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Jeremy Clarkson's future remains unclear after one newspaper reported that the BBC is on the verge of sacking him. The Top Gear presenter has been left in limbo for two weeks since the corporation announced his suspension following what it described as "a fracas" with producer Oisin Tymon. A BBC spokesman told ITV News: "No decision has been made. When we have an outcome, we will announce it." But the Daily Telegraph claimed that the corporation's director general Lord Hall was expected to announce the star's sacking tomorrow after considering an internal investigation. According to the broadsheet, the inquiry, led by BBC Scotland boss Ken MacQuarrie, concluded that Clarkson verbally abused Mr Tymon for 20 minutes before launching a 30-second physical assault at a luxury Yorkshire hotel. Senior BBC executives are reportedly attempting to convince Radio 2 Breakfast Show host Chris Evans to take over his role on Top Gear, sources told the newspaper. But Evans has previously ruled himself out of the running, saying: "I can categorically say I am not and will never be running for office. Please discount my candidacy." Clarkson left his London flat in a taxi around 4.40pm and when asked if he had heard from the BBC today, he told reporters: "Nothing. Not a sausage."
The complexity of CS:GO as a game forces your understanding to gradually widen and deepen rather than come in a series of 'penny-drop' moments. Learning about the nuances and depth of mechanics and macro concepts only serve to show you all the more you don't know. In this way, as fans of CS:GO, we slowly work our way up to appreciate the great players through an evolution of reference points. We learn more deeply what is 'right' or 'wrong', how to traverse the grey area in between, and importantly, what the qualifier of 'legendary' truly means. Coldzera is one of a few players whose individual play demands leaps, not gradual growth, in knowledge and refinement of our analytical models. Across every measurable criterion of what makes an elite player, Coldzera's recent play is raising the bar of what we expect from the best player in the world tournament-to-tournament, not era-to-era. To slowly come around to the magnificence of Coldzera's play right now is to risk missing one of the most legendary periods of form in CS:GO history unfolding in front of you. The change-up of bringing Boltz to replace felps in this SK roster has only transformed Coldzera into an even more monstrous player. Since the change, Coldzera has an average rating of 1.29. This rating has been achieved over the most amount of matches relative to any other elite, international LAN player, and also against the best opposition the scene has to-offer right now. Arguably the greatest player to ever touch CS:GO is not only looking for more trophies to bolster his position amongst the other Gods, but he's actually improving on an individual level. Looking at these averaged stat lines and the broader scope of his achievements is disingenuous when talking about Coldzera though. Every fan of CS knows about Coldzera and that he's the best, but many are only familiar with the tip of the iceberg. Coldzera's highlight clips are impressive on the surface, but miss the real beauty and artistry of his play. Like any great piece of literature, one can't simply read Coldzera's game on face-value or by skimming over the details. Coldzera's individual play is something that should be studied, savoured, used as a platform to jump forward your understanding of the game - not simply timed to a bass drop; such is the magnitude of his mastery. The initial framing of Coldzera's game should start with his place within SK. Coldzera, in a broad sense, is the round-closer for SK. On T-side, we generally expect Coldzera to be sitting further back in site hits or off holding rotations/lurking. On CT-side it’s harder to define, but, again, generally, he’s rotating into retakes, baiting off of teammates or commanding integral parts of the map like short on Mirage. This sees Coldzera - and by virtue of role as well, FalleN - operate in situations where individual choices and mechanical ability matter the most. Think 1vX retakes, defending post-plant from tough situations, clutching in-general or mid-round impact plays. In short, Coldzera is the safety net and bedrock for the best team in the world. Not an easy task, but as his stats might suggest, it is one he excels at. SK is structured such that Coldzera and fer are the primary superstars, FalleN the primary AWPer and backup star, and TACO/Boltz as maybe the two most elite role/utility players in the world. Fer makes his superstar impact through forward pressure, calculated volatility and unrelenting confidence to win an engagement from any angle, with any weapon, and at any time. Coldzera, on the other hand, wins SK rounds through a disgustingly well-rounded and consistent skillset paired with maybe the fastest, most intelligent decision making and positioning in the game. This divergent pairing of stars has only come about since the removal of felps. With felps in the side we saw fer positioned in more of a pairing than as a sole star; his famed calculated aggression, in a sense, tempered by the ability to rely on a second man to trade and work off of. Boltz more consistently provides a high-level foundation than the oscillating impact of felps for both fer and Coldzera to work with. This has seen both of them - alongside FalleN recently