Security, which is paying for the whole thing. |
29 – Director of Photography Luis Perez Interview
On This Podcast I Sit With The Creative Luis Perez, Most Notably Known For Working With Tyler The Creator
It all started outside the continental United States, young Luis Perez grew up in the Caribbean Islands. Surrounded by poverty and conditions that no person should have to endure, Perez has persevered through all the hardships thrown his way. Growing up in such a negative environment, Luis kept his mind occupied with art in many different forms. Graffiti, drawn sketches, and painting were among the pastimes that planted the creative seed in his brain. Finishing up school in the US, Luis moved to New York to attend The Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art. Staying with family while working hard at the University occupied all of his time. This time was well invested, as it landed Perez a gig as an on-set still photographer for the one-and-only Hype Williams. While tutoring other students at the academy for free, Karma repaid Luis very quickly.
Hype Williams Would Always Piece Together Images And Ideas For His Work To Be ‘Felt’ By The Audience
Working under, arguably one of the greatest music video Directors of all time, gave Luis a sense of extreme knowledge and insight at a young age. Witnessing the evolution of Hip-Hop at the roots of the start of it.. However, throughout the success and money, Perez remains unswayed as an artist. Always putting his creative trait in the foreground, he is one of the last creatives who cannot be tempted to make a quick dollar.
Perfecting his craft and having dedicated a life’s worth of work. Luis and I also address the technical abilities that a lot of rappers lack today. Music is subjective and never really can be classified as ‘good’ or ‘bad‘, however, the blatant disregard of learning technical skills in arrangement and songwriting is shitty. A sense of laziness is coming out in a lot of the ‘fast-food’ music produced. The example we discussed on the podcast was that of former OvO Sound artist ILOVEMAKONNEN.
His Most Recent Work With Kevin Abstract Is A Visual Masterpiece
Serving as Director of Photography for Kevin Abstract In The Video ‘Empty‘, Luis Perez Was Compelled To Help Out From The Storyline Alone
It Has Been An Honor To Sit And Talk With The Creative Individual Luis Perez. Stream The Full Interview Below, or Download via iTunes, Stitcher, or Google Play |
Stuart Staniford is a long standing contributor to TheOilDrum but now writes for his own blog Early Warning. This is Stuart's first post on TheOilDrum for some time and it would be very much appreciated if commenters focussed exclusively on on-topic comments.
Both the IEA and OPEC came out with new monthly reports recently. And both report that oil production in November 2010 exceeded the previous high month of July 2008 (back when oil was over $140). Probably the difference is within the margin of error, and in any case the third agency (the EIA) won't weigh in for a few months.
At the moment, the average index looks like pretty much a statistical tie:
Still, a significant point: not peak monthly oil just yet. As long as there isn't a massive financial crisis in the next few months (which is what happened to the last global high in oil production) I imagine we'll clearly exceed the July 2008 peak production. In particular, the point I first made here still holds: the increases in the last eighteen months have largely come from non-OPEC production rather than OPEC, and the latter undoubtedly still have some spare capacity that can be released (at a price). Thus production can and will go somewhat higher as long as demand continues to increase, which will be true as long as the global economy doesn't hit another big pothole.
However, prices have been creeping up lately:
I wouldn't be surprised to see that trend continue, on and off, until it starts to cause real problems.
Prospects for a New Peak in Crude & Condensate
Of course, the full liquid fuel series that the various agencies report on include things that aren't really oil, such as biofuels, and natural gas liquids (things like butane and propane). There are decent arguments on both sides of what exact definition of oil one should use. If we look at one more conservative but reasonable definition - crude plus lease condensate (C&C) - we see the picture below (according to the EIA). I have shown the full liquid fuel series in blue, and only the C&C component in red.
Now, the EIA is only up to September as of today, whereas OPEC and the IEA have just released November numbers. So the big leap up in October/November is not apparent in the graph above. However, if these two EIA series behave like the ones that have been released, they will jump up by over a million barrels/day between September and November. As of September, the EIA all liquids series is 0.5mbd below it's all time peak, so it will very likely exceed it as the next couple of month's numbers come out. However, the EIA C&C number is 1.1mbd below it's all time peak, so it will be a near thing when the November numbers are out.Still, if demand stays strong and prices up, it seems likely that supply will increase further in the next six months. If so, then it's likely that the July 2008 crude+condensate peak will also be exceeded.
The bottom line is this: those people running around saying that the all-time peak in monthly oil production was definitely in 2005 or 2008 are running a considerable risk of having events make fools of them. Appropriate caveats should be used. |
In a 1995 letter to the president of the Zen Studies Society’s board, Mr. Aitken wrote: “Over the past three decades, we have interviewed many former students of Shimano Roshi. Their stories are consistent: trust placed in an apparently wise and compassionate teacher, only to have that trust manipulated in the form of his sexual misconduct and abuse.” (“Roshi,” or teacher, is a Japanese honorific that goes after the name.)
The Aitken papers were soon circulating on the Internet. On June 15, Mr. Shimano’s board of directors, which exercises ultimate authority in the society, met to discuss the allegations. Mr. Shimano, who was then on the board, was not present, but most board members concurred that the charges most likely had some validity.
“I thought the sources were varied enough” to seem valid, said one board member, who asked not to be named. “I certainly didn’t think it was all a fraud.”
At that meeting, the board members began writing a new set of ethical guidelines for the society. In the text, they included an acknowledgment of past indiscretions by Mr. Shimano. Chris Phelan, another board member, said that Mr. Shimano saw the text of the statement and approved of it. “He didn’t step forward and say he was being libeled,” Mr. Phelan said.
Nonetheless, several board members told The New York Times that they believed that Mr. Shimano’s relations with students had ended long ago, and they saw no reason that Mr. Shimano could not continue teaching.
“As far as I knew, there had been a hiatus of 15 years,” said Joe Marinello, a board member who is the abbot of the Seattle Zen Temple.
But then, on July 19, the board announced that Mr. Shimano had resigned from the board after being confronted with allegations of “clergy misconduct.” The statement was sent in response to inquiries from Tricycle, a magazine about Buddhism. Since that time, the board has said that Mr. Shimano will continue as abbot until 2012, but a vice abbot has been appointed and Mr. Shimano will not be taking new students.
Photo
So what had changed?
A week after beginning work on new ethical guidelines — which in their final form forbid “sexual advances or liaisons” between teachers and sangha members — the board was confronted with a new revelation.
Advertisement Continue reading the main story
In interviews over the past two weeks, four board members, including Mr. Marinello, said that on June 21 a woman — whose name he would not reveal — stood up during dinner at the Catskills monastery and announced that for the past two years she had had a consensual affair with Mr. Shimano, who was at the dinner. Several board members have said that Mr. Shimano later admitted the affair in conversations with them. On Wednesday, the society issued a statement acknowledging that “in June of this year, a woman revealed that there was an inappropriate relationship between herself and Eido Roshi."
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Mr. Shimano did not return several phone calls.
In two ways, this small, symbolic statement — Mr. Shimano’s resigning from his own board — reflects how American religion has changed in the last 15 years.
First, this more recent affair occurred in a different news media culture. Clerical impropriety is a hot topic, of course. And on the Internet, where several bloggers were scrutinizing the Aitken papers, the new affair was sure to be mentioned. “The Internet was turning the heat up,” one member said. Board members had to act; they could not afford to be seen as indifferent.
Second, there has been a shift within the American Buddhist community, which has become more concerned about relations between teachers and students.
Historically, because that relationship is considered sacrosanct, affairs were not always condemned, or even disapproved of.
“Unlike the therapeutic environment with analysis, with Buddhist teachers and students there are debates about what is appropriate and what isn’t,” says James Shaheen, editor of Tricycle. As to sexual relationships between teacher and student, “most people would come down on the side of ‘Let’s just not do it.’ ”
But there has also been a cultural aversion among Zen Buddhists to seeming censorious about sexuality. In a 2002 review of “Shoes Outside the Door,” a book by Michael Downing about Richard Baker, the abbot of the San Francisco Zen Center in the 1970s and ’80s, Frederick Crews wrote that Mr. Baker’s “serial liaisons, hardly unique in the world of high-level American Buddhism, could have been forgiven, but his chronic untruthfulness about them could not.”
Sex, alcoholism and drug abuse by major Buddhist leaders have all been tolerated over the years, by followers who look the other way, or even looked right at it and pretend not to care. For example, the Tibetan Buddhist master Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche, who founded the Naropa Institute (now Naropa University) in Boulder, Colo., was often publicly drunk. The Buddhist journalist Katy Butler wrote a 1990 article called “Encountering the Shadow in Buddhist America,” in which she described the public alcoholism of Mr. Trungpa Rinpoche.
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“We habitually denied what was in front of our faces, felt powerless and lost touch with our inner experience,” Ms. Butler wrote.
Clark Strand, who led Mr. Shimano’s Upper East Side zendo from 1988 to 1990, said that on American soil, Asian Buddhism’s sexual ethics, in particular, had to change.
“What you see in America is a lot of Asian Buddhist teachers coming into contact for the first time with spiritual communities that include women,” Mr. Strand said. “And they weren’t necessarily prepared for that.”
“To be blunt about it, a Japanese Zen monk could go over the wall and visit a prostitute and a blind eye could be turned to that.” In America, he added, “it wasn’t as easy to turn a blind eye to going over the wall in his own monastery.” |
An 18-year-old Ottawa woman who led an operation that trafficked other teenagers using social media such as Facebook and Twitter will serve the remainder of her sentence in an adult prison, a judge determined today.
Kailey Oliver-Machado was sentenced in November to 6½ years in a correctional facility, but Crown and defence lawyers argued over whether she should serve the time in prison or at a youth facility.
Justice Diane Lahaie heard the arguments from both sides on Jan. 6 and said she needed more time to consider the decision.
On Wednesday, she said Oliver-Machado did a good job finishing her high school diploma while in custody, but a federal penitentiary is in her best interest because she has finished all the rehabilitation courses at the youth facility she has been in since June 2012.
Lahaie also said Oliver-Machado needs special staff and an individual rehabilitation plan so she can be reintegrated back into the community once her sentence is over.
Victim's mother says it's the best place for her
Oliver-Machado, now 18, was arrested in 2012 when she was 15 for leading the operation with two other teens as they recruited other girls through sites like Facebook and Twitter before drugging and beating them, and forcing them into prostitution.
Oliver-Machado was the only one to enter a not guilty plea,but she was found guilty this January.
The two other teens entered mid-trial guilty pleas in September 2013.
The mother of one of the victims said the nicest thing she could say is she thinks this is the best place for Oliver-Machado to be.
"I think [my daughter] will be happy but she's still living with this, she's in prison forever," said the mother, who can't be identified because it could identify her daughter.
"I think Justice Lahaie today made a great decision… why should she be around youth?"
Though she was sentenced to 6½ years, she was given credit for time already served in pre-sentence custody, meaning she will only serve another two years and 325 days. |
According to historical records and archeological evidence, gambling has existed throughout the ages and culture of most civilizations. Anthropologists agree that data collected in the 20th century lends solid implications that gambling took place within a large portion of the greatest societies to have ever existed. For example, gambling artifacts have been recovered from ancient China (2300 B.C.), India, Egypt and Rome. A set of ivory dice dating from before 1500 BC were salvaged from Thebes, while specific writings mentioning gambling were found on a tablet in the Pyramid of Cheops. As early as the 14th century, we have some of the first findings of gambling becoming outlawed; King Henry VIII of England did so when he discovered that his soldiers were spending more time gambling than working on drills and marksmanship.
The idea of blackjack and poker sprouted from the practice of shuffling paper money in China around 900 A.D. This evolved into card playing, which was consequently brought to Europe via the Mameluke Empire. Being followers of Islam, the Mameluke people did not have their playing cards decorated with human forms; Instead, they were adorned with intricate designs, reminiscent of Muslim carpets. When the cards made their way to Italy and Spain, card makers began distinguishing cards with the royal ranks of men who held power in the Royal Court. The Queen of today’s decks did not appear on the scene until the 1500’s, when the French got a hold of them and replaced one of the male cards with a female figure representing a Queen. This pack of cards became known as the “French Pack”, and served as the prototype of the 52 card deck we are so familiar with today.
The history of roulette is an interesting story as well. Roulette, which means “small wheel” in French, was modernized into the game we know today by Francois and Louis Blanc. These two invented the “Single 0” game in 1842, which was brought to America around the same time. It was the Americans who added the “Double 0” to the wheel, thus creating a different version – known as American Roulette – distinguishable from European Roulette. The origins of the roulette wheel itself are a little more ambiguous. Some sources espouse that the 17th century mathematician, Blaise Pascal, created the wheel. There is also information supporting the theory that the Chinese invented the wheel, and that it eventually made its way into Europe by Dominican monks. When Prince Charles of Monaco implemented the roulette wheel as a means of counteracting the financial problems of his kingdom in the late 18th century, the popularity of roulette skyrocketed.
Dice have been tossed on this earth for more than 2,000 years, manifesting into all kinds of games along their journey. Of these games, craps has achieved the most lasting fame and popularity. Originally called “Hazard”, craps was originally played in the private gambling parlors by only the elite and upper class citizens of 18th and 19th century England. The game was imported into France soon after and was called “craps” – a derivation of the word “crabs”, meaning “pair of ones”. When the game came overseas to America, it was simplified and became an instant success. It started being played on the steam powered show boats in American waterways, and soon made its way to the streets and houses of major cities across the nation.
The gambling casinos of today such as https://casinoslots.sg/online-blackjack have come a long way since their early beginnings. When America became an independent country in 1776, the newly formed, needy government used gambling as a way to cultivate large sums of money for its early activities. When it got out of control in the raucous days of the western frontier, Nevada actually made it illegal from 1850 to 1910. However, it was re-sanctioned in 1931, and Las Vegas began its rise as the greatest gambling phenomenon of the world. |
Removing lead from solder may seem a smart idea environmentally, but the resulting microscopic growths called tin whiskers could be just as problematic
On April 17 2005, the Millstone nuclear generating plant in Connecticut shut down when a circuit board monitoring a steam pressure line short-circuited. In 2006, a huge batch of Swatch watches, made by the eponymous Swiss company, were recalled at an estimated cost of $1bn (£500m). In both cases, "tin whiskers" - microscopic growths of the metal from soldering points on a circuit board - were blamed for causing the problems.
It's not the first time these mysterious growths have been blamed for electronics failures. In 1998 the Galaxy IV communications satellite sputtered out after just five years; engineers diagnosed its failure as due to "whiskers".
The US military blamed them for malfunctioning F-15 radar systems and misguided Phoenix and Patriot missiles. In 1986, the US Food and Drug Administration recalled a number of pacemakers because of these same whiskers. In fact, they've been known about since the 1940s, and happen with cadmium and zinc, too: during the second world war, similar whiskers would short the cadmium tuning capacitors in aircraft radios. A decade later, tin-based relays in AT&T telephone switching centres were found to cause shorts.
Pushing tin
The solution to "whiskering"? Mix lead into the solder, as was done from the 1950s. Colin Hughes, a physicist who worked on the first British nuclear bomb, told me that the whiskering problem never came up during his career.
But now the lead is gone, by legal mandate, and whiskers are back - causing potential problems for us all.
