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By Lorenzo Former Austrian school economist Bryan Caplan recently won a bet against Austrian school economist Bob Murphy on the path of US inflation. Caplan won by betting with the key market indicator (TIPS), Murphy lost by betting against it. At first glance, that the ex-Austrian won by following the market while the Austrian lost by not doing so might seem strange, but it instances why I am deeply unpersuaded by Austrian Business Cycle theory–that it is an analysis from a tradition that very strongly favours taking markets seriously (particularly their information revealing qualities) yet strikingly stops doing so to get a congenial theoretical outcome. Austrian Business Cycle Theory (ABCT) is a theory of the unsustainable boom. It notes that capital is highly varied (or, economist say, is heterogeneous)–in particular, has a range of durations until completion. Interest rates coordinate current expenditure versus future income expectations. If the central bank, in order to foster economic expansion, sets the key interest rate “too low”–that is, below the level that will create a stable level of successful capital projects–then entrepreneurs are led to over-invest in projects because capital is cheaper than its actual long-term prospects justify. So, there is misallocation of capital–the profile of created capital does not fit actual expenditure patterns. This is what Austrian theory calls malinvestment. The result is a surge in failed business projects, consequently of failed or distressed firms, leading to income and expenditure cuts, leading to that transactions crash we call “recession” or, if sufficiently severe, depression. My objections to the theory are twofold: it doesn’t fit the evidence and it is implausible even in theory. Not fitting the evidence The theory suggests that the long-term economic pattern should be one of a surge in economic output above trend (the unsustainable boom) and then a crash below it. This is not the pattern we see: on the contrary, what we see conforms much more to Milton Friedman‘s “plucking model” (pdf)–that is, there is a long term growth trend that recessions and depressions “pluck” the economy away from (pdf). A pattern which suggests the economy is pushed (temporarily) off its growth path by various shocks. Despite attempts to claim otherwise, I am unpersuaded that ABCT can be re-construed to fit the evidence. Particularly as the theory also suggests that the crash should be correlated with the preceding boom–the further the capital overshoot, the worse the resulting crash. Again, this is not what we see (pdf). Recessions and depressions are not correlated with the preceding expansions, but are correlated with the subsequent expansions (pdf). A result which led Friedman to propose his “plucking model”. Again, this conforms far better with the economy being shocked off its growth path before returning to it. Given that industries systematically vary by both the scale and duration of their capital creation, the theory also implies that the crash should hit in sequence and to varying degrees–the shortest capital duration industries hit first, the longest capital duration industries hit later; the lower scale capital industries hit least, the bigger scale capital industries hit most. These factors are, to a significant extent, contra-indicated–i.e. short duration capital projects also tend to be low scale capital industries while long duration capital projects tend to be high scale capital industries. Even so, there should a capital-profile sequence to industry downturns. Again, this is not what we see: transaction crashes tend to hit all industries simultaneously. Such transaction crashes are most plausible assigned to the demand side (i.e. monetary factors) as, in a monetised economy, money is the thing which is one half of all transactions in all industries. Even when there are supply shocks, (1) monetary policy can counter-balance the effects and (2) such shocks are generally a specific shock to the economy, not rolling capital project failures. One might counter by arguing that particular projects are engaged in a rolling fashion. But that reduces the industry sequencing issue at the cost of undermining the systematic distortion effect. The theory also assumes that central banks are biased in one direction only–in an inflationary one. Yet the historical record shows that, while there is certainly a general inflationary trend for fiat money, there was no such trend by central banks under gold standards. And ABCT was originally devised in a gold standard world. Attempts to redefine “inflation” to mean “monetary/credit expansion” simply beg the question–an alleged cause being conflated into the presumed effect. Moreover, the historical record also shows that, in the right circumstances, central banks can be biased in a contractionary direction. This was most dramatically true in 1928-32 but also true from 2008 onwards: on both occasions, the contractionary bias was because central banks prioritised policy credibility (commitment to the gold standard; commitment to low inflation) over economic activity. In doing so, contractionary central banks created the most severe economic downturns of the C20th [last 100 years]. A business cycle theory that is so dramatically wrong about the two worst economic downturns of the C20th [last 100 years]–central bank policy in the opposite direction as predicted and economies consequently being shocked off their growth path–is not much of a business cycle theory. Implausible in theory So, there are severe evidentiary problems with the theory as any sort of general business cycle explanation. Even saying “but it is just a theory of the unsustainable boom” suffers from the lack of instances it accurately describes. There are also some serious theoretical problem with the theory. The first is, ironically, not taking heterogeneity of capital seriously enough. Heterogeneity of labour and of capital leads to heterogeneity of debt and debt/equity profiles. How can there be a key single, natural or otherwise, rate which can distort the entire structure of investment? Including across its varying time frames, across which interest rates also vary. What we are looking at is a schedule of interest rates varying by time and asset. It can be argued that the central bank policy rate (the interest rate used to signal policy) effectively anchors the entire schedule, as the central bank is the monopoly supplier of the monetary base. Its policy rate is really an indicator about the future path of monetary policy, and an indicator which is a function of it being said monopoly supplier and its policy credibility. But an indicator which has far more direct effects on nominal interest rates rather than real interest rates. But to put so much emphasis on interest rates in investment decisions looks perilously like reasoning from a price change. The central bank has signalled, by cutting its policy interest rate, a more expansive path in monetary policy. But that is, for the economy, a general tendency: entrepreneurs still have to make assessments about particular assets and particular production decisions. As the localised nature of the housing market booms and busts in the US have demonstrated, housing markets experiencing the very same monetary policy can have very different dynamics. The claim that entrepreneurs will be sufficiently homogeneous in their responses, across very heterogeneous asset and production markets, to create the bust looks suspiciously like only embracing complexity when it is convenient. (Noting that to claim more decisions to invest will be made is not the same as claiming that the structure of production will be distorted.) More seriously, the claim runs into an information problem–as others have noted, Austrian theory apparently has access to information than none of the market participants do. The central bank knows enough to inflate the economy but none of the market participants have the knowledge to work out what the central bank is doing and the consequences thereof. There is a serious consistent expectations (i.e. rational expectations, but consistent expectations is a more accurate term) problem here. In his (losing) bet with Bryan Caplan, Bob Murphy was being very “Austrian” in assuming his theory gave him information hidden from market participants–Austrian theory really, really believing in markets until it suddenly really, really doesn’t. Bryan Caplan was being much more consistent (dare one say rationally consistent) in his expectations by going with the market indicator. What is more plausible–that there is enormously-important-for-future-income information lying around being ignored by everyone except by clever Austrian school folk or that economies are shocked off their growth path: an economic shock being an unanticipated change? Austrian school, meet the Australian economy These theoretical and empirical problems come together in the record expansion of the Australian economy since 1991. That is, Australia has not had an economic recession (in the sense of two quarters of [negative] economic growth) since 1991. It still has a business cycle, just a very flat one. What is more plausible–that the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) got its policy interest rate essentially correct for 23 years straight, so that Australian entrepreneurs got their capital projects (on balance) continually right? Or that the RBA sufficiently anchored inflation and income expectations that the Australian economy has not been shocked enough off its growth path since RBA introduced its policy of aiming for a 2-3%pa inflation rate on average over the business cycle ? Surely, the second option is much more plausible.
As the circus atmosphere surrounding the Jets continues, the front page of today’s New York Daily News declares that Tim Tebow can’t be the starting quarterback because “he’s terrible” — according to one of his own teammates. That was the word used by a teammate who didn’t want to put his name behind that assessment, but another teammate who was willing to put his name behind his opinions, left guard Matt Slauson, told the Daily News that Mark Sanchez is the Jets’ best quarterback by far. “It’s not even close,” Slauson said. “All the other quarterbacks know it. I have all the confidence in Mark. We don’t really have a choice.” Asked about the Jets’ two backup quarterbacks, Tebow and Greg McElroy, Slauson said the Jets really only have one other quarterback. “We have Greg . . . and we have an athlete,” Slauson said. According to the Daily News story, there is no quarterback controversy with the Jets because there is no one in the Jets’ locker room who believes Tebow deserves to start. “Hell, no!” one starter said. “You got to keep defenses honest. You just can’t line up in the Wildcat all the time. That won’t work.” Said another teammate, “We can’t win running that sh–.” After last season ended with the Jets sniping at each other, Jets coach Rex Ryan has said all year that fostering a closer locker room is one of his goals. But it sounds like most of his players aren’t on board with his highest-profile offseason acquisition.
Microsoft's special Valentine's Day edition of the Zune (Red Zune 80) is apparently more popular than the company expected. The Zune Originals creation that was announced just three weeks ago has already been through one announced product delay, but now it looks like Valentine's Day will come and go with most customers feeling unrequited love. Today we've heard from readers who say that Microsoft is mending broken hearts with some TLZ: tender loving Zunage. Microsoft is e-mailing customers who are on the cusp of not receiving their special Zune orders on time, saying that while they are trying their best to get orders out in time, they might not make it. Maybe your Valentine won't mind, however, because Microsoft says that they are refunding customer's money, too. If you're one of the unlucky people to be sitting on the cusp of a February 14 delivery date, then all of the sudden you're not so unlucky, since you're getting a free Zune out of the deal. Reader C. Menke ordered one of the special Zune players the very day it went on sale and received this notice from Microsoft today (other readers have also received the letter, but Menke sent us a copy): We wanted to provide you with an update on your order status. Due to some issues in our fulfillment center there remains a chance we will miss getting your Zune to you by February 14th. We are working hard to get your order to you as quickly as possible and we currently plan to ship your Zune within the next 3-4 days. Once your order is in transit, we will send you a shipping confirmation with a link for tracking. Our goal is to provide a smooth customer experience for ordering, customization, and delivery. We sincerely apologize for not meeting that goal in this specific case. We will be refunding the entire amount of your order, which you should be able to see on your credit/debit card within 7-10 days. We hope you love your Zune and that you will accept our sincere apology. If you have additional questions, please call 1.877.GET.ZUNE. For fastest service, press 5 then press 1 and have your order information ready. The Zune Originals Team Kudos to Microsoft for doing the right thing here.
NEW DELHI: Radhakishan Damani , the 61-year-old founder and promoter of retail chain D-Mart, was a legendary investor and share trader before he became a legendery entrepreneur. The stunning success of D-Mart is credited entirely to Damani. The public offer of D-Mart's holding company Avenue Supermarts today made a spectacular debut on BSE, as its shares got listed at a 102.14 per cent premium . D-Mart is valued at Rs 39,400 crore, more than the combined market capitalisation of its two biggest rivals, Future Retail and Aditya Birla Fashion.Damani is a quiet man who keeps a low profile, but his winning traits are too evident to be missed. Below are his 10 approaches to business that led him to roaring success:Like Warren Buffett, Damani too has been a value investor who would take canny view of the long term. When he turned an entrepreneur, he retained the same approach and built D-Mart without relying on any quick shortcuts. For instance, he never leases property for his stores but buys it. In the long term, it saves him from a big rental outgo. This was a key factor behind the profitability of D-Mart.Damani started small and did not hurry to expand. Low scale gave him a better control of supply chain and allowed him to focus on profitability right from the beginning. In the 15 years of its existence, D-Mart has turned a profit each year.Damani began with buying a franchise of Apna Bazar. That was when he began building personal relations with vendors and suppliers. He values both and they never let him down. The stores never go out of stock.Damani knew what he was doing: offering people consumer products of daily use at heavy discounts. That became his only goal. One of his methods was to pay his suppliers and vendors within days instead of weeks which was the industry norm. They provided the goods at a cheaper rate to him in lieu of early payment. He passed on the cost benefits to his customers, which ensured consistent footfall.Even though D-Mart is the most successful grocery retail chain of the country, Damani has confined it to the western states. One reason is his reliance on local supplies instead of elaborate supply chains.Though D-Mart started 16 years ago, it still has 119 stores in a few states, a small number compared to those owned by Ambani and Biyani. Instead of rapid expansion, Damani adopted a slow pace which gave him his focus on profitability. That's why D-Mart has not shut a single store since it started and generates higher per store revenues than the stores of Ambani or Biyani.Damani knew the purpose behind his enterprise was to supply consumer goods at lower prices. He did just that, without wasting his energy on frills. His stores have limited range of products and have simple decor. People come for just one thing: lower prices. The trait reflects in his own appearance. He wears only white shirt and white trousers, for which he is called "Mr White and White".Damani had learnt and practised with success the art of not following the herd while he was an investor. As an entrepreneur, he has the same approach. There have been so many new-fangled ideas in retail, such as various e-commerce trends, which he did not give any importance. Fashions or trends cannot influence the man who knows what he wants and how he can get it.Credit and delayed payments in retail business are risky because they can badly impact your supplies and costs. Damani keeps away from credit and pays sooner than his suppliers expect.Damani keeps a low profile which affords him total dedication to his work. His slow and silent rise in a depressed sector is a mark of his single-minded focus on work. He has rarely given an interview to a TV channel or a newspaper.
Alwaght- The Iraqi Prime Minister said on Monday Saudi Arabia is particularly favored by the member of the ISIS terrorist group. Haider al-Abadi singled out Saudi Arabia by name when he bluntly said that the Persian Gulf Arab littoral states are the “favorite” countries of the ISIS terrorists. Speaking to ambassadors from neighboring and other foreign countries Mr. Abadi implied that many Arab governments in the region have been aiding and abetting the terror group as it attacked his country. While support by such Arab governments for terrorist groups has long been known, the Monday remarks by Abadi, the prime minister of an Arab country, mark a first of its kind. In what could be an implied protest over the invasion of his country’s second large city of Mosul when the Arab Persian Gulf aided the ISIS terrorists, Abadi said ISIS had not emerged overnight, and that it had received support — in the form of money and weapons — by certain countries. He also warned the Arab governments against negligence toward the threat posed by ISIS. The Iraqi PM further asserted that it was the same support that helped the group take over the northern city of Mosul in Iraq, which has been the subject of large-scale liberation operations since Monday. Mosul fell to ISIS in 2014. Saudi Arabia is accused of having nurtured ISIS with material and ideological support, with the group’s hallmark line of thought, namely Wahhabism, being Saudi Arabia’s official ideology. Wahhabism is a strand of radical ideology known for its intolerance and incongruence with established religions.
Mr Aso, who has a reputation for speaking indelicately, was commenting at a meeting of the National Council on Social Security Reforms on Monday on the heavy burden imposed on the nation's finances by prolonging patients' lives with treatment. Describing patients with serious illnesses as "tube persons," Mr Aso, who is 72, said they should be "allowed to die quickly" if they want to, Kyodo News reported. "Heaven forbid I should be kept alive if I want to die," he said. "You cannot sleep well when you think it's all paid by the government. This won't be solved unless you let them hurry up and die." Mr Aso later issued a statement retracting some of his remarks and admitting it had been "inappropriate" to make such comments in public. Mr Aso became renown for his asides during a brief stint as prime minister in 2009, during which he told a group of university students that young people should not get married because they are too poor and are therefore not worthy of respect from a life partner. That insight was followed by the declaration that followers of the world's religions should learn from Japan's work ethic. "To work is good. That is a completely different way of thinking to the Old Testament," Mr Aso said in January 2009. "We should share that philosophy with many other nations." Three months previously, he offended doctors by saying many of their number "lack common sense." The same day, he upset parents at a kindergarten by informing them that parents are often the ones that need to be disciplined, not their children. Mr Aso also managed to offend the Democratic Party of Japan by comparing it with the Nazi Party, people with Alzheimer's disease and China, which he described as "a significant threat."
In a recent earnings call, Activision/Blizzard announced that World of Warcraft has dropped to 8.3 million subscribers, down from the 9.6 million from the last quarterly earnings call.It stated that most of those lost subscribers were from the East (China, Korea, etc.) and could be attributed to the ever increasing market rise of free-to-play MMOs. Aside from that though, it's obvious that the mighty Goliath of the MMO market is on the decline. No, WoW isn't dead, so all of you doomsday callers can put away your signs now, but it's clear that Blizzard needs to make some changes in order to save their flagship franchise.There are many changes coming to the game in 5.3, some of them for the better. Increased drop rates from Looking-For-Raid (LFR) dungeons, alternate routes to gear up, intriguing quest lines that ultimately lead us to the climax in the Garrosh encounter, and other quality of life improvements. But these will be enough?I don't believe it will be.Now let's analyze why we are losing so many players. If you ask many people why they have quit and you'll come up with a number of reasons:"The game is catering to casuals.""There is no community.""They've changed the game so much I don't even recognize it.""They nerfed Will of the Forsaken"And hundreds of others.It would seem that Blizzard's new vision of the game doesn't match what players want, and they aren't putting up with it anymore. Players shouldn't have to. Nobody should pay for a game they don't want to play.But what kept these players around to begin with? To answer that, we have to look at the time period when we had the most subscribers (that does not necessarily mean it was the BEST time period, results may vary) that I like to call the "Warcraft Renaissance".The Renaissance lasted from the end of the Black Temple through Ulduar. During this time we saw a lot of changes to the game; Badges to make gearing easier, difficult content (minus Wrath heroics and Naxxramas) to challenge players, and many classes (Shadow Priests/Ret Pallys) had their entire class mechanics changed. While not all of these changes were good for the game (again, player opinion) we cannot deny that this was the time when we had the most players. But there were still many things that kept players around; interesting OPTIONAL factions to grind rep with that gave great rewards, a seemingly endless supply of raiding content that was difficult to skip, crafting recipes that made professions worth looking at, a slight difficulty to accumulate gold, making it required to go out into the world to fatten your coin purses.And what has changed since then? Well, server communities are now non-existent. With the implementation of LFR and LFD, there really is no absolute reason to be in a guild, or to keep your reputation high on your server. You're a ninja looter? Nobody will notice in today's game. I will bet that most people can't even remember the name of anyone they played with in a random group 5 minutes after leaving it without checking chat logs.Loot is no longer special. Granted, since Wrath it hasn't been (thanks for nothing Badge system), but a lot of the elite players quit during Burning crusade because they felt that their achievements (aka loot that they earned) were washed away because anyone could get the same or equivalent gear with minimal effort. Blizzard's counter to that argument has been hard modes, but when it's essentially the same gear with a color swap and slightly increased stats, it's not the same.With these examples in mind, is there any way Blizzard could fix the game and bring these people back? I don't think they can. The game has evolved so much since then that if they were to go back to the way it used to be, many people who didn't start playing until ICC/Cata would be absolutely lost. All is not lost though, here are a few minor tweaks they could implement that could help the game and possibly regain some of those losses.1) Make LFD/LFR server-wide ONLY. No more cross realm BS. Yes, the implementation of an automatic queuing system was good for the game, it made it much easier to find a group. I certainly don't miss the days of spending hours in trade chat, trying to find a group that could use a ranged dps that didn't offer much CC. The problem with this new system is that when you get queued with someone, you know you would never see them again. So you could be a total douchebag to them and never have to deal with the repercussions. If you kept the queue server only, you could keep the convenience of having an automatic grouping system while holding players accountable within their server communities. Of course, they would probably have to fix servers to enable this (yes Blizzard, it's time to merge servers now) but doing so could bring back that community aspect of the game that people miss so much.2) Make gear different. Yes, we realize that Blizzard is going to keep the LFR/Normal/Heroic difficulties in the game. To further differentiate these different modes, they should all offer different gear. Not just re-skins of the same gear, but actual DIFFERENT gear. Three separate loot tables for each boss. Don't let people who run the easiest difficulty have access to the most powerful items in the game, even if they are watered down. A person who is drinking a glass that is half water/half Cristal is still drinking a $15,000 bottle of wine.3) Give us HARD content. I'm not just talking about re-hashed instances with beefed up hit points and a timer, but actual difficult stuff. Blizzard is essentially phasing out Heroic 5 man dungeons and replacing them with Heroic Scenarios. I feel that this is a bad decision, and could be one of the contributing factors when it comes to people deciding to leave the game. If heroic Scenarios are hard, then fine, but don't make them hard due to the fact that we have to complete "extra" objectives. Make them hard because they are tuned to be hard. Magister's Terrace was HARD, and we didn't have to do anything extra for it to be. It was also one of the best 5 mans ever produced, and the innate is one of the reasons why.4) Don't let us skip content. One of the reasons that the Renaissance was so successful is because raiders had to complete all of the previous content in order to progress to the latest instance. You want to run Black Temple? Ok, but first you're going to have to run Karazhan, Gruul's Lair, Magtheridon's Lair, Tempest Keep, Serpentshrine Cavern and The Battle for Mount Hyjal. And people were okay with this for the most part; the only annoying part was having to run old content to gear someone up for end-tier raiding (a problem that has been fixed with the implementation of LFR). But there is no way that a freshly leveled 90 character should be able to run the second tier of raiding in the expansion in less than 2 weeks after dinging. Even in Wrath, it took a couple of full clears of Naxxramas to enter Ulduar; and you had to grind nearly a week of heroics to get into Naxx. There was no skipping it (no matter how bad it was) you had to run it if you wanted into Ulduar. Even casual-friendly Wrath got that one right (until ToC, when they messed it all up for good, putting us in this predicament to begin with).5) The final point is make gold hard to earn again. For those that played in Vanilla/early Burning Crusade: remember how hard you had to work to buy your mounts? I remember grinding for DAYS just to buy my epic ground mount! I don't even want to talk about my first flying mount, and I wasn't even able to afford my epic flying until well after I dinged 80. In contrast, during Cataclysm my daughter (who was 6 at the time) got on my character and accidentally bought 310% flying. I didn't even notice the missing gold for over a week.With gold being so ridiculously easy to earn, it gives players less incentive to go out into the world. Not only that, but there's a lot less avenues to make gold because the crafted gear from professions aren't worth farming for. I remember farming for Iron Ore, well into Burning Crusade mind you, because people actually bought it for more than trying to level up. Remember when it was more than item enhancements that made you deliberate which profession to pick? I dropped mining on my priest to pick up Tailoring not because of some buff that only they gave, but because the Frozen Shadoweave set was Best In Slot for me until Black Temple. Those days are gone, and you can't fix one without the other. Make gold hard to earn again, and bring back quality crafted gear.These 5 things, I suspect, would bring a lot of players back, especially with another expansion looming in the background. There really is nothing to hook players anymore, because players want a challenge, they want a time sink, and they want to be rewarded for that time invested. That is the basic MMO concept, to be rewarded for time invested in game. But if someone that plays an hour a day can get, if not the exact same, but similar rewards than someone who plays for 12 hours a day, then what's the point?Give us actual accomplishments for our triumphs in Azeroth, not a box full of text that nobody can see. Give us an item that we can show off and make people stare in awe, not a title that is barely noticed due to the over-abundance of titles available to every single person in the game.Give people a reason to pay for your game again, Blizzard.
If you can’t get enough Once Upon a Time from the TV show and our podcast and forums, we recommend that you also check out these other podcasts! As you listen, you’ll see that each podcast has its own approach and will catch things that others miss. We encourage a friendly community among Once Upon a Time fans! ONCE podcast Website \| iTunes \| RSS \| Facebook \| Follow @ONCEpodcast We’re three friends who talk about ABC’s hit TV show Once Upon a Time and invite you to share your theories, observations, and more. We discuss the stories, fairytales, easter eggs, and Lost references.Join us—Daniel J. Lewis and his wife Jenny, and Jeremy Laughlin—and discover happy endings. Send your feedback to Feedback@ONCEpodcast.com or leave a message on our listener voicemail line at (903) 231-2221. Once Upon a Time Fan Podcast Website \| iTunes \| RSS \| Facebook \| Follow @ouatpodcast A married couple (Jeff and Colleen Roney) with different points of view come together to discuss ABC TV’s Once Upon a Time with the listeners of the podcast. Voicemails and Emails from around the world offer more insight, as well. Join us as we enjoy Once Upon a Time together. This is a different type of podcast. It’s not just about the hosts telling you every detail. It’s about the hosts and listeners adding their views and input to the review and analysis of the show. Oh, and we have cast voicemails, too. Onceable Website \| iTunes \| RSS \| Follow @OnceUponNews A Hypable.com podcast about Once Upon a Time. Four fans discuss Once Upon a Time filming, predictions, spoilers and more. Onceable will be recorded each week following the airing of a new episode of Once Upon a Time. The hosts will analyze each new episode of OUAT as well as discuss any big news items that were released that week. We also love listener feedback and will include fan thoughts at the end of each episode. Secrets of Once Upon a Time Website \| iTunes \| RSS \| Follow @OnceUponATimePC In this podcast we analyze the themes and symbolism of the ABC TV Series ‘Once Upon A Time’. This is a Once Upon a Time fan podcast. Once Upon a Time AfterBuzz TV AfterShow Website \| iTunes \| RSS AFTERBUZZ TV – Once Upon a Time edition, is a weekly aftershow for fans of ABC’s “Once Upon a Time” that features Cathy Kelley, Kaori Takee, Tiona Hobson, and Marisa Serafini. And thanks to your support, AfterBuzz TV is now the largest new media platform on the web and fan’s #1 source for aftershow entertainment! Dial 424.256.1729 to give your opinion on air. The Once Upon a Time Podcast [DVMPE] Website \| iTunes \| Facebook \| RSS \| Follow @OncePod Hosted by Joe Buchanan and David Vox Mullen. Other Side of the Mirror Website \| iTunes \| RSS \| Follow @OtherSideONCE The Other Side of the Mirror is an (unofficial) Once Upon a Time podcast, with an emphasis on Regina/Evil Queen, hosted by Bri and Alex. We focus on fandom, the show, theories, and more! Greetings from Storybrooke Website \| iTunes \| RSS \| Facebook \| Follow @GFStorybrooke Join Bill Meeks and Anne Marie DeSimone as they discuss new episodes, news, and theories about the ABC series Once Upon A Time. TV Talk: Once Upon a Time Website \| iTunes \| RSS TV Talk – Once Upon a Time Featuring Hosts Gareth Jones and Rebecca Jones. Once Upon a Podcast Website \| iTunes \| RSS Brittany and Amanda host a fan podcast dedicated to discussing the beloved characters of ABC’s Once Upon a Time. Each week on Tuesdays we focus on a new Once Upon a Time episode and dig deeper into all of the characters’ journeys and their development throughout the series. We also share news, spoilers, listener emails, reflections on the fandom and so much more! Unofficial. Welcome – we hope you enjoy your stay! Retired or indefinite hiatus ABC’s official Once Upon a Time audio podcast iTunes \| RSS \| Facebook \| Follow @OnceABC Enter the imagination of master storytellers Edward Kitsis and Adam Horowitz as they reflect on the worlds and characters they’ve created for ABC’s hit show, “Once Upon A Time,” which returns with an all-new Season 2 premiere at 8/7c Sunday, Sept. 30. To submit a question about the show, go to facebook.com/OnceABC. Hosted by Estelle McGechie, Eddie Kitsis, and Adam Horowitz ABC’s official Once Upon a Time video podcast iTunes \| RSS \| Facebook \| Follow @OnceABC Master storytellers Edward Kitsis and Adam Horowitz (“Lost,” “Tron: Legacy”) invite you to brace yourself for a modern fairytale with thrilling twists and hints of darkness, brimming with wonder and filled with the magic of our most beloved stories, on ABC’s “Once Upon a Time,” airing Sunday’s at 8 p.m. ET/PT on ABC. Join the stars and producers for this insider’s look at this epic show. Storybrooke News Report Website \| iTunes \| RSS \| Follow @StorybrookNR Welcome to Storybrooke News Report. The place where you will find the best gossip about ABC’s Once Upon A Time. Hosted by Bud Vander Kaay and Becky Storm. Operation Cobra Podcast Website \| iTunes \| RSS \| Follow @OpCobraPodcast A discussion podcast about ABC’s Once Upon A Time. The Storybrooke Herald Website \| iTunes \| Facebook \| RSS Join Jose and Larissa as they discuss the ABC fantasy fairytale series, Once Upon a Time. OuaT Website \| iTunes \| RSS \| Follow @ThatEntertains Magic is here! OuaT is the unofficial podcast for ABC’s Once Upon a Time hosted by Mike and Kev. Join them as they discuss their theories, observations, rumors and more. We discuss each episode, easter eggs, Lost references, and throw out the “Spoiler Warnings” fairly often. Share YOUR theories (and feedback) by sending an email to storybrooke@crudehumorstudios.com or calling our voice mail line at (267) 223-4965. OuaT is not affiliated with ABC Studios. Contains explicit language. Corrections or additions? We plan to keep this list fully updated. So we’ll be happy to add missing information or correct mistakes. Comment here or email feedback@ONCEpodcast.com. Changes April 29, 2014: Moved OUaT and Storybrooke Herald to retired. April 6, 2014: Operation Cobra announced their retirement. March 15, 2014: Updated Operation Cobra’s website and RSS addresses. December 12, 2013: Updated Onceable’s website address. December 4, 2013: Updated AfterBuzzTV’s and The Storybrooke Herald’s RSS links. October 10, 2013: Added TV Talk: Once Upon a Time and Once Upon a Podcast. May 25, 2013: Added OuaT podcast, removed an inactive podcast. February 28, 2013: Updated cover art for ONCE podcast and Greetings from Storybrooke. February 25, 2013: Updated DVMPE’s podcast cover art. February 4, 2013: Updated Storybrooke News Report URLs. January 22, 2013: Added Storybrooke News Report. November 7, 2012: Added Facebook page for Greetings from Storybrooke. November 2, 2012: Added It’s Complicated podcast, updated Other Side of the Mirror’s cover art, and added Estelle McGechie as a host to the official audio podcast. October 14, 2012: Added Facebook page for DVMPE’s podcast. October 13, 2012: Added Operation Cobra Podcast, added RSS for ABC’s official audio and video podcasts, added Facebook page for Once Upon a Time Fan Podcast. Please share this! Click the social sharing buttons above, or retweet this: ONCE podcast is the #1 unofficial podcast for ABC's TV show Once Upon a Time. The podcast is hosted by Daniel J. Lewis, his wife Jenny, and Jeremy Laughlin. ONCE podcast was a finalist for best TV/Film podcast in 2012. For more in-depth reviews, theories, easter eggs, and talk about Once Upon a Time, subscribe to ONCE podcast for free in iTunes or your favorite podcast directory; visit the ONCE podcast website for screenshots, shownotes, and blog posts; and join the Once Upon a Time forums to talk with other fans.
Fans, be prepared to open your wallets. Profiles in History, dealers of Hollywood artifacts, is holding yet another auction where one-of-a-kind treasures are on offer. And this auction looks to be more interesting than most. That’s because this auction is chock full o’ science fiction goodness. And come December 16, we’re going to see the direct impact of the power of the geek dollar. Some astonishing gems include: - A prosthetic mask worn by the dawn-of-man apes in 2001 (p. 211) - The desk on which Bram Stoker had written Dracula (p. 304) - Gort’s head from The Day the Earth Stood Still (p. 206) - An 8 ft. x10 ft. French poster of King Kong (p. 81) As you can see from the auction catalog, that’s only a fraction of the fabulousness on offer. There are so many Star Trek goodies, from multiple series/movies (McCoy’s jumpsuit, Geordi’s visor) that fans should just flip to p. 226, where the awesomeness begins. It ends at p. 253…where the Star Wars awesomeness kicks in. It ends at p. 269…where the Aliens awesomeness kicks in. You can also find items from Ghostbusters, The Fly, Dune, and others. Be warned: Many of these items don’t come cheap. Spock’s tunic from Star Trek is valued between $80,000 to $120,000, as are an X-Wing miniature used in Star Wars, a xenomorph costume used in Aliens…and of course Legolas’ bow from Lord of the Rings. Too rich for your blood? Go for a set of lobby card displays for Barbarella, at $300 to $500. Previous items that have sold through Profiles in History include the cape Bela Lugosi wore in Dracula, a phaser from Star Trek: The Original Series, and Richard O’Brien’s annotated script for The Rocky Horror Picture Show. You can follow me on Twitter, Facebook, Google+, and here at Forbes. Via TheVerge.
Toddler died of heart attack after getting head stuck in playhouse as nursery staff chatted on mobile phones Tragedy: Rhiya Malin died after compression on her neck, caused by her becoming wedged in the angle of a Wendy house window, triggered a heart attack A toddler died after her neck became wedged in the roof of a playhouse as nursery staff chatted on mobile phones, an inquest heard yesterday. Rhiya Malin, two, was playing outside with other children when she rode a scooter into the wooden structure. It was not until staff called everyone in from the play area at the end of the break that they discovered she was missing. Rhiya was spotted by the window of the playhouse. But when nursery worker Kaylee Murphy went over to get her, she found the girl’s hanging ‘lifeless’ body. Yesterday Miss Murphy, in her 20s, admitted making or receiving four phone calls while she was on duty with three other adults. Another member of staff, Jade Parker, also took two calls. Asked what the rule was on phone use while at work, room manager Miss Murphy said: ‘I knew it wasn’t allowed but it wasn’t seen as bad.’ Miss Murphy, who recalled speaking to her boyfriend during the calls about picking up ‘bits and bobs’ from the shops, broke down as she described finding Rhiya. ‘She had her head caught. Her eyes were closed,' added the nursery worker. I lowered her inside and then went back round the front and asked someone to call an ambulance.’ A pathologist told the hearing the girl died from a ‘reflex cardiac arrest’, which can be caused by compression of the neck. Asked if she could have been saved, he said: ‘The quicker one starts resuscitation the more likely one is to be successful.’ Rhiya, from Chigwell in Essex, was pronounced dead at Whipps Cross hospital after paramedics were unable to resuscitate her. Her parents are now suing the owners of Eton Manor Children’s Day Nursery, Chigwell, after losing a judicial review earlier this year, with the nursery operators avoiding criminal charges. Prescient Popat QC, acting for Rhiya’s parents Shatl, 31, and Jay, 40, claimed the legal staffing ratio of one adult to every four children was breached because of the phone conversations. Modified: The outdoor playhouse where Rhiya died had recently been altered and has since been taken down Mrs Malin dabbed her eyes with a tissue and clutched a small pink bracelet as she listened to the details of her daughter’s last minutes. Giving evidence, her IT consultant husband described Rhiya as ‘outgoing, loving and caring’. He said the girl had kissed her mother goodbye at home before he took her to the nursery on November 7, 2007. Once there, she became ‘a bit clingy’. He added: ‘She did not want to be anywhere else apart from at home with us. I picked her up and comforted her.’ The inquest heard Mrs Malin had previously given birth to a stillborn boy and Rhiya had been monitored closely during a ‘difficult’ pregnancy. Mrs Malin said: ‘There was nothing in this world that came close to the feeling you get each day when your little girl says, “I love you, Mummy”.’ The inquest at County Hall in Chelmsford continues.
Jack Wilshere could face ankle ligament surgery and a lay-off of around three months. The Arsenal midfielder will meet with a specialist in the coming days and the decision will be taken as to whether he needs the operation to repair the damage to his left ankle that he suffered after a challenge from Manchester United’s Paddy McNair on Saturday. If Arsenal feel that Wilshere can be fully rehabilitated without the surgery, he would be back in action sooner but he would still most likely miss around eight weeks. It is a tough blow for the England midfielder, who had found form for club and country, and he will now begin the familiar process of considering the long road back to fitness. Arsenal are clinging to the hope that, like Olivier Giroud, who returned as a goal-scoring substitute in the 2-1 loss to United weeks ahead of schedule after fracturing his tibia in late August, Wilshere could yet surprise people and make a speedy recovery. But it did not take long in the company of Arsène Wenger on Tuesday to feel that it was wishful thinking. The Wilshere update cast a shadow over the club’s preparations for Wednesday night’s Champions League home tie against Borussia Dortmund, in which they need a point to ensure their progress to the next phase of the competition for the 15th year in succession. Wilshere has been plagued by ankle injuries since his first full season with Arsenal in 2010-11. It is often said that the right ankle is the problematic one – it cracked in the summer of 2011 and forced him to miss 17 months of football – but the left one has not been without its difficulties, initially, as a result of Wilshere over-compensating to protect the right side. It was that which rolled in grisly fashion under McNair’s tackle in the 52nd minute on Saturday. As usual, Wilshere attempted to continue after treatment. His pain threshold is high and he is always determined to play, no matter what. But in the 55th minute, he sat back down on the turf and was forced to admit defeat. It is unclear as to whether Wilshere made the problem worse by carrying on. He left the field and, indeed, the stadium afterwards under his own steam, without crutches or his foot in a protective boot. Wenger stopped short of castigating McNair but it was clear that he felt the 19-year-old had erred with the decision to lunge in on Wilshere. “I don’t think it was a tackle with the desire to hurt, I think he went for the ball but it was a late tackle, a tackle which a young player can do,” Wenger said. “It was a bad foul.” “The tackle caught him from the side, just when Jack had moved the ball forwards too much. When he dived to make the pass, McNair came in to make the tackle and took him from the back and the side. When you see the picture, it is very bad. There is no bone damage; we knew that straightaway after the game but there is ligament damage. It does not look good.” Wenger will also be without goalkeeper, Wojciech Szczesny, against Dortmund because of the hip injury that forced him off against United and the winger Theo Walcott, who continues to feel a groin problem after his long-term absence following cruciate knee ligament surgery. With the back-up goalkeeper, David Ospina also out, Wenger will turn to the inexperienced Emiliano Martínez. Danny Welbeck is a doubt with a minor knee injury and he did not train on Tuesday, although Wenger will name him in the squad while Olivier Giroud is ineligible, having not been named on the Champions League list as he was not expected to be fit until the New Year. This rather sums up Arsenal’s fortunes at present, in which even the positives – such as Giroud’s recovery – carry stings. The sense of crisis has once again built around the club after the previous three results – the 3-3 home draw against Anderlecht, when they blew a 3-0 lead; the 2-1 defeat at Swansea City, in which they had also led, and the United reverse. But Wenger, who is the target of disaffected supporters, was in relaxed mood and he insisted that the quality in his team would show. “When you are such a long time in football as I am, you don’t understand anymore what crisis means,” Wenger said, with a smile. “I must get to the dictionary and look at it well again. There is life in our team, there’s a dynamic in our team. I’m long enough in the game to know if there’s something there or not and there’s a lot there. This is one of the best teams I’ve had for a long time.” Wenger said that Laurent Koscielny had made a surprise return to training after his trouble with tendinitis in his achilles and he would be in the squad while Aaron Ramsey believes that he is finally over his injury problems. The midfielder has struggled for form this season but he suggested that a nagging hamstring issue had been partly responsible. “The Manchester United game was the first time that I felt physically sharp and I could recover a lot better after my runs forward,” Ramsey said. “I’m still going to make my runs into the box because that’s my game. But when I got forward [against United], I could get back in time as well.”
Percy Robert Miller (born April 29, 1970), known professionally as Master P or his business name P. Miller, is an American rapper, actor, businessman, record executive, philanthropist, and former basketball player. He is the founder of the record label No Limit Records, which was relaunched as New No Limit Records through Universal Records and Koch Records, then again as Guttar Music Entertainment, and currently, No Limit Forever Records. He is the founder and CEO of P. Miller Enterprises and Better Black Television, which was a short-lived online television network. In 2013, Forbes estimated Miller's net worth at nearly $350 million, which put him as the third-richest figure in hip hop at the time. Miller initially gained fame in the mid-1990s with the success of his hip hop music group TRU as well as his fifth solo rap album Ice Cream Man, which contained his first single "Mr. Ice Cream Man". Miller gained further popularity in 1997 after the success of his platinum single "Make 'Em Say Uhh!". In total, Miller has gone on to release 5 studio albums. Aside from music, Miller has also embarked on a career in acting, starring in numerous movies, including I Got the Hook Up, Soccer Mom, Gone in 60 Seconds, Toxic, and Foolish. Miller has also worked in television, starring in the sitcom Romeo! alongside his son Romeo Miller from 2003 to 2006. Miller was signed to two separate NBA contracts in the late 1990s, playing for both the Charlotte Hornets and Toronto Raptors during the 1998 and 1999 pre-season respectively. Miller currently owns his own basketball league, Global Mixed Gender Basketball (GMGB). Early life [ edit ] Percy Robert Miller was born and raised in New Orleans in the Calliope Projects. He is the oldest out of five children. He has one sister, Germaine and three brothers: Kevin, platinum-selling rap artists Corey "C-Murder" & Vyshonne "Silkk The Shocker" Miller. He attended Booker T. Washington High School & Warren Easton High School.[1] Having played on the basketball team, Miller then attended the University of Houston on an athletic scholarship, but he dropped out months into his freshman year and transferred to Merritt College in Oakland, California to major in business administration.[2] After the death of his grandfather, Miller inherited $10,000 as part of a malpractice settlement. Miller opened a record store in Richmond, California, called No Limit Records, which later became the foundation for his own record label of the same name. On February 15, 1990, Master P released the cassette tape Mind Of A Psychopath. His brother Kevin Miller was killed that same year in New Orleans. This increased the motivation of Master P to become a successful entrepreneur to change his life and save his family.[3] Music career [ edit ] Early works [ edit ] On February 12, 1991, Master P released his debut studio album Get Away Clean which was quickly followed by his second album Mama's Bad Boy, in April 1992. Both albums were released through In-A-Minute Records. In 1993, Master P released his first collaboration album with his group TRU titled Who's da Killer? Master P released his third studio album The Ghettos Tryin to Kill Me! on March 18, 1994; it was later re-released in 1997 as a limited edition under Priority. That same year Master P collaborated on the No Limit compilation albums West Coast Bad Boyz, Vol. 1: Anotha Level of the Game & West Coast Bad Boyz: High fo Xmas. On June 6, 1995, Master P released his debut studio album 99 Ways to Die. Master P and TRU released their third album True in 1995, which was the group's first major release after two independent albums. The album reached number 25 on the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums and number 14 on the Top Heatseekers. The album was known for its first single and one of Master P's best known songs "I'm Bout' It, Bout It". He also worked on the compilation album, Down South Hustlers: Bouncin' and Swingin' during that year. Master P has said that when he used to open for Tupac Shakur in the early 1990s, the people responsible for introducing him would frequently call him "Mr. P the country singer".[4] 1995–2000: Return to New Orleans and mainstream success [ edit ] In 1995, Master P moved from California back to New Orleans to relocate No Limit Records with a slew of new artists and in-house producers Beats By the Pound. On April 16, 1996, Master P released his fifth album Ice Cream Man. It contained the hit single Mr. Ice Cream Man, which accelerated Master P's rise to fame. Later in 1996, Master P returned with TRU to work on Tru 2 da Game, which would not be released until February 18, 1997. At that time TRU was reduced to a trio with just Master P alongside his brothers C-Murder and Silkk the Shocker. On September 2, 1997, Master P released his breakthrough album, Ghetto D. The first week sales of the album were the highest of any of Master P's albums, selling over 761,000 copies, and it went on to go certified triple platinum. It contained the hit single "Make 'Em Say Uhh!", Master P's highest charting single to date. The song earned him an MTV Video Music Award nomination the following year for "Best Rap Video", but lost to Will Smith's "Gettin' Jiggy Wit It". On June 2, 1998, P. Miller released his seventh and best-selling album to date MP Da Last Don. Master P released a film of the same name earlier that year. The album debuted at number 1 on the Billboard Top 200 charts selling over 400,000 copies in its first week, and went on to sell over four million copies. On October 26, 1999, Master P. Miller released his third studio album Only God Can Judge Me, which contained his single "Step To Dis". The album went certified gold, selling over 500,000 copies. In 1999, Master P & TRU released their fifth studio album Da Crime Family. On November 28, 2000, he released his ninth studio album Ghetto Postage which contained his hit singles "Bout Dat" and "Souljas". Also in 2000, Master P and his new group 504 Boyz released their debut album Goodfellas, which peaked at number 1 on the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums and contained their hit single, "Wobble Wobble". 2001–2005: The New No Limit [ edit ] On December 18, 2001, Master P released his fourth studio album Game Face, the first Master P album released on The New No Limit, which had a partnership with Universal Records. In 2002, The 504 Boyz released their second album Ballers. Both albums charted high on the Hip-Hop charts, but shortly after, No Limit began to decline in popularity. Record sales as well as roster changes and lawsuits caused No Limit Records to file for bankruptcy on December 17, 2003. Master P's eleventh album, titled Good Side, Bad Side, was released on March 23, 2004, through Koch Records, debuting at number 1 on the Billboard Independent Albums chart. Master P and TRU released their last album The Truth in 2005 followed by Master P's twelfth studio album Ghetto Bill Vol. 1. 2005–2007: Guttar Music [ edit ] In 2005, Master P and his son Romeo Miller formed the independent label Guttar Music. On November 29, 2005, P. Miller released his first independent album Living Legend: Certified D-Boy on Guttar Music. Master P and 504 Boyz also released their last album titled Hurricane Katrina: We Gon Bounce Back that year, and it was dedicated to the victims of Hurricane Katrina. In April 2006, Master P released a compilation album America's Most Luved Bad Guy. In 2007, Master P released a collaboration album with Romeo titled Hip Hop History that sold 32,000 copies worldwide. 2010–present: No Limit Forever and current works [ edit ] On December 6, 2010, it was announced that Master P was going on a new tour with his brother Silkk The Shocker and his son Romeo titled No Limit Forever International. On February 8, 2011, Master P was featured on rapper Gucci Mane's track titled "Brinks". It was his first recorded song in over four years. In early 2012, Master P started to re brand his label with fresh new talent from the streets, including Graphic Designer @Hitmayne4Hire / HITGPX to revision the tanks look and bring back that "NO LIMIT" look with modern style to all future projects and promotions. On 10 August 2012, he performed at Detroit, MI rap duo Insane Clown Posse's 12th Annual "Gathering of the Juggalos" concert.[5] On November 16, 2011, Master P released his first mixtape and first solo project in over 6 years, titled TMZ (Too Many Zeros).[6] On August 2, 2012, it was announced that Master P was working on his thirteenth studio album Boss Of All Bosses.[7] On September 17, 2012, Master P released snippet of an upcoming single titled "Friends With Benefits" featuring Houston rapper/singer Kirko Bangz.[8][9][10][11] On January 16, 2013, Master P released his second official mixtape titled Al Capone as promotion for his Boss Of All Bosses album.[12][13][14][15] Then on February 12, 2013, Master P released his first collaboration mixtape titled New World Order with his new group, Louie V. Mob, which includes himself, Atlanta rapper Alley Boy, and Washington, DC rapper Fat Trel .[16][17][18] On August 6, 2013, Master P released his third official mixtape titled Famous Again as promotion for his Boss Of All Bosses album, it featured appearances from Rome, Silkk The Shocker, Dee-1, Young Louie, Play Beezy, Gangsta, Howie T, Clyde Carson, Game, Chief Keef, Fat Trel, Alley Boy, Problem, Wiz Khalifa, Tyga, and Chris Brown, as well as production from 1500 & Nothin, Young Bugatti, Stiv Schneider, The Composer, and JB.[19][20][21] On December 6, 2013, Master P released his fifth album titled The Gift.[22] On January 23, 2014, it was announced that The Gift would be re-released on February 21, 2014, as a Video album with a music video for every song, and that it would be titled The Platinum Gift.[23][24] On February 6, 2014, it was announced that Master P was working on two new albums, Ice Cream Man 2, which is a sequel to his critically acclaimed debut major label album Ice Cream Man, and Boss Of All Bosses.[25] On February 28, 2014 Miller released his fourth mixtape The Gift Vol. 1: Return of The Ice Cream Man.[26][27][28] On January 5, 2015, Master P released his second collaboration mixtape titled We All We Got with his new group Money Mafia, which includes himself, his son Maserati Rome, Ace B, Young Junne, Eastwood, Gangsta, Play Beezy, Calliope Popeye, Flight Boy, and No Limit Forever in-house producer Blaq N Mild. The mixtape would also include a surprise feature from fellow well-known New Orleans rapper Lil Wayne, on the track "Power".[29][30][31][32] On February 9, 2015, Master P released his third collaboration mixtape titled #CP3 with his No Limit Forever artist and fellow New Orleans rapper Ace B.[33][34] On April 20, 2015 Master P released his fourth collaboration mixtape titled Hustlin with his group Money Mafia.[35][36][37] On June 4, 2015, it was announced that Master P's newest group Money Mafia would be releasing their debut album in 2015 titled Rarri Boys.[38] On June 8, 2015, Master P along with Money Mafia would release their first single from Rarri Boys titled "Bonita".[39][40] On July 16, 2015, Master P released his fifth collaboration mixtape titled The Luciano Family with his group Money Mafia.[41][42][43] On October 7, 2015, Master P would reveal the cover art's & announced that there would be three sequel album installments to his critically acclaimed debut major label album Ice Cream Man titled Ice Cream Man 2: The Streets, Ice Cream Man 3: The Hustle, Ice Cream Man 4: The Lifestyle that will be released all on the same day.[44] On October 13, 2015, Master P would reveal & announced the cover art, release date & track list to his upcoming new album titled Empire that will be released on November 28, 2015.[45][46][47][48] On November 27, 2015, Master P would release his fourteenth album titled Empire, from the Hood to Hollywood it would feature guest appearance's from Krazy, Lil Wayne, Maserati Rome, Money Mafia, Ace B, BlaqNmilD, Fame-O & Luccianos, it would be released via his label No Limit Forever Records & Globy House Records.[49][50][51] On February 23, 2016, Master P would release a new single titled "Funeral" it would feature his new group No Limit Boys members Ace B & Angelo Nano.[52][53] On March 2, 2016 Master P would release a new single titled "Middle Finga".[54][55] On March 16, 2016, Miller released his fifth mixtape titled Middle Finga.[56] On March 18, 2016, during an interview Master P would announce he was working on a new album titled The Grind Don't Stop with his new group No Limit Boys & he would also announce his new tour titled the Pop-Up Tour.[57] On March 28, 2016, it was announced that Master P's newest group No Limit Boys formerly Money Mafia would be releasing their debut album in 2016 titled No Limit Boys.[58] On August 21, 2016, Master P released his sixth official mixtape titled The G Mixtape, it featured appearances from 2 Chainz, A$AP Ferg, E-40, The Game, Gucci Mane, Jeremih, Lil Wayne, Nipsey Hussle, No Limit Boys, Rick Ross, Usher, Travis Scott & Yo Gotti.[59][60][61][62][63] On October 27, 2016, Master P released his seventh official mixtape titled Louisiana Hot Sauce, it featured appearances from fellow No Limit Forever artist Ace B, Angelo Nano, Cymphonique, Gangsta, J Slugg, Lambo, Moe Roy, Play Beezy, Romeo & Young Vee.[64][65] On January 6, 2017, Master P released his sixth collaboration mixtape titled We All We Got with his group No Limit Boys.[66] Business career [ edit ] Aside from being a rapper, Master P has also enjoyed a successful career as an entrepreneur and investor. After the death of his grandfather, Miller inherited $10,000 as part of a malpractice settlement and opened a record store in Richmond, California called No Limit Records, which later became the foundation for his own record label of the same name. He has since parlayed his $10,000 initial seed capital investment into a $250 million business empire spanning a wide variety of industries.[citation needed] Miller was one of the first rappers to notice and take advantage of the retail potential of the music industry. As an investor, Master P was one of the first rappers to build a business and financial empire by investing in a wide range of business and investment ventures from a variety of industries. He has since invested the millions of dollars he made from his No Limit record company into a travel agency, a Foot Locker retail outlet, real estate, stocks, film, music, and television production, toy making, a phone sex company, clothing, telecommunications, a jewellery line, auto accessories, book and magazine publishing, car rims, fast food franchises, and gas stations.[67][68][69][70] His sports management agency No Limit Communications, a joint venture with marketing guru Djuan Edgerton, was a success. His conglomerate company, No Limit Enterprises became a financial powerhouse. His real estate investment and property management company, the New Orleans-based PM Properties controls over 100 properties across the United States.[71] According to Black Enterprise magazine, No Limit Enterprises grossed $110 million in revenue in 1998 alone. This level of success inspired other rappers to branch out into other business ventures and investments.[71][72] Miller also has his own line of beverages, called "Make 'Em Say Ughh!" energy drinks.[73] Miller has also made a foray into mass media, where he founded Better Black Television, a cable television network in November 2010 based in New Orleans, making him the first rapper to establish a cable television network.[74] Rappers had historically focused more on the artistic and glamorous side of hip hop music while paying very little attention to the business, investment and financial aspects. All that changed in 1996 when Master P signed a music distribution deal with Priority Records, one where No Limit Records would retain 100% ownership of their master recordings and keep 85% of their record's sales while giving Priority 15% in return for pressing and distribution which allows No Limit to profit from future sales such as catalogs and reissues.[71] Master P went on to make hundreds of millions of dollars from this deal. Additionally, Master P invented many innovative marketing techniques. According to Wendy Day, CEO of the Rap Coalition, "Master P had a whole marketing movement. He was the first person to market the way a corporate entity like IBM would market to their clientele." Whereas the traditional model for marketing records was to spend millions of dollars on expensive videos and air play, Miller did not have such a luxury. As an independent artist, Miller had to find a way to sell, market and build platinum record selling demand on a limited recording budget. He was known for keeping upfront business expenses down and profit margins high. He began selling tapes out the trunk of his car in every city and town in America where there was potential demand for his music. He gave out free samples to people with expensive cars and had them playing his music throughout their neighborhoods. This street level guerrilla marketing technique set the foundation to build a larger fanbase for the future. After signing his deal with Priority, Miller began a high volume business model of cranking out as many records as possible, as frequently as possible. He branded all his albums, so that the No Limit brand became more important than the actual artist's name. Miller cross-promoted all his artists and albums inside the album covers. He also used pen and pixel graphics and Mafia-inspired themes to make his albums stand out using Photoshop. He offered 20 songs per album, whereas most albums offered 15 or less, as Miller learned that customers wanted more for their money. He turned his artists into Marvel comic book-like characters rather than just rappers. He made sure his artists were number one on SoundScan every time they released an album, to build the perception of popularity. He used inexpensive videos to promote his artists and he cross-promoted albums using films and vice versa and tied them altogether as a package. Brand image and identity became more important than just music quality. Miller's record labels have sold 75 million records as a result of his innovative marketing and branding strategies.[72][75] As founder and CEO of No Limit Entertainment, Miller at one time presided over a business empire that included his conglomerate No Limit Enterprises, No Limit Records, Bout It Inc., No Limit Clothing, No Limit Communications, No Limit Films, No Limit Sports Management, P. M. Properties, and Advantage Travel. Miller represented former NFL running back Ricky Williams when he was drafted by the New Orleans Saints, however the deal was rated the worst contract for a player in NFL History by ESPN.[76] Miller also manages the music, film, and television career of his son, rap star Romeo Miller, as well as pop star Forrest Lipton and Atlanta rapper Gucci Mane. Miller was also the executive television producer for his teenage daughter Cymphonique's Nickelodeon Show, How To Rock, and the co-creator Romeo!, the hit Nickelodeon television show that stars his son.[77] Income [ edit ] In 1998, Miller ranked 10th on Forbes magazine's list of America's 40 highest paid entertainers, with an estimated income of $56.5 million. In 2009, he earned more than $661 million, making him the highest paid hip hop entertainer in the world at the time.[78][citation needed] In 2013, Miller's wealth is estimated to be $350 million, making him one of the wealthiest figures on the American hip hop scene.[79] Other ventures [ edit ] Film and television career [ edit ] Since 1997, Master P has been in numerous feature and straight-to-DVD films, and in television shows. His filmography includes Uncle P, Uncle Willy's Family, Soccer Mom, Gone in 60 Seconds, Toxic, Foolish, and I Got the Hook Up. In 1999, he had a small run in World Championship Wrestling (WCW), where he led a professional wrestling stable called The No Limit Soldiers in a feud with Curt Hennig's The West Texas Rednecks. Master P also starred in Romeo! alongside his son Romeo Miller on the children's network Nickelodeon from 2003 to 2006. He was also a contestant on Dancing with the Stars (U.S. season 2), replacing Romeo who dropped out due to an injury. He partnered with Ashly DelGrosso and received a total score of 8 out of 30 for his pasodoble, the lowest score in the show's history. He was eliminated on Week 4. In 2008, Miller has also made history as the first hip-hop entrepreneur to own a cable television network, Better Black Television (or BBTV011, which was meant to promote positive messages and content to the African American culture). The network was launched in 2009. Executives include Denzel Washington, Derek Anderson of the Charlotte Bobcats, DJ Kool Herc, and Bo Derek. As part of the BBTV project, Miller and Romeo teamed up to develop a children's cartoon titled 'Gee Gee The Giraffe. The show is true to the duo's mission to produce positive, educational, and entertaining content for African-American children. Animation has been employed by the Millers on prior occasions such as their February 2008 cartoon version of their music video for the song "Black History." As reported in March 2011, Miller planned to star in a new film with his protégé Gucci Mane, titled Get Money. The film, set for release through No Limit, would be based on Miller's book of the same name. On June 10, 2015, it was announced that Master P and his family would be starring in their own reality show titled Master P's Family Empire. It is scheduled to be aired on Reelz sometime in November.[80] Basketball career [ edit ] Percy had a contract with two different NBA teams in the late 1990s: the Charlotte Hornets during the 1998 pre-season, and the Toronto Raptors in 1999 pre-season.[81][82] However, Miller did not play for either team after the conclusions of each pre-season. He also played in the Continental Basketball Association (CBA) for the Fort Wayne Fury and the International Basketball League (1999-2001) for the San Diego Stingrays. In 2004, he played for the ABA's Las Vegas Rattlers and Long Beach Jam. He took part in the 2008 McDonald's NBA All-Star Celebrity Game and scored 17 points.[83] Writing [ edit ] On September 1, 2007, Miller released his first book, titled Guaranteed Success.[84] Controversy [ edit ] "Brick to a Million" [ edit ] On Master P's track "Brick to a Million", with Fat Trel and Alley Boy, Master P rapped lyrics that many interpreted as a diss to Kanye West and Lil Wayne. On the song, he raps, "New hittas wearing dresses, fuck it, I ain't scared to address it, Gangstas on skateboards, I'm at the house breaking headboards, Real stand up." During an interview with Power 106's Big Boy's Neighborhood, Master P cleared up misconceptions about the lyrics, stating that he was not addressing those rappers in particular but was instead talking about a radio station employee who told him he was finished. "Even that, that ain't a diss. I never made a diss record. Like I said, a lot of people, if you feel salty behind that, then I could say if the shoe fit well, I'm not afraid to address it," he said. "I just feel like in Hip Hop, we've got to stick to whether we're going to be real or we not. Like I said, I'm just addressing what I see. To be honest with you, that particular song wasn't about nobody in Hip Hop but I think people taking it like that. This was one of these guys that worked at the radio station and didn't believe in me and told me it was over for me. He ridin' up on a skateboard and got a little mini-skirt on. This a new dude into the business, and he telling me it's over for me." Master P, who was rumored to have issues with Cash Money Records back in the day, said that if the rappers took offense to the song, they might want to rethink their choices. But he insists that he has no beef with either of them. "If you feel guilty about something, then that's something you need to address about with yourself," he said. "Y'all gotta realize, we really from the streets. If there really was a feud, there would have been a problem. But I got love for Baby and them, Lil Wayne. They come from where I come from. It's always been a competition. Everybody want to be the best."[85] Musical style [ edit ] Rapping technique [ edit ] Miller has been known for his deep-toned, aggressive enunciation and his story-telling rhymes focusing on poverty, social injustice, drugs and drug dealing, police brutality, and hope.[86] Miller is also known for his catchy melodic hooks.[86] Miller is also known for carrying a theme for each of his albums and his unique musical ability to connect with his audience.[86][87][88] Legacy [ edit ] Miller is known not only for his music but also largely for his business acumen, due to creating and branding his highly successful independent record label No Limit Records, as well as his other business ventures.[89][89][90][91] Miller is held in high esteem by other rappers as well. During an interview after meeting Miller, Atlanta rapper 2 Chainz stated, "This is my first time meeting [him]. I just want to let him know how he influenced the whole South in Hip-Hop." 2 Chainz went on, "We used to argue people like they ain't understand why we appreciated Master P and his music. It was more than that. I felt like it was his grind, his hustle. He actually put music out like every week. I even heard stories about some of the songs never even being mixed before. It was just about giving the fans what they needed. And he the reason why a lot of us are here, including myself." .[92] Accolades and honors [ edit ] In 1999, Master P won the award for "Favorite Rap/Hip-Hop Artist" at the American Music Awards. In 2005 Miller was ranked at number 36 by VH1 in their list of 50 Greatest Hip Hop Artists.[93] On September 29, 2008, Miller's single "Make Em Say Ugh" would be ranked at number 94 by VH1 in their list of 100 Greatest Hip-Hop Songs.[94] BET named Miller number 28 in 'The Most Influential Rappers of All Time'.[95] BET would also list Miller as one of 'The 25 Influential Black Music Execs'.[96] In November 2011, Miller's son Romeo Miller would perform at the 2010 Hip Hop Honors, along with his brother Valentino Miller, his cousins Lil' D and Black Don, and his uncle Silkk The Shocker, as well as Trina, Gucci Mane, and Mystikal to honor Master P and No Limit Records.[97] On December 11, 2012, DJ 5150 and DJ Hektik released a tribute mixtape to Master P titled Uptown Veteran.[98] On July 10, 2013, Miller was inducted into the Louisiana Music Hall of Fame, making him the first hip hop artist to be inducted.[99] On January 20, 2015, Montreal R&B/Hip Hop artist Xav released a song with Master P called "Bout It Bout It", from his upcoming Zeeky EP, paying homage to Master P's 1995 international hit. The music video, which also features Master P, premiered on Vibe.com the same day.[100][101] On June 9, 2016, fellow well-known American artist Usher would release a new single titled "No Limit", from his album Hard II Love, the song would reference & pay homage to Master P's 1998 international hit "Make 'Em Say Uhh!" & Master P's No Limit Records release Ghetto D, Master P would also be featured on the official remix of the song titled "No Limit (G-Mix)" with 2 Chainz, A$AP Ferg, Gucci Mane & Travis Scott. Personal life [ edit ] Philanthropy [ edit ] Miller has dedicated his time to communities through P. Miller Youth Centers and his P. Miller Food Foundation for the Homeless. On July 12, 2005, Willie W. Herenton Jr, the mayor of Memphis, Tennessee, presented Miller with the key to the city.[102] On April 27, 2010, Miller, along with his son Romeo, was awarded the Certificate of Special Recognition from Congress member Maxine Waters.[103] In November 2016 Robert Pack and Percy Miller (Master P) formed Team H.O.P.E. NOLA, an acronym for "Helping Our Players Excel." The players are 20 at-risk males ages 12–15 chosen from schools in New Orleans that selected the participants for coaching on practical life matters. Family [ edit ] In 1989 he married Sonya with whom he has seven children, including Romeo Miller. They divorced in 2014.[73][104] Rappers Silkk the Shocker and C-Murder are his brothers.[citation needed] Politics [ edit ] In late 2007, Miller got actively involved in politics, whereby he supported and encouraged voter participation.[105] Miller was an early supporter for the candidacy of Illinois senator and subsequent U.S. president Barack Obama.[106] On December 30, 2010, it was announced that Miller and his son Romeo would attend and host an anti-obesity event with Michelle Obama.[107] Discography [ edit ] Filmography [ edit ] See also [ edit ]
An Alabama teen mowing lawns to save money over the summer received her first lesson in business when officials determined she needs a $110 business license to operate in her neighborhood. Alainna Parris told ABC 30/40 she was “just helping out and raising money for missions and trips” by cutting lawns for folks in her grandparents’ neighborhood when she was threatened by a lawn care worker for a local business. “He’s coming after a kid when a kid is at least trying to do work,” Parris said. “There’s kids at home on iPads and electronics and not wanting to go outside.” “One of the men that cuts several yards made a remark to one of our neighbors that if he saw her cutting grass again that he was going to call Gardendale because she didn’t have a business license,” Parris’ grandfather, Elton Campbell, told the news site. “I have never heard of a child cutting grass had to have a business license,” he said. A Gardendale business license is $110, which is about three or four mowing jobs at Parris’ current rates. “She charges one lady $20, and another lady $30, and another girl $40 besides what we pay her,” Campbell said. Gardendale Mayor Stan Hogeland confirmed to ABC3040 that Parris must purchase a license to legally operate in the city, and agreed the situation didn’t make sense. “I would love to have something on our books that gave a more favorable response to that student out there cutting grass and see if there’s maybe a temporary license during the summer months that targets teenagers,” he said. Folks online were stunned. “Ridiculous!” Charlotte Robinson posted to Facebook. “These days you can’t hardly get kids to work and when they are willing to you make them have a license to cut grass?!” “I wonder whose brilliant idea this was! (sarcasm) Kids making spending money and staying out of trouble,” Zada Nygren wrote. “Just ridiculous… SMH!” “Ridiculous. Don’t tell them if your teen is babysitting for some spending money,” Kem Sims posted. “What’s next? Will they need a license to do chores around the house? Smh.” “Who the heck would even enforce this? The person paying them could just say the money is a gift and they’re cutting their grass as a favor. Do lemonade stands need a freaking business license too?” Allison Cupps questioned. The public outrage apparently forced Hogeland to address the issue with a little more urgency, and he told ABC 33/40 in a follow up that it’s not a top priority for the city council. “We want to find avenues for these kids to continue working and to not be punished financially by the city,” the mayor said. “They’re not doing this for a living, but we do have to navigate our system, and we do have to get something on the books that allows for this.” The city’s next council meeting is scheduled for June 5.