at BLAST - fully reclaim the spotlight as SK's superstars. Because of the playstyles of his teammates, Coldzera is allowed to exercise more aspects of his impossibly well-rounded skillset where it consistently will matter the most. To actually look at Coldzera’s individual play, one has to look at every element of CS:GO on the whole. In terms of movement, you're dealing with one of the most dominant and aware players of all-time. He is an expert at seamlessly integrating the entire breadth of what is possible through a keyboard into each of his duels while under immense pressure. Whether it be through subtle crouching and jump-peeking or being comfortable in manipulating seemingly any angle in the game, finding an easy duel with Coldzera is a tough task. This is even more true when Coldzera is afforded space in a late-round situation where the mental game is just as important. His mind for the game is unlike any other superstar to come before him. If you read Coldzera's interviews, he analytically breaks down all the complexities of how he saw patterns emerge in-game, the strats he suggested to punish them, a solid reasoning for each choice he influenced on a macro level and all in a second language. He is always thinking and always active with maximising impact, whether that be in clutching out a post-plant or directing SK in the mid-round from top-mid of Mirage. FalleN himself replied when asked about bringing Coldzera into the line-up back in 2015: "[Coldzera] is an awesome player and came to make a lot of positive changes on our playstyle. He was definitely a good choice, especially presenting knowledge on strats." The combination of an intense in-game IQ and pixel perfect movement is the perfect pairing for some of the best positioning of all-time as well. Unless he’s forced into an uncomfortable set-up and/or cleaning up the mistakes of others, Coldzera is someone who demands the most favourable angle to hold in a duel. His conceptualisations of rotations and how best to manipulate them come in a matter of milliseconds and independent of leadership. Coldzera’s movement as a dot on the minimap can at times be as impressive as the action around his crosshair. On top of this, Coldzera is also the secondary AWP for SK, and a world-class sniper at that. Like many of the players looking to chase their place on CS:GO’s Mt Rushmore, Coldzera is comfortable with the big-green and the AK - a true hybrid. This gives the SK roster a hyper-intelligent, secondary AWPing, exceedingly well-rounded, consistent, late-round clutcher who is over the course of the two years since he's joined, likely the best-in-class at all those elements of play. When we're looking at Coldzera's in-game play, it might actually be easier to describe it by the 'weak-points' rather than the elements of praise. Coldzera is a player who has elite aim but this isn't achieved by virtue of prodigious natural talent like a s1mple or flamie at his peak. For Coldzera to find the flashy one-tap headshots, he has to work hard to elevate his play up to a 'best in the world' level. As such, historically, and as Coldzera himself will admit, we've seen his aim be the key point of failure against other elite players. For example, one of his lowest-performing events, IEM Katowice 2016, saw his aim struggling immensely against an in-form Olofmeister, NiKo, and f0rest. Yet, despite aim being one of the worst elements of his game overall, he maintains the third highest headshot/round stat line in 2017 at big events and the most headshots of 2017 (so far). When his aim started to placate at around the same time G2 handily beat SK at the EPL S5 Finals, Coldzera decided to reconfigure his practice schedule to be about "13 hours a day" so that he could "have more confidence and [make his] aim good." He grinds to achieve some of the best aim in the world and overcome any potential shortcomings in his play. An obstacle within himself is overcome with force of will and drive to be the absolute best. What else would you expect from the GOAT? When we watch Coldzera play we are watching at once, a ruthlessly driven competitor and also a master at his craft. CS:GO is, at the most elite levels of play, as much a competitive endeavour as it is an art form. The infamous jumping double no scope from Coldzera isn't what defines an artist of his calibre though. What will define Coldzera as the greatest CS:GO player will be much more subdued and internalised; almost hidden in its subtle impact. For Coldzera's skillset sees him refine and become the best in areas like, movement, positioning, utility usage, helping with calling, and in-game intelligence. These are the areas that sustain and drive consistency as they can be managed entirely by the dedicated practice of the player. While aim and 'form' can be ephemeral, making the correct choice to peek left or right and knowing when isn't. In this way, Coldzera has opted to try and grapple with the sheer complexity of CS:GO in its entirety. Just like any hardcore fan or analyst, Coldzera is on that same journey of slowly increasing his understanding. The only distinction is that he's leading the way and we are following. So take the time to appreciate the best in the world make the entire scene reevaluate what is possible and what constitutes ‘legendary’. Photo Credit: DreamHack
