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This is the sixth and final part of a series on the archetypes of mature masculinity based on the book King, Warrior, Magician, Lover by Robert Moore and Douglas Gillette. If you haven’t already, I highly recommend reading the introduction to the series first. Also, keep in mind that these posts are a little more esoteric than our normal fare, and are meant to be contemplated and thoughtfully reflected upon.
The King archetype is the most important of the four mature masculine archetypes. Just as a good king in mythological stories is often something of a Renaissance man–a good warrior, magician, and lover–the King archetype incorporates the other three mature masculine archetypes in perfect harmony. A man who accesses the King archetype in its fullness will also have accessed the Warrior, Magician, and Lover archetypes. For this reason, the King archetype is typically the last of the mature masculine archetypes to power up in a man’s life. In this way, it is truly the crown of the other archetypes, the energy that gives a man a sense of his full, godlike potential.
The Characteristics of the King in His Fullness
He is centered.
Throughout history, cultures have often placed the king at the center of the universe. From him radiated all of existence. If you look at how ancient civilizations laid out their cities, we often see that the dwelling place of the king or leader sat at the center.
In addition to serving as the geographic center of his realm, the ancient king also represented its spiritual center as well. He was the intermediary between heaven and earth. Through his divine powers, the king brought order to the universe by reconciling opposite forces. Myths abound of kings battling evil demonic creatures and establishing order in chaos.
When a man is living the King archetype in its fullness, he feels that same centering power within himself. Not that he believes the world revolves around him, but rather that his confidence, purpose, and well-being give him a supreme sense of balance. Even when the world around him becomes chaotic, he remains cool, calm, and collected. He acts, rather than reacts. He’s the rock in crisis. A man fully engaged with positive King energy is completely present as a man. Because of his position at the center of things, he can survey everything that is going on, soak it all in, and then take a broad view of things. This overarching perspective allows him to remain immovable in the face of the passing and superficial.
He is decisive.
The King is the executive of the other archetypes, and as such, is charged with making decisions. His ability to be decisive is rooted in two things. First, who he is and what he stands for; the King’s core values are centered on firm and unchanging principles. So when a crisis comes, he does not waver because he has already determined the course he will take. Secondly, the King seasons his decisions with experience. His experiences provide him with practical wisdom: the knowledge of how to do the right thing, at the right time, for the right reasons.
He lives with integrity.
The word integrity is related to the roots of words like “integrate” and “entire.” In Spanish it is rendered “integro,” meaning whole. Integrity thus implies the state of being complete, undivided, intact, and unbroken. Integrity is really the bond that holds a man’s other virtues together; it is the mark of a man who has successfully integrated all good principles. His life is a unified whole.
The King has not only integrated all the other archetypes, but seeks this wholeness in other areas of his life as well. He mends broken relationships, keeps his word, acts with honesty, and takes responsibility for his actions. He is who he says he is; he doesn’t have one set of principles for Sundays and one for the rest of the week.
He protects his realm.
Historically, one of the king’s primary functions was to protect his dominion. When enemy forces encroached on his territory, a king would act with wrathful aggressiveness. Even today, we look to our leaders as protectors. The President of the United States is the Commander in Chief of the Armed Forces, charged with the responsibility of protecting our nation’s security.
While a man might not be a leader of a country, he certainly has his own realms he’s responsible for protecting–whether that protection be physical, mental, emotional, or spiritual. If you’re married with children, your home is a realm, a place you want to make a refuge from negative influences. The department you’re responsible for at work is another sphere where you work to protect your employees from in-fighting, mediocrity, and layoffs. And your own psyche and personal boundaries are sovereignties that you must protect and defend with zeal.
Whatever your realms may be, when you’re accessing the King archetype in its fullness, you do what you have to in order to protect them, and this often requires accessing the aggressiveness of the Warrior archetype.
He provides order.
Throughout history, Kings have been lawgivers. The first, and perhaps most famous of these king/lawgivers was the ancient Babylonian king, Hammurabi. His code represents one of history’s first written sets of laws. These laws touched on all areas of life for ancient Mesopotamians, including trade, religion, and military service. Other famous king/lawgivers include Solon of ancient Athens, Lycurgus of ancient Sparta, and Moses (while technically not a king, Moses was a leader of the ancient Hebrews).
Just as these ancient kings provided order to their respective societies, so too does a man accessing the King archetype establish order in his own life and in the lives of those around him. We see the King manifest itself in us when we establish rules, guidelines, and principles for others to follow. A man accessing positive King energy doesn’t create rules just so he can reap the satisfaction of watching people obey him. Rather, his rules provide the structure that allows other people to flourish. Figuring out how to create rules that help instead of hinder people’s progress requires the kind of thoughtful reflection that comes from accessing the Magician archetype.
To completely integrate the King archetype into our lives, it isn’t enough to tell others how they should live; a man must also live by those same edicts himself. Before we can provide order for others, we ourselves must become men of discipline. As General George S. Patton told his son:
“Soldiers, all men in fact, are natural hero worshipers. Officers with a flare for command realize this and emphasize in their conduct, dress and deportment the qualities they seek to produce in their men. When I was a second lieutenant I had a captain who was very sloppy and usually late yet he got after the men for just those faults; he was a failure.”
He creates and inspires creativity in others.
According to Moore, mythological kings were often associated with fertility and creation. Many ancient cultures believed that their king’s ability to procreate determined the fate of their crops. If the king was lusty, virile, and siring numerous progeny, the harvest would be bountiful.
But we don’t have to father an entire football team in order to access the King archetype. Whenever we take part in any act of creation, whether it be writing a song, starting a business, or yes, becoming a dad, the King archetype is manifesting itself in our lives.
To fully integrate the King in our lives, however, we must inspire creativity in others as well. A man who is accessing the King archetype understands that his power and influence in the world increases as he empowers others to live to their fullest potential.
He blesses the lives of others.
“The good king delighted in noticing and promoting good men to positions of responsibility in his kingdom. He held audience, primarily, not to be seen, but to see, admire, and delight in his subjects, to reward them and to bestow honors upon them.” – Moore, KWML
One of the functions of ancient kings was to bless those whom they led. As intermediaries between the gods and earth, the king had the power to bless his people so that they might prosper. In the Bible, we can read several accounts of the great patriarchs leaving a father’s blessing on their posterity before dying.
We often associate “blessing” with a religious act. While a man certainly accesses the King archetype by giving a father’s blessing to his children, just like Jacob and Isaac did, he can also bless others around him in other ways that aren’t necessarily religious.
Simply recognizing and honoring others for their achievements is a way we can bless others. As we get older, I think we take for granted the power that a kind word can have on a young person’s life. But think back on your own experience. Remember when you were a young man? How did you feel when an older person, especially a man you admired, gave you a compliment or went out of his way to recognize an achievement? If you were like me, it made you feel awesome. You might have stuck out your chest a bit more or walked with a spring in your step. You probably still remember exactly what they said to you. That’s the power of blessing in action. It uplifts and edifies others.
We can also bless others by becoming a mentor. We’ve talked about the importance of mentorship on the site many times before, but one of the reasons so many young men are struggling today is because they lack positive mentoring from older men. Moore argues that:
“Young men today are starving for blessing from older men, starving for blessing from the King energy. This is why they cannot, as we say, “get it together.” They shouldn’t have to. They need to be blessed. They need to be seen by the King, because if they are, something inside will come together for them. That is the effect of blessing; it heals and makes whole. That’s what happens when we are seen and valued and concretely rewarded for our legitimate talents and abilities.”
As we grow older, wiser, and more in touch with the King archetype, it is our responsibility as men to bless and assist younger men on their path to mature masculinity.
He leaves a legacy.
Kings throughout history were obsessed with legacy. In creating empires, building edifices, writing laws, and changing the culture, they sought to become immortal and to leave behind something that would remind subsequent generations of their lives and their greatness.
No matter the size of your principality, the desire to leave a legacy is a switch of manliness that cannot be ignored. Happily, creating a legacy need not involve the construction of great pyramids, but can come from any idea, business, tradition, relationship, or thought…anything that changes a person, the world, just a little and gets passed on, anything that lasts.
The Shadows of the King Archetype
The Tyrant
Unlike the King archetype which creates and blesses others, the Tyrant seeks to destroy and tear down. Plagued by narcissism, he really does think that he sits at the center of the universe. The Tyrant wrongly believes that power is finite; he has a scarcity mentality. He doesn’t understand the truth–that power and influence actually increase the more you share it with others. Thus the burden of maintaining his fragile illusion of absolute power makes him very insecure; any threat to his authority and supremacy enrages him and causes him to lash out with abuse–physically, emotionally, or mentally.
When the Tyrant isn’t viewing others as a threat and putting them in their place, he sees them as objects to exploit for his own gain; he is willing to push his friends, family, and employees under the bus in order to further his goals. We see the Tyrant manifest itself in this manner when businessmen or politicians further their own career at the expense of the people under their stewardship.
The Weakling
The Weakling is the passive shadow of the King archetype. Instead of taking control of his life and resolutely making decisions, a man possessed by the Weakling often abdicates his throne to others, handing over power, responsibility, and control of his life to them. This is the man who, though grown up, still lets his mother or father make his decisions for him. This is the man who kowtows to his boss’ or his wife’s every whim.
This is also the man who was abused in some way as a child, and when he becomes an adult and ascends into a position of power, relishes the opportunity to turn the tables and become the bully himself. “Now that I’m in charge, things are going to change around here!” But even in a position of power, the Weakling’s insecurity gets the best of him; he becomes paranoid that people are out to get him–and they often are because he’s such a jerk. This paranoia leads him to become even more controlling and cruel.
Moore believes that the Weakling and Tyrant shadows work in tandem with each other. It’s very rare that a man is ruled by one and not the other. Underneath every blustering Tyrant is a scared Weakling. And underneath every cowering Weakling is a Tyrant waiting to explode.
How to Access the King Archetype
The King seeks to integrate all the other archetypes and all good principles in order to reach his full potential–so that he may use this energy for a higher purpose and to bless the lives of others.
Series Conclusion
This concludes our series on the archetypes of the mature masculine. I hope you got something out of the articles.
So how much credence and focus should you give to these archetypes? Well obviously their existence cannot be proven–only speculated about. And I do believe that the main focus of a man’s life should be on practical ways to take action. But pondering the more esoteric stuff is what guides you in determining what those actions should be. These archetypes represent one way–a very helpful way–of organizing those meditations and can lead you to a more productive exploration of who you are and what kind of man you want to become.
The Four Archetypes of the Mature Masculine:
Introduction
The Boyhood Archetypes – Part I
The Boyhood Archetypes – Part II
The Lover
The Warrior
The Magician
The King
Tags: KWML
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But there are many kinds of fangblenny and not all of them are venomous. Casewell and his colleagues, including Bryan Fry from the University of Queensland, confirmed this by dissecting their way through several species. They showed that all of them share the disarmingly large canines, but only one group—Meiacanthus—has venom glands.
Casewell’s team extracted those glands from one species, and worked out which genes were being switched on. They found that the gland produces at least three types of toxin, none of which have been seen before in fish. The first—phospholipases—are common in the venoms of snakes, bees, and scorpions; they cause inflammation, and can damage nerves. The second—neuropeptide Y—is used by the lethal cone snail, and causes blood pressure to tank.
The third group—enkephalins—are opioid hormones. They’re similar to the natural endorphins that give you feel-good effects during exercise or laughter, and they work by targeting the same molecules as synthetic opioid painkillers like fentanyl or oxycodone. “But these substances have to be released in the brain to have that type of activity,” says Irina Vetter from the University of Queensland, who was involved in analyzing the blenny venom and is an expert on pain. “It’s unlikely that they would relieve pain when we’re bitten by a fish because they can’t get into the brain that way.” So contrary to a press release that was issued about this study, it’s unlikely that the enkephalins “act like heroin or morphine, inhibiting pain rather than causing it.”
But even if blenny venom isn’t a painkiller, it’s also not a pain-causer. Luiz Rocha from the California Academy of Sciences was once tagged by a Meiacanthus in the Red Sea, and even though he says the bite was “surprisingly deep and drew blood immediately,” it wasn’t painful.
That’s really weird. Fish venoms are known for being extraordinarily painful, inflicting agony out of all proportion to the wounds that they seep through. (Fry says that the time he was stung by a stingray was the most painful experience of his life, second only to breaking his back.) And pain is such a powerful deterrent that it’s surprising the blennies don’t evoke it.
Instead, Casewell thinks that they, like neuropeptide Y, are responsible for crashing a victim’s blood pressure. That should be enough to make a predator feel faint or uncoordinated, which may is why Losey’s groupers became slack-jawed upon ingesting a blenny.
The non-venomous fangblennies like Aspidontus defend themselves by mimicking other reef fish. Some take the guise of cleaner wrasse, which are tolerated by predators because they remove parasites. The blennies, however, exploit this tolerance to feed on their “clients”—the close in, and use their fangs to nip off bits of skin and scale. These sneak attacks may be why they evolved fangs in the first place.
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1966 studio album by the Beach Boys
Pet Sounds is the eleventh studio album by American rock band the Beach Boys, released on May 16, 1966. It initially met with a lukewarm critical and commercial response in the United States, peaking at number 10 in the Billboard 200, a somewhat lower placement than the band's preceding albums. In the United Kingdom, the album was hailed by the music press and was an immediate commercial success, peaking at number 2 in the UK Top 40 Albums Chart and remaining among the top ten positions for six months. Promoted as "the most progressive pop album ever", Pet Sounds attracted recognition for its ambitious recording and uniquely sophisticated music, and is widely considered to be among the most influential albums in the history of music.[1]
The album was produced, arranged, and almost entirely composed by Brian Wilson with lyrics by Tony Asher. Most of the recording sessions were conducted between January and April 1966, a year after Wilson had quit touring with the Beach Boys to focus on writing and recording. For Pet Sounds, his goal was to create "the greatest rock album ever made"—a personalized work with no filler tracks. It is sometimes considered a Wilson solo album, repeating the themes and ideas he had introduced with The Beach Boys Today! one year earlier. The album's lead single, "Caroline, No", was issued as his official solo debut. It was followed by two singles credited to the group: "Sloop John B" and "Wouldn't It Be Nice" (backed with "God Only Knows").
Wilson's orchestrations mixed conventional rock set-ups with elaborate layers of vocal harmonies, found sounds, and instruments never before associated with rock, such as bicycle bells, French horn, flutes, Electro-Theremin, string sections, and Coca-Cola cans. It consisted mainly of introspective songs like "You Still Believe in Me" about faithfulness, "I Know There's an Answer", a critique of LSD users, and "I Just Wasn't Made for These Times", an autobiographical statement on social alienation (as well as the first use of a theremin-like instrument on a rock record). Unified by a Wall of Sound-style production, the album comprised Wilson's "pet" sounds. Recording was completed on April 13, 1966, with an unprecedented total production cost that exceeded $70,000 (equivalent to $540,000 in 2018). The outtake "Good Vibrations" was followed as a single and became a worldwide hit. In 1997, a "making-of" version of Pet Sounds was overseen by Wilson and released as The Pet Sounds Sessions, containing the album's first true stereo mix.
Pet Sounds is regarded by musicologists as an early concept album that advanced the field of music production, introducing non-standard harmonies and timbres and incorporating elements of pop, jazz, exotica, classical, and the avant-garde. The album could not be replicated live and was the first time a group departed from the usual small-ensemble electric rock band format for a whole LP. Combined with its innovative music, which was perceived as a wholly self-conscious artistic statement (or "concept"), the album was crucial to the development of progressive/art rock, bringing more attention to psychedelic music in the mainstream, and helping to elevate rock as a genre for listening, rather than dancing. In 2004, Pet Sounds was preserved in the National Recording Registry by the Library of Congress for being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant." One year earlier, Rolling Stone ranked it second on its list of the "500 Greatest Albums of All Time".
Background [ edit ]
The July 1964 release of the Beach Boys' sixth album All Summer Long marked an end to the group's beach-themed period. From there on, their recorded material took a significantly different stylistic and lyrical path. While on a December 23 flight from Los Angeles to Houston, the band's songwriter and producer Brian Wilson suffered a panic attack only hours after performing with the group on the musical variety series Shindig! The 22-year-old Wilson had already skipped several concert tours by then, but the airplane episode proved devastating to his psyche. To focus his efforts on writing and recording, Wilson indefinitely resigned from live performances. Freed from the burden, he immediately showcased great artistic leaps in his musical development evident within the albums Today! and Summer Days, released in the first half of 1965. With the July 1965 single "California Girls", Wilson began experimenting with song composition while under the influence of psychedelic drugs, a factor that yielded a great effect on the group's musical conceptions.[8][nb 1]
At the suggestion of bandmate Al Jardine, Wilson began working on "Sloop John B", a traditional Caribbean folk song that Jardine had learned from listening to the Kingston Trio.[13] Wilson recorded a backing track on July 12, 1965, but after laying down a rough lead vocal, he set the song aside for some time, concentrating on the recording of what became their next LP, the informal studio jam Beach Boys' Party!, in response to their record company Capitol's request for a Beach Boys album for the Christmas 1965 market. Wilson devoted the last three months of 1965 to polishing the vocals of "Sloop John B" and recording six new original compositions.[15][nb 2] In November 1965, "The Little Girl I Once Knew" was released as a non-album single. A section of the song features total silence, leading to poor airplay where radio stations preferred not to have moments of dead air in the middle of a song. It was the last original Beach Boys song issued before any Pet Sounds tracks.[17]
Writing partnership [ edit ]
In 1965, Wilson met Tony Asher at a recording studio in Los Angeles. Asher was at the time a 26-year-old lyricist and copywriter working in jingles for an advertising agency.[18] The two exchanged ideas for songs, and soon after, Wilson heard of Asher's writing abilities from mutual friends.[18] In December 1965, he contacted Asher about a possible lyric collaboration, wanting to do something "completely different" with someone he had never written with before. Asher accepted the offer, and within ten days, they were writing together.[18] Wilson played some of the music he had recently recorded and gave a cassette to Asher containing the backing track to a piece called "In My Childhood".[18][nb 3] The result of Asher's tryout was eventually retitled "You Still Believe in Me", and the success of the piece convinced Wilson that Asher was the wordsmith he had been looking for.[18] When Wilson was asked why he felt Asher was the right collaborator: "Oh, a lot of reasons. One, I thought he was a cool person. Two, anybody that hung out with [my friend] Loren Schwartz was a very brainy guy, a real verbal type person. I just felt that there was something there that had to be, you know, that really had to be."[16][nb 4]
It felt like we were writing an autobiography, but oddly enough, I wouldn't limit it to Brian's autobiography ... We were working in a somewhat intimate relationship, and I didn't know him at all, so he was finding out who I was, and I was finding out who he was. —Tony Asher[18]
Asher explained that he and Wilson had many lengthy, intimate discussions centered around their "experiences and feelings about women and the various stages of relationships and so forth".[18] He maintains that his contribution to the music itself was minimal, serving mainly as a source of second opinion for Wilson as he worked out possible melodies and chord progressions, although the two did trade ideas as the songs evolved.[18] Contrary to the popular conception that Wilson composed all of the music to Pet Sounds, Asher claimed that he also made significant musical contributions to "I Just Wasn't Made for These Times", "Caroline, No", and "That's Not Me". On his role as co-lyricist, he said, "The general tenor of the lyrics was always his ... and the actual choice of words was usually mine. I was really just his interpreter."
Wilson wrote with Asher for about three weeks. A typical writing session started either with Wilson's playing melody or chord patterns that he was working on, by discussing a recent record that Wilson liked the feel of, or by discussing a subject that Wilson had always wanted to write a song about.[18] On "God Only Knows", Wilson reflected: "I think Tony had a musical influence on me somehow. After about ten years, I started thinking about it deeper ... because I had never written that kind of song. And I remember him talking about 'Stella by Starlight' and he had a certain love for classic songs."[16][nb 5] Asher looked back on his interactions with Wilson and the Beach Boys as an "embarrassing" experience, remembering that Wilson "exhibit[ed] this awful taste. His choice of movies, say, was invariably terrible. ... every four hours we'd spend writing songs, there'd be about 48 hours of these dopey conversations about some dumb book [about mysticism] he'd just read. Or else he'd just go on and on about girls."[26] In these discussions, Wilson opened up about personal turmoils that included doubts about his marriage, "sexual fantasies", and "his apparent need to get with [his sister-in-law] Diane."[nb 6]
While most of the album's songs derived from the Wilson–Asher partnership, "I Know There's an Answer" was co-written by Wilson with another new associate, the Beach Boys' road manager Terry Sachen.[28] In 1994, Mike Love was awarded co-writing credits on "Wouldn't It Be Nice" and "I Know There's an Answer", but with the exception of his co-credit on "I'm Waiting for the Day", a song which had been written some two years earlier,[28] his songwriting contributions are thought to have been minimal.[28][nb 7]
Concept and inspiration [ edit ]
Commentators and historians frequently cite Pet Sounds as a concept album, and sometimes as the first concept album in the history of rock music. Academic Carys Wyn Jones attributes this to the album's "uniform excellence" rather than a lyrical theme or musical motif. Even though Pet Sounds has a somewhat unified theme in its emotional content, there was not a predetermined narrative. Asher said that there were no conversations between him and Wilson that pertained to any specific album "concept," however, "that's not to say that he didn't have the capacity to steer it in that direction, even unconsciously."[18] Brian's then-wife Marilyn felt that her relationship with Brian was a central reference within the album's lyrics, namely on "You Still Believe in Me" and "Caroline, No".
For Pet Sounds, Wilson desired to make "a complete statement", similar to what he believed the Beatles had done with their newest album Rubber Soul, released in December 1965.[nb 8] Wilson was impressed that the album appeared to lack filler tracks, a feature that was mostly unheard of at a time when 45 rpm singles were considered more noteworthy than full-length LPs. Many albums up until the mid-1960s lacked a cohesive artistic goal and were largely used to sell singles at a higher price point.[nb 9] Wilson found that Rubber Soul subverted this by having a wholly consistent thread of music.[nb 10] Inspired, he rushed to his wife and proclaimed, "Marilyn, I'm gonna make the greatest album! The greatest rock album ever made!" He would say of his reaction to Rubber Soul: "I liked the way it all went together, the way it was all one thing. It was a challenge to me ... It didn't make me want to copy them but to be as good as them. I didn't want to do the same kind of music, but on the same level."[43][nb 11]
Wilson's other aspiration for Pet Sounds was to "extend" the music of Phil Spector. He explained that "in one sense of the word, we [the Beach Boys] were his messengers," and that "If you take the Pet Sounds album as a collection of art pieces, each designed to stand alone, yet which belong together, you'll see what I was aiming at. ... It wasn't really a song concept album, or lyrically a concept album; it was really a production concept album." Author Michael Zager wrote that Pet Sounds resembles Spector's productions more than it does Rubber Soul, and that it recycles many of Spector's Wall of Sound production watermarks. Wilson talked of Spector's influence on his work, having learned how to produce records through attending his sessions, and added that the album may be considered his own "interpretation" of Spector's Wall of Sound.[47] He said that he was especially fascinated by the process of combining sounds "to make another" and sought to emulate those aspects of Spector's productions.
Other influences, according to Wilson, were Burt Bacharach,[49] Les Baxter ("who did all these big productions that sounded sort of like Phil Spector productions"), and Nelson Riddle (who taught him "a lot about arranging"). Alternately, when asked if he was a fan of Baxter, Martin Denny, or exotica music in a 2017 interview, he responded: "No, I never get the chance to listen to them. Never did."[52][nb 12] Shortly before the album's release, Wilson spoke of recent popular music trends, saying that they "helped the Beach Boys evolve. We listen to what's happening and it affects what we do too. The trends have influenced my work, but so has my own scene."[53] In 1996, he said of his partnership with Asher: "none of us looked back ... We went forward, kind of like on our own little wavelength. It wasn't like we were thinking, 'Okay, let's beat Spector,' let's out-do Motown.' It was more what I would call exclusive collaboration not to specifically try to kick somebody's butt, but just to do it the way you really want it to be. That's what I thought we did."[16]
Group infighting [ edit ]
Pet Sounds is sometimes considered a Brian Wilson solo album in all but name. He explained: "Pet Sounds was something that was absolutely different. Something I personally felt. That one album that was really more me than Mike Love and the surf records and all that, and 'Kokomo'. That's all their kind of stuff, you know?"[16] When the other Beach Boys returned from a three-week tour of Japan and Hawaii, they were presented with a substantial portion of a new album, with music that was in many ways a jarring departure from their earlier style.[nb 13] According to various reports, the group fought over the new direction.[59] Dennis Wilson denied that the band disagreed with Brian's direction on Pet Sounds, calling the rumors "interesting," saying that there was "not one person in the group that could come close to Brian's talent," and that he "couldn't imagine who" would have resisted Brian's leadership.[61]"[62]
One of the issues was the album's complexity and how the touring Beach Boys could perform its music live.[63] Wilson said that the band wanted to keep the music simple, "and I said 'No, we've gotta grow, guys'."[64] He recalled that the group "liked [the new music] but they said it was too arty. I said, 'No, it is not!" Marilyn said: "When Brian was writing Pet Sounds, it was difficult for the guys to understand what he was going through emotionally and what he wanted to create. ... they didn't feel what he was going through and what direction he was trying to go in."[66] Tony Asher remembered: "All those guys in the band, certainly Al, Dennis, and Mike, were constantly saying, 'What the fuck do these words mean?' or 'This isn't our kind of shit!' Brian had comebacks, though. He'd say, 'Oh, you guys can't hack this.'... But I remember thinking that those were tense sessions."
[68] Love dismissed claims that he disliked the album.
Mike Love said "some of the words were so totally offensive to me that I wouldn't even sing 'em because I thought it was too nauseating."[69] The original lyrics of "I Know There's an Answer", known as "Hang On to Your Ego", created a stir within the group. He opposed the song's original message, though Jardine recalled that the decision to change the lyrics was ultimately Brian's: "Brian was very concerned. He wanted to know what we thought about it. To be honest, I don't think we even knew what an ego was ... Finally Brian decided, 'Forget it. I'm changing the lyrics. There's too much controversy.'"[28][nb 14] On Love's reaction to the album, Jardine commented: "Mike was very confused ... Mike's a formula hound – if it doesn't have a hook in it, if he can't hear a hook in it, he doesn't want to know about it. ... I wasn't exactly thrilled with the change, but I grew to really appreciate it as soon as we started to work on it. It wasn't like anything we'd heard before."[71] Carl Wilson said: "I loved every minute of it. He [Brian] could do no wrong. He could play me anything, and I would love it."[72] Brian remembered that Carl was enthused with the album, but not Dennis and Mike.
In defense of Love, Asher said that "he never was critical about what [the album] was, he was just saying it wasn't right for the Beach Boys."[74] Brian believed the band was worried about him separating from the group, elaborating that "it was generally considered that the Beach Boys were the main thing ... with Pet Sounds, there was a resistance in that I was doing most of the artistic work on it vocally".[75] Love wrote: "I also would have liked to have had a greater hand in some of the songs and been able to incorporate more often my 'lead voice,' which we'd had so much success with." The conflicts were resolved, according to Brian, "[when] they figured that it was a showcase for Brian Wilson, but it's still the Beach Boys. In other words, they gave in. They let me have my little stint."[75]
Music and lyrics [ edit ]
The album's soundscape incorporates elements of pop, jazz, classical, exotica, and avant-garde music. According to biographer Jon Stebbins, "Brian defies any notion of genre safety ... There isn't much rocking here, and even less rolling. Pet Sounds is at times futuristic, progressive, and experimental. ... there's no boogie, no woogie, and the only blues are in the themes and in Brian's voice." Genres attributed to the album include progressive pop,[79][80][nb 15] chamber pop,[83][84][85][86] psychedelic pop,[87][88][89][90] art rock,[93] psychedelic rock,[94] baroque pop,[97][98] experimental rock,[100] and avant-pop.[101][102] Wilson himself thought of the album as "chapel rock ... commercial choir music. I wanted to make an album that would stand up in ten years."[nb 16]
Wilson conceived of experimental arrangements that combined conventional rock set-ups with various exotic instruments, producing new sounds with a rich texture reminiscent of symphonic works layered underneath meticulous vocal harmonics. In total, the number of unique instruments used for each track average to about a dozen.[108][nb 17] Many of those instruments were alien to rock music, including glockenspiel, ukulele, accordion, Electro-Theremin, bongos, harpsichord, violin, viola, cello, trombone, Coca-Cola bottles, and other odd sounds such as barking dogs, trains, and bicycle bells. This kind of selection was stylistically appropriated from a wide variety of cultures in a similar fashion to the exotica composer Esquivel.[110]
Journalist Alice Bolin writes that Pet Sounds "repeated and perfected" the themes and ideas introduced in the Beach Boys' album Today!, released one year earlier.[111] Author Chris Smith wrote that the complex arrangements and more developed themes of Today! effectively foreshadowed the lush orchestration and maturity of Pet Sounds. Marshall Heiser expressed for The Journal on the Art of Record Production: "Pet Sounds diverges from previous Beach Boys' efforts in several ways: its sound field has a greater sense of depth and 'warmth;' the songs employ even more inventive use of harmony and chord voicings; the prominent use of percussion is a key feature (as opposed to driving drum backbeats); whilst the orchestrations, at times, echo the quirkiness of 'exotica' bandleader Les Baxter, or the 'cool' of Burt Bacharach, more so than [Phil] Spector's teen fanfares."[113][nb 18] Musicologist Daniel Harrison wrote: "In terms of the structure of the songs themselves, there is comparatively little advance from what Brian had already accomplished or shown himself capable of accomplishing. Most of the songs use unusual harmonic progressions and unexpected disruptions of hypermeter, both features that were met in 'Warmth of the Sun' and 'Don't Back Down.'" Journalist Nick Kent felt "Wouldn't It Be Nice" to be "teen angst dialogue" that Wilson had already achieved with "We'll Run Away" the year before. However: "This time Brian Wilson was out to eclipse these previous sonic soap operas, to transform the subject's sappy sentiments with a God-like grace so that the song would become a veritable pocket symphony."
As author James Perone explains, Wilson's compositions include tempo changes, metrical ambiguity, and unusual tone colors that, culturally speaking, separates the album from any pop music of the era. It also adds to "the background tenderness and melancholy—as well as the increased maturity—that ebb and flow throughout Pet Sounds." He specifically touches upon the album's closer "Caroline, No" and its use of wide tessitura changes, wide melodic intervals, and instrumentation which contribute to his belief; also Wilson's compositions and orchestral arrangements which experiment with form and tone colors. Referring to "Wouldn't It Be Nice", Perone recalls that the track sounds "significantly less like a rock band supplemented with auxiliary instrumentation ... than a rock band integrated into an eclectic mix of studio instrumentation." Arranger Paul Mertens believed that although there are string sections on Pet Sounds: "... what's special about that is not that Brian was trying to introduce classical music into rock & roll. Rather, he was trying to get classical musicians to play like rock musicians. He's using these things to make music in the way that he understood, rather than trying to appropriate the orchestra."[120]
The album included two instrumental tracks composed solely by Brian. One of them: the wistful "Let's Go Away for Awhile".[122] the other instrumental is the title track, "Pet Sounds". Both titles had been recorded as backing tracks for existing songs, but by the time the album neared completion Wilson had decided that the tracks worked better without vocals.[123] Of "Let's Go Away for Awhile", Perone observes, "There are melodic features but no tune to speak of. As an instrumental composition, this gives the piece an atmospheric feel; however, the exact mood is difficult to define." Of "Pet Sounds", the piece represents the Beach Boys' surf heritage more than any other track on the album with its emphasis on lead guitar, although Perone maintains that it is not really a surf composition, citing its elaborate arrangement involving countless auxiliary percussion parts, abruptly changing textures, and de-emphasis of a traditional rock band drum set.
Themes [ edit ]
For much of Pet Sounds lyrical content, Brian turned inward and probed his deep-seated self-doubts and emotional longings. However, as journalist Liel Leibovitz writes, the resulting album "wasn't Wilson's autobiography or Asher's but rather a collective autobiography of everything we all feel when we ... try and reach out to another human being".[125] Tony Asher explains:
Brian was constantly looking for topics that kids could relate to. Even though he was dealing in the most advanced score-charts and arrangements, he was still incredibly conscious of this commercial thing. This absolute need to relate.
According to reviewer Jim Esch, the opener "Wouldn't It Be Nice" inaugurates and suggests the album's pervasive theme: "fragile lovers buckling under the pressure of external forces they can't control, self-imposed romantic expectations and personal limitations, while simultaneously trying to maintain faith in one other. It is a theme that keeps reverberating sweetly, and hauntingly, throughout Pet Sounds."[126] Carl said: "The disappointment and the loss of innocence that everyone had to go through when they grow up and find everything's not Hollywood are the recurrent themes on that album."[43] Critics Richard Goldstein and Nik Cohn noted incongruity between the album's music and lyrics, where the latter suggested the work to be "sad songs about happiness" while also celebrating loneliness and heartache. In the opinion of Perone, it is the next track, "You Still Believe in Me", which features the first expression of introspective themes that pervade the rest of the album.
Responding to the songwriters' denials of a conscious lyric theme, Nick Kent observed: "[The] album documents the male participant's attempts at coming to terms with himself and the world about him. Each song pinpoints a crisis of faith in love and life: confusion ('That's Not Me'), disorientation (the staggeringly beautiful 'I Just Wasn't Made for These Times'), recognition of love's capricious impermanence ('Here Today') and finally, the grand betrayal of innocence featured in 'Caroline, No'." Conversely, author Scott Schinder wrote that Wilson and Asher crafted an "emotion-charge song cycle that surveyed the emotional challenges accompanying the transition from youth to adulthood." Schinder continues: "Lyrically, Pet Sounds encompassed the loss of innocent idealism ("Caroline, No"), the transient nature of love ("Here Today"), faith in the face of heartbreak ("I'm Waiting for the Day"), the demands and disappointments of independence ("That's Not Me"), the feeling of being out of step with the modern world ("I Just Wasn't Made for These Times"), and the longing for a happy, loving future ("Wouldn't It Be Nice"). The album also featured a series of intimate, hymn-like love songs, "You Still Believe in Me", "Don't Talk (Put Your Head on My Shoulder)", and "God Only Knows"."
"Then again," Kent says, "bearing in mind this conceptual bent, there are certain incongruous factors about the album's construction. The main one is the inclusion of the hit single 'Sloop John B', as well as of two instrumental pieces." Perone argues, "To the extent that the listener hears 'Let's Go Away for Awhile' as an incomplete piece, it is possible to understand it as a reflection of the alienation—the sense of not quite fitting in—of the bulk of Tony Asher's lyrics in the songs on Pet Sounds." Noting that a sense of self-doubt, concern for the future of a relationship, and melancholy pervades Pet Sounds, Perone claims in reference to "Sloop John B" that the song successfully portrays a sailor who feels "completely out of place in his situation [which] is fully in keeping with the general feeling of disorientation that runs through so many of the songs."
Fussili states that Wilson's tendency to "wander far from the logic of his composition only to return triumphantly to confirm the emotional intent of his work" is repeated numerous times in Pet Sounds, but never to "evoke a sense of unbridled joy" as Wilson recently had with the single "The Little Girl I Once Knew". In the example of "God Only Knows", which contains an ambivalent key and non-diatonic chords, musicologist Philip Lambert cites its "choral fantasy" section to contain complex key changes that elude the listener "for the entire experience—that in fact, the idea of 'key' has itself been challenged and subverted".[nb 19] Perone's interpretation also suggests a visceral musical continuity. On the second track "You Still Believe in Me", "One of the high points of the composition and Brian's vocal performance ... is the snaky, though generally descending melodic line on the line 'I want to cry,' his response to the realization that his girlfriend still believes in him despite his past failures." He describes the "stepwise falloff of the interval of a third at the end of each verse" to be a typically "Wilsonian" feature that recurs throughout the album in addition to a "madrigal sigh motif" that can be heard in "That's Not Me", where the motif concludes each line of the verses. This sighing motif appears in the next track, "Don't Talk (Put Your Head on My Shoulder)", a piece inspired by classical music, and once again in "Caroline, No". For the high-pitched electric bass guitar part in "Here Today", Perone says they bring to mind similar parts in "God Only Knows", culminating in what sounds like the vocal protagonist of "Here Today" warning the protagonist of "God Only Knows" that what he sings stands no chance at longevity. The protagonist's relationship then concludes shortly after "I Just Wasn't Made for These Times", while "Caroline, No" is a rumination in broken love.
Psychedelia [ edit ]
"I Know There's an Answer" sections Pet Sounds offers an intimacy unlike other psychedelic pop of the time, soundscapes of whispers and reverb and sudden departures in structure and form do lend the record a somewhat trippy effect."[132] Consequence of Sound 's Zach Ruskin expressed: "whileoffers an intimacy unlike other psychedelic pop of the time, soundscapes of whispers and reverb and sudden departures in structure and form do lend the record a somewhat trippy effect." Problems playing this file? See media help.
Wilson's response when asked about LSD and "Hang On to Your Ego" was: "I had taken a few drugs, and I had gotten into that kind of thing. I guess it just came up naturally."[16][nb 20] Despite concerns over the song's drug references, the key lyric "they trip through the day and waste all their thoughts at night" was kept for the final version. Elsewhere for "Sloop John B", Wilson's lyric change from "this is the worst trip since I've been born" to "this is the worst trip I've ever been on" has also been suggested to be another subtle nod to acid culture.[136][137]
The album is often considered within the canon of psychedelic rock.[94] The Encyclopedia Britannica states that the Beach Boys introduced psychedelic elements with the album, calling it "expansive" and "haunting".[139] Writer Vernon Joyson observes flirtations with acid rock. Bret Marcus of Goldmine noted that he believed that the album is psychedelic pop, even though most people hesitate to name the Beach Boys in discussions of psychedelic music.[88] Stebbins writes that the album is "slightly psychedelic—or at least impressionistic." According to academics Paul Hegarty and Martin Halliwell, Pet Sounds has a "personal intimacy" that sets it apart from the Beach Boys' contemporaries in psychedelic culture and the San Francisco Sound, but still retains a "trippy feel" that resulted from Wilson's experimental use of LSD. They attribute this to Wilson's "eclectic mixture of instruments, echo, reverb, and innovative mixing techniques learnt from Phil Spector to create a complex soundscape in which voice and music interweave tightly". Wilson acknowledged that psychedelic elements are present in a number of the songs, but believed "the album itself is mostly not psychedelic".[132]
DeRogatis compared the album's repeated listening value to a heightened psychedelic awareness, that its melodies "continue to reveal themselves after dozens of listens, just as previously unnoticed corners of the world reveal themselves during the psychedelic experience". On the subject of psychedelic records in the 1960s, Sean Lennon stated that "psychedelic music is a term that pretty much refers to these sort of epic, ambitious long-form records ... the reason Pet Sounds is considered a psychedelic journey or whatever is because it's like opening a door and stepping through and entering another world and you're in that other world for a period of time and then you come back."[144]
Recording and production [ edit ]
Backing tracks [ edit ]
Wilson produced several backing tracks over a period lasting several months, using professional Hollywood recording studios and an ensemble that included the classically trained session musicians nicknamed "the Wrecking Crew", also known as the musicians frequently employed on Phil Spector's records. Most sessions were conducted at Western Studio 3 of United Western Recorders, with few additional tracking dates at Gold Star Studios and Sunset Sound Recorders.[147] Surviving tapes of his recording sessions show that he was open to his musicians, often taking advice and suggestions from them and even incorporating apparent mistakes if they provided a useful or interesting alternative. Wilson said that he "was sort of a square" with the Wrecking Crew, starting his creative process with how each instrument sounded one-by-one, moving from keyboards, drums, then violins if they were not overdubbed. Although the self-taught Wilson often had entire arrangements worked out in his head, they were usually written in a shorthand form for the other players by one of his session musicians.[16][nb 21] On notation and arranging, Wilson explained: "Sometimes I'd just write out a chord sheet and that would be for piano, organ, or harpsichord or anything. ... I wrote out all the horn charts separate from the keyboards. I wrote one basic keyboard chart, violins, horns, and basses, and percussion."[16] A backing track session would last for three hours at minimum. Engineer Chuck Britz remembered how most of the time was spent perfecting individual sounds: "[Brian] knew basically every instrument he wanted to hear, and how he wanted to hear it. What he would do is call in all the musicians at one time (which was very costly), but still, that's the way he would do it."[149]
Pet Sounds A Scully four-track 280 tape deck, similar to the 288 used for
Tape effects were limited to slapback echo and reverb. Archivist Mark Linett notes: "to my ears, it sounds more like the plate [reverberators] rather than chambers. It should be mentioned that you get a significantly different sound from a chamber when you record it 'live' as opposed to doing it off tape, and one reason these records sound the way they do is that the reverb was being printed as part of the recording – unlike today where we'll record 'dry' and add the effects later."[147] Although Spector's trademark sound was aurally complex, many of the best-known Wall of Sound recordings were recorded on Ampex three-track recorders. Spector's backing tracks were recorded live, and usually in a single take. These backing tracks were mixed live, in mono, and taped directly onto one track of the three-track recorder.[150] The lead vocal was then taped, usually (though not always) as an uninterrupted live performance, recorded direct to the second track of the recorder. The master was completed with the addition of backing vocals on the third track before the three tracks were mixed down to create the mono master tape.[150] By comparison, Brian produced tracks that were of greater technical complexity by using state-of-the-art four-track and eight-track recorders.[151] Most backing tracks were recorded onto a Scully four-track 288 tape recorder[147] before being later dubbed down (in mono) onto one track of an eight-track machine. Wilson typically divided instruments by three tracks: drums–percussion–keyboard, horns, and bass–additional percussion–guitar. The fourth track usually contained a rough reference mix used during playback at the session, later to be erased for overdubs such as a string section.[151] "Once he had what he wanted," Britz said, "I would give Brian a 7-1/2 IPS [tape] copy of the track, and he would take it home."[153]
Discussing Spector's Wall of Sound technique, Wilson identified the tack piano and organ mix in "I Know There's an Answer" as one example of himself applying the method. Wilson also doubled the bass (typically using an acoustic upright bass and an electric bass), guitars and keyboard parts,[153] blending them with reverberation and adding other unusual instruments. One of Wilson's favorite techniques was to apply reverb exclusively to a timpani, as can be heard in "Wouldn't It Be Nice", "You Still Believe in Me", and "Don't Talk".[155]
Vocals and mixdown [ edit ]
Vocals of "Wouldn't It Be Nice" Isolated vocals-only excerpt taken from the song's bridge and coda. Problems playing this file? See media help.
The Beach Boys rarely knew their parts before arriving in the studio. Britz: "Most of the time, they were never ready to sing. They would rehearse in the studio. Actually, there was no such thing as rehearsal. They'd get on mike right off the bat, practically, and start singing."[153] According to Jardine, each member was taught their individual vocal lines by Brian at a piano. He explains, "Every night we'd come in for a playback. We'd sit around and listen to what we did the night before. Someone might say, well, that's pretty good but we can do that better ... We had somewhat photographic memory as far as the vocal parts were concerned so that never a problem for us."[156] This process proved to be the most exacting work the group had undertaken yet. During recording, Mike Love often called Brian "dog ears", a nickname referencing a canine's ability to detect sounds far beyond the limits of human hearing.[157] Love later summarized:
We worked and worked on the harmonies and, if there was the slightest little hint of a sharp or a flat, it wouldn't go on. We would do it over again until it was right. [Brian] was going for every subtle nuance that you could conceivably think of. Every voice had to be right, every voice and its resonance and tonality had to be right. The timing had to be right. The timbre of the voices just had to be correct, according to how he felt. And then he might, the next day, completely throw that out and we might have to do it over again.[158]
By the time of Pet Sounds, Wilson was using up to six of the eight tracks on the multitrack master so that he could record the voice of each member separately, allowing him greater control over the vocal balance in the final mix.[151] After mixing down the four-track to mono for overdubbing via an eight-track recorder, six of the remaining seven tracks were usually dedicated to each of the Beach Boys' vocals.[151] The last track was usually reserved for additional elements such as extra vocals or instrumentation.[28][nb 22] Vocals were recorded using two Neumann U-47s, which Dennis, Carl and Jardine would sing on, and a Shure 5–35 used by Brian for his leads.[153] Love sang most of the album's bass vocals, and necessitated an extra microphone due to his low volume range.[157] Some of the vocals were recorded at CBS Columbia Square, because it was the only facility in Los Angeles with an eight-track recorder.[147][151]
The album's final vocal overdubbing session took place on April 13, 1966, concluding a ten-month-long recording period that had begun with "Sloop John B" in July 1965. The album was mixed three days later in a single nine-hour session.[nb 23] Saxophonist Steve Douglas recalls of the album's draft mix: "It was full of noise. You could hear him talking in the background. It was real sloppy. He had spent all this time making the album, and zip—dubbed it down in one day or something like that. [When we said something to him about it], he took it back and mixed it properly. I think a lot of times, beautiful orchestrated stuff or parts got lost in his mixes".[161] A true stereophonic mix of Pet Sounds was not considered in 1966 largely because of mixing logistics.[151] In spite of whether a true stereo mix was possible, Wilson intentionally mixed the final version of his recordings in mono (as did Spector). He did this because he felt that mono mastering provided more sonic control over the final result, irrespective of the vagaries of speaker placement and sound system quality.[151][nb 24] Another and more personal reason for Brian's preference for mono was his almost total deafness in his right ear.[nb 25] The total cost of production amounted to a then-unheard of $70,000 (equivalent to $540,000 in 2018).
Leftover material [ edit ]
On October 15, 1965, Brian went to the studio with a 43-piece orchestra to record an instrumental piece entitled "Three Blind Mice", which bore no musical connection to the nursery rhyme of the same name.[164][nb 26] Another instrumental, called "Trombone Dixie", was recorded. According to Brian, "I was just foolin' around one day, fuckin' around with the musicians, and I took that arrangement out of my briefcase and we did it in 20 minutes. It was nothing, there was really nothing in it."[165][nb 27]
In mid February 1966, Brian was in the studio with his session band taping the first takes of a new composition, "Good Vibrations".[158] On February 23, he gave Capitol a provisional track listing for the new LP, which included both "Sloop John B" and "Good Vibrations".[158] This contradicts the long-held misconception that "Sloop John B" was a forced inclusion as the hit single at Capitol's insistence: in late February, the song was weeks away from release.[158] Brian worked through February and into March fine-tuning the backing tracks. To the group's surprise, he also dropped "Good Vibrations" from the running order, telling them that he wanted to spend more time on it. Al Jardine remembered: "At the time, we all had assumed that 'Good Vibrations' was going to be on the album, but Brian decided to hold it out. It was a judgment call on his part; we felt otherwise but left the ultimate decision up to him."[158]
Brian devoted some Pet Sounds sessions to avant-garde indulgences such as an extended a cappella run-through of the children's song "Row, Row, Row Your Boat" that exploited the song's use of rounds. Humorous skits and sound effects were recorded in an attempt to create a psychedelic comedy album, foreshadowing much of his work on Smile, which was set to have followed Pet Sounds. The only product of these sessions present in Pet Sounds was an excerpt of Brian's dogs barking accompanied by a recording of passing trains, which was sampled from the 1963 sound effects LP Mister D's Machine.[164] Brian may also have briefly considered recording other animal sounds for inclusion, as evidenced by a snippet of surviving studio chatter from a "dog barking" session. This features Brian asking Britz: "Hey, Chuck, is it possible we can bring a horse in here without ... if we don't screw everything up?", to which a clearly startled Britz responds, "I beg your pardon?", with Brian then pleading, "Honest to God, now, the horse is tame and everything!"
Title and artwork [ edit ]
The front sleeve depicts a snapshot of the band – from left, they are Carl, Brian, and Dennis Wilson; Mike Love; and Al Jardine – feeding pieces of apples to seven goats at the zoo.[168][nb 28] The photo was taken on February 10, 1966, when the group traveled to the San Diego Zoo[15] accompanied by the photographer George Jerman. The sleeve's header, written in Cooper Black,[171][172] displays "The Beach Boys Pet Sounds", followed by the album's track list.
Love remembers that Capitol's working title for the album was Our Freaky Friends, and that the label planned the cover shoot at the zoo, with the animals representing the group's "freaky friends".[nb 29] In May, the San Diego Union reported that the group "came down from Hollywood to take a cover picture for their forthcoming album Our Freaky Friends. ... Zoo officials were not keen about having their beloved beasts connected with the title of the album, but gave in when the Beach Boys explained that animals are an 'in' thing with teenagers. And that the Beach Boys were rushing to beat the rock and roll group called The Animals."[nb 30] Asher remembered: "[Brian] had some proofs of the pictures they'd done at the zoo, and he told me they were thinking of calling the album Pet Sounds. I thought it was a goofy name for an album – I thought it trivialized what we had accomplished." Until arriving to the photo shoot, Jardine thought that "pet" referred to slang for making out ("petting"). Jardine also expressed disappointment with the chosen cover, believing it was "crazy" to go to the zoo, that "the art department screwed up pretty badly on that one ... [I] wanted a more sensitive and enlightening cover."[176] Author Peter Doggett writes that the design was at odds with the increasingly sophisticated cover portraits used on releases by artists such as the Beatles, the Rolling Stones and Bob Dylan over 1965–67. He highlights it as "a warning of what could happen when music and image parted company: songs of high romanticism, an album cover of stark banality."
The name Pet Sounds was Love's invention, according to himself,[158] Brian,[168] and Jardine.[168] Brian explained that the album was named "after the dogs ... That was the whole idea", and that the title was a "tribute" to Spector by matching his initials (PS), but could not recall who thought of going to the zoo.[168] Love recounted: "We were standing in the hallway in one of the recording studios, either Western or Columbia, and we didn't have a title. ... We had taken pictures at the zoo and ... there were animal sounds on the record, and we were thinking, well, it's our favorite music of that time, so I said, 'Why don't we call it Pet Sounds?'"[158][157] Brian has also credited Carl for the title,[49][158] while Carl said with uncertainty that it might have come from Brian: "The idea he [Brian] had was that everybody has these sounds that they love, and this was a collection of his 'pet sounds.' It was hard to think of a name for the album, because you sure couldn't call it Shut Down Vol. 3 .. It was just so much more than a record; it had such a spiritual quality. It wasn't going in and doing another top ten. It had so much more meaning than that."[72][nb 31]
Release [ edit ]
Personally, I think the group has evolved another 800 per cent in the last year. We have a more conscious, arty production now that's more polished. It's all been like an explosion for us. ... it's like I'm in the golden age of what it's all about. —Brian Wilson to Melody Maker, March 1966[53]
After the album was assembled, Brian brought a complete acetate to Marilyn, who remembers, "It was so beautiful, one of the most spiritual times of my whole life. We both cried. Right after we listened to it, he said he was scared that nobody was going to like it. That it was too intricate."[66] Pet Sounds was released on May 16, debuting on the Billboard charts at 106.[182] Compared to their previous albums in the US, Pet Sounds achieved somewhat less commercial success; it peaked at No. 10 on the Billboard LP chart, with sales estimated at around 500,000 units. Pet Sounds' initial release was not awarded gold certification by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). In February 2000, Pet Sounds was presented with gold and platinum awards based on sales that could be documented, although Capitol Records estimated it may have sold over two million copies.[184][185]
Brian was "heartsick" that Pet Sounds didn't sell as highly as he expected, and interpreted the response as a rejection to his creative ideals.[16] Some blamed Capitol Records for the album's underwhelming sales. Allegedly, they did not promote the album as heavily as previous releases.[72][186] Carl stated that Capitol did not feel a need to promote the Beach Boys since they were getting so much airplay, and that they had a "set image" for the group which even Pet Sounds could not alter.[72] Others assumed that the label considered the album a risk, appealing more to an older demographic than the younger, female audience the Beach Boys built their commercial standing on. To Brian's dismay, within two months, Capitol assembled the group's first greatest hits compilation, Best of The Beach Boys, which was quickly certified gold by the RIAA. Capitol executive Karl Engemann later said: "This is just conjecture on my part because it was so long ago ... because the marketing people didn't believe that Pet Sounds was going to do that well, they were probably looking for some additional volume in that quarter. There's a good possibility that's what happened. Anyway, my real forte was dealing with artists and producers and making them feel comfortable so they could achieve their ends. And sometimes, particularly when the label wanted something that the artist didn't, it wasn't easy.[189]
Before Pet Sounds was released, "Caroline, No" was issued as a single; it was credited to Brian alone, leading to speculation that he was considering leaving the band. The single reached number 32 in the US.[191] It was followed by "Sloop John B", credited to the Beach Boys. The single reached number 3 in the US[191] and number 2 in Britain.[192] It had a three-week stay at number 1 in the Netherlands, making it the "Hit of the Year".[193] Two months after the album's release, "Wouldn't It Be Nice" was released, later reaching number 8 in the US, where it was treated as the A-side.[191] Its flip side, "God Only Knows", was featured as the A-side in Europe, peaking at number 2 in Britain.[192] As a B-side in the US, it reached number 39.[191]
United Kingdom EMI release [ edit ]
Advertisement for the UK EMI release.