House Speaker Paul Ryan on Tuesday pledged to pass a spending bill for fiscal 2018 by the end of December, and dismissed the idea of taking up a short-term measure that would keep the government fully operating for just a few months. Ryan, R-Wis., said the House may first have to pass a weeks-long spending bill to provide government funding beyond a Dec. 8 deadline, after which the chamber will take up a year-long, fiscal 2018 bill. "We're not talking about going into next year, we are talking about getting it done this year," Ryan said. Republicans have become increasingly opposed to short-term spending plans in part because military leaders say the fiscal uncertainty it causes has harmed readiness. Ryan said military readiness is a top reason Republicans plan to take up a year-long spending bill in December. "We might need a little more time to give the appropriators time to write their bill but we don't intend on going into next year," Ryan said.
Dilaudid Side Effects Generic Name: hydromorphone Note: This document contains side effect information about hydromorphone. Some of the dosage forms listed on this page may not apply to the brand name Dilaudid. For the Consumer Applies to hydromorphone: oral solution, oral tablet, oral tablet extended release Other dosage forms: Along with its needed effects, hydromorphone (the active ingredient contained in Dilaudid) may cause some unwanted effects. Although not all of these side effects may occur, if they do occur they may need medical attention. Check with your doctor immediately if any of the following side effects occur while taking hydromorphone: Less Common Agitation bloating or swelling of the face, arms, hands, lower legs, or feet bloody, black, or tarry stools blurred vision changes in behavior chest pain or discomfort decreased urination dry mouth fast, pounding, slow, or irregular heartbeat lightheadedness, dizziness, or fainting mood or mental changes rapid breathing severe stomach pain, cramping, or burning stiff neck sunken eyes thoughts of killing oneself trouble breathing unusual tiredness vomiting of material that looks like coffee grounds, severe and continuing wrinkled skin Incidence Not Known Bluish lips or skin change in the ability to see colors, especially blue or yellow cold, clammy skin confusion constricted, pinpoint, or small pupils (black part of the eye) cough decrease in frequency of urination or urine amount deep or fast breathing with dizziness difficulty in passing urine (dribbling) dizziness fast or weak pulse headache hives or welts, itching, skin rash irregular, fast or slow, or shallow breathing loss of appetite noisy breathing overactive reflexes painful urination pale or blue lips, fingernails, or skin poor coordination restlessness sweating talking or acting with excitement you cannot control tightness in the chest trouble sleeping Get emergency help immediately if any of the following symptoms of overdose occur while taking hydromorphone: Symptoms of Overdose Cold, clammy skin convulsions (seizures) drowsiness that is so severe you are not able to answer when spoken to or, if asleep, cannot be awakened pinpoint (small) pupils in the eyes slow heartbeat very slow or troubled breathing Some side effects of hydromorphone may occur that usually do not need medical attention. These side effects may go away during treatment as your body adjusts to the medicine. Also, your health care professional may be able to tell you about ways to prevent or reduce some of these side effects. Check with your health care professional if any of the following side effects continue or are bothersome or if you have any questions about them: More Common Difficulty having a bowel movement difficulty with moving joint pain muscle pain or stiffness nausea Less Common Back pain belching diarrhea discouragement feeling sad or empty heartburn indigestion irritability loss of interest or pleasure muscle spasms pain in the arms or legs stomach discomfort, upset, or pain tingling of the hands or feet trouble concentrating unusual weight gain or loss Less Common Being forgetful bleeding after defecation clumsiness continuing ringing or buzzing or other unexplained noise in the ears crying delusions of persecution, mistrust, suspiciousness, or combativeness difficulty with swallowing difficulty with walking double vision excess air or gas in the stomach or bowels feeling of constant movement of self or surroundings full feeling increased appetite joint pain, stiffness, or swelling loss in sexual ability, desire, drive, or performance loss of balance low body temperature muscle aches muscle twitching or jerking rhythmic movement of muscles runny nose seeing, hearing, or feeling things that are not there sensation of spinning shivering slurred speech sneezing trouble with speaking Incidence Not Known Bad, unusual or unpleasant (after) taste burning, crawling, itching, numbness, prickling, "pins and needles", or tingling feelings chills drowsiness dry mouth false or unusual sense of well-being fear or nervousness feeling of warmth muscle stiffness or tightness numbness of the feet, hands, and around the mouth redness of the face, neck, arms, and occasionally, upper chest relaxed and calm feeling shaking uncontrolled eye movements upper stomach pain For Healthcare Professionals Applies to hydromorphone: compounding powder, injectable powder for injection, injectable solution, intravenous solution, oral capsule extended release, oral liquid, oral tablet, oral tablet extended release, rectal suppository General The most common adverse effects are lightheadedness, dizziness, sedation, nausea, vomiting, sweating, flushing, dysphoria, euphoria, dry mouth, and pruritus.[Ref] Gastrointestinal Very common (10% or more): Constipation (up to 31%), nausea (up to 28%), vomiting (up to 14%), Common (1% to 10%): Dry mouth, dry mouth, abdominal pain, diarrhea, dyspepsia Uncommon (0.1% to 1%): Ileus, cramps, taste alteration, gastritis, diverticulitis Rare (less than 0.1%): Anal fissure, bezoar, duodenitis, impaired gastric emptying, painful defecation Frequency not reported: Flatulence, dysphagia, hematochezia, abdominal distension, hemorrhoids, abnormal feces, intestinal obstruction, eructation, diverticulum, gastrointestinal motility disorder, large intestine perforation Postmarketing reports: Oropharyngeal swelling[Ref] Nervous system Very common (10% or more): Somnolence (up to 15%), headache (up to 12%), dizziness (up to 11%) Common (1% to 10%): Lightheadedness, sedation, memory impairment, hypoesthesia, paresthesia Uncommon (0.1% to 1%): Tremor, nystagmus, increased intracranial pressure, taste alteration, involuntary muscle contractions Rare (less than 0.1%): Hyperreflexia Frequency not reported: Balance disorder, encephalopathy Postmarketing reports: Convulsions, drowsiness, dyskinesia, hyperalgesia, myoclonus, serotonin syndrome (with concomitant serotonergic drugs)[Ref] Psychiatric Common (1% to 10%): Dysphoria, euphoria, insomnia, anxiety, depression, nervousness, nightmares, mood swings Uncommon (0.1% to 1%): Agitation, altered mood, hallucination, disorientation, abnormal dreams Frequency not reported: Floating feelings, dreams, apprehension, panic attack, suicide ideation, aggression Postmarketing reports: Confusional state[Ref] Hypersensitivity Postmarketing reports: Anaphylactic reactions, hypersensitivity reactions[Ref] Respiratory Common (1% to 10%): Dyspnea Uncommon (0.1% to 1%): Bronchospasm, laryngospasm Frequency not reported: Respiratory depression, apnea, respiratory arrest, rhinorrhea, respiratory distress, hypoxia, sneezing, hyperventilation Postmarketing reports: Dyspnea[Ref] Cardiovascular Common (1% to 10%): Flushing, hypotension, peripheral edema, chest pain Uncommon (0.1% to 1%): Tachycardia, bradycardia, palpitations, syncope, presyncope, hypertension Frequency not reported: Circulatory depression, cardiac arrest, shock, extrasystoles Postmarketing reports: Peripheral edema[Ref] Dermatologic Common (1% to 10%): Sweating, pruritus, hyperhidrosis, rash Uncommon (0.1% to 1%): Urticaria, diaphoresis Frequency not reported: Erythema Postmarketing reports: Angioedema[Ref] Local Uncommon (0.1% to 1%): Injection site urticaria Postmarketing reports: Injection site reactions[Ref] Genitourinary Common (1% to 10%): Urinary retention, urinary hesitancy Postmarketing reports: Erectile dysfunction[Ref] Hepatic Uncommon (0.1% to 1%): Biliary tract spasm Rare (less than 0.1%): Biliary colic Postmarketing reports: Hepatic enzyme increased[Ref] Other Common (1% to 10%): Asthenia (up to 11%), pain, pyrexia, fall Uncommon (0.1% to 1%): Weakness, abnormal feeling, chills Rare (less than 0.1%): Feeling drunk Frequency not reported: Neonatal withdrawal syndrome, addiction, abuse, misuse, overdose, drug withdrawal syndrome, vertigo, tinnitus, malaise Postmarketing reports: Fatigue, lethargy[Ref] Metabolic Common (1% to 10%): Anorexia/decreased appetite, decreased weight, dehydration Uncommon (0.1% to 1%): Fluid retention, increased appetite, hyperuricemia[Ref] Musculoskeletal Common (1% to 10%): Arthralgia, muscle spasms, back pain, extremity pain Uncommon (0.1% to 1%): Muscle rigidity Frequency not reported: Myalgia[Ref] Ocular Uncommon (0.1% to 1%): Blurred vision, diplopia, miosis, visual impairment Frequency not reported: Dry eye[Ref] Renal Uncommon (0.1% to 1%): Antidiuretic effects[Ref] Endocrine Hydromorphone (the active ingredient contained in Dilaudid) Uncommon (0.1% to 1%): Decreased libido, sexual dysfunction Rare (less than 0.1%): Hypogonadism Opioids: Postmarketing reports: Adrenal insufficiency, androgen deficiency[Ref] References 1. "Product Information. Dilaudid (hydromorphone)." Knoll Pharmaceutical Company, Whippany, NJ. 2. "Product Information. Exalgo (hydromorphone)." Covidien, Mansfield, MA. 3. "Multum Information Services, Inc. Expert Review Panel" 4. Cerner Multum, Inc. "UK Summary of Product Characteristics." O 0 5. Cerner Multum, Inc. "Australian Product Information." O 0 Further information Always consult your healthcare provider to ensure the information displayed on this page applies to your personal circumstances. Some side effects may not be reported. You may report them to the FDA. Medical Disclaimer
Ang Lee was determined to make his new film about Chinese espionage as frank as he could - but he did have to look away during the sex scenes. He talks to Geoffrey Macnab Sometimes people plan their holidays around movies. Harry Potter obsessives try to track the locations populated by the teenage wizards. New Zealand sold itself to holidaymakers on the back of The Lord of the Rings. Hong Kong though, found a burgeoning market in cinematic sex tourism earlier this year, thanks to an arthouse film director. Ang Lee's latest movie, Lust, Caution, was released in China in an expurgated print, with its very graphic sex scenes removed. In Hong Kong, however, they remained, and Chinese film-lovers made the trek to the city to see the film as the director intended. It was a rapturously received smash in Hong Kong (and Taiwan). The story of a group of young dissidents in 30s and 40s China hatching a plot to kill a brutal politician, Lust, Caution might have been expected to bowl over audiences in the US, too. After all, Americans are used to sex on screen, and Lee's previous film, Brokeback Mountain, had been a critical hit in the States. This time, though, they've been lukewarm, and the movie has taken just $4.2m (£2.1m) at the US box office. Lee, though, had foreseen the problems Americans might have with it. The sex wasn't the problem. If anything, the destructive and violent love affair between student actor Wong Chia Chi (newcomer Tang Wei) and the politician Yee (Tony Leung) was the movie's main selling point, even if those scenes attracted the dreaded NC-17 certificate - a rating that scares off multiplexes. What American audiences really seemed to struggle with was the slow-burn narrative style, the near three-hour running time, and the probing, painstaking way in which it explored aspects of recent Chinese social and political history. I meet Lee in the ballroom of an old Venetian hotel. In late afternoon, the room is dark and shadowy. It makes a suitable backdrop for a discussion of a film as ambiguous and unsettling as Lust, Caution. The Taiwanese director is unapologetic about his film. "The pacing relates to the information that is given," he says. "We Chinese need to go back to the world we used to live in. "It's a lot of fun for the Chinese to watch the first half, to remind us of our innocence and how things used to be. Then comes the real deal. But for non-Chinese, you don't get that benefit. I am sure the Chinese viewer will have a blast, but when the western viewer reads subtitles, it is very frustrating. You have that feeling: what the hell is going on. But I had to make the movie right for myself and for the Chinese audience." A complex espionage thriller set in Shanghai and Hong Kong during the late 1930s and early 40s, Lust, Caution is not - at least to American eyes - a crowdpleaser in the vein of Lee's Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. Instead of gravity-defying martial artistry, it consists mainly of characters talking. When there is violence - for example, when the students try to assassinate a man who has a Rasputin-like aversion to dying - it is realistic and dismaying. When they plunge a knife in the man's stomach, it bounces out. And, like the violence, the sex is dealt with equally frankly. "They [historians] tell you about the glorious war, the fight. They don't tell you that it is very hard to kill someone. They tell you that the women spies seduced the men and killed them. They don't tell you about the sex." Lee laughs wearily as he explains his attempts in the film to look behind the official stories about Japanese occupation of Shanghai. Just as he did in Brokeback Mountain (when adapting Annie Proulx's story for the screen), Lee has taken a short piece of fiction and has fleshed it out, giving it an epic quality. Lust, Caution is based on a 28-page story by Eileen Chang. "She writes about women's sexuality and feeling for love during the most macho war we have had. It is like - how dare she!" Lee says. "It is very gutsy work. That triggers me to investigate my own upbringing and patriotism." It quickly becomes apparent, for Lee himself, how personal and even autobiographical Lust, Caution is. For example, Yee's very specific gait is based on that of Lee's father. The director admits to a close identification with the spy played by Tang Wei, too. "When we were doing the movie, I used to joke that I carry the head and purity of the idealistic student Kuang Yu Min, the heart of Wong Chia Chi and the balls of Mr Yee," Lee says. He then adds that Tony Leung has projected aspects of Lee's own character into Yee. A curious remark, certainly, given that Yee isn't a remotely sympathetic character. He is a quisling, collaborating with the Japanese and overseeing the torture and killing of Chinese rebels. Then again, it is Yee's personal and sexual life that intrigues him. "I desire it but I cannot do it. I make it into a movie. He projects a lot of that part of myself. It is a romance I never really experienced that I was longing for. It is almost like a dream." Like the students, whose high-minded ideals are shaken when they get their hands dirty with plotting and assassination, Lee acknowledges that he has been "shocked by reality, naive in some ways, not really knowing what to do in an adult world, like a big kid". As for Wong, he identifies with her because: "it seems that only by pretending, by getting far away from reality, she can reach her true self ... to touch the real you that you try to cover up." Meanwhile, Lee relished the chance to recreate his parents' era and their way of thinking. His preparation was exhaustive. For instance, he and his casting directors saw 10,000 actors before finally choosing Tang Wei. Actor Tony Leung testifies that Lee was a ferociously demanding director: always asking for that little bit more, the different way to do the scene, the extra detail. The scenes that were the hardest to shoot were, inevitably, the sex scenes. The director admits that he felt extremely uncomfortable filming them. He was conscious that he was first engineering some extremely raw and intimate moments, and then intruding on them. "For this project, I had to strip down and get to the heart of the darkness in some way," he says. His instinct, he says, as he filmed Leung and Tang Wei making love was to look the other way. "I don't make pornography, so when you get down to that, it is very painful to shoot. You fight with your moral sense. You are deeply confused. It is embarrassing to coach the actors through it - to verbalise and to give indications. You are revealing your secrets when you are shooting like that." The sex scenes were shot on a closed set with only four people present - the couple, the director and the cinematographer. Lee defends the sex scenes as being utterly integral to the film. Yes, it is inevitable that the scandal surrounding these scenes will dominate discussion of the movie. "That bothers me. It gives me sleepless nights." He and his collaborators have done their utmost to make the best film they can and all the journalists want to talk about is the sex. At a press conference earlier in the day, he had fielded the sex questions patiently enough. Did they really do it? To Lee, that isn't the right question. What is important is that the audience has to believe in the scenes. Look at the eyes, not the bodies. In the end, though, Lee's real preoccupation isn't the sex. Nor is it the politics. Nor is it the chance to bring back to life an era in Chinese history that is in danger of being forgotten. Like Brokeback Mountain, it is an emotionally charged story of a forbidden love. Lust, Caution may begin as an espionage thriller in which the politics and social history are foregrounded. By the final reel, though, it has turned into a full-blown weepie. At its core, this is a film about romantic obsession - "doomed, impossible romantic love". The middle-aged director, who is happily married, grounded and emotionally stable, just can't help but be drawn to tales of amour fou. "After Brokeback and this one, I do believe deeply inside that I am a romantic," Lee admits. "I was never romantic in real life. That is why I have to make movies about it." · Lust, Caution is released on January 4
Greetings Children of Ra. Welcome to Niburu. This is Mother Sekhmet through Elizabeth Trutwin, September 7, 2016. We have some friends here at the Niburu Council: With me are Alcyone, St Germain, Lady Master Nada and KOS, Captain Ashtar and Admiral Sananda, Rama, Tom the RingTail Cat and some of our other Paschat Friends. The are the ones you have met before, and the other Members of our Council you will become more familiar with. We welcome you all. Thank you for joining us here on Nibiru. We come to you tonight to bring a message about family reunions. Many of you have been to Niburu or originated from Niburu. There is much about your own ancient history you do not yet remember. NASA has come out with a lengthy discourse denying the existence of Niburu.I assure you, Niburu exists and it is very real. We are here because Earth is ascending. We are here to assist all the inhabitants on Earth in their ascension. There are millions of Galactics now living on Nibiru. Our MotherShip is in your Earth’s orbit. We each have a job to carry out which assists in bringing Earth to this change point. We work with the Sirian Commander, U.S. President Barack Obama. He has prepared many lifetimes for the role he now plays. He has special abilities and will carry Earth into a new era of One Race. We help coordinate the Master Plan for Worldwide Peace. I have lived before on Earth, for thousands of years, during the Golden Age in Egypt. I am known as Mother Sekhmet, the Lion Goddess. I am joined here with the Galactics, your family. We are the lion people, the bird people, and the reptile people. We are all humanoids, we are hybrids. We are joined by the Kumaras of Shamballa, the peoples from Inner Earth, in the Argatha Network, and the Council of 4 and 20. We are also joined by Councils from Planets in your Solar System and beyond your Solar System. All of us are meeting together and we will be meeting with you on Earth. We have been working with the people of Earth on Ascension. As Earth vibration raises up to the Higher Dimensions, there are some who have chosen to leave the Planet rather than make the changes needed to ascend with everyone else. These Ones have volunteered to wear the Dark Hats and teach about duality. They got so into their role-playing,that they were unable to turn the Dark Hat to a White Hat. Their time is up. We love them, because they lovingly played these roles so each one of us could experience life’s lessons. The Ones who are leaving now have volunteered to be returned to the Source. That is my role, to help them go. For too long the Dark Hats have controlled, lied, and manipulated their fellow humanity on Earth. They have kept your true origin from you. They have manipulated you into forced slavery for their own benefit. They have kept you in a place where you are unable to see you are all Creator Gods. The only way to bring World Peace on Earth is to bring all the Councils, working together, to make it happen. Many of you here now are lightworkers and starseeds who incarnated at this time for the sole purpose of turning Earth back to a Planet of Love where all races live together in harmony. Mother Earth [Gaia], with her Twin Flame, Vywamus, has requested an end to her destruction and nothing can stop these changes from coming to pass. We have Galactic Technologies on our Ships which support this effort along with millions of Galactics here to play roles in bringing about Earth Ascension. We have transportation, communication, intel, computer systems, imaging abilities, and healing capabilities which far surpass anything you have ever been aware of in recent memory. We have used all of these things to help bring about necessary changes. Our Galactic members have their own Secret Forces which have members placed in all levels of law enforcement. We have Galactic members with special abilities, such as shape shifting and telepathic communications, working in the Secret Service Guarding the President of the United States so he may carry out his Mission. This President is entrusted with communicating with all the World Leaders in every country, to let them know that they must cooperate with the Master Plan, or they will be leaving the Planet. Gaia/Vywamus can no longer tolerate pollution, war, strip mining, misuse of water, slavery, violence, and lawlessness to be the norm. The Master Plan is one where there is an end to all wars everywhere on the Planet. Neighboring countries will be required to live together in harmony. Only then can Mother Earth be safe from destruction through nuclear holocaust. The Master Plan has provisions for No Nukes. The end of Nuclear proliferation is at hand, it will no longer be tolerated. All countries must work together to accomplish this. Any country with leaders entertaining the idea of building and storing nuclear weapons, will see arrests and removals. We will be certain that the new leaders put into place, are working together with all countries to end nuclear weapons. As a matter of fact, no weapon which is being used for the intention of harm will work. There have been rumors that President Obama will take away American’s right to ‘bear arms’. That is a misunderstanding. Hunters all over the U.S. have been hoarding guns and ammunition since President Obama was elected. When the time is right, these arms will no longer discharge. They will be holding onto a pile of junk which no longer has a use. There will be Peace. The animal kingdom will be honored with all of Earth’s citizens and there will be an end to hunting. It is not President Obama who will take away the right to have a gun. It is the Galactics who will insist on World Peace, by Gaia’s request, that will make the weapons inoperable. President Obama, along with me and you and all of us are also Galactics. It is through the coordinated efforts of the Galactic Federation, those in the skies over Earth, and you, the Ground Crew, working in your roles, who are bringing Peace to the Earth. We also have Galactics working in the courts. We have the International Criminal Court of Justice at the Hague. We have Universal Jurisdiction. We have 16 million men working with the King of Swords (KOS). All the Dark Hats, working with the 13 Families of the Illuminati, will be rounded up, arrested, and tried for war crimes, including genocide. These atrocities will no longer be allowed on Earth. The Master Plan includes dissolving the Federal Reserve Bank and the The Internal Revenue Service. There will be payments made to every man, woman and child for monies taken from them illegally. This will be for every person on Earth. The division between the haves and the have nots will be permanently eliminated. Everyone will have all they need, once the payments are received. There will be new currencies, and new partnerships in the countries around the world. In order for the Master Plan to be fully carried out, we must have disclosure of the Galactic Presence on Earth. This means everyone will learn about the millions of Galactics here now, who are working through the Office of the Christ, to bring harmony to Earth. We are working in concert with you to solve the World’s problems. President Obama has been criticized for tackling too many issues at once. What cannot be seen is that he has millions of Galactic helpers working on these issues with him. It will be accomplished. It is happening now. Once everyone is aware that the removals have taken place, there will be no reason to hold up disclosure. There will be no reason to hold up the payments made available through the Reformation Act, NESARA Law. When this happens StarShips of all sizes and all types will be seen flying in the skies over all Earth. This is called mass decloakings. Everyone will know we are here. It will be a great reunion with all of you, a part of our larger family of star nations. Within days we will be landing on Earth and interacting with you. You will have mentors to help you work into your new lives. You will have loved ones coming back to live with you. You will have technologies that will make life easy. You will have all necessary abundance. Free energy and new building practices will end pollution on the Planet. All of these things we have been talking about for many, many years. There are some new to these ideas, so we went into a detailed review for the ones reading this news for the first time. NASA will have to remove the denials from their website and this will be done at the time of decloakings. What we have not been talking about is, at the time of decloakings, there will be an half-step increase in intelligence and heart opening for all inhabitants on Earth. This serves the purpose of dropping the veils which stand between you and the other dimensions and parallels. With these veils dropped, you will remember you are a Creator God. You will be ready to explore Co-Creation with immediate results. We would like you to consider what this means. Instant Creation. Some of you are doing this now, in fact you are very good at it. You repeatedly create that which you do not want in your lives, due to repetitive thought that you do not want it in your life. We have healing techniques that can help you balance all of your subtle bodies, the mental, physical, the emotional and spiritual bodies. In doing this, you change your point of view. You will be able to rise above the chaos on Earth and come into joy and love. When the declaokings come it will be easier to be fully in joy and experience more love. You may begin today removing old programs and shifting your thoughts to those of abundance. Continue to imagine the changes you will have in your life when the changes come about. Many are asking questions, What about this and What about that? We hear all the questions you toss around in your minds. The world will so greatly change, when you have the Galactic Technology; in a short time you will not believe the improvements. The greatest thing the Nibiru Council would like you to know, is we love you beyond measure. We are your family. We are human-hybrids from other Star Nations. We are here to assist you to a life of freedom and restore your status and your understanding that you are an unlimited Divine Being. We wish to show you new ways to live lives of ease and enjoy all the fruits life has to offer. Your primary thoughts will shift away from the repetition of survival and you will be able to create in new ways. You will be able to live in harmony with yourself and with nature. You may live in a world where everyone is encouraged to work together for the greatest good of all. You will be living in immortal bodies which do not need to experience disease. The possibilities of what we can create together, with our technologies is endless. There is no place you will not be able to visit, including Nibiru, and other StarShips, Stars, Suns, and Planets, as well as all points on Earth. Experiencing the cultures of all the different species of hybrid humans will be a great adventure. Remembering that you are one of us will cause your souls to expand. Very quickly we will be as equal partners, working together creating a new Earth. When we have decloakings and landings, it will be a deeply personal experience. Each person will meet someone they remember and they know. Some will be meeting again in the physical with their Twin Flames, their true love, who they have waited for a very long time. These friends and family, the trillions working with you from the trillions of Ships now in Earth’s atmosphere, will go to meet with the ones they know, in the places where they are on Earth. None of us are strangers to you. When you see us, you may ask us all of the questions you are now unsure of. Each Soul is on another part of their spiritual path and each has a different perception. We will be here to fill you in on the things you do not already know. There will be no fear. We are here as loving members of your family to help you wake up to the truth. As soon as we land, you will be made aware of all the gifts we will share with you. You will have new modes of transportation, new technologies for healing, replicators to build or bring to you anything you need, including all of the basics. These will be available as soon as immediately. No one will be left out. Everyone will have what they need. You will very quickly remember your role with us. Many of you already work with us nightly. You will take up your passion and join us in the effort to restore Earth and balance all that is needed for humanity. We will make our computers, holodecks, and training facilities open for your use. You may drop the illusion that you were meant to do menial labor until you are too old and worn out to care. You may drop the illusion that you have no control over your life. The only requirement will be living life from a heart-centered focus, with love. Love for all on Earth, including Self-Love. It begins here.We welcome you to call on us for assistance at any time along the way. Call me, Mother Sekhmet. I will show you in subtle ways the steps to take, as we move forward in changing this Planet back to Love. We look forward to reviewing all the stories from days gone by. We look forward to laughing at ourselves for the roles we played. We look forward to the delightful times ahead as One. We will join you and live with you and build Terra Nova together. Bring these ideas into your heart, with joy, as we co-create this as reality, now. This is Mother Sekhmet through Elizabeth Trutwin. © All Rights Reserved. https://CosmicAscension.org https://CosmicAscension.org An Invitation: Many have benefitted and I would like to continue to offer it. For a one hour booking please email me at eltrutwin @ gmail.com It is amazing what comes through from Lord Sananda, the Higher Self of Jesus. This is a question and answer session with video Skype or telephone. And you may ask anything you like.I have several written testimonials. SANANDA’S INVITATION THROUGH ELIZABETH TRUTWIN: Many here are looking for answers about their personal life, Mission and what direction to take at this moment. I have information I would like to share with certain individuals. As you read this you will know if it is for you. I have asked beth to offer her services for one hour telephone consultations where she will channel me, Sananda, to you over the phone to answer your questions. You have worked very hard and it is time we sat down together to discuss your next steps. I thank you for your enduring service to the Light.~LORD SANANDA Please book here.https://cosmicascension.com/private-session/
Move over QVC, there's a new sheriff in town. Continue Reading Below GunTV, or GTV Live Shopping, a new home shopping network, launches today with six hours of daily programming. That's right; you will now be able to order your favorite firearm piece from the comfort of your own home. GunTV will be the first live hosted cable network dedicated exclusively for firearms, industry insights and safety education. Its debut comes in the midst of intense debate over gun violence in America. During an interview with the FOX Business Network's Varney &Co., GunTV Co-Founder Valerie Castle discussed the ordering process and said it doesn’t sell guns directly to consumers. “You can logon to GunTV.tv when our new website launches simultaneously with our on air launch for a very fluid experience. You call our toll free number and speak to any of our customer experience representatives,” Castle told Stuart Varney. “They are going to take your order. They are going to ask you for your zip code. They are going to pull up a list of federally licensed firearms dealers that are reputable brick and mortar retailers.” Once a transaction is concluded, the fulfillment partner ships the weapon to the local dealer and a notification is sent to the customer letting you know the firearm has arrived to a local dealer. The consumer can then pick up the firearm after the completion of all paper work and a routine background check. Advertisement “It doesn’t stop there,” Castle said. “We support the consumer post sale with safety and training.” According to the National Shooting Sports Foundation, the firearms manufacturing industry in the U.S. supports about a quarter-million jobs and generates more than $13 billion in wages for a total economic impact of more than $42 billion per year. GunTV will offer a broad range of firearms during its daily six-hour, seven days a week programming and plans to extend to a wider array of products for every interest.
Here’s a simple, yet telling, comparison. All three Tests in the recently concluded series between India and the West Indies in the Caribbean played to near empty stands. This was the first series featuring India immediately after their World Cup triumph, and you might have imagined there would be more interest. Apparently not. Moving to the other side of the Atlantic, even before the India-England series can get underway, tickets to all four Tests have been sold out. Clearly, it takes the promise of a real contest to arouse spectator interest. Tickets for the first Test of the series, at Lord’s, were sold out in December 2010; by March 2011, Edgbaston and Oval had sold out as well. To Lord’s first. Interested buyers had to enrol for a ballot on the night of 13 December 2010 and the lucky few were notified by the MCC. Members too had to enrol for the ballot and did so happily. This is no run of the mill series, after all; it involves the two best sides in world cricket today, and tickets understandably are at a premium. For the record, close to 500,000 tickets, at £50–80 apiece, have been sold for the four Tests. When India first toured England in 1932, the headlines summed up the visit beautifully. ‘No politics, no caste, just cricket,’ chirped the Evening Standard. ‘18 players speak 10 languages,’ read another in Birmingham Post. Media coverage had started a month-and-a-half earlier. The Times, London, wrote (on 1 March 1932): ‘We still play cricket in India. Political rough houses, communal riots, Congress hartals, Bengal terrorists, and the 10 per cent cut in pay have all done their best to queer the pitch for us, but the game goes on. The Delhi police may be having three sharp rounds with a rioting crowd in Chandni Chowk… but a mile or two away on the club ground set in the gardens that 400 years ago Shah Jehan built for his princess, a Roshanara side will be playing the Punjab Wanderers or an Army team from New Cantonments will be fielding in the white sunlight.’ With a few tweaks here and there—such as replacing ‘communal riots’ with ‘the 2G scam’ and ‘Bengal terrorists’ with ‘the Lokpal fracas’—you might get away using the first few lines of the same report in 2011. What has changed, though, is the quality of cricket played by the side that now represents India and the crowds who come to see them play—a transformation that has placed the financial reins of the cricket world firmly in the hands of the BCCI (Board of Control for Cricket in India). In 1932, much was made of the Indian team under Porbander not losing too badly. Being competitive was nearly as good as winning. The 24,000 at Lord’s then, Wisden wrote, thought the ‘tourists acquitted themselves with great credit’. Of the spectators, only a handful were Indians. Come 21 July 2011, Lord’s will see an Indian invasion. From recent experience, it’s safe to conjecture that the entire stretch between St John’s Wood tube station and the WG Grace Gate will be chockablock with Indian flags, painted faces and overladen trucks blaring Bollywood music. In fact, in a week from now, the area around St John’s Wood, one of the priciest neighbourhoods in Central London, is expected to undergo a radical makeover. It might soon pass off as a festive Delhi mohalla. And nothing short of an Indian win will do for this swarm of cricket-crazy Indians, who are expected to fill up more than two-thirds of Lord’s capacity of 28,000. Their belief, recent history is proof, rests on a firm foundation. This is undoubtedly one of the best pace bowling attacks India has ever had. As Yuvraj Singh pointed out to this author before leaving for England: “We have the variety and the ability to get England out twice. No reason why we can’t repeat 2007.” While Zaheer Khan is surely one of the best in the world in Test cricket, a back-in-form Ishant Sharma will add a lot of venom to the Indian pace attack. Sreesanth too should be a handful in the heavy English conditions. The only worry perhaps is Harbhajan. But the Indian team will take heart from his showing at Dominica (where India played the concluding Test with the West Indies). The batting gives no cause for worry. Our ageing legends are still good enough to take on the best in the world. The South Africans and Australians have been at the receiving end in recent times and it’s time the English were subjected to some torture at the hands of the Dravid-Tendulkar-Laxman troika. The occasion, suitably momentous, has added to all the build-up and intensity: it’s the 2,000th Test match and the 100th featuring India and England. Soon after winning the Ashes last December, a section of the English press started declaiming that England were the real No. 1 side and that India would get a feel of it this summer. Darren Gough suggested England were good enough to beat India 4-0. James Anderson is similarly optimistic. He says the English are well on their way to becoming the No. 1 Test team, with the India series just another step on England’s march to pole position. The Indians aren’t sparring yet, but they aren’t silent either. Almost every Indian cricketer has expressed confidence that the team is capable of beating England in England. Host broadcaster ESPN-Star Sports has been doing its bit to stir up this nationalistic frenzy, airing programmes titled ‘India Victorious’, ‘Conquering England’ and suchlike. Not to forget Tendulkar, who will surely want to chase one of those last elusive milestones of his international career—scoring a hundred at Lord’s and getting his name up on the honours board of Lord’s centurions. When India last played at Lord’s in 2007, hundreds of MCC members had turned up to watch Sachin score a century. You could hear the murmurs the moment you stepped out on Marylebone Road and over glasses of champagne at the Tavern or Coronation Garden (a popular picnic spot on match days). When Monty Panesar trapped Sachin LBW for 16 in the second innings of the match, you could hear a pin drop in the Long Room. As a member later recounted, “When Sachin walked past us to disappear into the Indian dressing room, the entire Long Room stood up to applaud him. The loss was ours. We’d have given anything to see Sachin’s name on the honours board.” Very few had hoped they would get another opportunity to see the master have a go at it. Reassuringly for all those who want to see it happen, and they must be in their hundreds of thousands (or is it millions?), it’s a man who has rediscovered his art and his genius in a way only he can. While taking time off cricket, Sachin has visited Lord’s a number of times in the past few weeks. Not to practise, but perhaps to make the necessary mental adjustments to gear up for the challenge ahead. His 100th international 100 at Lord’s on the occasion of the 100th Test match between India and England! It doesn’t get more romantic. Commenting on India’s 1971 victory against England, a series win that ranks as a watershed in India’s cricket history, Dicky Rutnagur wrote in Wisden, ‘In Bombay, the birthplace of Indian cricket, unprecedented scenes were witnessed on the night of August 24, the day India beat England in the third Test match at The Oval. There was dancing in the streets. Revellers stopped and boarded buses to convey the news to commuters. In the homes, children garlanded wireless sets over which the cheery voice of Brian Johnston had proclaimed the glad tidings of India’s first Test victory in England, a victory which also gave them the rubber.’ Should India do an encore of 1971 this time round, on the night of 22 August (the last day of the final Test of the series), the scenes of revelry at The Oval, the match venue, will surely mirror the celebrations back home. Envision a hysterical swarm of 15,000-plus Indian supporters piling out in cars and trucks, traffic coming to a standstill, cheers of Ganapati Bappa Morya reverberating all over the ground, and amused residents looking out of their windows in complete bewilderment. The days of muted celebrations are over. It is a new, expressive India, and it will want an Indian takeover of London if Dhoni’s team retains its No. 1 ranking at the end of the series. Can’t wait for the umpires to walk on to the field and call ‘play’.
Bird food & parrot food requires a science lesson: Because birds are small and have a high need for energy they can digest food rapidly. This is one reason young birds mature quickly and migrating birds are able to store fat which enable the long flights. There are species of birds that are known to increase the weight 40% in 10 days. Birds may break up their food or crush it with their bill, they don't chew it. Parrots, birds of prey, and finches have short, thick, fleshy tongues which allow them to manipulate their food. Where humans swallow with our soft palates, birds have to tilt their heads back to get the food from inside their mouth (buccal cavity) to the first part of their throat ( Oesophagus). The oesophagus continues to draw the bird's food down into it's body - where it stands at the Crop. Parrots use the crop to store food eaten in a hurry so they don't get caught by predators. From the crop food goes into the stomach where it finally begins to get digested. The stomach has two sections one of which produces the necessary digestive juices and enzymes which soak the food which is then passed to the gizzard. The gizzard has a lot of muscles that grind up the food - what we do with our teeth. Digested food now moves to the first part of the small intestine which is divided into two parts and where most of the digestion and absorption of the food now occurs in the parrot's gut. A bird's pancreas is actually better developed than a mammal's pancreas. This is probably to compensate for a lack of some saliva and chewing. It produces proteins, digesting enzymes, carbohydrates and fat which are delivered into the small intestine. The food then moves into the large intestine which is really small compared to mammals and doesn't really have a lot to do with digestion and birds. The food journey ends at the cloaca (which also serves as a reproductive organ) where waste materials are collected and expelled. Soft billed birds like Finches and Canaries swallow their seeds whole. Parrots are able to remove the hulls from the seeds with their beaks. Now that we know about the gizzard, we should note that the soft billed birds could use a little help grinding down these whole seeds. This is why we introduce small amounts of grit they can swallow which will help grind up the seeds while in the gizzard.
You must enter the characters with black color that stand out from the other characters Message: * A friend wanted you to see this item from WRAL.com: http://wr.al/18nba — The Wake County district attorney on Friday added three more sex charges to the list of offenses against a former teacher. Troy Logan Pickens, 26, of Raleigh, was charged with two counts of first-degree sex offense with a child and first degree rape of a child, according to online court records, for an incident alleged to have happened on Aug. 4, 2015. Pickens was previously accused of several sex crimes involving a student in February 2015 while he was a chorus teacher at Neal Middle School in Durham. Durham Public Schools officials said Pickens resigned in March 2015, two days after he was suspended when a student alleged he had touched her inappropriately. The new charges stem from an incident that allegedly happened while Pickens was a teacher at Durant Middle School in Wake County. He started teaching at Durant in July 2015 and resigned in January 2017 after he was arrested for having an improper relationship with a student. When asked about the Wake County Public School's background check follow they said background checks are completed on all applicants. "The school system conducts criminal background checks on all applicants. The outcome of those checks is strictly confidential and we cannot disclose an individual's information. However, if a background check reveals sexual misconduct, we do not hire that applicant," a Wake County Public Schools spokesperson said in a statement to WRAL. Pickens was being held in the Wake County Justice Center.