Read More Ireland of the Postcard Everything you’ve heard is true: Ireland is a stunner. The locals need little prodding to proclaim theirs the most beautiful land in the world, and can support their claim with many examples. Everyone will argue over the must-sees but you can't go wrong if you put on your to-visit list the brooding loneliness of Connemara, the dramatic wildness of Donegal, the majestic mountains of Mourne, the world-famous scenery of counties Kerry and Cork, and the celebrated Causeway Coast. Tread Softly… History is everywhere, from the breathtaking monuments of prehistoric Ireland at Brú na Bóinne, Slea Head in Kerry and Carrowmore in Sligo, to the fabulous ruins of Ireland's rich monastic past at Glendalough, Clonmacnoise and Cashel. The island's newest tourism venture, Ireland's Ancient East, is all about its rich heritage. More recent history is visible in the Titanic Experience in Cobh and the forbidding Kilmainham Gaol in Dublin. And there's history so young that it's still considered the present, best experienced on a black-taxi tour of West Belfast or an examination of Derry's colourful political murals. A Cultural Well It's become almost trite to declare that Ireland operates a cultural surplus. Its main strengths are the literary and musical fields, where Ireland has long punched well above its weight, but it is well represented in most other fields too. Wherever you go you will discover an abundance of cultural expression. You can attend a play by a literary great in Dublin, toe-tap your way through a traditional-music session in a west-of-Ireland pub or get your EDM on at a club in Belfast. The Irish summer is awash with festivals celebrating everything from flowers in bloom to high literature. Tá Fáilte Romhat On the plane and along your travels you might hear it said: tá Fáilte romhat (taw fall-cha row-at) – you're very welcome. Or, more famously, céad míle fáilte – a hundred thousand welcomes. Irish friendliness is an over-simplification of a character that is infinitely complex, but the Irish are nonetheless genuinely warm and welcoming, and there are few more enjoyable ways of gaining a greater understanding of the island's inhabitants than a chat with a local. Read Less
Few remember the second chimp launched into space by the United States. Even fewer remember the terrible equipment malfunction that subjected the animal to 76 electric shocks in orbit. The chimps of space -- Ham, the first primate in space, and Enos, the second primate (after Yuri Gagarin) to orbit Earth -- have a special place in our memories of NASA. These animals paved the way for the United States space program by convincing biologists that animals' bodies and minds could function in orbit. But there was a dark side to the missions. The chimps were the first to be trained by "avoidance conditioning" during which electric shocks were administered to the soles of their feet when the animals responded incorrectly in carrying out simple tasks. So, for example, the animals would be presented with three shapes and were trained to pick out the one that was not like the two others. They made their selections by pressing one of three levers that corresponded to the three symbols. On problem one below, the chimp should press the middle lever. On problem two, the chimp should press the right lever, and so on. Scientists call these oddity problems. After Enos was in orbit, his first battery of oddity problems went as well as could be expected. After 18 problems, Enos had received 10 shocks. But on his next battery of tests, the center lever malfunctioned as did the switch controlling which question was presented. Enos kept being presented the same problem -- number one above -- in which the correct answer required pressing the center lever, but his center lever was broken. Enos, strapped into a space module orbiting the earth, was subjected to 33 shocks in a row, no matter what he did. The chimp kept trying to press different levers, NASA researchers record, but he kept getting shocked. Mercifully, the test ended after 35 shocks, and Enos performed normally on the other tasks he was given.
An Apple contractor factory in China houses its workers in overcrowded dormitories lined with mould and crawling with bed bugs, a labour watchdog alleged on Thursday. An undercover report by China Labor Watch on the Shanghai iPhone factory operated by Taiwan’s Pegatron Group is the latest in a series of studies documenting poor conditions at Apple contractor facilities. “Low pay, long hours, unpaid work, poor workplace safety and despicable living conditions persist,” the report said, alleging nearly two dozen “legal and ethical labuor rights violations.” While Apple has pledged to improve conditions at contractors producing its gadgets, the report said its investigation showed ongoing problems, since a 2013 report on three Chinese factories operated by the same group. “Before overtime pay, workers making the iPhone earn only the local minimum wage of $318 per month, or about $1.85 per hour. This is not a living wage,” the report said. “After their long shifts, workers take a 30-minute shuttle bus back to their dorms, where up to 14 people are crammed into a room. Mould grows pervasively along the walls. Bed bugs have spread throughout the dorm and many workers are covered in red bug bites.” The report said health and safety were major concerns because the facility uses a number of toxic substances, including mercury and arsenic, but that “no one tells workers anything about the location of these or other substances in the production process or how a person should protect herself from injury.” The report cited a total of 23 violations, including