The album's greatest success was in the UK, where it reached number 2[192] and stayed in the top-ten positions for six months. It was aided by support from the British music industry, who embraced the record. Bruce Johnston stated that when he was in London in May 1966, a number of musicians and other guests gathered in his hotel suite to listen to repeated playbacks of the album. This included John Lennon, Paul McCartney and Keith Moon. Moon himself involved Johnston by helping him gain coverage in British television circuits, and connecting him with Lennon and McCartney. Johnston claimed that Pet Sounds got so much publicity, "it forced EMI to put the album out sooner."[186] The Beach Boys became the strongest selling album act in the UK for the final quarter of 1966, dethroning the three-year reign of native bands such as the Beatles.[195]
Derek Taylor, the Beach Boys' publicist, is widely recognized as having been instrumental in this success, due to his longstanding connections with the Beatles and other industry figures in the UK. The music press there carried advertisements saying that Pet Sounds was "The Most Progressive Pop Album Ever!" Rolling Stone founding editor Jann Wenner later recalled that fans in the UK identified the Beach Boys as being "years ahead" of the Beatles and declared Wilson a "genius"[198] – the latter being a description of the group's leader that Taylor had helped to establish among local music journalists. Carlin writes that Andrew Oldham, the Rolling Stones' manager, took out a full-page advertisement in Melody Maker in which he lauded Pet Sounds as "the greatest album ever made".[nb 32]
Two music videos were filmed set to "Sloop John B" and "God Only Knows" for the UK's Top of the Pops, both directed by Taylor. The first was filmed at Brian's Laurel Way home with Dennis acting as cameraman, the second near Lake Arrowhead. While the second film, containing footage of the group minus Bruce flailing around in grotesque horror masks and playing Old Maid, was intended to be accompanied by excerpts from "Wouldn't It Be Nice", "Here Today" and "God Only Knows", slight edits were made by the BBC to reduce the film's length.
Critical reception [ edit ]
Contemporary reviews [ edit ]
Early reviews for the album in the U.S. ranged from negative to tentatively positive. Billboard's reviewer called it an "exciting, well-produced LP" with "two superb instrumental cuts", and highlighted the "strong single potential" of "Wouldn't It Be Nice".[182] By contrast, the reception from music journalists in the UK was highly favourable. Penny Valentine of Disc and Music Echo admired it as "Thirteen tracks of Brian Wilson genius ... The whole LP is far more romantic than the usual Beach Boys jollity: sad little wistful songs about lost love and found love and all-around love." Writing in Record Mirror, Norman Jopling reported that the LP had been "widely praised",[206] yet he predicted: "It will probably make their present fans like them even more, but it's doubtful whether it will make them any new ones."
Melody Maker ran a feature in which many pop musicians were asked whether they believed that the album was truly revolutionary and progressive, or "as sickly as peanut butter". The author concluded that "the record's impact on artists and the men behind the artists has been considerable." Among the musicians contributing to the 1966 Melody Maker survey, Spencer Davis of the Spencer Davis Group said: "Brian Wilson is a great record producer. I haven't spent much time listening to the Beach Boys before, but I'm a fan now and I just want to listen to this LP again and again." Then a member of Cream, Eric Clapton, reported that everyone in his band loved the album. Andrew Oldham said: "I think that Pet Sounds is the most progressive album of the year in as much as Rimsky-Korsakov's Scheherazade was. It's the pop equivalent of that, a complete exercise in pop music." In other issues of Melody Maker, Mick Jagger stated that he disliked the songs but enjoyed the record and its harmonies, while John Lennon said that Wilson was "doing some very great things".[209]
Three of the nine people who are quoted in the Melody Maker survey (Keith Moon, Manfred Mann's Michael D'Abo, and the Walker Brothers' Scott Walker) did not agree that the album was revolutionary. D'Abo and Walker favored the Beach Boys' earlier work, as did journalist and television presenter Barry Fantoni, who expressed a preference for Beach Boys' Today! and stated that Pet Sounds "[is] probably revolutionary, but I'm not sure that everything that's revolutionary is necessarily good".[210] Pete Townshend of the Who opined that "the Beach Boys new material is too remote and way out. It's written for a feminine audience."[nb 33] Writing in Jazz & Pop magazine in 1968, Gene Sculatti recognized the album's debt to Rubber Soul, saying that Pet Sounds was "revolutionary only within the confines of the Beach Boys' music", although later in the piece he commented: "Pet Sounds was a final statement of an era and a prophecy that sweeping changes lay ahead."[212]
Retrospective acclaim and status [ edit ]
According to author Johnny Morgan, a "process of reevaluation" of Pet Sounds was underway from the late 1960s onward, with a 1976 NME feature proving especially influential. In his 1969 Pop Chronicles series, John Gilliland stated that the album was almost overshadowed by the Beatles' Revolver, released two months later, and that "a lot people failed to realize that Brian Wilson's production was as unique in its own way as the Beatles'".[198] Noel Murray of The A.V. Club, writing in 2014, theorized that the success of "Good Vibrations" helped turn around the perception of Pet Sounds, in that the album's "un-hip orchestrations and pervasive sadness baffled some longtime fans, who didn't immediately get what Wilson was trying to do."[223]
By God if this little record didn't change only the course of popular music, but the course of a few lives in the bargain ... nobody was prepared for anything so soulful, so lovely, something one had to think about so much. —Stephen Davis in Rolling Stone, June 1972[224]
In a 1972 review for Rolling Stone, Stephen Davis called Pet Sounds "by far" Brian Wilson's best album and said that its "trenchant cycle of love songs has the emotional impact of a shatteringly evocative novel".[224] Writing in the first edition of The Rolling Stone Record Guide (1979), Dave Marsh gave the album four stars (out of a possible five) and described it as a "powerful, but spotty" collection on which the least experimental songs proved to be the best. Five years later, he wrote that the album was now considered a "classic", elaborating: "Pet Sounds wasn't a commercial flop, but it did signal that the group was losing contact with its listeners (a charge that could not be leveled against the Beatles during the same period)".
In Music USA: The Rough Guide, Richie Unterberger and Samb Hicks deem the album to be a "quantum leap" from the Beach Boys' earlier material, and "the most gorgeous arrangements ever to grace a rock record". The New York Observer's D. Strauss says that the album's quality and subversion of rock traditions is "what created its special place in rock history; there was no category for its fans to place it in".[228] Author Luis Sanchez views the album as "the score to a film about what rock music doesn't have to be. For all of its inward-looking sentimentalism, it lays out in a masterful way the kind of glow and sui generis vision that Brian aimed to [later] expand."[nb 34]
In Chris Smith's book 101 Albums That Changed Popular Music (2009), Pet Sounds is evaluated as "one of the most innovative recordings in rock"; that it "elevated Brian Wilson from talented bandleader to studio genius". Dominique Leone wrote a 9.4 (out of 10) review of its 40th Anniversary edition for Pitchfork stating: "Certainly, regardless of what I write here, the impact and 'influence' of the record will have been in turn hardly influenced at all. I can't even get my dad to talk about Pet Sounds anymore. ... The hymnal aspect of many of these songs seems no less pronounced, and the general air of deeply heartfelt love, graciousness and the uncertainty that any of it will be returned are still affecting to the point of distraction."[110] Music journalist Robert Christgau felt that Pet Sounds was a good record, but believed it had become looked upon as a totem.[230] Composer Atticus Ross explained that the album has "an element of cliché that's grown around it". He references a sketch from the television show Portlandia in which "your classic hipster musicians ... are building a studio and everything is like 'this is the mike they used in Pet Sounds.' This is exactly the same as Pet Sounds.'"[231] Commentator C.W. Maloney mused: "The songs on Pet Sounds are great, but you have to wonder, given all the hype and mythology and our love of shallow nostalgia, what we mean when we call it a classic or Wilson a genius. Consider what [Frank] Zappa was doing in 1966, to say nothing of Miles [Davis]. Wilson's high reputation is evidence of our obsession with childlike innocence and the victory of boring poptimism."[232]
By the 1990s, three British critics' polls featured Pet Sounds at or near the top of their lists. Those who have deemed it "the greatest album of all time" include NME,[234] The Times,[235] and Uncut.[236] In 1998, the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences inducted the album into the Grammy Hall of Fame.[237] In 2004, Pet Sounds was preserved in the National Recording Registry by the Library of Congress for being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant."[238] As of 2006, more than 100 domestic and international publications and journalists have lauded Pet Sounds as one of the greatest albums ever recorded.[239] It has been viewed by some writers as the best pop rock album of all time,[240] including Tim Sommer who deemed it "the greatest album of all time, probably by about 20 or 30 lengths".[241] As of 2015, Acclaimed Music, which statistically aggregates hundreds of published lists, ranked Pet Sounds as the most acclaimed album of all time.[242] The position was previously held by Revolver and was overtaken by Pet Sounds in 2004.[243]
Influence and legacy [ edit ]
Innovations and scope of impact [ edit ]
Pet Sounds, it's likely that each of its 13 songs inspired its own subset of pop offspring ... It's been said that, although hardly anyone bought the Velvet Underground 's records, those who did ended up being inspired to start their own bands. In the case of the Beach Boys' 1966 opus, it's likely that each of its 13 songs inspired its own subset of pop offspring ... —Jeff Straton, New Times Broward-Palm Beach, 2000[244]
Pet Sounds is recognized as an ambitious and sophisticated work that advanced the field of music production in addition to setting numerous precedents in its recording.[245] The album's historical distinctions include being the first piece in popular music to incorporate the Electro-Theremin, an easier-to-play version of the theremin, as well as the first in rock music to feature a theremin-like instrument. The Electro-Theremin's inventor Paul Tanner performs the instrument on the song "I Just Wasn't Made for These Times".[28] Pet Sounds was also the first time that a group departed from the usual small-ensemble electric rock band format for an entire album.[248] According to D. Strauss, they were also the first major rock group "to look music trends firmly in the eye and declare that rock really didn't matter. Rock is supposed to be about, you know, fucking, and Brian Wilson was recording a song ('I Know There's an Answer') that was originally entitled 'Get Rid of Your Libido'."[228]
Although not originally a big seller, Pet Sounds has been "enormously" influential since it was released. To explain why the album "was one of the defining moments of its time", composer Philip Glass referred to "its willingness to abandon formula in favor of structural innovation, the introduction of classical elements in the arrangements, [and] production concepts in terms of overall sound which were novel at the time".[249] Perone's assessed that the album's composition was stylistically removed from "just about anything else that was going on in 1966 pop music". Professor of American history John Robert Greene stated that "God Only Knows" remade the ideal of the popular love song, while "Sloop John B" and "Pet Sounds" broke new ground and took rock music away from its casual lyrics and melodic structures into what was then uncharted territory. In 1971, publication Beat Instrumental & International Recording wrote: "Pet Sounds took everyone by surprise. In terms of musical conception, lyric content, production and performance, it stood as a landmark in a music genre whose development was about to begin snowballing."[251] That same year, Cue magazine reflected that "in the year and a half that followed Pet Sounds, the Beach Boys were among the vanguard ... anticipating changes that rock didn't accomplish until 1969–1970."[252]
Thought to be released on the same day as the album was Bob Dylan's Blonde on Blonde, which Leibovitz called "two strands in the same conversation, the one that turned American popular music, for one fleeting moment of one year in the middle 1960s, into a religious movement".[125] Author Geoffrey Himes said that "Brian's introduction of non-standard harmonies and timbres proved as revolutionary" as Dylan's introduction of "irony into rock'n'roll lyrics".[43] Similar to subsequent experimental rock LPs by Frank Zappa, the Beatles, and the Who, Pet Sounds featured countertextural aspects that called attention to the very recordedness of the album. Paul McCartney frequently spoke of his affinity with the album, citing "God Only Knows" as his favorite song of all time, and crediting his melodic bass-playing style to the album.[254][255] He acknowledged that Pet Sounds was the primary impetus for the Beatles' 1967 album Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band. The interplay between the Beatles and the Beach Boys thus inextricably links the two albums together.[nb 35]
Brian's ensuing mythology originated the trope of the "reclusive genius" among studio-oriented musical artists.[40] His father and ex-band manager Murry praised the album, calling it a "masterpiece of accomplishment for Brian", and believed that it was a ubiquitous influence in the music heard in product commercials.[258] In 2016, Jason Guriel of The Atlantic said that Brian "certainly anticipated the modern pop-centric era, which privileges producer over artist and blurs the line between entertainment and art", and drew comparisons with the albums of Michael Jackson, Prince, and Radiohead.[40] Music critic Tim Sommer, referencing other albums that are often labeled "masterpieces", such as OK Computer (1997), The Dark Side of the Moon (1973) or Thick as a Brick (1972), commented that that "only Pet Sounds is written from the teen or adolescent point of view."[248]
In 1995, a panel of numerous musicians, songwriters and producers assembled by MOJO voted Pet Sounds as the greatest album among them.[259] For the album's 50th anniversary, 26 artists contributed to a Pitchfork retrospective on its influence, which included comments from members of Talking Heads, Yo La Tengo, Chairlift, and Deftones. The editor noted that the "wide swath of artists assembled for this feature represent but a modicum of the album’s vast measure of influence. Its scope transcends just about all lines of age, race, and gender. Its impact continues to broaden with each passing generation."[260]
Influence on genres [ edit ]
The album informed the developments of genres such as rock, hip hop, jazz, electronic, experimental, punk, pop,[260] and is often cited as one of the earliest entries in the canon of psychedelic rock.[94] Scholar Philip Auslander explains that even though psychedelic music is not normally associated with the Beach Boys, the "odd directions" and experiments in Pet Sounds "put it all on the map. ... basically that sort of opened the door—not for groups to be formed or to start to make music, but certainly to become as visible as say Jefferson Airplane or somebody like that."[261][nb 36] Decider wrote that the album "almost single-handedly created the idea of 'baroque pop'."[262] Many Los Angeles record producers imitated the album's orchestral style, which became a component to the sunshine pop acts that followed.[263] Discussing smooth soul, Chicago Reader's Noah Berlatsky argued that the Beach Boys helped bridge a gap between the polished pop harmonizing of the Drifters and the experimentation of the Chi-Lites, particularly with "Sloop John B", whose "fussy" arrangements, "pure" harmonies, and "childish vulnerability" he says "come out of a tradition of pop R&B".[264]
Pet Sounds and bands like the Beatles, While many may struggle to see the direct link between the bright, bouncy tones ofand bands like the Beatles, Jimi Hendrix and countless prog-rock bands, there was simply no precedent for the way that notes moved and vibrated across the record. —Joel Freimark, January 2016[265]
Along with Rubber Soul, Revolver, and the 1960s folk movement, Greene credited Pet Sounds with spawning the majority of trends in post-1965 rock music. Many British groups responded to the album by making more experimental use of recording studio techniques.[nb 37] Composer and journalist Frank Oteri called the album a "clear precedent" to the birth of album-oriented rock and progressive rock.[267] Author Bill Martin felt that the album represented a turning point for progressive rock as the Beach Boys and the Beatles transformed rock music from dance music into music that was made for listening to, bringing "expansions in harmony, instrumentation (and therefore timbre), duration, rhythm, and the use of recording technology".
Pet Sounds is viewed by David Leaf as a herald of the art rock genre, while Jones specifically locates it to the genre's beginning.[nb 38] Sommer writes that "Pet Sounds proved that a pop group could make an album-length piece comparable with the greatest long-form works of Bernstein, Copland, Ives, and Rodgers and Hammerstein."[105] Bill Holdship said that it was "perhaps rock's first example of self-conscious art".[272] According to Jim Fusilli, author of the 33⅓ book on the album, it raised itself to "the level of art through its musical sophistication and the precision of its statement", while academic Michael Johnson said that the album was one of the first documented moments of ascension in rock music. Conversely, Gene Sculatti recognized the Beatles' Rubber Soul as having originated the concept of "rock as art" which Pet Sounds elaborated on.[212][nb 39]
Wilson became a "godfather" to an era of indie musicians who were inspired by his melodic sensibilities, studio experimentation, and chamber pop orchestrations.[276] Chamber pop itself was based on the template provided by Pet Sounds,[277] The album's influence on early 2000s emo music, according to writer Sean Cureton, is evident on Weezer's Pinkerton (1996) and Death Cab for Cutie's Transatlanticism (2003).[278] Treblezine's Ernest Simpson and Wild Nothing's Jack Tatum additionally characterize Pet Sounds as the first emo album.[260][279]
Hip-hop producer Questlove recalled that for "black teenagers coming of age in the 1980s", the Beach Boys were out of fashion, and that in the late 1990s, he was ridiculed by "J Dilla, Common, Proof, and a whole bunch of east-side Detroit cats" for enjoying Pet Sounds. Later, "Dilla was like, 'Yeah, you're right man, they had some shit on there.'"[280]
Cultural references [ edit ]
Pet Sounds has inspired tribute albums such as Do It Again: A Tribute to Pet Sounds (2005), The String Quartet Tribute to the Beach Boys' Pet Sounds (2006), MOJO Presents Pet Sounds Revisited (2012), and A Tribute to Pet Sounds (2016).[281] Pet Sounds in the Key of Dee (2007) is a mashup of the album with J-Dilla, by record producer Bullion.[282]
In the mid-1990s, Robert Schneider of the Apples in Stereo and Jim McIntyre of Von Hemmling founded Pet Sounds Studio, which served as the venue for many Elephant 6 projects such as Neutral Milk Hotel's In the Aeroplane Over the Sea,[283] and the Olivia Tremor Control's Dusk at Cubist Castle[284] and Black Foliage.[283]
The album motivated film producer Bill Pohlad to direct the 2014 biopic on Brian Wilson, Love & Mercy, which includes a substantial depiction of the album's making, with actor Paul Dano playing Brian.[285]
Live performances [ edit ]
Pet Sounds as a solo artist at Wilson performingas a solo artist at Byron Bay Bluesfest , 2016
After its release, several selections from Pet Sounds became staples for the group's live performances, including "Wouldn't It Be Nice", "Sloop John B" and "God Only Knows". Other songs were performed, albeit sporadically and infrequently through the years, and the album was never performed in its entirety with every original group member.[286] In the late 1990s, Carl Wilson vetoed an offer for the Beach Boys to perform Pet Sounds in full for ten shows, reasoning that the studio arrangements were too complex for the stage, and that Brian could not possibly sing his original parts.
As a solo artist, Brian performed the entire album live in 2000 with a different orchestra in each venue, and on three occasions without orchestra on his 2002 tour.[288] Recordings from Wilson's 2002 concert tour were released as Brian Wilson Presents Pet Sounds Live. Rolling Stone's Dorian Lynskey says that the shows helped establish the now-ubiquitous practice of artists playing "classic albums" in their entirety.[290] In 2013, he performed the album at two shows, unannounced, also with Jardine as well as original Beach Boys guitarist David Marks.[291][292] In 2016, Wilson performed the album at several events in Australia, Japan, Europe, Canada and the United States. The tour was planned as his final performances of the album,[293] but several shows have been announced for 2018.
Release history [ edit ]
Pet Sounds has had many different reissues since its release in 1966, including remastered mono and stereo versions. Its first reissue was in 1972, packaged as a bonus LP with the Beach Boys' latest album Carl and the Passions – "So Tough". The first release of the album on CD came in 1990, when it was released with the addition of three previously unreleased bonus tracks: "Unreleased Backgrounds" (an a cappella demo section of "Don't Talk" sung by Wilson), "Hang On to Your Ego", and "Trombone Dixie".[295] This 1990 reissue was one of the first CDs to sell more than a million copies.[296]
In 1997, The Pet Sounds Sessions box set was released. It included the original mono release of Pet Sounds, the first stereo release (created by Mark Linett), and three discs of unreleased material.[297] In 2001, Pet Sounds was re-released with the mono and improved stereo versions, plus "Hang On to Your Ego" as a bonus track, all on one disc.[297][298] On August 29, 2006, Capitol released a 40th Anniversary edition, containing a new 2006 remaster of the original mono mix, DVD mixes (stereo and Surround Sound), and a "making of" documentary.[239] The discs were released in a regular jewel box and a deluxe edition was released in a green fuzzy box. A two-disc colored gatefold vinyl set was released with green (stereo) and yellow (mono) discs.[239] In 2016, a 50th anniversary edition box set presents the remastered album in both stereo and mono forms alongside studio sessions outtakes, alternate mixes, and live recordings. Of the 104 tracks, only 14 were previously unreleased.[299]
Track listing [ edit ]
Vocals according to Alan Boyd and Craig Slowinski.[108] Mike Love's writing credits for "Wouldn't It Be Nice" and "I Know There's an Answer" were only awarded after a 1994 court case. Al Jardine's contribution to the arrangement of "Sloop John B" remains uncredited.
Personnel [ edit ]
Per band archivist Craig Slowinski.[108]
The Beach Boys
Production staff
Bruce Botnick – engineer
Chuck Britz – engineer
H. Bowen David – engineer
Larry Levine – engineer
Other engineers may have included Jerry Hochman, Phil Kaye, Jim Lockert, and Ralph Valentine.
Guests
Tony Asher – plucked piano strings on "You Still Believe in Me"
Steve Korthof – tambourine on "That's Not Me"
Terry Melcher – tambourine on "That's Not Me" and "God Only Knows"
Marilyn Wilson – additional vocals on "You Still Believe in Me" introduction (uncertain)
Tony (surname unknown) – tambourine on "Sloop John B"
Session musicians (also known as "the Wrecking Crew")
The Sid Sharp Strings
Arnold Belnick – violin
Norman Botnick – viola
Joseph DiFiore – viola
Justin DiTullio – cello
Jesse Erlich – cello
James Getzoff – violin
Harry Hyams – viola
William Kurasch – violin
Leonard Malarsky – violin
Jerome Reisler – violin
Joseph Saxon – cello
Ralph Schaeffer – violin
Sid Sharp – violin
Darrel Terwilliger – viola
Tibor Zelig – violin
Charts [ edit ]
Weekly charts [ edit ]
Year Chart Position 1966 US Billboard 200[301] 10 1966 UK Albums Chart[302] 2 1972 US Billboard 200 Albums[301] 50 1990 US Billboard 200 Albums[301] 162 1995 UK Albums Chart[302] 17
Singles [ edit ]
"Sloop John B"
"Wouldn't It Be Nice"
Chart (1966) Peak
position Australian Singles Chart 2 Canadian Singles Chart[312] 4 New Zealand Singles Chart 12 U.S. Billboard Hot 100[313] 8 U.S. Cash Box Top 100[314] 7
Certifications [ edit ]
Region Certification Certified units/Sales United Kingdom (BPI)[315] Platinum 300,000^ United States (RIAA)[316] Platinum 1,000,000^ *sales figures based on certification alone
^shipments figures based on certification alone
Accolades [ edit ]
Notes [ edit ]
References [ edit ]
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ISLA VISTA (CBS/AP) — Authorities say 42 people were arrested and 14 others were injured during an annual spring break street party in Southern California.
Santa Barbara County sheriff’s officials say Sunday that the unsanctioned event known as Deltopia also resulted injuries to several law enforcement officers.
Sheriff’s spokeswoman Kelly Hoover says between 6,000 and 8,000 people attended the event in Isla Vista on Saturday. It’s been held annually since 2014.
Hoover says a sheriff’s deputy was left with a broken hand and other injuries after struggling to arrest a 19-year-old man with an open container of alcohol.
Officials say a 22-year-old woman attending a Deltopia party was hospitalized after falling off a balcony.
Hoover says deputies broke up about a dozen parties where they found underage drinking and people throwing things from balconies.
© Copyright 2017 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed
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ummary
Republican presidential candidates debated once again on economic issues and offered some misleading takes on jobs, tax plans, immigrants and state budgets.
Florida Sen. Marco Rubio said that “welders make more money than philosophers.” Actually, those with undergraduate degrees in philosophy earn a higher median income than welders.
Businessman Donald Trump said that President Dwight D. Eisenhower had forced out 1.5 million immigrants who were in the country illegally. The federal government claimed it was 1.3 million, but historians say that’s exaggerated.
Texas Sen. Ted Cruz said the Tax Foundation calculated that his tax plan “costs less than virtually every other plan people have put up here, and yet it produces more growth.” But the foundation said Bobby Jindal’s and Rubio’s plans both would lead to higher gross domestic product growth over a decade.
Cruz also repeated the years-long falsehood that there’s a “congressional exemption” from Obamacare. Members of Congress and their staffs face additional requirements than other Americans, not fewer.
Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal said that his state has had “eight credit upgrades,” but two credit rating agencies moved the state to a “negative” outlook in February. And it faces a $117 million deficit in its most recent budget.
Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee said he had cut his state budget by 11 percent during the 2001-2003 recession. Over his entire tenure, however, spending went up by 50 percent.
Jindal claimed that there were “more people working in Louisiana than ever before.” That’s wrong. There were fewer Louisianans working in September than there were in December 2014.
Huckabee said that Syrians make up only 20 percent of the refugees arriving in Europe. The figure is actually 52 percent for 2015.
Analysis
In the Fox Business Network debate held Nov. 10 in Milwaukee, only eight candidates took to the main stage — Donald Trump, Dr. Ben Carson, Sen. Marco Rubio, former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, former Hewlett-Packard CEO Carly Fiorina, Sen. Ted Cruz, Ohio Gov. John Kasich and Sen. Rand Paul.
Four more Republicans debated earlier that evening: New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, former U.S. Sen. Rick Santorum and Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal.
Philosophers Better Paid Than Welders
Rubio proposed increasing vocational education opportunities for high school students, but he went too far when he said that “welders make more money than philosophers.” Typically, they do not.
Rubio: For the life of me, I don’t know why we have stigmatized vocational education. Welders make more money than philosophers. We need more welders and less philosophers.
The Wall Street Journal, a cohost of the debate, published a chart on undergraduate degrees that “pay you back,” and prominently mentioned philosophy majors.
The Journal wrote, “Your parents might have worried when you chose Philosophy or International Relations as a major. But a year-long survey of 1.2 million people with only a bachelor’s degree by PayScale Inc. shows that graduates in these subjects earned 103.5% and 97.8% more, respectively, about 10 years post-commencement” than they had earned right out of college.
PayScale’s latest data, for 2015-16, show that the median starting salary for a worker holding a philosophy degree is $42,200, rising to $85,000 after 10 years. By contrast, the median income for a welder with zero to 5 years experience is $38,728, increasing to $44,498 after 10 years, according to PayScale.
Similarly, the Bureau of Labor Statistics says the median annual wage was $63,630 for a philosophy and religion teacher as of May 2014, and $36,300 for welders, cutters, solderers and brazers as of 2012.
Trump Invokes ‘Operation Wetback’
Trump, defending his promise to deport millions of immigrants in the country illegally, cited the actions of President Dwight D. Eisenhower:
Trump: Let me just tell you that Dwight Eisenhower, good president, great president. … Moved a 1.5 million illegal immigrants out of this country. … You don’t get nicer. You don’t get friendlier. They moved a 1.5 million out. We have no choice. We have no choice.
It’s true that during a 1954 effort that was officially known as “Operation Wetback” (a term that many today find offensive), the federal government claimed to have forced as many as 1.3 million people to return to Mexico, but historians consider that number to be exaggerated.
Texas State Historical Association: It is difficult to estimate the number of people forced to leave by the operation. The INS [Immigration and Naturalization Service] claimed as many as 1,300,000, though the number officially apprehended did not come anywhere near this total. The INS estimate rested on the claim that most undocumented immigrants, fearing apprehension by the government, had voluntarily repatriated themselves before and during the operation.
Trump also claimed that those forced to return “never came back” after being moved “way down south” rather than just across the border. According to historian Mae M. Ngai, in her book “Impossible Subjects: Illegal Aliens and the Making of Modern America,” many of those deported were simply transported a few miles across the border and left in the desert, but more than 25 percent were transported to the Mexican coastal city of Veracruz on hired cargo ships. A congressional investigation later likened one of the ships to “an eighteenth century slave ship,” Ngai wrote.
Worth noting is that after the operation was concluded, border officials declared that “[t]he so-called ‘wetback’ problem no longer exists,” and that “[t]he border has been secured.” That, of course, turned out to be wishful thinking.
Cruz’s Tax Plan Boast
Cruz said that according to the Tax Foundation, his tax plan “costs less than virtually every other plan people have put up here, and yet it produces more growth.”
Actually, among the tax plans of seven Republican candidates that it analyzed, the Tax Foundation concluded that the gross domestic product would grow more over the next decade under two other plans — from Bobby Jindal and Marco Rubio. The Tax Foundation also concluded that Rubio’s plan would lead to higher wage and capital investment growth.
Cruz’s tax plan calls for a 10 percent flat tax on individual income, though for a family of four, the first $36,000 would be tax-free. On the business end, the corporate income tax and payroll taxes would be eliminated and replaced with a “business flat tax” of 16 percent.
Cruz correctly noted that the Tax Foundation concluded that under a “static” basis, the plan would reduce revenues by $3.6 trillion over 10 years. But under “dynamic” scoring — accounting for the economic growth the Tax Foundation expects his plan would spur — it estimates the plan would only reduce revenues by about $768 billion. That means it is estimated to cost less than every other Republican plan analyzed by the Tax Foundation, except for Rand Paul’s (which it estimates would increase revenues by $737 billion).
But Cruz was wrong to say the Tax Foundation found his plan produces the most growth.
According to the Tax Foundation, Cruz’s plan would grow the GDP by 13.9 percent over the next 10 years. But the Tax Foundation concluded that Jindal’s plan would grow the GDP by 14.4 percent, and Rubio’s plan would grow the GDP by 15 percent.
The Tax Foundation also found that Cruz’s tax plan would lead to 10-year capital investment growth of 43.9 percent, and to 10-year wage rate growth of 12.2 percent. That’s lower than the projected growth from Rubio’s plan of 48.9 percent for capital investment and 12.5 percent for the wage rate.
Cruz Repeats ‘Exempt’ Whopper
Cruz repeated the long-running myth that Congress is “exempt” from Obamacare. Lawmakers and their staffs actually face additional requirements that other Americans don’t, thanks to a Republican amendment.
Cruz: And, I’ll give you an example of that, which is the Congressional exemption from Obamacare, which is fundamentally wrong, and I’ll tell you this, if I’m elected president, I will veto any statute that exempts members of congress. The law should apply evenly to every American.
Unlike other Americans who get their insurance through their employers, members of Congress are now barred from directly doing so. As of 2014, they can no longer get health coverage through the Federal Employees Health Benefits Program, as they and other federal employees have done for years. Because of a Republican amendment added to the law, members are required to get their insurance through the Affordable Care Act’s insurance marketplaces.
Before that amendment, the legislation said that federal employees, employees of large companies, and those who get insurance through Medicare or Medicaid wouldn’t be eligible for the marketplaces, which were designed for individuals buying their own insurance. That gave rise to the false notion that Congress was somehow “exempt” from the law. But lawmakers were being treated just like other workers with employer-provided insurance. And they were required to have insurance or face a penalty, just like everyone else.
But even after the amendment put Congress in the ACA marketplaces, the “exempt” claim lived on.
The federal government had long made premium contributions to pay for part of federal employees’ health insurance, including the insurance of members of Congress and their staffs — just like other employers do. And in August 2013, the Office of Personnel Management, which administers the FEHB Program, said that the federal government could continue to make those premium contributions for Congress, even though members were getting insurance through the marketplaces. OPM said the contribution couldn’t be greater than what’s made under the FEHB Program. Republicans claimed, once again, that this made Congress “exempt” from the law — even though lawmakers were getting the same employer contributions they got before, but faced the requirement of getting new coverage through the marketplaces.
Louisiana’s Finances Not So Rosy
Jindal painted a rosy picture of his state’s fiscal situation. Attacking New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, he said: “In New Jersey, you’ve had nine credit downgrades, setting a record. We’ve had eight credit upgrades in Louisiana.”
Jindal is right about New Jersey. But Louisiana’s finances are not as good as the governor suggests. According to the New Orleans Times-Picayune, two credit rating agencies — Moody’s and Standard & Poor’s — moved Louisiana from a “stable” to a “negative” outlook in February. “Both agencies held off on downgrading the state’s credit rating at this time, but a ‘negative’ outlook does leave the state vulnerable to a future drop,” the newspaper reported.
More recently, the Associated Press reported that the state ended its most recent budget year with a $117 million deficit, which by law must be made up before the next budget year begins. “Louisiana has faced repeated budget shortfalls during Jindal’s two terms in office, a combination of the economic downturn and the cost of tax breaks that have siphoned more dollars away from the state treasury than expected,” the AP reported. “Rather than match state spending to income, the governor and lawmakers have raided savings accounts, sold property and used other short-term fixes to patch together budgets. But that creates new gaps each year.”
Huckabee on Cutting Arkansas Budget
Huckabee repeated a claim he made during the 2008 presidential campaign, saying that when he was governor of Arkansas “we ended up cutting 11 percent out of the state budget through that [2001-2003] recession.” Jindal countered that “spending in Arkansas went up 65 percent” under Huckabee.
Huckabee cherry-picks from his two terms to make his claim. Jindal is close, but doesn’t adjust for inflation. Spending in Arkansas went up by 50 percent in inflation-adjusted dollars over Huckabee’s time overseeing the state budget.
We checked Huckabee’s 11 percent claim before — way back in January 2008 in a Republican presidential debate. The head of the Arkansas Budget Office told us it was “certainly plausible” that the cuts amounted to 11 percent of the budget in fiscal 2002 — a year for which a glitch in the state record-keeping system made accessing data difficult.
But the better measure of Huckabee’s record is his entire time in office. In inflation-adjusted dollars, spending went from $10.4 billion in fiscal year 1998, the first budget under Huckabee’s responsibility, to $15.6 billion by the end of 2006.
Jindal accurately cited a figure from a Cato Institute commentary piece. But using inflation-adjusted figures, the increase was less than 65 percent.
Jindal on Job Growth
Jindal said that “as we sit here today, we have more people working in Louisiana than ever before” and that “we’ve had 60 months in a row of consecutive job growth in our state.” That’s not accurate.
In fact, there were fewer people working in Louisiana in September than there were in December 2014, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. And while there has been a fairly steady increase in employment since the end of the recession, there have been several months with dips.
Trish Regan, a moderator of the Fox Business debate, noted that as governor, Jindal has “pushed Louisiana’s energy resources as a means to grow jobs in your state” but that “as oil prices have plunged in recent months, so has jobs growth.”
Regan correctly stated that Louisiana now has an unemployment rate, 6 percent, above the national average, even though in February 2014 the Louisiana rate (5.4 percent) was more than a percentage point below the national average (6.7 percent). So, she asked, “Will your energy-focused jobs plan for the country be subject to the same market ups and downs?”
Jindal responded, “In Louisiana, we’re actually a top 10 state for job growth. As we sit here today, we have more people working in Louisiana than ever before, earning a higher income than ever before. We’ve had 60 months in a row of consecutive job growth in our state. So the reality is, we have diversified our economy.”
According to the latest available employment data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, there were 1,990,000 people employed in Louisiana in September. That’s 6,600 fewer jobs than in December 2014, so it is incorrect for Jindal to say, “As we sit here today, we have more people working in Louisiana than ever before.” There has been a dip, and some energy industry experts have attributed that to a drop in oil prices.
In addition, the unemployment rate in Louisiana was at 6 percent in August and September. As Regan said, that’s higher than the national average, which was 5.1 percent in September. The state’s unemployment rate was below the current rate of 6 percent from November 2013 through May 2014.
We’re not sure which 60 months Jindal was referring to when he boasted that Louisiana has had “60 months in a row of consecutive job growth.” But that’s not true of any 60-month period during Jindal’s tenure as governor, which began in January 2008. Although there has been fairly steady job growth in Louisiana since the end of the recession, there have been several setback months interspersed along the way.
As for Louisiana being a top 10 state for job growth, we reached out to the Jindal campaign to see what time period that referenced, and we did not hear back. But looking at the entirety of Jindal’s tenure as Louisiana governor, the rate of job growth, 2.9 percent, slightly lagged the national growth rate of 3.1 percent over the same period.
Huckabee Understates Syrian Refugees
Huckabee said that Syrians make up only 20 percent of the refugees arriving in Europe. That’s wrong.
Huckabee: The idea that we’re just going to open our doors, and we have no idea who these people are — what we do know is that only 1 out of 5 of the so called “Syrian Refugees,” who went into Europe were actually Syrian. Many of them, we had no idea who they were. They weren’t Syrian.
According to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, Syrians made up 52 percent of the more than 792,000 refugees who crossed the Mediterranean sea into Europe in 2015.
In September, the Daily Mail, a British tabloid, reported that 4 out of 5 of the refugees arriving in Europe weren’t from Syria. But that analysis only looked at the 213,000 refugees arriving in April, May and June of this year. That’s about one-fourth of the total number of refugee arrivals in 2015.
— by Eugene Kiely, Brooks Jackson, Lori Robertson, Robert Farley and D’Angelo Gore
Correction, Nov. 11: We incorrectly referred to the Fox Business Network as Fox Business News. We have corrected the error.
Sources
Needleman, Sarah E. “Ivy Leaguers Big Edge: Starting Pay.” Wall Street Journal. 31 Jul 2008.
“Salary Increase By Major.” Wall Street Journal. 31 Jul 2008.
“Highest Paying Bachelor Degrees by Salary Potential.” PayScale Inc. Undated, accessed 11 Nov 2015.
“Entry-Level Welder Salary.” PayScale Inc. Undated, accessed 11 Nov 2015.
“Mid-Career Welder Salary.” PayScale Inc. Undated, accessed 11 Nov 2015.
Bureau of Labor Statistics. “Occupational Employment and Wages, May 2014 25-1126 Philosophy and Religion Teachers, Postsecondary.” 25 Mar 2015.
Bureau of Labor Statistics. “Welders, Cutters, Solderers, and Brazers.” 8 Jan 2014.
Koestler, Fred L. “Operation Wetback.” Handbook of Texas Online, Texas State Historical Association. Undated, accessed 11 Nov 2015.
Ngai, Mae M. “Impossible Subjects: Illegal Aliens and the Making of Modern America.” Princeton, NJ. Princeton University Press. 2004. p 156.
U.S. Department of Justice. “Annual Report of the Immigration and Naturalization Service” Table 23. “Aliens Apprehended, Aliens Deported, and Aliens Required to Depart; Years ended June 30, 1892 to 1961.” 1961.
Tax Foundation. “How Do the 2016 Presidential Tax Plans Compare So Far?”
Ted Cruz 2016. “The Simple Flat Tax.”
Borean, Richard. “The Economic Impact of Ted Cruz’s Tax Plan.” Tax Foundation. 29 Oct 2015.
Robertson, Lori. “Obamacare Myths.” FactCheck.org. 16 Sep 2013.
O’Donoghue, Julia. “Louisiana credit outlook moved from ‘stable’ to ‘negative’ by two of three rating agencies.” New Orleans Times-Picayune. 13 Feb 2015.
DeSlatte, Melinda. “Louisiana’s budget deficit from last year pegged at $117M,” The Associated Press. 30 Oct 2015.
Bureau of Labor Statistics. State and Metro Area Employment, Hours and Earnings.
Robertson, Campbell. “Louisiana Squeezed as Oil Prices Drop.” New York Times. 31 Jan 2015.
FactCheck.org. “Simi Valley Showdown.” 31 Jan 2008.
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Isn’t the web distributed now? No really, let me illustrate– ever IM your friend that is near you “Hey, wanna see a cool video? check out this URL”? Then they download the same video you just downloaded from the original server even though it might be a long way away, rather than from your machine. This is slow, expensive, wasteful, and well, dumb.
What if, with no browser or server config other than maybe downloading a plug-in:
all bigger files come from the folks near you or the original server, whatever is faster?
What if the website gets to keep download counts, and keep their website up-to-date.
Website gets get reduced bandwidth bills, and get superstar user satisfaction because of faster speed than YouTube
Web users, even in remote countries, get that “I am sitting on a gig-e network in palo alto” feel.
Less money goes to monopoly phone companies.
Is a real problem? Yes:
Internet Archive servers 2million people each day. Egyptians and Japanese are two of our most popular user communities.
They download the same files over and over. There is someone with the file that is closer to them than us.
the 20gigabits/sec of bandwidth costs us a fortune.
others want to serve video, but don’t because of the cost.
others host on youtube, or amazon, or archive.org but would rather not.
Would be great, right? What it takes:
A browser plug-in, and eventually get the browsers to do it natively.
When a user clicks, the browser starts downloading from a site (the site then gets the download credit)
Website serves unique hash for the file and the length of the file in the header and then serves the file as normal (archive.org and other sites do this already)
Browser looks up the hashcode in a “trackerless p2p” system, I think bittorrent can be used for this.
If others have it via p2p, then it gets it from those users as well, so it is not slower than getting it from the website
After the browser downloads it, they offer it to others via p2p.
What do we get?
Less expense for web site owners operators, but keeps them in control and in the loop
Faster and less expensive for users
More sites taking control of their own stuff (don’t need to give your files to remote organizations)
Being far from the server is not as much of a penalty
Who can help?
people that can help debug the idea (and maybe it is already done…)
browser plug-in programmers
p2p super distributed trackerless hashcode knowledgable folks
the Internet Archive will seed all of its files for this system.
we need enthusiasm, a cool logo/mascot, and coffee.
Please comment on this post as a first round to see if we can debug the idea and get critical mass.
-brewster
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City planners are poised to recommend that John Tory’s signature transit line be built with seven new stations, six fewer than he promised during the mayoral campaign. In March, city council directed staff to consider two options for SmartTrack, Tory’s plan to add transit service using existing GO Transit corridors: one that would include seven to eight new stops, and another that would include four to five.
John Tory proposed SmartTrack during his 2014 mayoral run. ( Chris So / Toronto Star file photo )
With staff due to make their recommendation in a major transit report in two weeks, acting director of transit and sustainable transportation James Perttula said staff believe an alignment with seven stops is the best option. The seven-stop plan would have slightly lower ridership than the four- or five-station alignment, because the additional stations would increase travel times and make service less attractive to some riders. But Perttula said ridership is only one factor that staff considered. “By having more stations we provide improved access for more people, and more access to employment opportunities, which is a key part of this, connecting people and jobs,” he said.
Article Continued Below
The proposed stops are at St. Clair West, Liberty Village, the Unilever site, Gerrard and Pape, Lawrence East, Ellesmere, and Finch East. An eighth stop along the Kitchener corridor between Liberty Village and Union Station was also considered because it would have strong ridership, Perttula said, but staff determined it wasn’t physically feasible due to the high number of tracks that converge in that part of town. Existing GO stations would also be part of SmartTrack, which is being built as part of Metrolinx’s previously planned regional express rail project. A spokeswoman for Metrolinx said the agency was still studying how many new stations to build as part of the expansion and she couldn’t comment on how many new stops will be built to serve SmartTrack. The alignment favoured by city staff is a departure from the vision of that Tory presented during his 2014 mayoral run. Maps of SmartTrack included in his campaign material showed a 22-stop line, with 13 new stations.
Chris Eby, the mayor’s chief of staff, said that regardless of the number of stations, Tory’s office is “very confident” that SmartTrack is “moving ahead in a way that . . . meets all the key deliverables and commitments that we made during the campaign.” Those commitments included easing congestion on the subway network, reducing gridlock, and providing subway-like service on SmartTrack.
Article Continued Below
“We’re going to deliver on the promise that we talked about from the very beginning,” Eby said. Tory’s original plan was already pared down in March, when council adopted staff recommendations to scrap the section of SmartTrack that would have extended to the Mississauga Airport Corporate Centre, and replace it plans for a light rail line instead. According to documents presented at a city public consultation on Wednesday, the alignment of seven new stops would put stations within 500 metres of 24,100 residents and 19,000 jobs. It would carry 27,600 daily riders on top of the increased ridership GO’s regional express rail plan is expected to attract, and reduce ridership on the overcrowded Yonge subway south of Bloor by 3,900 people during morning rush hours. Perttula said staff are still working on a final service model, but a March report estimated that during peak times trains would run every five to 10 minutes.
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A school board member and concerned parents caught wind of an alleged plot by students to kill their fourth grade teacher for being mean. The alleged plot was conceived in December just before Elba Elementary School’s winter break. Three students were reportedly involved, WGRZ, Buffalo, New York, reported.
The students planned to expose the teacher to anti-bacterial hand sanitizer and other products because she was highly allergic to them. A board member alerted the police after she discovered the plan through other parents and her son.
“The suspects made comments to other students that they were going to kill the teacher by putting antibacterial products around the classroom,” the Genesee County Sheriff’s Department said.
Youth officers were called to the school, where they interviewed the suspected students with their parents and a number of school officials present. One student said the teacher “yells at us and that the class has problems with her.” Another claimed the plan to poison the teacher came from another student.
Elba Superintendent Jerome Piwko issued a statement regarding the incident Thursday.
“This event has been a shock to our community and school,” he said. “The district cannot comment on the specifics of this event, including discipline, as the information is protected from disclosure under the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act.”
Piwko assured local residents disciplinary actions were taken, and the safety of the teacher was a primary concern. “As soon as the district was made aware of the students' discussion, it called in students that were thought to have knowledge of the discussions,” Piwko said.
Elba is a small town of approximately 2,370 people north of the city of Batavia in northwest New York.
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News Commercial Progression Now Accepts Bitcoin Payment
Commercial Progression LLC, a drupal digital agency now accepts Bitcoin as a form of payment allowing and encouraging electronic payments for web development, design, and strategic digital services.
Bitcoin is a form of digital currency that’s gaining traction nationally and within the State of Michigan. Commercial Progression is an active leader in the tech community, and seeing the growing interest with groups like the Michigan Bitcoin Consortium, the Ann Arbor Bitcoin Meetup, and the Troy Bitcoin Meetup, decided to adopt and support tech enthusiasts using this currency.
“Bitcoin has triggered the start of a paradigm shift in how people and companies make electronic payments for goods and services,” said Founder Alex Fisher of Commercial Progression. “The Bitcoin protocol not only lowers the cost of transaction fees, but aligns with our organizational philosophy of using and contributing to non-proprietary software.”
Commercial Progression serves clients locally and nationally with strategic development solutions. The company specializes in web design with Drupal, an open source web content management system. Open source technologies like Drupal help organizations establish and grow online communities, manage content, and also create powerful ecommerce platforms.
All clients are able to pay online using Bitcoin by visiting CommercialProgression.com.
About Commercial Progression
Founded in 2008, Commercial Progression is a drupal digital agency specializing in Drupal Web Design and eCommerce technology and has experience with manufacturing, higher education, and media clients including TRW Automotive, National Geographic, and The University of Michigan. Visit their website at
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Image caption Grapevines can also suffer from sunburn
Slip, slop, slap. It was a cartoon seagull wearing shorts, t-shirt and a hat that famously urged sun-loving Australians in the 1980s to protect themselves from damaging ultraviolet rays.
While sunblock has shielded generations from harm, it is also being used to safeguard the health and vitality of Australian grapes as the nation reflects on another scorching year when temperature records continued to tumble.
At Tyrrell's vineyard in the Hunter Valley, 165km north of Sydney, the midday sun beats down on some of Australia's oldest vines. They date back to the late 1800s, and have thrived in tough conditions.
A lot of businesses are probably fairly unprepared for what is coming Prof Christopher Wright, University of Sydney Business School
The quality of the vintage depends not only on the sun and the soil, but the temperature. Very hot weather can inflict serious damage, and too much heat can cause the berries to shrivel or suffer sunburn.
"You put sunscreen on your kids when they go out in the sun, so we put it on our grapevines. That just goes on like a normal spray," says Bruce Tyrrell, the chief executive of Tyrrell's Wines.
"Your vineyard gets this funny white-blue colour, and you look on the berries and there is a little coating on them. It is just like putting sunscreen on and it gives it some protection."
It's not only science that is helping to protect the crop, but also sound husbandry in a region where temperatures can exceed 45C (113F).
"It is a matter of having your vineyard laid out to handle your conditions," Mr Tyrrell tells the BBC.
"We plant north-south rows, so that you don't have the western sun directly on the fruit."
Image caption Spraying sunscreen on grapes is now routine, says Bruce Tyrrell
Heatproofing businesses
Scientists have predicted that climate change will make heatwaves in Australia more frequent and severe - and when the mercury rockets, so do the economic costs.
If Australia had a beautiful, temperate climate all-round, we'd be a very different people Tim Harcourt, University of New South Wales Business School
When Melbourne sweltered through a four-day hot spell in January 2014, it is estimated that firms in the city lost about 10m Australian dollars ($8m; £5m) in revenue each day.
A subsequent survey found around 60% of businesses expect that more regular heatwaves over the next 20 years would hit their profits.
Prof Christopher Wright from the University of Sydney Business School explains that many industries would have to heatproof their operations, including agriculture, retail and insurance companies.
"They are thinking about how can we insure for extreme events like bushfires that are precipitated by heatwaves, so they have to model for an increasingly unpredictable climate.
"Large shopping centres are looking at dramatic increases in electricity costs as they try to increase air conditioning," he says.
"Heatwaves are becoming longer, and they are becoming more severe, and that becomes hard to manage depending in which business sector you are in.
"So my own take is that a lot of businesses are probably fairly unprepared for what is coming," he adds.
Image caption Almost two-thirds of businesses expect future heatwaves to hit their profits, says Prof Wright
Health warning
Heatwaves cause more deaths each year in Australia than any other natural disaster, and they pose particular risks to the bedrock of the economy: the workforce.
In November, the Electrical Trades Union (ETU) issued a health warning to staff working outdoors across the state of New South Wales as extreme heat took hold.
When temperatures exceed 38C (100F), work is automatically halted because of the risk of heat rashes, cramps and exhaustion.
"Our union has produced a detailed policy for working in heat," says ETU secretary Steve Butler. "Extreme heat can cause a range of health problems, from the uncomfortable to the potentially deadly."
Two years ago, Sydney experienced its hottest day on record when temperatures passed 45C. It was a punishing time for those not able to seek air-conditioned relief, as a crushing heat smothered the nation's biggest city.
Many shoppers stayed at home, but it was workers who had to bear the brunt of the conditions.
"It made people feel lethargic," says Russell Zimmerman, the head of the Australian Retailers Association.
"There were trials getting people to and from work. Obviously you'll have people who go by public transport. Invariably on a really hot day you get some kind of problem with public transport, be it rails buckling or vehicles breaking down."
Image caption Summer temperatures can exceed 45C in Australia's wine-growing regions
Shaped by climate
Yet, this is a land of extremes. And while there is disagreement about man's influence on the climate, there is a shared belief that Australia has thrived in the face of unrelenting environmental challenges, from drought to floods, to bushfires and a burning sun.
A nation's prosperity could now depend on how it adapts to a warmer future.
"The tyranny of extreme climate has shaped us," says Tim Harcourt from the University of New South Wales Business School.
"If Australia had a beautiful, temperate climate all-round, we'd be a very different people.
"We have faced great climate challenges through our history, and that is partly the way we shape our character and we shape our approach to the economy."
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London Mint (Hafner 63). Maria Theresa thaler.
The Maria Theresa thaler (MTT) is a silver bullion coin that has been used in world trade continuously since it was first minted in 1741. It is named after Empress Maria Theresa, who ruled Austria, Hungary, and Bohemia from 1740 to 1780 and is depicted on the coin.
In 1741 they used the Reichsthaler standard of 9 thalers to the Vienna mark (a weight approximating half a pound of fine silver). In 1750 the thaler was debased to 10 thalers to the Vienna mark. The following year the new standard was effectively adopted across the German-speaking world when it was accepted formally in the Bavarian monetary convention. Because of the date of the Bavarian Monetary convention, many writers erroneously state that the Maria Theresa Thaler was first struck in 1751.
Since the death of Maria Theresa in 1780, the coin has always been dated 1780. On 19 September 1857, Emperor Francis Joseph of Austria declared the Maria Theresa thaler to be an official trade coinage. A little over a year later, on 31 October 1858, it lost its status as currency in Austria.
The MTT could also be found throughout the Arab world, especially in Saudi Arabia, Yemen, and Muscat and Oman, in Africa, especially in Ethiopia, and in India. During the Japanese occupation of Indonesia in World War II, enough people preferred it to the money issued by the occupying forces that the American Office of Strategic Services created counterfeit MTTs for use by resistance forces.[1]
In German-speaking countries, following a spelling reform dated 1901 that took effect two years later, "Thaler" is written "Taler" (the spelling of given names like "Theresia" was not affected). Hence 20th-century references to this coin in German and Austrian sources are found under "Maria-Theresien-Taler". The spelling in English-speaking countries was not affected.
The MTT continues to be produced by the Austrian Mint, and is available in both proof and uncirculated conditions.[2]
Details [ edit ]
The thaler is 39.5–41 mm (1.56–1.61 in) in diameter and 2.5 mm (0.098 in) thick, weighs 28.0668 grams (0.99003 oz) and contains 23.389 grams (0.752 troy ounces) of fine silver. It has a silver content of .833 and a copper content of .166 of its total millesimal fineness. Note: Rome mint struck MTTs are marginally lighter being produced in finer 835 standard instead of 833 standard silver.
The inscription on the obverse of this coin is in Latin: "M. THERESIA D. G. R. IMP. HU. BO. REG." The Reverse reads "ARCHID. AVST. DUX BURG. CO. TYR. 1780 X". It is an abbreviation of "Maria Theresia, Dei Gratia Romanorum Imperatrix, Hungariae Bohemiaeque Regina, Archidux Austriae, Dux Burgundiae, Comes Tyrolis. 1780 X", which means, "Maria Theresa, by the grace of God, Empress of the Romans, Queen of Hungary and Bohemia, Archduchess of Austria, Duchess of Burgundy, Countess of Tyrol. 1780". The "X" is actually a saltire or Burgundian cross,[3] and was added in 1750 indicating the new debased standard of the thaler. Around the rim of the coin is the motto of her reign: "Justitia et Clementia", meaning "Justice and Clemency".