Since 2006, lead has been banned from solder in the European Union under the 2003 Reduction of Hazardous Substance (RoHS) directive, which gave manufacturers three years to phase out lead.
The logic seemed reasonable. Removing lead from petrol (where it was used to prevent engine mistiming) brought clear environmental and health benefits, taking a harmful chemical that can affect intelligence out of the atmosphere. Removing lead from solder, the 37% lead, 63% tin alloy used to join metal objects in everything from plumbing to circuit boards, was an obvious next step to prevent it leaching into ground water from dumped items in landfills.
Meanwhile, the US and Japan have also been moving to lead-free solders. It's a huge shift; the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) estimates that 80m kilograms of lead solder was used worldwide in 2002. Environmental groups have applauded the move. "In the US we've been surviving without lead solder for many years," says Rick Hind, legislative director of Greenpeace's toxics campaign. "With less exposure to lead we will all benefit by being smarter and making safer and more durable products." (The US has not made lead-free solder obligatory, but does offer tax benefits for doing so.)
But without lead to tame it, tin behaves oddly on circuit boards. Left alone, tin plating, like cadmium and zinc, spontaneously generates microscopic shreds of metal - about one to five microns in diameter, or less than one-tenth as wide as a human hair - which push up from the base. If they grow far enough to touch another current-carrying location, they'll cause a short that can wreck the equipment while leaving barely any trace.
The cause is becoming clearer. "I believe the mechanism of whisker formation is now understood: it is due to compressive stress - caused by, say, diffusion of copper into the tin - being built up in the tin layer which breaks through the tin oxide barrier layer [to the air]," says Steve Jones of Circatex, in South Shields. Critics cite reports that solder substitutes - pure tin, tin-zinc, tin-silver-copper - simply cannot match the lead mixture for reliability, coverage ("wetting" terminals), and cost (silver is especially pricey). Therefore, the US military, Nasa and medical and high-level research equipment are exempt from what authorities view as untrustworthy commercial components.
"I still use lead-tin solder - it works better," says John Ketterson, a solid state physicist at Northwestern University in Illinois. He notes the tradeoffs of "cost, materials, strength of the solder and all that" during this mandated changeover, and that manufacturers "have to get an experience base" with new processes.
Double standards
This means the unwitting consumer bears the cost of the experimental burden. "So Nasa does not want the economic risk of having the Hubble [Space Telescope] go down. But if one personal computer in a thousand goes down because of the whiskers, no one is going to do anything much about it," says Ketterson.
One in a thousand may be a generously low estimate. Besides whiskering, lead-free solder is more brittle. Substitute solders also may be applied too thinly or with too little heat - or, for that matter, with too much heat (lead substitutes have higher melting points), stressing the circuit board laminate.
The question is, are the products we are using now being affected by tin whiskers? When your computer stops working, could that be the cause? Certainly, some in the computer industry know about it: representatives from Sun Microsystems and IBM were among those presenting at a tin whisker workshop in 2006 ; a second is due later this month.
Using a matt finish, removing contaminants from the solder and surfaces, and reducing mechanical stress on the components being soldered all mitigate the growth of whiskers. But Bob Willis, an opponent of the EU directive and technical director for the SMART (Surface Mount and Related Technology) Group in the UK, says that so far there is "no definite solution to the problem".
More than 80% of all electronic components are made in Asia but specifications are imposed by the brand-name company. I rang eight manufacturers to enquire about encounters with whiskers and related problems. Only one tech support person - and no spokesperson - knew anything about it. Yet Google "tin whiskers" and you get 40,000 hits.
Apple was the only manufacturer to respond, stating that the company "has been using lead-free solders since 2004 without issue". Perhaps manufacturers haven't developed an "experience base", or perhaps it isn't registering as a problem. Many customers will probably chalk failed devices off to their own isolated tough luck, when the cause might really have been microscopic whiskers inside their machines.
Lessons learned
Overall, was it sensible to go lead-free? "I would say no," says Willis. Earlier obsolescence means more discarded devices. Critics argue that substitutes are more toxic and energy-wasteful than the lead they replace - and that lead doesn't leach from circuit boards, because it doesn't migrate as lead in paint or petrol does.
The National Electronics Manufacturing Centre for Excellence, sponsored by the US Navy, did find that modifying the temperatures at which soldered items are bathed and stored diminished whiskering, but nevertheless recommends the "use of lead in conflict with future industrial practice." And Swatch, after its expensive recall, won a permanent exemption from the RoHS directive for its exports to the European Union.
Perhaps a reliable lead-free process will be conjured up soon - though experts doubt it. Companies such as IBM and National Instruments say they are now achieving RoHS compliant techniques even for exempt products. But this debate among professionals looks like it needs to come out in the open. So far, the last source to count on for information about this looming problem is the manufacturers.
Tin whiskers: coming to a PC near you?
· They can grow at ambient temperature and humidity, or in vacuum
· They can grow in steady or varying temperatures (though the latter may encourage growth)
· Whiskers' tips are atom-sharp. They will push through any coating, given time
· They are a prevalent cause, only now being identified, of many past equipment failures
· One whisker can carry about 30mA - more than enough to cause havoc in digital circuits
· Silver-tin-copper ("SAC") solder slows but doesn't stop whisker growth
· SAC solder has more environmental impact than the lead-tin version
· Older 37%-63% lead-tin solder mix merely deforms, reducing stress and hence minimising whiskering
· Whiskers can grow indefinitely
Source: Howard Johnson, Signal Consulting |
Dear Hillary,
I hope this finds you well. I’ve been meaning to write you for a while. I was thinking of you again today and I guess I just wanted to let you know that I appreciate you.
I appreciate how hard you’ve worked for this country for the past five decades.
I appreciate what you accomplished this year.
I appreciate your dignity in the face of the most undignified behavior.
I appreciate the seriousness with which you took the prospect of leading our nation.
I appreciate the campaign of diversity, equality, and shared strength you ran with such grace.
I appreciate you reminding America that it is already great.
You did everything you were asked to do, everything you were supposed to do:
You were prepared and balanced and cool under pressure.
You knew what you were talking about at every turn.
You saw the big picture, and you knew the countless small details that your opponent could never be bothered with.
You endured a relentless flood of misinformation by continually, plainly speaking your truth.
You had your character assassinated over and over—and in response you simply showed that character.
You shouldered the kind of expectations that no man aspiring to the position has ever had to contend with.
You had to be both strong and sensitive, tough and warm, fierce and likable—and you were.
You never talked in nonsensical sound bites, never ranted like a lunatic at your detractors, never viciously attacked citizens on social media—and you never stooped to the inhumanity of your opponent.
Despite the unprecedented viciousness hurled at you, you never responded in kind; you just kept on being decent, intelligent, thoughtful—Presidential. You alone had the experience and the temperament and the maturity to do the job of leading this country. That should have been enough. I’m sorry that it wasn’t.
I’m sorry that my 7-year old daughter didn’t get to see you sworn in as the first woman President and won’t get to watch you represent her so beautifully each day; that she’ll instead have to see a man who has complete contempt for her shape her future.
I’m sorry that my 11-year old son will be reminded every day that you can treat women with total disregard, that you can be a vile, filthy bully—and be well rewarded for it.
I’m sorry that more people didn’t recognize that your faith has always been the real, quiet, constant bedrock of who you are; not a one-time, cheap, campaign parlor trick designed to appear religious to easily fooled.
I’m sorry that this country is far less diverse, less intelligent, less civil, less open, and less compassionate than it would have been with you guiding it.
I’m sorry that enough people chose his sideshow over your steadiness, and that we now all have to endure the terrifying circus.
Most of all I’m sorry that you will not be my President, because like me I believe that you care for the full breadth of America’s diversity, not just the smallest sliver of it—and I would have been proud to have been led by you.
You’ve served this country for your entire life, and I know you’ll continue to do that going forward. I know that you’ll again be found doing the daily, difficult, unglamorous work of real leadership; the kind that your opponent will never understand or be interested in doing. I bet you’re already doing that behind the scenes, away from the spotlight; not fishing for compliments or pleading for adulation or begging to noticed.
I know you’re a warrior and that you’re going to be fine, but I also know that you’re human and that this year must have taken a greater toll on you than anyone. I hope you realize that it wasn’t in vain; that you really have won (and not just the popular vote).
You’ve won because you reminded us that our diversity is our greatest asset, that equality is the only way forward, that we really are stronger together.
You’ve won because you didn’t need to manufacture fear to draw people to you, and you didn’t have to create a villain out of someone’s religion or skin color or native language or sexual orientation.
You’ve won because the nearly 66 million people who voted for you now have a vision and a reason to fight on, and we will. We will be the strong, steady resistance to the bigots and the bullies; the kind that truly makes America great.
Most of all you’ve won because you did what good people always do regardless of the cost or the pushback or the reception—you went high, and this is always where the real victory is.
So for all that you gave and suffered and endured,
for how you taught and cared and labored,
for the way you inspired and challenged and led,
for being the very best of this country and for this country—
Thank you, Hillary.
Order John’s book, ‘A Bigger Table’ here.
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Literature
This kid is really fucked up.
Christophe, code name “The Mole” has always been an unusual kid.
When people hear that he has already had an expertise in covert operations at the young age of 12, they rarely believe it.
Some said he is unnaturally mature for his age. Others find it utterly hard to believe how someone like him came to be.
Although he would never dare calling it such, his story began with luck.
His mother, who has drinking problems up to this very day, never really liked Mole very much because he was an unwanted child - an accident that should have never happened, as she always said.
The moment his father cheated on the woman and disappeared, she wanted nothing more but to terminate her pregnancy. But the law didn’t allow an abortion, and so she attempted to find other ways to get her will. She got drunk, threw herself down stairs, and finally tried to do the abortion herself, causing heavy injury to herself and stabbing her child in the heart with a clothes hanger.
He was born premat |
Last year, Activision CEO Bobby Kotick and co-chairman Brian Kelly participated in the $8 billion buyout of former parent Vivendi. The pair contributed a combined $100 million of personal funds as part of a group that now holds 24.9 percent of company shares.
Following that event, which came as Vivendi threatened to drain billions of Activision’s cash reserves, multiple company shareholders sued. The legal actions were brought to stop the deal, which were alleged to offer a discounted purchase rate on stock not offered to most shareholders.
Activision has now settled these suits, with defendants paying $275 million to the company. The publisher will also appoint two new, unaffiliated board members, to mitigate concerns that Kotick is now so entrenched he cannot be removed from his position.
The settlement also includes payment of plaintiff court fees and adjustments to voting rules. As is customary, defendants will be released from further claims against them.
Our Take
I’m not surprised that Activision opted to settle, but the addition of two new, unaffiliated board members is a bit surprising. The settlement is also fairly significant, amounting to more than 10 percent of the Kotick/Kelly group’s buyout amount of $2.34 billion. We’ll likely never know the details of the conversations, but it seems from the agreement that Activision acquiesced to substantial requests. |
Last week’s Executive Committee Meeting covered the preliminary findings from Sound Transit’s planning study of the Ballard/UW/520 corridor. We’ll cover the Eastside results next week, but today we’ll discuss the results for the segment between Ballard (15th & Market) and University District Stations. This very short segment covers trips currently served by the achingly slow 44 with no obvious high-speed corridors. Regrettably, the four urban centers worth serving (Ballard, Fremont, Wallingford, and the U-District) aren’t linearly arranged.
The most direct option is a tunnel via Wallingford (A3), serving 22,000-26,000 riders with an end-to-end travel time of 6-9 minutes. This suggests a trip from Ballard to Westlake of about 20 minutes. Like any tunnel, it’s relatively expensive per mile: estimated to cost $1.4-1.9 billion in 2014 dollars.*
Path B2 serves central Fremont by bypassing Wallingford. Although not shown on the map, the study examined both an all-surface option and one that runs elevated through the U-District and Fremont. The trip takes 10-12 minutes (10-13 for surface) and 21,000-26,000 riders (20,000-24,000 surface). The costs range from $1.2-1.6 billion, with negligible cost differences between the options.
The highest ridership option is C1, which serves all four locations, on the surface except for a elevated run down 45th. Although the longest path, it’s estimated to cost $1.2-1.7 billion to serve 23,000-28,000 riders. End to end, it would be a 9-11 minute trip.
All three rail options are in the same ballpark of cost, ridership, and travel time. All are huge improvements over the status quo. C1 serves the most people, but the all-underground option avoids the thicket of legal challenges sure to hinder any above-ground choice, in addition to being more reliable. On the other hand, the tunnel makes it much more complicated to add any more stations.
The interactions between these ideas and the Ballard-Downtown proposals are interesting. These options are cheaper and slightly lower-ridership than the grade-separated downtown options, but more expensive and higher-ridership than the at-grade ones. However, the Downtown options do not include the cost of getting through downtown, covered in the West Seattle study.
No one knows how big the funding package might be, but if it were possible to do both, there is significant overlap between the options that serve Fremont, resulting in some savings. Although many might conclude that a downtown line might “compete” with a UW route for riders, in fact the network effects would likely enable more trips and boost ridership by more than the sum of their estimates.
The BRT options are in a different class. They mix operations in traffic and exclusive busway and have travel times between 14 and 22 minutes. They cost no more than $400m but serve between 10,000 and 17,000 riders.
* “Cost estimates are conceptual and for comparative purposes only.” |
Mr Obama visits Poland at the end of the month and is expected to confirm the stationing of F16 combat aircraft on Polish soil during meetings with Bronislaw Komorowski, his Polish counterpart, and other central and eastern European leaders.
Citing diplomatic sources, the Polish newspaper Gazeta Wyborcza claimed that 16 US jets will move from their current home at the Aviano air force base in Italy to Lask in central Poland, and will be stationed on a rotational basis from 2013.
The American president is also expected to hold talks about stationing SM-3 interceptor missiles in Poland as part of Washington's plans for a missile defence shield. The United States already has a Patriot missile battery in Poland.
Russian analysts said Moscow was likely to react badly to news that Washington was expanding its military footprint in Poland, due to its proximity to the Russian border and its status as a former Soviet satellite state.
"It will give ammunition to sceptics here who constantly claim that Washington says one thing while doing exactly what it wants anyway," said Fyodor Lukyanov, editor of the influential Russia in Global Affairs magazine.
"This is about relations between Russia and the United States and it cannot but fail to cause a negative and even nervous reaction in certain circles."
But Mr Lukyanov said the US-Russia relationship would stand or fall on whether the two countries could reach an understanding about new US missile defence plans for Europe, rather than the issue of F16 fighters in Poland.
The Kremlin has long known that Washington plans to install interceptor missiles in Poland as part of the shield but is looking for binding guarantees that the system will not threaten Russia's nuclear forces.
For the Polish government the presence of US military hardware on its soil should provide security guarantees that far exceed the fighting capacity of 16 aircraft. Radek Sikorski, Poland's foreign minister, has campaigned for tangible American military assets in Poland arguing it would lock the US into supporting Poland and thus enhance the nation's security.
His desire also reflects Polish unease over the willingness and capacity of Nato to stand by its defence commitments.
In a 2009 cable from the US embassy in Warsaw leaked to WikiLeaks, Victor Ash, then US ambassador, said Mr Sikorski had described Nato as a "political club with no teeth".