lack of training and inadequate safety equipment. “Unfortunately, the awful working and living conditions that Pegatron workers face in 2015 are generally no better than those witnessed in 2013,” the report said. The labour group cited “limited improvement” in some areas, saying the average working week dropped from 63 hours to 60 hours. But it noted that half of the workers hired at Pegatron are temporary workers, even though Chinese law allows only 10 percent of a workforce to be temporary labor. Apple did not immediately respond to a request to comment. The California tech giant has previously faced criticism about conditions at Foxconn, another contract company based in Taiwan. After at least 13 employees apparently took their lives in 2010 -- not all at plants making Apple products -- Foxconn pledged to improve working conditions and raise salaries. First Published: Oct 23, 2015 11:22 IST
We’ve finally reached Big 12 play! No. 18 Baylor takes on No. 22 Texas Tech at 7:00 on Friday. The game is in Lubbock and airs on FCS. The Red Raiders are a little underrated by the media. They rank No. 11 on KenPom and sport victories over Nevada and Northwestern. They lost to a very good Seton Hall team in New York. They’ve also eviscerated their non-power seven (shout-out to the AAC!) opponents. As always, we’ll look at playing offense against the opponent, then defending them. Finally, we’ll close with a prediction. Offense: Texas Tech has an awesome defense. They rank No. 7 on KenPom and have some moments where they shut down opponents. The Red Raiders held Northwestern to .73 points per possession. To put that in perspective, the worst offensive team in the country scores.87 points per possession. Nevada—the No. 36 team on KenPom—scored just .92 points per possession against Texas Tech. That’s well off their normal adjusted average of 1.15 points per possession. The Red Raider’s defense is awesome because they attack the ball well. Keenan Evans, their senior point guard, and Zach Smith, their senior forward, are extremely athletic and attack passing lanes. Texas Tech has added Zhaire Smith and Jordan Caroline. Those two join Smith in the top 500 nationally in block rate. That trio has helped Tech rank No. 36 in block rate. They’re awesome at weak-side help defense: In just about every defensive category, Tech is excellent. They’re No. 6 in turnover percentage and No. 7 in effective field goal defense. They rank in the top 75 in defensive rebounding too. Nore Odiase is back after battling injuries, and he’ll be a load for Baylor to deal with in trying to crash the offensive glass. There are two areas where Tech struggles on defense. First, they tend to foul quite a bit. By playing so aggressively, they create a ton of block/charge opportunities and they both initiate and create contact at the rim. Tech fans thought some of the late calls in Waco last season hurt them. I thought Manu Lecomte and Johnathan Motley faced a pretty negative whistle in Lubbock. But that’s what happens with Tech. They play basketball in a way where there are a ton of close calls. Was the defender still moving? Did the player really get all ball? And did the offensive player get hammered in the lane, or was the defensive player going straight up? Tech’s style of play means fans on both sides will argue about those questions. For the Bears, they have to convert when they get the benefit of the whistle and not falter when they feel like a call or two goes against them. Tech’s defense does a good job responding to the scouting report. They were superb leaving the correct shooters open against Northwestern. Smith is old. So is Evans. They’re probably going to dare Mark Vital to hit a three or take the risk Jo Lual-Acuil, Vital or Tristan Clark can’t hit enough free throws. Small gambles go a long way in determining a basketball game; hopefully the Bears can make them pay. Texas Tech’s biggest defensive issue is that they surrender a lot of 3-point shots. This happens for two big reasons. First, they like to help in the paint. Clark and Lual-Acuil have to be ready to kick it, and shooters have to be ready to fire. The Pirates were: Second, Texas Tech suffers because they fly to the ball. They’re vulnerable to passes across the court and quick passes: The Raiders can also get a little jumbled on drives. King McClure’s driving ability has grown immensely this season. The Bears might give him the option to drive and then place two of Jake Lindsey, Lecomte and Nuni Omot on the perimeter. It worked well for Nevada, as they blitzed out to a nice lead with shots like these: I’d also expect Baylor to look to make some cross-court passes. Those kind of passes increase the risks the Bears will turn it over, which is a big concern with Baylor now falling back to 180th in turnover percentage. But Baylor’s best bet is to shoot a ton from beyond the arc. The Bears came back after falling behind early in Lubbock last season and kept fighting with shots like these: Baylor has to embrace the three in this game. Texas Tech’s defense is sustained by holding opponents to 30.1% from deep. That number is going to go way up. 3-point shooting defense is best explained by attempts, not makes. Ken Pomeroy has explored this over the last decade, and consistently, that holds up. His basic finding is that teams seem to shoot 3-point shots when they’re open. There’s not much a defense does to make a team shoot a worse percentage. Sometimes the offense will miss, and that’s why long-term, the