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Fifty years ago today, the United States Supreme Court struck down the poll tax, a barrier that, for decades, had blocked millions of poor African-American voters, as well as poor white voters, from exercising their right to vote. In that case, Harper v. Virginia Board of Elections, the Court ruled that “a State violates the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment whenever it makes the affluence of the voter or payment of any fee an electoral standard. Voter qualifications have no relation to wealth…” For the first time, the Supreme Court had recognized that wealth discrimination in the political process is prohibited under the US Constitution. Fifty years later, we face a new wealth barrier in our elections: the exclusionary campaign finance system which allows big money interests to dominate our politics and drown out the voices of ordinary citizens. Like the poll tax of the past, this barrier – the wealth primary – blocks millions of voters from participating in the political process on an equal basis. And, as with the poll tax history, the abolition of this wealth barrier to our democracy will require a reversal of prior Supreme Court rulings. "As with the poll tax history, the abolition of this wealth barrier to our democracy will require a reversal of prior Supreme Court rulings." The Harper case was not, in fact, the first such case to reach the Supreme Court challenging the poll tax. In 1937 (Breedlove v. Suttles) and again in 1951 (Butler v. Thompson), poor voters had brought similar equal protection challenges to that barrier. In both cases, the voters lost. The Court found constitutional justification for requiring citizens to pay a fee in order to vote. Then, in 1964, in the heat of the Civil Rights Movement, the nation enacted the 24th Amendment to the US Constitution, forever banning poll taxes in federal elections. But there remained four Southern states holding onto poll taxes in their state elections and Virginia was one of them. Yet, even in the Supreme Court’s ruling in Harper, overturning its prior two decisions upholding the poll tax, there were still justices who refused to recognize that the Court had been wrong. In his dissent from the majority ruling in Harper, Justice John Marshall Harlan II, joined by Justice Potter Stewart, repeated an entrenched claim for justifying the poll tax: [I]t is certainly a rational argument that payment of some minimal poll tax promotes civic responsibility, weeding out those who do not care enough about public affairs to pay $1.50 or thereabouts a year for the exercise of the franchise. It is also arguable, indeed it was probably accepted as sound political theory by a large percentage of Americans through most of our history, that people with some property have a deeper stake in community affairs, and are consequently more responsible, more educated, more knowledgeable, more worthy of confidence, than those without means, and that the community and Nation would be better managed if the franchise were restricted to such citizens. SCROLL TO CONTINUE WITH CONTENT Help Keep Common Dreams Alive Our progressive news model only survives if those informed and inspired by this work support our efforts Justice Hugo Black, who had been among the majority of the justices in the 1937 and 1951 rulings upholding the poll tax, separately dissented, citing “the original meaning of the Constitution” as requiring the Court to continue to uphold the barrier. Writing for the majority, Justice William Douglas answered the dissenters, stating that “the Equal Protection Clause is not shackled to the political theory of a particular era.” He continued for the Court: “Notions of what constitutes equal treatment for the purposes of the Equal Protection Clause do change.” So, too, is the case with our current pay-to-play political system dominated by big money interests. For four decades, the Supreme Court has refused to recognize that this system violates the basic promise of political equality for all. Since the time of its 1976 ruling in Buckley v. Valeo, the Court has sanctioned today’s regime of unlimited campaign spending in our elections on the claim that money equals speech and that those with large sums of money have a First Amendment right to spend it in our political process. And, in Citizens United v FEC, the Court went even further, finding that corporations are people with the political speech rights to spend their general treasury funds in our elections. With Citizens United, artificial creatures of government have joined the wealthiest few of our nation in controlling an exclusionary process which determines who shall govern in America. But, as happened with the poll tax, the tide is turning on the wealth primary barrier. Since the Citizens United ruling, a growing movement has emerged across the country calling for a 28th Amendment to the Constitution to get big money out of our politics and to reclaim our democracy. And, now with the current vacancy on the Supreme Court, we face the potential for a dramatic shift in the Court’s jurisprudence on campaign finance, where political equality principles may now be able to prevail. The poll tax story reminds us that a sustained people’s movement combined with continued pressure in the courts can eradicate an entrenched and anti-democratic system. The wealth primary barrier may stand today. But, it will not stand forever.
And more NBA Playoff Awards as we head into the Conference Finals. The Team That's Your Ultimate Frenemy Boston Celtics There’s so much to like about the Celtics. Isaiah Thomas’s game is irresistible, and especially this postseason, he’s a sentimental favorite. The team is a crystal-clear manifestation of Brad Stevens’s vision, from the pass-happy offense down through the electric defense of Bradley and Smart. Jae Crowder is a universal fan favorite, they’ve somehow managed to dredge up Gerald Green, for god’s sake, and Danny Ainge is shrewd GM who isn’t going to fuck things up. This should be every enlightened basketball fan’s team of choice, or at least the obvious one to pull for going forward. But here’s the problem: This is still the Celtics and they’re still from Boston. The Celtics are the sport’s most august franchise. The legacy is undeniable and their cast of Hall of Famers sparkles. That actually makes them particularly hard to root for—it’s front-running on a near-cosmic scale. Then there’s Celtics fans, who take anything other than genuflection as an insult. It’s like the Celtics are so exalted that a failure to recognize this is disrespectful; it’s completely out of bounds for a fan of another team to denigrate the C’s, which is a totally normal part of sports. And then there’s Boston itself, a city that specializes in making people dislike it and getting indignant when people dislike it. You can accuse me of hating on a perfectly innocent Great American city. But if I’m wrong—and people aren’t innately repulsed by the Kelly green—there would be more buzz around this team. Instead, all you’re getting is talk about just where they rank in terms of worst number one seed ever. — Nathaniel Friedman Best and Worst Kelly Olynyk and Oubre, Jr. Before last night, Kelly Olynyk’s playoffs had mostly been about reminding the world of just how dirty he plays. All that changed last night, when the Celtics big man notched 26 points on a streaky 10 for 14 shooting, including some big plays down the stretch. You’d balk at saying Olynyk was the key factor in Boston’s win. But in a game decided by a single late-game run, every contribution counted, and getting those kind of numbers from such an unlikely place definitely helped put the Celtics over the top and cemented his standing as the franchise’s greatest white player since Larry Bird. Conversely, the night couldn’t have gone worse for the Wizards’ Kelly Oubre, Jr. After scoring 13 points and in Game 5, Oubre was on the floor for a scant 7 minutes in Game 6 and then was out of the line-up altogether for Game 7. While Oubre isn’t exactly an impact player, Washington has made a point of trying to develop the second-year wing, who showed some really promise during the regular season. And in a game where every bucket mattered, it wouldn’t have hurt to give him a little burn, especially if he's going to develop into the kind of hyper-athletic 3-and-D guy every team desires. No one’s calling for Scott Brooks’s head over this, but it was perplexing decision, the kind of little thing that—as was the case in OKC—might over time bring some to question his coaching acumen. — N.F. Best Resting "Can You Believe This Shit?" Face Isaiah Thomas There are numerous ways to talk trash in a basketball game. There is the Bradley Beal type of telling your opponent, in a loud and mean way, that he can’t guard you. Or John Wall asking his defender what the fuck was wrong with him after the defender tried to stop basketball’s Barry Allen on a fast break. There’s also the heavy flex of stating your accomplishments: A great example of this is LeBron James flatly asserting that it doesn’t matter who the Cavs play between the Celtics or the Wizards, since they will most likely beat whichever team ends up in his way. Isaiah Thomas has a different approach: He is one of the league's best non-verbal trash talkers. He does speak up, sometimes, like when he told Michael Carter-Williams that the Bulls man couldn’t guard him. But he’s particularly gifted at telling his opponents that they’re trash with just his face alone. When Wall hit the Game 6 winner and the whole stadium went wild—even the Celtics players looked downtrodden—Thomas was downright unimpressed. He then went to the other end and almost ended the Wizards celebrations with his own three pointer. In Game 7, Thomas talked so much trash to the Wizards. Every time he made a big shot, or took advantage of a mismatch and made a layup, he would turn his back to his defender while running back on defense with a look on his face that can only be described as Jay Z dissing Nas on Blueprint 2 when he said, “And this is with whom you wanna place your faith?” The man is as tall as a middle schooler and he practically rolls his eyes at fellow elite athletes trying to defend him. It’s less that he’s unimpressed by them (which he is) and more that he believes and knows that he’s so much better than them and can’t believe that they would forget that. His face is constantly giving off the message that he’s bored by his competition. — Zito Madu Too Dumb to Be Malicious Zaza Pachulia This should go without saying, but just in case: Kawhi Leonard’s injury sucks. It sucks for him, as a player and as a person; for the Spurs, who now have to stare down the Golden State Warriors with their best player and bona fide MVP candidate severely hobbled; and for basketball fans, who, at least for two games, have been robbed of the Warriors-Spurs playoff war that seemed inevitable during each of the last two seasons, but that never materialized until now. For all of those reasons, I hope he gets better soon. Now, the question on every basketblogger’s fingertips: Did Zaza Pachulia slip his gigantic left foot under Leonard on purpose in order to give his lifeless team a chance? Remember, Zaza is a doofus whose movement on the court can best be described as “lumbering.” His just-a-little-snug jersey, on-the-shorter-side shorts, and bright blue sneakers make him look like a middle-aged dad who made some unwise decisions with a Foot Locker gift card. He’s always a half-beat behind the speed of the game, swiping gamely at the air for loose balls that someone else had plucked from midair long before the signals fired by his brain could meander all the way down those gangly arms and gently prod his hands into moving. Commentators constantly describe Zaza as a “good positional defender,” which is code for “We’ve seriously never seen him jump more than eight inches off the ground.” It's arguably more likely that one of the league’s most ungainly players—who injured the best (?) player on his own team because he was unable to stop himself from crashing into poor Kevin Durant’s knee—simply struck again. The next day, the normally sanguine Gregg Popovich stuck up for his team, angrily calling Pachulia’s move “dangerous” and “unsportsmanlike.” (Bruce Bowen? Pop’s never heard of him.) But clumsy players play in the NBA, and shitty things sometimes happen as a result. At least for the first two games of this series, it’s the Spurs who got unlucky because of it. — Jay Willis Best Dunk by a 39-Year-Old Manu Ginobili With less than a minute to go in Game 1, and with the Spurs’ Kawhi-less 25-point collapse nearly complete, the ageless Manu Ginobili faced off against Shaun Livingston some 30 feet from the basket. As Ginobili glided into the lane, Livingston let up, content to defend the three-point arc and allow a layup attempt. But Ginobili, who has never cared one bit about the Warriors’ feelings, did not attempt a layup. He took two gigantic steps before unleashing a hellacious crunchtime dunk that would have been highlight-reel material for anyone, much less a 39-year-old balding guy wrapping up his 22nd season of professional basketball. He probably should have gotten a foul, too, but the referees were presumably too stunned at the spectacle they had just witnessed to do anything further. My favorite part is how Livingston, having momentarily conceded the drive, suddenly indignantly re-engages when he sees the dunk coming, springing into action to in a doomed effort to meet the Spurs’ swingman at the rim. This decision, of course just mean that both Livingston and Father Time ended up getting gleefully and righteously crammed on, a pair of sad-ass would-be shotblockers who learned the importance of respecting one’s elders the hard way. Don’t jump, Shaun. Never jump. — J.W. Watch Now:
Around 6 months ago I started this diesel motorbike project. It started life as a Honda CB400 that I bought from a guy in Somerset. He had already carried out the diesel engine conversion using the following specifications: Chengfa 178 200cc Single Cylinder Diesel engine. Enfield/villiers 4 speed gearbox Twin fuel tanks with primer pump and pollak switching valve Pictures of the original setup are below: After I purchased the vehicle, I had plans to remove the 200cc diesel and put a 406cc single cylinder and a amr500 supercharger on it. This should give it enough speed to keep up with modern traffic and a supercharger is marginally easier to engineer in than a turbo charger. The first step was to remove the old engine and strip off and the fuel piping, valves etc. I did this all before this website started, so please view the album below for photos of this process, including offering up the new engine to see if it would fit etc: Gallery not found. Please check your settings. After that, I managed to get the new engine mount bent into shape, this was accomplished initially using a forging process on bars/sheets of Iron to get the shape of the front of the engine, where it would be mounted. Pictures of this process are below: Gallery not found. Please check your settings. I have successfully mounted the engine, using a backing plate against the gearbox and welding support pieces that will bolt onto the bottom of the engine. One the screw holes are drilled, I will fill the gearbox with oil and bolt on the support plate. Once this is done its time to align the primary drive. Pics: Gallery not found. Please check your settings. And just before it got dark, we managed to get a video of the first running of the engine. Its running on veg oil (As its easier than getting diesel) which is why it took so long to start and why there was grey smoke.: 6,532 total views, 4 views today
We’re back to highlight yet another artist on the Coachella 2012 line up. We know that at times it can be tough to know EVERY name on the poster but thats why we want to help you get a little more familiar with some of the bands that will be opening the days up. Once we saw that Austin up and comer Gary Clark Jr. was on the line up we already knew that catching him play live at the festival would be a must. This singer/guitarist is a master at his craft and can easily be compared to the such greats as Stevie Ray Vaughn and Hendrix. If you’re a fan of the blues sounds that bands like The Black Keys crank out then sprinkle on a little more R&B soul to it and you’ll get Gary Clark Jr. He played a very small Los Angeles show in the previous year at Bardot in support of his latest EP “The Bright Lights”, but we’re guessing that after he tears up the stage at Coachella that there will be a LOT more fans wanting more. Watch his video for “Bright Lights” above and if you were lucky enough to score a ticket to the sold out Coachella Music and Arts Festival then make your way to see him play live on Saturday, April 14th and 21st.
Residents may experience issues with odor and taste during the 60-day chlorine burn by city of Monroe. Buy Photo Monroe Public Works director Tom Janway (left) and Mayor Jamie Mayo discuss the city’s efforts to prevent exposure of a brain-eating amoeba in the city’s water system. The city will conduct a chlorine burn for about 60 days in an effort to fight the organism that’s been found in some south Louisiana water systems. (Photo: Scott Rogers/The News-Star )Buy Photo Story Highlights To fight against possible exposure of amoeba the city will begin chlorine burn on Nov. 12. No indication of brain-eating amoeba in city water. DHH mandates chlorine burn by all water systems. The city of Monroe will conduct a chlorine burn on its water system as part of the Department of Health and Hospitals mandate to take preventive measures against the “brain-eating amoeba.” Residents may notice more chlorine in their tap water as the city takes precautions against the organism recently found in some Louisiana water systems. The Naeglaria fowleri amoeba has not been found in Monroe’s water supply, but DHH has issued an order that all water systems take preventive measures to keep the dangerous parasite out of municipal water systems. The amoeba usually feeds on bacteria in the sediment of warm freshwater lakes and rivers. If it gets high up in a someone’s nose, it can get into the brain. Its only entry to the brain is through minute openings in a bone about level with the top of the eyeball. The state says swimming or diving in freshwater lakes and rivers is the most common way to be exposed to the amoeba. Infections from other sources, such as heated tap water and swimming pool water that is inadequately chlorinated, are rare. To fight against possible exposure the city will begin its free chlorine burn around Nov. 12. It will last approximately 60 days. “The city of Monroe will take these preventive measures to make sure everything is clear, but there is no indication at this point of this amoeba being in our system,” Mayor Jamie Mayo said. Monroe Public Works Director Tom Janway said the city has used a chloramine system for the past 11 years. This marks the first time the city has conducted a burn, which involves flushing the system with chlorine. “It will be good for the system because it removes a lot of the biofilm within our water lines. There may be some taste and odor issues. This is a preventative measure and something that should be done on a more frequent basis to provide excellent quality of water,” Janway said. City employees will provide all labor and the chemicals used in the chlorine burn are already in use by the city. “The net variation cost will be insignificant,” Janway said. Follow Scott Rogers on Twitter @lscottrogers Read or Share this story: http://tnsne.ws/1wvGqLH
Estonia may be one of NATO's smallest members, but its air force commander had the strongest words for Russian aggression in Ukraine at a gathering of allied military leaders. Russian President Vladimir Putin's "war against Ukraine did not really come as a surprised to us," Col. Jaak Tarien, commander of the Estonian Air Force, told an audience at the U.S. Air Force Association's 2014 Air and Space Conference. Speaking with a group of NATO military leaders, Tarien reminded how Soviet Russia launched a similar operation in Estonia in 1924. "Soviet Russia sent infiltrators to our young republic. They tried to rally local people to demonstrate against our government," he said. The Estonian people did not want to go along. "So on the night of Dec. 1, they tried to take over key government buildings and take over the post office was the key to their success because then they were supposed to send a telegraph to Moscow asking, in the name of a newly formed government, to send in assistance troops which were already forming up on our eastern border," Tarien said. "Sounds familiar doesn't it? The Estonia people did not allow this to happen. "Now Putin is not relying on people in Ukraine, now he is sending in what I call his road circus," Tarien said, describing how some of the protestors in Ukraine have turned out to be citizens of Moscow. One of Putin's most successful tactics, Tarien maintains, is his use of "little green men," or large numbers of what appear to be a well-armed private army. They were armed with Russian uniforms, weapons and communications gear, but Putin said they were not his men, Tarien said. This caused NATO to hesitate, he said. "Putin's use of little green men really through a wrench into our western decision making cycle," Tarien said. "I'm not saying we should have launched a military response; Ukraine is not a NATO nation. "But we could not come up with any decision for a long time. We couldn't agree with what is going on. Mr. Putin saw a weakness in our decision making cycle. Let's not let him exploit that again." Tarien maintains that Putin has said the security architecture of Europe is a Cold War relic and needs to be changed. "I may be the youngest air chief in NATO, but I'm old enough to have gone to school in Soviet-occupied Estonia and heard the Soviet rhetoric that the biggest threat to world peace is American imperialism and NATO is merely their tool … So when Mr. Putin says rearrange the security architecture of Europe he means Europe without America, Europe which he can dominate," Tarien said. So if Putin sends his "road circus into a NATO country" -- NATO officials know "NATO will respond, but does Mr. Putin know NATO will respond? Is our message loud and clear enough?" Tarien asked. -- Matthew Cox can be reached at matthew.cox@monster.com
by Mandi LeCompte Capitol Cider welcomes Nancy Bishop for our first Q&A with people in the cider business! Nancy owns Alpenfire Organic Hard Cider with husband Bear Bishop, and man, do they make good cider! Alpenfire is based in Port Townsend, Wash (a part of “cider row” along with Finnriver and Eaglemount) and their orchards and products are certified organic. Nancy is the featured Cidermaker in the January/February Chef’s Collaborative Dinner “Sirens and Cider” at Capitol Cider featuring all women. Check below to learn a little about Nancy and the life of a cider maker! When did you first start making Cider? We started making cider in the 80s. It was a fun hobby and we only lost a few friends by making them drink it with us. What prompted you to start making cider? Our introduction to cider was through a couple Canadian brands. In the early 70s they were only available in apple or pear and were sold in green glass bottles. We thought they were fantastic, and when we ended up with some apples on our hands along with some fermentation equipment we started to experiment. How would your friends describe you? What friends? I am best described as elusive these days as I rarely have time for friends! What’s the day of a cider maker look like? This particular day is starting with invoicing for deliveries, answering e-mail and then pressing apples for the rest of the afternoon. For this time of year that is standard, but nothing stays standard for long in this business! If you could only drink one cider for the rest of you life, what would it be? One cider? The really fun thing about the wave of interest in cider now is that it allows us to find and sample ciders from all around the world, which I love to do. But if I have to choose just one, it will be something dry, unpasteurized, organic and life-affirming – Pirate’s Plank ! This is fortunate since we just bottled 750 gallons. What goes into making the perfect cider? Perfect apples plus time is the best formula. Meaning, cider apples, heirloom apples and once a year production. We only want to make cider that we enjoy drinking. Who was it that said “My tastes are simple; I am always happy with the best”? We have had it pointed out many times that this is not the path to success, but it is the path to having plenty of cider available! What’s your best cider memory? Tasting a small bottle of Macbeth’s “Three Witches Hard Cider” at a rest stop in Oregon. Tannins and bitterness!! We were wondering where all the sweet bubbles of the Canadian ciders were. Later, we visited a cider shop in Leominster, England and headed back to our hotel room with bags full of bottles to try and find tannins and bitterness! These were transformative experiences and solidified our interest in traditional ciders.
February 16, 2016 Adderall Misuse Rising Among Young Adults Prescriptions for the stimulant unchanged, but study finds more nonmedical use and emergency room visits among adults While the number of prescriptions for the stimulant Adderall has remained unchanged among young adults, misuse and emergency room visits related to the drug have risen dramatically in this group, new Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health research suggests. Anecdotal evidence had suggested the most severe problem of Adderall misuse was among older children and adolescents, but the new research – published Feb. 16 in The Journal of Clinical Psychiatry – finds otherwise. The study examined trends from 2006 through 2011 and found that it is mainly 18-to-25-year-olds who are inappropriately taking Adderall without a prescription, primarily getting the medication from family and friends and without a physician recommendation or prescription. “The growing problem is among young adults,” says study co-author Ramin Mojtabai, MD, MPH, PhD, a professor of mental health at the Bloomberg School. “In college, especially, these drugs are used as study-aid medication to help students stay up all night and cram. Our sense is that a sizeable proportion of those who use them believe these medications make them smarter and more capable of studying. We need to educate this group that there could be serious adverse effects from taking these drugs and we don’t know much at all about their long-term health effects.” Says first author Lian-Yu Chen, MD, who received her PhD in 2014 from the Bloomberg School: “The number of prescriptions for Adderall has fallen and yet we are seeing more medical problems from its use. This suggests that the main driver of misuse and emergency room visits related to the drug is the result of diversion, people taking medication that is legitimately prescribed to someone else. Physicians need to be much more aware of what is happening and take steps to prevent it from continuing.” Adderall, the brand name for dextroamphetamine-amphetamine, does improve focus, Mojtabai says, but it can also cause sleep disruption and serious cardiovascular side effects, such as high blood pressure and stroke. It also increases the risk for mental health problems, including depression, bipolar disorder and unusual behaviors including aggressive or hostile behavior. There is little research on long-term effects. In 2006, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) put a black box warning on dextroamphetamine-amphetamine due to cardiovascular risks. It is prescribed for conditions such as attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder and narcolepsy. For their study, the researchers examined three separate sets of data: the National Survey on Drug Use and Health, a population survey of substance use; the Drug Abuse Warning Network, a survey of emergency department visits; and the National Disease and Therapeutic Index, a survey of office-based practices including prescribing. They found that in adults, over the six-year study period, treatment visits involving Adderall were unchanged, while non-medical use of Adderall (that is, taking the drug without it being prescribed) rose 67 percent and emergency room visits went up 156 percent. Over the same period, in adolescents, treatment visits involving Adderall went down, nonmedical use was stable and emergency room visits declined by 54 percent. The trends for methylphenidate, sold under the brand name Ritalin among others, and another prescription stimulant prescribed for attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder, were unchanged over the period. Meanwhile, the major source for nonmedical use of Adderall was family or friends; two-thirds of those family or friends obtained it by prescription. The researchers found that of all Adderall nonmedical use, from age 12 and up, 60 percent of it was among 18-to-25-year-olds. Mojtabai says that from a public health perspective, drugs like Adderall should be monitored in the same way that prescription painkillers have started to be monitored in recent years. He says prescriptions should be entered into a database that a physician could check before writing a prescription to make sure the patient isn’t receiving multiple medications from multiple physicians, a warning sign of diversion or abuse. He also says it would be helpful to institute informational campaigns for young adults explaining the adverse effects associated with the drug. “Many of these college students think stimulants like Adderall are harmless study aids,” he says. “But there can be serious health risks and they need to be more aware.” “Prescriptions, Nonmedical Use, and Emergency Department Visits Involving Prescription Stimulants” was written by Lian-Yu Chen, MD, PhD; Rosa M. Crum, MD, MPH; Eric C. Strain, MD; G. Caleb Alexander, MD, MS; Christopher Kaufmann, MHS; and Ramin Mojtabai, MD, MPH, PhD. This study was supported by the National Institutes of Health’s National Institute on Drug Abuse (K24 DA023186), the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (RO1 HS01899600 and a National Research Service Award (F31AG044052). Alexander is Chair of the FDA’s Peripheral and Central Nervous System Advisory Committee, serves as a paid consultant to IMS Health, and serves on an IMS Health scientific advisory board. This arrangement has been reviewed and approved by Johns Hopkins University in accordance with its conflict of interest policies. Mojtabai has received consulting fees and research grants from Bristol-Myers Squibb and Lundbeck. # # # Media contacts for the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health: Stephanie Desmon at 410-955-7619 or sdesmon1@jhu.edu and Barbara Benham at 410-614-6029 or bbenham1@jhu.edu.
The Baha’i Faith is blessed with an enormous volume of beautiful writings from its central figures – The Bab, Baha’u’llah, and ‘Abdu’l-Baha. Baha’is are fond of quoting passages from these writings for inspiration, guidance and wisdom. With the advent of social media, Baha’is have also been sharing their favourites on sites like Twitter (a great source there is @Bahai_Quote) and more recently on Instagram in image form. We’ve collected ten of our favourite quotes in image form for your enjoyment along with a few links at the bottom to find and share more. If you want to make your own, take a look at our tutorial on How to Make Inspiring Baha’i Quotes in Images. Image by pearlsofwisdom_ “O My servants! Were ye to discover the hidden, the shoreless oceans of My incorruptible wealth, ye would, of a certainty, esteem as nothing the world, nay, the entire creation.” – Baha’u’llah (Read more of this quote at the Baha’i Reference Library) Image by perspactive “Crave for the things of the spirit” – ‘Abdu’l-Baha (Read more of this quote at the Baha’i Reference Library) Image by atinyseed Finch “I want you to be happy … to laugh, smile and rejoice in order that others may be made happy by you.” – ‘Abdu’l-Baha (Read more of this quote at the Baha’i Reference Library) Image by bahaiwritings “Every child is potentially the light of the world” – ‘Abdu’l-Baha (Read more of this quote at the Baha’i Reference Library) Image by atinyseed “Strive that your actions day by day may be beautiful prayers” – ‘Abdu’l-Baha (Read more of this quote at the Baha’i Reference Library) Image by Bahaiblog “Be generous in prosperity, and thankful in adversity. Be worthy of the trust of thy neighbor, and look upon him with a bright and friendly face.” – Baha’u’llah (Read more of this quote at the Baha’i Reference Library) Image by perspactive “Justice hath a mighty force at its command.” – Baha’u’llah (Read more of this quote at the Baha’i Reference Library) Image by bahaiwritings “Ponder at all times in your hearts how ye were created.” – Baha’u’llah (Read more of this quote at the Baha’i Reference Library) Image by perspactive “Look not upon the creatures of God except with the eye of kindliness and of mercy” – Baha’u’llah (Read more of this quote at the Baha’i Reference Library) Image by Bahaiwritings “The end is glorious if we only persevere.” – Shoghi Effendi (Read more of this quote at the Baha’i Reference Library) Enjoyed these quotes? You can find more by following @bahaiwritings and @perspactive on Instagram. Or if you’re on Pinterest, try following our Baha’i Quotes Pinterest board. You can also read an interview of Perspactive (Mithaq) right here on Baha’i Blog.
Oxford University warns 47 per cent of the US workforce could be lost to automation. Picture: AP Gig economy. Uberfication. The precariat. These once unfamiliar terms have become commonplace in the post-global financial crisis world. We are witnessing an economic shift and changing labour relations that mirror the major disruptions of the past. Technology has changed certain jobs while rendering others obsolete. Economic uncertainty fuels social and political anxiety around the world, seen in the Brexit vote in Britain and the election to the White House of Donald Trump, a political candidate who tapped into anxieties about economic dislocation to stunning effect. These anxieties form the backdrop for Tim Dunlop’s Why the Future is Workless, which examines the issues concerning the present and future face of the workforce. Dunlop is a Melbourne-based journalist who combines political and economic analysis. Here he emphasises that concerns about economic change and disruption are not new. He draws on earlier theorists, particularly in the 19th century, who were deeply concerned that industrialisation alienated workers from their labour, changed family structures and fundamentally altered how people saw work. Read Next Dunlop argues the rise of capitalism and the threat of automation go hand-in-hand. In the scene-setting sections The Past of Work and The Present of Work he sketches out economic events that have shaped our society, most significantly the neoliberal agenda pursued by Western governments across the past 40 years. This agenda has stripped away many of the aspects of the welfare state, leaving vulnerable people who slip through the economic cracks. In The Present of Work Dunlop outlines how serious this situation has become in recent years. Borrowing the term “precariat” from British economist Guy Standing, Dunlop describes a new class of working people whose income derives from uncertain, often part-time or short-term employment. Unfortunately, these forms of employment lack many of the hard-won benefits of the 20th century, including guaranteed hours, income security and the right to adequate workplace health and safety. While some elements of the precariat are fine with this, many are deeply uncomfortable, desiring full-time work that is increasingly non-existent. The uncertainty about the future of work has entered into the political discourse. The direction forward forms the heart of Dunlop’s work, in three chapters titled Will a Robot Take My Job?, Will an App Take My Job? and Basic Income. At times these sections make for grim reading. In the robots chapter, Dunlop draws on studies showing a vast number of jobs have the potential to be automated within a generation: When researchers from Oxford University declare that “47 per cent of total US employment” is at high risk of disappearing within the next 20 years, it is no wonder people sit up and take notice … the limitations of their findings don’t really mitigate too much of their baseline claim: 47 per cent of the jobs that exist today are at “high risk” of no longer being around when a child born in 2016 graduates from university. One intriguing example Dunlop provides is the explosive growth in 3-D printer technology. That we have reached a point where a 3-D printer can “print” out entire houses (as seen in China) shows that large-scale jobs such as housing and urban development could one day be done entirely by machines. Addressing the rise of the sharing economy, the app chapter explores the benefits and pitfalls of the new gig economy, where the ease of entry into jobs such as driving an Uber car or renting out your home on AirBnB is balanced by the lack of employment security, workers’ rights and the core question of who benefits from this kind of work. Potentially the most controversial chapter is Basic Income. Universal basic income trials have been enacted in the past few years, from villages in India and Africa to countries such as Finland and Switzerland. The idea of a minimum income that everyone is entitled to has been championed by the Right and Left as a way of alleviating extraneous bureaucracy regarding welfare systems (the Right) and guaranteeing the dignity of people who are unable to find work (the Left). Implementing these policies stumbles on political rather than technical grounds, with several trials demonstrating that giving people a basic income does not remove their incentive to find other work. These three factors, of further automation, the sharing economy and basic income, establish the final sections: Three Paths to the Future and Workless and Work Less. While Dunlop has an optimistic streak, he remains a realist, stating bluntly that in the end we will need a “different form of governance to that which most nations have today” to make some of these ideas a workable reality. Dunlop’s writing is punchy and witty, weaving in anecdotal evidence from his own life (his account of his wife’s need to make it to the office by 6.30am for a meeting on the work-life balance will ring true for many), providing a conversational style that makes his deeper economic analysis easier for the layperson. We find ourselves in momentous times in terms of changing technologies and economies. There will remain in democracies a deep-seated urgency to articulate these economic frustrations in a way that doesn’t blame racial or ethnic minorities but instead acknowledges the limitations to the capitalist system as it stands. Dunlop has written a timely and highly readable work vital for anyone curious to see where these economic disruptions may take us next. Andrew Broertjes teaches history at the University of Western Australia. He is at work on a book about controversial US presidential elections. Why the Future is Workless By Tim Dunlop NewSouth, 248pp, $29.99 Read Next
I don’t have to open the doors of AImotive’s white 2015 Prius to see that it’s not your average car. This particular Prius has been christened El Capitan, the name written below the rear doors, and two small cameras are mounted on top of the car. Bundles of wire snake out from them, as well as from the two additional cameras on the car’s hood and trunk. Inside is where things really get interesting, though. The trunk holds a computer the size of a microwave, and a large monitor covers the passenger glove compartment and dashboard. The center console has three switches labeled “Allowed,” “Error,” and “Active.” Budapest-based AImotive is working to provide scalable self-driving technology alongside big players like Waymo and Uber in the autonomous vehicle world. On a highway test ride with CEO Laszlo Kishonti near the company’s office in Mountain View, California, I got a glimpse of just how complex that world is. Camera-Based Feedback System AImotive’s approach to autonomous driving is a little different from that of some of the best-known systems. For starters, they’re using cameras, not lidar, as primary sensors. “The traffic system is visual and the cost of cameras is low,” Kishonti said. “A lidar can recognize when there are people near the car, but a camera can differentiate between, say, an elderly person and a child. Lidar’s resolution isn’t high enough to recognize the subtle differences of urban driving.” The company’s aiDrive software uses data from the camera sensors to feed information to its algorithms for hierarchical decision-making, grouped under four concurrent activities: recognition, location, motion, and control. Kishonti pointed out that lidar has already gotten more cost-efficient, and will only continue to do so. “Ten years ago, lidar was best because there wasn’t enough processing power to do all the calculations by AI. But the cost of running AI is decreasing,” he said. “In our approach, computer vision and AI processing are key, and for safety, we’ll have fallback sensors like radar or lidar.” aiDrive currently runs on Nvidia chips, which Kishonti noted were originally designed for graphics, and are not terribly efficient given how power-hungry they are. “We’re planning to substitute lower-cost, lower-energy chips in the next six months,” he said. Testing in Virtual Reality Waymo recently announced its fleet has now driven four million miles autonomously. That’s a lot of miles, and hard to compete with. But AImotive isn’t trying to compete, at least not by logging more real-life test miles. Instead, the company is doing 90 percent of its testing in virtual reality. “This is what truly differentiates us from competitors,” Kishonti said. He outlined the three main benefits of VR testing: it can simulate scenarios too dangerous for the real world (such as hitting something), too costly (not every company has Waymo’s funds to run hundreds of cars on real roads), or too time-consuming (like waiting for rain, snow, or other weather conditions to occur naturally and repeatedly). “Real-world traffic testing is very skewed towards the boring miles,” he said. “What we want to do is test all the cases that are hard to solve.” On a screen that looked not unlike multiple games of Mario Kart, he showed me the simulator. Cartoon cars cruised down winding streets, outfitted with all the real-world surroundings: people, trees, signs, other cars. As I watched, a furry kangaroo suddenly hopped across one screen. “Volvo had an issue in Australia,” Kishonti explained. “A kangaroo’s movement is different than other animals since it hops instead of running.” Talk about cases that are hard to solve. AImotive is currently testing around 1,000 simulated scenarios every night, with a steadily-rising curve of successful tests. These scenarios are broken down into features, and the car’s behavior around those features fed into a neural network. As the algorithms learn more features, the level of complexity the vehicles can handle goes up. On the Road After Kishonti and his colleagues filled me in on the details of their product, it was time to test it out. A safety driver sat in the driver’s seat, a computer operator in the passenger seat, and Kishonti and I in back. The driver maintained full control of the car until we merged onto the highway. Then he flicked the “Allowed” switch, his copilot pressed the “Active” switch, and he took his hands off the wheel. What happened next, you ask? A few things. El Capitan was going exactly the speed limit—65 miles per hour—which meant all the other cars were passing us. When a car merged in front of us or cut us off, El Cap braked accordingly (if a little abruptly). The monitor displayed the feed from each of the car’s cameras, plus multiple data fields and a simulation where a blue line marked the center of the lane, measured by the cameras tracking the lane markings on either side. I noticed El Cap wobbling out of our lane a bit, but it wasn’t until two things happened in a row that I felt a little nervous: first we went under a bridge, then a truck pulled up next to us, both bridge and truck casting a complete shadow over our car. At that point El Cap lost it, and we swerved haphazardly to the right, narrowly missing the truck’s rear wheels. The safety driver grabbed the steering wheel and took back control of the car. What happened, Kishonti explained, was that the shadows made it hard for the car’s cameras to see the lane markings. This was a new scenario the algorithm hadn’t previously encountered. If we’d only gone under a bridge or only been next to the truck for a second, El Cap may not have had so much trouble, but the two events happening in a row really threw the car for a loop—almost literally. “This is a new scenario we’ll add to our testing,” Kishonti said. He added that another way for the algorithm to handle this type of scenario, rather than basing its speed and positioning on the lane markings, is to mimic nearby cars. “The human eye would see that other cars are still moving at the same speed, even if it can’t see details of the road,” he said. After another brief—and thankfully uneventful—hands-off cruise down the highway, the safety driver took over, exited the highway, and drove us back to the office. Driving into the Future I climbed out of the car feeling amazed not only that self-driving cars are possible, but that driving is possible at all. I squint when driving into a tunnel, swerve to avoid hitting a stray squirrel, and brake gradually at stop signs—all without consciously thinking to do so. On top of learning to steer, brake, and accelerate, self-driving software has to incorporate our brains’ and bodies’ unconscious (but crucial) reactions, like our pupils dilating to let in more light so we can see in a tunnel. Despite all the progress of machine learning, artificial intelligence, and computing power, I have a wholly renewed appreciation for the thing that’s been in charge of driving up till now: the human brain. Kishonti seemed to feel similarly. “I don’t think autonomous vehicles in the near future will be better than the best drivers,” he said. “But they’ll be better than the average driver. What we want to achieve is safe, good-quality driving for everyone, with scalability.” AImotive is currently working with American tech firms and with car and truck manufacturers in Europe, China, and Japan. Image Credit: Alex Oakenman / Shutterstock.com
It’s been one of the most quoted economic statistics in Minnesota public life, cited by a chorus of business, education and political leaders since the recession. By 2018, 70 percent of jobs in the state will require postsecondary education. The projection gained currency at the State Capitol and bolsters the argument that Minnesota suffers from a skills gap that leaves employers unable to fill jobs because workers aren’t prepared for them. But five years after the claim surfaced in a report from Georgetown University, it isn’t coming true. The share of jobs that require training beyond high school in Minnesota is growing only moderately, and the share of open jobs today that require postsecondary education is actually shrinking. “We’ve got a lot of ground to make up if we’re going to get to 70 percent,” said Steve Hine, a state labor market economist. “Anybody that’s familiar with the dynamics of our labor markets ought to recognize that as being pure fantasy.” No one disputes that education, including professional certifications and associate degrees, pays dividends in the job market. But low-skill occupations still dominate the job market in Minnesota and in the United States. Only 35 percent of jobs in Minnesota require more than a high school diploma and only 33 percent of jobs nationally, according to a Star Tribune analysis of Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) data. The educational demands on workers are not increasing as dramatically as was predicted, and Minnesota’s workforce is already technically better-educated than it needs to be for the jobs available, according to the federal government’s system of classifying occupations and assigning education requirements to them. And when it comes to positions companies are trying to fill, educational requirements have actually declined in the past five years. The latest evidence comes from the state Job Vacancy Survey, released in March. The data show that since 2009, the share of the state’s openings that require more than a high school education has dropped from 44 percent to 38 percent. “This is not to say that education isn’t important,” Hine said. “What I don’t think is necessary is the consequence of this 70 percent nonsense, which was to say we just need to dramatically increase postsecondary education. We need to do it strategically.” Where it came from The original stat came from a 2010 report by Anthony Carnevale at the Center for Education and the Workforce at Georgetown. The report argued that the recession was accelerating the shift to jobs requiring postsecondary education. It described a “growing mismatch between the jobs that will be created over the next decade and the education and training of our adult workers.” The nation would fall short by 3 million in preparing workers for the jobs of the future, the report said, and 64 percent of new hires in the United States and 70 percent in Minnesota would require postsecondary education of some type by 2018, well above the BLS portrayal of low-skill occupations. In an interview, Carnevale said he believes the BLS undercounts the number of jobs that require an associate degree or higher because it only looks at entry-level requirements instead of acknowledging that most jobs have a range of educational requirements. Also, the higher wages that people with higher education can demand call the BLS figures into question, Carnevale said. He estimates that the true needs of the national labor market fall somewhere between his estimate and that of the BLS. “We’re real clear that that 70 percent number needs to be more sophisticated than it is,” Carnevale said, adding that he is “sort of comfortable but not sure” of the figure. In Minnesota, the idea of a job market with increasingly sophisticated needs is alluring, in part because it is a point of pride for a state with a strong stable of employers and a high-quality workforce. The 2018 projection showed up in reports published by the Itasca Project, led by a task force made up of executives at several of the Twin Cities’ biggest companies, college and university presidents and the head of Minnesota State Colleges and Universities. It’s been cited by nonprofit organizations and repeated by education officials. Hine, who found himself hearing the statistic in testimony at the Capitol more often than he liked, has analyzed the BLS education requirement data by comparing it with employer responses on what level of training their openings require. In contrast to Carnevale, he found the BLS classifications were accurate 75 percent of the time. “I think that’s good reason to be reasonably confident,” he said. To be sure, there are some discrepancies. For instance, Minnesota requires police officers to have an associate degree, which only a few other states require. Also, registered nurses, as Carnevale points out, often must have a bachelor’s degree, and the BLS says nurses only need an associate degree. So nobody’s data are perfect, but Hine puts more stock in the federal government’s numbers and makes that point in presentations constantly. He spoke earlier this month to a group from the St. Paul Chamber of Commerce and pointed out again that he doesn’t believe what he calls “the Georgetown number.” The point he makes is a delicate one. The 70 percent statistic is straightforward, and augurs something everyone agrees is valuable — more education. Hine has to walk a fine line when he pushes back against the statistic. “Trying to explain that that’s not the case takes a lot more nuance and a lot more data and a lot more explanation,” he said. A stat that’s losing steam Larry Pogemiller, commissioner of the Minnesota Office of Higher Education, says focusing on precise numbers can be unproductive. But data show that occupations requiring a bachelor’s degree pay well above those needing just a high school diploma. And Pogemiller said that the companies most concerned about having an educated workforce are worried about skill shortages as baby boomers retire. Over the past five years, the share of jobs requiring postsecondary education in Minnesota rose from 30 percent to 35 percent. But while higher-skill jobs are among the faster-growing occupations, low-skill occupations employ far more people and will continue to add more jobs in absolute terms. Pogemiller said he now advocates for a more general endorsement of education as a smart career move, rather than citing the Georgetown statistic as a call to action. “I would rather be optimistic that there are going to be opportunities,” Pogemiller said. “And I would like to be educated so I can take advantage of whatever opportunities arise.”
U.S. Ambassador Christopher Stevens warned the State Department of "unpredictable, volatile and violent" security conditions in Libya a month before the deadly assault that killed him and three other Americans, according to cables congressional Republicans sent the White House Friday. The cables were included among 166 documents and a letter House Oversight Committee Chairman Darrell Issa, R-Calif., and Utah Republican Rep. Jason Chaffetz sent President Obama asking for more information about the attack on the U.S. Consulate in Benghazi on the 11th anniversary of the Sept. 11 terror attacks. "The security condition in Libya remains unpredictable, volatile, and violent," Stevens wrote in an Aug. 2 cable. Stevens sent the cable to request an additional 11 bodyguards at the U.S. Embassy in the Libyan capital of Tripoli. In a July 9 cable, he noted that conditions in the country hadn't met "benchmarks" to reduce American security personnel. "Host nation security support is lacking and cannot be depended on to provide a safe and secure environment for the diplomatic mission of outreach," Stevens wrote in the Aug. 2 cable. House opens hearing on consulate attack The Obama administration has come under criticism from Republicans that the consulate wasn't provided with enough security, an assertion backed by security officials who testified on Capitol Hill earlier this month that they asked for more protection at the site. A June 25 cable noted that, according to local contacts, "Islamic extremism" appeared to be on the rise in the eastern region of Libya, which includes Benghazi, and that al Qaeda's flag "has been spotted several times flying over government buildings and training facilities." On the day of the attack at the consulate, Stevens sent a cable reporting that senior Interior Ministry officials had recently ended a "state of maximum alert" in Benghazi. The alert was raised to address fears of potential strikes by loyalists of Muammar Qaddafi for the Sept. 1 anniversary of his rise to power in 1969. An Aug. 20 cable signed by another official showed that conditions in Benghazi were unsafe outside of the threats posed by the Qaddafi anniversary. The cable reported an incident involving a women's rights activist briefly detained by a militia. "For the first time since the revolution, I am scared," the activist told consulate staff, according to the cable. "How can we be the commercial capital if we can't keep our streets safe?" Senators John McCain (R-Ariz.) and Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), two of the congressmen who have been vocal in their critique of the Obama administration's handling of the situation, also called the U.S. military's response during the attack to be "inadequate." In a statement released Friday, they said they were told by Department of Defense officials that a surveillance drone was repositioned and a reconnaissance aircraft was sent, but there were no land forces available "on a day of heightened concern for American interests" and no effort to use fighter aircraft.
Calorie Counting Machine May Make Dieting Easier In The Future Enlarge this image toggle caption Courtesy of GE Courtesy of GE Part of losing weight boils down to making tweaks to the simple equation of calories in versus calories out. Americans spend over $60 billion a year on diet and weight loss products, according to market research, but the weight often comes right back. That may be because it's such a hassle to count calories — tracking everything you order or cook at home. But recently, General Electric cell biologist Matt Webster told Morning Edition hosts Steve Inskeep and Renee Montagne about a new calorie counting device that could make the job easier. Enlarge this image toggle caption Courtesy of GE Courtesy of GE The device uses microwaves and scales to measure food. You simply place it over your plate and it shows you how much energy is in what you're about to eat. "We have the weight of the food and the proportion that's water and the proportion that's fat, and from that information, we can estimate calories," Webster says. But there's a long way to go before you will be able slap the gizmo on your dinner dish. The product is still in testing phase — and hasn't even measured "real" food yet. "Right now, we're limited to a blended sample in a box," Webster says. Yum. "Now, if only there was an app that would exercise for you," says Inskeep.
The Chicago Bears defense is in a state of disrepute, begging for some sort of direction. Here is why “Samurai” Mike Singletary is their answer. He would solve the linebacker problem Being a 10-time Pro Bowler and Hall of Famer would make Singletary an expert on the linebacker position. He knows what it takes to excel at the position, but more important he has a history of molding young players into stars as a coach. In 2003 he joined the Baltimore Ravens as linebackers coach. Of course that paired him with Ray Lewis, but the greatest success story for Mike was a little-known 21-year old outside linebacker named Terrell Suggs. Their only year together, the rookie posted 12 sacks despite starting just one game. Two years later Singletary joined good friend Mike Nolan who was taking over as head coach in San Francisco. As assistant head coach and linebackers coach, Singletary began to demonstrate a coveted ability to maximize veterans and also spot young talent as well. That was never clearer than in 2007 when with his expertise the 49ers added a stocky young man out of Mississippi named Patrick Willis. Under the tutelage of Singletary, he became an All-Pro his rookie season and has reached seven Pro Bowl thus far in what is becoming a Hall of Fame career. From there as he took over as head coach Singletary continue to show his ability to develop. Parys Haralson, now a key member of the New Orleans Saints got his start there in 2006, as did the often overlooked but highly effective Ahmad Brooks. Then in 2010 he was able to impart his teachings on a young rookie named NaVorro Bowman before being dismissed. Suffice to say if anybody can solve the Bears linebacker crisis, it’s him. TixBlitz - Instantly "mockery." - Instantly buy BEARS TICKETS and save using promo code He’s legacy in good standing with fans Another key is that, unlike current coordinator Mel Tucker, Singletary has the confidence of Bears fans. A good part of that is because they know him so well. He’s legacy. They know he is a leader and has a proven track record based on the success he had in Baltimore, San Francisco and also the brief stop he made in Minnesota. Mike has a stake in the organization. It matters to him. One thing to remember is that his biggest goal in life is to be a head coach and win a Super Bowl. A great way to do that is having a successful run as a defensive coordinator. Who better to help realize that vision than the same Chicago franchise that made him a star as a player? It’s a great story that fans would eat up. He puts more pressure and demand on his players Another key attribute that makes Mike Singletary more preferable to Mel Tucker is simple personality. His attention to detail is what made him a great player but it’s his demand of others that made the Bears a defensive powerhouse for so many years when he was on the field. That same detail-oriented approach and high demand is what the current defense needs. Tucker seems more like a player’s coach, the type who will sit back and let his assistants run the show while focusing on his duties as a play-caller. On certain teams that may work but in the case of Chicago it’s not. Remember, Tucker is in complete control of the defense. Head coach Marc Trestman has no input on how the scheme or execution play out, which means the pressure is much higher on the defensive coordinator to instill discipline and proper fundamentals on that side of the ball. Based on the performance through 2013 and the first game in 2014, Tucker has a real problem getting through to his players on those key points as evidenced by a porous run defense and limited sack production. Singletary wouldn’t have any fear about amping up the pressure and demand on the younger guys like Jon Bostic, Shea McClellin and Chris Conte to play better. He is available Perhaps the most important aspect of this entire idea is a simple one. Mike Singletary is still available. After leaving the Vikings, he chose to accept a position at the NFL league office as a senior advisor to Troy Vincent, Executive VP of Football Operations. Safe to say he may be just taking time away from the field, waiting for the right opportunity. Running the Chicago Bears defense has to count as a big one. The franchise helped make him a champion as a player. Now he could return the favor as a coach. Image Source: SF Bay
From Mop: Free condom with meal, school’s cafeteria is so awesome Comments from Mop: 丶7七柒: Truly gei li Requesting school’s name. 纠结中淡定: How many bites have you already taken? 熬真的是巴马: It’s nutritious, I think they were giving you extra. 草帽下的帥气: With one bite, the lou zhu, consumed so many hundreds of millions. 你的媚笑依然: That TT is even a used one. 小懶貓_小灰: = =、Whoa, a used one – – And it’s even tied. 358503059: Fuck, take it home, wash it and it can be used again. 属鼠照样上猫扑: (responding to above) Yep, apparently you can still use it even if you don’t wash it too. elephantyn: Birth control begins with the mouth~~~~~~~~~~~~ 注册就为爆楼主: Given the temperatures of cooked rice and vegetables, the fact that this TT can still keep its original color… I can only say that either its one the lou zhu himself used and threw into [the food] or this TT isn’t made of latex. 拼了命沉默: Too fake. Just amusing yourselves. 丶毫无期待: Lou zhu eats it every night, is used to it. If it weren’t for the condom being obvious, he probably wouldn’t have tasted it at all. What is the worst thing you have personally found in your found that did not belong there?