Minting outside of Austria [ edit ]
The MTT quickly became a standard trade coin and several nations began striking Maria Theresa thalers. The following mints have struck MTTs: Birmingham, Bombay, Brussels, London, Paris, Rome and Utrecht, in addition to the Habsburg mints in Günzburg, Hall, Karlsburg, Kremnica, Milan, Prague, and Vienna. Between 1751 and 2000, some 389 million were minted. These various mints distinguished their issues by slight differences in the design, with some of these evolving over time.[4] In 1935 Mussolini gained a 25-year concession over production of the MTT. The Italians blocked non-Italian banks and bullion traders from obtaining the coin and so France, Belgium, and the UK started producing the coin so as to support their economic interests in the Red Sea, Persian Gulf and East Coast of Africa. In 1961 the 25-year concession ended and Austria made diplomatic approaches to the relevant governments requesting they cease production of the coin. The UK was the last government to formally agree to the request in February 1962.
The MTT came to be used as currency in large parts of Africa until after World War II. It was common from North Africa to Somalia, Ethiopia, Kenya, and down the coast of Tanzania to Mozambique. Its popularity in the Red Sea region was such that merchants would not accept any other type of currency. The Italian government produced a similar designed coin in the hope of replacing the Maria Theresa thaler, but it never gained acceptance.[5]
The Maria Theresa thaler was also formerly the currency of the Hejaz, Yemen, the Aden Protectorate as well as Muscat and Oman on the Arabia peninsula. The coin remains popular in North Africa and the Middle East to this day in its original form: a silver coin with a portrait of the buxom empress on the front and the Habsburg Double Eagle on the back.[6]
Ethiopia [ edit ]
Shipping crates of MTT in Ethiopia, c. 1910
The MTT is first recorded as circulating in Ethiopia from the reign of Emperor Iyasu II of Ethiopia (1730–1755).[7] According to traveller James Bruce the coin, not debased as other currencies, dominated the areas he visited in 1768. Joseph Kalmer and Ludwig Hyun in the book Abessinien estimate that over 20% of 245 million coins minted until 1931 ended up in Ethiopia.[8] In 1868, the British military expedition to Magdala, the capital of Emperor Tewodros II of Ethiopia, under Field Marshal Robert Napier, took MTTs with them to pay local expenses. In 1890 the Italians introduced the Tallero Eritreo, styled after the MTT, in their new colony Eritrea, also hoping to impose it on the commerce with Ethiopia. They remained, however, largely unsuccessful.[9] In the early 1900s Menelik II unsuccessfully attempted to mint Menilek thalers locally, with his effigy, but styled following the model of the MTT, and force their use. The newly established Bank of Abyssinia also issued banknotes denominated in thalers. Starting in 1935 the Italians minted the MTT at the mint in Rome for use in their conquest of Ethiopia. Then during World War II, the British minted some 18 million MTTs in Bombay to use in their campaign to drive the Italians out of Ethiopia.[10]
United Kingdom [ edit ]
The Maria Theresa thaler bearing the date of 1780 is a "protected coin" for the purposes of Part II of the Forgery and Counterfeiting Act 1981.[11]
Notes [ edit ]
Further reading [ edit ]
Duggar, Jan Warren (1967). "The Development of Money Supply in Ethiopia". Middle East Journal . 21 (2): 255–61.
Fenn, Ian (2010). "The Twentieth Century Minting of the Maria Theresa Thaler". New Zealand Numismatic Journal . 90 : 9–39.
Gervais, Raymond (1982). "Pre-Colonial Currencies: A Note on the Maria Theresa Thaler". African Economic History . 11 : 147–52.
Pankhurst, Richard (1963). "The Maria Theresa Dollar in Pre-War Ethiopia". Journal of Ethiopian Studies . 1 (1): 8–26.
Pankhurst, Richard (1970). "The Perpetuation of the Maria Theresa Dollar and Currency Problems in Italian-Occupied Ethiopia, 1936–1941". Journal of Ethiopian Studies . 8 (2): 89–117.
Pond, Shepard (1941). "The Maria Theresa Thaler: A Famous Trade Coin". Bulletin of the Business Historical Society . 15 (2): 26–31. doi:10.2307/3110662.
Semple, Clare (2006). A Silver Legend: The Story of the Maria Theresa Thaler . Barzan Publishing. ISBN 0-9549701-0-1.
Stride, H. G. (1956). "The Maria Theresa Thaler". The Numismatic Chronicle and Journal of the Royal Numismatic Society, Sixth Series . 16 : 339–43.
Tschoegl, Adrian E. (2001). "Maria Theresa's Thaler: A Case of International Money". Eastern Economic Journal. 27 (4): 443–62.
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Lawyer says being a male hairdresser or drinking a 'woman's drink' can be used as evidence of homosexuality in court
A Cameroonian human rights lawyer has described how courts in the African country use gender stereotypes to convict suspected gay people.
Michel Togue told the ThinkProgress blog that he had defended dozens of people charged with gay sex but very few were actually caught in the act.
Cameroon punishes gay sex with up to five years in jail and a fine, and according to human rights groups arrests more gay people than any other country.
Togue said once an accusation was made, police relied on stereotypes to arrest suspected gay people. He said cross-dressing or having a job that was not stereotypically performed by your gender, such as a male hairdresser, could be used as evidence of homosexuality in court.
Togue recalled one case in which a client was convicted for his feminine mannerisms and drinking Baileys Irish Cream, which the judge felt was a woman’s drink.
He said anti-gay stigma fueled accusations, many of which were made by neighbors, family members and even ex-lovers, even though in one case the lover was also jailed.
A Cameroonian man died in prison in January after he was jailed for sending a text message to another man that said ‘I’m very much in love with you.’
Togue said catching two gay people having sex would be an invasion of their privacy.
He said, ‘To catch people having sex, to catch them in the act, you have to break the law. You have to violate their privacy, which is an offense.
‘But the police will not focus on the offense of breaking the privacy of someone, but they will focus on the fact that they saw two people of the same gender having sex.’
Togue said stigma was also scaring gay men from having HIV tests.
He said, ‘They can’t go to the hospital for the treatment or even for a test because they’re afraid.’
He said he knew of one case in which a man told a nurse he had had gay sex and was reported to the police.
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Web application Soocial promises hassle-free contact management, seamlessly syncing contacts between a handful of potential buckets including Gmail, Outlook, the OS X Address Book, Highrise, and over 400 phones (including your BlackBerry). To get started, just sign up with Soocial and start adding accounts and apps using their simple setup wizards. Some syncing will require you to download a utility (Outlook and Address Book, for example), while others simple require that you enter in a password (e.g., Gmail). The site is currently in beta, and though it's gotten a lot of positive feedback from users, keep in mind that you could run into a bug or two. If you're concerned with the privacy implications, Soocial makes it clear that if you decide to cancel your account, all of your data will be permanently deleted from their servers. Keep reading to get a clearer picture of how Soocial makes contact syncing a "hassle-free" process from their demo video.
Advertisement
Soocial is free to use and is currently in public beta. If you've been using it since the private beta period, let's hear how it's worked for you in the comments.
Soocial [via TechCrunch]
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SRWare Iron: The Browser of the future
Overview
- News
- Chrome vs Iron
- FAQ (frequently asked questions)
- Download
Whats the difference beetwen Iron and Chrome?
Privacy:
Comparism of Iron and Chrome at privacy:
Problem
Chrome
Iron
Installation-ID
A copy of Google Chrome includes a generated installation number which will be sent to Google after the installation and the first usage. It gets deleted when Chrome checks first time for updates.If Chrome is received as part of a promotional campaign, it may generate a unique promotion number which is sent to Google on the first run and first use of Google Chrome.
does not exist in Iron
Suggest
Depending on the configuration, each time you put something in the address line,this information is sent to Google to provide suggestions.
does not exist in Iron
Alternate Error Pages
Depending on the configuration, if you have typed a false address in the adress bar, this is sent to Google and you get an error message from Google's servers.
does not exist in Iron
Error Reporting
Depending on the configuration, details about crashes or failures are sent Google's servers.
does not exist in Iron
RLZ-Tracking
This Chrome-function transmits information in encoded form to Google, for example, when and where Chrome has been downloaded.
does not exist in Iron
Google Updater
Chrome installs a updater, which loads at every Windows in background.
does not exist in Iron
URL-Tracker
Calls depending on the configuration five seconds after launch the Google homepage opens in background
does not exist in Iron
Comparism of Iron and Chrome at privacy: Other important differences:
Problem
Chrome
Iron
Adblocker
Chrome doesn't have an built-in adblocker
Iron has an easy to use and built-in adblocker which can be configured by a single file
User-Agent
The User-Agent in Chrome is only be changeable with parameters over a link or command, which isn't really ideal for permanent usage.
The User-Agent in Iron can be flexiblel and permanently changed by UA.ini.
Preview-Thumbs
Chrome only has 8 preview thumbs on the "NewTab"-Page
Iron offers you 12 preview-thumbs to make the most of the available space on your monitor
** Chrome and Google are registered trademarks of Google Inc.
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Image copyright AP Image caption Mark Lippert told a press conference he felt good and expected to return to work as soon as possible
Mark Lippert, the US ambassador to South Korea who was slashed at a breakfast meeting last week, has been discharged from hospital in Seoul.
Mr Lippert suffered gashes to his face and hand when he was attacked by a knife-wielding Korean nationalist.
He told reporters before he was discharged that the US mission to be "open and friendly" would not change.
The attacker, Kim Ki-jong, was tackled at the scene - he has denied charges of attempted murder.
Doctors said the ambassador had had 80 stitches from his face removed and that the pain in his wrist had subsided.
They said the cuts would have been life-threatening had they been deeper.
Mr Lippert, 42, said on Tuesday that he expected to make a full recovery and return to work as soon as possible.
"I feel pretty darn good, all things considered. I mean it was obviously a scary incident," he said at a news conference held with heavy security presence at Yonsei University's Severance Hospital.
"But I'm walking, talking, holding my baby, hugging my wife, so I just feel really good."
Image copyright EPA Image caption South Korean conservative protesters rallied in support of Mr Lippert and ties between the two countries
Image copyright AP Image caption A mass Christian prayer session was held over the weekend near the US embassy in Seoul
Image copyright Getty Images Image caption South Korean President Park Guen-hye visited Mr Lippert at Severance Hospital in Seoul on Monday
The attack prompted rallies and prayer sessions in support of Mr Lippert and US-South Korea relations. South Korean President Park Geun-hye visited him in hospital on Monday.
Police have not established a motive for Mr Kim's action, but said he shouted after the attack that he opposed ongoing military drills being conducted by the US and South Korea, and called for reunification with North Korea.
Kim Ki-jong's militant past
Image copyright EPA
In 1985, was part of a group that cut and burned a US flag on the embassy grounds in Seoul, according to South Korea's Yonhap news agency
Visited North Korea at least six times in 2006-07, reportedly planting trees near the border city of Kaesong
In 2007, set himself on fire in front of the presidential office in Seoul, asking for an inquiry into a rape that had allegedly taken place at his office in 1988 (Yonhap)
When in 2010 he hurled concrete at the then Japanese envoy, Toshinori Shigeie, it was the first assault on a foreign ambassador in South Korea; he received a suspended jail term
In 2011, he tried to erect a memorial altar for the late North Korean leader, Kim Jong-il, in the heart of Seoul (Yonhap)
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Image copyright Getty Images Image caption Trump held a National Economic Council 'listening session' with the CEOs on Thursday
US President Donald Trump has hailed the federal government's latest positive job figures, which he once denounced as "phony" and a "joke".
The US economy added 235,000 new jobs in February, Mr Trump's first full month in office.
He retweeted a news report with the caption: "GREAT AGAIN".
During a campaign speech last August, Mr Trump called the Department of Labor numbers one of the "biggest hoaxes in American modern politics".
Challenged about this contradiction at Friday's daily news briefing, White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer said Mr Trump believes, "they may have been phony in the past but it's very real now."
The latest figures brought down the US unemployment rate from 4.8% to 4.7%, the report found.
Much of the growth is being attributed by analysts to an unusually clement few weeks, allowing construction projects and hiring to continue uninterrupted.
Last month was the warmest February on record.
Two years ago in a press conference, Mr Trump attacked the official unemployment rate, calling it "such a phony number" and "the biggest joke".
He asserted that some "great economists" estimate the real US jobless rate is as high as 32% or 42%.
PolitiFact, a fact-checking website, rated this claim as "pants on fire" false.
Mr Trump's US treasury secretary, Steven Mnuchin, said during his confirmation hearing that "the unemployment rate is not real".
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Today, upon hearing that the Indians signed Michael Brantley to a four-year extension, I realized, for the first time, that this is the last year Brett Gardner will be a Yankee. Of course, I've been scared for years that the Yankees were going to trade him for some undeserving player, but now I see that there just isn't any place for him on the team anymore.
It would have been nice if the Yankees extended him after his breakout 2010 season, though, as our own Jesse Schindler comments, it would have made him more expensive. The value of Brett Gardner has long been held in his cheap contract and incredible defense, so it definitely makes sense for the Yankees to want to keep him at a cheap arbitration salary during his prime years.
Baseball minds say that it's smart business to lock up your young players to relatively cheap deals before they become too expensive, but Michael Brantley will receive $6.25 million a year now and, as Matt Provenzano describes him, he has Brett Gardner's bat without his defense. Gardner, the superior player, will make only $5.6 million in his last go-around in arbitration, so did it ever really make sense to extend him back then and thereby diminish some of his value?
As we all know, the Yankees have a no-extension policy that they have zero interest in eliminating, especially not for a player like Gardner. Chad Jennings of LoHud suggested that this season will allow them to evaluate the 30-year-old center fielder to determine whether or not they should re-sign him once he hits free agency. Unfortunately, I think the Yankees have already determined what they're going to do once that time has gone by, and that's to offer him a qualifying offer and let him go.
The signing of Jacoby Ellsbury to a massive contract shocked everyone, including Brett Gardner. It's clear that they don't trust their guy enough to give him the center field job, extend him, or even guarantee him a spot on the team. We've talked about how Ellsbury hasn't been much more than a slightly better, now much more expensive, Brett Gardner, but maybe the Yankees want that. They want the name recognition and reputation that comes with Ellsbury, whether it's justified or not. Gardner isn't much of a statement, even if he's the smarter investment.
My desire for a Brett Gardner extension stemmed from the idea that, though he would have been slightly more expensive, they would have had him for a few more years after 2014. If the Yankees have him for the next few years, maybe they're less inclined to sign Ellsbury for all that money so they can use it elsewhere, like the infield.
Now that Ellsbury is in center, Gardner could certainly be considered their left fielder, but would the Yankees want a powerless speedster, who could make as much as $15 million a year in 2015, patrolling a position that is usually filled by home run hitters? Of course, other than Josh Willingham, Michael Cuddyer, and maybe Torii Hunter, the market for power-hitting corner outfielders is rather thin in 2015. The Yankees might be better off with Gardner, at least in a bubble, but with the loss of Robinson Cano, are they really going to be ok with two outfielders with questionable power? I doubt it. There are also prospects like Tyler Austin, Slade Heathcott, and Ramon Flores to consider, but I wouldn't be making any decisions for their sake at this point.
Maybe it all depends on whether or not Ellsbury hits another 30 home runs in 2014, but would Gardner even want to come back to a place where he's less valued? When he hits the open market next year, someone is going to value him as an everyday center fielder and leadoff hitter. I think Gardner's shock was that he realized it's not going to be the Yankees' center fielder.
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Hillary was off the campaign trial yet again today. You do not hide when you just won a debate. You scream it from the rooftops. Even when you lost, you get back out there and claim you won.
Hillary is off the trail because Donald physically injured her last night. All he used was words, interruption/frustration, out-grouping, and other forms of amygdala stimulation. I assume Hillary entered that debate with some form of minor amygdala stimulation due to something going wrong before it, because she was triggered from the moment she walked out. But whatever the cause of the magnitude of her injury, it might as well have been a baseball bat Donald was wielding. After the debate, as she talked with the crowd, I was amazed at how closely her smile appeared to crying at times. She was epically triggered.
When she went home, she was probably as sick as a dog, and by this morning her immune system, and particularly her GI immune system, was completely dysregulated. As a result, I’m sure the microbes in her GI tract were toxic and flooding her blood with all sorts of toxic metabolites, her nervous system was exhausted, and she was literally laid low as if Donald had beaten her with a baseball bat.
That will have longer term consequences. Her physical breakdown, proceeding before our eyes already, will hasten. Where it will go is unpredictable, but it will not aid her campaign. If she takes tomorrow off, you will know Donald did real damage, and if I were Donald, I would joke about it. “I don’t know what happened to Hillary during the debate, but she is laid out in bed again today. Maybe I broke her? She could be broke from all the stress of facing me. She did not look well after it, I tell you that. I think I did that to her. It is such a shame – such a nice woman, too.” Then big laughter. If Donald did that to her and is laughing about it and joking about it, it will not be good for her. It will enrage her – at Donald, at her own body, at fate, and at herself for being weak. Of course the media will try to cover up for her.
That can only be good for America.
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Here it is! My second Korrasami fanart.
I love that the theme of Book 4 applies to them perfectly; they balance each other out. Korra is impulsive, stubborn, and hotheaded, while Asami is cool, calm, and collected. Korra has a fiery nature (despite being from the water tribe) and Asami is the water that appeases her. I was originally going to work only with red and blue hues, but I like it better this way.
I really want to draw more, but I'm currently doing my internship in a hospital and it's really toxic. But oh well, I'll draw when I can!
The Legend of Korra © Bryan Konietzkoand & Michael Dante DiMartino
Lineart and coloring by me
Please full view~ Comments and criticisms are very much welcome and appreciated! Hope you guys like it!
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A lost dog who belongs to a Fort Hood soldier deployed oversees, may go up for adoption without him knowing.
(Photo by Sam DeLeon)
A local animal group with a mission to reunite lost pets with their owners, is looking for someone to foster the dog while he’s deployed to make sure sure the soldier's dog is waiting for him when he returns.
The Bullmastiff named “Noonie” was brought in to the Killeen Animal Shelter as a stray Thursday.
If his owner doesn’t claim him in four days, per city of Killeen policy, Noonie will be put up for adoption.
“This soldier has no idea that his dog is lost, and now his dog is gonna be in the shelter and has a chance of being adopted,” said Sylvia Hall, a moderator of the Central Texas Lost & Found Pets Facebook group.
A woman found the dog on Westcliff Road in Killeen.
After some investigation, the dog’s microchip led the animal group and the shelter to a soldier named Elijah Christmas.
Attempts to reach Chrismas while he’s in Korea have failed so far.
"We really don't know where we're sitting on the animal, whether it's whether he doesn't want it, or whether he still wants it,” said Edward Tucker, Manager of the Killeen Animal Shelter.
Hall reached the soldier’s mother in Florida, and she believes her son wants the dog, but he’s scheduled to serve in Korea for nine months.
"We're just wanting someone to step-up, and possibly take care of him until the soldier comes home,” said Hall.
There is no fee to foster a dog in Killeen but a form is required to be filled out for approval.
"They're responsible to control the animal, secure the animal, and take care of it until the person comes back, if they're fostering for that,” said Tucker.
For information on how to apply to be a foster family for Noonie, call the Killeen Animal Shelter at (254) 526-4455, email animal@killeentexas.gov, or visit www.killeenpetadoption.org.
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KIRKLAND, Wash. - An all-night police standoff outside the Kirkland home of an assault suspect ended anticlimactically Friday morning when officers entered the home and found no one there.
Police have issued a felony warrant on charges of first-degree domestic violence assault for the suspect.
The incident began before midnight Thursday when police went to the house in the 13700 block of 116th Avenue Northeast for a domestic assault investigation. The suspect assaulted a female with a pistol and threatened to kill her, police said. He fired the gun inside the home.
The victim fled. But the suspect shot at her, hitting her car once.
Police say officers learned that the suspect had shot inside the house other times and that he had shot at people inside the house.
A SWAT team was called.
SWAT team negotiators attempted to communicate with the man via loudspeaker and convince him to surrender, but were unsuccessful.
After several hours, police shot flash-bang grenades into the home, but still got no reaction from the suspect.
Finally, at around 6 a.m., police entered the home with a robot, conducted a search and were unable to find the suspect, who apparently had slipped out somehow during the standoff.
Police have issued a warrant for Matthew Gordon. He is 5 feet 8 inches tall and weighs 160 pounds. He has blue eyes.
He could possibly be driving a silver 2010 Toyota Camry with a Washington disabled plate, license DP25833, or a black 2015 Yamaha Motorcycle, Washington license 8D2710, or a Green Mercury Cougar with unknown plates.
If you see him, call the Kirkland Police Department at NORCOM 425 577 5656 or call 911.
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One of the things that I’ve been thinking about this off-season is how the Washington Capitals will follow up last year’s incredible season.
Incredible at least until the playoffs began. Which, of course, is the story of the Capitals in the modern era. There’s no better way to illustrate their dominance (and postseason futility) then reminding everyone that Washington owns the three best regular seasons by points accumulated in the modern era.
Last year was particularly noteworthy for Barry Trotz’s team. Prior Washington teams were, at least in part, plagued by some inconsistency – usually shaky goaltending. But with all-world goaltender Braden Holtby complementing a lineup that ran most teams out of the building in the regular season, it was reasonable to assume they would push further than the second round of the Eastern Conference playoffs. Ultimately, they ran into another strong team in Pittsburgh, and the rest is history.
The interesting question is where Washington ends up next season. On the positive side of the ledger, their goaltending situation is still firmly squared away and a number of key pieces – T.J Oshie, Dmitri Orlov, and Evgeny Kuznetsov – have all been extended long-term. But the team did incur a few notable cap casualties. Marcus Johansson was traded to New Jersey, Justin Williams signed down in Carolina, and defenders Nate Schmidt, Kevin Shattenkirk and Karl Alzner departed for other organizations.
I think Washington genuinely believes they can replace a majority of the players they lost this off-season internally, and that preserving their core would mean another legitimate run at the Stanley Cup. On its face, it’s hard to dispute that claim. The Capitals have gone through plenty of turnover through the years and it hasn’t mattered much. In the modern era, they’ve averaged about 106 points per season – comfortably making the playoffs and, in most instances, winning the division.
But there are still a couple of reasons for concern. One of which is the fact that Washington’s vaunted power play – which has absolutely dominated the modern era – took a small step backwards last season. Another? At even strength, it’s difficult to discern just how great they really were.
One of the things people (myself included) pointed to with last year’s Capitals team was how they dominated goal differential at 5-on-5. Washington was +66 (61 per cent of all goals in their favour), which is extraordinarily high. Their goaltending was a big reason, with Holtby and Philipp Grubauer stopping 93.7 per cent of shots – the highest number of the last three years. They also converted on 9.2 per cent of their shots, which ended up being the third-highest number in all of hockey in the last three years. Combine elite shooting with elite stopping power, and you have a virtually untouchable 5-on-5 team.
With such wild goal variance, you would expect Washington to have dominated games territorially – much like those great Detroit Red Wings and Chicago Blackhawks teams of yesteryear. But that’s not exactly the case. Washington only had 52 per cent of the scoring chances last year – a playoff-worthy number, but not nearly as dominant as the goals would suggest. Five teams – Boston, Los Angeles, Minnesota, Pittsburgh, and Montreal – all finished better on this front.
How big of a spread is that? To give you an idea of magnitude, I pulled out the biggest variances we have seen between goal and scoring chance differential over the last three seasons. Outside of the 2015 New York Rangers, there isn’t really a comparable:
The interesting thing to me is where the goal percentages went for these teams in the following year. Outside of 2015-16 Capitals, every team saw their goal dominance drop year-over-year – and in some cases, substantially so. I do think part of this has to do with the difficulty of sustained success, but I also think part of it is the reality of scoring chance (or, alternatively, Corsi rates) data being more indicative of true talent than goal numbers because of sample size.
The next logical question: Was there a specific group of skaters on the Capitals that greatly benefited from some white-hot shooting and goaltending, or was this a consistent theme across the board? Below, you have the same type of variance analysis, but at the individual level:
It probably says something when the bottom guy here – Williams – was still six percentage points better in goal differential than scoring chance differential.
On the individual scoring chance data, there are a couple of other interesting takeaways. Two of the guys who were floating around break-even in Alzner and Daniel Winnik have moved on, which seems like a good thing if you are a Capitals fan. However, look at some of the other names there – namely Nicklas Backstrom and Alex Ovechkin. Here are two forwards who have absolutely dominated competition for close to a decade. Surely Backstrom and Ovechkin are still fantastic players, but I do think it’s fair to wonder just how effective they are at 5-on-5.
I’m certain that the Washington Capitals are a good team – they’re probably a very good team. But last year’s team has the look and feel of a group that benefited from everything breaking in their favour. And although the Capitals have been able to sustain lofty goal differentials for close to a decade, we haven’t really seen many seasons like last one. Can we reasonably expect a team to continue scoring on one of every 11 shots? And can we, at the same time, reasonably expect a team to hold their opponents to about 6 per cent shooting?
Historically, the answer to that question is no. So while I think it’s reasonable to expect Washington to still push around most of the Eastern Conference next year, I do think it’s possible (and perhaps likely) that they take a step backwards next year.
Capitals fans, you have been warned.
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Image caption Vince Cable said the government will not be afraid to take action against 'sham' directors
Business Secretary Vince Cable says officials will examine the abuse of one of the cornerstones of corporate secrecy, nominee directors.
Responding to a Panorama investigation that found some nominee directors were shams and being used to facilitate tax evasion, Mr Cable said he will be reviewing their role.
UK law states that directors are responsible for the companies they run.
And they should know what those companies are doing.
But in secretly-filmed meetings, Panorama undercover reporters were told of nominee directors being provided for UK companies who did not even know to which company they had been appointed.
In a statement Mr Cable said his office would carefully consider the evidence Panorama brought to light and would be reviewing the trade in and the abuse of nominee directors.
"I can assure you that we will investigate fully any specific allegations and ensure that appropriate action is taken."
'Blind eye'
The programme secretly filmed corporate service providers - firms that specialise in forming new companies - as part of a joint investigation with the Guardian newspaper and the Washington-based International Consortium of Investigative Journalists .
It identified a number of corporate service providers willing to facilitate tax evasion and turn a blind eye to criminal activity.
Tax evasion costs the UK taxpayer an estimated £4bn a year.
Nominee directors, who can be legitimately appointed to run companies on behalf of others, were found being used as sham directors by the firms investigated by the programme.
Image caption Tax evasion costs the UK taxpayer an estimated £4bn a year
One of the companies said the odds of getting caught by the UK tax authorities was roughly equivalent to winning the lottery.
In one instance, an undercover reporter posing as a businessman with £6m in undeclared income sitting in a Swiss bank account is advised to move his money into a complex structure involving an anonymous foundation in the tax haven of Belize, which he would control in secret.
James Turner, of Turner Little in York, which specialises in forming companies, assured the undercover reporter that his company already had 10,000 of these structures up and running, with secrecy guaranteed.
What I'm shocked by... is the apparent ease with which you've discovered these people Tristram Hicks, Money laundering expert
"We've had Inland Revenue investigations on clients that have used companies like this... and they haven't got to the money," Mr Turner said during secret filming.
The complicated structure proposed by Mr Turner also involved the use of nominee directors to help keep the undercover reporter's name off company paperwork.
Mr Turner said his nominees would not be running anything at all.
"They won't even know that they are a director, they just get paid," he said, adding that the directors' signatures could be provided simply by using a stamp.
Jonathan Fisher QC, one of the UK's leading barristers specialising in white collar crime cases, said that what was being proposed would break the law.
"If this proceeded and the company was set up and it was set up in the way in which it is being discussed, then plainly some very serious criminal offences would be committed."
Those potential offences would be helping to cheat the revenue and launder the proceeds of crime.
Mr Turner denied any allegations of criminal misconduct. Turner Little said it takes its statutory and regulatory obligations seriously but said that once an internal investigation has been completed, if appropriate, it will take action.
Panorama also discovered corporate service providers offering to appoint sham directors to UK companies. UK law states that directors are responsible for the companies they run and should know what those companies are doing.
Panorama: Find out more Darragh MacIntyre presents Undercover: How to Dodge Tax
BBC One, Monday, 26 November at 20:30 GMT Then available in the UK on the BBC iPlayer
'Sark Lark'
The use of sham directors was supposed to have been stamped out in the late 1990s after a scandal on the Channel Island of Sark.
In what became known as the "Sark Lark" one islander was discovered to be the director of more than 1,300 companies. Between them, the 600 inhabitants of the island held 15,000 directorships. New laws have reduced that to fewer than 50 posts today.
But the Panorama investigation found that the Sark Lark is not dead - rather it has moved and gone global.
One corporate service provider based in Dubai, Atlas Corporate Services, showed a list of its 19 nominee directors to one of Panorama's undercover reporters.
The programme discovered they had held more than 6,000 UK company directorships. The company involved said there is nothing unlawful in Dubai about the use of nominee professional directors.
'Tip of iceberg'
Image caption HMRC confirmed it has not prosecuted any corporate service providers in the UK
Former Metropolitan Police Det Supt Tristram Hicks, a leading expert on money laundering, said: "What I'm shocked by, and concerned by, is the apparent ease with which you've discovered these people.
"It tells you that maybe it is the tip of the iceberg that you have discovered by scratching the surface and that our regulation regime is not catching enough people."
In a statement, HM Revenue and Customs, which regulates the 2,467 registered trust or company service providers in the UK, said most in the industry have nothing to do with criminal activity.
But it did confirm that it has never prosecuted a single corporate service provider for breaching money laundering regulations. HMRC said tackling tax evasion is a priority.
Panorama's Undercover: How to Dodge Tax is on BBC One, Monday, 26 November at 20:30 GMT and then available in the UK on the BBC iPlayer via the link above.
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Texas Investigators Employ Canines, Study Video in Governor's Mansion Fire Probe
Tuesday , June 10, 2008
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AUSTIN, Texas —
They also interviewed more witnesses and viewed dozens of hours of video surveillance tapes that helped them initially conclude arson is to blame for the weekend blaze, said state Fire Marshal Paul Maldonado.
"We're very confident we're going to find the perpetrator that has caused the damage and that has committed this crime," Maldonado said.
• Click here for photos.
The Austin Fire Department on Monday released 911 audio tapes in which callers reported flames engulfing the front of the building.
"It's huge! It's a huge fire. The entire front of the mansion is on fire," one woman caller said, explaining that flames were on the porch and headed toward the second floor.
Another passer-by — the first person to call and report the blaze to the fire department — said the mansion was "lit up in the front."
"Right now the whole front door is lit," he said. "Wow, it is crazy, man."
The fire erupted at the 152-year-old mansion shortly before 2 a.m. Sunday and severely damaged the building, even as Texas Department of Public Safety troopers guarded the premises. The fire caused parts of the roof to buckle and charred much of the front of the white structure and its famous Greek revival-style columns.
Investigators believe one person was on the premises and set the fire, but they haven't ruled out that more people were involved, Maldonado said.
Dog team searches will help locate possible fire accelerants inside now that all fire hot spots have been extinguished, he said. A national response team from the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms was dispatched to Texas to collect and analyze evidence.
DPS and fire investigators refused to say Monday how an arsonist might have slipped past security guards. They would not say how many guards were in place at the time.
"Anything that deals with the security of the governor, the residence, the mansion or his family, we don't discuss numbers or how we actually go about securing the first family," said DPS Capt. Paul Schulze.
Schulze said the agency always looks at what went well and what didn't when it responds to a major incident, but he wouldn't go into detail about a possible internal investigation.
"We obviously look at our actions and evaluate them and then move forward accordingly," Schulze said. State troopers who were on duty are among the witnesses being interviewed.
He would not say whether a smaller-than-usual security staff was on site since Gov. Rick Perry and his wife Anita are not currently living in the mansion. They moved to a private home in Austin last year so the structure could undergo $10 million in renovation and maintenance, including the installation of a fire sprinkler system.
All the historic furnishings, paintings and other items had been removed from the mansion for the renovation project being done by Braun & Butler Construction.
There was no immediate financial estimate of the damage the fire inflicted or decision on whether the mansion will be repaired and restored.
The Perrys, who are in Europe on an economic development trip, are expected back in Austin on Tuesday night. They had planned to resume living in the mansion next year.
Investigators said they had no evidence that the fire was politically motivated.
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SEATTLE - The King County sheriff's office says a deputy accused of domestic violence has surrendered his weapon and is on administrative leave for criminal and internal investigations.
The man was arrested Sunday at a residence near Issaquah where the deputy lives with his girlfriend, who also works for the sheriff's office.
He was booked into the King County Jail for investigation of felony harassment after investigators determined there was evidence of a crime, said Sgt. DB Gates of the King County Sheriff's Office. The deputy was released the next day on $50,000 bail.
The 34-year-old deputy has been with the sheriff's office for nine years.
Gates said he will remain on administrative leave as the criminal and internal investigations continue. He also was served with a no-contact order.
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On April 7 the bracket tournament of the ELeague Street Fighter invitational will kick off. Twenty-four competitors survived the first round. The four groups from the preliminaries, now with only six players, will continue to duke it out until there are only two players per group remaining for the playoffs. The top-two placers in the group from the preliminary stage are automatically in the semifinals and will only need one victory to qualify out of the bracket.
ESPN talked to ELeague commentators and analysts Stephen "Sajam" Lyon and Zhi "Zhieeep" Liang Chew to help sift through all the players and information. Editor's Picks Mad Catz files for bankruptcy Under financial duress for a while now, Mad Catz -- known for its fightsticks and other gaming peripherals -- has filed for bankruptcy.
Adrian, Team Liquid part ways After a little under a month on the team, support Adrian "Adrian" Ma has decided to leave Team Liquid.
NA LCS pros weigh in on MVP race Who most deserves the NA League Championship Series spring MVP? We quizzed three NA LCS pros on whom they think should win the award. 2 Related
Reflecting on groups
Both Zhieeep and Sajam spoke briefly about which players surprised them and met their expectations from the preliminaries.
Together, both agreed Panda Global's Victor "Punk" Woodley lived up to the hype. His play during the group stage mirrored the dominance he showed during a similar exhibition tournament at SXSW, "Fighters Underground." Team Liquid's Du "NuckleDu" Dang's performance and placing also met what you would expect out of a world champion.
Some of the bigger surprises included Sajam's pick of Cygames' Darryl "Snake Eyez" Lewis because of his relatively low-profile in character choices and his lackluster performances during 2016. Both agreed that Joshua "Wolfkrone" Philpot's dominating 6-1 performance in Group C, arguably the most difficult pool with players like Keita "Fuudo"Ai, Kun Xian Ho, aka Xian, and Hajime "Tokido" Taniguchi, was the most surprising result.
Bracket Tournament
Group A
Favorites: Punk and Echo Fox's Yusuke "Momochi" Momochi
Street Fighter V player Victor "Punk" Woodley (left) was just signed by Panda Global. Provided by Eric Stewart Photography
Sajam: I don't believe in Punk's ability to close out yet. On paper, he is the clear favorite, but I'm afraid his nerves after the group stage could be an issue. Despite that, he's still my pick.
Zhieeep: I like Punk to make it out. There's going to be a tournament where he will close, start to finish, and this is the place that he can rise up and come through; ELeague is a more comfortable setting.
Lee: Momochi lived up to the billing with a great group showing and secured himself a free pass to the semifinals. He played only Ken and it looked like whatever tinkering he did during Fighters Underground paid off -- this is his group to lose.
Group B
Favorites: Cygames' Eduardo "PR Rog" Perez and Twitch | Hx | CYG BST Daigo Umehara
Sajam: I have PR Rog making it out. He's in the best position out of all the players and his scariest opponent is SnakeEyez, who is on the opposite side of the bracket from him. He has the best chance to make it out either way.
Zhi: I still like Daigo Umehara. He sponsors the top two seeds (Snake Eyez and PR Rog are Cygames teammates) and I cannot see the students disrespecting the master. He's currently mercenary Daigo and I've never seen him indirectly go for just the money.
Lee: The way the bracket is laid out, PR Rog needs one victory to move on since he placed into the semifinals - and the match won't be against the only person he lost to during the group stages (Snake Eyez). That sounds like all the right ingredients for a cruise into the playoffs. Even against Snake Eyez, PR Rog is practicing the correct punishes for Zangief's V-Skill and harnessing his ridiculous reactions to punish predictable movement options and errant normal button presses.
Group C
Team Razer's Keita "Fuudo" Ai competes at the DreamHack Summer Street Fighter V Capcom Pro Tour 2016. Provided by Stephanie Lindgren/DreamHack
Favorites: Team Razer's Keita "Fuudo" Ai and Team Razer's Kun "Xian" Ho
Sajam: My favorite is Fuudo. I think he looks really sharp despite the loss to Wolfkrone (his first match of the day). He was training a lot in the backroom and grinding games and that loss was just one of those wake-up calls. I expect him to play on-point for the rest of the tournament.
Zhieeep: I also like Fuudo. I know I should give Wolfkrone more credit because he's playing with that fiery rage and Japan hasn't seen a lot of strong Laura's, but I wonder if his play provided enough information to lessen the surprise of his character. But, Fuudo is just a very solid pick and he even said he's feeling good.
Lee: To borrow Zhieeep's words, Xian is in mercenary mode. There is a significant amount of change on the line and Xian is past the point of playing F.A.N.G. for the fans. If Xian continues to lab up his character and take new setups from other players, he should exit the bracket as one of the two qualifiers.
Group D
Favorites: Team Liquid's Du "NuckleDu" Dang and Qanba Douyu's Zeng "Xiao Hai" Zhuo Jun
Sajam: It's NuckleDu. Everyone knows freedom is the most powerful thing on the planet and it will be live to a television audience that will appreciate that and democracy the most.
Zhieeep: I still like NuckleDu to make it out. With Xiao Hai, his demon is Du and it's more than just a psychological roadblock. For NuckleDu, he's due to reload and double his coffers with a big tournament win; he's hungry.
Lee: Xiao Hai is never a player that you want to give time off and research to -- he will simply come back in the strongest way possible. NuckleDu continues to plague his tournament runs, but Xiao Hai is playing Street Fighter V free of the distraction from other games like King of Fighters XIV.
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Abstract
Background Sub-anesthetic doses of the NMDA antagonist ketamine have been shown to model the formation and stability of delusion in human subjects. The latter has been predicted to be due to aberrant prediction error resulting in enhanced destabilization of beliefs. To extend the scope of this model, we investigated the effect of administration of low dose systemic ketamine on memory in a rodent model of memory reconsolidation.
Methods Systemic ketamine was administered either prior to or immediately following auditory fear memory reactivation in rats. Memory strength was assessed by measuring freezing behavior 24 h later. Follow up experiments were designed to investigate an effect of pre-reactivation ketamine on short-term memory (STM), closely related memories, and basolateral amygdala (BLA) specific destabilization mechanisms.
Results Rats given pre-reactivation, but not post-reactivation, ketamine showed larger freezing responses 24 h later compared to vehicle. This enhancement was not observed 3 h after the memory reactivation, nor was it seen in a closely related contextual memory. Prior inhibition of a known destabilization mechanism in the BLA blocked the effect of pre-reactivation ketamine.
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Countries like Vietnam are projected to overtake current leaders like Canada and Italy.
Pakistan is the sixth most populous country in the world and is ranked 27th on the IMF list in terms of economic power measured by GDP. It is also a member of the elite club of known nuclear powers. It is, therefore, not an insignificant country by any set of measures. In terms of geostrategic importance it has a significant role in the peaceful resolution of the situation in war torn Afghanistan and in the war against terrorism.
As we have now entered 2012 it becomes a matter of keen interest to find out how international analysts and forecasters view the position of Pakistan in the world after a few decades. Many countries, big and small, have turned their fate around in a span of 10 to 20 years. Is Pakistan one of those or is it drifting in the opposite direction? In order to have a dispassionate answer to this question I have chosen two reports independently produced by the US National Intelligence Council (NIC) and PricewaterhouseCoopers (PWC) which forecast how the world will be in 2025 and 2050.
There are four important points which emerge after the two reports are examined. One, there will be a clear shift of economic power from the existing major economic powers known as the G7 to the emerging economies. Second, China and India will be the most dominant players by 2050. Third, it is not impossible to make a break with the past as some relatively new economies seem to be rising up the ladder with carefully planned developmental policies. Fourth, and the most important from our perspective is that Pakistan does not appear in the list and more worryingly when it gets mentioned the cause is not a very positive one.
Both reports agree that the post Second World War international system will be almost unrecognisable by 2025. The PWC report makes projections on the basis of GDP size in purchasing power parity (PPP) terms and identifies the developing nations that would become major players in the next few decades. The four rising stars Brazil, Russia, India and China (BRIC) are joined by Indonesia, Mexico and Turkey and are given the collective name of the ‘E7’. South Africa, Argentina, Saudi Arabia, Nigeria and Vietnam are other potential frontrunners. The most amazing change is that China and India are expected to rise to the top two positions above the US by 2050. The next notable change in the rankings is Brazil rising above Japan and Indonesia potentially rising significantly in the rankings to eighth place by 2050.
However the inclusion of Vietnam proves that it is not an exclusive club of traditional giants. Compared to Pakistan’s 27th position Vietnam is placed at 40th number as per IMF list of GDP by PPP ranking of 2010. The PWC report predicts that with 8.8% average annual GDP growth Vietnam will be the best performer and by 2050 it will overtake Italy and Canada to bag 14th position on the rankings list.
The NIC report notes that economic globalisation and the dispersion of technologies will place enormous new strains on governments. In the new world order while there will be winners from the emerging economies some will be losers as well. ‘Weak governments’, ‘lagging economies’, ‘religious extremism’, and ‘youth bulges’ are identified as four emerging threats which are feared to create a perfect storm for internal conflict in certain regions. Pakistan, Afghanistan, Nigeria, and Yemen are cited as examples of those countries that are likely to struggle with internal faultlines. One chapter of the NIC report deals with countries that are exposed to state failure as they have common features of high current account deficits and import dependence, low GDP per capita and heavy international indebtedness. Examples given are Central African Republic, Nepal, Laos East Africa and the Horn. Unfortunately Pakistan is also cited as an example of ‘pivotal yet problem-beset countries’ which are at risk of state failure. In the final assessment the future of Pakistan is considered a ‘wildcard’ by the authors of the NIC report.
Those of us who sincerely wish Pakistan become a major economic power and play a role which is in agreement with its true potential are rightly disheartened to see such an assessment of Pakistan’s future. It appears that by pursuing a nonsensical jingoistic security paradigm Pakistan has missed the long term economic growth bus.
The writer teaches public policy in Hertfordshire University, UK.
Published in The Express Tribune, January 23rd, 2012.
Read full story
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Image caption The Pirate Bay is one of a number of sites accused of web piracy that are now blocked to UK users
Google has received requests to remove more than 100 million links since January 2013 for web pages deemed to be in breach of copyright laws.
That is double the number it received for the whole of 2012 and a sign that publishers are stepping up their battle against internet piracy.
Copyright holders send millions of "takedown" requests to Google every week in an attempt to make pirated material harder to access online.
But critics say the approach is wrong.
"As soon as you take down one page another pops up in its place," says Mark Mulligan, a technology analyst at Midia Consulting. "It's like playing Whac-A-Mole."
"This is because file sharing has become very decentralised - there's no central server you can just shut down."
Ernesto van der Sar, editor of Torrentfreak.com, a news site about file sharing, says: "This increase in requests is more about publishers putting pressure on Google to do more to tackle piracy. If people want to pirate they can always find a way to do so."
Copyright infringement
Many of the takedown requests made under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) and other national copyright laws are generated by third parties, or reporting organisations, on behalf of copyright holders.
Google began publishing all such requests in its Transparency Report in 2012 and since then the number has risen sharply, as rights holders have made greater use of the reporting system.
In the past month alone Google received requests to take down nearly 14 million links from its search results, relating to 3,200 copyright owners.
Image caption Google publishes all its copyright removal requests online
One digital content protection specialist, Degban, makes requests for about 300,000 link removals per week on behalf of clients and has asked for nearly 31 million web pages, or URLs, to be removed from Google's results so far, reports the search firm.
The website domains concerned are almost entirely person-to-person file-sharing services, such as Fenopy.eu, extratorrent.com, torrenthound.com, filestube.com and bittorrent.com.
More than half of Degban's URL requests were made on behalf of Froytal Services, a pornography producer, giving an indication of the kind of content people are sharing online.
But other major copyright owners making the most takedown requests included the BPI (British Recorded Music Industry) and its member companies, the Recording Industry Association of America, and various film studios, such as Warner Brothers.
A spokesperson for the BPI told the BBC: "BPI removes around one million links every week to music hosted on the internet without the artist's knowledge or permission.
"This process is one of many initiatives undertaken by the industry to help to create breathing space for more than 70 legal music services in the UK that strive to promote and reward musicians."
Mistakes
There are concerns that some of these takedown requests may not be accurate.
For example, Microsoft recently asked by mistake for links to its own sites to be deleted.
The embarrassing request was made on Microsoft's behalf by LeakID, an anti-piracy specialist, according to Torrentfreak.com.
Google spotted the mistake and did not delete the links, but confirmed to the BBC that almost all takedown requests it receives are acted upon.
"Mistakes are made as most of this activity is automated", says Mr Van Der Sar, "but Google is pretty good at filtering them out."
Neither Microsoft nor LeakID would comment on the mistake.
Internet piracy
Last week, a UK court ordered British internet service providers to block access to EZTV and YIFY Torrents after they were found to be conducting internet piracy on a "mass scale".
The action was brought by the Federation Against Copyright Theft (Fact) and the Motion Picture Association (MPA).
A growing number of sites accused of aiding piracy are now blocked to UK web users, including the Pirate Bay, Kickass Torrents, H33T, Fenopy, Movie2K and Download4All.
In addition, the Premier League has won a block on football streaming site FirstRow1.eu.
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Folders, new UI, updated menus, Trophy changes and new personalisation options
Our beta for PS4’s upcoming 4.00 update, codenamed ‘Shingen’, rolls out tomorrow for everyone included in the public beta program. If you signed up and were selected, be on the lookout for an email with instructions on how to download.
Whether you’re in the beta or not, we wanted to give everyone a glimpse at some of the new features of this system software update. 4.0 will allow you to personalise your PS4 experience and enjoy a more streamlined interface with new ways to connect and share – we’re refreshing the system UI, adding Folders, updating the Quick Menu, and much more.
UI refresh
We’ve made a lot of adjustments and improvements to PS4’s main UI. That includes a range of changes, like revised pop-up notifications, updated system icons and new system backgrounds to choose from. As a whole, it all adds up to a more refined and easy to use UI.
Quick Menu
As you know, pressing and holding the PS button on Dualshock 4 brings up the Quick Menu. We’ve overhauled this menu to make it faster and easier to use. One big change is that the menu now only covers a portion of the screen, meaning you don’t need to leave gameplay entirely.
While still offering a range of feature options such as viewing trophies for the game you are playing, you can also customise the Quick Menu to add shortcuts for the features you want immediate access to. For instance, you can add Online Friends to your Quick Menu that will show the online status of your friends, as well as shortcuts to your Favourite Groups and Communities and lots more.
Share Menu
We’ve given a similar overhaul to the Share Menu, which appears once you press the Share button on Dualshock 4. Like the Quick Menu, it only covers a portion of the screen. It will save the last social network you shared video clips or screenshots to and allow you to share screenshots directly to a Community wall, making the process of sharing a screenshot or video a bit faster and more streamlined
You can also upload longer video clips to Twitter (was 10 seconds, now up to 140 seconds).
Folders and Library Organisation
One of the big requests we get from you is for more options to organise content on PS4. With this update, we’re adding functionality to create folders on PS4’s content launcher and library. This will help collect your favourite games and select apps in one place for quick and easy access.
We’re also making some pretty big changes to the Library. We’ve added a new tab called Purchased Content, which will show all of the content you own while your main library will only show content that is currently installed on your PS4. If you’ve downloaded a lot of games, demos, and game betas over the years, this should really help de-clutter your Library.
There are some new sorting tools for your Library as well allowing you to sort content by purchase date or install status. Also you can search for specific games and apps via text input.
Trophy Improvements
This update brings the ability to view Trophies offline. You’ll see a new ‘offline mode’ option if your system is unable to connect to the network, letting you view your entire trophy collection without an internet connection.
We’ve also added a button that will let you reveal the content of a Hidden Trophy. The trophy will still be hidden by default, but you can now choose to show the trophy name and info.
Lastly, we’re changing the icons that show how rare a trophy is. Instead of four boxes that fill, the icon looks like a pyramid with the ultra-rare trophies at the top.
User Profile
We’ve updated the look of the User Profile, making it easier to see relevant info for a player at-a-glance. For instance, you can now see your trophy progress compared with another player right from their profile. You can also add a background image to your own profile selected from the screenshots you took in your favourite games.
The 4.00 update has even more features that won’t be available in the beta, so stay tuned for additional info on what to expect. We’ll be back with more info on 4.00, including its launch date, in the coming weeks.
We hope you enjoy the beta and we’re looking forward to your feedback.
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Republican Reps. Renee Ellmers, of North Carolina, and Trent Franks, of Arizona. Photo illustration by Slate. Photos by Tom Williams/CQ Roll Call; Bill Clark/CQ Roll Call
Last October, Reince Priebus gave a speech with a conspicuous omission. Just 33 days before the midterm elections, the Republican National Committee Chairman headed to George Washington University to give a speech on the issues that bring Republicans together. Priebus ticked off a lengthy list of policy proposals that all the party’s candidates could highlight, noting that they could work for anyone, “whether you’re running for governor in New England or Congress in the South or statehouse in the West.”
The speech was highly detailed. The chairman praised specific pieces of legislation and touted the construction of the Keystone Pipeline and the passage of a Balanced Budget Amendment as issues that could unite GOP politicians. On these points and many others, Priebus was clear as glass. But on one enormous issue, the chairman was oddly opaque.
“As Republicans we’re pro-family; and we’re also pro-life,” he said, according to the transcript of his prepared remarks. “So when a woman faces an unplanned pregnancy, society should offer our support and compassion. She should know that adoption is possible. Our laws should be improved to make adoption an easier path for families who want to open their homes to children.”
And that was it. The GOP is pro-life, the chairman said, so the GOP supports making adoption easier. Priebus didn’t add anything beyond that. He couldn’t have, given the reference to the party’s New England gubernatorial candidates, almost all of whom are pro-choice. As the last 24 hours have shown, anti-abortion votes are a dicey prospect for some Hill Republicans. And the Keystone Pipeline just might have broader support among Washington Republicans than the pro-life movement.
That’s not to suggest that GOP is about to become pro-choice. (That would be ludicrous.) When it comes to American politicking, the GOP is unquestionably the best hope of the pro-life movement. Priebus wrote an op-ed for LifeSiteNews that appeared on Thursday—the same day as the March for Life—that celebrated the GOP’s support for legislation restricting abortion. “We must do everything we can to protect life and defend the rights of those who can’t yet defend themselves,” he wrote. And he described himself as “a pro-life chairman of a pro-life party.” That’s true. But it’s also complicated.
When it comes to abortion, the party’s platform is unequivocal. “We support a human life amendment to the Constitution and endorse legislation to make clear that the Fourteenth Amendment’s protections apply to unborn children,” it reads. But here’s the thing: Plenty of prominent, powerful Republicans don’t buy that. A few weeks after Priebus’s George Washington University speech, pro-choice Republicans had a strong showing in the midterm elections. Charlie Baker, for example, won the governor’s race in royal blue Massachusetts by two points. And Bruce Rauner, a pro-choice, Romney-esque gubernatorial candidate, walloped Democratic incumbent Pat Quinn by nearly 5 percentage points in Illinois. In Nevada, pro-choice Gov. Brian Sandoval sailed to re-election and would likely win warm backing from national Republicans if he challenged Sen. Harry Reid. In the Senate, two Republicans—Sens. Susan Collins of Maine and Mark Kirk of Illinois—have the same score of 40 percent on the National Right to Life scorecard as Reid. Sen. Lisa Murkowski, an Alaska Republican, is just 10 points ahead of them.
It’s instructive to contrast the Republican Party’s inclusivity on the issue with the Democrats’. There’s a steady trickle of Democratic state legislators joining the GOP because of the issue—see Washington state Sen. Mark Miloscia and Missouri state Rep. Linda Black—while national Republicans went out of their way to make pro-choice midterm candidates like Massachusetts’ Richard Tisei and Oregon’s Monica Wehby feel welcome in the party.
It is almost as if Republicans are taking the advice that Sen. John McCain dished out shortly after the party got spanked in the 2012 elections. The Arizona Republican went on Fox News Sunday and said that the party should “leave the issue alone” because it hurts them with young voters and women. His basic point was that Republicans should talk about how they’re pro-life, but avoid actually doing anything about it.
At the moment, this seems to be the House Republican leadership’s strategy. National Journal reported that Rep. Renee Ellmers told her colleagues that voting for the 20-week ban could hurt them with millennials. They proceeded to pull the bill at the last minute, and House leadership is currently scrambling to rewrite the language of the 20-week ban in a way more amenable to some members.
Some Hill Democrats praised the decision to scuttle the bill. Rep. Loretta Sanchez, a California Democrat, said she thinks the move is a sign the party is changing.