better measure is number of attempts. Texas Tech’s opponents have shot from beyond the arc on 43% of their possessions, which ranks 310th nationally. The men of Lubbock are due for a correction in opponent 3-point percentage. Finally, this is the time for Omot to show his awesome run at the end of non-conference play is for real. He had one of his best games last season at home against Texas Tech. The Red Raiders could hard hedge ball screens, but they often like to weak (where they force the ball handler to dribble with their weak hand away from the screen) or ice (a defense along the sideline where the goal is to force the ball handler toward the sideline to create another defender) screens. Omot flips the screen here and hits the open three. Without Terry Maston, it’s time for Omot: Defense: Texas Tech’s offense ranks 40th. Chris Beard is in his second season as head coach, and once again, the Red Raiders run a motion offense. There’s a ton of off-ball movement and constant screening. Clark’s been a superb freshman, but he’s gotten lost off the ball. He’ll need to be hyper-aware this game. Texas Tech has found a lot of success out of their horns set. Baylor runs this a lot too, and the Red Raiders, like the Bears, will have their two big men very high. With Evans speed and the mobility many of their bigs have, there are a bevy of opportunities in these plays: I’d expect Baylor to play quite a bit of zone. Northwestern is not usually a zone team, but they played a 2-3 zone for large stretches of their game. And that defense did pretty well. The Bears might morph their zone to focus more on containing dribble penetration and conceding some jump shots. The problem is that Smith is such a smart player and screener that he can seal the help. Nevada’s not in zone here, but the Bear’s defense could end up in spots where these shots are open for the Red Raiders: Baylor’s hope will be that Smith is left taking long jump shots and that the Red Raiders aren’t getting behind Lual-Acuil for lobs or taking a ton of open 3-point looks. Smith can make those shots, but if he ends up going 6-of-8 from 18 feet, you accept the odds have not been in your favor. Beware Texas Tech in transition. I hope I can inspire some by saying beware. I ended up at a very basic Chinese buffet on Christmas. I don’t own food because I eat out every meal. So with so many spots closed, I went to a basic spot. I didn’t like the food, and somehow, the buffet and a Pepsi cost $22. The point in that—beyond the necessity of complaining about the experience—is that you can always get scammed when you least expect it. Texas Tech doesn’t seem like a team that runs. They’re the rare marathon runner without the sticker on the car. Baylor’s been inconsistent in their effort against their worst opponents. I think that’s a reflection of playing down to opponents, but there’s not a flip the switch on moment against Texas Tech. This team demands the best of their opponent. Prediction: What a wild time to be alive. Baylor and Texas Tech are both astronomically better at basketball than football. The Bears will really miss Maston. He had 22 points on eight shots in the last meeting between these teams. The Red Raiders lack the length to challenge him on the block. Texas Tech is so good on defense. Baylor really needs to go wild shooting 3-point shots. I’m fearful Baylor will let the perfect become the enemy of the good by passing up good shots waiting for the perfect one. The No. 7 defense in the country is not going to surrender too many perfect shots late in the clock. Take the good ones as they come. These are two teams that are pretty evenly matched. KenPom gives Baylor a 29% chance to win. Those aren’t great odds, but those are basically the odds Donald Trump had to become President or that Doug Jones had to win the Alabama Senate race. I think Texas Tech will force a few too many turnovers, and the Bears will have a rough eight minute stretch sometime during this contest that will be integral to the Red Raiders winning. I hope I’m wrong, but I’ll take Texas Tech 68, Baylor 60. Prediction record: 12-0 Against the spread: 4-1 (many non-conference games did not list odds)
It's the party of the year: the nostalgia of goodbyes, the glitter of celebrities, the celebration of going to the Super Bowl (fingers crossed). It will be so loud, you won't hear your own screams, just that wonderful roar of everyone's cheers mixing together to drown out the boos of the other team. The final game at the Georgia Dome will be amazing. And expensive. Really, really expensive. Atlanta has become a city used to hosting big sporting events, and that often means paying big bucks. Even on that scale, the NFC championship game between the Falcons and the Packers is expensive. On the Monday after the Falcons beat the Seahawks 36-20, tickets to the game are sold out on Ticketmaster, but about 10,000 tickets are still up for grabs on the secondary market. PHOTOS \| Falcons celebrate victory PHOTOS \| Falcons celebrate playoff victory over Seahawks <p>Jan 14, 2017; Atlanta, GA, USA; Atlanta Falcons head coach Dan Quinn hugs Falcons general manager Thomas Dimitroff after defeating the Seattle Seahawks in the NFC Divisional playoff at Georgia Dome. Atlanta won 36-20. Mandatory Credit: Jason Getz-USA TODAY Sports</p> Jan 14, 2017; Atlanta, GA, USA; Atlanta Falcons cornerback Jalen Collins (32) reacts after defeating the Seattle Seahawks in the NFC Divisional playoff at Georgia Dome. Atlanta won 36-20. Mandatory Credit: Dale Zanine-USA TODAY Sports ATLANTA, GA - JANUARY 14: Atlanta Falcons fans react against the Seattle Seahawks at the Georgia Dome on January 14, 2017 in Atlanta, Georgia. (Photo by Scott Cunningham/Getty Images) Jan 14, 2017; Atlanta, GA, USA; Atlanta Falcons quarterback Matt Ryan (2) hugs Seattle Seahawks cornerback Richard Sherman (25) after the NFC Divisional playoff at Georgia Dome. Atlanta won 36-20. Mandatory Credit: Brett Davis-USA TODAY Sports Jan 14, 2017; Atlanta, GA, USA; Atlanta Falcons center Alex Mack (51) reacts after defeating the Seattle Seahawks in the NFC Divisional playoff at Georgia Dome. Atlanta won 36-20. Mandatory Credit: Dale Zanine-USA TODAY Sports Jan 14, 2017; Atlanta, GA, USA; Recording artist Ludacris performs during half time of the NFC Divisional playoff between the Atlanta Falcons and the Seattle Seahawks at Georgia Dome. Mandatory Credit: Brett Davis-USA TODAY Sports ATLANTA, GA - JANUARY 14: An Atlanta Falcons fan looks on during the game against the Seattle Seahawks at the Georgia Dome on January 14, 2017 in Atlanta, Georgia. (Photo by Scott Cunningham/Getty Images) ATLANTA, GA - JANUARY 14: Head coach Dan Quinn of the Atlanta Falcons shakes hands with head coach Pete Carroll of the Seattle Seahawks after the game at the Georgia Dome on January 14, 2017 in Atlanta, Georgia. (Photo by Scott Cunningham/Getty Images) ATLANTA, GA - JANUARY 14: Atlanta Falcons fans react against the Seattle Seahawks at the Georgia Dome on January 14, 2017 in Atlanta, Georgia. (Photo by Streeter Lecka/Getty Images) ATLANTA, GA - JANUARY 14: Atlanta Falcons cheerleaders perform during the game against the Seattle Seahawks at the Georgia Dome on January 14, 2017 in Atlanta, Georgia. (Photo by Scott Cunningham/Getty Images) Jan 14, 2017; Atlanta, GA, USA; Atlanta Falcons quarterback Matt Ryan (2) shakes hands with Seattle Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson (3) after the NFC Divisional playoff at Georgia Dome. Atlanta won 36-20. Mandatory Credit: Brett Davis-USA TODAY Sports Jan 14, 2017; Atlanta, GA, USA; Atlanta Falcons strong safety Keanu Neal (22) hugs Seattle Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson (3) after the NFC Divisional playoff at Georgia Dome. Atlanta won 36-20. Mandatory Credit: Brett Davis-USA TODAY Sports Jan 14, 2017; Atlanta, GA, USA; Atlanta Falcons defensive end Brooks Reed (50) celebrates after defeating the Seattle Seahawks in the NFC Divisional playoff at Georgia Dome. Atlanta won 36-20. Mandatory Credit: Jason Getz-USA TODAY Sports ATLANTA, GA - JANUARY 14: Devonta Freeman #24 of the Atlanta Falcons celebrates beating the Seattle Seahawks at the Georgia Dome on January 14, 2017 in Atlanta, Georgia. (Photo by Scott Cunningham/Getty Images) TicketIQ.com tracks ticket sales and reports the average price to get into the NFC Championship is $777. Even if you're looking for the cheapest option to get in the door, you'll still pay $307. It makes it the second most expensive ticket ever at the Georgia Dome and the third most expensive NFC Championship game since the company starting tracking prices seven years ago. Sign up for the daily Speed Feed Newsletter Thank You Something went wrong. This email will be delivered to your inbox once a day in the morning. Thank You for signing up for the Speed Feed Please try again later. Submit Only tickets to the the 2013 NCAA Final Four were more expensive with an average cost of $887. FULL COVERAGE \| #RoadToHouston Prices to the Atlanta game are also among the highest for NFC Championships. Blame the Packers. The three highest NFC Championship ticket costs are all games involving the Packers: 2001 Packers @Bears ($1,157), 2015 Packers @ Seahawks ($548), and 2017 Packers @ Falcons ($777). Because there are still thousands of tickets available on the secondary market, Jess Lawrence with Ticket IQ said prices could come down some, but he doesn't expect a big drop. "I wouldn't expect a ton of movement," he said. "There are a lot of high-demand factors for these tickets." The Falcons are favored to win, and he says that always boosts ticket prices for the home crowd. People are willing to pay more to see their team win. The last game at the Georgia Dome, the first possible trip to the Super Bowl in years, and the Packers fan group willing to travel are all factors that will keep prices high. Have faith in the Falcons and want to book your trip to Houston for the Super Bowl? Good news: the price dropped $1,000 after Dallas lost. Bad news: tickets start at $4368. YIKES. A STORY IN PHOTOS \| Saying Goodbye to the Georgia Dome
After abandoning their mantra of building through the draft and bringing in mature-age stars in an effort to land another flag, Tim Watson says that performance of Geelong coach Chris Scott will be under the microscope in 2017. The Cats have been extremely active in recent years during the trade and free agency periods, attracting ready-made talent to the club, but after a disappointing exit from last year’s finals series, the spotlight will turn on the 2011 premiership coach according to the ex-Essendon star. “This is going to be the greatest year of challenges for Chris Scott. I reckon we are going to find out this season whether Chris Scott is the great coach that his record suggests,” Watson said. “They went out and they recruited for now. They went and recruited (Scott) Selwood, (Lachie) Henderson, (Zac) Smith and also (Paddy) Dangerfield – they were topping up with top level talent that was ready to go believing