Health Impact News Editor Comments: The multi-billion dollar cancer industry in the United States is perhaps one of the most corrupt industries in the world. The U.S. pharmaceutical industry simply cannot afford a cure for cancer. It would destroy our economy, since it would put so many people out of work, and eliminate billions of dollars in revenue. Therefore, you need to turn to alternative media sources to find out the truth about cancer, both for prevention and for cancer cures. Yes, there are many cures for cancer. But none approved by the FDA. Most of them have been driven out of this country and are only found south of the border in Mexico, or in Europe. If you have never watched the documentary “Cancer: The Forbidden Cures,” it is well worth your time to watch. You can purchase the DVD at the link below, or find it on the Internet and watch it for free. Boycott of Komen Foundation and American Cancer Society By Sydney Ross Singer KillerCulture.com Don’t Send Them Money, Send Them Your Bra! Does wearing constrictive bras for long periods of time daily contribute to breast cancer? It does, according to at least 5 research studies and numerous healthcare providers, including oncologists and MD’s. Even some lingerie manufacturers have developed new bra designs hoping to minimize lymphatic constriction and thereby help prevent breast cancer, citing the bra-cancer theory for their patents. But it doesn’t, according to the American Cancer Society and the Susan G. Komen Foundation, fund raising giants of the cancer detection and treatment world, which consider the link absurd and unworthy of serious consideration, and unquestionably assume that research showing a link must have some other explanation besides bras. Shrugging off the bra-cancer link is killing hundreds of thousands of women and wasting billions of dollars in unnecessary detection and treatment, according to husband and wife medical anthropologists, Sydney Ross Singer and Soma Grismaijer, co-authors of Dressed To Kill: The Link Between Breast Cancer and Bras (Avery/Penguiin Putnam 1995; ISCD Press, 2005). Singer and Grismaijer are calling for a boycott of these organizations until they stop dismissing the bra-cancer link, and begin educating doctors and women about the cancer hazards of wearing tight bras. Their research on the bra wearing habits of US women with and without breast cancer showed that bra-free women have about the same incidence of breast cancer as men, and that the tighter and longer a bra is worn the higher the incidence rose, up to 100 times greater for 24/7 bra wearers. When they first notified cancer organizations about their discovery, they were completely ignored or ridiculed. Now, 20 years later, the American Cancer Society and the Susan G. Komen Foundation still ridicule the information out of hand, and try to explain away the link as a ridiculous “myth”. Why are women not hearing about this from the ACS and Komen Foundation? Why are these organizations, so eager to fund raise for a cure, so opposed to preventing this disease by addressing the bra-cancer link? Could it be because lingerie companies donate to their charities? Could it be that preventing this disease by challenging the cultural norm of bra wearing is too taboo for these detection and treatment focused organizations? According to Singer and Grismaijer, whatever their reason, it is wrong for the bra-cancer link to be dismissed and ignored. Because of this unscientific stonewalling of this information, over the past 20 years 2,000,000 women in the US alone have gotten breast cancer who may have prevented it by simply loosening their bra and wearing it less time each day. Singer and Grismaijer suggest that whenever the ACS or Komen Foundation ask for a donation, send them your bra, instead! This will give them the message, and help you prevent breast cancer at the same time. References: http://ww5.komen.org/BreastCancer/FactorsThatDoNotIncreaseRisk.html “Scientific evidence does not support a link between wearing an underwire bra (or any type of bra) and an increased risk of breast cancer. There is no biological reason the two would be linked, and any observed relationship is likely due to other factors.” http://www.cancer.org/cancer/breastcancer/detailedguide/breast-cancer-risk-factors Internet e-mail rumors and at least one book have suggested that bras cause breast cancer by obstructing lymph flow. There is no good scientific or clinical basis for this claim. http://www.killerculture.com/breast-cancer-is-preventable/ STUDIES THAT SUPPORT THE BRA/CANCER LINK: 1991 Harvard study (CC Hsieh, D Trichopoulos (1991). Breast size, handedness and breast cancer risk. European Journal of Cancer and Clinical Oncology 27(2):131-135.). This study found that, “Premenopausal women who do not wear bras had half the risk of breast cancer compared with bra users…” 1991-93 U.S. Bra and Breast Cancer Study by Singer and Grismaijer, published in Dressed To Kill: The Link Between Breast Cancer and Bras (Avery/Penguin Putnam, 1995; ISCD Press, 2005). Found that bra-free women have about the same incidence of breast cancer as men. 24/7 bra wearing increases incidence over 100 times that of a bra-free woman. Singer and Grismaijer did a follow-up study in Fiji, published in Get It Off! (ISCD Press, 2000). Found 24 case histories of breast cancer in a culture where half the women are bra-free. The women getting breast cancer were all wearing bras. Given women with the same genetics and diet and living in the same village, the ones getting breast disease were the ones wearing bras for work. A 2009 Chinese study (Zhang AQ, Xia JH, Wang Q, Li WP, Xu J, Chen ZY, Yang JM (2009). [Risk factors of breast cancer in women in Guangdong and the countermeasures]. In Chinese. Nan Fang Yi Ke Da Xue Xue Bao. 2009 Jul;29(7):1451-3.) found that NOT sleeping in a bra was protective against breast cancer, lowering the risk 60%. 2011 a study was published, in Spanish, confirming that bras are causing breast disease and cancer.http://www.portalesmedicos.com/publicaciones/articles/3691/1/Patologias-mamarias-generadas-por-el-uso-sostenido-y-seleccion-incorrecta-del-brassier-en-pacientes-que-acuden-a-la-consulta-de-mastologia- It found that underwired and push-up bras are the most harmful, but any bra that leaves red marks or indentations may cause disease. STUDIES THAT REFUTE THE BRA/CANCER LINK: none Read the full article here. Reprinted with Permission. See Also: We Lost the War on Cancer – Review of Alternative Cancer Therapies We have lost the war on cancer. At the beginning of the last century, one person in twenty would get cancer. In the 1940s it was one out of every sixteen people. In the 1970s it was one person out of ten. Today one person out of three gets cancer in the course of their life. The cancer industry is probably the most prosperous business in the United States. In 2014, there will be an estimated 1,665,540 new cancer cases diagnosed and 585,720 cancer deaths in the US. $6 billion of tax-payer funds are cycled through various federal agencies for cancer research, such as the National Cancer Institute (NCI). The NCI states that the medical costs of cancer care are $125 billion, with a projected 39 percent increase to $173 billion by 2020. The simple fact is that the cancer industry employs too many people and produces too much income to allow a cure to be found. All of the current research on cancer drugs is based on the premise that the cancer market will grow, not shrink. John Thomas explains to us why the current cancer industry prospers while treating cancer, but cannot afford to cure it in Part I. In Part II, he surveys the various alternative cancer therapies that have been proven effective, but that are not approved by the FDA. Read We Lost the War on Cancer – Review of Alternative Cancer Therapies on your mobile device! FREE! – $0.99 Purchase the DVD – Free Shipping Available! Click image to view the trailer.
As a car accelerates up and down a hill then slows to follow a hairpin turn, the airflow around it cannot keep up and detaches from the vehicle. This aerodynamic separation creates additional drag that slows the car and forces the engine to work harder. The same phenomenon affects airplanes, boats, submarines, and even your golf ball. Now, in work that could lead to ways of controlling the effect with potential impacts on fuel efficiency and more, MIT scientists and colleagues have reported new mathematical and experimental work for predicting where that aerodynamic separation will occur. The research solves "a century-old problem in the field of fluid mechanics," or the study of how fluids -- which for scientists include gases and liquids -- move, said George Haller, a visiting professor in the Department of Mechanical Engineering. Haller's group developed the new theory, while Thomas Peacock, the Atlantic Richfield Career Development Associate Professor in the same department, led the experimental effort. Papers on the experiments and theory are being published in the Sept. 25 issue of the Journal of Fluid Mechanics and in the September issue of Physics of Fluids, respectively. Fluid flows affect everything in our world, from blood flow to geophysical convection. As a result, engineers constantly seek ways of controlling separation in those flows to reduce losses and increase efficiency. One recent accomplishment: the sleek, full-body swimsuits used at the Beijing Olympics. Controlling fluid flows lies at the heart of a wide range of scientific problems, including improving the performance of vehicles, Peacock said. For example, picture air flowing around, over and past an object. "Instead of flowing smoothly past the object, the air tends to dramatically part from the surface, or separate," said Peacock. Like the wake behind a boat, the water doesn't automatically reconfigure into a single stream. Rather, the region is quite turbulent. "And that adversely affects the lift [or vertical forces] and drag [or horizontal forces] of the object." In 1904, Ludwig Prandtl derived the exact mathematical conditions for flow separation to occur. But his work had two major restrictions: first, it applied only to steady flows, such as those around a car moving at a constant low speed. Second, it only applied to idealized two-dimensional flows. "Most engineering systems, however, are unsteady. Conditions are constantly changing," Haller said. "For example, cars accelerate and decelerate, as do planes during maneuvers, takeoff and landing. Furthermore, fluids of technological interest really flow in our three-dimensional world," he added. As a result, ever since 1904 there have been intense efforts to extend Prandtl's results to real-life problems, i.e., to unsteady three-dimensional flows. A century later, Haller led a group that did just that. In 2004 Haller published his first paper in the Journal of Fluid Mechanics explaining the mathematics behind unsteady separation in two dimensions. This month, his team reports completing the theory by extending it to three dimensions. Haller's coauthors are Amit Surana, now at United Technologies; MIT student Oliver Grunberg; and Gustaaf Jacobs, now on the faculty at San Diego State University. Equally important, this month Peacock and colleagues report important experimental work. Said Peacock, "while we fully trust George's new mathematical results, the engineering community is usually skeptical until they also see experimental results." Haller added, "while giving a beautiful validation of the 2D theory, Tom's work also gives strong experimental backing to our new 3D theory." Coauthors on the experimental work are Haller, Jacobs, Matthew Weldon, now at Penn State; and Moneer Helu, now at the University of California at Berkeley. The research was initially supported by an internal source, the MIT Ferry Fund. Currently the work is supported by the Air Force Office of Scientific Research and the National Science Foundation. The researchers said it's too soon to quantify the level of improvement in performanceÂ of cars and planes that might stem from the work, noting that more work must be done before it can be applied to commercial technologies. "This is the tip of the iceberg, but we've shown that this theory works," Peacock said. A version of this article appeared in MIT Tech Talk on October 1, 2008 (download PDF).
November 20, 2009 10:37 am ET In an online post and email, the office of House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-OH) grossly misinforms and flat out lies about the abortion language in the new Senate health care bill. Unfortunately for the Republicans, the facts are against them. House GOP Lies About HHS Secretary's Jurisdiction Over Abortion Coverage Changes House Republican Leader Blog: "Beginning on line 7, p. 118, section 1303 under 'Voluntary Choice of Coverage of Abortion Services' the Health and Human Services Secretary is given the authority to determine when abortion is allowed under the government-run health plan. Leader Reid's plan also requires that at least one insurance plan offered in the Exchange covers abortions (line 13, p. 120)." [RepublicanLeader.House.gov, 11/19/09] The Bill Clearly States The HHS Secretary Cannot Allow Federal Funds To Pay For Abortions. Page 118, Lines 4-25 through Page 119, Lines 1-8 reads: (C) PROHIBITION ON FEDERAL FUNDS FOR ABORTION SERVICES IN COMMUNITY HEALTH INSURANCE OPTION - (i) Determination by Secretary. - The Secretary may not determine, in accordance with subparagraph (A)(ii), that the community health insurance option established under section 1323 shall provide coverage of services described in subparagraph (B)(i) as part of benefits for the plan year unless the Secretary - (I) assures compliance with the requirements of paragraph (2); (II) assures, in accordance with applicable provisions of generally accepted accounting requirements, circulars on funds management of the Office of Management and Budget, and guidance on accounting of the Government Accountability Office, that no Federal funds are used for such coverage; and (III) notwithstanding section 1323(e)(1)(C) or any other provision of this title, takes all necessary steps to assure that the United States does not bear the insurance risk for a community health insurance option's coverage of services described in subparagraph (B)(i). [Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, accessed 11/19/09] Outside Groups Acknowledge That Bill Does Not Allow Federal Funds To Go Towards Abortions. Jodi Jacobson, Senior Political Editor of Reproductive Health Reality Check, wrote of the Senate bill's abortion provisions: No Federal Funds for Abortion Coverage in the Community Health Insurance Option: If the Secretary chooses to cover abortion services in the public plan beyond those allowed by Hyde, he/she must: Guarantee compliance with the provision prohibiting the use of Federal funds to pay for abortions (beyond those allowed by Hyde); Guarantee that, according to three different accounting standards, no Federal funds will be used; and Take all necessary steps to ensure that the United States does not bear the insurance risk for abortions that do not meet the Hyde exceptions in the public plan. [RHRealityCheck.org, 11/19/09] 61% Of Americans Think The Phrase "Government Money Would Be Used To Pay For Abortions" Is A Scare Tactic. During a Bloomberg poll (of 1,004 Americans and with a margin of error of 3.1) conducted from September 10-14, 2009, in response to being asked if they thought the argument "Government money would be used to pay for abortions" was a legitimate issue, a distortion, or a scare tactic, 33% said it was legitimate, 6% were unsure, and 61% of Americans said the argument was a scare tactic. [Bloomberg Poll via PollingReport.com, accessed 9/28/09] House GOP Lies About Abortion "Mandate" Language In Senate Bill House Republican Leader Blog: What is even more alarming is that a monthly abortion premium will be charged of all enrollees in the government-run health plan. It's right there beginning on line 11, page 122, section 1303, under 'Actuarial Value of Optional Service Coverage.' The premium will be paid into a U.S. Treasury account - and these federal funds will be used to pay for the abortion services. Section 1303(a)(2)(C) describes the process in which the Health Benefits Commissioner is to assess the monthly premiums that will be used to pay for elective abortions under the government-run health plan and for those who are given an affordability credit to purchase insurance coverage that includes abortion through the Exchange. The Commissioner must charge at a minimum $1 per enrollee per month. [RepublicanLeader.House.gov, 11/19/09] "Abortion Cannot Be A Mandated Benefit As Part Of A Minimum Benefits Package." Jodi Jacobson, Senior Political Editor of Reproductive Health Reality Check, wrote of the Senate bill's abortion provisions: "Abortion cannot be a mandated benefit as part of a minimum benefits package. A qualified health plan would determine whether it will cover: a) no abortions only those abortions allowed under Hyde (rape, incest and life endangerment) or b) abortions beyond those allowed by Hyde." [RHRealityCheck.org, 11/19/09] This is what the Senate bill's language actually says in Section 1303: [Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, accessed 11/19/09] House GOP Misleads On The American Public's Stance On Abortion House Republican Leader Blog: "A majority of Americans believe that health care plans should not be mandated to provide elective abortion coverage, and a majority of Americans do not believe government health care plans should include abortion coverage." [RepublicanLeader.House.gov, 11/19/09] A Majority Of Americans Support Some Sort Of Abortion Coverage. The Mellman Group found that 66% of Americans support covering abortion under reform measures and 72% "would feel angry if Congress mandated by law that abortion would not be covered under a national health care plan." [Mellman Group Poll via the National Women's Law Center, 7/6/09] 82% Of Americans Support Abortion In At Least Some Cases. During an NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll conducted October 22-25, 2009, to the following statement - "Which of the following best represents your views about abortion? The choice on abortion should be left up to the woman and her doctor. Abortion should be legal only in cases in which pregnancy results from rape or incest or when the life of the woman is at risk. OR, Abortion should be illegal in all circumstances" - respondents answered: Woman and Doctor: 51% Rape, Incest, Life of Woman: 31% Always Illegal: 15% Unsure: 3% [NBC News/Wall Street Journal Poll, 10/22-25/09, via PollingReport.com] Don't forget, until recently, the RNC used donations to purchase insurance coverage for employees that covered abortion. GOP Has Just Recently Paid Attention To Its Own Funding Of Abortion. According to Politico: "Federal Election Commission Records show the RNC purchases its insurance from Cigna, and two sales agents for the company said that the RNC's policy covers elective abortion. As of Thursday, the RNC's plan covers elective abortion - a procedure the party's own platform calls 'a fundamental assault on innocent human life.'" [Politico, 11/13/09] The House GOP Also Neglects To Mention The Conscience Protections In The Legislation Senate Bill Includes Specific Language Protecting Americans' Moral Stance On Abortion. Page 123, Lines 9-15 reads: "(3) Provider Conscience Protections. - No individual health care provider or health care facility may be discriminated against because of a willingness or an unwillingness, if doing so is contrary to the religious or moral beliefs of the provider or facility, to provide, pay for, provide coverage of, or refer for abortions." [Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, accessed 11/19/09]
TEHRAN (BASIRAT) :The Iranian Foreign Minister has accused Washington’s allies in the Middle East of sponsoring terrorism. Mohammad Javad Zarif was speaking to CNN, commenting on US President Donald Trump’s apparent anti-Iranian policy in the region. In an exclusive interview with CNN’s Fareed Zakaria, Zarif said Trump’s stance towards Iran, which includes accusations of Tehran sponsoring terrorism, represented a "misplaced and misguided policy.” "We know where the terrorists are coming from. We know those who attacked the World Trade Center were citizens of which countries in the region – I can tell you none of them came from Iran,” Zarif said. The FM added that "none of the people who engaged in acts of terrorism since 2001 came from Iran,” pointing out that "most of them came from US allies.” Out of the 19 terrorists who hijacked planes on September 11, 2001, fifteen were Saudi Arabian citizens, two were from UEA while the rest were Egyptian and a Lebanese. "Look at ISIS [Islamic State, IS], look at Nusra [Al-Nusra Front terrorist group], look at Al-Qaeda, look at other terrorist organizations… none of them have anything to do with Iran and all of them receive not only their ideology but their financial assistance, their weapons, their arms from others who call themselves US allies,” Zarif said. SOURCE :RT
The Vijay Mallya Story By K. Giriprakash Penguin Books Limited \| Pages: 216 \| Rs. 299 During the initial days, Mallya threw parties in star hotels for the staff, met their families and kept everyone happy. His officials would freely poach from other airlines, doling out double the salaries to new recruits. Unfortunately, not much thought went into such recruitments and it seemed that poaching employees from other airlines was more important than getting the right ones. The joke going around those days was that Jet would let go all those whom it didn’t want to retain and kept feeding rumours to the media that Kingfisher had poached some key executives from the airline. Kingfisher chose to hire executives from Jet for its sales and revenue team as it already had a large number of pilots with half of them coming from other airlines. When the two airlines were competitors, both Air Deccan and Kingfisher Airlines had signed a non-poaching agreement, but as it turned out, the agreement remained on paper. In order to meet the huge expenses which the airline incurred for paying high salaries and building swanky offices, Mallya had started borrowing from several banks (including the government-owned State Bank of India), some of which extended the loan without adequate collateral. It looked as if some of the banks had extended loan to the airline based on Mallya’s popularity and charisma rather than the real worth of the airline. When the airline started defaulting on repayment, some of the banks had very little as collateral to fall back upon. The only thing they could do was to have their outstanding loans converted to shares in the airline. But when the stocks sank, hitting new lows every day, all they ended up with was a piece of paper. But more on that later. Initially, the loans were given in small tranches, about a few hundred crores once in six months for which some of the group companies of United Breweries would stand guarantee. Later, shares of the group companies like United Spirits and UB Holdings began to be pledged to get additional loans. It increasingly began to look as if Mallya was wrongly advised on launching an airline. Unlike the liquor industry, margins from the airline industry are as low as 3 per cent and hence it is extremely important to run a tight ship. Hence cost control is extremely essential. Almost everything, right from buying stationery to recruiting employees, has to be done with care and caution. Captain Gopinath was more than careful while spending money and could be a very hard bargainer even if it meant risking losing out on a big deal. According to at least one employee, Captain Gopinath had once directed the sales staff to travel by bus for sales calls. A few of them objected, stating that if they kept waiting for the bus, they would start losing out on bagging corporate accounts. On another occasion, one of the top executives is believed to have told a journalist that the airline was toying with the idea of removing one of the two washrooms in the aircraft to make way for a few more seats which would earn them more revenues. The journalist went back shaking his head, repelled at the thought of something like that being actually implemented on Air Deccan flights. Mallya, though, was the exact opposite. He hired or poached employees from other airlines and gave them hikes which were as high as 75 per cent. He was either being very generous or simply foolish when he decided not to fire even a single employee from Deccan Aviation after he acquired the airline. The move earned him the eternal gratitude of the staff, but the airline itself was burdened with excess manpower which meant the salary bills went through the roof. The airline also became top heavy because of not rightsizing the staff. At one time, there were about forty officials working as either general managers or vice presidents and drawing salaries amounting to lakhs per month. Some of the employees who were interviewed for this book but did not want to be quoted said that everything the airline implemented bordered on extravagance. For example, if a passenger turned up late at the check-in counter, he would not be turned away. Instead, one of the counter staff would buy him a ticket in another airline. All airlines work on dynamic pricing as far as tickets are concerned. Hence, tickets bought just before the departure of an aircraft are the most expensive. For example, if a passenger booked a ticket in advance, he would be able to buy it for as low as Rs 4000 and if the same ticket was bought on the day of the departure, it could cost as high as Rs 12,000. No wonder passengers loved the airline and still want to fly Kingfisher. It is another matter that a revived Kingfisher might turn out to be a different experience altogether, because in case the airline does get back on its wings, Mallya cannot afford such largesse. On other occasions, in case a flight was delayed and some passengers protested, they would be taken to the nearest five-star hotel and served unlimited quantities of snacks and beer. A pint of beer at a five-star costs as much as Rs 250, but the airline front desk at the airports would grudgingly foot the bill. Some passengers would point out that as Mallya was a liquor baron, the least the airline could do was to serve them liquor whenever their flights got delayed. It was an argument that the gound staff could have easily countered but for reasons best known to them, the ‘aggrieved’ passengers were accorded the royal treatment. Even though he was never on time for any of his meetings, Mallya ensured that the flights took off on time. The ground staff had to send him a message the moment a flight took off and as soon as it landed in another airport. Even a five-minute delay was not tolerated and those responsible for the delay got an earful from Mallya himself. It was actually a strange place to work for. There was hardly any accountability as far as spending money was concerned. At one point, it seemed that money was leaking out from every level and there were no checks and balances in place to run a tight ship. ‘We weren’t sure if the money was being utilized properly,’ an employee working with the finance department had once revealed to a journalist. For example, most of the newspapers and magazines, including international ones, bought for the passengers were left at the warehouse instead of being loaded on to the flights, though the bills for them were paid promptly. No survey was carried out to find out what kind of publication the passengers wanted to read in-flight. Some of the publications were bought from the news stands instead of taking long-term subscriptions which would have come at half the cover price. It took a lot of effort and convincing on the part of the finance department to sell them to old newspaper vendors. But once the clearance was given, the sale of old newspapers and magazines alone fetched a few lakh rupees every month. The international operations was another story altogether. The first international flight was from Bangalore to London was launched on 3 September 2008 and soon after, the Bangalore–Colombo flight took off. It was assumed that Londoners would find the route attractive enough if they thought of holidaying in south India and in Sri Lanka as well. The flight would also cater to the needs of employees of IT companies based out of the IT capital, Bangalore. According to the airline consultancy firm Centre for Asia-Pacific Aviation, the level of service on these flights was among the best offered by any international airline. But what Kingfisher had not taken into consideration was that the introduction of its flight would unleash a price war among airlines. Several foreign airlines started offering attractive lower fares on this route. They were able to do it because they had enough money to burn to fend off the competition. Surprisingly, Kingfisher refused to join the price war, saying that its services were far superior. But it was quite obvious that an airline which was just a few years old and was launching its first international flight did not have enough spare cash to take on the well-entrenched foreign airlines. Airline pundits will tell you that if you are launching a new service you should either have enough cash in the bank so that you can take on whatever is thrown at you by the competition or offer fares which are the lowest in the industry in the beginning itself. For example, Air Asia offers extremely low fares unmatched by other competing airlines for destinations in South East Asia. If you book tickets months in advance, the fares you get are at least 15–20 per cent lower. Could Kingfisher follow suit? Passengers, especially those on holiday trips, are extremely cost conscious because they are paying out of their own pockets. They would rather splurge on touring more places than on transport. Kingfisher tried to stick around rather gamely in the ring for some time at least. But its domestic operations were floundering—something it could ill afford at a time when it was expanding international operations which needed millions of rupees to stabilize. The funds from the banks were drying up and at least one senior official revealed that once the banks closed the tap, Kingfisher started defaulting on payments to everyone.
Signup to receive a daily roundup of the top LGBT+ news stories from around the world An Indonesian transgender woman who was brutally murdered and dismembered by her own husband has finally been laid to rest. The remains of 27-year-old Mayang Prasetyo were discovered in her Brisbane apartment last month – while her husband Marcus Volke fled police and later took his own life. Volke had been attempting to dispose of Ms Prasetyo’s remains by boiling them – while police theorise the murder was domestic violence that ‘got out of hand’. Today, Ms Prasetyo was finally laid to rest in Bandar Lampung, after being repatriated from Australia. Her mother Nining Sukarni said: “Everyone has been very helpful. “Friends, neighbours, even people from the related government offices. Many of them came to her funeral.” Press in Australia had been strongly criticized for the insensitive coverage of the murder, focussing on Ms Prasetyo’s gender and her past as a sex worker, using transphobic slurs, and printing photos of her modelling beach wear. The Brisbane Courier-Mail ran a front page picture of the scantily-clad murder victim with the offensive headline ‘Monster chef and the she-male’ The newspaper later said in an editorial on page 62 of a later edition: “Every mainstream media outlet in Queensland had published identical facts about Mayang and her killer’s gender and profession as well as the same pictures. “We responded at the time, restating that Mayang was the innocent victim of a dreadful crime, and that publication of the details of her life and murder were never in any way intended to disrespect her or upset her family. “Her mother, who we were in contact with, through the week never expressed offense. “In our reporting, we never intended to offend any member of the community. Clearly the coverage did, unintentionally, offend the LGBT community and others, and for that the newspaper is sorry.”
Protesters once again took to Boston streets last night to protest the decision not to indict the officer who put unarmed New York black man Eric Garner into a chokehold which which resulted in Garner’s death. This marked the second large scale protest to organize in Boston in the last week, the first occurring the day after the decision not to indict officer Darren Wilson in the killing of black Ferguson, MO teen Michael Brown. Last night’s protest began to accumulate in the Common at the same time that the celebratory tree lighting ceremony was taking place. Chants could be heard in the background of the televised event, but protesters didn’t stop there. The largely peaceful protest made its way to the Park Street T station at one point, which resulted in its temporary shutdown for what was called a “die-in.” Many protesters took turns speaking on the megaphone, people saying “this is what democracy looks like,” one person reading “I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings” by Maya Angelou, and another saying her thanks to the people for uniting and raising their voices. BDCwire was on the ground for most of the night, providing live Twitter updates of the protest. In the end, the common sentiment implied that the protests are far from being over. Here are some of the images we saw from the protest:
On July 18th , Netflix ($NFLX) released its earnings report for Q2, and it is fair to say that it is quite disappointing. At its release after closing bell, its share price fell from $98.81 to $84.88 overnight. This is because investors lost trust in Netflix as a profitable stock. They cite Netflix’s un-grandfathering strategy and increasing competition as two main reasons behind Netflix’s inability to acquire new customers in Q2. Why Netflix rallied From June 27th to July 18th, Netflix’s stocks rose by almost 16%, from $85.33 per share to $98.81 per share. This rally comes with the news of its partnership with Comcast, as well as the U.S. markets reaching record highs. It was a very bullish three weeks in the U.S. markets, and Netflix’s partnership announcement came at the right time. Netflix’s partnership is expected to reach 8 million Comcast X1 owners, a number which will increase significantly in Q3 and Q4. This news gave investors positive signs about Netflix’s potential growth, resulting in an increase in their stock price. However, I find this number to be uninformative for reasons I will state in a later section. A look into Q2 earnings report In Q2, Netflix grew by 1.7 million members and now possess over 83 million members. This is below its own forecast of 2.5 million new members, and last year’s Q2 net additions of 3.3 million. As for earnings, they ended Q2 with an operating income of $70 million and net income of $41 million, against a forecast of $47 million and $9 million respectively. This variance is largely due to lower-than-expected costs. Even though they reported a higher-than-expected income, what concerns investors is Netflix’s failure to attract new customers. The gross additions were on target, but churn was unexpectedly higher in Q2. Within the United States, its Q2 net additions were 0.16 million against a forecast of 0.50 million. Netflix expects to reach 60-90 million members domestically by 2020, and at their current pace, they would be lucky to reach 55 million. Domestically, Netflix currently stands at 47.13 million users. Assuming they continue at the same rate of 0.16 million per quarter, by the end of 2020, they will only have acquired 50.01 million customers. As for global growth, net additions in Q2 were 1.5 million compared to its forecast of 2.0 million. Actual net additions fell significantly short of forecasts both domestically and internationally. Therefore, even a higher-than-expected earnings per share could not convince investors of its potential for growth. The Silver Lining As I mentioned in the first paragraph, the two main reasons behind investors’ bearish outlook is due to Netflix’s un-grandfathering strategy and increased competition. However, a closer analysis of the numbers will reveal that both of those reasons are unjustified. According to Netflix’s letter to the investors, Netflix registered an unexpected uptick in churn rate in early April, which is coincident with the press coverage informing the public of Netflix’s plan to un-grandfather longer tenured members. However, the churn of members who were actually un-grandfathered was mild and matched Netflix’s own forecasts. This reveals that due to poor news reporting and miscommunication, many users thought that there would be an overall price increase. As for the problem regarding increased competition, there is also a similar explanation. As Internet TV becomes increasingly popular, the number of subscription video on demand (SVOD) offerings also increases. In the U.S., there is Amazon Prime Video, CBS All Access, Seeso, Hulu, YouTube Red, and many others. This translates to more competition for Netflix. However, as Netflix points out in their letter to the investors, “increased competition would show up mostly in soft gross additions rather than churn”. Netflix’s churn rate in Canada is also evidence of this. They experienced a similar uptick in churn in early April, but there was no recent increase in SVOD competition. Coincidentally, they were also in the process of un-grandfathering in Canada during that time. Since Netflix’s gross additions were on target, if Netflix is correct about the reasoning behind its higher-than-expected churn, Q2’s poor results is a minor hiccup that should pass. Reasons to Invest According to CEO Reed Hastings in a Q2 earnings interview, he revealed that the current three-tier pricing strategy in the U.S. is working very well ($7.99 SD, $9.99 HD, and $11.99 UHD) with new members. With this new pricing system, it will generate significantly more revenue for Netflix to create more original content. As proven through Netflix Originals such as House of Cards and Orange is the New Black, Netflix originals have been highly successful. This year, Netflix Originals are nominated for 54 Primetime Emmys, which is the third-most total nominations of any domestic network, only behind FX and HBO. Netflix Originals will be crucial in Netflix’s future because aside from their first-mover advantage, their original series will help with customer retention in the face of increasing competition. Even though Netflix claims that competition was not a cause in Q2’s poor results, increasing SVOD competition will certainly be significant in the near future. Bear in mind the market for Internet TV is still huge. Netflix predicts that in the coming decades, there will be nearly 1 billion pay TV subscribers who will migrate to Internet TV. Netflix already has partnerships with over 40 multi-channel video programming distributors (MVPDs) around the world, which will increase their market penetration in areas with partnerships. However, there is one thing to be wary of in terms of partnerships in the United States: Netflix already has a large user base within the United States. This means that there will be many supposedly “new” customers who are already Netflix customers. For example, many owners of Comcast X1 are customers of Netflix. Therefore, the reported reach of 8 million Comcast X1 owners is a meaningless number as many of the 8 million are already Netflix users. Even Hastings admitted in the earnings interview that the Comcast partnership will only have a “modest” impact on customer growth. As for Netflix’s goal of reaching 60-90 million customers in the U.S., I have no doubt that they will succeed. Their most difficult work lies ahead in international development as they face massive competition, regulations, pricing differences, and piracy. However, they have made that their number one priority. They have already begun establishing the necessary channels such as creating original content and MVPD partnerships in each country to gain market penetration. In the long-term, Netflix should face multi-year growth in these new markets. Why wait until Q4? Netflix will face some temporary headwinds in the short-term. The Olympics will be in Q3, and according to CFO David Wells, the Olympics will affect global gross additions negatively. It will be a small and temporary impact, but it will be meaningful nonetheless. Q4 is also a better time to invest is because it signals the end of Netflix’s un-grandfathering process. If it persists into Q4, it should not be for long. If Q2 results are anything to go by, we can expect the Olympics and un-grandfathering to create uncertainty and a decrease in global gross additions. Therefore, I suggest waiting till Q4 to invest in Netflix. Written by Allen Kan Finance and Marketing Intern at Peeptrade Disclaimer: I have no positions in any stocks mentioned, and no plans to initiate any positions within the next 72 hours. I wrote this article myself, and it expresses my own opinions. I am not receiving compensation for it (other than from Peeptrade). I have no business relationship with any company whose stock is mentioned in this article.
HUNTINGTON BEACH – A Huntington Beach police officer’s exoneration for planting a loaded gun in a suspect’s car has led to the revelation that police routinely plant evidence in unsuspecting civilians’ vehicles for training exercises. Chief Kenneth Small said Friday that police plant contraband – including unloaded weapons, fake drugs and drug paraphernalia – in suspects’ vehicles after they’re arrested as a method of training new officers in searches. The training practice came to light Friday after a Huntington Beach man said he learned that an officer who planted a handgun in his car during a traffic stop was exonerated of wrongdoing. Thomas Cox, who was later convicted of traffic and drug violations, said he watched in horror as another officer found the gun in the trunk of his Hyundai, igniting laughter among officers. News of the training technique sparked surprise and criticism from police officials across the county, who said planting weapons in civilian vehicles is “inappropriate” and a “bad idea.” “I’ve never heard of anybody doing that,” said George Wright, chairman of the Criminal Justice Department at Santa Ana College. “You’re using someone else’s property, and that can lead to other problems. … What if someone forgets about the gun and just leaves it behind?” Police in Las Vegas abandoned a similar training tactic for drug-sniffing police dogs last year, when a man was falsely charged with drug possession after a canine officer forgot to retrieve drugs planted in the man’s car, according to published reports. Still, Small said the exercises teach newer officers how to search vehicles in realistic situations. Performing the exercise in a parking lot with a police vehicle would not be as effective because the officers would be expecting to find contraband, he said. The training is usually done after suspects are arrested and the cars are being readied for impound, Small said. But Cox said he was feet away from Officer Brian Knorr that January evening when Knorr flung the gun into the trunk. “I was thinking, ‘what the hell is this?'” said Cox, a 45-year-old construction superintendent. “I thought I was going to get a weapons charge. I thought I was going to get my ass kicked.” An officer found the gun minutes later, Cox said. “That’s not my gun!” Cox said he shouted. Cox had been pulled over by police after a witness said he saw Cox hit another vehicle and flee the scene. Cox said he was never told the officers were performing a training exercise. He filed a complaint with the police department in August against Knorr and another officer, who he said barreled questions at him and called him names like “Slick.” Several officers testified about the incident during Cox’s October trial. Knorr testified that he planted the loaded gun because he “saw an opportunity to create a realistic search of a vehicle.” He said he and another officer “had a little chuckle” that night because the gun was found by a veteran police officer instead of the intended subject of the exercise. Cox was convicted of hit and run, driving without a license, driving under the influence, reckless driving and possession of marijuana. He awaits sentencing Dec. 15. Last month he received a letter from the police department saying the officers in his complaint had been “exonerated” of wrongdoing. Small said Friday that using a loaded weapon during training – as Knorr testified he had done – is against department policy, and that performing the exercise in front of Cox “could have been done in a better way.” But he said Knorr was exonerated because the policy was not widely understood. “I didn’t feel comfortable holding one officer accountable for it when others were doing it as well,” Small said. “I think the department did something wrong because we didn’t make sure people understood what our policy really was.” The department doesn’t have a formal protocol for using the public’s vehicles in training exercises, department spokesman Lt. Craig Junginger said. However, vehicle owners typically aren’t told their cars are being used for training because they’re not usually present when the training occurs, Small said. The training exercises are “designed to be very controlled situations, planned … and discussed with a supervisor in advance,” Small said. Ed Pecinovsky, bureau chief of training for the state’s commission on Peace Officer Standards and Training, said that no matter how careful officers are, using an arrestee’s car in a training exercise is “asking for problems.” Cox said he’s considering a lawsuit. “This is police abuse,” he said. “Huntington Beach used to be my dream home. Now, I’m moving away.” Contact the writer: 714-445-6688 or jmuir@ocregister.com Huntington Beach
DIGG THIS No matter how many warnings have been issued, an economic crisis always takes a country by surprise. The most urgent task is to somehow prevent policymakers from doing evil things to “correct” the crisis. Every form of intervention can only make matters worse. The best policy is to adopt a laissez-faire policy through regulatory cuts, sound money, and eliminating legal restrictions on trade. The liquidation must be allowed to happen on its own to provide a suitable foundation for a future recovery. How can we help this happen? One way is to make sure that the right books are front and center. We might start by reviewing the great event that still inspires today’s most fallacious countercyclical policies: the Great Depression. It turns out that Ludwig von Mises was the great prophet of the event, with a series of essays on the nature of the business cycle and the urgency of sound money. After the Depression hit, he urged a free-market policy for the world. These wonderful essays are collected in The Causes of the Economic Crisis. It was a tragedy that it took so long for them to appear in English. What they show is that he, not Keynes, was the person who had it all figured out. When I speak of a laissez-faire policy, many people’s first reaction is: that’s what Herbert Hoover did! But the truth is quite the opposite. Hoover was actually the first New Dealer. He tried to reflate the economy and attempted ill-fated jobs and spending programs. In fact, FDR’s presidential campaign of 1932 argued that Hoover was a big spender who was driving up the debt and making matters worse through his intervention! Never heard that before? Have a look at Murray Rothbard’s America’s Great Depression, which remains the best overall account of why the stock market crash happened and what Hoover did to make everything worse. Murray shows that the depression was not a crisis of capitalism but the result of a disastrously loose monetary policy in the 1920s. A special treat of this book is how Rothbard takes you through the theoretical underpinnings of the crisis, and shows precisely how the central bank distorts the structure of production and unbalances the relationship between consumption and investment. Along the same lines, we need to understand that the Great Depression was hardly the first such crisis. In 1920 there was another, but it was resolved rather quickly because the government stayed out of the way. Moreover, banking panics occurred often in the 19th century, and always because of the same factor: fractional-reserve banking backed by a lender of last resort. Counterfeiting comes to nothing but trouble. Rothbard reviews the whole of this history, complete with an accounting of every crooked banker and every power-mad politician, in A History of Money and Banking in the United States. How serious do you want to get with your theoretical understanding? Do you find yourself tripped up by inflationists throwing intellectual curveballs? Maybe you should sit down with the great treatise on money and banking in our time: Money, Bank Credit, and Economic Cycles by Jesus Huerta de Soto. Yes, it is long. Yes, it has apparatus. But the scholarship is wholly necessary for proving his radical thesis that fractional-reserve banking constitutes an intervention in the market economy and is the foundational reason for the business cycle. Through a close examination of microeconomic law and economy, he finds a link to macroeconomic effects. What we do in the micro-sphere echoes in the macro-sphere. De Soto goes back to Roman law to show that bank deposits are rightly treated like other forms of property subject to the usual standards of fraud. He demonstrates how this standard was widely accepted until a change in outlook in the high Middle Ages, when special interests prevailed on legal regimes to have deposits treated as loans, with disastrous effects. The debate on this subject has been around for many decades, but no one has shed more light on this subject than De Soto. I fully expect that this book will continue to be mandatory reading for any banking scholar for decades ahead. It is the thesis of L. Albert Hahn, another forgotten anti-Keynesian, that all excess money creates illusions of prosperity. He was once an advocate of Keynesian-style economic management, but he saw the error then wrote this fabulous and passionate attack on the whole theoretical and political apparatus. Mises was a big advocate of this book: The Economics of Illusion. It doesn’t say good things about our world where people in college read the Keynesians, are taught that they were right about free markets, but meanwhile truly great economists like Hahn are forgotten — forgotten so much, in fact, that this book has been out of print for many decades. The Mises Institute has made it available again. Isn’t it time we revise our sense of what ideas deserve study, and what ideas deserve to truly drop down the memory hole? Hahn was not alone among the great economic thinkers of this age. The New York Times employed one as its top editorialist: Henry Hazlitt. He warned constantly about the dangers of the dollar creation. His first great book against the Marshall Plan foreign aid was Will Dollars Save the World? Then he turned his fire on the Bretton Woods agreement, and he was shot down for it — forced out. But who was right? The agreement broke down because it didn’t allow dollar convertibility for American citizens. Here you can read his analysis of not only Bretton Woods but the whole inflation issue: What You Should Know about Inflation. Here he lays out the entire issue: what is money, what it does, what government does to money, how the economy responds, what it means for your life, and what to do about it. Hazlitt of course advocated the gold standard. Since Ron Paul has raised the issue of the gold standard, and is being treated like some kind of visitor from Mars for having mentioned the subject at all, we need to know more about the true American heritage of the gold standard. This is why I’m personally very fired up that the Mises Institute has brought back William Gouge’s Short History of Money and Banking which I first read while working for Ron in his congressional office. Gouge lived from 1796 through 1863 and was involved in all the great debates on banking in the 19th century. His book is a major attack on all inflationary finance, and reading him underscores just how universal are the lessons on money and banking — universal in the sense that they apply in all times and all places. Back in the 19th century, there were many people who wanted inflation: bankers, debtors, and the government. What a surprise! Who has an interest in sound money? Consumers, savers, and liberty-loving citizens. This is the essential conflict. Are we going to have a monetary regime rooted in robbery, or one rooted in honesty? Gouge was on the side of honesty, and he inspires us today. Coming a few decades later, but along the same lines, is Charles Holt Carroll’s Organization of Debt Into Currency. This is one of those books that develops a hard-core cadre of fans. When we started reprinting these great American economic classics, people began to ask us: what about Carroll? Well, here it is, and once you get into the book, you realize why Rothbard and George Reisman and so many others swear by it. He patiently explains the difference between money and debt and how the government goes about sowing confusion about what is what. Now, Ron Paul stands in this tradition of thinkers in every way. Even on the campaign stump, he speaks about the evil of fiat money and Fed management of the nation’s money stock. In a true sense, he says, we’ve put a cartelized gang of central planners in charge of the good that constitutes half of every economic exchange, and we are paying the price in terms of declining purchasing power, exchange-rate chaos, rampant debt, and growing crises in sector after sector. Is there a way out? Most certainly! It goes by the name of gold. Make the dollar as good as gold and you eliminate the inflation problem and the business cycles that go along with it. Here is the great secret of the gold standard. The problem is not that it is unviable from the perspective of economics. The problem is that there are many people allied against it: the big banks, the creditor class, and government. You see, gold would provide a hard-core anchor for liberty. Under the right form of the gold standard, government could no longer spend with impunity or run up debt without limit. The resources it spent would have to be raised the old-fashioned way. It behooves every American to read Ron’s book, really his manifesto on the topic. It is called The Case for Gold. He covers 19th century monetary history and discusses several plans for instituting a gold standard. Note that I didn’t say “going back” to a gold standard, because if you look at past gold standards, there was always a flaw in the form of government intervention. There was the crazy system called bimetallism. There was the lack of domestic convertibility after the New Deal. There were the guarantees in the form of central bank backing. There were special privileges in the law. The gold standard that Ron favors is not complicated: it is the one that would emerge in a world of freedom, a free-market money. If his large book seems like too much, have a look at this primer: Gold, Peace, and Prosperity. You can read it in an hour. It explains why you should care about these issues, and why the government doesn’t want you to care about them. Lew Rockwell Archives The Best of Llewellyn H. Rockwell, Jr.
AUSTIN, Texas (Reuters) - A 14-year-old girl shot and wounded a fellow student at Alpine High School in rural West Texas on Thursday and then died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound, the Brewster County sheriff told reporters. The wounded girl, thought to be 16, was taken to a local hospital and is expected to survive. No names have been released and no motive has been given for the incident in the town of about 6,000 people, Sheriff Ronny Dodson said. The shooter is thought to have moved to Alpine, about 200 miles southeast of El Paso, with her family about six months ago, Dodson said. The girl was found dead in a bathroom and a pistol was recovered nearby. “It’s not supposed to happen here. It has got us all in shock. This is Alpine. It is a peaceful place to live and come,” Dodson said, adding, “it could have been a lot worse.” The shootings prompted an evacuation of the high school and other schools were put on lockdown. Video on local media showed students consoling each other. After the shooting, the sheriff’s office received threats from a man to bomb nearby Sul Ross State University and attack a hospital. Dodson said the threats were not related to the shooting and saw them as sick pranks that diverted resources at a time of crisis. “Right now, we think we have some nut who in the midst of one of our most emotional times at our school started calling in these threats,” Dodson said. One federal officer responding to the shooting was shot by accident by a colleague, Dodson said, adding that person is in stable condition with injuries that are not life-threatening. “I’m not (used) to all this craziness that is going on in Alpine,” wrote Facebook user Anna Maria, whose profile lists Alpine as her residence. The United States has long been plagued by shootings at schools and colleges, some of which have claimed dozens of lives. The deadliest mass school shooting was in 2007, when a gunman slaughtered 32 people at Virginia Tech university. In 2012, a gunman shot dead 20 children and six educators at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut. The deadliest attack on a U.S. high school occurred in Littleton, Colorado, in 1999, when a pair of heavily armed teenagers shot dead 12 students and a teacher at Columbine High School, wounding 20 others.
US President Barack Obama will attend a baseball game during his historic visit to Cuba later this month, a symbolic show of friendship between the two nations, as confirmed by Ben Rhodes, a national security adviser for strategic communication for U.S. president. What seemed improbable, will happen very soon. The president of the United States is going to Cuba. This will be the first official visit by a U.S. president after the triumph of the Cuban Revolution in 1959. And as a symbol of normalizing diplomatic relations between the two countries, the Tampa Bay Rays, an American professional team, which competes in Major League Baseball, is going to play in Cuba on March 22 for the first time since the Baltimore Orioles did it in 1999, and President Barack Obama is expected to be present at the game.
Nagaland chief minister TR Zeliang won the trial of strength on Thursday by getting 59 votes in the 60-member assembly. The victory has put an end to a month of dissidence drama allegedly engineered by former CM and Lok Sabha member Neiphiu Rio. “The truth has prevailed,” Zeliang said after the victory, thanking the Election Commission for maintaining status quo on the issue of which faction of the Naga People’s Front (NPF) would be recognised. He also thanked Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the BJP leadership for their stand on ensuring political stability in the states. The trust vote that Nagaland governor PB Acharya had summoned was expected to be volatile. Instead, it ended calmly with all legislators – barring the Speaker – casting their votes in Zeliang’s favour. The voters included eight of Congress who had earlier decided to stay away, as well as four of BJP who had been instructed to abstain in a bid to be neutral. BJP is a constituent of the Democratic Alliance of Nagaland (DAN) government that has 52 members headed by NPF with 38 legislators. The other constituents are seven independents and one each of NCP and JD-U. Trouble for Zeliang began almost a month ago after a section of NPF legislators, allegedly backed by Rio, sought a change of leadership and propped up G Kaito Aye as the chief minister candidate. “Instead of espousing the cause of Nagaland and its people in the Parliament, Rio has been playing tricks to destabilise my government,” Zeliang had told HT earlier this week. Zeliang had last year secured 52 votes to become the chief minister after Rio resigned to contest the Lok Sabha polls in the hope of getting a cabinet berth in the NDA government. But Modi snubbed Rio, apparently for his anti-BJP campaign during the Lok Sabha polls despite the alliance. Rio has subsequently been trying to return to Nagaland politics. First Published: Feb 05, 2015 12:27 IST
On Tetris and Reimplementation Stephen Brennan • 12 June 2015 I’m the kind of programmer that likes to implement everything myself. That’s not to say I don’t believe in other people’s work. But rather, I believe that if I do something myself, I will gain a lot more from it than if I use someone else’s implementation. For instance, I’ve implemented my own regular expression parser in C, using my very own C data structures library. Hopefully I’ll post a bit more about those in the future. Without a doubt I’ve gained tons of experience and knowledge by doing those things myself. So it kind of makes sense that I would continue that process by doing another project that’s already been done, all for the sake of learning how to do it. This time, I tackled the game of Tetris. To keep it interesting, I decided to do it in C. This actually isn’t my first game in C – I wrote a Minesweeper clone in C a few weeks back. I never blogged about it, but I might in the future, since it was a fun project. That experience probably helped guide me through this process. Making C GUIs The thing about writing games is that you have to focus on the interface. I’ve got plenty of experience writing libraries (i.e. code that other programmers can use to make their programs). Libraries are nice. You think about how you, a programmer, would like to use the service your library provides. You come up with names for all the functions, along with descriptions of how they should work. You write example code that uses your hypothetical library, to see how comfortable it is. Then, you start implementing those functions. There’s no “user interface” per se. You spend all your time thinking like a programmer, which is very intellectually interesting. But most software is written for users, and games are probably the most user-oriented software around. C doesn’t really give you lots of simple options for user interfaces. There is the classic command line interface (read from the console, print to the console). That type of interface is nice, because all you need to do is deal with incoming text and outgoing text. Unfortunately, not only is that unsuitable for most games, but most users run screaming away from a terminal (i.e. command prompt) window. On the other extreme of C GUI programming, you have the world of window toolkits. These libraries give you the power to create windowed programs like you’re used to seeing on a desktop computer. There are quite a few of these toolkits. Microsoft Windows, of course, comes with one. Linux has a wide array of them, with the GTK being a prime example. Unfortunately, any windowing toolkit in C involves copious amounts of boring and difficult to understand code. The reason behind this is simple: C is a rather low level programming language. In general, programming languages are bad for describing GUIs. The lower level they are, the more work it is to describe what your interface looks like in code. Fortunately, there is a happy middle ground. For somebody who wants to quickly write a simple Tetris game, this middle ground is perfect. Instead of printing and reading lines of text to the console, what if you could draw your interface on it? Since consoles are simple grids of characters, it would be easy to make a grid-oriented game like Tetris that way. As it turns out, this is a fairly common interface style (especially for Linux/Unix programs). Plus, there is one pretty much universal library for making these interfaces, called ncurses . ncurses gives you the ability to do some very cool things with a terminal window. While a typical C program can only add text to the terminal by printing, ncurses programs have the ability to move the cursor around on the terminal, and put individual characters wherever you’d like on the screen. In this way, an ncurses program can build a user interface with lots of interactivity, directly on the terminal window. Building Tetris So, I decided pretty much from the beginning that I wanted to make Tetris using ncurses . The next step along the way was building the game logic. My goal was to have my Tetris game logic completely separate from the user interface logic. I achieved this by having two code files: tetris.c and main.c . tetris.c has no idea about a user interface, because main.c handles all of it. Similarly, main.c doesn’t know anything more about how Tetris is implemented than what I made public in the tetris.h header file. The reasoning for this is pretty simple. You should write code that does only one thing, and does it well. If you take a sloppy approach and do two things in the same code (like implement Tetris game rules in your user interface), you’re more likely to mess up both of them. Plus, an important bonus of this approach is that I can make a new interface for my Tetris game without ever touching tetris.c . Game Logic I initially thought that Tetris would be trivially simple to write. A little bit of research showed me that there’s actually a lot more to it than you might think. For instance, you take it for granted that when you rotate a block against the wall, it will “kick” out (instead of getting stuck). That (and every other special behavior) is something you need to keep in mind as you build the game. I started with a simple game loop, and filled it out over time. The function tg_tick() ( tg stands for tetris_game ) performs a single iteration of the game loop. It looks like this: /* Do a single game tick: process gravity, user input, and score. Return true if the game is still running, false if it is over. / bool tg_tick ( tetris_game obj , tetris_move move ) { int lines_cleared ; // Handle gravity. tg_do_gravity_tick ( obj ); // Handle input. tg_handle_move ( obj , move ); // Check for cleared lines lines_cleared = tg_check_lines ( obj ); tg_adjust_score ( obj , lines_cleared ); // Return whether the game will continue (NOT whether it's over) return ! tg_game_over ( obj ); } Let’s tackle this line by line. First up is tg_do_gravity_tick() . In Tetris, the falling block moves down every so often due to gravity. The higher your level, the quicker it moves down. So the gravity tick function will count down how much longer until the next time gravity “acts”. If it is time to pull down the block, the function does so, and then resets the timer, using your difficulty level to figure out how long until the next gravity action. After the gravity tick, the game handles user input by calling tg_handle_move() . This function takes a tetris_move , which can be any of the moves you’re used to doing in Tetris: move right, move left, drop, rotate, or put a block on hold. It executes that move, and returns. Now that gravity and user input are handled, it’s possible that some of the lines of the board have been filled up. So, we call the tg_check_lines(obj) function to count those lines, and remove them. And then we update the score based on how many lines were cleared. Scoring depends on both your level, and the number of blocks you cleared. Finally, the user interface code that calls this tg_tick() function will want to know when the game is over. So, tg_tick() returns true while the game is running, and false once the game has ended. There’s a decent amount more code that goes into the tetris game logic - tetris.c totals almost 500 lines. I’m not going to present it all in a blog post. It’s fairly interesting, because that code needs to know every type of tetromino, and what orientations they have. It has to do collision detection, and handle “wall kicks” when you rotate the pieces. If you’re interested in exactly how I did it, you can see more at the GitHub repository. User Interface Of course, all of the code for the game logic above did nothing to display the game to the user. It simply modified the structure of the game in memory. The job of displaying that game, and handling the user’s input, was done by main.c . I would like to show the main function of main.c , but I feel like it is too long to show in this block post. It’s not complex or difficult to understand, but there are many lines and most of the specifics aren’t relevant. But, I can give a reasonable pseudocode explanation of how it works. int main ( int argc , char ** argv ) { // If the user gave a filename, load the saved game. Otherwise, start a new // game. // Initialize the ncurses display library. // Do the main game loop: while ( running ) { // Call tg_tick() to move the game forward. // Display the new game state. // Sleep for a bit (otherwise the game would be too fast. // Get user input for the next loop. } } For more information on the user interface code, you can look at main.c in the GitHub repository. The End Product At the end of the day, my simple Tetris implementation is pretty complete. In just over a day of work, I implemented most of the features of Tetris: The basics (i.e. gravity, movement, rotation, and line clearing). Storing blocks and swapping them out later. A scoring system copied from an earlier version of Tetris. A level progression that increases difficulty the longer you play. A pause menu (and “boss mode” pause menu, which replaces the game with a fake terminal screen that looks like you’re working). A game save/load feature so you can come back to your games. The only thing I really wasn’t able to do was play the Tetris theme song in the background. Maybe some day I could come back to it, but the options out there for simply playing sound in C aren’t very good. If you want to try it, it would be best for you to be running Linux. You’ll need to have ncurses installed (for Ubuntu, that means running sudo apt-get install libncurses5-dev ). Then, get the GitHub repository, compile with make , and run with bin/release/main . Conclusion In this post, I’ve spent a lot of time on the implementation of my Tetris clone. And, to be sure, I think it’s worth talking about. I think I came up with a pretty decent design, and that makes some of the code (like tg_tick() ) very nice to look at. What’s more, it’s a program I seriously enjoy playing, which is an accomplishment in and of itself. However, I’d like to conclude with a bit of a philosophical diversion regarding reimplementation. When I told my girlfriend I was writing Tetris, the first words out of her mouth were along the lines of “hasn’t that already been done?”. That’s a pretty reasonable reaction. And the truth is, of course it has. If that were the criteria for writing programs, most of the code I’ve written in my life wouldn’t exist. Sure, there’s a lot to be said for doing something new and different, and even more to be said for code reuse. But doing something old and the same is not nearly as bad as it’s cracked up to be. Practice makes perfect, and practicing by reproducing the big name, important programs out there (like shells, regular expressions, web servers, firewalls, and other games) is the best way to hone your programming skills, while expanding your domain-specific knowledge by leaps and bounds. Programmers that know loops, conditionals, functions, and classes are so common. They come out of universities like cupcakes out of a mold. You can do plenty with just that knowledge, but to me, that’s just the beginning of a much more exciting education. When you learn how real world problems are solved, you finally have a chance to do the things that you probably were told about in school, but never learned because you didn’t actually implement them. Plus, you get started on learning the domain specific knowledge (e.g. Linux, HTTP, TCP, ncurses , GTK, …) that nobody teaches you in school, but someday you’ll use every day in your job. And even if you don’t use that specific set of domain-specific knowledge, you’ll benefit from having your mind broadened with new tools and approaches that you wouldn’t have otherwise encountered. In short, doing these little “reimplementation” projects has been a vital part of my education, complementing the computer science theory I learn in school. I’m certain that I wouldn’t be the programmer I am today without them. I can think in terms of C programming now. Pointers, arrays, structs, bits, bytes, and system calls are becoming second nature to me. I understand how programs do the things we take for granted like create processes, spawn threads, and communicate. I could talk your ears off about how packets are routed through the Internet, and how a firewall sifts through them, especially in Linux. I adore the Chomsky Hierarchy, and would love to tell anybody who listens about how the pure theory of regular languages and finite automata has led to the implementation of regular expressions, one of the most widely used computer tools in the world. With the understanding and experience gained from reimplementation projects, I think in new and better ways. I see the connections between new problems and old ones. I think in terms of how to re-use the best ideas. I’m getting better at recognizing why design decisions were made. I can approach problems in the same disciplined manner I’ve observed in other implementations. The discrete bits of information I’ve picked up are merging into a new kind of understanding: a combination of broad knowledge, better approaches, and a recognition of how little I actually know. And the best part is, I’m just 20 years old. Some people have been programming longer than that. Imagine what sort of experience I’ll have in another 10 years! Probably enough to make me think that everything I’m doing now is silly! So, as I get ready to stop the rambling and get off my soapbox, my final thought is simple. Let’s do more re-implementation. Let’s try writing the code that we rely on, even if we think we “already know how it works.” Chances are, it’ll make us all better.