You loved watching him play for the U.S. at the World Cup this summer and now, as well as seeing him play for Everton, you can listen to his thoughts on Premier League games live on NBC Sports once again this season. On Tuesday it was confirmed that Tim Howard will be in the booth and in the studio this PL season for NBC, as the U.S. national team hero returns to work for the NBC Sports Group after agreeing a new multi-year contract. Howard, 35, was involved seven times last season and in the upcoming 2014-15 campaign he will work on up to 10 games as he slots in his broadcasts commitments around his main job of being Everton’s goalkeeper. Of course. [RELATED: He was the Secretary of Defense] Down in Brazil this summer Howard became an icon for the U.S. national team as he recorded the most saves by any ‘keeper ever in a single World Cup match. In the USA’s brave 2-1 extra time defeat to Belgium in the Round of 16 match, Howard stood on his head as he made 16 saves and his popularity rose exponentially across America. Here’s more information on Howard’s deal with NBC Sports from the press release. Tim Howard, goalkeeper for the U.S. Men’s National Team in the 2014 and 2010 FIFA World Cups and for Everton in the Barclays Premier League, will join NBC Sports Group’s Premier League on-air team in a multi-year agreement, it was announced today. Howard will work up to 10 Premier League games this season, serving as game analyst in the booth or in an on-site studio for the pre-game, halftime and post-game shows. His assignments will be scheduled around Everton matches and will focus on top-tier games. Howard served as a NBCSN analyst on six game telecasts and one on-site studio last season. In the seven matches immediately prior to Howard’s NBCSN appearances, Everton recorded six victories and one loss. “Tim had an impressive debut on our telecasts last season and we are excited to have him join our Premier League team on a more extensive basis,” said Pierre Moossa, coordinating producer of NBC Sports Group’s Premier League coverage. “As an active Premier League player, he contributes unique perspective and insight to our broadcasts.” Follow @JPW_NBCSports
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and US Secretary of State John Kerry discussed in a phone call on Wednesday preparations for the upcoming Syria peace talks in Vienna focused on facilitating the intra-Syrian dialogue, the Russian Foreign Ministry said. © AP Photo / Brendan McDermid,Pool Russia Is Key to Bringing Peace to Syria – King of Jordan MOSCOW (Sputnik) — The next meeting on the Syrian settlement will take place in Vienna on Saturday, November 14. "The Russian side underlined the need to follow agreements, reached at the first Vienna meeting on October 30, that the main aim of this format should be the facilitation of dialogue between Syrians with the participation of all 'external players' that could influence the situation," the ministry said in a statement. On October 30, top diplomats from about 20 countries, comprising Russia, the United States, Saudi Arabia and Turkey, as well as many other officials, met in the Austrian capital of Vienna to discuss efforts to end the four-year civil war in Syria.
The 9 Most Unintentionally Horrifying Clip Art Images You’ll See Today With our fabulous in-house Design Team, Quality Logo Products® always brings our A-game when it comes to quality graphics on our website. But for the sake of interest, let’s take a walk on the wild side and see what else we can find. In an effort to bring you the most head-scratching, and frankly disturbing images of all time, we stayed up all night perusing frightening graphics sure to induce nightmares for years to come. Take a look at nine of the most unintentionally horrifying clip art images you’ll see today. And probably for the rest of your life. 1.) 2.) 3.) 4.) 5.) 6.) 7.) 8.) 9.) For obvious reasons, we don’t recommend using any of this clip art in your marketing or promotional efforts. To ensure your design stays off this list, check out our exclusive Clipart Library and choose from a wide selection of hand-curated images. We promise they won’t scar you for life like the ones above! Which one of these clip art images haunts you the most? Have you seen others that belong on this list? Do you have any ideas for how to use these strange images in an advertising campaign?
Abstract Aims The obesity paradox refers to the epidemiological evidence that obesity compared with normal weight is associated with counter-intuitive improved health in a variety of disease conditions. The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between body mass index (BMI) and mortality in patients with acute coronary syndromes (ACSs). Methods and results We extracted data from the Swedish Coronary Angiography and Angioplasty Registry and identified 64 436 patients who underwent coronary angiography due to ACSs. In 54 419 (84.4%) patients, a significant coronary stenosis was identified, whereas 10 017 (15.6%) patients had no significant stenosis. Patients were divided into nine different BMI categories. The patients with significant stenosis were further subdivided according to treatment received such as medical therapy, percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI), or coronary artery by-pass grafting. Mortality for the different subgroups during a maximum of 3 years was compared using Cox proportional hazards regression with the lean BMI category (21.0 to <23.5 kg/m2) as the reference group. Regardless of angiographic findings [significant or no significant coronary artery disease (CAD)] and treatment decision, the underweight group (BMI <18.5 kg/m2) had the greatest risk for mortality. Medical therapy and PCI-treated patients with modest overweight (BMI category 26.5–<28 kg/m2) had the lowest risk of mortality [hazard ratio (HR) 0.52; 95% CI 0.34–0.80 and HR 0.64; 95% CI 0.50–0.81, respectively]. When studying BMI as a continuous variable in patients with significant CAD, the adjusted risk for mortality decreased with increasing BMI up to ∼35 kg/m2 and then increased. In patients with significant CAD undergoing coronary artery by-pass grafting and in patients with no significant CAD, there was no difference in mortality risk in the overweight groups compared with the normal weight group. Conclusion In this large and unselected group of patients with ACSs, the relation between BMI and mortality was U-shaped, with the nadir among overweight or obese patients and underweight and normal-weight patients having the highest risk. These data strengthen the concept of the obesity paradox substantially. See page 330 for the editorial comment on this article (doi:10.1093/eurheartj/ehs237) Introduction In the general population, obesity is associated with increased mortality.1 Obese individuals have a higher frequency of cardiovascular risk factors such as hypertension, hyperlipidaemia, and diabetes. Therefore, these individuals have higher cardiovascular disease-related morbidity and mortality rate. As weight reduction is associated with improved risk factor profile, the guidelines for primary prevention of cardiovascular diseases recommend weight loss in overweight and obese individuals.2 Despite limited scientific evidence, this recommendation has also been extended to the guidelines for secondary prevention of coronary artery disease (CAD)3–5 and heart failure (HF).6 In fact, a number of epidemiological studies suggest that obesity may confer protection in some common disease settings. This was first shown in patients with end-stage renal failure, in whom obesity constituted a favourable prognostic factor.7 This led to the proposal of the obesity paradox.8–10 Subsequently, obesity paradox has been reported in cardiac conditions including HF,11 atrial fibrillation,12 sudden cardiac death,13 and CAD.14 It has also been confirmed by several meta-analyses,9,15 which support the view that obesity, in certain clinical conditions, could lead to a favourable prognosis.9,15 Acute coronary syndromes (ACSs) are among the most important causes of mortality and reduced quality of life in modern Western societies. Some studies indicate that obesity paradox is also present in patients with ACSs. However, this evidence is relatively weak as it is based on retrospective studies.16 Therefore, the aim of this study was to evaluate the relationship between body mass index (BMI) and mortality in one of the largest-to-date ACS population based on the prospectively collected data from the Swedish Coronary Angiography and Angioplasty Registry (SCAAR).17 Methods Study design In this prospective registry study, we established a cohort of all consecutive patients admitted to Swedish hospitals, during the period May 2005–December 2008, with ACSs such as unstable angina, ST-elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI), and non-STEMI and who underwent coronary angiography. Non-STEMI, STEMI, and unstable angina were defined according to the criteria established by the European Society of Cardiology.18,19 Patient population The data were collected from SCAAR, which was established in 1992. This registry currently contains information about all coronary angiographies and percutaneous coronary interventions (PCIs) performed in Sweden.17 Each catheterization procedure is described with ∼50 angiographies and 200 PCI variables that includes both demographic and procedure-related data. The registry is sponsored by the Swedish Health Authorities and does not receive any funding from commercial interests. Details about patients’ weight and height (measured or self-reported) were entered into the SCAAR starting from May 2005. All patients in Sweden who were admitted with ACSs and underwent angiography during the period May 2005–December 2008 were included in the analysis. The information about patients’ characteristics and co-morbidities were based on the data extracted from the patients’ medical records. Statistics Primary analysis The primary outcome was all-cause mortality in the patients who had significant stenosis (>50% diameter narrowing) in one or more coronary arteries. The patients with significant CAD were divided into the subgroups according to the physician's initial decision for treatment strategy such as coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG), PCI, or medical therapy. The treatment strategy was defined based on intention-to-treat decision following the index catheterization. BMI is defined as the weight divided by length in meters squared. The patients were divided into nine different BMI categories according to the National Institute of Health–AARP cohort16: <18.5 kg/m2 (underweight), 18.5 to <21.0 kg/m2 (normal weight); 21.0 to <23.5 kg/m2 (normal weight); 23.5 to <25.0 kg/m2 (normal weight); 25.0 to <26.5 kg/m2 (overweight); 26.5 to <28.0 kg/m2 (overweight); 28.0 to <30.0 kg/m2 (overweight); 30.0 to <35.0 kg/m2 (obese) and ≥35.0 kg/m2 (obese). Baseline characteristics of patients across the categories were examined by χ2 tests for linear trend for nominal variables and by the Jonckheere–Terpstra test for trend for continuous variables to account for the ordinal nature of the BMI categories. Unadjusted survival was examined using a Kaplan–Meier survival curve and the log-rank test. To evaluate the association between BMI and mortality, multivariable-adjusted hazard ratios (HR) were calculated using Cox proportional-hazards regression models for each treatment strategy. All potential confounders listed in Table 1 were entered into the model. The BMI category 21–<23.5 kg/m2 was considered the reference category and statistical significance was set at P < 0.05. All tests were two sided. Interactions between BMI category with age, and BMI category and sex were tested using the likelihood ratio test. The assumption of proportional hazards for each covariate was reviewed separately by the means of log-minus-log survival plots. Table 1 BMI group (kg/m2) <18.5 (n= 344) 18.5 to <21 (n= 1578) 21 to <23.5 (n= 5146) 23.5 to <25 (n= 6113) 25 to <26.5 (n= 6286) 26.5 to <28 (n= 5456) 28 to <30 (n= 5604) 30 to <35 (n= 6383) ≥ 35 (n= 1757) P value Age mean; ±D (years) 71.2 ± 11 71.4 ± 11 69.7 ± 11 68.9 ± 11 67.3 ± 11 66.5 ± 10 65.7 ± 11 64.4 ± 11 62.0 ± 11 <0.001 Female; n (%) 218 (63) 736 (47) 1804 (35) 1565 (26) 1345 (21) 1255 (23) 1253 (22) 1882 (30) 688 (39) <0.001 Prior PCI; n (%) 33 (9.6) 133 (8.4) 482 (9.4) 687 (11.2) 750 (11.9) 670 (12.3) 741 (13.2) 930 (14.6) 274 (15.6) <0.001 Prior CABG; n (%) 18 (5.2) 134 (8.5) 429 (8.3) 527 (8.6) 633 (10.1) 516 (9.5) 579 (10.3) 641 (10.0) 171 (9.7) <0.001 Diabetes; n (%) 31 (9.0) 166 (10.5) 635 (13.8) 844 (13.8) 982 (15.6) 1047 (19.2) 1261 (22.5) 1876 (29.4) 726 (41.3) <0.001 Current smoker; n (%) 141 (41.0) 473 (30.0) 1342 (26.1) 1395 (22.8) 1319 (21.0) 1182 (21.7) 1193 (21.3) 1395 (21.9) 437 (24.9) <0.001 Former smoker; n (%) 76 (22.1) 403 (25.5) 1496 (29.1) 1963 (32.1) 2269 (36.1) 1947 (35.7) 2207 (39.4) 2569 (40.2) 655 (37.3) <0.001 Treated hypertension; n (%) 148 (43.0) 651 (41.3) 2228 (43.3) 2790 (45.6) 2970 (47.2) 2802 (51.4) 2988 (53.3) 3865 (60.6) 1203 (68.5) <0.001 Treated hyperlipidaemia; n (%) 122 (35.5) 641 (40.6) 2175 (42.3) 2657 (43.5) 2882 (45.8) 2595 (47.6) 2871 (51.2) 3420 (53.6) 1035 (58.9) <0.001 Previous myocardial infarction; n (%) 109 (31.7) 417 (26.4) 1244 (24.2) 1479 (24.2) 1567 (24.9) 1370 (25.1) 1487 (26.5) 1706 (26.7) 534 (30.4) <0.001 Stroke; n (%) 48 (14.0) 144 (9.1) 403 (7.8) 413 (6.8) 452 (7.2) 378 (6.9) 355 (6.3) 425 (6.7) 119 (6.8) <0.001 Kidney failure; n (%) 10 (2.9) 43 (2.7) 94 (1.8) 103 (1.7) 77 (1.2) 94 (1.7) 96 (1.7) 104 (1.6) 40 (2.3) 0.32 Heart failure; n (%) 29 (8.4) 138 (8.7) 361 (7.0) 363 (5.9) 370 (5.9) 315 (5.8) 376 (6.7) 498 (7.8) 189 (10.8) 0.001 Cancer; n (%) 30 (8.7) 57 (3.6) 169 (3.3) 174 (2.8) 203 (3.2) 146 (2.7) 151 (2.7) 148 (2.3) 34 (1.9) <0.001 Peripheral vascular disease; n (%) 33 (9.6) 129 (8.2) 252 (4.9) 285 (4.7) 260 (4.1) 168 (3.1) 232 (4.1) 242 (3.8) 56 (3.2) <0.001 Dementia; n (%) 0 (0) 6 (0.4) 7 (0.1) 10 (0.2) 10 (0.2) 5 (0.1) 7 (0.1) 6 (0.1) 1 (0.1) 0.05 Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease; n (%) 78 (22.7) 180 (11.4) 407 (7.9) 394 (6.4) 374 (5.9) 317 (5.8) 358 (6.4) 476 (7.5) 213 (12.1) 0.03 Indication Unstable angina/non-STEMI; n (%) 223 (64.8) 1120 (71.0) 3686 (71.6) 4406 (72.1) 4610 (73.3) 4075 (74.7) 4338 (77.4) 4969 (77.8) 1442 (82.1) <0.001 STEMI; n (%) 120 (34.9) 456 (28.9) 1440 (28.0) 1699 (27.8) 1665 (26.5) 1371 (25.1) 1260 (22.5) 1404 (22.0) 309 (17.6) <0.001 Other; n (%) 1 (0.3) 2 (0.1) 20 (0.4) 8 (0.1) 11 (0.2) 10 (0.2) 6 (0.1) 10 (0.2) 6 (0.3) 0.22 Angiographic findings One vessel disease; n (%) 133 (38.7) 615 (39.0) 2068 (40.2) 2397 (39.2) 2495 (39.7) 2158 (39.6) 2245 (40.1) 2650 (41.5) 750 (42.7) 0.005 Multi-vessel disease; n (%) 211 (61.3) 963 (61.0) 3078 (59.8) 3716 (60.8) 3791 (60.3) 3298 (60.4) 3359 (59.9) 3733 (58.5) 1007 (57.3) 0.005 Primary decision PCI; n (%) 258 (75.0) 1156 (73.3) 3817 (74.2) 4606 (75.3) 4741 (75.4) 4068 (74.6) 4200 (74.9) 4843 (75.9) 1267 (72.1) 0.54 CABG; n (%) 39 (11.3) 206 (13.1) 691 (13.4) 846 (13.8) 877 (14.0) 786 (14.4) 830 (14.8) 899 (14.1) 246 (14.0) 0.04 Medical therapy; n (%) 47 (13.7) 216 (13.7) 638 (12.4) 661 (10.8) 668 (10.8) 602 (11.0) 574 (10.2) 641 (10.0) 224 (13.9) 0.002 BMI group (kg/m2) <18.5 (n= 344) 18.5 to <21 (n= 1578) 21 to <23.5 (n= 5146) 23.5 to <25 (n= 6113) 25 to <26.5 (n= 6286) 26.5 to <28 (n= 5456) 28 to <30 (n= 5604) 30 to <35 (n= 6383) ≥ 35 (n= 1757) P value Age mean; ±D (years) 71.2 ± 11 71.4 ± 11 69.7 ± 11 68.9 ± 11 67.3 ± 11 66.5 ± 10 65.7 ± 11 64.4 ± 11 62.0 ± 11 <0.001 Female; n (%) 218 (63) 736 (47) 1804 (35) 1565 (26) 1345 (21) 1255 (23) 1253 (22) 1882 (30) 688 (39) <0.001 Prior PCI; n (%) 33 (9.6) 133 (8.4) 482 (9.4) 687 (11.2) 750 (11.9) 670 (12.3) 741 (13.2) 930 (14.6) 274 (15.6) <0.001 Prior CABG; n (%) 18 (5.2) 134 (8.5) 429 (8.3) 527 (8.6) 633 (10.1) 516 (9.5) 579 (10.3) 641 (10.0) 171 (9.7) <0.001 Diabetes; n (%) 31 (9.0) 166 (10.5) 635 (13.8) 844 (13.8) 982 (15.6) 1047 (19.2) 1261 (22.5) 1876 (29.4) 726 (41.3) <0.001 Current smoker; n (%) 141 (41.0) 473 (30.0) 1342 (26.1) 1395 (22.8) 1319 (21.0) 1182 (21.7) 1193 (21.3) 1395 (21.9) 437 (24.9) <0.001 Former smoker; n (%) 76 (22.1) 403 (25.5) 1496 (29.1) 1963 (32.1) 2269 (36.1) 1947 (35.7) 2207 (39.4) 2569 (40.2) 655 (37.3) <0.001 Treated hypertension; n (%) 148 (43.0) 651 (41.3) 2228 (43.3) 2790 (45.6) 2970 (47.2) 2802 (51.4) 2988 (53.3) 3865 (60.6) 1203 (68.5) <0.001 Treated hyperlipidaemia; n (%) 122 (35.5) 641 (40.6) 2175 (42.3) 2657 (43.5) 2882 (45.8) 2595 (47.6) 2871 (51.2) 3420 (53.6) 1035 (58.9) <0.001 Previous myocardial infarction; n (%) 109 (31.7) 417 (26.4) 1244 (24.2) 1479 (24.2) 1567 (24.9) 1370 (25.1) 1487 (26.5) 1706 (26.7) 534 (30.4) <0.001 Stroke; n (%) 48 (14.0) 144 (9.1) 403 (7.8) 413 (6.8) 452 (7.2) 378 (6.9) 355 (6.3) 425 (6.7) 119 (6.8) <0.001 Kidney failure; n (%) 10 (2.9) 43 (2.7) 94 (1.8) 103 (1.7) 77 (1.2) 94 (1.7) 96 (1.7) 104 (1.6) 40 (2.3) 0.32 Heart failure; n (%) 29 (8.4) 138 (8.7) 361 (7.0) 363 (5.9) 370 (5.9) 315 (5.8) 376 (6.7) 498 (7.8) 189 (10.8) 0.001 Cancer; n (%) 30 (8.7) 57 (3.6) 169 (3.3) 174 (2.8) 203 (3.2) 146 (2.7) 151 (2.7) 148 (2.3) 34 (1.9) <0.001 Peripheral vascular disease; n (%) 33 (9.6) 129 (8.2) 252 (4.9) 285 (4.7) 260 (4.1) 168 (3.1) 232 (4.1) 242 (3.8) 56 (3.2) <0.001 Dementia; n (%) 0 (0) 6 (0.4) 7 (0.1) 10 (0.2) 10 (0.2) 5 (0.1) 7 (0.1) 6 (0.1) 1 (0.1) 0.05 Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease; n (%) 78 (22.7) 180 (11.4) 407 (7.9) 394 (6.4) 374 (5.9) 317 (5.8) 358 (6.4) 476 (7.5) 213 (12.1) 0.03 Indication Unstable angina/non-STEMI; n (%) 223 (64.8) 1120 (71.0) 3686 (71.6) 4406 (72.1) 4610 (73.3) 4075 (74.7) 4338 (77.4) 4969 (77.8) 1442 (82.1) <0.001 STEMI; n (%) 120 (34.9) 456 (28.9) 1440 (28.0) 1699 (27.8) 1665 (26.5) 1371 (25.1) 1260 (22.5) 1404 (22.0) 309 (17.6) <0.001 Other; n (%) 1 (0.3) 2 (0.1) 20 (0.4) 8 (0.1) 11 (0.2) 10 (0.2) 6 (0.1) 10 (0.2) 6 (0.3) 0.22 Angiographic findings One vessel disease; n (%) 133 (38.7) 615 (39.0) 2068 (40.2) 2397 (39.2) 2495 (39.7) 2158 (39.6) 2245 (40.1) 2650 (41.5) 750 (42.7) 0.005 Multi-vessel disease; n (%) 211 (61.3) 963 (61.0) 3078 (59.8) 3716 (60.8) 3791 (60.3) 3298 (60.4) 3359 (59.9) 3733 (58.5) 1007 (57.3) 0.005 Primary decision PCI; n (%) 258 (75.0) 1156 (73.3) 3817 (74.2) 4606 (75.3) 4741 (75.4) 4068 (74.6) 4200 (74.9) 4843 (75.9) 1267 (72.1) 0.54 CABG; n (%) 39 (11.3) 206 (13.1) 691 (13.4) 846 (13.8) 877 (14.0) 786 (14.4) 830 (14.8) 899 (14.1) 246 (14.0) 0.04 Medical therapy; n (%) 47 (13.7) 216 (13.7) 638 (12.4) 661 (10.8) 668 (10.8) 602 (11.0) 574 (10.2) 641 (10.0) 224 (13.9) 0.002 View Large Table 1 BMI group (kg/m2) <18.5 (n= 344) 18.5 to <21 (n= 1578) 21 to <23.5 (n= 5146) 23.5 to <25 (n= 6113) 25 to <26.5 (n= 6286) 26.5 to <28 (n= 5456) 28 to <30 (n= 5604) 30 to <35 (n= 6383) ≥ 35 (n= 1757) P value Age mean; ±D (years) 71.2 ± 11 71.4 ± 11 69.7 ± 11 68.9 ± 11 67.3 ± 11 66.5 ± 10 65.7 ± 11 64.4 ± 11 62.0 ± 11 <0.001 Female; n (%) 218 (63) 736 (47) 1804 (35) 1565 (26) 1345 (21) 1255 (23) 1253 (22) 1882 (30) 688 (39) <0.001 Prior PCI; n (%) 33 (9.6) 133 (8.4) 482 (9.4) 687 (11.2) 750 (11.9) 670 (12.3) 741 (13.2) 930 (14.6) 274 (15.6) <0.001 Prior CABG; n (%) 18 (5.2) 134 (8.5) 429 (8.3) 527 (8.6) 633 (10.1) 516 (9.5) 579 (10.3) 641 (10.0) 171 (9.7) <0.001 Diabetes; n (%) 31 (9.0) 166 (10.5) 635 (13.8) 844 (13.8) 982 (15.6) 1047 (19.2) 1261 (22.5) 1876 (29.4) 726 (41.3) <0.001 Current smoker; n (%) 141 (41.0) 473 (30.0) 1342 (26.1) 1395 (22.8) 1319 (21.0) 1182 (21.7) 1193 (21.3) 1395 (21.9) 437 (24.9) <0.001 Former smoker; n (%) 76 (22.1) 403 (25.5) 1496 (29.1) 1963 (32.1) 2269 (36.1) 1947 (35.7) 2207 (39.4) 2569 (40.2) 655 (37.3) <0.001 Treated hypertension; n (%) 148 (43.0) 651 (41.3) 2228 (43.3) 2790 (45.6) 2970 (47.2) 2802 (51.4) 2988 (53.3) 3865 (60.6) 1203 (68.5) <0.001 Treated hyperlipidaemia; n (%) 122 (35.5) 641 (40.6) 2175 (42.3) 2657 (43.5) 2882 (45.8) 2595 (47.6) 2871 (51.2) 3420 (53.6) 1035 (58.9) <0.001 Previous myocardial infarction; n (%) 109 (31.7) 417 (26.4) 1244 (24.2) 1479 (24.2) 1567 (24.9) 1370 (25.1) 1487 (26.5) 1706 (26.7) 534 (30.4) <0.001 Stroke; n (%) 48 (14.0) 144 (9.1) 403 (7.8) 413 (6.8) 452 (7.2) 378 (6.9) 355 (6.3) 425 (6.7) 119 (6.8) <0.001 Kidney failure; n (%) 10 (2.9) 43 (2.7) 94 (1.8) 103 (1.7) 77 (1.2) 94 (1.7) 96 (1.7) 104 (1.6) 40 (2.3) 0.32 Heart failure; n (%) 29 (8.4) 138 (8.7) 361 (7.0) 363 (5.9) 370 (5.9) 315 (5.8) 376 (6.7) 498 (7.8) 189 (10.8) 0.001 Cancer; n (%) 30 (8.7) 57 (3.6) 169 (3.3) 174 (2.8) 203 (3.2) 146 (2.7) 151 (2.7) 148 (2.3) 34 (1.9) <0.001 Peripheral vascular disease; n (%) 33 (9.6) 129 (8.2) 252 (4.9) 285 (4.7) 260 (4.1) 168 (3.1) 232 (4.1) 242 (3.8) 56 (3.2) <0.001 Dementia; n (%) 0 (0) 6 (0.4) 7 (0.1) 10 (0.2) 10 (0.2) 5 (0.1) 7 (0.1) 6 (0.1) 1 (0.1) 0.05 Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease; n (%) 78 (22.7) 180 (11.4) 407 (7.9) 394 (6.4) 374 (5.9) 317 (5.8) 358 (6.4) 476 (7.5) 213 (12.1) 0.03 Indication Unstable angina/non-STEMI; n (%) 223 (64.8) 1120 (71.0) 3686 (71.6) 4406 (72.1) 4610 (73.3) 4075 (74.7) 4338 (77.4) 4969 (77.8) 1442 (82.1) <0.001 STEMI; n (%) 120 (34.9) 456 (28.9) 1440 (28.0) 1699 (27.8) 1665 (26.5) 1371 (25.1) 1260 (22.5) 1404 (22.0) 309 (17.6) <0.001 Other; n (%) 1 (0.3) 2 (0.1) 20 (0.4) 8 (0.1) 11 (0.2) 10 (0.2) 6 (0.1) 10 (0.2) 6 (0.3) 0.22 Angiographic findings One vessel disease; n (%) 133 (38.7) 615 (39.0) 2068 (40.2) 2397 (39.2) 2495 (39.7) 2158 (39.6) 2245 (40.1) 2650 (41.5) 750 (42.7) 0.005 Multi-vessel disease; n (%) 211 (61.3) 963 (61.0) 3078 (59.8) 3716 (60.8) 3791 (60.3) 3298 (60.4) 3359 (59.9) 3733 (58.5) 1007 (57.3) 0.005 Primary decision PCI; n (%) 258 (75.0) 1156 (73.3) 3817 (74.2) 4606 (75.3) 4741 (75.4) 4068 (74.6) 4200 (74.9) 4843 (75.9) 1267 (72.1) 0.54 CABG; n (%) 39 (11.3) 206 (13.1) 691 (13.4) 846 (13.8) 877 (14.0) 786 (14.4) 830 (14.8) 899 (14.1) 246 (14.0) 0.04 Medical therapy; n (%) 47 (13.7) 216 (13.7) 638 (12.4) 661 (10.8) 668 (10.8) 602 (11.0) 574 (10.2) 641 (10.0) 224 (13.9) 0.002 BMI group (kg/m2) <18.5 (n= 344) 18.5 to <21 (n= 1578) 21 to <23.5 (n= 5146) 23.5 to <25 (n= 6113) 25 to <26.5 (n= 6286) 26.5 to <28 (n= 5456) 28 to <30 (n= 5604) 30 to <35 (n= 6383) ≥ 35 (n= 1757) P value Age mean; ±D (years) 71.2 ± 11 71.4 ± 11 69.7 ± 11 68.9 ± 11 67.3 ± 11 66.5 ± 10 65.7 ± 11 64.4 ± 11 62.0 ± 11 <0.001 Female; n (%) 218 (63) 736 (47) 1804 (35) 1565 (26) 1345 (21) 1255 (23) 1253 (22) 1882 (30) 688 (39) <0.001 Prior PCI; n (%) 33 (9.6) 133 (8.4) 482 (9.4) 687 (11.2) 750 (11.9) 670 (12.3) 741 (13.2) 930 (14.6) 274 (15.6) <0.001 Prior CABG; n (%) 18 (5.2) 134 (8.5) 429 (8.3) 527 (8.6) 633 (10.1) 516 (9.5) 579 (10.3) 641 (10.0) 171 (9.7) <0.001 Diabetes; n (%) 31 (9.0) 166 (10.5) 635 (13.8) 844 (13.8) 982 (15.6) 1047 (19.2) 1261 (22.5) 1876 (29.4) 726 (41.3) <0.001 Current smoker; n (%) 141 (41.0) 473 (30.0) 1342 (26.1) 1395 (22.8) 1319 (21.0) 1182 (21.7) 1193 (21.3) 1395 (21.9) 437 (24.9) <0.001 Former smoker; n (%) 76 (22.1) 403 (25.5) 1496 (29.1) 1963 (32.1) 2269 (36.1) 1947 (35.7) 2207 (39.4) 2569 (40.2) 655 (37.3) <0.001 Treated hypertension; n (%) 148 (43.0) 651 (41.3) 2228 (43.3) 2790 (45.6) 2970 (47.2) 2802 (51.4) 2988 (53.3) 3865 (60.6) 1203 (68.5) <0.001 Treated hyperlipidaemia; n (%) 122 (35.5) 641 (40.6) 2175 (42.3) 2657 (43.5) 2882 (45.8) 2595 (47.6) 2871 (51.2) 3420 (53.6) 1035 (58.9) <0.001 Previous myocardial infarction; n (%) 109 (31.7) 417 (26.4) 1244 (24.2) 1479 (24.2) 1567 (24.9) 1370 (25.1) 1487 (26.5) 1706 (26.7) 534 (30.4) <0.001 Stroke; n (%) 48 (14.0) 144 (9.1) 403 (7.8) 413 (6.8) 452 (7.2) 378 (6.9) 355 (6.3) 425 (6.7) 119 (6.8) <0.001 Kidney failure; n (%) 10 (2.9) 43 (2.7) 94 (1.8) 103 (1.7) 77 (1.2) 94 (1.7) 96 (1.7) 104 (1.6) 40 (2.3) 0.32 Heart failure; n (%) 29 (8.4) 138 (8.7) 361 (7.0) 363 (5.9) 370 (5.9) 315 (5.8) 376 (6.7) 498 (7.8) 189 (10.8) 0.001 Cancer; n (%) 30 (8.7) 57 (3.6) 169 (3.3) 174 (2.8) 203 (3.2) 146 (2.7) 151 (2.7) 148 (2.3) 34 (1.9) <0.001 Peripheral vascular disease; n (%) 33 (9.6) 129 (8.2) 252 (4.9) 285 (4.7) 260 (4.1) 168 (3.1) 232 (4.1) 242 (3.8) 56 (3.2) <0.001 Dementia; n (%) 0 (0) 6 (0.4) 7 (0.1) 10 (0.2) 10 (0.2) 5 (0.1) 7 (0.1) 6 (0.1) 1 (0.1) 0.05 Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease; n (%) 78 (22.7) 180 (11.4) 407 (7.9) 394 (6.4) 374 (5.9) 317 (5.8) 358 (6.4) 476 (7.5) 213 (12.1) 0.03 Indication Unstable angina/non-STEMI; n (%) 223 (64.8) 1120 (71.0) 3686 (71.6) 4406 (72.1) 4610 (73.3) 4075 (74.7) 4338 (77.4) 4969 (77.8) 1442 (82.1) <0.001 STEMI; n (%) 120 (34.9) 456 (28.9) 1440 (28.0) 1699 (27.8) 1665 (26.5) 1371 (25.1) 1260 (22.5) 1404 (22.0) 309 (17.6) <0.001 Other; n (%) 1 (0.3) 2 (0.1) 20 (0.4) 8 (0.1) 11 (0.2) 10 (0.2) 6 (0.1) 10 (0.2) 6 (0.3) 0.22 Angiographic findings One vessel disease; n (%) 133 (38.7) 615 (39.0) 2068 (40.2) 2397 (39.2) 2495 (39.7) 2158 (39.6) 2245 (40.1) 2650 (41.5) 750 (42.7) 0.005 Multi-vessel disease; n (%) 211 (61.3) 963 (61.0) 3078 (59.8) 3716 (60.8) 3791 (60.3) 3298 (60.4) 3359 (59.9) 3733 (58.5) 1007 (57.3) 0.005 Primary decision PCI; n (%) 258 (75.0) 1156 (73.3) 3817 (74.2) 4606 (75.3) 4741 (75.4) 4068 (74.6) 4200 (74.9) 4843 (75.9) 1267 (72.1) 0.54 CABG; n (%) 39 (11.3) 206 (13.1) 691 (13.4) 846 (13.8) 877 (14.0) 786 (14.4) 830 (14.8) 899 (14.1) 246 (14.0) 0.04 Medical therapy; n (%) 47 (13.7) 216 (13.7) 638 (12.4) 661 (10.8) 668 (10.8) 602 (11.0) 574 (10.2) 641 (10.0) 224 (13.9) 0.002 View Large The database was scrutinized for missing data. Logistic regression showed that a number of variables were associated (P< 0.05) with missing data including diabetes, previous myocardial infarction (MI), previous HF, previous stroke, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, hyperlipidaemia, hypertension, smoking habits, and dementia. This relationship indicates that the presence of missing data was not completely random. Thus, in addition to the complete case analysis, we applied multiple imputation method to estimate the missing data20,21 and performed Cox proportional hazards regression with the imputed data set under the assumption that missing data are missing at random. Multiple imputation was implemented using the same covariates as in the main model with addition of cumulative hazard and event indicator.22 Cumulative hazard was estimated with the Nelson–Allens test using STATA software (version 12, StataCorp, College Station, TX, USA). IBM SPSS missing data module software (version 20, IBM Corporation, New York, NY, USA) was used for the imputation procedure with 10 imputed data sets. The imputation procedure and subsequent Cox proportional hazards regression estimation was performed according to the Rubin's protocol.23 The continuous risk relationship between BMI and all-cause mortality was analysed by entering BMI as a continuous variable into fractional polynomial Cox proportional-hazards regression24 adjusted for the covariates used in the main analysis with the addition of treatment strategy. This analysis was performed using STATA software. Secondary analysis Three types of secondary analyses were performed. First, we examined the relationship between BMI and mortality in patients who received a cardiac catheterization but were not diagnosed with CAD (<50% diameter narrowing or normal coronaries). Second, we explored the mortality data as all-cause mortality, in-hospital mortality, 30-day mortality, and 3-year mortality. Third, we examined the relationship between BMI category and hospitalization for MI, HF, and stroke after the index procedure. Results Patient characteristics Between May 2005 and December 2008, a total of 64 436 patients underwent catheterization for suspected ACSs in Sweden. Missing data for one or more variables occurred in 18 743 (29.1%). The variable most often missing was BMI (15 159) followed by smoking status (4588), hyperlipidaemia (2040), hypertension (1663), diabetes (642), prior PCIs (46), and prior CABG (28). Implausible BMI values (defined as BMI >70 or <11 kg/m2) were present in 27 patients and were treated as missing data. In the total 45 693 patients who had complete data, 38 667 had significant stenosis at angiography whereas 7026 did not. Patients excluded from the complete case analysis due to missing data were older, had more co-morbidities, more STEMI, and a higher mortality rate (HR 1.65, 95% CI 1.53–1.77) than patients who were included. The mean time of follow-up for the study cohort was 21 months (SD ± 13 months). Patient characteristics according to the different BMI categories at the time of cardiac catheterization are shown in Table 1. It was observed that obese patients were more likely to be younger, have hyperlipidaemia, hypertension, and diabetes mellitus, but were less likely to smoke and to have high-risk coronary anatomy. The underweight patients were more likely to be females and the indication for angiography was more often STEMI. Survival Primary analysis During follow-up, 3018 (4.7%) deaths were registered in patients with significant CAD. Unadjusted survival is presented as a Kaplan–Meier curve in Figure 1. This demonstrates substantial difference in mortality between the different BMI categories (P< 0.001; log-rank test for trend). Patients who were underweight with BMI <18.5 kg/m2 had the highest risk followed by patients with normal weight, whereas overweight patients had the lowest risk. The unadjusted HR ranged from 2.94 (2.25–3.83) to 0.52 (0.44–0.61) compared with the reference group. The same pattern was present in ACS patients with significant coronary artery stenosis treated with PCIs. In this group, the highest mortality rate was also in the underweight patients (12.4%) followed by the patients with normal BMI whereas the lowest mortality was in the overweight and obese patients (3.9%). The adjusted HR ranged from 2.31 (1.67–3.21) to 0.66 (0.53–0.82) compared with the reference group (Figure 2A). In patients who were treated with CABG or medical therapy alone the differences in HR were smaller (Figure 2B and C). Examination of BMI as a continuous variable (Figure 3) using fractional polynomial Cox regression demonstrated a U-shaped association between BMI and adjusted all-cause mortality, where mortality decreased with increasing BMI between 30 and 40 kg/m2, and then began to increase again at a BMI of >40 kg/m2. The results of Cox-regression based on the estimation after the multiple imputation procedure have shown congruent data when compared with the unadjusted and adjusted complete case-analysis models in patients with significant stenosis (Table 2). There was no interaction between BMI category and age, and BMI category and sex. There was no difference in mortality between the BMI categories regarding in-hospital mortality and 30-day mortality (Figure 4). Table 2 BMI group (kg/m2) n <18.5 18.5 to 21 21 to <23.5 23.5 to <25 25 to <26.5 26.5 to <28 28 to <30 30 to <35 >35 Unadjusted analysis 41 731 2.94 (2.27–3.83) 1.31 (1.08–1.59) 1.0 0.76 (0.65–0.88) 0.62 (0.53–0.73) 0.52 (0.44–0.62) 0.55 (0.46–0.65) 0.52 (0.44–0.61) 0.75 (0.60–0.94) Adjusteda complete case analysis 38 667 1.90 (1.41–2.55) 1.13 (0.92–1.40) 1.0 0.79 (0.67–0.93) 0.75 (0.63–0.89) 0.63 (0.52–0.76) 0.71 (0.60–0.86) 0.66 (0.55–0.79) 1.04 (0.81–1.34) Unadjusted multiple imputation 54 419 2.77 (2.13–3.61) 1.26 (1.05–1.52) 1.0 0.81 (0.69–0.94) 0.72 (0.63–0.84) 0.66 (0.57–0.77) 0.67 (0.57–0.78) 0.62 (0.53–0.73) 0.73 (0.58–0.92) Adjusteda multiple imputation 54 419 2.04 (1.57–2.04) 1.13 (0.93–1.34) 1.0 0.85 (0.73–0.99) 0.82 (0.71–0.95) 0.76 (0.65–0.88) 0.78 (0.66–0.92) 0.75 (0.64–0.89) 0.98 (0.78–1.24) BMI group (kg/m2) n <18.5 18.5 to 21 21 to <23.5 23.5 to <25 25 to <26.5 26.5 to <28 28 to <30 30 to <35 >35 Unadjusted analysis 41 731 2.94 (2.27–3.83) 1.31 (1.08–1.59) 1.0 0.76 (0.65–0.88) 0.62 (0.53–0.73) 0.52 (0.44–0.62) 0.55 (0.46–0.65) 0.52 (0.44–0.61) 0.75 (0.60–0.94) Adjusteda complete case analysis 38 667 1.90 (1.41–2.55) 1.13 (0.92–1.40) 1.0 0.79 (0.67–0.93) 0.75 (0.63–0.89) 0.63 (0.52–0.76) 0.71 (0.60–0.86) 0.66 (0.55–0.79) 1.04 (0.81–1.34) Unadjusted multiple imputation 54 419 2.77 (2.13–3.61) 1.26 (1.05–1.52) 1.0 0.81 (0.69–0.94) 0.72 (0.63–0.84) 0.66 (0.57–0.77) 0.67 (0.57–0.78) 0.62 (0.53–0.73) 0.73 (0.58–0.92) Adjusteda multiple imputation 54 419 2.04 (1.57–2.04) 1.13 (0.93–1.34) 1.0 0.85 (0.73–0.99) 0.82 (0.71–0.95) 0.76 (0.65–0.88) 0.78 (0.66–0.92) 0.75 (0.64–0.89) 0.98 (0.78–1.24) View Large Table 2 BMI group (kg/m2) n <18.5 18.5 to 21 21 to <23.5 23.5 to <25 25 to <26.5 26.5 to <28 28 to <30 30 to <35 >35 Unadjusted analysis 41 731 2.94 (2.27–3.83) 1.31 (1.08–1.59) 1.0 0.76 (0.65–0.88) 0.62 (0.53–0.73) 0.52 (0.44–0.62) 0.55 (0.46–0.65) 0.52 (0.44–0.61) 0.75 (0.60–0.94) Adjusteda complete case analysis 38 667 1.90 (1.41–2.55) 1.13 (0.92–1.40) 1.0 0.79 (0.67–0.93) 0.75 (0.63–0.89) 0.63 (0.52–0.76) 0.71 (0.60–0.86) 0.66 (0.55–0.79) 1.04 (0.81–1.34) Unadjusted multiple imputation 54 419 2.77 (2.13–3.61) 1.26 (1.05–1.52) 1.0 0.81 (0.69–0.94) 0.72 (0.63–0.84) 0.66 (0.57–0.77) 0.67 (0.57–0.78) 0.62 (0.53–0.73) 0.73 (0.58–0.92) Adjusteda multiple imputation 54 419 2.04 (1.57–2.04) 1.13 (0.93–1.34) 1.0 0.85 (0.73–0.99) 0.82 (0.71–0.95) 0.76 (0.65–0.88) 0.78 (0.66–0.92) 0.75 (0.64–0.89) 0.98 (0.78–1.24) BMI group (kg/m2) n <18.5 18.5 to 21 21 to <23.5 23.5 to <25 25 to <26.5 26.5 to <28 28 to <30 30 to <35 >35 Unadjusted analysis 41 731 2.94 (2.27–3.83) 1.31 (1.08–1.59) 1.0 0.76 (0.65–0.88) 0.62 (0.53–0.73) 0.52 (0.44–0.62) 0.55 (0.46–0.65) 0.52 (0.44–0.61) 0.75 (0.60–0.94) Adjusteda complete case analysis 38 667 1.90 (1.41–2.55) 1.13 (0.92–1.40) 1.0 0.79 (0.67–0.93) 0.75 (0.63–0.89) 0.63 (0.52–0.76) 0.71 (0.60–0.86) 0.66 (0.55–0.79) 1.04 (0.81–1.34) Unadjusted multiple imputation 54 419 2.77 (2.13–3.61) 1.26 (1.05–1.52) 1.0 0.81 (0.69–0.94) 0.72 (0.63–0.84) 0.66 (0.57–0.77) 0.67 (0.57–0.78) 0.62 (0.53–0.73) 0.73 (0.58–0.92) Adjusteda multiple imputation 54 419 2.04 (1.57–2.04) 1.13 (0.93–1.34) 1.0 0.85 (0.73–0.99) 0.82 (0.71–0.95) 0.76 (0.65–0.88) 0.78 (0.66–0.92) 0.75 (0.64–0.89) 0.98 (0.78–1.24) View Large Figure 1 View largeDownload slide Kaplan–Meier survival curve for patients with acute coronary syndrome and significant coronary artery disease according to the different BMI categories. Figure 1 View largeDownload slide Kaplan–Meier survival curve for patients with acute coronary syndrome and significant coronary artery disease according to the different BMI categories. Figure 2 View largeDownload slide Adjusted risk for mortality (95% CI) in patients with acute coronary syndrome and significant coronary artery disease in whom the treatment decision was (A) PCI (n= 28 956), (B) CABG (n= 5420) and (C) Medical therapy (n= 4291) according to the different BMI categories. Patients with missing variables are not included. Figure 2 View largeDownload slide Adjusted risk for mortality (95% CI) in patients with acute coronary syndrome and significant coronary artery disease in whom the treatment decision was (A) PCI (n= 28 956), (B) CABG (n= 5420) and (C) Medical therapy (n= 4291) according to the different BMI categories. Patients with missing variables are not included. Figure 3 View largeDownload slide Adjusted fractional polynomial Cox proportional-hazards regression (95% CI, shaded area) with continuous risk relationship between BMI and all-cause mortality in patients with acute coronary syndrome and significant coronary artery disease. Figure 3 View largeDownload slide Adjusted fractional polynomial Cox proportional-hazards regression (95% CI, shaded area) with continuous risk relationship between BMI and all-cause mortality in patients with acute coronary syndrome and significant coronary artery disease. Figure 4 View largeDownload slide Adjusted risk for (A) in-hospital, (B) 30-day, and (C) 3-year mortality (95% CI) in patients with acute coronary syndrome and significant coronary artery disease according to the different BMI categories. Figure 4 View largeDownload slide Adjusted risk for (A) in-hospital, (B) 30-day, and (C) 3-year mortality (95% CI) in patients with acute coronary syndrome and significant coronary artery disease according to the different BMI categories. Secondary analysis The baseline characteristics of patients without significant stenosis are shown in Table 3. The distribution of co-morbidity between the BMI categories is quite similar to the cohort with stenosis. However, this subgroup had younger patients, a higher proportion of women, and fewer co-morbidities. Adjusted HR are shown in Figure 5. In this analysis, only underweight patients had a significantly higher HR compared with the reference group in both the adjusted and the unadjusted models. Table 3 BMI group (kg/m2) <18.5 (n= 122) 18.5 to <21 (n= 443) 21 to <23.5 (n= 1059) 23.5 to <25 (n= 1044) 25 to <26.5 (n= 992) 26.5 to <28 (n= 913) 28 to <30 (n= 916) 30 to <35 (n= 1154) ≥35 (n= 384) P value Age mean; ± SD (years) 65.9 ± 12 64.9 ± 12 64.1 ± 12 63.7 ± 12 63.8 ± 12 63.7 ± 11 62.6 ± 12 61.7 ± 11 58.7 ± 12 <0.001 Female; n (%) 96 (78.7) 331 (74.7) 656 (61.9) 545 (52.2) 501 (50.5) 463 (50.7) 434 (47.4) 610 (52.9) 220 (57.3) <0.001 Previous PCI; n (%) 5 (4.1) 30 (6.8) 74 (7.0) 92 (8.8) 89 (9.0) 110 (12.0) 113 (12.3) 137 (11.9) 39 (10.2) <0.001 Previous CABG; n (%) 0 (0) 1 (0.2) 11 (1.0) 7 (0.7) 5 (0.5) 9 (1.0) 9 (1.0) 14 (1.2) 4 (1.0) 0.07 Diabetes; n (%) 4 (3.3) 24 (5.4) 80 (7.6) 75 (7.2) 91 (9.2) 114 (12.5) 128 (14.0) 235 (20.4) 134 (34.9) <0.001 Current smoker; n (%) 43 (35.2) 122 (27.5) 215 (20.3) 202 (19.3) 158 (15.9) 141 (15.4) 133 (14.5) 187 (16.2) 76 (19.8) <0.001 Former smoker; n (%) 34 (27.9) 120 (27.1) 294 (27.8) 308 (29.5) 332 (33.5) 312 (34.2) 321 (35.1) 420 (36.4) 132 (34.4) <0.001 Treated hypertension; n (%) 41 (33.6) 149 (33.6) 396 (37.4) 433 (41.5) 446 (45.0) 454 (49.7) 466 (45.0) 645 (55.9) 227 (59.1) <0.001 Treated hyperlipidaemia; n (%) 38 (31.1) 161 (36.3) 385 (36.4) 426 (40.8) 423 (42.6) 386 (42.3) 437 (47.8) 544 (47.1) 202 (52.6) <0.001 Previous myocardial infarction; n (%) 9 (7.4) 56 (12.6) 144 (13.6) 140 (13.4) 160 (16.1) 141 (15.4) 150 (16.4) 218 (18.9) 64 (16.7) <0.001 Stroke; n (%) 8 (6.6) 28 (6.3) 54 (5.1) 40 (3.8) 52 (5.2) 33 (3.6) 34 (3.7) 47 (4.1) 20 (5.2) 0.07 Kidney failure; n (%) 2 (1.6) 1 (0.2) 14 (1.3) 9 (0.9) 4 (0.4) 13 (1.4) 6 (0.7) 10 (0.9) 5 (1.3) 0.91 Heart failure; n (%) 10 (8.2) 30 (6.8) 57 (5.4) 48 (4.6) 48 (4.8) 51 (5.6) 46 (5.0) 78 (6.8) 48 (12.5) 0.007 Cancer; n (%) 2 (1.6) 26 (5.9) 37 (3.5) 30 (2.9) 27 (2.7) 23 (2.5) 29 (3.2) 30 (2.6) 6 (1.6) 0.01 Peripheral vascular disease; n (%) 3 (2.5) 11 (2.5) 20 (1.9) 16 (1.5) 16 (1.6) 22 (2.4) 16 (1.7) 26 (2.3) 7 (1.8) 0.83 Dementia; n (%) 0 (0) 2 (0.5) 0 (0) 0 (0) 0 (0) 0 (0) 1(0.1) 1 (0.1) 0 (0) 0.54 Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease; n (%) 35 (28.7) 71 (16.0) 117 (11.0) 101 (9.7) 75 (7.6) 76 (8.3) 97 (10.6) 125 (10.8) 66 (17.2) 0.15 Indication Unstable angina/non-STEMI; n (%) 99 (81.1) 388 (87.6) 937 (88.5) 891 (85.3) 867 (87.4) 800 (87.6) 836 (91.4) 1060 (91.9) 356 (92.7) <0.001 STEMI; n (%) 22 (18.0) 49 (11.1) 115 (10.9) 148 (14.2) 121 (12.2) 107 (11.7) 75 (8.2) 90 (7.8) 28 (7.3) <0.001 Other; n (%) 1 (0.8) 6 (1.4) 7 (0.7) 5 (0.5) 4 (0.4) 6 (0.7) 4 (0.4) 4 (0.3) 0 (0) 0.02 BMI group (kg/m2) <18.5 (n= 122) 18.5 to <21 (n= 443) 21 to <23.5 (n= 1059) 23.5 to <25 (n= 1044) 25 to <26.5 (n= 992) 26.5 to <28 (n= 913) 28 to <30 (n= 916) 30 to <35 (n= 1154) ≥35 (n= 384) P value Age mean; ± SD (years) 65.9 ± 12 64.9 ± 12 64.1 ± 12 63.7 ± 12 63.8 ± 12 63.7 ± 11 62.6 ± 12 61.7 ± 11 58.7 ± 12 <0.001 Female; n (%) 96 (78.7) 331 (74.7) 656 (61.9) 545 (52.2) 501 (50.5) 463 (50.7) 434 (47.4) 610 (52.9) 220 (57.3) <0.001 Previous PCI; n (%) 5 (4.1) 30 (6.8) 74 (7.0) 92 (8.8) 89 (9.0) 110 (12.0) 113 (12.3) 137 (11.9) 39 (10.2) <0.001 Previous CABG; n (%) 0 (0) 1 (0.2) 11 (1.0) 7 (0.7) 5 (0.5) 9 (1.0) 9 (1.0) 14 (1.2) 4 (1.0) 0.07 Diabetes; n (%) 4 (3.3) 24 (5.4) 80 (7.6) 75 (7.2) 91 (9.2) 114 (12.5) 128 (14.0) 235 (20.4) 134 (34.9) <0.001 Current smoker; n (%) 43 (35.2) 122 (27.5) 215 (20.3) 202 (19.3) 158 (15.9) 141 (15.4) 133 (14.5) 187 (16.2) 76 (19.8) <0.001 Former smoker; n (%) 34 (27.9) 120 (27.1) 294 (27.8) 308 (29.5) 332 (33.5) 312 (34.2) 321 (35.1) 420 (36.4) 132 (34.4) <0.001 Treated hypertension; n (%) 41 (33.6) 149 (33.6) 396 (37.4) 433 (41.5) 446 (45.0) 454 (49.7) 466 (45.0) 645 (55.9) 227 (59.1) <0.001 Treated hyperlipidaemia; n (%) 38 (31.1) 161 (36.3) 385 (36.4) 426 (40.8) 423 (42.6) 386 (42.3) 437 (47.8) 544 (47.1) 202 (52.6) <0.001 Previous myocardial infarction; n (%) 9 (7.4) 56 (12.6) 144 (13.6) 140 (13.4) 160 (16.1) 141 (15.4) 150 (16.4) 218 (18.9) 64 (16.7) <0.001 Stroke; n (%) 8 (6.6) 28 (6.3) 54 (5.1) 40 (3.8) 52 (5.2) 33 (3.6) 34 (3.7) 47 (4.1) 20 (5.2) 0.07 Kidney failure; n (%) 2 (1.6) 1 (0.2) 14 (1.3) 9 (0.9) 4 (0.4) 13 (1.4) 6 (0.7) 10 (0.9) 5 (1.3) 0.91 Heart failure; n (%) 10 (8.2) 30 (6.8) 57 (5.4) 48 (4.6) 48 (4.8) 51 (5.6) 46 (5.0) 78 (6.8) 48 (12.5) 0.007 Cancer; n (%) 2 (1.6) 26 (5.9) 37 (3.5) 30 (2.9) 27 (2.7) 23 (2.5) 29 (3.2) 30 (2.6) 6 (1.6) 0.01 Peripheral vascular disease; n (%) 3 (2.5) 11 (2.5) 20 (1.9) 16 (1.5) 16 (1.6) 22 (2.4) 16 (1.7) 26 (2.3) 7 (1.8) 0.83 Dementia; n (%) 0 (0) 2 (0.5) 0 (0) 0 (0) 0 (0) 0 (0) 1(0.1) 1 (0.1) 0 (0) 0.54 Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease; n (%) 35 (28.7) 71 (16.0) 117 (11.0) 101 (9.7) 75 (7.6) 76 (8.3) 97 (10.6) 125 (10.8) 66 (17.2) 0.15 Indication Unstable angina/non-STEMI; n (%) 99 (81.1) 388 (87.6) 937 (88.5) 891 (85.3) 867 (87.4) 800 (87.6) 836 (91.4) 1060 (91.9) 356 (92.7) <0.001 STEMI; n (%) 22 (18.0) 49 (11.1) 115 (10.9) 148 (14.2) 121 (12.2) 107 (11.7) 75 (8.2) 90 (7.8) 28 (7.3) <0.001 Other; n (%) 1 (0.8) 6 (1.4) 7 (0.7) 5 (0.5) 4 (0.4) 6 (0.7) 4 (0.4) 4 (0.3) 0 (0) 0.02 View Large Table 3 BMI group (kg/m2) <18.5 (n= 122) 18.5 to <21 (n= 443) 21 to <23.5 (n= 1059) 23.5 to <25 (n= 1044) 25 to <26.5 (n= 992) 26.5 to <28 (n= 913) 28 to <30 (n= 916) 30 to <35 (n= 1154) ≥35 (n= 384) P value Age mean; ± SD (years) 65.9 ± 12 64.9 ± 12 64.1 ± 12 63.7 ± 12 63.8 ± 12 63.7 ± 11 62.6 ± 12 61.7 ± 11 58.7 ± 12 <0.001 Female; n (%) 96 (78.7) 331 (74.7) 656 (61.9) 545 (52.2) 501 (50.5) 463 (50.7) 434 (47.4) 610 (52.9) 220 (57.3) <0.001 Previous PCI; n (%) 5 (4.1) 30 (6.8) 74 (7.0) 92 (8.8) 89 (9.0) 110 (12.0) 113 (12.3) 137 (11.9) 39 (10.2) <0.001 Previous CABG; n (%) 0 (0) 1 (0.2) 11 (1.0) 7 (0.7) 5 (0.5) 9 (1.0) 9 (1.0) 14 (1.2) 4 (1.0) 0.07 Diabetes; n (%) 4 (3.3) 24 (5.4) 80 (7.6) 75 (7.2) 91 (9.2) 114 (12.5) 128 (14.0) 235 (20.4) 134 (34.9) <0.001 Current smoker; n (%) 43 (35.2) 122 (27.5) 215 (20.3) 202 (19.3) 158 (15.9) 141 (15.4) 133 (14.5) 187 (16.2) 76 (19.8) <0.001 Former smoker; n (%) 34 (27.9) 120 (27.1) 294 (27.8) 308 (29.5) 332 (33.5) 312 (34.2) 321 (35.1) 420 (36.4) 132 (34.4) <0.001 Treated hypertension; n (%) 41 (33.6) 149 (33.6) 396 (37.4) 433 (41.5) 446 (45.0) 454 (49.7) 466 (45.0) 645 (55.9) 227 (59.1) <0.001 Treated hyperlipidaemia; n (%) 38 (31.1) 161 (36.3) 385 (36.4) 426 (40.8) 423 (42.6) 386 (42.3) 437 (47.8) 544 (47.1) 202 (52.6) <0.001 Previous myocardial infarction; n (%) 9 (7.4) 56 (12.6) 144 (13.6) 140 (13.4) 160 (16.1) 141 (15.4) 150 (16.4) 218 (18.9) 64 (16.7) <0.001 Stroke; n (%) 8 (6.6) 28 (6.3) 54 (5.1) 40 (3.8) 52 (5.2) 33 (3.6) 34 (3.7) 47 (4.1) 20 (5.2) 0.07 Kidney failure; n (%) 2 (1.6) 1 (0.2) 14 (1.3) 9 (0.9) 4 (0.4) 13 (1.4) 6 (0.7) 10 (0.9) 5 (1.3) 0.91 Heart failure; n (%) 10 (8.2) 30 (6.8) 57 (5.4) 48 (4.6) 48 (4.8) 51 (5.6) 46 (5.0) 78 (6.8) 48 (12.5) 0.007 Cancer; n (%) 2 (1.6) 26 (5.9) 37 (3.5) 30 (2.9) 27 (2.7) 23 (2.5) 29 (3.2) 30 (2.6) 6 (1.6) 0.01 Peripheral vascular disease; n (%) 3 (2.5) 11 (2.5) 20 (1.9) 16 (1.5) 16 (1.6) 22 (2.4) 16 (1.7) 26 (2.3) 7 (1.8) 0.83 Dementia; n (%) 0 (0) 2 (0.5) 0 (0) 0 (0) 0 (0) 0 (0) 1(0.1) 1 (0.1) 0 (0) 0.54 Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease; n (%) 35 (28.7) 71 (16.0) 117 (11.0) 101 (9.7) 75 (7.6) 76 (8.3) 97 (10.6) 125 (10.8) 66 (17.2) 0.15 Indication Unstable angina/non-STEMI; n (%) 99 (81.1) 388 (87.6) 937 (88.5) 891 (85.3) 867 (87.4) 800 (87.6) 836 (91.4) 1060 (91.9) 356 (92.7) <0.001 STEMI; n (%) 22 (18.0) 49 (11.1) 115 (10.9) 148 (14.2) 121 (12.2) 107 (11.7) 75 (8.2) 90 (7.8) 28 (7.3) <0.001 Other; n (%) 1 (0.8) 6 (1.4) 7 (0.7) 5 (0.5) 4 (0.4) 6 (0.7) 4 (0.4) 4 (0.3) 0 (0) 0.02 BMI group (kg/m2) <18.5 (n= 122) 18.5 to <21 (n= 443) 21 to <23.5 (n= 1059) 23.5 to <25 (n= 1044) 25 to <26.5 (n= 992) 26.5 to <28 (n= 913) 28 to <30 (n= 916) 30 to <35 (n= 1154) ≥35 (n= 384) P value Age mean; ± SD (years) 65.9 ± 12 64.9 ± 12 64.1 ± 12 63.7 ± 12 63.8 ± 12 63.7 ± 11 62.6 ± 12 61.7 ± 11 58.7 ± 12 <0.001 Female; n (%) 96 (78.7) 331 (74.7) 656 (61.9) 545 (52.2) 501 (50.5) 463 (50.7) 434 (47.4) 610 (52.9) 220 (57.3) <0.001 Previous PCI; n (%) 5 (4.1) 30 (6.8) 74 (7.0) 92 (8.8) 89 (9.0) 110 (12.0) 113 (12.3) 137 (11.9) 39 (10.2) <0.001 Previous CABG; n (%) 0 (0) 1 (0.2) 11 (1.0) 7 (0.7) 5 (0.5) 9 (1.0) 9 (1.0) 14 (1.2) 4 (1.0) 0.07 Diabetes; n (%) 4 (3.3) 24 (5.4) 80 (7.6) 75 (7.2) 91 (9.2) 114 (12.5) 128 (14.0) 235 (20.4) 134 (34.9) <0.001 Current smoker; n (%) 43 (35.2) 122 (27.5) 215 (20.3) 202 (19.3) 158 (15.9) 141 (15.4) 133 (14.5) 187 (16.2) 76 (19.8) <0.001 Former smoker; n (%) 34 (27.9) 120 (27.1) 294 (27.8) 308 (29.5) 332 (33.5) 312 (34.2) 321 (35.1) 420 (36.4) 132 (34.4) <0.001 Treated hypertension; n (%) 41 (33.6) 149 (33.6) 396 (37.4) 433 (41.5) 446 (45.0) 454 (49.7) 466 (45.0) 645 (55.9) 227 (59.1) <0.001 Treated hyperlipidaemia; n (%) 38 (31.1) 161 (36.3) 385 (36.4) 426 (40.8) 423 (42.6) 386 (42.3) 437 (47.8) 544 (47.1) 202 (52.6) <0.001 Previous myocardial infarction; n (%) 9 (7.4) 56 (12.6) 144 (13.6) 140 (13.4) 160 (16.1) 141 (15.4) 150 (16.4) 218 (18.9) 64 (16.7) <0.001 Stroke; n (%) 8 (6.6) 28 (6.3) 54 (5.1) 40 (3.8) 52 (5.2) 33 (3.6) 34 (3.7) 47 (4.1) 20 (5.2) 0.07 Kidney failure; n (%) 2 (1.6) 1 (0.2) 14 (1.3) 9 (0.9) 4 (0.4) 13 (1.4) 6 (0.7) 10 (0.9) 5 (1.3) 0.91 Heart failure; n (%) 10 (8.2) 30 (6.8) 57 (5.4) 48 (4.6) 48 (4.8) 51 (5.6) 46 (5.0) 78 (6.8) 48 (12.5) 0.007 Cancer; n (%) 2 (1.6) 26 (5.9) 37 (3.5) 30 (2.9) 27 (2.7) 23 (2.5) 29 (3.2) 30 (2.6) 6 (1.6) 0.01 Peripheral vascular disease; n (%) 3 (2.5) 11 (2.5) 20 (1.9) 16 (1.5) 16 (1.6) 22 (2.4) 16 (1.7) 26 (2.3) 7 (1.8) 0.83 Dementia; n (%) 0 (0) 2 (0.5) 0 (0) 0 (0) 0 (0) 0 (0) 1(0.1) 1 (0.1) 0 (0) 0.54 Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease; n (%) 35 (28.7) 71 (16.0) 117 (11.0) 101 (9.7) 75 (7.6) 76 (8.3) 97 (10.6) 125 (10.8) 66 (17.2) 0.15 Indication Unstable angina/non-STEMI; n (%) 99 (81.1) 388 (87.6) 937 (88.5) 891 (85.3) 867 (87.4) 800 (87.6) 836 (91.4) 1060 (91.9) 356 (92.7) <0.001 STEMI; n (%) 22 (18.0) 49 (11.1) 115 (10.9) 148 (14.2) 121 (12.2) 107 (11.7) 75 (8.2) 90 (7.8) 28 (7.3) <0.001 Other; n (%) 1 (0.8) 6 (1.4) 7 (0.7) 5 (0.5) 4 (0.4) 6 (0.7) 4 (0.4) 4 (0.3) 0 (0) 0.02 View Large Figure 5 View largeDownload slide Adjusted risk for mortality (95% CI) in patients with acute coronary syndrome with no significant coronary artery disease according to the different BMI categories (n= 7026). Figure 5 View largeDownload slide Adjusted risk for mortality (95% CI) in patients with acute coronary syndrome with no significant coronary artery disease according to the different BMI categories (n= 7026). Among the patients with significant CAD there was no difference between the BMI categories with regard to hospitalization for MI, HF, and stroke after the index procedure (data not shown). Discussion The most important result from our study is that overweight and obese patients with ACSs had lower mortality rate compared with patients with normal BMI. This was independent of the treatment strategy until up to 3 years after hospitalization. This large observational study with prospectively collected data strengthens the existing evidence and increases the awareness of obesity paradox. An inverse relationship between obesity and all-cause and cardiovascular mortality has previously been described in patients with CAD.8–14 In fact, in two recent large observational studies obesity paradox has also been associated in patients with ACSs.14,25 Our study verifies and emphasizes this phenomenon, but it does not offer any evident explanation for the paradox. Two arguments have been put forth to account for the existence of obesity paradox. First is that the obesity paradox is a mere consequence of one or several confounding factors present in the obese population. The second argues that the explanation has to be found in the biology of the obese phenotype itself, which means we need to define known or to detect yet unknown protective biological pathways that protect obese patients with cardiovascular diseases from premature death. In accordance with the previous studies, our data show that obese patients are younger and have less severe CAD at the time of cardiac catheterization. As obese patients with ACSs are younger,26,27 they are more likely to be referred to experts in secondary prevention28 and to receive treatment for co-morbidities. The obese patients also tend to have higher blood pressure, which may lead to more aggressive use of disease-modifying medications such as ACE-inhibitors and beta-blockers—the pharmacological treatment particularly beneficial for secondary prevention. However, Oreopoulos et al.14 were not able to demonstrate that obese patients with CAD are being more aggressively treated with statins, beta-blockers, ACE-inhibitors, and nitrates. Unfortunately, we were not able to address this issue as our database does not contain information about adequacy of pharmacological treatment before and after catheterization, which is an important limitation of the study. However, the positive association between guideline-recommended treatment and obesity has not yet been unequivocally established. Other possible explanations for obesity paradox are that obesity may protect against malnutrition and energy wastage post-revascularization and that altered neuroendocrine status in obese patients may play a role in modulating progression of pathologic cardiac remodelling after MI. The size of the coronary vessels increases with increasing BMI and small vessels is a risk factor for worse outcome after PCI and CABG.29 Despite the significant differences in baseline characteristics, our findings regarding the inverse association between BMI and outcomes persisted after multivariate adjustments in several models, suggesting an independent association between BMI and mortality risk. However, it is important to keep in mind that inverse association between BMI and outcomes is U-shaped with increasing risk in patients with morbid obesity. Indeed, this finding has been independently reported by others.14,25 In addition to the suggested explanations for obesity paradox, we tentatively propose that obesity may protect against malignant ventricular arrhythmias during and after MI and therefore decrease the risk for sudden death. This hypothesis is indirectly supported by clinical evidence from patients with HF secondary to AMI,13 with cautious support from our data. During the follow-up period, overweight and obese patients did not differ in the frequency of hospitalization for HF, MI, and stroke—common causes of death in this population—suggesting that obesity is not associated with lower risk for these clinical events. By process of elimination, these observations strengthen the hypothesis that obesity may protect against malignant ventricular arrhythmias as it is another frequent cause of mortality in patients with CAD. Thus far, the growing evidence for the existence of obesity paradox has had no impact on the current guidelines for secondary prevention in CAD. The European Society of Cardiology and the American College of Cardiology/American Heart Association recommend a BMI of <25 kg/m2 in their guidelines of secondary prevention strategies.4,5 We believe that no evidence exists that proves weight reduction in itself has a positive prognostic value after ACSs. Actually, some evidence suggests that weight loss after ACSs might in fact have a negative effect.30 We believe that given the current state of our knowledge, obesity paradox requires much more attention and deserves to be recognized in the guidelines. However, our study should not be interpreted as a support for status quo in obese patients. Instead we think that multidisciplinary scientific approach to obesity paradox, both clinical and preclinical (including experiments investigating hypothetically protective pathways), may lead us to important discoveries that we can use to improve treatment of ACSs, HF, and arrhythmias. Indeed, experimental evidence is emerging suggesting that adipose tissue as the largest endocrine organ31 produces hormones (e.g. leptin, adiponectin, resistin) that may have cardioprotective effects in MI.32–35 There is considerable evidence demonstrating that leptin and adiponectin have direct cardioprotective effects. These hormones possess anti-inflammatory, anti-apoptotic, anti-hypertrophic effects and reduce infarct size.36–38 All these effects may lower arrhythmogenicity in the infarcted myocardium and therefore potentially prevent sudden death. There are six limitations that need to be addressed. First, this is an observational study and as such it provides only associative evidence, not causative. We cannot rule out the possibility of selection bias, residual confounding and survival bias as only surviving hospitalized patients are included in the registry. On the other hand, the observational nature of our study provides real-world data on the largest cohort studied to date. Second, SCAAR does not contain data on pharmacological treatment and we were not able to adjust for the possible differences known to have impact on clinical outcome. Third, although BMI is the most commonly used measure of obesity, it does not directly distinguish between adipose and lean tissue or central and peripheral adiposity. Fourth, we were unable to control for the role of unintentional weight loss. Our risk-adjusted analysis, however, did include age, smoking status, history of malignancy, dementia, renal failure, HF, and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, which are all important factors that could lead to involuntary weight loss. Fifth, we did not have data on cause-specific mortality. Finally, 30% of the patients had missing data. These patients had higher mortality and therefore their exclusion from the analysis might have produced biased results. However, results from the multiple imputation model were congruent with the data from the complete case analysis. In conclusion, we found that among ACS patients the relation between BMI and mortality is U-shaped, with the nadir among overweight or obese patients, and underweight and normal-weight patients having the highest risk. Therefore, these data strengthen the concept of obesity paradox substantially. Conflict of interest: none declared. 