Writing in the wake of the 2008 Russian-Georgian war, Mr Ash also mentioned the "Sikorski doctrine" under which "any further attempt by Russia to redraw borders by force or subversion should be regarded by Europe as a threat to its security". |
NEW WESTMINSTER, BC––Bellingham United FC traveled to Queens Park, New Westminster, BC on Thursday June 6 to take on the league leaders Khalsa Sporting Club with first place on the line.
Goals from the league’s leading scorer (9) Kellan Brown, Andrew Weishaar and Matt Sanchez, secured the 3:1 victory for United and moved them into a first place tie with Khalsa at the top of the league table. The Hammers remain undefeated “away” so far this season.
Match Gallery: Slideshow at PCSL.org
“Tonight was a total team effort as all players present made contributions to earning three points at Khalsa,” said a pleased head coach Lance Calloway.
In the 15th minute Kellan Brown intercepted a pass from the Khalsa center back and put the Hammers up 1:0.
In the 37th minute Matt Sanchez sent a cross into the box that was met by Andrew Weishaar, who put it home to double the Bellingham lead to 2:0 by halftime.
In the 62nd minute Sanchez was on the scoring end as he took a through-ball from Oscar Jimenez and gave United a big 3:0 cushion.
Khalsa Sporting club kept fighting and pulled one back in the 80th minute, however the Hammers defense secured the three points by blanking the Canadians the rest of the way.
Bellingham’s Joel Grossman anchored the league’s best defense and put on a “Silver Reef Hammer Man of the Match” performance, shutting down the prolific scoring threat of Khalsa’s highly skilled forwards.
With the win BUFC has an identical 5-2-1 record with Khalsa. Both sides have 16 standings points.
The Hammers next match is at home on Sunday, June 9 at 3 PM at Civic Stadium against Coquitlam Metro-Ford.
goalWA.net Local Soccer News is sponsored by Pro Roofing Northwest, Kirkland, Bellevue, Seattle, Redmond, Woodinville, Federal Way, Everett, Snohomish, Issaquah, Renton, Kent, Bothell, Edmonds Washington roofing company.
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A Vorthos Guide to Kaladesh Block: The Story in the Cards
Hello, Magic readers! Greetings, Vorthos!
No doubt you are enjoying the new Modern Masters 2017 set, but soon it will be time to dive into the new world of Amonkhet. That’s right, Nicol Bolas is up to his usual schemes and it’s up to the Avengers- I mean, it’s up to the Gatewatch to stop him.
There has definitely been a shift in the way MTG sets are constructed these days, with a huge focus being put on not just hinting at, but explicitly stating the story through various cards in the set. This has recently become a point of contention in the Magic community (with Reddit threads popping up about it even as I was in the process of writing this article), and can lead to some… shall we say, interesting games of Magic that are sure to cause every Vorthos within a small radius raise their hand and yell, “Flavor judge!”
I miss magic spells that aren't called "Tactical Defense", and wizards, and fantasy, and crystal balls, and elves that live in the woods. pic.twitter.com/QGMGSb8Wjl — Tolarian Community (@TolarianCollege) January 18, 2017
Would be nice. Maybe if we just has spells that sounded like SPELLS instead of casting "Strategic Retreat" or "Jace Sits Down" — Tolarian Community (@TolarianCollege) January 18, 2017
For many years, Wizards of the Coast has provided us with clues as to the storyline of each Magic: The Gathering set, if we’re clever enough to put the pieces together. These days, with the addition of “Story Spotlight” cards, every set is jam-packed with so much story, it can become quite overwhelming to piece together.
This week, I endeavour to do just that, and present to you a guide to the story of Kaladesh block, through the cards themselves.
Sure, we can read about the full stories as they are published on the WotC mothership, but what if we gleaned the majority of the story based solely on information provided on the cards themselves (and the occasional trip to the MTG Wiki)? During the course of this article, I will utilise cards from Magic Origins, Kaladesh, and Aether Revolt to tell the story of the plane of Kaladesh and the Gatewatch’s battle with Tezzeret. Primarily, the sets will be presented chronologically, but for the purposes of telling the story in as accurate a manner as possible, some cards have been shifted around (such as various Foundry related cards across all three sets being grouped together at the beginning).
Surely we can piece it all together fairly easily, right? (Cue the collective groans of the Vorthos community.)
So, sit back and enjoy the ride as we dive into the saga of Chandra Nalaar, inventors, fighting, revenge, automatons, gremlins, chases, escapes, friendship, and [c]Impeccable Timing[/c]…
Magic Origins: Setting the Stage
The majority of this story takes place on the plane of Kaladesh, in a city called Ghirapur.
Kaladesh is a plane of inventors, a place where its carefree inhabitants…
Ghirapur’s is a society driven by curiosity and the need to invent the next big thing. Artificers fill the sky with Thopters, and members of high society are accompanied by automatonic escort.
The Consulate, who rule over this society, have set up a fully automated factory of constructs known as the Foundry. The Foundry’s primary export is a network of Thopter spies, which is purely for its citizen’s protection.
Among the artificers of Ghirapur, a lovely couple named Pia and Kiran Nalaar who clearly will go on to have a long, illustrious future together become the proud parents of a girl named Chandra. Chandra doesn’t get along well with others, and has a strange habit of making fire come out of her hands. Apparently, this is illegal in Kaladesh and Chandra is eventually pursued by the authorities. Chandra stumbles across the Foundry and, as any of us would have done such a situation, she burns it to the ground.
In order to protect their misunderstood pyro, Pia and Kiran move to a village outside Ghirapur. Unfortunately, they are tracked down by Dhiren Baral, an officer of the Consulate, and he does what any of us would have, burn down the village and kill everyone. Chandra is arrested, given a short trial, and sentenced to execution for the crime of making fire. At her moment of reckoning, Chandra’s planeswalker spark ignites and she teleports to a faraway fire world where she is taught the fiery ways of fire by fire monks.
Kaladesh: You Can’t Go Home Again
Fast forward to the present, where Chandra is still an ill-tempered pyromancer but plot twist, she’s a grown adult now.
In the opening set of the Kaladesh block, we get a glimpse at two members of the Consulate: Kimbal and Padeem. In addition to the Consulate’s constant surveillance and strict laws, they also have a flagship at their disposal to keep everyone in line.
The Consulate employs guards and automatons to keep the peace. Dwarves comprise the majority of the peacekeeping force in Kaladesh, though sometimes the robots are called in.
As we return to the story of Kaladesh some years later, we see that the Inventors’ Fair has begun! What’s the [c]Inventors’ Fair[/c], you ask? The [c]Herald of the Fair[/c] will be all too happy to give you a tour during the [c]Commencement of Festivities[/c]. The head inspector of the fair is a vedalken named Dovin Baan, and inventors travel from far and wide to gain his favour.
Through certain cards in the Kaladesh set, we get a glimpse at the aspiring inventors in attendance.
Not everyone likes playing by the rules, though, and sometimes accidents happen. The Consulate has a designated emergency response team of, you guessed it, dwarves. Because dwarves are awesome.
Who is behind these accidents at the fair? Some such incidents are brought about by the mysterious denizens of Kaladesh known as Aetherborn, who occasionally sponsor inventors at the fair. While little is known of the Aetherborn through the cards themselves, we do know they are the organisers of the “night markets”, which move locations from night to night.
The Aetherborn have a gift for artifact creation, like most inhabitants in Kaladesh. Gonti and his network of kingpins and traffickers rule the criminal underground.
Aetherborn assassinations aren’t the only accidents that plague the Inventors’ Fair, however. Kaladesh also has a rodent problem in the form of artifact-hungry gremlins. In fact, this year they are invading the fairgrounds looking for inventions to eat.
The architect of the [c]Aether Hub[/c], a dwarf named Sram, has had about enough of these meddling gremlins and gives the order to fumigate the gremlin population. Oddly enough, the card [c]Fumigate[/c] doesn’t just kill gremlins, but a little [c]Collateral damage[/c] never hurt anyone.
In addition to watching inventors wow the crowd with their gadgets and robots, crowds flock each year to watch the big race. All manner of vehicles are brought by aspiring daredevils hoping to bring home the prize.
Dwarves and humans are the most represented races at the speedway and feel most at home when piloting a vehicle.
Not all inventors in Kaladesh focus their efforts solely on winning a prize at the fair. Rashmi is a powerful inventor on the verge of an important discovery – a gateway to the other worlds in the multiverse.
Rashmi is a follower of the Great Conduit, which is not explained in detail in the cards themselves but essentially amounts to a nature- and aether-based religious philosophy akin to feng shui. Though the inventors of Ghirapur are provided by the Consulate with aether with which to power their creations, aether abounds freely in the untamed wilds of Kaladesh.
Rashmi shares her findings and her multiverse theory to Saheeli Rai, fellow inventor and planeswalker. Saheeli fears the power of Rashmi’s newest invention and tattles on her friend by reporting it to the Consulate, but this doesn’t figure into the story until later, so we’ll move on.
For reasons, Chandra is returning to Kaladesh now! She is accompanied by her wai- I mean her friend, Nissa the racist elf. Nissa is immediately blown away by the strong presence of aether in Kaladesh.
It’s important to remind our readers that Chandra believes both of her parents are dead. She’s only half correct; Kiran is definitely dead, but Pia Nalaar has been leading a rebellion against the Consulate and recruiting inventors to her cause.
Liliana accompanies Chandra so she can be a bad influence, but before they can get into too much trouble, Chandra runs into her mom. Also, Tezzeret is there, and he’s the Head Judge of the Inventors’ Fair, and he’s totally a bad guy after all.
Baral lets out an evil laugh, because he’s also a bad guy. You may recall Baral is the bad guy who killed Chandra’s dad and burned down their village. His face was badly burned when Chandra’s planeswalker spark ignited, and he’s still pretty sore about it. Baral arrests Pia, and everyone sort of lets him do it.
After Tezzeret and Baral leave with Pia, Chandra and Nissa try to rescue her and fall right into Baral’s bad guy trap. Impeccably and conveniently, a giant cat shows up and rescues them so Ajani can be in Standard.
Meanwhile, at the Fair, Tezzeret has forced Pia Nalaar into a showdown that amounts to Pia cobbling together Servos and Tezzeret using his planeswalker powers to create huge constructs.
Fortunately for Pia, Chandra shows up to save her. Fortunately for Chandra, the rest of the Av- the rest of the Gatewatch shows up to save both of them. Even Jace and Gideon are here now, and Tezzeret is forced to run away and hide.
The day is won for the Gatewatch, or so it would seem…
Aether Revolt: Let’s Be Bad Guys
Unfortunately, as a result of this turn of events, Tezzeret uses his authority to confiscate all the inventions from the Fair so he can use them to beat the Gatewatch. The Consulate is still convinced the rebels are the real threat and crack down on the populace.
The Foundry goes into overdrive and cranks out automatons to enforce the peace, and the dwarven peacekeepers are out in force.
The [c]Consulate Crackdown[/c] has put the citizens of Ghirapur on edge, and many are starting to join the rebellion. Chandra joins the cause, and the rebellion forces construct their own airship navy to battle the Consulate’s dreadnaughts. Also, something happens with [c]Dovin Baan[/c] on the [c]Heart of Kiran[/c] and Chandra uses fire to stop him.
More than ever, the everyday citizens of Ghirapur have joined the cause: humans, dwarves, and even the short-lived Aetherborn.
The rebellion also has the support of the followers of the Great Conduit. Look, a giant hydra!
A teenager named Kari Zev joins the rebellion with her fleet of airships, and they kick many soldiers.
The speedway daredevils are rightfully upset about the Consulate’s confiscation, and gladly lend their vehicles to the cause.
Each inventor who joins the cause lends their unique abilities to the revolution: some subtle, some less so. Pictured below: a construct from Tezzeret’s [c]Metallurgic Summonings[/c] meets a blunt end.
Ever the resourceful bunch, the rebels also employ the clever use of gremlins to fight the Consulate automatons.
The Gatewatch is also helping.
The Gatewatch have befriended an Aetherborn named Yahenni. The Aetherborn are mobilising to fight the Consulate, but Gonti has his own plans.
With only so many cards left in the set to show bad guy stuff, Baral returns after his [c]Disappearing Act[/c] and faces off with Chandra. He comes close to defeating them by exploiting Chandra’s psychological weaknesses and countering her fire magic.
Nissa helps defeat Baral and he is arrested by Dovin Baan, who hears him admit to murdering Kiran Nalaar.
Meanwhile, Liliana realizes that [c]Tezzeret, Agent of Bolas[/c] is the real threat. After Liliana defeats Tezzeret, she learns that Nicol Bolas is on Amonkhet and is up to no good. Tezzeret escapes, and the Gatewatch is left to come up with a plan.
After Tezzeret’s disappearance, the rebels defeat the Consulate and make their own Consulate, with blackjack and thopters. [c]Pia Nalaar[/c] takes Kambal’s place and becomes the new Consul of Allocation, while Padeem retains her position as Consul of Innovation. Chandra blows up a building and falls asleep in Nissa’s lap. It was a good day.
All is well in Kaladesh… for now.
Community Question: What is your favourite artwork from Kaladesh block?
Thanks for reading,
Joseph Dunlap
A Vorthos Guide to Kaladesh Block: The Story in the Cards, by Joseph Dunlap This week, Joseph Dunlap presents to you a beautiful guide to the story of Kaladesh block, through the cards themselves. Sit back and enjoy the ride as we dive into the saga of Chandra Nalaar, inventors, fighting, revenge, automatons, gremlins, chases, escapes, friendship, and Impeccable Timing… Joseph Dunlap
Please let us know what you think below... |
A 14-year-old Springfield boy, Harley Starling, found dead in his bedroom early Monday by his grandmother, was beaten with a baseball bat and stabbed, according to court records.
The teen’s brother, Nicholas Starling, 16, is charged in the death.
KEY FACTS:
Harley Starling, 14, stabbed, beaten
Nicholas Starling, 16, arrested for murder, tampering with evidence
Motive for killing not released
Boys lived with their grandmother
9-1-1 caller assumes death was suicide
UPDATE @2:50 p.m. 11/2/2016:
Springfield police released the 9-1-1 made early Monday morning by the grandmother of 14-year-old Harley Starling, who she found dead in his bedroom inside their Superior Ave. home.
Harley lived with his grandmother and older brother Nicholas Starling, 16, who has been charged with killing his brother.
In the time of the 9-1-1 call, the grandmother told dispatchers she was standing in her deceased grandson’s bedroom with his brother. She assumed the boy had committed suicide sometime overnight.
Here is a partial transcript of the more than 7-minute-long 9-1-1 call.
Caller:
(Grandmother of 14-year-old Harley Starling)
My grandson evidently killed himself last night, he’s cold, he’s cold you can’t move him. I tried shaking him and waking him up.
Dispatcher:
Do you know what happened?
Caller:
No I don’t. I don’t know if he was playing with that fake blood stuff, his head is back, his eyes are open.
Dispatcher:
Why don’t you go outside and wait for the medics to arrive.
Caller:
My other grandson is here, he’s standing here, we don’t even understand why. I don’t know if he was playing with fake blood or what, it’s all over his arm and up around his shoulder. His eyes are open too.