As expected, their video reminds us that they are dermatologists, and that Proactiv was a very successful product. Based on this we are given the impression that this new venture is bound to succeed. Keep in mind Rodan + Fields is not Proactiv Solutions, and Stanford Med does not teach business skills. To get a better idea of how you can achieve life-changing financial freedom, we looked at the Rodan + Fields Compensation Plan. This document explains precisely what you need to do in order to make money from the business opportunity. We discovered that, like most MLMs, making money is more complicated than you might expect it to be. There are 5 ways to earn with Rodan + Fields: 1. Retail Profit You can earn a retail margin from selling Rodan + Fields products to customers. Sales can be made in person or over the internet (as long as they purchase using your personal R+F web link). You can earn up to 33% from one off sales and up to 16% from 'preferred customers' who sign up to receive a monthly supply of Rodan + Fields products. 2. Consultant Commissions In order to qualify for this payment, you will need to meet the monthly quota of 100 points of 'qualifying volume' (QV) on your Rodan + Fields consultant account. Rodan+ Fields sometimes calls it Sales Volume (SV), Commissionable Volume (CV), or Personally Sponsored Qualifying Volume (PSQV). Regardless of what they call it, the volume is essentially the same thing. It's the amount of product which you and your team need to buy before you qualify for compensation. Network marketing companies use these point systems as a way to standardize their sales in a global market. No matter where you live, or what the price is in your local currency, the same products will have the same point value everywhere in the world. Here is an example of the 2017 U.S Rodan + Fields Product Price & Volume List In order to qualify for consultant commissions, you need to remain active. To do this you need to sell 100 points worth of product through your Consultant Account every month. Active consultants can earn commission of 10% from any products bought by consultants or customers who are on their 'L1'. In Rodan + Fields, L1 is the first line of referrals. It includes any members who you recruit to Rodan + Fields as either consultants, or as customers. 3. Personal Team Commissions To earn team commissions, you need to first qualify as an Executive Consultant with Rodan + Fields. To do this you will need to remain active and have your team generate 600 points of Personally Sponsored Qualifying Volume (PSQV). This can come from either preferred customers or consultants you have personally sponsored. The points earned by consultants you sponsor will include any volume from their retail sales As an executive consultant you will earn a team commission of 5% on all the points generated by your team. Your team includes all the consultants and preferred customers you have enrolled, and all the retail sales made by consultants you have recruited. Rodan + Fields refers to this as your L2 points. 4. Generation Commissions Once you have reached the level of Executive Consultant and one of the people you sponsored also reaches this level, then you will become a 'Level 1 Executive Consultant'. This will entitle you to earn a 5% commission on 'Generation 1' in your downline. You can continue to increase in levels as more consultants you have sponsored reach the Executive Consultant rank. Once you have 8 Executive Consultants in your personal team, you will become a Level 5 Executive consultant. At Level 5, you can earn 5% commissions from 5 generations in your downline. The earnings potential doesn't end there. If you continue to grow your team you can qualify as an RFX Executive Consultant and earn a 2.5% commission from the 6th generation in your downline To qualify for this, you will need 15 Executive consultants in your team and 5 of them need to achieve the title of 'Level 5 Executive Consultant' 5. Performance Bonuses At different times during your Rodan + Fields journey, you may qualify for additional incentives. These may range from car incentives to small cash bonuses, and many other non cash 'lifestyle rewards'.
Pughy Profile Blog Joined July 2010 Wales 659 Posts Last Edited: 2011-11-28 01:03:19 #1 I will apologise in advance for my terrible english, I put effort into it but dyslexia's a bitch So first off, most of you wont know who I am. My names Robert Pugh, I'm from south Wales and I'm a masters protoss on Team Enigma. I really love meeting new people and socialising and I like to think I'm a pretty friendly/happy person! I also have a crazy amount of confidence so going right up to a pro and speaking to them is no problem, I'm also pretty hyper and whacky/will do most things for a dare!! So for those of you who won't know what i44 is, it's Insomnia event #44 which is the UK's biggest BYOC lan. They have 3 a year and i44 was the winter event, which means its alot more competitive. In total there were around 900 people there playing (compared to 2500+ at i43) and I have no idea how many showed up to spectate! The Iseries attracts players from all over the world and alot of british gamers attend which makes it a great place to socialise and meet your fellow gamers. The event is normally 5 days from thursday evening to monday afternoon and its totally non stop gaming :D My story begins on the friday, I couldn't get work off on thursday so me and my mate left about 7 am friday morning. We got someone to drop us up there and we arrived at around 10:30, we got setup pretty fast and chilled with some of the other SC2 waiting for the opening ceremony (freebies). Opening ceremony. The opening ceremonies are always awesome, the exhibiters always throw free stuff into the group and some will give away very expensive items and make people compete for them lol. I was well chuffed with what I caught, a rocat sense mousemat and a steelseries qpad ct mousemat. I give the rocat sense to a friend seems thats the exact one I was using and kept the qpad for myself (and a shoutout to dignitas MrDogBert for throwing it to me :D). IPL dude on stage during the opening ceremony. Push up competition for £150 speakers After the opening ceremony me and my mates went back to our pc's and just gamed it up for abit in prep for the tournament which started at 3. Tournament time. I believe there were around 50 people in the SC2 tournament and around 25 masters all competeting for atleast top 16 (top 16 get put into IPL4 quals), after that its just seeding. So first 2 rounds are pretty easy, after them though I have to play my masters league teammate who plays zerg. This is a fairly important game because whoever wins will be top 16 and qualify for IPL. I end up winning 2-1 and am put into the WR08 against Infused.Randy which I then lose 2-1. Next game is against Link Slyce and its at 10pm so I'm pretty knackered so its a quick lose 2-0 and time for drinking Luckily because I wasn't top 8 in the open I didn't have to play on saturday so me and my mates chilled and gamed/drunk til the early hours. At about 2-3 AM me and my mate decide to head back to his room, hes staying at the student accomidation and we haven't checked in yet. So we get there and the dudes all like only 1 per room, so I'm all like fuck and catch a taxi back to i44 where I crashed in a friends tent. So I carry on gaming for alittle while longer and then we head back to the tents (which was like 15 minute walk wtf). We also brought our drunk teammate who couldnt get into his hotel room lol and he had to play at 10 am, which he lost. Saturday. So saturday was pretty chilled, I didn't have to play in the tournament so I started drinking midday and just playing/socialising with players. Later on saturday I found out the brackets for IPL4 quals and it was against EGDemuslim!! Was pretty happy with that, he was the homecrowd favourite and hes a pretty cool bro. What was really awesome is just after I found out I was playing him I walked through to the exhibition/stage area and he was walking through lol :D Most of the pros arrived saturday night and got setup so I spent alot of time chilling with them and drinking. Saturday night I managed to stay in one of the hotels which was much nicer then a spider infested tent! Sunday. I get woken up nice and early at around 9 am and head to the venue (which was next door pretty much). I warm up on ladder before my games against demuslim. Game 1 against demuslim was on antiga shipyard and I should have won. I dodged his marine through the smoke built a pylon and he never found it so I 4gated. Somehow tho I forgot warpgate tech by like 30 seconds which didnt help at all! In the end I think I gg'd abit to early (I'll post replays). Game 2 on shakuras was much more standard, we both FE'd and I went to put on some damage as he was moving out. I had a pylon with a observer to warp into his base which pulled him back. Then I went up his natural ramp and forcefielded his main ramp killing scvs and forcing a liftoff. The battle was going well until I messed up my micro alittle bit and he jumped on it. I did alot of damage with that push so I don't GG just yet, I wait and he pushes out with a nice little force of MMM. He pushed up my ramp and took out my forces so I call GG! I'm knocked into losers round 1 where I have to play my teammate Xivol! At around this time my hangovers kinda kicking in and I just played terrible, supply blocked like crazy and xivol played well so a 2-0 and I'm out of the tournament. So as you guessed it, more drinking and having fun. Alot of spectators showed up for the IPL so its getting busy so I mainly stick around the pc area and play/chill. As it gets later into the day and pros get knocked out of the tournament they start socialsing and drinking. After the tournament the spectators left and the players stuck on MLG and had our very own barcraft! I can't really remember any of this but I know I enjoyed!! We chilled til the end of MLG and me and 2 mates decided to do an all nighter which was alot of fun. At one point I just wrapped myself up in a quilt and watched dexter at pc. Which was being livestreamed with a cam lol! So I chilled and gamed at PC for a few hours, packed up my shit got ready to leave and waited with friends said bye to people til my lift came. By the time I went to sleep on monday I had been up for around 36 hours and I had a glorious sleep I must say So that pretty much summerises the event and what happened. Now I'm just going to list some funny things that happened over the weekend! Being the first person to qualify for IPL4 quals was awesome, I was the highest rated protoss in the open aswell :D On friday Ryung and Tails arrived and were walking through the venue, as soon as I seen them I asked for a photo and got one :D I thought Adelscott was Stephano's translater for ages, and when I found who he was I went upto him and chilled for a little bit. Then when I was at the bar he came upto me and I offered to buy him a drink. Then I asked him to sign something and he joined me to my desk to sign it. He was pretty cool. White-ra really is super awesome like everyone says. At one point I was chilling behind him and Vanq (ttesports/team infused guy) and they got up and walked away, whitera came back and thanked me for being friendly (seriously how awesome) then I accidently dropped his beer LOL! I'm such a dick! Later he sat down next to me during the finals and in the last game when tails had 1 gate he was like 'all in' and tails 4gated haha. He offered me a crisp and I said no and my mates were like 'WTF, when whitera offers you a crisp, you take it!!!'. Grubby is also a massive legend, such a friendly guy. At one point he was playing and seen me and a friend standing close, so he spoke to us and forgot he was laddering. We all then realise hes in a game against VirusNaama and Naama has built depots all around his nexus, was so funny. Sase was really awesome aswell, very chilled, relaxed, thought out person. He smokes and asked me for a couple and to get him a pack when I went to the shop. Was quite funny, he said he'd buy me a beer for some fags so I get him some fags and hes like here have this beer, I just had a swig that doesnt bother me so I take it then we make some funny jokes how about it'll turn me gosu lol! Demuslim was there for that. Was also awesome meeting all the british players again like Bling, Randy, Lau, Jimmeh, Shibs, CLN, Skyda, Indigozerg and then I got to meet alot of more unkowns/people I just hadnt met like my teammates xivol and shodan and slyce, stone, vamp so yeah that was really sweet meeting you guys! LOL almost forgot, Apollo give Tails a shot of malibu which we found out after koreans cant drink because they don't produce the right enzymes. Should have seen his face go bright red and irrated, poor sod lol! Also a shoutout to alot of other awesome people like Banks from Some more photos from the event!! This is when I pretty much jumped on Tails and Ryung! Bakor doing the player briefing for the open tournament! Totalbiscuit with some of my teammates, left is Shodan (GM), then Xivol (masters) and Mark whos management! Me and Sase :D Me and Demuslim! Me and Thorzain The Warden, she was alittle tired on monday after such an awesome event And I'll have to post a link to this one but this is all the pros at barcraft for MLG!! http://www.flickr.com/photos/mpuk/6383068013/in/set-72157628043694623 A friend who couldn't go asked me to get something signed so I took a SC2 case and asked the pros to sign the folded bit! Sigs on there: Lilsusie, Demuslim, Grubby, Sase, Ryung, Bischu, Adelscott, Stephano, Thorzain, Whitera, Tails and Dream Links and infomation: twitter: twitch: team Alright guys, so seems I had such a blast at i44 last weekend I thought I'd make a blog summerizing how awesome it was :DI will apologise in advance for my terrible english, I put effort into it but dyslexia's a bitchSo first off, most of you wont know who I am. My names Robert Pugh, I'm from south Wales and I'm a masters protoss on Team Enigma. I really love meeting new people and socialising and I like to think I'm a pretty friendly/happy person! I also have a crazy amount of confidence so going right up to a pro and speaking to them is no problem, I'm also pretty hyper and whacky/will do most things for a dare!!So for those of you who won't know what i44 is, it's Insomnia event #44 which is the UK's biggest BYOC lan. They have 3 a year and i44 was the winter event, which means its alot more competitive. In total there were around 900 people there playing (compared to 2500+ at i43) and I have no idea how many showed up to spectate! The Iseries attracts players from all over the world and alot of british gamers attend which makes it a great place to socialise and meet your fellow gamers. The event is normally 5 days from thursday evening to monday afternoon and its totally non stop gaming :DMy story begins on the friday, I couldn't get work off on thursday so me and my mate left about 7 am friday morning. We got someone to drop us up there and we arrived at around 10:30, we got setup pretty fast and chilled with some of the other SC2 waiting for the opening ceremony (freebies).Opening ceremony.The opening ceremonies are always awesome, the exhibiters always throw free stuff into the group and some will give away very expensive items and make people compete for them lol. I was well chuffed with what I caught, a rocat sense mousemat and a steelseries qpad ct mousemat. I give the rocat sense to a friend seems thats the exact one I was using and kept the qpad for myself (and a shoutout to dignitas MrDogBert for throwing it to me :D).IPL dude on stage during the opening ceremony.Push up competition for £150 speakersAfter the opening ceremony me and my mates went back to our pc's and just gamed it up for abit in prep for the tournament which started at 3.Tournament time.I believe there were around 50 people in the SC2 tournament and around 25 masters all competeting for atleast top 16 (top 16 get put into IPL4 quals), after that its just seeding. So first 2 rounds are pretty easy, after them though I have to play my masters league teammate who plays zerg. This is a fairly important game because whoever wins will be top 16 and qualify for IPL. I end up winning 2-1 and am put into the WR08 against Infused.Randy which I then lose 2-1. Next game is against Link Slyce and its at 10pm so I'm pretty knackered so its a quick lose 2-0 and time for drinkingLuckily because I wasn't top 8 in the open I didn't have to play on saturday so me and my mates chilled and gamed/drunk til the early hours. At about 2-3 AM me and my mate decide to head back to his room, hes staying at the student accomidation and we haven't checked in yet. So we get there and the dudes all like only 1 per room, so I'm all like fuck and catch a taxi back to i44 where I crashed in a friends tent. So I carry on gaming for alittle while longer and then we head back to the tents (which was like 15 minute walk wtf). We also brought our drunk teammate who couldnt get into his hotel room lol and he had to play at 10 am, which he lost.Saturday.So saturday was pretty chilled, I didn't have to play in the tournament so I started drinking midday and just playing/socialising with players. Later on saturday I found out the brackets for IPL4 quals and it was against EGDemuslim!! Was pretty happy with that, he was the homecrowd favourite and hes a pretty cool bro. What was really awesome is just after I found out I was playing him I walked through to the exhibition/stage area and he was walking through lol :D Most of the pros arrived saturday night and got setup so I spent alot of time chilling with them and drinking. Saturday night I managed to stay in one of the hotels which was much nicer then a spider infested tent!Sunday.I get woken up nice and early at around 9 am and head to the venue (which was next door pretty much). I warm up on ladder before my games against demuslim.Game 1 against demuslim was on antiga shipyard and I should have won. I dodged his marine through the smoke built a pylon and he never found it so I 4gated. Somehow tho I forgot warpgate tech by like 30 seconds which didnt help at all! In the end I think I gg'd abit to early (I'll post replays).Game 2 on shakuras was much more standard, we both FE'd and I went to put on some damage as he was moving out. I had a pylon with a observer to warp into his base which pulled him back. Then I went up his natural ramp and forcefielded his main ramp killing scvs and forcing a liftoff. The battle was going well until I messed up my micro alittle bit and he jumped on it. I did alot of damage with that push so I don't GG just yet, I wait and he pushes out with a nice little force of MMM. He pushed up my ramp and took out my forces so I call GG! I'm knocked into losers round 1 where I have to play my teammate Xivol!At around this time my hangovers kinda kicking in and I just played terrible, supply blocked like crazy and xivol played well so a 2-0 and I'm out of the tournament. So as you guessed it, more drinking and having fun. Alot of spectators showed up for the IPL so its getting busy so I mainly stick around the pc area and play/chill. As it gets later into the day and pros get knocked out of the tournament they start socialsing and drinking.After the tournament the spectators left and the players stuck on MLG and had our very own barcraft! I can't really remember any of this but I know I enjoyed!! We chilled til the end of MLG and me and 2 mates decided to do an all nighter which was alot of fun. At one point I just wrapped myself up in a quilt and watched dexter at pc. Which was being livestreamed with a cam lol! So I chilled and gamed at PC for a few hours, packed up my shit got ready to leave and waited with friends said bye to people til my lift came. By the time I went to sleep on monday I had been up for around 36 hours and I had a glorious sleep I must saySo that pretty much summerises the event and what happened. Now I'm just going to list some funny things that happened over the weekend!Being the first person to qualify for IPL4 quals was awesome, I was the highest rated protoss in the open aswell :DOn friday Ryung and Tails arrived and were walking through the venue, as soon as I seen them I asked for a photo and got one :DI thought Adelscott was Stephano's translater for ages, and when I found who he was I went upto him and chilled for a little bit. Then when I was at the bar he came upto me and I offered to buy him a drink. Then I asked him to sign something and he joined me to my desk to sign it. He was pretty cool.White-ra really is super awesome like everyone says. At one point I was chilling behind him and Vanq (ttesports/team infused guy) and they got up and walked away, whitera came back and thanked me for being friendly (seriously how awesome) then I accidently dropped his beer LOL! I'm such a dick! Later he sat down next to me during the finals and in the last game when tails had 1 gate he was like 'all in' and tails 4gated haha. He offered me a crisp and I said no and my mates were like 'WTF, when whitera offers you a crisp, you take it!!!'.Grubby is also a massive legend, such a friendly guy. At one point he was playing and seen me and a friend standing close, so he spoke to us and forgot he was laddering. We all then realise hes in a game against VirusNaama and Naama has built depots all around his nexus, was so funny.Sase was really awesome aswell, very chilled, relaxed, thought out person. He smokes and asked me for a couple and to get him a pack when I went to the shop. Was quite funny, he said he'd buy me a beer for some fags so I get him some fags and hes like here have this beer, I just had a swig that doesnt bother me so I take it then we make some funny jokes how about it'll turn me gosu lol! Demuslim was there for that.Was also awesome meeting all the british players again like Bling, Randy, Lau, Jimmeh, Shibs, CLN, Skyda, Indigozerg and then I got to meet alot of more unkowns/people I just hadnt met like my teammates xivol and shodan and slyce, stone, vamp so yeah that was really sweet meeting you guys!LOL almost forgot, Apollo give Tails a shot of malibu which we found out after koreans cant drink because they don't produce the right enzymes. Should have seen his face go bright red and irrated, poor sod lol!Also a shoutout to alot of other awesome people like Banks from www.upclosegamers.com , what a friendly and happy person. Bakor, Joe and Kharne, the admins themselves, they done an awesome job with the tournaments! Warden, she was in charge of media and was a good laugh. The pros like Demuslim, Whitera, Sase, Grubby and Adelscott, they were all really friendly and I had a blast chilling with them all!Some more photos from the event!!This is when I pretty much jumped on Tails and Ryung!Bakor doing the player briefing for the open tournament!Totalbiscuit with some of my teammates, left is Shodan (GM), then Xivol (masters) and Mark whos management!Me and Sase :DMe and Demuslim!Me and ThorzainThe Warden, she was alittle tired on monday after such an awesome eventAnd I'll have to post a link to this one but this is all the pros at barcraft for MLG!!A friend who couldn't go asked me to get something signed so I took a SC2 case and asked the pros to sign the folded bit!Sigs on there:Lilsusie, Demuslim, Grubby, Sase, Ryung, Bischu, Adelscott, Stephano, Thorzain, Whitera, Tails and DreamLinks and infomation:twitter: www.twitter.com/pughydude twitch: www.twitch.tv/pughydude team www.teamenigma.co.uk Commentator www.twitter.com/pughydude www.twitch.tv/pughydude
India's Law Enforcement Probes Dark Net Markets Officials from India claim to have had their ‘first’ run in with Dark Net Market (DNM) usage. The Hindustantimes just reported on how Indian Anti-Narcotics agencies are focusing in on these new markets and improving their surveillance methods. Also read: OneCoin Event Gets Crashed by Bitcoin Uncensored – Interview India’s Watchdog Probes DNM’s India’s Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) found two illegal drug smuggling syndicates online. The authorities say they are currently monitoring DNM usage within the region. So far, the team has interdicted two groups maintaining illicit activity online in the country. NCB Director General, RR Bhatnagar, stated: For the first time, we have detected drug traffickers using the darknet and Bitcoin for running the illegal drug racket in India. I can tell you that our investigations have shown that some of these operatives are based in the country. We are probing them. Bhatnagar explains that the operations were selling a variety of “party drugs” and that accessing these cryptographic landscapes can be worrisome. However, he adds that the abilities of Indian officials for monitoring such activities have improved. On the same note, the Director says that cross-border heroin traffic has decreased. The agency says its smuggling in Punjab had decreased by 30%. The NCB official adds “Our estimate is that due to effective clampdown by the agencies tasked to check the drugs menace.” Last year all the data recorded for trafficking heroin showed 100% of the smuggling taking place in Punjab. Not the First Time for India Meanwhile, this is not actually the first time authorities in India have run into the DNM operations. Back in August of 2015 two college students from Kumaraswamy were caught using the marketplace Agora. They were caught with LSD, ecstasy, cannabis and mobile phones and said they made the purchases using the deep web. R Ramesh, an officer of the Central Crime Branch, stated the first instance of Indian drug purchasing online at the time, saying: This is the first time we are arresting peddlers who claimed to have bought drugs online. They use special software to access the website, which keeps the identity of both buyer and seller anonymous. Tracing the IP address is also proving to be difficult. All transactions on the website are done through fake profiles, which makes it harder to trace the users. Internationally DNM’s are continuing to rise and it seems law enforcement is taking notice to the activities online. There are DNM’s revealing themselves throughout India’s borders such as the “Amazon of India” marketplace called Indiamart. It seems law enforcement has no problem informing the public they are monitoring the situation with their attempts to continue the failed drug war. Users should use extreme caution and deep anonymity while surfing these websites on the hidden web. At the same time, as Bitcoin grows in popularity throughout the country, DNM’s can be expected to become more prevalent. Will DNM’s also experience a boom in India? Let us know in the comments below! Images courtesy of Pixabay
When designing your company's customer experience—whether you're in retail, food service, hospitality, healthcare, or just about any other field—take a moment to consider this: four out of five US households are not the traditional (if that’s really the right term) mom and dad with [pre-collegiate] kids. Many don't fit this mold at all. They're multigenerational, or grandkids living with grandparents, or parents living with their parents and with their own older, “boomerang” kids—you name it. (In some demographics, extended families are particularly pervasive: while one in six Americans overall live in a multigenerational setup, the percentage is significantly higher for Asian Americans–26%, African Americans–23%, and Hispanic Americans–22%.) Beyond this, even the “traditional” nuclear households are traveling, shopping, and otherwise engaging together to an extent that’s unprecedented in recent commercial history. When designing your customer experience, keep this multigenerational reality in mind. For example: look at your room, facility, and even furniture reconfiguration to make sure they support this multigenerational reality: ensuring that your facility can be flexibly configured for groups of widely varying sizes, and that it's truly accessible for those with mobility issues or other types of partial or complete disability. Of course, these considerations represent only a portion of what it takes to embrace intergenerational hospitality. Success here is about using your creativity and your resources as a hospitality organization to facilitate the connections between generations of customers. In hospitality: The Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company’s Cousteau Society partnership The Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company’s Lisa Holladay, VP for global brand marketing, spoke with me about this recently. The trend toward more and more intergenerational travel is impacting our hotels, not just from a design standpoint but from a programming standpoint as well. It’s one reason we launched expanded kids programming last year, because we saw families moving away from the idea of “I’m going to leave the kids at home,” or “Let’s leave them with grandma and grandpa,” or “Let’s leave them with the nanny,” to an approach of “I want to connect with my kids; I want to spend time with my kids.” Our customer set is so busy that these precious moments of travel are often their best chance to reconnect with each other. We strive to facilitate these connections between our guests. Ritz Kids provides our guests globally with immersive programming that educates, entertains, and hopefully inspires our youngest guests, including content [for families, kids, and teens] created by Jean-Michel Cousteau’s Ocean Futures Society, exclusively for The Ritz-Carlton–a program we designed with Cousteau to be different at every individual property based on what is unique and interesting about that location. In foodservice (F&B—food and beverage): From Ruby Tuesday to Chik-fil-A The opportunities to help the generations connect are at least as strong in food service as they are in lodging. Casual restaurant Ruby Tuesday was a special place in my relationship with my kids when they were younger, and there must be other families with a similar feeling about the chain, because Ruby Tuesday’s embraces this even to the point of custom printing gift cards with your kid’s picture on it. And Chick-fil-A’s “Daddy-Daughter Date Night” is a tradition that resonates with a certain cohort of fathers and daughters. (For more on some of Chick-fil-A's approach with employees and customers, check out Dee Ann Turner's brand new book.) In healthcare: the patient experience and patient satisfaction the Mayo Clinic way Here’s one of my favorite examples of someone in healthcare who is taking pains to accommodate the generations and their desire to come together. Mayo Clinic, the world-renowned hospital and health care organization, provides “destination medicine”—the collaboration of experts from a range of specialties to provide diagnosis and treatment, or a treatment plan, for what are often very serious cases. Because coming to Rochester, Minnesota, (or to another of Mayo’s locations) can be a family affair and because the definition of family has been changing so quickly, Mayo, as Berry and Seltman write, builds out its exam rooms to accommodate large, fluid groups of families and friends, including commissioning specially shaped sofas that work as chairs for one or two visitors or for half a dozen, if needed, depending on the number of loved ones visiting. ***** Regardless of the configuration of your customers' families, regardless of your industry: If you take your role of facilitation and support seriously, if you provide a stage, a backdrop for the relationships of your customer, you can become, and remain, their provider of choice. Micah Solomon is a customer experience consultant, customer service speaker, trainer, and bestselling author.
Pomelo is happy to share this essay about letting kids get a little dirt on their knees written for us by Katie Clark. She is a freelance blogger and writer from the UK (so be sure to read this piece with a British accent). Recently, whilst playing at a local park with my son, I was accosted by a dog-walker. Now, I’m usually quite happy to stop and chat with others out enjoying the fresh air. You learn where to find the freshest frogspawn, the location of a field covered in a blanket of delicious daffodils or sometimes just have a grumble over the weather. But not on this day. For on this day, as on many others actually, my son happened to be climbing a tree. To me, this is one of the joys of childhood. Negotiating a path through the branches to share a view of the world with the birds, perhaps even enjoying a little picnic from your lofty position. But not according to this woman. Apparently, climbing trees is a dangerous and barbaric activity, exposing children to all sorts of dangers. If you want to look at the world from on high, download an app and experience it virtually. Not only will you not get dirt all over your hands, but you won’t risk an injury either. I must admit that my response was a completely involuntarily, yet enormous, snort of derision. Unfortunately though, the sad truth is that so many of us don’t let our children play outside because of the perceived dangers. In fact, almost three times as many children in the UK are admitted to hospital with arms broken attained falling out of bed than those attained falling out of trees. Now, don’t get me wrong. I’m not advocating a world in which we expose our children to unnecessary danger; I’m not suggesting they hang upside down from a branch fifty feet up or anything, but surely we need to prepare our children for the realities of life by allowing them to experience some element of risk. Risk is a fact of life. Outdoor play might not be able to replicate the exact risks our children will need to face in adulthood, but it’s a great arena to practise in. Climbing trees encourages children to test their own limits; to develop problem skills by using trial and error to work out the best approach; it teaches them not to shy away from fear. We need to equip our children with self-reliance and the knowledge that we do bounce back from bumps and bruises. If we don’t, we’re in danger of creating a society too afraid to try anything. What’s that going to do to our economies, I wonder? A study by Play England found that 17% of British children have been banned from playing tag-and-chase because it’s dangerous. 21% aren’t allowed to play with conkers. I’ve taught in several primary schools which have banned games on the playground lest a child should slip or scrape a knee. It’s deemed too risky. Yes, we live in a litigious society and schools must live in terror of being sued by a parent, furious that little Jonny has a paper-cut, but these fears cannot be used to prevent child development. By seeking to over-protect our children, we’re doing them a huge disservice. I recently read an article which illustrates this perfectly. A child in a New Zealand school broke his arm whilst playing outside during break. The child’s father, anxious about the situation, made an appointment to see the principal. Fearing the worst and with visions of lawsuits swimming in front of his eyes, the principal met with the parent. Refreshingly, the parent was not anxious that more children may become injured, but was concerned that his son’s broken arm may lead to a ban on playground games. This is exactly the sort of attitude we need to encourage. Aside from the importance of outdoor play from a character building perspective, we need to give our children opportunities to be free to play without adult direction. So many so-called helicopter parents stifle their children’s creativity and imagination by hovering around them, scrutinising their every move. Soft play areas are a perfect example. Yes, we let our children play freely but we fence them inside a huge box of foam, so what are they actually learning? They’re not experiencing the joy of finding a cave in the rock and pretending it was once used by smugglers. The only cave in a soft play area is made from bouncy plastic and is about as exciting as bedtime. All the hiding places are created by adults; there’s no chance to bury yourself under a mountain of leaves or squeeze through a tiny gap in some bushes. The element of fun and adventure is missing. This video, made by a Vermont film maker, visiting an adventure playground in the UK, demonstrates that we don’t need to give our children all the answers. By giving them the freedom to choose their own games, their own resources and encouraging them to use their own imaginations, we can let them experience the sheer joy of childhood. Yes, it’s terrifying when your child is 30 feet up a tree or swinging across a river on a rope, but that’s what being a parent is about. We instinctively want to protect our children, but we are failing as our duties as parents if we do not allow them to explore the world they live in and prepare them for life. Perhaps it’s time to lighten up a bit.
No, not the S E-Hybrid . For whatever reason, they've gotten rid of the S, even though this is every bit the spiritual successor of the previous hybridized Panamera.Pricing and availability details might take a while, as this is marked as a 2018 model, at least for the US. However, the tech bits have all been revealed ahead of the 2016 Paris Motor Show.The 4th member of the Panamera family packs a punch, as the total system output is a very respectable 462 horsepower. When faced with a long enough stretch of road, it blasts past 100 km/h (62 mph) in 4.6 seconds and on to a top speed of 277 km/h (172 mph).However, at least in theory, it's more economical even than the 4S Diesel , with an impressive fuel consumption of 2.5 l/100km or 94 mpg US (corresponds to only 56 g/km of CO2).As impressive as those numbers are, we are fascinated by what's under the hood. The 4 E-Hybrid uses Porsche's recently unveiled twin-turbo 2.9-liter V6 engine, the same one found in the 4S and expected for the Audi RS4/RS5. However, the output has dropped considerably, to just 330 hp and 332 lb-ft of torque (450 Nm).Between it and the front of the gearbox, there's a single electric motor that adds another 136 hp (100 kW) and 295 pound-feet of torque (400 Nm). Overall, the 4 E-Hybrid offers slightly more power and torque than both its predecessor and the current 4S.Like all the other all-new Panamera models, it's got the 8-speed PDK gearbox and a multi-plate clutch four-wheel drive system. The outgoing S E-Hybrid made due with a 3-liter supercharged engine from Audi and a normal eight-speed torque converter equipped automatic gearbox.As a green car, it's not mind-blowing. The maximum electric driving range of 31 miles (50 km) is average. However, Porsche wanted it to be a Panamera first and a hybrid second. For example, the electric motor reacts from the moment you put your foot on the gas, whereas the pedal needed to be pressed at least 80 percent of the way down to unleash hell on the old car.And get this: if you have the Chrono pack, you can have Sport and Sport Plus driving modes in addition to E-power, Hybrid Auto, E-Hold, and E-Charge. So does that mean it will drift?
1423677177GreatPeacock_McClister_8145_lowres.jpg Great Peacock. (Courtesy David McClister) (David McClister) It's almost like a natural amphitheater. A big open field on an incline, with some pecan trees. The city-owned Huntsville parcel of land, near the intersection of Lowe Avenue and Gallatin Street, is part of the downtown area once home to the Huntsville-Madison County Mental Health Center and has been targeted for a federal courthouse. On June 25, the grassy area will become a concert venue. At least for one summer night. Nashville folk-rock band Great Peacock headlines a 5- 9 p.m. bill that also features local acts The Beasley Brothers and .45 Surprise. Downtown Huntsville organized the free concert, which the development nonprofit organization is calling TwickenJam. "With Twickenham Square almost nearing completion in terms of filling out tenants we thought now would be a good time to celebrate this great project in downtown Huntsville," DHI CEO Chad Emerson says. Since 2014, Twickenham Square has become home to restaurants including Taco Mama, Cajun Steamer, Asian Rim and Mei Wei, as well as a Publix Super Market and Artisan apartments. Great Peacock released their harmony-heavy debut album "Making Ghosts" in May. Music fans into vintage strum (a la Crosby, Stills & Nash) or hirsute-indie (Fleet Foxes) are likely to enjoy this band, anchored by singer-songwriters Andrew Nelson and Blount Floyd. During our 2014 AL.com/Huntsville Times interview, Nelson said for "Making Ghosts" Great Peacock wanted to create music "that would be really easy for people to sing along with in their cars." TwickenJam openers Beasley Brothers specialize in acoustic pop. Earlier this year the group won Que The Music voting earning the band a chance to open for "Dust in the Wind" classic-rockers Kansas at WhistleStop Weekend, the barbecue festival and signature Huntsville event. Outlaw country and bluegrass figure heavily in the music of .45 Surprise, a group whose song titles include "Three Generations of Cain." "We normally have concerts on the square and Big Spring Park," Emerson says. "But we said, 'Let's think of some new locations, indoor and outdoor, where we can have live music,' and this (Lowe Avenue) one jumped to the forefront. We have this great piece of city-owned property which the city has generously allowed us to use it and it's right there (near) Twickenham Square." DHI is known for its hit Street Food Gathering events and food trucks are often part of the organization's programming. However, Twickenham Square restaurants will be the sole food providers at TwickenJam. "Some will have carry-out at the restaurant, some will be on-site," Emerson says. "It's just a short walk to Twickenham Square, where you can also get to-go beverages since this will be inside the entertainment district on a Thursday evening. It's just like regular entertainment district rules: You can't bring your own alcohol. You can purchase it over at Twickenham Square and bring it over to the concert." Listen to Great Peacock's LP "Making Ghosts" below:
KOBE, Japan (JTA) — Like many international smugglers, the one servicing the Jewish community of this port city 300 miles east of Tokyo has perfected his poker face to avoid customs inspections. But unlike other smugglers, the one from Kobe, who spoke to JTA last month on condition of anonymity, carries no cash, drugs or any of the contraband favored by his counterparts. Instead, he brings in kosher meat and, ahead of the Jewish holiday of Sukkot, three of the four species — the plants that Jews use for ritual purposes during the weeklong festival culminating the High Holidays period. “I don’t want to do it, but it’s the only way to make sure we have these items,” said the smuggler, a tall man in his 50s. Like most Jews who pray at the century-old Ohel Shelomoh Synagogue here — the oldest Jewish house of worship in Japan — he arrived from Israel more than 20 years ago after his army service and ended up staying and having children with his local wife. He sources three of the four species that are carried during Sukkot services: the etrog, a lemon-like fruit; the lulav, a frond from a date palm tree; and leaves from the myrtle tree. The fourth, willow, grows in Japan naturally, including in a plot just outside Ohel Shelomoh. The synagogue was renovated and rebuilt in 1970 atop the storage basement where the first Jewish settlers from Eastern Europe used to pray when they arrived in Kobe in the early 1900s. It has local and Jewish decorations, including a wall-to-wall gray carpet for walking shoeless, wood lattice in Japan’s signature shoji style, and the flags of Japan and Israel on either side of the Torah ark. Japan’s Jewish community of 1,000 people is a diverse group of expats – Israelis, Americans and French make up a sizable portion — with active congregations in Tokyo, Kyoto and Kobe. They all have trouble obtaining permits to bring kosher food and organic material to the island nation because of its strict limits on importing plants and animals, as well as quarantine requirements that are designed to limit the spread of invasive species and diseases. But in addition to encouraging some Jews to smuggle in literally forbidden fruit and forcing some observant Jews into a vegetarian lifestyle, the obstacles are also creating interdenominational cooperation between Conservative and Orthodox communities that rarely occurs elsewhere. Shortages in the four species mean that in Japan, the Conservative Jewish community in Tokyo – an affluent group of 110 families that includes many executives from English-speaking countries — get their Sukkot kit from Tokyo’s Rabbi Binyomin Edery, a follower of the late Chabad-Lubavitch rebbe. And they buy kosher meat in consortium together with the Hasidic movement’s chief emissary to Japan, Rabbi Mendi Sudakevich. “The Jewish population here is so small that we have to put aside our divisions,” said Kobe’s rabbi, Shmuel Vishedsky, another Chabad emissary and father of four whose congregation comprises 100 members, including non-Jewish spouses. Vishedsky welcomes the non-Jews in a manner that is rare in Chabad communities and more customary in Reform ones. In another Liberal-like departure, he also allows women, Jewish or otherwise, to sit in the men’s section – all for the sake of adapting to his congregants. “What matters here in Japan and in life generally is to treat everyone with respect,” Vishedsky said. “So that’s what we do.” Moshe Gino, a member of the Kobe Jewish community who grew up in Israel, attends Vishedsky’s synagogue with his Japanese-born wife, Hanna, and their twin 8-year-old daughters. “It was important to me she convert, and then it became important to her,” Gino said. The girls were born after she became a Jew by choice. Others, including Lior Pasternak, 36, who also has two children with his Japanese wife, come alone to shul. He arrived in Japan in the 2000s, during his post-Israeli army travels. “This is the profile of most of the members of this community,” Vishedsky said about the Kobe congregation. “By contrast, in Tokyo you will see more American expats with high-power jobs.” On Simchat Torah, a celebration of the Jewish holy book that comes immediately after Sukkot, Vishedsky throws open the doors of his synagogue, sets up a wet bar inside and hosts an alcohol-soaked feast that lasts well into the morning. “You’ll find people sleeping it off as late as 10 a.m. either in synagogue” or on the building’s large terrace, where Vishedsky and his wife, Batya, each year erect a large sukkah, or temporary hut, that is open to all. This welcoming attitude is helping to draw in locals interested in converting, including Igor Iha, a neuroscience student at Kobe University who was born in Brazil to a family of Japanese descent and came to Japan four years ago. “I looked into Christianity and Islam; it didn’t make sense,” he said. “But everything about Judaism felt right.” Near the end of Yom Kippur, a visibly tired and thirsty Vishedsky welcomed into the synagogue a group of 30 university students who came on a tour as part of their intercultural studies. Slightly afraid to offend, they asked about the religious objects around them and wanted to see a copy of the Talmud, a central Jewish text that commands great respect in the Far East. After they left, Vishedsky watched with an amused expression as the smuggler boasted to a journalist and other congregants about his exploits. “The trick is to mix the forbidden materials with innocuous stuff,” the smuggler explained. “I like to stuff the four species into a bag full of packaged snacks that I bring from Israel — Bamba and Bisli. If I get searched, they see it’s food but they don’t see the plants.” As he spoke on the fast day, the synagogue was filled occasionally with the smell of roasting meat from a nearby restaurant serving the high-quality beef for which Kobe is known internationally. The smuggler recalled being busted with a pack of kosher steaks, but was allowed to pass through anyway when he explained it was kosher food. “There’s some leniency,” he said, “so even if I’m caught, hopefully they’ll just take my stuff away at worst instead of putting me in prison.” Even so, “It’s not easy to get permits to bring stuff in,” confirmed David Kunin, the Conservative rabbi from Tokyo whose congregation, known as the Jewish Community of Japan, sometimes gets the four species via the Israeli Consulate. “There’s a ton of paperwork about it, especially with food.” But the consulate sometimes does not deliver enough of the four species to his congregation. This year, Kunin’s community received the plants from Edery, the Chabad rabbi. The plants, which Edery brings in using a rare permit, arrived in the nick of time for the holiday, which this year starts on Wednesday evening, Oct. 4. Kosher beef is a rare treat here, but chicken is in steady supply for observant Jews thanks to Edery, who brings in shochtim, or ritual slaughterers. He shares the meat with the Conservative congregation. Despite the challenges, belonging to a small but affluent Jewish community has its perks, said Kunin, a Canada-born father of one who four years ago came with his wife to take up the rabbinical position in Tokyo. He misses being part of “a larger and more vibrant community,” he confessed, but finds “immense satisfaction” in guiding his own far-flung parish. Plus, he gets to do it style. Kunin’s congregation is based in a sparkling and tastefully decorated synagogue and community center – a multimillion-dollar structure with large windows and light colors situated in the heart of Tokyo, near the Shibuya station. Donated by a philanthropist who wished to remain anonymous, the building was completed in 2009 and features classrooms where the community’s elementary school-age children are taught Hebrew and Jewish subjects twice a week. The community also has televisions with 60-inch screens and a kitchen with the amenities one usually sees at prestigious restaurants. “A congregation of 110 families, having a building like this, employing a full-time rabbi and having a Jewish school — in most places this would be unheard of,” Kunin said.
148 SHARES Facebook Twitter Around two months ago I decided to become a vegan. This, after several years as a vegetarian before, would seem like a logical and natural step, but in fact, was never something I had considered doing before (or thought I was capable of). I mean….pizza…amirite?? Turns out… I was not right. At least, I did not feel ‘right’. After watching several documentaries and Youtube videos (such as Food Choices, What the Health, Dairy is Scary) and reading more into the dairy and egg industry in particular, I started to slowly view the cheese on my pizza, the yogurt on my fruit, and my scrambled egg on my plate, in a very different, and unpalatable light. A switch had been flipped and I could not un-see things. I needed to make a change to reduce the animal products I was consuming, and become..a vegan [dum dum dummmmmm]. Now, you might be wondering, what the hell does this have to do with me giving up alcohol? I mean, that’s what my blog is about right? Well, yes, and no. At the point that I was making this change to veganism I came across this fantastic article in Hip Sobriety (one of my favourite blogs) on how the decision to go vegan is actually quite similar to the one to give up alcohol. The article talks to the fact that yes there are hard times when becoming vegan, such as when there is no vegan foods available or when you get served a pile of lettuce at a restaurant as a meal, but essentially these are small sacrifices we make in the greater scheme of things, and are very similar to the sacrifices we make when we decide to live an alcohol-free life. Having given up booze around 20 months ago, after reading this article, something in me clicked. I had already done something I never thought I was capable of. All the times where I thought it would be hard – social settings, work settings and dealing with other people’s reactions of my decision, I had gotten through. I had given up alcohol, and not only have I managed, but I have thrived. If I can do this, then surely I could be a vegan. It has now been two months since making this decision, and the parallels between quitting drinking and becoming a vegan have been fascinating. So I thought I’d touch on a few of them here! A Lightbulb Moment Both my decision to stop drinking, and become vegan felt like a lightbulb moment – in which a switch had been flipped, and things became very clear to me, very fast. Binge drinking was causing a lot of harm in my life, it was going against my personal values and goals, affecting my health and my relationships. I never really thought I could stop, nor did I feel this was an option (I mean…like…only alcoholics don’t drink right?). However, one day, I woke up from another god-awful hangover, and I was DONE. The decision to stop drinking happened suddenly. This Naked Mind author Annie Grace terms this ‘spontaneous recovery’. When an individual makes the decision to stop drinking one day, never to return to it, and often without any need for rehabilitation. The same can be said for the moment that I decided to become vegan. I had never genuinely considered this an option before, until, well, I did. The decision process must have happened in a few seconds. Something clicked and the decision was made to reduce my unnecessary harm on animals. I tend to be quite an impulsive person (a big contributor in my binge drinking), but I have also seen how my impulsivity has been a powerful and positive tool in my life – in making gut decisions which I feel are right for me, and acting on them. Sure, these issues were brewing under the surface for a while, I have no doubt, but it has been amazing to watch how these have come into the light, in moments that I have expected them least! The Resistance from Others OK let’s admit it folks. People suck. When you do something that separates you from the crowd – or perhaps challenges other’s opinions, ethics or behaviours, you are going to come up against resistance. Look…don’t get me wrong, I was totally one of those people. I remember the wine memes I used to share in jest, joking away the negativity and destruction that alcohol brought into my life as well as others. The bacon references I used to chuckle at (‘I mean…bacon…right?’), which were used as a retort to every vegan mention or argument despite the death it brought to so many living creatures. Now, having opted out of the drinking and the carnivorous ‘tribe’, I have experienced push back from others in many situations. It’s weird how people feel impelled to interrogate my decisions, or get into moral and ethical debates immediately, and criticize my non-alcoholic beer, or veggie burger at a braai (BBQ). It has been interesting to note, that even after a very short experience of veganism, that the push back I have felt to this feels has been more intense than it was when I gave up alcohol. I am nervous to post my views on social media, or pipe up in debates in the issue of animal rights, as the reaction from others is incredible harsh. I genuinely feel that this is because many people are not ready to confront this truth, or that their ‘switch’ is just not ready to be flipped. This is OK. I was there not so long ago, and now I am choosing to live my truth by example, as opposed to preaching it to others (although this is difficult, especially when being interrogated so often). However, it isn’t all doom and gloom! For every interrogation that comes my way I find that there are many people who have reacted positively to both my decision to stop drinking, and become a vegan. This has often been met with curiosity and enthusiasm in others for making this change for themselves. The Health Benefits We cannot ignore the increasing body of research that has been published on the links between both meat and alcohol and various health risks and diseases associated. Drinking has been shown links to mouth, throat, esophagus, liver, colon and rectum and breast cancer – even in moderate amounts. On the flip side, giving up alcohol often comes with some really great health benefits including clearer skin, weight loss, improved sleep, stabilized moods, reduced blood pressure, prevention and reversal of pre-mature ageing, a healthier liver and generally more energy overall. As far as the consumption of meat goes, this has been linked to various forms of cardiac issues, diabetes, as well as cancers. Countries such as Belgium are waking up to this, and have released a new inverted food triangle with meat and butter at the bottom, with foods such as sugar and alcohol which should be consumed ‘as little as possible’. Some of the health benefits of moving to a vegan diet include weight loss, improved cardiovascular health, stronger nails and hair, improvements in PMS symptoms, higher energy levels, not to mention adding another 5 or 6 years to your lifespan. There are many other sites and centers of research which are emerging, pointing to the health benefits with moving to a plant-based diet – some of which you can find here, and here. Now, whilst my decision to stop drinking and become vegan were not driven primarily for health reasons, looking into the health matters involved in both has been some pretty damn good re-reinforcement for my decisions. Stepping into Conscious Living When I decided to stop drinking, I decided that I was tired of wasting my life away being boozed or hungover. I was tired of ignoring how it was negatively affecting my life, my health, my relationships, the way I allowed myself to be treated, and the way I treated others. I had drank for 14 years, I had drank at most social situation (which is frighteningly ‘normal’ in our society), I had drunk my low confidence away, I drank my feelings away – unable to deal with or process them. I got to such low levels of consciousness, I started to black-out after two or three glasses of wine towards the end. I think it was the only way I could deal with the sense of misalignment I felt in my life. So when I decided to stop drinking, I had made the decision to remain conscious. To be wide awake. To see things as they are, to feel things, to experience who I really was underneath it all, the good and the ugly. Becoming a vegan has been a natural progression of my journey into conscious living, and living an authentic life. I have decided to listen to the voices within, the ones which have been gently telling me I need to do better for myself, and for the lives of animals and for our environment. I have made the decision to wake up to the devastation of animal industry, as well as the destruction this is having on our environment, as well as our health. I know that there is something deeply wrong with how us humans are conducting oursleves on this planet, and I have decided to own this. I know this process will continuously evolve, with levels of consciousness, and awareness opening up as I go. I have no doubt I’ve only just begun to scratch at the surface. New Levels of Creativity Giving up drinking meant I had a lot more time on my hands to fill. Without the brutal hangovers, I suddenly had entire weekends to devote to whatever I wanted to learn and explore, not to mention a lot more money to spend that I’d saved not-drinking, on new hobbies and activities. Bars, and clubs became boring AF, and I started to look for new and stimulating environments and activities to fill up my time. I had to be creative, and step out of my usual routine and comfort zone, which led to me exploring many new passions and hobbies such as brewing my own kombucha, hula hooping, drawing, cooking classes, podcasts, Pilates and meditation,…not to mention starting this blog! It has also meant I explore with new non-alcohol beverages and ‘mocktails’ (which I prefer to term Mojo Juice;) ) which has had me creating delicious new drinks, many of which are often the envy of the party! The same has happened since I have stopped eating animal products. I have been pushed into new and creative ways of cooking, eating and living. My new obsession is creating plant-based meals and desserts that give meat, egg or dairy dishes a run for their money! I also have to get creative at a restaurant, with only a small selection of things to eat. I love trying new vegan restaurants that pop up in my area, or visiting vegan markets on the weekend. I have not only been exposed to new foods, but new ways of living and life, in all respects – from the products we use to clean our houses, the cosmetics we put on our bodies, and the clothes we wear. My experience so far is that not only are there so many alternatives to animal products – but that these alternatives are, in fact, much better and more enjoyable than the former (as well as cheaper when you know where to look). I feel I now eat better meals than I have ever before, and feel totally satisfied with my delicious non-alcoholic drinks. Despite what you might think, deprivation is not something I feel with an alcohol-free or vegan life. The New Black It is no secret that the world is being fast-tracked into more conscious, value-driven, and environmentally-aware ways of living. Living an alcohol-free lifestyle is blowing up globally as many people are deciding to replace tequila shots with wheat grass shots. Online sites such as Hello Sunday Morning, Hip Sobriety and Club Soda are increasing exponentially, as are sober dance movements such as Daybreaker, Morning Gloryville and SUCO Sessions as people start to look for healthier and fun alternatives to drinking. Younger generations are also showing a huge trend in moving away from alcohol and “avoiding boozy nights out because it’s ‘pathetic’ to be drunk and reminds them of their ‘uncool’ parents”, claims a recent poll. [kids these days…gotta’ love ’em!] At the same time veganism is becoming a lot more mainstream, with vegan stalls and restaurants popping up by the minute it seems. Even fast food giants McDonalds have started rolling out a vegan burger recently. Popular public figures are continuously emerging and speaking up on this matter, including those such as James Aspey (also a total babe), Melanie Joy (total babe too, as well as the most bad-ass activists that has existed on this matter, in my opinion) and countless celebrities such as Joaquin Phoenix, Alicia Silverstone and Liam Hemsworth ,Woody Harrelson and Sia, to name but a few. With access to podcasts, blogs, online support groups, documentaries, we are starting to educate ourselves around matters, rejecting mainstream media messaging, and making our own decisions on how we want to live our lives, how we want to treat our bodies, animals and our precious environment with greater care. After all, when we know better – we do better. Never has there been a better time to step into conscious living than it is now. We have all the resources at our finger tips. So yes, my blog is about alcohol-free life, but it is also about everything that has evolved and followed from this decision in my life. The journey has taken me to places I have never imagined I would go. It is about creating a space for honest and authentic living. Most importantly, its about pushing me further and further into living a joyous life that I can be proud of. Who knows, it might give others the courage to others to make these changes too. Are you looking for one-on-one coaching & support to help you quit drinking or address unhealthy behaviour patterns? Book a free 30 minute meet & greet online coaching session with me at www.about.me/andreasmit and let’s start the conversation 🙂 And here are some photos of some delicious foods I have been making, because…I can 🙂
At the Koch brothers’ lavish June retreat, the head of the United Negro College Fund is caught on newly released audio mocking critics of his controversial $25 million “Koch scholars” partnership for depicting it as “mind control,” and explaining how he fought back by winning over African-American radio host Tom Joyner. But first, he had to explain to the overwhelmingly white group of plutocrats who Tom Joyner was. Advertisement: Michael Lomax’s remarks at the Koch network event are unlikely to win over other critics of his decision to take the multimillion-dollar gift, and the strings the Kochs attached to it. The public sector employees union AFSCME ended its own partnership with UNCF, not over the Kochs’ gift itself, but over Lomax’s decision to attend the annual political strategy summit. New audio and transcripts of his panel discussion, obtained by the Undercurrent and provided exclusively to Salon, probably won’t make AFSCME reconsider its decision. Lomax's office did not return calls for comment. Lomax was one of two outside speakers on a panel that was introduced as designed “to educate” network members about how to explain “the dangers of big government as well as the advantages of a free society.” He shared the stage with National Association of Criminal Defense Attorneys director Norman Reimer, whose work on over-criminalization has received Koch funding. The panel was billed as helping the Kochs and their allies “drive the national conversation” – in this case, by partnering with “unlikely allies” to help the unfortunate. It was kicked off by Koch strategist Richard Fink, fresh from a surreal session where he demonized the “collectivist” approach of President Obama and the Democrats as leading to depression, addiction and the Third Reich, and claimed that raising the minimum wage could lead to fascism. Fink bragged that working with the UNCF was part of the Kochs’ new focus on “reaching people that are working hard to add value to people’s lives. That’s exactly what we do …That’s what this group does. This group creates value, OK. The other side creates divisiveness, but we solve problems.” Lomax followed Fink’s attacks on Democrats by lamenting “polarization.” He praised other Republicans and industrialists who, like the Kochs, have supported UNCF over the years, from Prescott Bush to John D. Rockefeller and Eli Lilly. The UNCF president humbly described his group as “not big idea people. We’re not ideological. We’re just trying to move a needle.” Well, look, polarization is something we experience every day (inaudible) just demonstrated again that the nation is deeply divided, and it's not just that people disagree. We demonize the people that we don't agree with. And we think that they’re not just wrong-headed, they're bad. And so, that's a terrible environment to try to get anything done, and it's an almost impossible environment in which to affirm something (inaudible), as opposed to (inaudible). So at the UNCF, we're, we’re not big idea people. We're not ideological. We're just trying to move a needle. And the needle that we've been trying to move for 70 years is getting African-American kids to and through college. We started doing that at the end of World War II in 1944. We couldn't do it by ourselves. And we worked with business leadership in this country, John D. Rockefeller (Inaudible) our first campaign with $750,000 in 1944. And over the 70 intervening years, we've raised $4 billion (inaudible). (Applause.) Prescott Bush was on that first committee. You know, Eli Lilly was alive and well. (Inaudible) and Paul Mellon, a whole a lot of wonderful people wrote checks, but they did it in order to help people help themselves. And today all we want to do is we want to give more college-ready high school graduates a chance to earn a college degree and live their life. And so, I'm here working with, in this partnership, because this is what we've been doing for 70 years, and we've got to do a whole lot more. More than once Lomax joked affectionately with “Charles” Koch about their partnership. He mocked critics who were uncomfortable with the UNCF producing “Koch scholars” as somehow promoting “mind control,” and defended its focus on free market economics. Nobody can say the Kochs and their friends "don’t know anything about running a business,” he said, and the program might help students get jobs at “great companies like Koch Industries:” Advertisement: One of the criticisms we got from this was – mind control. (Laughter.) They have not met the kids – I can’t control my own kids. (Laughter.) What I will tell you is that students want the opportunity to pursue their academics without worrying about how they're going to pay. And this is going to give good students the chance to focus what they need to focus on (inaudible). We’re going to focus on two areas that they're going to work on across institutions and in the network, and that is entrepreneurship and innovation. And the only thing I will tell you that African-American kids want more than a college degree is a successful career, and many of them want to work for great companies like Koch Industries and a whole lot of them want to start there. And so, I think that the one thing that we're not hearing is that these folks don't know anything about running a business. And so, we're expecting that our students are going to [get] a chance to learn from their successes. Norman Reimer likewise thanked the Kochs for their “investment” in his work, and described working across ideological lines on issues of over-criminalization, including co-authoring a report with former Attorney General (and Koch-funded architect of the government shutdown) Edwin Meese. To be fair, the bipartisan work on criminal justice issues that Reimer described is genuinely robust and potentially important. But it was the UNCF partnership that Koch Industries communications director Steve Lombardo singled out in his remarks about success stories. Lombardo explained that he and Lomax “stuck to our message,” which he said resulted in a respectful, widely republished AP story and a mostly positive social media response: In that case it was very easy to promote our conversation because we stuck to a positive message. And, you know, a lot of times Michael handled a lot of very difficult questions along the way, but we have a message discipline, and I think that was clear. And, look, ultimately, the, uh, proof is in the pudding. We ended up with this AP story that Michael did an interview with. It was a terrific story, it was picked up by 30 media outlets across the country. And over a week's period we had a little over 15,000 social media messages. Most of them were on Twitter. And of those, 87 percent were positive. So kudos to Michael and the team, they did a great job. Asked about big lessons from the partnership with the Kochs, Lomax shared his experience on "The Tom Joyner Morning Show." Well, I would say, first of all, that we survived this week, the announcement of this partnership. I wasn't sure – (Laughter.) ....When I went on the Tom Joyner Morning Show -- I know you all probably don’t (know who) Tom Joyner (is) (inaudible). And he is noted for black radio in the morning drive time, and gave me a hard time about it. And finally Tom Joyner said, “You know, do good. Do good.” And he said, “You know, I'm fine with it.” In closing remarks, Lomax shared more lessons of his experience defending what he called his “courageous” partnership with the Kochs: Advertisement: I think we have three things that we've got to do: we can’t do something (inaudible) and assume the attacks won’t continue, so I think we’ve got to remain vigilant and tell our story of this partnership consistently and accurately. And number two, UNCF has got to keep reminding all Americans of our mission. For 40 years we've been telling folks, "A Mind is a Terrible Thing to Waste." It still is -- we’ve added something to that -- "A Mind is a Terrible Thing to Waste, But a Wonderful Thing to Invest In,” and we need more investment. And I think it's real important that over the next 12 to 24 months that we demonstrate to America that this courageous partnership between Koch Industries, and Charles Koch Foundation, and UNCF has been good for America and that it’s wound up (inaudible) of investing in our kids and building a better future for them (inaudible). Lomax’s remarks aren’t likely to convince critics of the UNCF-Koch partnership. As more audio and transcripts from the retreat are released, it’s clear that the Kochs’ gift is being promoted as a way to sell their far-right agenda to the “middle third” of the country that hasn’t made a firm choice between the Koch freedom agenda and the Democrats’ plan to spread addiction, depression and fascism. It’s also hard to square Lomax’s insistence that the Kochs are friends to African-Americans with the brothers’ well-known funding of voter suppression and union-busting efforts. “The Koch brothers want a government-free society,” AFSCME president Lee Saunders, who is African-American, told me in July. “Public service has enabled African-Americans to move into the middle class, but the Kochs are trying to dismantle that.” Decimating the public sector while contributing $25 million to create “Koch scholars” doesn't seem like a fair trade.