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Hung jury in F. Leon Wilson case; mistrial declared Copyright by WCMH - All rights reserved F. Leon Wilson [ + - ] Video DELAWARE, Ohio (WCMH)--A Delaware County jury was unable to decide if a former chess teacher is guilty of gross sexual imposition. A crowd of supporters gathered at the Delaware County Courthouse Monday to back 62-year-old F. Leon Wilson. The former chess coach was charged with three counts of gross sexual imposition after two separate incidents last year. Both sides rested their case Friday, but Monday the jury still could not agree if he was innocent or guilty. Four days after he took the stand in his own defense, Wilson left the Delaware County Courthouse a free man. "They went through everything and they could not reach a unanimous verdict that Mr. Wilson did this," said Wilson's defense attorney Brad Koffel. Wilson was on trial for allegedly touching two of his chess students Inappropriately. One was four years old, the other seven, both girls. Wilson is a long time chess instructor who often coached championship players. Ann Mandic's daughter is a former student. "I just am really disappointed that he wasn't acquitted today, especially after taking an passing a polygraph test," she said. Video interviews of the two little girls were part of the four-day trial, along with testimony from their parents, the Delaware Co. Sheriff's Investigator and medical experts for both the prosecution and defense. Monday nearly a dozen supporters gathered to back Wilson. But the 12-person jury still could not reach a unanimous decision. "Didn't happen. I've done what I could do. I've done everything from the science on. So no, this is not a vindication at all," says Wilson. The prosecutors in this case did not want to speak to NBC4 on camera. But they have not yet decided if they will try this case again. For now, Wilson will continue to wear his electronic monitoring bracelet.
Last year, General Flynn was invited to the anniversary party of the international television channel «Russia Today». His participation was violently criticised by the White House, for whom this channel is an «organ of propaganda for Vladimir Putin» (sic). With a load of bad faith, the Clintonian Press describes Michael T. Flynn, the next National Security Advisor of the United States, as an Islamophobe and a partisan of torture. What’s the truth behind all this? Flynn is a Catholic of Irish origin, attached to the stability of his family. He is a dedicated sportsman, and practises both team and individual sports, but prefers sports of movement over sports of force. Considered to be one of the most brilliant intelligence officers of his generation, commander of the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) from July 2012 to August 2014, he questioned the work methods of his service. According to Flynn, the systematic use of sophisticated technology does not compare with the quality of human intelligence, and the tendency to render reports in the form of well-illustrated exposés does not enable the understanding of complex situations. A written analysis is more efficient than pages of fine drawings and photos. Finally, the quality of the intelligence depends on a comparison with the reports of other anaylsts. It is therefore very important to co-operate and exchange with other national services and allied nations, contrary to US habits. All things considered, these are very classical positions, but in total contradiction with the habits and customs of his country. Concerning jihadism, on which he has been concentrating for fifteen years, he has arrived at the conclusion that Islamism has nothing to do with religion, even though it uses its vocabulary and quotes the Quran - it is an exclusively political ideology. What is worse, but just as true, he affirms that the support from which the jihadists benefit in part of the Muslim population finds its roots in Islam itself. While he has not expressed a position on the Muslim religion, he has introduced into Donald Trump’s team the Lebanese professor Gabriel Sawma, the author of a work on the Syriac origins of the Quran, which leads to a very tolerant interpretation of Islam. The clash between Michael Flynn on one hand and Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama on the other occurred in August 2012, during the circulation of a secret note concerning the jihadists in the Levant. In the part of the docupment which had been declassified, he observed that the jihadists were at war with the Syrian Arab Republic, and were supported by the tribal populations who lived in an area straddling Syria and Iraq. This situation could lead to the creation of an emirate in North-East Syria, which would correspond to the strategic interests of their sponsors - Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Turkey. He explained that he had written this document - just after the France re-launched the war against Syria – in an attempt to oppose the support by the Obama administration for the creation of Daesh. Concerning torture, he has explained several times that his own declarations should not be interpreted as an encouragement to its generalisation. If he is fighting the jihadists because they torture and kill, they must understand that he will not dissociate himself from his companions in arms who have practised torture, and that he will not hesitate to torture and kill in his turn if necessary. But this is not his intention, and in Afghanistan, he intervened against this practise.
"I have been assured by a very knowing American of my acquaintance in London, that a young healthy child well nursed is at a year old a most delicious, nourishing, and wholesome food, whether stewed, roasted, baked, or broiled." Those words came--not from a supporter of Planned Parenthood--but from the "savage and merciless satirist" of the eighteenth century, Jonathan Swift. Nevertheless, his dark satire bears an eerie if not almost prophetic resemblance to contemporary society. For those unfamiliar with Swift's "A Modest Proposal," it's generally regarded as one of the greatest pieces of satire ever written. It was penned during the industrial age of the eighteenth-century. During this time the Irish were living in terrible conditions fraught with poverty and starvation. In 1720 Swift wrote an essay titled: "A Proposal for the Universal Use of Irish Manufacture," that called for the boycott of all things English. Subsequently, it was condemned and Swift was severely censured. Failing to get the support he wanted to answer to the economic and social trouble of the day, in 1729 he wrote "A Modest Proposal." In it he suggested that the only viable solution to relieve the Irish of their hardships was to sell their babies as gourmet entrees. In that day the political economy lived by the maxim "People are the riches of a nation," and Swift, in his dark satire and biting sarcasm, drew that out to its most literal end--child cannibalism. Swift reasoned that there would be many advantages to eating children, not the least of which was the improvement of the economy and standard of living. He concluded by writing, "I profess, in sincerity of my heart, that I have not the least personal interest in endeavoring to promote this necessary work, having no other motive than the public good of my country, by advancing our trade, providing for infants, relieving the poor, and giving some pleasure to the rich." Of course, to the original readers the concept of stewing, roasting, baking, broiling, or any other -ing of children was repellant and barbaric. The devouring of children wouldn't accomplish the societal good Swift suggested. The only thing that makes Swift's "modest" proposal tolerable (and readable in most high schools I suppose) is that it was meant to be satire--very dark satire, but satire nonetheless. But, what happens when satire becomes serious? When exaggeration becomes truth? When hyperbole becomes reality? Just look around and you'll see! Many of us have watched in horror as not only one but now two videos have surfaced that show doctors of the pro-abortion organization Planned Parenthood engaged in haggling over body parts and organs--carefully selected, preserved, and priced--of murdered children. We are again reminded of the horror of abortion that has made our children the "riches of a nation." Not because we treasure them as little persons with the right to life--but because they can be so easily slaughtered and their bodies can be used as commodities to help economic and social troubles of our time. It's absolutely barbaric! Our society has become the satire. As a Christian parent I've struggled to know how to respond. The social commentary, political outcry, and public interest this has produced is great and, it seems to me, has no foreseeable end in sight. And it shouldn't! This issue needs to be forced again and again into the social and political spotlight where laws _must _be legislated and carried out to protect the lives of millions of little boys and little girls. But if we simply leave it at commentary, or if we think we've done our part when we've called our Representative or Senator to express our platform, if we think it's enough to "like" the latest article on our Facebook newsfeed, if we think it's sufficient to weep for the unborn, we're seriously mistaken. As Christians our response must be more than that--our response needs to begin with our children in our own homes and churches. I don't mean to mitigate the great horror of abortion. Yet, I fear that one of the greater tragedies of our day is that many who weep for the aborted (and we should!) are spiritually aborting their own children. In Malachi 2:15 we read, "Did he not make them one, with a portion of the Spirit in their union? And what was the one God seeking? Godly offspring." God desires godly offspring! He wants our sons to be godly and he wants our daughters to be godly. And the womb--if I can put it that way--where they are to be spiritually cared for, nurtured, and guarded is the home and church. But not unlike Swift's proposal, too many parents are treating children like spiritual commodities and serving them up on silver platters to the world. In one of the most graphic chapters in all the Bible (and without satire) the LORD cries against his faithless bride, "And you took your sons and daughters, whom you had borne to me, and these you sacrificed to them to be devoured" (Ezekiel 16:20). The gods of this world are feasting on our children--the gods of entertainment, pleasure, reputation, influence, sports, education, safety, security, etc.--and too many of us are making them plump for the eating. We have become Swift's satire and it's intolerable.
Atlassian today announced that it has acquired StatusPage, a Y Combinator-incubated service that allows online businesses to keep their users updated about the status of their online services. The financial details of the transaction were not disclosed. This marks Atlassian’s first acquisition since going public last December. Adding a service like StatusPage, which launched three years ago, seems like a natural fit for Atlassian. The company has long argued that every company is now a software company, after all, and that means virtually every company now also needs a service to keep users informed when things don’t work as expected. As Atlassian president Jay Simons told me, StatusPage was one of the earliest adopters of HipChat, which Atlassian acquired back in 2012, and Atlassian also hosts its own status pages on StatusPage. “We are super-excited about their leadership position,” Simons said about StatusPage. “They have established themselves as the premier provider of these services.” StatusPage currently counts the likes of New Relic, Intuit, Venmo and Citrix among its “thousands of customers.” Simons also noted that he sees natural integrations between Atlassian’s JIRA project management service and StatusPage, for example. StatusPage co-founder Scott Klein noted that his company was doing quite well. Atlassian, however, will give StatusPage access to Atlassian’s larger user base and will allow the company to accelerate its product development cycle. In their official announcement today, the StatusPage co-founders also note that when the team explored the acquisition, “we were aligned on three important things: our complementary cultures, our desire to offer StatusPage as a standalone product, and our shared vision of the future of software.” To this, Simons added that “the other aspect that drove the marriage here is that like Atlassian, StatusPage is really focused on reaching the Fortune 500,000.” Companies like Comcast, after all, have the resources to build their own status-alert systems. “But if you are not part of the Fortune 500, you need a service like StatusPage.” StatusPage will indeed remain a standalone product after the acquisition, and Simons tells me that Atlassian currently has no plans to change the pricing for the service (which starts at $29/month). For the time being, current StatusPage users won’t notice any changes, either.
The Justice Department is not just another federal agency. It is charged with fulfilling our country’s promise of equal and impartial justice for all. As an agency with the authority to deprive citizens of their liberty, its investigations and prosecutions must be conducted free from any political interference or influence, and decisions must be made based solely on the facts and the law. To fulfill this weighty responsibility, past administrations, both Democratic and Republican, have jealously guarded a strict separation between the Justice Department and the White House when it comes to investigations and prosecutions. While there may be interaction on broad policies, any White House involvement in cases or investigations, including whom or what to investigate, has been flatly forbidden. This independence is essential for the career men and women to be able to do their jobs. I served in the Justice Department for over 27 years, the vast majority as a career prosecutor in both Democratic and Republican administrations. I know from firsthand experience how seriously the career prosecutors and agents take their responsibility to make fair and impartial decisions based solely on the facts and the law and nothing else. And the outcome of that analysis does not vary based on who occupies the White House. While some in the public may disagree with particular decisions, the Justice Department prosecutors and agents must have the independence to call it like they see it. The strict separation between the Justice Department and the White House applies to even the most mundane of criminal investigations, and nowhere does it matter more than when the investigation reaches into the White House itself. In short, no one at the White House should have anything to do with any decisions about whom or what to investigate or prosecute. Period. We must do more than rubberneck as we drive past this car crash. We all have a responsibility to protect our Justice Department’s ability to do its job free from interference. The very foundation of our justice system — the rule of law — depends on it.
Your first name Ivanka Trump turned heads Tuesday when she showed up at Camp Lejeune Marine Corps base in North Carolina wearing a black scoop top outfit. In the pictures shared by the first daughter on Instagram, she wore a black top with grey culottes and red high heels as she posed with service members at the “Hiring our Heroes” Military Spouse Program. “Today Counselor to the President Kellyanne Conway and I were at Camp Lejeune to discuss the unique employment challenges faced by military spouses,” Trump captioned her post. “The unemployment rate for military spouses is an alarming 16% and 52% of military spouses in the workforce face a wage deficit of 38% compared to their civilian peers.” (RELATED: The Outfit Ivanka Wore Stepping Off Air Force One Would Stop Her Critics In Their Tracks [PHOTOS]) A post shared by Ivanka Trump (@ivankatrump) on Oct 3, 2017 at 12:23pm PDT Several other pictures from the trip in the fantastic outfit have been shared on the first daughter’s social media account and others. 1/4: Today @KellyannePolls & I were @camp_lejeune to discuss the unique employment challenges faced by military spouses. #CareerOnTheMove pic.twitter.com/xELrzCommI — Ivanka Trump (@IvankaTrump) October 3, 2017 .@KellyannePolls & @IvankaTrump discuss w/ 300+ #militaryspouses the future of Military Spouse Employment & the goal to lessen unemployment pic.twitter.com/OpTIcxWRBY — Hope ForThe Warriors (@Hope4Warriors) October 3, 2017 Ivanka Trump stopped by Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune to answer questions at the Hiring Our Heroes’ Military Spouse Program #HOHatLejeune pic.twitter.com/ipcC1MdZiW — Camp Lejeune (@camp_lejeune) October 3, 2017
Thin privilege isn’t having the press-released propaganda for new anti-obesity articles sent to you in order to argue that you somehow don’t deserve to be treated like other people, discriminating against you and trying to eliminate you is okay, other characteristic-based groups don’t have increased risk of certain health problems (pale-skinned people experience a greater risk of melanoma, for instance, and males and females experience varied risks for certain diseases, as do tall people, etc) Thin privilege (and able-bodied privilege) isn’t having your very existence medicalized, even though every body is individual and everyone has different risks based on membership in various overlapping groups, and very often has no control over their membership in these groups (or the switch out of the group is worse than shouldering the risks of membership). Thin privilege (and able-bodied privileged) is not having rights arguments depend on the state of your body. Thin privilege isn’t having entire fields of medical specialization and industries profit off the declaration that your body is a disease that needs to be cured at all cost. Thin privilege isn’t seeing any similarity between the medicalization of fatness and previous moral panics in (recent!) history over the health status of people in other marginalized groups. Thin privilege isn’t being the center of a anti-you propaganda storm, where any and all statistical evidence that you need to be annihilated is trumpeted from every news outlet, but the greater body of evidence that suggests your health is just as complicated and individual as anyone else’s, and that your body deserves care and comprehension instead of change and annihilation, is ignored. -ArteToLife I do recognize that very thin people are sometimes mistaken for having a restrictive eating disorder when they don’t, and that’s wrong.
Davis on his home run and wrapping up an 11-5 loss SARASOTA, Fla. - The first three at-bats ended in strikeouts and the familiar walk back to the dugout. A fresh start for Chris Davis, the latest since signing his franchise-record contract in January 2016, already had taken on a familiar look. A groundout made Davis 0-for-4 in two spring training games, but there was contact. And it would get much louder in the fifth inning ... read more Wright turns in another scoreless outing (O’s down 11-4) SARASOTA, Fla. - Dissecting the first two spring outings begins with the basics for Mike Wright. Four innings and no runs allowed. “I like giving up no runs,” Wright said this afternoon after shutting out the Rays over two innings. “That’s fun.” Wright allowed two hits, walked a batter and struck out one. He’s surrendered five hits this spring, his first appearance coming Saturday in ... read more Hyde on the rotation, Wright and Ruiz SARASOTA, Fla. - The Orioles won’t engage in serious discussions about the back end of their rotation for a few more weeks. Whether one starter will hold down the fifth spot breaking camp or if using an “opener” really is a viable alternative. Manager Brandon Hyde and executive vice president and general manager Mike Elias will swap opinions while poring over the roster. Elias already ... read more Early notes and updates before Orioles-Rays game SARASOTA, Fla. - Orioles left-hander Richard Bleier threw live batting practice this morning on Field 2, with Cedric Mullins and Carlos Pérez serving as the hitters. Manager Brandon Hyde said Bleier will pitch in a “situational-type game” before debuting in six or seven days. The Orioles are being careful with Bleier, who underwent lat surgery in June and is an important part of their bullpen. ... read more Hays passes a couple of tests while trying to win roster spot SARASOTA, Fla. - Austin Hays got an immediate return Sunday on his offseason workouts during two at-bats against the Blue Jays at Ed Smith Stadium. Hays fell behind 1-2 and poked an RBI single into right field, and he scored from first base on Carlos Pérez’s two-run double into left-center. The single illustrated how he made adjustments to this approach at the plate in order ... read more Orioles lineup vs. Rays SARASOTA, Fla. - The versatility of Stevie Wilkerson will be on display again today when he starts in left field against the Rays at Ed Smith Stadium. Wilkerson made his only four career starts in left field last year with Triple-A Norfolk. Austin Hays is leading off and playing center field and Yusniel Diaz is in right. Joey Rickard is the designated hitter. Rio Ruiz ... read more Wondering if two Rule 5 infielders fit on the roster SARASOTA, Fla. - Three exhibition games won’t provide many clues as to how manager Brandon Hyde envisions the construction of his 25-man roster, especially with players continuing to jump positions. But the two Rule 5 infielders might bring a few of his ideas into focus. Richie Martin made another start at shortstop yesterday against the Twins, going 1-for-2 before Jack Reinheimer replaced him. Drew Jackson ... read more
Happy Halloween! This isn’t a normal Yandere Sim update. This is a Yandere Sim Spooktacular! In other words, this update is frivolous and superfluous. I’ll be posting a normal progress report tomorrow on November 1st, but today, I’m going to discuss some ideas I’ve had that carry the spirit of Halloween. In recent years, the term “DLC” has become a dirty word that puts a foul taste into gamers’ mouths. When people hear “DLC”, they imagine developers who lock out 25% of their game’s content and then charge players money to access that content, even if it was already on the game disc. A lot of people associate the idea of “DLC” with pointless skins, maps, and hats that only exist in order to milk as much money out of the consumer as possible. “DLC” has become synonymous with “greed”. It’s like something out of a horror story! As a thought experiment, I asked myself whether or not Yandere Sim is a game that would benefit from DLC, and how I could possibly incorporate DLC into the game without spurning the collective hatred of the entire gaming community. This is what I came up with: The DLC must be developed after the game is released, not prior to its release. The DLC must be something of actual value, and not something pointless. There must a good reason why the DLC couldn’t simply be included in the base game to begin with. I came up with the idea of allowing the player to purchase a pack of additional “rivals” for Yandere-chan to take on. These rivals would be non-canon, and/or function differently from the other rivals, requiring a lot of brand-new programming to be done for them. Examples: A cute rookie policewoman. She is investigating the murders occurring at Yandere-chan’s high school. She meets Senpai-kun, develops a crush on him, and sticks around at high school to protect him from the murderer. Unlike other rivals, she is actively searching for the murderer, and will attempt to link evidence to you. A pair of twins. Both of them fall in love with Senpai-kun, and agree to “share” him. Having two rivals at once would change the dynamics of the gameplay and present the player with a new challenge. A yandere girl. She would be able to do anything that the protagonist can, and would do everything in her power to eliminate Yandere-chan. She would run around the school collecting weapons before you get a chance to do so, murder NPCs and try to plant evidence in order to frame you, and spread rumors to damage your reputation. While considering other potential “DLC Rivals” I came up with some ideas that involve supernatural and paranormal characters. I think of these characters as being “Halloween DLC”. A succubus. A male student at Yandere-chan’s school is desperate to lose his virginity, so he summons a succubus. The succubus takes no interest in the student, and begins to prowl the school searching for better prey. She finds Senpai-kun, and instantly falls in love, an experience she has never known. She hides her wings and tail using her magic, and begins to attend the school as a “foreign exchange student”. Keeping up her disguise requires her to spend magical energy, and the only way for her to restore that energy is by sucking the life force out of male students. Unlike other rivals, she cannot be killed using normal weaponry. To defeat her, Yandere-chan must expose the succubus’ true colors, force her to run out of magical energy by preventing her from feeding on male students, or perhaps approach the occult club and devise an unconventional way of stopping the demon… A ghost. Those of you familiar with Yandere Sim’s backstory may be aware of the ghost easter egg. Yandere-chan’s mother was also a yandere girl in high school, and killed a female student in one of the school’s bathrooms. The player can actually see the ghost of the girl that Yandere-chan’s mother killed by walking into the bathroom and taking a picture. But what if that ghost had a chance to take revenge on Yandere-chan’s mother, by thwarting her daughter? The ghost might decide to channel all of her energy into gaining a physical form, and romancing Senpai-kun before Yandere-chan can confess to him. Like the succubus, Yandere-chan would not be able to “kill” the ghost, and would have to expel her using unconventional methods. Once again, perhaps the occult club would hold the key to getting rid of her. A shapeshifter. This character would be some kind of witch or supernatural being who could change her appearance at will. She might impersonate other students or pretend to be a harmless NPC in order to throw you off her trail. She might even impersonate Senpai-kun himself in order to get close to you and kill you before you have a chance to kill her! Some of these ideas are, admittedly, more interesting than others. What do you think of the idea of adding DLC to Yandere Sim? Are you opposed to the principle of DLC altogether? Do you think that it would be possible to enhance the game through downloadable content? What would you like to see added to the game post-launch? And what kind of crazy, non-canon rivals or supernatural rivals would you like to take on? Please leave your thoughts in the comment section below! BONUS Yandere Sim’s development began after two events. First, I noticed that someone was selling a Japanese schoolgirl on the Unity Asset Store. Second, I asked a question: “What would a game about a Yandere girl be like?” I saw this succubus character model in the Unity Asset Store, and wondered: “What would a game about a succubus be like?” What kind of game would take advantage of the characteristics of a succubus? What kind of game mechanics would be most suitable for a succubus character? What is “succubus gameplay”? The only time I can recall playing as a succubus in a video game is Gunbird 2, which featured Morrigan was a secret character: I started imagining a top-down shoot-em-up game starring a sexy succubus. As for her enemies, I suppose anything “holy” or “angelic” would be the antithesis of anything demonic, so I think she should be defending hell from the forces of heaven, or something like that. The idea stuck with me, so I made a simple prototype featuring the Succubus character from the Unity Asset Store: What do you think? Would a top-down SHMUP featuring a succubus be cool? Or is there another genre that a succubus would be better suited for?
Having watched the first three debates at 3 a.m. in Europe, it was a relief to witness the final one during my stopover in South Florida, only twenty minutes away from the Boca Raton debate site and at the more civilized time frame of nine p.m. From the outset it was clear the momentum was in President Obama's favor after the beating he gave Mitt Romney last week. The former Massachusetts governor started off awkwardly in response to moderator Bob Schieffer's question about Libya. He tried to be funny, not one of his strongest attributes and appeared to lack confidence as he struggled to recite what he termed foreign policy mistakes the Obama administration had made. The problem was his inconsistency. On the one hand he congratulated the president on taking out Osama bin Laden, then said we can't kill ourselves out of this mess. Obama, for his part, reminded Romney that his primary job was to keep America safe by ending the war in Iraq, focusing on those who perpetrated the killings in 2001, transitioning out of Afghanistan and rebuilding alliances. Although Romney was articulate at times, it was mostly in segments wherein he was well rehearsed, repeating unpleasant economic statistics, even though they've been slowly improving, and misstating or misleading the president's deeds. He charged the president with screwing things up in Libya regarding the assassination of the U.S. ambassador, while Obama reminded him how he organized the international coalition that got rid of Kadafi and that thousands of Libyans in Benghazi demonstrated their support of America. In addition, Romney seemed to mimic Joe Biden's unfortunate display of facial disparagement, and although the grins weren't as wide the split screen employed during the debate showed a continual array of condescending smirks as Obama spoke. I was intrigued to note that none of the commentators I watched on CNN or NBC made note of this trait, even as the president mostly was viewed listening intently to what Romney was saying. Through it all, and no matter what Romney tossed at Obama the president respectfully but forcefully threw it back, indicating that what had been said wasn't true and that Romney was all over the map in his pronouncements. Romney persisted in his belief that America was weak and that the international community felt so, too. Obama responded that the nation was stronger than when he took office and now had renewed respect all over the globe. Romney reiterated what has become his mantra, the economy, a stronger military and a balanced budget, never stating how he would pay for it. Though the debate was supposed to be about foreign policy, Romney kept introducing economic issues, almost as if to underscore his deficiencies in the subject at hand. Yes, he recited certain facts demonstrating some rote knowledge of international relations, but often spoke in platitudes without saying what he would do differently. Many times he said he agreed with President Obama, not only about the killing of Osama bin Laden -- which the president reminded him he had once thought not significant enough to pursue -- but also in his dealings with Pakistan, which Romney obsessively harped nervously about because of that nation's possession of nuclear weapons. In one memorable exchange Romney accused the president of a diminished navy with fewer ships than since World War I. Obama sarcastically and effectively schooled Romney in the nature of modern warfare, saying that we also don't have as many horses and bayonets as we once had and that we have these new things called aircraft carriers upon which many planes could take off and land. A testier moment came when Romney indicated that Obama had visited Middle East nations, but pointedly not Israel as if to indicate the president's disinterest and/or to prove his support of Israel was not particularly strong. This was a rehash of comments in a previous debate suggesting Obama had snubbed Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu during the recent opening session of the United Nations. Obama seemed particularly annoyed at this and reminded the GOP candidate about his trip during his presidential campaign in 2008, when he visited U.S. troops in the war zone and also went to Israel. He'd gone to the Yad Vashem Holocaust Museum and to an area where missiles had fallen, taking the time to console those who'd suffered losses. He contrasted that with Romney's July 2012 trip to Israel, taking along some of his top donors and to raise cash while visiting the country. He topped it off asking the viewers who they thought was more credible, be it on Israel, Iran, counter-terrorism and women's rights. Romney continued to cast aspersions about what he deemed President Obama's "apology tour" and that countries such as Iran thought us weak. Obama responded that this was discounted by numerous fact checkers and that his administration placed the toughest crippling sanctions against the Iranian regime. In a go-around about China the president said U.S. exports had doubled, the currency exchange was the most advantageous since 1993 and then charged former Governor Romney with investing in a Chinese oil company. In a final assault, when Romney tried to deflect his position on the General Motors bankruptcy, which the president said would have caused the company's ruin, Romney insisted he'd never done so, leading the president to interrupt, "Check the record.... he's trying to airbrush history." At the end most of the media, even those who tended to neutralize his and Biden's prior wins, declared that Obama had, in David Gergen's words, "won on points." Even so, there was an almost neurotic need for the media to keep the election neck and neck saying that Romney had the momentum coming in, even after his thrashing by the president last week and that at the least he had passed the test of looking like a commander in chief. I'm not sure what they meant, except in the sense that he would surely look so on an 8x10 photograph, auditioning for the job in a film or TV show. Time will tell if the principal matter of hand, the economy, can be persuasively explained away by a president and vice president who inherited a financial disaster that in statistical terms has slowly made progress. Whether it is enough, along with the extraordinary social reforms that have taken place, a health plan for the first time in American history, gays in the military and without the consequences spread by fear-mongers, immigration support for kids without papers who want to go to school and contribute to our country -- these are the questions Americans will have to weigh, as opposed to taking a chance on a return to policies which caused the financial mess in the first place. I'm betting that Americans will see through Romney's flip-flop opportunism and Paul Ryan's right-wing agenda, giving Obama and Biden the win.
by Rusty Mehlberg SHEBOYGAN, WI (WHBL) - ACUITY announced this week they have gotten approval from the Federal Aviation Administration to use drones in its insurance operations. The Sheboygan-based insurance company says the drones will be used in the claims handling process when there are conditions hazardous for employees, such as locations inaccessible due to damage and buildings with steep roofs. The FAA permit allows the company to use three different types of drones that will allow them to inspect properties for loss control, valuation, and insurability purposes. In a statement, ACUITY’s Vice President for Claims Jamie Loiacono says drones will allow its employees to “survey a location faster and safer” and provide a “high degree of accuracy” with additional data, videos, and pictures. Loiacono says the drones will be under the control of licensed pilots, and the company will commit to respecting the public’s safety and privacy. ACUITY says they purchased several drones prior to FAA approval, and they will add to those numbers in the coming months.
Those sharp-eyed sentinels at the NCAA have handed down yet another blow for justice by suspending a Boise State football player for the improper benefit of driving a borrowed 1990 Toyota Camry with 177,000 miles. Has the NCAA looked up the definition of "benefit" lately? According to the Idaho Statesmen, Broncos wide receiver Geraldo Boldewijn received use of the car and driver's insurance coverage from an unnamed source; the NCAA required Boldewijn to pay $700 to a charity of his choice before he could be reinstated next week. Two other players were investigated, with one reinstated and the other's case still unresolved. For the record: Boise State's football team brought in $14.5 million to the school last year, and its coach is paid $1.6 million a year, much of it from outside boosters. Bet that $700 really taught Geraldo Boldewijn a lesson.
6 years ago (CNN) - With a week and a half to go until Election Day, a new poll indicates the race for arguably the most important battleground state remains very close. According to a CNN/ORC International survey released Friday, President Barack Obama holds a four point advantage over Republican nominee Mitt Romney in the contest for Ohio's much fought over 18 electoral votes. - Follow the Ticker on Twitter: @PoliticalTicker - Check out the CNN Electoral Map and Calculator and game out your own strategy for November. Fifty-percent of likely voters questioned in the poll say they are backing the president, with 46% supporting the former Massachusetts governor. Obama's four point advantage is within the survey's sampling error. The survey was conducted Tuesday through Thursday, entirely after Monday's final presidential debate. "The race in the Buckeye State is essentially unchanged since early October, when a CNN/ORC poll taken just after the first presidential debate also showed President Obama with a four-point margin over Governor Romney," says CNN Polling Director Keating Holland. Surveys by other organizations conducted last month, before the first debate, had Obama ahead of Romney by seven to 10 points. The new poll indicates that Obama has a double digit lead among those who have already voted absentee or early ballot or plan to do so before Election Day, with Romney holding the edge among people who plan to cast their ballot on November 6. According to the survey, the gender gap has tightened a bit, but the basic storyline remains the same. Obama holds a 56%-42% advantage among female voters, with the GOP challenger up 50%-44% among men. "In other major demographic groups, the movement since early October has been in the expected direction, with Obama picking up ground among younger voters, lower-income voters and urban voters and losing support among older voters, suburbanites, and higher-income voters," adds Holland. "Looking at age, for example, Obama has gained three points among voters under 50 years old since early October, but lost three points among voters who are 50 and older." The poll indicates Obama maintains a small but critical advantage among independent voters. In early October, he had a 50%-46% margin among independents - virtually identical to the 49%-44% edge he has today Among those who have voted early or plan to vote before Election Day, Obama holds a 59%-38% lead, with Romney up 51%-44% among those who say they'll vote on Election Day. Ninety-two percent of likely voters say they've made up their minds, with 4% saying they could change their minds. Campaigning Thursday in Cleveland, the president urged Ohioans to vote early: "Ohio you can vote now, you don't have to vote later." Ohio was the state that put President George W. Bush over the top in his 2004 re-election. Four years later Obama carried the state by five points over Sen. John McCain. But the Republicans performed well in the Buckeye State in the 2010 midterm elections, winning back the governor's office and five House seats from the Democrats. This cycle Ohio is seeing an outsized amount of campaign traffic from the presidential candidates. This week alone, Obama campaigned in the state on Tuesday and Thursday. Romney spent Thursday making a swing throughout the state, and returns to Ohio Friday evening. "Ohio is going to set the course for the nation," Romney said Thursday in Defiance, Ohio. Overall, the campaigns, party committees, and super PACs and other independent groups have spent more than $118 million to run ads on broadcast TV in Ohio since the start of the general election, with the numbers evenly divided between the two sides. Those figures come from Campaign Media Analysis Group, which tracks political advertising for its clients. Libertarian Party candidate Gary Johnson, Green Party candidate Jill Stein, and Constitution Party candidate Virgil Goode are also on the presidential ballot in Ohio. When their names were added to the poll, Obama is at 48%, Romney 44%, with Johnson at 4%, Stein at 2% and Goode registering less than one-half of one percent. The CNN poll was conducted by ORC International from October 23-25, with 1,009 Ohio adults, including 896 registered voters and 741 likely voters, questioned by telephone. The survey's overall sampling error is plus or minus 3.5 percentage points. American Research Group also released a live operator, non-partisan poll of likely voters in Ohio on Friday. It was also conducted entirely after the final debate. It indicates Obama with a 49%-47% edge over Romney, which is within the survey's sampling error.