I shook him because I was trying to wake him up. He had the blanket up over his face.
Caller to older brother:
Go in the other room, don’t come in here and stare at him.
Caller to dispatcher:
He’s always playing jokes and things so we thought he was just joking.
Dispatcher:
How old is he?
Caller:
He’s 14. His dad just died two years ago.
Dispatcher:
Are there any guns in the house that you know of?
Caller:
Yes but he can’t get to them.
They live with me, they’ve lived with me since their dad died.
Dispatcher:
Did you hear anything weird last night?
Caller:
No, we just went to bed and that was it.
Dispatcher:
What room is he in?
Caller:
He’s in his bedroom…I don’t know when he did it. (crying)
I’m standing in the living room with his brother.
Dispatcher:
How old is his brother?
Caller:
He’s 16, his name is Nicholas.
Dispatcher:
Try to keep everybody calm, I know it’s going to be hard, this is confusing and scary.
Caller:
I don’t know why…I’m trying to keep calm.
Dispatcher:
You are doing a good job (keeping calm) being there for his brother.
Try to keep everybody away from the room.
Caller:
I know he was having problems at school. (crying)
But there was no inkling, he said he wouldn’t do anything like this.
I know he was playing with that fake blood last night and I don’t know if he drank it or what, or was he playing with it and put it on his body?
Dispatcher:
You don’t have to try and figure that out, they’ll do that.
UPDATE @ 1:35 p.m. 11/2/2016:
Harley Starling, the 14-year-old Springfield boy found killed in his bed, was beaten with a baseball bat and stabbed with a knife, according to juvenile court records.
Harley’s older brother, Nicholas Starling, 16, has been arrested in connection with the teen’s death.
Prosecutors described the death in documents filed with the court seeking to try the suspect as an adult.
Nicholas Starling reportedly hid both weapons after the alleged attack, prosecutors said in the court documents.
FIRST POST 11/1/2016
The 16-year-old Springfield boy charged in the death of his younger brother could be tried as an adult in the case.
The Clark County Prosecutor’s Office on Wednesday morning filed a notice of intent to move Nicholas Starling’s charges to an adult court, Assistant Prosecutor Dan Driscoll said.
>>RELATED: Springfield teen charged in death of 14-year-old brother
Springfield police arrested Nicholas Starling on delinquent, or juvenile, charges of murder and tampering with evidence on Monday night, hours after 14-year-old Harley Starling was found dead in the Springfield home the boys shared.
It will be up to a juvenile court judge whether or not to bind the charges over to adult court.
Police haven’t released any information in the manner of Harley’s death, saying they don’t want to jeopardize their ongoing investigation.
But hours after their probe into the teen’s death began Monday morning, Capt. Mike Hill said evidence led them to file charges against the boy’s 16-year-old brother.
“We determined this death was a homicide,” Hill said.
The police captain called the case “tragic.”
Friends of Harley Starling are planning a Thursday night vigil for their friend, according to a Facebook post about the event.
Several people on Facebook have shared a “RIP Harley” photo of the teen.
Nicholas Starling first appeared in a Clark County Juvenile Court on Tuesday afternoon, and silently stood shackled at the ankles as a magistrate read him the charges he’s facing.
The 16-year-old is scheduled to be back in court Thursday, according to court records, and have a public defender appointed to represent him. |
With all the Bitcoin drama going on, it's easy to get distracted from what is important. What is important, whether Bitcoin stays on top or not, is the idea of cryptocurrency, of which Bitcoin was the first. While I personally believe Bitcoin can survive its internal turmoil, I could be wrong. After all, no one buys the Model T these days, even though it was the first car. The Model T is a clunker compared to what we have now.
Though there isn't much mainstream media coverage of its alternatives, Bitcoin is far from the only cryptocurrency. There are hundreds of them, most based off of the original code for Bitcoin released by Satoshi Nakamoto, its anonymous creator.
One of those competitors that libertarian cryptocurrency enthusiasts in NH have been using recently instead of Bitcoin is DASH, or "Digital Cash". Due to the growing pains Bitcoin has been experiencing, people here have been looking hard at other alternatives. DASH has started to appear in use at various libertarian market days across the state. Its fees are much lower than Bitcoin's and DASH has an interesting governance structure that really sets it apart from many of the "me-too" cryptocurrencies out there vying for Bitcoin's #1 position.
With DASH, the "Masternodes" (people who've invested into at least 1,000 DASH and are running special software) can vote on how to promote and expand DASH. They do this via proposals that have been made regarding how to spend 10% of the mining rewards, which are earmarked for the purpose of promoting DASH. It's a smart system that the other major cryptos don't have and has resulted in DASH appearing in various places other cryptos have not.
Last month, Portsmouth's Bitcoin Vending Machine became the first in New Hampshire to offer DASH in addition to bitcoin. Now, NH's top Bitcoin Vending Machine, the Manchester "General Bytes" unit at Murphy's Taproom has also added DASH, making New Hampshire the #1 state for DASH Vending Machines per capita with one DVM per 0.67 million population compared to Oregon's one per 1.3 million, and Florida's one per 2.25 million. (These numbers per CoinATMRadar and Census data.)
To be fair, there aren't a whole lot of DASH Vending Machines in the world. Most Crypto Vending Machines globally are bitcoin-only, but it's still worth noting the crypto-haven of New Hampshire is already leading the rest of the world in providing an alternative to the struggling Bitcoin. Given the uncertainty of what could happen with Bitcoin in the coming weeks, it makes sense to rebrand Shire BTC Vending, which launched back in 2014 as part of the Shire Free Church, as Shire Crypto Vending.
Hopefully we'll see the DASH option (and possibly other cryptocurrencies like Ether) expand out to include the Keene and Concord Bitcoin Vending Machines, but for now that's not possible until Lamassu, the manufacturer of those machines, adds other coins as a possible option for vendors. We're told they are working hard at doing just that, so stay tuned to Free Keene for more exciting cryptocurrency news from the Shire!
Also, if you're looking to connect with other cryptocurrency enthusaists in New Hampshire, check out our forums. |
By Martin Rogers
LOS ANGELES – From the moment his Dec. 2 farewell fight against Sadam Ali was inked Miguel Cotto always knew he would have powerful motivating forces running through in veins in the build-up. At first, the factors firing Cotto revolved around his pride, his wish to end his career on a high, and the prospect of finally being able to spend more time with his family in retirement.
But as he met with BoxingScene.com at the Wildcard Gym this week, the future Hall of Famer had something else on his mind, namely his homeland of Puerto Rico, and its current struggles.
“It is the biggest disaster I ever saw in my life,” Cotto said, shaking his head after a long sparring session overseen by trainer Freddie Roach. “I saw my island destroyed.”
It was the first time Cotto had spoken publicly about the issue since Hurricane Maria swept through Puerto Rico on Sept. 20, sparking a major humanitarian crisis, killing 51 people and causing billions of dollars of damage. A month on, and large sections of Puerto Rico are still without power and other basic services.
Cotto and his family suffered through the raging storm but were physically unharmed, as Golden Boy Promotions officials spent several worried days trying to contact him, without success. The 36-year-old recalled seeing houses ruined, trees uprooted and electrical power lines floored by the gales.
One the storm passed and the recovery effort began, Cotto and his family provided assistance to others in his local community, sharing out part of their saved water supply with those whose properties had sustained greater damage. And while he had to leave the island a few days later to begin camp under Roach, he could already see the resiliency of his compatriots shining through.
“(Helping) is the only way we can overcome from a disaster like this one,” Cotto said. “As a Puerto Rican I can say we are a very unique people, and we do what we have to do. What we can do is help each other and for the benefit of Puerto Rico we do that.”
Golden Boy has already agreed to donate an undisclosed percentage of each ticket sold to the Madison Square Garden event, where Cotto will defend his WBO junior middleweight belt against Ali, to the Puerto Rico relief fund. Cotto is also committed to making his own contribution and will throw himself into those efforts after the fight.
However, the biggest assistance he can give may come with his effort in the ring on his 10th appearance at MSG. Cotto has always had the hearts of his people, and a stirring victory in his final fight would undoubtedly give Puerto Rico a much-needed lift in stricken times. He admitted that there has never been a fight that mattered more to him, including his bouts with the likes of Floyd Mayweather, Manny Pacquiao and Shane Mosley.
“When I am here and training I am always with Puerto Rico on my mind every day, but because of the situation we passed through it is more meaningful,” Cotto added. “All I am thinking about is them. I am going to make the best effort to touch as much of Puerto Rico as possible.”
Cotto looked impressive in his last fight, a victory over Japan’s Yoshihiro Kamegai on Aug. 26, a bout that received little attention as it feel on the same night that Floyd Mayweather fought Conor McGregor. Roach thinks that another strong performance would see Cotto’s wish to retire tested by some meaningful offers.
“He looks good,” Roach said. “And if he wins there are definitely going to be some opportunities. But if he goes out on top, having looked after himself and his money, then I’m happy for him.”
As for Cotto, he said there is no chance of him changing his mind. “I am not going to be looking backwards,” he said. “I have others things to look to now.” |
The federal granting councils that award the prestigious Canada Research Chairs say universities must offer up more diverse candidates for the honour or they will lose their funds.
Directors of the program, which sends out $265-million every year across 1,600 researchers, say new measures unveiled on Thursday would help to address the chronic underrepresentation of women, Indigenous people, those with disabilities and visible minorities among the award's ranks. For example, only 28 per cent of chairholders at large universities are women, and they are more likely to be in the bottom of the program's two funding tiers.
Under the new rules, postsecondary institutions have until Dec. 15 to create an action plan on how to achieve more diversity among their candidates, and then they have another 18 to 24 months to ensure the demographics of those given the awards reflect the demographics of those academics eligible to receive them.
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Read more: Gender equality: Who is minding the gap?
Universities are now being warned that if they don't meet these equity targets in time, they could lose their research chairs.
"We believe that progress has been made, but we think it could be made much faster," said Ted Hewitt, president of the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council and head of the CRC steering committee.
Academics are nominated for the positions by their universities, which receive an allotted number of chairs from the government based on the institution's size. The program is one of the federal government's most prominent tools to attract and retain top academic talent in Canada.
But for most academics, research chairs represent a milestone far along in their career. Addressing diversity earlier in academic careers will require more work on the part of universities and provinces, Dr. Hewitt said, but he believes the program's new rules will inspire others to make changes.
"We are doing what we can through this federal program," he said. "We believe this might have a broader effect on the ecosystem."
Science Minister Kirsty Duncan, who had a long career in research before entering politics, made changes last year to a more elite version of the program, called the Canada Excellence Research Chairs, and required competing institutions to submit diversity plans along with their applications.
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Ms. Duncan hinted last week that new measures were in the works for the larger program when she spoke to a gathering of university presidents in Montreal, admonishing them for not doing more to address the issue.
"When I became Minister of Science, I made it clear that I expected the universities to meet the equity and diversity targets that they had agreed to meet a decade ago," Ms. Duncan said in an interview Thursday.
"For the most part, they've failed to do so. It's been a decade, and there simply hasn't been enough progress."
University of Ottawa law professor Amir Attaran, who has held a Canada Research Chair, filed a complaint with the Human Rights Commission last year over what he said was discrimination in the program. He said he'll be watching to see if the government makes good on its threat to pull funding from universities that underperform.
"The intent of this is good, but we've seen good intent and bad performance over a decade," he said.
Prof. Attaran said much of the credit for raising the issue rests with Wendy Robbins, a University of New Brunswick professor who died last month. Prof. Robbins led a successful legal challenge in 2006 that led to the creation of the Canada Research Chairs' equity targets. |
Taking a good starting picture for creating a biometric passport photo is easy. Ideally you have a helping hand for taking the photo, because shoulders and big parts of the upper body are shown on the final photo. Your arms usually are not long enought for this job and sadly a selfie (without a stick) won't work.
At a pinch you can trigger your camera with the built-in timer. The camera then could be placed on a shelf or higboard, so it is at eye-level. You can only find a table? Of course, you could alternatively crouch down or sit on the ground.
For best results take the photo at daytime. The person should look straight towards a window. The face then usually is well lit.
One last thing: face the camera directly and make sure to look straight into its lens. |
With PLL filming in Los Angeles and Suits shooting in Toronto, Bellisario is only set to appear in one episode of the legal drama. "It is just one episode right now, but I hope it could be more," she says. "The funny thing is that we booth shoot at the same time, so it's a little tricky, scheduling-wise, to get more than that."
For now, Claire will strictly remain in Mike's past. "It is right now just in flashback, but that's kind of what I'm so excited about because New York's a small city; you bump into people that you used to know all the time, so it could be more than just a flashback."
And after visiting the Toronto set for the last four years, Bellisario tells us she's excited to start working with the Suits cast and crew. "Everybody on it kind of like an extended family, so to be able to now get to go join that in some work environment is just a really fun thing. I'm really looking forward to it and really excited to be working with such a great group of people." |
Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey (R) signed legislation Monday prohibiting public colleges and universities in the state from confining free speech to specific portions of campus.
“Part of the university experience is to be able to express diverse views, openly, without fear of retribution or intimidation—and to be exposed to other views and perspectives, even if they aren’t politically correct or popular,” Ducey wrote in his signing statement, according to The Arizona Republic.
"Closing this loophole allows students to go to court...so that government officials can’t get away with ignoring the law."
The bill, HB 2615, was introduced in February by State Rep. Anthony Kern (R), who was inspired by his experience attempting to hand out materials with a church group at Glendale Community College. Despite having participated in the annual Independence Day festivities on campus for several years without incident, Kern recalled that one year, “all of a sudden, they came up with this free speech zone which was way away from the people.”
[RELATED: Arizona considering bill to ban ‘free speech zones’ on college campuses]
The new law also has a special relevance to an ongoing fight over the legality of free speech zones, though Kern was not aware of that when he introduced the measure.
Brittany Mirelez, a student at Paradise Valley Community College, filed suit against the school in December after administrators prevented her from recruiting for a Young Americans for Liberty chapter she was trying to start on campus, contending that confining her to a pre-designated free speech zone violated her First Amendment rights.
[RELATED: Student sues college for evicting her from free speech zone]
The Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF), which filed the lawsuit on Mirelez’ behalf, also testified in favor of the other measure Ducey signed Monday, HB 2548, which affirms the right of students like Mirelez to bring legal claims against their schools for restricting free speech.
“Arizona students should have the ability to make sure that government officials are not inappropriately censoring their speech on campus in violation of state law,” ADF Senior Counsel Tyson Langhofer said in a February press release. “Closing this loophole allows students to go to court, when necessary, so that government officials can’t get away with ignoring the law.”
Prior to passage, a Senate amendment significantly broadened the scope of HB 2548 in response to another recent incident, adding provisions increasing the penalties for political protesters who block traffic in a direct rebuke of those who employed the tactic in an effort to stymie a Donald Trump rally in March.
Follow the author of this article on Twitter: @FrickePete |
Bitcoin continues to outperform every reserve and fiat currency across the world. In sign of an increased confidence in the future of the cryptocurrency, Barry Silbert’s Bitcoin Investment Trust (BIT) has doubled its initial public offering (IPO) amount to $1 bln.