PIKE COUNTY – New Yorkers and New Jersians have long known the heavily forested towns around the Pocono Mountains as a summer playground. But after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, a flood of weary city-dwellers wanted quieter lives year-round, and they found comfortable lakeside homes in rural Pennsylvania for a fraction of the cost of cramped quarters 70 miles away in lower Manhattan. The influx continued until construction finally slowed a few years ago, around the time of the economic recession, recalled Milford resident John Longendorfer, an 84-year-old gallery owner. Mary Lister said she left crime and noise in New Jersey to move out into the dark woods of Hawley, and the Friday night ambush of a state police barracks about 10 miles from her new home doesn't change her feelings about the place where she found sanctuary. "It's just a reminder that things can happen anywhere," she said. "Things happen every day in New Jersey." Police on Sunday continued their search for the unidentified person or people who shot and killed one trooper and wounded a second at the Blooming Grove barracks along Route 402. Police established a checkpoint along the winding mountain road in front of the barracks, stopping every car to ask questions including whether they had traveled the road Friday night. Crews searched the forest near the barracks on foot as a police helicopter passed overhead. "It's scary," said Joyce Morris, who moved from Long Island and into her home on McConnell Lake about eight years ago. "Years ago, there was nothing like this." With a lack of new information coming from police, residents are creating their own theories about how and why this happened, she said. People have gossiped about a vendetta against the police, she said, but she believes the killer was probably either a mentally ill person or a person with a drug problem. There aren't enough local social services to help people with mental health issues, homelessness, and other problems, she said. Several residents said there's a heroin epidemic in the area, and Morris said she's particularly concerned about young people who get bored in a place where one has to drive about 30 minutes to find a bowling alley, she said. "We just got our first movie theater three or four years ago," she said. Before the theater came, people had to drive about 45 minutes to theaters in Scranton, she said.
Researchers working off the Shimokita Peninsula in Japan have discovered living microbes buried 8,000 feet below the seabed, a new record. And because they resemble those found in forest soils, these organisms likely survived for tens of millions of years after being buried under the seabed. “Microbial life inhabits deeply buried marine sediments, but the extent of this vast ecosystem remains poorly constrained,” write the researchers in the abstract of their new study, which now appears at the journal Science. “Here we provide evidence for the existence of microbial communities in ~40° to 60°C [~104 to 140°F] sediment associated with lignite coal beds at ~1.5 to 2.5 km [~0.93 to 155 miles] below the seafloor in the Pacific Ocean off Japan.” Advertisement Microbes have never been discovered at depths this deep, where the pressure and heat are intense. Prior to this investigation, the previous record was 1,922 meters (6,305 feet). After pulling up samples with drills—and ensuring contamination didn’t happen—the microbes were put through a genetic analysis. Researchers from the Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology in Yokosuka, along with help from biogeochemists at the University of Bremen in Germany, found that a cubic centimeter of sediment contained about 10 to 10,000 microbial cells, which isn’t a whole lot. Typically, a soil sample contains billions of microorganisms. There’s obviously preciously little life at these depths—but there’s life nonetheless. As a researcher not involved with the study noted, “It’s like going to to Pluto and seeing McDonald’s.” Advertisement A report from AAAS Science explains more: To find out more about what the microbes in the cores are like, the scientists compared their gene sequences with gene sequences of microorganisms living in other habitats. The microbial groups from far below the ocean floor differed from those in shallower layers. To the researchers’ surprise, the deep-sea microbes were more similar to modern microbes that live in forest soil. Thus the types of microbes that lived in the habitat 20 million years ago had a big influence on what microbes live there now... It is possible that the microbes the team found are the descendants of terrestrial microorganisms that adapted to life under the sea as their home sank below the surface. But it’s also possible that these microorganisms are the same cells that were alive when the habitat began to sink, meaning they are more than 20 million years old. “We don’t know exactly the turnover rate of cells” in this environment, [co-author Fumio] Inagaki says. Advertisement Indeed, these organisms could provide a glimpse of what terrestrial life was like tens of millions of years ago. The microbes, which were found on a coal-bed below the seafloor, likely survived by extracting energy from coal and hydrogen. Their metabolisms may be running at very low levels, but they’re alive and well—even after their original environment was pushed underground more than 20 million years ago. Much more at AAAS Science Magazine. And check out the entire study at Science: “Exploring deep microbial life in coal-bearing sediment down to ~2.5 km below the ocean floor”. Contact the author at george@io9.com and @dvorsky. Top image by JAMSTEC/Hiroyuki Imachi.
Donald Trump addresses his supporters during a rally at the Indiana Farmers Coliseum on Wednesday in Indianapolis, Ind. (Ricky Carioti/The Washington Post via Getty Images) They're taking baby steps, often coming around begrudgingly and certainly not in any unified front. But longtime mainstream Republicans are slowly warming to accepting Donald Trump as their presidential nominee – the latest indication of the New York City real estate mogul's prevailing position in the GOP primary race. No, Trump has not earned the flood of establishment-aligned endorsements a typical front-runner in his position would have garnered by now, and skeptics and holdouts remain. He still only boasts the endorsement of a single U.S senator and a trio of governors, the smallest list of the three remaining Republicans in the 2016 contest. Yet over the last two weeks – which have featured his shattering 35-point victory in New York and his rout of five Northeastern states on Tuesday – Trump gradually has picked up praise, appreciation and even full-throated backing from key players in the much-maligned but still powerful establishment wing of the party. "The movement I see is politically aware folks seeing his nomination more and more likely," says Grover Norquist, president of the conservative Washington-based group Americans For Tax Reform. "People are now looking for reasons to be accepting of his nomination." With only 10 primary contests remaining and Texas Sen. Ted Cruz and Ohio Gov. John Kasich both mathematically unable to attain the necessary delegates to win the nomination outright, the gravitation toward Trump equates to less of a full, tight embrace than a limp arm patting him on the back. But sentiment is still moving his way. Following Trump's "America First" foreign policy speech this week, Tennessee Sen. Bob Corker, chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, barnstormed cable news to herald Trump for challenging the Washington establishment on global affairs. "I thought it marked a big transition in this campaign. And I actually thought the speech was a very good speech," Corker said Thursday on MSNBC. Back in March, Ron Kaufman, a key adviser to Mitt Romney's 2012 presidential bid and a Republican National Committeeman from Massachusetts, was championing a contested national convention to dislodge Trump. "If that's the only way to stop Trump, it makes sense," he told The Associated Press. Now, eight weeks later, Kaufman is comparing Trump to former President Ronald Reagan, dubbing him "an eastern populist " and all but declaring him the nominee. Many in the Republican donor community also have quietly resigned themselves to Trump as their standard-bearer, for better or for worse, especially after his series of emphatic wins on Tuesday. Since then, their reluctance to take part in any further anti-Trump efforts has only hardened. "The anti-Trump stuff has failed. It's run its course. It won't be able to raise any more money," says one veteran GOP donor who fundraised for one of Trump's former rivals. "The donor community recognizes Trump's going to be the nominee. They're not getting on board with Trump, but they're not in denial." And on Wednesday, Florida Gov. Rick Scott, who endorsed Trump last month, took to Facebook to call for an end to the "Stop Trump" movement. "Donald Trump is going to be our nominee, and he is going to be on the ballot as the Republican candidate for president," Scott wrote. "We've had an extensive debate amongst ourselves, it is now time to get serious about winning in November. This was a hard-fought campaign, but now is the time for Republicans to unite." Yet even with the growing gravitation toward Trump by GOP elites, it's apparent that much of his newfound favor is aided by a biting and pervasive distaste for Cruz. Despite being the most viable alternative to Trump, Cruz still has just four Senate endorsements – including more than one that lacked full-fledged enthusiasm . South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham, who is now helping Cruz, previously dubbed him an "opportunist" and said the Texas senator could lead to the party's downfall. Cruz's failure to lock down a flurry of significant endorsements – including those of his former rivals, Sens. Marco Rubio of Florida and Rand Paul of Texas – since his last primary victory in Wisconsin underscores his unpopularity within the party. Reinforcing that problem, former House Speaker John Boehner set off a firestorm Thursday when a college newspaper published remarks of him calling Cruz "Lucifer in the flesh." Boehner also shared that he has become golfing and texting buddies with Trump and indicated he expected to vote for the former reality television star as his party's nominee. "There are a lot of people that think Cruz has a less chance of getting elected than Trump and there's a lot of people that don't like Cruz and think the more the public sees of him, the less they will like him," says a prominent GOP powerbroker and attorney, who asked for anonymity in exchange for candor about the candidates. Haley Barbour, the former Mississippi governor and past chairman of the Republican National Committee, adds that there are two discernibly growing groups in GOP leadership circles: those who are open to Trump, and those who are still working through the process. "There some people reconciling themselves that Trump will get the majority and have the intention of supporting the nominee against Hillary Clinton, and are working through, 'How do I go about doing this?' Barbour says. "There are others who say, 'He's not there yet' – which he isn't – 'I worry he can't win, I have no idea what he would do if he were president.' This group would say, 'I'm not going to get in yet.'" Trump's team is already prepping an aggressive push to twist arms on Capitol Hill, something that conceivably will be easier if he's able to knock Cruz off in Indiana on Tuesday. The combination of steady congressional wooing along with a stream of additional policy speeches is designed to make institutional Republicans comfortable with Trump, and to signal that he has more in common with them substantively than they might realize. But as the Trump campaign must know, their candidate's most persuasive establishment lure is the millions of voters who have cast ballots for him. Two days after Trump stomped through Pennsylvania with a 35-point victory, he announced the endorsement of Rep. Bill Shuster, the chairman of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, one of two congressional endorsements he netted Thursday. In a release, Shuster highlighted Trump's private sector business acumen and passion for economic development. But first, he noted that Trump accomplished something his rivals had not, which was win the congressman's home district. "The people of the 9th Congressional District, the commonwealth of Pennsylvania, and states across the nation have made their voices heard," Shuster said. "And I join them in supporting Donald Trump for president."
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The American Petroleum Institute SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- With crude oil costs in free fall, due to worries about oversupply, the biggest beneficiaries have been consumers shelling out far less for gasoline than they were just six months ago. However, consumers shouldn’t get too comfortable with lower prices at the pump. The amazing decline in gasoline prices has politicians eyeing state motor fuel tax increases as a way to shore up budgets and fund much-needed repairs to crumbling infrastructure like roads, bridges and tunnels. State and federal taxes made up 20% or more of the cost of a gallon of gas in 10 states, as of Monday, based on data from the AAA and the American Petroleum Institute. That represents a rising share, given oil’s spectacular fall. New York, California and Indiana lead with taxes making up 22% of the cost of a gallon in each state, based on Monday’s prices. The cheaper gas has emboldened government officials to consider jacking up gas taxes. The Federal excise tax, which hasn’t changed in nearly two decades, is 18.4 cents a gallon. Combined state excise and other taxes vary from a low of 12.4 cents a gallon in Alaska, to a high of 50.025 cents a gallon in New York, based on recent API data. The attached chart of U.S. gasoline taxes illustrates this. Five states charge at least 40 cents a gallon: New York, California, Hawaii, Connecticut and Pennsylvania. Nine states charge less than 20 cents a gallon, led by Alaska, 12.4 cents; New Jersey, 14.5 cents, and South Carolina, 16.75 cents, according to API data. Even Mississippi and Texas charge more. The pressure to increase gas taxes is being felt in states like Michigan, where Gov. Rick Snyder is hoping to raise more than $1 billion through a gas-tax hike, according to a recent NPR report. One big risk in dialing up raising gas taxes now, at least for consumers, is that oil prices eventual snap back to triple-digit levels. Then, average Americans will be doubly whacked. Providing critical information for the U.S. trading day. Subscribe to MarketWatch's free Need to Know newsletter. Sign up here.
Since my last name isn't Hilton, Trump, or Rockefeller, I won't be treating myself to any of these upscale handsets. Yet, these luxury phones will certainly find a home. Let's break down the latest ridiculous offerings: 1) Samsung Ego GT-S9402 - Given the derivative design (Vertu's Ferrari Ascent Ti came first), the Ego should be docked some originality points. What will your $1,500+ get you? A 5 megapixel camera with LED flash, Bluetooth 2.0, a microSDHC expansion slot, tri-band GSM connectivity, dual SIM slots, and an FM radio module. The Ego lacks a 3G radio, which is almost as lame as the measly 1GB storage. 2) Bellperre Silver and Gold collection - Bellperre lets you choose from 100 exotic leathers such as crocodile, shark, lizard, and buffalo (um, does PETA know about this?) to customize this phone. In addition to precious gemstones affixed to the handset, you also get tri-band support, a 2-inch TFT display of sapphire crystal, Bluetooth (stereo), an MP3 player, Windows Mobile OS, IM, e-mail, and a camera with camcorder. I couldn't find any information on pricing, but believe me when I say I'd rather use a payphone than pull a pink crocodile rose gold handset out of my purse. 3) Mobiado Professional 105GMT Gold - I'm wondering what about this phone says "professional." This unfortunate handset looks like it belongs in a blinged-out music video, not a boardroom. Its CNC-machined frame is crafted from sapphire crystal and ebony wood and dipped in 24-carat gold, with two mechanical, self-winding Swiss watches below the keypad for God-only-knows why. And the specs? You get a 2-inch 320-by-240 res display, a 2-megapixel camera, a quad-band GSM radio, Bluetooth, a Discovery watch mechanism, optional diamonds, and again, 1GB of built-in memory. That hardly justifies whatever the made-to-order price is. And oh yeah, only 50 of them will be made. 4) Vertu Boucheron 150 - Yeah, I could have picked on the Ferrari Ascent Ti, but this phone desperately wants attention, and I'm going to oblige. This handset is so ugly, I cringed. The price includes the hideous wood packing box that this clunky, awkward handset arrives in. This "solid gold" catastrophe is meant to celebrate the 150th anniversary of the Boucheron jewelry house, took a total of 2,200 man hours to create, and costs more than your kid's teacher probably made last year ($30,000). 5) Gresso's Avantgarde Skeleton - This collection is rather limited: Only fifteen of these will be made, and that's probably a wise choice. Again, you get crystal sapphire glass (for the transparent back panel and for the 240 x 320 display), Bluetooth 1.2, a titanium alloy case, a battery case of stainless steel, and a leather cover with magnet release. The back of this phone has the Gresso logo covered with 10 micron gold, and it runs Windows Mobile 6.0. And the price? Steep like Mount Everest: $5,000. This story, "Meet the $30,000 Cell Phone" was originally published by InfoWorld .
February 29, 2016 Javier Eguiluz Transient tests are those which fail randomly depending on spurious and external circumstances, such as the underlying system load. These tests are very risky because they make your test suite unreliable. Tests that deal with time-related functions are one of the most common transient tests. Consider for example the following test: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 use Symfony\Component\Stopwatch\Stopwatch ; class MyTest extends \PHPUnit_Framework_TestCase { public function testSomething () { $stopwatch = new Stopwatch (); $stopwatch -> start ( 'event' ); sleep ( 10 ); $duration = $stopwatch -> stop () -> getDuration (); $this -> assertEquals ( 10 , $duration ); } } This code is so simple that it seems impossible to fail. However, depending on the load of the server, the $duration could be for example 10.00000023 and the test would fail for no apparent reason. This kind of errors happen frequently when using public continuous integration services like Travis CI. We even have a long-running issue to hunt all these transient tests.
James Varney is a staff writer for American Media Institute based in New Orleans. He was a member of the Times-Picayune reporting team that won 2006 Pulitzer Prizes for deadline reporting and public service for its coverage of Hurricane Katrina. Democrats seeking the White House can usually count on cash donations from some of the same journalists who cover them—though the journalists themselves are not necessarily aware of this conflict of interest and their participation in it is rarely disclosed by their news organizations. The donations occur through the 700,000-member Communications Workers of America—the umbrella union for guild journalists at the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, the Washington Post and other papers, as well as for many TV and communications workers. The CWA has been one of Bernie Sanders’ biggest contributors throughout his Washington career, records show. In December, following a vote by its members, the union endorsed the avowed socialist in his contest with Hillary Clinton for the Democratic presidential nomination. Story Continued Below The dues the union collects from its members have bankrolled other Democrats such as Nancy Pelosi, James Clyburn, Keith Ellison and Steny Hoyer in the House, and Elizabeth Warren as well as Sanders in the Senate. Since 2008, the union, which gives 97 percent of its money to Democrats, has contributed more than $8.7 million to federal candidates, according to OpenSecrets, a nonpartisan aggregator of political spending. While the union has logged $13,500 in contributions to Sanders so far in the current campaign, it is hedging its bets, giving his primary opponent Clinton $15,000, a figure observers expect to increase if, as expected, she wins the Democratic nomination. Clinton has garnered more union endorsements than Sanders, but the CWA, which claims “700,000 members in private and public sector employment,” is thus far the biggest union to throw its support behind the senator from Vermont. The CWA’s endorsement had been anticipated after the union’s president, Larry Cohen, left his post and joined the Sanders campaign as a top adviser last July, a move noted in some left-leaning outlets without mentioning the CWA tie to mainstream journalists. Just how many print or television journalists voted to endorse Sanders (or any other candidate) is not clear because the CWA did not release the results of its electronic voting. (Journalists make up a minority of its membership, which includes workers ranging from telecom to law enforcement.) The union said its endorsement process included “hundreds of worksite meetings and an online vote by tens of thousands of CWA members.” Bernie Lunzer, president of the Newspaper Guild of America and a CWA board member as a sector vice president, said that, to his knowledge, none of those “worksite meetings” took place in a newsroom. Nonetheless, as a result of that vote, “CWA members have made a clear choice and a bold stand in endorsing Bernie Sanders for president,” CWA president Chris Shelton announced. Such practices are troubling to some media watchdogs and journalists. Unionized reporters and unionized non-management editors cover issues of enormous significance for labor, including free trade, health-insurance reform and campaign finance, which often involves unions' use of member dues for political activities. While this coverage does not necessarily translate into bias, “it’s a real problem for those who cover politics,” said Fred Brown, a co-chair of the Society of Professional Journalists’ ethics committee. Brown spent decades writing about politics for the Denver Post and said he was never comfortable with the idea of press union endorsements. He described himself as “incensed” when the union to which he belonged in 1972—which later merged with the Communications Workers of America—endorsed Democrat George McGovern for president. “I felt it only confirmed the impression the public has about the media, that they were unbelievably liberal,” Brown said. “I’m pretty liberal myself, and I voted for McGovern, but I did not like the idea of a union that represented reporters saying we are endorsing a particular candidate. That just does not work for me with the idea of a reporter keeping a distance and at least trying to live up to the idea we should be impartial.” Newspaper Guild president Lunzer said he sought to put some daylight between local newspaper guilds and the CWA’s Sanders endorsement. For example, he said, he deliberately avoided the CWA photo-op for Sanders when the union made its announcement. And, although the union’s news release said Sanders had the “unanimous” support of the board, Lunzer said he “publicly abstained on behalf of our members who would feel there was a conflict of interest.” True, the news media comprise only a fraction of CWA’s overall membership, which includes workers in “telecommunications and information technology, the airline industry, education, health care and public service, law enforcement, manufacturing” and other fields, including the “news media, broadcast and cable television,” according to its own description. The various newspaper guilds represent about 34,000 workers, and not all of them are in newsrooms. The broadcasting arm of the union, NABET, claims to represent another 10,000 workers, a figure that includes writers but not on-air talent, according to the union. Nevertheless, many of those who commonly critique the press and are vocal critics of so-called “dark money” in politics seemed blasé about the connection between American journalists and their active, overtly political union. Jim Warren, chief media writer at the Poynter Institute, has written about the big-money issue. When asked to comment about the possible conflicts between union membership and journalism, however, Warren demurred, emailing: “Just not sure what I would have to say. At this point, don’t have a factual basis upon which to articulate any opinion.” Other critics, however—especially conservative ones—say reporters need to be more open about their union ties. “This is a longstanding problem and something of a scandal,” said Steve Allen, who edits Labor Watch for the Capital Research Center, a conservative think tank in Washington. “You often have various reporters who are members of various guilds and they would take a position and the readers are not informed of it. It’s a relationship that’s been going on for years, and no one has called them on it.” The CWA makes no secret of its aggressive stances on major news issues of the day. The website of the CWA’s Washington headquarters features an “Act Now” section with a menu of familiar left-wing topics. The CWA backs a $15-an-hour minimum wage and is opposed to the Trans-Pacific Partnership that President Barack Obama recently finished negotiating in California, just as it opposes most major trade deals. It favors imposing the so-called Wall Street speculation tax. The CWA abhors “Wall Street and big banks,” writing in fiery language: “We’re angry. Wall Street and the big banks are devouring this country’s wealth—feasting on our jobs, our benefits and our pensions.” The phrases included in CWA news releases and the like closely resemble the rhetoric of the Sanders campaign. In 2013, the CWA boasted of the role it played in getting then-Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.), to trigger the “nuclear option,” thereby making it easier for Obama’s nominees for federal district and appeals courts to be confirmed. The CWA was also a vociferous supporter of the Occupy Wall Street movement, which drew widely sympathetic coverage in the press when it burst onto the downtown Manhattan scene in 2011. The national guild’s website and publication, which are more overtly political and liberal than those of local chapters, used columns from New York Times columnist Paul Krugman and other pieces to bolster the Occupiers’ case. *** The CWA’s financial influence is formidable by any standard, but not as well publicized as the contributions of other big players in the political money game. According to one widely accepted measure, the union’s spending surpasses that of Koch Industries, which is owned by the billionaire political financiers much reviled by the American left and often portrayed negatively in the media. According to totals tallied by Open Secrets, since 1990 the CWA has spent a total of $44.2 million, of which $43.8 million went to Democrats or liberal causes such as opposition to the Trans-Pacific trade agreement and broader targets such as “Wall Street and the big banks.” That figure dwarfs the $29.5 million spent by Koch Industries on conservative and libertarian candidates and issues. The two rank 22nd and 49th, respectively, among top contributors in that period, although both the Kochs and unions have wider networks of spending and like-minded contributors.
In a long Facebook post late Monday night titled "Donald Trump Donald John TrumpHouse committee believes it has evidence Trump requested putting ally in charge of Cohen probe: report Vietnamese airline takes steps to open flights to US on sidelines of Trump-Kim summit Manafort's attorneys say he should get less than 10 years in prison MORE Is Gonna' Get Us Killed," film director Michael Moore said he believes the president-elect will hurt the U.S. by paying too much attention to twitter feuds and ignoring intelligence briefings. The liberal documentarian attacked Trump for blowing off a majority of his presidential intelligence briefings, saying the real estate mogul was too distracted by attacking his critics, such as "Saturday Night Live." "When the next terrorist attack happens — and it will happen, we all know that — and after the tragedy is over, amidst the death and destruction that might have been prevented, you will see Donald Trump acting quickly to blame everyone but himself," Moore said. ADVERTISEMENT "When this next terrorist attack takes place, it is YOU who will be charged by the American people with a gross dereliction of duty. It was YOUR job to pay attention, to protect the country. But you were too busy tweeting and defending Putin and appointing cabinet members to dismantle the government," he added. "While the plot to kill Americans was being hatched, your time was consumed by whom you saw as the real threat to America: Alec Baldwin in a wig." Trump told Fox News on Sunday regarding the highly classified daily briefings that he didn't need "to be told the same thing in the same words every single day for the next eight years. Could be eight years — but eight years. I don't need that." The president-elect has been a big critic of "SNL" since the election, specifically targeting Baldwin for his Trump impression. Earlier this month, Trump called the show "unwatchable." Moore correctly predicted that Trump would win the presidential election and has made a series of predictions about his presidency since, including that Trump won't finish his first term. Read his full post below:
Like every AFL player and coach who are required to slog it out through the hot summer months each off-season, a football supporter too requires significant preparation across the pre-season to be ready for a big year ahead. It’s a fine balance for any fan throughout pre-season to ensure they can provide strong support for not only the initial home-and-away rounds, but consistently for the entire campaign. An appropriate balance in football content consumed and time away from the game needs to be found in order to improve the efforts of seasons gone by. Having too little pre-season preparation could spell disaster for a supporter, like any player, leaving them critically underprepared for the trials and tribulations that come with barracking for a full AFL campaign. Facebook Twitter Whatsapp Reddit Email Share Results of a lack of off-season work may be missing the news of a key injury that may ruin a player’s season and subsequently your fantasy side, or not knowing that fans can bring outside food into Etihad Stadium this year, resulting in one forking out $43.90 for two lukewarm Four’n’Twenty pies and a bottle of 300ml water. On the contrary, too much football in the summer can turn even the most diehard and strongest of football brains from a nicely inflated Sherrin, to a flat and water logged Burley by about Round 8. Tactics that will no doubt result in such burnout include watching Fox Footy at any stage between October and March in order to relive every game (eight times over) and every episode of Ed and Derm from the previous season (like anyone needs to see that again). For any fans though, a routine encompassing a moderate intake of the football news in the papers, club websites and the occasional watching of replays from 1997, along with general discussion of the upcoming season, should allow a football supporter to be ready for a big season. So as pre-seasons around the league begin to step up a gear, I decided the bar needed to be raised in my own off-season and as a result, a trip to Essendon’s True Value Solar Centre to attend Friday’s main training session was made. It’s the time of year where players everywhere are flying. That guy who plays halfback in the reserves is setting personal bests in his 75-metre freestyle and pushing for Round 1 selection. New recruits previously delisted from other clubs are suddenly ‘bargains’ or ‘impact players’ and the star player your club traded away was ‘never much good anyway’. It’s a glorious time for blind hope and biased optimism that fuels membership drives, before it quickly dissipates once the first ball is kicked in anger come Round 1, especially if it sails through opposition goal posts. Advertisement Advertisement Personally attending Essendon training seemed like a no lose situation. It may be the last time to see all the players on the same field for a while, and if I showed enough skill in marking the ball that flies into the crowd, I might be a chance to pull on a guernsey in the NAB Challenge. Ultimately though, the attendance was about fine-tuning skills ahead of season 2015. Communication in the event of coming across an AFL player is one delicate skill for a fan to work on over pre-season. A supporter weaker in this department might fire a greeting or question by saying ‘G’day Selwood’ or ‘Hey Cotchin will you play Round 1?’. An elite communicator is able to impart a sense of sameness through their dealings with players, to evoke a notion suggesting that they either know the player in question, or are on the same societal standing as said player. This is an art perfected over many years of experience, and involves using ‘mate’ or a nickname when addressing a player, in order to pretend you are equally as respected in society and therefore the player should give you added attention compared to the toothless middle-aged man alongside you calling him by his last name. Though an uncharacteristic clanger was made early in my session at Essendon, incorrectly calling out young Bomber Kurt Aylett as injured swingman Jake Carlisle as he ran by, asking “how ya tracking Jakey?”. Here lies an example of the benefits of a solid pre-season – this mistake won’t be made again. Concentration while watching the game is another significant attribute for any supporter to train, with games seemingly becoming increasingly frustrating and boring thanks to everyone’s favourite trend of 36 players and a few overzealous umpires cramped into a minute pocket of the outer wing. What better way to enhance preparation for viewing such spectacles than to sit through a skills sessions lasting almost three hours in 30-degree heat with no shade or water? This was my equivalent of the club’s current trend of heat training, leading to a sensationally painful session, but one that would no doubt ready any football fan for an exciting season full of rolling mauls, backwards passing and ducking free kicks. The dry heat also aided in improving another skill, which is important for players and supporters alike – mental toughness. Nail biting losses, huge defeats, going to work or school on a Monday after a Supercoach loss, forgetting to put your tips in or a Mick Malthouse press conference are just some of the rigours fans face in an AFL season, and as a result a supporter needs to duly prepare to cope with such adversities. Advertisement Advertisement Training for this can be uncomfortable, but necessary, and may involve subjecting yourself to experiences that evoke anger, frustration or pain in a supporter, such as reading a Caroline Wilson article for an Essendon supporter, watching Buddy Franklin highlights for a Richmond supporter or relieving the sacking of Norm Smith while sipping a 1965 Penfolds Grange for a Melbourne supporter. As dehydration and sun burn set in after an hour of viewing training, James Hird called out, “half way through boys keep pushing”. This was the moment often described by players as one where you want to give in, but it’s pushing through which builds character in a fan ahead of the real stuff. Though instead of burning lungs from strenuous running, it was burning skin from strenuous lying on the hill and watching. The supporter’s pre-season, from the membership renewals, to keeping up with footy websites. From going to watch training, and to the regular thoughts of the ultimate glory. These are to a footy tragic what two-kilometre time trials, team meetings, intra club matches and that same dream of a flag are to the stars. To both parties it’s all about best readying for the joy, pain and chance at being a part of something special in 2015. And if that’s not the year, we’ll do it all again this time next year. How do you keep yourself busy and in tune for footy season over the summer months? Let us know any pre-season rituals in the comments.
By Kelsey McKinney Mark Burnett stands in the middle of a wilderness. Trees grow around him. He makes eye contact with the camera, and as it begins to pull back, Burnett begins to talk about his new show. As the executive producer of Survivor, Burnett was already famous for the drama he could create in a jungle or on a remote island, amid the rats and the crocodiles and the poisonous plants. But in this promotional video, Burnett tells the audience that he wants to set a drama in "the toughest jungle of them all" — he pauses for effect — "New York business." The camera pans up and up and suddenly it’s clear that he isn’t standing in a remote jungle in the middle of an ocean. He’s just standing in Central Park. You can guess the show he was promoting: the first season of The Apprentice. And you are surely very aware of who the most prominent alumnus of that series is: President-elect Donald Trump. But it was Burnett, The Apprentice’s creator and executive producer, whom NBC wanted front and center in 2004. Few television producers have created as many massive hits as Burnett has; it is almost impossible to be an American in the 21st century without experiencing at least one of his shows. On his hit list are Survivor, The Apprentice, Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader?, Shark Tank, The Voice, and at least one canceled reality show hidden deep on your DVR. His latest show, a new version of The Celebrity Apprentice starring Arnold Schwarzenegger, premieres Monday on NBC. To understand Mark Burnett, then, is to understand the beginning of 21st-century pop culture — from the emergence of reality television to the election of Trump. But to parse Burnett is far harder than finding one of his shows to watch: He is a Hollywood veteran now, a practiced interview, and a man with a message. His representatives did not respond to several requests for interviews, so instead we dove deep into his history, his work, and the public statements he’s made over the past two decades. In his 2001 book, Survivor II: The Field Guide, cowritten with Martin Dugard, Burnett explains the backstory and execution for the first season of Survivor. There are 13 different personalities that try to win Survivor, Burnett writes, and each type is needed to make the game interesting and competitive — though only some of them are characters he thinks could actually win the game. Over the course of his career, Burnett has played many of these roles in one way or another, and so we’ve used his own descriptions to help explain his own life, and to try to figure out who, exactly, he is. The Entertainer There was no plumbing on the first season of Survivor, so the ocean around the island became the trash can, and the toilet, and the runoff. Burnett, knowing the gross, sewage-filled water would make for good television, wanted the shot. "Mark didn’t ask anyone to go in, he just said, ‘This is what we’re going to do, but I don’t want to ask you guys to get in that,’" host Jeff Probst told Sports Illustrated in 2003. "And before you knew it, pish, pish, pish, the cameramen were jumping into the water. I thought, Damn, these guys love Burnett." Burnett was only a few years into his career when he pitched the idea for Survivor: a part reality, part game, part adventure show that stranded 16 normal people in treacherous terrain and pitted them against one another. With what would become characteristic chutzpah, Burnett refused to air the show as a pilot, insisting that it must be created as an entire series, which meant that he needed a lot of money to make it. Survivor’s first season, which aired in 2000, would require more than 60 staff members and an island 4,000 miles from Los Angeles that had to be staged. It was a huge ask from a young, modestly successful producer. "You have no idea the number of people far more experienced than I who told me that I needed to choose whether I was making a drama or an adventure or a game show," Burnett recalled in 2001. Several major television networks rejected him and his British partner, Charlie Parsons; they shopped the show for four years. "I thought [the pitch] was the stupidest thing I ever heard," CBS chief Leslie Moonves told People in 2004. But as Burnett himself told The New Yorker in 2013, the word "no," in his mind, is just another new opportunity. When Burnett presented the show to CBS, he had the entire pitch planned out "down to the music." He brought along the charm and personal charisma that would become his industry trademark. "Mark is astonishingly gifted at persuading people," Parsons told The New York Times Magazine, in an article titled "Survival of the Pushiest," in 2001. Or, as Probst put it in 2004, "His ego is enormous. But in Mark’s case, it is part of what makes him so charming. This guy is not an accident. He knows what he’s doing." It would seem that CBS agreed; the network accepted the show, and Survivor got a season to prove itself. Burnett has always had charm in his back pocket. Born in 1960, Burnett grew up in East London; it was a happy childhood. "I was an only child and never criticized my whole life," he told the Times Magazine. He watched American television: Starsky and Hutch, Dallas, The Rockford Files, and Bonanza. His parents often took him camping and hiking in their native Scotland, where Burnett claims to have gotten the taste for adventure. He loved to read Lord of the Flies. Burnett skipped college and joined the British army’s elite Paratroop Regiment, and after the end of the Falklands War, he immigrated to Los Angeles, where — the legend has it — he convinced a wealthy Beverly Hills family that no one made a better nanny than a former paratrooper. He also made money selling T-shirts and signing people up for credit cards. He became a naturalized U.S. citizen in 1990. His first show idea came from an article about the Raid Gauloises, a modern adventure race first held in 1989. In 1994, Burnett built his own team to prepare. Later that year, with absolutely zero television experience, Burnett sold Eco-Challenge to MTV with nothing but a five-minute video of his personal experience on the Raid. Eco-Challenge was dubbed "the toughest race in the world": More than 50 teams of four people raced 24 hours a day over a 500-kilometer course using no motorized form of transport. As early as the first season, Burnett was known for compromising the integrity of the race — setting more hurdles to add drama — to increase its ratings. It paid off. Eco-Challenge ran for nine seasons (moving from MTV to ESPN, Discovery, and eventually to the USA Network) from 1995 to 2002, and its ratings increased almost every season. After several years of producing Eco-Challenge, Burnett had a revelation: The success of the show "depended far more on team dynamics and interpersonal skills than any other attribute." He wanted to make a new show that would capitalize on those particular dynamics — or, as he wrote in his book, that would help men and women "discover who they really were." Based on Parsons’s Swedish series, which debuted in 1997 and had a similar premise — 16 people in the wilderness who form alliances to complete survival tasks — Survivor became America’s favorite show seemingly overnight. Like Burnett, Survivor was charismatic and addictive and capitalized heavily on a superlative understanding of group dynamics. It was also just wild fun; there was always the possibility that a spider would emerge or the outback would destroy someone. The 16 contestants became minor celebrities. Richard Hatch, who won the first season after defeating a whitewater rafter in a 4–3 jury vote, was bombarded with press opportunities and became a reality show staple (The Biggest Loser, The Weakest Link, The Apprentice) afterward. Forty-three million people watched its post–Super Bowl episode in 2001. The beauty of the show was — and is, 30-odd seasons in — its authenticity: the belief that the players were real people who, when put in such dire circumstances, would do surprising things to survive. Burnett has always been adamant that Survivor is not reality television. "It is dramality: unscripted nonfiction drama. With real people," he told People in 2001. That’s good marketing, and more evidence that Burnett knows exactly what people want to hear. ("In sales, you better know your product. You better be confident. You better be inspiring. And you better be able to deliver," he told Esquire in 2001.) But to sugarcoat its more manipulative aspects is to deny the revolutionary effect that Survivor had on reality television. Survivor established now-classic reality television concepts like the single-person interview-cum-confession, in which contestants speak directly to the camera (though usually prompted by a producer whom viewers never see). The idea of every week sending home a single person who had been voted off by their peers became a standard format on both Burnett’s shows and in the industry at large. And the show was innovative in its use of hidden cameras that shot far more than the contestants realized. "They have no idea how invasive television can be," Burnett wrote in Survivor: The Ultimate Game. Or at least, they didn’t until the show aired. Burnett admitted to reshooting first-season scenes with stand-ins to give them better cinematic value. He knew where the money would be: "Viewer interest in the show will lie less with watching who takes home the cash than it will with observing how the game is played," Burnett told MediaWeek in 2000. To get the kind of fights and affection and betrayal that Survivor became known for, the contestants had to be manipulated, either directly or through circumstance. After the first season of Survivor, contestant Stacey Stillman filed a lawsuit claiming the producers interfered by persuading two of her tribe members to vote her off instead of someone else. In the deposition, one of her fellow contestants admitted that the producers were dropping hints about who would be best to vote off. (The case was eventually settled out of court.) "I’ve seen him get people to do things I would have bet money they would never do," Probst told Sports Illustrated. So it wasn’t exactly authentic, but it was great television. Burnett was giving audiences a reality they could want: one where anyone has the potential for success and fame and fortune. And Americans bought it. With 16 people and an island, Mark Burnett radically changed television and gave himself a launching pad for the rest of his career. The industry effects are mind-boggling: Survivor is described by network executives as a "miracle show," and is still winning its time slot 32 seasons later. Probst, like The Bachelor’s Chris Harrison, has become a celebrity himself. Burnett has become incredibly wealthy; as the result of some innovative contract negotiations, he also reportedly earned himself a fee of just under $1 million per episode.) And Survivor’s sociological effects are no less profound, if slightly harder to measure or process: "More abstract and worrisome is the overall message the shows send: that life is an elimination contest, that difference means discord," James Poniewozik wrote for Time in 2000. You can tease this idea out past Survivor to most reality shows, to cable news, and even to media discourse as we know it. The game is persuasion, and people are playing it the way Burnett taught them. The Leader Survivor was a ratings behemoth in its fourth season: 23 million people watched the premiere, and 25.9 million watched the finale, which took place at the Wollman Rink in Central Park. (The live season finale needed a venue big enough to host its fans and cinematic enough to provide a little extra drama.) The Wollman Rink is owned by Donald Trump, and Trump, for whatever reason — publicity, curiosity, financial gain — decided to attend the event. Burnett, never one to miss an opportunity, made sure to introduce himself. He told Trump that he had read his books (true) and that he was inspired by them (also true, at least in Trump’s retelling). Then he moved on to business: He wanted to make a new show, and he wanted Donald Trump to be the star. Trump was used to the interest of reality show producers. As a regular New York Post cover star in the ’80s, he was the kind of giant personality a show could hang its hat on, but the first shows pitched to Trump were about the minutiae of his personal life — following Trump around while he met with politicians and contractors. No deal. He thought it would intrude too much into his business, and he still thought reality TV was for "the bottom-feeders of society." But he met his match in Burnett. "Mark Burnett is a great visionary, able to see into the future with far better accuracy than any of his competitors," Trump wrote for Time in 2004. "His No. 1 talent is having the right idea at the right time. Where that kind of talent comes from is always a bit of a mystery." Not long after their interaction at the finale, Burnett pitched The Apprentice to Trump at Trump Tower. The meeting lasted an hour, and — just as he had pitched Survivor — Burnett laid the whole thing out, down to the tiniest detail. The show would feature competitions between two teams like on Survivor. At the end of each episode, one person would be eliminated by Trump, and the final winner would get a six-figure salary and a job in the Trump Organization. They shook on it. Trump got 50 percent ownership and a starring role on a show all about him. "I had never planned on being the star of a hit TV show until Mark Burnett came to me to do The Apprentice," Trump wrote in Time. "He convinced me by promising that it would require no more than three hours per week of my time. It turned out to be more than 30." During the creation of the show, Burnett and Trump were seen together constantly: They rode in Trump’s limousine and helicopter. They played golf at one of his courses, went to a Neil Young concert, and enjoyed a Wyclef Jean record-release party. Burnett went so far as to tell The New York Times he considered Trump a "soul mate." "[The Apprentice] is Donald Trump giving back," Burnett told The New York Times in 2003. "What makes the world a safe place right now? I think it’s American dollars, which come from taxes, which come because of Donald Trump. … And what Donald Trump is doing and what ‘The Apprentice’ is about is to show Americans that you have to be an entrepreneur.’’ During Trump’s campaign for president, of course, it became highly questionable exactly how much in taxes he was paying. But it’s worth noting that Burnett presented Trump’s role on The Apprentice not as a grab for attention or power, but as his public service — to teach Americans how to become rich and famous like him. "My style is quiet micromanagement," Burnett wrote in his Survivor book. Quietly, he led Trump right into a rebrand. "I’m the largest real estate developer in New York," Trump’s voice-over boasts in the opening scene for The Apprentice Season 1. "I own buildings all over the place. Model agencies, the Miss Universe pageant, jetliners, golf courses, casinos, and private resorts like Mar-a-Lago. … I’ve mastered the art of the deal and have turned the name Trump into the highest-quality brand. And as the master, I want to pass along some of my knowledge to somebody else." It was braggadocios and pompous. But Burnett, with his gut instinct, managed to turn Trump’s liabilities (both financial and personal) into a gift. The show had been conceived of as a business-focused Survivor, and the corporate dealings were intended to be the heart of the show. But the most interesting television came around the giant wooden boardroom table where Trump evaluated the contestants. "After the first episode," Jeff Gaspin, who ran reality programming for NBC, told Michael Kranish and Marc Fisher, "we said we want more Trump." So did America. The show had 27 million viewers by the end of the first season. Trump did nine interviews promoting the show the morning after the premiere. He was invited on talk shows and Today. He went on Howard Stern; he was on the cover of Esquire. "You can’t ask for more than the audience to care more for the characters," Burnett said in 2004. "Now even Donald’s detractors like him. I knew I could bring that across." Even Trump himself recognized the change. "What I do on the show essentially is analyze people and then fire somebody — sometimes pretty viciously. And that makes people think I’m a nice guy," Trump told Esquire in 2004. "Whereas before, they viewed me as a bit of an ogre." More than that, Trump’s character became exactly what Burnett hoped to make out of the show: a sellable example of American possibility. "Americans are very giving. They’re very pro-risk," Burnett told Esquire in 2001. "They’re interested in results — not what you tell them or which school you went to or who you know. America equals meritocracy. I’m all for it." This is not a reality that actually exists for most Americans; social mobility is successively rarer for each generation, and capitalist success is more likely to go to people with a $14 million head start, like Trump. But as a Brit, Burnett tapped into a belief that the rest of the world held about America: "If a working-class kid from London, who starts off as a nanny, can make it in the United States, anybody can," he wrote in Jump In: Even If You Don’t Know How to Swim. It was an idea that America still wanted to see in itself — so much so that it was willing to accept Donald Trump, a preening millionaire, as an avatar of hard work and achievable success. There was another facet to Burnett’s zest for capitalism, and that was his innovation in product placement. Burnett had experimented with the deals on Survivor, but by the time The Apprentice premiered in January 2004, he’d turned his hobby into a full-fledged art form. In the first season of The Apprentice there are almost 40 different product placements: A contestant holds a Coca-Cola; a city shot shows a pair of Reebok sneakers. By the second season, contestants were producing M&M candy. This open display of consumerism was shameless and, honestly, kind of tacky. "People were blaming me personally for ‘Apprentice,’ destroying television with so many brands," Jordan Yospe, general counsel for Mark Burnett Productions, told The New York Times in 2010. "Mark has attacked the business from a very, very unusual point of view," Les Moonves said in 2004. "And along the way he’s created business models that didn’t exist before." But Burnett wasn’t trying to create television that would win awards for its artistry — Burnett, like Trump, and like the contestants on The Celebrity Apprentice, was trying to make money. And if that meant blurring boundaries between sponsored advertisements and the content he produced, so be it. The Professor Once upon a time, in 2001, Mark Burnett and Vladimir Putin were going to make a reality show together. It’s true; it was openly discussed in The New York Times. The show was going to be called Destination Mir; the idea was Survivor, but staged as a space race. Contestants would compete to train with astronauts; Burnett had to negotiate with Russia because the final prize involved sending the winner to their space station. The Russians, according to an NBC press release, were more willing to work with the show than was America’s NASA program. "I think ‘Mir’ is going to be hard only as a political thing," Burnett told The New York Times Magazine. "The show will be easy. I really want to do a space show. And, typically, I’m quite good at making things happen." But Destination Mir never happened. The Russian space station Mir was rapidly deteriorating, and the Russians eventually decommissioned and destroyed it. Unburned pieces of the station fell into the Pacific Ocean. It was surely a disappointment for Burnett, who continues to chase his space show. (He tried and failed again in 2013.) He also, as recently as 2015, was still interested in making a show with Putin. Destination Mir is a rarity on Burnett’s résumé: an idea that never saw the light of day. This is a man who is used to green lights; Burnett has been the executive producer on more than 60 television series, and that doesn’t even count miniseries and made-for-TV movies. "The reality of the nonfiction television business is that there are so few producers who really know what they’re doing that the good ones tend to produce more shows than they are humanly capable of producing," fellow producer Michael Davies said about Burnett. As early as 2004, Burnett was grabbing as many shows as possible. "He has two monster hits, which are the two most important shows at the two leading networks. He can basically get any show done anywhere," Moonves told Fortune in 2004. Not all of those series worked out. There are dozens of Burnett shows that ran two or fewer seasons and were utterly forgettable: Combat Missions (2002), in which elite military and police force members competed on assigned missions; The Restaurant (2003), which followed the drama within a New York City restaurant (not unlike, actually, the current reality hit Vanderpump Rules); Rock Star: INXS (2005), which tried to find a new lead singer for the ’80s band INXS; Amne$ia (2007), a quiz show where contestants answer questions from their own life for money; and on and on and on. Our Little Genius, a quiz game show starring children, was canceled before it even aired, after concerns were raised that the child contestants had been given information about the questions beforehand. "I believe my series must always be beyond reproach, so I have requested that Fox not air these episodes," Burnett said in a statement. But his success streak is still extraordinary. His empire is built on five mega-hit shows: Survivor; The Apprentice and its celebrity offshoot; Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader?; The Voice; and Shark Tank. For the uninitiated: On Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader?, adults attempt to answer questions from elementary school textbooks while actual fifth-graders answer the questions in real time and provide assistance to the struggling adults. On The Voice, four celebrity judges pick talented vocalists to "mentor" and join their "teams," and the aspiring singers face off against one another every week. On Shark Tank, entrepreneurs present their business pitches to a panel of very rich (and occasionally famous) men and women who then decide whether to invest in the inventor’s product. All five shows involve a financial prize, and four out of five are still running. (Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader? has had multiple lives on syndication, and there were new episodes as recently as 2015.) "[Reality show] formats are like a board game," Burnett told The Washington Post. "Certain games just work." Together these shows represent more than 15 years of network domination. On a given week in 2016, Burnett could’ve had a top-rated show in prime time on four nights of the week: The Voice on Monday and Tuesday, Survivor on Wednesday, and Shark Tank on Fridays. The Voice (both nights) and Survivor consistently ranked in the top 25 broadcast shows of the week in the fall of 2016. It would be easy for him at this point to take a step back, but Burnett is still deeply involved. "I talk to everybody all the time," Burnett told Esquire in 2013. Early in his career, Burnett was known for staggering the film dates of all of his shows so that he could be on set for every single one of them. More recently, he bankrolled a Voice mentor bonding retreat at the L.A. Soho House with his own credit card. ("Big mistake," Adam Levine told Burnett afterward, according to Rolling Stone. "We just killed your fucking credit card.") "I only know how to be hands on," he told The New York Times. "The best person to get something done is a busy person." That involvement has also allowed him to gently shift the tone of his empire over time. Late-period Burnett — from, say, 2008 on — is characterized by a kindness that is not usually featured on reality television, or even on a show like Survivor. Unlike American Idol or The X Factor, which predicated their drama on participants’ failure, Burnett’s newer shows try to avoid that. "The format is so clean and so engaging and focuses on very good talent," Burnett told Rolling Stone, in regard to The Voice. "There’s nothing on the show where we bring in a very bad singer and have our coaches try to make comedy out of how bad they are." In other words, there’s no ill will. "His intention has been nothing but supportive, giving, kind and nurturing," Christina Aguilera said in 2013. At every Burnett show’s core there is the same premise: that people, no matter how terrible they are, deserve to be rooted for, and that a show full of those people will entice viewers. In the second portion of Burnett’s career — at least up until the new Celebrity Apprentice — that premise has become narrower: If you show empathy, viewers will become emotionally attached to the people on TV no matter what else they are known for. "We’re focused on family programming. The shows are all dramatic but fun," Burnett told Esquire in 2013. "There’s no gratuitous violence. No gratuitous sex or swearing. Even on Survivor, you’ve never seen one inch of a butt crack, because we blur it." On Survivor, that blurring probably had more to do with prime-time censorship laws, but in the modern era, Burnett shows are intentional in whom they are appealing to. In 2016, words like "family programming" reveal an affiliation with a particular political party, a particular religion, and a very particular belief about the way media should be presented. There is a capitalist explanation for all this conservatism: the more offensive (in any way) a show might be, the fewer people become an available audience for that show. No matter your beliefs, it’s hard to be offended by a game show of people trying their hardest to succeed. Burnett’s shows, from Survivor through Shark Tank, do something that few other shows do: They draw large numbers of viewers across demographic and income brackets. That universal appeal creates money. And money seemed to be the end goal of all of this work for Burnett. Until suddenly, almost overnight, it didn’t. The Zealot "Religion is a waste of time. I can’t understand how millions of Muslims could be wrong. Or millions of Jews. Or millions of Hindus. How can they all be wrong and only one religion be right?" Burnett told Esquire in 2001. "Obviously, I believe in God," he adds later in the interview. "Look at me right now." What Burnett believes in the privacy of his own home, of course, is between him and the god he may or may not believes exists. But what is clear is that at some point, Burnett changed his mind publicly. "I have become in the last ten years very connected to my Christian faith," Burnett told Esquire in March 2013. When asked explicitly how he came to faith by Risen Magazine in 2013, Burnett dodged the question. "It’s such a funny question, because it makes the assumption that most people in Hollywood have no faith," he said. "I come across people in this business every day that have lots of faith." What Burnett has talked a lot about is why he became more vocal about his Christianity. Based on an interview he gave to Rick Warren at Saddleback Church in 2012, it seems that fear might have been a motivating factor. "Have you ever sat on an airplane and wondered if this thing goes down where do I fit into this society?" he said. "Am I the leader or the follower? Am I brave, am I weak? I always wondered these things." (So have many Survivor contestants over the years, in remarkably similar language.) The other constant in his faith is his wife, Roma Downey. Burnett was married before, to a woman named Dianne J. Burnett (neé Valentine), who later claimed that she came up with much of the original premise for Survivor. (Mark Burnett denied this vehemently.) The two obtained a legal separation in 2003, and somewhere around 2004, Burnett began dating Downey, an actress known for her role as Monica on the CBS series Touched by an Angel. Downey, who was raised Roman Catholic, may have played some role in Burnett’s revival. The two were engaged in 2006, and married in 2007. Burnett has always turned the things he believes in — the great outdoors, the authenticity of people, the American Dream — into prime-time television. His faith was a logical next step. Together with Downey, Burnett made The Bible, a 10-part scripted miniseries that aired on the History Channel in March 2013. Unlike other Bible-based entertainment, Downey and Burnett prized fidelity to the original source above all. They created thunderstorms and filmed on location in deserts and mountains and plains. War scenes were filmed like they were parts of a feature-length film, with dust rising from the ground. Walls fell. Seas split. Men were set on fire. In a way, it was the perfect American entertainment: a gory war drama, uncensored but holy, and family friendly by its very definition. Burnett called the series the "most important project I have ever undertaken." But still, a religious project from the King of Reality Television was not without risk. "Of course, our friends told us we’d destroy our great careers because … no one would watch the Bible on prime-time TV," Burnett said at the National Prayer Breakfast in 2016. "And 100 million of you watched it." That particular statistic is open to interpretation. According to Nielsen ratings, 13.1 million people watched the two-hour premiere; the History Channel estimates that 100 million viewers is the cumulative total for every night’s viewings combined. In any case, The Bible had legs. It received three Emmy nominations, and set off a kind of conservative Christian media snowball. Burnett’s Bible series was picked up for a sequel on NBC, which aired in 2015 (and was canceled after one season). CBS invited Burnett and Downey to create a miniseries based on Alice Hoffman’s The Dovekeepers; TLC asked the duo to create a six-part series about people who experienced divine intervention. Lifetime tapped the couple to make a special about biblical women. And in the biggest industry coup, they signed a deal with Paramount to produce a feature-length remake of Ben-Hur. It’s worth noting that none of these spin-offs performed as well as The Bible did, and that Ben-Hur, in particular, was a massive box office failure. But Burnett seems to hold his faith-based projects to a different standard than his commercial pursuits. In that same National Prayer Breakfast speech, Burnett explained that it was "leverage" from high-rating shows like Shark Tank and The Apprentice that had allowed him to make his religious projects. "Our faith has, in fact, led us to almost entirely build our TV careers and film careers on family-friendly franchises," he said. By 2015, he was giving regular interviews about his faith and comparing himself to Billy Graham, a renowned Christian evangelist, in Time. He had also, by this point, inserted himself more explicitly into the American political process. Burnett’s 2010 Sarah Palin series represents another turning point in his career, even if his intentions are harder to parse. Burnett himself was not a died-in-the-wool Palin supporter; he’d contributed to the DNC and to Obama’s 2008 campaign. Downey, meanwhile, openly defended Obama as a "fellow Christian." Still, Burnett was hell-bent on making Sarah Palin’s Alaska. He had a hard time persuading networks to take the series; Palin was, justifiably or not, the laughing stock of the 2008 campaign season. A broadcast network, as Entertainment Weekly surmised, probably wouldn’t want to be credited with giving Palin a platform if she chose to run for president in 2016. (We will come back to that irony.) Burnett finally found it a home at TLC, where he insisted on calling the show a "documentary series" and himself a documentary filmmaker. The final product was beautifully, cannily cut as a hymnal to Alaska, and it openly pandered to Palin’s already solid GOP base. And it was a hit: Almost 5 million people watched the premiere, making it the biggest in TLC history. "The whole package is a calculated paean to her down-home, self-reliant frontiersiness," wrote Frank Rich for The New York Times. It’s true: There are gorgeous shots of Palin fishing, beautiful pans of her standing at the top of the world, endearing moments of her loving her family. At best, it’s biased; at worst, it’s propaganda. Yet Burnett immediately pushed back against any criticism that linked him, or Sarah Palin’s Alaska, to the Republican Party. The show "is completely non-political," he told The Daily Beast. "I honestly am so disinterested in politics. I’d rather be riding my bike." But it was a key to Burnett’s particular brand of politics. Burnett is not a public figure who comes out openly in favor of or against candidates. Instead, the conversations he creates with the American public function as letters of recommendation. On Shark Tank, he’s producing an ode to entrepreneurs and the billionaires who invest in them; in Sarah Palin’s Alaska, he created a beautiful portrait of a former vice presidential candidate and the Republican Party that saw fit to embrace her values. As Burnett pointed out at the prayer breakfast, his conservative turn certainly hasn’t hurt his mainstream business model. Republicans buy sneakers, too, as Michael Jordan once (apocryphally) pointed out, and religious viewers make for big paychecks. "At least 90 million American Christians attend church each Sunday. It’s a mainstream community which also watches NFL games, The Voice, and family-friendly comedies and dramas," Burnett wrote in an op-ed for The Hollywood Reporter. "The global Christian audience consumes media, buys products, votes, gives to charity and supports causes. It’s a community that we are grateful to be part of." Or as he put it to a church congregation in 2015: "I often joke that America was built on two things: the Bible and free enterprise," Burnett said. "Well, we made The Bible and we make Shark Tank." Which is maybe the best key we have to his intentions. Burnett doesn’t just view what he’s doing as creating good, lucrative television — he sees himself as building the myth of America. The Snake? "If Donald Trump gets elected and he builds that wall, the first person we are throwing over it is Mark Burnett." Jimmy Kimmel’s joke went on from there, but the Emmys camera stayed on Burnett, sitting in the audience with his mouth slightly open, rocking slightly back and forth. He was laughing, but he looked vaguely uncomfortable. He wasn’t the only one. Trump announced his candidacy for president on June 16, 2015. Burnett was nowhere to be seen, and at that point, why would he have been? No one took Trump seriously. He was a buffoon with a toupee who would never be the nominee. It didn’t occur to anyone to blame Burnett at that point; it wasn’t obvious that the world he’d been creating would become ours, too. Throughout the campaign, Burnett stayed out of the spotlight; when asked about his involvement in the Republican National Convention in July, Burnett went so far as to claim to The New York Times that he was ignorant about the American political process because of his British birth. Then he asked whether the RNC got good ratings. It was a question that Trump had been asking, too. In October, a few weeks after the Emmys, a tape of unaired footage from a 2005 Access Hollywood segment came to light. On the tape, Trump speaks crassly about women on his way to the set of Days of Our Lives with Billy Bush. "I did try and fuck her. She was married," Trump said on the tape. "I moved on her like a bitch, but I couldn’t get there. And she was married." More highlights: "And when you’re a star, they let you do it," Trump brags. "You can do anything." And then there’s that all too-famous line. "Grab them by the pussy," he says. Americans on both sides of the aisle were outraged. On CNN, Republican strategist Ana Navarro said that Trump "consistently disgusted" her, and repeated his comments, only to be yelled at by right-wing journalist Scottie Nell Hughes, who wanted her to stop using the word "pussy" on television. The words used by Trump in the video were so lewd that news services had internal debates about whether they would even air the comments, and if they would, how much they would censor the remarks. The tape was the lead story in almost every newspaper and every lead broadcast. And then there was a collective realization: Trump had been on television consistently since The Apprentice aired in 2004. A former Apprentice staffer named Bill Pruitt tweeted shortly afterward that more tapes existed: "As a producer on seasons 1 & 2 of [The Apprentice,] I assure you: when it comes to the #trumptapes there are far worse [examples]." The media pressure and petitions began; people said Burnett should release the tapes in the public interest. That didn’t happen. There were nondisclosure agreements in play, which meant that most junior employees were at too much risk to leak any information. (Being on the bad side of any successful and powerful Hollywood producer isn’t exactly desirable.) BuzzFeed News reported that former staff members of The Apprentice had been threatened with lawsuits in the event that the tapes would be leaked, though Burnett later denied this. In any case, few people wanted to speak out against Burnett, and even fewer people wanted to test the powers of his formidable legal team. "Despite reports to the contrary, Mark Burnett does not have the ability nor the right to release footage or other material from ‘The Apprentice,’" Burnett and MGM announced in a statement. (Whether or not that’s true is known only by his lawyers, who did not comment.) Burnett released an additional personal comment to clarify his intentions: "I am not now and have never been a supporter of Donald Trump’s candidacy. I am NOT ‘Pro-Trump.’ Further, my wife and I reject the hatred, division and misogyny that has been a very unfortunate part of his campaign." Burnett stopped giving interviews otherwise. It’s possible that Burnett was offended by the rhetoric thrown from the pulpit of the Trump campaign — this is a man who wouldn’t show butt cracks on Survivor — but it is difficult to separate that personal offense from the financial imperative that he remain as unbiased as possible. To be associated with the Trump campaign was bad for business, and it seems Burnett, always attentive to the bottom line, knew it. The statement carefully walked a fine line: Burnett was not "Pro-Trump," and he rejected the mean words, but he was not "anti-Trump" either. And he certainly did not take a step toward being "Pro-Hillary." Instead, he distanced himself from the campaign far enough for him to fade from the headlines and out of people’s minds in time for them to click on The Voice at 8/7c. As Burnett wrote in his Survivor book, "Even the best of friends will eventually vote against each other." Whatever Burnett believes and whoever he voted for in November, his statement only serviced his own preservation. "What we learned from ‘Survivor’ is how clever and cerebral the viewers are," Burnett told The New York Times ahead of the 2000 election. "If the politicians in these debates think they’re pulling the wool over the American people’s eyes, they’re crazy." He’s right. Americans vote for the person they believe will make their lives and their country better. In 2016, that candidate was the person Burnett had been selling as the man who knew business, the key to the American Dream, and the future they could have: Donald Trump. A highlight of Survivor Season 1 was a manipulation by eventual winner Richard Hatch, who created a subgroup among a few members of his tribe. Early on, certain contestants were cut from the tribes by wide consensus because of physical weaknesses or annoying personalities. But in Episode 5, "Pulling Your Own Weight," the game changed. Richard’s four-person alliance colluded in secret, walked purposefully into their voting booths, and cooly voted off Dirk to maintain the strength of their group. It took the other members of the tribe weeks to catch on to the alliance. In 2016, a different voting bloc would emerge to win the day. After the votes were cast, and the confetti cannons were set off, and Donald Trump was declared president-elect of the United States, Mark Burnett slowly, carefully returned to the side of his former good friend. On Tuesday, December 6, Burnett met with the president-elect at his office in Trump Tower to discuss possibilities for the inauguration. According to The New York Times, Burnett was full of ideas, including a helicopter ride from New York to Washington — recall Jeff Probst’s dramatic helicopter rides through several Survivor finales — and a parade up Fifth Avenue. These particular ideas reportedly won’t pan out. But Burnett is back where he started 13 years ago, at the right hand of Donald Trump. And tonight on January 2, the president-elect’s name will appear as an executive producer on The Celebrity Apprentice — right next to Mark Burnett’s. Kelsey McKinney is a writer living in Washington, D.C.