“I believe that they’re coming to a realization that America is a pro-choice country, that the majority of Americans realize that Roe v. Wade should stand,” she said. “So I think they’re having a conflict within their own Republican conference.”
“There are two parties within the GOP,” she added.
Rep. Trent Franks, the Arizona Republican who sponsored the bill, sounded chagrined.
“There’s no animosity or anger on my part, whatsoever, toward anyone,” he said. “I only hope now that all of us, especially on the pro-life side, will come together and do what’s necessary to move forward to affect this critically important goal of protecting pain-capable babies and their mothers from this atrocity of very late-term abortion on demand.”
He added that he was sure the bill would have passed overwhelmingly if it had gotten a vote. That’s probably true, but it never got that far.
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I always enjoy reading the Washington Post each morning even though it drives my blood pressure up to stratospheric levels. Its embrace of the inexorability of a fabulous new Camelot-like Clinton White House is thrilling to witness as it unfolds, but it is the promotion of the neocon Israeli narrative that is most exciting. On October 23rd, the op-ed section outdid itself with a piece “Free speech is flunking out on campus” by Catherine Rampell, who described the increasingly sorry state of first amendment rights on politically correct American university campuses. Blacks, LGBTers, women and victims of sexual assault were all identified as constituencies demanding “safe spaces” resulting in curtailment of free speech but somehow Israel and its supporters screaming anti-Semitism at every drop of the hat were left out in spite of the fact that Jews on campus have been both extremely and successfully active in taking political action to pressure universities whenever they claim to feel “threatened.”
The conflict between the Israelis and Palestinians has again reached a boiling point. Palestinian frustration over Israel’s fifty year occupation of the West Bank and its continued theft of Arab land and resources has produced an uprising of mostly young Palestinians that is being called in some circles a new intifada. The conflict is playing out with knives and bullets in Palestine and Israel but it is also being fought internationally in the media, through cultural and economic boycotts and, most pointedly, at many colleges and universities. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu realizes that the pressure on Israel is, for the first time, serious and has not hesitated to lie outrageously about the slaughter of Jews in Europe during the Second World War. According to Netanyahu, the Palestinian Grand Mufti of Jerusalem gave the idea to Hitler, presumably justifying whatever the Israelis of today choose to do to suppress the current unrest.
Israel has inevitably responded brutally, producing a death toll of significantly more Palestinians than Israelis. Netanyahu has been referring to the protesters as terrorists and has issued new rules of engagement which permit soldiers to shoot stone throwers. Israeli plainclothes soldiers and police have been identified as infiltrating the protesters while pretending to be Palestinians, urging the young Arabs to hurl stones before pulling out concealed handguns to beat protesters, shoot them and make arrests.
In Gaza five teenagers were shot dead by Israeli soldiers for the crime of coming too close to the separation barrier, which government press releases described as the “frontier.” Killing teenagers in Gaza is a bit like shooting fish in a barrel as they are fenced in and have in reality no way to actually confront the Israeli border guards. On the day following the killing of the boys a mother and infant were killed in an Israeli airstrike. Within Israel an Eritrean was even mistakenly killed by Israeli police because he was reportedly acting oddly.
Because of a hostile media’s self-censorship buttressed by an unfriendly political class, here in the United States one of the few places in which the Palestinians can exercise something like free expression relating to their national aspirations is on college campuses. Israel and its powerful supporters understand that gap in their ability to control the narrative and are doing everything possible to shut down the option.
Friends of Israel, as ever, work from the same playbook orchestrated by the large donors who fund them. They claim that anti-Israel protests on campus to include even letters to the editor in college newspapers constitute a “threatening environment” for Jewish students. The argument is based on a fundamental falsehood, which is that criticism of the actions of a foreign government is equivalent to hatred for the dominant religion of that country, that religion is exactly the same as nationality. Applying that notion liberally would mean that criticism of any country where there is de facto or de jure a dominant state religion would be unacceptable speech. If applied liberally countries spanning the globe would be exempt from criticism, to include not only Israel but also Saudi Arabia and Iran.
But this is not about Christian or Muslim sensitivities. It is all about protection against insult for Jews and it relies on a perception of perpetual victimhood, which can be and is produced on demand to stifle any criticism that might be regarded by some as objectionable. Indeed, if calls for violence directed against Jews as a race or religion were occurring pleas for some form of mitigation might have some very slim cogency, but campus protest movements have very carefully and deliberately avoided falling into that trap. And it might also be pointed that on many campuses a considerable proportion of the dissenters are themselves Jews who are appalled by Israeli behavior.
Criticism of Israel does not just include complaining about the policies of that country’s government. It also has inevitably involved the so-called BDS movement, “boycott-divest-and sanction” which aims to make Israel pay an economic and social price for its behavior, similar to the pressure that was once directed against apartheid South Africa. This second narrative has been cleverly woven into the complaints about “harassment,” labeling any campus calls for BDS ipso facto anti-Semitic and “hurtful.” School authorities have generally been accommodating to claims made by Jewish groups that students are feeling “threatened,” obstructing and intimidating critics of Israel and denying tenure to faculty members who are seen as troublemakers. They have looked the other way as organizations like Canary Mission began exposing college students on its website who are reported to be “anti-Freedom, anti-American and anti-Semitic” with the deliberate intention of damaging their future employment prospects.
Between January 2014 and June 2015 there were more than 300 incidents on 65 college campuses in 24 states involving intimidation or prevention of protests against Israel. Students at Northeastern University distributing flyers at dorms were interrogated by campus police and had their group suspended by college authorities. Some were disciplined. And faculty members have also been on the receiving end, with Steven Salaita at the University of Illinois, denied a teaching position after he sent tweets complaining about Israel’s 2014 assault against Gaza which killed more than 500 children.
Richard Blum, a member of the University of California’s regents, has demanded that students who criticize Israel be suspended for expelled because they are “intolerant,” exhibiting anti-Semitic bigotry. Blum is the multimillionaire husband of California Senator Dianne Feinstein. Feinstein has also hinted that she could have the government look into possible violations occurring at federally funded institutions. The definition of bigotry being promoted by Blum and Feinberg conflates criticism of Israel with anti-Semitism and includes in its purview what are increasingly being referred to as “speech crimes.” The university regents are currently considering new language for their statement of policy against intolerance on campus but are under intense pressure from Jewish organizations that are lobbying them aggressively.
Many of the groups involved in the harassment of pro-Palestinian demonstrators are perhaps not surprisingly not indigenous to the colleges themselves. Stand With Us (SWU) and “Campus Maccabees” are national organizations well-funded by billionaire Sheldon Adelson and SWU has close ties to the Israeli government as does the lawfare center Shurat HaDin, which has filed lawsuits against Muslim and progressive groups on campus. Predictably, Congress and state legislatures have gotten into the act, seeking to pass laws that make it impossible for colleges and universities supported by taxpayer money to fund student groups that call for boycotts. The bills are drafted in terms of rejecting all selective boycotts but they are really all about Israel and everyone knows it. The fact that advocating voluntary boycotts is very much a part of one’s First Amendment rights appears to be irrelevant.
How to deal with it? The brouhaha is impossible to ignore as the advocates for Israel are relentlessly in one’s face even when the argument is being constructed in a restrained fashion and purposely framed so as not to offend Jews. It is consequently necessary to disarticulate being Israeli from being Jewish. Judaism is a religion and Israel is a foreign country. And it is important to recognize that legitimate direct criticism of Jewish groups for their involvement in pressuring universities should not itself be off limits. If the organizations self-identify as Jewish and they are attempting to restrict the discussion on Israel contrary to the First Amendment they become fair game. The First Amendment exists, after all, to permit free and open discussion of all issues and if some Jewish individuals and organizations are mobilizing to deny fundamental American rights on behalf of a foreign nation the rest of us have the responsibility to object forcibly and to make transparent just who is doing what to whom.
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Today’s First Person comes from Daniel Thomsen, a television writer who has worked on staff at Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles and Melrose Place. He has lost eight pounds since the CW passed on his pilot script and isn’t sure whether he needs the beard anymore.
On Twitter, he’s @danielthomsen.
Here is what it means to be a TV writer: You are paid to work in conditions that vastly accelerate the degradation of your body while brainstorming fantasy lives for the select group of your co-workers who work in conditions designed to make their already-exceptional bodies look better than yours ever did or will.
It’s a psychologically fraught occupation for this and other reasons. But mostly this one.
Still, people flock to the profession. Each year we welcome new writers to our ranks and indoctrinate them into a rigid system of dieting and aspirational styling that will stunt their emotional development for years to come. Baby writers just beginning the journey of staring at dailies of shirtless Paul Wesley and pants-less Leighton Meister can typically get by with the organic meal-replacement bars available at Whole Foods.
But by the time the average writer has ascended into the producing ranks, the road has been littered with far too many Starbucks cups and CPK boxes with his or her name scribbled hastily on the side. The fiction that the writer can ever be as physically appealing as his or her thespian counterparts begins to feel hopelessly out of reach.
For those unhappily-bloated hyphenates, this year’s fad diet is something called “The 4-Hour Body.” I know several devotees, including a showrunner who dropped twenty pounds from the first draft of his pilot script to the day of his greenlit table read. This is either a remarkable example of discipline and determination, or a stunning illustration of how many empty calories are required to write a pilot script.
To be clear, I have no idea what the “four hour” aspect of the diet refers to. The three people I asked who are actually on the diet don’t know, either. They just ramble on about not eating fruit, gorging yourself on junk food once a week, and challenging your friends to motivational weight-loss battles via Twitter. Master all that stuff and apparently the “four hour” business never even comes into play.
An oddball little diet, yeah? But it gave me a great idea for a title!
What is staffing season?
It’s the most nerve-wracking time of year for TV writers seeking staff jobs.
Yes, owing to the ever-expanding slate of scripted cable series, there are a scattering of jobs available throughout the year. But you didn’t get any of those jobs, did you? And now all of your eggs are in one basket, aren’t they? The basket of new and returning network series that will be seeking writers for an extremely limited period of time between now and the end of May.
Look, here’s the good news: Chances are you’re in this business for the right reason. Unlike a lot of people, you love television. You know there’s a given amount of crap out there, but you still get excited about all the new ideas. You’re cheering for the showrunners you respect to get a shot at creating their big, fat hits. You don’t mind reading 25 or 30 scripts at breakneck speed because you have fun commiserating with friends and agents about it all.
What’s going to succeed? What’s a trainwreck? I’m sorry, who did you say is writing “Wonder Woman”?
So why’s it so nerve wracking?
Because you don’t have the luxury of separating your enjoyment of television’s artistry from the stark reality that this is your goddamn paycheck for the year. And maybe the next year or two after that.
This is showbiz, where there are a lot more writers than there are job opportunities, and where no one owes you a single ounce of career stability — unless you have at some point worked for Charlie Sheen or Conan O’Brien, and then according to the comment section of Deadline Hollywood, you are always entitled to be taken care of by the studios or the stars themselves whenever trade winds blow the wrong direction.
What’s that? You’re not in one of those two magic kingdoms? Sorry, friend. You’re fucked.
Victimhood is a deeply ingrained trait in all writers, owing to our complicated childhood circumstances, our aforementioned body dysmorphias, our culturally-reinforced entitlements, etc. Here are some great tips to ensure you shoulder the right amount of personal responsibility for staffing season:
Your sample script isn’t good enough.
This is something you’ll undoubtedly hear a lot of, either from your agent or from your inner monologue. You will almost never hear this from executives because they, unlike us, were raised to be polite. If you have an inkling that your primary sample isn’t absolutely killer, you need a better one.
No one gets hired in this town without a killer script — unless you’re Someone Important’s (brother/cousin/personal trainer). And if you’re Someone Important’s (aunt/underage escort/yogi), I really hope you’re not reading John August’s blog right now. I hope you’re poolside at the Standard, commemorating every moment of your life with a Chambord lemon drop in each hand. Because, remember: With great power comes great responsibility.
But that’s them. Back to you: Your sample script is not good enough.
We aren’t always the best judges of our own material, but in this business, we have to be.
A few years ago I wrote a spec pilot about a pro video gamer called “Invincible.” To this day, it’s one of my favorite things I’ve ever written. The script got me a bunch of meetings, but ultimately it didn’t land me any gigs. After six months, I had to admit it wasn’t good enough, and that spurred me to write my next spec pilot, “Physical Graffiti.” The new script got me my first staff job less than a month after I finished it. Moral of the story: Don’t get too precious when your career’s on the line.
While we’re at it: your sample script isn’t in the right genre. I read the Georgetown pilot script for ABC a few days ago and loved it. I impulsively fired off an email to my agent and told him so. He wrote me back with this: “Which sample of yours do you think they’d read for it?” My agent was right. We could send them my spec pilot about genetically-mutated super criminals, but I wouldn’t blame them for not divining the relevance.
Oh, and your sample script should’ve been finished a month ago. Scripts need time to filter through the system. They don’t get read by showrunners before they’ve been read by agents and about five thousand layers of studio and network executives.
Your meeting chops need work.
Writer meetings are weird. We didn’t learn about how they’re supposed to go while we were in college, and they’re usually given by other writers, which means they’re a lot more passive aggressive than they’d be if they were given by trained HR reps.
It’s all on you, the dude who’s probably terrible at selling, to make the best, most specific argument possible that you deserve a spot on the writing staff. Emphasize what’s in your background that informs the types of stories you’ll be telling. Emphasize how much of a genius you are without coming off like a dick.
On a similar note, don’t criticize the show — the creator has probably taken a shine to it.
And here is the single most important bit of meeting advice I can give you from my own vault of experience: If you’re meeting on “Supernatural,” do not bring up the topic of slash fan fiction involving Sam and Dean Winchester. No one’s heart warms to that particular tangent.
Your “brand” needs work.
Network television is a business that functions more efficiently by way of rampant pigeon-holing. This is not evil. This is reality. And it extends to writers.
Hey, there’s a new crime drama on CBS this year! Do you have a strong, procedural sample script? Does your background give you any additional expertise? Are your existing credits in a similar genre? The easier it is to fit you into a particular “box,” the easier it’ll be to find a job.
I share this insight with you as someone who jumped from a show about killer robots to “Melrose Place,” had to explain that jump in every single meeting I took last staffing season, and didn’t get a single job offer before the calendar flipped to June. Talk to your agent about this. Make sure you’re seeing yourself the way everyone else is seeing you.
You don’t know enough people.
Yes, it’s your agent’s responsibility to get you meetings. But, really, it’s a shared responsibility. Hollywood is a tight-knit community where business and social circles overlap like crazy.
I put in five years of personal networking as a PA, writers’ assistant, script coordinator and showrunner’s assistant before I knew enough people to get an agent or a job. And I still find that, even after having worked on staff for three seasons and having sold two pilots, the single greatest predictor of whether or not I’ll succeed in staffing season is how many of my friends get their pilots on the schedule.
Not because anyone ever has or will hire me as a favor, but because in a community of writers, the people who will know my capabilities the best are invariably going to be the people I’m closest to.
So I’m not going to get a job?
You can totally get a job, even in this market. Dozens of writers are going to get offers in the coming weeks at every level — veterans, newbies, people who work every year, people who struggle to work once every few years.
I’ve been in LA since 2002 and every single year, the refrain is always the same: “Ugh, this is the worst year ever, no one’s getting work.” I absolutely believe people have been repeating those words since the days we were all fighting over gigs on radio dramas.
Snagging a staff job requires these things: hard work, self awareness, a killer script, a logical connection between your brand and a show that makes it on the schedule, and a fair bit of fortunate timing.
Remember that staffing is a war of attrition. You might deserve a gig this year, but if that gig falls through due to circumstances out of your control — tough shit. Stay focused on the circumstances you can control and prepare for whatever’s next — development season, cable staffing, Subway sandwich artistry, etc.
Because, congratulations: You’re a writer, and the reason you’re good at it is because your life kinda sucks.
But I’m bitter! Very bitter!
Yeah, duh. So am I. So are people who’ve had multiple shows on the air. Everyone’s bitter. We work in an industry where throngs of people pay dues for years and many of them never hit pay dirt. Where you’ll routinely see friends (and frenemies) become millionaires while you languish in your North Hollywood apartment, wondering how the hell you ended up with a size-38 waist. (Hint: It was all that Americone Dream.)
But here’s the thing: As long as the work is still fun, as long as you keep falling in love with your own ideas and other people seem to like them too, you owe it to yourself to keep at it. Enthusiasm is the antidote to bitterness.
In the spirit of self-help tomes, I feel like I need to leave on some sort of optimistic note. So here it is: Television writing is an asinine way to make a living and staffing season is its most hellish artifact. But if you can find a way to embrace the chaos, you’re only four hours away from having the career of your dreams!
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Christopher Steele, the ex-British spy behind an explosive dossier claiming that Russian intelligence holds compromising information on US President Donald Trump, has formed a new company, IBTimes UK can reveal.
Public records show that Steele has set up Chawton Holdings with his business partner and fellow former intelligence officer, Christopher Burrows.
The company, named after the Hampshire village where novelist Jane Austen spent her final years, was incorporated on 23 June, according to documents filed at Companies House.
Steele, 53, and Burrows, 59, are also directors of Walsingham Partners and Orbis Business Intelligence, the Belgravia-based consultancy the duo founded in London in 2009 and which made more than £1m in profits between 2015 and 2016.
Steele, who quit the UK's Security Intelligence Service (Mi6) the same year he set up Orbis, was forced to go into hiding when he was outed as the dossier author in January and returned to work in March.
"I'm now going to be focusing my efforts on supporting the broader interests of our company here," he told the Press Assocation. "I'd like to say a warm thank you to everyone who sent me kind messages and support over the last few weeks."
The former Cambridge University president had reportedly been commissioned by Washington-based opposition research firm Fusion GPS to investigate potential ties between Trump and Russia.
Steele's findings, which Trump has vigorously denied – branding the dossier "fake news" – were shared with members of the British and US intelligence communities.
Sir Andrew Wood, a former UK ambassador to Russia, also told Republican Senator and Chair of the Armed Services Committee John McCain about the existence of the dossier during a security conference in Halifax, Canada, in November 2016.
The event was held just over a week after Trump beat Democratic Party candidate Hillary Clinton in the presidential election on 8 November.
"I told him I was aware of what was in the report but I had not read it myself, that it might be true, it might be untrue. I had no means of judging really," Wood told BBC Radio 4's Today programme in January.
McCain later reportedly passed the information onto now former FBI Director James Comey, who in turn briefed outgoing President Barack Obama and President-elect Trump about the dossier.
The 35-pages of unverified material was eventually published by BuzzFeed News in January, with the Wall Street Journal naming Steele as the author later that month.
After decades in the shadows, including working in Moscow, leading Mi6's Russia desk in London and investigating corruption in football's international governing body FIFA for the English Football Association, Steele had become a household name.
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The addition of a new 600MW unit to the Sostanj power plant in Slovenia should be substantive enough to force down the price of electricity on the country’s wholesale market, according to traders.
The 600MW block 6, scheduled to begin operation on 15 April, is intended to replace blocks 1-5 at the coal-fired plant. However, plant owner HSE told ICIS on Monday that the 275MW unit 4 is not due for decommissioning until 31 December while the 345MW unit 5 will stay online until the end of 2027.
This means the plant will have a total capacity of 1.2GW from when block 6 begins operation in April until the end of the year.
“The [Slovenian] market is really small, it will definitely put pressure on prices,” said one trader. “Also, regional hydro is very high, there is no fundamental reason why this extra electricity would be exported,” he added.
Block 3 at Sostanj, which has a capacity of 75MW, was decommissioned on 15 February, leaving the plant with a capacity of 620MW until unit 6 comes on line. Units 2 and 1 were taken offline in 2008 and 2010 respectively.
The Sostanj expansion project has already been the subject of controversy after costs spiralled leading to the suspension of the project between December 2013 and May 2014 due to cash flow as well as coal supply problems.
Last week, power plant director Matjaz Eberlinc acknowledged the expansion had proved a heavy financial burden.
“The fact is that the investment in the replacement unit six burdened not only TES, but the entire HSE Group. The next few years will be difficult mainly due to the settlement of liabilities to banks and suppliers, as well as ensuring the smooth operation of the replacement unit 6,” he said. Ellie Chambers
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Yen continues to weaken, how low can it go against $/£/€/AID this week ?
We start the week with the Yen maintained losses as G7 Finance Ministers will allow the yen continue to weaken . FTSE & US market futures looks to open higher .
The Yen hit 102.21 at 4:22am lowest since October 2008 , Nikkei up 177.48points +1.21% .G-7 policy makers said they examined Japan’s strategy
and they will monitor its impact on currencies. They reaffirmed their February
commitment to “not target exchange rates” at a meeting in Aylesbury, near
London, U.K. Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne told reporters .
How low ?
By the end of the week II can see it trading around :
101/102 USD
156/158 GBP
132/134 EURO
101/102 AUD
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-05-12/yen-falls-beyond-102-as-g-7-tolerates-drop-s-p-futures-decline.html
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"""Encode multipart form data to upload files via POST.""" from __future__ import print_function import mimetypes import random import string _BOUNDARY_CHARS = string . digits + string . ascii_letters def encode_multipart ( fields , files , boundary = None ): r"""Encode dict of form fields and dict of files as multipart/form-data. Return tuple of (body_string, headers_dict). Each value in files is a dict with required keys 'filename' and 'content', and optional 'mimetype' (if not specified, tries to guess mime type or uses 'application/octet-stream'). >>> body, headers = encode_multipart({'FIELD': 'VALUE'}, ... {'FILE': {'filename': 'F.TXT', 'content': 'CONTENT'}}, ... boundary='BOUNDARY') >>> print('
'.join(repr(l) for l in body.split('\r
'))) '--BOUNDARY' 'Content-Disposition: form-data; name="FIELD"' '' 'VALUE' '--BOUNDARY' 'Content-Disposition: form-data; name="FILE"; filename="F.TXT"' 'Content-Type: text/plain' '' 'CONTENT' '--BOUNDARY--' '' >>> print(sorted(headers.items())) [('Content-Length', '193'), ('Content-Type', 'multipart/form-data; boundary=BOUNDARY')] >>> len(body) 193 """ def escape_quote ( s ): return s . replace ( '"' , ' \\ "' ) if boundary is None : boundary = '' . join ( random . choice ( _BOUNDARY_CHARS ) for i in range ( 30 )) lines = [] for name , value in fields . items (): lines . extend (( '--{0}' . format ( boundary ), 'Content-Disposition: form-data; name="{0}"' . format ( escape_quote ( name )), '' , str ( value ), )) for name , value in files . items (): filename = value [ 'filename' ] if 'mimetype' in value : mimetype = value [ 'mimetype' ] else : mimetype = mimetypes . guess_type ( filename )[ 0 ] or 'application/octet-stream' lines . extend (( '--{0}' . format ( boundary ), 'Content-Disposition: form-data; name="{0}"; filename="{1}"' . format ( escape_quote ( name ), escape_quote ( filename )), 'Content-Type: {0}' . format ( mimetype ), '' , value [ 'content' ], )) lines . extend (( '--{0}--' . format ( boundary ), '' , )) body = ' \r
' . join ( lines ) headers = { 'Content-Type' : 'multipart/form-data; boundary={0}' . format ( boundary ), 'Content-Length' : str ( len ( body )), } return ( body , headers ) if __name__ == '__main__' : import doctest doctest . testmod ()
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A few issues Report this review Verified buyer Pro Privacy ON (login to see reviewer names) on April 2nd, 2010 Let me start by saying that this a gem for sure, but there are a couple "issues" I want to address. There are 13 effects for $49.95. That's a bit pricey. Of course, there's always the argument that if you get one good effect, it's worth the price, but where do you draw the line. If you got one good effect on a DVD that cost $100,000 dollars, is it worth it?
Obviously that's an extreme example, but we need to consider the current market. Even L&L would not charge $49.95 for this DVD. On a couple of the effects, Glossy Finish for example, while the effect is good, it appears that they "cheated" a little in the performance section. In the explanation, he talked about the get ready for the effect, and it seemed a little bit contrived, and watching the way he performed the effect, I would be hard pressed to believe that he was actually performing it the way he claimed.
Having said all of that, I still believe that the DVD is worth getting. Florida Keys is a brilliantly constructed routine where the key penetrates on and off of the key ring, no gaffs or gimmicks. The explanation of this was a bit rushed, and he left out a few points of the presentation, so a minor disappointment there. 3/4 coins across was a great routine as well. However, it pretty much is Jay Sankey's Mr. Clean Coins Across. Other than the way Wilson stood and held his body as he performed I really didn't see a difference between his routine and Sankey's.
Questionable Trick and the 99 cent trick, were by far my favorite. I also really liked Toll Free. These are three very good coin tricks that are very impromptu and very much within the range of just about any level of experience and most of all they have excellent presentational hooks.
If you didn't already know, it's clear by this DVD that Wilson is a real worker. These are real routines that he does on a regular basis, and everything on the DVD is stuff you can do without having to carry around a bunch of "props."
The effects are performed out "on the streets." The explanations are then filmed in the studio using a beautiful model as an assistant. He then performs the tricks again for her followed by the explanations. Then after the explanation, there's another clip of him performing the effect in the streets again.
Another thing I really liked about the project is that you see a few times when he gets caught trying to steal watches, etc, and you see how he handles it and how he recovers. Also, you really get to see him in his element. It's very entertaining.
There is a section in the performance where he is just doing a bunch of seemingly random stealing and pick pocketing, etc. There is so much going on that when they do the explanation, some stuff is left out. Lots of pros and cons to this project. Overall, I say get it. It's got a lot of great material, and the "missing" stuff and production issues are minor compared to the many Gems you'll find. 17 of 22 magicians found this helpful. Do you want to Did this review help you?Do you want to respond to this review? 17 of 22 magicians found this helpful.
Fantastic Report this review Pro Privacy ON (login to see reviewer names) on April 9th, 2010 I love this video. It is a true example of how powerful impromptu magic can be. These tricks aren't throwaways. They also aren't all easy. They are however, well within the grasp of the average magician.
My favorite routine is Florida Keys. It is a bit knacky but once you have it down it is like riding a bike. I carry this set up everywhere I go. I also like Quicksilver. This is another great routine that can get alot of mileage. Finally, A questionable trick is the ultimate economical trick utilizing a dime and a penny.
There isn't a single thing on this video that I haven't performed at least 10 times. Most I have used more than I have counted. I love it. 9 of 9 magicians found this helpful. Do you want to Did this review help you?Do you want to respond to this review? 9 of 9 magicians found this helpful.
Man Up! Report this review Pro Privacy ON (login to see reviewer names) on December 24th, 2011 Got this with my Choose 5. The thing I like about this DVD, is the principle that sleight of hand is as much a part of magic as the gaffes and gimmicks. Yeah, the DVD costs, but you don't have to buy extra stuff. And you don't have to worry that you've got some gimmick on you. In the old days guys used to do killer magic with billiard balls and cards, with GLOVES on. Try that one out. Learn all these tricks and you will have developed what is called "sleight of hand". Guys don't like it because they have to practice and practice. They want something that will do the magic for them. They're missing out on some killer magic. Man up and learn what it means to do it the "hard" way. Add to cart, and start practicing. 5 of 5 magicians found this helpful. Did this review help you? 5 of 5 magicians found this helpful.
ADD TO CART Report this review Pro Privacy ON (login to see reviewer names) on May 7th, 2010 I did buy this DVD as part of my 5 DVDs for 99 offer about a year ago. I just had time today to write up a review of this excellent product.
I don't usually do this but this is a very good product that you should add to your cart.
I'll admit the price is a bit steep and out of all the tricks, the only two I hated was the one where Greg was throwing paper balls around and the ring stab, but that's just my opinion.
Other than that, the teaching is very clear. There are several tricks in this DVD that can be "reputation makers." One of my favorites is glossy finish, where lipstick just somehow appears on your spectator's hand.
You must add this to your library if you're interested in street magic. 3 of 3 magicians found this helpful. Do you want to Did this review help you?Do you want to respond to this review? 3 of 3 magicians found this helpful.
The DVD for when you are On the Spot Report this review Pro Privacy ON (login to see reviewer names) on April 3rd, 2010 This DVD gives you reason to perform magic anywhere you go at anytime. The DVD has some effects that really stand out.
3/4 coins across- This is visual and done literally right under their nose. 1 coin goes across one at a time, and in a visual way. Don't pass this one up it uses a sleight that most beginners won't be comfortable using but I get into it quick and snug
Recap- And impromptu misdirection fooler with a Pen and it's cap. You can end at any phase you'd like. But don't pass up all the phases. You have a full pen and cap routine that is easy and visual.
Quick Silver - Not your uncles quarter trick.. This is fast pace and deceptive. And not for the faint of heart. Work on your sleights and you have a hilarious quarter routine.
Get this DVD. It gives you magic that will fool people and magic that you and your spectators will have fun watching. 3 of 3 magicians found this helpful. Do you want to Did this review help you?Do you want to respond to this review? 3 of 3 magicians found this helpful.
Gregory is the Best Report this review Pro Privacy ON (login to see reviewer names) on April 22nd, 2010 I've watched a few DVDs of other magicians but when you watch a Gregory Wilson DVD you learn a lot more. I found this DVD very easy to follow and the tricks don't take long in learning and I would say that this is good value for your money. 2 of 2 magicians found this helpful. Do you want to Did this review help you?Do you want to respond to this review? 2 of 2 magicians found this helpful.
Fantastic Report this review Pro Privacy ON (login to see reviewer names) on April 6th, 2010 Gregory Wilson is a true technician when it comes to his magic and you will love some of the tricks in this and other DVD's by him. There is something for every magician and performing situation in this DVD. Forget your cards for a moment and have a great time with the tricks in this DVD. Must have add to cart. 2 of 2 magicians found this helpful. Do you want to Did this review help you?Do you want to respond to this review? 2 of 2 magicians found this helpful.
Greg is a funny guy Report this review Pro Privacy ON (login to see reviewer names) on April 5th, 2010 Every magician should know how to use everyday objects on the spot.Greg does a great job presenting these routines in an entertaining fashion. I felt that the DVD could use some more content in this price range.
Beginners should expect to practice a great deal before presenting any of the routines in this DVD. 2 of 3 magicians found this helpful. Do you want to Did this review help you?Do you want to respond to this review? 2 of 3 magicians found this helpful.
Not bad, but if you are a newbie like me, you probably won't be performing anything too quickly. Report this review Verified buyer Pro Privacy ON (login to see reviewer names) on April 30th, 2013 This is a well-presented and well-made video, very entertaining and informative. But it's not really geared toward a newbie. I'm glad I got this, but most of the contents won't even make it into my practice routine until I've spent a lot more time learning some basic sleight-of-hand. In the meantime, it's given me a few moves to start practicing, and some goals to reach for. I look forward to actually having the skills to perform some of these sometime down the road. 2 of 4 magicians found this helpful. Do you want to Did this review help you?Do you want to respond to this review? 2 of 4 magicians found this helpful.
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You may not have noticed, but the general election campaign started this week. I say that for two reasons:
Mitt Romney’s victory in Wisconsin pretty well seals his nomination. Republicans understand now: No white knight is coming to save them. It’s Romney or four more years of Obama.
President Obama’s speech Tuesday was essentially a keynote address for the fall campaign.
We can already see what that campaign will be like. Romney won the GOP nomination by raising massive amounts of money and carpet-bombing any prospective rival with negative ads. President Obama is projected to raise just under a billion dollars. In either case, you really can’t spend that kind of money on warm, fuzzy stuff. Constant advertising annoys people, so the best you can hope for is to transfer their annoyance to your opponent.
Given how politics has been going, we can anticipate that major issues will be dodged, misrepresented, and even lied about. The media, which ought to be ferreting out the information voters need to make a wise choice, will instead focus on whatever gaffes or stinging comebacks they can find or manufacture, no matter how irrelevant or trivial.
That’s a shame, because there really is an important debate to be had. I don’t claim to know what Mitt Romney believes in his heart – recently his campaign has suggested that we don’t know his “real views” yet – but I know what his party and the conservative movement stands for. Similarly, I’m never sure exactly how much liberalism President Obama is going to defend, but I have a good idea what liberalism means.
It’s a significant contrast. A honest debate between those two worldviews, resulting in a clear choice by a well-informed electorate, would be a tremendous plus for this country.
OK, it won’t happen. But we shouldn’t just shrug and let the candidates off the hook. Even as we see the waters start to circle around the sewer drain, let’s review what this campaign should be about.
1. Inequality. We’ve been in a vicious cycle for 30 years now: The rich get richer; they use that money to buy more political power; and then they use that political power to lower their taxes, weaken the the regulations they have to follow, and otherwise game the system in their favor – plus make it easier to buy political power.
The Republican Party has been the main (but not the only) vehicle for the rich, so it will be interesting to see whether President Obama succeeds in raising this issue, or if conservatives manage to label it all as envy and class warfare. I thought Obama laid it out pretty well Tuesday:
In this country, broad-based prosperity has never trickled down from the success of a wealthy few. It has always come from the success of a strong and growing middle class. … And yet, for much of the last century, we have been having the same argument with folks who keep peddling some version of trickle-down economics. They keep telling us that if we’d convert more of our investments in education and research and health care into tax cuts — especially for the wealthy — our economy will grow stronger. … Now, the problem for advocates of this theory is that we’ve tried their approach — on a massive scale. The results of their experiment are there for all to see.
2. The National Security State. At a time when government is supposed to be tightening its belt, we continue to spend more on defense than all our potential enemies put together. Is that really necessary? How much money could we save with a less aggressive foreign policy that didn’t inject us into every conflict?
Would the world really be a worse place? We’ll never know how the Arab Spring would have handled Saddam if we hadn’t spent all that blood and treasure in Iraq.
And then there’s the internal effect on our liberty and democracy. Government surveillance gets ever more intrusive, and more and more of the government’s actions are secret. How necessary is that?
The opposing case is that the world is a dangerous place, and would be even more dangerous if the US didn’t police it. Maybe Norway can keep its freedom defended with (and from) a relatively small security force, but the US doesn’t have that option.
It’s President Obama’s fault that we won’t have this discussion. (Ron Paul was the only Republican candidate who wanted to talk about it.) He has largely continued the Bush national security policies rather than challenge them.
3. Climate change. There are lots of legitimate liberal/conservative issues to hash out concerning how to deal with climate change: Should we lower CO2 by market mechanisms (cap and trade), by a carbon tax, or by direct government regulation? Should we bargain hard to get other countries to do their part, or should we take the lead? What CO2 level should we be shooting for and how fast should we try to get there? How do we balance the expense of current CO2 reduction versus investments in future research? Can geo-engineering play a role?
We aren’t having those debates because the fossil fuel corporations have spent enormous amounts of money to make the existence of climate change the issue, when in fact the science is well established. The Republican Party has been acting as a wholely-owned subsidiary of the fossil fuel companies, and some Democrats have also been either bought or intimidated by energy-industry cash.
4. The Deficit. Elsewhere I’ve presented the idea that the deficit is not the doomsday device many would have you believe. But it is a symptom of a broken political process. Congress’ main job is to figure out what we as a people want to buy and how we’re going to pay for it. If it can’t do that, what can it do?
A big chunk of the problem is the misinformed electorate. Survey after survey shows that we grossly overestimate how much money is spent on welfare, foreign aid, and whatever National-Endowment-for-the-Arts-type program we find most offensive. We also grossly underestimate how many government services we use personally, and we’re misinformed about how our taxes compare to Americans of recent decades. (Hint: Our taxes are far lower, especially for corporations and the wealthy.)
About half the country thinks we can eliminate the deficit with spending cuts that don’t touch “programs that benefit people like you”. That wishful thinking allows candidates to get away with proposing big-but-vague spending cuts that exempt defense, Social Security, and Medicare — just about everything we spend big on.
5. Immigration. Both liberals and conservatives are conflicted about immigration. There is no ideologically pure answer to our immigration problem, which is why the conversation never goes anywhere.
The centuries-old dream of American employers is to have a workforce that can’t vote. So their ideal is to have temporary foreign-worker programs: We bring people in for ten years or so, get them to work hard for very little money, and then send them home.
But working-class whites see immigrants-taking-American-jobs as one of the social changes they want the Republican Party to protect them from. Hence the rhetoric about rounding up the millions of undocumented Hispanic workers and sending them home.
The last thing the Republican Party wants is millions of poor, non-white new citizens — who would probably vote for Democrats. Democrats would like that, but the unions that support Democrats probably wouldn’t, for the same reason as conservative working-class whites.
Everybody agrees that we shouldn’t have millions of undocumented people wandering around. It’s a security risk, makes our worker-protection rules unenforcible, and generally undermines the rule of law. But since neither side has a solution it wants to take to the voters, both will posture about the issue rather than try to make progress.
6. Health care. Our health care system is a mess. We spend way more per person than any other country, and we get worse results. This is a great country for someone as rich as Dick Cheney to get a heart transplant, but it’s a terrible country for a poor pregnant woman to get pre-natal care. When you average it out, our life expectancy sucks and we lead the industrialized world in unnecessary deaths.
ObamaCare (like the RomneyCare it’s based on) is an imperfect first step at reform. I think it gives away far too much to health insurance companies and drug companies, but that’s politics. If Congress repeals it or the Supreme Court throws it out, we’re essentially nowhere, because the “replace” part of the Republican “repeal and replace” slogan is just a word; there is no actual plan that addresses any of the substantive issues.
And liberals shouldn’t let Obama say “Done now.” ObamaCare has a lot of holes that need filling.
7. The future of democracy. This issue runs through a lot of the others. Ideally, individual voters would educate themselves about the issues that concern them and elect candidates to represent their views. If they really felt strongly, they’d donate $20 or $50 to a campaign.
We’re far, far away from that ideal, and moving farther all the time. The Supreme Court has ruled that money equals speech, and that more speech is better than less. So elections are dominated by massive spending that produces better propaganda — not better educated voters.
In addition, while voters may wake up in time for an election, the big-money interests never sleep. Defeat some special-interest measure like SOPA, and within a few months it will be back in a different form. The big banks can hire entire staffs of lobbyists to write loopholes into new regulations. Voters don’t have the time to ferret that stuff out, and if they did, they couldn’t organize themselves fast enough to do anything about it.
We aren’t having this discussion because no candidate who took it seriously could raise enough money. Worse, neither party even has an ideal vision of how to handle it. The closest thing to a practical reform vision I’ve seen so far is Lawrence Lessig’s.
Resist. Chances are, this election will be decided by something stupid: a blip in the unemployment numbers, a new Romney gaffe on the Etch-a-Sketch scale, or Obama’s inability to prove that he is not a shape-shifter from the Gamma Quadrant. Heck, we’ve had elections decided on the Pledge of Allegiance.
But we don’t have to give in to that. Collectively, social networking ought to give us Arab-Spring-level power, if we exercise it. We can refuse to respond to nonsense. We can keep coming back to the real issues. It may not work in this cycle. But eventually, we might be able to drag the candidates back to what’s important.
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Time for Newspapers to Retract Endorsements for Hillary
Look far and wide and you'll find that nearly every major newspaper in the country has endorsed Hillary Clinton for president. But surprise! The ongoing Wikileaks dumps, coupled with the re-opening of the FBI's investigation regarding Clinton's reckless use of emails, shows the unbelievable and indisputable corruption of Mrs. Clinton's during her tenure as Secretary of State and that of the Clinton Foundation. The sordid behavior of the Clintons as they wormed their way to massive wealth is finally breaking into the consciousness of the general public, and it stinks to high heaven.
In light of what is now known, how can these newspaper endorsements stand? If these news outlets hope to retain even a fig leaf of credibility for their often-made claims that they stand for good government, they need to immediately retract these endorsements. This does not mean the papers have to come out for Donald Trump, but continuing to stand by Hillary Clinton is truly beyond the pale. To do so would make the media complicit with the Clinton corruption machine and guilty after the fact of their acts. If these newspapers don't have the courage to do the right thing here, they will rightfully be indicted for willful blindness and add to the growing realization that the mainstream media is in the tank for the Clintons, come hell or high water. Write to any local or regional newspaper in your area that has endorsed Hillary Clinton and demand they retract it.
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Every day, when you wake up, you have a choice. You can live your day the simple way, or you live it the complex way.
If you choose the simple way, it has many benefits. You feel less stressed, less anxious, and less tired throughout the day. And that also means you feel more relaxed, more peaceful, and more energetic throughout the day.
But if you don’t live a simple life yet, then you need to make changes to the choices you make in your daily life. Your life will be simple, only if you choose to make it simple.
Your body and your brain are only good at doing one thing at a time. Also, they can only work to a certain limit each day; go beyond that limit, and you’ll feel burned out the next day.
That’s why it makes sense to live your life in a way that gets all your work done, and yet leave you with enough energy to do other important things in your life like meditation, exercise, or spending some quality time with your family.
And to make sure that all your important work gets done, you should try to make them as simple as possible.
If you try, you can make each and every aspect of your life simple.
If you feel you don’t have enough time for your kids or family, then you can make some time by watching less tv, reading less online, and consuming less of facebook or twitter.
If you think you are depressed or stressed out, then you can unwind yourself by doing more meditation which helps you declutter your mind and bring you inner peace.
I agree, these things are not easy to do. But if you want to live a simple life then you have to let go your old bad habits, and make some new good ones. You have to make the right choices every time, and more often these choices will be the ones that are simple in nature.
The possibilities to make your life simple are endless.
But, first, you have to decide if you want a simple life or not. If yes, then you have to observe all the things you do in a typical day, and then think upon what you can do to make each one of them simple.
When you see others live a simple life, it’s not because they have more money or less work than you, but because they have made the right choices in their life to make their life simple. You, too, should make the choices that help you live a simple life.
You start living a simple life the moment you decide to live simple. And not when you wait for things to become simple for you.
Simple living is a choice. The important thing to ask yourself is – are you prepared to make this choice and act on it every day in your life?
Thank you for your time. If you like this article, please share it with others and help me reach more people like you.
Get Started With a Life of Peace, Happiness, Meaning & Purpose Signup for my free newsletter below, and I'll show you how to find all that and more by using the path of mindfulness and meditation 100% Privacy. I won't rent, share or sell your email. Unsubscribe anytime.
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While the majority of Android users might still be a version or two behind despite some impressive upgrade numbers for KitKat, Google appears to be prepping the first update to KitKat with Android 4.4.1. A look at our analytics shows hits from a number of devices running 4.4.1 originating from Google’s home turf in Santa Clara, California. Above we can see a huge increase in hits from 4.4.1 devices over the last week.
Among the devices are both phones and tablets including the Nexus 4, Nexus 5, and Nexus 7:
Best iPhone, iPad, & Apple TV game controllers
The Android 4.4 KitKat update is still only available to handful of devices including the Nexus devices mentioned above and the Nexus 10, while it’s slowly rolling out for Moto X users and Google Play Edition phones. We aren’t the first ones to notice 4.4.1, Gottabemobile echoes a rumor from HTC ROM developer LLabTooFeR that the HTC One Google Play Edition will get an update to 4.4.1 (KOT49E) in the “near future.”
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An ordinance that bans the use of searchlights and laser beams, aimed at protecting starry nights for tourists and residents, was enacted Thursday in Tottori Prefecture in what appears to be the first of its kind at a prefectural level.
The ordinance, adopted by a majority vote at the Tottori Prefectural Assembly, bans the use of floodlights outdoors when they are not directed at a specific object. The use of such lights for purposes such as disaster prevention is still permitted.
Areas offering the best views of the night sky have been designated as “starry sky preservation areas” under the ordinance, with stricter rules set for the installation and use of lighting apparatus in those areas.
The prefecture has launched a “Catch the Star” campaign to attract tourists, saying the Milky Way is visible from any part of Tottori and that shooting stars can be seen even when a meteor shower is not taking place.
Repeated violators of the ordinance will face a penalty of up to ¥50,000 ($440). The ordinance is scheduled to take effect next April.
“It was great that (assembly members) recognized the value of a starlit sky and agreed to preserve it,” Gov. Shinji Hirai told reporters, adding that the prefecture wanted to promote its rich natural environment to many people.
The prefecture has a map on its website that shows recommended stargazing sites.
Similar ordinances to preserve starry night views have been adopted in the city of Ibara in Okayama Prefecture and the village of Takayama in Gunma Prefecture.
Ordinances set by Saga and Okayama prefectures to comprehensively conserve the environment have a clause restricting floodlight irradiation but not specifically for the purpose of preserving the night sky, according to the Tottori Prefectural Government.
Other local governments are also trying to attract tourists by promoting clear, starry skies.
The village of Achi, Nagano Prefecture, started holding an off-season stargazing tour at ski resorts in 2012. The tour proved popular, and the village now offers it throughout the year. Last year it drew around 150,000 people.
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Nick Stevens, former Carlton and Port Adelaide player, jailed over domestic violence charges
Updated
Former AFL footballer Nick Stevens, who showed "no remorse" after bashing his former partner, has been released on bail after being sentenced to eight months in jail on charges relating to domestic violence.
Stevens was found guilty in January of assault, threats to kill and intentionally causing injury to his ex-partner while they were dating in 2012 and 2013.
The 34-year-old, who played 231 games for Carlton and Port Adelaide before retiring in 2009, told his former girlfriend he was going to kill her and her dad after smashing her face into a tiled kitchen wall, the court heard.
He also caused grazing to her face on a separate occasion by pushing her head into the outside wall of a house, and pushed and kicked her when she threw wine at him during a fight.
In sentencing, Magistrate Nunzio La Rosa said Stevens had shown no remorse for his actions.
The magistrate said the pair had lived together and loved each other but "violence by men against women, put in an intimate setting, is to be condemned in stern terms".
"That your career has suffered there is no doubt, but there is no legal basis to differentiate him from others simply because they have more to lose or have lost more," Mr La Rosa said.
Stevens' lawyer launched an appeal against the sentence and the former AFL star was released on bail until the hearing in April.
Outside court Stevens told reporters he respected the court's decision and had no further comment.
The Ringwood Magistrates Court previously heard Stevens had also breached an intervention order more than 2,500 times in two months, mostly in text messages to his former girlfriend.
Many of the messages were abusive and threatened self-harm, the court also heard.
Stevens pleaded guilty to breaching the intervention order.
He had been coaching SANFL club Glenelg but was sacked after being found guilty of the charges.
Topics: courts-and-trials, domestic-violence, australian-football-league, sport, melbourne-3000
First posted
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Today, U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions announced that the Justice Department “plan[s] to develop policies to increase forfeitures.” Sessions also declared that “adoptive forfeitures are appropriate as is sharing with our partners,” which suggests plans to undo a widely praised ban on “adoptive” seizures, implemented by then-U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder in January 2015.
Following the Attorney General’s remarks, Institute for Justice Senior Attorney Darpana Sheth released this statement:
“Today’s announcement is a disheartening setback in the fight to protect Americans’ private property rights. Ordinary Americans see that civil forfeiture is unconstitutional, and 24 states have taken steps to roll back civil forfeiture laws. The Attorney General’s plan to increase forfeitures is jarringly out of step with those positive developments. Both the Republican and Democratic Party platforms slammed the use of civil forfeiture and called for reform. A recent poll found that 84 percent of Americans opposed the practice. And due to the ability of police and prosecutors to keep forfeiture proceeds, forfeiture has practically become an industry, incentivizing law enforcement to pursue forfeiture rather than crime. A 2015 report by the Institute for Justice, Policing for Profit, found that over $21.9 billion had been deposited into the Justice Department’s Assets Forfeiture Fund from 2001 to 2014. And 87 percent of DOJ’s forfeitures were civil, not criminal, meaning owners could forfeit their property even if they were not convicted. Reversing the ban on adoptive seizures would revive one of the most notorious forms of forfeiture abuse. So-called “adoptive” seizures allow state and local law enforcement to circumvent state-law limitations on civil forfeiture by seizing property and then transferring it to federal prosecutors for forfeiture under federal law. Bringing back adoptive seizures would create a road map to circumvent state-level forfeiture reforms. The Attorney General’s plans give a new urgency for state legislators to follow the lead of Arizona, Colorado and several other states that have passed measures to stop state and local law enforcement from using federal law to circumvent state-law protections for property owners. And they also show why it is vitally important for Congress to follow the lead of the states and enact federal forfeiture reform.”
According to a blockbuster Inspector General report released in March of this year, from 2007 to 2014, the ATF, DEA and the FBI adopted around 32,000 seizures worth a collective $880 million. Holder’s order reduced “the annual number of DEA cash seizures by over half and the annual value of DEA cash seizures by more than a third.”
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The dance music industry underwent a monumental shift over the last year or so, which we have covered extensively. In the wake of 2016, numerous festivals left this earth and left plenty of devastated fans in their wake. However by April 2017 it seemed like things have leveled off and maybe even expanding again.
However there are troubling signs that yet another festival is on its deathbed, and it comes from a very familiar source. Mysteryland is another festival from ID&T, the creators of Tomorrowland. When TomorrowWorld came to America, Mysteryland was similarly expanded to the infamous Woodstock grounds. While TomorrowWorld seemingly took its final bow in 2015, Mysteryland USA soldiered on with a shift in focus. When SFX emerged from bankruptcy as LiveStyle, the management went out of its way to let us know that Mysteryland would be going after the Coachella pop music vibe.
For the latest Mysteryland, the lineup has been announced however it was less than impressive. On top of that, Mysteryland sent out a an email indicating that all official communications would cease several weeks ago. There has also been 0 social media activity from the festival since March 31. Obviously that set off a few alarm bells, but now EDMIdentity is reporting that its own sources are indicating a full cancellation is coming. Given what we’ve seen from cancelled festival in the past and what we’ve seen from Mysteryland recently, we tend to agree.
Regardless of what happens in the US, Mysteryland’s European counterpart is not connected to LiveStyle and is unaffected by these developments. However that would mean Electric Zoo remains the only major New York City area EDM festival left. Did you buy a ticket to Mysteryland USA 2017 and are you concerned?
Source: EDMIdentity
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So I’ve got a project coming up (that may have something to do with this tweet) that will require a few LED matrix displays. I found a suitable candidate online and ordered one to play around with. Since I already had the display, I thought it’d be fun to run it through the paces and build a little circuit out of it using some parts I had lying around.
What I came up with is the “Laser Doodler.”
Concept
So when this display arrived in the mail, I wanted something to do with it so I could get accustomed to the pinout and LED intensity. I thought it would be fun to create a simple display that can be “drawn on” with a light source. An LED would work, but using a laser allows you to doodle from across the room if your hand is steady enough.
Sensor Matrix
In order to accomplish this, the display needed to alternate between being a display and being a sensor. During its sensor stage, it records where the laser dot is located, and during its display stage, it lights up the LED associated with the laser dot’s position. But how do you make an LED matrix into a sensor matrix?
A while back, I wrote an article about using LEDs as light sensors. If you want to have any idea what’s going on in this post, I highly suggest you read that one first. In short, when you reverse bias an LED, it will pass a small amount of current that is proportional to the intensity of the incident light that is equal or greater in frequency than the light the LED normally emits (i.e. green LEDs can’t detect red light). Because small units of current are difficult to measure directly, I instead allowed that current to charge a very small capacitor and timed how long it took to charge up. Higher current -> faster charge.
That demonstration was an incredibly quick and dirty hack, and it only worked for a single LED. In order to make an entire display function, I needed to multiply that by 64. Before getting into how this is done, let’s get to know our display a little better.
Displaying
The display is a BL-M12A883DUG-11 which I found on Adafruit for $7. The display has 64 red and 64 green LEDs so you get a total of three colors available (amber if you turn red and green on at the same time).
The device has two parallel rows of 12 pins each. The pin pitch is .1″ as usual, but for some reason, the two rows are just .05″ short of half an inch apart. Sort of odd. I had to bend the pins slightly to fit them in my breadboard.
You might be wondering how the heck you drive 64×2 LEDs off of just 24 pins. The answer is: you don’t.
This design only allows you to drive one row of the display (green and red together) at a time. Take a look at page two of the datasheet. You’ll note two different schematics. This display is the “A” model, so make sure you only look at the schematic on the left (mixing those two up cost me an hour of design time).
You’ll see that all of the cathodes of a single row of LEDs are tied together. Once the cathodes for a row are held low (and the rest of the rows are held high), the pins along the columns allow you to choose which LEDs to illuminate specifically. Any column pin that is high at this time will cause its associated LED for that row to light up.
The resistors were added to act as current limiting resistors for the LEDs.
Once these LEDs have been lit for a while, the cathode for that row can be pulled high shutting off all the LEDs in the row. Then the next cathode down is held low and the process continues.
If you scan through the rows like this fast enough, it will appear that all rows are lit up simultaneously. Of course, you have to be careful to light up each row for an equal amount of time or you’ll end up with some rows looking brighter than others.
This process requires you to have 24 pins that can be individually addressed. Unfortunately, the ATmega48a micro controller that I used doesn’t have quite enough output pins. To make it work, I first connected the cathodes to the 8 pins of Port D and the green anodes to the pins of Port B with the exception of pin 6. Pin 6 of Port B can also be used as an external oscillator pin which means that it has slightly weakened drive capabilities when configured as an I/O pin. This would cause one column of my display to be slightly dimmer than the rest. To solve this, I used a pin of Port C instead. I made sure to connect the pins in the right order so that pin 0 of Port D connected to the first column of LEDs. This made my software a little bit simpler.
With the green LEDs accounted for, I moved on to the red. I connected the red LED anodes to the output pins of a 74HCT573 Octal Latch that I had lying around. An octal latch has 8 inputs and 8 outputs. When the chip’s latch enable pin is held high, it connects its 8 inputs to its 8 outputs. When the pin is subsequently held low, it locks the output pins in their current orientation. This allows you to change the input pins without affecting the output.