An amendment filed with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on Thursday includes the new figure as the agency reconsiders its March decision to deny the Bitcoin ETF market access.
By outperforming the US dollar by almost 50 percent, Bitcoin surpassed the growth of the Mexican Peso, Silver, Gold and Russian Ruble to become the best performing currency so far in 2017.
Fiat, gold, silver behind
According to a chart provided by Bitcoin data analyst SG Kinsmann, Bitcoin price outpaced other currencies and safe haven assets such as gold and silver with significantly wide margins, with the Mexican Peso and Silver, the third and fourth best performing currencies and assets year to date barely achieving a 12 percent change against the US dollar.
Altcoins, Ethereum fairy tale
Thus far, 2017 has been a successful year for both Bitcoin investors and alternative cryptocurrency (altcoin) traders, with leading altcoins or crypto assets such as Ethereum achieving a $5 bln market cap in early April.
In January, the market cap of Ethereum fell short of $1 bln. Within four months, Ether price, the native token of Ethereum, increased by over five times.
The growth of Ethereum can be attributed to the formation of the Enterprise Ethereum Alliance and its growing development community participated by large-scale corporations, organizations and businesses.
Bitcoin moves
The Bitcoin market, however, experienced some major changes in its ecosystem earlier this year.
To begin with, the Philippines and Japan legalized Bitcoin and its businesses in their respective regions. The Indian government announced the likelihood of a regulatory framework for Bitcoin being implemented by as early as May. Some of Japan’s largest retail giants including Bic Camera, which hold a massive influence over the Japanese technology and consumer markets, began to accept Bitcoin payments at their locations.
The major driving force of Bitcoin price in 2017 is suspected to be the resolution of the Bitcoin network’s current scalability problems. The Bitcoin network’s one MB cap on block size is causing Blockchain congestion, a drastic increase in fees at times and long confirmation times.
If Bitcoin scalability issues are addressed within this year, with innovative solutions such as Bitcoin Core’s Segregated Witness (SegWit), Andrew Lee’s Extension Blocks or other potential emerging solutions, Bitcoin price will most likely demonstrate an exponential mid and long-term increase.
On April 26, Cointelegraph reported that Bitcoin officially surpassed $1,300, breaking its previous all-time high price established at the $1,277 margin. However, Cointelegraph reported that most analysts see a high level of instability in the current Bitcoin price trend due to the banking issues of leading Bitcoin exchanges such as Bitfinex and OKCoin.
If the conflict between banks and Bitcoin exchanges are addressed, Bitcoin scalability issue is solved and mainstream adoption in Japan, India and Philippines continue, Bitcoin price will likely demonstrate an exponential mid and long-term growth.
Read more: How to Buy Bitcoin: Best Practices, Where to Buy, Tips |
The country is the 11th largest holder of these securities.
In the past few months, India has been hiking its exposure to these securities that are issued by the US Treasury Department, while neighbouring China had the maximum holdings worth $1.147 trillion at the end of June.
Among the BRIC nations, India has the third largest exposure after China and Brazil, whose holdings stood at $269.7 billion at June end. During the same period, Russia trimmed its holdings to $102.9 billion.
Latest data available with the Treasury Department shows that India increased its holdings of the securities to $130.3 billion at the end of June from $127.3 billion at May end.
India's exposure also touched a one-year high as compared to $117.2 billion at the end of June 2016.
As per the official data, India has been continuously buying more of the US government securities since February this year, when its holding stood at $112.3 billion.
As on June end, Japan had the second largest exposure to the securities with holdings to the tune of $1.091 trillion, followed by Ireland ($302.5 billion) and Brazil.
Others in the top 10 holders list are Cayman Islands ($254 billion), Switzerland ($244.5 billion), the United Kingdom ($237.3 billion), Luxembourg ($211.7 billion), Hong Kong ($202.6 billion), Taiwan ($184.4 billion) and Saudi Arabia ($142.8 billion).
"The sum total in June of all net foreign acquisitions of long-term securities, short-term US securities, and banking flows was a monthly net TIC (Treasury International Capital) inflow of $7.7 billion.
"Of this, net foreign private outflows were $9.6 billion, and net foreign official inflows were $17.3 billion," the Treasury Department said in a recent release.
Washington: India's holdings of American government securities touched a one-year high of $130.3 billion at the end of June, according to official data. |
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CO2 Has Risen By 110 ppm Since 1750
The Human Contribution Is Just 17 ppm
Abstract:
Climate scientists presume that the carbon cycle has come out of balance due to the increasing anthropogenic emissions from fossil fuel combustion and land use change. This is made responsible for the rapidly increasing atmospheric CO 2 concentrations over recent years, and it is estimated that the removal of the additional emissions from the atmosphere will take a few hundred thousand years. Since this goes along with an increasing greenhouse effect and a further global warming, a better understanding of the carbon cycle is of great importance for all future climate change predictions. We have critically scrutinized this cycle and present an alternative concept, for which the uptake of CO 2 by natural sinks scales proportional with the CO 2 concentration. In addition, we consider temperature dependent natural emission and absorption rates, by which the paleoclimatic CO 2 variations and the actual CO 2 growth rate can well be explained. The anthropogenic contribution to the actual CO 2 concentration is found to be 4.3%, its fraction to the CO 2 increase over the Industrial Era is 15% and the average residence time 4 years.
Conclusion:
Climate scientists assume that a disturbed carbon cycle, which has come out of balance by the increasing anthropogenic emissions from fossil fuel combustion and land use change, is responsible for the rapidly increasing atmospheric CO2 concentrations over recent years. While over the whole Holocene up to the entrance of the Industrial Era (1750) natural emissions by heterotrophic processes and fire were supposed to be in equilibrium with the uptake by photosynthesis and the net oceanatmosphere gas exchange, with the onset of the Industrial Era the IPCC estimates that about 15 – 40 % of the additional emissions cannot further be absorbed by the natural sinks and are accumulating in the atmosphere.
The IPCC further argues that CO2 emitted until 2100 will remain in the atmosphere longer than 1000 years, and in the same context it is even mentioned that the removal of human-emitted CO2 from the atmosphere by natural processes will take a few hundred thousand years (high confidence) (see AR5-Chap.6-Executive-Summary).
Since the rising CO2 concentrations go along with an increasing greenhouse effect and, thus, a further global warming, a better understanding of the carbon cycle is a necessary prerequisite for all future climate change predictions. In their accounting schemes and models of the carbon cycle the IPCC uses many new and detailed data which are primarily focussing on fossil fuel emission, cement fabrication or net land use change (see AR5-WG1-Chap.6.3.2), but it largely neglects any changes of the natural emissions, which contribute to more than 95 % to the total emissions and by far cannot be assumed to be constant over longer periods (see, e.g.: variations over the last 800,000 years (Jouzel et al., 2007); the last glacial termination (Monnin et al., 2001); or the younger Holocene (Monnin et al., 2004; Wagner et al., 2004)).
Since our own estimates of the average CO2 residence time in the atmosphere differ by several orders of magnitude from the announced IPCC values, and on the other hand actual investigations of Humlum et al. (2013) or Salby (2013, 2016) show a strong relation between the natural CO2 emission rate and the surface temperature, this was motivation enough to scrutinize the IPCC accounting scheme in more detail and to contrast this to our own calculations.
Different to the IPCC we start with a rate equation for the emission and absorption processes, where the uptake is not assumed to be saturated but scales proportional with the actual CO2 concentration in the atmosphere (see also Essenhigh, 2009; Salby, 2016). This is justified by the observation of an exponential decay of 14C. A fractional saturation, as assumed by the IPCC, can directly be expressed by a larger residence time of CO2 in the atmosphere and makes a distinction between a turnover time and adjustment time needless. Based on this approach and as solution of the rate equation we derive a concentration at steady state, which is only determined by the product of the total emission rate and the residence time. Under present conditions the natural emissions contribute 373 ppm and anthropogenic emissions 17 ppm to the total concentration of 390 ppm (2012). For the average residence time we only find 4 years.
The stronger increase of the concentration over the Industrial Era up to present times can be explained by introducing a temperature dependent natural emission rate as well as a temperature affected residence time. With this approach not only the exponential increase with the onset of the Industrial Era but also the concentrations at glacial and cooler interglacial times can well be reproduced in full agreement with all observations. So, different to the IPCC’s interpretation the steep increase of the concentration since 1850 finds its natural explanation in the self accelerating processes on the one hand by stronger degassing of the oceans as well as a faster plant growth and decomposition, on the other hand by an increasing residence time at reduced solubility of CO2 in oceans.
Together this results in a dominating temperature controlled natural gain, which contributes about 85 % to the 110 ppm CO2 increase over the Industrial Era, whereas the actual anthropogenic emissions of 4.3 % only donate 15 %. These results indicate that almost all of the observed change of CO2 during the Industrial Era followed, not from anthropogenic emission, but from changes of natural emission.
The results are consistent with the observed lag of CO2 changes behind temperature changes (Humlum et al., 2013; Salby, 2013), a signature of cause and effect. Our analysis of the carbon cycle, which exclusively uses data for the CO2 concentrations and fluxes as published in AR5, shows that also a completely different interpretation of these data is possible, this in complete conformity with all observations and natural causalities. |
(CNN) A new rap video from Snoop Dogg has stirred controversy with its mock execution of a clown dressed as President Donald Trump.
The video for "Lavender" (Nightfall Remix) ft. Kaytranada & Snoop Dogg dropped this weekend and features the rapper and a cast of clowns, including one played by actor Michael Rapaport.
The single is a remix of a track by BADBADNOTGOOD and Kaytranada.
Snoop's video takes on hot button issues including police shootings.
But the most controversial aspect of it is a clown dubbed "Ronald Klump."
In a mock breaking news clip, Klump is seen at a "Clown House" press conference where the TV news crawl reads "Ronald Klump wants to deport all doggs."
Later, Snoop Dogg is seen firing a fake pistol at Klump as he stands with his hands raised.
The Klump character also appears at the end of the video, in chains.
CNN has reached out to reps for Snoop Dogg for comment.
At least one member of Congress is not thrilled about the rapper's creativity.
Senator Marco Rubio made headlines during his run for the presidency when he revealed he was a lover of West Coast hip hop.
But the politician told TMZ Snoop Dogg shouldn't have taken aim at Trump in the video.
"We've had presidents assassinated before in this country, so anything like that is something people should be really careful about," Rubio said. "I think people can disagree on policy, but we've got to be careful about that kind of thing because the wrong person sees that and gets the wrong idea and you could have a real problem."
The rapper told Billboard he has several issues with the new president -- everything from his election to the proposed travel ban.
"It's a lot of clown s*** going on that we could just sit and talk on the phone all day about, but it's a few issues that we really wanted to lock into [for the video] like police, the president and just life in general," Snoop said.
He added that he didn't make the four and a half minute long video, which was directed by Jesse Wellens and James DeFina, to elicit a reaction from either Trump or his critics.
"I just put it out because I feel like it's something that's missing," he said. "Any time I drop something, I'm trying to fill in a void."
On Wednesday Trump tweeted a response.
Can you imagine what the outcry would be if @SnoopDogg, failing career and all, had aimed and fired the gun at President Obama? Jail time! — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 15, 2017
"Can you imagine what the outcry would be if @SnoopDogg, failing career and all, had aimed and fired the gun at President Obama," he tweeted. "Jail time!" |
It’s no secret that every map plays out differently. Every map favors one side more than the other, and every map has a unique layout. Looking at the history of competitively played maps, there are layouts that are recognized as cornerstones of the community. Familiar maps such as Nuke, Inferno, Dust 2, and Train, just to name a few. A controversial topic when it comes to map design is Counter-Terrorist favorability. More often than not, these maps tend to make the job easier for the defenders than the attacking Terrorists. Why the community loves the Counter-Terrorist side is a topic for another conversation. We’re focusing on what makes a map favor a certain side, or what makes a map balanced.
Three core mechanics of a maps design can be credited to it’s favorability to one side: Rotation times, the number of angles, and the number of choke points. Applying any of these traits to any map, we can begin to see why maps tend play out the way they do.
Rotation times
Rotation time, in its simplest form, is the time it takes a player on one bomb site to run to the opposing site. A map that is very infamous for its CT favorability and insanely short rotation times is Train. Though recently redubbed to give aid to the Terrorist side, the map still stands as CT sided. If an aim duel is occuring between a Terrorist at the Popdog location and a CT holding the same angle from connector and both decide leave at the exact same time to peek each other again at lower B, the CT will reach the angle just over 5 seconds earlier than the Terrorist. This shows that with even with perfect intel on where the CT’s are located, the Terrorists are at a huge time disadvantage.
Figure showing the rotation path of each player described above
Angle Amount
Angle amount is how many positions the CT’s have to hide in to hold an angle. Angle amount is the reason Inferno’s B site is an Entry fraggers worst nightmare. There are an ungodly number of angles that Terrorists have to check, one by one, to clear the site. It’s a guessing game when trying to take B Site, as any of the spots has the potential to be occupied, and the first Terrorist in is often bait just to find out where the defenders are and is rarely able to make a trade. The more angles there are to check, the harder the site is to capture.
A Terrorist walking onto the site has to check these seven common angles, not including some uncommon spots
Number of Choke Points
Choke points are the entrances into a bomb site. How many options do the Terrorists have when entering a site and how different those options are gives both sides very different choices. A map known very being balanced, Dust 2’s B site shows us the importance of entering a site from multiple angles. With no middle control, if a Terrorist team wishes to take B site, all their forces must go through a single entry point. With so many potential CT positions, combined with only a single entry point, B site can become a slaughterhouse for our Elite crew in that scenario. But with the addition of Terrorist mid control, the entire situation changes. Now with three potential entry points, any CT trapped in the site must divide their attention to try to cover all the entrances. This gives the attackers a much higher probability of taking the site.
With only one entry point, any CT defending the site can focus all their attention onto one choke point. In the event of a B split, the CT's ability to lock down the site is severely restrained
Combining All Three
When taking all three factors into consideration of a map’s design, we can start to understand why maps like Inferno is so CT sided, and why a map like Cobble is balanced. Inferno has a low number of choke points, and a high amount of angles to check, making the initial assault on the bomb sites a very hard feat. Though once the Terrorists have control of the sites, the same attributes are turned against the retaking CTs, and the sites being so far apart causes high rotation times. The combination of all three make Inferno’s sites extremely hard to capture. Cobble is the opposite of Inferno in many ways. The sites offer little to no cover along with 2-3 entry points from different angles, making holding the sites a challenge. Though with quick rotation times, retakes are very doable. These are just two examples of a system that can be applied to any bomb site, on any defusal map.
Hopefully with this added information, you can look at map design in a new light! Thanks for reading and happy holidays!
Are you into fantasy leagues? Then check out AlphaDraft and put together your allstar lineup! |
There has been a lot of movement in Western Canada’s natural gas midstream industry despite challenging market conditions, including bearish natural gas prices, continued competition from US shale production, and a lack of global market reach through LNG/LPG export capabilities. Natural gas midstreamers still see long term opportunity in Western Canada, and it is an opportune time to save on skilled labour costs by proceeding with projects in stronger, but still fragile markets for oil.