that they were going to be a serious premiership threat. “(But) they fell down in their last month, particularly their last performance was ordinary.” Watson said that Scott needs to find a way to get more out of his second-tier midfielders and not leave the majority of the load on the shoulders of his two superstars. “He’s got to find a way – he’s got two of the best midfielders in the competition, but they are overshadowing (the rest),” he said. “This is the great challenge for him right now, how he can manipulate that, still get great performances from Dangerfield and Selwood, but to bring the other players along and make them greater than what they appeared to be last year.” Former Melbourne skipper Garry Lyon said that the losses of Corey Enright and Jimmy Bartel cannot be underestimated and there remain question marks over the Cats back six. “They’ve lost Enright, who is as influential to them and the way they play as Sam Mitchell was to Hawthorn, so they’ve got to fill the breach in the back half,” Lyon said. “Its underestimated the hole that they’ll (Enright and Bartel) leave. “The back half is my concern, they get well protected because of the way they play – they set up really well behind the footy, they don’t get hurt on turnovers as they go nice and patiently. “Lonergan and Mackie have been unbelievably good, but their best footy is behind them. Whether or not it’s going to stand up for the duration of another year is a legitimate question mark.” Lyon said that the move of Harry Taylor into attack hasn’t appeared to have worked so far over the pre-season, and that Henderson would be a better option in attack. “I’m not sure what they are doing with Harry Taylor. If they’ve invested a summer of playing or training him forward, then they’ve got to give it a chance to work, but it doesn’t appear to me to be anywhere close to working,” he said. “Lachie Henderson to me is a better chance of being a forward than Harry Taylor. From the outside looking in, I’d say they’ve got that wrong and that Henderson is your man to go forward and partner Tom Hawkins.” What they added over the off-season... National draft: Ryan Abbott, Timm House, Quinton Narkle, Brandan Parfitt, Esava Ratugolea, Tom Stewart. Rookies: Jamaine Jones, Sam Simpson, Zach Guthrie, Jack Henry. Trade: Aaron Black (North Melbourne), Zach Tuohy (Carlton) What they lost from 2016... Retired: Jimmy Bartel, Corey Enright. Delisted: Zac Bates, Mitch Clark, Jock Cornell, Cameron Delaney, Padraig Lucey, Michael Luxford, Tom Read. Traded: Josh Caddy (Richmond), Billie Smedts (Carlton), Shane Kersten (Fremantle), Nathan Vardy (West Coast). The first month... Round 1: Fremantle v. Geelong at Domain Stadium Round 2: Geelong v. North Melbourne at Etihad Stadium Round 3: Melbourne v. Geelong at Etihad Stadium Round 4: Geelong v. Hawthorn at MCG Predicted headline... "The big story that needs to be fleshed out is the change in philosophy in their recruiting. For so long the Cats always built from the draft and they built a large period of their success from that. But there was a distinct change about five years ago." – Sam McClure
As you probably know, I am involved in the WhatMatrix initiative for a while now. WhatMatrix is an on-line platform that compares different IT solutions in the industry. Comparisons of SDS/HCI, cloud management platforms, virtualization and backup for virtual environments are all provided by the platform. One of the comparisons I’ve been working on is the disaster recovery solutions for virtual environments. By the end of this week an update on this comparison will be published. In this article I will provide a sneak preview on this update. The update is available now, access it here. DR solutions updated to the latest version The products in the comparison are now updated to the latest version. You will find VMware Site Recovery Manager 6.1.1. in the comparison, which supports the latest version of VMware vSphere. Also Zerto Virtual Replication (ZVR) 5.0 will now be included in the comparison. ZVR 5.0 includes some new features, such as: Azure support; One to many replications (Zerto is currently the only vendor supporting this topology); Extended journaling capabilities; Introduction of the Zerto app. More details on ZVR 5.0 are here. New: Disaster Recovery as a Service For the first time we have a DRaaS solution in the DR for virtual infrastructures comparison. I’ve added both Microsoft Azure Site Recovery (ASR) and VMware vCloud Air Disaster Recovery. Additional solutions will be added in the future. ASR includes support for both Microsoft and VMware environments, while vCloud Air DR is a business continuity solution only for VMware vSphere environments. Note that Zerto’s ZVR solution is used by many local DRaaS providers. Next steps As always there are some additions/changes coming up in the future. With the introduction of Windows Server 2016 this is certainly a platform we want to add. We’re also working to add Veeam’s backup & replication solution and get it off the draft status. Another enhancement will be to add detailed information on the cloud options Zerto is providing. Zerto does integrate with Amazon Web Services and Azure, this is mentioned in the comparison, but a deep dive on the exact functionality is currently not there. To be added in the next version. Publication It’s expected that the update will be published by the end of this week, so stay tuned! The update on the DR for virtual environments comparison is available on WhatMatrix.com.