African-Americans are some of the most loyal supporters of the Democratic party, but, according to news reports, early voting in heavily black neighborhoods has slumped dramatically in important swing states compared to 2012 levels and blacks are less enthusiastic about voting in this year's presidential election than they were in the last two presidential elections. Some African-Americans say the reason for the decline is because blacks feel their votes are being taken for granted by Democrats. That's why a group of black church leaders is demanding a meeting with Hillary Clinton should she win the presidency, to express concerns over issues affecting the black community. In a scathing letter delivered to Clinton's campaign headquarters Monday, more than 25 black clergy from various denominations, criticize the Democratic presidential nominee on issues ranging from religious liberty and abortion to gay rights. "We request that you set a place and time, during your first 100 days in office, where we may meet to learn more about your position on these issues," the letter reads. "Then we will be better able to inform our community about what they can reasonably expect from a Clinton administration." The letter is signed by leading black clergy, activists and intellectuals from across the U.S., all of whom are self-described Democrats and Independents, including Bishops Charles E. Blake, a Los Angeles-based pastor who was appointed by President Barack Obama to a White House Advisory Council on faith in 2009. The letter details how the black community's needs have not been met on the issues of education and employment, justice for the unborn, violence and crime, and religious freedom. "In 2008, Secretary Clinton, you took the position that abortion should be rare, and you emphasized 'by rare I mean rare.' But Black babies are dying at terrifying rates," the letter reads. "How do you justify your unconscionable silence in the face of such destruction of innocent black life? Don't black lives matter? What policies would you pursue as president to reverse the soaring abortion rates among black women?" The Democratic Party's alliance with the gay and lesbian community was also highlighted in the letter, which the ministers called the "well-financed war" being waged by the "gay and lesbian community in the U.S. and abroad on the faith of our ancestors." "Furthermore, there are some in your party who seek to criminalize our biblical texts as hate speech," the letter reads. "Like Martin Luther King, Jr., we do not invite conflict. However, in cases where questions of conscience and religious freedom are at stake, we are prepared, for the sake of the Gospel, to suffer the consequences of standing on our convictions." The letter also condemns the Clinton campaign for its attack of Catholics and evangelicals, and calls on her to do more to protect religious freedom. "The black church has served the poor for over two centuries; our response to Christ's call to care for all people has strengthened the black community and contributed to civil society in important ways," the letter reads. "Freedom to do all this must be guaranteed to the Black Church. Those who would oppose our right to live by the teachings of the Bible set themselves against the interests of the poor." The elders also expressed outrage over the deaths of black men by police. "According to the Federal Bureau of Investigation, over half of all murder victims in 2015 were black and, in the cases where the race of the perpetrator was known, nearly 90 percent of them were killed by other blacks." The black ministers leaders also said that eroding the religious freedom rights of the black church upends "the primary institution of our neighborhoods" and prevents the church from having the greatest impact on young black men.
MONDAY, April 7 (HealthDay News) -- Adverse "drug events" -- including getting the wrong drugs, accidental overdoses and unfavorable reactions -- affect about 7 percent of U.S. children in hospitals, a new study says. That figure is much higher than previous estimates. And it underscores growing concerns about medical errors involving hospitalized children -- an issue that generated headlines in November when actor Dennis Quaid's newborn twins were accidentally given life-threatening overdoses of a blood thinner. "This gives us some valuable insight into the frequency of medication-related harm," said study lead author Dr. Paul Sharek, medical director of quality management at Stanford University's Lucile Packard Children's Hospital. "The number is larger purely because of the way we collected the information before. But most of those who work in children's hospitals realize that because of the complexity of children's health care in the United States harm occurs," Sharek said. The findings are published in the April issue ofPediatrics. For the study, the researchers reviewed the charts of 960 randomly selected children from 12 children's hospitals around the United States. The new method of detecting medical errors was a list of 15 "triggers" that a patient's charts might indicate possible drug-related problems. The triggers included the use of antidotes for drug overdoses, suspicious side effects and lab tests. The researchers found adverse drug events for 11.1 of every 100 hospitalized children. Earlier estimates, using standard measures, had placed adverse drug events at two for every 100 patients. Of these adverse drug reactions, 22 percent were preventable, 17.8 percent could have been identified earlier, and 16.8 percent could have been handled more effectively, the study found. Fortunately, most of the adverse drug events -- 97 percent -- caused only minor, temporary harm. However, only 3.7 percent of these events were found in traditional hospital reports, according to the new study. Most adverse events were rashes and nausea. The drugs that were most commonly misused were pain medications and antibiotics. Most common mistakes included not monitoring patients, prescribing the wrong medicine, or wrong doses, the researchers said. The number of adverse drug events involving children is about the same as it is for adults, Sharek said. Sharek said steps are being taken to help reduce the number of medication errors involving children. These include electronic medical records and bar coding, he said. One of the 15 triggers is the use of vitamin K, which is an antidote for the blood-thinner Coumadin. Quaid's twins were given an accidental overdose of heparin in a Los Angeles hospital, shortly after they were born. The twins recovered, and Quaid and his wife, Kimberly, have formed a foundation to help prevent medical errors. Quaid told theAssociated Pressthat the twins "appear to be normal kids, very happy and healthy." Quaid credited the new study with increasing awareness about the problem of pediatric medical errors. He said that, until the near death of his twins, he never thought he'd play a role as a public health advocate. He called the experience "the most frightening time," of his life, theAPsaid. His message for parents: "Every time a caregiver comes into the room, I would check and ask the nurse what they're giving them and why," Quaid told theAP. More information For more on adverse drug reactions, visit the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. SOURCES: Paul Sharek, M.D., medical director, quality management, Stanford University Lucile Packard Children's Hospital, Stanford, Calif.; April 7, 2008,Associated Press, April 2008,Pediatrics
21 Shares Share Tweet Previously, the actor deactivated his Twitter, Instagram and Facebook pages due to the threats from ‘fans’ of the show, who couldn’t quite comprehend his character Eugene siding with the evil Negan. During an interview with Solzyathemovies, the 38-year-old actor spoke out about the decision, saying how the internet is a ‘dark and negative place’. ‘I’m not really going to get into that too much. I just know that the internet is just kind of dark and negative place, which just kind of breeds that mentality and those sorts of thoughts. ‘I think that if people go left unchecked, there are no consequences for what they say on the internet. It’s just unfortunate so, you know, it is what it is. ‘Unfortunately, nothing’s being done about it at this point. Oh, well.’ Earlier also, McDermitt responded to the received threats in a Live Video on Facebook, stating: ‘Death threats, don’t send me death threats because I will report all that shit to the cops. I’m just sick of it.
Dunkin' Donuts, the popular fast food chain famous for its coffee and baked goods, has released Dunkin' Run, a free app for the iPhone and iPod touch. It's designed to make it easier for Dunkin' Donuts customers to make group orders -- a social application, according to the press release. "I'm making a run to Dunkin' -- does anyone want anything?" is a refrain heard in workplaces near where Dunkin' Donuts are common. The Dunkin' Run app and its companion Web site help to make it easier for Dunkin' customers to solicit and place those group orders. "Runners" initiate the group order, then interactive alerts are sent to the Runner's friends and co-workers, informing them when a trip is planned and inviting them to place an order online. The Runner can then print the order or use their iPhone to produce a checklist, to make sure everyone gets what they wanted. This story, "Dunkin' Donuts Releases 'Social' iPhone App" was originally published by Macworld .
West Indies cricketer Chris Gayle's teammate Dwayne Smith has admitted he texted the word "sexy" to a female massage therapist a day before she alleges Gayle exposed himself to her in a Sydney dressing room while Smith was present. But Smith told the NSW Supreme Court on Tuesday Gayle had not exposed himself to the woman and "that's something you would remember" if it did happen. Gayle is suing Fairfax Media for defamation over a series of articles published in The Sydney Morning Herald, The Age and The Canberra Times between January 6 and January 9 last year which alleged he exposed himself to a team massage therapist during the 2015 Cricket World Cup. Gayle, 38, gave evidence on Monday that the incident did not happen and the "heartbreaking" allegations were "the most hurtful thing I've actually come across in my entire life".
Share. Put your hands in the air. Put your hands in the air. The Roller Coaster Tycoon veteran developer Frontier is working on a new theme park simulation IP. In Coaster Park Tycoon, Frontier hopes to capture the essence of the classic Roller Coaster Tycoon games while also independently owning and publishing the IP. At this time, few details are known about Coaster Park Tycoon, other than it is targeting a 2016 release on PC. Frontier has promised to "reveal more details" as they make progress. Exit Theatre Mode Placing one in the role of a theme park manager, the Roller Coaster Tycoon games allowed players to construct parks and run multiple aspects of the business. While little is known about this new IP, it's likely Coaster Park Tycoon will in some way follow suit. Frontier is also known for the recently-released Elite: Dangerous. To learn more, check out IGN's Elite: Dangerous review. Cassidee is a freelance writer for various outlets around the web. You can chat with her about all things geeky on Twitter.
Residents eager to learn the fate of Glen Abbey and Saw-Whet golf courses will have to wait considerably longer before receiving any kind of resolution. The two properties drew public interest recently after developers announced plans to build a considerable number of residences on them. In an article in the Town’s Let’s Talk Oakville magazine, Ward 4 Councillors Allan Elgar and Roger Lapworth discussed the two projects. An Ontario Municipal Board (OMB) hearing concerning the Saw-Whet Golf Course at 1401 Bronte Rd., got underway in October 2015. Bronte Green Corporation has proposed the development of 760 residences on the 55-hectare property, including 520 single-detached homes, 104 back-to-back dwellings, 125 townhouses and 11 single-detached residential condominiums. Bronte Green’s development application went before the Town of Oakville in March 2014 and Bronte Green appealed the matter to the OMB in October 2014, citing the Town’s failure to deliver a timely decision. “Your elected council voted to fight the development proposal on the grounds that it is ‘premature and not in the public interest.’ Your mayor has pledged to save all of the Merton Lands of which Saw-whet is part,” said Elgar in the Let’s Talk Oakville article. “Given that Oakville has met its provincially-mandated growth numbers to 2031, and that development of Saw-Whet is not part of Oakville’s current Official Plan, I feel that should be the end of the story, but it is not, because, in my opinion, the OMB often provides a convenient back door for developers to achieve their goals.” So far the hearing has made little headway with Elgar noting that five weeks after the OMB hearing got underway last October the board had heard about two-thirds of the evidence brought forward by Bronte Green and no evidence from public agencies, including the Town. Further hearings scheduled for June were largely cancelled to allow the involved parties to work together to try to scope some matters with the goal of reducing the amount of hearing time that may be required.
Get the biggest Manchester United FC stories by email Subscribe Thank you for subscribing We have more newsletters Show me See our privacy notice Could not subscribe, try again later Invalid Email Marcos Rojo has revealed he went on strike in a bid to force Sporting Lisbon to sell him to Manchester United. Rojo refused to train with the Portuguese club when it emerged that his £16million move to United was in danger of collapsing over problems with third-party ownership. It needed the intervention of former United star Juan Sebastian Veron to persuade the defender to go back to work - and Rojo now says he is "living the dream" with the Old Trafford giants. Rojo, who is sidelined by a dislocated shoulder sustained in the Manchester derby at the start of this month, admitted: "It was a huge surprise when I was told United wanted to buy me. "I was in Portugal when my representative told me. He asked me to stay calm but I could not. I started living this dream. "I could not think of anything else. I would call him every day, but when it seemed the transfer would not happen then I refused to work with Sporting. "That was when Veron played his part in the process. He was like a strict father to me, scolding me. (Image: Shaun Botterill) "Veron called me one day when I had refused to train with Sporting and said 'Do not be stubborn. If Manchester United wants a player then they will not let you escape.' "And so I went back... and the transfer went ahead." The Argentina international added: "I could not believe the welcome I received in Manchester. "For the first home game, I was on the way to the stadium with my team-mates, when I saw that the fans were buying scarves with my face and name on them. "I couldn't believe it. I took some photographs on my phone to send to my girlfriend."
Amazing things happen to a city once people are encouraged to switch to bike commuting: the air quality improves throughout the city, which benefits everyone, not just cyclists. Quieter roads are more pleasant roads to be around, and they’re less congested for those who still insist on driving. And of course riding a bike every day brings all kinds of health benefits to the cyclists themselves. A new study from researchers at Columbia University’s Mailman School of Public Health shows just how big those benefits can be. Per dollar spent, constructing bike lanes is a cheap way to improve public health. For instance back in 2005, New York City spent $10 million on curbing traffic as part of the federally-funded Safe Routes to School program. Sidewalks were widened, bike lanes constructed, and traffic lights re-phased to suit pedestrians. The “net societal benefit” of these changes? The study’s authors estimate it to be $230 million. “Unlike helmet laws, bike lanes do not require behavioral change on the part of the cyclist, and they come with other benefits,” says the study. “For example, they ‘normalize’ exercise behaviors, reduce pollution and may help address the obesity epidemic in the USA.” To evaluate the costs, the authors first determined that the 45.5 miles of bike lane constructed in New York in 2015, at a cost of just over $8 million, increased the probability of riding a bike by around 9%. They then modeled these figures to find out how cost effective more bike lanes would be in the future. Savings on health spending were calculated by estimating the effects of increased physical activity, and better air quality. “We conclude that investments in bicycle lanes come with an exceptionally good value because they simultaneously address multiple public health problems,’ says the study. “Investments in bike lanes are more cost-effective than the majority of preventive approaches used today.” [emphasis added] The study also points out some interesting facts. For instance, of the U.S.’s 67 million cyclists, making over 300 million trips per year just in big cities, there are 700 deaths and 48,000 serious injuries a year. That, say the authors, “makes the USA the most dangerous place among wealthy nations to bicycle.” Per mile traveled, U.S. cyclists are twice as likely to be killed as German cyclists, and three times more likely than Dutch cyclists. Bike lanes can cut all kinds of injury by 25%. Of course, bike lanes don’t get really effective unless you build enough of them. Any number of good, protected lanes is better than none of course, but the benefits to the city as a whole don’t kick in until you reach a critical mass. Only when there are enough lanes that people can ditch their cars and start commuting by bike do things really change for the better.
Similar to the Oscars “bump,” musicians have a significant increase in popularity on YouTube, following a Super Bowl halftime performance. on YouTube, following a Super Bowl halftime performance. Beyoncé , as a headliner in 2014, and Missy Elliott, as a special guest in 2015, have had the largest lift in popularity on YouTube, following a halftime performance. , as a headliner in 2014, and Missy Elliott, as a special guest in 2015, have had the largest lift in popularity on YouTube, following a halftime performance. Missy Elliott’s music experienced a renaissance : two of her tracks entered the Billboard Hot 100 in February, and traffic to her videos on YouTube nearly doubled. : two of her tracks entered the Billboard Hot 100 in February, and traffic to her videos on YouTube nearly doubled. 2016: unlike previous years, Coldplay, Bruno Mars, and Beyoncé (the latter two both repeat Super Bowl performers) are of similar current popularity; thus, it will be a big challenge for an up-and-coming or classic artist to experience a noticeable Super Bowl bump. The Super Bowl “Bump” (2012 - present) Percent Increase in Total Views Before vs. After Super Bowl Performance Using 7-day average views prior to performance announcement vs. 7-day average post-performance. “Total Views” is based on both official and fan-uploaded videos claimed using Content ID Super Bowl 2015 Super Bowl 2014 Super Bowl 2013* views are approximated using all videos associated with artist. Super Bowl 2012 *For Super Bowl 2012, data compares 7-day average pre-performance vs. 7-day post-performance. Views are approximated using all videos associated with artist. The Power of a Halftime Performance Missy Elliott’s Total Views Before and After Super Bowl Halftime “Total Views” is based on both official and fan-uploaded videos claimed using Content ID “Total Views” is based on both official and fan-uploaded videos claimed using Content ID Will there be a Super Bowl “bump” in 2016? Total Views for Super Bowl Performers
By SGT. MAJ. WILLIAM E. WHITE JR. The United States Army Old Guard Fife and Drum Corps Rating officials face significant opportunities and challenges as part of the Noncommissioned Officer Evaluation Report system update, which begins Jan. 1. Both the opportunities and challenges stem from the fact that U.S. Army Human Resources Command will be tracking rater tendencies and constraining senior rater profiles. This increased accountability will help focus the target group for promotion and increase the percentage of strong NCOs selected for the next rank. It will also be a mammoth leadership challenge, specifically for senior raters who will carry the burden of informing the majority of NCOs during their Annual Performance Review that they are not the “Most Qualified” NCO in their peer group. To achieve the potential benefit, we rating officials must accept the challenge before us — to do our jobs better and make our Army stronger. Leaders must begin laying the foundation for success now, and the key to that success is simple: effective counseling. Consider these three facts: Inflation of NCOERs has been the accepted standard for years; the NCOER is not the problem, but rather the rating officials’ execution of the evaluation; senior raters have not previously been required to conduct counseling. These are not easy facts to face. But, as leaders, we must step back from the situation and view it objectively. From a purely logical perspective, in any group of NCOs, only one can be the best. However, the inflation of NCOERs over the years has led to far too many NCOs receiving “1 and 1” ratings, which AR 623-3 defines as “the cream of the crop and … a recommendation for immediate promotion.” We have taught ourselves and our young NCOs that only a “1 and 1” is acceptable and, therefore, far too few of our NCOs are being honestly and accurately assessed. Not every NCO is the cream of the crop. Not every NCO deserves a recommendation for immediate promotion. If senior raters were already executing noninflated reports based on consistent counseling, there would be no reason to implement a constrained senior rater profile because senior raters would be self-regulating. The lack of self-regulation, resulting in consistently inflated NCOERs, has led to systematic regulation: the constrained senior rater profile. Under this new system, which limits senior raters to no more than 24 percent of evaluations assessed as “Most Qualified,” 76 percent of rated NCOs will now only be “Highly Qualified” (or “Qualified” or “Not Qualified”) on their evaluations. This will be the first time that many NCOs are told they are not the best among their peers. That will be a hard pill to swallow for many, even if they know deep down that the NCO to their left or right is usually one step ahead of them. Effective counseling is the best remedy leaders have to address this situation. Counseling by the book We already have Army doctrine and regulations providing leaders with guidance regarding performance counseling. The current NCOER system requires raters to counsel rated NCOs quarterly. The new system requires senior raters to counsel the rated NCOs at least twice during the rating period. ATP 6-22.1, The Counseling Process, states, “Counseling at the beginning of and during the evaluation period ensures the subordinate’s personal involvement in the evaluation process.” The primary purpose of quarterly counseling, as defined in AR 623-3, is “telling the rated NCO how well he or she is performing.” These definitions are fine minimum standards, but effective counseling is far more important than enforcing a subordinate’s “personal involvement” or cataloguing a list of tasks completed or not. ATP 6-22.1 outlines the basic structure for counseling. Anyone in position to senior rate a NCO should already understand the four stages of counseling, the various types of developmental counseling and the three basic skills required of a counselor. One section of this ATP, however, provides important information that our new NCOER system will likely make critical for counselors. With at least 76 percent of NCOs now assessed as less than “Most Qualified,” counselors will need to understand “Addressing Resistance.” Traditionally, resistance to counseling has been a situation associated with negative performance or disciplinary counseling. In the case of laying the foundation for success with the new NCOER, counseling resistance may become a more frequent issue to face, and as the ATP states, that resistance may come from either the counseled individual or the leader conducting the counseling. The subordinate’s resistance is easy to foresee. More than a few NCOs will be resistant to the idea that they are not being evaluated as “Most Qualified.” This will lead to some resistance from the counseled NCO, but our current inflated NCOERs should indicate that some resistance to counseling will also come from leaders. The leaders’ resistance may stem from a hesitance to be completely honest about their assessment of an NCO. Every senior rater would like to think that he or she is consistently providing honest assessments, but if this lack of forthright assessment didn’t exist, there would have been far more NCOs receiving 3s or even 4s on the current NCOER. Senior raters owe it to their Soldiers and to the long term health of the Army to provide honest and specific evaluations of a rated NCO’s potential. Though we leaders are charged with developing our subordinates to the limits of their potential, we are not responsible for ensuring that all our subordinate NCOs get promoted. This false notion, however, is alive and well. Quite often, when a rating official executes an honest evaluation that assesses an NCO at less than “Among the Best” and “1 and 1,” the rated NCO is surprised by the less than stellar rating and feels betrayed by his or her leader. If a rating official conducts regular effective counseling, however, there is no reason for the rated NCO to be surprised. Counseling beyond the book When an NCO has just been told, perhaps for the first time, that he or she is not “Most Qualified” for promotion, one of the first things he or she will want is an answer to some version of this question: “How do I change your mind?” or “How do I get ‘Most Qualified’?” or “What did ‘Joe’ do that I haven’t?” The answer is, there is no clear answer. The training materials for the new NCOER explicitly state that most NCOs will be rated “Highly Qualified.” Senior raters will no doubt find they have to make a hard choice between two or more competent and fully qualified NCOs. When assessed against the standard of duty performance, the two NCOs may appear virtually equal, with similar experience and results during the rating period. It will be up to the senior rater to decide who is the most qualified, and that will probably come down to small details and a subjective assessment of the NCOs’ comparative potential. In short, there is no way for a senior rater to provide a checklist of items for a “Most Qualified” rating. Instead of providing a checklist, rating officials must be prepared to clearly define the performance standards against which the NCOs they rate are being assessed, but this is only a first step. The act of senior rating — considering an NCO’s potential — is more subjective. At some point, senior raters will have multiple NCOs who perform exceptionally well against the performance standards. This is when a senior rater must make a subjective comparison between NCOs to identify the “Most Qualified” among a pool of “Highly Qualified” NCOs. Senior raters must be prepared to “own” their assessments and use the NCOER counseling to mentor subordinate NCOs. This ownership begins and ends with honest and effective counseling. Leaders at all levels must mentor raters and subordinate leaders on effective counseling. The emphasis here is on effective counseling. Leaders and Soldiers should not be satisfied with counseling that does little more than provide a list of tasks to be accomplished or a list of deficiencies to be overcome. Certainly counseling has to address the standard quantifiable subjects such as Army Physical Fitness Test performance, schools attendance, primary duty performance assessments and individual qualifications, but more than this, counseling has to address the intangible elements that traditionally set the great NCOs apart from the good ones. The importance of initiative, determination, resilience, lifelong learning and broadening opportunities, to name just a few, must be part of the mentorship an NCO receives in counseling. Most importantly, counseling should be a frank, two-way discussion between the counselor and the NCO that includes the NCO’s strengths and weaknesses and how those strengths and weaknesses manifest themselves in the performance of daily duties. This requires a balanced discussion involving both positive reinforcement of what an NCO is doing well, along with candid feedback about where the NCO needs to improve. The leader must also listen to the Soldiers and their perception of their own performance, strengths and weaknesses in order to fully understand their developmental needs. Having had that two-way discussion, the leader can then focus on mentoring the subordinate on ways to emphasize strengths to minimize or mitigate weaknesses and providing resources and opportunities to the counseled NCO to directly address those weaknesses. Of course, the subordinate NCO also has a role to play. The best mentorship in the world is wasted on an NCO who does not want to accept constructive criticism and seriously consider how to apply it to grow. These NCOs exist throughout the Army and are the ones most likely to be upset and vocal when they find they are among the 76 percent rather than the 24 percent. Frankly, NCOs who consistently refuse to accept and apply counseling provided to them should be rated “Not Qualified.” Refusal to seek and apply constructive criticism is a failure of the Leader Attributes “Character” and “Intellect,” and the Leader Competency “Develops,” and should not be assessed as “Qualified” at any level. It is critical that we all recognize that counseling requires preparation on the part of the counselor and the individual counseled. This preparation and counseling require a commitment to consistently make the time. Time is a leader’s most precious resource, and a leader’s time should be prioritized for those activities that only the leader can do and which provide a high payoff when the leader uses his or her time for that activity. Counseling must be a leadership priority. Effective counseling is a consistent dialogue between leader and Soldier that provides mentorship, direction, coaching, development and, perhaps most importantly, trust on both sides. Ultimately, this is where the NCOER process transitions from an administrative responsibility to a leadership function. With coordinated effort among raters and senior raters to produce honest NCOERs supported by frank counseling and dedicated mentorship, the NCOER process becomes a real tool for leader development and enhancement of potential. Long-term dedication to this effort will benefit the Army exponentially as we grow a more competent and potential-laden NCO corps. If the next generation of leaders maintain a dedication to mentorship and counseling, they will be capable of propelling the Army further than the current generation can conceive, and that will be the measure of our success. All the ideas above are quickly summarized in the words of retired Col. Joe Buche, who said, counseling “is not designed to make you feel good about yourself. It is designed to help you improve your performance and therefore feel good about yourself. … Graduate-level leaders listen to counseling and use it as they approach the future. Amateurs leave counseling sessions [complaining] about their boss. Decide to which group you wish to belong and act accordingly.” Let us, as an NCO Corps and as leaders, decide to be graduate-level counselors who build graduate-level leaders for the future of our Army. Sgt. Maj. William E. White Jr. is the sergeant major of the United States Army Old Guard Fife and Drum Corps.
Yes, we can all agree that God knows whats best for us and certainly, many of us can agree that God can turn any situation around for his glory. Yet in spite of this knowledge, one question is always present in the back of our minds, “why does God ask us to do things that don’t make any sense?”. Why does God ask some of us to up and move to a different country? Why does God ask us to periodically make large and somewhat painful tithes at church? Why did God ask Abraham to sacrifice Isaac? The answer to all these questions and more will soon be known to you! But before we can answer these questions, we first have to first understand how God generally operates in our lives. James 1:2 reads, Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance. And let endurance have its perfect result, so that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing. As this verse suggests, God allows hardships to periodically enter our lives so that we can be made stronger when we depend on him to guide us through them. Yet why is this so important? Why can’t God find some other way for us to come closer to him that doesn’t involve pain and suffering? Yet consider this. If I love God enough to say that I would do anything for him (thereby affirming my closeness to him), why would I find it difficult to leave my him, surrender my wealth, or even sacrifice my own son? Indeed, I could always say that I love God with all my heart yet if I placed any of those things in such a high place in my life that I believe I couldn’t live without them, my claim about my love for God wouldn’t be very sincere now, would it? Certainly, I could say that I have devoted my entire life to God and yet, if I draw the line at the cost of my safety, at the cost of my comfort, or at the line of my property, my claim would be nothing more than pleasing words that contained no substance. In response to this, many Christians simply avoid making such lofty claims as loving God with their whole heart so as to avoid the responsibility that such a claim holds yet they, in doing so, deny their true Christianity. The Bible is clear in Matthew 22:37-38, 37 Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ 38 This is the first and greatest commandment. With all this in mind, the ultimate conclusion is this, God asks us to do certain things that in reality won’t ever really make any sense in order to give us a good look at our own reason for following him in the first place. If we claim to love God, yet draw the line when he tells us to leave our homes, we don’t truly love God, we only love him for the comfort he gives us. If we claim to love God, yet draw the line when he tells us to give our money, we don’t truly live in devotion to God, we only live in devotion to ourselves. If we claim to love God, yet draw the line when he tells us to give up everything and come follow him, we don’t truly embody the person of Jesus, we only embody the destitution of our own humanity. And that is no way to live. A life that does not make God central is a life that will only end in suffering and regret. I’ll be the first to admit that this can be hard to hear. Modern Christianity has equivocated poverty in the pursuit of the gospel as a relic of an archaic time. And to respond to this, I’m not saying that God will ask us to give up everything we have and live on the streets as there is much more good that we can we can accomplish by working and actively serving in our local communities. Yet what I am saying is, if we claim to love God yet wouldn’t be willing to give up everything and live on the streets if he clearly asked us to, then we, in all honesty, have not put God first in our lives as there is something in our hearts that we value more than our relationship with him. Again, God will more than likely never ask any of us to do that but the fact is that if we look inside ourselves and find that we wouldn’t be willing to take that leap of faith on his behalf, there is a fear in our hearts that dissuades us from truly loving him with our whole hearts. Life is so much better when we put God first, so rather than sit around and wait for him to take away the things that distract you from him because he wants to be with you that much, be proactive and get rid of those things yourself. God is waiting for you to desire him above all else so that he can give you the love you really deserve, the love that surpasses all imagination. So strive to love God even more than you did yesterday and I promise you, you will not regret it. Thanks for Reading! If you enjoyed, please consider liking and following!
Redacted beyond recognition Down the rabbit hole Fear and Loathing at Langley Kerry and Clapper's last-minute gambit No one at the CIA was ever held accountable. its lead investigator has revealed for the first time.who led the probe into the CIA's detention and interrogation program following 9/11, has revealed the drama behind theauthored by Spencer Ackerman and published over the weekend by The Guardian.From 2008 to 2014, Jones and his colleagueseventually authoring a 6,700-page classified reportSpeaking to the media for the first time, he spoke of how, and how the man who set him on his career path - Denis McDonough, the White House chief of staff - sided with the CIA in"They redacted all references to Allah," Jones said. "Like, really? Under what national security concern?"Backed by the White House, the agency insisted onfrom the declassified report, both for theThat made itfrom one "black site" to another. "You couldn't follow the narrative arc," Jones told The Guardian.Redactions followed a, Jones explained. First the CIA and the White House would claim they were. When the committee staff argued otherwise, they would say "this will really, this is a morale issue ... as if that was a reasonable response to making something classified," Jones said.Both the CIA and the White House were adamantly opposed to revealing thatThe final public document contained only oblique language suggesting the possibility.Jones and his colleagues were first tasked to look into, following a December 2007 revelation by the New York Times that a senior CIA official named Jose RodriguezJones and his colleagues found documents describing how Abu Zubaydah wasamong other things."I don't think the CIA even knew what they were giving us, to be honest," Jones said.When Jones presented the committee with a preliminary report, in February 2009, both Republicans and Democrats were. By March, the committee had voted to expand the investigation to review the entire program.Agreeing to review the documents inside an office provided by the CIA, using a separate computer set-up, Jones and his colleagues started digging. By March 2010, they noticed theyAn internal CIA probe discovered thatfrom the committee on two occasions.With this in mind, in the summer of 2013 Jones took a printout of a document, prepared by the CIA for then-director Leon Panetta,The so-calledwas never made public, and it should still be in the Senate Intelligence Committee safe."It's a final findings document. It has 13 findings. And one is, basically, they providedJones said. "They're topic oriented: 'These are the inaccurate things we told the president'."When Colorado Senator Mark Udall, a Democrat,of this document at a December 2013 hearing, theaccusing Jones of hacking into their computers even as agents broke into the computer system set up for the Senate staff to spy on their work.The CIA's Inspector-General later established that at least five agency officials wouldduring January 2014, even readingtrying to establish how the Panetta Review made it onto that computer system in the first place.CIA Director John Brennan met with the committee leadership on January 15, 2014, demanding that staffers who accessed the documentSenator Diane Feinstein (D-California), who chaired the committee at the time,Instead, sheas improper. In the heated war of words between the CIA and the Senate, the agency even referred Jones to the Department of Justice,- which the DOJ eventually declined to pursue.On April 3, 2014, the committee voted toof the torture report. The CIA overreaction had apparently convinced the minority Republicans - who had long opposed such a move - to change their mind.In June 2013, the CIA had sent a long response to the committee,of the report's first draft. Jones had incorporated that response - and the comments and footnotes rebutting it - into the final draft, which grew to 6,700 pages as a result. The final executive summary that was made to the general public amounted to 525 pages, with Jones having toAt one point, Feinstein even accused the White House of, knowing that the Democrats would lose the midterm election and the report would never see the light of day under a Republican-led committee.In December 2014, Secretary of State, because it mightin the Muslim world andagainst Islamic State. Director of National Intelligence James Clapper followed up,ThatThe Guardian reported, saying that multiple sources indicated theby the apparent efforts by the Obama administration to suppress the report.The so-calledIt describedmaking themleaving at least one of themas bubbles rose from their open mouths; andwhile claiming it was necessary for delivering nutrients.""People who played a significant role in this program, who are in the report, continue to play significant roles in sensitive programs at the agency," said Jones.
Cairo, Egypt - As Gabr sat in a seafront cafe in his hometown of Alexandria, he spoke about his past opinion of atheists. "I used to think that they should be killed," he said matter-of-factly. Gabr - not his real name - was brought up in a moderate Muslim family before becoming a Salafi, a follower of a literalist and puritanical form of Islam. He eventually underwent a radical shift in belief to become one of those people he used to despise: an atheist, an apostate, a kafir - a group of people who feel under threat in Egypt because of their lack of belief in God. Atheists are uncommon in Egypt, and reliable statistics on their numbers are unavailable because of the lack of research and an unwillingness to admit one's atheism. However, both atheists and religious people in Egypt agree that atheism has recently become a more prominent issue in the country. "I never knew there were any atheists in Alexandria until 2011, after the revolution. Before the revolution, all this time, I was thinking that I am the only one here," recalled 30-year-old Gabr. "It was very lonely. My computer was my world. Until 2011, I was just contacting foreign people and almost stopped contact with Egyptian people. You feel like you are so different, you are against everything religious people say, you can't meet them in the middle." For a time after the 2011 uprising against former president Hosni Mubarak, there was greater freedom of expression in the country, and atheists began to be more publicly assertive. Yet at the same time, the power and influence of conservative Islam grew, with the election of Mohamed Morsi as president and Islamist parliamentary candidates' success at the ballot box. All of them are angry, in a way that you can't imagine. They insult everything. I don't take these messages seriously. - Gabr, Egyptian athiest 'All of them are angry' Gabr is a member of an atheist group that meets up for drinks and goes to concerts together. When the group began in 2011, it had three or four members. Now it has close to 100, including men and women, ex-Muslims and ex-Christians. "All of them are angry, in a way that you can't imagine," he said. "They insult everything." Gabr claimed he has received threats from people on Facebook threatening to kill him with a sword. "I don't take these messages seriously," he said. "For me, it is pathetic. I see them as victims." Nevertheless, he did not want to use his real name for this article. For atheists and those perceived to be critical of religion in Egypt, the threat of violence and persecution is real. Although atheism is not technically illegal in Egypt, its penal code criminalises "contempt of heavenly religions", desecrating religious symbols and mocking religious rites in public. In late October it was reported that Sherif Gaber, a 20-year-old student, had been arrested after allegedly setting up a Facebook page calling for atheism. The author Karam Saber is currently appealing a five-year prison sentence after being convicted of contempt of religion and defamation in his book Where is God? And in December 2012, Albert Saber, an atheist blogger and activist, was sentenced to three years in jail after being found guilty of "defamation of religion". 'Society is the problem' The authorities, Egyptian atheists say, are not the only danger they face. "I'm not afraid of the government, I'm afraid of the people. Society is the problem," said 28-year-old Ayman Emam. About a year ago, Emam set up a Facebook page called "Egyptian Atheists Community" in Cairo. The group has 15 members and includes former Muslims and Christians. He described the page as an attempt to draw attention to the threats and persecution faced by atheists in Egypt, from Christians as well as Muslims. When asked how atheists are treated, he replied: "It depends on your luck. You can be an atheist and telling people, and nothing can happen to you. Or you can be fired from work, your life can be destroyed, acts of violence can be taken against you. It depends where you are, the circle of people around you. For me, the people at work don't know. The people at school didn't know. You have to keep your opinions to yourself. It's a stressful situation." People who have been perceived to be criticising religion have been attacked and murdered in Egypt. In 1992, the writer Farag Foda was assassinated by religious hardliners after being accused of blasphemy. The Nobel Prize-winning novelist Naguib Mahfouz was stabbed in the neck by Islamists in 1994. He survived but suffered permanent injuries. According to the Pew Research Center, 74 percent of Egyptian Muslims want sharia, or Islamic law, to be recognised as the official law. Of those committed to sharia law, 86 percent favour the death penalty for those who leave Islam - although this is technically defined in the survey as those who join another faith. Despite his fears, Emam said he feels the need to respond to what he sees as growing religious conservatism and intolerance in Egypt, and he insists his group is not proselytising. "What benefit does it give you as an atheist if you convert people to atheism?" he asks. "We just want people to be more tolerant to our beliefs and we want society to be more balanced." Straining relationships Noha Mahmoud Salem, 53, describes herself as a former "fanatic" and Salafi. She began wearing the niqab, or veil, at the age of 21. At 24, she married a conservative Muslim and they had three boys together. But around the age of 30 she began having doubts about religion, and she stopped praying. Both Noha and her husband thought she might have a psychological problem. She went to see specialists who told her she was suffering from obsessive compulsive disorder and needed strong medication. The medication didn't seem to help, and she was still questioning her faith, so she was given stronger and more harmful drugs. She became like a zombie, she said. "It stopped my thinking and I was afraid that some damage had been done to my brain," she recalled. "When I stopped the medication, my brain gradually recovered." But her questioning of religion continued. Noha finally got divorced from her husband in 2007, after nearly 25 years of marriage. She does not, however, describe herself as an atheist. "It is better to say I am a 'Muslim' but 'an intellectual Muslim,'" she said, "because when I say 'I am a Muslim', people will begin to hear me. Otherwise they will be my enemies." Yet she cannot get her three sons to listen to her. Her relationship with them is a big source of anguish. She describes them as Salafis. They treat her harshly, and warn her that she is going to hell; meanwhile, she tells them there is no hell. "They always tell me that I am psychologically troubled," she says. A few months ago, Noha got a certificate from a psychologist in Alexandria proving that she is mentally well. What did her family say? "No, the doctor is wrong; he didn't give you the right diagnosis." As an atheist, Gabr has struggled in his romantic life. He cannot admit his atheism to religious girls. "You have to be a hypocrite," he said. He recently met a Christian girl he liked, but when she saw from his online posts that he was an atheist, "she got mad and said 'I am not proud to know someone like you'". Ayman Emam was harassed by the police and neighbours when he lived with his atheist girlfriend, because they were not married. It is impossible for atheists to marry, unless they pretend to be religious, as civil marriages are not possible in Egypt. Emam denies that atheism is a gateway to vice and debauchery, pointing out that there is no shortage of these among religious people. "Religion doesn't stop people from having sex and drinking alcohol," he said, "things that they enjoy". Atheism and the uprisings While Egyptian society has grown more religiously conservative, the uprisings have also provided some space for atheists and those critical of religion to speak out. "The psychology of the Egyptians completely changed after the [2011] revolution," said Salem. "Now they are more open - everybody wants to say something. Really, myself, I feel more courageous." Emam is more ambivalent. Though he said he thinks the removal of Morsi may make society more liberal in terms of art and drinking alcohol, he believes that "nothing has changed regarding the general feeling towards atheists. The society is still the same." Waves crashed soundlessly against the sea walls, drowned out by the vehicles hurtling along the corniche, as Gabr sat in a seafront bar. Couples and families strolled and took in the sea air, or sat along the harbour walls. Most of the women were wearing the hijab, or headscarf. Like Emam, Gabr said he was ambivalent about the uprising's consequences for atheists. "It gave you more space. You can speak your mind more," he said, adding that atheists may be entitled to greater freedom of speech now that the Islamist President Mohamed Morsi has been ousted. Yet the "revolution" has not produced all the freedoms he had wished for. A new constitution is being drafted in the wake of Morsi's ousting. A group of atheists recently called for this document to respect freedom of expression and to protect atheists. They called for the repeal of several articles, including Article Two, which states that Islam is the religion of the state and that sharia is the basis for legislation. However, it appears unlikely they will get the protections they are looking for. Despite his misgivings, Gabr is hopeful for Egypt's future. "I like to take the French revolution as an example, because it took years," he said. "Everything didn't change at once. But something started; a process." Follow Patrick Keddie on Twitter: @PatrickKeddie
A report by the Trade Union Congress revealed that unsecured debt per household in the UK is projected to rise to £13,900 ($18,060) this year, surpassing the pre-crisis value of £13,300 in 2008. Household debt had already begun to hover near pre-crisis levels last year with £13,200 in unsecured debt per household registered for 2016. TUC has warned that the record high household debt is a reflection of the nation's standard of living crisis, as wages are still lower by £20 per week compared to levels prior to the financial crisis. The dangerous mix of low wage and low investment is putting the health of the UK economy at a serious risk. "The surge in household debt is putting the economy in the danger zone", said TUC General Secretary Frances O'Grady. "We've got this problem because wages haven't recovered. Credit cards and payday loans are helping to prop up household spending for now, but millions of families are running on empty. O'Grady further urged the government to ensure higher wage levels in order to foster sustainable growth. In order to attain this, the minimum wage needs to be increased, while pay restrictions for public servants like nurses, firefighters and midwives need to be removed. "A lot more government support is needed for the parts of Britain where well-paid jobs are in short supply", he further added. "Communities that lack good jobs today could thrive tomorrow if they get proper investment in training, transport links, broadband and decent housing." A separate report by financial services and consulting firm PwC also affirmed that increasing debt fuelled consumption, combined with rising inflation, will lead to a slowdown in consumer spending growth from 3% in 2016 to 2% in 2017.