The Justice Department is demanding that Florida stop purging its rolls of allegedly ineligible voters because the process has not been cleared under the federal Voting Rights Act, TPM is reporting. The Justice Department says the continuing purge also violates the cut-off time stipulated by the National Voter Registration Act. The notice came tonight in a letter to Florida Secretary of State Ken Detzner, TPM says. The news comes after state officials earlier today admitted they might not be able to double-check whether up to 182,000 registered voters are U.S. citizens, the Associated Press reported. Election officials had planned to use a federal immigration database to verify citizenship. But local election supervisors complained that initial lists contained errors and had not been properly checked ahead of time. Earlier today, Detzner sent a letter the U.S. Department of Homeland Security stating the state was still unable to access to the database. He asked Homeland Secretary Janet Napolitano to help. A Department of Homeland Security official said there are a "number of legal and operational challenges" to granting the state access.
Verizon is pushing a handful of Android 5.1.1 updates this afternoon to the Samsung Galaxy S6, Galaxy S6 Edge, and Galaxy Tab 4 10.1. Those updates, as you might have guessed, also include “Android security patches” for Stagefright. Outside of the security stuff, the 5.1.1 update for the Galaxy S6 and Edge adds caller name ID to Advanced Calling 1.0, fixes a bunch of bugs, lets you turn the parallax wallpaper mode on or off, and adds a quick camera exposure setting. Hopefully, it doesn’t completely destroy the phone’s performance like the T-Mobile 5.1.1 update did. The Galaxy S6 and S6 Edge are looking at builds of G920VVRU3BOG5 and G925VVRU3BOG5, respectively. Verizon posted the changelogs for them today, so I would imagine that the updates will begin rolling out tonight or tomorrow. As for the Galaxy Tab 4 10.1, you are looking at a build of T537VVRU3BOG1 and all sorts of new changes. To see them all, check through the changelog below.
BATON ROUGE, Louisiana — Minutes after two cops killed Alton Sterling outside of a convenience store, police confiscated all surveillance video of the incident without a warrant and allegedly without permission. An attorney for the owner of the Triple S Mart, Abdullah Muflahi, told The Daily Beast a hard drive containing the complete recording of the Sterling’s death at the hands of Baton Rouge Police Department Officers Blane Salamoni and Howie Lake was unlawfully taken by police. Muflahi showed The Daily Beast the barren cabinet where the hard drive had been. All that’s left of the storage unit is a sole barren wire. That wire went out to surveillance cameras on the front of the building. One of the cameras would have had a direct line of sight to where Sterling was standing when he was tasered, tackled, shot, and killed by police. Another camera outside may have captured the original dispute between Sterling and a homeless man who called 911 after saying Sterling “pulled a gun” on him. The call brought the officers to the store where they confronted Sterling, who matched the description given to 911. Muflahi recorded the cellphone video of Sterling being shot six times. When other police responded to the shooting, they “immediately put [Muflahi] in the back of their car,” according to lawyer Joel Porter. Muflahi said police asked him to give them the surveillance footage but he refused unless they got a warrant. An unidentified officer said he was going to obtain a warrant, according to Muflahi, but “I never received a warrant.” That’s because a warrant was not issued, according to the Baton Rouge District Attorney’s Office and the clerk of court for the 19th Judicial Court District. Police never even filed an application for a warrant, according the DA’s office and the court. When The Daily Beast requested both the surveillance video and the supposed warrant from the Baton Rouge Police Department, a lawyer from the department first denied the request by saying they could not turn over any documents from a “criminal investigation.” When told that a warrant is a public court document and could not be withheld, the lawyer then outright refused to confirm or deny if a warrant for the surveillance video even existed. After backtracking on the existence of the warrant, the attorney backtracked on the possession of the surveillance video, saying that the Federal Bureau of Investigation had the hard drive. “My client has not been informed of that,” said Porter, the attorney for the store owner. The FBI refused to confirm or deny the police department’s claim. “This is part of an ongoing investigation and we are unable to comment at this time,” Craig Betbeze, an FBI spokesperson told The Daily Beast. Even if the FBI does have the hard drive now, it could have only taken possession from police—again, without a warrant or permission—after the Justice Department opened an investigation on the afternoon following the shooting. The FBI was not at the store when Muflahi returned after approximately 90 minutes at police headquarters. Whoever has the video now, Muflahi’s attorney wants it returned. “I’m probably drafting a legal motion over the weekend,” Porter said. “We want it back, along with everything that’s on it. Unadulterated.”
Nick Sierzant is opening Blair Street Brew & BBQ at 605 E. Washington Ave., formerly home to Full of Bull (which moved to State Street) and prior to that, a Pizza Extreme. This will be Madison's latest microbrewery, as well as home to Sierzant's family-recipe barbecue. "Everything's from scratch, everything's fresh," says Sierzant, adding that "consistency and quality" are his goals. Dry-rub ribs and his own special baked beans will be on the menu. There will also be a deep-fried ice cream featuring "real Wisconsin vanilla bean ice cream," drizzled with honey, to finish off a meal. Oof. Sierzant, originally from La Crosse, started out in the Navy, "hopping around and seeing the country." He's lived in 11 states and opened six restaurants. Most recently he was manager of a local steakhouse; he now has "100% attention on Blair Street Brew." The interior is being remodeled. One room will be focused on dining in and have steel and copper decorative touches and televisions; it will also house the brewery. The other room will have more of a self-service, picnic table, "typical barbecue joint" look, says Sierzant. Brewing will not start until after opening, and the first beers won't be ready until at least a month later, but Sierzant is ultimately aiming for three microbrews: a domestic pilsner, an IPA and "something maltier, like a bock." He's hoping to open by the end of January or beginning of February. But Sierzant seems even more excited about an event he's planning for April, "The Barstool Open," a pub crawl to benefit Madison's new chapter of the Make-a-Wish Foundation involving nine local bars, each creating their own mini-golf hole. This type of pub crawl was a big deal when Sierzant was in Omaha, where the event boasts 27 bars and three golf courses. And if you happen to see small cars decorated as pigs driving the streets soon, they're Sierzant's barbecue-delivery vehicles.
Morrissey has invited fresh criticism over comments he made about Harvey Weinstein and Kevin Spacey. The former Smiths frontman spoke about the ongoing sexual harassment scandal in Hollywood, reportedly calling claims against Spacey "ridiculous" and arguing that definitions of harassment and assault have become too broad. “As far as I know, he was in a bedroom with a 14-year-old. Kevin Spacey was 26, boy 14. One wonders where the boy’s parents were," he told Der Spiegel, according to a translation cited by AV Club. Join Independent Minds For exclusive articles, events and an advertising-free read for just £5.99 €6.99 $9.99 a month Get the best of The Independent With an Independent Minds subscription for just £5.99 €6.99 $9.99 a month Get the best of The Independent Without the ads – for just £5.99 €6.99 $9.99 a month "One wonders if the boy did not know what would happen. I do not know about you, but in my youth I have never been in situations like this," he continued. "Never. I was always aware of what could happen. When you are in somebody’s bedroom, you have to be aware of where that can lead to. That’s why it does not sound very credible to me. It seems to me that Spacey has been attacked unnecessarily." Among the recent accusations made public against Spacey include the House of Cards star having a sexual relationship with a 14-year-old boy, and attempting to seduce another 14-year-old boy. 20 people have also made complaints about Spacey over incidents which allegedly took place during his time at the Old Vic theatre in London. Following the allegations involving the two 14-year-olds, a representative, who has since parted ways with the actor, said Spacey was “taking the time necessary to seek evaluation and treatment” and that “no other information will be available at this time”. Morrissey clarified that he condemned sexual violence against anyone, yet he apparently also claimed that on some occasions "the person referred to as a victim is merely disappointed". "People know exactly what's going on," he reportedly said when asked about Weinstein. "And they play along. Afterwards, they feel embarrassed or disliked. And then they turn it around and say: 'I was attacked, I was surprised'. But if everything went well, and if it had given them a great career, they would not talk about it. "I hate rape. I hate attacks. I hate sexual situations that are forced on someone. But in many cases one looks at the circumstances and thinks that the person who is considered a victim is merely disappointed." More than 50 women, many some of the biggest names in Hollywood, have accused the disgraced film producer of sexual assault, harassment, abuse and rape, which allegedly took place over four decades. Weinstein has remained largely out of the public eye since the first allegations were reported in the New York Times. He has denied all allegations of non-consensual sex. The Independent has contacted Morrissey's representative for further comment.
Trillium does self-distribute to 30 retail locations, but it’s piecemeal—90% of its beer is sold packaged, and it’s almost exclusively handed from its employees to thirsty beer fans. “If we sent out any more beer, we wouldn’t have enough to keep our doors open here,” Tetreault says. “There are a heck of a lot of people driving from far away to see us, and I’d hate for them to come to a locked door. The only reason why we’re able to do what we can today is the support of our fans coming directly to the brewery. It would have taken us many more years if we were in a broader distribution model or we would have had to take on investors or debt.” This isn’t the only example of on-site sales driving a business success, let alone the only case in Massachusetts. Nate Lanier, co-founder and brewer at Tree House Brewing Co., says he hasn’t sent a drop of beer outside his company’s doors in Monson in six months because they greet about 5,000 visitors a week—slightly more than the estimated number that visit Sam Adams’ Jamaica Plain facility. As one of the leaders in New England/Northeast IPA (the hottest sub-style of the moment), perhaps that’s no surprise. Lanier said he didn’t want to focus on own-premise sales, but it simply became a function of the brewery’s inability to meet demand. Just like Trillium, the margins earned on sales allowed Lanier to expand into a new facility. He credits an own-premise focus as the reason for Tree House’s new, 55,000-square feet brewhouse. But making good money isn’t the only reason it’s worked out. Lanier noted that facetime with supporters, simplicity of operations, and direct feedback from customers are all benefits of the model. “If you are able to create great beer people want to buy, you can earn a living on a much smaller scale these days, he says. “And that is very appealing to folks who want to create a sustainable business or a lifestyle business.” Which raises an important point: the success of on-site beer sales isn’t just because of popular beer. It’s a reflection of what customers want.
The last Packard–the classic American luxury car with the famously enigmatic slogan “Ask the Man Who Owns One”–rolls off the production line at Packard’s plant in Detroit, Michigan on this day in 1956. Mechanical engineer James Ward Packard and his brother, William Dowd Packard, built their first automobile, a buggy-type vehicle with a single cylinder engine, in Warren, Ohio in 1899. The Packard Motor Car Company earned fame early on for a four-cylinder aluminum speedster called the “Gray Wolf,” released in 1904. It became one of the first American racing cars to be available for sale to the general public. With the 1916 release of the Twin Six, with its revolutionary V-12 engine, Packard established itself as the country’s leading luxury-car manufacturer. World War I saw Packard convert to war production earlier than most companies, and the Twin Six was adapted into the Liberty Aircraft engine, by far the most important single output of America’s wartime industry. ADVERTISEMENT Thanks for watching! Visit Website Packards had large, square bodies that suggested an elegant solidity, and the company was renowned for its hand-finished attention to detail. In the 1930s, however, the superior resources of General Motors and the success of its V-16 engine pushed Cadillac past Packard as the premier luxury car in America. Packard diversified by producing a smaller, more affordable model, the One Twenty, which increased the company’s sales. The coming of World War II halted consumer car production in the United States. In the postwar years, Packard struggled as Cadillac maintained a firm hold on the luxury car market and the media saddled the lumbering Packard with names like “bathtub” or “pregnant elephant.” ADVERTISEMENT Thanks for watching! Visit Website ADVERTISEMENT Thanks for watching! Visit Website With sales dwindling by the 1950s, Packard merged with the much larger Studebaker Corporation in the hope of cutting its production costs. The new Packard-Studebaker became the fourth largest manufacturer of cars in the nation. Studebaker was struggling as well, however, and eventually dropped all its own big cars as well as the Packard. In 1956, Packard-Studebaker’s then-president, James Nance, made the decision to suspend Packard’s manufacturing operations in Detroit. Though the company would continue to manufacture cars in South Bend, Indiana, until 1958, the final model produced on June 25, 1956, is considered the last true Packard.
Powered by his widely-acclaimed debate performance last week, Mitt Romney has closed a 9 percentage-point gap and is once again tied with President Obama in the latest The Washington Times/Zogby Poll conducted by Zogby Analytics, released Monday. Likely voters who watched Wednesday’s debate overwhelmingly scored it a win for Mr. Romney, 65 percent to 14 percent for Mr. Obama, and among independents it was even worse for the president — only 8 percent said he triumphed. The poll showed Mr. Romney turning the gender gap in his favor, recapturing an overall lead among independent voters and taking the lead when voters were asked who they thought would do a better at handling jobs and the economy. “Don’t ever ask again if debates matter,” said John Zogby, the pollster who conducted the survey. The poll was taken Friday through Sunday, meaning voters also had time to digest Friday’s monthly jobs report, which signaled the unemployment rate has dropped below 8 percent for the first time since Mr. Obama took office. Mr. Romney led in the poll 45.1 percent to 44.5 percent when he was stacked up against Mr. Obama alone. Adding in third-party candidates such as Libertarian nominee Gary E. Johnson gave Mr. Obama a slight edge, 45.5 percent to 45 percent. Both numbers, though, represent a major change from a week earlier, before the debate, when Mr. Obama was flirting with 50 percent — a 9 percentage-point lead over Mr. Romney. “Obama lost as many points as Romney gained. And Romney has now pulled ahead among independents and consolidated a few of his own groups,” Mr. Zogby said. Curiously, voters disagreed with some of Mr. Romney’s answers to the most notable exchanges in the debate, even as they scored him the winner. A strong majority said the federal government should continue to send taxpayers’ money to PBS, contradicting Mr. Romney’s vow to end funding for public television and some related programs such as “Sesame Street.” And voters also seemed to prefer Mr. Obama’s plan to cut tax subsidies to oil companies and corporate jet manufacturers over Mr. Romney’s plan to cut subsidies to green energy companies. But on the key question of Mr. Romney’s tax plan, which he says can lower rates and still balance the books, voters were split down the middle: 350 voters said the math adds up, 350 voters agreed with Mr. Obama that it was impossible, and the other 100 were unsure who was right. Debates have a way of elevating challengers to the level of incumbent presidents in voters’ eyes, and Mr. Romney appears to be benefitting both from that and from a sense among voters that many of them would be comfortable with him. Just as important, Mr. Romney’s own backers are once again enthusiastically behind him, and have regained some confidence that he can win the election. That shows in the polls, but also shows up at the rallies and in the rush on Romney campaign buttons and yard signs that local GOP offices reported in the wake of the debate. On Monday, supporters sporting ponchos, raincoats and umbrellas braved chilly temperatures, heavy rain and sloppy grounds to see Mr. Romney speak at a rally in Newport News, Virginia. “People wonder why is it I’m so confident we’re going to win. I’m confident because I see you here on a day like this. This is unbelievable. Thank you so much,” Mr. Romney told the audience, which by the campaign’s count was upward of 500 people. Democrats, meanwhile, are getting nervous over the direction of the race. “We could hardly sleep last night,” the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee said in a fundraising plea to supporters Monday that pointed to Gallup’s latest tracking survey that, like The Times/Zogby Poll, showed a tied race. Yet another poll, by the Pew Research Center, showed Mr. Romney with a 4 percentage-point lead among likely voters. The Pew poll also credited Mr. Romney’s debate performance for the jump, which reversed an 8-point lead for Mr. Obama last month. With little to do but acknowledge he botched the debate, Mr. Obama on Sunday joked about it, telling the audience at a fundraiser in Los Angeles on Sunday he couldn’t compare with the performances the donors had just heard: Jon Bon Jovi, Stevie Wonder, Katy Perry and Earth, Wind and Fire. “They’re such great friends, and they just perform flawlessly night after night. I can’t always say the same,” he quipped. Still his party has not abandoned him. Indeed, Democrats are as enthusiastic about Mr. Obama as ever, and still expect him to triumph on Nov. 6. Republicans have challenged many polls this year, arguing they oversample Democrats, who are overwhelmingly pro-Obama. Like most polls, the Times/Zogby Poll is weighted for demographics. The poll sample included 38 percent Democrats, 35 percent Republicans and 27 percent independents. The breakdown for ideology was 21 percent liberal, 36 percent moderate and 43 percent self-identified conservatives. The poll was conducted by live interview, and has a margin of error of plus or minus 3.5 percentage points. • Seth McLaughlin, traveling with the Romney campaign in Newport News, Va., contributed to this article. Copyright © 2019 The Washington Times, LLC. Click here for reprint permission.
Listen to Selects Season 2 Episode 3: Sound, Music, Voices Listen: Selects is the show for people looking to listen to something new! It curates together a collection of short audio pieces (<10 min) so you can discover great podcasts by independent producers. – Listen to the latest episode of Selects – Subscribe via RSS – Subscribe via iTunes / Apple Podcasts Submit: a short piece of audio or a clip from a longer piece that has been edited to work as a stand-alone piece. Vote: on your favorite pieces from the episode and give feedback to creators. All voters will receive a 3-month subscription to Hindenberg Journalist PRO for anyone who votes. One lucky voter will receive an hour of Trint automated transcription! The winner of the vote will receive a package of audio-related prizes from sponsors, including: $100 Izotope’s RX Elements plugin 1-year subscription to Hindenburg Journalist PRO with a promo for discounts on other Hindenburg products each month 1 hour of Trint audio transcription Sponsors:
The life of Oscar Wilde has been thoroughly studied, but the death of his half-sisters was kept in the dark for decades. (Photo: Public Domain) As a literary genius and master of wit, Oscar Wilde has fascinated the world since he first started writing. There is one area of his life, however, which remained in obscurity until the 1940s, and which continues to be a mystery: The horrifying death of his half-sisters. The existence of Emily and Mary Wilde, the illegitimate daughters of Sir William Wilde, was kept hidden from most of the world. However, they still enjoyed considerable social standing and were often invited to events by Ireland’s high society. On October 31st 1871, the sisters were enjoying themselves at one such event. The Hallowe’en party was hosted by a man named Andrew Reid at the Drumacon House in Ireland. Everything was a success right until the end of the party when the host asked one of the sisters—most likely Mary—to one last dance around the ballroom. In a dark twist of fate that turned a night of joy into a tragedy, Mary got too close to the candlesticks and her dress caught on fire. Panic ensued. The remaining guests screamed in wild terror as Emily dashed to her sister in an attempt to put out the fire. The attempt did not only prove futile, but also deadly, as Emily’s dress also caught on fire. Here, accounts vary. Some say that Reid put his coat around the sisters and pushed them down the stairs, then made them roll around in the snow until the fire was out. In other accounts, he carried the sisters outside to the snow, and yet in others, they fled down the stairs themselves and rolled onto the dirt (which is much more feasible than there being snow in November). The facts remain that the fire was put out, but not before both sisters had acquired third degree burns in large portions of their bodies. Thousands of women died because of the highly flammable nature of crinoline skirts. (Photo: Wellcome Library, London/CC BY 4.0) After the incident, the sisters endured prolonged extreme physical and psychological pain. Little could be done to save their lives, but their injuries took weeks to bring about their inevitable death. Mary died on November 9th and Emily on November 21st. Now, if the story had died there, it would have merely been a gruesome tale of an unfortunate incident. But the accident was hushed and kept in obscurity for around 70 years, covering it with an irresistible shroud of mystery. There was only a small death notice on the Northern Standard in its November 25th, 1871 edition: DIED At Drumaconnor, on the 8th inst. Mary Wilde At Drumaconnor, on the 21st inst. Emma Wilde Such a tiny notice was not customary for well-to-do families of the time, but its discreteness succeeded in not drawing attention to the events. When it comes to investigating the case, however, one detail does draw attention—the change of Emily’s name to Emma. One could probably chalk this up to a simple mistake if the names of the sisters weren’t repeatedly changed on other official records. Luckily, some dedicated scholars and authors have investigated the matter. In her book Wildefire, written in 2002, Heather White details the life and death of the sisters. Her investigation organized the scattered accounts of the events. A year later, Theo McMahon shed more light onto the tragedy in his 2003 report for Clogher Record. In it, he provides details of the coroner’s report on both deaths, revealing that their last names had been changed to Wylie. Their first name was not just changed, but completely omitted, as they are simply called Miss M Wylie and Miss L Wylie. One could guess that the M refers to Mary and the L refers to Emily. However, the report would then contradict the death notice and parish records, which list Mary as having died first. On the coroner’s report, Miss M Wylie died on November 22 (another contradiction) from injuries sustained from helping her sister, so this had to be Emily. Mary and Emily Wilde are buried at St. Moha’s, Church of Ireland Graveyard in Drumsnat. (Photo: David Quinn/CC BY 2.0) The real question is, why would the coroner willingly change facts in two official reports? And why would an official report not require the first name of a victim? The answer, it seems, lies on Sir William Wilde himself. As a prominent doctor with a reputation to upkeep, he did not want the news of his illegitimate children and their ghastly death to spread. We do not even know whether Oscar Wilde ever knew of his sisters’ existence. What we do know, however, is that Sir William Wilde wrote a note to the constable to ask him not to tell Emily of her sister’s death, so as to not aggravate her already fragile state. He also convinced him not to make an inquest on to the affair, and merely make an inquiry—a shorter investigation that required no witness statements. It could be stipulated, then, that he might have also asked the constable to change both of the names, as well as his own. It seems as Sir William’s efforts to keep the affair private—even from his family—were worth it, given the obscurity which shrouded the events for decades. The next mention we find of the incident is in T.G. Wilson’s biography of William Wilde published in 1942. In it, there are details of a 1921 letter by J.B Yeats, W.B Yeat’s father. He knew of the incident because he had once been told the story by an old friend. The tragedy had by then become part of the oral history of Dublin society, and had evolved into multiple accounts. Add this to Sir William’s active efforts to confuse information, and it is no wonder that so much of the story is elusive and contradictory. To bring even more intrigue into the story, several accounts claim that for years after Mary and Emily’s death, a mysterious woman cloaked in black would visit their graves. No one ever knew who she was, and she would disclose nothing except her being intimately close to the victims. This mysterious woman in black also appears on Oscar Wilde’s personal writings as the enigmatic figure who visited his father on his deathbed. This elusive piece in the puzzle may or may not be an embellishment of oral history. A commemorative tombstone has been erected in their memory. (Photo: Davin Quinn/CC BY 2.0) We may never have the small details right, but by bringing the story to light, people seem to think, we honor the sisters in their death. Perhaps this is why years later an epitaph was erected at the graveyard of St. Molua’s church in Drumsnat in their honor. It reads: In Memory of Two loving and beloved Sisters EMILY WILDE aged 24 and MARY WILDE aged 22 who lost their lives by accident in this parish in Nov 1871. They were lovely and pleasant in their lives and in their death they were not divided (II Samuel Chap. I, v 23)
How to establish an ‘Innovation culture’ Transition to the ‘innovation culture’ depends both on the strategy of the corporation and the mentality of the workforce: the value system in reference to experimentation, collaboration, expertise and knowledge sharing. George Krasadakis Blocked Unblock Follow Following May 8, 2017 Modern corporations realize that, to remain competitive, they need to systematically innovate, to embrace real innovation as part of their ‘business as usual’ mode. Innovation should happen naturally, on a daily basis, triggered primarily by employees who continuously look for opportunities for new products, services and value creation. Although the need for innovation is clear, there are plenty of failed innovation transformation programmes out there: companies are making significant investments in order to incorporate innovation practices and spirit but in many cases the result is far from successful. The missing element preventing such investments from success is usually the so called ‘innovation culture’. To achieve this new mind-set, the ‘innovation culture’, companies need to invest in transformation programmes introducing a new way of thinking. The transition takes time and requires a new mentality for both executives and employees The following describe components of the innovation culture: Experimentation mindset The level of innovation of a corporation, heavily depends on the readiness and will of its employees to experiment with novel ideas and concepts, to build prototypes, to investigate opportunities for novel products and services; It depends on the level of support this ‘experimentation culture’ receives from the leadership of the corporation. Both employees and leadership need to adapt and inherit a new attitude for experimentation, risk taking and failure: failure, in an innovation context, is perfectly acceptable In fact, failure is part of the overall innovation process, since it can feedback significant insights, results, metrics and findings for the idea itself, the prototype or even the process. Following practices like ‘rapid prototyping’ and ‘fail fast’, ideas can be quickly tested from real users, in order to make informed decisions, as soon as possible and at minimum cost. For instance, in a rapid prototyping scenario, the team might realize early enough that, although the prototype looks good and is working fine, the predefined success criteria and/or user expectations are not met. Hence, the team has enough information to make good product development decisions, like to evaluate if this gap can be fixed under acceptable cost and thus continue iterating or ‘kill’ the product. In any case, this rapid prototyping approach with fast iterations and frequent user testing/feedback, keeps the overall cost low and allows informed product development decisions. Ideas sharing and collaboration Employees need to enter a mode of ‘information sharing’ and collaboration; they need to be ready to share ideas, to provide constructive feedback and collaborate. Corporations need to offer a channel for employees to register their ideas and share them with the right teams and divisions; given the right motivation and culture, this channel will enable a stream of ideas and form an ‘internal market’ where employees discover ideas, self-organize into cross-functional teams, experiment and pitch their projects to senior leadership; the most promising cases are then selected for investment in additional rapid prototyping cycles. An always-on ideation, collaboration and intrapreneurial mode. Flexibility of roles Innovation is incompatible with strict roles, complex organizational charts and isolated responsibility areas. Companies truly investing in innovation, offer their employees flexibility to go beyond their formal role and skip process and bureaucracy in order to explore their ideas further. Employees can easily form teams and start working on ‘side innovation projects’ without formal approvals or resource assignments. They can use office space designed to support innovation and creative thinking; they can easily get the equipment and technology resources needed to build their idea. Modern innovation tools and processes Successful innovation programmes also need special processes, techniques and practices. Modern companies use a set of tools focusing on cross-functional team collaboration — solving a well-defined problem via ideation, prototyping and user feedback iterations. ‘Design sprints’ and similar, customized workshops are very popular: multidisciplinary teams work together for a short period of time (3–5 days) to define the problem, then generate ideas, pick the most promising ones, build wireframes and prototypes to be then tested with real users. Feedback from users is then used to make informed decisions about next iterations and the product development plan. In other cases, companies organize large scale ideation processes, such as hackathons, with the objective to generate large sets of ideas and prototypes addressing a particular problem defined upfront. Innovation gamification Properly designed gamification programmes can have major positive impact on innovation culture: Companies can identify those business activities which relate to innovation, capture them in proper structures and assign weight factors to denote their relative importance. Employees performing these activities accumulate points which are then aggregated across the structure of the company (teams, divisions, products, geographies). Points are used primarily to identify, recognize and celebrate top-innovators — for example through an ‘innovation leader board’ visible across the company (points could be translated to monetary or other business awards). Such programmes provide a strong motivation for people to engage with innovation processes. Top innovators gain reputation, visibility and opportunities to communicate their ideas and ‘make it happen’. Access to technology and knowledge Employees need to have access to latest technologies and related knowledge. Companies need to introduce programmes targeting systematic, efficient knowledge and expertise sharing among employees and teams. In many cases, specially configured and equipped office spaces might also help in this direction — for instance a makerspace, exposing technology, equipment and devices to facilitate rapid prototyping and experimentation. Transition to the ‘innovation culture’ is difficult and expensive. It heavily depends both on the strategy of the corporation and the mentality of the workforce: the value system in reference to experimentation, collaboration, expertise and knowledge sharing. The company needs to enter — as a single entity, both employees and management — a mode of continuous searching for opportunities for better products and services that bring value to users, employees, the company, the market, the society.
Despite what the knuckle-draggers in comment sections would have you think, America is beginning to care about diversity in comic books. Look at the media explosion which erupted this week when Marvel Comics announced that both Captain America and Thor would undergo some radical changes as part of their new Avengers NOW! series. Sam Wilson, an African-American hero also known as Falcon, will be taking up Captain America’s mantle after the Captain loses his super-soldier abilities. And when Thor Odinson is deemed unworthy, his hammer (and the Thor title, it seems) will pass on to an unnamed woman. The Internet erupted into a chorus of fanboy kvetching in the wake of this news, with some fans up in arms over “political correctness gone mad.” Others applauded Marvel for providing some much-needed variety to their stable of white, male heroes. As superhero juggernauts DC and Marvel enter the 21st century, the debate over diversity in comic books is picking up steam. A black Captain America and woman Thor are just a few of Marvel’s many triumphs in what’s been a banner year. So why is DC lagging behind? It’s not as if DC isn’t trying. They’ve vocally espoused a commitment to diversity, and made headlines in 2006 when they announced that their new Batwoman, Kate Kane, was an out lesbian. However, in recent years they’ve come under fire for racial and gender homogeneity both on their creative teams and within their comic books. The missteps range from white-washing characters of color during Black History Month to refusing to allow Batwoman to marry her fiancée. This last decision resulted in the resignation of Batwoman editorial team J.H. Williams III and W. Haden Blackman, one of the most critically-acclaimed partnerships in DC’s history, and seemed to cancel out any remaining goodwill the company had earned. DC’s reputation for boners (as the Joker would say) is so widespread that www.hasdcdonesomethingstupidtoday.com keeps a daily tally of the company’s offenses. As of today, DC is celebrating eight boner-free days. Meanwhile, Marvel is setting the gold standard. A year before DC dropped the ball on the Batwoman wedding, Marvel’s Northstar married his boyfriend in Astonishing X-Men #51, complete with a splash cover featuring the two men embracing. Titles like Ms. Marvel, which features a Muslim teen girl hero, are critical darlings and best-sellers. Marvel Editor-in-Chief Axel Alonso has confirmed the company’s commitment to expanding its fanbase, saying, “While we don’t have any market research, the eyes don’t lie. If you go to conventions and comic book stores, more and more female readers are emerging. They are starved for content and looking for content they can relate to.” And instead of choosing to drop the Thor bombshell at the upcoming San Diego Comic Con, Marvel revealed the change on The View. When you think of a stereotypical comic fan, Whoopi Goldberg probably isn’t who you had in mind. Comic books are a fundamentally stagnant medium. Any slightly unconventional decision—from casting Heath Ledger as the Joker to putting pants on Wonder Woman—is met with a level of feverish debate normally reserved for schisms within the Catholic Church. When Avengers NOW! launched, the Internet predictably collapsed into a flurry of venomous pearl-clutching. Some wondered if a female Thor now meant that “feminists” would try to also rewrite Jesus as female. The equivalence between comic books and Scripture is telling of how seriously canon is taken by these fans. To violate the status quo is akin to sacrilege. The irony is that a format characterized by the boundless scope of imagination is ultimately extremely conservative when it comes to risks with character or story. Major developments like deaths or marriages are almost always undone, via fantastic contrivances ranging from deals with the devil to time travel. Characters are de-powered, murdered, raped, aged up and down, and yo-yoed between universes with an alarming lack of fanfare. It’s the same problem suffered by long-running soap operas, where catastrophes are regularly smoothed over or forgotten in order to keep the premise going. At least on soap operas, actors leave over contract disputes or pass away. In comics, the stories can go on indefinitely. As such, the limitless nature of comic book fantasy is used, by and large, to keep limits in place. Both companies understand this—and handle it differently. DC Comics uses a slavish adherence to the status quo to prevent anything socially progressive from taking place on its pages. Co-Publisher Dan DiDio insisted the Batwoman wedding controversy wasn’t homophobic. The wedding was barred because DC heroes couldn’t have “happy personal lives.” Apparently, audiences will believe a man can fly. They just won’t (or can't) believe two women can be happily married! Policies like DiDio’s are not only detrimental to character and narrative development—they also make the company seem backwards and out of touch. When DC restored Barbara Gordon (aka Batgirl’s) ability to walk in 2011, many fans were devastated. Barbara’s post-paralysis identity as Oracle was an accepted and beloved aspect of the DC canon and iconic in the disabled community. DC, however, decided that having the “classic” Batgirl was more important to the brand’s success, with DiDio saying, “We didn’t want to turn our back on the diversity issue, but she’ll always be the most recognizable [Batgirl.]” He also argued that the same New 52 event which restored Barbara’s mobility acted as a “reset button” for the whole DC Universe. But characters introduced after Barbara’s paralysis, such as Harley Quinn, continue to headline best-selling titles. What DC views as being recognizable and comfortable to fans (and consequently profitable) seems to trump any lip service they pay to what DiDio calls “the diversity issue.” Marvel, on the other hand, seems more than willing to challenge readers. The visual impact of replacing blond, blue-eyed Steve Rogers with the African-American Sam Wilson is enormous, both in what it says about who can represent America in 2014 and in what it says about Marvel’s willingness to push their audience’s expectations. Marvel trusts their audience to support a Captain America who is not immediately “recognizable.” And the same pressures of the status quo which seem to dictate every one of DC’s moves are absolutely present for Marvel—as others have pointed out, it’s improbable that Sam Wilson will remain Captain America for long or that male Thor will remain unworthy of the hammer. If Captain America can come back from the dead, then his current convalescence is only a temporary derailment. It’s also highly likely that Marvel will capitalize on next summer's release of Avengers: Age of Ultron by featuring the most iconic (i.e. Chris Evans and Chris Hemsworth) representations of those characters in the comics. As with DC, the universe’s status quo will ultimately reassert itself once again as overwhelmingly white, male, and hetero-normative. Where DC and Marvel differ is that while DC uses this as an excuse to erase anything challenging or progressive, Marvel sees it as an opportunity to challenge their audience’s view of who a hero can be. The titles are reduced to their purest elements. After all, being Captain America isn’t about being a white man. It’s about being a patriot dedicated to American ideals of justice and freedom. Sam Wilson fits that bill, so he gets to wear the star-spangled suit. In a medium where the only roles afforded to women or people of color are often specifically linked to their race or gender (Black Panther, Wonder Woman), this is huge. For once, the boundless nature of comic story-telling is actually being used to cross boundaries. Despite this, Marvel’s efforts might not feel like enough. Why not launch titles starring independent black or female characters instead of having them temporarily adopt another’s mantle? But the sad reality is that the comics industry is too insular to foster any kind of radical change. It still remains incredibly difficult for new comics and heroes to get a stronghold in the marketplace. Most new titles are cancelled within a matter of months. Especially as comic prices rise, readers seem to be sticking with the titles they know and love. Consequently, Marvel is working within the system (and to be fair, it’s a system which they helped create) to introduce a wider variety of heroes to the consumers buying familiar titles like Thor. It’s a Trojan horse strategy, sneaking in African-American or female heroes one book at a time, for a few months. It’s also a low-stakes method of taking risks, particularly when one considers the scope of Marvel’s cinematic universe. Marvel superhero films have dominated the box office for the last few years, and a Black Widow movie would provide exposure to a much wider audience than the blinkered world of comic book readers. Yet all but two of their upcoming 11 films will feature white, male leads. Of the two major characters of color, Zoe Saldana’s skin will be digitally rendered green for Guardians of the Galaxy. The Fantastic Four reboot’s casting of Michael B. Jordan as Johnny Storm (a canonically white character) sparked a massive outbreak of racist fanboy aneurysms. The response to Jordan’s casting in particular highlights how Marvel’s diversity initiatives, for all their good, are still calculated marketing moves. Comic books are a low-cost venture. It’s much easier and cheaper for the company to take some chances without a billion-dollar budget at stake. And the sobering fact remains that a black Captain America is still considered to be such a risk in 2014 that it could only be executed in this low-impact format. The superhero medium is so staid that temporary exposure to a black lead is considered groundbreaking. Marvel is taking a gamble on the strength of their brand. While DC wants to protect recognizable characters by keeping them in NRFB condition, Marvel is willing to chance that a tentpole property like Thor will retain his iconic status, even if a woman wields the hammer for a while. They believe that fans are not going to stop buying Captain America comic books because Sam Wilson is behind the shield. Readers are smarter than that, and Marvel knows it. After all, they made a similar gamble before. In 2011, they replaced Spider-Man’s Peter Parker with the half-black, half-Latino Miles Morales. Miles remains one of Marvel’s most popular characters, but only in the alternate Ultimate universe. In the central Marvel continuity, Peter Parker is still swinging and still white, after apparently bouncing back from his latest brush with death. Status quo, after all, remains king.
“Right now, the federal government favors the big guy over the little guy,” Congressman Paul Ryan, Republican of Wisconsin, who is the chairman of the House budget committee and a former Republican candidate for vice president, told me this week. “We subsidize large agribusiness and the wealthy at the expense of the family farmer and the taxpayer. It’s an egregious example of cronyism. Both parties are to blame, but I’m hopeful both sides can come together to set this right.” The new House bill does contain some purported reforms. It slashes spending for conservation and nutrition, taking aim at favored liberal causes. And, with the exception of cotton farmers — “Who always get the best deal,” Mr. Faber said — it ends so-called direct payments to farmers who don’t grow anything. Direct payments are the $4 billion to $5 billion given each year to owners of farmland that had traditionally grown various crops, including corn, wheat, soybeans, cotton and rice. These resulted in widely criticized payments to wealthy absentee “farmers” in places like Manhattan — including over $340,000 to a Rockefeller scion, Mark F. Rockefeller, The New York Post reported earlier this year — who owned land that grew nothing. Even the farm lobby backed down on that. Yet most of the estimated $50 billion that might have been saved on direct payments over 10 years — and perhaps far more, depending on commodity prices — was plowed back into other subsidy programs. As the Cato Institute’s Sallie James put it, what the proposed bills “offer with one hand, they take with the other” for programs that “are even more likely to distort markets.” These include increased crop insurance and increased target prices for crops that guarantee farm incomes. According to the Environmental Working Group, crop insurance subsidies already cost taxpayers $9 billion a year, and flow overwhelmingly to the wealthiest farmers and agribusinesses. While the wealthiest farmers collect over $1 million a year each in insurance subsidies, and 10,000 get over $100,000, the lowest 80 percent of policy holders collect on average just $5,000 each, according to the group. Under so-called shallow loss provisions of both the House and Senate versions of the farm bill, the government makes direct payments to farmers to guarantee they receive 88 percent (in the Senate version) or 85 percent (in the House version) of the “target” price of various crops. By raising target prices, the bills vastly increase the likelihood of huge payments should prices decline from their current near-record levels. The American Enterprise Institute estimated that the program could cost as much as $18 billion annually based on historical average prices for crops covered by the bill.
Between windsurfing with Richard Branson and attending Broadway shows with his daughter, Barack Obama has been trying to decide what he wants to get done in his post–White House years. “I'm spending a lot of time thinking about: ‘What is the most important thing I can do for my next job?’” Obama said on Monday, in his first public remarks since leaving the presidency on January 20. Obama ticked through a whole host of problems he might make his first priority before identifying what he said will be his No. 1 task in the years ahead — giving young Americans the tools to “to take up the baton” as leaders in politics and business. “What I'm convinced of is that — although there are all kinds of issues that I care about, and all kinds of issues that I intend to work on — the single most important thing I can do is to help in any way I can to prepare the next generation of leadership to take up the baton, and to take their own crack at changing the world,” Obama told a small crowd at the University of Chicago. It’s worth paying attention to precisely why Obama views helping young leaders as the way he can have the biggest impact in the world without the executive branch at his disposal. Obama acknowledged that there were huge public policy problems — climate change, racial injustice, economic inequality. But he argued that these crises were themselves the product of a broken American political system, and that this first-order problem would not be solved until young people could transform the political system. It’s worth noting that young people carried Obama to victory in 2008 and 2012, and they overwhelmingly rejected Donald Trump. And as Obama told Rolling Stone the day after the election, young people voted for Hillary Clinton by a wide margin and are supportive of his legacy. “We have some of the lowest voting rates of any democracy, and low participation rates then translate into a further gap between who is governing us and what we believe. The only folks who are going to be able to solve that problem are going to be young people,” Obama said in his Monday speech. “So the question then becomes: What are the ways we can create pathways for them to take leadership — for them to get involved? Are there ways in which we can knock down some of the barriers that are discouraging young people about a life of service?” A transcript of Obama’s remarks on Monday follows. ... It was a little over 30 years ago that I first came to Chicago. I was 25 years old. I had gotten out of college filled with idealism and absolutely certain that somehow I was going to change the world. But I had no idea how, or where, or what I was going to be doing. So I worked — first to pay off some student loans, and then I went to work at the City Colleges of New York on the Harlem campus with some student organizers. Then there were a group of churches out on the South Side who had come together to try to deal with the steel plants that had closed in the area, and the economic devastation that had been taking place, but also the racial tensions, the turnover that was happening in the community. They formed an organization and hired me as a community organizer. I did not really know what that meant — or how to do it. But I accepted the job. And for the next three years I lived right here in Hyde Park, but I worked in communities like Roseland and Pullman. Working-class neighborhoods, many of which had changed rapidly from white to black in the late '60s, '70s. And full of wonderful people who were proud of their communities, proud of the steps they had taken to try to move into the middle class, but were also worried about their futures, because in some cases their kids weren't doing as well as they had. In some cases, these communities had been badly neglected for a very long time. The distribution of city services were unequal. Schools were underfunded. There was a lack of opportunity. And for three years, I tried to do something about it. And I am the first to acknowledge that I did not set the world on fire. Nor did I transform these communities in any significant way, although we did some good things. But it did change me. This community gave me a lot more than I was able to give in return, because this community taught me that ordinary people — when working together — can do extraordinary things. This community taught me that everybody has a story to tell that is important. This experience taught me that beneath the surface differences of people that there were common hopes, and common dreams, and common aspirations, common values that stitched us together as Americans. And so even though I, after three years, left for law school, the lessons that had been taught to me here, as an organizer, are ones that stayed with me, and effectively gave me the foundation for my subsequent political career — and the themes that I would talk about as a state legislator, and as a US senator, and ultimately as president of the United States. Now, I tell you that history because on the back end now of my presidency — now that it's completed — I'm spending a lot of time thinking about: “What is the most important thing I can do for my next job?” And what I'm convinced of is that although there are all kinds of issues that I care about, and all kinds of issues that I intend to work on, the single most important thing I can do is to help in any way I can to prepare the next generation of leadership to take up the baton, and to take their own crack at changing the world. Because the one thing that I'm absolutely convinced of is that, yes, we confront a whole range of challenges — from economic inequality and lack of opportunity to a criminal justice system that too often is skewed in ways that are unproductive to climate change to issues related to violence — all those problems are serious, they're daunting, but they're not insoluble. What is preventing us from tackling them and making more progress really has to do with our politics and our civic life. It has to do with the fact that because of things like political gerrymandering, our parties have moved further and further apart, and it's harder and harder to find common ground. Because of money and politics, special interests dominate the debates in Washington in ways that don't match up with what the broad majority of Americans feel. Because of changes in the media, we now have a situation in which everybody's listening to people who already agree with them, and are further and further reinforcing their own realities to the neglect of a common reality that allows us to have a healthy debate — and then try to find common ground, and actually move solutions forward. When I said in 2004 that there were no red states or blue states, they were the United States of America — that was an aspirational comment. And it’s one that — I still believe, that when you talk to individuals one on one — people, there's a lot more people that have in common than divides them. But obviously, it's not true when it comes to our politics and civic life. Maybe more pernicious is [that] people are not involved. And they give up. And they get cynical. As a consequence, we have some of the lowest voting rates of any democracy, and low participation rates then translate into a further gap between who is governing us and what we believe. The only folks who are going to be able to solve that problem are going to be young people. The next generation. And I have been encouraged everywhere I go in the United States, but also everywhere around the world, to see how sharp and astute and tolerant and thoughtful and entrepreneurial our young people are — a lot more sophisticated than I was at their age. So the question then becomes: What are the ways we can create pathways for them to take leadership — for them to get involved? Are there ways in which we can knock down some of the barriers that are discouraging young people about a life of service? And if there are, I want to work with them to knock down those barriers. And to get this next generation and to accelerate their move toward leadership. Because if that happens, I think we're going to be just fine.
The BjjBrick Podcast is in iTunes, and Stitcher radio Isaac Doederlein is a 22 year old brown belt under Rubens “Cobrinha” Charles. He recently went to IBJJF European and won featherweight gold and then he stepped up for the absolute and got silver. We talk about: Starting martial arts as a kid Moving as an 18 year old to California to train The different guards he likes to play His goal of getting absolute titles His goal for remaining undefeated in his weight class How to train for competing in the absolute division How to watch your tournament footage to get better What he does for off-the-mat training Dealing with his injuries (neck and wrist) The benefits of competing Gaining confidence on the mat Advice for students in their first tournament His first tournament as a kid What he was like as a blue belt Tips for doing an omoplata Advice for developing your game plan Why it is important for new students to focus on understanding Jiu-Jitsu Links: Connect with Isaac Doederlein: Instagram and Facebook Breast Cancer Charity BJJ Seminar: Their Facebook Page, Donate online here. Quote of the week: “What we do in this life echoes in eternity” Presented by Henry Akins Article of the week: “Brazilian Jiu Jitsu & the Internet, Part 1” by learningbjj.com Want a better Guillotine Choke? Check out this seminar by our friend Roy Marsh! Catch us next week for another episode of The BjjBrick Podcast, we will have an interview with Robson Moura
The simplified warnings, according to the sheriff's office, are consistent with research on adolescent brain science that shows teens are not fully developed in their judgment, problem-solving and decision-making capabilities. The King County sheriff’s office says it’s trying to make it easier for kids to understand their rights when they get arrested. Sheriff John Urquhart says deputies will provide juveniles a simpler version of the Miranda warning. For example, instead of saying, “You have the right to remain silent” and “Anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law,” deputies will tell them, “You have the right to remain silent, which means that you don’t have to say anything,” and “It’s OK if you don’t want to talk to me.” The new warning was developed in collaboration with the county’s Department of Public Defense and Creative Justice, a community-based nonprofit that works with children. The simplified warnings, according to the sheriff’s office, are consistent with research on adolescent brain science that shows teens are not fully developed in their judgment, problem-solving and decision-making capabilities. Adolescents, the studies show, are more likely than adults to waive their Miranda rights and are vulnerable to going along with police when they ask teens if they want to talk. Here is the newly adopted Miranda warning that will be read in addition to the traditional version: 1. You have the right to remain silent, which means that you don’t have to say anything. 2. It’s OK if you don’t want to talk to me. 3. If you do want to talk to me, I can tell the juvenile court judge or adult court judge and probation officer what you tell me. 4. You have the right to talk to a free lawyer right now. That free lawyer works for you and is available at any time – even late at night. That lawyer does not tell anyone what you tell them. That free lawyer helps you decide if it’s a good idea to answer questions. That free lawyer can be with you if you want to talk with me. 5. If you start to answer my questions, you can change your mind and stop at any time. I won’t ask you any more questions. Then: 1. Do you understand? (If yes, then continue to number 2) 2. Do you want to have a lawyer? (If no, then continue to number 3) 3. Do you want to talk with me? (If yes, then proceed with questioning) For comparison, here is the conventional version 1. You have the right to remain silent. 2. Anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law. 3. You have the right to an attorney. If you cannot afford an attorney, one will be provided for you. 4. Do you understand the rights I have just read to you? 5. With these rights in mind, do you wish to speak to me?” “Criminal convictions have much larger and longer impacts than a possible jail sentence,” said Sheriff John Urquhart in the statement. “We want to help youth succeed. That’s why we’re asking them to help us solve crimes while at the same time we are working harder to protect their rights.” Anita Khandelwal, the interim deputy director of the Department of Public Defense, said the partnership could become a model for reform of the county’s justice system. “We are thrilled that we have been able to partner with the King County Sheriff’s Office and the community to help our juvenile justice system practices take into account the science,” she said in the statement. So far, there is no word from Seattle police about whether they plan to also adopt the simplified version of the Miranda when dealing with juveniles. The Miranda warning comes from the 1966 U.S. Supreme Court decision requiring law-enforcement officers to warn suspects they have the right to remain silent and to have an attorney present when answering questions.