So with my 8 output pins connected to my LEDs, I connected the 8 input pins to Port B. This effectively lets me “double up” on my Port B output capabilities. In order to display red and green on the LEDs, I had to output the pattern for the red LEDs, set the latch, and then set the output for the green LEDs.
To prevent any weird and unsightly glitches during this process, I set all of the Port D pins high so no light would come out of the display.
This is a diagram of the connections made for one pixel. The wires are color coded to the wires I used on my breadboard. The “LE” line is “Latch Enable” and is connected to one of the pins of Port C.
So that’s the easy part. Now the question is how to make the display into a sensor.
Sensing
This trick takes advantage of the fact that the Port D and Port B pins can be used as inputs or outputs. When set as an input, a pin will not be driven to either ground nor +V (assuming the internal pull up resistor is turned off). It will be loosely connected to ground though through a nearly infinite resistance, but for our purposes, we can say that it’s “floating”. Its voltage will be read by the micro controller, and as soon as it passes a threshold (in this case 3V assuming the chip is powered from 5V), the software on the micro controller will read it as a logical “1”. For more details, you should read the light-sensor article I linked above.
The real tricky part is selecting the pins so that only one LED sensor is read. Let’s start by reading the pixel in the top left corner.
In this state, all of the LEDs in the top row are reverse-biased, and are all already passing a small amount of current to ground (depending on how much light is hitting them).
All of the other rows are set to high-impedance inputs. I won’t be reading them, but I do need them to be completely disconnected from the circuit. If they were simply set to +V, then their row’s LEDs would also start passing current and skewing my readings. If they were set to ground, they would begin sinking current and also skewing results.
Note that at the small currents we’re dealing with, the current limiting resistors play a negligible role.
So with the LED’s all reverse-biased, it’s now time to release one of the LEDs from ground and begin reading it.
Here “IN” is the high impedance input of the micro controller. You’ll note the capacitor that I added. This capacitor represents all of the parasitic capacitance on the circuit. It will vary from pin to pin, but with all the wire and the copper rows in the breadboard, you can anticipate it being around a few picofarads.
As current continues to pass through this LED, the voltage across that capacitor will rise. Timing how long it takes will tell you how much light is hitting the LED.
If you were really clever, you could actually read the entire top row at once (well, all the green LEDs anyway). This might prove difficult though, because this whole process can happen fairly quickly (only a few picofarads, remember?), and the code necessary to keep time and record results takes some time to complete. You might run into an issue where a second capacitor charges up while you are still recording the results from the first one. This will cause some data loss and present some issues. To avoid this, I just scanned one pixel at a time repeating this process between scans.
All of the other LEDs can be scanned using a similar process simply by reassigning the micro controller pins appropriately.
Optimization
The biggest issue I ran across was time. This process needs to take place very quickly so that it can change back to display mode without the user noticing. Some of these pixels can take entire seconds to charge up depending on how much light is in the room. To save time, I implemented a time-out where the code gives up if the capacitor isn’t charged all the way after a set amount of time has elapsed. Basically, the sensor doesn’t care how dark the pixel is as long as it’s darker than a laser-illuminated pixel should be.
To make it even faster, I opted to only scan one row each time before switching back to display mode. This reduced the amount of display flicker at the cost of reducing the scan rate. With this in place, the display is less responsive to fast-moving doodles.
Calibration
Remember how I said that the parasitic capacitance varies from pin to pin? This presents a problem as this along with some variation from LED to LED means that some pins might charge up much more rapidly than others with the same amount of light. To address this problem, I created a simple calibration routine that runs when the device is first turned on.
This routine simply measures the charge time of each pixel under ambient light and stores it in a table. If a pixel charges a little faster than the value recorded in the table, that pixel is considered “on”. Basically, each pixel gets its own threshold value.
Code
Here’s a sample of my code from the scan routine. This routine scans a single row at a time (“column” is a global variable) and is called once after every display refresh:
void scanrow(void) { //Port C: //PIN0 = LATCH OE //PIN1 = LATCH ENABLE (latch is for red ANODES) //PIN2 = PORTB.6 //PIN3 = Reset display //PIN4 = Draw in red //Port B: Green Anodes //Port D: Cathodes uint16_t time; uint8_t row=0; //make the latch output pins all low PORTC = PORTC | 1; //turn off latch output enable PORTB = 0; fixportc(); //a small routine to address //the Port B Pin 6 problem. PORTC = PORTC | 2; //Set the latch and enable outputs. PORTC = PORTC & ~2; //advance to new column since last time this routine was called if (column<8) { column++; } else { column=0; } for (row=0;row<8;row++) { time=maxtime; //maxtime is a global variable //that sets the pixel scanning timeout PORTB = 0X00; //bring all red anodes to ground //set up row PORTB = (1<<row); DDRB = (1<<row); //all other rows are set as fixportc(); //high impedance inputs //set up column; DDRD = 0XFF; //all columns are driven low PORTD = 0; _delay_ms(2); //small delay to ensure that everything //has settled before beginning measurement. //this calculation is done ahead of time to save time //during the timing loop uint8_t temp = (1<<column); //release column and start timing DDRD = 0; //wait until the pin goes high or the timer runs to zero while (!(PIND&temp)&&time) { time--; //decrements are faster than increments } //compare time to time recorded in threshold table. if (time>thresholdtable[row][column]) { //set pixels in the framebuffer depending on //state of red drawing button if ((PINC&0b10000)) framebuffergreen[row] = \ framebuffergreen[row]|(1<<column); else framebufferred[row] = \ framebufferred[row]|(1<<column); } //set everything back to normal DDRD = 0XFF; DDRB = 0XFF; fixportc(); } }
Here are some notes on the code segment:
The 2ms delay as it turns out is absolutely vital. Before my lasers arrived in the mail, I was testing this circuit using a flashlight. Using the flashlight didn’t require this delay. My guess is that with such a powerful laser pointer dot, quite a bit of charge will fill up the parasitic capacitors and this charge might then flow into neighboring cells. Before adding this delay, sometimes an entire row lit up at once. This is a similar effect to CCD blooming. The delay allows everything to settle into a predictable state before beginning measurement.
The calibration routine looks almost exactly like this except it takes the timer results, adds 1, and stores them in a table. This means that the threshold is always 1 unit shorter than the ambient light time (for a noisy environment, adding a number larger than 1 might be appropriate). For some of the pixels, charge time is so slow that basically any time the timer doesn’t run out entirely should be considered an “on” condition. The calibration routine accounts for that.
The timing loop was optimized to make it as quick as possible. The faster that loop iterates, the finer your timing resolution.
Besides this routine, the rest of the code basically just sets up a timer interrupt. Each time this interrupt is called, it displays a different row of the image. When all rows have been displayed, it scans a row using the above routine and then repeats the process.
Demonstration
Here you can see my display in action:
Conclusion
So the display isn’t the greatest. I had to play with my camera to produce the above video. Looking at it normally, you can visually see it flicker. The LEDs are also not very bright. In addition, you have to draw on it very slowly for it not to miss pixels. The last section of the video was sped up to save your boredom. If you were to draw on it that quickly normally, it would miss most of the pixels.
Despite these issues, I think it works phenomenally well as a proof of concept. I don’t plan on pursuing it any further, but if someone were to take up the reins and optimize/improve the code, I suspect a very fast response time and bright display could be made in a similar fashion.
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Former Iranian president Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani has revealed that Pakistan played a vital role in the development of his country's nuclear programme during the 1980s. However, it is not clear if the nuclear technology was sanctioned by the Pakistani government or run by its former nuclear czar, Abdul Qadeer Khan.
Rafsanjani, who served as Iran's president from 1989-1997, has revealed that Iran received designs and technology from Pakistan, which included 4,000 used centrifuges for enriching uranium. He said Iran was considering pursuing a nuclear deterrent capability when it began its atomic programme in the wake of the 1979 revolution.
"Abdul Qadeer Khan believed that the Islamic world had to have a nuclear bomb... The Pakistanis agreed to help us somewhat. We were at war, and we wanted to have such an option for the day our enemies wanted to use nuclear weapons. This was our state of mind," Rafsanjani said in an interview published by website Iran's Nuclear Hope. Rafsanjani said he and Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Khamenei tried to meet AQ Khan when they were in Pakistan to set up a nuclear deal but were unsuccessfully.
In the wake of the 1979 revolution, the Germans had abandoned Iran's nuclear programme, which is when "I began thinking of alternative approaches", he said. "We had talks with the Pakistanis, a scientist called Mr Abdal-Qadir Khan (AQ Khan)," Rafsanjani said in the interview with Etemad newspaper.
"It was agreed that they (Pakistan) should help us a bit – for example, by delivering second-hand first-generation centrifuges, along with some designs – so that we could build it ourselves. Gradually, we started the work... The Pakistanis gave us 4,000 second-hand first-generation centrifuges, along with designs," he said.
Iran was also helped by China, who "in Saghand drilled very deep wells until we reached uranium", Rafsanjani said. "The Isfahan UCF (uranium conversion facility) was built by the Chinese. They produced the plans. We gave the Chinese $60 million for Isfahan, but they left the job unfinished," he said. "All sorts of black market offers", were on the table with "some offering us 90% enriched uranium, others 100%, and others offered technology."
Islamabad claims Khan was the one who gave away the nuclear technology to countries such as Iran, Libya and North Korea. He was placed under house arrest in 2004 after he confessed to supplying nuclear technology to other countries, but later said he had acted on the instructions of successive governments. In 2009, most of the restrictions imposed on Khan were lifted. However, the US or International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) investigators have not been allowed to question him.
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Are you interested in keeping track of what is happening in the open source cloud? Opensource.com is your source for news in OpenStack, the open source cloud infrastructure project.
OpenStack around the web
From news sites to developer blogs, there's a lot being written about OpenStack every week. Here are a few highlights.
OpenStack discussions
OpenStack is developed out in the open, and many of the conversations shaping development can be found on the OpenStack developers mailing list. Here's a sample of some of the popular threads this past week.
For more from the developer email list, check out the OpenStack Foundation's digest of the OpenStack developers mailing list or Hugh Blemings' Last week on OpenStack Dev.
OpenStack events
Meetups and OpenStack user group events are taking place across the globe every week, and chances are, there's an event near you. Have a suggestion for an event to add to this list? Email us and let us know, or add it to our events calendar.
In addition to these in-person events, if you're interested in following OpenStack development, a number of projects hold regular meetings on IRC.
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Real cities don't have a restart option. When real-life planners make mistakes, cities pay the consequences, which more often than not involve a massive pile of cash.
The worst thing that could happen, if you screw up on a colossal basis, is your imaginary city will go bankrupt, and you'll have to start the game from scratch.
Build a power plant next to a residential neighbourhood, and those homes won't rise in value. Fail to create parks and you won't attract wealthy residents. Don't build churches and a divine power may just smite your city with an earthquake.
Since 1989, armchair planners have been able to manipulate imaginary cities by playing various versions of the video game SimCity.
Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 24/1/2015 (1494 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.
Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 24/1/2015 (1494 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.
Since 1989, armchair planners have been able to manipulate imaginary cities by playing various versions of the video game SimCity.
Build a power plant next to a residential neighbourhood, and those homes won't rise in value. Fail to create parks and you won't attract wealthy residents. Don't build churches and a divine power may just smite your city with an earthquake.
The worst thing that could happen, if you screw up on a colossal basis, is your imaginary city will go bankrupt, and you'll have to start the game from scratch.
Real cities don't have a restart option. When real-life planners make mistakes, cities pay the consequences, which more often than not involve a massive pile of cash.
This is what the City of Winnipeg may be facing as a result of its downtown development agency's efforts to engineer an entire vicinity: The SHED, or sports, hospitality and entertainment district.
When real-life planners make mistakes, cities pay the consequences, which more often than not involve a massive pile of cash
This 11-block area covers part of the South Portage neighbourhood, made up mostly of commercial buildings and surface-parking lots, and spills into Portage-Ellice, encompassing the MTS Centre, RBC Convention Centre and both the Metropolitan and Burton Cummings theatres.
The SHED is also aided by a development incentive known as tax-increment financing, where additional taxes from new or improved structures are plowed back into infrastructure in the same area or handed back to developers.
Ideally, these incentives would be made available to anything new in the area. But only pre-approved projects in the SHED get to qualify.
This is a mild perversion of city planning. But the SHED is also odd in that tax-increment financing is more powerful when it covers blighted areas. Downtown Winnipeg is underdeveloped, but calling South Portage blighted is a stretch.
All of this, however, is small potatoes compared to the biggest problem with the SHED: planning arrogance, if not outright hubris. The SHED represents an effort to create an entertainment district from the top down, with little consideration for the organic way neighbourhoods develop when zoning rules, tax incentives and market forces are allowed to interact anarchically.
In 2012, CentreVenture purchased the Carlton Inn, a hotel considered a scourge by some of its neighbours. The land was worth less than $2 million, but there was a functioning business on the premises.
CentreVenture wound up spending $6.6 million on the purchase plus additional cash on demolition and accounting for the curious deal that saw the Canad Inns Corp. assume partial ownership for tax-avoidance purposes.
Construction company Stuart Olson, already obligated to build a hotel to serve the expanded convention centre, was required to build on the Carlton site.
But CentreVenture spent too much, hampering efforts to bring a hotel to the table.
The development agency wound up doubling down by working with True North Sports & Entertainment on a larger plan involving both the Carlton Inn site and the surface-parking lot to the east at 225 Carlton St.
There's nothing wrong with CentreVenture conducting land assembly. North of Portage Avenue, the A&B Sound purchase prevented another dollar store from opening and made way for the Centrepoint project, which includes a hotel, condo tower, office space and a parkade.
In comparison, the land assembly south of Portage Avenue appears haphazard. First, the occupied Carlton Inn site was selected for a convention-centre hotel even though Lakeview, a company that builds hotels, owned a vacant lot west of the convention centre.
When private efforts to buy the Carlton failed, CentreVenture bought the hotel. And when that site couldn't be sold without incurring a loss, CentreVenture signed an option with True North.
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All of this would have gone unnoticed if a Carlton development was finalized before Winnipeg's new mayor was elected and the convention centre didn't come before a new council asking to release Stuart Olson from its obligations.
Brian Bowman is now in the unenviable position of demanding to learn details of a plan developed with True North, whose chairman, Mark Chipman, endorsed him.
More significantly, the mayor is making noises about limiting CentreVenture's future ability to engage in land transactions without council oversight.
In SimCity, a game based on real-life planning principles, players learn their actions come with consequences.
CentreVenture's manipulation of downtown's tax regime and real estate market may actually serve to dissuade development, especially if prospective players believe the field isn't level.
bartley.kives@freepress.mb.ca
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— State regulators on Tuesday ordered Duke Energy to immediately halt spreading groundwater contamination from coal ash ponds at its L.V. Sutton Steam Plant near Wilmington.
Tests have found elevated levels of boron, a metal that is a recognized indicator of coal ash contamination, in monitoring wells near the plant and in three water supply wells about a half-mile away, according to Department of Environment and Natural Resources officials.
"The levels of boron in these wells are a clear indication that coal ash constituents from Duke Energy’s coal ash impoundments have infiltrated the groundwater supply," Tom Reeder, an assistant secretary for DENR, said in a statement. "We are ordering Duke Energy to immediately take corrective actions to prevent further migration of coal ash contaminants."
Coal ash is the material that's left over when coal is burned for fuel. While much of it is inert, it does contain toxic levels of certain substances, such as thallium, mercury, lead and other materials harmful to humans and wildlife.
Duke has until July 9 to stop the spread of the contamination and to submit a plan to monitor for the effectiveness of its actions. Failure to meet the state’s requirements may result in a fine, officials said.
"It is way past time that DENR and Duke Energy take action to halt the spread of groundwater contamination in Wilmington," said Frank Holleman, senior attorney for the Southern Environmental Law Center, which has sued over contamination from ash ponds at Duke plants across the state. "We gave DENR and Duke Energy notice of this serious problem two years ago and have been urging them to stop the groundwater contamination ever since. It is too bad that it took two years for something to happen, and the Wilmington community needs this protection of its groundwater supplies as soon as possible."
In March, DENR levied a $25.1 million fine against Duke for groundwater contamination near the Sutton plant. The fine, which Duke has appealed, is the largest ever imposed by DENR.
"It is evident that Duke Energy is choosing to spend its virtually limitless legal resources to fight fines for clearly documented groundwater contamination stemming from its coal ash impoundments near the Sutton plant,” DENR General Counsel Sam Hayes said in a statement.
DENR has hired attorneys from Kilpatrick Townsend & Stockton to help the Attorney General's Office represent the state in the dispute, officials said.
Duke pleaded guilty last month to violating the Clean Water Act in connection with leaks from ash ponds at other power plants and a major coal ash spill in the Dan River in 2014. The utility agreed to pay $102 million in fines and restitution and was placed on probation for five years.
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News Release 13-131
Bee Faithful? Plant-Pollinator Relationships Compromised When Bee Species Decline
Removing even one bumblebee species from an ecosystem affects plant reproduction
Bumble bee foraging on tall larkspur near the Rocky Mountain Biological Laboratory in Colorado.
July 22, 2013
This material is available primarily for archival purposes. Telephone numbers or other contact information may be out of date; please see current contact information at media contacts.
Remove even one bumblebee species from an ecosystem and the effect is swift and clear: Pollination is less effective, and plants produce significantly fewer seeds.
This according to research published today in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences that focuses on the interactions between bumblebees and larkspur wildflowers in Colorado's Rocky Mountains.
The findings show that reduced competition among pollinators disrupts floral fidelity, or specialization, among the remaining bees in the system, leading to less successful plant reproduction.
"We found that these wildflowers produce one-third fewer seeds in the absence of just one bumblebee species," says Emory University ecologist Berry Brosi, who led the study.
"That's alarming and suggests that global declines in pollinators could have a bigger effect on flowering plants and food crops than was previously realized."
The National Science Foundation (NSF) funded the research; the paper was co-authored by ecologist Heather Briggs of the University of California-Santa Cruz.
"This study shows that the loss of a single bee species can harm pollination and reproduction of all flowering plant species in an ecosystem," says Alan Tessier, program director in NSF's Division of Environmental Biology, which funded the research.
"What's equally impressive is the demonstration of the mechanisms--that the loss of a single species changes the foraging behavior of all the remaining bee species."
About 90 percent of plants need animals, mostly insects, to transfer pollen between them so they can fertilize and reproduce.
Bees are by far the most important pollinators worldwide and have co-evolved with the floral resources they need for nutrition.
During the past decade, however, scientists have reported dramatic declines in populations of some bee species.
Some studies have indicated that plants can tolerate losing most pollinator species in an ecosystem as long as other pollinators remain to take up the slack. Those studies, however, were based on theoretical computer modeling.
Brosi and Briggs were curious about whether this theoretical resilience would hold up in real-life scenarios.
The team conducted field experiments to learn how the removal of a single pollinator species would affect the plant-pollinator relationship.
"Most pollinators visit several plant species over their lifetimes, but often will display what we call floral fidelity over shorter time periods," Brosi says.
"They'll tend to focus on one plant while it's in bloom, then a few weeks later move on to the next species in bloom. You might think of them as serial monogamists."
Floral fidelity clearly benefits plants, because a pollinator visit will only lead to plant reproduction when the pollinator is carrying pollen from the same plant species.
"When bees are 'promiscuous,' visiting plants of more than one species during a single foraging session, they are much less effective as pollinators," Briggs says.
The researchers conducted their experiments at the Rocky Mountain Biological Laboratory near Crested Butte, Colo.
Located at 9,500 feet, the facility's subalpine meadows are too high for honeybees, but they are buzzing during the summer months with bumblebees.
The experiments focused on the interactions of the insects with larkspurs, dark purple wildflowers that are visited by 10 of the 11 bumblebee species there.
The researchers studied a series of 20-meter-square wildflower plots, evaluating each one in both a control state, left in its natural condition, and in a manipulated state, in which nets were used to remove the bumblebees of just one species.
The researchers then observed bumblebee behavior in both the control plots and the manipulated plots.
"We'd literally follow around the bumblebees as they foraged," Briggs says. "It's challenging because the bees can fly pretty fast."
Sometimes the researchers could only record between five and 10 movements, while in other cases they could follow the bees to 100 or more flowers.
"When we caught bees to remove target species from the system, or to swab their bodies for pollen, we released them unharmed," Brosi says.
No researchers were harmed either, he adds. "Stings were very uncommon during the experiments. Bumblebees are quite gentle on the whole."
Across the steps of the pollination process, from patterns of bumblebee visits to plants, to picking up pollen, to seed production, the researchers saw a cascading effect of removing one bee species.
While about 78 percent of the bumblebees in the control groups were faithful to a single species of flower, only 66 percent of the bumblebees in the manipulated groups showed such floral fidelity.
The reduced fidelity in manipulated plots meant that bees in those groups carried more types of pollen than those in the control groups.
The changes had direct implications for plant reproduction: Larkspurs produced about one-third fewer seeds when one of the bumblebee species was removed, compared to larkspurs in the control groups.
"The small change in the level of competition made the remaining bees more likely to 'cheat' on the larkspur," Briggs says.
While previous research has shown how competition drives specialization within a species, the bumblebee study is one of the first to link this mechanism to the broader functioning of an ecosystem.
"Our work shows why biodiversity may be key to the conservation of an entire ecosystem," Brosi says.
"It has the potential to open a whole new set of studies into the implications of interspecies interactions."
-NSF-
Media Contacts
Cheryl Dybas, NSF, (703) 292-7734, email: cdybas@nsf.gov
Beverly Cox Clark, Emory University, (404) 712-8780, email: beverly.clark@emory.edu
The National Science Foundation (NSF) is an independent federal agency that supports fundamental research and education across all fields of science and engineering. In fiscal year (FY) 2019, its budget is $8.1 billion. NSF funds reach all 50 states through grants to nearly 2,000 colleges, universities and other institutions. Each year, NSF receives more than 50,000 competitive proposals for funding and makes about 12,000 new funding awards.
Get News Updates by Email
Useful NSF Web Sites:
NSF Home Page: https://www.nsf.gov
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Rafa Benitez is very keen on bringing Lucas Vazquez to Tyneside according to reports in the Mirror. Benitez was a key component in bring Vazquez back from Espanyol in 2015 and the winger has turned into an important player at Real Madrid contributing directly in their success in recent years. He played the highest number of games for Zidane last season and started the Champions League final in 2016, scoring the first penalty in that shoot-out win.
Now Benitez wants him at Newcastle. The Spanish coach understands how difficult it will be for Vazquez to play regularly at Real Madrid next season and is trying to coax him to the Premier League. Asensio, Isco and the BBC all remain ahead of Vazquez, who at 26 will be looking to have regular minutes next season.
Real Madrid do not want to sell the player and Zidane is happy with his contribution and work in the preseason but as the French manager continues to say, "until the 31st of August, anything can happen." At present, Real Madrid are overbooked in the middle of the field and are also courting Kylian Mbappé meaning Vazquez would likely be pushed further down the pecking order.
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RAMALLAH, West Bank — The Israeli military authorities on Monday allowed building supplies to start flowing into Gaza again, lifting a suspension that had blocked work for more than a month on thousands of houses destroyed in the 2014 summer war.
Israel had suspended deliveries on April 4 after accusing Emad al-Baz, an official in Gaza’s economic ministry, of diverting the supplies away from the work they were earmarked for: rebuilding private citizens’ homes. Other projects, like those overseen by the United Nations, were not affected by the suspension.
About 90 truckloads of cement were expected to cross into Gaza on Monday, according to the office of the special coordinator for the peace process. That is around the average amount that had entered daily before the suspension, according to figures provided by the office.
The suspension halted work on 5,095 houses and apartments, out of about 17,800 that were made uninhabitable during the war, which killed more than 2,100 Palestinians and 70 Israelis.
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The Seattle Seahawks are open to trading linebacker Aaron Curry, a league source said Thursday.
Curry was taken fourth overall in 2009 and was seen as one of the safer players in that draft, but he has struggled to make an impact in Seattle. Curry was drafted by a prior regime, and he lost his starting job before Week 3.
The Seahawks haven't yet started to shop Curry ahead of the trade deadline, but they aren't averse to it and would listen to offers, according to the source. Curry restructured his contract during the offseason, which could help facilitate a trade.
Despite his minimal production in Seattle, Curry's athleticism and potential certainly would attract suitors. He could end up being one of the bigger names dealt before the deadline in a few weeks.
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The suppression pool of the Fukushima Daiichi Unit No. 2 reactor may have a 3-centimeter hole in it, through which the highly radioactive water might be leaking out, the plant operator said.
The information is based on the data gathered by a robot sent into the suppression pool at the bottom of the No. 2 reactor's primary containment vessel earlier in January. The received video images indicated that the structure was damaged somewhere.
Plant operator Tokyo Electric Power Co (TEPCO) estimated the damaged area could be 8 to 9 square centimeters in size. If it were a hole, it is predicted to be between 3.2 and 3.6 centimeters in diameter.
In November last year a camera on the robot captured images of water leaking from two holes in the containment vessel of the No. 1 reactor. Back then TEPCO experts suspected that damage to containment vessels at the No. 2 and 3 reactors could be also causing similar leaks.
Water is being constantly pumped into the No. 1, No. 2 and No. 3 reactors, which were destroyed in the March 2011 earthquake and tsunami, to bring their nuclear fuel rods to a "cold shutdown" state and prevent them from overheating. TEPCO suspected leakages, but has been unable to identify the source of the leakage in the reactors.
If TEPCO plugs the hole, it can fill the reactor containment vessel with water, which would serve as a radiation shield, before defueling it.
To prevent radioactive water from running into the sea, the operator of the crippled Fukushima nuclear power plant said it would try erecting an underground wall of frozen soil.
But there are still concerns that the $320 million wall, maintained by rows of wells drilled at one-meter intervals, will fix the leak problem. Some experts expressed concerns that with the wall in place, groundwater may end up seeping even deeper.
Since the March 2011 disaster, the leakage of radiation-contaminated water has posed a major threat to Japan’s population and environment, and to the international community. By early January, nuclear radiation at the perimeter of the atomic plant had reached eight times government safety guidelines.
The operator of the stricken atomic plant has been using robotic devices to remove the debris inside the No. 3 reactor building since July 2013, when radioactive water was confirmed as escaping into the ocean. Since then, TEPCO reported two major leaks of highly radioactive water from storage tanks – a 300-ton leak in August and 430 liters in October.
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VirgilSC2 Profile Blog Joined June 2011 United States 5748 Posts #1
Clarity Gaming is proud to announce today the acquisition of the newest player to our roster. We have been in discussions with this outstanding Zerg player for quite some time, and although we were saddened to hear of the collapse of our friend's former team we are more than happy to fulfill the promises that were broken, and then some. ManHyeok “ ” Jo is no stranger to Starcraft 2 competitions of the highest level, having competed in the GSL Code S before. We're very excited to be able to offer him the chance to show his play to an even wider audience through both streaming and competing around the globe.
"I am very glad to receive great expectations from Clarity Gaming
I'll try to make regretless that invested my valuable times
Thank you for cheering and Please keep cheering!"
In a few short days he will be making the journey to the United States where he will compete in MLG’s Fall Championship in Dallas, Texas, headlining the Clarity Gaming line-up at the event, and other LAN events stateside. You can also look forward to watching JookTo represent Clarity Gaming in the DreamHack Winter Open during November!
You can follow his progress with the team, as well as his future event participation at:
Facebook
Twitter
ClarityGaming.com
Make sure to check out the rest of his new teammates, as well as keeping an eye out for even bigger announcements in the near future! Clarity Gaming is proud to announce today the acquisition of the newest player to our roster. We have been in discussions with this outstanding Zerg player for quite some time, and although we were saddened to hear of the collapse of our friend's former team we are more than happy to fulfill the promises that were broken, and then some. ManHyeok “ JookTo ” Jo is no stranger to Starcraft 2 competitions of the highest level, having competed in the GSL Code S before. We're very excited to be able to offer him the chance to show his play to an even wider audience through both streaming and competing around the globe.In a few short days he will be making the journey to the United States where he will compete in MLG’s Fall Championship in Dallas, Texas, headlining the Clarity Gaming line-up at the event, and other LAN events stateside. You can also look forward to watching JookTo represent Clarity Gaming in the DreamHack Winter Open during November!You can follow his progress with the team, as well as his future event participation at:Make sure to check out the rest of his new teammates, as well as keeping an eye out for even bigger announcements in the near future! Clarity Gaming #1 Fan | Avid MTG Grinder | @VirgilSC2
MCDayC Profile Joined March 2011 United Kingdom 12847 Posts Last Edited: 2012-10-29 23:34:42 #2 Nice pickup, good to see him get a team quickly, and Clarity are a cool team ^_^ VERY FRAGILE, LIKE A BABY PANDA EGG
InsidiA Profile Blog Joined August 2011 Canada 1167 Posts #3 Great pickup really looking forward to seeing how he does at MLG and DH. Clarity Fighting! Graphics InsidiA | StarCraft 2 Manager for Team eLevate | Graphic Designer for Red Bull eSports & HTC | @iamjasonpun
Gamegene Profile Blog Joined June 2011 United States 8300 Posts #4 Protoss players of MLG Dallas: Prepare for Banelings. Throw on your favorite jacket and you're good to roll. Stroll through the trees and let your miseries go.
Shellshock Profile Blog Joined March 2011 United States 94972 Posts #5 congrats to Clarity and JookTo Moderator http://i.imgur.com/U4xwqmD.png
StarVe Profile Joined June 2011 Germany 12271 Posts #6 I guess you'll treat him a bit better. Good luck to him and your team.
pStar Profile Blog Joined December 2010 994 Posts #7
Great stuff so sick they pick him up and them send him to MLG.Great stuff
ChuCky.Ca Profile Joined July 2011 Canada 2489 Posts #8 great pickup ! glad he gets to go to some tournments Most Skilled Current esport Games Scbw>Sc2>Cs1.6>Dota2>Hon>Loopin Louie The Drinking Game>LoL
MrSandman Profile Blog Joined November 2010 Australia 174 Posts #9
I still feel he will rise to code S again sometime. Congratulations JooktoI still feel he will rise to code S again sometime. TeamLiquid: Teaching trolls latin since 2002 || Before every post ask yourself, how would I feel if someone else said it? ||
kollin Profile Blog Joined March 2011 United Kingdom 7179 Posts #10 Nice pickup, after the shit he went through good to see a team deliver for him penisi is the plural of penis look it up in a science book
Canucklehead Profile Joined March 2011 Canada 4922 Posts Last Edited: 2012-10-29 23:45:12 #11 I have never heard of clarity gaming before, but if they actually have the money for a trip from korea to MLG, then that's already one step ahead of apex gaming! Top 10 favourite pros: MKP, MVP, MC, Nestea, DRG, Jaedong, Flash, Life, Creator, Leenock
Serinox Profile Joined August 2011 Germany 4644 Posts #12 Oh, JookTo was in Code S once? Something I dind't remember because it was so long ago. January 2011 to be precise.
Anyways good luck to jookTo and the team!
NoGasfOu Profile Joined April 2012 United States 1117 Posts #13 Good news, but not sure how small teams got the money to send their player to MLG and DreamHack. Tassadar/TheBest/Jjakji/Rain(terran)/Heart
Gofarman Profile Joined June 2010 Canada 642 Posts #14 Small teams gotta take risks sometimes to get their name out, no idea if they have the capability to support their whole team this well but regardless it's a great fit.
Congrats @nonytv nony.tv/tipjar One of his Chill-dren
Fyodor Profile Blog Joined September 2010 Canada 969 Posts #15 What is Clarity Gaming? Ego owner? how did they pay his trip without any obvious source of income? llllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll
GreEny K Profile Joined February 2008 Germany 7312 Posts #16 I've never heard of this team, who else is on it? Why would you ever choose failure, when success is an option.
chadissilent Profile Blog Joined September 2010 Canada 1186 Posts Last Edited: 2012-10-30 00:17:51 #17 On October 30 2012 08:55 Gofarman wrote:
Small teams gotta take risks sometimes to get their name out, no idea if they have the capability to support their whole team this well but regardless it's a great fit.
Congrats
We will have 6 players attending MLG Dallas. Following that, event attendance is merit-based so if the players practice hard and perform well, they will be supported this well.
We will have 6 players attending MLG Dallas. Following that, event attendance is merit-based so if the players practice hard and perform well, they will be supported this well. On October 30 2012 09:02 GreEny K wrote:
I've never heard of this team, who else is on it?
- JookTo (formerly oGs)
- Katu (formerly Clash)
- KC (Up and coming Terran)
- Mercy (formerly Clash and xSix)
- MotoK (from Korean clan Nos, KeSPA FPS Progamer)
- Mkengyn (formerly xSix)
- Pato (currently on hiatus)
- SaroVati (formerly area)
- Shew (formerly Clash)
- Siphonn (formerly FG)
Recent results: Mkengyn finished 2nd in the WCG Canada Online Qualifier, SaroVati just beat Fuzzy, KawaiiRice, qxc, and Trimaster in IEM Singapore qualifiers before falling to dKiller and losing 2-3 to StardustLighT.
- JookTo (formerly oGs)- Katu (formerly Clash)- KC (Up and coming Terran)- Mercy (formerly Clash and xSix)- MotoK (from Korean clan Nos, KeSPA FPS Progamer)- Mkengyn (formerly xSix)- Pato (currently on hiatus)- SaroVati (formerly area)- Shew (formerly Clash)- Siphonn (formerly FG)Recent results: Mkengyn finished 2nd in the WCG Canada Online Qualifier, SaroVati just beat Fuzzy, KawaiiRice, qxc, and Trimaster in IEM Singapore qualifiers before falling to dKiller and losing 2-3 to StardustLighT. On October 30 2012 09:01 Fyodor wrote:
What is Clarity Gaming? Ego owner? how did they pay his trip without any obvious source of income?
Every team requires an owner's investment before they get sponsors. Currently we are without sponsors, so the team is privately funded. Not everybody in eSports is a broke college student Every team requires an owner's investment before they get sponsors. Currently we are without sponsors, so the team is privately funded. Not everybody in eSports is a broke college student
Headnoob Profile Joined September 2010 Australia 1964 Posts #18 At least he actually gets to go to an event now, foreigner smashing time.
Depetrify Profile Blog Joined March 2011 928 Posts #19 Hows Clash doing?
mikedebo Profile Joined December 2010 Canada 4258 Posts #20 If JookTo beats Rain in the finals, he has to sing
"I can see clearly now, the Rain is gone..." I NEED A PHOTOSYNTHESIS! ||| 'airtoss' is an anagram of 'artosis' ||| SANGHOOOOOO ||| "No Korea? No problem. I have internet." -- Stardust
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Depending on your activities of preference, winter is either a joyous playground or whitewashed personal hell. No matter what, staying warm is critical, because hypothermia is always a serious concern. Down jackets have been a preferred winter option for many years, and for good reason — they’re super warm (when dry), wick moisture away from your body, are packable down to small sizes for travel and have yet to be matched by any synthetic fibers. The only downside? The occasional prickle and poke. Here are our five favorite goose-based options to beat the winter freeze.
Canada Goose Hybridge Lite
A few years ago we gave the Hybridge Lite’s predecessor the proper Gear Patrol testing process (i.e. wore it through a New England winter). We were nothing but impressed. Not content to stop innovating, Canada Goose has improved their most recent iteration, which uses 800 fill power Hutterite white goose down and weighs less than half a pound. Quilt-through design helps the jacket pack down into its own left hand pocket. Lycra cuffs with thumb holes and YKK zippers are perfect additional touches. There’s a reason arctic expeditions look to Canada Goose to keep warm.
Marmot Tuner Jacket
The Tuner jacket begets Polaroid shots of your Dad drinking beers with his buddies after a day of snowmobiling (back when he stayed up past 8 p.m.). Vintage shirt styling is combined with updated technology and construction for a great casual jacket. It’s built with 100% recycled polyester fabric and insulated with 650-fill down. A snap front and two zippered chest pockets finish the Tuner’s 70’s vibe. Priced at $165, it’s a very affordable option; still, we wouldn’t recommend it for a night in your quinzhee.
Get Your Fill? Down’s warmth is rated based on fill power — no, it’s not the deadlift total of the goose it came from. Fill power ranges from 400-900; the higher the fill number, the less down is needed to maintain the same warmth as a lower-numbered fill. To achieve this warmth, down with a higher fill power uses larger, more mature down feather clusters, which are also more durable. Thus, they’re better able to withstand you stuffing them in your duffle as you chase snow all winter. Confused? Look at it this way: the bigger the number, the lighter, more packable, more durable and more expensive the jacket will be.
Patagonia Hi-Loft Down Sweater Hoody
Patagonia is a company synonymous with outdoor apparel. Their gear is solid, but usually expensive. Still, a staunch commitment to the environment makes it a lot easier to swallow the Pata-Gucci prices. The Sweater Hoody follows that Patagonia environmental ethos with a 100% recycled polyester ripstop shell that’s been treated with Deluge DWR for water repellance. 800-fill down insulation keeps the weight light and maximizes warmth. The adjustable low profile hood helps to block wind and cold on bitter days (should you have a buzz cut, you’ll be especially grateful). Handwarmer pockets and a drawstring hem help complete a jacket that will be your best friend whether shoveling out your car or winter camping in Acadia.
KJUS Chrome Down Jacket
KJUS makes some seriously high-end apparel using cutting-edge fabrics and technology, and their down jackets are no exception. The Chrome jacket uses 850-fill down (95% goose down & 5% goose feathers), bringing it about as close to warmth and lightness perfection as you can buy. A translucent 100% Polymide shell gives the Chrome a very unique look by showing off the dyed down fill. If money is no object, this is the pick for you. Our only beef? For nearly $700, we’d like 900-fill down, please.
Mountain Hardwear Ghost Whisperer Down Jacket
Claiming to be the lightest full-featured down jacket on the market, the Ghost Whisperer really brings it. At under 8 ounces, you’ll never have to worry about being weighed down. How does this featherweight stay so slim? A combination of 850-fill down and 7-denier ripstop fabric. That pairing also allows extra compression; stowing inside its own pocket makes for easy packing. Its quilted construction keeps the down in its place and prevents bunching, a common problem. While this jacket will more than do the job in the urban city, it begs to wake up on a crisp morning and keep you warm while you brew some coffee outside your tent. We recommend you give it that luxury now and then.
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YOUR boss is exploring the uncharted regions of dickishness, according to new research.
As executive pay rose by 55% while your’s absolutely did not, experts said that no matter how chummy your boss may try to be with you today, you must at no point forget that he is an absolute fucking dick.
To measure the extent of your boss’s dickishness the Institute for Studies has devised a simple, three-point checklist:
He may say that business leaders need to be ‘properly motivated’ – dick.
He may argue that there is a ‘highly competitive market for executive talent’ – dick.
Or he may even claim that by paying himself so much he is ‘lighting a fire under your ambition’ – piece-of-shit bastard fucking dick.
Professor Henry Brubaker said: “There are two ways of dealing with this. You can either bite your tongue, keep your head down and let the bitterness and resentment poison your beautiful heart, or you can walk up to him, say ‘hi’ in a friendly, cheerful voice and then kick him as hard as you can right in the fucking nuts.
“All you need to do then is toss your security pass at the front desk and walk to the pub with your head held high, your conscience as clear as an Alpine stream and a magnificent spring in your now legendary step.
“And of course there is no possibility of you getting arrested because your colleagues should at least have the courage to tell the police they didn’t see a goddamn thing.
“You can then proceed to get riotously shitfaced without it costing you a penny because everyone in the world who is not a FUCKING DICK will be desperate to buy you the double of your choice – absolutely 100% cast-iron guaranteed.”
He added: “And as for mortgages and shit – heroes don’t care about money.”
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HYDERABAD: It was a bloody welcome for Andhra Pradesh Congress chief N Raghuveera Reddy as party members stuffed live doves into rocket cones and fired them on his arrival in Kovvuru town in West Godavari district.Two doves fell dead while the rest had their wings and claws scorched. Cadres had even tied party flags to the necks of the birds, meant to unfurl once the rockets exploded and released the doves.The incident, which occurred on Saturday, invited the wrath of animal rights activists and the ruling Telugu Desam Party. West Godavari police have registered a case against three people and are examining footage of the celebration.Reddy , who went to the Godavari river bank town to organise a protest demanding special status for Andhra, said he was unaware of the dove stunt."I thought there were fireworks. We will ensure such violations do not recur," he said.
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Counter-Terrorism Act, which also imposes new duties on NHS trusts and schools, comes into force
Jails and councils obliged to prevent radicalisation as new act becomes law
Local authorities, prisons, NHS trusts and schools will this week be placed under a new statutory duty to prevent extremist radicalisation taking place within their walls.
The requirement was imposed by this year’s Counter-Terrorism and Security Act, and Home Office ministers have pointed out that the wide-ranging powers come into force in the week that David Cameron demanded “a full spectrum response” to the killing of as many as 30 British tourists in Tunisia.
Cameron told MPs a form of perverted Islamist extremism had declared war on Britain and the nation was now locked in a generation-long existential struggle to defeat the ideology at its roots.
The scale of the new duties concerning public bodies are potentially vast and intrusive. Government inspectors will be charged with ensuring the required actions are taken.
Tunisia attack: David Cameron pledges 'full spectrum' response to massacre Read more
Local councils will be required to make checks on the use of its public buildings, its internet filters and any unregulated out of school settings, including after-school clubs and groups, supplementary schools and tuition centres to support home education.
Prison governors will be expected to consider cell-sharing risk assessments and initial reception and induction interviews.
“Contact with prisons’ chaplaincy should take place, particularly for those whose initial assessments cause concern,” the guidance says.
“The chaplain’s initial assessment should seek to establish longevity and knowledge of faith and look for any indication that the prisoner endorses extremist ideology or supports terrorism.”
Any prisoner causing concern could be supported by moving them away from a negative influence or by providing them with mentoring from the relevant chaplain or placing them in religious classes.
Management actions could include a reduction in privilege level, anti-bullying intervention, adjudication or segregation. Alternatively, it may be appropriate to provide theological, motivational and behavioural interventions.
Schools are to be placed under a new duty of care to their pupils and staff. This includes safeguarding them from the risk of being drawn into terrorism, which includes non-violent extremism.
The guidance says schools should be safe spaces in which children and young people can understand and discuss sensitive topics, including terrorism and the extremist ideas that are part of the terrorist ideology, and learn how to challenge these ideas.
School governors will have a new responsibility to ensure external speakers are appropriate and that fundamental British values are promoted in the delivery of the curriculum and extracurricular activities and reflected in the general conduct of the school.
Rules covering external speakers at universities and further education colleges have been delayed and revised guidelines are unlikely to come into effect for some months.
The original guidelines would have stipulated that in universities, all staff “should have sufficient training to be able to recognise vulnerability to being drawn into terrorism, and be aware of what action to take to take”. They would also have required “sufficient notice of booking (generally at least 14 days) to allow for checks to be made and cancellation to take place if necessary” before external speakers visited.
In identifying the dangers of Islamic extremism, that guidance suggested that key figures should recognise that “Islamist extremists regard western intervention in Muslim-majority countries as a ‘war with Islam’, creating a narrative of ‘them’ and ‘us’.”
“Their ideology includes the uncompromising belief that people cannot be both Muslim and British, and that Muslims living here should not participate in our democracy,” the guidance adds.
“Islamist extremists specifically attack the principles of civic participation and social cohesion. These extremists purport to identify grievances to which terrorist organisations then claim to have a solution.”
• This article was amended on 8 July 2015. An earlier version said the new counter-terrorism rules for the public sector applied to universities and further education colleges. That is not the case.
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If you didn’t get totally obsessed with Making A Murderer over Christmas, then you had a much more productive break than we did. After getting totally engulfed by the ten-part documentary series and spending hours reading about the aftermath, we’re now spending our lunch breaks sifting through the many, many Making A Murderer memes that are sweeping the internet.
From the internet falling head over heels for Dean Strang to the best of the Manitowoc hairdos, here are some of our fave memes, and make sure to follow @MakingAMurdererMemes for even more!
1. Derek Zoolander’s version of the series.
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2. If you didn’t fall in love with defence lawyer, Dean Strang, then you were the only one.
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3. Yeah
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4. Binge watching the documentary over Christmas really should have put our January blues into perspective shouldn’t it?
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5. Has anyone checked though?
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6. What a helpful chap…
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7. SPOILER ALERT
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8. Monopoly the Manitowoc way.
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9. OK who else got excited when Britney made an appearance?
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READ: Everything You Need To Know About Making A Murderer
10. After a 10 hour TV binge…
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11. Two of our favourite men.
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12. In hindsight, probs shouldn’t have framed it should you?
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13. Steven’s luck with the ladies didn’t make everyone feel good.
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14. Poor Obama, he should have watched in one go like the rest of us.
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15. We really haven’t got over this twist yet.
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16. Was this the best of the Making A Murderer hairdos?
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17. SAME!
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18. Uh oh.
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19. All the tears.
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20. Elle Woods eat your heart out, I’ve cracked this case.
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Super Cray, New York-based online publisher of the website www.supercraycray.com, has filed suit against Google over its AdSense program. In an argument that is becoming increasingly familiar, Super Cray claims that Google suspended the publisher’s AdSense account the day it was to receive a large payout in ad share fees.
Super Cray claims that after receiving several written assurances from Google that its AdSense ads were set up and running in compliance with the program, it invested more than $300,000 in content promotion, largely on Facebook, to drive traffic to the site.
The suit, filed in Northern California District Court, states that Super Cray had accrued $535,000 in AdSense earnings and was due to be paid on October 21, 2014. Google allegedly suspended the account because the site’s advertising layout “encouraged accidental clicks.”
Super Cray specializes in so-called click bait-style headlines and slideshows. Example articles listed in the suit include “7 Startups You Didn’t Know Were Funded By A-List Celebrities” and “Where Ridiculous Meets Entertainment.”
On September 29, 2014, Dennis Gayev, the site’s co-founder participated in a Google Chat with an AdSense rep (“Ryan J) in which he sought to ensure that the click-through rates they were seeing on the ads were in normal range and not triggered by “accidental clicks, or what not.” The rep assures him the “CTR you are seeing is within the normal range.” An excerpt from that chat is included in the suit:
Denis: We reported our selves previously in the month asking to verify if our site is fully complaint (sic) with all TOS [Terms of Service]. We never received a response, does that normally mean that it was checked and no issues were found? Ryan J: Correct, warnings are resolved once you mark them as such. If there is a future issue the policy team will get back to you. Denis: Honestly, our biggest concern was our CTR on our ads. We wanted to confirm if it was inline with whats normal. We wanted to double check that the CTR was not in anyway a result of accidental clicks, or what not. Is that something that’s checked periodically when a site scales quickly? Or is that something checked in the 2 week period? Ryan J: We do validate all clicks and impressions and are monitoring it constantly. The CTR you are seeing is within the normal range. I’m also not seeing any concerns are you site, ex. implementation that could cause a high amount of accidental clicks.
On October 1, 2014, Super Cray again reached out to Google and got confirmation by Ryan J that it was set to receive a payout of $197,045.69 on the 21st.
That same day Super Cray co-founder Kirill Fuchs emailed a Google AdSense representative, “Roy,” about concern over high CTRs on two ad units and to ask for verification that the “ad placement is not generating invalid activity such as accidental clicks”.
Roy responded that he had “found correct implementations for both 336×280 (desktop), and 300×250 (mobile). We definitely appreciate your honesty and your efforts to keep your account in good standing.”
Again, on October 6, 2014, another AdSense representative twice recommended they keep their current ad implementation.
It was after this series of assurances that Super Cray spent the $300,000 to promote its content and by the 21st had racked up $535,000 in AdSense earnings. Then they received notice that the account was suspended and all earnings were being revoked.
In a now familiar refrain from publishers in these situations, Super Cray says it didn’t get any more feedback from Google despite repeated attempts to point out that Google had “expressly validated” its ad layout.
The suit brings up last year’s accusations by an anonymous person claiming to be an ex-Googler. That person claimed it was common practice to suspend big-earning accounts just before they were to get their payouts. These claims have been roundly discredited, however, in large part because Google doesn’t benefit financially by refunding advertisers. In rebuttal, the Super Cray suit suggests that suspending accounts benefits Google’s relationships with advertisers:
“when Google confiscates the funds from the publisher, and credits them back to the advertiser, it effectively (and substantially) lowers that advertiser’s cost of advertising, at the publisher’s, not Google’s expense. That is, the advertiser still received the click from the person who was browsing the publisher’s site, but did not have to pay for it. Through this process, Google earns substantial goodwill from its advertiser customer base, and obtains a competitive advantage vis-àvis its competitors in the online advertising business who do not confiscate their publishers’ accrued earnings and kick them back to the advertiser.”
Google has adamantly denied any wrong doing in these cases and reiterates that it can’t go into detail with publishers on why their accounts are suspended in order to keep further fraud attempts at bay. But it’s clear that these kinds of claims aren’t going away.
The suit mentions PubShare, which also claims to have had its account terminated for encouraging accidental clicks after receiving positive feedback from Google AdSense reps. PubShare, a site not unlike Super Cray that publishes humorous viral images, says it is out nearly $1 million in ad revenue.
Google tried to have the PubShare case dismissed, but a judge has ruled to let it go forward. In May, lawyers filed a class action suit on behalf of publishers claiming to have had their accounts unlawfully suspended and advertising earnings revoked.
Super Cray is seeking full restitution of ad earnings.
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With Dragon Age: Origins releasing this week I was reading up on the game’s features and details when I came across Dragon Age Journeys: The Deep Road. To quote the site, “Dragon Age Journeys, a free to play browser based game set in the Dragon Age world, will be available Oct 22nd. Dragon Age Journeys puts players in the role of a hero exploring the underground dwarven kingdom of Orzammar. Players will uncover a dastardly plot that threatens to unleash a great evil that wont stop until it destroys all living things. Based on BioWares upcoming dark fantasy epic Dragon Age: Origins, Dragon Age Journeys sets a new standard of quality for browser-based games with addictive combat mechanics and fluid gameplay. Players of Dragon Age Journeys will have the chance to earn exclusive in game content for Dragon Age: Origins on the day of its release.”
The part that got my attention in there was the ability to earn in game content for Dragon Age Origins. So, I logged in with my EA Account created a knight type fighter. I started playing and after about 90 minutes I had two of the three items unlocked for when I play Dragon Age Origins. The three pieces you get are an amulet, a belt, and a helmet. From the looks of their stats they are not that great, but they probably are a bit better than your starting equipment.If you’re playing just for the unlocks be sure to read the details of how to get each one because one of them has multiple components and you can miss parts of it if you are not careful.
After I unlocked the first two items I actually wanted to keep playing. My knight/soldier was just starting to get some good weapons, attacks, and squad mates. The Deep Roads is just the first portion of the Dragon Age Journeys story and it was about 3 and a half hours before I made it to the end. I’m sure I could do it much faster if I were to play again or play on an easier difficulty but where is the fun in that. I found the story pretty interesting and I’m looking forward to when they release the next portion of Dragon Age Journeys so I can pick up where things left off.
For a flash game it is surprisingly deep. They have almost all of the normal RPG elements you would expect from a a full game and a couple nice little extra they could add because it is web based. Like the quick travel option, which came in handy more than once when I wanted to go back to town to get more potions sell unwanted equipment. I would just quick travel to town, do my shopping, and then quick travel back to the area I was at before. It takes you to the entrance of the area and not to the exact spot you left but the areas are not so big that it was an issue. The side bar is also a useful addition. You can use it to pull up statistics in the left frame of the screen without interrupting the game. They have that portion set aside for achievement details, slain statistics, and quest info. Overall the interface is nicely down and it is laid out just like the screen shots I’ve seen for Dragon Age Origins.
The one thing I found annoying about the Dragon Age Journeys was the movement. You click the mouse where you want to move on the screen and your characters move there automatically. Hold down the mouse and it keeps moving. Pretty standard stuff, but because of how the levels are laid out there are not a lot of strait paths. Combine this with the speed of the movement and I seemed to always be running my characters into walls if I tried to move by holding down the mouse. Part of that could be because I was playing on a laptop screen so it is possible if I had been playing on my normal desktop monitor I would not have had this issue since I would have more screen real estate to work with.
If you’re into RPGs and bored one day, or if you’re planning to play Dragon Age Origins I’d recommend checking out Dragon Age Journeys. It was a fun little diversion and unlocking in game items is a nice bonus.
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Her love for chimps began when she was barely a toddler. Jane's father had bought her a chimp stuffed toy when she was a year old, and Jubilee - as her furry friend was called, became her constant companion.
Jane Goodall was fascinated with animals. At age five, she sat in a hen coop to discover "where on a chicken was there an opening big enough for an egg to come out." Tarzan and Dr. Dolittle series were her favorite books. Jane's family had little means and her father, a rare presence in her life. She was raised by her mother and grandmother, and dreamed of becoming a naturalist in Africa. But with not enough money to even attend college, she found herself working odd jobs to pay her bills.
One day in 1956, a letter arrived from a childhood friend she had not heard from since school days. The letter is post-marked Kenya, inviting her to visit. Saving and scraping tips from working as a waitress for the next five months, the young Jane Goodall finally buys a ticket to Mombasa.
What she didn't know then was what lay ahead. Half a century of stupendous, groundbreaking work on chimpanzees.