Two major deals occurred in Q3 2016: Inter Pipeline purchased Williams Cos. Inc.’s entire Canadian NGL portfolio, and Enbridge merged with Spectra Energy to become North America’s largest energy infrastructure company. An Enbridge-Spectra merger would create an entity worth an estimated $165 Billion CDN. The deals represent a continued trend in Western Canada’s natural gas industry, as players cope with restructured natural gas flows and growth that is more centered on intra-Alberta industrial demand versus exports.
Likewise, diluent demand remains a strong driver of Montney and Duvernay liquids production in West Central Alberta and North East B.C. Veresen Midstream/KKR, Pembina, Keyera and SemCAMs continue to capture this growing demand with new field plant, fractionation, storage and pipeline capacity. Despite the drop in global oil prices, oilsands producers still require an increasing supply of diluents, (pentanes plus), to transport bitumen through pipelines to Western Canada, Ontario and the United States markets. About 850,000 b/d of new bitumen production capacity is coming online between 2015 and 2019. The Alberta Energy Regulator (AER) expects Alberta’s demand for diluents to exceed 655,000 b/d by 2019, up from over 550,000 b/d in 2015. About 188,000 b/d of pentanes plus volumes were sourced from Alberta in 2015.
Finally, despite a complete change in the economic environment, underlying conditions remain that would benefit new petrochemical development in Alberta. An abundance of cheap propane feedstock could stay long term driven, in part, by condensate demand for oilsands diluent, current lack of West Coast export capacity, and the explosion of competing NGL production (including propane) in the United States. The NEB anticipates that Western Canadian field propane volumes will increase by 15,000 b/d to 185,000 b/d in 2019. As shown by the AER, Alberta will continue to produce a large majority of that supply.
To date, 16 project proponents have applied for the Alberta Government’s $500 million Petrochemical Diversification Program, which seeks to expand methane and propane value chains in the Province. While the Alberta Government continues to assess program applications, Inter Pipeline and a separate joint venture of Pembina and Kuwait-based Petrochemicals Industries Company (PIC) continue to assess viability of propane-based petrochemical projects in Alberta. For Inter Pipeline and Pembina, proceeding with petrochemical development would advance their value chain beyond being just a feedstock transporter. However, a few hard questions remain:
Is the Petrochemical Diversification Program enough of an incentive to help offset costs associated with the new carbon tax?
What will the market for propylene and polypropylene look like after competing Gulf Coast plants are fully constructed and operational? Will the global market be able to absorb new volumes from Alberta projects in the coming decades?
How much LPG export capacity will be constructed on Canada’s West Coast?
On a side note, Statistics Canada reported that Alberta’s E.I. recipients have crested, and were below 87,000 in August 2016 from above 100,000 earlier in the summer. Hopefully, the downward trend continues with the addition of new jobs. Click here for more detailed project information found in AVH Engineering Operator`s Market (OM) Report section.
Justin Ziebart works for AVH Engineering, a trusted Alberta-based company that specialises in asset integrity management and technical services. |
Bug Description
Binary package hint: firefox-3.5
this plugin changed the value of keyword.URL from
http:// www.google. com/search? ie=UTF- 8&oe=UTF- 8&sourceid= navclient& gfns=1& q=
to
http:// www.google. com/cse? cx=partner- pub-20700919712 71392:getzo5- xcfi&ie= UTF-8&sa= Search& q=
Beside the ugly google search page results that i havem when I am searching for stanford (I am not searching. I am just lazy to type stanford.edu) in the previous case google will forward me directly to the page, this works only for famous websites. Now this partially feeling lucky feature is blocked by the new extenstion which returns always the search page results!
------- ------- ------
Multisearch plugin is an experiment designed for an ubuntu *alpha* release (meaning: this is not expected to make all happy, nor should someone expect this to be of production quality now).
For further information about mulitsearch:
http:// www.asoftsite. org/s9y/ archives/ 162-What- is-this- Multisearch- thing-in- my-Firefox- about.html
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ProblemType: Bug
Architecture: i386
Date: Wed Jul 22 01:32:04 2009
DistroRelease: Ubuntu 9.10
Package: firefox-3.5 3.5.1+build1+ nobinonly- 0ubuntu1
ProcEnviron:
PATH=(custom, user)
LANG=en_US.UTF-8
SHELL=/bin/bash
ProcVersionSign ature: Ubuntu 2.6.31-3.19-generic
SourcePackage: firefox-3.5
Uname: Linux 2.6.31-3-generic i686 |
VIENNA, Jan. 28 (UPI) -- European natural gas consumers need to prepare the infrastructure needed to avoid Ukrainian territory by 2019, an official from Russia's Gazprom said Wednesday.
Europe gets about a quarter of its natural gas needs met by Russian suppliers, though the majority of that runs through a Soviet-era transit network in Ukraine. Simmering conflict, and gas contract issues reaching back to at least 2006, exposes that artery to risk.
The Kremlin has worked to advance transit networks that avoid Ukrainian territory, most recently with Turkish Stream, a revamped project that replaces the now-scrapped South Stream pipeline. By 2019, Ukrainian networks will be idle and Gazprom Chairman Viktor Zubkov said Europe needs to be ready.
"Considering the decision made on re-directing supplies from 2019, European partners do not have so much time [for infrastructure preparation]," he said from a European gas conference in Vienna.
Gazprom officials met earlier this week in Ankara to discuss planning for Turkish Stream. The company said about 70 percent of the pipeline would follow the planned South Stream route, with 150 miles slated for a new corridor to Europe.
Gazprom said the first gas supplies would run through the network to Turkey by 2016.
Europe, for its part, has looked to rival suppliers to advance its own energy security needs, expressing frustration with the monopoly Gazprom holds over transit and supplies. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said, as Russia's largest trading partner, Russia would remain the key energy supplier for Europe. |
February 25 will see Atoms for Peace – a collaboration between Radiohead frontman Thom Yorke and the band’s producer Nigel Godrich – release their debut album AMOK.
Enlisting musicians Flea (Red Hot Chili Peppers, The Mars Volta), Joey Waronker (drummer for Beck and later REM) and Mauro Refosco (percussionist for David Byrne and others), Atoms for Peace formed as an attempt to recreate music from Yorke’s 2006 solo album The Eraser in a live setting, but swiftly morphed into something different. In some senses a tribute to dance music, in others a celebration of the energy of live instrumentation, AMOK is an album that deliberately muddies lines – between electronic and acoustic instruments, between songs and sketches, and more. Its lasting impression is of one of Britain’s most distinctive musicians working with a new-found freedom, and although the current climate doesn’t quite allow for a game-changer in the vein of Radiohead’s Warp-influenced Kid A, it’s a record that feels brimming with possibility.
FACT’s Tom Lea chatted to Yorke and Godrich over soy cappuccinos (what else?) at XL’s West London studios about the influence of dance music on AMOK, the virtues of approaching dance music from a singer’s mindset, and more.
“We’re not just jamming or whatever, the whole spirit of it comes from the fact that it’s informed by electronics.”
The obvious place to start would be Atoms for Peace’s formation – it was a good four years ago you first started doing live shows.
Thom Yorke: “Well it was born out of trying to play The Eraser live.”
Nigel Godrich: “Thom called me out of blue, a couple of years after The Eraser, and said that he’d become obsessed with the idea of playing it live, but with Latin percussion to try and make the electronic elements real.”
TY: “Not using any sequencers or nuffinck. We talked about it, and I went home and went through the people I wanted to be in it, which were Joey [Waronker], you [Nigel], Flea and a percussionist. I emailed Joey and Flea, and I got a response within an hour, so it was on, really. And then we found Mauro [Refosco].”
It’s always been a tricky thing to perform an electronically-inclined album like The Eraser live. Was there an element of wanting to take that challenge on?
TY: “There was an element of… well, you can always do some sort of translation into a live format. It might not be exactly how you envision it, but you can always do it. Part of me wanted to play with some other people, part of me was curious to know what would happen with the beats – that was a big part of it – and I was also initially just feeling the songs. I’d done this one thing on my own, I’d agreed to do a solo gig at Latitude or something [in 2009], and I was racking my brains as to how to play Eraser on the piano or the bass, and I realised that it is possible. So it didn’t really start just from the aesthetic of electronics vs. live, but as soon as we got together it was quite a shock to have that thing [sequenced electronics] inform how people play live. It was striking how Afrobeat it became, without that intention at all.”
It’s quite hard to pin down, on AMOK, how much of the percussion is organic and how much is electronic. It’s a very percussive record, and the drums are usually quite high in the mix, but it’s hard to figure out what’s what.
TY: “We deliberately made it hard to know where the drums start and finish, and how they come together, so that you still retain the energy of that live thing but it’s electronically informed. You know, we’re not just jamming or whatever, the whole spirit of it comes from the fact it’s informed by electronics.”
NG: “That became really obvious when we first started playing with Joey and Mauro. Some of the rhythms on The Eraser are really complicated, so watching someone work those out on instruments – it was very unique. The basis of the new tracks were when we did the first Atoms for Peace gigs, and we realised we didn’t have enough material to play…”
TY: “Like ‘what have you got?’ ‘Fuck all!’ [laughs]”
NG: “That was the beginning of the album, per say. But then we had to take it to the band, and see how they interpret it, because some things worked [when performed that way], others were better kept electronic. It’s a half-way house between those two things – like you say, sometimes you can’t tell which is which.”
TY: “It sort of felt like a big release of these big possibilities that hadn’t occurred to me when we first got together, but when it came to playing this new material – with new musicians, but it’s stuff that I’d written on my own, and the two feed off each other… there was a nice energy within the band. It was quite a unique, weird position to be in, and a weird thing to do. It’s like opening a big Pandora’s Box, and I don’t know what direction it’s going to go in. We’ve got these bonkers rhythms made by machines, and musicians who can keep up with them – no problem – and the two can bounce off each other. It’s quite something.”
“We’ve got these bonkers rhythms made by machines, and musicians who can keep up with them – no problem – and the two can bounce off each other. It’s quite something.”
If you have opened an entire Pandora’s Box worth of possibilities, how do you then condense that into an album? AMOK‘s quite a short, concise record, as well.
TY: “Well this was very much our first response to the situation. We did the three days of endless jamming thing, and it sort of formed into something. We didn’t think about it too much, it was just… there were a few gems of ideas that came together, it was an excuse to all hang out, and an excuse to work.”
NG: “When you talk about this Pandora’s Box idea, it generates a lot of ideas that you can then sit in front of you and pick and choose from. We’re saying Pandora’s Box, but it was fun. It was more like a chocolate box really.”
A Bento Box?
NG: “If you will. Ultimately, there’s a lot of possibilities but we agree on what we like, and it’s really really fun. That’s the bottom line. It’s really fun to play that stuff, and it’s really fun having these musicians who can keep up with it.”
TY: “Finishing it off was the tricky bit – writing the words, as usual.”
When did it reach the point where it had gone beyond a means of making live material, and you realised there was an album in it?
NG: “I think we knew that straight off. The last three days of the tour, that was mostly dedicated to making new material.”
TY: “Then we said ‘see you later chaps’, and went off and made it into an album.”
NG: “We didn’t quite know what was going to come out of those three days, but we knew that we were trying to make a record. We’d seen the potential, and saw what it could turn into. Given that it was a retrospective project – taking [The Eraser‘s] material and reinterpreting it and replaying it – it was nice to then write some new material together that was inclusive.”
I thought it was interesting that AMOK references track titles from both The Eraser [‘Atoms for Peace’] and Radiohead’s Hail to the Thief [‘Judge, Jury and Executioner’].
TY: “Does it?”
Yeah, ‘Myxomatosis’ had the ‘Judge, Jury and Executioner’ subtitle.
TY: “[laughs] That was a mistake. I forgot I’d already used that! I’ve only got a limited wardrobe.”
So that wasn’t deliberate?
TY: “No, I’d genuinely forgotten that. You know, my lyric book’s only so thick.” |
Yesterday, the world watched as British Astronaut Tim Peake blasted off from Kazakhstan to join the International Space Station.
The second Briton in space, following Helen Sharman's 1991 Juno mission, Peake will live aboard the ISS for six months on a historic journey that will see him carry out experiments to make use of the state of weightlessness, some 250 miles above the earth's surface.
For a former Army Air Corps Officer this is a career-forming, life-changing expedition. And as national pride goes, we’re full of it. Peake fever reigns.
"I have to wonder if this selfish ‘career separation’ is ever worth it - even for space travel."
But what about the wife and young family he's left behind?
Much was made of Peake’s emotional departure from his children, boys age six and four.
It's been reported they'll be 'counting the sleeps' until his return - and his four year old son, Oliver, was seen tearfully begging to go along, as his father made a heart symbol with his hands from the rocket window.
As a divorced single mum of two children (of similar ages to Peake’s) I have to wonder if this selfish ‘career separation’ is ever worth it - even for space travel.
Rebecca Peake and sons say goodbye to Tim for six months
Giving up six precious months of family life takes a father's absence to the highest extreme. Especially when it’s for work – and not through sad circumstance.
There are 2 million lone parents in the UK and I’d be willing to wager that a large proportion of these did not choose to parent singularly.
Despite our best efforts, relationships go wrong, people change, life gets in the way and couples split-up; leaving children cared for by one parent for the majority or the entirety of the time.
I’m one of them. I didn’t enter in to my marriage thinking it would end in divorce and I certainly didn’t have children with the aim of them being raised in a single parent family. Observing the effect a part-time father has on my children has been one of the most difficult parts of ending our marriage– his absence by circumstance is palpable.
"He might be only 50 miles up the M1 - and not 250 miles up in the earth’s atmosphere - but the sense of removal is the same."
He might be only 50 miles up the M1 - and not 250 miles up in the earth’s atmosphere - but the sense of removal is the same.
Where possible, children need a mother and father's influence in their lives. A full compliment of love from both parents, present and available for affection and advice.
Wilfully taking these away is harmful to their development - heart-wrenching when it's an inevitable process in divorce and surely never acceptable when due to a career choice.
If my ex-husband had jetted off into space leaving me doing Christmas alone with the in-laws? Well, that in itself would be grounds for separation.
Alice Judge-Talbot and her children
Then there’s the danger factor, the risk that accompanies six months on a space station. My heart was in my mouth as I watched Peake’s sons jump up and down at the excitement of daddy taking off in a rocket ship.
You can’t deny this will be a pretty cool story for them to share at school but there was a strong chance it could have all gone wrong.
The sight of their dad exploding in a ball of fire is something that would have stuck with those boys their whole lives, and the danger isn’t over yet: we’ve all seen Gravity, we know re-entering the earth’s atmosphere is a bit more dangerous than getting off at junction 14 of the motorway.
You’ve got to wonder how different the media coverage would have been had the astronaut been a woman with a young family.
Leaving my own children for six months is a choice I would personally never make – I wouldn’t dream of missing their milestones, their needs, their cuddles - and you can bet questions would have been asked of a woman who felt this was a valid choice.
A mother on this mission would have ‘abandoned’ her kids. She’d have been seen as cold-hearted, career driven and ‘ambitious’. Yet Tim Peake is heralded as a hero.
His story is hugely inspiring: grit, ambition and determination have literally propelled him into space.