Sitting and watching football is what Marcelo Bielsa does best. A touchline icebox doubled as his perch at Marseille, made famous by an unfortunate incident with a rogue coffee cup, he sat oddly unflinching on the Lille bench as his assistant had a blazing argument with the fourth official inches away during the trip to Amiens last week and he has even supposedly trained himself to sit and watch multiple games at once with the aim of picking out patterns of play. But as “El Loco” sat in a Lille restaurant, suspended from his duties and sacking imminent, watching his Lille side lose 3-0 at Montpellier on a laptop, Bielsa’s fiery, enigmatic, mad-scientist persona seemed to ebb away and was replaced by a sense of inevitability and déja vu. Despite the fanfare surrounding Bielsa’s arrival and his perpetual aura that bred genuine hope of a renaissance for Les Dogues under his tutelage, this disappointingly short episode of “El Loco’s” career has proven to be simply the latest lap of what has become a vitriolic, vicious cycle; disaster rarely far away. To solely blame Bielsa for bizarre departures from Marseille, Lazio and now Lille would be wrong but the bizarre situations that led to recent resignations, this will be his first genuine ’sacking’ for some time, all have one common denominator. Wasteful Kylian Mbappé must learn to fit his talent into PSG's team dynamic \| Adam White and Eric Devin Read more Bielsa’s perceived lack of control over the squad and the deterioration of his relationships as a result, in parallel to other recent abrupt departures, has again proved pivotal. Dissatisfaction at the loss of (and indeed lack of replacements for) Dimitri Payet, Florian Thauvin, André-Pierre Gignac and others during his first summer at the Vélodrome preceded what the Argentine claims was an unsolicited reduction in pay and an increasingly belligerent relationship with prominent club officials while his 48-hour flirtation with Lazio ended due to the club’s inability to sign any of Bielsa’s transfer targets. New Lille owner Gérard Lopez’s vision of transforming Les Dogues into a breeding ground for young talent orchestrated by Bielsa’s footballing ideology, a project the club have cringingly branded “LOSC Unlimited”, brought with it former Barcelona vice president, Marc Ingla and Monaco technical director Luís Campos. Perhaps inevitably, the control Bielsa demanded has, in his eyes, been slowly eroded by Campos in particular and the relationship between the two men has become irrevocable. A situation which lead to Bielsa’s suspension after the 3-0 loss to Amiens last Monday although Campos has reportedly wanted “El Loco” gone for some time, rumours that an unauthorised visit to Chile caused the rift have proven to be false. From a distance, it seemed Bielsa’s purview remained unfiltered over the summer as a huge overhaul of the playing staff drastically altered the landscape at Stade Pierre-Mauroy with 22 players leaving and 17 joining in the last year. This remaking of the team started as soon as Lopez’s ownership of the club was ratified on the final day of the January window when seven players were hastily bussed in before Bielsa’s arrival was announced, although heavily rumoured at the time, in February. However, these dealings were not approved by Bielsa despite his impending appointment and Campos has continued to take the lead on player recruitment since. Perhaps tellingly, Thiago Mendes, one of few outright Bielsa picks, has been a revelation in Ligue 1 this season. A huge overhaul of the playing staff drastically altered the landscape Nevertheless, whether the influx was largely of Campos or Bielsa’s making, a very young and brand new team was going to take time to coalesce into one of the exuberant, gung-ho outfits that Bielsa is famous for building. However, since the 3-0 opening day flattening at the hands of Claudio Ranieri’s Nantes, Lille have been more lethargic, disjointed and wayward in front of goal. That, though, could have been foreseen, the decision to sell last season’s top scorer Nicolas de Préville to rivals Bordeaux no small factor and again a choice not taken by the manager. Disagreements aside, a run of nine games without a win that only produced three goals has seen Les Dogues floundering in the bottom three since and it seemed that Bielsa’s time had elapsed and that Campos and co. were right to want him out as their team looked capable of nothing better than a relegation scuffle. However, despite Campos’ influence, Bielsa remained the marquee signing for Lopez’s rebranded Lille; his footballing philosophy it’s centrepiece and the former Bilbao manager’s presence one of its key selling points, meaning removing him so early would be an admission of the project’s failure. English football is on the rise – we owe a debt of gratitude to Marcelo Bielsa \| Liam Rosenior Read more Nevertheless, the need for ‘LOSC Unlimited’ to succeed on financial, and by extension, sporting levels in the relative short term eventually combined with Bielsa’s rapidly depreciated relationships with both Campos and his players, who have become frustrated with the unwavering 3-3-3-1 setup and their coach’s insistence in deploying some of their number out of position, became too difficult to ignore after the desperate loss to promoted Amiens. This was despite a brief upturn in results as Lille beat the hapless bottom club Metz and a St Étienne in chaos after their derby drubbing by Lyon. For now Bielsa remains in some bizarre form of Ligue 1 purgatory, awaiting a final decision on his future, Lille unwilling to pay the €9.5m it would cost to have him leave. The superb 2-1 win at second place Lyon last night might be a sign that Lopez should concede and pay up. Pep Guardiola famously described Bielsa as “the best coach in the world” while those managers seen as his disciples such as Guardiola, Jorge Sampaoli and Mauricio Pochettino, are famed for their own similar departures from coaching norms. However, few follow the Argentine’s methods to the letter and, broken promises aside, it now seems as though Bielsa may be the latest manager which modern football has simply left behind. Disputes with the now ubiquitous directors of football and haughty frustration at a lack of ‘his’ signings bypasses recognition of the way in which the sport now conducts itself and the ever impinging disparate and conflicting motivations of players, agents, presidents and so on. Bielsa is ‘The Professor’ to some; an innovator, influencer and tactical genius and the combustible, enigmatic, mad-scientist “El Loco” to others. But after this latest madcap run at management, the balance between the two schools of thought might be starting to shift and in truth he may now be neither genius nor enigma, simply a man sitting with his laptop watching along with everyone else. Talking points • Bordeaux were finally back to winning ways on Tuesday evening, earning three points for the first time in more than two months, 3-0 at home. A St Étienne side still finding its feet under the team of Julien Sablé and Jean-Louis Gasset were easy pickings, but Jocelyn Gourvennec’s decision to play a reactive 4-2-3-1 as opposed to the team’s habitual, plodding 4-3-3 seems was handsomely rewarded. With François Kamano and Nicolas de Préville both suspended, some changes were inevitable, but the manager also dropped Younousse Sankharé in favour of the more prosaic duo of Otávio and Lukas Lerager. The pair, freed from much attacking responsibility, did well to control the match by playing a series of long balls and breaking up play, with Alexandre Mendy’s aerial ability seeing the side have a defined focal point. Mendy used his physicality to great effect, menacing the visitors’ back line on his way to a brace. Most Ligue 1 opposition won’t seek so much of the ball, but on the whole, Gourvennec’s game plan was superb, and provided a result which could well be the tonic the club need to resume their push for a top-six finish. Facebook Twitter Pinterest Alexandre Mendy celebrates against St Étienne. Photograph: Romain Perrocheau/Getty Images • Florian Thauvin continued his good form of late, notching a goal and an assist to lead Marseille to a 3-0 win at Metz. Les Grenats hardly offered the sternest resistance, but after a limp display at home to Guingamp on Sunday, the result, coming as it did in concert with losses by Monaco and Lyon will do wonders for the team’s confidence, especially with a daunting encounter with Montpellier looming on Sunday. More to the point, though, Thauvin continues to thrive; where last season he could lean on Bafétimbi Gomis and Dimitri Payet to share the attacking work load, the current one has seen the winger offer up much of the team’s impetus on his own. A better defence and the sublime Luiz Gustavo have helped as well, but Thauvin’s steady improvement from the petulant youngster who moaned his way out of Lille continues apace, and looks be dovetailing nicely with Marseille’s progress as a club. The remarkable rise of Amiens, the club with President Macron's magic touch Read more • After wins from Lille and Nice, the club looking most like chasing Metz into Ligue 2 now appears to be Angers. After just one loss in their first nine matches, Le SCO are now winless in six, and with Montpellier, Nantes and Monaco to come before the winter break, no respite appears on the horizon. Stéphane Moulin has attempted to evolve his side from a no-frills outfit relying on physicality into something more aesthetically pleasing, but with things yet to click going forward, Angers are now subpar in both defence and attack. Karl Toko Ekambi has generally been a force in attack, but a raft of talented youngsters bought in the summer have failed to play with any consistency. Enzo Crivelli, Angelo Fulgini, Baptiste Guillaume and Lassana Coulibaly have all had their moments, but have more often than not flattered to deceive. Moulin, in response, has frequently changed his line-ups, chopping and changing at will as he seeks to find an ideal eleven. His newfound penchant for experimentation is yet to pay off, and the veteran manager could find his job under threat despite his achievements to date. Results: Amiens 2-1 Dijon, Strasbourg 0-0 Caen, Bordeaux 3-0 St Étienne, Angers 1-2 Rennes, Guingamp 0-0 Montpellier, Lyon 1-2 Lille, Metz 0-3 Marseille, Nantes 1-0 Monaco, Toulouse 1-2 Nice, PSG 2-0 Troyes
Spencer Welcome to the 20th Hurtworld Dev Blog! Not a whole lot to show from me this week as the Shigi Tools SDK integration will take a while to get things happening. I did a bit of work this week on fixing the Vehicle performance issues caused by vehicle parts being more common. This took a little longer than expected, but should now make vehicles that aren’t currently being driven consume negligible amounts of CPU (and they were using a lot). This change will go in with this weeks wipe on Friday. This was part of a major server performance pass cow_trx and I have been doing over the last week. These changes will hopefully give servers a much longer performance life, if not indefinitely. Vehicle Lag Something that might not be immediately obvious is why vehicles are so jerky when everything else is running fine. We have very complex lag compensation systems in place for player movement. This is by no means out of the ordinary for an FPS, its called client side prediction. This (among other things) allows the server to have a CPU spike for whatever reason, catch up on things and keep running without the client showing you anything was wrong. The only time you see lag on the client movement is when the server is seriously struggling or your ping is higher than the allowed prediction amount. Vehicles on the other hand use a physics simulation that is much harder to predict on the client, its not impossible but currently we are working with a simpler model: run everything server side then stream positions to the client (Players other than yourself steam positions also as predicting humans isn’t a good idea). Due to this, if a client stops getting positional updates for 500ms the game has no idea where to move the vehicle and will stop in its tracks waiting for the next update from the server. Once the server gets out of its CPU spike and catches up the car starts moving again. In short, the vehicle lag is caused by any CPU spike on the server. It could be a new player being sent heaps of construction data, a complex pathing calculation due to a creature moving through a massive base or the Unity garbage collector picking up memory that a plugin we use generated. Whatever it is, you will only really notice it while in a vehicle. These spikes are called jitter. Hurtworld is more sensitive to jitter than other survival / MMOs games out of choice. We believe once we get our server performance is tight it will allow us to deliver a much tighter gunplay experience than is possible in games that are designed to mask large latency spikes. We think we are pretty close to nailing server performance, hopefully this patch will make some good progress. Jitter can be hidden by increasing how far behind the current time we run our interpolation of the vehicles, the downside of this is it will greatly increase latency of driving input controls. The only 2 solutions here are: Get servers running CPU spike free or Rewrite the vehicle network model. Right now we’re going for option A as it benefits all aspects of the game and should be an achievable goal. Why are you working on insects when you could be working on gameplay feature X? I get a lot of comments on our dev blogs and updates misunderstanding the way that a game development team works so I will try to clear things up here. Our team is made up of many different roles, while it might seem that we are doing the same thing, each of our skill sets are very different. Programmers: Fix bugs, implement features, change gameplay, balance things Artists: Paint concept art, sculpt 3d geometry, paint textures, sometimes animate things Battlemu1e: Started as community manager, now master of servers and infrastructure. Currently making sure your server stays online. Since launch I’ve been prioritizing game stability over token features. Most of the content that has gone in so far has been art that slots into existing code systems as not to drag the programming team away from critical stability issues. We will have stability under control in the next few weeks, and can soon go back to the normal dev cycle of concept to implementation utilizing the whole team. This is why most of the output of the art team doesn’t have a big impact on gameplay. Mils Did someone say RAID? We have been getting requests for different ways to raid a base, which is nice timing because I have been working on just that. We wanted to create a method of raiding which would make the task more fun and challenging. Nothing is set in stone at the moment, but vaguely this device will require some supervision and material consumption. This will mean the person(s) pulling off the raid will need to be there and will have to tend to the device. The device makes a fair amount of noise, thereby attracting the attention of anyone within a certain range. This, we hope, should cause interactions between the raiders, their victims and any opportunists that pass by. The upside is the fact that it can be used more often but at the cost of the fuel materials it needs to run. (and maybe your lives). This won’t be in the game for a few weeks yet. Cow_Trix I’ve been working on some fairly big changes to ownership stakes and cars, putting a form of upkeep into both. Along side a server major performance pass to get things running smooth again even late into the wipe. All the following changes will be going in with the wipe on Friday. Changes to Vehicles Every player can now own one vehicle. You can do this by opening up it’s inventory, and clicking the CLAIM button up the top right. Anyone can drive a claimed car, and modify it’s inventory. Claimed cars won’t despawn if left alone. Unclaimed cars WILL destroy themselves if left alone. The default time this takes is 3 hours. You can also manually disassemble unclaimed cars with a new item – the Wrench. Disassembled cars will drop loot! This should mean cars recycle, meaning one clan doesn’t end up with all of the coolest chassis, while everyone else has to coast around with that one Sharkweek bumper. Changes to Ownership Stakes You can place a maximum of 5 amber in a stake, that will be very slowly consumed. The default time per amber is 24 hours, although this is configurable by server owners. This means that, by default, an unattended ownership stake will deauthorise in 5 days. Slow servers should probably increase this time, and fast servers decrease it. Once the stake is low on amber, it will create a plume of smoke, visible from far away. Once the stake has run out of amber, it will deauthorise everyone, do a slow countdown to destruction and eventually destroy itself, freeing up the land. This creates player-driven decay, as you can go around clearing old abandoned bases for easy resources. Be wary though – it could be a trap! We think the cost is reasonable enough that even solo players should be able to maintain a few bases fairly easily, if they play every couple of days. It should hopefully also create some areas of contention around large bases that become abandoned and unclaimed. This should make both bases and vehicles be more heavily contested and quickly recycled, which will extend server lifetimes a fair bit. The Wrench provides a new source of farm by allowing players to harvest old chassis that had a bad loot roll or are just unneeded. This will make the best chassis reachable by even a late-entry or solo player. I like the idea of claiming one vehicle and feeling that it’s yours and a personal possession, rather than your clan having every chassis in the game in their garage. I’m also looking forwards to seeing how stake decay impacts the meta. We’ll be sure to be looking at feedback for it, but it’s a definite step towards servers that need wiping far less often, and means that valuable stashes of resources will pop up once in a while for others to contend over. Depending on how efficient players turn out to be at removing old structures, we may implement some more structural decay mechanics in the future for unclaimed bases. Optimization One of the systems we have in place to ensure the server continues to run smoothly once there are thousands of objects in the world is our load balancer. This system ensures that things that aren’t mission critical never consume too much CPU time in a single frame and cause a spike. Things like storage crates checking for owrongs that need to go moldy, and campfires checking for new objects nearby to apply heat to. This system works pretty well for the most part, once we reach the budget for a frame we wait until next frame to do the next task in the queue. Once the server gets a bit deeper into the wipe, the number of things in the queue gets so high that the cycle rate of load balancer (how long it takes to go through the entire list of tasks once) gets so low that some tasks need to wait 15 seconds or so to get a turn. This is what causes the crazy delay on things like a campfire kicking in. I spent some time going through all our loadbalancer items with some of our biggest savegames and tuned the costs of a few of the items, this should ensure the load balancer keeps on top of its queue for much longer into the wipe. Gavku Hi all, I have just gotten back from a couple of weeks off, catching up with friends and family so not a great deal from me today.Currently I am working on a CNC machine, which will give the players some more crafting options 😉 Both the high and low poly are done and I am currently working on baking it out and painting up the texture maps. Below is the initial concept. And this is a screen grab of the high poly Battlemu1e I have been working with providers around the world to get the best protection we can from DDoS attacks. For some insight into this we have been getting attacks varying from 1-5Gbps (often even larger) daily on a large percentage of our current servers. This kind of traffic is a heavy burden for any provider to deal with and requires specific network requirements in order to mitigate. Much of the time this requires providers who are experienced in providing services for game servers and working with the kind of traffic we have been seeing. Couple this with the extreme CPU overhead we need to cover per server and our server and network hardware requirements quickly escalate beyond the typical dedicated server. This process is nearly completed, I am sure you have seen me migrating servers as new hardware goes live. At the time of writing the only servers that have not been moved onto new hardware are all Hong Kong servers, all Singapore servers, NY 1, 2 + 7 and Montreal but I am fairly confident these servers will be on new hardware by the time the wipes occur (if anything happens that causes this to not be the case I will make sure it is noted on Steam and Reddit. It might be worth holding off starting in these regions until we can assure you that you won’t have to deal with downtime due to DDoS). Between these changes and the server performance improvements we will be implementing we should be at the end of our DDoS downtime and rubber banding woes just in time for the next wipe. On the subject of wipes I will be introducing some changes to wipe schedules, server names and the amount of servers following the next wipe. In response to concerns that the current wipe schedule is too long, starting from the next wipe, we will be running 7 day and 14 day vanilla servers. Further to this we will also be offering Full Loot servers with a wipe schedule of 21 days, and due to significant server performance improvements, we will also be trialling ‘infini wipe’ servers. These ‘infini wipe’ servers will not have a scheduled wipe and will only be wiped when a patch requires it. We will also be doing away with individual country servers and have servers divided by region instead (so EU Fast Wipe, EU Infini Wipe etc as opposed to Amsterdam 1, Amsterdam 2…). Keep an eye out on Reddit for a full list of what servers will be available following the wipe. I will also be starting these servers at 18:00 local time Friday for each region. This should give everyone a better chance at starting a fresh wipe on equal footing (no more advantages for night owls). Due to this not aligning with the end of the current wipe schedule I will be slightly extending the current wipe. The way this will work is all servers will go down at approx 17:00 – 18:00 AEDT on Friday and as we get to 18:00 in each region that regions servers will come back up. To make sure this process is smooth I will be manually starting and monitoring these servers as they go live. Any changes or updates to this I will be posting to Steam and Reddit so feel free to drop by and have a chat while waiting for your server to come online! Dazzler I have rounded out the Dart bug insect animation and stateflow, Cowtrix will be working on AI implementation in coming weeks. They should be a challenging creature, ranged like a Tokar but can stealth/pseudo-teleport by burrowing. I am now working on the wasp animations.
Sen. Kamala Harris (D-Calif.) is calling for Americans not to let “extremists define us” after the violent white supremacist rally in Charlottesville, Va. Harris wrote in a lengthy Facebook post Sunday that there were not “many sides” to the violence at the rally, as President Trump said during his comments Saturday. One person was killed and more than a dozen others injured after a man plowed his car into a crowd of counterprotesters. Trump has since faced criticism for refusing to call out far-right groups by name. “‘Many sides’ is what kept children in this country at separate schools and adults at separate lunch counters for decades. ‘Many sides’ is what turned a blind eye when Emmett Till was lynched and stood silent when marchers were beat in Selma for 'disturbing the peace,'” Harris wrote. ADVERTISEMENT She noted that the rally was held to protest the removal of a Confederate statue that “celebrated men who fought for an America that kept human beings enslaved. That’s an America in which I’d never be allowed to vote, much less be elected a U.S. Senator.” Harris said white supremacists were protesting “attacks on their self perceived racial superiority” and questioned how the group would feel if they had faced the same restrictions oppressed groups in America have dealt with for decades. She called for fellow lawmakers to continue fighting discrimination in Congress by passing laws against acts of hate. “It’s easy to tweet that hate has no place in America. But no legislator should be allowed to be horrified on a Saturday and then vote to drag America backward on a Monday,” Harris wrote. “We don’t have to let extremists define us. Opportunities to do right are right in front of us. We just have to seize them,” she said.
The domestic turkey (Meleagris gallopavo) is a large fowl, one of the two species in the genus Meleagris and the same as the wild turkey. Although turkey domestication was thought to have occurred in central Mesoamerica at least 2,000 years ago,[1] recent research suggests a possible second domestication event in the Southwestern United States between 200 BC and AD 500. However, all of the main domestic turkey varieties today descend from the turkey raised in central Mexico that was subsequently imported into Europe by the Spanish in the 16th century.[2] Domestic turkey is a popular form of poultry, and it is raised throughout temperate parts of the world, partially because industrialized farming has made it very cheap for the amount of meat it produces. Female domestic turkeys are referred to as hens, and the chicks may be called poults or turkeylings. In the United States, the males are referred to as toms, while in the United Kingdom and Ireland, males are stags. The great majority of domestic turkeys are bred to have white feathers because their pin feathers are less visible when the carcass is dressed, although brown or bronze-feathered varieties are also raised. The fleshy protuberance atop the beak is the snood, and the one attached to the underside of the beak is known as a wattle. The English language name for this species results from an early misidentification of the bird with an unrelated species which was imported to Europe through the country of Turkey.[3] The Latin species name gallopāvō means "chicken peacock". History [ edit ] The modern domestic turkey is descended from one of six subspecies of wild turkey: Meleagris gallopavo, found in the area bounded by the present Mexican states of Jalisco, Guerrero, and Veracruz[4] Ancient Mesoamericans domesticated this subspecies, using its meat and eggs as major sources of protein and employing its feathers extensively for decorative purposes. The Aztecs associated the turkey with their trickster god Tezcatlipoca,[5] perhaps because of its perceived humorous behavior. Domestic turkeys were taken to Europe by the Spanish. Many distinct breeds were developed in Europe (e.g. Spanish Black, Royal Palm). In the early 20th century, many advances were made in the breeding of turkeys, resulting in breeds such as the Beltsville Small White. Black Spanish turkeys A young turkey is called a poult. The 16th-century English navigator William Strickland is generally credited with introducing the turkey into England.[6][7] His family coat of arms — showing a turkey cock as the family crest — is among the earliest known European depictions of a turkey.[6][8] English farmer Thomas Tusser notes the turkey being among farmer's fare at Christmas in 1573.[9] The domestic turkey was sent from England to Jamestown, Virginia in 1608. A document written in 1584 lists supplies to be furnished to future colonies in the New World; "turkies, male and female".[10] Prior to the late 19th century, turkey was something of a luxury in the UK, with goose or beef a more common Christmas dinner among the working classes.[11] In Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol (1843), Bob Cratchit had a goose before Scrooge bought him a turkey.[12] Turkey production in the UK was centered in East Anglia, using two breeds, the Norfolk Black and the Norfolk Bronze (also known as Cambridge Bronze). These would be driven as flocks, after shoeing, down to markets in London from the 17th century onwards - the breeds having arrived in the early 16th century via Spain.[13] Intensive farming of turkeys from the late 1940s dramatically cut the price, making it more affordable for the working classes. With the availability of refrigeration, whole turkeys could be shipped frozen to distant markets. Later advances in disease control increased production even more. Advances in shipping, changing consumer preferences and the proliferation of commercial poultry plants has made fresh turkey inexpensive as well as readily available. Recent genome analysis has provided researchers with the opportunity to determine the evolutionary history of domestic turkeys, and their relationship to other domestic fowl.[14] Behaviour [ edit ] Anatomical structures on the head and throat of a domestic turkey. 1. Caruncles, 2. Snood, 3. Wattle (Dewlap), 4. Major caruncle, 5. Beard Young domestic turkeys readily fly short distances, perch and roost. These behaviours become less frequent as the birds mature, but adults will readily climb on objects such as bales of straw. Young birds perform spontaneous, frivolous running ('frolicking') which has all the appearance of play. Commercial turkeys show a wide diversity of behaviours including 'comfort' behaviours such as wing-flapping, feather ruffling, leg stretching and dust-bathing. Turkeys are highly social and become very distressed when isolated. Many of their behaviours are socially facilitated i.e. expression of a behaviour by one animal increases the tendency for this behaviour to be performed by others. Adults can recognise 'strangers' and placing any alien turkey into an established group will almost certainly result in that individual being attacked, sometimes fatally. Turkeys are highly vocal, and 'social tension' within the group can be monitored by the birds’ vocalisations. A high-pitched trill indicates the birds are becoming aggressive which can develop into intense sparring where opponents leap at each other with the large, sharp talons, and try to peck or grasp the head of each other. Aggression increases in frequency and severity as the birds mature. Male domestic turkey sexually displaying by showing the snood hanging over the beak, the caruncles hanging from the throat, and the 'beard' of small, black, stiff feathers on the chest Maturing males spend a considerable proportion of their time sexually displaying. This is very similar to that of the wild turkey and involves fanning the tail feathers, drooping the wings and erecting all body feathers, including the 'beard' (a tuft of black, modified hair-like feathers on the centre of the breast). The skin of the head, neck and caruncles (fleshy nodules) becomes bright blue and red, and the snood (an erectile appendage on the forehead) elongates, the birds 'sneeze' at regular intervals, followed by a rapid vibration of their tail feathers. Throughout, the birds strut slowly about, with the neck arched backward, their breasts thrust forward and emitting their characteristic 'gobbling' call. Size and weight [ edit ] Animal Average mass kg (lb) Maximum mass kg (lb) Average total length cm (ft) Domestic turkey 13.5 (29.8) [15] 39 (86)[16] 100 - 124.9 (3.3 – 4.1)[17] The domestic turkey is the eighth largest living bird species in terms of maximum mass at 39 kg (86 lbs).[citation needed] Turkey breeds [ edit ] A domestic turkey taken as a pet Turkey in Pakistan The Broad Breasted White is the commercial turkey of choice for large scale industrial turkey farms, and consequently is the most consumed variety of the bird. Usually the turkey to receive a "presidential pardon", a U.S. custom, is a Broad Breasted White. The Broad Breasted Bronze is another commercially developed strain of table bird. The Standard Bronze looks much like the Broad Breasted Bronze, except that it is single breasted, and can naturally breed. The Bourbon Red turkey is a smaller, non-commercial breed with dark reddish feathers with white markings. Slate, or Blue Slate, turkeys are a very rare breed with gray-blue feathers. The Black ("Spanish Black", "Norfolk Black") has very dark plumage with a green sheen. The Narragansett Turkey is a popular heritage breed named after Narraganset Bay in New England. The Chocolate is a rarer heritage breed with markings similar to a Black Spanish, but light brown instead of black in color. Common in the Southern U.S. and France before the Civil War. The Beltsville Small White is a small heritage breed, whose development started in 1934. The breed was introduced in 1941 and was admitted to the APA Standard in 1951. Although slightly bigger and broader than the Midget White, both are often mislabeled. The Midget White is a smaller heritage breed. Commercial production [ edit ] In commercial production, breeder farms supply eggs to hatcheries. After 28 days of incubation, the hatched poults are sexed and delivered to the grow-out farms; hens are raised separately from toms because of different growth rates. In the UK, it is common to rear chicks in the following way. Between one and seven days of age, chicks are placed into small (2.5 m) circular brooding pens to ensure they encounter food and water. To encourage feeding, they may be kept under constant light for the first 48 hours. To assist thermoregulation, air temperature is maintained at 35 °C for the first three days, then lowered by approximately 3 °C every two days to 18 °C at 37 days of age, and infra-red heaters are usually provided for the first few days. Whilst in the pens, feed is made widely accessible by scattering it on sheets of paper in addition to being available in feeders. After several days, the pens are removed, allowing the birds access to the entire rearing shed, which may contain tens of thousands of birds. The birds remain there for several weeks, after which they are transported to another unit.[18] The vast majority of turkeys are reared indoors in purpose-built or modified buildings of which there are many types. Some types have slatted walls to allow ventilation, but many have solid walls and no windows to allow artificial lighting manipulations to optimise production. The buildings can be very large (converted aircraft hangars are sometimes used) and may contain tens of thousands of birds as a single flock. The floor substrate is usually deep-litter, e.g. wood shavings, which relies upon the controlled build-up of a microbial flora requiring skilful management. Ambient temperatures for adult domestic turkeys are usually maintained between 18 and 21 °C. High temperatures should be avoided because the high metabolic rate of turkeys (up to 69 W/bird) makes them susceptible to heat stress, exacerbated by high stocking densities.[18] Commercial turkeys are kept under a variety of lighting schedules, e.g. continuous light, long photoperiods (23 h), or intermittent lighting, to encourage feeding and accelerate growth.[19] Light intensity is usually low (e.g. less than one lux) to reduce feather pecking. Rations generally include corn and soybean meal, with added vitamins and minerals, and is adjusted for protein, carbohydrate and fat based on the age and nutrient requirements. Hens are slaughtered at about 14–16 weeks and toms at about 18–20 weeks of age when they can weigh over 20 kg compared to a mature male wild turkey which weighs approximately 10.8 kg.[20][citation needed] Welfare concerns [ edit ] Modern domestic turkeys under commercial conditions Stocking density is an issue in the welfare of commercial turkeys and high densities are a major animal welfare concern. Permitted stocking densities for turkeys reared indoors vary according to geography and animal welfare farm assurance schemes. For example, in Germany, there is a voluntary maximum of 52 kg/m2 and 58 kg/m2 for males and females respectively. In the UK, the RSPCA Freedom Foods assurance scheme reduces permissible stocking density to 25 kg/m2 for turkeys reared indoors.[21] Turkeys maintained at commercial stocking densities (8 birds/m2; 61 kg/m2) exhibit increased welfare problems such as increases in gait abnormalities, hip and foot lesions, and bird disturbances, and decreased bodyweight compared with lower stocking densities.[22] Turkeys reared at 8 birds/m2 have a higher incidence of hip lesions and foot pad dermatitis than those reared at 6.5 or 5.0 birds/m2.[23] Insufficient space may lead to an increased risk for injuries such as broken wings caused by hitting the pen walls or other turkeys during aggressive encounters[24] and can also lead to heat stress.[25] The problems of small space allowance are exacerbated by the major influence of social facilitation on the behaviour of turkeys. If turkeys are to feed, drink, dust-bathe, etc., simultaneously, then to avoid causing frustration, resources and space must be available in large quantities. Lighting manipulations used to optimise production can compromise welfare. Long photoperiods combined with low light intensity can result in blindness from buphthalmia (distortions of the eye morphology) or retinal detachment. Feather pecking occurs frequently amongst commercially reared turkeys and can begin at 1 day of age. This behaviour is considered to be re-directed foraging behaviour, caused by providing poultry with an impoverished foraging environment. To reduce feather pecking, turkeys are often beak-trimmed. Ultraviolet-reflective markings appear on young birds at the same time as feather pecking becomes targeted toward these areas, indicating a possible link.[26] Commercially reared turkeys also perform head-pecking, which becomes more frequent as they sexually mature. When this occurs in small enclosures or environments with few opportunities to escape, the outcome is often fatal and rapid. Frequent monitoring is therefore essential, particularly of males approaching maturity. Injuries to the head receive considerable attention from other birds, and head-pecking often occurs after a relatively minor injury has been received during a fight or when a lying bird has been trodden upon and scratched by another. Individuals being re-introduced after separation are often immediately attacked again. Fatal head-pecking can occur even in small (10 birds), stable groups. Commercial turkeys are normally reared in single-sex flocks. If a male is inadvertently placed in a female flock, he may be aggressively victimised (hence the term 'henpecked'). Females in male groups will be repeatedly mated, during which it is highly likely she will be injured from being trampled upon. Breeding and companies [ edit ] The dominant commercial breed is the Broad-breasted Whites (similar to "White Holland", but a separate breed), which have been selected for size and amount of meat. Mature toms are too large to achieve natural fertilization without injuring the hens, so their semen is collected, and hens are inseminated artificially. Several hens can be inseminated from each collection, so fewer toms are needed. The eggs of some turkey breeds are able to develop without fertilization, in a process called parthenogenesis.[27][28] Breeders' meat is too tough for roasting, and is mostly used to make processed meats. Waste products [ edit ] Approximately two to four billion pounds of poultry feathers are produced every year by the poultry industry. Most are ground into a protein source for ruminant animal feed, which are able to digest the protein keratin of which feathers are composed. Researchers at the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) have patented a method of removing the stiff quill from the fibers which make up the feather.[citation needed] As this is a potential supply of natural fibers, research has been conducted at Philadelphia University's School of Engineering and Textiles to determine textile applications for feather fibers. Turkey feather fibers have been blended with nylon and spun into yarn, and then used for knitting. The yarns were tested for strength while the fabrics were evaluated as insulation materials. In the case of the yarns, as the percentage of turkey feather fibers increased, the strength decreased. In fabric form, as the percentage of turkey feather fibers increased, the heat retention capability of the fabric increased.[citation needed] Turkeys as food [ edit ] A roast turkey prepared for a traditional U.S. Thanksgiving meal Turkeys are traditionally eaten as the main course of Christmas feasts in much of the English-speaking world (stuffed turkey) since appearing in England in the 16th century,[30] as well as for Thanksgiving in the United States and Canada. While eating turkey was once mainly restricted to special occasions such as these, turkey is now eaten year-round and forms a regular part of many diets. Turkeys are sold sliced and ground, as well as "whole" in a manner similar to chicken with the head, feet, and feathers removed. Frozen whole turkeys remain popular. Sliced turkey is frequently used as a sandwich meat or served as cold cuts; in some cases, where recipes call for chicken, turkey can be used as a substitute. Additionally, ground turkey is frequently marketed as a healthy ground beef substitute. Without careful preparation, cooked turkey may end up less moist than other poultry meats, such as chicken or duck. Wild turkeys, while technically the same species as domestic turkeys, have a very different taste from farm-raised turkeys. In contrast to domestic turkeys, almost all wild turkey meat is "dark" (even the breast) and more intensely flavored. The flavor can also vary seasonally with changes in available forage, often leaving wild turkey meat with a gamier flavor in late summer due to the greater number of insects in its diet over the preceding months. Wild turkey that has fed predominantly on grass and grain has a milder flavor. Older heritage breeds also differ in flavor. Unlike chicken, duck, and quail eggs, turkey eggs are not commonly sold as food due to the high demand for whole turkeys and the lower output of turkey eggs as compared with other fowl. The value of a single turkey egg is estimated to be about US $3.50 on the open market, substantially more than a single carton of one dozen chicken eggs.[31][32] Cooking [ edit ] Roast turkey Both fresh and frozen turkeys are used for cooking; as with most foods, fresh turkeys are generally preferred, although they cost more. Around holiday seasons, high demand for fresh turkeys often makes them difficult to purchase without ordering in advance. For the frozen variety, the large size of the turkeys typically used for consumption makes defrosting them a major endeavor: a typically sized turkey will take several days to properly defrost. Turkeys are usually baked or roasted in an oven for several hours, often while the cook prepares the remainder of the meal. Sometimes, a turkey is brined before roasting to enhance flavor and moisture content. This is necessary because the dark meat requires a higher temperature to denature all of the myoglobin pigment than the white meat (which is very low in myoglobin), so that fully cooking the dark meat tends to dry out the breast. Brining makes it possible to fully cook the dark meat without drying the breast meat. Turkeys are sometimes decorated with turkey frills prior to serving. In some areas, particularly the American South, turkeys may also be deep fried in hot oil (often peanut oil) for 30 to 45 minutes by using a turkey fryer. Deep frying turkey has become something of a fad, with hazardous consequences for those unprepared to safely handle the large quantities of hot oil required.[33] Nutritional value [ edit ] White turkey meat is often considered healthier than dark meat because of its lower fat content, but the nutritional differences are small. Although turkey is reputed to cause sleepiness, holiday dinners are commonly large meals served with carbohydrates, fats, and alcohol in a relaxed atmosphere, all of which are bigger contributors to post-meal sleepiness than the tryptophan in turkey.[34][35] Turkey litter for fuel [ edit ] Although most commonly used as fertilizer, turkey litter (droppings mixed with bedding material, usually wood chips) is used as a fuel source in electric power plants. One such plant in western Minnesota provides 55 megawatts of power using 500,000 tons of litter per year. The plant began operating in 2007.[36]
Coming off a wonderful experience at Envision Festival in Costa Rica, I’m certainly looking forward to similar vibes at Sonic Bloom! Sonic Bloom Festival takes place June 16-19 Colorado. Tickets are still available! (for now) With such a stacked lineup, it was very hard to choose just 10 “must see” artists at Sonic Bloom. I decided to spread out the love and mention higher billed artists as well as some up and comers! One thing is for certain, these artists are all cutting edge in their own respective areas. Here are my top 10 “must see” artists at Sonic Bloom 2016! 1) Tipper Seeing Dave Tipper live is an unparalleled experience in electronic music today. He’s the undisputed king of sound design. With sounds like that, he must be from outer space. His fans are rabid (myself included) and regularly follow “Sensei” around the country. Dave has been destroying dance floors since the 90s and somehow only gets better. Tipper will be playing 2 sets at SB… with rumors of a possible 3rd Journey set added?! Don’t miss your chance to see Tipper in 2016! The only other set he has on the books is NYE in the Bay Area. 2) Justin Martin So excited to get down with Justin Martins playful groovy house music. This dirty bird prodigy is making waves across the rebounding house music scene. I typically gravitate towards bass music, but find Justin Martin’s flavor irresistible. 3) VibeSquaD I’m a sucker for crunchy bass lines and Vibesquad surely delivers. Fun fact: Vibesquad started as an acid jazz band in the 90s with Aaron on the guitar and Jamie Janover on the drums. The band failed and Aaron kept the name as he transformed into bass music. 4) Govinda I love how Govinda fuses sounds of nature into his unique take on bass music. Feels like a tribal gathering. Eastern sounds meets western bass lines. Govinda just released a new album, Decadence, in March of 2016. Excited to hear these tracks mixed into his set. 5) Janover & reSunator Jamie Janover (multi-instrumentalist) + Lezlie Sunshine (vocalist). A beautiful fusion of electronic and organic sounds. Jamie Janover is a man of many talents. He is the curator of Sonic Bloom Festival, has his hand in countless music projects, and a leader in the physics world for his work with the Unified Field Theory. 6) Templo Denver up and comer, Templo, is coming back for yet another Sonic Bloom. I really love his deep downtempo bass lines. His music feels “squishy” and I can’t get enough. 7) Space Jesus Brooklyn based, Space Jesus is a purveyor of all things bass music. Get ready for an eclectic set leaning future bass. He usually blends some tasty lyrical samples that flow seamlessly over the bouncing bass. 8) The Widdler Dark and deep. Lots of Dub. Lots of strange. The Widdler is the veteran of the underground bass music scene. His unique style knows no bound. Get ready for a journey into the unknown. 9) Deya Dova This Australian based vocalist producer will surely bring out the feels in us all. She combines organic percussion and vocals with tribal bass production. Every time I hear Deya Dova it feels like a tribal gathering. “This singer producer sounds like the love child of an orgy between Fever Ray, Shpongle and Trentemoller.” –3D MAGAZINE 10) Digital Vagabond Patrick Boyle, the man behind Digital Vagabond, is well established in the electronic music scene. Besides playing music he also co-founded the popular music hub LostInSound.org. Never seen Digital Vagabond live but I’m loving his mixes on Soundcloud. Hard to pin down his style. From what I can tell it’s mostly chilled out roots / dub. Full Sonic Bloom 2016 Lineup Sonic Bloom Festival takes place June 16-19 Colorado. Get tickets before they sell out. Anne and I will see you at the Hummingbird Ranch! Your turn… who are you most excited to see at Sonic Bloom 2016?
The 12 Hottest Pizzas to Try in Chicago Right Now, 2018 Edition Share The 12 Hottest Pizzas to Try in Chicago Right Now, 2018 Edition The 12 Hottest Pizzas to Try in Chicago Right Now, 2018 Edition Share The 12 Hottest Pizzas to Try in Chicago Right Now, 2018 Edition Pizza is virtually a major food group for Chicagoans so there's never a shortage of new spots popping up to satisfy that craving. The city's most iconic places are reliable standbys but these following 12 pizzerias have opened in the past year and are elevating the scene with fresh flavors. In this latest update, Paulie Gee's and others say goodbye to make room for world-renowned Bonci and Neapolitan favorite Nella Pizza e Pasta. No need to argue over which style is the best, either, as there's plenty of variety to go around — from Detroit to Roman-style. Listed in alphabetical order. Note: Restaurants on this map are listed geographically.
Click to email this to a friend (Opens in new window) Donny’s helicopter descended on Cleveland playing movie theme music from Harrison Ford’s “Air Force One.” Donny does not blow a single spot of playing hot shot. At a private lunch with junior Trumpets, maybe-VP-to-be Pence, RNC chairman Reince Priebus, Woody Johnson, Rick Perry, Wilbur Ross, John Catsimatidis, and a crateload of big governors and large wallets, he hit the spotlight from atop a steep staircase. I asked had he experienced any stab of fear. His smartass answer? “Only when you interview me.” He peed on Cruz. “Ted had signed the Pledge. You know why? Because I made him do it. But two hours before his speech I wanted him thrown off. Reince thought not. See, we knew there’d be no endorsement. What we didn’t know is that he’d be booed out of the convention. “But I didn’t care. Nobody cared about him. Nobody cared about Kasich either. I didn’t even know Kasich. I know nobody noticed him. Nobody ever even asked him one question.” Dems’ Philly takeover Guarding a vice president, president, ex-president, maybe president — Biden, Obama, Bill, Hillary — Philadelphia security is looking like Guantanamo. Madeleine Albright’s on a panel. Bono’s doing whatever Bono does. Fergie’s singing for the Creative Coalition. Rep. Carolyn Maloney has a NY cheesecake-versus-Philly cheesesteak do. Bill’s old White Housers get a get-together. NY State Fair’s into some other thing. Events at beer gardens, ballrooms, restaurants, coffeehouses. Hey, there’ll be a hot time in the old town this week. Call answers I asked could-be Second Lady Karen Pence where she was when the Call came in. “With my husband in his office at home. Understand, he did not seek this. My husband never spoke up in his own behalf nor said one word against any possible candidate. He took no opportunity to badmouth one of the possible people. Being against anybody is not how we live. We didn’t fight for this opportunity. “We’ve been with Donald many times and seen him call his wife after some happenings. We’ve gotten to know the man. So I wasn’t nervous or scared when the call came in.” Jeb’s too slow Alongside Karen Pence — Woody Johnson. As Reince Priebus took iPhone photos of Donald, I asked about Woody’s previous support of Jeb Bush. “After Jeb dropped out, I took a couple of weeks to reflect. Then went to see Donald. And signed on. Jeb was too slow. He’d give six-minute answers. Donald’s lightning. Hillary has the best system in place on the ground, but on the stump, in speech, she can’t beat Donald. He’ll cut her down fast.” O’s new pad Droplets from Democraticland are about new mansion-style house Obama bought in Kalorama, Greater Washington’s classy section. It has eight bedrooms. The report he’s staying in DC so his daughter can finish school was rebutted with: “Naaaah. If Hillary wins, he’s hanging around for a Supreme Court job.” Biden. Recently in Australia. Melbourne. Grand Hyatt. Security for him alone so wildly intense that the Secret Service swarmed in two weeks in advance. Not only was everything diverted, shut down, protected, color coded, badges, fronted with barricades, but general manager Ilan Weill couldn’t even get into his own hotel. He phoned staffers inside to contact the police to walk him in. So this Democratic hurrah note ended with: “Sincere thank you. Because of you and your incredible support, I am where I am,” etc., etc., blah, blah. It got sent to a lifelong right-winger. Republican since the womb. Only in New York, kids, only in New York.
A new analysis from the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities underscores that the poor are no longer the primary beneficiaries of the government safety net. Terms like entitlements, government benefits and safety net often conjure images of tax dollars sliding from the hands of the wealthy into the pockets of the poor. But as we reported Sunday, that image is badly outdated. Benefits now flow primarily to the middle class. The center’s study found that the poorest American households, the bottom fifth, received just 32 cents of every dollar of government benefits distributed in 2010. The finding is broadly consistent with the data we reported Sunday that the poorest households received 36 percent of benefits in 2007, down from 54 percent in 1979, numbers that came from a study published last year by the Congressional Budget Office. While the findings are not directly comparable because of differences in methodology, the new study suggests that the recent recession did not cause any significant increase in the share of benefits flowing to the poor, as might once have been expected. The study found that older people received slightly more than half of government benefits, while the nonelderly with disabilities received an additional 20 percent. Most of these benefits are not means-tested – indeed, better-paid workers get more in Social Security. Furthermore, the study notes that politicians have shifted benefits away from the “jobless poor,” through reductions in traditional welfare, and increased benefits for working families, for example through tax credits. The government also has steadily expanded eligibility for benefit programs. “The safety net became much more work-based,” wrote Arloc Sherman and his collaborators at the center, a left-leaning research group. “In addition, the U.S. population is aging, which raises the share of benefits going to seniors and people with disabilities.” Another finding of the study is that the distribution of benefits no longer aligns with the demography of poverty. African-Americans, who make up 22 percent of the poor, receive 14 percent of government benefits, close to their 12 percent population share. White non-Hispanics, who make up 42 percent of the poor, receive 69 percent of government benefits – again, much closer to their 64 percent population share.
There are many viable decks in Magic the Gathering Standard Constructed these days. I say, why not go with "speed kills"? It's fun to have the fastest deck in the format — although you need staying power and card quality as well. Picture this… With a good draw, you can finish off your opponent so fast he wouldn't even know what hit him. Then, while his or her head is still reeling, go scout other decks, relax, treat yourself to lunch, have a Coke and a smile, and laugh at all the grindy little nerds taking 30 minutes a game rather than 30 seconds. That's the plan, anyway. Most Gruul aggro decks are red-based, and for good reason: they get to play Boros Reckoner, an all-star card. But the version presented here — which is green based — is unusual in its large number of turn-3 kills, something virtually unknown in Standard Constructed. You'll not often draw a turn-3 kill in practice, of course (especially since the opponent usually puts up some kind of defense), but the number of quick kills is a sign of how incredibly fast this deck is, even compared to other aggro decks. Another distinctive feature of this deck is that it's cheap, having no mythic rares and (aside from its lands) almost no rares at all. Creatures (30) =========== 3x Dryad Militant 3x Arbor Elf 4x Strangleroot Geist 4x Burning-Tree Emissary 3x Lightning Mauler 3x Flinthoof Boar 3x Slaughterhorn 4x Ghor-Clan Rampager 3x Hellrider Other Spells (9) ============ 3x Rancor 3x Pillar of Flame 3x Searing Spear Lands (21) ======== 4 Rootbound Crag 4 Stomping Ground 5 Mountain 7 Forest 1 Kessig Wolf Run About those Turn-3 Kills. Here are a few of them: Turn one, play a Dryad. (Its 2/1 stat, even without playing another creature, is key here). Play a second forest and then Rancor the Dryad twice. Do 6 damage. Play a third Rancor. Using blood rush, discard 2 Slaughterhorns to make your Dyad 8 + 3 + 3 = 14 power. Attack! Now it's Game Over if opponent did nothing to defend him or herself (obviously, a big assumption, but this still shows you the amazing speed of this deck). Or: Turn one, play a Dryad again (See why I included several of these?). Turn two is the fun one. Play Burning-Tree Emissary followed by Lightning Mauler (because the Emissary puts RG back into your mana pool when she lands). Mauler and Emissary both have haste, thanks to soulbonding. Now you have a 2/1, 2/2, and a 2/1 creature, all of whom can attack. Do 6 damage. Attack for another 6 damage. Now you have three mana free and need to do another 8 damage. Again, discard two Slaughterhorns (see why I include these?) to pump your creatures by 6 power, for 12 total damage on the attack. You're up to 18 damage. Do the last 2 with a Pillar of Flame. It looks like the deck depends heavily on Slaughterhorns, but it doesn't even need those. A turn-one Arbor Elf makes it possible to play Hellrider on turn 3, for massive damage. Consider: Turn one Elf. On turn two, three mana are available. Play 2 Burning-Tree Emissaries and a Lightning Mauler. Rancor one of the two attackers (let's say the Lightning Mauler, just for ease of illustration). Do 6 damage. On turn three, slap down a Hellrider. Now you have four attackers, and thanks to Hellrider's special ability, you do 4 damage just upon declaring attackers. (So far, you've done 10 damage, and turn-3 combat damage hasn't even been applied yet.) Finally, the attackers do: 3 (Hellrider) + 4 (Lightning Mauler plus Rancor) + 2 (Emissary #1) + 2 (Emissary #2) 21 damage total on turn 3. Staying power is provided in part by Strangleroot Geists, which are not only super fast, but come back nicely from board wipe (Day of Judgment etc) and removal. And… a single copy of Kessig Wolf Run turns otherwise unused lands into extra damage. I'm thinking of trying to squeeze in an Experiment One or two (no pun intended) to give the deck even more resilience. Tips on playing: Obviously, the blood rush is a two-edged sword. If opponent has mana free, you have to anticipate the possibility of his or her responding to blood rush by simply unsummoning your creature. Ouch! But fortunately, the constant stream of threats you play should force the opponent to tap all his mana out on the early turns to play a blocker or else die. Ideally, then, he has no mana free, and therefore no options, on early turns. In that case, blood-rush away! Blood-rushing by discarding a Rampager is particularly slick, as you win combat after combat, blowing away blockers and trampling through for significant damage at the same time. Knowing when to mulligan is often a tough decision, with this deck as with others. But if you don't have an aggro start on seven cards (drawing too many lands perhaps) it's worth doing a mulligan to try to get an aggro draw. Remember, it's the steady stream of threats that forces opponent to tap out just to survive, and then you have all the options. Have fun!
Image copyright Wikimedia/Bricking Image caption The Oporto Jewish community says it has accepted the first 21 applications for Portuguese citizenship Thousands of descendants of Sephardic Jews have enquired about obtaining Portuguese citizenship since new rules were brought in earlier this year, it's reported. In January, the cabinet approved a law reversing the expulsion of their ancestors in the 15th century, and the government has now issued a document setting out how people can become citizens and "integrate into the national community with all the rights and obligations this entails," the Jornal de Noticias reports. More than 5,000 people from around the world have contacted Oporto's Jewish community in the past two months to enquire about the process, and the first 21 applications have already been approved, spokesman Michael Rothwell tells the paper. Among those 21 are people from as far afield as Panama, Australia and China. Applicants must obtain a certificate confirming their ancestry from one of the country's two small Jewish communities in Lisbon and Oporto, as well as documents proving they have no criminal record. The king of Portugal ordered the expulsion or forced conversion of the Jewish community in 1496 under Spanish pressure, and hundreds of thousands fled persecution in subsequent years for the Ottoman Empire, the Netherlands and the Americas. In January, Justice Minister Paula Teixeira da Cruz said the new law was "not historical redress, as it is impossible to undo what was done". She described it as "the granting of a right" at a time when anti-Semitism is "raging in Europe". Use #NewsfromElsewhere to stay up-to-date with our reports via Twitter.
On Tuesday night, ESPN will air their first two of many NBA games, a preseason doubleheader featuring the Knicks vs the Rockets and the Clippers vs the Warriors. With the new season comes a new graphics package, emphasizing the players, a red, white, and blue color scheme, and a new NBA on ESPN logo. First, here’s the new NBA on ESPN logo. As a comparison, here’s the old NBA on ESPN logo. Here’s an example of ESPN’s new player comparison graphic for the NBA, with the players taking up a good chunk of the real estate. And the new graphic for the starting lineups. A couple more player graphics. There’s also a new logo for NBA Countdown this season. Here’s a look at all of the graphics in action. All in all, it looks pretty slick. As for the actual graphics during the telecast, the only tweak we know is that as of now, the Virtual 3 technology is not expected to return on Saturday nights.
Jack White has words for the Black Keys, and they aren’t nice. In an excerpt from the next Rolling Stone cover, the Lazaretto-maker reiterates his previously made-in-private theory about the Nashville-via-Akron duo ripping him off. He even takes it to the schoolyard, which is fitting not only because of the inherently childish nature of the conversation, but because the beef arose when White told his ex-wife he didn’t want their kids going to school with Dan Auerbach’s kids. “There are kids at school who dress like everybody else,” he said, “because they don’t know what to do, and there are musicians like that, too. I’ll hear TV commercials where the music’s ripping off sounds of mine, to the point I think it’s me. Half the time, it’s the Black Keys. The other half, it’s a sound-alike song because they couldn’t license one of mine. There’s a whole world that’s totally fine with the watered-down version of the original.” Oof. White explained what he meant by way of grouping Duffy, Lana Del Rey, and Adele in the same category, implying that they’re also purported ripoff artists in the vein of his nemeses the Black Keys. “Some people will hear that and say ‘Oh, Jack White thinks he’s the first person to play the blues,'” he said. “But certain acts open up a market for a certain style. Amy Winehouse: Did she invent white soul? Wearing a beehive? No. But she did something brand new and fresh, altogether as a package, and you see who’s in her wake, from the Duffys to the Lana Del Reys. Adele selling 20 million records? That would not have happened if Amy Winehouse was alive.” Perhaps if he and Meg White were still friends… “The White Stripes did the same thing,” White went on, “and in our absence, you’re gonna find someone to fill that. And you get a band like the Black Keys, who said they never heard of the White Stripes? Sure.” Lest we forget, Keys drummer Patrick Carney weighed in on this drama with RS recently too — the timing of the publication’s beef rollout couldn’t seem more calculated, but so it goes — saying that White “sounds like an asshole” but that the band won’t hold a grudge over something the man said in private while weathering a divorce. Okay, so, what about now? Chances are we won’t have to hold our breaths till we Turn Blue.
Michigan State’s crazy, 27-23 comeback win against Michigan on Saturday meant the Spartans not only improved to 7-0, but also got to keep the Paul Bunyan Trophy for winning their in-state rivalry game. Except they had already given it up, apparently. Sam Webb of Scout.com reports the trophy had already made its way to the Michigan locker room before the Wolverines lined up for their ill-fated punt attempt. It resulted in a fumble being returned for a Michigan State touchdown with no time left. Article continues below ... Know how over MSU's equipment staff thought it was? They'd dropped Bunyan off in U-M's locker room. #SurrealFinish pic.twitter.com/1j1I7nJ7Z1 — Sam Webb (@SamWebb77) October 18, 2015 That sealed the game for the Spartans, who have won seven of the past eight in the series, including three in a row.