Following Her Dreams
Jane’s story is one of courage and unrelenting resolve to have her way and make her dream come true. Before 26-year-old Jane Goodall set foot in Tanzania’s Gombe Stream Reserve on the shores of Lake Tanganyika, not much was known about chimps. And Jane arrived without even an undergraduate degree and no conventional qualifications to justify her presence in Gombe.
What Jane did have was an immense love for the forest, patience and fresh eyes, meticulousness and a thirst for learning. She caught the attention of Dr. Louis Leakey, a paleoanthropologist who was studying human ancestors in Africa. Impressed by Jane's love and understanding of animals, he put her in charge of watching and documenting the behavior of chimps.
Jane's observations changed our perception of chimpanzees, and have shown how astonishingly similar chimps are to humans in many ways. Don't miss this eye-opening article earlier, and this Q&A with a youth leader from the Jane Goodall Institute.
Championing The Cause
Now, 50 years on, there is a pressing need to conserve the disappearing forests where these creatures live. But scarier still, is the threat that the chimps face from poaching for bushmeat and exposure to human diseases. There is a type of AIDS that kills chimps, they are susceptible to polio, and in general, they seem vulnerable to any infectious disease that is found among humans.
Jane travels the world today, mobilizing efforts for their conservation and especially motivating youngsters to get involved, through her Roots & Shoots program. Her message is that life is interconnected - that we cannot protect humans if we don't protect the environment they live in.
Critical Thinking : What do you think Jane Goodall means by the last statement in this article?
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Every so often, on Official Playwrights of Facebook, a debate erupts about the merits of the ten-minute play. Naysayers contend that there’s no such thing as a ten-minute “play”; it’s an exercise, it’s not real writing, it’s a sketch, and so on. Proponents counter that a good (and they do acknowledge that, as with full-length plays, there are many bad) ten-minute play is indeed a play with a beginning, middle, and end, and its concision requires the skill of an accomplished writer.
It doesn’t matter where you fall in this debate. If you’re a trying-to-make-it playwright—meaning anyone who plays the submission game, doesn’t have an agent, doesn’t get regular requests for their work, isn’t published, isn’t published enough, still needs to network, wants more productions—which I’d say is most of us, there are quantifiable, practical reasons for writing ten-minute plays. Even if you hate them.
1) They’re easier to get produced than full-length plays. I don’t know if I’d still be a playwright today if I hadn’t started writing ten-minute plays. In 2010, I had my first-ever production; it was a full-length play called THE COUPLE NEXT DOOR, and it did very well, becoming the highest grossing world premiere in Road Less Traveled Productions’ history, and the sixth highest grossing play overall. Awesome, right? Except you all know that one success doesn’t mean anything. Especially in a small city. Especially by an unknown. I sent THE COUPLE NEXT DOOR to more than 300 theaters in the ensuing six months, and got a few nibbles, and nothing more. The play has had two—with a fourth upcoming—more productions since, but it took six years for that to happen. That’s the nature of full-length plays. It takes a lot of stamina and patience and, in the meantime, your name isn’t out in the theater universe.
On the flip side, in the wake of THE COUPLE NEXT DOOR, I started writing and submitting ten-minute plays. Within months, I had my first production with “Write This Way” at Theatre Out in Santa Ana, California; the play even won the Producer’s Award. Several others followed quickly. Success! Validation! Inspiration! Confidence! For a new playwright, this was paramount in making me believe that I had abilities (and my goodness, if you don’t need those things to stay motivated, then I want some of your drink). Better? You can get lots of ten-minute play productions in a year—and many pay royalties that not only add up, but also continually create those feelings of confidence, validation, and success. Those ten-minute play hits are the bright spots that keep you going as you wait for responses on those full-lengths.
Were my ten-minute plays better than THE COUPLE NEXT DOOR? Probably not, but they had far better odds of succeeding because
2) Theaters don’t have to take big risks to produce your ten-minute plays. Most ten-minute play festivals are one or two weekends, don’t pay royalties (though, as mentioned above, some do, and we’re working on making this better), and produce in black box with low tech. And when your play is one of eight or ten, if someone doesn’t like it, the old cliché about waiting ten minutes is true. Producers don’t have to feel absolutely sure your play will make money; they can choose it just because they like it. And your chances of them choosing it are even better because
3) There is less competition. With most ten-minute playfests, you’re submitting to a call, which means you’re not competing with every ten-minute play in the universe, just those from playwrights who answered the call (which has the added bonus of meaning plays will actually be read, and some produced). But, perhaps more importantly, you’re not competing with well-known or famous playwrights, who don’t tend to write ten-minute plays unless they’re asked to, and certainly aren’t submitting them to your average ten-minute play call. That means better odds for you.
4) They’re a good yardstick. If the odds are better, and you’re not getting any response to your ten-minute plays, if you’re submitting them all over the place and not even making semi-finalist—ever—there’s probably something in your writing you need to address. Maybe it’s one of these seven common problems; some of my ten-minute plays have been produced far less than others—some only once or twice—and, if I look at those, I know why. They’re not as strong, the conflict isn’t as resonant, they’re too simple, etc. This happens with full-length plays, too, but you get faster feedback on ten-minute plays (and you also have the option of immediate feedback with Trade A Play Tuesday), which gives you the ability to figure out how you can improve, because
5) Writing good ten-minute plays will help you write better full-length plays. A great ten-minute play is a tight, economic scene, and learning to write one well yields skills that transfer well to full-length plays. I know many playwrights who became better playwrights through the writing of ten-minute plays, and, indeed, their first productions (and first royalties!) were from ten-minute plays. That doesn’t make ten-minute plays exercises, just pragmatic stepping stones.
6) Ten-minute plays free you to experiment. With so little comparative time invested in writing at ten-minute play versus a full-length, trying something new doesn’t mean a lengthy commitment to something that might not pan out. You want to try absurdism, magical realism, a solo show, anthropomorphism—do it! I don’t consider myself a comedy writer, but I’ve surprised myself by writing quite a few ten-minute comedies that have done very well!
7) Ten-minute plays can pave the way for more diverse full-length plays. When you allow yourself to stray from what you’re comfortable with, creative potential is unleashed. Two of those comedies I mentioned above? They’re now full-length plays, one of which—CHRISTMAS 2.0—was workshopped at the Hormel Festival of New Works, and the other—OPEN AND SHUT—was a commission of sorts. Because the comedic tone was already set in the ten-minute, I was able to follow that as I wrote the rest of the show; I’m positive I wouldn’t have set out to write a full-length comedy otherwise. Ten-minute plays allow you to play with an idea, and therefore expand your writing horizons. In other cases, there are characters from the ten-minute play that you just know have more to say; that might mean the ten-minute play served as an exercise, but it doesn’t mean it’s not good all on its own.
8) Ten-minute play productions keep your resume from being empty in those early years. They show that people like your work, that you’re producible. If you have multiple productions of one play, it shows you have solid work, not just a one-off. If you’ve won prizes, it demonstrates further credibility. Theater people know how hard it is to get full-length plays produced, but a solid resume of ten-minute productions might get them to take a look at one. Because
9) Ten-minute plays are a tremendous means of networking. The more productions you have—of any kind—the more your name stays current. Every time you get a production of a ten-minute play, you meet a theater, a director, and actors—something that is very difficult to do if you are not a regularly produced playwright, or not in a primary theater city. A production of a ten-minute play is better than that elusive coffee with an artistic director because the AD who produced you has already read/seen your work. Because of a ten-minute play production, my submissions to a full-length call yielded a personal exchange with the AD—just because he loved the ten-minute play they’d produced. The aforementioned OPEN AND SHUT? That was a commission from an AD who liked the ten-minute play produced at his theater, and asked for it to be expanded; we recently had a very successful reading and it has a good chance of future production. My third production of SAFE? Yep. The director who directed my short, “Jack Pork,” in another festival is the AD at Queer Theatre Kalamazoo. I asked if she takes full-lengths, she read SAFE, and bam! I did the same thing following a call for plays from Open Eye theater, and that led to my first production of FLOWERS IN THE DESERT. This aspect of writing ten-minute plays cannot be overstated: in a business where we are always clamoring to get through a door, ten-minute plays provide seamless entry.
10) Like them or not, ten-minute plays are not going away. For all the complaints about how they’re destroying playwriting, ten-minute play festivals are propagating rapidly as more and more theaters realize the value of these productions—easy sets, large casts, the ability to serve many playwrights. Probably two-fifths of my play submissions per year are for ten-minute plays, which garner me about forty productions annually. That means I nearly always have a production happening and I won’t lie—that makes me feel like I’m doing something right, and that’s a feeling that artists need to have, kind of constantly if we’re honest. I know we’d all prefer to have our full-lengths produced on a regular basis, but, in so many ways, ten-minute plays help make that happen. Arguing against them is only denying yourself opportunity.
Please follow me on Twitter @donnahoke or like me on Facebook at Donna Hoke, Playwright.
Playwrights, remember to explore the Real Inspiration For Playwrights Project, a 52-post series of wonderful advice from Literary Managers and Artistic Directors on getting your plays produced. Click RIPP at the upper right.
To read entries in Playwrights Living Outside New York series, click here or #PLONY in the category listing at upper right.
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Waxangel Profile Blog Joined September 2002 United States 27025 Posts Last Edited: 2015-10-20 02:35:22 #1 the following allegations have yet to be proven in a court of law.
This translated investigation report has been edited for clarity. Some redundant and extraneous portions have been omitted (they may be added later for completeness' sake). Some supplementary information has been added in blue text . The original documents can be downloaded HERE.
The following is a translation of the official report from the Changwon Regional Prosecution Service’s special investigations division. The case has not gone to trial andThis translated investigation report has been edited for clarity. Some redundant and extraneous portions have been omitted (they may be added later for completeness' sake). Some supplementary information has been added in. The original documents can be downloaded StarCraft 2 Match-Fixing Investigation Result:
- 12 identified, 9 indicted and arrested, 2 indicted (not arrested), 1 wanted
The Changwon Regional Prosecution Service’s special investigations division has investigated match-fixing in StarCraft 2 and identified twelve individuals involved, including a head coach, current and former progamers, and brokers. Nine have been indicted and arrested, two have been indicted but not arrested, and one suspect is currently at large.
NINE Indicted and arrested: One head coach and two progamers from a StarCraft 2 progaming team, who received between 5,000,000~20,000,000 won to fix the result of FIVE matches. One ex-progamer and four other BROKERS, who posed as sponsors or used personal relationships to solicit match-fixing. TWO gangsters who acted as FINANCIAL BACKERS who bet on illegal websites and provided the compensation for match-fixing.
One head coach and two progamers from a StarCraft 2 progaming team, who received between 5,000,000~20,000,000 won to fix the result of FIVE matches. One ex-progamer and four other BROKERS, who posed as sponsors or used personal relationships to solicit match-fixing. TWO gangsters who acted as FINANCIAL BACKERS who bet on illegal websites and provided the compensation for match-fixing. TWO RECRUITERS who recruited members for gambling "clubs" have been indicted but not arrested. One of their accomplices is wanted.
By revealing not only top-class progamers but a currently active head coach, and the ENTIRE NETWORK of broker and financial backers behind them, the reality of the previously rumored StarCraft 2 match-fixing scene has been revealed.
We plan to continue enforcing the law against match-fixers who would impede fairness in society.
I. The Defendants
*Though the investigators did not name Gerrard, YoDa, BBoongBBoong, or Enough by name, their identities have been widely reported by Korean media. They will be referred to directly throughout this translation.
"A"(age 31) Gerrard : Head coach of StarCraft 2 pro team BLANK ( The Changwon Regional Prosecution Service’s special investigations division has investigated match-fixing in StarCraft 2 and identified twelve individuals involved, including a head coach, current and former progamers, and brokers. Nine have been indicted and arrested, two have been indicted but not arrested, and one suspect is currently at large.By revealing not only top-class progamers but a currently active head coach, and the ENTIRE NETWORK of broker and financial backers behind them, the reality of the previously rumored StarCraft 2 match-fixing scene has been revealed.We plan to continue enforcing the law against match-fixers who would impede fairness in society.Head coach of StarCraft 2 pro team BLANK ( Prime ). Indicted and arrested.
"B"(22) YoDa , "C"(29) BBoongBBoong : StarCraft 2 progamers. Indicted and arrested.
"D"(33) Enough (former SC1 pro and journalist) , "E"(39), "F"(38), "G"(28): Brokers. Indicted and arrested.
"H"(36, member of criminal organization X). "I"(26, member of criminal organization Y): Financial backers. Indicted and arrested.
"J"(25), "K"(38): Recruiters for gambling sites. Indicted, not arrested.
*12 identified suspects, 9 Indicted and arrested, 2 indicted but not arrested, 1 at large.
*See Appendix (1) for detailed list of charges.
II. INVESTIGATIVE PROCESS
August, 2015: Based on a report about suspected match-fixing in StarCraft 2, the investigation began in earnest with the arrest of financial backer "I."
September-October, 2015: Gerrard and nine others were indicted and arrested in relation to match-fixing.
III. CASE DETAILS.
1. Match-fixing in multiple StarCraft 2 leagues: Five games fixed in total.
A total of five games were fixed across multiple leagues: SKT Proleague, GSL Season 1 Code S Ro16, GSL Season 2 Code A Ro48, and GSL Season 2 Code S Ro32.
SKT Proleague, GSL Season 1 Code S Ro16, GSL Season 2 Code A Ro48, and GSL Season 2 Code S Ro32. Because StarCraft 2 is played one-on-one, it is easier to fix than other competitions. Thus, matches in both team tournaments (Proleague) and individual tournaments (GSL) were fixed.
*See Appendix (2) for specific game details and the role of each defendant.
2. Active head coaches, famous pro-gamers participated in match-fixing.
Though there were cases of players engaging in match-fixing in StarCraft 1 and offline sports, this case is unique in that an active coach collaborated with players on his own team.
Despite his obligation to protect YoDa and BBoongBBoong from match-fixing, Gerrard introduced them to brokers or directly solicited match-fixing himself, receiving considerable compensation in the process.
YoDa was a top-class progamer who had previous won championships or placed runner-up in international tournaments. However, it did not prevent him from accepting considerable compensation to manipulate match results.
The head coach and progamers agreed to manipulate the results of matches in a variety of easy ways: Simply losing, going over time (e.g. game lasts longer than 15 minutes regardless of result), going under time (e.g. game lasts less than 15 minutes regardless of result), losing under time (e.g. losing in less than 15 minutes), etc.
3. Brokers approached the players in a variety of ways.
Posing as sponsors and arranging match fixing.
Brokers approached under the guise of being sponsors. Acquired services through head coach, then approached players directly. Later forced match-fixing services through player extortion.
Brokers "E" and "F" posed as sponsors and gave the team small amounts of operating funds to earn Gerrard’s trust before suggesting match-fixing.
At first they acquired the progamer's services through Gerrard, but after one successful fix, the player was contacted directly by the broker and offered large compensation for match-fixing.
After YoDa was paid to match-fix once, the brokers blackmailed YoDa into manipulating additional matches free of compensation by threatening to expose his doings.
Ex-progamer and gaming journalist as broker.
Enough, who had been active as a famous SC1 progamer, gaming journalist, and broadcast host, had many connections with head coaches, players, and others in the industry.
Enough used his relationships with Gerrard and YoDa to naturally approach them and offer them match-fixing for a large fee.
Attempts to solicit match-fixing through social media.
Broker "G"made dozens of attempts to blindly offer match-fixing opportunities to progamers or their acquaintances through Facebook posts.
Progamers declined such offers and thus match-fixing did not occur through the above route. However, "G" still received tens of millions of won (10,000,000 won is approximately $9000 USD) from financial backer "I" under the premise of “operating funds.”
*The fact that progamers are constantly exposed to match-fixing offers has been reported by the media. Related media stories include: Facebook harassment, a progamer's sister approached about match-fixing, a broker being imprisoned by financial backer for his failure to arrange a fixed match, etc.
4. Revenue model of "financial backers" (members of organized crime groups)
Betting directly on illegal betting websites.
Backer "H" gave brokers funds to arrange the match manipulation, and then proceeded to use illegal gambling websites to bet on the matches. The winnings became revenue, and funds for further match-fixing.
The actual profit for financial backers was not particularly great. The maximum bet size for one person on an illegal gambling site was around 1,000,000 won (approximately $900) , with a payout of around 1.3~1.5x. Matches rumored to be fixed sometimes had their bets cancelled. In the case of broker "G," the broker gave false information on a fixed-match but still received payment from the financial backer.
"H" received back the 25,000,000 won he gave broker "E" in its entirety. After betting approximately 31,500,000 on two matches, his total winnings were 41,500,000 won.
*The sites used by "H" have all been closed.
Receiving commissions from "betting club" members.
Backer "I" gave broker "G" funds to arrange match fixing. Once he received information on matches to be fixed, he made recruiters "J" and "K" go to net cafes, etc. and recruit members for a "betting club." "I" received a commission of 30% or more from the members.
"I" was able to collect approximately 35,000,000 won in commissions from around 50 club members. Part of the money went to broker "G" as operating funds.
IV. Meaning of the Investigation
1. First time an active head coach was discovered in SC2 match fixing.
This is the first time the previously rumored StarCraft 2 match-fixing has been uncovered.
Though various measures were taken to prevent match-fixing from happening again after the 2010 SC1 match-fixing scandal, a severe moral hazard was discovered with top class progamers and even head coaches participating.
2. Thorough investigation leading to discovery of all offenders.
Through a clandestine and tenacious investigation, not only were the match-fixing progamers caught, but the entire network of brokers and financial backers behind them was found as well. This contributes to preventing the recurrence of match-fixing.
The methods for arranging match-fixing, as well as the revenue models behind match-fixing have been brought to light.
3. Opportunity to form a healthy esports culture.
Esports declined after the 2010 match-fixing scandal. Recently, there have been many efforts to try and help esports regain its former glory, such as the opening of dedicated arenas, the revival of various tournaments, opening up of esports admissions for universities, etc.
Outside the material infrastructure listed above, this investigation seeks to awake the kind of awareness needed to preserve the spirit of fairness that is at the heart of wholesome sports culture.
V. Going forward.
We will continue to crack down on the match-fixing and illegal internet gambling that harms the fairness of society. We plan to do everything we can to help establish wholesome esports culture.
Appendix (1): Charges against the defendants
Additional information and VOD links on the five manipulated matches have been provided.
1.Gerrard
SPL 2015 - January 20: BBoongBBoong vs. Flash (VOD)
Gerrard received 5,000,000 won from broker "E." Gerrard then then suggested match-fixing to BBoongBBoong and transferred the 5,000,000 won to him. [Bribery, Obstruction]
Gerrard received 5,000,000 won from broker "E." Gerrard then then suggested match-fixing to BBoongBBoong and transferred the 5,000,000 won to him. [Bribery, Obstruction] Code S Ro16 Season 1 - February 13: YoDa vs Life OR TY. (VOD vs Life)(VOD vs TY)
Unknown which match or matches in the series the charge refers to.
Gerrard received requests from brokers "E" and "F" to introduce him to YoDa, and he followed through on the request. [Bribery, Obstruction]
Gerrard received requests from brokers "E" and "F" to introduce him to YoDa, and he followed through on the request. [Bribery, Obstruction] Code S Ro32 Season 2 - May 13: YoDa vs Bbyong OR Symbol. (VOD vs Bbyong), (VOD vs Symbol)
Unknown which match or matches in the series the charge refers to.
Gerrard received 10,000,000 won from Enough to arrange YoDa to match-fix. [Bribery, Obstruction]
Gerrard received 10,000,000 won from Enough to arrange YoDa to match-fix. [Bribery, Obstruction] December 2014 ~ March 2015: Gerrard spent over 57,000,000 won on internet gambling.[Gambling]
YoDa
Code S Ro16 Season 1 - February 13: YoDa vs Life OR TY. (VOD vs Life)(VOD vs TY)
Unknown which match or matches in the series the charge refers to.
YoDa was introduced to brokers "E" and "F" by Gerrard. YoDa then received 20,000,000 won in return for intentionally losing a match. [Bribery, Obstruction]
YoDa was introduced to brokers "E" and "F" by Gerrard. YoDa then received 20,000,000 won in return for intentionally losing a match. [Bribery, Obstruction] Code A Ro48 Season 2 - April 1: YoDa vs DRG (VOD)
YoDa accepted requests from brokers "E" and "F" to intentionally lose a match. [Bribery, Obstruction]
YoDa accepted requests from brokers "E" and "F" to intentionally lose a match. [Bribery, Obstruction] Code S Ro32 Season 2 - May 13: YoDa vs Bbyong OR Symbol. (VOD vs Bbyong), (VOD vs Symbol)
Unknown which match or matches in the series the charge refers to.
YoDa received 10,000,000 won from Enough in return for intentionally losing a match. [Bribery, Obstruction]
YoDa received 10,000,000 won from Enough in return for intentionally losing a match. [Bribery, Obstruction] SPL 2015 - June 9: YoDa vs HerO. (VOD)
YoDa accepted requests from brokers "E" and "F" to intentionally lose a match. [Bribery, Obstruction]
BBoongBBoong
SPL 2015 - January 20: BBoongBBoong vs. Flash (VOD)
Through Gerrard, BBoongBBoong received 5,000,000 won from broker "E" in return for intentionally losing a match.[Bribery, Obstruction]
Detailed list of charges against financial backers and brokers. May add later.
Appendix (2)
Almost completely redundant information from Appendix (1), but indexed by match. May add later.
Appendix (3): Diagrams
CHART 1:
CHART 2:
). Indicted and arrested.StarCraft 2 progamers. Indicted and arrested.Brokers. Indicted and arrested.Financial backers. Indicted and arrested.Recruiters for gambling sites. Indicted, not arrested.*12 identified suspects, 9 Indicted and arrested, 2 indicted but not arrested, 1 at large.*See Appendix (1) for detailed list of charges.Based on a report about suspected match-fixing in StarCraft 2, the investigation began in earnest with the arrest of financial backer "I."Gerrard and nine others were indicted and arrested in relation to match-fixing.We will continue to crack down on the match-fixing and illegal internet gambling that harms the fairness of society. We plan to do everything we can to help establish wholesome esports culture. Administrator Hey HP can you redo everything youve ever done because i have a small complaint?
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WASHINGTON ― House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) said Friday that President Donald Trump should not terminate a program protecting young undocumented immigrants who come to the U.S. as children, even though he and other Republicans have repeatedly tried to end it in Congress.
“I actually don’t think he should do that,” Ryan said in a radio interview, regarding reports that Trump will end the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, which could be killed as early as Friday. “I believe that this is something that Congress has to fix.”
White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said Friday afternoon that Trump will announce a decision on DACA, which has allowed nearly 800,000 so-called “Dreamers” to receive two-year work permits and deportation reprieve, on Tuesday. Attorneys general from 10 states threatened the president with legal action if he doesn’t terminate the program by Sept. 5, and there were reports on Thursday and Friday that he plans to do so, although the White House has said it is still under review.
Ryan is a longtime opponent of DACA. Speaking to the radio station WCLO in Janesville, Wisconsin, on Friday, he said that President Barack Obama, who created the program in 2012, “did not have the legislative authority to do what he did” and that presidents cannot “write law out of thin air.”
“Having said all of that, there are people in limbo,” Ryan added. “These are kids that know no other country, who were brought here by their parents and don’t know another home, and so I really do believe there needs to be a legislative solution, that’s one that we’re working on.”
Paul Ryan tells WCLO Trump should not end DACA, says Congress should fix pic.twitter.com/jwzU4sRkgs — JM Rieger (@RiegerReport) September 1, 2017
Trump vowed during his presidential campaign to end DACA, which he, like Ryan and other Republicans, has said is unconstitutional. If he followed through, current recipients would be unable to work legally and would be at risk of deportation. Although the Trump administration has said its focus is deporting criminals, it routinely detains other undocumented immigrants it encounters as well ― Dreamers among them.
Ending the program would also put intense pressure on Republicans in Congress to pass legislation to protect Dreamers, which many of them have opposed in the past. Along with attempting to end DACA, Ryan voted in 2010 against the Dream Act, which would give a path to citizenship to Dreamers, and declined to hold a vote on comprehensive immigration reform. He, like Trump, has also stated general support for Dreamers and allowing them to remain in the country.
Other Republicans have also voiced support for maintaining DACA as Trump weighs ending the program. Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah), an original sponsor of the Dream Act in 2001 who opposed it in 2010, issued a statement on Friday saying he had urged Trump not to terminate DACA and would work on legislation to help Dreamers.
Other Republicans have already backed legislation to give protections to Dreamers. Three Senate Republicans ― Sens. Lindsay Graham (R-S.C.), Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.) and Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) ― are co-sponsors of the 2017 iteration of the Dream Act, which was also introduced in the House with support from two Republicans, Rep. Mike Coffman (R-Colo.) and Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-Fla.).
Groups of Republicans have also pushed for the Bridge Act, which would be a stopgap measure to temporarily extend Dreamers’ protections until a longer-term solution could be reached. Coffman said Thursday that he would attempt to force a vote on the bill.
Rep. Carlos Curbelo (R-Fla.) recently introduced the Recognizing America’s Children, or RAC Act, which would create a path to citizenship to Dreamers but with more restrictions than the Dream Act. He has 18 co-sponsors, all of them Republicans, including Coffman and Ros-Lehtinen.
Sen. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.) reportedly plans to introduce a similar bill to the RAC Act.
Republicans have previously said any legal status for undocumented immigrants must be coupled with other measures, such as increased border security and interior enforcement. Top White House officials reportedly were considering pushing for a deal that would give protections to Dreamers in exchange for border wall funding, slashing legal immigration and putting more requirements on employers to check immigration status of hires.
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As we've done repeatedly in the past, today we're re-living yesterday's game by taking a peek at what the fans of other NFL teams had to say while they were watching the Cowboys beat the Colts to win the NFC East.
Disclaimer: All quotes are taken directly from the open game threads from the SB Nation team sites as indicated in front of every comment. Some minor edits have been made to improve the overall legibility of the quotes and to satisfy the site guidelines of our board, but no other changes have been made, no commentary added.
On some of these Trolling The Nation posts, you can't help but feel a certain Schadenfreude for the fans of the opposing teams, on others you feel a little sad for the opposing fans. We'll call that feeling "Forty-Burger Sadness."
In the past, I've received some questions asking why there are never any Cowboys fans in these threads. Two reasons: One, if you are a Cowboys fan and watched the game, you probably remember exactly how you felt during the game - no need for a rehash. Two, if you really want to see what other Cowboys fans said, you can always read through the open threads for the game here on BTB.
Pre-game and First Quarter
Colts At game. It’s pretty electric but I feel a Colts win coming on by oxdp941 on Dec 21, 2014 | 3:53 PM Colts Only reason I would want us to lose this is so the Eagles are knocked out of the playoffs. by luck-ycoltsfan19 on Dec 21, 2014 | 4:10 PM Eagles Colts 38 Cowboys 24. Colts will get a few quick scores and take a commanding lead right at the beginning. Our playoff hopes live for another week. by wilson25 on Dec 21, 2014 | 4:22 PM Eagles Half of me is rooting Colts. The other half just wants this torture of a month to end early with a Dallas win. by zracer71 on Dec 21, 2014 | 4:27 PM Colts I have a bad feeling about this game by luck-ycoltsfan19 on Dec 21, 2014 | 4:29 PM Colts This is not looking good... by CrownStephens724 on Dec 21, 2014 | 4:30 PM Colts Romo is killing us running??? by RyanGrigsonsDraftPicks on Dec 21, 2014 | 4:30 PM Colts Romo channeling his inner Russell Wilson. by aplethoraofpunk on Dec 21, 2014 | 4:30 PM Colts If they could contain Romo scrambling we'd be in good shape. by EVLGNUS on Dec 21, 2014 | 4:31 PM Seahawks Colts defense looking good. by shams on Dec 21, 2014 | 4:32 PM PENALTY on IND-J.Freeman, Taunting, 15 yards, enforced at DAL 48. Colts Taunting is such a dumb penalty by jbacon55 on Dec 21, 2014 | 4:33 PM Colts That cost us 7. Guaranteed by RyanGrigsonsDraftPicks on Dec 21, 2014 | 4:33 PM Eagles Looks like the Eagles D out there. Big stop on third down and then the flag flies… by wilson25 on Dec 21, 2014 | 4:34 PM Colts Cowboys meet the Colts D. Cowboys: "Well thanks - it’s great to meet you!" by aplethoraofpunk on Dec 21, 2014 | 4:35 PM Colts It’s like we forget the TE is eligible to catch the football. by strandedincarolina on Dec 21, 2014 | 4:35 PM (6:40) (Shotgun) T.Romo pass short middle to T.Williams for 9 yards, TOUCHDOWN
Cowboys 7 - Colts 0 Colts I hate this team. They cannot be disciplined even for one second. The level of stupidity of some players is beyond unreal! by FrenchColtsLover on Dec 21, 2014 | 4:37 PM Colts That didn't look too hard for Dallas. by strandedincarolina on Dec 21, 2014 | 4:37 PM Colts Looks like we are screwed this year. Got dumb players like Freeman, Landry, Toler. A dumb GM. No chance. by FREDDIEMARKS on Dec 21, 2014 | 4:38 PM Colts Got a feeling if the offense doesn't get it going from play one, this game could get out of hand quick by RDReynolds on Dec 21, 2014 | 4:38 PM Colts Now watch Dallas stop us in 3 plays hahaha by Big Red Fred on Dec 21, 2014 | 4:39 PM Colts If this is a three and out ima have to break stuff by Luck Inc. on Dec 21, 2014 | 4:39 PM Colts Oh Lord. by aplethoraofpunk on Dec 21, 2014 | 4:43 PM Colts 3 and out by Big Red Fred on Dec 21, 2014 | 4:43 PM Colts Wow we are going to get killed by Big Red Fred on Dec 21, 2014 | 4:44 PM Eagles C'mon Colts don't even bother with the run. Start shredding that garbage Dallas secondary. by StoneColeKiller58 on Dec 21, 2014 | 4:44 PM (4:36) (Punt formation) P.McAfee pass thrown off fake punt incomplete at the Colts 35 Colts I just cant believe that by anoll28 on Dec 21, 2014 | 4:45 PM Colts Wow great field position yet again by Big Red Fred on Dec 21, 2014 | 4:45 PM Seahawks You can't drop that dude by FlannelBacon on Dec 21, 2014 | 4:45 PM Colts How is that possible? by It's Magc on Dec 21, 2014 | 4:45 PM Colts SWEET CHRISTMAS by RDReynolds on Dec 21, 2014 | 4:45 PM Texans The Colts are so going to be 1 and done in the playoffs by Bleyd on Dec 21, 2014 | 4:46 PM 49ers Colts Colts Colts. What can I say? That was some of the worst opening play calling I have ever seen. by McTee on Dec 21, 2014 | 4:46 PM Bengals Wow. Fake punt, wide open receiver… Drrrrrrrrrop! by Oregonbengalsfan on Dec 21, 2014 | 4:46 PM (4:30) T.Romo pass deep right to D.Bryant for 19 yards, TOUCHDOWN.
Cowboys 14 - Colts 0 Colts Toler covering Dez isn't going to work by RDReynolds on Dec 21, 2014 | 4:46 PM Seahawks Dez Bryant on this team would be a dream come true by Zane , on Dec 21, 2014 | 4:46 PM Colts How you stop that, I don't know. Vontae wasn’t stopping that. by deidunxcolts254 on Dec 21, 2014 | 4:47 PM Colts So two idiotic plays = 14 point hole by RDReynolds on Dec 21, 2014 | 4:47 PM Seahawks Yay Cowboys who I was rooting against until just before this game started! by Rithmckk on Dec 21, 2014 | 4:47 PM Seahawks On top of all his other advantages Bryant is a master of the OPI by shams on Dec 21, 2014 | 4:47 PM Bears Dallas up 14-0 on Indy already... by SomeGuyNamedDave on Dec 21, 2014 | 4:47 PM 49ers Wow, having a top-10 WR really makes things easy... by stultus on Dec 21, 2014 | 4:47 PM Redskins Colts you suck. by kilbyman on Dec 21, 2014 | 4:48 PM Colts Pro: Andrew Luck didn't throw a pick 6 by RDReynolds on Dec 21, 2014 | 4:48 PM Colts Best passing team in league against weak cowboys secondary, so what do we do? Open with 3 straight runs for nothing. I’m tired of these freaking idiots by LBizZLE on Dec 21, 2014 | 4:51 PM Colts If this game doesn't highlight the incompetence of our coaching, nothing will. by strandedincarolina on Dec 21, 2014 | 4:51 PM Colts Another 3 and out? by aplethoraofpunk on Dec 21, 2014 | 4:52 PM Eagles I have a feeling Tony is going to give the Colts a couple gifts this game. Then it's up to the Colts to say please and thank you by pheenom on Dec 21, 2014 | 4:52 PM Colts Yep, this is going to get out of hand by RDReynolds on Dec 21, 2014 | 4:53 PM Colts 1 and done in the playoffs, this team is going nowhere with this coaching staff. by kage*1984 on Dec 21, 2014 | 4:54 PM Seahawks Wow Phil Simms has gone full Cowboy homer for this game it looks like. Which in reality makes basically zero sense. by rcuosukgi42 on Dec 21, 2014 | 4:54 PM Colts Bryant is just too much to defend by anoll28 on Dec 21, 2014 | 4:57 PM Colts Our defense is getting eaten alive. Absolutely eaten alive. by aplethoraofpunk on Dec 21, 2014 | 4:57 PM Colts 21-0 coming by RyanGrigsonsDraftPicks on Dec 21, 2014 | 4:59 PM
Second Quarter
Jets Man, they keep reshowing that first TD pass by the Cowboys. What a pretty design. How a man like Mornhinweg, who has been an OC for so many years, is utterly unable to come up with a single nice play in the red zone all year is just incomprehensible. by JetFanOverseas on Dec 21, 2014 | 5:00 PM Seahawks I don't see how Colts homers say that Vontae Davis is an elite CB. Dude is getting eaten up by Dez Bryant by King_Rajesh on Dec 21, 2014 | 5:00 PM Colts 1st quarter is over and Luck has thrown one pass. by strandedincarolina on Dec 21, 2014 | 5:00 PM Seahawks When he and Romo are in sync, Dez Bryant can thrive on a steady diet of elite CBs by shams on Dec 21, 2014 | 5:01 PM Jets Cowboys lookin strong. by Crackback on Dec 21, 2014 | 5:02 PM Colts NUMBER ONE OFFENSE by jbacon55 on Dec 21, 2014 | 5:03 PM Colts 6 total yards, guys by RyanGrigsonsDraftPicks on Dec 21, 2014 | 5:03 PM (14:19) (Shotgun) T.Romo pass short middle to C.Beasley for 24 yards, TOUCHDOWN
Cowboys 21 - Colts 0 Colts Can we wave the white flag, pack it up and go home? by Adam876 on Dec 21, 2014 | 5:04 PM Colts When the big boys strap on the pads the Colts soil themselves by horseshoe head on Dec 21, 2014 | 5:04 PM Colts Hahahahahahahahaha. Pathetic by kage*1984 on Dec 21, 2014 | 5:04 PM Bengals Dallas routing the Colts by occams_tiger_teeth on Dec 21, 2014 | 5:04 PM Colts I feel like the Colts are just trolling us now by RDReynolds on Dec 21, 2014 | 5:04 PM Cardinals Wow... Dallas is just steamrolling the Colts. 21-0 just one minute into the second. by Swangahouse on Dec 21, 2014 | 5:04 PM Eagles On the plus side, it looks like our loss yesterday won’t make any difference. by groot on Dec 21, 2014 | 5:05 PM Colts THROW IN THE TOWEL by Luck Inc. on Dec 21, 2014 | 5:05 PM Colts Indianapolis Indiana, drop city USA by Beckman1993 on Dec 21, 2014 | 5:07 PM Colts Another 3 and out. Fun times. by aplethoraofpunk on Dec 21, 2014 | 5:08 PM Colts When did Luck become terrible on 3rd down? by It's Magc on Dec 21, 2014 | 5:09 PM Colts I hate everyone on this team except for Luck and Wayne but Wayne has been pissing me off lately by Kyle2013 on Dec 21, 2014 | 5:09 PM Seahawks I pity these foals by William & Polly on Dec 21, 2014 | 5:09 PM Jets Love me some Dallas Cowboys right now. I hope they knock the Eagles out of the playoffs right here, right now by MachlinT on Dec 21, 2014 | 5:10 PM Texans Cowboys' defense is about as effective against the Colts as we were last week. Difference is this is what happens when you combine that with a competent offense. by Sugel Mendoza on Dec 21, 2014 | 5:10 PM Colts Another 3 and out? Not watching this crapola show anymore..... by BoilerVaulter on Dec 21, 2014 | 5:11 PM Colts This is beyond comical. But I can’t look away by goluckycolts on Dec 21, 2014 | 5:11 PM Colts Could Witten be more open? by CrownStephens724 on Dec 21, 2014 | 5:12 PM Seahawks Heavens above, the Dallas O-line is making me angry. by rcuosukgi42 on Dec 21, 2014 | 5:12 PM Redskins As much as I hate the Cowboys, I have to admit, they will be at the top of the NFC East for quite a while. They are doing it the right way, building from the inside out. by bppjr on Dec 21, 2014 | 5:13 PM Colts Eagles fan here. I know this game doesn’t mean much to your boys, but a come back to stun Romo at home would nice by pheenom on Dec 21, 2014 | 5:14 PM Colts Get outta here Eagles dude. Worry about that 21st draft pick by rocketcoe on Dec 21, 2014 | 5:14 PM Colts I have an idea. Let’s not set the edge against DeMarco Murray. by jbacon55 on Dec 21, 2014 | 5:16 PM Colts Poor Emmit. Had to see Colts on schedule and think, "Yep, my record's gone" by RDReynolds on Dec 21, 2014 | 5:16 PM Eagles What position will the Eagles draft in? I can’t watch anymore. by champion1964 on Dec 21, 2014 | 5:17 PM Broncos Colt D looks bad right now. They should have played a tougher schedule to toughen up. by Gulbrand on Dec 21, 2014 | 5:17 PM Falcons The Cowboys look like the real deal and I HATE the Cowboys by matt_v32 on Dec 21, 2014 | 5:17 PM (6:38) D.Murray up the middle for 1 yard, TOUCHDOWN.
Cowboys 28 - Colts 0 Seahawks Pagano must have gone to the Tony Dungy school of "fold up shop once your playoff seeding is set". by Flyndiggory on Dec 21, 2014 | 5:18 PM Jets Is Luck playing? by JetsFan718 on Dec 21, 2014 | 5:18 PM Colts For all the talk of taking Luck out, wouldn't be surprised to see Romo come out by middle of the 3rd by RDReynolds on Dec 21, 2014 | 5:19 PM Eagles The Colts are going full Jay Cutler right now by SebastianSmith07 on Dec 21, 2014 | 5:21 PM Chargers Indianapolis in the postseason scares me. Andrew Luck is just magic. Just because they’re down doesn’t mean their out of this game. They can come back. by Jarred Braxton on Dec 21, 2014 | 5:23 PM Colts A caught pass!!! by Luck Inc. on Dec 21, 2014 | 5:23 PM Seahawks So when is Andrew Luck turning on that elite button? by Mookie Alexander on Dec 21, 2014 | 5:24 PM Colts I love that pass play for 0 yards by 2bad on Dec 21, 2014 | 5:27 PM Colts I would tell them to pull Luck, but if we plan on making it out of the wildcard our offense has to show some signs of life by anoll28 on Dec 21, 2014 | 5:27 PM Seahawks Is it just a ginger thing, or does Jason Garrett look like certain iterations of the green goblin by sexydeepballs on Dec 21, 2014 | 5:28 PM Eagles I am out. Can’t stand to watch this anymore. I just know some more crappy calls will happen and just drive me insane with anger by Easedel on Dec 21, 2014 | 5:29 PM Colts I find it all hilarious now by MFKrime on Dec 21, 2014 | 5:29 PM Eagles Lol why are we all making excuses? Cowboys are good, and better than the us. Eagles deserve criticism, they messed it up by insaneeaglesfanatic on Dec 21, 2014 | 5:30 PM Colts I legitimately remember the 2-14 team looking better than this by RDReynolds on Dec 21, 2014 | 5:30 PM Colts Only LaRon Landry can turn a loss of 5 into a loss of 1 smh by kage*1984 on Dec 21, 2014 | 5:31 PM Colts Didn't realize Cowboys had a bye this week by mmmagician on Dec 21, 2014 | 5:32 PM Eagles Dallas is getting hot at the right time of the year. Hate to say it but they have the ability to go far in the playoffs. by IwantVick on Dec 21, 2014 | 5:34 PM Colts Does anyone else ever think that Luck might just say, "You know what, thanks, but no" when his contract is up? by RDReynolds on Dec 21, 2014 | 5:41 PM Colts At least Luck can pad his stats by luck-ycoltsfan19 on Dec 21, 2014 | 5:44 PM (:17) (Shotgun) A.Luck pass deep middle intended for C.Fleener INTERCEPTED by J.Wilcox Colts ... with an interception by FREDDIEMARKS on Dec 21, 2014 | 5:45 PM Colts Pro: Wasn't a pick six by RDReynolds on Dec 21, 2014 | 5:45 PM Seahawks Romo can be very dangerous. Especially when he has good protection and a strong running game. by sas1969 on Dec 21, 2014 | 5:56 PM Seahawks Who was the player that said Russell Wilson was better than Andrew Luck...Maybe he was right. by korboko on Dec 21, 2014 | 5:57 PM Seahawks That player was Russell Wilson. by Rithmckk on Dec 21, 2014 | 5:57 PM Colts Dallas cheerleaders should line up on defense for us. They will do much better by FREDDIEMARKS on Dec 21, 2014 | 5:58 PM
Third Quarter
(14:39) (No Huddle, Shotgun) A.Luck pass short right intended for R.Wayne INTERCEPTED by A.Hitchens Colts Well, that didn't take long by RDReynolds on Dec 21, 2014 | 6:01 PM (12:34) (Field Goal formation) D.Bailey 52 yard field goal is No Good Colts Dodged a bullet. Make it count. by EVLGNUS on Dec 21, 2014 | 6:06 PM Bengals Real choke job by Iggles....lost three straight to miss playoffs. by The Van Buren Boys on Dec 21, 2014 | 6:09 PM Colts I wonder if we even get on the board today by anoll28 on Dec 21, 2014 | 6:14 PM Broncos Cowboys showing that high picks for Olinemen pays off. by Gulbrand on Dec 21, 2014 | 6:16 PM (4:48) (Shotgun) T.Romo pass deep middle to J.Witten for 25 yards, TOUCHDOWN. With that completion, Tony Romo passed Troy Aikman as the Dallas Cowboys all-time passing yards leader.
Cowboys 35 - Colts 0 Seahawks Maybe... the guy with the "Cowboys 2014 Super Bowl Champs" tattoo might actually know what he was talking about. by korboko on Dec 21, 2014 | 6:19 PM Broncos Colts are pathetic. Romo has all day to throw. This is a massacre. by Serbian Bronco on Dec 21, 2014 | 6:20 PM 49ers Damn I wish Tony Romo was our QB by MichaelClutchtree on Dec 21, 2014 | 6:21 PM Colts Luck benched thank God by Jerrybear. on Dec 21, 2014 | 6:23 PM Redskins Good God Tony has forever in the pocket today. by jmauthe on Dec 21, 2014 | 6:23 PM Cardinals Man... Romo turned into a surgeon on the Colts D. by Swangahouse on Dec 21, 2014 | 6:23 PM Bengals Jerry is probably already wasted and getting lap dances. by The Van Buren Boys on Dec 21, 2014 | 6:23 PM Colts I give up. by Feedthemachine on Dec 21, 2014 | 6:24 PM Bears Luck has been benched for Matt Hasselbeck… down 35-0 by SomeGuyNamedDave on Dec 21, 2014 | 6:24 PM Eagles What a choke artist by Uriahchase on Dec 21, 2014 | 6:24 PM Ravens Cowboys are destroying the Colts. All hope is not lost on my picks this week. All of the talk about the Colts being SB contenders was a joke. Just like I thought. But how about those Cowboys? by concretejimmy52 on Dec 21, 2014 | 6:25 PM Panthers Luck has been benched in favor of Mathew Hasslebeck against the Cowboys. 35-0 by rscott94 on Dec 21, 2014 | 6:25 PM Colts 8 carries 2 yards. by dave1251 on Dec 21, 2014 | 6:26 PM (1:25) M.Hasselbeck sacked at IND 40 for -8 yards (O.Scandrick). FUMBLES, RECOVERED by DAL-G.Selvie at DAL 49 Colts How is that a fumble? by GotDebt on Dec 21, 2014 | 6:29 PM Colts /drinks tears by PowerO on Dec 21, 2014 | 6:29 PM Eagles Can we lose to the Giants, please? Lose so badly that Cary Williams and Bradley Fletcher get cut immediately after the game? by devbrian on Dec 21, 2014 | 6:31 PM 49ers I want Dallas' Offensive line and maybe their offensive system too. by Ni9er on Dec 21, 2014 | 6:33 PM
Fourth Quarter
Colts 0.3 run average....my laughs are turning into cries by lollygagger8 on Dec 21, 2014 | 6:35 PM (12:58) J.Randle right tackle to IND 14 for 13 yards (D.Butler). FUMBLES Colts We need at least 3 points. by aplethoraofpunk on Dec 21, 2014 | 6:40 PM Eagles Starting Luck may have just lost me the championship game. I would have been considerably better off having Sanchez in this week. by J. Wil on Dec 21, 2014 | 6:42 PM Seahawks So much for the Eagles magical season... by korboko on Dec 21, 2014 | 6:43 PM 49ers What is going on with the Colts? Complete shutout, not even a field goal. On a 10-4 team. by neener9er on Dec 21, 2014 | 6:43 PM Seahawks I think the Cowboys have proven they are legit. Their defense wasn’t supposed to be any good, but they have improved each week. Not scary good defense, but good enough to make a few turnovers and allow the offense to do their thing. by Wilder. on Dec 21, 2014 | 6:45 PM (10:19) (Shotgun) B.Weeden pass deep right to T.Williams for 43 yards, TOUCHDOWN
Cowboys 42 - Colts 0 Seahawks Mmmmm, forty burger sadness. by dasgoot on Dec 21, 2014 | 6:48 PM Colts Weeden just threw a TD pass on us hahahhaah by lollygagger8 on Dec 21, 2014 | 6:48 PM Bears And even Brandon Weeden tosses a pretty TD pass on the Colts…. by SomeGuyNamedDave on Dec 21, 2014 | 6:48 PM Cardinals Colts defense making Weeden look like Peyton Manning by Krazymoefoe on Dec 21, 2014 | 6:49 PM Colts I seriously see no reason to even tune in to the playoffs by goluckycolts on Dec 21, 2014 | 6:50 PM 49ers I wish Brandon Weeden was our quarterback. by Typecast on Dec 21, 2014 | 6:52 PM (5:29) M.Hasselbeck pass short right to Z.Tipton for 1 yard, TOUCHDOWN
Cowboys 42 - Colts 7 Jets Highlight of the year, in my opinion, is Mark Sanchez (!) single-handedly eliminating Manish Mehta’s 6-2 Eagles from playoff contention! by Five Towns on Dec 21, 2014 | 7:01 PM Colts YEAH!!!!! WOOOOOO!!!! by RDReynolds on Dec 21, 2014 | 7:01 PM Colts Can we go for a 36 point conversion here? by RDReynolds on Dec 21, 2014 | 7:02 PM
If you are unfamiliar with these Trolling The Nation posts, here are some previous editions that you may want to check out:
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Following a European release on May 26 via Rising Star Games, Aksys Games announced that it will release Drive Girls for PS Vita in North America on August 11.
Here’s an overview of the game, via Rising Star Games:
An experience straight out of Japan, Drive Girls is developed by the legendary Tamsoft and features characters designed by popular illustrator UGUME. This fast-paced story-driven game transports you to a world where it’s normal for humans to transform into supercars – a world that is being invaded by mechanised Bug enemies! It’s up to the Drive Girls – five supercar transforming supergirls – to defend their home of Sun Island, cross the finish line and save the day.
Featuring an extensive single-player campaign, as well as local and online multiplayer for up to four players, play as any of the five Drive Girls in this action, driving, hack ‘n’ slash hybrid, and battle it out in human or supercar form to reign victory over the enemy. Deal devastating combo attacks and let loose using Over Drive moves to light up the screen with Bug-punishing pyrotechnics.
Players can boost the Drive Girls’ stats in the garage by tuning and customising their ride with new parts and sleek decals using the currency earned after every mission. The tighter your tuning, the more protected the Drive Girls are against losing their armoured clothing in combat. In between battling, driving and modding, players can also enjoy the cheeky chatter and interactions between the five heroines as they bond, get to know each other better, and form close friendships amidst the heat of the battle zone.
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WASHINGTON (AP) President Bush on Monday approved the execution of an Army private, the first time in over a half-century that a president has affirmed a death sentence for a member of the U.S. military. With his signature from the Oval Office, Bush said yes to the military's request to execute Ronald A. Gray, the White House confirmed. Gray had had been convicted in connection with a spree of four murders and eight rapes in the Fayetteville, N.C., area over eight months in the late 1980s while stationed at Fort Bragg. "While approving a sentence of death for a member of our armed services is a serious and difficult decision for a commander in chief, the president believes the facts of this case leave no doubt that the sentence is just and warranted," White House press secretary Dana Perino said. In the military courts, "Private Gray was convicted of committing brutal crimes, including two murders, an attempted murder and three rapes. The victims included a civilian and two members of the Army. ... The president's thoughts and prayers are with the victims of these heinous crimes and their families and all others affected." Unlike in the civilian courts, a member of the U.S. armed forces cannot be executed until the president approves the death sentence. Gray has been on death row at the U.S. Disciplinary Barracks at Fort Leavenworth, Kan., since April 1988. Members of the U.S. military have been executed throughout history, but just 10 have been executed by presidential approval since 1951 when the Uniform Code of Military Justice, the military's modern-day legal system, was enacted into law. President Kennedy was the last president to stare down this life-or-death decision. On Feb. 12, 1962, Kennedy commuted the death sentence of Jimmie Henderson, a Navy seaman, to confinement for life. President Eisenhower was the last president to approve a military execution. In 1957, he approved the execution of John Bennett, an Army private convicted of raping and attempting to kill an 11-year-old Austrian girl. He was hanged in 1961. The death penalty was outlawed between 1972 and 1984, when President Reagan reinstated it. Gray was held responsible for the crimes committed between April 1986 and January 1987 in both the civilian and military justice systems. In civilian courts in North Carolina, Gray pleaded guilty to two murders and five rapes and was sentenced to three consecutive and five concurrent life terms. He then was tried by general court-martial at the Army's Fort Bragg. In April 1988, the court-martial convicted Gray of two murders, an attempted murder and three rapes. He was unanimously sentenced to death. The court-martial panel convicted Gray of: • Raping and killing Army Pvt. Laura Lee Vickery-Clay of Fayetteville on Dec. 15, 1986. She was shot four times with a .22-caliber pistol that Gray confessed to stealing. She suffered blunt force trauma over much of her body. • Raping and killing Kimberly Ann Ruggles, a civilian cab driver in Fayetteville. She was bound, gagged, stabbed repeatedly, and had bruises and lacerations on her face. Her body was found on the base. • Raping, robbing and attempting to kill Army Pvt. Mary Ann Lang Nameth in her barracks at Fort Bragg on Jan. 3, 1987. She testified against Gray during the court-martial and identified him as her assailant. Gray raped her and stabbed her several times in the neck and side. Nameth suffered a laceration of the trachea and a collapsed or punctured lung. The six-member court-martial panel returned its unanimous verdict after about two hours of deliberations. The panel also reduced Gray from Spec. 4 to private, forfeited all his pay and ordered him to be dishonorably discharged from the Army. Gray has appealed his case through the Army Court of Criminal Appeals (then known as the U.S. Army Court of Military Review) and the Court of Appeals for the Armed Services. In 2001, the Supreme Court declined to hear the case. Bush got the secretary of the Army's recommendation to approve Gray's death sentence in late 2005. Since then, it's been under review by the Bush administration, including the White House legal counsel. Complicating the administration's deliberation was a case under review this year by the Supreme Court. The court ruled in April to uphold the most common method of capital punishment used across the United States. The justices said the three-drug mix of lethal-injection drugs used by Kentucky and most other states does not constitute cruel and unusual punishment. The ruling in the case of Baze v. Rees cleared the way for a resumption of executions nationwide. It was unclear where Gray would be executed. Military executions are handled by the Federal Bureau of Prisons. Bush's decision, however, is not likely the end of Gray's legal battle. Further litigation is expected and these types of death sentence appeals often take years to resolve. The military also has asked Bush to authorize the execution of Dwight J. Loving, who has been at Fort Leavenworth, Kan., since 1989 after being convicted of killing two taxicab drivers while he was an Army private at Fort Hood, Texas. But that request is not yet ripe for a presidential decision. The White House declined to discuss the case. Copyright 2008 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Guidelines: You share in the USA TODAY community, so please keep your comments smart and civil. Don't attack other readers personally, and keep your language decent. Use the "Report Abuse" button to make a difference. You share in the USA TODAY community, so please keep your comments smart and civil. Don't attack other readers personally, and keep your language decent. Use the "Report Abuse" button to make a difference. Read more
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PRANKSTER Jody Kirton fooled a national newspaper into believing a Photoshopped snow scene was real.