THE US staged its own terrifying show of strength today by dropping huge bombs near the North Korean border - days after Kim Jong-un's latest missile outrage. Four US F-35B fighter jets joined two nuclear-ready US B-1B bombers and four South Korean F-15 fighter jets in the joint military operation over the troubled Korean Peninsula. The rogue state described the drills - which saw target bombing close to its border - as the "rash act" of a desperate nation. AFP 9 South Korea F-15K planes drop MK-82 bombs at a simulated target at the Pilseung Range in Gangwon AFP 9 Explosions erupt on the mountain landscape after being peppered by the munitions Reuters 9 A US Air Force B-1B drops a MK-84 as it flies over South Korea during the joint military drill Reuters 9 Two B-1Bs fly from Guam with an escort of a pair of Japanese F-15s and US Marines' F-35B fighter jets "The wild military acts of the enemies are nothing but the rash act of those taken aback," said Kim's mouthpiece, the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) said. The exercise was designed to "strongly counter North Korea's repeated ballistic missile tests and development of nuclear weapons," a South Korean official told CNN. In a statement, the US air force said its bombers flew out of Andersen Air Force Base in Guam and four stealth fighter jets from a US Marine Corps base in Japan. They conducted a shocking bombing attack, which simulated a surgical strike of key enemy facilities, over the Pilseung Range in the eastern province of Gangwon - which neighbours North Korea. The sabre rattling drill followed North Korea's latest weapons test - which was the first ballistic missile fired OVER Japan. North Korea has been test-firing missiles at a rapid clip this year. With each launch, experts fear Kim's military can further refine and perfect its missile technology. The bomber flights have becomes a common response to North Korean actions but the dropping off bombs is seen as an escalation by the US. AP 9 US Marine Corps F-35B fighter jets (front) and South Korean air Force's F-15K fly over South Korea Handout - Getty 9 Joint Direct Attack Munitions (JDAM), MK82 and MK84 bombs, were dropped in the drill AP 9 The drill came after President Donald Trump said words would not resolve the Korean conflict B-1Bs flew over the Korean Peninsula following both of Pyongyang's recent tests of intercontinental ballistic missiles, the type of weapons designed to deliver nuclear warheads to far-off locations like the mainland United States. The bombers flew from Guam, the closest US territory to North Korea and the target of North Korean threats in recent weeks. PREPARING FOR WAR Get the lowdown on what to do if there is a nuclear attack The mock attack came after President Donald Trump said it was becoming clear words would not resolve the Korean conflict. The state-run Korean Central News Agency said its latest missile launch was "a meaningful prelude to containing Guam," which it then called the "advanced base of invasion" for US forces. In a follow-up statement, KCNA promised future launches "targeting the Pacific, where the US imperialist aggressor forces' bases are stationed". "It should not be forgotten even a moment that the whole of South Korea can turn into ruins," the statement added. Kim earlier vowed never to stop his bid for nuclear weapons before predicting America's "final doom". Universal News (Europe) 9 Kim's fearsome arsenal was tonight paraded on North Korean state TV Universal News (Europe) 9 The despot was pictured inspecting the missile prior to its launch early on Tuesday morning KCNA 9 Kim appeared to watch on as the latest rocket was launched AP:Associated Press 9 Images of the launch that stunned the world have finally emerged AP:Associated Press 9 The Hwasong-12 intermediate range missile was launched from near Pyongyang North Korea state media said the nation "can never stop bolstering up the nuclear deterrent". And added that "no one can guess when a nuclear war may break out". The statement from Kim's mouthpiece added: "The USA's more persistent moves to launch a nuclear war on the Korean peninsula would precipitate its final doom." Last night, state TV revealed new images of Tuesday morning's missile launch, with Kim seen inspecting his nuclear arsenal. Donald Trump's tone towards his nation's upstart rival was scarcely more diplomatic. The President tweeted: "The US has been talking to North Korea, and paying them extortion money, for 25 years. Talking is not the answer!" The U.S. has been talking to North Korea, and paying them extortion money, for 25 years. Talking is not the answer! — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 30, 2017 Kim has vowed to fire more missiles as pictures emerged of the despot cackling maniacally as he oversaw the launch described as "just a curtain-raiser". Just one day after his latest launch brought his country and American one step closer to war the smirking communist called for more weapons testing over the Pacific to advance his country's ability to contain Guam. State media reported that the dictator had said: "The current ballistic rocket launching drill like a real war is the first step of the military operation of the Korean People's Army in the Pacific and a meaningful prelude to containing Guam." The Rodong Sinmun newspaper, mouthpiece of the North's ruling party, on Wednesday carried more than 20 pictures of the launch near Pyongyang. One showed Kim smiling broadly at a desk with a map of the Northwest Pacific, surrounded by aides. Reuters 9 North Korea has released pictures of Kim-Jong-un overseeing the latest missile test KCNA 9 Now the despot has vowed to fire even more rockets towards the Pacific The fiery outburst came as the UN Security Council - which includes Russia and Kim's key ally China - unanimously condemned the "outrageous" launch. North Korea today vowed to execute reporters from two South Korean newspapers, saying they insulted the country's dignity while reviewing and interviewing the British authors of a book about life in the isolated country. KCNA carried a state court statement expressing anger over the descriptions of North Korean lives as increasingly capitalist. It also objected to the translated title of the South Korean edition as "Capitalist People's Republic of Korea" and the book's cover that replaced the red star in North Korea's official seal with the US dollar mark. North Korea's Central Court also "sentenced to death" the presidents of the newspapers and said the North will "track down to the end and cut off the dirty windpipes" of those responsible for such provocations. South Korea's Unification Ministry denounced the North Korean comments as an "absurd threat" and said it "sternly warns" the North to immediately stop threating South Korean citizens. Seoul's government is ready to take "every measure needed" to protect its citizens, the ministry said in a statement. MOST READ IN WORLD NEWS TREE OF TERROR Mum horrified to learn what the strange 'pods' were hanging from branches SUICIDE WARNING What is Momo and how can parents protect their children? ULTIMATE BETRAYAL Girl ‘came to school in love bites after dad let men molest her for cash’ Warning LEFT FOR DEAD Cruel thugs slice puppy's mouth open like Batman villain The Joker Warning BABY REVENGE HORROR Young mum ‘drowned newborn son and left him to be eaten by maggots' Latest BLOODBATH 2 Brits arrested in Benidorm after 2 bouncers ‘knifed trying to break up fight' We pay for your stories! Do you have a story for The Sun Online news team? Email us at tips@the-sun.co.uk or call 0207 782 4368
A derailed train carriage is seen toppled in the town of Adendro in northern Greece, May 14, 2017. REUTERS/Alexandros Avramidis ATHENS (Reuters) - Three people died and 10 more were injured when a train derailed in northern Greece on Saturday night and ripped through a house, police said. The train carrying 70 passengers and five crew was heading from Athens to the second-biggest city of Thessaloniki when it derailed in the town of Adendro, 37 km (23 miles) from Thessaloniki, railway company TRAINOSE said. At least two carriages crashed into the ground floor of a house, ripping through its walls. Others toppled on to their sides, their windows smashed. It was unclear what caused the accident. “Death came calling,” the Athens News Agency quoted Yorgos Mylonas, a local resident, as saying. “I heard a strange noise and then I saw the train approaching and ramming into my neighbor’s house.” Three of the injured are in serious condition, TRAINOSE said. Earlier, in a statement on its website, TRAINOSE had said that four people were killed in the crash but it removed that reference. At least two dozen fire trucks were deployed in the rescue operation.
Last night, OnePlus introduced its sophomore phone to the world, the OnePlus 2. With it came a new design, a fingerprint scanner, a three-step profile switcher, swappable backings, an improved camera, a much better display, a screaming new processor, USB-C, Oxygen OS … all starting at just $329. Motorola, not one to be outdone, unveiled the next generation Moto G and Moto X models at its own event this morning. Coming close to the OnePlus 2’s pricing at $399 unlocked, Motorola’s new flagship, the Moto X Style (known as the Moto X Pure Edition in America) packs a QHD display, razor-thin bezels, and a hugely improved camera from last year’s underwhelming model. The second half of the year is shaping up to largely become a battle of Moto X vs. OnePlus 2, but in the end … which phone will be the better buy? OnePlus 2 If there’s one word to describe OnePlus, it’s boisterous. The company has had its share of fumbles and mishaps, but at the end of the day, they’ve gained an amazing amount of traction in their single year of operation, thanks to the massive success of its flagship, the OnePlus One. The company called its first entry to the smartphone market “the 2015 flagship killer,” noting its top-of-the-line specs and outrageously cheap cost — the only catch was trying to obtain the phone. In what started as a way to manage high demand for a low supply of devices, and escalated into becoming one of the most self-sufficient forms of free advertisement, the OnePlus One could only be bought with an invite … and that invite could only be acquired by following a series of sometimes questionable instructions. But enough about the history of OnePlus, what about its new smartphone? The “2016 flagship killer.” Starting at just $329 for the 16 GB model, and $389 to quadruple the storage up to 64 GB, the OnePlus 2 will become available on August 11 (just two weeks from now) for consumers with an invite. With it, you get a Full HD display — though don’t be disappointed just yet; while the resolution is the same as last year, the display quality is significantly improved, with better color reproduction and viewing angles. The story is the same with the camera, which retains last year’s 13 MP resolution and instead improves upon the optics. RAM ranges from 3 to 4 GB, depending on your selected storage capacity (though keep in mind that only the 64GB/4GB model will be available at launch), while the processor remains the 64-bit octa-core Snapdragon 810 regardless of configuration, clocked at 1.8 GHz. The backing is removable this time around, though the battery still isn’t, and OnePlus is bringing its Style Swap covers back with options for bamboo, wood, kevlar, and sandstone. The fingerprint scanner on the front is allegedly even faster than Touch ID on the iPhone 6, and the hardware profile switcher is a delightful feature ported over from the iPhone as well. All in all, the OnePlus 2 seems to be an insanely great package for the price, and a formidable contender to the likes of even the Galaxy S6 and other top-tier devices … but a killer? Where it falls short For all its high-end specs and accolades, the OnePlus 2 isn’t without its flaws. There are plenty of concerns over the Snapdragon 810 SoC inside, which while extremely powerful, has taken heat (har har) over allegations of overheating and performance throttling. It’s also missing quite a few components that, while not uncommonly absent on sub-$400 smartphones, don’t exactly scream “flagship killer.” Components like NFC, wireless charging, or quick charging. The contact points under the removable backing led many to wonder if NFC could be added via replacement backing in the future … but the company’s co-founder was quick to shut that idea down. There’s also no microSD expansion available, so be sure that you’re comfortable with the storage configuration you order. Then of course, there’s the issue of buying the phone. OnePlus has committed to fulfilling more orders more quickly, with 30-50 times as much inventory as last year, and a much less convoluted invite system … but then, it’s also projected a several week wait after placing an order this year. So there’s that. Moto X Style / Pure Edition The Moto X isn’t so much aimed at being a flagship killer, as it is simply at being a flagship. The spec sheet is similar to that of the OnePlus 2: the same hexacore (two fewer cores than the OnePlus 2’s Snapdragon 810) Snapdragon 808 processor used in the LG G4, 3 GB of RAM (matching the baseline OnePlus 2 configuration, but falling 1 GB short of the upgraded model), a 21 MP f/2.0 camera, and a 5.7″ QHD IPS LCD display. Like the OnePlus 2, the Moto X has a diverse selection of materials for the backing, including silicon rubber, leather, and wood, though unlike the OnePlus 2, your choice is a one-time, permanent one, on account of the non-removable backing. In exchange, you’re given a much more flexible range of customization, going beyond back plates to offering dozens of color options for both the front and back of the phone, as well as accent colors (for the buttons, speaker, and trim) and custom “engraving” on the back — though for what it’s worth, in the past we’ve found the message screen-printed rather than physically engraved into the material. You can also choose your storage capacity on the Moto X, with the options of 16, 32, and 64 GB available, and for the first time the Moto X offers microSD card support as well, for up to 128 GB of additional storage. On top of that, the Moto X Style has a water-repellant coating (we’re unsure as of yet if the Moto X shares the new Moto G‘s IPx7 certification for immersion in up to a meter of water), and what it lacks in a fingerprint scanner, it makes up for in its extremely fast charging. Motorola claims that with Turbo Power, the Moto X is the fastest-charging smartphone in the world, capable of reaching 50% more charge after 15 minutes than the Galaxy S6. Then there’s the camera. Motorola hasn’t historically been one of our first picks for mobile photo shoots. The cameras on the first and second generation Moto X’es were very underwhelming, with slow shutters, washed out colors, poor low-light performance, and a lack of detail. We were promised a great camera experience on the first Moto X with its Clear Pixel technology, but in the end, we were left disappointed. This year, Motorola has put a huge emphasis on its camera, saying that not only is the Moto X Style’s camera better than previous Moto X generations, but it’s also going to be “best in class,” beating out even the iPhone 6 and Galaxy S6 in imagery. Of course, we’re highly skeptical of such a bold claim, but we’re holding full judgment until we can see the camera’s true performance once the Moto X launches with final software in September. What phone should I get? We’re asked this question all the time, and we’ve adapted it into its own segment on the Pocketnow Weekly podcast, but ultimately, it’s a tough call in this particular situation. The OnePlus 2 is cheaper than the Moto X, sure, and the $70 difference in baseline 16 GB models could be all the convincing you need to make your decision — especially when both phones are such good options, and you really can’t seem to go wrong either way. But there are plenty more factors than just cost. Availability will be one of the biggest, and while the OnePlus 2 will be available to purchase about a month earlier than the Moto X, you might not get it until your friends are long situated into their new relationship with Motorola. You’re also getting more features in the Moto X out of that price difference, with more customization options, NFC, fast charging, and Motorola’s bevy of useful services like Moto Display and Moto Assist. Of course, it’s hard to give a definitive answer on the better deal until we’ve properly tested and compared both phones ourselves, but for now, I’m not convinced that the OnePlus 2 is going to be quite the flagship killer it aims to be with phones like the Moto X standing in its way. What are your thoughts? Are you going to buy the OnePlus 2 when it launches, or are you saving your money for the Moto X?
With no vaccine, no cure, and without even a reliable diagnosis, doctors are at a loss for how to protect their patients from the Zika virus. In the past year, the mosquito-borne disease has spread throughout Latin America, sparking panic because of a possible link to microcephaly—babies born with abnormally small brains. Without more information, medical advice so far has boiled down to this: Don’t get pregnant. So say official guidelines from Brazil, Colombia, and Honduras. El Salvador has gone so far as to recommend women do not get pregnant until 2018. But most of these Latin American countries are also Catholic, so access to birth control is often poor and abortion is flat-out banned. “This kind of recommendation that women should avoid pregnancy is not realistic,” says Beatriz Galli, a Brazil-based policy advisor for the reproductive health organization Ipas. “How can they put all the burden of this situation on the women?” In Brazil, where Zika has hit the hardest, birth control is available—though poor and rural women can still get left out. One report estimates that unplanned pregnancies make up over half of all births in the country. And abortion is illegal, except in cases of rape and certain medical conditions. A raft of impending legislation in Brazil’s conservative-held congress may make it harder to get abortions even in those exempted cases. Now throw Zika into that. Scientists still haven't confirmed the link to microcephaly, but Brazilian researchers have confirmed the virus can jump through the placenta from mother to fetus. Circumstantially, the number of of microcephaly cases has gone up 20 fold since Zika first reached Brazil. In the face of fear and incomplete information, women will have to figure out how to protect themselves and their children. Illegal Abortions If a woman is already pregnant or accidentally becomes pregnant in Brazil, her choices are both legally restricted and medically confusing. Illegal abortions already happen; 200,000 women in Brazil get hospitalized every year for complications from the procedure. Having one is punishable by up to three years in prison. In 2012, a Brazilian supreme court decided that terminating a pregnancy would be legal when the fetus develops with no brain and has no chance for survival, a condition called anencephaly. Microcephaly, where the brain is too small, is more complicated: It can be fatal in some babies and result in permanent disabilities in others. Zika makes the confusion even worse. The virus doesn’t make everyone ill, so not having any symptoms is no guarantee of safety. If a woman does get sick, the symptoms of Zika are not unique and diagnostic tests are not reliably available. Even diagnosis of microcephaly via ultrasound is tricky early in pregnancy. It can be hard to know how abnormal the size of an unborn fetus’ head is, says Kjersti Aagaard, an obstetrician at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, because “those measures are what help us date a pregnancy.” The reasoning is circular: A fetus’s head may be too small for their age, but if you don’t know the age, you don’t have a reference point. Galli says she suspects individual women infected with Zika may try petitioning judges to allow abortions. Brazilian judges have on rare occasions granted abortions to women whose fetuses were in danger of severe birth defects, and one judge has expressed sympathy for Zika-infected women carrying babies with microcephaly. But this last-ditch legal route is slow and accessible only to well-resourced women. Rubella and Abortion in the US In the 1960s, doctors in the US had in a similar dilemma. The virus rubella can cause blindness, deafness, and other birth defects. Like Zika, the symptoms of rubella in everyone but pregnant women were so mild that nobody paid much attention. Then a pandemic hit in the 1960s. Abortion was illegal at the time, but so-called therapeutic abortions—if doctors deemed them medically justified—were allowed. Few doctors actually performed them, though. The media picked up on the plight of white, middle-class mothers seeking abortions after getting rubella. LIFE even ran a cover story. That narrative ran counter to the stereotype of abortion-seeking women as poor, unmarried, and somehow deviant. “To have middle-class white married women speak publicly about abortion made abortion respectable and decent,” says Leslie Reagan, a historian at the University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign and author of Dangerous Pregnancies, a book about abortion and the rubella outbreak. The conversation around abortion shifted in the US, leading to state laws that decriminalized abortions and eventually Roe v. Wade. With Zika in Brazil, Galli thinks opening the debate to medical justifications of abortion could help destigmatize the issue. But she’s not optimistic, given the anti-abortion legislation currently in congress. “We are facing a lot of threats,” she says. “We are fighting to try to secure what we have instead of trying to advance and expand legislation.” For now, pregnant women face a set of choices more constrained than ever.
TIJUANA, Mexico - Police in a Mexican border city say a drone overloaded with illicit methamphetamine has crashed into a supermarket parking lot. Tijuana police spokesman Jorge Morrua said Wednesday that police were alerted after the drone fell Tuesday night near the San Ysidro crossing at Mexico's border with California. Six packets of the drug, weighing more than six pounds, were taped to the six-propeller remote-controlled aircraft. Morrua said authorities are investigating where the flight originated and who was controlling it. He said it was not the first time they had seen drones used for smuggling drugs across the border. Other innovative efforts have included catapults, ultralight aircraft and tunnels. In April, authorities in South Carolina found a drone outside the fence of a prison that had been carrying cellphones, marijuana and tobacco.
Journalist Simon Parkin recently published a brilliant editorial for New Statesman titled “If You Love Games, You Should Refuse to Be Called a Gamer.” Parkin feels that the idea of the “gaming community,” and its endemic misogyny, transphobia and rape culture, all need to die, and by extension, anyone who has adopted an identity as a "gamer" needs to give it up. “Gamer” is an identity I’ve been wearing since I attended my first Penny Arcade Expo. PAX is to gamer culture what Woodstock was to hippie culture, only PAX takes place annually in Boston, Seattle and Melbourne, Australia. The Penny Arcade Web comic that spawned PAX could be seen as a birthplace of gamer culture -- it provided a spiritual center for gaming fans of all stripes to enjoy their community’s inside jokes, and by doing so, recognize that they were a community. Advertisement: In April 2010, at the inaugural PAX East in Boston, I listened to actor and geek personality Wil Wheaton’s keynote speech about how tabletop role-playing games like Dungeons and Dragons and video games had been centerpieces of his friendships, keeping those relationships together despite geographical distance and the passage of time. Wheaton’s infectious passion endeared me to the idea that I was part of a subculture I’d never realized. I was a gamer. Board games, miniatures games and especially video games had been some of the few constants in my life, and some of the closest things to my heart. I had never wanted to take on any sort of identity before that, as it always meant giving up some aspect of my individuality in order to blend in. But I’d been lonely for the lack of a group to belong to, and here was a subculture and identity I could take on without giving up a thing! I was so taken with this newfound sense of community that when Penny Arcade creators Jerry Holkins and Mike Krahulik took the stage for a question and answer session after Wheaton’s keynote, and the microphone I’d been waiting in line behind died, I drew upon the powerful lungs I'd developed as a jazz trombonist and shouted down my question from the balcony on which I stood, filling the amphitheater with booming sound, to express to Holkins and Krahulik how special PAX was, and how I felt like I’d finally found “my people.” Now, after three years of being ensconced in video game culture long enough to be disgusted by it on a regular basis, I’m ready to give up my identity as a gamer, even though giving up the word itself sometimes feels impossible. * * * Advertisement: The Spike television network recently held the VGX video game awards, formerly known as the VGAs, a production that often plays to the lowest common denominators among the video game audience. Last year, for example, an actor in camouflage fatigues "teabagged" guests who appeared on the show -- virtually teabagging an opponent's virtual corpse is a popular way that first-person shooter players embarrass their opponents in multiplayer matches. This year's offense was a transphobic comment made by co-host and comedian Joel McHale, assuring video game fans that the rumor that Wario, a popular character in Nintendo games, had undergone sex reassignment surgery was not true. Transphobia in the video game community has been a major issue this year, as marginalized groups among the video game audience refuse to be ignored anymore. Microsoft offended women in late November by providing a customizable form letter, in the fashion of one of those notes you may have written to your mother as a child explaining why the gifting of a new toy would benefit the entire family. In this case, one of the ways to customize the letter was to address it to one’s girlfriend, in the hopes of convincing her that, among other things, the ability to use exercise software or interact with television programs for women using the Xbox One made it a worthy holiday purchase. To be fair, the interactive letter could also be tailored as from a woman to a man, but in any case it validated the idea that gamers are a group of people separated from everyone else. The letter was another reminder that gamer culture is locked into old patterns precisely at a time when video games seem poised to break out of their niche status and become just another mainstream form of media. A familiar drumbeat from the progressive wing of video game criticism and cultural observation is that gamer culture slows this process. Advertisement: As Parkin points out, the term "gamer" is idiotic. We don’t call movie fans “moviers” or literature enthusiasts “bookers.” We didn’t even call video game players "gamers" until the fairly recent past. I certainly don’t remember hearing the word "gamer" in the mid-'90s when I was gorging on my Super Nintendo Entertainment System, or in the early 2000s when I was mainlining video games on my PC and PlayStation 2. Commentary on the preposterousness of the label’s existence speaks clearly to me when I consider that prior to 2010 I had never thought of playing video games as part of my identity. It was just a hobby. I invested more personally in my love for movies, going so far as to give up a promising career as a historian to instead study film as an undergraduate, but I was never part of a "movie culture." I imagine that maybe, had I moved to Los Angeles and pursued a career in film, that might have been true, but otherwise the idea sounds ridiculous. I took on the gamer identity because it was easy. I'm male. I'm straight. I love first-person shooters and action games. I am the quintessential example of the way gamers have traditionally been understood. The offensive jokes and comments regularly produced by the gamer community are legion precisely because they're so easy to make in this climate of traditionally understood homogeneity. And the gamer community resists introspection when confronted by the privilege this attitude engenders. Advertisement: When Dustin Browder, a game director at the immensely successful and trend-setting game development studio Blizzard, was asked about the hypersexualized female designs in an upcoming game, his response was typical of how the average gamer might respond in the face of such a question. “We’re not running for president. We’re not sending a message. No one should look to our game for that,” Browder said. Two days after the interview was published, Browder apologized for what came off as his dismissal of these concerns, which are increasingly being noted by social justice activists in the video game community and their allies. There’s hope for the future in that similar observations about the nature of gamer culture often result in acknowledgment and the promise to do better. But the fact that the instances of this sort of privileged perspective feel like they're becoming louder with each passing year seems to support Parkin's contention that the term "gamer" as a whole needs to be abandoned. * * * Advertisement: I don’t know if getting rid of the word "gamer" is a tenable proposition, however. I can’t seem to detach myself from use of the word because it’s such a convenient shortcut. “Video game players” and “video game audience” are such unwieldy phrases. The word "gamer" is a mainstay in any and all coverage of the video game culture and industry because no matter how idiotic the word may be, people know what a gamer is. You can identify yourself as a gamer at a social function, and even if the result is having people think of you as a socially challenged recluse, or a potentially violent person to keep an eye on, they can picture an Xbox or PlayStation controller in your hand. Throwing out the word "gamer" in conversation is an excellent preemptive first strike against those sorts of reactions, which are predictable and boorish to those of us who love video games. Best if we figure out how to table the topic as soon as possible, and not waste our time preaching to the unconverted. But the biggest roadblock to giving up the word may be its marketing value. Sony established a narrative about its PlayStation 4 console being “about the gamers." Kotaku, one of the biggest video game journalism outlets in the world, identifies itself as "the gamer's guide." Playboy has a holiday gift guide for “the gamer next door,” presented by a hostess whose half-naked pictures run directly below the embedded video, accompanied by an invitation to see her nude, a statement about the nature of game culture that is hilariously depressing for its candor. Advertisement: * * * I'm ready to no longer identify myself as a gamer, but not for any shame over loving video games. My continuing education, as a writer on the video game beat, about how video games are developed and the people who create them, has only deepened that love. And I can't say that I judge people who call themselves gamers strictly because they adopt that identity. It's a shame that the preponderance of problems in the gaming community has left such a bad taste in my mouth, such that I've come full circle back to where I was prior to April 2010. I'd be lying if I said I thought it was going to be easy to stop thinking about myself as a gamer. Video games are stuck in an awkward phase where society at large is aware of but not conversant about them. Too many mainstream media outlets don’t cover or review individual video games, even though they are as or more relevant in 2013 than the television episodes or movies that do receive regular coverage in those outlets. It's difficult not to feel relegated to a subculture no matter the degree to which I want to interact with that subculture. The word "gamer" and the subculture that rallies around it are going to die when they’re no longer necessary. Their death will be the ultimate sign that the adoption of video games by the wider culture is no longer a future event to be anticipated, but has finally taken place. Until then, not thinking of myself as a gamer is going to be a matter of conscious effort and avoidance of temptation, because it’s just so easy to do otherwise.
1 The 15,000 Rewards Program Bonus Points (“Bonus Points”) offer applies when you open a new HSBC Platinum Mastercard® with Rewards credit card and charge the qualifying amount or more in new purchases (minus returns, credits, adjustment) within the first three (3) months from Account opening (“Promotional Period”). You will receive 15,000 Rewards Program Bonus Points (“Bonus Points”), which can be redeemed for $150 cash back. The Bonus Points do not apply to account upgrades, account transfers, balance transfers, credit card checks, cash advances or overdrafts. Your Platinum Mastercard® with Rewards credit card must be open and in good standing at the time of Bonus Points fulfillment. Allow 4-6 weeks after the Promotional Period has ended for the Bonus Points to post to your Account. 2 The information about the costs and benefits of the cards described is accurate as of {{currentDate}}. The information may have changed after that date. To find out what may have changed, call 800.485.1794. The 0% Introductory APR does not apply to cash advances and overdrafts. Balance transfers must be posted within the first 60 days following Account opening. After the Introductory Period, a variable Purchase APR of 15.24%, 19.24% or 25.24%, depending on your creditworthiness, will apply to credit card purchase balances; and a variable Balance Transfer APR of 15.24%, 19.24% or 25.24%, depending on your creditworthiness, will apply to balance transfers and credit card checks, for the HSBC Platinum Mastercard® with Rewards credit card. The variable Cash APR of 27.24% will apply to cash advances and overdrafts. Your APRs may increase to the variable Penalty APR of 32.24% if you fail to make a minimum payment to us when due. These APRs will vary with the market based on the Prime Rate. For each billing cycle, variable APRs are calculated by adding a specified amount ("Spread") to the U.S. Prime Rate published in the Money Rates table of The Wall Street Journal that is in effect on the last day of the month ("Prime Rate"). If the Prime Rate changes, the new APRs will take effect on the first day of your billing cycle beginning in the next month. The Minimum Interest Charge is $1.00. A Balance Transfer Fee of either $10 or 4%, whichever is greater, will apply on each balance transfer and credit card check. A Cash Advance Fee of either $10 or 4%, whichever is greater, will apply on each cash advance transaction. An Overdraft Transaction Fee of either $10 or 4%, whichever is greater, will apply on the overdraft amount, if applicable. There is no Annual Fee or Foreign Transaction Fee. See Summary of Terms for details. 3 All Reward option items are subject to limited availability and to the terms, conditions and restrictions imposed by suppliers. New items may replace selections, and certain items may be discontinued at any time, without advance notice. When necessary, HSBC Bank USA, N.A. may substitute a Reward of equal or greater value without advance notice. The customer will be notified of such a change when ordering. Redemption levels, Point values and availability are subject to change without prior notice 4 Customers can choose to receive cash back redemptions as a direct deposit or as a statement credit on their HSBC Credit Card. If you select cash back as a direct deposit, only HSBC Bank USA, N.A. consumer checking and savings accounts in your name alone or as a joint accountholder are eligible. See the HSBC Platinum Mastercard® with Rewards credit card Guide to Benefits and Terms & Conditions brochure for further details 5 Certain restrictions, limits and exclusions apply. Benefits may not be offered in every state. Coverage may be underwritten and managed by companies that are not affiliated with Mastercard®, or HSBC Bank USA, N.A. See the HSBC Platinum Mastercard® with Rewards credit card Guide to Benefits and Terms & Conditions brochure for full details. How you earn Rewards Program Points or Cash Rewards: You earn Points or Cash Rewards when you use your card to make new purchases (minus returns, credits and adjustments). HSBC Platinum Mastercard® with Rewards credit card is issued by HSBC Bank USA, N.A., subject to credit approval. Mastercard is a registered trademark, and the circles design is a trademark of Mastercard International Incorporated. Google Pay is a trademark of Google LLC Apple, the Apple logo, and Apple Pay are trademarks of Apple Inc., registered in the U.S. and other countries. Samsung Pay is a registered trademark of Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd.
PORTLAND, OR — TriMet, throughout November, will host several open houses at locations across the Portland metro region to share with riders and residents information about how the company plans to alter and improve TriMet's services — and they want each community's feedback. TriMet has proposed many things as part of its 10-year expansion of transit services, including a low-income fare program and soon-to-come-online electric buses. Additionally, new and/or improved service lines are being proposed for Clackamas, Oregon City, Gresham, Tualatin, Forest Grove, and near Portland International Airport. "TriMet is continuously looking for ways to make transit better and accommodate demand," TriMet spokesman Tommy Moore told Patch in an email. "We want to hear directly from riders and the public: Where do you need to go, where do you want to go and how can we improve our service. Go to trimet.org/plan and see some of the improvements we're proposing, then join us at an open house to talk one-on-one with our staff." Each open house will run roughly two hours, with TriMet officials currently planning to discuss proposals for 2018 and 2019. Those proposals include: New bus lines "To better serve the needs of our riders, we want to add a new bus line running between Clackamas Town Center and Oregon City Transit Center," Moore said in a statement. "We also want to introduce a brand new bus line to Portland International Airport that will compliment MAX Red Line service." Splitting Line 4-Division/Fessenden into two routes "Line 4-Division/Fressenden is one of our longest and busiest routes," Moore said. "Splitting it into two routes will help keep buses on time and accommodate rider demand. One route would run between Gresham Transit Center and Downtown Portland. The other would run between Downtown Portland and St. Johns. Both routes would serve stops on the Transit Mall along Fifth and Sixth avenues in downtown Portland to allow for easy transfers." 24-hour service for Lines 20 and 57 "It's been more than 30 years since TriMet last provided our riders with all-night service," Moore said. "We're considering running buses 24 hours a day on Line 20-Burnside/Stark, Line 57-TV Hwy/Forest Grove and the proposed new line to Portland International Airport." Extending Line 24-Fremont to Downtown Portland "The community spoke up and we listened. We are proposing changes to Line 24, which runs from North Vancouver and Stanton to Gateway Transit Center," Moore said. "This includes a new section along 18th and 19th avenues between Northwest Thurman and Southwest Jefferson streets, increasing frequency during the week and adding weekend service." The open houses, which begin in Oregon City on Nov. 1, will be scheduled as follows: Wednesday, Nov. 1, in Oregon City From 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. at Pioneer Community Center, 615 Fifth St. Thursday, Nov. 2, in North Portland From 12 p.m. to 2 p.m. at Portland Community College Cascade Student Union, 705 N. Killingsworth St. Monday, Nov. 6, in Gresham From 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. at Gresham City Hall, 1333 N.W. Eastman Pkwy. Wednesday, Nov. 8, in Tigard From 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. at the Tigard Ballroom, 8900 S.W. Commercial St. Thursday, Nov. 9, in Milwaukie From 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. at Milwaukie High School, 2301 S.E. Willard St. Tuesday, Nov. 14, in Hillsboro From 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. at Centro de Prosperidad, 400 E. Main St., Suite 110 Wednesday, Nov. 15, in downtown Portland From 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. at the University of Oregon White Stag Building, 70 N.W. Couch St. Folks who are unable to attend the open houses can still provide feedback either online, at trimet.org/plan, by emailing comments@trimet.org, or by calling 503-238-RIDE (7433). According to Moore, additional projects for 2018-2019 include: Introducing a low-income fare; Testing some all-electric buses and electrifying a bus route; Renovating some of our oldest MAX stations and enhancing treatments at rail crossings; and Moving forward on the Division Transit Project, the $175 million project beginning late 2018 that is expected to "improve travel between downtown Portland, Southeast and East Portland and Gresham with easier, faster and more reliable bus service" along a 14-mile route. The volunteer Community Advisory Committee overseeing the Division Transit Project will meet from 6 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 19, at Portland Community College Southeast – Community Hall Annex, 2305 S.E. 82nd Ave. in Portland. Open houses for the project are scheduled as follows: In Gresham on Nov. 6 from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. at Gresham City Hall, 1333 N.W. Eastman Pkwy. In Portland on Nov. 8 from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. at St. Philip Neri Church, 2408 S.E. 16th Ave. And in Southeast Portland on Nov. 9 from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. at Portland Community College's Southeast Campus, Community Annex Hall, 2305 S.E. 82nd Ave. Patch has reached out to TriMet and will update this post when it responds. RELATED COVERAGE: TriMet To Purchase 5 Electric Buses With $3.4 Million Federal Grant Wilsonville Receives Grant For 2 Electric SMART Buses, Officials Say Photo Courtesy: TriMet
It was a phone call that Laura Smythe was tired of receiving. Every week, Smythe was fielding numerous calls from veterans or their family members or their friends, all with a similar refrain. While they had heard about the University of Wisconsin’s Veterans Law Center and were in need of its help, they lacked a means of transportation to get to one of the monthly clinics the center held in Madison. “Given the frequency with which I was receiving these phone calls, it meant there was obviously an unmet need,” says Smythe, director of the UW Law School Pro Bono Program which oversees the VLC. So she decided to take the show on the road. This August saw the first mobile VLC clinic bring needed legal assistance to veterans outside of the Madison area. Founded in 2012, the Veterans Law Center provides free legal aid on a variety of issues to low-income veterans and their families. The topics that VLC lawyers address most frequently, according to Smythe, are divorce, child custody disputes, evictions, employment concerns, and bankruptcy, which is frequently “due to a combination of all of the above.” “It is often a difficult transition for many veterans,” Smythe explains. “They may not have family or friends with whom they can bunk, they may not have a job waiting for them, etc. They are coming from an environment where they had a great deal of structure back to civilian life where there is often much less structure and the lines of authority are often less clear.” While the need for the VLC to have a greater reach within Wisconsin was readily apparent from the numerous calls she was receiving, Smythe says it was the hallowed Wisconsin Idea that motivated her to go mobile with the clinics. The Wisconsin Idea is a precept central to the mission of the entire University of Wisconsin system. Outlined by former UW president Charles Van Hise, the Idea simply means the work of the university shall be to the benefit of every person in the state. Smythe, nominated by the dean of the law school, was selected to be among the 40 faculty and staff members to embark on the Wisconsin Idea seminar, an annual, five-day traveling – by bus – study of the Idea in action. The seminar explores how the UW system impacts everything from business and agriculture to arts and education and how that impact is “improving life in the state, improving the economy, and improving social services.” “I was inspired by this bus trip to expand, in my own small way, what we are doing,” says Smythe. “And, it’s been a work in progress.” In addition to securing the necessary funds to get mobile program rolling, the VLC team of student researchers needed to identify counties that had both the densest population of veterans and the least amount of access to social services. Students also play an integral role in both the Madison-based and mobile VLC clinics themselves. While clients meet with an actual volunteer attorney, law students assist with research and document procurement, among other jobs. As Smythe points out, the students learn not only how to interview a client, but how to apply many of the laws they are learning in the classroom in a real world setting, something the school refers to as “law in action.” “It’s a UW Law School motto and core value,” Smythe notes. “We don’t just teach our students what the law is and how to spot issues in any given context. We try to get them to understand the social needs that spurred the creation of a particular law and how laws impact people in different circumstances.” In the coming months, Smythe hopes to grow the mobile VLC program by adding 4-6 clinics per year and, possibly, a specially outfitted van that would double as a private office. “My dream is to cover all four corners of the state,” remarks Smythe,” to make sure that folks that need our service know that we do hit the road and can plan on seeing us.”
Microsoft has named the date for the first beta of its successor to Internet Explorer 8. You'll be able to download beta code for IE9 on September 15, the company said Thursday. Microsoft told The Reg that it's not releasing code to MSDN subscribers in advance, followed by everybody else. Microsoft is planning to formally open the download gates for IE9 at an event in San Francisco called "Beauty of the Web". The beta will finally unveil the IE9 interface that's so far been missing from the preview editions of the browser released to testers. IE9 will be the most standards-compatible version of IE in Microsoft's history. Support for HTML5 has been expanded to include HTML5 video and audio elements, 2D graphics using the highly-anticipated Canvas element, and there's support for embedded fonts using Web Open Font Format (WOFF). IE9 will also run Google's open sourced WebM video codec plus the closed and proprietary H.264 from Microsoft, Apple, and others. IE9 also features a new script engine, Chakra, that uses hardware to boost performance to within 50 milliseconds of Safari, Opera, and Chrome on SunSpider benchmarks. The title of Microsoft's event suggests the company is pushing IE9 as something for building and delivering rich graphics and internet applications using web standards and fast, hardware-accelerated rendering. The goal is for the IE9 beta to be good enough for use by a broad range of users — or, as Microsoft web product manager Mark Quirk, told Reg reviewer Tim Anderson earlier this month "anyone who is comfortable installing and uninstalling applications." Before, Microsoft delivered two betas: one for developers and the other for developers plus everybody else. Microsoft has not said whether there'll be a second beta or when final IE9 will be released, but Quirk did promise the finished version would come "not too long" after the beta. Given that the beta is in September and Microsoft released IE8 at its Mix conference in March 2009, it would seem reasonable to assume IE9 will be released at the next Mix in March 2011 — if the event goes ahead — two years after IE8. Microsoft hopes IE9's embrace of standards will help arrest IE's dropping market share of recent years. IE hovers at 60 per cent, up barely from a low earlier this year of 59.95 per cent. The question for IE9 will be how far it can erode Firefox and stop the drift to Google's Chrome. Microsoft claims 2.5 million downloads of the IE9 platform previews since code was first delivered at Mix earlier this year.®
Joining celebrity investors like Snoop Dogg, Ashton Kutcher, and Justin Bieber, Queen Bey is bringing her supreme business skills to the tech world. Beyoncé and the management company she started called Parkwood Entertainment have invested $150,000 into Sidestep, an app for buying concert merchandise and skipping the line to pick it up at the show. Sidestep originally started selling t-shirts and posters for Beyoncé on her Formation World Tour. But after two weeks of seeing its success, Beyoncé and Parkwood invested in Sidestep’s seed round of funding. Sidestep CEO Eric Jones tells me they “wanted Beyoncé’s tour to be very focused on tech”, and liked the idea of “a tiny scrappy startup doing the biggest tour in the world.” Beyoncé previously invested in WTRMLN WTR, a watermelon beverage company. She’s believed to have ties to juicing machine maker Juicero, though that company refuses to talk about their relationship. [Update: Beyonce helped start vegan food company 22 Day Nutrition as well.] She’s also a stakeholder in streaming service Tidal thanks to her agreement to give it early access to her music. With her investment in Sidestep, though, she could directly help artists earn more money. Musicians hoping to get rich off skimpy streaming royalties are kidding themselves. The real money is in using streaming to get famous and then selling concert tickets and merchandise. But due to long lines and, you know, wanting to actually see the show, many people avoid buying t-shirts and other merch at concerts. That’s where Sidestep steps in. The startup lets you order tour merchandise before, during, or even after the show from its smartphone app. You can then Sidestep the merch booth line, flash a QR code at the dedicated pickup spot, and grab your items in seconds. Or you can have them delivered to your home. This way you can be sure to get whatever stuff you want in the right size with no fear of wasting time or it selling out. Along with Beyoncé gear, you can buy merch from artists like Guns N’ Roses, Fall Out Boy, Selena Gomez, and Weezer via Sidestep. The startup gives artists a ton of data about who’s buying, and keeps a 10% service fee charged to the customer. Sidestep has raised a total of $1.7 million from Beyoncé and other investors including actor Jared Leto, former Lady Gaga manager Troy Carter and Cross Culture Ventures, and the previous CEO of the LA Dodgers. The app has done over $2 million in sales, up 10X from last year. The company competed in TechCrunch’s 1st And Future sports startup hackathon earlier this year. Sidestep will have to compete with other merchandise startups like Merchbar, an Amazon-like webstore, and Yoshirt, which lets fans design custom items with a band’s logos and photos. and some people might rather stand in line than pay 10% extra. But with streaming royalties still unable to make up for the drop in album sales, artists will do whatever they can to sell more shirts, and these startups could flourish. Meanwhile, top performers like Beyoncé who invest will start stackin’ money in Silicon Valley, not just Hollywood.
Vitalistic thinking has traditionally been associated with reasoning about biological phenomena. The current research aimed to investigate a broader range of vitalistic thinking than previously studied. Esoteric notions of 'energy' are frequently used by individuals when making causal attributions for strange occurrences, and previous literature has linked such thinking with paranormal, magical, and superstitious beliefs. Two experiments are described that aim to investigate whether adults are vitalistic when asked to make causal judgments, and whether this can be predicted by thinking styles and prior paranormal belief. Experiment 1 asked participants to rate three causal options (one of which was vitalistic) for six vignettes. Scores on one dimension of paranormal belief (New Age Philosophy) and analytical thinking significantly predicted vitalism, but scores on intuitive thinking and Traditional Paranormal Beliefs did not. Experiment 2 extended the findings by asking participants to generate their own causal responses. Again, paranormal belief was found to be the best predictor of vitalism, but this time Traditional Paranormal Beliefs were associated with vitalistic responses whilst both intuitive and analytical thinking were unable to significantly predict classification. Results challenge previous findings, suggesting that vitalistic thinking may operate differently when applied to everyday causal reasoning. © 2012 The British Psychological Society.
by JAKE NUTTING New York Cosmos Chairman and Owner Seamus O’Brien tells the Guardian ,”We aren’t closing the doors” in response to the mounting assumption that the team is on its last legs. Of course, O’Brien was speaking metaphorically at that time. But the team’s literal office might be shutting the doors on him. Big Apple Soccer reported on Monday that the Cosmos are being sued by the landlord of their Long Island offices in Garden City for over $50,000 in unpaid rent. Quentin Roosevelt Associates, LLC filed the petition last week in Nassau County against the Cosmos Soho Office, LLC to collect back rent and evict the team from the offices. While the petition doesn’t note how many months behind the Cosmos are on their rent, it does claim the team owes $55,280.55. If the landlord’s assertion is true, it would seemingly fly in the face of O’Brien’s stance that the Cosmos carry no debt. “We have invested in a business. The business has zero debt,” O’Brien tells Guardian contributor and EoS editor Dave Martinez. O’Brien did not deny recent reports that Cosmos ownership have invested around $30 million over the course of the last few years, but he maintained the number is line with many other sports ventures and is not something he’d categorize as debt. “That’s an investment in a business,” he offered as explanation. “That is a fraction of what some people have invested in this country. Look at all the MLS investments. They wouldn’t call that debt. That is an investment in our business. Our business carries zero debt. All the money has been invested by shareholders” In further comments from the interview, O’Brien defended the team’s solvency, arguing that, “You are investing money into the business and we have invested significantly. We are not the only business that invests into a growing brand and where you want it to go. Not always does a business plan go on exactly the path you think it is going to, but you are investing as you go on.” A hearing for the case has been scheduled for Wednesday morning. The Cosmos are required to appear at the hearing or risk losing the chance at presenting any defense.
‘Costa Atleti’s first choice, not Gameiro’ By Football Espana staff Atletico Madrid boss Diego Simeone has confessed that Diego Costa, not Kevin Gameiro, was the club’s primary striking target prior to the latter’s arrival. Costa had been heavily tipped for a second spell with Atleti after Chelsea manager Antonio Conte appeared to confirm reports of the striker’s desire to move, but Simeone explained how a lack of progress in negotiations forced his club to consider Gameiro, whom they ultimately signed. “Gameiro was our second choice,” the Coach told Movistar+. “I wanted to be clear [with Gameiro]. Yes, the club worked on the possibility that Diego Costa would come [back], but then those possibilities didn’t progress. “We were always very clear with Gameiro, always. When I spoke to him over the phone, I told him that we’d sought the position of being able to count on Costa but that out of the alternatives I’d given the club, I bet on him entirely and that we wanted him to be the forward to join us this [season].”
I was hoping to do a styling or carving post next but propagation in the nursery (real work) is calling. This post will explain a bit on the why, when,how and “uh ohs!” of air layering. The species I am using is the Brazilian Raintree. Here is a description stolen from www.wigertsbonsai.com Erik Wigert is an excellent source for tropical trees and a good friend. Visit his site. The story of the Raintree can be found many places on the Internet and its introduction to bonsai by Jim Moody of Jupiter Bonsai so I will not repeat it here. Needless to say, it has been adopted and well accepted in the bonsai world. Erik with one of his specimen trees. I chose the Raintree because it is an easy tree to do this on. Some people have had quick success, getting viable roots within a few weeks. And I just SO need more tropicals to shove into my greenhouse come winter. Firstly, sharpen tools Next, cut off thorns. This is only so I don’t prick my finger…….A recurring theme in this blog. Then using a sharp knife we remove the layers of bark and cambium until we get to the sapwood We remove the bark by making two circumnavigational (like that word?) cuts around the branch about an inch (or more depending on the thickness of said branch) and scraping, peeling and cajoling the material away. It’s best to Not damage the woody part (the sapwood or xylem) as this is important in the process we are exploiting. Now, to digress; To put it really simply- the sapwood transports water (and nutrients) to the branch tip and allows photosynthesis (along with the sun) to occur, which manufactures sugar (and other stuff). The bark and the cambiums ( and the phloems) job is to move that sugar (and other stuff) to the bottom of the tree. This is that process drawn on a Starbucks napkin [I should note, this process can be fully explored at many other websites and even in books (imagine that) so I am super simplifying this explanation.] Anyway, when we traumatize this poor tree we are disrupting this fantastic mechanism and causing the sugar (and other stuff) to pool, so to say, at the cut. The important part of all this is that “other stuff”. Which is a chemical called auxin. Auxin is responsible for the development of both branches and, in our case, roots. There is a complex scientific explanation for all this (of course,but that is dull and I want you to continue reading) so,basically: latent, adventitious buds can create either roots or leaves (branches). When we prune the top of the tree we cause the auxins to pool at the next bud and we get new growth. If we girdle the tree the auxins will pool at that site and….. Magic. Here’s the branch Take some sphagnum moss which has been soaking in water ( missed that step? Go back to the beginning and re-read that part). Wrap it around the branch Cover with aluminum foil Now, you ask,why aluminum? Some people use plastic wrap or a pot etc. I use aluminum because it is moldable and it doesn’t let light in. Being moldable means its easy to apply and will stay where I put it. The light issue is two fold. The auxins will cause the buds to either be a leaf or a root. The factor that decides this is the presence of light. With light, leaves, without light, roots. The second reason is temperature. Roots only grow between 40 and 90 Fahrenheit. I live in Florida. If I used clear plastic, which is a good material for greenhouses, the temp inside that ball of moss will be way (I mean way!) too hot for roots to form. Causing the Airlayer to languish and callous over instead of , well, layer. I secure the aluminum foil with aluminum wire And then wait. This is the host tree before And after Kinda looks funky. Hope the DEA doesn’t come and ask questions. This post is way too sarcastic for those humorless people. If you noticed, I only put one layer per branch line. If you put two on one branch it kinda defeats the mechanism we are messing with. So, to answer the “Why we are doing this?” question. First, to make more plants. Secondly, to get a desirable feature or a part of a tree, like this Thirdly, some plants are impossible to grow from cuttings or even seed but air layering works. The “how ” question I think I explained. When? When the tree is growing. Which usually means spring through summer. Some trees are faster at setting new roots. Some take years (bucida spinosa, dwarf black olive for one). Others need a larger cut, some only need a tight wire wrapped around it. There is a related method called ground layering which means you bury a branch (still attached to host) in the ground and get the same results. Now to address those wiseguys in the back rows whispering “how come he’s not using rooting hormone?” to one another. The answer- I don’t find a need for it. It works with or without it. If you need to use it, feel free. I don’t lubricate the o-ring on the oil filter when I install it either. Here is a two week old air layer Notice the white nodules building up on the branch? I don’t suggest you expose the layer until at least a month to check. Make sure you fertilize I use milorganite. And cut back the top a bit. Keep it well watered (or city water, if that’s what you use, though rain is best) and don’t forget about it. This is a detail of the host plant I plan on carving the top out and making the tree into a bunjin. But, alas, that’s after I get some work done. I need an apprentice. One last note, always wear gloves while doing this, as well as ANSI approved safety glasses and Kevlar forearm protectors. Just sayin’
/swäv/ “Smooth in texture, performance, or style” You may have heard of this thing called ember-suave . It’s a handy Ember CLI addon that Robert Jackson and I put together a few months ago to enforce code style consistency across teams and projects. If you’re wondering how the addon got its name, just ask Rob. He was feeling inspired that day. ember-suave uses JSCS to ensure that your code conforms to a set of code style rules, and fails your tests if it doesn’t. Unlike JSHint, which aims to detect errors and potential problems in your JavaScript code, JSCS is a code style linter. In other words, it is the tool you need to make sure all those hearty debates on tabs vs. spaces don’t go to waste, and that whatever style guide you managed to settle on within your team can be enforced and maintained. The first rule of ember-suave is to install ember-suave With JSCS, you control which rules to enable within a project by specifying the rule names and options in a .jscsrc file, which may look something like this: { "esnext": true, "disallowSpacesInsideParentheses": true, "disallowTrailingComma": true, "requireBlocksOnNewline": true, "validateIndentation": 2 } Assuming you’re adhering to a single style guide for all your projects, the configuration would be the same everywhere. ember-suave exists so you don’t have to recreate and maintain that file in every project. The addon comes bundled with a default configuration file that’s nicely tucked away within the addon itself so you don’t have to muck with it. Using the addon consists simply of running ember install ember-suave , then monitoring your console for error messages during development. ember-suave also creates a test for each file it finds in your project, so that you can enforce the code style rules as part of your continuous integration flow, and fail any builds that don’t comply. You don’t rule ember-suave . ember-suave rules you. Actually, that’s not exactly true. The addon was made to be quite configurable. You can use it as is, or you can tweak which rules to enable or disable. To configure ember-suave , simply create a .jscsrc file at the root of your project, listing just those rules that you want to modify. The addon will take care of merging your custom configuration with its own. For example, the following .jscsrc file would set a different indentation style from the default of 2 spaces. It would also disable the requireSpaceBetweenArguments rule and instruct JSCS to ignore all the files in the fixtures folder: { "validateIndentation": 4, "requireSpaceBetweenArguments": null, "excludeFiles": ["fixtures/**"] } Need more suaveness? If you have a particular code style need but no rule exists in JSCS yet, you can easily roll your own. In fact, ember-suave ships with a few custom rules already. Let’s take a look at the rule that disallows the use of var , preferring const and let instead: // lib/rules/disallow-var.js var assert = require('assert'); module.exports = function() {}; module.exports.prototype = { configure: function(option) { assert(option === true, this.getOptionName() + ' requires a true value'); }, getOptionName: function() { return 'disallowVar'; }, check: function(file, errors) { file.iterateNodesByType('VariableDeclaration', function(node) { node.declarations.forEach(function(declaration) { if (declaration.parentNode.kind === 'var') { errors.add('Variable declarations should use `let` or `const` not `var`', node.loc.start); } }); }); } }; A rule will always have these three methods: configure , getOptionName , and check . getOptionName is self-explanatory. configure is where you assert that a rule has been configured properly in a given .jscsrc file. For example, this would not pass the assert, since the value has to be true : { "disallowVar": "Feeling suave today!" } check is where all the magic happens. Any given file would first get parsed by JSCS into an AST (Abstract Syntax Tree) before you can analyze its content. You can use the file object that is passed into the check function to iterate over specific nodes of the tree. For this custom rule, we are looking for any variables that were declared using var . If such a declaration is found, we add to the errors object, passing in an error message and the position of the offending code. This is what you would see in the console if you tried using var : disallowVar: Variable declarations should use `let` or `const` not `var` at router.js : 2 \|import config from './config/environment'; 3 \| 4 \|var Router = Ember.Router.extend({ --------^ 5 \| location: config.locationType 6 \|}); Confused about the node types and what to look for? It’s actually not very complicated. You can navigate over to Esprima, the parser used by JSCS, enter a code snippet into the Online Parsing Tool, and see what the corresponding tree looks like. For instance, var color = 'blue'; will generate the following syntax tree: { "type": "Program", "body": [ { "type": "VariableDeclaration", "declarations": [ { "type": "VariableDeclarator", "id": { "type": "Identifier", "name": "color" }, "init": { "type": "Literal", "value": "blue", "raw": "'blue'" } } ], "kind": "var" } ] } Now you can see why we were checking for nodes of type VariableDeclaration , and why we checked whether they were declared with var using declaration.parentNode.kind === 'var' . You can also refer to the many rules that already exist in JSCS as you write your own. Conclusion ember-suave started as an internal need at DockYard to enforce our style guide in a painless, automatable way. That said, the addon was built such that anyone can take advantage of the tool. If you start a new Ember CLI project, I recommend you check it out. And if you’re thinking of dropping it into an existing project, but fear that the sheer amount of potential error messages would be too time-consuming to address all at once, you can always start by disabling all the rules, then re-enable them one rule at a time. Or you could exclude specific folders; whatever helps bring more suaveness to your code.