KEEP your flash new mobile phone in your pocket and you risk "serious harm", according to the maker of the BlackBerry, while Apple admits its iPhone can exceed exposure guidelines. There is rapidly-growing demand for information about the health effects of radio frequency energy - so much so that early next year Australia's largest mobile retailer Telstra will publish comparison data on mobiles' "specific absorption rate". Consumers for the first time will be able to analyse phone SAR side by side. The regulator, the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA), does not produce such information. In fact, phone manuals often do not even disclose the Australian standard for SAR. However, manuals do contain some disturbing admissions in their fine print. The user guide to the BlackBerry Torch advises using its "approved holster with an integrated belt clip or maintain a distance" of 25mm between the "BlackBerry device and your body while the BlackBerry device is transmitting". "Use of body-worn accessories, other than RIM-approved holsters with an integrated belt clip, might cause your BlackBerry device to exceed radio frequency (RF) exposure standards. The long-term effects of exceeding RF exposure standards might present a risk of serious harm." And the Apple iPhone 4 guide says: "iPhone's SAR measurement may exceed [US] . . . exposure guidelines for body-worn operation if positioned less than 15mm from the body (eg, when carrying iPhone in your pocket)." The BlackBerry's maker, Research in Motion, did not respond to requests for comment. Apple would not comment on exposure levels for "body-worn operation". But Telstra's electromagnetic energy co-ordinator Mike Wood said: "Technically speaking, under the worst-case scenario, you might be in breach of the SAR limit." Still, the phones were safe, Mr Wood said. ACMA said it didn't set the exposure limits. The Australian Radiation Protection and Nuclear Safety Agency, which sets the limit, did not return calls. The Australian SAR limit for mobiles is 2 watts per kilogram of tissue, higher than the 1.6W/kg in the US. Australian Centre for RF Bioeffects Research executive director, University of Wollongong Professor Rodney Croft, said: "Even if it is over the limit there is no evidence . . . that it would cause harm unless it was at least 50 times the limit." Follow the author on Twitter.
Occupy Wall Street protester holds a sign while participating in a park near Wall Street in New York [EPA] The first high-profile article to offer a sensible explanation of Occupy Wall Street came from anthropologist David Graeber, author of the recently-published book, Debt: The First 5,000 Years. In his op-ed, "Occupy Wall Street rediscovers the radical imagination", he wrote: "We are watching the beginnings of the defiant self-assertion of a new generation of Americans, a generation who are looking forward to finishing their education with no jobs, no future, but still saddled with enormous and unforgivable debt... Just as in Europe, we are seeing the results of colossal social failure. The occupiers are the very sort of people, brimming with ideas, whose energies a healthy society would be marshaling to improve life for everyone. Instead, they are using it to envision ways to bring the whole system down. "But the ultimate failure here is of imagination. What we are witnessing can also be seen as a demand to finally have a conversation we were all supposed to have back in 2008. "There was a moment, after the near-collapse of the world's financial architecture, when anything seemed possible. Everything we'd been told for the last decade turned out to be a lie... "It seemed the time had come to rethink everything: the very nature of markets, money, debt; to ask what an 'economy' is actually for. This lasted perhaps two weeks. Then, in one of the most colossal failures of nerve in history, we all collectively clapped our hands over our ears and tried to put things back as close as possible to the way they'd been before." Actually, Graeber is understating the case, in at least two ways. First, the lies have been with us far longer than just a single decade. They go back at least 30 years, to the elections of Ronald Reagan and Margaret Thatcher, the later of whom became known as "Tina" for her favorite catch-phrase attack on the imagination: "There Is No Alternative". Second, it was not just a failure of nerve, and a failure of imagination. It was a failure of reason and of democracy as well. It was, in a sense, an inevitable failure, since those three decades have seen us create enormous deficits of reason, imagination and democracy which made it impossible for us to mobilise the necessary resources at the moment they were needed most. I agree with Graeber that now we've been granted a second chance. But to make the most of it, we need to understand the hole we've dug ourselves into. That's what this series, America's 13 Deficits is all about: understanding the hole. And the last three deficits - reason, imagination and democracy - are, in a sense, the most important of all, for they are the most basic resources for finding our way out. Part One examined fiscal deficits - short-term, mid-term and long-term federal deficits, along with state and local deficits. Part Two considered physical deficits in infrastructure and ecosystem services. Part Three dealt with three structural/functional deficits: the sustainability deficit, the time/jobs deficit and the equality deficit. These final three deficits are cognitive and political, and the key to overcoming all three of them is simply the will to do so. The Reason/Critical Thinking Deficit America has always had a critical thinking deficit, in that it has a long tradition of anti-intellectualism. This is particularly perverse, maddening and contradictory, since America's Founders were the most intellectual group that ever founded any nation we know of, and the desire to foster free and critical thinking, both in government and in the society at large, was one of their notable goals, as a direct consequence of the Enlightenment heritage on which America's Founders depended. This philosophy prized individual critical inquiry, as well as institutions-formal and informal-which enabled individual efforts to be joined together into a far more powerful whole. This outlook was crucially important to the creation of a new nation on a new hemisphere, confident enough to establish itself on a new political foundation with some ancient roots, but fashioned with its own original design. Mere imitation of the past was rejected as a guiding principal. So, too, was blind reliance on the fantasy of individual political genius. Instead, the spirit and process of critical inquiry was crucial to how the new nation was conceived. The basic architecture of "separation of powers", for example, was intended to prevent the accumulation of all power into the hands of any unaccountable group or faction - and thus to put a premium on the process of advancing ideas that could pass the muster of critical examination by the widest possible range of parties involved. Similarly, steps were taken to insulating of government from dogmatic religious influence. Religious tests for public office were banned in the Constitution itself, and separation of church and state was formalised in the First Amendment's guarantee of religious freedom, which similarly guaranteed freedom of speech, freedom of assembly and freedom of the press - all intimately connected to the individual and collective exercise of critical reason. And yet, despite all this, there was always an anti-Enlightenment, anti-intellectual side of America as well. And that side has always created needless deficits in critical thinking, hampering America's ability to fully realize its promise. In 1994, the anti-intellectual forces won a substantial victory when Republicans won control of the House of Representatives for the first time in 40 years. One of the earliest and most profound changes introduced under Speaker Newt Gingrich was the elimination of the Office of Technology Assessment. The OTA, first established in 1972, provided Congress with objective and authoritative analysis of the complex scientific and technical issues of the late 20th century, and was widely imitated in the establishment of similar legislative offices around the world. It was both a product and a promoter of a mature analytical approach to governmental problem-solving, which strengthened respect for a dispassionate truth-seeking approach. Its purpose was not to coldly dictate policy outcomes, but rather to provide reliable, common factual and analytical foundations on which people with different interests, opinions and values could depend in an effort to work out commonly-agreeable policies. It was, in short, a concrete expression of the Enlightenment rationality that informed the shared worldview of America's Founding Fathers. Thus, Gingrich's elimination of the OTA represented a crucial turning away from the idea of valuing, promoting and relying on the power of critical thought as a key ingredient in the process of self-governing. Of course this is not to pretend that America was ever perfect-or even near-perfect-in pursuing enlightened policy primarily based on critical reason. Basic flaws in our ability to even recognise the full humanity of women and ethnic, racial and religious minorities are but the most vivid and embarrassing proofs of how far from perfect we have been. And yet, the OTA was established in 1972, immediately after what was arguably the most significant decade in American history for systematically correcting those grievous shortcomings. Abolishing the OTA epitomised a shift in political values away from critical thinking and toward raw political power which has coincided with a prolonged period of political dysfunction, during which all the other deficits described in this series have become far more serious burdens on the general welfare of the nation. In depth An Occupy Wall Street campaign demonstrator protests near Wall Street in New York [REUTERS] Although Republicans clearly took the lead in turning away from reason, the list of major blunders since then implicates both parties, with major foreseeable blunders including the 1999 repeal of the Glass-Steagall Act, the Depression-era law preventing commercial banks from involvement in risky speculation, the failure to prevent 9/11 despite substantial forewarning, and the followup response of going to war against people not responsible for the attacks, the passage of the Bush tax cuts, failure to prevent the housing bubble and collapse, and prolonged inaction to the threat of global warming. As noted in Part One, the entire mid-term deficit is due to such blunders. While measuring the presence or absence of critical thinking is a challenging goal, it should not be considered impossible, particularly in light of an explosion of research in cognitive science over the past 20 to 30 years. Indeed, the state of California once developed educational standards for the teaching of critical thinking-standards that conservative Republicans organised to get rid of. Hence, the primary challenge is not the difficulty of defining and discovering how to measure our critical thinking deficit - rather, it is how to muster the political will and power to once again dedicate ourselves to increasing our resources of critical thought, rather than destroying them. The Imagination Deficit Our imagination deficit is closely tied to our critical thinking deficit. Minds that are perpetually muddled in uncritically accepted ideas and psuedo-facts, incapable of grasping clear-cut truths are hardly prepared to grasp projected possibilities and judge them soundly. This was strikingly obvious in the aftermath of the 9/11 attacks, for example. Calls for critically examining the reasons behind the attacks were quickly demonised, with a leading role played by a centre-right organisation - the American Council of Trustees and Alumni (ACTA) - that pretended to stand for academic excellence. Calls for imagining a pro-active, rather than a reactive responsive were quickly dismissed as well. A Gallup Poll conducted immediately after the attacks found only a bare majority favoring a military response, rather than a criminal justice response - in sharp contrast to most of the rest of the world. There was clearly an opening for imagining a different world, a different way of dealing with destructive violence. But that opening was quickly closed. There was no significant process of critical inquiry and discussion between 9/11 and the initiation of war against Afghanistan, nor was there any serious concern to imagine other possible courses of action. Things were arguably even worse before going to war with Iraq less than a year and a half after that. The careless disregard for facts, much less for reasoned argument, precluded any possibility of trying to imagine alternative approaches - even though there was no need to imagine such alternatives on our own. All we had to do was be willing to entertain alternatives that others had not just dreamed up, but actually implemented. Failure of imagination is equally evident in our prolonged refusal to act on global warming. Collectively, we have proven incapable of imagining either the future we are headed for, or the alternative pathways that could save us, even though scientists and economists, using critical reason, have developed very good pictures of what lies ahead. Thus, the problem is not a lack of information, but a lack of capacity to grasp that information as a coherent whole, which is the very foundation of our capacity for imagination. Finally, as Graeber's powerful op-ed reminds us, we've suffered a grievous lack of imagination in coping with the global financial crises, which has only somewhat abated for a while. This failure is most astonishing, considering that we already know what is needed from the experience of multiple nations during the Great Recession - yet we simply cannot imagine doing something similar today. The necessary and humane has become utterly unimaginable to us. Our imagination deficit precludes us from even considering the real solutions to the other deficits that confront us. Political Deficits - The Democracy Deficit Democracy is not just a good idea in and of itself, it is also generally conducive to positive policy options. Anti-democratic forces tend to advance the narrow self-interests of those they represent. If the un-represented suffer as a result, there is nothing surprising about it. Of course, democracy per se is no guarantee of good outcomes, but it does significantly improve the odds of such outcomes, particularly when it is paired with protections of individuals and minority groups by a framework of rights, in the form known as liberal democracy. The more that a wide range of people's views and interests are openly considered, the more likely their best interests will be served. Thus, any deficit or deficiency in realising broadly democratic self-government is likely to cause harm, or at least fall short of the optimal good that might otherwise be achieved. Deficits in democracy produce needless deficits in all other realms as well, as surely as night follows day. America's democracy deficit can be seen in a number of ways. One is simply to compare its relatively abysmal level of voting participation to other nations. From 1960 to 1995, more than 20 countries had turnouts higher than 80 per cent for lower house elections, while the US averaged just 48 per cent - a gap of over 30 per cent. The US average was even lower for off-year elections without a presidential race. A second view of America's democracy deficit comes from looking at class bias in voting. One cross-national study of late 1990s elections found almost no class bias in high turnout countries, while declines in turnout overall correlated with increased gaps between voters in the highest and lowest income quintiles. Still, there was only one country with a lower overall turnout than the US - Switzerland - and its income gap was 20 per cent, compared to a much higher 35 per cent in the US. A third view of America's democracy deficit comes from looking at electoral systems. With only a few scattered exceptions, US elections are and always have been winner-take-all, compared to proportional representation systems that predominate in almost all other advanced democracies. In a winner-take-all system, whoever wins the most votes wins all the representation, while proportional representation gives roughly equal representation to winners and losers alike. The winner-take-all system tends to discourage voters and even political organisers in areas where they are unlikely to win a majority - thus creating long-term disincentives to democratic participation. In depth A demonstrator from the Occupy Wall Street campaign holds aloft a sign as the march enters a courtyard near the NY Police Department headquarters [REUTERS] A fourth view of America's democracy deficit comes from looking at its institutions. The most blatant, high-profile example is the US Senate, which is comprised of two senators from each state. Thus California, with a 2010 population of over 37 million, is represented by two senators, while the 21 least populated states have a combined population of just over 35 million - two million less than California, but are represented by 42 senators. Making matters even worse, the senate has a plethora of anti-democratic rules, the most well-known of which is the filibuster, which allows a minority of 40 senators to block any action, except on narrowly-tailored budget-related bills. Thus, a population less than that of California can block almost all legislation in the US senate, and there's nothing that representatives of the other 274 million Americans can do about it. In fact, there are many senate actions - such as voting on judicial nominees - that can be blocked by just a single senator ... anonymously! Yet, astonishingly, all of these democracy deficits are dwarfed by the deficit due to economic special interests. In Part One, I described how our long-term, multi-decade federal deficit is due entirely to oligopolies, powerful economic special interests that thrive at the expense of the general welfare. I cited the analysis presented in 2010 paper, "A World Upside Down? Deficit Fantasies in the Great Recession”, by political scientist Thomas Ferguson and economist Robert Johnson, which identifies three oligopolies in particular - the military-industrial complex, the medical-industrial complex, and the financial sector. However, at a deeper level of analysis, Ferguson had earlier explained how organised economic special interests largely control American democracy, creating a constant condition of democracy deficit, regardless of outward appearances, and our constant pretension to be the foremost democracy in the world. Ferguson presented extensive historical evidence in his 1995 book, Golden Rule: The Investment Theory of Party Competition and the Logic of Money-Driven Political Systems, but the basic pattern is readily grasped, and witnessed in politics virtually every day: Small groups of wealthy donors with narrow policy goals are far more able to realise those goals than large groups with broad goals, up to and including the entire public at large. This control traces back to the costs of political involvement. Voters can only choose between alternatives presented to them, while major donors can predetermine who and what those alternatives will be. In a vivid imaginary illustration, Ferguson describes an electorate composed of 3 per cent who are are vehemently anti-union textile manufacturers, controlling all the wealth, while the the other 97 per cent are pro-union. In a two-party election with a law permitting unionisation as the only issue, Ferguson argues, neither party would advocate for the law advocate with 97 per cent support, since they literally couldn't afford to do so. The parallel to our actual politics today are striking. "Every poll I know of has big chunks of the public, sometimes even Tea Party members, opposed to cuts in Social Security," Ferguson told me last spring. "Medicare appears to show the same pattern, too. And, the percentage of the public that wants to concentrate on the deficit is very small versus truly large numbers of Americans putting 'jobs' at the top of their priority lists." Yet, under the threat of default this summer, the priorities of the American people were not just ignored, but openly mocked for months on end. This is what a democracy deficit looks like. And it is, quite literally, a road to ruin. Eventually, even the special interests will be destroyed by their own short-sighted folly. The Occupy Wall Street movement stands in dramatic contrast to all that, in at least two fundamental ways. First, one of their primary themes is "We Are The 99 per cent" - the vast majority whose welfare is systematically ignored, just as Ferguson explains. Second, their method of organising is radically democratic, based on a model of participatory democracy that goes all the way back to ancient Greece, but whose spirit is much closer to that of Quaker communities, whose long influence on racial and gender justice movements in America played a particularly important, if unheralded, role in the civil rights, feminist and anti-war movements of the 1960s. While direct democracy practises have played a significant role in social change movements since then, they've also become a significant, though largely unrecognised part of the American political process. New England town meetings have always been one example of direct democracy that is recognised, and the town meetings of Vermont have proven particularly important in raising to prominence otherwise neglected issues. But similar sorts of community meetings have become commonplace adjuncts of the public policy process in many other parts of the nation. They are almost exclusively advisory in nature, but their influence is undeniable. For example, in Los Angeles, a decade ago, the city charter was amended to create a system of "neighbourhood councils". While their power is advisory only, and they have their own elected boards, they hold regular public meetings where the spirit of direct democracy has tentatively emerged in one of the most unlikely of places. If America is to find its way once again, its people cannot rely on simply delegating this task to others - to think, to dream or to act in their behalf. "Occupy Wall Street" or be occupied by it. That is the simple choice we face. The one per cent will never have the best interests of the 99 per cent in mind. This isn't just true in America - it's just as true of the Arab world as well, where the leadership of the Arab Spring helped re-awaken the American people. Which is why addressing our democracy deficit stands at the centre-point of dealing with all the rest of our deficits as well - not just for America, but for all the world. Paul Rosenberg is the senior editor of Randon Length News, a bi-weekly alterntive community newsletter. You can follow Paul on Twitter: @PaulHRosenberg The views expressed in this article are the author's own and do not necessarily reflect Al Jazeera's editorial policy.
An unexpected but powerful friendship is the focus of this installment of “A More Perfect Union.” The series looks at unique connections to highlight how Americans have more in common than headlines might suggest. CBS News correspondent Steve Hartman shows us how an 82-year-old widower was touched by an innocent question in the canned food aisle of a grocery store when he needed it most. Not long ago, in a cemetery outside Augusta, Georgia, a loving couple was buried – the wife, buried below a white bouquet and the husband, buried above in a mound of grief. “Took me totally by surprise,” Dan Peterson said. The 82-year-old said after Mary died, he fell into a deep depression, and he spent days just staring out at the squirrels. “What were you living for?” Hartman asked. “I was trying to figure that out, frankly,” Peterson said. “You had no purpose?” Hartman asked. “No,” Dan replied. “Were you just waiting to die?” Hartman asked. “Yeah,” Dan said. For six months, it was just that bad. Then it all changed after a visit to a Publix grocery store. Dan was nearing the end of the canned vegetable aisle. He hates grocery shopping and, by all accounts, the expression on his face confirmed his aggravation. But that’s when this unapproachable man was approached by a four-year-old girl named Norah Wood. In the security footage you can see Norah randomly reaching out to him out. Her mom, Tara, said it was quite embarrassing. “She stood up and said, ‘Hi old person, it’s my birthday today,’” Tara said. “Old person?” Hartman asked. “Old person,” Tara said. “Hi old person,” Dan recalled. “She says this to this cranky old man?” Hartman asked. “Yeah,” Dan said. The girl then had the audacity to demand a hug. “I said, ‘A hug?’ I said, ‘Absolutely!’” Dan said. Norah got her hug and then asked her mom to take a picture of her with her new friend. “She zeroed in on him like a missile. And she didn’t want anything from him,” Tara recalled. “She just wanted to make him feel loved and give him a hug. And his little lip quivered and he was teared up and it was just sweet.” “And I said, ‘You don’t know. This is the first time, for quite a while, that I’ve been this happy,’” Dan said. That all happened a couple months ago, and his grin has only gotten wider since. Today Norah visits at least once a week. And every time, it’s the grocery store all over again. “Totally unbelievable,” Dan said. Dan does have grandkids of his own, but they’re grown and gone. And Norah does have grandparents, but her mom said this is a completely different kind of bond that almost defies explanation. “She fell asleep holding a picture of them. And I’m like, what!” Tara said, laughing. To Dan, it’s equally miraculous but far less mysterious. He believes Norah is, quite literally, an angel. “She opened me to a love that I didn’t know existed,” Dan said. “Dan, let me ask you – When your wife died, you felt like you didn’t have any purpose anymore. Do you feel like you have a purpose now?” Hartman asked. “Of course – Norah, watching her grow up,” Dan said. “I know I made room in my heart for a lot more.”
by The US is on the way out as a hegemonic power. That is the primary conclusion of a new report out of the National Intelligence Council — a government organization that produces mid-term and long-range thinking for the US intelligence community. Titled “Global Trends 2030: Alternative Worlds,” this 140-page study says emphatically that the “relative decline” of the US is “inevitable,” but adds that its future role in the international system is “much harder to project,” and goes on to say that “the degree to which the US continues to dominate the international system could vary widely.” Among the factors that could determine what the US role in global affairs might be a little less than two decades from now are whether the US dollar continues to be the world’s reserve currency, how China handles the transition from a country of poor workers and peasants to a country with a large middle-class, and whether the US “will be able to work with new partners to restructure the international system.” The study is interesting in that it is represents a complete rejection of the notorious Project for a New American Century, which was a private Neoconservative blueprint for long-term US hegemony over the rest of the globe and which became the driving philosophy underlying the Bush-Cheney administration’s domestic and foreign policy in the first decade of this century. The PNAC called for the US to establish unchallenged global dominance and to do whatever was necessary to “prevent” any other nation from challenging that dominance going forward. The authors of this new study take it as a given that the heyday of the US is over. As they put it, “The ‘unipolar moment’ is over and Pax Americana — the era of American ascendancy in international politics that began in 1945 — is fast winding down.” They say, optimistically, that the US is likely to remain “first among equals” at least into 2030 “because of its preeminence across a range of power dimensions and legacies of its leadership role.” But that’s a far cry from being able to dictate to the rest of the world. The study offers four possible scenarios for the future. In what it calls the “most plausible worst-case scenario,” the US would withdraw inward, allowing globalization to “stall.” While many people in other countries would likely consider this scenario an optimistic one, not a “worst-case” one, given the hugely destructive role the US has played over the decades since its emergence at the end of World War II as the world’s dominant power, the report’s authors see such a move towards US isolationism as leading to increased conflict and instability in the world. A second scenario they postulate, which they term “fusion” and describe as the “most plausible best-case scenario,” would see an increasingly economically dominant and militarily powerful China joining in an era of cooperation with the US. Such cooperation, they say, could lead to solutions to such global challenges as climate change and to “broader global cooperation.” Again, other countries might view such a two-state collaboration between the world’s two biggest economies and militaries as less benign. A third scenario postulated as less likely would be a “genie-out-of-the-bottle” world in which growing inequality leads to explosions in many nations, while climate-change and population-pressure driven shortages of water, food and energy, lead to increasing international conflicts, with the US no longer able to act in the role of “international policeman.” Finally, a fourth scenario, which seems almost science fiction, envisions a weakening of nation states, as new technologies allow non-state actors, such as mega cities and shifting coalitions of non-state actors, to become leaders in dealing with the world’s issues like climate change, explosive population growth and international conflict over scarce resources. With regard to the Middle East, America’s continued obsession with Iran’s nuclear ambitions is on full display, with the Intelligence Council authors worrying that “If the Islamic republic maintains power…and is able to develop nuclear weapons, the Middle East will face a highly unstable future.” It is an odd apprehension, given the current degree of instability in the region — civil war in Syria and Yemen, public protests in Bahrain and Egypt, uncontrolled violence in Libya, continuing violence in Iraq, and of course war in Afghanistan–and the fact that at present only one country — Israel — has nuclear weapons, which it adamantly refuses to submit to international inspection or control — or even to acknowledge. No one, obviously, can hope to predict with any confidence what the world will look like in 2030, particularly given the unprecedented threat posed by catastrophic climate change, which could see global temperatures even by that year rising significantly, with disastrous consequences for both coastal populations and for countries already facing droughts and water shortages. Even the US, as the intelligence analysts note, will not escape climate change unscathed, as its drier regions, notably the southwest and midwest — both important crop-growing regions — face unprecedented droughts. If other trends continue too — notably the decline of the dollar as a global reserve currency, and continued growing indebtedness of the US — America could be forced to, as the authors put it, “withdraw inward.” The good news is that nowhere in this forward-looking study is there a scenario proposed in which the US continues on as the world’s self-designated “cop,” or as the world’s dominant power. As we contemplate the profound challenges posed by climate change and by the world’s exploding population, that at least is one prediction in the report worth cheering about. Dave Lindorff is a founder of This Can’t Be Happening and a contributor to Hopeless: Barack Obama and the Politics of Illusion, published by AK Press. Hopeless is also available in a Kindle edition. He lives in Philadelphia. This article originally appeared on website of PressTV.
Asus has just announced its latest PadFone, the PadFone Infinity, confirming an image that leaked earlier today. Like previous models, the PadFone is an Android smartphone that docks into a large display to become a tablet. The Infinity has a 5-inch 1080p display, LTE connectivity, 64GB of storage, and a 1.7GHz Snapdragon 600 quad-core processor. Those specs put Asus' new phone on par with the best around; the "Pad" side of the product, which Asus calls the "Infinity Station," features a 10.1-inch 1080p display as well as another battery. Have you ever wanted to "capture up to 100 sequential images at 8 frames-per-second while simultaneously recording 1080p Full HD video?" Well the PadFone Infinity is perfect smartphone and tablet combo for you. Asus is making a big deal over the Infinty's imaging capabilities: its got a 13-megapixel sensor paired with an f/2.0 5-element lens, and also has a dedicated imaging processor that allows for the aforementioned extreme amount of sequential image capture. Only UK pricing has been announced so far, and it's not pretty. The Asus PadFone Infinity and the "Infinity Station" will cost £799 (or €999) — that's somewhere between $1200 and $1400, dependent on which figure you convert — when it launches.
This is a low budget indie which spoofs the popularity of VHS horror films which are unavailable on DVD, and normally for a reason. Josh Lively and Zane Crosby play the Henderson brothers (Polonia already taken) or step-brothers, who made two low budget horror films in the 80's that had a fan. They show us their low budget special effects and how they would "theme" films with inside jokes. They actually hit on a lot of truth, if you ever listen to the director's commentary on low budget productions, they make it sound like the trash you are watching is a masterpiece. I imagine this is what you might call a mockumentary. In spite of the film showing originality and cleverness, I failed to find it entertaining or funny. It is like filming the neighborhood comedian because everyone thinks he is funny, but once you watch the guy on tape...not so much. Guide: F-word. No sex or nudity.
Criminal charges against the doctor accused of committing what Quebec authorities described as the biggest corruption fraud in Canada's history have officially been abandoned, two years after his death, the Crown announced Friday. Crown prosecutor Nathalie Kleber said she filed Arthur Porter's death certificate in court after receiving confirmation of its authenticity from authorities in Panama. Porter died in Panamanian custody in 2015 after being detained in that country at Canada's behest in 2013. He was 59. "This ends the judicial process against Dr. Porter," Kleber told journalists at the Montreal courthouse. Kleber said it took so long to close the case against him because she only recently received confirmation of the death certificate from Panama. Quebec's anti-corruption unit accused Porter of accepting a $22.5-million bribe in connection with engineering firm SNC-Lavalin winning a $1.3-billion contract to build the McGill University Health Centre superhospital. Porter was once highly regarded among Canada's business and political elite and served as head of the MUHC as well as on the board of the independent agency that oversaw Canada's spy services. Quebec's anti-corruption unit said Porter's alleged crimes amounted to the biggest act of fraud corruption in the country's history. His wife, Pamela Porter, pleaded guilty in late 2014 to two counts of laundering the proceeds of crime and was sentenced to 33 months for her role in the alleged bribery scandal connected to the superhospital project. Kleber said the charges against Porter's other co-accused will remain, with the case set to resume Sept. 27.
For the Oregon fans distressed about losing Darron Thomas, now may be a good time to look up the name “Thomas Tyner” before his name becomes the next big thing in Ducks history. In my experience, lots of Ducks fans have been highly disgruntled, frustrated and confused by the recent shock that their star quarterback Darron Thomas has elected to turn pro following his first BCS Bowl Victory after their Rose Bowl win against the Wisconsin Badgers. Thomas, 21, has led Oregon to two consecutive BCS bowls and has shown especially strong leadership capabilities with his time as a Duck. With his decision to go pro, however, fans like myself could use something to get excited over. My best suggestion: it’s time to meet Oregon’s flagship recruit commit, Thomas Tyner. Some may be quick to notice to notice the strange fixation with the name “Thomas” for the Oregon Ducks (Darron Thomas, De’Anthony Thomas, and now Thomas Tyner), but his name is one of many things that makes him a Duck true to the heart. Unlike Darron Thomas, Tyner is an Oregon native. A five-star prospect, Tyner’s verbal commitment to Oregon was an especially big perk for the Ducks considering Tyner spent his time in high school in Aloha, OR. Tyner, who said that he had been “going to nearly every Oregon game this year” and that he “got the feeling” that’s where he belonged, has a strong devotion to the city of Eugene already. The past few generations of Oregon stars have featured out-of-state players who had found Oregon almost by coincidence. Dennis Dixon is from Oakland, CA. LeGarette Blount is from Madison, FL. Jonathan Stewart is from Fort Lewis, WA. Darron Thomas is from Houston, TX. LaMichael James is from Texarana, TX. De’Anthony Thomas is form Los Angeles, CA. Bryan Bennett is from Encinco, CA. You get the picture. Not since Joey Harrington has a player with this much hype also been from the Oregon area. Perhaps that pride in Oregon could convince Tyner to spend all four years under the Eugene rain. After seeing James, Thomas and Harris leave after their junior years, this could be a big factor in Tyner’s commitment to the Oregon Ducks. His pride in the school has already been strong. Tyner, who took to Twitter to announce his verbal commitment to the Oregon Ducks, couldn’t have picked a better time to recruit to the team: after an extraordinarily rare Autzen Stadium home loss in Eugene. Unlike many recruits, Tyner showed that the program itself is the most important asset to deciding what school to attend. To see a blue-chip recruit announce his commitment after a loss is a huge stride for the Oregon Ducks. Tyner, who turned down offers from multiple SEC teams in order to commit to the University of Oregon, has said that he thinks he “fits pretty well into Oregon’s offense.” Tyner hopes to use his pure athleticism to succeed at the college level. “In Oregon’s spread offense,” he added, “I can go out in the open and use my speed.” At 6’0” and 200 pounds, Tyner was listed as the number one overall running back on 247sports.com. But what makes him best known is his ability to run. As a track-runner, Tyner was very drawn to the legendary track-and-field program that the University of Oregon offers. For good reason, really, as Tyner is considered to be the fastest player to ever come from the state of Oregon. When he was a sophomore in high school, Tyner recorded the 100-meter dash for a record-setting time: 10.35 seconds. That season, Tyner went on to win the state championship in football as well as set records in track. With his unique blend of size and speed, Tyner has a remarkable advantage over almost any other back and defensive player on the field. Coaches in Oregon have come out and said it already: “He has the physical ability to be the best Oregon has ever had,” said Jesuit High football coach Ken Potter. “The best way I can describe Tyner is that he’s a difference maker,” said Porter. Which is, of course, a totally fair analysis for a kid who can run a 40-yard dash in 4.38 seconds, officially faster than every NFL rookie last season sans Jahvid Best (4.35) and C.J. Spiller (4.37). My favorite thing about Tyner, however, is his winning attitude and ability to understand the bigger picture of the game. “That’s the thing,” Tyner said. “I want to be something more. Like maybe a legend or something. Because their story lives on forever.” One of the more interesting things that I’ve found on Tyner is that a big part of the reason that he chose the University of Oregon is that he wants to study Journalism in college. His interest in broadcasting and telling his own special story is something that is especially remarkable for the young athlete. “Being great is, ‘Yeah, he was a good player for that time.’ A legend…they know you forever. That’s what I want.” As someone who is currently studying Journalism at the University of Oregon, I can attest to the fact that there may not be a better place in the world for an aspiring sports journalist. The journalism program, which began in 1916, is one of the oldest in the country and the school remains devoted to the “rich journalism history” today. For an athlete interested in both track-and-field and in journalism, Tyner is clearly on the right path. Thomas Tyner is an example of a multidimensional human being. He is known for playing the piano (“able to listen to a song and translate the notes to piano keys,” according to his mother), and for being a genuinely good guy. “I like to be nice to people,” he said. “I like to open myself up to people. I like to share with people.” But of course the biggest draw for Tyner is going to be his on-field play. By the time that Tyner is ready to start for the Oregon Ducks, other track stars on the field will surround him as well. Note the fact that he will be playing alongside California track superstars De’Anthony Thomas and Bryan Bennett. With the sheer speed that the trio is going to offer, it’s difficult to imagine those who are now worrying about the departure of Darron Thomas to continue that same fear when Tyner puts on the green-and-yellow. Despite the fact that Tyner is now quite gung ho to the Oregon Ducks on his Twitter account, there’s one thing that I forgot to mention: Tyner is currently entering his second semester of his junior year in high school. The excitement of seeing him play for Oregon in the coming years is something that has me, and many of the Oregon fans from across the nation, beyond excited. Click here to Follow @BryanKalbrosky.
Nowadays, it’s harder to find an award that Colin Kaepernick is not being considered for, as opposed to finding those that he is being considered for. Ironically, the award Kaepernick finds himself on the shortlist for now, includes the man who has blasted him and the movement he began. TIME magazine has released their shortlist for their Person of the Year award, that list includes President Trump, and Colin Kaepernick. Here is the full list: Time magazine’s shortlist for “Person of the Year”: Colin Kaepernick Kim Jong Un Robert Mueller President Trump Xi Jinping Jeff Bezos Patty Jenkins The #MeToo movement The Dreamers — Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) December 4, 2017 According to Fox News, “Many of the names listed on the shortlist have been surrounded by controversy this year. Kaepernick was the topic of discussion after the NFL anthem kneeling controversy escalated when the president chimed in. The #MeToo movement gained traction after a slew of prominent Hollywood figures were accused of sexual misconduct. “Speculation over who will be granted the title began in late November after Trump tweeted he ‘took a pass’ on being ‘Man (person) of the Year’ because the magazine wanted a photoshoot and interview.” Kaepernick accepted the East Monroe Courageous Advocate Award during the ACLU’s annual Bill of Rights Dinner in Beverly Hills, on Sunday night. Since walking away from the league, Kaepernick has racked-up quite the array of rewards. GQ named Kaepernick its “Citizen of the Year” in November. Just last week, SI bestowed its Muhammad Ali Legacy Award for remaining “steadfast in his fight for social justice and committed to his beliefs no matter the cost.” The ACLU award represents Kaepernick’s third such award in less than a full month. Not to mention, the NFL recently committed to spending nearly $90 million on social justice causes. Largely, due to pressure applied from players who have continued Kaepernick’s anthem protests in his absence. TIME will officially unveil their choice for Person of the Year on December 6th.
Only a few years ago, you thought that guy walking down the street apparently talking to himself was off his meds. Now, you’re rocking your Bluetooth headset every day without even thinking about it (even if you still annoy some of us on the train). But that’s talking with other people, for pete’s sake--are you still phoning with your phone in 2015? Today, you can ask it to do almost anything just by speaking “OK Google ” or “Hey Siri”: conduct a search, make a restaurant reservation, send a text, or do almost anything you used to have to type into a search box or tap into an app. You probably already knew you could try doing all that, but here’s what you may not know: Most of it doesn’t suck anymore. If you haven’t tried Google Voice Search, Apple ’s Siri, Microsoft ’s Cortana, or even Amazon.com ’s Echo “smart” speaker recently, you may be surprised how much better they’re working than even six months ago. Not only do they seem to understand words better, even in noisy situations, they also appear to produce more accurate results in many cases. All that’s thanks to big improvements in machine learning, in particular a branch of artificial intelligence called deep learning, that’s been applied to speech recognition in the last couple of years. “Recent AI breakthroughs have cracked the code on voice, which is approaching 90% as good as human accuracy,” says Tim Tuttle, CEO of Expect Labs, which began offering its MindMeld cloud-based service last year to help any device or app create voice interfaces. It’s great for us smartphone owners, but the stakes couldn’t be higher for companies. “Whoever creates the intelligent assistant will be the first place people go to find things, buy things, and everything else,” says Tuttle, a former AI researcher at MIT and Bell Labs. And a lot of companies don’t want Google or Apple or Amazon or Facebook (which bought speech recognition firm Wit.ai recently) to be that middleman. Target, for instance, won’t want to give up control of all the data about its products, Tuttle notes, so they will want to do their own voice interface with their app or on the Web. What I found most interesting in a recent talk Tuttle gave at the Smart Data conference last week was the likelihood of voice recognition spreading to all manner of other devices--a trend that’s just starting in earnest. Whether Expect Labs will lead or simply act as a supporting player in that trend remains to be seen, but Tuttle says one thing isn’t in dispute: More and more people are using voice commands. Google and China’s Baidu each say as much as 10% of searches are now voice queries, up from virtually zero 18 months ago. Tuttle thinks that will shoot up to more than half in the next five years. The accuracy of speed recognition is just one reason more people are using it. Especially on mobile devices, voice search and other commands can work a lot faster than typing (and retyping) text into a search box or even hitting buttons in an app. One example: But we’re not done yet with the improvements in speech recognition. Tuttle thinks it will get better than human speech recognition in the next 18 months, thanks to advances made by Google, Apple and Microsoft in their mobile software that others like Expect Labs can piggyback on. Still, taking those improvements to other devices besides smartphones requires a lot of work. Tuttle says each customer first needs to create its own knowledge graph specific to its products and services, using technologies to grab concepts from their websites and other data sources and track relationships among those concepts. Then they use natural language understanding models to enter typical questions and answers customers are likely to want, and train the system on hundreds or thousands of queries. All this has to plug into the mobile device, accessing a microphone and converting spoken words to text with less than a hundredth of a second delay. The improvements, and the rising use of voice commands, haven’t escaped the notice of all kinds of companies and government agencies. Expect Labs, for instance, is working with some 1,600 developers and companies, including large cable operators and auto companies as well as U.S. government agencies. “Every business will need a great voice experience for the apps and devices,” he says. “We see voice living inside every application… not just the home screen.” In fact, Tuttle thinks that before the end of the year, we’ll see a lot more voice assistant devices akin to Amazon’s Echo in the next few months. He thinks they’ll be focused on specific markets such as music, over-the-top video streaming, and retail. He would know, since Expect Labs is working with some of them. Honestly, there’s still a significant social obstacle in all of this, in particular talking to your phone. My wife and daughter are getting used to it, but they still look amused when I talk to my phone to do a search. I avoid doing it in public unless I can do it unobtrusively because I get funny looks. In fact, I think that’s why there’s a limit to how big a role voice ultimately will have, at least in the publicly audible way we do it now. But we’re nowhere near those limits yet. It won’t be long before you wonder how you ever typed much of anything longer than an emoji into your phone--or how, as recently as 2015, your microwave or your clock radio couldn't understand you.
The 2016 election is the fight we’ve been waiting for… A new CBS battleground tracking poll (full pdf below) released today shows the top three candidates continue to be Trump, Cruz and Rubio. Jeb Bush and Dr. Ben Carson are far behind. Jeb is hoping that bringing his brother, George W. Bush, into the state of South Carolina will provide him more benefit than bringing Mom, Barbara, into New Hampshire. Although many voters in South Carolina are now asking “why can’t Jeb compete for the nomination on his own merits“? It does seem oddly weak, and profoundly poor advice, for a presidential candidate to be unable to achieve support – and decide the best option is to rely on Mom, Dad and his brother as a crutch. Perhaps the best explanation for this approach can be found in the historical nature of Jebs position as Florida Governor. By most accounts it was Jeb’s father, George Herbert Walker Bush who worked with former Senator and CIA head Porter Goss to leverage the sunshine state republican party into giving Jeb the job. Against this backdrop and understanding the 2016 Jeb dependency, makes more sense. However, an engaged and attune electorate is not buying Jeb this time – ergo Rubio becomes the party’s next best option. If the polling holds up, and this CBS tracking poll is again virtually identical to November, December, January and prior February results, the desperation amid the GOPe party elites must be at supernova levels of internal cranium combustion. Then again, that level of ‘splodey-head-factor’ explains the Greenville debate nonsense last night. Much desperation leads to poor decision making….. It appears the Republican Party still doesn’t like us. Oh bother…. …. Alas, the vulgarian insurgency continues…. Advertisements
Robert Parker was in Manhattan recently for the unveiling of the Wine Advocate’s newly redesigned website and he talked about Olympic swimming trials, why some wines began tasting alike on his watch and, among other things, one regret involving his mother. He married his high school sweetheart, Patricia. He parlayed a love of wine, discovered in France with said girlfriend, into a career of public service, if you will, achieving international fame as the world’s most influential wine critic. Samuel Dash, the great chief counsel of the Senate Watergate Committee, taught him a conflicts-of-interests course in law school. But there is something that Parker set his sights on and failed to achieve. “One of my long-time objectives before my mother passed away was to get her high on wine, but she was so stoic and difficult that I never really achieved that,” Parker told a room full of writers who laughed along with him. Parker’s parents were dairy farmers before his dad went into heavy construction equipment sales. “My father just wouldn’t do wine at all,” Parker added. “He was a Kentucky bourbon guy. “I came from that background and somehow fell in love with wine,” he continued. “I fell in love with wine. Fell in love with the culture of wine, the history of wine, the diversity of wine, and I think the great thing that I’m most thankful for in these 38 years is that my love of wine has never failed me. That’s the one thing that I hope I can pass on through the Wine Advocate.” Robert M. Parker Jr., now 68, is still doing his best to pass on that love. It has been 38 years since he founded the Wine Advocate, a newsletter of tasting notes and numerical scores that is the equivalent of the gospel in the wine world. A score of 100, the Holy Grail. Three years ago, Parker sold the majority interest in the Advocate to people he described as “some young wine lovers in Singapore.” The first WA issue had reviews of 300 wines, the most recent more than 6,000, he said, adding that in 38 years it has never received “one cent from advertising, it’s independent, and never had one score leaked.” He was in New York at the Mandarin Oriental hotel with the entire globe-trotting WA reviewing team along with Lisa Perrotti-Brown, MW, who is editor-in-chief of The Wine Advocate & eRobertParker.com. Even Liwen Hao, the newest team member was there. In addition to several days of wining and dining with winemakers, and master classes like “Harlan Estate, California’s ‘First Growth,’” the event gave the New York press a sneak peek at the newly expanded and redesigned website, that will be available to subscribers onApril 1. Looking like a well-aged mash-up of Michael C. Hall and Matt Damon with a dash of Neil Young for hip boomer cred, Parker almost levitated with joy discussing improvements in the quality, diversity, availability and affordability of wines today. And he was even-tempered and firm in his defense of his controversial 100-point rating system. “People say, ‘Well, the point system is a simplistic system and it’s very subjective.’ Well, sure. I can say that when I’m watching Olympic swimming trials or ice-skating or whatever. But I think with the scoring for me of wine, it is important that every score have a very intelligent tasting note attached to it. We couldn’t have one without the other. “The idea is that, sure, you can write a good tasting note. But the score is your stake in the ground. It’s the stake that you throw in the ground. You say, ‘I am accountable. I am accountable because I gave this a 92 or even a 97 or I gave it a 75. “Maybe it’s come from that conflict-of-interests law course I had in law school, or it comes from being influenced by Ralph Nader in the ’60s. But I think it’s important a wine critic be accountable for everything they write and the score is one way that they can be very accountable and it’s shorthand.” When John and I wrote “Tastings,” The Wall Street Journal’s wine column, we borrowed the wine rating system we had used in our private life for more than two decades. It went Yech, OK, Good, Very Good, Delicious and Delicious! We knew what we meant and figured other people would, too. But we always, always, counseled people to discover what they liked and told them no one could tell them what a wine tasted like to them. If they found that we had similar tastes and they therefore could trust us to be a guide, great, but it was always about their journey. Parker’s system is called the “real world system” because it’s the way most high schools in the U.S. grade students. Years ago, Jancis Robinson’s website had an interesting graph that broke down the various rating systems, including ours. Here’s what it said: “Robert Parker/Wine Spectator—The 100 point system was introduced by Robert Parker’s Wine Advocate in 1978.Very much like its real world model, 60 or above is acceptable in theory but in reality a rating under 80 can make a wine unsellable. As imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, the Wine Spectator adopted Parker’s system and helped make the 100 point system huge.” Critics, as in the movie Mondovino, assail what they say is the globalization of a style of wine that is pleasing to Parker and jet-setting consultants like Michel Rolland. They argue that winemakers all around the world make wines tailored to Parker’s taste and hire as consultants people whose wines he likes, like Rolland, so that he’ll give them high scores that stores and restaurants then use to sell the wines. In this scenario, the uniqueness of wine regions worldwide, their particular terroir, is sacrificed for money and fame. Even winemakers who admire him a great deal concede some of that happened. Paul Hobbs, the famous Malbec whisperer, told me last year that Parker was “the most influential critic of all time, the world has ever known,” adding, “I don’t think it’ll ever happen again.” Hobbs was not talking narrowly about Parker as a wine critic but a critic “of any type of subject matter.” Hobbs said, “With that kind of power is the ability to influence buyers, and buyers with money. If you’ve got a big score, wineries begin to chase scores, because that meant you put your wines in the hands of where you wanted your wines and you could charge more. Every winery wants to optimize their profit, as does anyone in business. That led to, I think, a misunderstanding, and I don’t think that was ever intended. It was a disservice to Mr. Parker’s work.” “I found him to be not interested in over-extracted wines as much as I think people talk,” Hobbs continued. “He was more balanced.” Before his public comments, I spoke with Parker. “I think it’s human nature that when you have very successful people, people who are very prominent in their fields of endeavor, that there are people who observe them, and I think it’s sort of natural. I do the same thing. They try to study their tastes and they tend to simplify, compartmentalize and pigeon-hole people, particularly with something as subjective as tastes,” he told me. “Parker likes wines that are big and powerful,” he told me, repeating what “they” say. “There have certainly been some wines like that that I’ve given terrific reviews to, but I like delicate wines, too. To me it’s not a question of power but one of balance and personality. I like people to have personality. They’re interesting to talk to. I like wines that say something back to me, that hold my interest like carrying on a conversation with someone. So I think Paul was right about that.” “Certainly high scores and favorable reviews create success and create interest in a wine, a brand, whatever,” Parker told the gathering. “I think that my 38 years have been parallel to an incredible uplifting of quality as well as diversity of styles. I think you see this everywhere. Now one of the things that also happened during those 38 years that I don’t think existed before that was that you had the development and the growth and the hiring of the super consultants that went around the world.” This development, he said, started with the late Émile Peynaud, a French oenologist and scientist at the University of Bordeaux, who has been called “the forefather of modern oenology.” Peynaud preached later harvests, better sanitation, making wines that reflect their origin and type, Parker said, but when Peynaud gave that advice to some wine regions in the 1950s and ’60s they couldn’t afford to act on it because of their struggling economies. As their financial pictures brightened in the 1980s, they began to make improvements and some flaws disappeared from their wines, Parker said. Peynaud influenced many other oenologists, like Rolland, who Parker called Peynaud’s most famous student who has around 200 clients worldwide. Parker said he is one of the few critics who has tasted all of the Rolland-assisted wines. “He does have this philosophy of making wine; there are similarities,” Parker said. “He says, ‘You should only pick mature fruit. I don’t want you to be picking under-ripe fruit. I don’t want you to be picking over-ripe fruit.’” But ultimately, Parker said, “he wants the wine, whether it’s from Chile or from Spain, to represent its place of origin.” Parker does make this concession: “This is one area where I think there has been compromising. I think because of all these interactions with consultants, because of this general philosophy of picking later and better sanitation, better cleanliness, there has been sort of a blending and a blurring of some of these geographical differences. I think this has actually kind of increased quality, that you don’t see the flaws. ” “When I started tasting you could probably count on 10 per cent of the wines that we were going to open were spoiled. They had volatile acidity, they had excessive sulfur,” he said. “Today that almost never happens because winemaking has gotten so much better.” Part of “the learning curve,” he explained, is that “the areas that were behind in technology, behind in expertise, catching up they may have tried to make wines like somebody else, but I think that’s just all part of the educational process.” Still, he vehemently rejected the notion that winemakers try to please him and his team. “I don’t know any respected winemaker, wine producer, that we’ve given high reviews, that wanted to make a wine to please any of us. That is selling your soul out big time. It just goes against everything that you would compromise your own principles, your own love of wine to make something for some wine critic that may only be there five years or 10 years. I’m the exception. I’ve been around for 38 years.” He has other worries. “There’s no question that we have this centralization not only of wine distribution, where small, boutique importers and distributors are being bought out by the big giants, but we’re seeing it in the small vineyards,” he said. Parker recounted a recent visit with Tom Rochioli of Rochioli Vineyards and Winery in the Russian River Valley who lamented to him as he had to me that he was already involved in succession planning because so many family-owned wineries had been sold to large corporations. Parker hastened to say that just because a winery or chateau is owned by a large corporation doesn’t mean its wines will be bad. Take, for instance, he said, French company AXA. It’s one of the largest insurance companies in the world and has a wine division, managed by Christian Seely, that owns some of the most impressive vineyards in the world. “Right now, there’s no question. I see it especially in California that big companies are making big moves. The Gallos are buying a lot. Kendall- Jackson is buying a lot. It’s tempting [to sell] because they have a lot of money, and land, vineyards, they’re not making any more of.” For his part, Parker said he is just telling readers what he likes. When he was starting out, he said, “I was exposed to the British school of wine writing,” and he mentions Hugh Johnson and some others, saying, “They made incredible contributions to the literature of wine.” But, he adds, “They all hedged their bets when it came to actually evaluating wine. I could never really tell if they really liked something or if it’s just famous. The Wine Advocate, in a way, was an anti-reaction to that -- a reaction to that. You need to be held accountable. You need to take a stand. Hopefully, people will listen to you.” “I’m very happy where I am. I hope I can keep doing it because if you’re a young up-and-coming wine critic, it’s one of the greatest and most exciting times to be around,” he said. “But you have to worry about too much corporate ownership, too much homogenization -- and it’s not really the Parkerization you need to worry about. I think if all wines became Parkerized, they’d be much better quality.” Dorothy J. Gaiter conceived and wrote The Wall Street Journal's wine column, "Tastings," from 1998 to 2010 with her husband, John Brecher. She has been tasting and studying wine since 1973. She has had a distinguished career in journalism as a reporter, editor, columnist and editorial writer at The Miami Herald and The New York Times as well as at The Journal.