Peake might be making history - but at what cost? |
Land and Space Journal Sentinel business reporter Tom Daykin talks about commercial real estate and development. SHARE
By of the
An 8,000-square-foot east side building that features Izumi's Japanese restaurant as its main tenant has been sold to a Milwaukee developer for $835,000.
The building, at 2140-2150 N. Prospect Ave., was sold to 1250 North Prospect LLC, led by Max Dermond, according to state real estate records posted Monday. The two-story building, which includes upper-level offices, was sold by an affiliate of Newport Beach, Calif.-based Sabal Financial Group LP.
Dermond's firm, Dermond Property Investments LLC, has developed apartments on the east side, and has proposed developing an apartment building in Bay View. The Prospect Ave. property includes a parking lot behind the building.
A firm spokeswoman didn't yet have an immediate comment on plans for the property. |
“Honestly, at a certain point it just became the norm.”
I’m sitting in a basement with Drew Goodman. Now retired, Drew spent 34 years as the play-by-play voice of the Colorado Rockies. Drew now spends his time gardening and watching his grandsons play basketball. He usually doesn’t watch baseball these days.
“You thought, for a while, ‘OK, the losing streak is bad but it’s just probability that they’ll win eventually.’ Only, they didn’t. They never could,” Drew sighs as he speaks these words. It’s difficult for him. “At least it’s over now.”
Drew wasn’t able to announce the last one, the game they finally won. But it doesn’t bother him.
“Would it have been a relief? Probably. Would it have changed anything for me? No.”
Drew’s story is a story many have now. For 20 years, the Rockies never won a baseball game. They played over 3,200 games and lost every single one. It defied logic, reason, math, religion, life. It was the craziest streak in sports and when it finally ended on June 22, 2037, it felt like we lost one of America’s most insane storylines. Every summer for two decades, we knew the Rockies were going to lose. It was as predictable as death and taxes. Now, that’s changed.
The Football Friday Documentary Series Presents:
June 22, 2037: An Oral History
On June 21, 2017 the Rockies entered a game against the Arizona Diamondbacks on a modest winning streak. It was looking like a pretty good season; the Rockies sat 21 games over .500 at that point. Then, the losing started.
“In hindsight I guess we could’ve seen it coming,” former Rockies player Pat Valaika told me. I met with Pat in the new restaurant he just opened, “Pat’s Steaks.” It’s pretty good.
“Jeff gave up that nine-run inning, we shrugged it off. That’s how baseball is sometimes, you know? But then it just kept coming.”
The Rockies lost their next 89 games to finish 2017 with a 47-115 record.
“At a certain point it just became a joke to even us,” Valaika said. “How in the world could this keep happening?”
Losing 89 straight games was the first defiance of logic in this historic streak. Eventually, it went from bad play to bad luck to acts of God.
Former Rockies general manager Jeff Bridich couldn’t fathom that the losing streak could keep going.
“We thought, ‘OK, 89 losses to end the season—that’s just terrible.’ But it’s a new year, a new chance,” Jeff told me.
The Rockies lost all 162 games in 2018.
“By June of that year we thought, ‘are we cursed?’ Surely we must be cursed.”
The curse narrative dominated 2019. So much so that the Rockies hired a priest to exorcise the stadium and the clubhouse of demons. They also brought in a voodoo priestess and, secretly, a wiccan.
“Dick [Monfort, Rockies owner] was really concerned that we had definitely encountered dark spirits. I mean, it was an over 300-game losing streak by that point. How could he not?” Bridich recalled. “We had a priest, we had voodoo, we had some guy who advertised on Facebook that he had killed 20 demons with his bare hands. It was insanity, but we were on the brink.”
In 2020, Bridich was fired. Even Monfort’s loyalty couldn’t protect a team that lost 500 straight games.
“I think when we couldn’t even sign a single draft pick because of our streak, that’s when the writing was on the wall.”
Bridich now operates a law firm in Sandusky, Ohio.
The Rockies continued to lose, dropping every single game in the entire decade of the 2020s. The team was now ranked 28th in attendance, still in front of Oakland and Tampa Bay. There were a few games in 2031 when the crowd was composed of fewer people than the rosters of both teams. It was dismal; Supreme President Zuckerberg proclaimed the Rockies a disaster zone at the start of his third term in 2033.
It seemed like the Rockies were never going to win—until June 22, 2037 came.
The Rockies were at home playing the San Francisco Giants. The Giants, winners of three World Championships two decades prior, had also come on hard times. Due to Buster Posey’s arrest and ban from baseball for being a huge handsome jerk, the Giants had been forced to reshape their organizational structure. This proved to be a difficult task and the team had not had a winning season since 2019.
The Rockies started rookie Zoran Borusch, their 133rd rookie of the season. Borusch was one of the better Rockies prospect starters, having been signed from the Serbian Penal League and sporting a 36.78 ERA in Triple-A. It may not look like it, but today was going to be Zoran’s day.
The Rockies trailed early, a usual sign that the loss was once again definite. But then something began to happen that hadn’t happened in two decades.
The Rockies began to rally.
“It was a hit and then another hit and then all of the sudden they had strung together five in a row. They led 4-3,” lifelong Rockies fan Nick Stephens said. A fun fact about Nick is he was super wrong in 2017 about Greg Holland and for a time, people blamed the losing streak on him.
Nick now operates a car wash that is definitely a legitimate business and any inquiries into his finances should be directed to his lawyer.
“They went into the eighth up 6-3 and you thought ‘could this be the one?’” Nick continued from the luxurious mansion he purchased with legitimate earnings from his car wash business. “They brought in their set up guy, a 70-year-old former pitcher they had found in Nebraska or something.”
That pitcher they found in Nebraska? Jamie Moyer. Jamie was now a school teacher in Nebraska when the Rockies called him up asking for one last ride. His fastball topped out at 48 mph but the Rockies had to take what they could get.
“When they called I remember telling my wife how stupid it was,” Jamie tells me. “I’m [freaking] 74 years old.”
74 or not, Jamie Moyer pitched a clean eighth inning on June 22. A minor miracle in itself, striking out two Giants and forcing Hunter Pence to pop up.
“It was nice to get Hunter out because we go to the same osteoporosis doctor.”
Then came the ninth inning.
“[The Rockies] were still up three runs but we all remembered in 2025 when they led 10-1 in the ninth inning and lost 34-10,” Stephens says of a truly gut-wrenching, 33-run inning in May of 2025 against the Dodgers. “It always seemed like that would happen.”
The Rockies’ closer was a man few saw pitch. But as he came out for the ninth inning, it was impossible to not cheer a little. Maybe, this was finally it.
“I couldn’t even remember the guy’s name, the closer,” Stephens said. “But as he strutted out I clapped a little. It was starting to feel real.”
The closer nobody could remember was 31-year-old Grayson Grayson. Just 11 when the losing streak started, the unfortunately named Grayson was an accountant for the Rockies when they asked if anyone could pitch. He said he could throw a decent change up, so they signed him. He still had to work as an accountant and pitch in his free time. He had racked up 13 appearances in six seasons.
“I didn’t really have a gameplan, no,” Grayson said. He still works for the Rockies. “I never really did. I only had two pitches and my fastball was only 82 mph. So my plan every time was to just throw it and hope they didn’t hit a home run.”
That hope, combined with that change up, worked to perfection.
“I got all three guys out on the first pitch. They all popped it up. I almost felt like they were trying to lose.”
The Giants went down quietly, the crowd roared. Some, like Stephens, cried.
“I bawled my [freaking] eyes out,” Stephens recalled.
For fans of the Rockies, the win meant they could move on. Even though they finished the 2037 season 6-156, they knew they could win again.
For Bridich, it was something he didn’t even notice.
“I hope the guys celebrated, I wish I could’ve been there. But I’m the number one cow lawyer in Ohio now. Cow Law takes no breaks.”
For Goodman, the former broadcaster who dedicated his life to the team, it was just another day in the garden.
“To tell you the truth, I forgot they were playing that day.”
June 22, 2037 will always be a moment in history. The day a losing streak ended, the day hope could reign again.
All hail President Supreme Zuckerberg.
All hail baseball. |
The arrival of WikiLeaks is one of the most exciting developments in the enduring struggle of ordinary people for the right to call secret power to account. This is what journalism should do.
For all the lip-service paid to Edmund Burke's idea of a fourth estate, the media remain an extension of the established order. The current wars demonstrate this. Instead of exposing the lies that have led to the carnage, journalists, with honourable exceptions, have amplified and echoed them. Scott McClellan, George W Bush's former press secretary, says his administration relied on the media's "complicit enablers".
WikiLeaks, says its founder Julian Assange, has "created a space that permits a form of journalism which lives up to the name that journalism has always tried to establish for itself". This year, WikiLeaks has released tens of thousands of official documents that describe the casual, almost industrial killing of civilians, assassination squads, and attempts at cover-up.
Anyone watching the leaked cockpit video of an Apache helicopter gunning down cameramen and children in Baghdad will not forget the pilot's reaction: "Nice." Having witnessed the brutalising effects of war, I felt like cheering when this was exposed and I read that it was viewed 4.8 million times in one week. This is the new "space" for a truth-telling we need urgently, as great power promotes its "perpetual war" and strives for what it calls "information dominance".
I have got to know Julian Assange, and what strikes me most about him is the unabashed morality he invests in WikiLeaks. It is unusual to hear the words: "The goal is justice, the method is transparency." He reminds me of one of our compatriots, Wilfred Burchett, the courageous reporter who incurred the wrath of the powerful by exposing the "atomic plague" of the Hiroshima bomb. Like Burchett, Assange has made some serious enemies for blowing such a loud whistle; the Pentagon has already threatened to "terminally marginalise" WikiLeaks. And this is his great risk and his honour.
I asked him what he had learned most from his glimpses of rampant power. "In one way or another I've been reading generals' emails since I was 17," he said (he is 39), "and what I see now is a vast, sprawling estate that is becoming more and more secretive and uncontrolled. "This is not a sophisticated conspiracy; it is a movement of self-interest to produce an end result that is [the wars in] Iraq and Afghanistan, which are used to wash money out of the US tax base and back to [arms] companies like Northrop Grumman and Raytheon." Another release of leaked documents is due soon.
I salute such principled audacity.
Previous: 22. Angelina Jolie
Next: 24. Lloyd Blankfein
Back to list |
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. — USA Hockey announced today the host sites for its slate of 2018 National Championships, with each tournament to be contested in March/April 2018.
Among the notable highlights:
The 2018 USA Hockey Girls National Championships will mark the 40th anniversary of USA Hockey crowning the nation's best in girls and women's hockey, a tradition that dates back to 1978 and the inaugural girls national championship tournament held in Orchard Park and Cheektowaga, New York.
USA Hockey Arena, in Plymouth, Michigan, will host its first-ever USA Hockey Youth National Championship when the nation's best compete at the 2018 USA Hockey Youth Tier I National Championship for 15-year-olds.
NOTES: USA Hockey has been conducting the United States' national championship tournaments since 1938, with teams from 37 states being crowned champions in various classifications ... A list of USA Hockey national champions dating back to 1949 can be found here. |
On Mon., April 4, the day Atlanta producer TM88 turned 30, he woke up to the news that Lil Uzi Vert 's "XO TOUR Llif3," which TM produced along with J.W. Lucas , had debuted at No. 49 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. "I was like man... that's God!" TM tells XXL . "He's helping me out. It’s some shit you really dream about, and then you actually wake up to that shit. It’s crazy."
Two weeks later, the song would shoot up to the No. 8 slot, making it TM's first-ever Billboard top 10 song.
For one of rap's most prolific producers, it's surprising to find out "XO TOUR Llif3" is the first song of TM88's to chart that high. Over the last few years, he's landed production credits on classics for artists like Future ( "Codeine Crazy," "Chosen One" ) and Young Thug ( "Danny Glover," "Ill" ), working hard to constantly stamp his name on new tracks from rap's biggest stars. But while he's produced for over 10 artists in 2017 alone, ranging from pop star Tove Lo to Miami rapper Smokepurpp , It's Uzi's breakout single that's finding him the most commercial success.
TM88 used Fruity Loops to make the "XO TOUR Llif3" beat on a portable Beats Pill speaker after a wild experience in Florida, where he's originally from. He had flown into his hometown of Miami to work with Future and Gucci on some new music, and while waiting for his return flight to Atlanta from Fort Lauderdale, a shooter opened fire in the terminal next to his. While footage of the shooting quickly went viral online, TM remained stranded in the airport for 10 hours, eventually driving to Miami in order to fly back to ATL. But in the process, he lost his laptop charger, so when he got back to his main studio, he couldn't use the laptop he'd normally hook up to his studio monitors.
"I had my old computers in Atlanta, and I couldn’t use the speakers because I didn’t have the hook ups," he says. "And I wanted to make beats so bad, I had a lot in me, I had a lot going on in my head, so I grabbed the Pill, sat down and cooked like a 20 pack. Sent Uzi like 10 or 12 of ‘em, and… 'XO TOUR Llif3.'"
Before he made the beat, he'd been FaceTiming with Uzi, whom TM considers a good friend. "I was actually at home in my room, smoking and vibing out," the producer, born Bryan Simmons, remembers. "Uzi happened to call me. We were on FaceTime for about an hour, just chopping it up about the industry and what’s going on and how we’re the real rock stars in this. We start a lot of the stuff that goes around. And us having that convo really gave him enough motivation to go in the studio and just go crazy and make a whole bunch of music. I know for a fact 'XO TOUR Llif3' came out of that session."
LOUIEKNOWS
TM had two beats on Uzi's breakout 2015 project LUV Is Rage ( "Queso" and "Lamborghini Dream" with Young Thug), so the two had developed a rapport throughout the years. "We're actually friends. We talk often, all the time," he shares. "We pull up on each other, all that. So we had the convo, and you know how sometimes, you kind of need to talk to one of your friends to get some motivation, like you’re working on projects, and we constantly seeing people stealing energy and shit, so you gotta get around the real energy and get your energy back."
He credits using the Beats Pill for the song's harder, more underground feel—something you don't always get with top of the line speakers. "Me and Southside used to make beats in the garage or anywhere we could make beats at. And it was real underground, trapped out crazy. You know, the Gucci, the Waka, all the music from that time frame was real gritty and trapped out and dark. [Producing on the Pill] brings you back down to like, What if I didn’t have speakers and I had to use the Pill? Could I do it?"
The producer heard the finished track three weeks before Uzi released it, and soon after it dropped, TM knew the song was special. So, he hit DJ Drama and Don Cannon, two of Uzi's managers, to let them know they had to give the song an extra push. According to TM, the song got passed around to five or six different engineers, resulting in the first iTunes mix that fans disapproved of. After seeing the backlash online, they got it to another engineer who restored the original version.
"XO TOUR Llif3" is set to be on Uzi's upcoming LUV Is Rage 2 project (featuring a secret surprise guest), and TM says he has "over 50-something songs" with the Philly rapper, so expect to see his production on the new project as well. The Atlanta-based producer is also working on EPs with MoneyBagg Yo and Smokepurpp and has been working on new music with The Weeknd, Travis Scott and Migos, to name a few. Plus, he's planning to drop his own solo EP as well as an 808 Mafia project later this year.