Jody set up a picture of a ‘snowy street in Lutterworth’ and captured it to make it look like it had been featured on the BBC news.
The picture (above) claims it had been sent in by someone called Shanda Lear.
The Daily Mail picked up on the hoax story and appeared to think it was real.
A story featuring the picture was published on the newspaper’s website under the headline ‘Not a name to make light of! BBC News shows picture taken by viewer called Shanda Lear’.
The article was then posted on the Rugby Advertiser’s Facebook page but we were suspicious of the ‘snowy’ scene from Lutterworth - just a few miles down the road from Rugby where there has not been a single flake of snow this week.
After a little questioning by the Advertiser, Jody - who runs Phlex Media - admitted it had all been a hoax.
Jody said: “I made that photo yesterday to trick friends. I made the photoshopped image with some BBC style banners and a random snowy photo. I made up a funny name and put the photo onto a USB memory stick, plugged that into my kitchen TV, then it looked like I had paused live TV. Took a Facebook photo and job done. Not sure how the Daily Mail got my photo though but it tricked them.”
What do you think to the picture? Let us know. Email alice.dyer@rugbyadvertiser.co.uk, Facebook us or Tweet @rugbyadv
TO VIEW THE DAILY MAIL ARTICLE CLICK ON THE BLUE TEXT LINK BELOW
DailyMail
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(Photo: Handout via BBC)“If this plan is working, what would a failing one look like?” So asked Martin Wolf in his column in the Financial Times in response to British Prime Minister David Cameron’s recent speech insisting that his austerity policy was right, is right and is succeeding.
Simon Wren-Lewis, an economist at Oxford, went through Mr. Cameron’s assertions in some detail online, among other things catching him more or less lying about what the Office of Budget Responsibility — roughly speaking the counterpart of the Congressional Budget Office in the United States — actually said about the impact of austerity on growth. I was particularly struck by the way Mr. Cameron is still claiming that Britain’s low interest rates show that his policy is successful and necessary.
This is a bit like the high priest sacrificing a virgin once a month to ensure that the sun keeps rising, then claiming that the fact that the sun has risen proves that the sacrifice was indeed necessary. The obvious test is to compare Britain’s rates with those of other countries; if Britain’s 2.07 percent bond yield validates his policies, does the United States’ 2.05 percent yield validate President Obama’s? Or better yet, does France’s 2.10 percent yield validate President Hollande’s?
Or is the point, perhaps, that every country that borrows in its own currency (or, in the case of France, finally has a central bank willing to do its job by providing liquidity) can now borrow cheaply?
The trouble, of course, is that Mr. Cameron’s political career and his very identity are now totally bound up with his austerity crusade. He’s a prisoner of his past, who can’t and won’t change course. Instead, his incentives are all about gambling for redemption — sticking with the policy in the hope that something turns up that will somehow make him a hero.
The Eurobeatings
Will Continue …
Until morale improves.
So said José Manuel Barroso, the president of the European Commission, in a letter to the European Council in which he argued that what Europe needs is — surprise — more austerity.
I’m tempted to do a point-by-point analysis of the data that Mr. Barroso presented to back up his claim that adjustment is proceeding at an acceptable pace. We know, for example, that what looks like a surge in Irish competitiveness is in large part a compositional effect, in which the relative robustness of highly capital-intensive industries (pharmaceuticals) creates the illusion of a productivity boom. We also know that even where there are genuine improvements in export performance, as in Portugal, they aren’t contributing enough to aggregate demand to prevent a downward spiral from austerity.
But enough; clearly, the commission won’t change course until catastrophe strikes.
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Morning shoppers at The Gardens Mall got more than they bargained for Wednesday after a theft resulted in a security guard firing five warning shots as two alleged shoplifters fled.
Two unidentified men were detained shortly after the 10 a.m. incident by Palm Beach Gardens police. A loss prevention officer at the mall’s Saks Fifth Avenue store sustained minor injuries after he tangled with one of the shoplifters, according to a mall spokeswoman. No one else was injured.
Saks Fifth Avenue had just opened when two individuals attempted to steal four handbags from a table, spokeswoman Michele Jacobs said.
A loss prevention officer for Saks attempted to stop one of the shoplifters, while the other ran out to a vehicle, Jacobs said. At some point, a contracted armed security officer who works in Saks’ fine jewelry department chased one or both of the shoplifters outside into a parking lot, then fired five warning shots into the air, she said.
But a witness who saw Palm Beach Gardens police detain the two males at gun point near the mall said she saw at least two bullet holes in the right rear tire of the alleged shoplifters’ vehicle. Palm Beach Gardens police spokesperson Ellen Lovejoy said the car was stopped by police at the intersection of PGA Boulevard and AIA.
The security guard who fired the gun is licensed to carry a firearm, Lovejoy said.
Palm Beach Gardens police declined to release any information on the two individuals detained or release any other details citing the on-going investigation.
Neither the mall nor the store closed at any time, Jacobs said. The four handbags grabbed by the alleged thieves were returned to Saks, she said.
Jacobs said police responded to the incident nearly immediately, in part because the mall employs a full-time off-duty Palm Beach Gardens police officer as part of its security staff.
Jacobs said she can’t recall another incident in which a security officer was forced to fire a weapon in the history of the mall, which opened in October, 1988.
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Over the past year or so I’ve almost doubled the speed of SpiderMonkey’s JavaScript parser. I did this by speeding up both the scanner (bug 564369, bug 584595, bug 588648, bug 639420, bug 645598) and the parser (bug 637549). I used patch stacks in several of those bugs, and so in those six bugs I actually landed 28 changesets.
Notable things about scanning JavaScript code
Before I explain the changes I made, it will help to explain a few notable things about scanning JavaScript code.
JavaScript is encoded using UCS-2. This means that each character is 16 bits.
There are several character sequences that indicate the end of a line (EOL): ‘
’, ‘\r’, ‘\r
’, \u2028 (a.k.a. LINE_SEPARATOR), and \u2029 (a.k.a. PARA_SEPARATOR). Note that ‘\r
’ is treated as a single character.
JavaScript code is often minified, and the characteristics of minified and non-minified code are quite different. The most important difference is that minified code has much less whitespace.
Scanning improvements
Before I made any changes, there were two different modes in which the scanner could operate. In the first mode, the entire character stream to be scanned was already in memory. In the second, the scanner read the characters from a file in chunks a few thousand chars long. Firefox always uses the first mode (except in the rare case where the platform doesn’t support mmap or an equivalent function), but the JavaScript shell used the second. Supporting the second made made things complicated in two ways.
It was possible for an ‘\r
’ EOL sequence to be split across two chunks, which required some extra checking code.
The scanner often needs to unget chars (up to six chars, due to the lookahead required for \uXXXX sequences), and it couldn’t unget chars across a chunk boundary. This meant that it used a six-char unget buffer. Every time a char was ungotten, it would be copied into this buffer. As a consequence, every time it had to get a char, it first had to look in the unget buffer to see if there was one or more chars that had been previously ungotten. This was an extra check (and a data-dependent and thus unpredictable check).
The first complication was easy to avoid by only reading N-1 chars into the chunk buffer, and only reading the Nth char in the ‘\r
’ case. But the second complication was harder to avoid with that design. Instead, I just got rid of the second mode of operation; if the JavaScript engine needs to read from file, it now reads the whole file into memory and then scans it via the first mode. This can result in more memory being used but it only affects the shell, not the browser, so it was an acceptable change. This allowed the unget buffer to be completely removed; when a character is ungotten now the scanner just moves back one char in the char buffer being scanned.
Another improvement was that in the old code, there was an explicit EOL normalization step. As each char was gotten from the memory buffer, the scanner would check if it was an EOL sequence; if so it would change it to ‘
’, if not, it would leave it unchanged. Then it would copy this normalized char into another buffer, and scanning would proceed from this buffer. (The way this copying worked was strange and confusing, to make things worse.) I changed it so that getChar() would do the normalization without requiring the copy into the second buffer.
The scanner has to detect EOL sequences in order to know which line it is on. At first glance, this requires checking every char to see if it’s an EOL, and the scanner uses a small look-up table to make this fast. However, it turns out that you don’t have to check every char. For example, once you know that you’re scanning an identifier, you know that if you hit an EOL sequence you’ll immediately unget it, because that marks the end of the identifier. And when you unget that char you’ll undo the line update that you did when you hit the EOL. This same logic applies in other situations (eg. parsing a number). So I added a function getCharIgnoreEOL() that doesn’t do the EOL check. It has to always be paired with ungetCharIgnoreEOL() and requires some care as to where it’s used, but it avoids the EOL check on more than half the scanned chars.
As well as detecting where each token starts and ends, for a lot of token kinds the scanner has to compute a value. For example, after scanning the character sequence ” 123 ” it has to convert that to the number 123. The old scanner would copy the chars into a temporary buffer before calling the function that did the conversion. This was unnecessary — the conversion function didn’t even require NULL-terminated strings because it gets passed the length of the string being converted! Also, the old scanner was using js_strtod() to do the number conversion. js_strtod() can convert both integers and fractional numbers, but its quite slow and overkill for integers. And when scanning, even before converting the string to a number, we know if the number we just scanned was an integer or not (by remembering if we saw a ‘.’ or exponent). So now the scanner instead calls GetPrefixInteger() which is much faster. Several of the tests in Kraken involve huge arrays of integers, and this made a big difference to them.
There’s a similar story with identifiers, but with an added complication. Identifiers can contain \uXXXX chars, and these need to be normalized before we do more with the string inside SpiderMonkey. So the scanner now remembers whether a \uXXXX char has occurred in an identifier. If not, it can work directly (temporarily) with the copy of the string inside the char buffer. Otherwise, the scanner will rescan the identifier, normalizing and copying it into a new buffer. I.e. the scanner de-optimizes the (very) rare case in order to avoid the copying in the common case.
JavaScript supports decimal, hexadecimal and octal numbers. The number-scanning code handled all three kinds in the same loop, which meant that it checked the radix every time it scanned another number char. So I split this into three parts, which make it both faster and easier to read.
Although JavaScript chars are 16 bits, the vast majority of chars you see are in the first 128 chars. This is true even for code written in non-Latin scripts, because of all the keywords (e.g. ‘var’) and operators (e.g. ‘+’) and punctuation (e.g. ‘;’). So it’s worth optimizing for those. The main scanning loop (in getTokenInternal()) now first checks every char to see if its value is greater than 128. If so, it handles it in a side-path (the only legitimate such chars are whitespace, EOL or identifier chars, so that side-path is quite small). The rest of getTokenInternal() can then assume that it’s a sub-128 char. This meant I could be quite aggressive with look-up tables, because having lots of 128-entry look-up tables is fine, but having lots of 65,536-entry look-up tables would not be. One particularly important look-up table is called firstCharKinds; it tells you what kind of token you will have based on the first non-whitespace char in it. For example, if the first char is a letter, it will be an identifier or keyword; if the first char is a ‘0’ it will be a number; and so on.
Another important look-up table is called oneCharTokens. There are a handful of tokens that are one-char long, cannot form a valid prefix of another token, and don’t require any additional special handling: ;,?[]{}() . These account for 35–45% of all tokens seen in real code! The scanner can detect them immediately and use another look-up table to convert the token char to the internal token kind without any further tests. After that, the rough order of frequency for different token kinds is as follows: identifiers/keywords, ‘.’, ‘=’, strings, decimal numbers, ‘:’, ‘+’, hex/octal numbers, and then everything else. The scanner now looks for these token kinds in that order.
That’s just a few of the improvements, there were lots of other little clean-ups. While writing this post I looked at the old scanning code, as it was before I started changing it. It was awful, it’s really hard to see what was happening; getChar() was 150 lines long because it included code for reading the next chunk from file (if necessary) and also normalizing EOLs.
In comparison, as well as being much faster, the new code is much easier to read, and much more DFA-like. It’s worth taking a look at getTokenInternal() in jsscan.cpp.
Parsing improvements
The parsing improvements were all related to the parsing of expressions. When the parser parses an expression like “3” it needs to look for any following operators, such as “+”. And there are roughly a dozen levels of operator precedence. The way the parser did this was to get the next token, check if it matched any of the operators of a particular precedence, and then unget the token if it didn’t match. It would then repeat these steps for the next precedence level, and so on. So if there was no operator after the “3”, the parser would have gotten and ungotten the next token a dozen times! Ungetting and regetting tokens is fast, because there’s a buffer used (i.e. you don’t rescan the token char by char) but it was still a bottleneck. I changed it so that the sub-expression parsers were expected to parse one token past the end of the expression, instead of zero tokesn past the end. This meant that the repeated getting/ungetting could be avoided.
These operator parsers are also very small. I inlined them more aggressively, which also helped quite a bit.
Results
I had some timing results but now I can’t find them. But I know that the overall speed-up from my changes was about 1.8x on Chris Leary’s parsemark suite, which takes code from lots of real sites, and the variation in parsing times for different codebases tends not to vary that much.
Many real websites, e.g. gmail, have MB of JS code, and this speed-up will probably save one or two tenths of a second when they load. Not something you’d notice, but certainly something that’ll add up over time and help make the browser feel snappier.
Tools
I used Cachegrind to drive most of these changes. It has two features that were crucial.
First, it does event-based profiling, i.e. it counts instructions, memory accesses, etc, rather than time. When making a lot of very small improvements, noise variations often swamp the effects of the improvements, so being able to see that instruction counts are going down by 0.2% here, 0.3% there, is very helpful.
Second, it gives counts of these events for individual lines of source code. This was particularly important for getTokenInternal(), which is the main scanning function and has around 700 lines; function-level stats wouldn’t have been enough.
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The Germans have figured out a cheap way to provide the public with bathrooms. Instead of building out a network of public toilets, which is slow and expensive, city governments are paying local businesses to open up their restrooms to the public.
The program, called Nette Toilette or Nice Toilet, is active in 210 cities and has been running since 2000. Cities pay from $34 to $112 per month to a business, and it puts a sticker in its window to tell people that they can come in and pee for free. It’s a great alternative to the usual solution, which is to skulk, pretending you’re a customer in a bar or cafe, and try to sneak into the bathroom when the staff isn’t looking.
Many German businesses already charge non-clients a 50-cent fee to use the bathroom, but with Nette Toilette, people’s taxes pay instead.
According to CityLab, participating cities have saved big money compared to operating their own networks. Bremen, a city with a population of over half a million people, reckons it saves $1 million per year by using the network, which costs it $168,000 per year. So successful is the scheme that it has given Bremen the best ratio of public toilets to citizens in Germany. Incredibly, the city says that every visit to one of its regular, all-automatic public WCs costs the city almost $6.
Nette Toilettes are about to open in Munich, which will be the scheme’s biggest city to date. Berlin, the country’s capital, is not yet taking part–a look at the map shows just 11 venues, none of which is any where near the city center.
The idea is ingeniously pragmatic, which is to say, it’s very German. Instead of worrying whether city governments should be responsible for their own infrastructure, this sidesteps the issue in a fast, practical way. It works in Germany, because here people follow the rules and expect others to do so too. If a venue took the cash and didn’t display its sticker, for example, the public would soon report it to the city. One wonders if it would work as well elsewhere.
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From nowhere, the previously unknown group 'SteamPunks' has delivered a crack for the popular game Dishonored 2 but with a potentially significant twist. Instead of taking the conventional route of hacked code, the group's solution is a key generator for Denuvo licenses. This presents the possibility that Denuvo might have been seriously compromised.
While there’s always excitement in piracy land over the release of a new movie or TV show, video gaming fans really know how to party when a previously uncracked game appears online.
When that game was protected by the infamous Denuvo anti-piracy system, champagne corks explode.
There’s been a lot of activity in this area during recent months but more recently there’s been a noticeable crescendo. As more groups have become involved in trying to defeat the system, Denuvo has looked increasingly vulnerable. Over the past 24 hours, it’s looked in serious danger.
The latest drama surrounds DISHONORED.2-STEAMPUNKS, which is a pirate release of the previously uncracked action adventure game Dishonored 2. The game uses Denuvo protection and at the rate titles have been falling to pirates lately, it’s appearance wasn’t a surprise. However, the manner in which the release landed online has sent shockwaves through the scene.
The cracking scene is relatively open these days, in that people tend to have a rough idea of who the major players are. Their real-life identities are less obvious, of course, but names like CPY, Voksi, and Baldman regularly appear in discussions.
The same cannot be said about SteamPunks. With their topsite presence, they appear to be a proper ‘Scene’ group but up until yesterday, they were an unknown entity.
It’s fair to say that this dramatic appearance from nowhere raised quite a few eyebrows among the more suspicious crack aficionados. That being said, SteamPunks absolutely delivered – and then some.
Rather than simply pre-crack (remove the protection) from Dishonored 2 and then deliver it to the public, the SteamPunks release appears to contain code which enables the user to generate Denuvo licenses on a machine-by-machine basis.
If that hasn’t sunk in, the theory is that the ‘key generator’ might be able to do the same with all Denuvo-protected releases in future, blowing the system out of the water.
While that enormous feat remains to be seen, there is an unusual amount of excitement surrounding this release and the emergence of the previously unknown SteamPunks. In the words of one Reddit user, the group has delivered the cracking equivalent of The Holy Hand Grenade of Antioch, yet no one appears to have had any knowledge of them before yesterday.
Only adding to the mystery is the lack of knowledge relating to how their tool works. Perhaps ironically, perhaps importantly, SteamPunks have chosen to protect their code with VMProtect, the software system that Denuvo itself previously deployed to stop people reverse-engineering its own code.
This raises two issues. One, people could have difficulty finding out how the license generator works and two, it could potentially contain something nefarious besides the means to play Dishonored 2 for free.
With the latter in mind, a number of people in the cracking community have been testing the release but thus far, no one has found anything untoward. That doesn’t guarantee that it’s entirely clean but it does help to calm nerves. Indeed, cracking something as difficult as Denuvo in order to put out some malware seems a lot of effort when the same could be achieved much more easily.
“There is no need to break into Fort Knox to give out flyers for your pyramid scheme,” one user’s great analogy reads.
That being said, people with experience are still urging caution, which should be the case for anyone running a cracked game, no matter who released it.
Finally, another twist in the Denuvo saga arrived yesterday courtesy of VMProtect. As widely reported, someone from the company previously indicated that Denuvo had been using its VMProtect system without securing an appropriate license.
The source said that legal action was on the horizon but an announcement from VMProtect yesterday suggests that the companies are now seeing eye to eye.
“We were informed that there are open questions and some uncertainty about the use of our software by DENUVO GmbH,” VMProtect said.
“Referring to this circumstance we want to clarify that DENUVO GmbH had the right to use our software in the past and has the right to use it currently as well as in the future. In summary, no open issues exist between DENUVO GmbH and VMProtect Software for which reason you may ignore any other divergent information.”
While the above tends to imply there’s never been an issue, a little more information from VMProtect dev Ivan Permyakov may indicate that an old dispute has since been settled.
“Information about our relationship with Denuvo Software has long been outdated and irrelevant,” he said.
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One of the lucky ones with an Oculus Rift CV1. Have had some time to play with it. Also an owner of DK2, so have some references that way. Ergonomically I feel the CV1 is a great leap. The 'screen door' effect nearly eliminated, some increased resolution. It gives a good boost
Unfortunately there are aspects of CV1 that I do not like The 'god rays' effect I am not happy with. On my CV1 there also looks to be a clear difference in calibration and matching of the two OLED displays. My 'half' problem is the thermo/LED characteristics of CV1. Not really a problem, just a bonus observation of IR tracking LEDs behavior
My Question(s):
Not easy to quantify the problems and make comparative videos/pictures. Have tried as best I can to illustrate in a controlled manner how my CV1 looks to me. Below are 3 sections, one for each problem. The 'god rays' I probably have to live with, looking at others feedback. The 'thermo' issue is more of an observation. Temp itself is ok by me. My biggest gripe is the 'calibration' between the two OLEDs. Any belief that the non-public support 'OLED-fixer-tool' could help ? Any other tips on possible solutions ? Worth the hassle to try support ? Or just live with it, and wait for CV2/Vive2 ?
Problem - Rays:
Here is a video I made to illustrate the 'god rays' problem:
It also contains stills to illustrate the other problems. But they can be found in sections below too. Not easy taking video. Tried 2 GoPro Sessions, and more. Funnily enough ended up with my iPhone SE. For the video I used the 'FiLMiC Pro' app and locked everything I could (1080p60, focus-lock, ISO600, 1/60s, EV0.00). Also had a blanket over my head to keep light out, old-style photography.
Not a pro. But to me the biggest problem is to illustrate how your eyeballs moves all the time in sync with head movement and what you are watching. It has a big impact at which angle you are looking to get the 'god rays'. In the end I found one angle with camera lens that gave a good representation of how it looks to me.
The problem/effect is dependent on light/dark edges and so on. Not a problem present at all times. That said. I do not like them. When I notice them, they do not help with immersion. But seeing how widely reported, probably not a lot to do for CV1.
Problem - Calibration / Veil:
This is my biggest gripe with the whole situation. It is not prevalent in most cases. But when it's there, it's jarring as <beep>, and destroys the immersion. Best shown in large uniform light/dark sections, especially if it transitions slowly in color. Sometimes it's like having a static gray overlay veil. Just laying there, not keeping still relative to environment being rendered. I have taken off the plastic protection on both lenses, and checked for possible residue.
Here is a picture with some stills to illustrate the problem:
It is from EVE Valkyrie, selection on start, looking behind. That 'grain' that looks like motion effect on left eye, is NOT motion effect. It is a real difference between the left and right eye in some way. Also the difference in color/brightness is consistent. Somewhat difficult to stuff my DSLR into the CV1. Used the 'Manual' app on iPhone SE. Locked everything I could (5000K, focus-lock, ISO1500, 1/15s). Still a blanket over my head to keep light out.
Another sample from EVE Valkyrie, just to show consistency:
Tried another variant to provoke/illustrate the problem:
Created a 360 photo with uniform #020202 color, and viewed it in Oculus 360 Photos. Increased the shutter to 1/5s to better illustrate effect. You can see the marked difference of the grain/coating. Also the difference in calibration/tint.
Problem - Thermo:
As told, not really a problem. More of an observation:
Did this collage for the fun of it with a FLIR ONE Thermal Imager for iOS/iPhone (double-checked temps with a IR temp gun). The temperatures is not an issue for me. But what surprised me was that the IR tracking LEDs turned on at once if Oculus Home was started. Without having touched the CV1. Might be a choice made to have instant tracking when picked up. But looks a little unnecessary to keep them on before motion or head-sensor is detected on CV1. The difference from 2 to 3 is probably that USB/bridge/logic inside CV1 is not activated before 'Oculus VR Runtime Service' is started. I keep it on manual. As a side-effect, Rift Audio device not visible before service is started. Did these images with runtime 1.3.2, tried 1.4.0 too, same behavior.
Equipment / Software:
Oculus Rift CV1, Win 8.1 x64, NVidia 980 Ti (361.91), Oculus Runtime 1.3.2/1.4.0.
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Now that my unit has egregiously ratified a shite contract and left us in a position, come next Monday, of either crossing the picket lines of our own union or getting fired, I feel it's time to reflect yet again on the phenomenon of "paper marxists." By this I mean those marxist academics whose entire career is built on papers and books about marxist theory but who, in practice, are often the most rank opportunists. And since it is ultimately practice that matters for marxism, and not just a fucking career built out of published papers and books, paper marxists are about as marxist as carob is chocolate. Except that I like carob and I don't like these pseudo-marxists.Okay, maybe it's not entirely accurate to use the term "pseudo-marxist" here. After all, I don't want to be accused of engaging in the "no true scotsman" fallacy (but screw all these random fallacies that are supposedly laws of proper thought!), so let me rephrase: these paper marxists are the kind of marxists that would make Eduard Bernstein and the renegade Kautsky proud. Indeed, some of the arguments they make are similar, or at least the practices in which they engage, are similar to those made by the leading lights of the Second International: collaboration with the ruling class, social peace with capital, neo-reformism.I have to say that I was somewhat shocked when a self-proclaimed marxist in my department chose to give the finger to the union as a whole and openly defend ratification. He even justified his decision on a microphone at a mass meeting where the membership was attacking the backwards leadership, defending said leadership's collaboration with the employer! Worse, he accused the membership as a whole of being "fascist" for openly attacking the executive… What a wonderful marxist analysis of fascism: fascism is anything that is not liberalism! While a proper marxist analysis would be to question the economist limits of trade unionism, to point out the contradictions of a union that is also an academic union, and to maybe explore the gap between trade union and revolutionary consciousness, these paper marxists can't even figure out what the lowest commitment to trade union consciousness means. If they can't do that, then they have fallen far, far below the standard of revolutionary consciousness; whatever they have to say about marxism and revolution should be dismissed out of hand.Obviously it's not a revolutionary situation on the picket lines, despite what some academic anarchists might think. When you get some rank-and-filers complaining about the political content of our propaganda then you know you're dealing with a context that is definitely not determined by the hard core of the proletariat (not that you needed this as evidence in the first place). Which is why those so-called "marxists" who think that this kind of labour disruption is "going too far" are so far beneath the bar of anything that counts as revolutionary. If you think this kind of labour disruption is ultra-leftist then what are you going to do when there's an actual insurgency? Probably call it fascist just because it threatens you! Really, this is the only way you can justify your decision to ignore the lowest level of resistance against capitalism: an extremely low-level resistance that is embedded in legalism and economism, that is curtailed within a discourse of academic respectability, falls far short of anything that qualifies as "ultra-leftism"––but hey, if this is the excuse you're going to use to justify your reasons for doing nothing, then go for it!Some tenured marxist academics are even worse. These are people who have made a career out of writing marxist theory and are just as liberal, and sometimes more so, then their post-modern counterparts. Sometimes they're so bad that they've been lampooned in web comics ! Yeah, a marxist academic yelling at student activists to "shut up" is super marxist!One wonders why these paper marxists even bother to define themselves as marxists. Probably because marxist theory is all they know and, refusing to accept what it means for them politically, their only academic clout comes from talking about what they will never endorse in practice. Paper marxists will thus never produce anything interesting because their entire existence is opposed to the intention of marxism. It's like being a biologist who thinks it's acceptable to wallow in the era of Darwin and ignore all of the developments since the theory of natural selection––except worse because it means the betrayal of actual people.When I'm getting called "ultra-left" for simply occupying a position that was traditionally left not too long ago––by marxists whose idea of leftism is voting for the NDP, calling devoted unionists "strike happy", or getting annoyed by student activists––then I have to wonder at these peoples' understanding of revolutionary politics. For an opportunist, as I have noted before , everything that is not-opportunistic will be dismissed as "ultra-left"… but I bet it feels good to have a nice marxist-sounding phrase to defend your liberalism.
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Under the new copyright alert system, Internet service providers (ISPs) will send a series of alerts to subscribers whose accounts may have been used to illegally distribute music, movies or other entertainment content via file-sharing. If the subscriber does not respond to the first set of alerts, which will include educational material on protecting copyrights and the consequences of illegal file-sharing, the Internet service provider may temporarily slow down their Internet speeds, direct them to an online tutorial when they try to access popular websites or implement other penalties--called "mitigation measures."
Internet service providers are preparing to implement their alert systems in November, according to someone familiar with CCI's thinking, and they will vary slightly from company to company. It was expected to rollout earlier this year but Lesser said it's taken some additional time for Internet providers to fit the alert systems within their infrastructure.
Cablevision and Time Warner are members of CCI's coalition, along with AT&T, Verizon and Comcast.
The new alert system is the product of an agreement struck among five major ISPs, the Recording Industry Association of America, and the Motion Picture Association of America last summer as a way to clamp down on copyright infringement via illegal file sharing. The success of the industry-led alert system will be watched closely as anti-piracy legislation was dealt a crushing blow earlier this year.
Critics of the effort have previously raised concern about Internet providers terminating people's Internet connection or access to certain websites if they don't respond to the alerts.
Lesser said there has been a lot of misinformation spread about the alert system and stressed that Internet subscribers' accounts will not be terminated as part of the program.
"In one case there's a temporary slow down of [Internet] speed, but that doesn't impact access to sites," Lesser said. "That's not the way this works at all."
"When you're in a walled garden, all you essentially have to do is go through the education [material] and then you're out of the walled garden" she said.
Under the alert system, copyright owners like a record label or film company will flag an Internet provider if they believe an IP address is illegally pirating their content on a peer-to-peer file-sharing network. The ISP will then determine which subscriber account matches up with the IP address, or the set of numbers used to identify a device, and send an alert to the subscriber notifying them that their Internet account may have be used for illegal file-sharing.
A subscriber will stop receiving alerts after an Internet provider sends them a sixth, and final, copyright alert, according to Lesser.
"If you continue to engage in copyright infringement, you're not going to continue to get alerts," she said. "In our mind, we're going to target consumers that respond to these alerts. The alerts stop after that last level and nothing else happens under the program."
CCI says on its site that "only a small fraction of all subscribers are likely to ever receive an alert and an even smaller fraction may face a Mitigation Measure due to their online activity." The organization anticipates that "most subscribers are far more likely to address the problem based on the initial alerts."
Some have raised concern that the alert system would open the door for content owners to sue Internet subscribers. Internal AT&T documents obtained by the blog TorrentFreak warn that a content owner may take legal against a customer after they receive their fifth copyright alert and require AT&T to turn over personal information to help with the case.
AT&T plans to make repeat copyright infringers' complete an educational tutorial on copyright before they can gain access to certain websites, TorrentFreak reported, citing the obtained documents.
An AT&T spokesman declined to comment on TorrentFreak's report and said "details on the next phase of the Copyright Alert System will be forthcoming." Lesser declined to comment on the documents obtained by TorrentFreak.
However, Lesser argues that the alert system won't make Internet subscribers more vulnerable to copyright infringement suits. Receiving an alert "doesn't mean you're anymore liable to be sued or the content owner has anymore eligibility to sue someone," she said.
People can also request an independent review if they believe they've received a copyright alert in error, she noted. That process is being developed by the American Arbitration Associates.
"The hope is the causal user and the user that doesn't realize the implications of what they're doing will respond to the system, and we'll see a decrease in the use of peer-to-peer networks for copyright infringement and we'll see an increase in legal services," Lesser said.
— Updated at 3:46 p.m.
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MRC president Brent Bozell issued a statement Wednesday night criticizing the overall tilt and tone of the CNBC Republican debate in Boulder:
"The CNBC moderators acted less like journalists and more like Clinton campaign operatives. What was supposed to be a serious debate about the many issues plaguing our economy was given up for one Democratic talking point after another served up by the so-call 'moderators.' They clearly war-gamed this thinking that a relentless series of personal attacks on the candidates would somehow drive their ratings and help Hillary Clinton.
The CNBC debate will go down in history as an encyclopedic example of liberal media bias on stage. The audience roared its disdain for these so-called 'journalists,' and all of America heard it. CNBC should be embarrassed for their pitiful display of partisan liberal media bias and apologize to the GOP candidates and the American people."
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Introduction
With the release of JDK 8 planned for 2013, Oracle has a pretty fixed idea of what will be included. Speaking at QCon London earlier this year, Simon Ritter outlined the new features that will be part of JDK 8, which include modularity (Project Jigsaw), JRockit/Hotspot convergence, annotations on types, and Project Lambda.
From a language perspective, perhaps the most important change is Project Lambda, which includes support for lambda expressions, virtual extension methods and better support for multicore platforms in the form of parallel collections.
Most of these features are already available in many other JVM languages, including Scala. Moreover, many of the approaches taken in Java 8 are surprisingly similar to those used in Scala. As a consequence, playing with Scala is a good way of getting a feeling for what programming with Java 8 will be like.
In this article we will explore Java 8’s new features, using both Java’s proposed syntax and Scala. We will cover lambda expressions, higher-order functions, parallel collections and virtual extension methods aka traits. Besides this, we will provide insights into the new paradigms integrated in Java 8, such as functional programming.
The reader will experience how the new concepts incorporated in Java 8 - that are already available in Scala - are not mere bells and whistles, but could introduce a true paradigm shift, which will offer great possibilities and may profoundly change the way we write software.
Lambda Expressions/Functions
Java 8 will include lambda expressions, finally! Lambda expressions have been available in the form of Project Lambda since 2009. At that time, lambda expressions were still referred to as Java Closures. Before we jump into some code examples, we will explain why lambda expressions will be a very welcome tool in the Java programmers tool belt.
Motivation for Lambda Expressions
A common use of lambda expressions is in GUI development. In general, GUI programming resolves around connecting behaviour to events. For example, if a user presses a button (an event), your program needs to execute some behaviour. This might be the storage of some data in a datastore. In Swing, for example, this is done using ActionListeners :
class ButtonHandler implements ActionListener { public void actionPerformed(ActionEvent e) { //do something } } class UIBuilder { public UIBuilder() { button.addActionListener(new ButtonHandler()); } }
This example shows the use of the class ButtonHandler as a callback replacement. The class ButtonHandler is only there to hold a single method: actionPerformed , defined in the ActionListener interface. We could simplify this code a bit by using anonymous inner classes:
class UIBuilder { public UIBuilder() { button.addActionListener(new ActionListener() { public void actionPerformed(ActionEvent event) { //do something } } } }
This code is somewhat cleaner. When we look more closely at the code, we still create an instance of a class just to call a single method. These kinds of problems are exactly the ones solved by introducing lambda expressions.
Lambda Expressions as Functions
A lambda expression is a function literal. It defines a function with input parameters and function body. The syntax of the lambda expression in Java 8 is still under discussion, but will look something like this:
(type parameter) -> function_body
A concrete example is:
(String s1, String s2) -> s1.length() - s2.length();
This lambda expression calculates the difference in length between two strings. There are some extensions to this syntax, like avoiding the type definition for the arguments, as we will see later on, and supporting multi-line definitions by using { and } to group statements.
The Collections.sort() method would be an ideal usage example for this expression. It enables us to sort a collection of Strings based on their lengths:
List <String> list = Arrays.asList("looooong", "short", "tiny" ); Collections.sort(list, (String s1, String s2) -> s1.length() - s2.length()); > "tiny", "short", "looooong".
So, instead of feeding the sort method with an implementation of Comparator , as we would have to do with current Java, passing the above lambda expression is all that is needed to achieve the same result.
Lambda Expression as Closures
Lambda expressions have some interesting properties. One is that they are closures. A closure allows a function to access variables outside its immediate lexical scope.
String outer = "Java 8" (String s1) -> s1.length() - outer.length()
The example shows that the lambda expression has access to the String outer , which is defined outside its scope. For inline usage scenarios closure can be very handy.
Type Inference also for Lambda Expressions
Type inference, which was introduced in Java 7, also applies to lambda expressions. Type inference, in a nutshell, means that a programmer can omit the type definition everywhere where the compiler can ‘infer’ or deduce the type by itself.
If type inference was used for the sorting lambda expression, it could be written as follows:
List<String> list = Arrays.asList(...); Collections.sort(list, (s1, s2) -> s1.length() - s2.length());
As you can see, the types for the parameters s1 and s2 are omitted. Because the compiler knows that the list contains a collection of Strings it knows that a lambda expression used as comparator must also have two parameters of type String . Consequently, the types do not need to be declared explicitly, even though you are free to do so.
The main advantage of type inference is reduction of boilerplate. If the compiler can infer the type for us, why should we define them ourselves?
Hello Lambda Expressions, Goodbye Anonymous Inner Classes
Let’s see how lambda expressions and type inference help to simplify the callback example we discussed initially:
class UIBuilder { public UIBuilder() { button.addActionListener(e -> //process ActionEvent e) } }
Instead of defining a class to hold our callback method, we now directly pass a lambda expression into the addActionListener method. Besides the reduction lot of boilerplate code and increased readability, it lets us directly express the only thing we are really interested in: handling the event.
Before we unravel more advantages of lambda expressions, we first take a look at the lambda expressions counterpart in Scala.
Lambda Expressions in Scala
Functions are the basic building blocks of a style of programming called functional programming. Scala combines object orientation, known from Java, and functional programming. In Scala, a lambda expression is a basic building block called a ‘function’ or ‘function literal’. Functions in Scala are first class citizens. They can be assigned to vals or vars (final or non final variables), they can be passed as an argument to another function, and they can be combined to form new functions.
In Scala a function literal is written as follows:
(argument) => //function body
For example, the previous Java lambda expression calculating the difference of length of two strings, is written in Scala like so:
(s1: String, s2: String) => s1.length - s2.length
In Scala, function literals are also closures. They can access variables defined outside their own lexical scope.
val outer = 10 val myFuncLiteral = (y: Int) => y * outer val result = myFuncLiteral(2) > 20
This example would result in 20. As you see, we assigned a function literal to a variable named myFuncLiteral .
The syntactical and semantic similarities between Java 8’s lambda expression and Scala’s function are remarkable. Semantically they are exactly the same, whereas syntactically the only differences are the symbol for the arrow (Java8: -> Scala: =>) and the shorthand notation, which is not covered here.
Higher-Order Functions as Reusable Building Blocks
The great advantage of function literals is that we can pass them around as any other literals, like a String or an arbitrary Object . This offers a wide range of possibilities and allows for highly compact and reusable code constructs.
Our First Higher-Order Function
When we pass a function literal to a method, we basically have a method that accepts a method. Such methods are called higher-order functions. The addActionListener method in the previous Swing code example is exactly one of those. We also can define our own higher-order functions, which can offer us a lot of benefit. Let’s look at a simple example:
def measure[T](func: => T):T = { val start = System.nanoTime() val result = func val elapsed = System.nanoTime() - start println("The execution of this call took: %s ns".format(elapsed)) result }
In this example, we have a measure method, which measures the time needed to execute the function literal callback called func . The signature of func is that it does not take any parameters and returns a result of the generic type T. As you can see, functions in Scala do not necessarily need parameters even though they can - and most often also will - have parameters.
Now we can pass any function literal (or method) in the measure method:
def myCallback = { Thread.sleep(1000) "I just took a powernap" } val result = measure(myCallback); > The execution of this call took: 1002449000 ns
What we have done, from a conceptual point of view, is separating the concern of measuring the length of a method call from the actual computation. We created two reusable code constructs (the measure part and the callback part) that are very loosely coupled, similar to an interceptor.
Reuse through Higher-Order Functions
Let’s look at another hypothetical example where two reusable constructs are slightly tighter coupled:
def doWithContact(fileName:String, handle:Contact => Unit):Unit = { try{ val contactStr = io.Source.fromFile(fileName).mkString val contact = AContactParser.parse(contactStr) handle(contact) } catch { case e: IOException => println("couldn't load contact file: " + e) case e: ParseException => println("couldn't parse contact file: " + e) } }
The method doWithContact reads a contact from a file, such as a vCard or similar, and offers it to a parser which converts it to a contact domain object. The contact domain object is then passed to the function literal callback handle , which does with the contact domain object whatever the function dictates. The doWithContact method as well as the function literal returns the type Unit , which is the equivalent of a void method in Java.
Now we can define various callbacks that can be passed to the doWithContact method:
val storeCallback = (c:Contact) => ContactDao.save(c) val sendCallback = (c:Contact) => { val msgBody = AConverter.convert(c) RestService.send(msgBody) } val combinedCallback = (c:Contact) => { storeCallback(c) sendCallback(c) } doWithContact("custerX.vcf", storeCallback) doWithContact("custerY.vcf", sendCallback) doWithContact("custerZ.vcf", combinedCallback)
The callback can also be passed inline:
doWithContact("custerW.vcf", (c:Contact) => ContactDao.save(c))
Higher-Order Functions in Java 8
The Java 8 equivalent would look very similar - using the current syntax proposal:
public interface Block<T> {
void apply(T t);
} public void doWithContact(String fileName, Block<Contact> block) {
try{
String contactStr = FileUtils.readFileToString(new File(fileName));
Contact contact = AContactParser.parse(contactStr);
block.apply(contact);
} catch(IOException e) {
System.out.println("couldn't load contact file: " + e.getMessage());
} catch(ParseException p) {
System.out.println("couldn't parse contact file: " + p.getMessage());
}
} //usage
doWithContact("custerX.vcf", c -> ContactDao.save(c))
Benefit of Higher-Order Functions
As you can see, functions helped us to cleanly separate the concern of creating a domain object from processing it. By doing so, new ways of handling contact domain objects can easily be plugged in without being coupled to the logic that creates the domain object.
As a result, the benefit we gain from higher-order functions is that our code stays DRY (Don’t Repeat Yourself) so that the programmer can optimally profit from code reuse on a very granular level.
Collections and Higher-Order Functions
Higher-order functions provide a very efficient way of dealing with collections. Because almost every program makes use of collections, efficient collection handling can be a great help.
Filtering Collections: Before and After
Let’s look at a common use case involving collections. Say we want to apply a calculation to every element of a collection. For example, we have a list of Photo objects and we want to filter out all Photos of a certain size.
List<Photo> input = Arrays.asList(...); List<Photo> output = new ArrayList(); for (Photo c : input){ if(c.getSizeInKb() < 10) { output.add(c); } }
This code contains a lot of boilerplate, such as creating the result collection and adding the new elements to the list. An alternative is the use of a Function class, to abstract over function behaviour:
interface Predicate<T> { boolean apply(T obj); }
Which results in code written like this using Guava
final Collection<Photo> input = Arrays.asList(...); final Collection<Photo> output = Collections2.transform(input, new Predicate<Photo>(){ @Override public boolean apply(final Photo input){ return input.getSizeInKb() > 10; } });
This code reduces the boilerplating somewhat, but it still is messy, verbose code. If we translate this code to Scala or Java 8, we get a taste of the power and elegance of lambda expressions.
Scala:
val photos = List(...) val output = photos.filter(p => p.sizeKb < 10)
Java 8:
List<Photo> photos = Arrays.asList(...) List<Photo> output = photos.filter(p -> p.getSizeInKb() < 10)
Both of these implementations are elegant, and very succinct. Note that they both make use of type inference: the function parameter p of type Photo is not explicitly defined. As you can see in Scala type inference is a standard feature.
Function Chaining in Scala
So far we have saved at least six lines of code and even improved readability. The fun starts when we chain several higher-order functions. To illustrate that, let’s create a Photo class and add additional properties in Scala:
case class Photo(name:String, sizeKb:Int, rates:List[Int])
Without knowing much Scala, what we have done is declare the class Photo with three instance variables, name, sizeKb and rates . The rates will contain the user ratings for this image, from 1 to 10. Now we can create an instance of the Photo class, which is done as follows:
val p1 = Photo("matterhorn.png", 344, List(9,8,8,6,9)) val p2 = ... val photos = List(p1, p2, p3, ...)
With this list of Photos, it is now quite easy to define various queries by chaining multiple higher-order functions after each other. Suppose we have to extract the file names of all the pictures whose file size is greater than 10MB. The first question is how do we transform a list of Photos into a list of filenames? To achieve that we use one of the most powerful higher-order functions, called map:
val names = photos.map(p => p.name)
The map method transforms each element of a collection to the type defined in the function passed to it. In this example we have a function that receives a Photo object and returns a String , which is the filename of the Image.
By using map we can solve the given task by chaining the map method after the filter method:
val fatPhotos = photos.filter(p => p.sizeKb > 10000) .map(p => p.name)
We do not have to be afraid of NullPointerExceptions , because each method ( filter, map , etc.) always returns a collection, which can be empty but never null . So if the photos collection was empty right from the start, the result of the computation would still be an empty collection.
Function chaining is also referred to as ‘function composition’. Using function composition we can shop in the Collections API to look for the building blocks by which our problem can be solved.
Let’s consider a more advanced example:
Task: "Return the names of all photos whose average rating is higher than 6, sorted by the total amount of ratings given:"
val avg = (l:List[Int]) => l.sum / l.size val minAvgRating = 6 val result = photos.filter(p => avg(p.ratings) >= minAvgRating) .sortBy(p => p.ratings.size) .map(p => p.name)
To achieve this task we rely on the sortBy method, which expects a function that takes the element type of the collection as input (here Photo ) and returns an object of type Ordered (here an Int ). Because a List does not offer an average method, we defined the function literal avg that calculates the average of the given List of Ints for us in the anonymous function passed to the filter method.
Function Chaining in Java 8
It is not clear yet which higher-order functions the collection classes of Java 8 will offer. Filter and map will most probably be supported. Consequently, the first shown chained example will likely appear in Java 8 as follows:
List<Photo> photos = Arrays.asList(...) List<String> output = photos.filter(p -> p.getSizeInKb() > 10000) .map(p -> p.name)
Again, it is remarkable that there is almost no syntactic difference compared to the Scala version.
Higher-order functions in combination with collections are extremely powerful. They are not only very concise and readable, but also save us a lot of boilerplate code, with all the benefits thereof, like fewer tests and fewer bugs. However, there’s more...
Parallel Collections
So far we have not touched one of the most important advantages of higher-order functions in collections. Besides conciseness and readability, higher-order functions add a very important layer of abstraction. In all the previous examples we haven’t seen any loops. Not even once have we had to iterate over a collection to filter, map or sort elements. Iterating is hidden from the user of the collection, or in other words abstracted away.
This additional abstraction layer is key to leveraging multicore platforms, because the underlying implementation of the loop can choose by itself how to iterate over the collection. Consequently, iterating can not only be done sequentially but also in parallel. With the advance of multicore platforms, leveraging parallel processing is no longer a nice-to-have. Today’s programming languages need to be able to cope with the demands of parallel platforms.
In theory, we all could write our own parallel code. In practice that’s not a good idea. First of all, writing robust parallel code, especially with shared state and intermediate results that need to be merged, is extremely hard. Second, ending up with many different implementations wouldn’t be desirable. Even though Java7 has Fork/Join, the problem to decompose and reassemble the data is left to the client, which is not the abstraction level we are looking for. And third, why bother if we already have the answer in the form of functional programming?
Thus, let very smart people write the parallel iteration code once and abstract over their usage by means of higher-order functions.
Parallel Collections in Scala
Let’s look at a simple Scala example, which makes use of parallel processing:
def heavyComputation = "abcdefghijk".permutations.size (0 to 10).par.foreach(i => heavyComputation)
We first define the method heavyComputation , which performs - well - a heavy computation. On a quad core laptop this expression takes about 4 seconds to perform. We then instantiate a range collection ( 0 to 10 ) and invoke the par method. The par method returns a parallel implementation, which offers the exact same interfaces as its sequential counterpart. Most Scala collection types have such a par method. From a usage point of view that’s all there is to it.
Let’s see what performance gains we can achieve on a quad core computer. In order to gain insights we reuse the measure method from further above:
//single execution measure(heavyComputation) > The execution of this call took: 4.6 s //sequential execution measure((1 to 10).foreach(i => heavyComputation)) > The execution of this call took: 46 s //parallel execution measure((1 to 10).par.foreach(i => heavyComputation)) > The execution of this call took: 19 s
What might be surprising at first glance is that the parallel execution is only about 2.5 times as fast, even though we are using four cores. The reason is that parallelism comes with the price of additional overhead, in the form of threads that need to be started and intermediate results that need to merged. Therefore, it is not a good idea to use parallel collections by default, but only apply them for known heavy computations.
Parallel Collections in Java 8
In Java 8 the proposed interface for parallel collection again is almost identical to Scala:
Array.asList(1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9.0).parallel().foreach(int i -> heavyComputation())
The paradigm is exactly the same as in Scala, with the sole difference that the method name to create a parallel collection is parallel() instead of par .
All at Once: A Larger Example
To recap higher-order functions / lambda expression in combination with parallel collections, let’s look at a larger example in Scala, which combines many of the concepts introduced in the sections above.
For this example we chose a random site, which offers a great variety of beautiful nature wallpapers. We will write a program, that strips all the wallpaper image urls from this page and downloads the images in parallel. Besides the Scala core libraries, we use two other ones, Dispatch for http communication and Apache’s FileUtils, to simplify certain tasks. Be prepared to see some Scala concepts that were not explained in this article, but whose intention should be more or less understandable.
import java.io.File import java.net.URL import org.apache.commons.io.FileUtils.copyURLToFile import dispatch._ import dispatch.tagsoup.TagSoupHttp._ import Thread._ object PhotoScraper { def main(args: Array[String]) { val url = "http://www.boschfoto.nl/html/Wallpapers/wallpapers1.html" scrapeWallpapers(url, "/tmp/") } def scrapeWallpapers(fromPage: String, toDir: String) = { val imgURLs = fetchWallpaperImgURLsOfPage(fromPage) imgURLs.par.foreach(url => copyToDir(url, toDir)) } private def fetchWallpaperImgURLsOfPage(pageUrl: String): Seq[URL] = { val xhtml = Http(url(pageUrl) as_tagsouped) val imgHrefs = xhtml \\ "a" \\ "@href" imgHrefs.map(node => node.text) .filter(href => href.endsWith("1025.jpg")) .map(href => new URL(href)) } private def copyToDir(url: URL, dir: String) = { println("%s copy %s to %s" format (currentThread.getName, url, dir)) copyURLToFile(url, new File(toDir, url.getFile.split("/").last)) }
Code explanation
The scrapeWallpapers method processes the control flow, which is fetching the image URLs from the html and downloading each of them.
By means of the fetchWallpaperImgURLsOfPage , all the wallpaper image URLs are screen scraped from the html.
The Http object is a class of the HTTP dispatch library, which provides a DSL around Apache’s httpclient library. The method as_tagsouped converts html in xml, which is a built-in datatype in Scala.
val xhtml = Http(url(pageUrl) as_tagsouped)
From the html, in the form of xhtml, we then retrieve the relevant hrefs of the images we want to download:
val imgHrefs = xhtml \\ "a" \\ "@href"
Because XML is native in Scala we can use the xpath-like expression \\ to select the nodes we are interested in. After we have retrieved all hrefs we need to filter out all image URLs and convert the hrefs to URL objects. In order to achieve that, we chain several higher-order functions of Scala’s Collection API like map and filter . The result is a List of image URLs.
imgHrefs.map(node => node.text) .filter(href => href.endsWith("1025.jpg")) .map(href => new URL(href))
The next step is to download each image in parallel. To achieve parallelism, we turn the list of image names into a parallel collection. Consequently, the foreach method starts several threads to loop through the collection simultaneously. Each thread will eventually call the copyToDir method.
imgURLs.par.foreach(url => copyToDir(url, toDir))
The copyToDir method makes use of Apache Common’s FileUtils. The static method copyURLToFile of the FileUtil class is statically imported and therefore can be called directly. For clarity we also print the name of the thread that performs the task. When executed in parallel, it will illustrate that multiple threads are busy processing.
private def copyToDir(url: URL, dir: String) = { println("%s copy %s to %s" format (currentThread.getName, url, dir)) copyURLToFile(url, new File(toDir, url.getFile.split("/").last)) }
This method also illustrates that Scala is fully interoperable with existing Java libraries.
Scala’s functional features, and the resulting benefits such as higher-order functions on collections and the "free" parallelism, make it possible to accomplish parsing, IO and conversion of data in parallel with only a few lines of code.
Virtual Extension Methods/Traits
Virtual extension methods in Java are similar to ‘traits’ in Scala. What are traits, exactly? A trait in Scala offers an interface, and optionally includes an implementation. This structure offers great possibilities. This becomes clear when we start composing classes with traits.
Just like Java 8, Scala doesn’t support multiple inheritance. In both Java and Scala a subclass can only extend a single superclass. With traits however, inheritance is different. A class can "mix in" multiple traits. An interesting fact is that the class gains both the type and all methods and state of the mixed in trait(s). Traits are therefore also called mixins, as they mix in new behaviour and state into a class.
The question that remains is: if traits support some form of multiple inheritance, won’t we suffer from the notorious "diamondproblem"? The answer, of course, is no. Scala defines a clear set of precedence rules that determine when and what is executed within the multiple inheritance hierarchy. This is independent of the number of traits mixed in. These rules provide us with the full benefits of multiple inheritance without any of the problems associated with it.
If Only I Had a Trait
The following example shows a familiar code-snippet for Java developers:
class Photo { final static Logger LOG = LoggerFactory.getLogger(Photo.class); public void save() { if(LOG.isDebugEnabled()) { LOG.debug("You saved me." ); } //some more useful code here ... } }
Logging is thought of as a cross cutting concern, from a design perspective. However, this is hardly noticeable in the daily practice of Java development. Each class, again and again, declares a logger. We also keep checking whether a log level is enabled, using for example isDebugEnabled (). This is a clear violation of DRY: Don’t Repeat Yourself.
In Java, there is no way to validate that a programmer declares the log level check or use the proper logger associated with the class. Java developers got so used to this practice, it’s considered a pattern now.
Traits offer a great alternative to this pattern. If we put the logging functionality into a trait, we can mix-in this trait in any class we’d like. This enables access for the class to the cross-cutting concern ‘logging’, without limiting the possibilities of inheriting from another class.
Logging as a Trait, a Solution to the Logging Problem
In Scala, we would implement the Loggable trait like the following code snippet:
trait Loggable { self => val logger = Slf4jLoggerFactory.getLogger(self.getClass()) def debug[T](msg: => T):Unit = { if (logger.isDebugEnabled()) logger.debug(msg.toString) } }
Scala defines a trait using the keyword ‘trait’ . The body of a trait can contain anything an abstract class is allowed to contain, like fields and methods. Another interesting part in the logging example is the use of self => . The logger should log the class that mixes in the Loggable trait, not Loggable itself. The self => syntax, called self-type in Scala, enables the trait to get a reference to the class that mixes it in.