When President Trump deployed his "big, beautiful Twitter account" to direct his followers to the swearing-in of Sen. Jeff Sessions as attorney general last Thursday, some 66,000 people clicked the link he created to get them there. Trump, whose @realDonaldTrump Twitter account currently boasts 24.5 million followers, often uses a URL management tool called Bitly to shorten the links he tweets. And because he uses the public version of that tool, the anonymized traffic analytics for those shortened links is freely available. That data — which would be inaccessible to the public were Trump to use standard URLs — reveals that @realDonaldTrump is a traffic cannon. Though the president's Twitter influence manifests itself largely in conversation-driving tweets like last Thursday night's "SEE YOU IN COURT" missive, it's also quite effective at directing his followers to stories and reports he wants them to read. Last Wednesday, for instance, Trump shared a link to a story citing an Emerson College poll that found voters trust the Trump administration more than the media. Placing a plus sign after the Bitly link he created, "bit.ly/2k4b0imEmersonPoll," summons a page displaying all the click data on the link — including the number of clicks through to the story and where they came from. In the case of the Emerson poll story, published by The Hill, more than 678,000 people clicked Trump's link to it — 558,000 of them on Twitter. 72% of those clicks occurred in the US, 6% were generated in the United Kingdom and another 6% in Canada. Of the remaining 120,000 clicks, around 32,000 originated from Facebook, and the rest from platforms other than Twitter. Trump's activity on Bitly blows away other links created with the service. In the first hour after he tweeted the Emerson poll link, 78,411 people clicked it, according to Bitly, far and away the most clicks on any Bitly link within that timeframe. The next-most-clicked Bitly link in that timeframe was another Trump-generated link, and the following eight in the top 10 a grand total of approximately 31,000 clicks.
With Daphne’s claims of being “a bit psychic” having steadily increased in frequency during recent weeks, along with a persistent headache, she requests time off from her duties to rest in her bedroom, leaving the Crane household to fend for itself. Reading the newspaper that morning, Frasier learns that the prestigious opera director whom he “dated” after being falsely outed on his radio show, Alistair Burke(returning guest star Patrick Stewart), has lost the use of his legs in a choreography accident. A charity ball is soon scheduled in Alistair’s honour, which Frasier sees as an opportunity to worm his way back into the well-connected man’s inner circle. With bourgeois guests from all over the country jumping at the chance to attend, the self-conscious doctor becomes eager to make his best impression, and hastily books a series of high-end beauty treatments including a full hair restoration, rare blue-algae dermal scrubs and an experimental Swedish ligament-stretching. Niles buys an ostentatious new pair of avant-garde sunglasses with lenses made of actual ruby. Enamoured with his own look, he becomes haughtier than ever, constantly tipping the glasses to glare at busboys, custodians and Roz with withering condescension. Eventually, his gaze becomes so intense that anything he looks at is literally blasted to pieces, requiring him to keep the glasses on at all times, which risks a fashion faux pas at the upcoming black-tie charity ball. Niles heads to his brother’s condo to explain his dire situation. Upon arriving, he’s aghast to discover that Frasier’s extensive beauty therapies - all crammed into a single day - have been horribly botched, transforming the bombastic intellectual into a blue, fur-covered beast with elongated limbs and apelike agility. The brothers balk at each other’s plight, but - sipping sherry while he hangs upside-down by stem-cell-pedicure-induced prehensile feet - Frasier soon begins likening their superficial afflictions to Alistair’s paraplegia, and declares them a fashionable way to gain sympathy at the ball. Without Daphne to prepare his meals for him, Martin begins living off of endless microwaveables, pressing his nose against the glass each time to watch them cook in fascination. After days of exposure to microwave radiation and cheap, preservative-filled meals - many with the tin foil left on in a lazy but dazzling spectacle - Martin realizes he’s gained the ability to emit magnetic fields. Thrilled with the development, he quickly puts it to use retriving can after can of Ballantine’s from the fridge without having to leave his recliner. Roz meanwhile becomes typhoid mary for a rare disease so contagious that mere skin contact can immediately debilitate victims. She refuses to let it affect her lovelife, leaving a trail of comatose men in her wake. Frasier and Niles take the stage during Alistair’s salutation at the gala, literally rolling him out of the spotlight to deliver their own impassioned speech about their plight, and the plight of every rich, white socialite forced to deal with the petty annoyances of the common man on a near-daily basis. With the crowd whipped into a privileged frenzy, Frasier affirms them all as his exclusive army of “F-Men”, ready to storm the streets and take back America for the superior breed. The opera hall itself is suddenly torn asunder by the arrival of a flaming, winged being wreathed in psionic fire, who cuts the revolutionary movement short by disintegrating most of Seattle’s upper crust. Frasier cowers under the podium and Niles stares up with desperate infatuation as the godesslike figure begins rambling in a terrifying, otherworldly voice about quaint things “Grammy Moon used to say.”
There are plans to exhume Arafat’s body to investigate the polonium-poisoning assertion from a Swiss lab: Ali Abunimah reports that Josh Block, the Israel lobbyist linked to AIPAC, is tweeting “junk” rumors that Arafat was gay and died of AIDS: Paul Woodward reports on the effects of Polonium poisoning. Following Al Jazeera‘s report that Yasser Arafat may have been killed by polonium poisoning, I thought it was worth reviewing some of the scientific literature on this subject. In the World Journal of Nuclear Medicine 2007, Vol 6, Number 2, p. 102-106, Alan C Perkins, Professor of Medical Physics at the University of Nottingham, describes the effects on ingesting polonium-210: “Human data on the biological effects of Po-210 are limited (2,3). There are a few recorded events implicating the toxic nature of polonium poisoning starting with the death of Nobus Yamada in 1927 after working with polonium in Marie Curie’s lab. Irene Curie died of leukaemia in 1956. During World War II Dr Robert Fink of the University of Rochester gave Po-210 water to a patient with myeloid leukaemia and 4 others as part of a medical experiment. The cancer patient died the other 5 individuals survived. In the years following the Second World War physicist Dror Sedah working with Po-210 on Israel’s nuclear program reported widespread contamination on everything he touched in his lab and his home. One of his students subsequently died of leukaemia. There is one reported case of a Russian male worker who accidentally inhaled an aerosol estimated to contain approximately 530MBq of Po-210. The total retention was estimated as being approximately 100MBq, with 13.3MBq in the lungs,4.5MBq in the kidneys and 21MBq in the liver. At the time of admission to hospital 2 to 3 days after ingestion the patient had a fever and severe vomiting, but no diarrhea. He died after 13 days. Anyone receiving such doses would show symptoms of acute radiation sickness syndrome with bone marrow failure. About 5% of Po-210 reaching the blood will be deposited in the bones. Subsequent damage to the liver and kidneys will contribute to death from multiple organ failure. Remedial medical treatment strategies are considered to be unsuccessful within a few hours of ingestion, once significant amounts of Po-210 have entered the blood stream and deposited in tissues. “Weight for weight Po-210 is a million times more toxic than hydrogen cyanide. A microgram, (no larger than a speck of dust), would deliver a fatal dose of radiation. The maximum safe body burden of Po-210 is only seven picograms. Following ingestion Po-210 has a biological half-life of 50 days. Approximately 10% is absorbed from the gut into the blood. Once within the bloodstream it is rapidly deposited in major organs and tissues including the liver, kidneys and bone marrow as well as the skin and hair follicles (Figure 2). Approximately 5% is deposited in bone. The intense alpha radiation within these tissues results in massive destruction of cells, leading to a rapid decline in health. Animal studies have shown that 0.1-0.3GBq or greater of Po-210 absorbed into the blood of an adult male is likely to be fatal within 1 month (2). This corresponds to ingestion of 1-3GBq or greater assuming 10% gastrointestinal absorption to blood. Remedial medical treatments are considered unhelpful within a few hours following ingestion!”
The Strategy serves as the basis for adjustment of effective interaction of all hierarchy of public authorities of the republic, local governments and institutes of civil society. The official site of the Ministry of national policy of Komi reports about it. "The acceptance of the regional strategy national policy is an important step in the implementation the strategy of state national policy of the Russian Federation on the territory of our Republic approved by the decree of the President of the Russian Federation Vladimir Putin in 2012. So, the continuity of policy approaches in the sphere of interethnic and interfaith relations at the regional level is observed. The Republican strategy takes into account the acquired experience and at the same time is a new practical document for the organization of effective activity of Republican authorities, the institutions of local governing and civil society institutions for the implementation of problems of the state national policy. And still main idea is the need for civil and interethnic harmony so important in our multi-ethnic and multi-religious society", - said the head of the Komi Republic Vyacheslav Gaizer. Ensuring equality of citizens, the realization of their constitutional rights in the sphere of the state national policy, the preservation and development of ethno-cultural diversity of the people, providing international peace and harmony, harmonization of the interethnic and interfaith relations, the development of system of ethno-cultural education and civil and patriotic education of younger generation, providing optimum conditions for preservation and development of state languages of the Komi Republic, the improvement of interaction of state authorities and institutions of local governing with institutes of civil society, the development of the international cooperation in the sphere of the state national policy in the Komi Republic are designated in priorities. Vyacheslav Gaizer drew attention to the importance of the adoption of the strategy. "I note, without exaggeration, that the Strategy of national policy in the Komi Republic became the result of a serious and thoughtful work of our scientific and expert community and General public discussion in which participated the most active national public associations of the Republic. The regional strategy is not just a document attesting to the regional specificity of inter-ethnic relations, and first of all, the promise to the daily hard work of the state and society for the sake of the harmonious coexistence of all peoples and representatives of all faiths, counteractions to extremism and intolerance, as the fundamental conditions of dynamic development of our common home – the Republic of Komi", - stressed the head of the region.
Mahesh Murthy isn’t impressed with Flipkart’s constant pleas for government protection. “So Flipkart wants level playing field with Amazon ? Start by cutting top exec salaries by 80%. Overpaid underperforming crybabies,” he tweeted, while sharing a sheet of the top salaries of executives at both companies. The sheet shows that Flipkart management makes significantly more money than Amazon’s top brass – Mekin Maheshwari, its Chief People Officer had a renumeration of Rs. 35 crore in 2016, while Flipkart’s former Chief Business officer Ankit Nagori made Rs. 21 crore. In comparison, Amazon India’s HR director for India and China made Rs. 4.29 crore, while having 24 years more experience than his Flipkart counterpart. So @Flipkart wants level playing field with @amazonIN ? Start by cutting top exec salaries by 80%. Overpaid underperforming crybabies. pic.twitter.com/xhZltL4Vop — Mahesh Murthy (@maheshmurthy) February 10, 2017 Since late last year, Flipkart has been repeatedly asking for government protection against Amazon. It’s called Amazon’s India tactics as capital dumping, and alleged that Amazon is using profits earned in other markets to subsidize and drive out competition in India. Interestingly, Flipkart too had used foreign capital, raised from companies such as Tiger Global and Naspers, to subsidize its own products. That had given it the lion’s share of the market and driven out competitors like IndiaPlaza and smaller retail stores. So @Flipkart 'dumped' 24,000cr foreign capital here to kill @indiaplaza etc But wants govt to stop @amazonIN 'dumping' 15,000cr against it:) — Mahesh Murthy (@maheshmurthy) February 10, 2017 Murthy also attacked Flipkart for being registered in Singapore, claiming it wasn’t an Indian company at all. .@amazonIN is run by India reg. firm. @Flipkart run by Singapore reg. firm. So Singapore co. wants protection against Indian co. In India!:) — Mahesh Murthy (@maheshmurthy) February 10, 2017 The trigger for this tweetstorm appears to be Flipkart CEO Sachin Bansal’s comments yesterday at the IAMAI conference, where he’d again raised the issue of government protection for his company. “What we need to figure out is how do we create a level-playing field. How do we ensure news apps or restaurant apps don’t get prematurely killed by a company coming from China and just pumping in dollars from there. It should be about technology and appreciation of the product,” he’d said. Flipkart’s demands for government protection have been hotly debated in startup circles. Investors like Vani Kola have supported the move, while it has several critics as well, with Murthy himself being one of the most vocal ones. Comments comments
My girlfriend made me a Reddit Alien for Christmas. Having shared it with Reddit, I was asked a couple of questions, including "how big is it?" and "how did she make it?" The first question has an easy answer: about 50cm from top to bottom. But just posting that answer would be no fun, so here's a photo of the two most important people in my life for comparison: How did she make it? Yeah, not so simple, apparently. Here's a sketch she made while trying to plan it: (Click to see the full 'WTF' image) It doesn't help that I know nothing about crochet, and she only started to learn the terminology after finishing the project, but she described it like this: Ingredients: (or what ever you call them) ~100g (but it might have been 200g) ball of double knitting white yarn small amount of orange and black yarns 4 mm crocheting hook 0.5m of white satin lining 500g mung beans (or your choice of something else small and weighty) 1kg toy stuffing A long wire used for cleaning blocked drains Three polystyrene balls in different sizes for feet (largest), antenna and ears (smallest) Recipe: (or whatever we call this bit)
Taylor Schilling (born July 27, 1984) is an American actress. She is known for her role as Piper Chapman on the Netflix original comedy-drama series Orange Is the New Black (2013–present), for which she received a nomination for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series and two Golden Globe Award nominations for Best Actress – Television Series Musical or Comedy and Best Actress – Television Series Drama. She made her film debut in the 2007 drama Dark Matter. Schilling also starred in the short-lived NBC medical drama Mercy (2009–10). Her other films include Atlas Shrugged: Part I (2011), the romantic drama The Lucky One (2012), the comedy Take Me (2017) and the science fiction thriller The Titan (2018). Early life and education [ edit ] Schilling was born on July 27, 1984 in Boston, Massachusetts.[1][2] She is the daughter of Patricia (née Miller), an MIT administrator, and Robert J. Schilling, a former prosecutor.[1] She grew up in West Roxbury and Wayland, splitting time between her divorced parents.[3] A fan of the NBC medical drama ER during her youth, she began acting at a young age. She became active in her middle school's theatre program when she appeared in a stage production of Fiddler on the Roof.[4] After graduating from Wayland High School in 2002,[5] Schilling attended Fordham University's campus at Lincoln Center, where she continued to take part in stage productions before earning her Bachelor of Arts in 2006. She then entered the graduate program at New York University's Tisch School of the Arts to continue her acting studies but left after her second year to start auditioning.[3][6] While attempting to break into acting, she supported herself by working as a nanny for a Manhattan-based family.[7] Career [ edit ] Schilling won the Emerson College Playwright's Festival Outstanding Performance Award.[6] She made her feature film debut with a supporting role in the independent film Dark Matter (2007). In 2009, she starred in the NBC medical drama Mercy, as a tough Iraq War veteran and former military nurse-turned-medical practitioner. Reading for the part via videotape from New York City, Schilling impressed the show's creator and executive producer, Liz Heldens, who then flew her out to Los Angeles to audition for the role. Mercy ran for one season from September 2009 to May 2010.[8] Schilling portrayed Dagny Taggart in the film Atlas Shrugged: Part I (2011),[9] and co-starred with Zac Efron in the romantic drama film The Lucky One (2012). She currently stars as Piper Chapman in the Netflix original series Orange Is the New Black, based on the Piper Kerman memoir Orange Is the New Black: My Year in a Women's Prison. The show premiered on July 11, 2013.[10] For her work on the show, Schilling was nominated for the Golden Globe Award for Best Actress in a Television Series – Drama[11] and the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series in 2014.[12] Personal life [ edit ] Regarding her sexuality, Schilling stated: "I’ve had very serious relationships with lots of people, and I’m a very expansive human. There’s no part of me that can be put under a label. I really don’t fit into a box — that’s too reductive … I’ve had a lot of love, and I don’t have any qualms about where it comes from."[13] Schilling practices Transcendental Meditation.[14] Filmography [ edit ] Film [ edit ] Television [ edit ] Awards and nominations [ edit ]
In breaking news, Kenton Cool is about to set off on a long held pipe dream of his to climb the three summits of the Western Cwm. Summiting Everest (8,848m), Lhotse (8,516m) and Nuptse (7,861m) in one climb has never been attempted before. It’s a huge task and we're among the first to know. Kenton says: “It has been a pipe dream of mine for a few years to try and climb the three mountains that form the Western Cwm: Everest, Lhotse and Nuptse. The reason for wanting to do this is purely a selfish one; the Western Cwm is one of the most magical places I have ever been to. The Western Cwm has always been something special for me, ever since I saw a picture when I was young taken by Chris Bonington in 1975. It showed a camp deep in the Western Cwm with the three peaks of Everest, Lhotse and Nuptse towering over it. The idea of climbing the Mountains that form this amazing hidden gem of a valley hit me then, and now it is time to finally make summiting them a reality. “In the last 24 hours the plan has formed and there is a chance that I may be able to make use of the first weather window of the season...I’m not even sure if it’s possible to climb all three of these monsters in the manner that I hope, but that’s surely the best reason of all to try...If it all goes to plan I’ll be away from base camp for up to 10 days and there will be little or no updates from me during this time." Subject to weather-conditions Kenton will follow this schedule: 9 May: Depart Base Camp 11/12 May: Summit Mt Nuptse 12/13 May: Descend to Everest Camp 2 14/15 May: Summit Mt Everest 16/17 May: Summit Mt Lhotse 18/19 May: Return to Everest Base Camp Kenton will be climbing with his long-time climbing partner, good friend and Sherpa Dorje Gylgen. Kenton and Dorje have shared six of Kenton’s ten summits together. Before they set off, we managed catch up with Kenton to get his views on another big climbing challenge - the International Federation of Sport Climbing (IFSC)'s bid to get climbing into the 2020 Olympics. Update: Climbing's Olympic dream is on hold. Unfortunately Sport climbing has failed to reach the final shortlist of sports being considered for the 2020 Olympics. Will climbing in the Olympics have any impact on mountaineering? I don’t think that the the Olympics will have a direct impact on mountaineering. As it stands, it is competition climbing which would be represented in 2020 which is far removed from mountaineering. However what I hope will happen is that by being represented in the Olympics the whole sport of climbing will get a boost in the public eye. This in turn will hopefully inject potential sponsorship money which will be a much needed lift for the entire sport. One only needs to look at what happened in sailing and the way that after Sir Knox Johnston's round the world epic there was a huge injection of enthusiasm and then the money followed....and now look at where sailing stands. Of course its not all about the money but by having the exposure from the Olympics one would hope that we would see a pick up with the next generation of climbers and of course some of these would trickle into mountaineering which can only be a good thing. You famously took an Olympic gold medal up Everest last year. What have you got planned for this year? The Olympic gold medal last year was a great project to be involved with and its hard to think how we can top it. That said I do have a sneaky project in mind which will be pretty cool if we manage to pull if off....all I can say is watch this space and keep fingers crossed. (i think we've just found out what that is Kenton!) 29 May is an auspicious day - what will you be doing then? May 29th...of course that's the 60th anniversary of the first ascent of Everest. It would be nice to be on the top that day but things are always dictated by the weather so we will see. Do you think climbing would make a good Olympic sport?Higher, Faster, Stronger...that's the original motto for the Olympics. Climbing fits all of that. Having watched the World Climbing Championships in Chamonix a few years ago I have no doubt that it would make really good viewing. Look at Leeds 1989 (the first ever World Cup event), the route was set in such a manner that only one person got to the top...Jerry Moffatt of course. I remember watching it with my mum on TV and she was at the edge of her seat. Would you watch Olympic climbing on TV? I don’t own a TV so probably not.....bit of a lame answer I know but thats the truth. Ah well don't forget you can watch the GB Climbing Team compete in international competitions live on the IFSC website. Do you think British climbers have what it takes to win some gold medals for Team GB? We don’t have the strength as yet to win lead or speed climbing but the bouldering team is looking strong and hey it's the Olympics...on the day anything could happen, it's just a pity that we didn’t have climbing in London in 2012. Thanks Kenton. All the best for your record breaking 11th Everest summit bid and attempt to climb the three summits of the Western Cwm in one climb. Follow Kenton on Twitter and Facebook. Find out more about climbing's Olympic bid. When tweeting about climbing's Olympic bid please use #climbing2020. « Back
Judy Battista was in Indianapolis and John Woods was in Manhattan providing live analysis of Saturday’s game between the Ravens and the Colts. Scroll down to track the progress of the game, as it happened. You also can follow Judy on Twitter. The Colts looked a little like a team that maybe should have been adding to an undefeated record, not that I am trying to start an argument. They were efficient and aggressive early in the game, chewing up big chunks of clock and converting on two scoring chances late in the second quarter. Peyton Manning, playing very much like this year’s M.V.P., had two touchdown passes, leading the Colts into the AFC championship game with a resounding victory. The Colts will host the winner of tomorrow’s game between the Chargers and the Jets. But as sharp as Manning was, it was the Colts’ defense that made a bigger difference. Indianapolis held Baltimore to 87 rushing yards a week after the Ravens gained 234 at New England. The Ravens could get nothing going through the air, either. Flacco was 20 of 35 for 183 yards and 2 interceptions. The Ravens’ offense spent almost the whole second quarter on the sideline as the Colts, who had a nearly-eight-minute advantage in time of possession, swept to a 17-3 lead. In the end, it was the mistakes the Ravens made — not the plays they didn’t — that cost them. They were penalized 7 times for 64 yards (the Colts drew 4 flags for 25 yards), and it seemed like every whistle hurt the Ravens. Their first erased a long kick return. Nos. 2 and 3 pushed the Colts closer to their first touchdown. Three penalties helped stall their first two drives of the second half, and the final flag negated a long interception return by Ed Reed. It was too much to overcome. Flacco keeps throwing. But the completion streak ends. And a streak of incompletions begins. A few plays later, that ends — with an interception. All the Colts need to do is take a knee. This game is over. Flacco comes out throwing. Three in a row, probably his only three pass plays in a row all game. They get 16 yards before the two-minute warning, with the ball at the Colts’ 27. And that has to be the last straw. The Ravens had something working on offense there. A lot of energy, some good, crisp gains, but Flacco just missed the mark on that last pass. The Colts go back to work and pound the rock. Three consecutive running plays, very little gained, and they line up to punt with 3:17 left. The Ravens get it back at the Colts’ 43. The Ravens gamely keep at it. Consecutive first downs brings the Colts’ midfield helmet into view, and a third first down — a short pass to and 16-yard run by Ray Rice — sends the Ravens’ offense into Colts territory. On a second-and-10 from the Colts’ 39, Flacco tries to stretch the offense again. He launches a deep pass to inside the 5, intended for Mason, but it is picked by Antoine Bethea. Mason was open for a score, but Flacco’s pass was short. The Colts will take over at their 2. Gumbel just said the clock was “slo-o-owly becoming an enemy for the Baltimore Ravens.” …The Colts’ offense goes right back to the Ravens’ game plan. Short run. Short pass on a slant route. And all with the clock ticking. On third-and-1, as the clock slips under seven minutes, Manning tries to lob the ball on a timing pattern to Collie, who is looping out of the slot. The pass is incomplete and an observer has to wonder why the Colts didn’t run the ball again. After the punt, the Ravens take over at their 22. The Ravens, with nine minutes left, like I said, are sticking with Rice. They run inside with Rice on first down and, about 30 seconds later, Flacco throws incomplete to the sideline. Third-and-8 with 8:16 left. Flacco is under center, and he faces heavy pressure. The pass is incomplete, intended for Washington, who has the ball hit him in the hands, though a step behind him. The Ravens punt and the Colts will take over their their 25. The Ravens’ defense, which has to be stunned by that last play, rises to the occasion. The Colts, though, weren’t trying anything fancy. They go three and out, and punt it back to the Ravens. With about nine minutes left, the Ravens will have the ball at their 21. The Ravens get the kick out to the 28. …The Ravens go right back to Rice — and short gains. On third-and-5, though, Flacco stretches out and finds Kelley Washington for 11 yards and a first down. And then the Ravens’ offense starts to build momentum. After a nice 7-yard pass to Heap, Rice takes a handoff up the middle. And he finds lots of room. And when the Colts close in on him, he just bulls ahead. His jersey is stretched. He’s butting heads. He drives 20 yards deep into the heart of the Colts’ defense — and then a solid hit jars the ball loose. Clint Session recovers for the Colts. They take over at their own 20. …Ouch. Strangely, with a chance to put the game away, the Colts start moving backward. On first-and-goal, and the Colts try a run, out of a single-back set. The play had nothing to recommend it. They lose 3. On second down, Manning tries the gun, but is flushed to his right and he slides to the turf after losing 4. On third down, Manning tries for the end zone and his pass is long. But just getting that far might have been enough. Stover makes his second field goal of the game, and the Colts lead, 20-3. Manning keeps the Colts on the move. As time winds down in the third quarter, he finds Dallas Clark for 5 yards for a first down at the Ravens’ 9. The third quarter ends. From Judy: Ravens just burned their second timeout — with 4:24 left in the third quarter. Time is slipping away, for the Ravens. And the theme of self-destruction continues, too. Is a fumble on an interception not enough for you? How about another interception by Ed Reed and another long return negated by a pass-interference penalty? That’s exactly what happens. A great pick by Reed, and this time he hangs onto the ball. But there are flags down. And the Colts go from possibly having the Ravens at their doorstep, with first-and-goal from the 10 to getting the ball back and penalty yards to boot. From the Ravens’ 37, the Colts dial it back a little with consecutive runs, but Manning airs it out on third-and-4, finding Wayne for 11 yards to the Ravens’ 20. …From Judy: That’s two Ed Reed picks on this drive. And the Colts are inside the Ravens 35 yard line anyway. Bizarro world. My thoughts exactly. So, a big thing happens on the next play. Manning throws to Garcon, but Ed Reed picks the ball off and takes off like a shot. He’s up the sideline and he goes 30 some yards and you don’t notice that Garcon was following the whole way. He finally catches up, and pops the ball out. And the ball bounces right to Dallas Clark. You go from turnover to turnover in a blink of an eye. …Manning gets the Colts almost all the way back to the 45 two plays later. It’s like Reed’s big play never happened. The Ravens seem dead set on stopping themselves. They lengthen the field with a holding penalty on the next play, and then Flacco throws incomplete on third-and-3 and fourth-and-3. Colts take over at their 45, poised to possibly pull out their pot of spackling and put the finishing touches on this game. Ngata is not as corpulent as some of the wide bodies who play on the interior of the defense, but Manning was wise to avoid a direct hit. …The Ravens start with their best field position of the game, by far. And they go right back to Rice. Two runs and they are facing a third-and-oh-so-short. The wilder monkeys in the crowd amp up their screeching, but flags are thrown and it’s a false start on the Ravens. (Penalties are killing them so far in this game.) The Ravens shrug it off, though, and Flacco finds Todd Heap over the middle for 10 yards and a first down. You don’t have to wear an ugly suit and stand in front of a TV camera to know that the Ravens need to stop the Colts here, and get back on offense. They have the Colts pinned back, though, so a turnover could be a game-changer. …Manning gives himself breathing room right away, with completions to Brown and Wayne. But that is where the good feeling stops. On his third play, Manning is forced to take a dive, disappearing under the pumpkin-shaped Haloti Ngata. On second down, Manning throws deep and incomplete. His third-down pass is dropped by Pierre Garcon. …No return on the punt, but the Ravens will have decent field position at their own 34. So, on third down, Flacco niftily dodges the pass rush, and dumps a pass off to Rice, who gains 26 yards, up the right sideline, finishing his run by blowing right into a tackler. An exclamation point on a powerful run, which brought the Ravens to midfield. But on third-and-3, the Ravens’ offense shorts out. Flacco throws incomplete, and the punt is downed at the Colts’ 7. Greg Gumbel muses, as the Colts kick off the start the second half, about how long the Ravens can stick with their game plan. A long time, I say. There is a lot of time left in this game, and Flacco might be a young player, but he has shown plenty of composure in his short career. …The Ravens start with Rice, who runs for short yardage. And after an incomplete second-down pass, Flacco lines the Ravens up in the shotgun and… calls timeout. Wow. I just checked Manning’s numbers. It’s the story of the game — so far. He was 21 of 29 for 180 yards and 2 touchdowns. He had completions to seven different players, led by Dallas Clark, who has 6 catches for 54 yards. …Flacco was 5 of 10 for 55 yards, but I think that works out to be 1 of 4 for 1 yard in the second quarter. The Colts’ big time-consuming drive in the second quarter prevents us from getting a solid feel for the Ravens’ offense, but so far it has been one-dimensional. The 55 yards of pass offense were all to Derrick Mason, in just 3 catches. Ray Rice has shown some power running with the ball. He has 28 yards on 8 carries, but his longest run was only 6 yards. …Flacco is sure to face a strong pass rush in the second half, so Rice is going to have to make some plays running the ball if the Ravens are going to have a chance. Judy writes, Peyton was right. He wanted one more play — TD to Wayne. two TD lead at the half. Is that the game? That’s the end of the first half. The Colts get an important score after an impressive two-minute drill by Manning. The Colts went 64 yards in 8 plays and 1:48. Manning can be heard on TV shouting at his teammates to “move, move, move!” …On second-and-10 from the 14, Ray Lewis is flagged for a helmet-to-helmet hit on Austin Collie. The Colts creep closer to the goal line, but time is slowly slipping away. On first-and-goal from the 7, Manning finds Clark for a 3-yard gain, and the Colts have to call their final timeout with 11 seconds left. …They line up for another play, though. The Colts are showing that they are not afraid to be aggressive. …Manning works out of the gun, and he throws incomplete. He had pressure coming up from his backside, and he was knocked down after he threw. …With 7 seconds left, Manning wants to take another shot. He is slow coming out of the huddle, though, and the Colts are flagged for delay of game. The Colts will still go for it, though, possibly turning their back on a sure 3 points. (Never mind.) Manning finds Wayne, who is right at the goal line, almost straddling it. He goes down, but gets the ball in the end zone. TOUCHDOWN. Colts add to their lead, 17-3. Brown is the Colts’ backup running back, and he went from pass catcher to runner on the very next play. He bulled off the left side, out of the shotgun, for 13 yards, breaking tackles in old-time Earl Campbell style. The Colts catch a huge break on the next play, with the Ravens getting flagged for pass interference. That moves the ball safely in field-goal range at the Ravens’ 27 with 34 seconds left. The Ravens have to be disappointed. They needed either to bleed the clock, or gain yards. Instead, they give Manning a very real chance to expand the Colts’ lead. …Manning wastes no time, rattling off three completions, including one to his seventh different receiver — 8 yards to Donald Brown. They bang across midfield to the Ravens’ 40 with 55 seconds left. The Ravens’ starting field position had been gradually inching away from the goal line, but on the ensuing kick it slips backward. Two minutes left, they take over at their 18. …They start with Rice, a bullish run behind the right guard and then call timeout. …On second-and-6, Flacco is jolted hard as he threw, a deep pass toward the post. It’s incomplete. Which brings up third down and a seemingly louder wave of crowd noise. Flacco throws incomplete again, and the Ravens meekly prepare to turn the ball back over to the Colts. With plenty of time for them to score again. From Judy, referring to the Ravens’ Domonique Foxworth, Foxworth beaten on that TD by Collie. 8 minute drive — Ravens defense was out there a long time. The Colts are much more methodical on this drive. They have chewed up six minutes so far. …They bounce inside the 20 on a pass to Mike Hart, a player who began the season on the Colts’ practice squad. Gain of 9 up the sideline to the Ravens’ 11. And they take the lead back on a 10-yard pass from Manning to Austin Collie. TOUCHDOWN. Colts move back in front, 10-3. The Colts go 75 yards in eight minutes. …We’ve hit the two-minute warning. The Colts weren’t bluffing. It’s fourth-and-4 from the Ravens’ 35. Not a bad place to do something like this, when you consider the distance a field goal would be. Manning passes to the right side to Addai who appears to have room to run, but Dannell Ellerbe arrives for a solid hit right at the first-down marker and the officials have to measure. …They give it to the Colts, the fourth first down of the drive. The Colts move inexorably on, though now in smaller steps. After Addai is stuffed on a third-and-2 at the Ravens’ 33, the Colts line up as if to go for it on fourth down. The Ravens, perhaps caught off guard, call timeout. Manning finds Reggie Wayne on first down for 12 yards, which is Wayne’s first touch of the game. On the next play, as if to emphasize Wayne’s importance to the Colts’ offense, Manning goes to him again, and Wayne makes a spectacular catch. Gain of 11 to the Colts’ 48. …The Colts have done a good job of spreading the workload. Manning has completions to five receivers. But the hardest worker so far is Dallas Clark, who has four catches for 39 yards. His fourth was a nice 7-yard gain on third-and-6 from the Ravens’ 48. The Ravens stick with Rice. He runs, he catches. On third down from their 24, however, Flacco doesn’t have a chance to get Rice the ball. Flacco disappears under a white and blue wave of plastic. Loss of 6 yards and an entree for the punt team. …Flags fly like crazy on the ensuing punt. It was, you might have guessed, a nifty return. All for naught. Colts take over at their 25. The Colts’ drive ends as effectively as the Ravens’ did. There was a brief blip when Joseph Addai pulled down a tipped pass for a short gain. Manning throws long and incomplete on third down, and the Colts are forced to punt. About the only thing you can take from those four plays are the fact that the punt went out of the end zone. The touchback gives the Ravens their best starting field position of the game. The Ravens bring the hammer for their second drive. They start with consecutive runs up the middle by Ray Rice, but on third-and-2 an unremarkable incompletion sends the ball back to the Colts. The punt is returned close to midfield. Manning was 7 for 11 and 75 yards in the first quarter. As Judy writes, We can also stop talking about Peyton being rusty — yeah, he’s not. Looks better than he did against Jets by a mile. Flacco was 4 of 6 for 55 yards. A very fast-moving first quarter. …The Colts punt, and the Ravens fair catch inside their 10. More bad field position. The Colts begin their second drive with the kind of precision passing that Manning is known for. He finds Clark on a short crossing route. The TV heads agree that the defensive coverage was pretty good, but Manning puts the ball right where it needs to go and the Colts pick up 19 yards. A clutch 8-yard completion to Austin Collie on third-and-6 gets the Colts close to midfield. But they can’t get back across. On third-and-7, Manning finds Clark on the left side, but he is pulled down after 3 yards. The quarter ends, and the Colts are likely to punt. A tweet from Judy says it all: Flacco is obviously much healthier than last week — is throwing to the edges with ease. But that’s a killer to not get 7 there. The Ravens’ erased their next third down with a sneak by Flacco for 2 yards to the Colts’ 8. Closing in on the end zone, the Ravens try to run. They try a pass. And on third-and-goal, Flacco is nearly picked off by Antoine Bethea, who would might have taken it to the house had he been able to hang on. The Ravens settle. Billy Cundiff is good from 25 yards and the Ravens tie the score, 3-3. The Ravens erase the bad taste of a short gain on their very first play with a short pass on second down that Derrick Mason turned into a 16-yard gain. And with that, their offense stretches its legs. Five plays go by before they face their first third down, third-and-7 from midfield. They get 5 yards on a penalty and then the Ravens’ Joe Flacco toss his first deep pass, 18 yards to Mason down the right sideline. First down at the Colts’ 18. Judy said the Colts would be looking for a fast start. I am not sure that qualifies, but the Indy offense did look crisp to start and they moved quickly across midfield and in big strides. …The Ravens cause a bit of a stir on the ensuing kick. The returner Jalen Parmele found some room up the left sideline, and ripped of a 64-yard return — that was called back because of an illegal block. Ravens’ ball at their 7. The Colts start with bold passing strokes, straight up the middle of the field. 20 yards to Austin Collie. 10 yards to Dallas Clark. Then they shorten their reach, starting with a pass underneath to Pierre Garcon, who shrugs off a tackle and gains 8. After a nice off-tackle run by Joseph Addai, to bring the Colts to the Ravens’ 26, the Ravens’ defense stiffens. Back-to-back incompletions, including a wicked collision between Ray Lewis and Clark, end the Colts’ drive. They line up for a 44-yard field goal, and Matt Stover converts. Colts move ahead, 3-0. We are on. The Colts won the toss, and they chose to receive. (Inexplicably, CBS cut to commercial just as the coin flip was being resolved.) It was a deep kick and a touchback. * The game starts at 8:15 p.m. Eastern time and is broadcast on CBS. You can check out the breakdown from the N.F.L. here. The Indianapolis Star notes that “it’s put up or shut up” time for the Colts. While in Baltimore, The Sun has a to-do list for the Ravens. We begin our coverage with this from Judy:
The United States President Donald Trump in a meeting with his national security team that entitled “Calm before the Storm” said the limits on the US soldiers in Afghanistan ‘have been removed’. Trump said after this the US commanders will have more authorities on the battlefields in Afghan soil. “As I said during our last meeting my number one priority as Commander-in-Chief is to keep our people safe and to empower you, our senior military leaders to do what you do best,” said Trump. Trump also said they should have addressed many big challenges in advance including the North Korea, Daesh and Afghanistan issue” and that the US has changed its strategy in Afghanistan. “But recently we have had challenges that we really should have taken care of a long time ago like North Korea, Iran, Afghanistan, ISIS (Daesh) and the revisionist powers that threaten our interests all around the world,” said Trump. This comes after Pakistan’s Foreign Minister Khawaja Muhammad Asif at a gathering in US Institute of Peace in Washington said Islamabad really wants to cooperate with Washington to find a solution to the Afghan problem. “We want to cooperate, really cooperate with the US. We want to find a solution to the Afghan problem, because we are the direct beneficiaries of peace in Afghanistan,” said Asif. Asif also warned of Taliban and Daesh cooperation and said if these two groups get together; it will be a very serious threat for the region. Asif said US has already lost the Afghan war. “You already lost the war. You're just trying to salvage your situation over there. If you pursue the military solution, you will force Taliban and Daesh (IS) to get together and that will be the biggest curse for us to face, for the region to face. We don't want to see that situation happening in our region,” said Asif. The Pakistani foreign minister meanwhile said Islamabad is fighting against terrorists and that it is winning the war against extremism and terrorist groups. “We are the only winners against terrorism in the whole world,” Asif added. Asif’s remarks come following his meeting with US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson on Wednesday and National Security Adviser HR McMaster earlier on Thursday.
Mat Keep’s blog post on InnoDB-vs-MyISAM benchmarks that Oracle recently published prompted me to do some mathematical modeling of InnoDB’s scalability as the number of cores in the server increases. Vadim runs lots of benchmarks that measure what happens under increasing concurrency while holding the hardware constant, but not as many with varying numbers of cores, so I decided to use Mat Keep’s data for this. The modeling I performed is Universal Scalability Law modeling, which can predict both software and hardware scalability, depending on how it is used. In brief, the benchmarks are sysbench’s read-only and read-write tests, and the server has two Intel SSDs, 64GB of memory, and 4 x 12-core AMD Opteron 6172 â€œMagny-Coursâ€ 2.1GHz CPUs. It is a reasonably typical commodity machine except for the high core count, which is more than I can remember seeing in the wild. The database was MySQL 5.5.7-rc. I am not sure why they didn’t run the GA version of MySQL for this benchmark. Maybe they wrote the paper before 5.5 went GA. The following are plots of the read-only and read-write scalability models that I generated, based on these benchmarks. The model predicts that the server will continue to provide more throughput as the core count climbs into the mid-50s, although the bang for the buck isn’t very good at that point. Also, there appears to be some bottleneck that hits more sharply than the model predicts at high core counts. It would be great if the benchmark were re-run with the same core counts and with sysbench on another machine, instead of taking 12 cores away from MySQL and giving them to sysbench. That way we could test with 48 cores and see what happens. My gut feeling is that the results will not be as good as the model predicts at high numbers of cores. But as Neil Gunther says, this wouldn’t mean the model is broken; it would mean that there is potentially something to fix in the server at high core counts. Without the model, there wouldn’t even be a basis for discussion. The biggest thing I want to point out here is the dramatic improvement over just a few years ago, when you could “upgrade” from 4 to 8 cores and see a reduction in throughput. Oracle (and Percona, and lots of others) have done great work in the last couple of years making InnoDB scale and perform better on modern hardware.
DePaul University issued a public safety alert after a student reported being sexually assaulted early Thursday at Munroe Hall. View Full Caption DNAinfo/Paul Biasco LINCOLN PARK — A student was sexually assaulted in a DePaul University dorm early Thursday, police said. The university said the attack occurred between 1:45 a.m. and 2:30 a.m. at Munroe Hall, 2312 N. Clifton St. According to the university, the incident was reported first to the Chicago Police Department, which then reported it to DePaul's Office of Public Safety. Chicago police are investigating. An 18-year-old woman said she was assaulted by a "known male," also 18, after attending a party, police said. The woman then went to Illinois Masonic Medical Center, where she was reported to be "in good condition." Police said that no one is in custody. "Because this is an open police investigation we have no additional information to provide," said university spokeswoman Carol Hughes. "DePaul University takes reports of sexual assault seriously and is committed to offering a secure and supportive environment for individuals who report incidents of sexual and relationship violence," she added. Opened in 1970, Munroe was the university's first residence hall and was renovated in 2000. On its university webpage it says the dorm has "a 24-hour staffed security desk, and key card-swipe entry is required." For more neighborhood news, listen to DNAinfo Radio here.
If you want to break the ice with a bunch of high school kids, a Nissan GT-R Nismo is a good way to go. Two minutes after I roll into the parking lot at Freedom High (about a half hour from Green Bay, Wisconsin), a tall, ruddy kid named Cole Woods walks up to introduce himself, his eyes on the car. The Nismo isn't completely out of context, since this is the Freedom Auto Club's annual end-of-the-year car show, an event where the kids showcase their projects and the local horsepower fiends show up en masse to clear the carbon out of whatever high-strung machinery's been slumbering in the garage over the long Wisconsin winter. Adjacent to the low, brick high school is a lot filled with Chevelles and Mustangs, circle-track race cars, and rat rods. Here a $151,000 Japanese hypercar raises some eyebrows. I figured a little Nismo show-and-tell would be a worthy way to salute the auto club, which we've been following in these pages for the past eight months as they've restored two of the cars on display here today—Woods's leviathan Oldsmobile and automotive instructor Jay Abitz's 1981 Camaro Z/28. Abitz founded the auto club in 2009 after realizing that he effectively ran an after-school extracurricular program fixing up cars. "I always had these kids working on their cars after school or at lunch, and I thought we should give this a name and make it official," Abitz says. The program's been a major success, with students learning skills that either propel them into the automotive business or just render them more mechanically competent citizens of the world. Welding, bodywork, brake jobs—this is all stuff I would've loved to have learned in high school. Freedom High even has its own paint booth, always in demand but even more so now after the coverage from a certain major magazine. "A guy called me and asked if we could paint his classic Porsche," Abitz says. The answer was no. We're not doing Pebble Beach cars here, buddy. Woods, a junior, shows me over to his uncle's 1974 Oldsmobile Delta 88 convertible, a car that he himself painted in the booth. It must've taken a lot of paint, because this thing is a barge. "For my first time painting a car, I think it turned out wonderful," Woods says. "There are some tiger stripes where I sprayed it too thick, but it's okay. I'm gonna drive it." Auto club member Cole Woods leans against his 1974 Oldsmobile Delta 88, which won best student build. Abitz's dad, Bob, got the paint booth installed in 1972, when he began teaching automotive classes at Freedom. Back then there were lots of high schools with paint booths. Now Freedom's paint shop is an outlier, and not for the usual budgetary reasons that always pertain to school infrastructure. "Nobody around here's painting cars anymore because nobody can teach it," Abitz says. "When the guys from the '70s and '80s retired, nobody stepped up to take their place. It's a strange job, because if you want to go work at a body shop, you don't want to go to college for four or five years to get a teaching degree. And vice versa." From looking around Freedom High's parking lot on this overcast Saturday morning under the big white water tower that says freedom, 22 days before graduation, you can tell Abitz stepped up, and it's working. Students, parents, toddlers, local enthusiasts, teachers, and neighbors walk up and down the rows of gleaming machines, most of which have their hoods up. Volunteers cook burgers and hot dogs under a tent. Next to that, staff from a nearby technical school recruit potential enrollees. The students in the auto club prepare to judge the cars in various categories, and a table holds a row of wooden plaques to be given out as awards—the students made those too. One particularly menacing 2011 Camaro at the show belongs to Justin Hendrickson, Freedom High class of '99. The auto club didn't exist when Hendrickson went here, when he was surprising locals with a Geo Prizm that he'd built to run 13-second quarter-miles. "I wish there had been something like the auto club when I was here," he says. "I like to come back and support it however I can." Like maybe by rolling in with a Camaro that hides twin turbos under the V-8's exhaust manifolds. The Nismo is officially not the most powerful machine in this high school parking lot. Freedom High auto club. The auto club isn't just an echo chamber for like-minded car nuts. It attracts kids who might've been indifferent toward cars until they got their license and realized how profoundly a car can change a person's life. "I wasn't into cars at all until this year," says Ryan Lucier, a skinny kid wrapping up his junior year. "I was into skateboarding, and I thought Freedom was kind of boring. But any place will seem lame if your mom has to drive you around. Getting my license made me more excited to be in Freedom. You're out in the country, but you're not far from cities with lots going on." If, that is, you have a car. Lucier has a Pontiac Grand Prix with a naturally aspirated 3.8-liter V-6. "I wanted a supercharged one, but my parents wouldn't let me," he says. Probably a good move, parents. Not to disparage young Ryan's driving, but I do notice quite a few stripes of rubber in the ol' Freedom parking lot. And the skid marks are activating some latent hormonal lobe in the brain that makes me want to get into the GT-R and rip some righteous donuts out behind the gym, the way my 17-year-old self certainly would've done if armed with 600 horsepower. Being older, wiser, and 12 percent more mature now than I was then, I take the Nismo off-site before I spool up the GT3-sized race turbos. The kids queue up for rides, and I try to remind myself that I'm the responsible adult and should set a good example. But there may have been a couple of times, in first-gear situations, when I demonstrated the concept of torque vectoring in a way that might have been memorable. On one ride the shotgun seat is occupied by a serious kid named Cody Walrath, an accomplished wrestler who won first place at the state skills challenge for auto-body repair. He had to fix a dented fender, repair a plastic bumper, and demonstrate his chops at welding, all within four hours. Walrath says he wants to start an auto-restoration business, speaking as if that's a hypothetical. But this is actually the game plan, with his parents helping him set up a business once he graduates. I learn this not from Walrath but from his friend Dan Vosberg, who graduated last year and plans to work at Walrath's shop. "Yeah, that's actually happening," Walrath admits. "I didn't want to seem like I was bragging or something." While I'm talking with Walrath, he fires up the Buick Grand National that he brought to the car show, and the car promptly coughs off its left valve cover vent, the gasket splitting in two as it falls onto the fender well. Walrath calmly seats the gasket back in the cap, aligning the two halves and screwing it back on. Not a major fix, but one he executed without even thinking about it. If it had been my car, I would've already been on my way to AutoZone by now, hunting for part numbers. This is a guy, I imagine, who will not have much use for roadside-assistance programs. Cars arrive at Freedom's biggest car show yet—125 entrants. Nor will the other graduates of the Freedom Auto Club, regardless of whether they ever go pro. And that's a big part of the appeal, one that transcends cars, really—in a different age, we could be talking about shoeing horses or rebuilding cotton gins. The principle is the same: Given the right knowledge and the right equipment, this opaque expertise is within your grasp. Mr. Abitz will hand you a grinder, and you're going to learn how to find metal under that body filler. No way to it but to do it. "At some point I decided every guy should know how to change his own oil," Lucier, the skater, tells me. "It's calming, working on cars. And then when you're done, you can look at it and say, I did that. I helped create this." Maybe you end up with a few tiger stripes here and there, but you're on your way to something wonderful.