Apple’s director of AI research Russ Salakhutdinov has announced at a conference that the company’s machine-learning researchers will be free to publish their findings. This is an apparent reversal of Apple’s previous position. It was suggested in October that Apple’s extreme secrecy was harming its prospects in AI … NordVPN Refusing permission to publish was said to be keeping the company out of the loop and meaning that the best people in the field didn’t want to work for Apple. ‘Publish or die’ has long been a watchword in academia, with many researchers feeling they would no longer be part of the scientific community if unable to share their research with their peers. Business Insider noted a series of tweets from the Neural Information Processing Systems (NIPS) conference in Barcelona, including the above slide. Another reported challenge for Apple in AI has been its reluctance to use customer data for privacy reasons. Machine-learning generally relies on crunching large volumes of data which Apple, in many cases, does not collect as a matter of policy. Photo: @hardmaru
The Montreal Canadiens had 110 points in 2014-2015, their highest total since 1988-1989, and started last season with an 18-4-2 record, prompting talk of a Stanley Cup. Then, goaltender Carey Price got injured, and the house of cards came crashing down. Off-Season Game Plan looks at a Canadiens team that is intent on returning to their past glory, but may have a hard time getting there without a more forward-thinking approach. Part of the reason that there was genuine optimism about the Habs last season is that – to the surprise of all – they were one of the league’s top possession teams through the first two months of the season. Controlling 53% of shots with Carey Price in net is a recipe for success However, that possession edge started to fade and Montreal’s offence dried up, as they had the lowest shooting percentage in the league since the beginning of December. "I believe with a healthy Carey Price we're not sitting here today," GM Marc Bergevin said at the end of the regular season. "Yes, we need to get better in some aspects of our game and we will address it.” How they choose to address those aspects will make for a fascinating summer. If the Canadiens decide to go with minor tweaks, assuming that a healthy Price cures all, then they will have to hope that they can somehow maintain solid possession numbers under a head coach, Michel Therrien, that hasn’t typically generated positive possession for his teams. For better or worse, Bergevin has Therrien’s back. The other avenue is for the Canadiens to dig in for a blockbuster trade. After last season’s disappointment, Montreal’s best skaters – P.K. Subban and Max Pacioretty – came under fire; if either one is made available, then the Canadiens’ outlook for next season could be a whole lot different. There might be a good team here. A healthy Carey Price is a big part of that, but it’s incumbent on Montreal’s management and coaching staff to surround Price with sufficient talent to not only be a playoff team, but a legitimate Cup contender. After the way last season turned out, that doesn't seem such an easy task. HOCKEY OPS/COACH Marc Bergevin/Michel Therrien FREE AGENT FORWARDS NAME GP G A PTS CF% RelCF% PDO OZS% ATOI 2015-16 CAP STATUS Sven Andrighetto 44 7 10 17 53.0 1.4 100.4 64.1 14:07 $633K RFA Phillip Danault 51 4 6 10 48.4 -1.2 96.8 32.0 12:45 $863K RFA Daniel Carr 23 6 3 9 56.4 -0.9 97.2 59.8 12:04 $843K RFA Mike Brown 58 2 3 5 44.3 -9.5 97.6 46.5 7:48 $1.2M UFA John Scott 12 0 1 1 49.0 2.1 95.4 46.5 6:32 $575K UFA Team captain Max Pacioretty is one of four players to score 30 goals in at least four of the past five seasons, and is consistently at an elite level when it comes to generating shots. He’s also on a very team-friendly deal for the next three seasons, so even while he takes heat for the Habs falling flat last season, Pacioretty provides immense value. Alex Galchenyuk's emergence late in the season was a silver lining to Montreal's dark cloud season. It would be difficult to bring along a top-tier prospect more gradually than the Canadiens did with Alex Galchenyuk, and his move to centre last season seemed to be more a last resort rather than a well-constructed plan, but it paid off, as Galchenyuk sniped 16 goals in the last 22 games to finish with a career-high 30 goals. He still played a little bit less than he did the year before, but Galchenyuk’s late-season scoring binge should (barring a major acquisition) have him ticketed to centre Montreal’s top line next season. Galchenyuk’s emergence should allow 33-year-old Tomas Plekanec to handle more of a two-way role, with his strong checking skills put to the test against other teams’ top lines on a regular basis. Last season’s 14 goals was his lowest season total since 2005-2006, but still surpassed 50 points for the sixth time in his career. There aren’t many players that drive to the net as relentlessly as Brendan Gallagher. He’s built like a fire hydrant and his tenacity gets under the skin of opposing teams, but he’s also a skilled player who drives play and has scored 43 goals over the past two seasons. So long as he can stay healthy to keep playing the way he has to this point, Gallagher’s contract is a fantastic value for the Canadiens. 29-year-old centre David Desharnais is heading into the last year of his contract and while he could be considered expendable, with Galchenyuk and Plekanec scheduled to get the prime minutes down the middle, Desharnais can still contribute in a secondary scoring role The sun rises in the East and Lars Eller finishes with between 25 and 30 points. He’s done that for five straight seasons, so there is no mystery about what the 27-year-old can provide. He’s a solid top-nine forward, though if the Canadiens need to create cap space, he might also be a tradeable commodity. Veteran checking centre Torrey Mitchell gets tough assignments, with a heavy tilt towards the defensive zone, and while he scored a career-high 11 goals last season, the team gets outshot with him on the ice, so his role needs to remain limited. A speedy penalty killer who impressed the Canadiens enough to earn a contract extension last season, Paul Byron also scored a career-best 11 goals, including three shorthanded, but also played nearly 14 minutes per game and, ideally, the team wouldn’t need that much from him on a regular basis. Depth forward Brian Flynn has struggled in relative possession terms since arriving in Montreal. Since he’s under contract for another season, he’s a serviceable depth option, but the team needs him to be better. Acquired from New Jersey in exchange for Devante Smith-Pelly, Stefan Matteau is struggling to find a spot in the league. He has just six points in 56 career games, but he’s big winger who can hit. He’ll probably need to do more than that if he’s going to be a regular in the NHL. A small skilled winger, Sven Andrighetto is working his way into a regular NHL job. He has 20 points in 56 career games, but also has managed solid possession stats (with a decided tilt towards offensive usage) in that time too. Picked up in a trade from Chicago for Tomas Fleischmann and Dale Weise, Phillip Danault is a solid checking forward with good speed. He’s not likely to score enough to warrant a major role, but could develop into a valuable defensive contributor. A knee injury sidelined 24-year-old winger Daniel Carr after he had tallied six goals in his first 23 NHL games. That was a very small sample, with limited ice time, but may have been enough to earn Carr a good look for next season’s roster. If the Canadiens are willing to give a few young forwards like Andrighetto and Carr regular roles, there may only be a serious need for one scoring forward. It would be great to land Steven Stamkos, and do whatever roster shuffling is necessary later, but the Habs could use another quality scoring winger. Andrew Ladd, Kyle Okposo, David Perron, David Backes and Jamie McGinn are a handful of options that might be able to add some depth to the Habs’ attack. RETURNING DEFENCEMEN NAME GP G A PTS CF% RelCF% PDO OZS% ATOI 2016-17 CAP P.K. Subban 68 6 45 51 52.8 0.9 100.5 51.5 26:22 $9.0M Andrei Markov 82 5 39 44 50.6 -1.8 100.2 50.2 23:50 $5.75M Nathan Beaulieu 64 2 17 19 51.2 -0.9 98.5 49.1 17:27 $1.0M Jeff Petry 51 5 11 16 54.4 0.0 97.3 45.9 21:21 $5.5M Alexei Emelin 72 0 12 12 51.3 -1.5 98.2 43.7 20:30 $4.1M Greg Pateryn 38 1 6 7 49.3 -1.5 97.5 40.1 16:45 $800K FREE AGENT DEFENCEMAN NAME GP G A PTS CF% RelCF% PDO OZS% ATOI 2015-16 CAP STATUS Tom Gilbert 45 1 1 2 49.0 -5.5 98.7 50.6 16:52 $2.8M UFA For whatever reason, the Montreal Canadiens don’t seem quite as enamoured with P.K. Subban as others would suggest they should be. Whether it’s management going to an arbitration hearing last summer, to head coach Michel Therrien publicly throwing him under the bus after a turnover, there is something not quite right. GM Marc Bergevin has said he has no intention to deal Subban before his no-trade clause kicks in July 1, but that’s not the same as not trading him. There are surely offers that could get the Canadiens to re-think that position (especially if a certain draft pick might net QMJHL prospect Pierre-Luc Dubois). Whether they would be right or not, would certainly depend on the quality of the package coming in return. There are few defencemen as productive as P.K. Subban. Over the past three seasons, Erik Karlsson is the only defenceman with more points than Subban, and he’s averaged more than 26 minutes of ice time per game over the past couple of seasons. In the past four seasons, there are a handful of defencemen with better relative possession stats. Put that all together and he’s simply one of the best blueliners in the game. What’s what worth? There was a time, earlier in his career, that 37-year-old Andrei Markov couldn’t stay healthy. Now, he’s missed a total of two games in the past four seasons and while he’s clearly lost a step, Markov gets by on his smarts and puck skills. He’s going into the last year of his contract, but the Habs will need him to perform well if they have hopes of returning to the postseason. A first-round pick in 2011, 23-year-old Nathan Beaulieu has developed to the point that he’s probably ready to take on a top-four role. He has good size, can handle the puck and saw more ice time in the second half last season. A sports hernia ended Jeff Petry’s season early, but the 28-year-old was excellent in the 51 games that he did play, moving play the right way while he handled a top-four role, getting strong possession results with his two most common partners, Alexei Emelin (54.3%) and Nathan Beaulieu (58.1%). 30-year-old Alexei Emelin has limited puck skills, but is a battler who hits a lot and aggravates opposing forwards. If Beaulieu climbs into the top four, Emelin is a little pricy on the third pair, so that could make him expendable, if there are teams looking for an increased physical presence on defence. Injuries late in the season allowed Greg Pateryn to get regular playing time on the Montreal blueline, with his 38 games played representing a career high. He’s big and physical, but doesn’t do much with the puck. Signed to a bargain free agent contract last summer, Mark Barberio started the season in the AHL, but played very well once he was called up. He should be a cost-effective third-pair option to start the season. Montreal has a few defensive prospects that saw time late last season, including Darren Dietz, Morgan Ellis and Brett Lernout. They can fill-in when needed. RETURNING GOALTENDERS NAME GP W L T SV% EV SV% 2016-17 CAP Carey Price 12 10 2 0 .934 .936 $6.5M Mike Condon 55 21 25 6 .903 .912 $575K FREE AGENT GOALTENDER NAME GP W L T SV% EV SV% 2015-16 CAP STATUS Ben Scrivens 15 5 8 0 .906 .926 $2.3M UFA Expectations for the Canadiens will be dramatically higher with a healthy Carey Price in net. After he was the league MVP in 2014-2015, Price was off to a superb start last season, before his injury seemed to de-rail the whole operation. Provided he’s healthy, the 28-year-old is the best goaltender in the world and he’s made up for a lot of Montreal shortcomings in the past. He may be required to do it again. Mike Condon was a trooper, as a rookie, appearing in 55 games, but the 26-year-old was overmatched in the starter’s role and the results showed as much. Getting to start 15-20 games next season would probably be more suitable. DRAFT 9th – Olli Juolevi, Mikhail Sergachev, Logan Brown, Clayton Keller FREE AGENCY The Canadiens have approximately $61.3M committed to the 2016-2017 salary cap for 18 players. NEEDS Two top-nine forwards, depth forwards, depth defencemen WHAT I SAID THE CANADIENS NEEDED LAST YEAR One top-six forward, salary cap flexibility THEY ADDED Tomas Fleischmann, Paul Byron, Alexander Semin, Mike Condon TRADE MARKET David Desharnais, Lars Eller Much of the data included comes from www.war-on-ice.com , corsica.hockey , stats.hockeyanalysis.com www.hockey-reference.com, www.naturalstattrick.com , www.generalfanager.com and www.capfriendly.com .
Thousands of paper on top quarks exist. Why? There are literally thousands of papers, collaboration notes, and conference notes with the words “Top” and “Quark” in the title. As of this post, there are 3,477 since 1979 listed on inSpires. There are many, many more that omit the word “quark”. And sure, this is meager compared to the 5,114 papers with the words “Higgs Boson” written since ’74, but that is over 50,000 pages of top quarks (estimating 15 pages/paper). To be fair, there are also many, many more that omit the word “boson”. But for further comparison, there are only 395 papers with a title including the words “Bottom Quark“, 211 with “Bottomonium“, and 125 with “Bottom Hadron“. So why are there so many papers written about the top quark? The answer is that the top quark is weird special. The top quark is very heavy, about 185 times heavier than the proton and ranks as the heaviest known elementary particle in all the particle kingdom. The second heaviest quark, the bottom quark, is only 4 or 5 times heavier than the proton. If you or I were a proton, then a medium-to-large school bus (without any people) would be a top quark. In fact, the top quark is so heavy it can decay into a real (on-shell) W boson, which is roughly half its mass. The only other particle that can do this is the Higgs. Though it is rare, exceedingly rare, the top quark can decay into real Z and Higgs bosons as well. Not even the Higgs can top that last feat. However, the top quark is still a quark. It has an electric charge that is 2/3 as large as the proton. It has an intrinsic angular momentum (spin) equal to the proton’s or electron’s spin. The top quark is also colored, meaning that is interacts with gluons and is influenced by the strong nuclear force (QCD). When colored objects (quarks and gluons) are produced at collider and fixed target experiments, they undergo a process called hadronization. Hadronization is when two colored objects are far away from one another and the strong nuclear attraction between the two becomes so strong that a pair of colored objects will spontaneously be produced in the space between them. These new colored particles will then form bound states with the old colored states. However, the process hadronization means that we only observe the bound states of colored objects and not the colored objects themselves. Physicists have to infer their properties from the physics of bound states…. or do we? The onset of hadronization is typically occurs about 10-24 seconds after the creation of a colored object. Yes, that is 0.000000000000000000000001 seconds. That is incredibly fast and well beyond anything that can be done at an experiment. The mean lifetime of the top quark on the other hand is about 10-25 seconds. In other words, the top quark is much more likely to decay in to a W boson, its principle decay mode, than hadronize. By looking at the decays of the W boson, for example to an electron and an electron-neutrino, their angular distributions, and other kinematic properties, we can measure directly the top quark’s quantum numbers. The top quark is special because it is the only quark whose spin and charge quantum numbers we can measure directly. The top quark tells us much about the Standard Model of particle physics, but it also may be a window to new physics. Presently, no one has any idea why the top quark is so much heavier than the bottom quark, or why both are orders of magnitude heavier than the electron and muon. This is called the “Mass Hierarchy Problem” of the Standard Model and stems from the fact that the quark and lepton masses in the theory are not predicted but are taken as input parameters. This does not mean that the Standard Model is “wrong”. On the contrary, the model works very, very well; it is simply incomplete. Of course there are new models and hypotheses that offer explanations, but none have been verified by data. However, thanks to the 2012 discovery of the Higgs boson, there is a new avenue that may shed light upon the mass hierarchy problem. We now know that quarks and leptons interact with the Higgs boson proportionally to their masses. Since the top quark is ~40 times more massive than the bottom quark, it will interact with Higgs boson 40 times more strongly. There is suspicion that since the Higgs boson is sensitive to the different quark and lepton masses, it may somehow play a role in how masses are assigned. Happy Colliding – richard (@BraveLittleMuon) Tags: @bravelittlemuon, CDF, DZero, flavor, flavor symmetry, hierarchy, Higgs, inSpires, LHC, mass hierarchy, Tevatron, top, top quark
Bigger brains can make animals, well, brainier, but that boost in brain size and ability comes at a price. That's according to new evidence reported on January 3rd in Current Biology, a Cell Press publication, in which researchers artificially selected guppies for large and small brain sizes. The findings lend support to the notion that bigger brains and increased cognitive ability do go together, a topic that has been a matter of considerable debate in recent years, said Niclas Kolm of Uppsala University in Sweden. They also represent some of the first convincing evidence that large brains are expensive, evolutionarily speaking. "We provide the first experimental evidence that evolving a larger brain really is costly in terms of both gut investment and, more importantly, reproductive output," Kolm said. Together, the findings strongly support the idea that relative brain sizes among species are shaped through a balance between selection for increased cognitive ability and the costs of a big brain. The results in guppies have important implications for us humans. After all, one of the most distinctive features of the human brain is its large size relative to the rest of the body. "The human brain only makes up 2 percent of our total body mass but stands for 20 percent of our total energy demand," Kolm said. "It is a remarkably costly organ energetically." But support for the so-called "expensive-tissue hypothesis"--that there is a trade-off between the brain and the energy demands of other organs and reproduction--came only from comparative studies among species and were correlative in nature. In the new study, Kolm's team took a different, within-species approach. They selected live-bearing guppies for large and small brains relative to the size of their bodies. Under that strong selection pressure, they found that brain size could evolve "remarkably quickly." After selection, large-brained guppies outscored their smaller-brained peers in a test of numerical learning. With more energy devoted to brain-building, brainy fish--males especially--did have smaller guts. They also left fewer offspring to the next generation. Those effects were observed despite the fact that the fish were supplied with an abundance of food. The researchers say they are curious to see what will happen in future experiments with fish in a more competitive, semi-natural environment including limited resources and predators. The findings lead Kolm and his colleagues to suggest that the relatively small family sizes of humans and other primates, not to mention dolphins and whales, might have helped to make our big brains possible. ### Current Biology- Kotrschal et al.: "Artificial selection on relative brain size in the guppy reveals costs and benefits of evolving a larger brain."
CHARLOTTETOWN, P.E.I. - One of the biggest issues facing P.E.I. is the lack of long-term vision, says the Green party’s District 11 byelection candidate Hannah Bell. It’s a problem Bell hopes to provide some solutions for after winning the party’s first-ever contested nomination meeting at Murphy’s Community Centre Monday night. Bell won the nomination with 72 votes compared to Karla Bernard’s 22 votes. Bell said too many provincial decisions are being made with a lack of long-term direction due to a system that offers no incentive for looking beyond an election cycle. “That translates into policies that don’t have long-term strategic thinking behind them. They’re not designed for what’s best for the community,” said Bell. “The overall vision isn’t there and we’re falling behind in terms of our quality of life.” Bell, who said she was humbled and thrilled to get the nomination, described her personal motto as “gentle pressure, relentlessly applied.” “It’s a continual reminder to me that the most effective change is done by continually showing up and never giving up,” said Bell, who is the executive director of the P.E.I. Business Women’s Association. As a member of the party for a number of years, Bell is the party’s finance critic and has previously drafted and researched policy as well as helped other candidates write speeches. She said her primary area of expertise is economic development and criticized the province’s large debt, while adding she would be committed to making “evidence-based decisions.” “A lot of it is looking at what we’re doing now and asking why are we doing it that way? Is there a better way to do it? Can we make adjustments to make it more cost effective?” Bernard, who congratulated Bell following the vote, has also pledged to support her throughout the campaign. Green party leader Peter Bevan-Baker congratulated both candidates for putting their names forward. He described the District 11 seat as “absolutely winnable” by noting the Green candidate had earned more than 19 per cent of the district’s popular vote during the 2015 provincial election. “We’re not starting from nothing, there are so many things in our favour,” said Bevan-Baker, who also pointed out that Green candidate Lynne Lund more than doubled the party’s percentage of the popular vote during a District 21 byelection last year. “If we do a similar thing here, we win this seat. It’s as simple as that.” Monday night also saw the Liberal party nominate Bob Doiron as a byelection candidate. The Progressive Conservative party of P.E.I. will hold a nomination meeting Wednesday. Unlike the Liberal nomination meeting, which only allowed members in the district vote, the Green party’s nomination meeting was open for all members of the party for more than 30 days. That’s because the party does not yet have a district association in the area. Bell said there is still a lot of planning to do while waiting for the writ to drop. “Whenever it comes, whether it’s in two days or two months, we’ll be ready and we intend to win.” Mitch.macdonald@theguardian.pe.ca Twitter.com/Mitch_PEI
Manifest Destiny, 2004, oil on wood, 96 x 288 in. East 82nd Street, 2007, oil on wood, 80 x 68 in. Church and White, 2009, oil on wood, 64 x 96 in. Disney World I, 2005, oil on wood, 72 x 84 in. Capitol Hill, 2005, oil on wood, 32 x 40 in. Disney World II, 2005, oil on wood, 44 x 56 in. Gateway Arch, 2005, oil on wood, 40 x 32 in. Hollywood, 2005, oil, sand & straw on wood, 32 x 40 in. Hollywood at Night, 2006, oil on wood, 64 x 96 in. Hotelscape, 2006, oil, mica, clay & sand on wood, 72 x 84 in. Lawn, 2005, oil on wood, 18 x 24 in. Mount Rushmore, 2005, oil on wood, 40 x 32 in. Miami, 2006, oil on wood, 56 x 44 in. La Vie En Rose, 2006, oil on wood, 80 x 68 in.
Last Updated ago . Click "Updates" above to see the latest. Gain knowledge of the world and study at the University of Lego City! This model is a modular university building designed in the style of many universities in Britain. This model comprises 2986 pieces. The building is highly detailed, featuring a statue of the founder, a section for custom coat of arms and a gabled roof. Also included are six minifigures and a bicycle. These minifigures are (from left to right on image) two students, a librarian, a lecturer, a lab professor and another student. The University has three floors containing various spaces for studying a wide range of subjects: Ground Floor: Art and Design workshop - features canvases on easels and architecture workshop Library First Floor: Lecture Hall Office Toilet Second Floor: Laboratory - Features engineering, biology and chemistry workbenches. Dentist and Medic Training Room Thanks for visiting, and don't forget to support the project, share on social media and give a comment!
In 2015, Scottish heavyweights Biffy Clyro took a year out from touring after nearly eighteen months solid on the road. This year, the Kilmarnock stadium-fillers announced two of the biggest landmarks in their career: a seventh album, and a return to headlining Reading & Leeds festivals. Even so, the Biffy boys are in town tonight to perform an acoustic show in Leeds’ particularly intimate Headrow House, to a crowd of no more than 100 – a tiny iota of their usual stadiums. We catch up with drummer, Ben Johnston, on the venue’s rooftop beer garden. As he embraces the uniqueness of the show, he confirms how much they enjoy doing this type of gig: “It gets us to show the songs in their skeletal form. It’s a really different vibe to the big live rock shows.” The atmosphere isn’t the only difference. “It’s fucking nerve racking. It’s a lot scarier when you can see everyone’s eyes. We don’t really get a chance to rehearse for all of these, so you get to see us at our most vulnerable.” The show is in partnership with Festival Republic and Reading & Leeds Festivals – everyone in this tiny room has won a competition to be there.We ask about headlining the legendary rock festival over August bank holiday weekend. “Anyone who says they don’t like playing in front of loads of people is a liar. The rush you get when you hear a massive crowd cheering is second to none,” says Johnston, moving out of the Northern drizzle and into a shed for shelter. Biffy Clyro have played Reading & Leeds eight times, moving from smaller stages to headliners in 2013. This summer’s co-headline slot with Fall Out Boy will be their ninth appearance. “We can’t believe we’ve been asked back to headline so quickly after our last slot without anyone hearing any new music,” Johnston admits. “We’re super happy and hopefully it doesn’t rain this time either.” “We’ve got a new stage set up and more fireworks so we’re going to change it from a production side and we’re going to keep it spicy,” he playfully winks. Between now and then,the band are set to release their seventh album, ‘Ellipsis’, on 8th July, via 14th Floor Records. With the released tracks, ‘Wolves Of Winter’ and ‘Animal Style’, it is clear that Biffy are moving into new places. Bigger sounds woven together by new recording styles, and throwbacks to the band’s earlier aggressive days. “We wanted to make a ‘slap you round the face’ sound, and it felt like our first record,” says Johnston. “Our new record is a bit of change in direction. We wanted a reaction to the last three albums. They were big range albums with lot of scope and were cinematic and epic. We felt like we reached the zenith of that on ‘Opposites’, and we don’t think we can do that style of music any better, so we needed a change.” He talks about their desire to find their naive teenage selves once more, recapturing that feeling of a band who are “coming out of the gates with their first record.” During the show, the threesome play new acoustic heartbreaker tracks, ‘Medicine’ and ‘Rearrange’, which they have also performed in session with Radio 1. Two tracks that still show that Simon Neil has some exquisite song-writing ability at both extremes. Complete with the two other tracks we have heard, ‘Ellipsis’ is teasing itself as Biffy’s most diverse album yet. Although the main framework of their songwriting hasn’t changed, the group had to embrace modern techniques to achieve their vision: “Simon still writes the songs and then we come together. We had 4 or 5 songs where we didn’t really know how to put them together,” says Johnston candidly. “Simon had written them on acoustic guitar and we had some piano demos but beyond that we didn’t know what we were going to do.” Their most recent album, ‘Opposites’, earned the band a UK number one and droves of extremely positive reviews. With a runtime of over seventy-five minutes, the double album was one of kind; few bands can execute a twenty track album with such ease and quality. With the addition of the b-side collection, ‘Similarities’, some even called for a triple album. “We were very grateful at the fans for getting ‘Opposites’ to number one and having the patience to listen to such a long album. We were tempted to do a double again but we didn’t. This album took just as long to make. We thought we would let the fans off, so this is actually our shortest album!” Now thirty-six years old, Ben Johnston stands very dapper with a near permanent grin emblazoned through his ginger beard. A proud father and Scotsman through and through, he spent his time off “with family and doing what normal people do.” Nevertheless, they didn’t escape music entirely. “We still went into the room and practiced a lot. However we missed the rush of playing, it really informs who we are when we do live shows. We ended up being a bit broken after a while of not playing gigs.” Biffy Clyro have been a band for an illustrious twenty-one years; from humble beginnings in Kilmarnock youth centres to their earth shattering headline slot at T In The Park 2014, and over 1.2 million UK record sales along the way. We ask what golden rules he would give to his schoolboy self, and the drummer still remains modest and grounded. “I wouldn’t want to put anything in place that would change things or fast track anything,” he responds. “I feel the struggle that our band has had has made us who we are today and it has informed the music we write. Just don’t take things too seriously and enjoy yourself.” Before rushing off back into the trendy bar, Johnston summarises ‘Ellipsis’ in three simple words: “Naïve, melodic and aggressive.” Frankly that’s all Biffy Clyro fans desire. Read our review of the evening here. Biffy Clyro will be co-headlining Reading and Leeds Festival in August.
Hundreds upon hundreds upon hundreds of empty seats stood out like very sore thumbs at the top of the upper bowls at Canadian Tire Centre on Thursday night, a fact that is sad, disgraceful and embarrassing for both Ottawa and the Senators organization. It also likely led to very sore thumbs for arena employees who, eight minutes after the opening face-off, were ordered to walk around picking up all the extra souvenir wave towels. Make sure nobody gets two, right? Save them for Saturday. Seriously, what’s going on here people? Final count on the attendance was 16,744, almost 2,500 shy of capacity. How do you not sell out the first game, or any game, in the second round of the playoffs? Did we forget to mention only eight teams remain in the hunt for the coveted Stanley Cup? Or did you believe Guy Boucher’s proclamation from a day earlier about the Senators not having a chance against the mighty New York Rangers. He didn’t mean that, by the way. It’s called head games. Those high up seats were being sold for $100, which is an incredible hike, but still doesn’t seem like too much to ask. Rangers fans are probably piling in cars right now to cash in on a deal for Game 2. Is it the parking thing? Now that I could see. When you raise your ticket prices for playoff games, it’s because the product you’re selling has improved and the stakes are higher. But demanding $10 more for folks to park their car is ridiculous, not to mention sheer greed. It’s still the same old lots. No wash has been included. Maybe people spent the nicest day of the year at the beach and then didn’t want to leave? Another excuse being floated at the Postmedia end of the press box for the porous turnout: Too many games scheduled in April. The Senators are supposed to be vying with the Edmonton Oilers to become Canada’s Team right now, but the whole country has to be shaking its head in disgust at all the unused seats at CTC for the start of the Eastern Conference semifinal. Hockey Country is supposed to be so much better than that. STARTS AND STOPS Something sure lit a fire under the Senators for this one. “I think the players didn’t want to get swept in four,” Boucher said. Now who would have ever thought that could happen? … And on the ninth day, God apparently created Henrik Lundqvist. At least it sure looked that way until Ryan Dzingel finally beat the Rangers superstar goalie late in the second period with the Senators 33rd shot … You had a feeling what kind of a night it was going to be when Lundquist robbed Mike Hoffman and Mark Stone before the five-minute mark. After stopping all 21 shots he faced in the first period, The King had to be polishing his crown during the intermission, knowing he was in the heads of his opponents … The fleet-footed Michael Grabner could have had two goals in the first period, even though he still had no shots on goal by the intermission. His initial chance was a quick shot from the left wing circle that beat Craig Anderson glove side, but hit the post. His second was on a shorthanded breakway, when he shot wide … Grabner’s speed led to the Rangers’ second-period goal, as Cody Ceci had to haul him down after he’d been beaten. Ryan McDonagh scored with Ceci in the box … What you don’t see at the rink — a quality replay. If Chris Kreider didn’t deflect the McDonagh shot, something else must have made the puck change directions. Otherwise, it was a bad goal on Anderson. CHECK THIS OUT Really, is there anything Erik Karlsson does that surprises you anymore? Questions being asked at the Boucher post-game conference: Have you ever seen him score from there before? The answer, of course, is yes … Not to be overlooked was the great job Mike Hoffman did in hanging on to the puck while the Senators made a line change, before rimming it around to Karlsson for a first shot that got blocked and a second, from behind the goal line, that deflected off Derek Stepan then went in off Lundqvist’s head .. The Senators’ starting six defenceman had a combined 116 games of playoff experience heading into he night. Meanwhile, the Rangers top pairing of McDonagh and Dan Girardi had 206, while the Blueshirts entire blue line had 360. Thrown in Lundqvist as the last line of defence, and it’s tough to imagine Ottawa scoring many goals this series … At 35, Lundqvist’s hands are still as quick as ever. Either that or Dzingel shot it right into the goalie’s trapper on a third period break. THINGS I THINK I THUNK Dzingel picked a fine time to play the best game of his young career … Remember when Kreider ran into Anderson on Feb. 21, 2013, knocking the Senators out of the lineup util April 7 with a sore ankle? The Senators need a Kreider … Could someone please put a moratorium on mayors making stupid bets regarding the outcome of a playoff series? Who gives a crap if Jim Watson has to walk around in a Rangers jersey? … The idea of putting Clarke MacArthur, Derick Brassard and Bobby Ryan together was born in the summer. Now it is the Senators’ best line … Anderson had them on their feet with a glove save off Brendan Smith with six minutes left in the third … Is it just me, or has there been way too many too-many-men penalties in these playoffs? DID YOU SEE THAT? When MacArthur tested Lundqvist early in the third, it left Ben Harpur as the only Senator without a shot on goal … Hoffman was the TSN 1v1 champ for an eighth consecutive day, giving him the most titles since Newfoundland curler Brad Gushue won 10 in a row last month. Hoffman has even noticed the public eating up his breakaway goal in Game 3 of the Bruins series. “Yeah, the last couple of days, when we’ve had practice days and I’ve been able to get in the lounge and have Sports Centre on,” he said. “It seems like it’s not an easy one to beat. I’m sure there’s going to be something coming up, but I guess it’s pretty cool to see.” The Senators have had five 1v1 champs this season … Tommy Wingels turned in a solid game for the Senators… Another gem from Lundqvist was the breakaway stop he made off Viktor Stalberg in the second period … Anderson may look calm and cool in post game interviews, but was the puck was knocked out of the Senators zone with time ticking away to the final buzzer, you could see him literally jumping up and down with excitement. Indeed, it was a big in a game that for the longest time, looked to be headed for a different outcome. NEIL DOING WHAT HE CAN The hitter turned designated sitter, Chris Neil is trying to find a new way to help the team. With his superstitions. “If we’re on the road, I watch (the game) in the suite,” the 37-year-old winger said Thursday morning. “If we’re at home, I usually do a workout, a ride (on the stationary bike) and watch it down here for the first couple of periods. If the guys are winning, I stay in the same spot. If not, I’ll switch it up and hopefully try to get a couple of goals for us out of it.” A veteran of more than 1,000 games with the Senators and still one of the team’s assistant captains, Neil has been shuttled to the sidelines. He had played just one game in the last two months, a meaningless season finale against the Islanders. He’s healthy and anxious to go, but currently not even an option coach Guy Boucher is consider — despite the fact the Rangers were the most physical team in the first round of the playoffs. “It’s tough to watch when you see guys taking runs at Erik (Karlsson), and other guys on our team,” Neil said. “If I’m out there I can do something about it, and if I’m not, I can’t.” When the Senators played the Rangers in the 2012 playoffs, they were even bigger underdogs than they are this spring. They finished the season with 17 points fewer than New York, but took the first round series to seven games before finally going down to defeat by a goal. Neil was a force for the Senators, scoring the overtime winner in Game 2, adding putting Ottawa on the board first in Game 6, when it had a chance to wrap up the series at home. He also led the Senators with 27 hits. “It was a good series,” Neil said. “We felt we should have come out on top.” Neil hasn’t been told by Boucher to make sure he’s ready in case he’s needed, but that would be an unnecessary conversation. As his days dwindle down with the Senators, Neil is prepared to jump into the battle, and if it doesn’t happen he’s trying to find other ways to lead. “We’re here every day, we’re all together,” Neil said. “If you have a close group, guys will do anything for one another. Last time we played the Rangers in the playoffs we were like that, and we’re like that this year too. Everyone cares for one another and the guys who have come in have fit in well. “We’ve got lots of guys, and you just wait for your opportunity to come in and do what you do.” BURROW PREACHING URGENCY The contributions of Alex Burrows in these playoffs go beyond anything the Senators’ eldest playing statesman has, or will do, on the ice. He has also provided an experienced voice of reason to his teammates. “We’re going to take advantage of this opportunity because they don’t come that often,” Burrows said after Thursday’s morning skate. “It’s easy to say ‘oh, maybe next year we’ll be able to get it done.’ But next year might be a totally different story.” Not one to get up and deliver a dressing room speech, Burrows has enforced that point over dinners and casual conversations with other Senators. In his first eight seasons with the Vancouver Canucks, he went to the playoffs six times — including twice as a Presidents’ Trophy winner. Yet the closest he ever came to winning the Stanley Cup was the 2011 final, which Vancouver lost to the Bruins in seven games. The following year was the Canucks second in a row of having more points than every other team in the regular season, and they were bounced from the playoffs by the Los Angeles Kings in the first round. “It’s like when you think you’ve got a good team and you still young, you wouldn’t mind having another chance next year or whatever, but next year might never come,” Burrows said. “I learned that the hard way in Vancouver. We felt that (because) we won two Presidents’ Trophies, (you thought) maybe not this year against the Bruins, but we’ll win. And next thing you know, you’ve got injuries … there’s different reasons … the team chemistry is not the same, there’s other teams that are planning to win too, so it’s hard. “You’ve got to take advantage of your opportunity when you get it.” Burrows only had one point, an assist, in the six-game series against the Bruins, but he was a factor. He created a goal with his play along the boards and he stopped Boston chances at scoring with his back checking and work in the defensive zone. To him, that was as rewarding as putting the puck in the net himself. “Oh for sure, I always believe, score or not score, as long as the team wins, I’m happy,” said the 36-year old. “Right now, that’s how it’s been. “It’s been a lot of fun winning games, but we’re still not satisfied. We’ve only gone through one round. We’re still hungry for a lot more. “I take a lot of pride in my defensive side of the game,” he added. “At the end of the day, I want to do everything in my power to help the team win games.” dbrennan@postmedia.com
Photos: Lucknow Metro nears launch to become UP’s first rapid transit / Uttar Pradesh is poised to join the ranks of eight operational metro rail projects already functioning in Indian cities, bagging the title of being Uttar Pradesh’s first functional metro line in the process. With the first phase set to launch in July 2017, the Lucknow Metro Rail Corporation Limited is optimistic about the reduction in road traffic and has plans of implementing integrated prepaid smart cards that will be acceptable not only for payment of metro fares but also civic amenities. (Subhankar Chakraborty/HT PHOTO) / The 811 meters long tunnel starts in front of Bapu Bhavan, ending in front of Mayfair in Hazratganj. It runs 60 meters deep into and crosses several old buildings in the city. (Subhankar Chakraborty/HT Photo) / A view of the operations station Control room for the Lucknow Metro which will monitor both corridors of the city’s metro line. (Subhankar Chakraborty/HT Photo) / Metro rail trials are in progress, seen here from Transport Nagar to Charbagh on the North-South elevated corridor in Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh. (Subhankar Chakraborty/HT Photo) / The Lucknow metro project involves routes that crisscross between underground and elevated corridors depending on feasibility and impact to surroundings. (Subhankar Chakraborty/HT Photo) / Workers inspect a train carriage at the Lucknow Metro Depot. (Subhankar Chakraborty/HT Photo) / A metro worker walks down the serpentine tunnel which eventually passes under the city’s iconic Hazratganj shopping district. (Subhankar Chakraborty/HT Photo) / A view of the Charbagh station, the four-way intersection point for both metro lines underway in Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh. (Subhankar Chakraborty/HT Photo)
Breitbart Senior Editor Milo Yiannopoulos will premiere original artwork at Lucian Wintrich’s pro-Trump New York art show, #DaddyWillSaveUs on October 8th along with a host of other prominent conservative figures. The show, which is currently selling tickets on IndieGoGo to raise the necessary funds to pay for the event, will feature Wintrich’s iconic “Twinks4Trump” photoshoot, as well as a series of new installations. Milo is a featured artist at the event, and will submit an original piece of artwork to the show. Conservative commentator and Vice co-founder Gavin McInnes and pharmaceutical entrepreneur and leftist folk villain Martin Shkreli will also submit pieces. Additional contributors include Martin Shkreli, James O’Keefe, the Godesky Brothers, Jon Proby, Sebastian Sommer, and more. “I think this exhibition will fight the dogma of a single accepted political ideology among artists and the creative class as a whole,” said Wintrich, the New York City resident behind Twinks4Trump. “I lost my job, received copious death threats, and to add insult to injury, close to a hundred people unfriended me on Facebook. Folks can’t handle that I’m a Trump supporter with immaculate taste.” Wintrich will be auctioning off art pieces at the event, with 30% of the proceeds going towards the American Military Partner Association. “Who knew that the way to be on the cutting edge of controversy in the art world would be to support Donald Trump?” said Breitbart’s Milo Yiannopoulos on the event. “The LBGT community’s response to Lucian and his fellow artists is embarrassing. How can a movement dedicated to expression, pride and diversity be so dead set against diversity of opinion?” “Art is one of those areas of culture that has been dominated by the left for decades, because the left used to represent the rebellious and the avant-garde. Now, of course, it represents the establishment, and its conservatives and Trump supporters who are the new renegades.” “I am proud to lend my artistic talents to Lucian’s project along with many others in a personal statement of support for Donald Trump and making America great again.” You can purchase tickets for Wintrich’s #DaddyWillSaveUs event at IndieGoGo here, and you can check out the other special guests and more information about the event here. The full press release is copied below:
The latest attempt to launch a professional rugby union tournament in the US relies on a simple premise: the country has thousands of elite-level rugby players. They just don't know it yet. In any given year there are about 15,000 seniors playing American football at college. Only 1.7% will make it to the NFL, according to NCAA figures from 2011. That leaves thousands of exceptional but unwanted young players facing the end of their athletic careers, even before taking into account those who join up with NFL franchises, only to be later cut from rosters. It is not much of a stretch to imagine that it will be possible to persuade a few hundred from that talent pool to spend a summer learning a superficially-similar sport that offers the last chance of a professional contract. Especially if they know that the NFL is watching their progress. Nor does it require a great leap of imagination to suppose that a few dozen among them will prove to possess the rugby nous required to succeed – in addition to the strength, speed and stamina honed during four years at university training facilities that are often far better than anything professional sports clubs in Europe can boast. But can 15 or so be found in under three months, for a New England Irish-themed US XV, comprised of overseas guest stars and home-grown novices, that is set to take on the Aviva Premiership team London Irish at Gillette Stadium in an exhibition match envisaged as the curtain-raiser to a professional league? It is a task worthy of a reality television series, and it will require money, determination, organization and elite-level coaching. In short, old-world rugby savvy laced with a healthy dose of American "can-do" spirit. And the thesis that mental and physical skills are rapidly transferable from one violent contact sport to another will need to be proven quickly. If a league gets off the ground as soon as 2014, players will be recruited via combines – large-scale trials – and through the development of a scouting network with the help of coaches at leading colleges who can recommend players with potential who are unlikely to be drafted by the NFL. As for the sprinkling of stardust required to attract spectators and media attention, Major League Soccer has shown that a move to North America is appealing to players approaching the end of their careers, some of whom are prepared to take less money than is on offer in Europe in order to live in a glamorous city such as New York. The same goes for coaches. A firm US-based path towards professional rugby would also attract young players from other rugby-playing nations. They could move to America without fearing their career ambitions would suffer, pursue permanent residency and potentially represent the US national team one day. 'Think big, start big' The scheme is the brainchild of two US-based promoters, George Robertson and Michael Clements. They formed a company called RugbyLaw and have been in negotiations with potential partners for months. With the attention-grabbing game at Gillette Stadium and a return match potentially taking place at Twickenham later in August, RugbyLaw's proposed National Rugby Football League seems to have a strong head-start over a rival plan, the American Pro Rugby Competition. The vision: think big, start big. Robertson and Clements believe that the prudent, slow start made by MLS since its formation in 1996 has doomed soccer to limited growth and appeal in the US. They feel that Americans will only embrace a new competition if it is high-grade right from the start and that fans will not have the patience to wait a decade or more for a league to become credible, as was the case with MLS. In this view, the planned six-team league in NFL stadiums along the East Coast needs to be privately-run: capitalism, not the Corinthian spirit, is the way to grow a sport. Governing bodies lack the ambition, energy, international focus and business intelligence to expand leagues; look at how rapidly the Premier League developed in England after the Football Association and Football League were essentially outmanoeuvered by the clubs. This seems to be a recipe for discord between a governing body and clubs, as has been the case in English rugby. Nigel Melville, the head of USA Rugby, has some concerns but is cautiously supportive of the idea. A league's failure would be a significant setback to the sport in north America. On the other hand, it could grow rugby rapidly and considerably improve the standard of the national team. Robertson is steadfast in his belief that XV is the most likely route to profit, rather than Sevens, which is set to be big in the US when it is part the 2016 Rio Olympics, because NBC Sports is increasing its coverage of the code. The XV version of the game more closely resembles American football. To work, the RugbyLaw scheme needs to find investors willing to sink tens of millions of dollars into the project. It is a tall order but the involvement of the NFL could prove highly significant. The NFL Network will televise the match at Gillette Stadium, exposing mainstream American football fans to rugby and letting it piggy-back on to the financial power, marketing muscle and cultural cachet of the nation's most popular sport. The potential for sharing facilities, swapping players and giving fans something to watch during the long NFL offseason is obvious. The organisers hope that NFL owners such as Robert Kraft of the New England Patriots will see the London Irish match, and buy into the league as a way of generating new events to fill their stadiums. "NFL and Gillette Stadium is [like the Beatles and] the Ed Sullivan show … a total game-changer," Clements said. 'An interesting dimension' Brett Gosper, IRB chief executive. Photograph: Henry Browne/Action Images The dream of an American professional league has long been talked about among fans. But the International Rugby Board (IRB), the sport's global governing body, is also becoming enthusiastic about gaining a firm foothold in such a vast and wealthy country. If a professional lacrosse league can exist in the US, why not a tournament for the world's third-most popular team sport? The IRB chief executive, Brett Gosper, said last month: "What is good is that there are forces in the US at the moment that realize a local major professional North American league would be an interesting dimension. There is a belief that it would do more to spur the growth in the country than making a World Cup quarter-final. "It would drive very high commercial revenues through broadcast [agreements], but I don't think they would be ready for a World Cup yet. The sooner they are, it would be exciting for a number of reasons. Not only because of the amount of money it would earn for the game but because it's great to see it in a different context and that's what the World Cup is for." Steve Tew, chief executive of New Zealand Rugby Union, told Reuters that in the future, southern-hemisphere countries are certain to form a tournament involving the US. He said: "Inevitably you will see a professional rugby competition on the west coast of the States including SANZAR countries." New Zealand cricket's governing body is part of a joint-venture aiming to launch a Twenty20 league in the US, but that has been pushed back from this summer to next year at the earliest, in an illustration of the challenges sports face in raising enough money and finding suitable facilities to launch in America. The potential of the marketplace may be huge, but the competition is fierce. Producing enough good American players to form a league will be futile unless sufficient numbers of fans can be enticed to watch. But there is some encouraging evidence at grass-roots level. USA Rugby claims to have 90,000 members. And the perception that rugby is less likely to cause concussions than American football could result in more young people taking up the sport at football's expense. Olly Barkley of England is upended by Paul Emerick of the USA during a 2007 World Cup match in France. Photograph: Shaun Botterill/Getty Images If only a small percentage of the country's American football fans can be exposed to rugby and persuaded that it is a similarly compelling and aggressive sport – with the added intrigue of no long stoppages, no helmets or pads – then it might have a chance to thrive during the spring and summer. "After football season they need a fix. Rugby will deliver that," Clements said. Last June, the US lost to Italy in a friendly at BBVA Compass Stadium in Houston in front of 17,241 – a larger attendance than the US soccer team drew for a game against Canada at the same venue last January. That US-record rugby crowd in the football-obsessed state of Texas could be surpassed when the Eagles return to Houston on 8 June, to face Ireland. Executives at Reliant Stadium, the 72,000-capacity home of the Houston Texans NFL franchise, had shown interest in hosting the match. Robertson said: "An elite professional rugby union league is the backbone and now required for successful national-side play. We are the pathway, likely the only one, for the USA to move from Tier II to Tier I IRB status – it is simply a matter of structure, investment, and a professional capability. "It seems the world has lost track or forgotten the main truth of the NFL – it is the son of rugby union."
I use two step ladders to dry my inflatable kayak. I space the two ladders a metre or so apart and drape the deflated boat over them. Sale Cosco Three Step Big Step Folding Step Stool with Rubber Hand Grip Large platform steps with wavy tread. Height is 45.59 inches , Width is 27.95 inches and Depth is 17.71 inches Comfortable handle grip Opti-Bond powder coat finish Meets ANSI Type lll 200-Pound Duty Rating Large platform steps It's important not to do this in your living room immediately after getting in - drain out any excess water outdoors first! Importance Of Drying Properly You will have read in your kayak's manual about the importance of rinsing, thoroughly drying and properly storing your inflatable kayak. And you'll probably remember from your own experience the trauma of getting your tent out for a trip, having stored it for a full year, but when you open it out, it's filled with mould and mildew and stinks. Not good. Why does this happen? Because you were too lazy to dry it properly, and just packed it away on the field and put it in your closed. Well, that's what happened to me anyway. And the same can happen with your kayak - at least you don't have to sleep in the yak. The problem is that after a long day on the water you might just want to pack up and get off home or to your next destination. The thing is that being lazy with your blowup yak will probably cause it to last a good deal less time than it should - that mould can deteriorate the fabric which it's made of, and if you use it in salt water the salt can abrade it and make it break down as well. So how best to do it? How To Do It Properly To do it properly, I suggest you have a couple of dry towels - two or three at least (big ones). With the boat still inflated, remove everything you can (seats, net bags, etc.) and dab it dry all over. Depending on the model of your kayak the next steps may vary - with something like a Sevylor Colorado or AdvancedFrame with an inflatable floor, you should deflate the floor and tip it over to allow any free water to drain out from between the floor and the side bladders. You can also take this opportunity to wipe away any debris that gathers in the gutters between the floor and sides. Remember, change to a dry towel when the one you're using gets wet. The next thing is to fully deflate it, mop up any more excess water, and then leave the yak to dry before rolling it up and packing it away. Overnight should suffice - a good tip is to use a stepladder or something, especially if you're short of space: set up the ladder and drape the yak over it, upside down. Now, if you're going to take the boat out again within a few days or a week, it isn't necessary to go through all of this. Just draining out any excess water should be fine. But if it's going to be a month or so, you do risk mould growth if you don't thoroughly dry it. How To Do It Lazily Although the above only takes a few minutes of work, if you're going to be using the yak regularly then I suggest that you just leave it out to dry: leave it inflated, until the top is dry, then turn it over so any more excess water can drain out, and leave it to dry upside down. If you're fussy, you can use a towel to mop up any more free water as you deflate it and pack it away. You should definitely clean and dry your inflatable thoroughly if you intend to store it for any length of time but if only for a few days to a week, then this will be sufficient. I don't know if it will decrease the lifespan of your boat, but I suppose it might - especially if you're using it in salt water. Use with caution! How To Clean And Store Your Kayak

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