Note the use of the parameterless function msg: => T as input parameter for the debug method. The main reason why we use the isDebugEnabled() check is to make sure that the String that is logged is only computed if the debug level is enabled. So if the debug method would only accept a String as input parameter, the log message would always get computed no matter whether the debug loglevel is enabled or not, which is not desirable. By passing the parameterless function msg: => T instead of a String however, we get exactly what we want: the msg function that will return the String to be logged is only invoked when the isDebugEnabled check succeeds. If the isDebugEnabled check fails the msg function is never called and therefore no unnecessary String is computed.
If we want to use the Loggable trait in the Photo class, we need to use extends to mix in the trait:
class Photo extends Loggable { def save():Unit = debug("You saved me"); }
The ‘extends’ keyword gives the impression that Photo inherits from Loggable , and therefore cannot extend any other class. This is not the case. The Scala syntax demands that the first keyword for mixing in or extending a class is ‘extends’ . If we want to mix in multiple traits, we have to use the keyword ‘with’ for each trait after the first. We will see more examples using ‘with’ further below.
To show that this actually works, we call the method save() on Photo :
new Photo().save() 18:23:50.967 [main] DEBUG Photo - You saved me
Adding more Behaviours to your Classes
As we discussed in the previous paragraph, a class is allowed to mix in multiple traits. So besides logging, we can also add other behaviour to the Photo class. Let’s say we want to be able to order Photos based on their file size. Luckily for us, Scala offers a number of traits out of the box. One of these traits is the Ordered[T] trait. Ordered is similar to the Java interface Comparable . The big, and very important, difference is that the Scala version offers an implementation as well:
class Photo(name:String, sizeKb:Int, rates:List[Int]) extends Loggable with Ordered[Photo]{ def compare(other:Photo) = { debug("comparing " + other + " with " + this) this.sizeKb - other.sizeKb } override def toString = "%s: %dkb".format(name, sizeKb) }
In the example above, two traits are mixed in. Besides the previously defined Loggable trait, we also mix in the Ordered[Photo] trait. The Ordered[T] trait requires the implementation of the compare(type:T) method. This is still very similar to Java’s Comparable .
Besides the compare method, the Ordered trait also offers a number of different methods. These methods can be used to compare objects in various ways. They all make use of the implementation of the compare method.
val p1 = new Photo("Matterhorn", 240) val p2 = new Photo("K2", 500) p1 > p2 > false p1 <= p2 > true
Symbolic names like > and <= etc. are not special reserved keywords in Scala like in Java. The fact that we can compare objects using >, <= etc. is due to the Ordered trait that implements the methods with these symbols.
Classes that implement the Ordered trait can be sorted by every Scala collection. By having a collection populated with Ordered objects, ‘sorted’ can be called on the collection, which sorts the objects according to the order defined in the compare method.
val p1 = new Photo("Matterhorn", 240) val p2 = new Photo("K2", 500) val sortedPhotos = List(p1, p2).sorted > List(K2: 500kb, Matterhorn: 240kb)
The Benefits of Traits
The above examples reveal that we are able to isolate generic functionality in a modular fashion using traits. We can plug the isolated functionality in every class if needed. To equip the Photo class with logging functionality, we mixed in the Loggable trait, for ordering the Ordered trait. These traits are reusable in other classes.
Traits are a powerful mechanism to create modular and DRY (Don’t Repeat Yourself) code using built-in language features, without having to rely on extra technology complexity like aspect oriented programming.
The Motivation for Virtual Extension Methods
The Java 8 specification defines a draft for virtual extension methods. Virtual extension methods will add default implementations to new and/or existing methods of existing interfaces. Why is that?
For many existing interfaces it would be very beneficial to have support for lambda expressions in the form of higher-order functions. As an example, let’s consider the java.util.Collection interface. It would be desirable for the java.util.Collection interface to provide a forEach(lambdaExpr) method. If such a method was added to the interface without a default implementation, all implementing classes would have to provide one. It is self-evident that this would lead to a very challenging compatibility hell.
That’s why the JDK team came up with virtual extension methods. With this feature a forEach method, for example, could be added to java.util.Collection including a default implementation. Consequently, all implementing classes will automatically inherit this method and its implementation. By doing so, their API is able to evolve in a completely non-intrusive way, which is exactly what virtual extension methods intend to achieve. If the implementing class is not satisfied with the default implementation, it simply can override it.
Virtual Extension Methods vs Traits
The primary motivator for virtual extension methods is API evolution. A welcome side effect is that they offer a form of multiple inheritance, which is limited to behaviour. Traits in Scala not only provide multiple inheritance of behaviour, but also of state. Besides state and behaviour inheritance, traits offer a means to get a reference to the implementing class, shown with the ‘self‘ field in the Loggable example.
From a usage point of view, traits offer a richer set of features than virtual extension methods. However, their motivation is different: in Scala traits were always intended as modular building blocks that offer multiple inheritance ‘without the issues’, whereas virtual extension methods primarily have to enable API evolution and in the second place ‘multiple behaviour inheritance’.
The Loggable and Ordered Traits in Java 8
In order to see what we can achieve with virtual extension methods, let’s try to implement the Ordered and Loggable trait in Java 8.
The Ordered trait could be fully implemented with virtual extension methods, because no state is involved. As mentioned the counterpart of Scala’s Ordered trait is java.lang.Comparable in Java. The implementation would look as follows:
interface Comparable<T> { public int compare(T that); public boolean gt(T other) default { return compare(other) > 0 } public boolean gte(T other) default { return compare(other) >= 0 } public boolean lt(T other) default { return compare(other) < 0 } public boolean lte(T other) default { return compare(other) <= 0 } }
We added new comparison methods to the existing Comparable interface (‘greater than’, ‘greater than or equals’, ‘less than’, ‘less than or equals’ identical to those found in the Ordered trait: >, >=, <, <=). The default implementation, marked with the default keyword, forwards all calls to the existing abstract compare method. The result is that an existing interfaces is enriched with new methods, without the need for classes implementing Comparable to implement these methods as well. The Ordered trait in Scala looks quite similar to this implementation.
If the Photo class implemented Comparable , we also would be able to perform comparison operations with those newly added methods:
Photo p1 = new Photo("Matterhorn", 240) Photo p1 = new Photo("K2", 500) p1.gt(p2) > false p1.lte(p2) > true
The Loggable trait could not be fully implemented with virtual extension methods, but almost:
interface Loggable { final static Logger LOG = LoggerFactory.getLogger(Loggable.class); void debug(String msg) default { if(LOG.isDebugEnabled()) LOG.debug(msg) } void info(String msg) default { if(LOG.isInfoEnabled()) LOG.info(msg) } //etc... }
In this example, we add log methods, like debug, info etc., to the Loggable interface, that by default delegate their calls to the static Logger instance. What we miss is a means to get a reference to the implementing class. Because this mechanism is lacking, we use the Loggable interface as logger, which would log all statements under Loggable instead of the implementing class. Because of this limitation, virtual extension methods are less suitable for such a usage scenario.
To sum up, traits and virtual extension methods both provide multiple inheritance for behaviour. Traits also provide multiple inheritance for state and a means to acquire a handle to the implementing class.
Conclusion
Java 8 is going to provide a variety of new language features, with the potential to fundamentally change the way we write applications. Especially the functional programming constructs, such as lambda expressions, can be considered a paradigm shift. This shift provides great new possibilities for more concise, compact and easy to understand code.
In addition, lambda expressions are key to enabling parallel processing.
As explained in this article all these features are already available in Scala. Developers who want to try them out can explore early builds of Java 8 on most platforms. Alternatively, we recommend taking a look at Scala as a way of preparing for the paradigm shifts to come.
Appendix
Information on Java 8 mainly stems from the following presentations:
Java 7 and 8: WhereWe'veBeen, WhereWe'reGoing
VirtualExtensionMethods
About the Authors
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On the policy front, Cramer said it feels like we are stuck in some sort of "Hessian Hell," the "Mad Money" host's new shorthand for the deafening buzz about Trump's health care policy and the Russia scandal that is drastically slowing progress at the White House.
In fact, Cramer pointed out that Yellen's mission at the Fed has been to help the central bank become a non-factor, exerting less and less influence over markets with its announcements.
"The S&P and Dow hit an all-time high yesterday, and the Dow hit another one today. That seems like a pretty good argument for why we should've been down big on today's rate hike, especially given how weak consumer spending has been and how tepid the overall growth rate is," Cramer said. "But she's judged it correctly: a non-event that produced a little buying and a little selling is really an apt description of what happened in the wake of her actions."
For example, the bank stocks led a rotation ahead of the Fed meeting, given that the rate hike was expected and wanted by investors with stakes in the financial names.
But even though they ticked up slightly after the meeting, they hardly rallied, Cramer noted. For that matter, neither did the consumer goods stocks, which do well when the economy is slowing and used to rally right into Fed meetings.
"Instead, while you may have heard that [Yellen] could cool the housing market with this hike, ... then why did the housing stocks rally, with many of them hitting their highest levels since 2007, before the Great Recession? Why did Home Depot, the most housing-sensitive retail stock, soar? Because, at least for now, this rate hike a non-event," Cramer said.
And while the technology stocks mostly recovered from Friday's odd sell-off, with some investors taking profits, Cramer said that would have happened with or without a Fed meeting.
"The bottom line is that we may want to make Yellen the story. But she ain't taking the bait," the "Mad Money" host said. "So we get a ho-hum day with lots of middle-of-the-road chatter from Yellen and then we return to our regularly scheduled second-guessing program, as nobody seems to want to say what needs to be said: thank you so much for being predictable and on your game, Madame Fed chief."
Questions for Cramer?
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'It’s very hard to write when everything keeps falling over because the driver’s taken a massive corner'
Royal Blood have spoken to NME about the follow-up to their self-titled debut, describing how they turned their tourbus into a temporary studio.
“I built a studio in the back of our bus,” frontman Mike Kerr told NME. “It’s very hard to write when everything keeps falling over because the driver’s taken a massive corner. It was our writing den – we’d have Clint Eastwood movies playing with the volume down.”
The band have also talked about writing a similar album to the debut, telling Mark Beaumont that they “don’t need to reinvent the wheel”, adding that they’ll be operating on a similar budget and with similar instruments to the debut release.
Jordan Hughes/NME
It might be a little while before the album sees the light of day, though, with Kerr explaining that the next album will be released “when it sounds amazing”, rather than on any particular timeline.
The duo debuted a likely track from the new album when they played newbie ‘Hook, Line And Sinker’ at Reading Festival in late August. Singer Mike Kerr talked about the scale of their successes at the same show, saying: “There is not a single person here who understands how ridiculous it is for us to be up here. There are a lot of people. I’m gonna shit myself.”
The pair also played with Metallica man Lars Ulrich recently, as well as confirming that they wouldn’t be looking at adding new members to the group, and don’t feel the need to use guitar.
Sharethrough (Mobile)
They’re currently on tour in the US.
https://link.brightcove.com/services/player/?bctid=4081638742001
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General Effect Visual Music Sub
Total Total General Effect 1 General Effect 2 Visual Proficiency Visual - Analysis Color Guard Music - Brass Music - Analysis Music - Percussion Penalties S. Alia S. Calhoun T. Gray C. Moss I. Jenkins M. Hoskins J. Harper C. Romanowski S. Speelman Rep Perf Tot Rep Perf Tot Tot Cont Achv Tot Comp Achv Tot Sbst Achv Tot Tot Cont Achv Tot Cont Achv Tot Cont Achv Tot Tot Pen The Cavaliers 84 1 80 2 16.40 1 83 1 80 1 16.30 1 32.70 0 82 1 77 2 15.90 1 82 1 80 1 16.20 1 84 1 81 1 16.50 1 24.30 0 82 1 80 1 16.20 1 85 1 82 1 16.70 1 83 1 78 1 16.10 1 24.50 0 81.500 1 0 81.500 1 Boston Crusaders 82 2 81 1 16.30 2 80 3 77 3 15.70 3 32.00 0 80 2 78 1 15.80 2 77 3 77 3 15.40 3 82 2 80 2 16.20 2 23.70 0 80 2 79 2 15.90 2 83 3 80 3 16.30 3 81 2 77 2 15.80 2 24.00 0 79.700 2 0 79.700 2 The Cadets 81 3 79 3 16.00 3 82 2 78 2 16.00 2 32.00 0 79 3 76 3 15.50 3 80 2 78 2 15.80 2 81 3 79 3 16.00 3 23.65 0 79 3 78 3 15.70 3 84 2 81 2 16.50 2 79 3 76 3 15.50 3 23.85 0 79.500 3 0 79.500 3 Colts 69 4 67 4 13.60 4 72 4 69 4 14.10 4 27.70 0 73 4 70 4 14.30 4 69 4 69 4 13.80 4 76 4 73 4 14.90 4 21.50 0 72 4 70 4 14.20 4 74 4 68 4 14.20 4 71 4 68 4 13.90 4 21.15 0 70.350 4 0 70.350 4 Spirit of Atlanta 66 5 63 5 12.90 5 68 5 64 5 13.20 5 26.10 0 68 5 62 5 13.00 5 63 5 65 5 12.80 5 69 5 66 5 13.50 5 19.65 0 70 5 68 5 13.80 5 73 5 67 5 14.00 5 69 5 67 5 13.60 5 20.70 0 66.450 5 0 66.450 5 Jersey Surf 56 6 53 6 10.90 6 60 6 56 6 11.60 6 22.50 0 60 6 50 6 11.00 6 51 6 54 6 10.50 6 62 6 57 6 11.90 6 16.70 0 67 6 63 6 13.00 6 60 6 57 6 11.70 6 58 6 55 6 11.30 6 18.00 0 57.200 6 0 57.200 6
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Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption The B-52 bomber was flanked by US and South Korean fighter jets
The US has flown a B-52 bomber over South Korea in a show of force after North Korea said it successfully tested a hydrogen bomb.
The B-52 flew low over an air base close to the North-South border.
Pyongyang said it detonated an underground device on Wednesday, to widespread condemnation, but experts remain sceptical about the claim.
North Korean leader Kim Jong-un said the test was an act of self-defence to prevent nuclear war with the US.
"It is the legitimate right of a sovereign state and a fair action that nobody can criticise," he was quoted by North Korean state media as saying.
Image copyright EPA Image caption North Korean leader Kim Jong-un defended the test as self-defence
Following the test, South Korea resumed broadcasting propaganda from speakers mounted on the border and the North countered with similar broadcasts.
The two sides are technically still at war, with the civil conflict that ended in 1953 concluding in a truce rather than a peace treaty.
The US is an ally of the South and said the B-52's flight was a response "to recent provocative action by North Korea".
Lt Gen Terrence O'Shaughnessy said the US was "steadfast" in its commitment to defending South Korea, and that includes "extended deterrence provided by our conventional forces and our nuclear umbrella".
Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption "It's like a dump truck - nothing else has that type of range and capacity"
Washington is considering sending an aircraft carrier to the region, Yonhap reported.
There has been no response yet from North Korea to the B-52's flight.
America's iconic war machine
It may take weeks to confirm North Korea's claims to have tested a hydrogen bomb, but several experts said the blast was not large enough to have been from such a device.
The test angered North Korea's main ally China and the UN is working on new measures against Pyongyang, already internationally isolated from previous nuclear tests.
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Beer lovers of America have made their voices heard, and Grand Rapids, Michigan, can now call itself the Best Beer Town, according to readers of USA TODAY and 10Best.
Vermont was one of the first East Coast states to get serious about craft brewing and it shows. The state is ranked second in breweries per capita, and everything from Magic Hat to the more reclusive and highly sought-after offerings are all within a day trip of Burlington. Pedestrian-only Church Street is dotted with lively bars serving local brews on tap. Photo courtesy of Kaitlin
Colorado has long been a heavy hitter in the craft beer world, and nowhere moreso than in Denver, home of the Brewers Association and the Great American Beer Festival, the nation's premier beer festival and competition. "LOTS of the country's biggest and best breweries are in and around the city," says beer journalist Tara Nurin, including huge corporations like Coors in nearby Golden as well as smaller breweries like Great Divide, Rock Bottom and Coors' Blue Moon. Photo courtesy of Photo © Brewers Association
Oregon has more breweries per capita than any other state, and many of them can be found in and around Portland. "It was an early adopter and sets many of the trends," explains beer journalist Tara Nurin. Old favorites like Widmer Brothers and Bridgeport have been joined by great new venues like Hopworks BikeBar, where the city's two loves - bikes and beers - join forces for a memorable tasting experience. Photo courtesy of www.travelportland.com
Spearheading the beer movement in Portland, Maine is Allagash Brewing which produces some of the country's best Belgian ales and offers one of the best brewery tours. The idyllic seaside town also offers plenty of places to enjoy a cold pint (not to mention fresh Maine lobster), such as In’Finiti Fermentation & Distillation who serve their brews right by the water. Photo courtesy of Allagash Brewing
San Diego standard-bearers like Stone invented the West Coast IPA, and quality beer continues to be a way of life in this city by the sea. "Alesmith, Lost Abbey, Stone, Society Brewing, Green Flash, Ballast Point….’nuf said," says CEO of Bon Beer Voyage Dr. Ruth Berman. The 120 breweries in the county are complemented by countless beer-centric restaurants and beer bars, so the perfect pint is never far away. Photo courtesy of StudioSchulz
With a cozy college-town vibe and a whole host of award-winning breweries - New Belgium, Funkwerks and Odell Brewing Co. among others - Fort Collins holds its own in a state that's become synonymous with craft brewing. A highlight of any beer-centric visit is the free 90-minute tour of New Belgium Brewing, one of the largest craft producers in the nation. Lively downtown brewpubs like CooperSmith’s and C.B. & Potts keep the beer drinking masses sated. Photo courtesy of Betsy Weber
"When it comes to beer, it's Portland's little sister," says beer journalist Tara Nurin, about Bend, Oregon. "Lots of early and strong breweries doing innovative stuff and a hefty beer culture. Oh yeah, and the hops." This lively mountain city earned its spot on the beer city map with Deschutes and a tradition of local brewing that has spawned the Bend Ale Trail, a self-guided tour of area breweries. Photo courtesy of Byron Roe/Visit Bend/CCOP
The beer scene in Asheville has become almost as well known as the iconic Biltmore Estate. "Great local breweries, like Wicked Weed, Green Man, Highland Brewing and Burial Beer Company are being joined by giants from out West such as Sierra Nevada and New Belgium. Thirsty Monk is the kind of bar you wish you had in your town," says CEO of Beer Voyage Dr. Ruth Berman. Photo courtesy of Adam Sonnett
Tampa is home to more than 30 breweries and brew pubs, with more opening every day. The inventive and progressive lineup of breweries started in "Cigar City" keeps the offerings fresh and relevant, while the Florida sunshine makes Tampa an excellent place for enjoying a brew outdoors, even in the dead of winter. Photo courtesy of Bernt Rostad
Grand Rapids earns a spot among the nation's top beer cities with more than a dozen area breweries, including Founder's Brewing Co., as well as one of the top ranked beer bars out, HopCat. "plus the city really promotes beer," says CEO of Bon Beer Voyage Dr. Ruth Berman. The Convention and Visitors Bureau "does a really great job of promoting the beer as a tourist venue." Photo courtesy of Experience Grand Rapids
Grand Rapids - a riverfront city just east of Lake Michigan - has at least a dozen breweries and its convention and visitor bureau does a bang-up job of enticing beer drinkers, brewers and connoisseurs to visit. We lift our glass in congratulations to Grand Rapids.
Second-place winner Tampa may surprise some readers, but this sunny Florida city has more than 30 breweries and brew pubs, and makes a dynamite place for tasting in the dead of winter.
Two of three Colorado nominees made the winners list, as did buzzworthy Asheville; Bend, Oregon; San Diego; both Portlands; and Burlington, Vermont.
The full list of 'Best Beer Town' winners in our USA TODAY 10Best Readers' Choice contest is as follows:
Cheers to all our winners!
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Donald Trump and Dick Cheney have not always gotten along. On the campaign trail, Trump repeatedly trashed the Iraq War, for which Cheney served as an irrepressible cheerleader, while the former vice president panned Trump’s proposed ban on Muslims and was conspicuously absent from the Republican National Convention. But suddenly, Cheney has emerged as a central player in the confirmation drama surrounding the selection of ExxonMobil C.E.O. Rex Tillerson as secretary of state, turning him into an unexpected Trump ally as the president-elect moves to shore up support for his controversial nominee.
Cheney’s machinations, unsurprisingly, have turned to __Marco Rubio. At the beginning of the week, Rubio joined the ranks of senators John McCain and Lindsey Graham by indicating that he might break with the G.O.P. over Tillerson’s controversial ties to the Russian government and President Vladimir Putin. “Being a ‘friend of Vladimir’ is not an attribute I am hoping for from a #SecretaryOfState,” Rubio tweeted on Sunday, and in a statement asserted that he had “serious concerns” about the appointment.
Rubio’s vote could prove decisive. With an edge of 52 to 48 seats in the Senate, McCain, Graham and Rubio would be enough to block Tillerson, assuming Democrats also formed a unified front in opposition of the oil executive. But of the trio, Rubio is in a uniquely powerful position. Tillerson’s confirmation will begin in the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations, where Republicans control just 10 seats to Democrats’ nine, meaning that Rubio has the power to kill the nomination before it even reaches the Senate floor.
With this in mind, it’s unsurprising that Cheney—who characterized Tillerson as an “inspired choice”—has reached out to the Florida senator to sway his vote, as The Washington Post reports. But while Cheney did vote for Trump, his demonstrated allegiance to Tillerson likely extends beyond doing a favor for the president-elect. As the former Chairman and C.E.O. of Halliburton, an engineering and construction company, Cheney has close ties to Exxon and to Tillerson, who has overseen deals with Halliburton in Iraq.
Nor is Cheney the only Republican whose financial ties to Exxon may be informing his lobbying efforts. As the Post has reported, Tillerson’s name was first floated by thee George W. Bush administration alumni, Condoleezza Rice, Stephen Hadley, and Robert Gates, whose international consulting form—Rice Hadley Gates—happens to represent ExxonMobil as one of its biggest clients. Rice, a former secretary of state. reportedly talked up Tillerson to vice-president-elect Mike Pence, while Gates, a former C.I.A. director and defense secretary, recommended the C.E.O. directly to Trump. Trump was “intrigued”, and nominated Tillerson two weeks later.
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The Mets have officially acquired outfielder Yoenis Cespedes from the Tigers, as Bruce Levine of 670thescore.com first reported on Twitter. In return, Detroit will get righties Michael Fulmer and Luis Cessa from New York, as Jon Heyman of CBSSports.com reported on Twitter. GM Sandy Alderson says the Mets will pay all of the approximately $3.75MM remaining on Cespedes’ 2015 salary, David Lennon of Newsday tweets.
With the move, New York finally lands the power bat it was rumored to be pursuing for some time in the lead-up to the deadline. New York had already added reliever Tyler Clippard, third baseman Juan Uribe, and utilityman Kelly Johnson. After a widely-reported deal for Carlos Gomez fell through, the Mets turned their sights to alternatives and ultimately landed the 29-year-old slugger.
The Mets were said to be going after a controllable piece that was capable of playing center field, such as Gomez, but changed course in adding the free-agent-to-be Cespedes, who has spent most of his time in left. With Michael Cuddyer potentially out longer than had been hoped, Cespedes figures to take over there. But the club is also reportedly considering utilizing Curtis Granderson in center in some situations, as incumbent Juan Lagares has struggled since signing a significant extension before the season.
Cespedes is highly talented, if sometimes inconsistent, but he’s been outstanding in 2015. He’s hitting close to the levels he did in his breakout rookie campaign back in 2012, after two high-power/low-OBP seasons in between, with a .293/.323/.506 slash and 18 home runs through 427 plate appearances. Cespedes is delivering more hard contact, a better line-drive percentage, and more home runs per flyball than he has over any single full season. And Cespedes has increased his output on the defensive side of the ledger as well, drawing strong reviews from defensive metrics.
MLB.com now ranks Fulmer and Cessa the fifth- and ninth-best prospects, respectively, in an improved Tigers farm system. The 22-year-old Fulmer, the 44th overall pick in the 2011 draft, was in the midst of an impressive season at Double-A Binghamton, posting a 1.88 ERA, 8.7 K/9 and 2.4 BB/9 in 86 innings. MLB.com notes that his fastball is regularly in the mid-90s, and that he has a strong slider and a changeup good enough that he could one day be a Major League starter.
Cessa, meanwhile, is a 23-year-old converted infielder who performed well for Binghamton, with a 2.56 ERA, 7.1 K/9 and 2.0 BB/9 in 77 1/3 frames. He struggled after a promotion to hitter-happy Triple-A Las Vegas, but maintained his solid peripherals, striking out 24 batters and walking four despite allowing an unsightly 23 earned runs in 24 1/3 innings there. MLB.com notes that his fastball is generally around 93 MPH, and that he could wind up in the back end of a big-league rotation.
Cespedes now finds himself on his fourth team since last summer. He was dealt from the Athletics to the Red Sox, then to the Tigers over the winter, before landing in New York. It’s an unlikely series of transactions, all said.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
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Clean win for Liverpool
Merseyside Police have launched an investigation after Liverpool striker Luis Suarez had coins thrown at him during the 4-0 win over Everton at Anfield.
Suarez prepared to take a corner in front of the Everton fans in the first half, where he set up the opening goal for captain Steven Gerrard, and handed a coin to referee Martin Atkinson. Suarez was further attacked with more items being thrown at him.
And Merseyside Police have issued a statement saying: "We can confirm we are investigating following reports of some missiles being thrown during the Liverpool v Everton football match this evening, Tuesday, January 28.
"The incidents took place during the first half of the game when a number of coins and other small objects are believed to have been thrown from the stands onto the playing area.
"Officers are requesting CCTV from the stadium and will review any footage as part of inquiries to establish the full circumstances surrounding the incidents."
© ESPN Sports Media Ltd
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The reason towns and villages have had to clear hurdles to pursue even the smallest of projects stems from that constitutional provision, which was approved by voters in 1894. “The lands of the state, now owned or hereafter acquired, constituting the forest preserve as now fixed by law, shall be forever kept as wild forest lands,” Article 14 states, adding that the land could not be leased, sold or exchanged.
In addition to establishing a land bank, the ballot proposal would allow municipalities in the Adirondacks and Catskills to create bicycle paths, lay sewer lines and erect electric, broadband and phone cables immediately alongside roads that cross the forest preserve. The right of way would be equal to three rods, or 49.5 feet, including the lanes; a rod is an arcane unit of length used by land surveyors.
State Senator Betty Little, a Republican who represents parts of the Adirondacks, said numerous meetings were held to work out details of the land bank amendment. Ultimately, she said, the various stakeholders recognized that the State Constitution needed to evolve with the six million-acre state park, of which 2.6 million acres constitutes forest preserve.
When the park was created in the late 1800s, few visited the Adirondacks. “Many of these were old logging roads, but they have become main roads — plowed and maintained 365 days a year,” Senator Little said.
She added that the 250-acre land bank would be shared by Catskill Park and the much larger Adirondacks, which are about the size of Vermont.
The state’s Department of Environmental Conservation would determine how much each municipality should pay for any forest preserve they use. The money, in turn, would go toward a reserve fund “so when the 250 acres is used up, there would be money to purchase more land,” Ms. Little said.
Some supporters of the ballot proposal worry that voters might reject it by confusing the measure with another ballot question on whether to hold a constitutional convention, informally called a “con-con.” The proposals are clearly different, but a broad campaign has emerged to defeat the convention question.
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Domestication of legumes
The distinction between cultivation and domestication of the most common edible plants is controversial. Some favor the opinion that a regime of tilling, sowing and reaping (cultivation) acts as a selective force on wild plants, selecting for mutations adapted to the new environmental conditions15,16. Others claim that mutations that are favorable for agriculture (domestication) must have been selected before the crop could be successfully cultivated17,18. The mutations typically include reduced seed dormancy, the loss of dispersal mechanisms (indehiscent pods)18, reduced seed coat thickness19, and increased seed size10. The first two mutations do not leave visible traces on the legumes, but wherever large stocks of legumes are found, plants with domestic-traits (non dormant/non dehiscent) must have been used16. Furthermore, experiments conducted on wild modern pea, chickpea and lentil prove that neither harvesting of wild stands or cultivation of wild legumes results in profitable yields17,18,20. The thickness of seed coat should be thinner and smoother in domesticated stocks to facilitate water penetration and germination19. The validity of this mutation as a trait of domestication remains controversial, because no great differences were found between the domesticated species of lentil, bitter vetch, grass pea and their wild relatives21,22. Increase in seed size is considered to be one of the major domestication-traits in crops, but analyses conducted on archaeological legumes such as pea, lentil and cowpea show that the increase in seed size does not occur at the early stage of domestication but rather later as a result of crop improvements23,24.
Cultivation versus domestication of the faba bean
Scholars that invoke a protracted process of cultivation as an unconscious cause of domestication stress three mechanisms that should increase the seed yield: the seedling depth15, ploughing25 and selection of larger seeds for seeding26. It holds that seeds buried deeper by human planting develop larger reserves because they emerge from a greater depth27. In the case of the faba bean, greater burial depth does not increase seed size, while maximum yield is obtained when the seeds are buried no deeper than 8 cm. Faba bean, as well as chickpea and lentil, has an hypogeal germination, meaning that its cotyledon remains where the seed is sown while only the shoot emerges from the soil surface; as a consequence, the seed must be buried close to the surface to sprout above the ground28,29,30.
A negative correlation was also found between tillage and yields31. Agronomists agree that tillage does not help to maximize the faba bean yield once the crop is farmed under dry climatic conditions. The relatively shallow root system of faba bean relies on the water accumulated within the first 30–40 cm from the soil surface; therefore soils that have a more stable structure prevent water from percolating to greater soil depths. Another advantage of compacted, non-tilled soils is that residues of crops remain on the surface and this prevent excessive water evaporation, which is a major constraint for plants growing in dry and semi-dry environments32. The selection of larger seeds for seedling is commonly considered a profitable way to obtain plants that have bigger seeds and produce higher yields33. Thus a relation between seed yield and seed size anticipates that seed size should have a positive influence on seed yield. Nonetheless such a correlation has not been recorded for the faba bean. On average, medium and small size grains of faba bean produce maximum seed yield compared to larger seeds29,34. The explanation for such a contradictory result is that plants originating from smaller seeds produce a greater number of pods, which are, on average, longer that those produced by plants originating from large seeds. Plants originating from small faba beans sprout, flower, form pods and mature faster, leading to the highest harvest index values. Small-sized grains produce good yield over a range of seasonal conditions, while large seeds are more sensitive to adverse seasonal conditions such as drought and low temperature29.
The agronomic studies show that common practices associated to cultivation do not lead to higher yields. Therefore it is unlikely that cultivation acted as a selective force in the process of domestication of the crop. Other mechanisms must have been adopted in order to transform the faba bean into a crop. Seed dormancy (and pods dehiscence) is a typical trait of the wild progenitors of the major legumes (i.e. Lens culinaris ssp. orientalis, Pisum humile, Cicer reticulatum, Vigna radiata subsp. sublobata and Phaseoulus vulgaris), so it is safe to assume that unknown progenitor of faba bean would also have some mechanism to delay the germination.
The problem of dormancy in wild legumes can be overcome by soaking the seeds in water (or abrade the seed coat, increase the temperature etc) to encourage the germination of the legumes; thus, repeated use of free-geminating seeds would saturate the natural gene bank with non-dormant seeds in a relatively short time15. Another option includes the inadvertent selection of domestication traits by means of cultivation of wild stands of plants; this could also have resulted in the widespread introduction of non-dormant seeds in the natural gene pool, but only after 5–6 cycles of (unprofitable) cultivation18.
Regardless of whether the selection of the original seeds had been ‘conscious’, through the selection of non dormant seeds straight from the wild stands, or ‘unconscious’, by inducing phenotopic changes in the local gene pool, the loss of seed-dormancy is the only circumstances that enables the production of legumes in large quantities.
The presence of a large quantity of seeds in Ahihud and Yiftah’el reinforce the idea that non-dormant (and non-dehiscent) stocks were used to ensure reliable harvesting, resulting in the build-up of characteristic domestication traits. The size of the archaeological faba bean cannot be used as a domestication trait, because the Δ13C shows that size depends on the amount of water received by the plant. We therefore rely on other parameters to assess domestication. The presence of storage facilities found in Ahihud and Yiftah’el , as well as the presence of other crops in great quantities, such as the 7,2 kg of lentils found in Yiftah’el35, are consistent with the notion that the surplus was kept for seeding, to ensure the continuity of legume production and the sustainability of the settlers. It is worth noting that by the Early PPNB, cereals were already domesticated36. Within this context, the domestication of the faba bean represents an important additional step that settlers took to reduce the risk of famine.
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The state of Michigan, responding to a lawsuit claiming $2.5 million set aside to reimburse private schools for state mandates is unconstitutional, says an "extremely literal interpretation" on Michigan's ban on public funding for private schools creates "serious problems."
"An extremely literal interpretation would prohibit government assistance for nonpublic schools that is not only reasonable, but morally and legally obligatory," the state said in court filing. "A literal interpretation would render nonpublic schools outlaws, unable to assert a claim in state court, register a deed, receive public utilities, or rely on basic police and fire protection."
The filing is in response to a lawsuit filed in March by public school groups against the state, claiming it was unconstitutional to include $2.5 million in the current budget to reimburse nonpublic schools for the cost of complying with health and safety mandates.
Lawsuit aims to stop 'unconstitutional' use of public dollars for private schools Michigan's budget includes $2.5 million to reimburse private schools for state mandates
Public school groups say the funding doesn't pass legal muster because, according to the Michigan constitution, public funds cannot be used "directly or indirectly to aid or maintain" nonpublic schools.
But the state's filing argues that if those words - "directly," "indirectly," "aid" or "maintain" - are "viewed in isolation, apart from their context, it could be argued that no money or benefits of any kind may be used to aid, maintain, or support any activity involving a nonpublic school."
"It would be hard to believe that a state or local government in the U.S. would deliberately withhold police and fire protection from its children, and even harder to believe that the great mass of people in Michigan intended such a result," the state said, referring to the constitutional amendment approved in 1970 prohibiting public dollars for private schools.
Public school groups, also in a court filing this week, distinguish between providing direct aid to private schools versus services provided to those schools by governmental agencies, such as police and fire departments.
Citing a prior court decision, the group said public dollars that go directly into the coffers of a nonpublic school would be unconstitutional. However, services "performed by public employees under the exclusive direction of public authorities" that benefit or serve private school students are permissible.
Public school groups also pointed to one of the mandates nonpublic schools are required to comply with: required courses on the government and constitution. Reimbursing private schools for such an expense, the filing says, amounts to "paying the wages of teachers providing instruction and a core curriculum."
Public dollars for private schools? Supreme court asks lawmakers, governor, AG to weigh in There is $2.5 million for private schools in the budget.
The $2.5 million to reimburse nonpublic schools for various health and safety mandates, such as safety drills, criminal background checks and immunizations, was included in the state's current budget, signed by Gov. Rick Snyder in June.
The funding drew strong opposition from public school groups, who argue that it's not only unconstitutional but sets a precedent that could lead to nonpublic schools seeking even more public dollars in the future.
Oral arguments in the case have been scheduled for May 22 in Detroit in the Michigan Court of Appeals.
The groups that filed the lawsuit include the Michigan Association of School Boards, the Michigan Association of School Administrators, as well as the American Civil Liberties Union of Michigan and Kalamazoo Public Schools.
A report by the Michigan Department of Education shows 60 mandates - covering areas such as building safety, student health and safety, and education requirements - that nonpublic schools are required to comply with.
Fourteen of the mandates are tied to educational requirements. But those same mandates also relate to "student welfare," the state argued, citing requirements related to compulsory attendance and teacher certification standards.
$5M in state funding for private schools? Democrats, education groups question proposal The dollars would be used to reimburse nonpublic schools for the cost of complying with state mandates
After the $2.5 million for private school reimbursement was included in the state's budget, MDE created a form where schools could request reimbursement for certain expenses. The form gave schools until June 15 to apply for reimbursement.
Jeffrey Donahue, an attorney with White Schneider PC, an Okemos-based law firm representing the public school groups, said all parties involved in the lawsuit have agreed to hold off on distributing any reimbursements until July 1, with the hope the lawsuit will be resolved by that time.
In addition, four Republicans in the state Legislature - Sen. Phil Pavlov, of St. Clair, Sen. Patrick Colbeck, of Canton, Rep. Tim Kelly, of Saginaw Township, and Kim LaSata, of Bainbridge Township - have sought to sign on as defendants in the case.
On Tuesday, Judge Cynthia Stephens denied a motion by the Michigan Catholic Conference, the Michigan Association of Non Public Schools and the Immaculate Heart of Mary, of Grand Rapids, to join the case as defendants.
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Ikea bought 83,000 acres of forest last month. In April, Apple bought 36,000 acres. What’s the reasoning behind these retail giants buying their own forests? To manage them.
Last year, we saw major technology and retail companies buying up wind and solar farms. Walmart, Facebook, Apple, Ikea, Google—all decided to either build or buy renewable energy farms. Nearly as many made pledges to start using fully renewable energy sources: Ikea said it would become “energy independent.” Facebook is already using all-renewables-powered data centers to manage all your likes. Now, some of them are going further down the supply chain to manage the provenance of their materials—by buying up the forests that source their paper and wood.
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Last week, The Wall Street Journal reported that Ikea had bought up almost one hundred thousand acres of forest in Romania and the Baltic—this, after the company had been accused of “brutal” logging practices in Russia and cutting “old forests that have high conservation value,” according to the WSJ. The company doesn’t log in Russia anymore, and instead will focus on farming its Romanian forests, managing its purchase to create a renewable source for its operations. After all, Ikea uses one percent of the world’s wood supply, a number it’s trying to scale back by half. It’s all part of the company’s plan to become “forest positive” in the next five years, growing more wood than it uses.
Similarly, Apple recently bought up a 36,000 acres of forest in Maine and North Carolina. These areas are “working forests,” or regions that act as renewable sources of wood and paper pulp for industry. Apple and the Conservation Fund, which is collaborating on the project, says that these “working forests” are increasingly being developed. That’s not only bad news for them commercially, but bad news for forests that were once outside the scope of industry—as Apple’s Lisa Jackson explained in a post about the purchase:
We are in the midst of one of the greatest land transfers in history. In the last 15 years, we’ve already lost 23 million acres of forestland that provided the pulp, paper, and solid wood material for products we all use. That’s roughly an area the size of Maine. As land continues to be sold and change hands at an alarming rate, an estimated 45 million more acres are currently in the crosshairs of development.
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The goal of the Conservation Fund’s work is to create limits on how those working forests can be used beyond producing paper products. These are designed to “ensure sustainable harvests and restrict the subdivision or conversion of land to non-forest uses,” the group writes.
It’s a relatively new idea, and one that’s been pioneered by scientists including a Harvard ecologist named David Foster, who was interviewed by The New York Times about his work on forestry management back in 2009. Here’s how he summed up the problem:
Now we tend to do it in places we don’t see. And we’re going to preserve our land, but, hell, we live in houses and we like the wood. Where’s it coming from? It’s going to come from British Columbia and Malaysia — and cutting it is going to do damage to much more pristine areas and without oversight.
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Now, Ikea and Apple are still corporations, and they have very different goals than ecologists and conservationists. But they seem to have found some middle ground for the moment to better manage forests that are already logged, in part, perhaps, thanks to the growing awareness of the public.
It’ll be interesting to see how this fairly new idea—-that partnering with private corporations could actually leverage the strength of “working forests” and protect the vulnerable old-growth forests and other fragile ecosystems that still exist in the world—will play out over the coming decades.
Lead image: njaj
Contact the author at kelsey@Gizmodo.com.
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On Thursday, 379 companies signed an amicus brief to the Supreme Court stating their support for gay marriage.
The Tampa Bay Rays are joined by the New England Patriots and San Francisco Giants as the first sports organizations to come out in favor of gay marriage as an official organizational stance. The document was filed yesterday, and the Supreme Court is scheduled to hear a case over the issue on April 28th.
In 2011, the Rays also participated in an "It Gets Better" campaign.
Players Sean Rodriguez, B.J. Upton, Sam Fuld, and Johnny Damon participated in the campaign speaking out against homophobic bullying. Then skipper, Joe Maddon, also participated in the video. At the time, the Rays were only the 5th MLB team to publicly take a stance against violence toward the LGBTQ community.
The St. Petersburg area also has a long history of supporting gay rights. The St. Pete Pride event is one of the largest Pride parades in the state of Florida. With the support of major corporations also on the brief such as Apple, Microsoft, and GE, the document is expected to make a lot of noise during the Supreme Court arguments.
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Google has released their annual list of the most-searched terms of the year, both globally and per country.
On the global list, “Descendants of the Sun” is the only Korean pop culture item to appear. It was the ninth most-searched TV show around the world in 2016. It is listed in its Chinese title, a testament to the drama’s popularity both domestically and overseas.
“Descendants of the Sun” aired early in 2016 as Song Joong Ki’s first project after completing his mandatory military service. 100 percent pre-produced, it told the story about a soldier and an army doctor who fall in love while serving overseas.
K-dramas also featured heavily on the 2016 search trends in Singapore, with Song Joong Ki as the fourth most-searched person, “Descendants of the Sun” as the sixth most-searched term overall and first most-searched TV show. Other most-searched TV shows included “Scarlet Heart: Goryeo” (listed as “Moonlovers: Scarlet Heart Ryeo” in third place), “Uncontrollably Fond” (fifth place), “Moonlight Drawn By Clouds” (listed as “Love in the Moonlight” in seventh place), “Doctors” (eighth place) and “Cinderella and the Four Knights” (ninth place).
Watch the first episode of “Descendants of the Sun” below!
Source (1) (2)
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A federal grand jury in Dallas has indicted 21 people related to the now-bankrupt Forest Park Medical Centers, including surgeons and health care executives, for allegedly taking part in a massive illegal kickback scheme to drum up patients, officials announced Thursday.
Forest Park Medical Centers was a chain of five high-end doctor-owned hospitals in North Texas that ran into major financial troubles and allegations of corruption. The company went bankrupt and its facilities were sold off earlier this year.
The chain catered to upscale patients who had private insurance, and it did not accept Medicare, Medicaid or plans sold on the Affordable Care Act marketplace.
The medical center paid about $40 million in bribes and kickbacks in exchange for patient referrals, federal prosecutors said.
From 2009 to 2013, the medical center billed patient insurance plans more than $500 million and collected over $200 million in paid claims, the U.S. attorney's office in Dallas said.
"Medical providers who enrich themselves through bribes and kickbacks are not only perverting our critical health care system, but they are committing a serious crime," said U.S. Attorney John Parker, of the Northern District of Texas. "Massive, multi-faceted schemes such as this one, built on illegal financial relationships, drive up the cost of health care for everyone and must be stopped."
The indictment was issued last month and unsealed on Thursday.
The following people were charged in the indictment:
Alan Andrew Beauchamp, 64, of Dallas.
Richard Ferdinand Toussaint, Jr., 58, of Dallas.
Wade Neal Barker, 51, of Dallas.
Wilton McPherson Burt, 61, of Costa Rica.
Andrea Kay Smith, 37, of Rockwall.
Carli Adele Hempel, 40, of Plano.
Kelly Wade Loter, 48, of Dallas.
Jackson Jacob, 53, of Murphy.
Douglas Sung Won, 45, of Dallas.
Michael Bassem Rimlawi, 45, of Dallas.
David Daesung Kim, 54, of Southlake.
William Daniel Nicholson IV, 46, of Dallas.
Shawn Mark Henry, 46, of Fort Worth.
Mrugeshkumar Kumar Shah, 42, of Garland.
Gerald Peter Foox, 69, of Tyler.
Frank Gonzales Jr., 41, of Midland.
Israel Ortiz, 49, of Dallas.
Iris Kathleen Forrest, 56, of Dallas.
Andrew Jonathan Hillman, 40, of Dallas.
Semyon Narosov, 51, of Dallas.
Royce Vaughn Bicklein, 44, of San Antonio.
The defendants could not immediately be reached for comment.
In addition, bribes and kickbacks of $500 per month were paid to about 40 primary care physicians and practices to refer patients to the hospital or to surgeons associated with the hospital, authorities said.
The scheme resulted in millions of dollars being billed to Tricare, the military's health care plan; the Department of Labor health care program; and the federal employees' and retirees' health care program, federal officials said.
"The charges announced today show that the government will not tolerate corrupt practices by medical providers motivated by greed," said Dallas FBI Special Agent-in-Charge Thomas M. Class Sr. "The FBI will continue to work with our law enforcement partners to identify those who manipulate and defraud our healthcare system and to seek their prosecution."
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The GOP’s months-long debate over when and how to send a repeal of Obamacare to the president’s desk now appears to have an answer.
They can’t do it all at once.
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Repealing the law “root and branch” is probably out of the question, the chamber’s parliamentarian is hinting, because some parts of Obamacare don’t affect the federal budget. That’s a must in order to use the obscure procedure known in Senate parlance as reconciliation, which allows lawmakers to avoid the 60-vote filibuster hurdle and pass bills on a simple majority vote.
That’s not the GOP’s only problem. Under those rules any Obamacare repeal has to reduce — not increase — the deficit. So Republicans will have to pick and choose which parts of the Affordable Care Act they most want to ditch.
Obama will, of course, veto any bill that significantly damages his signature domestic policy achievement. But the entire process has the makings of a difficult political exercise that will reveal something about the GOP’s priorities when it comes to the reviled law, forcing the party to go beyond the pile-on repeal rhetoric and say specifically what it would do and how it would pay for it.
Republicans could try to get rid of the mandates and taxes, but then they’d have to plug a trillion-dollar hole. Cut the Medicaid expansion to the states? Sounds simple enough, but then they could put themselves at odds with governors.
They’ll also have to decide if they want to scrap federal Obamacare subsidies, currently on the hot seat across the street at the Supreme Court, which this month will rule whether they’re constitutional. Gutting them would yield almost a trillion dollars in savings, which could then be used to repeal other parts of the law. But moderates also may experience a political backlash for slashing health care tax credits for poor and middle-class families. Extending or replacing the subsidies, though, could further limit their repeal options and alienate conservatives at the same time.
The complex puzzle isn’t what Republicans who’ve been vowing for years to abolish the law so despised by the right — the GOP-controlled House has voted dozens of times to overturn Obamacare — had in mind. Their vow to get a repeal to Obama’s desk seemed closer than ever to being realized after Republicans gained control of both chambers of Congress in the midterm elections.
But it’s turning out to be a lot more complicated.
“We went through this exercise in 2012, and what we concluded is that [you cannot repeal] the whole thing, but there are a number of different things that you could knock out: the individual mandate, … employer mandate, the exchanges, maybe even Medicaid expansion,” said Lanhee Chen, a Hoover Institute fellow who advised Mitt Romney’s campaign — which looked into what could and couldn’t be repealed through reconciliation during the 2012 election cycle.
The conundrum has many on the far right urging GOP leaders to take on the Senate parliamentarian, who will ultimately rule what can and cannot be repealed through reconciliation, and try to repeal the entire law using a one- or two-line sentence that simply reads: “Repeal the Affordable Care Act.”
But policymakers and staff working on the matter are finding it’s not so straightforward. The so-called Byrd rule prevents reconciliation from being used to make policy changes that don’t affect the deficit, which is the main goal of the fast-track procedure.
“We’re really just trying to game out all of the different options our members have to basically repeal in whole or in part,” said one senior GOP Senate aide. “We definitely are preparing to do only budgetary things.”
In their budget deal, Republicans agreed to employ reconciliation narrowly — namely for a repeal of Obamacare or a “fix” to King v. Burwell, should the Supreme Court in late June knock down subsidies used by nearly 8 million people.
But the parliamentarian has quietly suggested to Senate Republican aides that full repeal is out of the question, two sources told POLITICO.
“The message came out loud and clear that total repeal won’t work,” said Tom Miller, a health care policy expert at the right-of-center American Enterprise Institute, referring to private conversations on the Hill about what can and can’t be done.
That means Republicans will probably have to go through the ACA provision by provision and strike only policies that have a direct cost to Uncle Sam, what’s known on the Hill as a “Byrd rule scrub” or “Byrd bath.”
Former staff, including former top GOP budget staffer Bill Hoagland, believe Republicans won’t be able to repeal some ACA provisions that affect private markets but don’t directly affect the federal budget. Those include rules that set the minimum standards of coverage that insurers have to offer; requirements that insurers spend a certain amount of premiums on health costs; and the prohibition on denying coverage because of pre-existing conditions.
That doesn’t mean Republicans won’t try. A senior GOP aide in the Senate told POLITICO they are considering arguing to the parliamentarian that such provisions actually do hurt the deficit and should be repealable. One potential case they’ll make: These requirements drive up the cost of premiums, which are covered by federal subsidies, so they may increase the cost to the Treasury.
Some conservatives and staff in both chambers, like House Freedom Caucus Chairman Jim Jordan (R-Ohio), are urging the chambers to do a straight one- or two-sentence repeal of everything. They argue that the parliamentarian has to look only at the words in front of her during reconciliation and should not be able to force lawmakers to break out the provisions on their own.
One aide working on the matter suggested they may try this and see if it works — but others are doubtful.
There’s also a limit to what can be included in the fast-track budget process because the GOP budget requires each of the five health-related committees to find $1 billion in savings; yet a full repeal bill in 2012 was scored as adding $100 billion to the deficit, according to Congress’ budget scorekeeper.
The King case is the big X factor in all of this. Should SCOTUS knock down subsidies, most Republicans agree they’ll need to either extend them legislatively or replace the federal help with a health care tax credit. Both options cost money, which would again scramble the reconciliation puzzle.
There’s even disagreement about whether such a “fix” should be part of reconciliation at all. Budget Chairman Tom Price (R-Ga.) said enacting a GOP alternative through reconciliation may be even tougher than trying to repeal Obamacare.
“I think it’s important to do the repeal of Obamacare as much as can be done given the Senate rules, but I don’t know how you address a [new policy] in the health care system,” he said.
The party may have a wild card or two up its sleeve, however. The GOP budget deal allows for the House to score a reconciliation bill “dynamically,” meaning Republicans can account for assumed economic growth that will help plug the costs of repeal. Republican staff are also considering whether they can find savings elsewhere to pay for repeal, just as Democrats made education cuts to help pay for the overhaul in the first place.
But even these tricks may not amount to a full repeal, Hoagland said: “You can shoot a big hole in [Obamacare]. You can put it on the operating table, but you can’t just repeal the whole thing.”
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OTTAWA–The federal government has revealed a plan for a $3 billion emergency fund, with the money to be doled out at its discretion to tackle the recession.
The surprise plan, which was not among the stimulus measures contained in last month's budget, was contained in the spending estimates for the coming year released yesterday by the government.
In the government's estimates, federal program spending is pegged at $236.1 billion for the fiscal year that begins April 1.
That figure is a 6 per cent increase from last year, but it doesn't factor in all the tax credits and infrastructure spending of last month's stimulus budget, which will push the country into deficit for the first time in a decade.
Treasury Board President Vic Toews said the emergency fund is crucial to ensure money flows quickly into the economy.
He promised that the money would be accounted for in regular reports to Parliament, but some MPs accused the Tories of setting up a slush fund that would be hard to track and easy to misuse.
"What's worrying here is that the Conservatives are doing exactly what the Liberals did in the sponsorship scandal," said New Democrat Thomas Mulcair, referring to the $250 million program to promote Canada in Quebec after the province's 1995 sovereignty referendum.
Mulcair said history is bound to repeat itself without strict parliamentary oversight.
Liberal finance critic John McCallum said the Tories must give opposition parties assurances that there are rules governing how the fund will be tapped before the Commons is asked to approve the money in a vote in the coming weeks.
Meanwhile, record low participation in last fall's federal election will save Ottawa almost $800,000 in the next fiscal year.
Only 59 per cent of eligible Canadians cast their ballots in the October election, down from 65 per cent in 2006, and the fewer votes translate into smaller public subsidies that will be paid out to political parties this year. Parties earn $1.95 per vote they receive.
The figure may leave advocates of a robust democracy feeling glum, but it could please Prime Minister Stephen Harper, who was almost thrown out of office late last year by opposition parties when he tried to scrap the subsidies as a cost-saving measure last November.
About $29 million is spent in total on the subsidies.
The annual spending estimates also shed more light on areas of the government's agenda that were hinted at, but not spelled out, in the January budget.
The Conservatives have allotted almost $36 million to Environment Canada to improve air quality and tackle climate change, but they also will give an additional $52.6 million to the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission to deal with what is expected to be a flood of applications to start up new nuclear plants, dig new mines and stock hospitals with medical isotopes.
Ontario plans to build two new plants, and New Brunswick, Alberta and Saskatchewan are also eager to tap into nuclear power to reduce their reliance on carbon-based energy sources with higher emissions, said Jasmine MacDonnell, a spokesperson for Natural Resources Minister Lisa Raitt.
The new money for the commission represents a funding increase of 58.3 per cent.
It has raised concerns among some who have question the independence of the regulator ever since its former president, Linda Keen, was fired early last year over the handling of the shutdown of the reactor at Chalk River that produces medical isotopes.
"How can we rely on the independence of the agency when the government has made it clear it will interfere in what they're doing?" asked Liberal natural resources critic Geoff Regan.
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