Share. The devs on the new set and on how formats will change the game. The devs on the new set and on how formats will change the game. In less than a week, Cygame’s anime-infused CCG Shadowverse is going to change forever. Yes, on December 28, the 138 card Chronogenesis set will release and introduce a whole new class – Portalcraft – to the game. At the same time, Shadowverse’s ranked play mode will split into two – Rotation and Unlimited – with the former having a pool of around 500 cards and the latter more than 1000. I’ve already covered Portalcraft in depth and spoken with Cygames about what introducing formats will mean, so today, we’re going to take a bit more of a look at Chronogenesis and also briefly examine the year that was. What follows is an excerpt of my conversation with Yuito Kimura, Game Producer and Executive Director at Cygames and Lead Game Designer Naoyuki Miyashita. IGN: Portalcraft and Chronogenesis really do feel like they go hand in hand. Tell me about building out a set that would complement Portalcraft coming into the game so well. “ "We were initially concerned about the number of cards for Portalcraft being fewer than other classes, but we think at this point that might not be that big of an issue." - Yuito Kimura. Yuito Kimura: More than we expected, there’s a lot of presence of Portalcraft in Chronogenesis. We were initially concerned about the number of cards for Portalcraft being fewer than other classes, but we think at this point that might not be that big of an issue. IGN: Can you tell me about the broad, overall theme for the set? Yuito Kimura: There are four themes in this set. The first one would be the characters that are already in the game coming back as different cards, as you may have seen in our trailer. The second one is – we started doing this from Wonderland Dreams, and there were a lot of these in Starforged Legends, but – cards that give abilities to the leaders. We also have something we mentioned already – the restoring play point gimmick, and we are also introducing two new abilities for Shadowcraft. Exit Theatre Mode IGN: Can you tell me about those? Naoyuki Miyashita: One is Burial Rite. If you have one or more empty spaces on your board when you play a card with this ability, then you also need to sacrifice another follower from your hand, which triggers the Burial Rite ability. There are Burial Rite abilities that let you draw a card, or that let you destroy an enemy follower. “ "We wanted to introduce something that makes the player care about something other than the number of shadows they have." - Naoyuki Miyashita. The card that is sacrificed from your hand is destroyed without triggering any Fanfare or Last Words abilities, but if you have another card in play with an ability that activates when an allied follower is destroyed, those abilities will be activated if you destroy a card through Burial Rite. IGN: And the other ability? Naoyuki Miyashita: The other ability is called Reanimate, which kind of goes hand in hand with Burial Rite, as well. It’s written as Reanimate with a number, so if it’s “Reanimate (10)” then you can summon an allied follower with the highest cost that was destroyed this game - with a cost up to 10. You don’t get to choose, so if there are multiple cards with 10 play point cost that had been destroyed then it would be random, and a copy of one of the cards would be summoned. It’s kind of similar to Ceridwen, which was introduced in Darkness Evolved. Ceridwen’s ability was ‘when this card evolves summon a card with the highest cost that was destroyed this match’, but this Renanimate ability has a cost restriction. Shadowverse: Chronogenesis - Shadowcraft Cards 10+ IMAGES Fullscreen Image Artboard 3 Copy Artboard 3 ESC 01 OF 10 01 OF 10 Shadowverse: Chronogenesis - Shadowcraft Cards Download Image Captions ESC IGN: What are your goals for Shadowcraft in this set? Naoyuki Miyashita: Necromancy is one of the key abilities of Shadowcraft, and the way to activate necromancy is a core part of the class. There are necromancy abilities that summon tokens, there are ones that deal damage, there are ones that buff your followers. We wanted to introduce something that makes the player care about something other than the number of shadows they have. We wanted to introduce new hooks to the gameplay of playing Shadowcraft. IGN: More broadly, what are your gameplay goals overall? Naoyuki Miyashita: The fact that we are introducing Rotation at the same time played a big role in deciding what kind of goals we wanted to achieve with Chronogenesis. There are close to 500 cards in the Standard card pack and the Darkness Evolved card pack, and those will not be usable in Rotation, which meant a lot of cards that play a key role in the classes were going to be gone, so we needed to put a lot of thought into that, because it could possibly mean that the deck types and the classes will not be what we consider them to be if we don’t think about this properly. So we… have cards in this card pack that act as support to the class types. That’s something we had in mind. Shadowverse: Chronogenesis - Runecraft Cards 10+ IMAGES Fullscreen Image Artboard 3 Copy Artboard 3 ESC 01 OF 16 01 OF 16 Shadowverse: Chronogenesis - Runecraft Cards Download Image Captions ESC IGN: How different does Rotation feel? How are your playtesters enjoying it? Naoyuki Miyashita: In terms of the Rotation matches, considering the cards that are available to each class, it’s not going to be as easy to make very fast aggro decks, so we predict the game speed itself will be slower compared to Unlimited, and also compared to the current environment – the Starforged Legends environment. So that’s one thing we noticed from testing. IGN: How difficult has it been to balance Chronogenesis across Rotation and Unlimited, plus with Portalcraft coming in? Have you expanded your play test team? Naoyuki Miyashita: Both in terms of quantity and quality, we have definitely expanded. We have had some of the top card game players join the team to help out. Another thing we’re doing is digital debugging by AI, and considering how the card pool is going to increase, especially for the Unlimited format, we are preparing a team that could test things utilising the fact that this is a digital card game. Shadowverse - Portalcraft Cards (Chronogenesis + Basic) 10+ IMAGES Fullscreen Image Artboard 3 Copy Artboard 3 ESC 01 OF 31 01 OF 31 Shadowverse - Portalcraft Cards (Chronogenesis + Basic) Download Image Captions ESC IGN: You’re moving on from physical testing? Naoyuki Miyashita: In combination. IGN: How soon is that digital testing environment going to be up and running? Naoyuki Miyashita: Somewhere in 2018. Shadowverse: Chronogenesis - Bloodcraft Cards 7 IMAGES Fullscreen Image Artboard 3 Copy Artboard 3 ESC 01 OF 07 01 OF 07 Shadowverse: Chronogenesis - Bloodcraft Cards Download Image Captions ESC IGN: You mentioned that Rotation is slower and it’s harder to build fast aggro decks. Does it feel like it’s at a lower power level in general, just because there’s fewer cards? How does having Rotation change the way you approach designing cards now that power levels can reset a little bit? Naoyuki Miyashita: In general we need to be more careful when we’re designing faster cards, but that’s not necessarily because of the Rotation being introduced. We had a lot of huge changes to lots of cards in Tempest of the Gods and Wonderland Dreams, so our core design philosophy, in a way, has been changed since Starforged Legends. And in terms of how designing has changed due to Rotation, since there will be new cards every three months, and every three months old cards going out of Rotation, we need to have in mind what kind of new deck types will be emerging, what kind of deck types will be going out of Rotation, so we’re thinking about things in a three month, six month span, about what kind of types there’ll be for each class. Shadowverse: Chronogenesis - Dragoncraft Cards 9 IMAGES Fullscreen Image Artboard 3 Copy Artboard 3 ESC 01 OF 09 01 OF 09 Shadowverse: Chronogenesis - Dragoncraft Cards Download Image Captions ESC IGN: Chronogenesis is significantly larger than previous sets – what makes up the 138 cards? Yuito Kimura: In the upcoming expansion there will be 42 Portalcraft cards, and there’ll be 12 cards each for other classes. But going forward, from the next expansion, the number of cards for each class will be the same. IGN: Is it possible that you’ll add another new class in the future? Yuito Kimura: It’s in the realm of possibility, but Shadowverse was initially planned to have a total of eight classes, with the addition of Portalcraft coming out this month. Shadowverse: Chronogenesis - Forestcraft Cards 10+ IMAGES Fullscreen Image Artboard 3 Copy Artboard 3 ESC 01 OF 10 01 OF 10 Shadowverse: Chronogenesis - Forestcraft Cards Download Image Captions ESC Shadowverse: Chronogenesis - Havencraft Cards 10+ IMAGES Fullscreen Image Artboard 3 Copy Artboard 3 ESC 01 OF 10 01 OF 10 Shadowverse: Chronogenesis - Havencraft Cards Download Image Captions ESC Shadowverse: Chronogenesis - Swordcraft Cards 9 IMAGES Fullscreen Image Artboard 3 Copy Artboard 3 ESC 01 OF 09 01 OF 09 Shadowverse: Chronogenesis - Swordcraft Cards Download Image Captions ESC Shadowverse: Chronogenesis - Neutral Cards 9 IMAGES Fullscreen Image Artboard 3 Copy Artboard 3 ESC 01 OF 09 01 OF 09 Shadowverse: Chronogenesis - Neutral Cards Download Image Captions ESC Looking Back at 2017 IGN: Looking back at the year, the monthly schedule for card adjustments and the transparency from Cygames about the thinking behind any changes being made has been great. How has the community responded to that schedule? Naoyuki Miyashita: In terms of the content of the reaction, there are obviously lots of different kinds of reactions, and in terms of the volume there’s a lot of reaction from players. There are people that are complaining that we make the changes too often, and there are people who complain that we don’t make changes enough, but when you look at the overall reaction and what the players are saying, what we gather is everyone wants the environment of the game to be optimised at a pretty moderately high pace. It’s not that we are just doing what the players are telling us to do, though, or absorbing opinions and just reflecting them directly onto the game, but we definitely think it’s important to optimise the environment, and going forward as well we’re going to do what we’ve been doing every month at the predetermined date - we’ll make adjustments to the game when and where necessary to make sure the game is fine. And we also announced last time that we may possibly in the future make changes outside of that schedule if it’s deemed necessary. If it’s an urgent type of situation. IGN: What has been the most contentious adjustment for the community this year? Naoyuki Miyashita: It wasn’t exactly contentious, but probably Princess Snow White, which was changed on July 31st and generated a lot of reaction from our players. Back then, Neutral Bloodcraft decks were the thing – it was very powerful, it was the one deck that had the highest win rate, and as a result of that, a bunch of Bloodcraft cards, including some Legendaries, were adjusted, and we anticipated that Princess Snow White would be overpowered after those changes to Bloodcraft cards, so that’s the reason why we changed Princess Snow White at the same time as the Bloodcraft cards. Not many people really thought of Havencraft as being strong at the time, so there were a lot of “why are you changing Princess Snow White?” IGN: Were there any cards you changed that you wished you didn’t have to? Naoyuki Miyashita: There are no cards. We think it’s important to have a balanced environment and the reason we adjust cards is for that sole reason – to effectively balance the game, based on the data that’s taken from people playing our game, so we don’t give any special treatment to any particular card. They’re all subject to change. Again, the reason we change the cards is because when we’ve deemed it necessary to make sure the environment is healthy and optimised. IGN: I’m curious about the intention for the Dimension Shift change. It seems like it was changed just enough to reduce its popularity but not enough to make it unplayable. Is that accurate? Naoyuki Miyashita: The goal for adjusting Dimension Shift was to lower the use rate and we’re happy that we’ve achieved that goal. In terms of the strength itself, when we look at the data after the adjustment, in matches with Dimension Shift, the turn when the winner is determined has been delayed by one or two turns on average, and one or two turns means a lot for Dimension Shift decks. It affects the outcome of the match greatly, so we consider we’ve managed to, in a way, weaken D-Shift decks by this change. It’s definitely possible to win using Dimension Shift decks, but we consider it to be okay as long as not too many people are using Dimenion Shift decks. IGN: In the notes about card changes, any references to play rates and win rates are always about data from high level play. How much attention do you pay to lower level play and is there often a big discrepancy between Masters players and other people? Naoyuki Miyashita: The short answer would be – there isn’t that much difference. In terms of the usage rate, when a particular deck is being used in high rank matches it’s very rare that those are not used in lower rank matches. When we write the note for the adjustment we use the data for higher ranked match-ups because those numbers are more reliable. However, we also, at the same time, look at lower ranks data and also the average data, we just don’t mention those in the note is all it is. Cam Shea is senior editor in IGN's Sydney office and a big fan of CCGs. He's on Twitter.
Q&A with pollster Dave Metz Q&A: my interview with pollster Dave Metz Dave Metz is one of the nation’s leading experts on public opinion related to water and other natural resource issues. Metz, a partner at Fairbank, Maslin, Maullin, Metz & Associates, has provided opinion research and strategic guidance to hundreds of non-profits, government agencies, businesses, and political campaigns in all 50 states. I spoke with him recently about polling on water issues and what the research says about how to communicate about water challenges and solutions. Compared to other issues you research, what’s most notable or interesting about polling related to water? Probably the most striking thing is that it’s a bipartisan issue. With so many issues, whether you’re a Democrat or Republican, you see the world very differently. Water is one issue that really cuts across those lines. It has a remarkable degree of consistency between voters on the left and voters on the right, in terms of both how we view some of the challenges as well as potential policy solutions to address them. Why is it so bipartisan, given that so many issues today are the opposite? It has to do with the fundamental importance that water has for everyone. We all need clean water to drink. It is vital, and equally so to all Americans, regardless of their partisan background. Many voters believe that the single most important thing that government does is ensure a reliable supply of safe drinking water. As a result, the urgency with which voters view the issue, and their willingness to pay more taxes or support regulation or other public policy interventions they might be squeamish about in other contexts, varies less across partisan lines on water than on other issues. Many polls have shown Americans to be concerned about water. What in particular troubles the public? Pollution? Drought? Cost? Climate Change? On a day-to-day basis, there isn’t a lot that really troubles them. Americans generally feel like their water quality is pretty good and their water supply is reliable. Bodies of water are perceived as relatively healthy in most cases. But what is urgent for them is making sure that it stays that way. The second there’s a hint of any real threat to water quality or the water supply, they tend to be very supportive of policies that do something about it. This obviously varies from time to time and from place to place. When a significant water quality issue emerges, as in Flint, it instantly becomes very galvanizing and focuses people’s attention. That becomes the thing they really want to see addressed. Similarly, in times of drought, that issue really becomes dominant, as it was in California over the past couple of years. But it quickly recedes once the immediate sense of emergency is gone. Among the various things that may move people to be more concerned about water, it is water quality, first and foremost, and supply secondarily, that are the biggest areas of concern. Climate change is far below either or those—and frankly that is a place where there is partisan polarization. Democrats are vastly more likely to view climate change as a problem or something that requires action than Republicans. How well does the public understand water issues? I think they understand it from the perspective of how it impacts their day-to-day life. They need water to drink and to serve their household needs. But they don’t really understand the process by which water gets to them, how it’s treated, and where it comes from. We did a national survey a couple of years ago where we asked people to identify the original source for the water they use in their home. We recorded what they told us verbatim and went back and looked up the correct answer. Nationally, about 25 percent of voters were able to correctly identify where their water came from, 50 percent told us they had no clue, and roughly 25 percent identified a source that was incorrect. So, the public is not coming to this from a real solid base of knowledge about where water comes from and what it means for their community. Are there significant racial, gender, or other demographic differences in how Americans think about water? Not huge ones. I think the similarities are greater than the differences. On this, as on many other issues, women express higher levels of concern more often than men do. They tend to be more risk-sensitive and if there is a potential threat, they’re much more likely to want something done about it. Some communities of color are more likely to perceive that their water quality is worse than in neighboring communities that are perhaps whiter. But these are exceptions to the general rule that the demographic similarities are much greater than the differences. Some polling suggests that non-white and lower-income Americans are more concerned about their water. Why is that? There are two factors. In some places, it reflects the objective reality. There’s a greater presence of sources of pollution and potential contaminants of water in many lower-income communities and communities of color. Second, it reflects a broader feeling among those communities that, on any of a range of public services, they’re given short shrift and neglected in ways that more affluent and whiter communities are not. For decades, pollsters have found declining levels of trust in a variety of American institutions. Does this play into water issues and explain why so many Americans are worried about their water? There’s no doubt that Americans have lost trust in a wide range of big institutions: the government, the press, organized region, the media, business, labor. They’re all viewed with a lot more suspicion and cynicism than had been the case before. If you were to ask people how they feel about elected officials or public agencies that are in charge of managing their water supply—government broadly written—I think you’d see the same kind cynicism or lack of confidence. But we usually find that when we ask about specific agencies that are tasked with managing water resources—and ask about them by name—they actually have high degrees of credibility with the public. Once we separate it from electoral politics—we’re not talking about your city council member or congressman but we’re talking about the state department of water resources or the city water agency—the level of confidence is higher because people’s instinct is that these are non-partisan professionals with some degree of technical expertise who are making decisions based on what’s best for the community and not a political agenda. Obviously, it can vary from place to place. In communities where there’s a history of problems with water quality, local water agencies are probably going to be viewed with more distrust. But, in general, there’s not the same reflexive cynicism when we’re talking about a specific water agency. How big of an effect has the lead poisoning in Flint, Michigan had on national public opinion related to water? We did a survey in California a couple months ago and asked whether people had heard anything about Flint and how serious a problem it was. This is 2,000 miles away and two years after the fact, but almost everybody had heard something about it and viewed it as a serious problem. That’s pretty remarkable: the durability of concern about a localized problem like that over both time and distance. I’m not sure it has produced a dramatically different set of public positions on the issues, but it certainly has provided a focus for why it’s so important to make sure things don’t go wrong. What about the California drought—and the recent switch to wet weather? It certainly had an effect on the urgency with which people view the issue. A year-and-a-half ago, the drought was the number one concern on Californians’ minds by far. Now, water issues have fallen back to mid-tier. When we ask Californians whether the end of the drought means our water supplies are sufficient, or whether we still face an ongoing shortage that means we’re going to need to take steps to address our long-term water supply, they choose the latter. They’ve been in and out of enough droughts, if they’ve lived in California for any period of time. They know another drought will come along and that the population is not shrinking, but growing—and our infrastructure isn’t getting any stronger. So, all of that leads them to believe, at least in the abstract, that we can’t relax our vigilance and we still need to address the issue. What does the public think about potential solutions to water problems, such as increasing conservation and changing water laws? To some degree they point the finger at the public broadly and their neighbors specifically. They believe that members of the public don’t make efficient use of water and could do more to conserve it. Generally speaking, they’re making reference to that parking lot down the street where the sprinkler is always watering the asphalt, and their neighbor who they know takes really really long showers. They’re less likely to say I, myself, am doing some really bad things and need to be more mindful of conserving water myself. That said, the value of conservation is one that they hold very highly. They believe that the first thing we ought to do when it comes to addressing water needs is make the best possible use of existing supplies, as opposed to taking major steps to develop new ones. If there are public policy interventions that start with the notion that businesses and individuals should be responsible with their use of water, they tend to get very strong support. Another set of solutions that gets strong support involves improving infrastructure. We just did a poll for the Value of Water Campaign that showed very strong support for investments in infrastructure. I don’t think that’s unique to water. The public thinks we’re under-investing in infrastructure of all kinds right now and water infrastructure is no exception. When we start talking about other ways of expanding water supplies, things like recycled water and desalination, those issues become a little more divisive for the public. They are supportive in concept, but want to know how much it costs and the relative benefit that each one provides. When we get down to straightforward water rate increases to continue providing the same level of service—that’s where there’s the greatest public skepticism. Spending on infrastructure seems to have very strong bipartisan support. What’s the best way to message the need for the work—and the need for someone to pay for it? Number one is highlighting the vulnerability of that infrastructure. Things may be working fine today, but we’re one earthquake or severe weather event away from that infrastructure failing—with devastating consequences. Even raising the specter that you could be without water for three or four days while people work to repair or replace it—people can instantly understand how disruptive that could be. So you don’t have to overhype the issue or paint it in terms that are too dark. On their own, people will get there and say this is pretty vital. A second thing is highlighting the age and condition of the infrastructure. People know it’s not just water, it’s roads, it’s schools, it’s hospitals—in any number of areas, they can see the way physical structures that serve important public needs are deteriorating. It’s saying it has been 100 years since we built this system and it hasn’t had significant upgrades, so it’s time. The third key element of messaging on infrastructure is images: being able to show people pictures when systems are failing or when they’re not in the condition they should be. Being able to show them something that looks like it’s close to collapse—that can be worth more than any fact- or statistic-packed verbal message you might craft. The images of Oroville Dam crumbling certainly were compelling and hard to beat with a sound bite. Any other interesting findings from the infrastructure poll? It was striking how ubiquitous the support was. It reflects the same patterns in public opinion that lead to infrastructure being talked about as the one arena for potential cooperation between Trump and Democrats in Congress. The issue is so nonpartisan. What we see in the water infrastructure poll data is being translated into the political conversation, with both sides of the aisle saying if there’s one thing we ought to be able to come together on, it’s infrastructure. Have the November election and the early days of the Trump administration changed public opinion related to water or environmental issues in any significant way? No, not that I would point to. We do a lot of polling on environmental issues and just last week we were in Washington presenting findings from the State of the Rockies Poll we do in seven states in the Interior West. We’ve done polling that has spanned the Obama administration and now the Trump administration. Essentially, there are no meaningful changes in the results over that period of time. I can’t think of an environmental issue where, independent of other events, I saw the level or concern or support for specific solutions change just based on who was in the White House. Whom do people trust on water issues? Farmers? Utilities? Government? Scientists? NGOs? A little bit of all of the above. Probably the best messenger we’ve found over time is water quality scientists: people who have neutral expertise on the issue and are totally non-ideological in recommending a certain action. Farmers are also very high on the list. I remember doing focus groups where people told us we can trust farmers, they would never waste a drop of water because it’s too vital to their way or life and livelihood—not recognizing that, as in most sectors, there can be an enormous waste of water in agriculture. But farmers are seen as very credible messengers on the issue. Native American tribes also sometimes score very high. Public agencies that are specifically tasked with managing water resources actually tend to poll very well. What are the challenges and opportunities for people who communicate about water issues? What messages resonate? The main challenge is that water quality is like the offensive line in a football game. The players know they are doing a good job when no one calls their name and they’re not getting any attention whatsoever. It’s when they make a mistake that the announcers suddenly start talking about them. Water is the same: when things are going well and water managers are doing their job, it’s not an issue to which the public pays a lot of attention. Getting people to focus on it in the absence of a crisis can be a challenge. Fortunately, there is an array of messages that have been effective in motivating people for action: Talking about the public health issues involved. If there is a problem, specifying the nature of the problem or threat. Even in the absence of an immediate threat, being able to say if we don’t take action to maintain our system, these are the kinds of problems that could emerge and the way they would threaten human health. When we’re talking about bodies of water and surface water, generational messages, saying we need to protect and preserve this body of water for everything it provides to our community and making sure our children and grandchildren can benefit from it the way we do. As on many environmental issues, that message is pretty effective. We’ve been testing more and more the notion of the value of water. It’s the idea that what the average resident pays to have clean, safe drinking water available in their house 24 hours a day, compared to what they pay for the same amount of milk, Diet Coke, gasoline, or bottled water, demonstrates a remarkable value. Framing the issue that way, in those comparative terms, can make people a lot more comfortable with their water rates, and a little more appreciative of both the resource and the infrastructure that’s in place to deliver it to their homes. What are the gaps in our knowledge of public opinion about water? What are you curious to know more about? Probably the biggest area for exploration is around a lot of the new technologies that are becoming more prevalent for addressing water supply needs—things like potable reuse and desalination. There’s been a reasonable amount of research done on those issues and a lot of good guidance on how to talk about them, but we still find there’s a lot the public doesn’t understand about them and they have some instinctive aversion to potable reuse, for example. There’s more we can do to figure out how to push past that and get to a higher degree of public comfort. Another area where we’ve struggled is nitrogen pollution, which is becoming an increasing problem in a lot of different places but has effects that are not immediately evident to the average person and causes that are generally diffuse. It’s generally not an issue that immediately poses a threat to public health, and there’s rarely one bad actor we can point to and say, “just stop them from polluting and everything will be fine.” Figuring out how to talk about that issue in more compelling way, reflecting the challenges faced by different communities, would be helpful. It’s not that there’s been no research on these subjects, but we haven’t found any magic formula where we can say “we have a playbook, we know how to handle this, and there’s nothing else to figure out.” How well do we understand public opinion on water compared to other political issues? I don’t know that it’s drastically better or worse than other issues. Because there are a lot of agencies who have major responsibilities for addressing it, there are good, reliable sources for funding to conduct helpful opinion research. So I don’t know if we’re any worse off in understanding the public’s thinking than we are on subjects like education, transportation, or health care. But like those issues, water has a lot of complexities, especially the more you delve into the details of specific policies, so there’s always more we can learn. This May 18, 2017 interview was edited lightly for clarity and brevity. WaterPolls.org aggregates, analyzes, and visualizes public opinion data on water-related issues. Stay informed via Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest, RSS, and email. Share this: Email Print Twitter Facebook LinkedIn Pinterest Reddit Tumblr
Vonbeau \| Freebies \| Deals \| Sweeps Vonbeau provides direct links to companies offering amazing deals, free products & sweepstakes. Register to submit Sweeps and participate in many other contests and activities. Sign up for Text Alerts so you never miss anything! Earn FREE Gift Cards & Cash Comment Count 15 Comments You can Earn FREE Gift Cards & Cash Rewards from instaGC. Sign up for free today and get 10 points just for joining then complete tasks and cash out when you have 100 points. NEW! FREE Family MAKE Week Events Published: Feb 26 , 2019 11:26am Comment Count Leave a Comment Michaels is offering a FREE Family MAKE Week Events for kids ages 3 and up from March 10th thru March 13th from 2:00 pm-4:00 pm. Free, supplies included. NEW! FREE Rachael Ray Every Day Subscription Published: Feb 26 , 2019 11:07am Comment Count Leave a Comment Interested in recipes, menu planners, party ideas, tasty trips? Hurry over to Mercury Magazines to sign up for a full two-year print subscription to Rachael Ray Every Day magazine. 100% free and you'll never receive a bill! Woo hoo! FREE copy of Tortured for Christ Comment Count 1 Comments Order a FREE Copy of Tortured for Christ 50th Anniversary Edition by Richard Wurmbrand from The Voice of the Martyrs. NEW! FREE Stuff for T-Mobile Customers Published: Feb 26 , 2019 9:51am Comment Count 1 Comments If you're a T-Mobile customer, head over and claim your FREE Taco from Taco Bell, $4 Movie Ticket through ATOM for choice of 1 of 3 movies, FREE Appetizer at Ruby Tuesday, 10¢ off per gallon at Shell, and 40% off with FREE shipping at PUMA. FREE Sandwich or Burger w/Fries Published: Feb 25 , 2019 10:12pm Comment Count Leave a Comment Download the Famous Dave's rewards app and create an account to get a mobile coupon for FREE Sandwich or Burger with Fries plus a gift on your birthday and other great offers throughout the year. Free Copy of Lessons from David Published: Feb 25 , 2019 7:48pm Comment Count 2 Comments Use the discount code: 2AXB to get a free copy of the religious book 'Lessons from David How To Be A Giant Killer' by Andrew Wommack.
You may have seen the story earlier this week of the drunken Swedish moose (or elk, as they call the antlered behemoth in Sweden) that got stuck in a tree. “I thought at first that someone was having a laugh. Then I went over to take a look and spotted an elk stuck in an apple tree with only one leg left on the ground,” Per Johansson, who spotted the inebriated mammal in the garden next door to his house in Särö, told The Local. The moose likely got drunk eating apples fermenting on the ground and got stuck in the tree trying to get fresh fruit. “Drunken elk are common in Sweden during the autumn season when there are plenty of apples lying around on the ground and hanging from branches in Swedish gardens,” The Local states. Moose aren’t the only non-human animals with a taste for alcohol, though. The pen-tailed treeshrew of Malaysia gets credit for having the world’s highest alcohol tolerance. Seven species of animals, including the treeshrew and the slow loris, feed on fermented nectar from the flower buds of the bertam palm plant. But though the treeshrew quaffs this brew all day long, it doesn’t get drunk, scientists found in a 2008 PNAS study. “They seem to have developed some type of mechanism to deal with that high level of alcohol and not get drunk,” University of Western Ontario microbiologist, and study co-author, Marc-André Lachance told LiveScience. “The amount of alcohol we’re talking about is huge—it’s several times the legal limit in most countries.” Fruit bats also appear to tolerate the effects of fermentation on fruit better than the Swedish moose did. In a 2010 PLoS ONE study, scientists fed wild-caught fruit bats sugar water laced with alcohol and sent them through a maze. Though many of the bats would have gotten a FUI (flying under the influence) citation, they had no more trouble navigating than did bats given sugar water alone. The researchers think that being able to tolerate alcohol lets the bats have access to a food source—fruit—for a longer period than only when it’s ripe. Rhesus macaques, however, are more like humans than treeshrews, according to a 2006 Methods study in which the monkeys were given access to an alcoholic drink in a series of experiments. “It was not unusual to see some of the monkeys stumble and fall, sway, and vomit,” study co-author Scott Chen, of the National Institutes of Health Animal Center, told Discovery News. “In a few of our heavy drinkers, they would drink until they fell asleep.” The macaques frequently drank until their blood reached the .08 level that would disqualify them from driving a car in most states. And when the researchers looked at patterns of drinking, macaques that lived alone tended to drink the most. In addition, they drank more at the end of the day, like humans after a long day of work. But stories of drunk elephants on the African savannah are likely just stories, according to a 2006 study in Physiological and Biochemical Zoology. Local lore says that elephants get intoxicated from the fermented fruit of the marula tree. Elephants do have a taste for alcohol, but when scientists sat down to look at the claim, they found several problems. First, the elephants don’t eat the rotten fruit off the ground. They eat the fresh fruit right off the tree. Second, the fresh fruit doesn’t spend enough time in the elephant to ferment and produce alcohol there. And, third, even if the elephant did eat the rotten fruit, the animal would have to eat 1,400 pieces of exceptionally fermented fruit to get drunk. The study probably won’t change the widespread belief in inebriated pachyderms, though. As the study’s lead author, Steve Morris of the University of Bristol, told National Geographic News, “People just want to believe in drunken elephants.”
USA taxpayer dollars are funding activities that result in Iranians being killed and wounded and Iranian property destroyed -- acts of war. End -- from: http://my.barackobama.com/page/community/post/stephenfox/gG5kGvThe war between the United States and Iran is on. American taxpayer dollars are being used, with the permission of Congress, to fund activities that result in Iranians being killed and wounded, and Iranian property destroyed. This wanton violation of a nation's sovereignty would not be tolerated if the tables were turned and Americans were being subjected to Iranian-funded covert actions that took the lives of Americans, on American soil, and destroyed American property and livelihood. Many Americans remain unaware of what is transpiring abroad in their name.Many of those who are cognizant of these activities are supportive of them, an outgrowth of misguided sentiment which holds Iran accountable for a list of grievances used by the U.S. government to justify the ongoing global war on terror. Iran, we are told, is not just a nation pursuing nuclear weapons, but is the largest state sponsor of terror in the world today.Much of the information behind this is being promulgated by Israel, which has a vested interest in seeing Iran neutralized as a potential threat. But Israel is joined by another source, even more puzzling in terms of its broad-based acceptance in the world of American journalism: the Mujahadeen-e Khalk, or MEK, an Iranian opposition group sworn to overthrow the theocracy in Tehran. The CIA today provides material support to the actions of the MEK inside Iran. The recent spate of explosions in Iran, including a particularly devastating "accident" involving a military convoy transporting ammunition in downtown Tehran, appears to be linked to an MEK operation; its agents working inside munitions manufacturing plants deliberately are committing acts of sabotage which lead to such explosions. If CIA money and planning support are behind these actions, the agency's backing constitutes nothing less than an act of war on the part of the United States against Iran.The MEK traces its roots back to the CIA-orchestrated overthrow of the democratically elected Prime Minister Mohammed Mossadeg. Formed among students and intellectuals, the MEK emerged in the 1960s as a serious threat to the reign of Reza Shah Pahlevi. Facing brutal repression from the Shah's secret police, the SAVAK, the MEK became expert at blending into Iranian society, forming a cellular organizational structure which made it virtually impossible to eradicate. The MEK membership also became adept at gaining access to positions of sensitivity and authority. When the Shah was overthrown in 1978, the MEK played a major role and for a while worked hand in glove with the Islamic Revolution in crafting a post-Shah Iran. In 1979 the MEK had a central role in orchestrating the seizure of the U.S. Embassy in Tehran, and holding 55 Americans hostage for 444 days.However, relations between the MEK and the Islamic regime in Tehran soured, and after the MEK staged a bloody coup attempt in 1981, all ties were severed and the two sides engaged in a violent civil war. Revolutionary Guard members who were active at that time have acknowledged how difficult it was to fight the MEK. In the end, massive acts of arbitrary arrest, torture and executions were required to break the back of mainstream MEK activity in Iran, although even the Revolutionary Guard today admits the MEK remains active and is virtually impossible to completely eradicate.It is this stubborn ability to survive and operate inside Iran, at a time when no other intelligence service can establish and maintain a meaningful agent network there, which makes the MEK such an asset to nations such as the United States and Israel. The MEK is able to provide some useful intelligence;however, its overall value as an intelligence resource is negatively impacted by the fact that it is the sole source of human intelligence in Iran. As such, the group has taken to exaggerating and fabricating reports to serve its own political agenda. In this way, there is little to differentiate the MEK from another Middle Eastern expatriate opposition group, the Iraqi National Congress, or INC, which infamously supplied inaccurate intelligence to the United States and other governments and helped influence the U.S. decision to invade Iraq and overthrow Saddam Hussein. Today, the MEK sees itself in a similar role, providing sole-sourced intelligence to the United States and Israel in an effort to facilitate American military operations against Iran and, eventually, to overthrow the Islamic regime in Tehran.The current situation concerning the MEK would be laughable if it were not for the violent reality of that organization's activities. Upon its arrival in Iraq in 1986, the group was placed under the control of Saddam Hussein's Mukhabarat, or intelligence service. The MEK was a heavily militarized organization and in 1988 participated in division-size military operations against Iran. The organization represents no state and can be found on the U.S. State Department's list of terrorist organizations, yet since the U.S. invasion of Iraq in 2003, the MEK has been under the protection of the U.S. military. Its fighters are even given "protected status" under the Geneva Conventions. The MEK says its members in Iraq are refugees, not terrorists. And yet one would be hard-pressed to find why the 1951 Geneva Convention on Refugees should confer refugee status on an active paramilitary organization that uses "refugee camps" inside Iraq as its bases.__________________________________________________________________________from Stephen Fox:To remedy all of this is to prevent war with Iran. Truly, we must work to create a New Era of International Peace in Obama's Administration, hopefully with New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson as the next USA Secretary of State. In the meantime, we must bring this premonition of war with Iran to a close, through our Congress, especially with a spotlight on these matters by Senator Obama, in his campaign, along with other realms vital to Americans, like Consumer Protection and a New United States Food and Drug Administration# # #Art Gallery, but primary purpose here is our consumer protection efforts, above all, getting aspartame banned and seeing a new Era of INternational Peace during Obama's Presidency
The Columbus Blue Jackets were the most surprising team in the NHL last season, improving by 32 points from the year prior. They aren't sneaking up on anybody in 2017-18, but remain near the top of the league's standings. The Blue Jackets may not be the flashiest team in the NHL, but from top to bottom, they are the most complete. Columbus' impressive 9-4 record is no joke. Heading into Thursday's action they ranked second in the NHL in expected goals for percentage at five-on-five, per Corsica. Despite the even-strength offensive output, their success begins in the crease. Strength from net out It all starts with Sergei Bobrovsky, who is further cementing his status as the league's best goaltender. He took home the Vezina Trophy last season as the league's top goalie, and he's playing as though he wants to make it back-to-back. The team in front of Bobrovsky is making it easier on him this year. Heading into Thursday's games, the Jackets had given up the fourth-fewest high-danger scoring chances against per 60 minutes at five-on-five, per Natural Stat Trick. Last season, they gave up the eighth-most. Part of this is due to the maturation of their top D pairing, Seth Jones and Zach Werenski. The young duo has spent more time on the ice together at five-on-five than any other pairing in the league, and have put together a 58.26 Corsi For percentage, per Corsica. Behind Jones and Werenski, the veteran pairing of Jack Johnson and David Savard have been rock solid. So, too, has former second overall pick Ryan Murray. He hasn't come close to reaching expectations, but he's certainly better than most third-pairing blue-liners. Depth, depth, depth The Blue Jackets may lack a marquee star player up front, but they have incredible scoring depth. All four lines can contribute. In their win over the Florida Panthers Thursday, 10 of their 12 forwards recorded a point. Artemi Panarin leads the team with a modest 11 points in 13 games, but they have nine players who have at least seven points. Scoring by committee may give the impression that an offense isn't very good, but having four lines that can be rolled out at any time is incredibly valuable in today's NHL. Furthermore, the Jackets are able to generate offense in different ways. Panarin, Cam Atkinson, Alexander Wennberg, and Oliver Bjorkstrand can beat you with speed and skill, while Nick Foligno, Josh Anderson, Boone Jenner, and Brandon Dubinsky can use their size and physicality to create space and opportunities down low. The competition The Tampa Bay Lightning and Pittsburgh Penguins provide the biggest competition in the Eastern Conference, but both teams have been heavily reliant on the power play this season. When it comes to the playoffs, where fewer penalties are called, Columbus' ability to score at even strength gives them a huge advantage. Moreover, Tampa has question marks on the back end, and Pittsburgh's search for depth down the middle and a backup goalie continues despite limited cap space. Over in the West, the St. Louis Blues and Los Angeles Kings seem to be the top dogs. The Blues are amazingly overcoming a glut of injuries, and the Kings continue to win thanks to out-of-this-world play in the crease by Jonathan Quick, despite questionable scoring depth. All four of these teams are superb, but all have their flaws. The Blue Jackets aren't perfect, either. They still lack a true No. 1 center (whether Wennberg can be that remains to be seen), but when it comes down to player one to player 23 on the roster, the Blue Jackets are the most complete team in the league. (Photos courtesy: Getty Images)
Web notifications are one of the newer features added into modern browsers. They are intended as alerts for the user outside of the web page context. The idea is for them to be browsers and system independent, for example, when using a mobile browser notification could go into the home screen of the device. On the desktop usually they show up on the right-corner of the screen, at least on most desktop environments. They can be very annoying thing and you should think if thoroughly before you decide this is the right way to inform the users. There are some restrictions that avoid the creation of popup but I still have a bad feeling whenever I see one of these. One example of these notifications are the gmail/gtalk updates that show up on new messages (they are useful and annoying at the same time). This is done via the Notification API and we will do a simple example of its usage. The implementation First we can start with a simple wrapper for the Notification API that will have a fallback for the WebKit temporary implementation. We will define a simpleNotification object that will be the wrapper and it will contain a function called show that accepts data parameter. This data parameter is also a wrapper object that contains all the required info for a simple notification. For example : var data = { icon: "http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/7e/Jacob_de_Gheyn_-_Wapenhandelinge_4.jpg", title: "The Art of War - The Use of Spies ", body: "text", timeout : 7000, errorCallback: function(){ $("#fallback").text(this.body); } }; Where the errorCallback is executed if non of our implementations are supported by the browser, as for the others, they should be self descriptive. var simpleNotification = (function () { var my = {}; my.show = function (data) { if (window.webkitNotifications) { //check if there is a support for webkitNotifications if (window.webkitNotifications.checkPermission() == 0) { var notification = webkitNotifications.createNotification(data.icon, data.title, data.body); notification.show(); //set timeout to hide it setTimeout(function(){ notification.cancel(); }, data.timeout); } else { webkitNotifications.requestPermission(function () { //call the same function again my.show(data); }); } }else if (window.Notification) { //Currently a fallback, but this should be the real implementation on all browsers if ("granted" === Notification.permissionLevel()) { var notification = new Notification(data.title, data); notification.show(); } else if ("default" === Notification.permissionLevel() ) { Notification.requestPermission(function () { //call the same function again my.show(data); }); } }else{ //Notifications not supported,going with fallback data.errorCallback(); } }; return my; }()); The standard based implementation is the one that uses window.Notification . An interface defined by W3C [Constructor(DOMString title, optional NotificationOptions options)] interface Notification : EventTarget { static readonly attribute NotificationPermission permission; static void requestPermission(optional NotificationPermissionCallback callback); attribute EventHandler onclick; attribute EventHandler onshow; attribute EventHandler onerror; attribute EventHandler onclose; readonly attribute NotificationDirection dir; readonly attribute DOMString lang; readonly attribute DOMString body; readonly attribute DOMString tag; readonly attribute DOMString icon; void close(); }; Since our data object already contains similar values it can be passed directly in the instantiation of the Notification object. For example : var notification = new Notification(data.title, data); On the other hand window.webkitNotifications is the non-standard Chrome implementation. For a more detailed usage of the webkit version please see decadecity blogpost. In order for us to be able to trigger the notification it is important in the html snippet to have some element that can be user triggered. We have some simple html containing a button <body> <button id="show">Show quote</button> <div id="fallback"> my fallback notification</div> </body> This is needed in order to have request for the permission and to avoid “spam” notification. In our case this is the onClick function on the button. More specifically the jQuery click event. The call now is very simple, we just create the data object using some defaults and load some random data. $(document).ready(function() { $("#show").click(function () { var data = { icon: "http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/7e/Jacob_de_Gheyn_-_Wapenhandelinge_4.jpg", title: "The Art of War - The Use of Spies ", body: "text", timeout : 7000, errorCallback: function() { $("#fallback").text(this.body); } }; var randomSampleId = Math.floor(Math.random()*sampleData.quotes.length)+1; var sample = sampleData.quotes[randomSampleId]; for (var key in sample) { data.title += key; data.body = sample[key]; } simpleNotification.show(data); }); }); The sample data used is a JSON containing quotes from “Sun Tzu -The Art of War” which is also available for for free on project gutenberg (win for public domain). The data is structured in the following format : var sampleData = { quotes: [ { "1": "Sun Tzu said: Raising a host of a hundred thousand men and marching them great distances entails heavy loss on the people and a drain on the resources of the State.The daily expenditure will amount to a thousand ounce of silver. There will be commotion at home and abroad, and men will drop down exhausted on the highways, As many as seven hundred thousand lies will be impededin their labor." }, { "2": "Hostile armies may face each other for years, striving for the victory which is decided in a single day.This being so, to remain in ignorance of the enemy's condition simply because one grudges the outlay of a hundred ounces of silver in honors and emoluments, is the height of inhumanity." } ] }; One more thing to note is that Web Notifications were not supported by IE when this article was written. You can play around with the jsfiddle to see it in action. Related links
Adam George Since the age of 15, climbing has been a driving force in Adam’s life. His passion for climbing has taken him around the globe climbing rock faces, frozen waterfalls and big snowy lumps. Adam’s enthusiasm—read: addiction—for climbing has also lead to the demise of a couple of job opportunities and several relationships. Tired of swinging a hammer to finance climbing trips, Adam decided to make a career out of the sport he loves. He obtained his internationally recognized guiding qualification (IFMGA) and currently works full time as a professional mountain guide. He also married an equally dedicated and qualified climber, and together they run a small guiding business. When not in the mountains, Adam can be found living in Chamonix, France, with his wife and daughter. More information on Adam and his business can be found at: www.intothemountains.com.
Return to Video Archive Human and Pet Vaccines: Similar Toxicities, Similar Syndromes From MedicalVoices.org - November 181, 2009 Dee Blanco, DVM [USA] [Host: Mayer Eisenstein, MD, JD, MPH] Dr. Blanco notes that while more and more health care providers become enlightened and refuse to vaccinate their kids and patients, they often forget about their animals. This seminar will be a reminder that the animals are under a huge assault with vaccinations. Dr. Blanco will expose the trade off of using dangerous vaccines against acute disease verses the risk of increased chronic, debilitating disease. She will analyze the dangers of vaccine ingredients such as thimerisol, aluminum and formaldehyde and the related disorders of behavior including ADHD-like tendencies, aggression, seizures, chronic distemper, chronic parvo and chronic rabies. She will also give recommendations for using vaccines in the safest manner (only where required by law), not using vaccines at all or using homeopathic nosodes. Dr. Blanco will show how the historical model of small pox vaccinations and their following diseases gave much information to the homeopathic treatment of vaccine induced illness - the model she uses daily. She will also explore the lack of animal rights in medicine and vaccines specifically. Dr. Blanco was trained at Colorado State University at a time when alternative medicine for animals did not exist. It was only after her own illness did she find homeopathy, which dramatically shifted her understandings about health and healing. She has practiced Holistic Medicine for most of her 28 years as a veterinarian with a focus in Classical Homeopathy and Nutritional Therapeutics. She consults via telephone from Santa Fe, New Mexico and has certifications in both Homeopathy and Acupuncture. Get the Flash Player to see this player. Return to Video Archive Videos not produced by Dr. Bloem are owned by the producers and copyright owners, as indicated. Copyright 2010 Fred Bloem, MD. All Rights Reserved
CLEVELAND HEIGHTS, Ohio -- Cleveland Heights mayor Edward Kelley has demanded that the French government issue apologies to three suburbs it cited as places to avoid when visiting the United States. The French Ministry website warned travelers to avoid certain areas of the country when traveling to major American cities and specifically warns travellers to avoid Cleveland Heights, Lakewood and Euclid "at day and at night." Here is a translation provided by Freetranslation.com: "Cleveland: the city center does not present danger the day but is not recommended at night. It is recommended to avoid certain neighborhoods adjacent, by day and by night, in particular Cleveland Heights, Lakewood and Euclid." The website warns travelers about the possibility of terrorism in the United States, citing the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing and the anthrax scare in 2001. They also say many homicides are committed on the street in the United States and that they are related to drug activity. Kelley, when informed on Thursday by a reporter, said he was angered. &amp;lt;a href="http://polldaddy.com/poll/7562318/"&amp;gt;Does the French Ministry owe Cleveland Heights, Euclid and Lakewood an apology?&amp;lt;/a&amp;gt; "The French government is foolish and doesn't know what they're talking about," Kelley said. "Our crime is down, and it's one of the safest cities in Ohio based on FBI crime statistics." Kelley said the other two cities, Lakewood and Euclid, were similarly safe and that the cities have distinct cultural significance, mentioning Nighttown by name. "It's a bunch of hogwash," Kelley said. "I think the French government owes all three cities an apology." Lakewood city councilman David Anderson touted the city's school system and events like their annual antique car show and July 4th celebrations that draw residents from around the region. "Maybe they are afraid that if French people visit Lakewood, they might not want to go home?" Anderson said. "Seriously though, I've lived in many cities and feel Lakewood is the best place for me to be and raise my family. This is a developing story. Check Cleveland.com for updates. Northeast Ohio Media Group reporter Patrick Cooley contributed to this report.
So, anyone out there still remember who I am? Just uploaded my first submission in almost ten months, so I probably ought to write a journal entry too. This may or may not be the end of my unintended hiatus. It's not like I've had any shortage of ideas, I just let other things take up my time until I got out of the habit of making vectors. I really, really wish I'd made some of the pictures I had in mind back when I thought of them, though. Quite a few have been messed up by waiting too long. One Pinkie Pie picture in particular that I started way back in December 2011 was rather irritating when the joke ended up being used in Too Many Pinkie Pies, but that wasn't the only one. So yeah, I guess we'll see if I gain any momentum again.
Cloanto Releases Amiga Forever and C64 Forever 7 June 23, 2017 - Cloanto released today Amiga Forever 7 and C64 Forever 7, the latest versions of the official Commodore/Amiga preservation, emulation and support suites for Windows. The new editions are the result of more than 18 months of uninterrupted work since the previous major release. The active code base now consists of more than half a million lines written by Cloanto, in addition to OS components and independent open source modules of which Cloanto too is a grateful and active contributor. New features include the ability to autostart the PC into any Amiga configuration, enhanced PowerPC emulation support, custom content folders and playlists, and a "playerless" title playback, preview and editing experience. By opening up to new ways to manage and access more content, Amiga Forever 7 follows in the footsteps of Cloanto's tradition of disruptive innovation. Emulation and preservation enthusiasts can not only work better and faster than before, but also enjoy additional degrees of freedom, as Amiga Forever encourages the curation of self-contained titles that are designed for long-term access, without being bound to a database or to a single player interface or version. Any title, no matter whether it's a "Classic" Amiga, a PowerPC system, or an 8-bit system (with C64 Forever installed), can now be played back from Windows File Explorer, or by booting the Windows PC into it, without ever launching Amiga Forever, if so desired. More than in the previous few versions, a substantial amount of work was done under the hood to keep things simple on the surface, yet without limiting possibilities. "We worked very hard to raise the quality bar on all fronts, no matter whether you use Amiga Forever for your own enjoyment, to entertain your friends by surprise-booting a PC into an Amiga or C64, or to start an educational journey with your children or grandchildren. "The level of improvements and refinements on the input front alone is beyond the scale of what would normally be invested in a project like this," said Cloanto's Mike Battilana. "Months at a time were spent to optimally blend the different features and needs of PC-side game controllers and keyboards with the emulated counterparts. A dedicated group of joystick-armed beta testers kept providing valuable feedback, as even Microsoft engineers helped us best support the latest Xbox controllers. Quite a few DirectInput and XInput API bugs were marked for resolution in the process, again illustrating how demanding the emulation universe can be." General and title-specific input options work hand in hand to enable maximum personalization without unnecessarily reducing title portability, while providing precious information for future touch-enabled playback. Xbox, X-Arcade and I-PAC controllers, and arbitrary keyboard layouts are supported out of the box. Host-side buttons can be assigned to guest-side keys and vice versa, e.g. to use joystick-controlled games on modern systems without a joystick. Virtual buttons make it possible to use modern controller buttons to trigger events that would have required pressing a key like Space or Enter in an Amiga game, or to play CBM 8-bit titles originally designed for keyboard-only use. Dead keys, double-dead keys, deadable keys, anyone? Amiga Forever knows about all those Amiga keyboard details, and seamlessly integrates them with the modern Unicode world, so that clipboard and keyboard input always work as expected. 8-bit systems were not left behind either, with support for multilingual ROMs in C64 Forever, and systems like the VIC 20, VIC 1001 and C64 even featuring Japanese configurations. "In spite of the occasional technical prowess, we see the result more as a form of art. We are still aiming for the same excellence and beauty in computing which made us feel so at home with the Amiga and its community in the 1980s and 1990s. As we once again thank our generous customers and contributors for allowing us to keep working on these projects, we invite all Amiga friends to keep engaging with us at events, online and by signing up at cloanto.org." Amiga Forever 7 is available now in three editions: Value Edition (downloadable installer) Plus Edition (downloadable installer with option to build DVD ISO image) Premium Edition (downloadable Plus Edition, plus boxed software and additional videos on 3 DVDs) C64 Forever 7 is available now in three editions: Both packages recognize and work with each other, with options to merge the different platforms into the same interface. Prices start from $9.95 (Value Edition, or special upgrade offers). Graphics Permission is granted to use the following graphics in the original context, with attribution. High-DPI support and platform merge Workbench 1.3 and 3.X CDTV and AROS Player detail RP9 title editor Player options Premium Edition box shots More Amiga Forever screenshots... More C64 Forever screenshots... Cloanto Logo Links New Features https://www.amigaforever.com/whatsnew/ Quick Instructions for Upgraders https://www.amigaforever.com/kb/15-121 Installing a PowerPC OS in Amiga Forever https://www.amigaforever.com/kb/16-127 Amiga Forever and C64 Forever 7 "R2" Update https://www.amigaforever.com/news-events/20180304-af-7-r2/ RP9 File Format Information http://www.retroplatform.com/kb/15-122 This Page https://www.amigaforever.com/news-events/af-7/ Amiga Forever Home Page https://www.amigaforever.com C64 Forever Home Page https://www.c64forever.com Cloanto.org - A Discourse on Possible Futures http://cloanto.org
'Pakistan spent bulk of US aid on confronting India' November 21, 2007 02:12 IST Pakistan has used a significant portion of the US aid since September 11 attack to arm itself for a confrontation with India instead of conducting war on terrorism, says a strategic think tank. Most of the $10 billion US aid is supposed to compensate the Pakistani government for sending its 80,000 or so soldiers to the Northwest Frontier Province and providing support to the US war in Afghanistan. However the money has been used for procuring high-tech weaponry to arm the military for its confrontation with India, the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) has said. "We found that that the Pakistani military has been using that money and the majority of our direct military assistance for the purchase of high-tech weaponry such as the F-16 fighters," senior adviser in the CSIS Frederick (Rick) Barton said. "It appears that the Pakistan military is continuing to arm more for its confrontation with India than it is for the war on terror because these weapons really don't have that much application for the kinds of low-grade persistent Taliban fighters and al Qaida fighters that you find in the Northwest part of Pakistan," Barton told the National Public Radio. Urging Washington to make a more strategic use of the money it gives Pakistan, Barton said, "If we had wise approach to war on terror, we would have found ways to align ourselves more with the Pakistan people. Because the only way you can deal this kind of insurgency is to have the people on your side and to not have the people harbouring the insurgents." One of the key points that the CSIS study pointed out was that the US needs to re-establish a whole new kind of relationship with Pakistan, Barton said. In the 90s, the US stayed away from Pakistan for 10 years, following Pakistan's nuclear weapons development. He said Pakistan deserved a great deal of attention, which the US has never done. "We constantly flush them with money, then head for exists and none of those approaches really work.'' He said only 10 per cent of the aid had gone to education and humanitarian causes and the majority of that went in response to the earthquake where tens and thousands of people were killed. The US gave direct humanitarian assistance and military assistance and as a result the US public support in Pakistan went up from about 25 per cent to well over 50 per cent. ''None of these polls mean that much, but part of what we want to do as a country is to make it clear that we are on the side of the people, not just the powerful,''said Barton. He said America's second-largest area of humanitarian expense was in education, but there again the US is trying to do a million different things rather than focusing on particular areas where it might have higher impact. Barton said during their work they found that what the Pakistani education system really needed was bucking up on the teacher workforce. The reason a lot of people send their children in Pakistan to madrasas is that the local public schools don't exist or if they do, teachers don't show up because they don't get paid. ''If we can get the teacher force working in a constructive way in that country, you will probably be able to reach the 50 per cent of the population that is under 20.'' Barton said that the US could not walk away from Pakistan as it had tried that before and the conditions did not get better. However, the US did need to be smarter in dealing with Pakistan. ''We should look to the provinces. There are four provinces that are not particularly happy with the central government model. We should not be working through Islamabad all the time. ''I think we can a constructive influence on this country and help them through a vital transition. If this transition does not go well, we have huge problems in the most populated part of the world and that isn't a good situation when three of the eight nuclear powers are also right there.''

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