"I try not to force it," the beatmaker states when asked who else he wants to work with. "Like when labels try to put me in studios with artists, it’s kind of like a boot camp. I’m like bro, I’m not going, because I want it to be more organic."
Like Metro Boomin, he hopes to expand his own brand as a producer this year. "The TM brand, it’s getting bigger," he affirms. "I’m DJing a lot of shows, I just did Coachella. I’m making TM88 a bigger platform this year, and hopefully I can start with this 'XO TOUR Llif3.' Hopefully it goes to No. 1, and then we’ll have a different come up."
LOUIEKNOWS |
Call it creativity, call it reckless abandon, call it fearlessness. The fact is, Apple’s never been too shy to grab its target audience by the shoulders and insist “you’ve got to try this.” Its eerily predictive “1984” ad, directed by Ridley Scott, still stands as a testament to what a simple commercial spot can do to inspire the imagination of potential consumers – and to challenge the status quo in terms of both product and marketing innovation.
Of course, the times, they are a-changin’, and with DVR and streaming video services it looks more and more like television commercials are old and busted. It may be a long time before they go away for good (or likelier, adapt in such a way that causes viewers to think of them as less intrusive and more compelling). For a company to survive, it’s going to have to be well ahead of the curve.
Product Placement’s Shortcomings Versus the Apple Strategy
Doing so has been important for companies like Apple, particularly since it’s been established that product placement is an effective marketing strategy when used appropriately. Whereas companies like Coca-Cola and Ford have historically paid insane amounts of money for product placement in TV shows and movies, product prominence has become something of a nuisance to the viewer. Compare that to Apple, whose flagship product offerings are virtually synonymous with smart phones, MP3 players, laptops, tablets, you name it – and whose products appeared in more than one third of all box-office hits throughout the 2000s.
What’s more impressive than that? How incredibly effective Apple’s product placement is.
What’s even more impressive? Apple doesn’t pay a dime for product placement.
Let’s take a look back at some of the most memorable moments in Apple product placement.
1) Star Trek IV (1984). You remember Star Trek IV, right? No? What if we mention its subtitle, The Voyage Home, and the whales, and that unforgettable scene where Scotty attempts to beam up a plan to save those whales – and the world – by talking into a computer mouse? The Macintosh Plus turned out to be the Enterprise’s saving grace, despite the implication that the technology wasn’t advanced enough for his liking. (Lighten up, Scotty. It worked, didn’t it?) Even so, one can’t help but marvel at the fact that the Mac Plus was considered advanced enough to interface with technology hundreds of years into the future, a testament to the perception of the computer’s abilities in 1984.
2) Back to the Future 2 (1989). We can only imagine what Apple’s going to offer us by 2015, when the 1985 version of Marty McFly is due to visit Hill Valley’s antique store. One of a number of things that the movie got right about the future was the once-popular Macintosh computer collecting dust in the window of an antique store. What a curiosity, considering the processing power of the iPhone Doc is sure to bring with him to the Wild West in the third installment.
Check out the video below – the fun starts around 1:44.
What’s brilliant about this piece of product placement is the implication – that the Macintosh computer, which was expressly a product of the future, would (at the time) unfathomably end up in an antique store in just three decades’ time! As with the Star Trek flick, this moment captured, in a sense, the enduring popularity of Apple products.
3) Mission: Impossible (1996). With Apple struggling in the 90s, Marketing Manager John Holtzman developed a plan – instead of offering filmmakers outdated devices, which tended to make set decoration seem less realistic, why not offer them up-and-coming product models to sweeten the product placement deal? Along with this decision came a couple of key realizations; to wit, the Apple PowerBook logo faced the user when the laptop was closed, but was upside-down when opened. Holtzman required stickers to be placed to the laptops so that they’d face the television or movie viewer, which was adopted by Steve Jobs as a company-wide strategy in 1997. In 1996 – again, with no money changing hands – Apple got its PowerBook a starring role in Brian de Palma’s Mission: Impossible revamp, restoring its image as a cutting-edge machine built for the future, and kick-starting the company’s push toward product prominence in the 2000s.
4) Independence Day (1996). Just months after Tom Cruise saved the United States from a potential international conflict, an intergalactic struggle was narrowly avoided thanks to the inspiration of President Bill Pullman (God bless ‘im), and the quick-thinking of Jeff Goldblum, whose Apple Macintosh PowerBook 5300 was able to upload a virus directly into the mothership’s operating system.
Now how, you might ask, would a piece of Apple technology (advanced though it may be) be able to take down an alien civilization with thousands, perhaps millions, of years worth of technological innovation? This has been a topic for discussion for nearly two decades now, but as it turns out, the plot point isn’t so far-fetched within the context of the film. According to scientists in the flick, the 1947 Roswell Incident recovered an alien vessel whose technology was studied at Area 51 for some five decades, with many of its advances incorporated into the latest and greatest innovations in global computing.
(If that’s not enough to convince you of the logic, other people have given it more thought than we have. A lot more thought.)
Once again, Apple comes out looking like the technology of the future, which in the right hands can outsmart space aliens whose ships travel at light-speed.
5) You’ve Got Mail (1998). This sweet romantic comedy drew a distinct parallel between dying industries and the trends that threatened to put them out of business. Ironically, the business in question was a mom-and-pop bookstore which faced an uphill battle against a huge conglomerate. Fast-forward to today when even the conglomerates are struggling against digital book sales for tablet devices, the most popular of which is – gasp! – the iPad. In any event, watch the trailer and count the times you see that sexy Apple laptop:
While corporate curmudgeon Tom Hanks favors the uptight businessman’s IBM desktop, free-spirited and independent Meg Ryan prefers her sleek PowerBook 3400. Whenever it came to the heroine of the movie tapping out an email, Apple dominated the screen.
Yet again, while other companies ostensibly paid for placement, again, Apple didn’t.
6) Austin Powers in Goldmember (2002). With the inclusion in this third installment of the highly popular film series, Apple’s 21st century push for product prominence was in full swing by 2002. This time it was the PowerBook G4 that was featured, once again implying that when it comes to spies and espionage, the power of an Apple can’t be matched. (Interesting how easily a spy from the ’60s and a foxy glamour girl from the ’70s can use such an incredible piece of technology, perhaps a nod to Apple’s imminently user-friendly interface. Even your totally groovy granddad will love it, baby.)
7) The 40-Year-Old Virgin (2005). When you want to sell your stuff on eBay, it turns out that an all-in-one iMac was your best bet back in 2005. The 27 featured products and nearly 60 appearances only netted Apple 2% of all product placements and 37 seconds of screen time. However, look for its appearance in this memorable scene where a confidence-lacking Steve Carell attempts to make conversation with a customer who slipped him her phone number.
(Earmuffs for the kids, please; this one’s got a foul language alert.)
8) “The Office” and others (2006). A Washington Post article from 2006 described how Apple products seemed to be dominating the small screen, particularly on network television’s most popular shows: “CSI: NY,” on CBS Fox’s (recently resurrected) “24” and “Las Vegas,” which appeared on NBC. However, the focus of the article was on a particular scene in a beloved show that just wrapped this past year. You know the one.
“The Office” was one of television’s most popular programs in 2006, and one episode prominently featured bumbling boss Michael Scott (Steve Carell, by now of 40-Year-Old Virgin fame) giving one of his employees a gift that would turn the rest of the office green with envy. That gift happened to be an iPod. If you remember the episode, the scheme worked.
9) Sex and the City (2008). While this show is known for its use of Apple products throughout its run (check out the upside-down logo in season 6, a confusing reversal of Jobs’ positioning policy), the first spin-off flick gave Apple products more than ten minutes of screen time – of the dozens of products and appearances in the film, Apple scored 13% of all featured products. The message here is pretty clear: a decade after Meg Ryan used her PowerBook 3400 to woo Tom Hanks, the choice for the independent woman looking for love (or, uh, something like it) remained Apple.
10) “Modern Family” (2010). Product placement is one thing, but this episode of Modern Family got a ton of attention when it featured a story line that revolved around the iPad before the product even hit the shelves. Unfortunately Dad’s highly anticipated iPad wasn’t pre-ordered in time for his birthday, so the family scrambles to procure one just in the nick of time. This clever marketing trick played on the near-pandemonium surrounding the June 2007 release of the iPhone, positioning its amazing new product as the must-have device of 2010. What’s so great about this placement, as alluded to in the article, is that it touts the iPad as a revolutionary piece of technology while simultaneously being suited the average guy.
It was a match made in Heaven on the hit television show, by the way. According to Modern Dad Phil Dunphy, it was “like Steve Jobs and God got together to say, ‘We love you, Phil’”:
11) “House of Cards” (2013). How many Apple devices can you fit into a scene? The current record is nine, set by Netflix’s critical darling “House of Cards,” starring the inimitable Kevin Spacey. Although an initial review from Engadget was harshly critical of the product placement, as it turns out, it makes perfect sense in the context of the scene: they were monitoring police scanners, news reports, and waiting on important calls from colleagues in an attempt to stay precisely up-to-the-moment.
The Engadget editorial was updated shortly thereafter to clear up any initial incredulity. The revision explains that the product placement was the decision of the producers, who 1) had mainly Apple devices at their disposal, and 2) felt that, in keeping with the show’s realism, they were the most appropriate choice. The ubiquity of Apple products actually enhances the scene rather than distracts from, making the product placement both a smart move on the part of Apple and the producers of “House of Cards.” As one reviewer pointed out, “in most instances [Apple’s product placement] actually lends more to the credibility of the show.”
Well, there’s our not-so-brief rundown of Apple’s product placement in television and film – but the takeaway point here isn’t just that it happens, or even that Apple doesn’t pay for it. Rather, it’s that fact that in a word of advertising gone amok, Apple’s approach to product placement is actually working like gangbusters. Given the widespread popularity of their product offerings among techies and tech-illiterates, early adopters and latecomers, it’s clearly a winning strategy that’s likely to continue well into the future.
For more Apple product placement history, check out the great infographic from AnyClip below! |
In 2011, according to CBO's estimates, average household market income—a comprehensive income measure that consists of labor income, business income, capital income (including capital gains), and retirement income—was approximately $81,000. Government transfers, which include benefits from programs such as Social Security, Medicare, and unemployment insurance, averaged approximately $13,000 per household. The sum of those two amounts, which equals before-tax income, was about $94,000, on average. Federal taxes as examined in this report comprise four separate sources: individual income taxes, payroll (or social insurance) taxes, corporate income taxes, and excise taxes. Taken together, those taxes were about $17,000 per household, on average, in 2011. Thus, average household income after taxes was about $77,000, and the average federal tax rate (federal taxes divided by before-tax income) was 17.6 percent.
How Were Income and Federal Taxes Distributed in 2011?
Before-tax income was unevenly distributed across households in 2011. Average before-tax income among households in the lowest one-fifth (or quintile) of the distribution of before-tax income was approximately $25,000 in 2011, CBO estimates (see table below). Among households in the middle income quintile, average before-tax income was about $66,000. Relative to those two income groups, households in the highest income quintile had average before-tax income that was much higher—approximately $246,000.
Overall, federal taxes are progressive, meaning that average tax rates generally rise as income increases. Households in the lowest income quintile paid about $500 in federal taxes in 2011, on average, which amounted to an average federal tax rate of about 2 percent, CBO estimates. Households in the middle quintile paid about $7,000 in federal taxes, and households in the highest quintile paid about $58,000 in federal taxes, which results in average federal tax rates of approximately 11 percent and 23 percent, respectively.
As a result of the progressive federal tax structure, households in the highest quintile of before-tax income paid a greater share of federal taxes in 2011 than they received in before-tax income, while households in each of the other quintiles paid a smaller share of federal taxes than they received in before-tax income (see figure below). Households in the highest income quintile received a little more than half of total before-tax income and paid more than two-thirds of all federal taxes in 2011. In contrast, households in the lowest income quintile received approximately 5 percent of total before-tax income in 2011 and paid less than 1 percent of all federal taxes, CBO estimates.
The progressive federal tax structure also results in a distribution of after-tax income that is slightly more even than that of before-tax income. Households in the lowest income quintile received approximately 6 percent of after-tax income in 2011, compared with 5 percent of before-tax income, and households in the highest income quintile received about 48 percent of after-tax income, compared with 52 percent of before-tax income, CBO estimates.
How Did Changes in Tax Rules Between 2011 and 2013 Affect Average Federal Tax Rates?
Tax rules have changed since 2011 in several important ways. Most notably, by 2013, several provisions affecting high-income taxpayers—originally enacted in 2001 (in the Economic Growth and Tax Relief Reconciliation Act, or EGTRRA) and 2003 (in the Jobs and Growth Tax Relief Reconciliation Act, or JGTRRA)—were allowed to expire. In addition, payroll tax rates that had been reduced in 2011 and 2012 were reset to their previous, higher levels in 2013, and new taxes for high-income taxpayers enacted in the Affordable Care Act took effect in 2013. As part of this analysis, CBO estimated the effects of those changes on the distribution of federal taxes.
If the income distribution was unchanged between 2011 and 2013, the average federal tax rate for all households would have been 1.7 percentage points higher under 2013 tax rules than it was in 2011, CBO estimates. Although average federal tax rates would have increased by about 1 percentage point across much of the income distribution, the average tax rate for households in the top 1 percent of the income distribution would have increased by an estimated 4.3 percentage points.
What Are the Trends in the Distribution of Household Income and Federal Taxes?
Over the 33-year period from 1979 to 2011, average after-tax income—which equals market income plus government transfers minus federal taxes—grew at significantly different rates at different points in the income scale. For households in the top 1 percent of the income distribution, inflation-adjusted after-tax income grew at an estimated average rate of 3.5 percent per year. As a result, inflation-adjusted after-tax income was 200 percent higher in 2011 than it was in 1979 for households in that group. In contrast, households in the bottom quintile experienced inflation-adjusted after-tax income growth of 1.2 percent per year, on average. Consequently, inflation-adjusted after-tax income was 48 percent higher in 2011 than it was in 1979 for that income group. Those differences in growth rates for after-tax income are largely attributable to differences in growth rates for market income, although changes in taxes and transfers played a role as well.
Average federal tax rates fluctuate over time because of changes in tax law and changes in the composition and distribution of income. In 2011, average federal tax rates were near their lowest levels since 1979 for households in most of the income groups examined in this report. The only exception was for households in the top 1 percent of the income distribution. For that group, the average federal tax rate in 2011 was near its lowest level since the early 1990s (see figure below).
CBO estimates that average federal tax rates under 2013 law would be higher—relative to tax rates in 2011—across the income spectrum. The estimated rates under 2013 law would still be well below the average rates from 1979 through 2011 for the bottom four income quintiles, slightly below the average rate over that period for households in the 81st through 99th percentiles, and well above the average rate over that period for households in the top 1 percent of the income distribution.
Government transfers and federal taxes lessen income inequality because federal taxes are progressive and payments from government transfer programs generally decline as a share of income as income rises. Between 1979 and 2011, government transfers reduced income inequality to a greater extent than federal taxes, based on a standard measure of inequality known as the Gini index. In 2011, government transfers accounted for approximately two-thirds of the reduction in income inequality observed between market income and after-tax income. |
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