(Reuters) - The U.S. House of Representatives on Thursday passed a hotly debated measure that blocks any mandatory labeling of foods made with genetically engineered crops, including pre-empting a state law set to take effect next year in Vermont. Dubbed the Safe and Accurate Food Labeling Act by supporters, but the “Deny Americans the Right to Know” or DARK Act, by opponents, the measure was approved 275-150 with 45 Democrats voting for the bill. House passage marks a victory for food and agricultural companies that have lobbied for the bill, and a blow to opponents, which include consumer, health and environmental groups and organic food industry players. House members had a heated debate ahead of the vote with supporters claiming GMOs are proven safe. They said mandatory labeling would burden the food industry with unwieldy and costly requirements. Opponents countered that 64 other countries require labeling of GMO foods, the science on safety is mixed, and consumers have a right to know if their food is made with GMOs. “It (the bill) makes it impossible for people to know what they are purchasing and eating. It is an attack on transparency,’ said Representative John Conyers Jr., a Democrat, in floor debate. Representative G.K. Butterfield, also a Democrat, said the bill would require regulators to examine the safety profile of new GMO foods, replacing a voluntary consultation process, and set a national standard for voluntary GMO labeling. “It (the bill) gives consumers certainty while taking into account the delicate balance and sheer size and complexity of the food supply chain that...is responsible for feeding the country,” Butterfield said during the floor debate. The Grocery Manufacturers Association, which represents more than 300 food companies, has been a key architect of the bill, aiming to squelch state efforts to force labeling of GMO foods. Opponents of the bill said they see it stalling in the Senate but supporters said they are finding growing support. Those who want to see mandatory labeling say that among their concerns about GMO foods is a worry that the herbicide glyphosate, which is widely used on genetically modified crops, is harmful to human health. Residues of the pesticide have been detected in foods and a World Health Organization research unit earlier this year said glyphosate was “probably” cancer-causing for humans.
It's a sad fact that many of the most radical Marxists, whose participation in working class struggle and ideas challenged not only capitalist society but also the social democratic and Leninist tendencies in the workers' movement tend to get ignored by anarchists and Marxists alike. In this post we look at individuals who participated in working class movements from the 1918 German revolution to the 1945 Saigon Commune to wildcat strikes in car factories in Detroit and contributed an understanding of the events of their time that we can learn from today. A participant in both 1905 and 1917 Revolutions as well as the Bolshevik underground, Miasnikov gained a reputation as a hardened working-class militant, doing seven years hard labour in Siberia for his activism and executing the Tsar's brother himself. A member of the left communist fraction in the Bolshevik Party, his expulsion led to the formation of the Workers Group and eventually a complete break with the Bolshevik ideology. While still a member, he criticised the leadership for its bureaucratisation and repression of working-class dissent both within the party and wider society, saying, in a letter to Lenin: "while you raise your hand against the capitalist, you deal a blow to the worker." Miasnikov's view was that the Soviets should take over the running of society, as they had been set up during the revolution through the mass participation of the workers themselves. The party leadership and other 'left oppositions' within the Bolsheviks, were focused on the power of the party and the trade unions rather than the class itself. Expelled from the party, he set up the 'Workers Group' and published a manifesto critical of the Bolshevik regime from Germany. In September 1923, during a strike wave in Russia, he was lured back on the pretense he would not be interfered with, was immediately arrested on arrival and exiled to Armenia, before escaping to France where he wrote 'The Latest Deception', elaborating his theory of state-capitalism in the USSR, arguing it had to be overthrown and replaced with soviet democracy. In 1945 he returned to the USSR from France on a visa, but was arrested within a month by secret police, and executed 16th November 1945. The life of Vietnamese Marxist Ngo Van Xuyet takes us from the anti-colonial struggle in Vietnam, where he found himself in conflict not only with the French authorities but also Ho Chi Minh's Stalinist forces of 'national liberation', to the factories of Paris during the 1968 uprising. Starting work in Saigon's metal factories aged 14, Ngo joined the Vietnamese Trotskyist movement five years later. Involved in various struggles against French colonial rule, he was eventually imprisoned and tortured for organising a strike at his factory. He organised hunger strikes with other prisoners and later participated in the 1945 Saigon Commune before leaving Vietnam in 1948 to escape both French colonial persecution and possible assassination by Ho Chi Minh's forces (as happened to several of his comrades). Resettled in Paris and working in a factory making railway signals, he broke with Trotskyism and the Leninist conception of the party, mixing with anarchists, council communists and ultra-left Marxists. An active workplace militant, he was involved in the Paris Metalworkers' Liaison Committee and a participant in France's May 1968 revolt, writing an excellent first-hand account from the point of view of a rank-and-file factory worker angry at the actions of the French Communist Party and CGT union to contain the rebellion. Upon his retirement, Ngo dedicated himself to recording the struggles of the Vietnamese working class and peasantry against colonialism and independent from Ho Chi Minh's Stalinist national liberation movement as well as instances where the latter used violence against other sections of the Vietnamese revolutionary movement. He also wrote an excellent autobiography documenting his amazing life as a working-class militant across two continents called In the crossfire: adventures of a Vietnamese revolutionary. Clara Zetkin was a central figure in the left-wing of German Social Democracy, active in the Bookbinders and Tailors & Seamstresses Unions in Stuttgart when it was illegal for women to be union members. Zetkin broke with the mainstream of the Social Democratic Party in 1914 when she took a consistent anti-war position. She joined the Spartacists with Rosa Luxemburg and Karl Liebknecht, then founded the Communist Party of Germany with them in 1918. While she completely broke with the Social Democratic Party, she did not make the full break from social democracy to council communism like the KAPD or AAUD-E, and lived in Russia from 1924 until her death in 1933. Zetkin's work is notable for some of the earliest applications of Marx's work in Capital to the women's question. She analysed the entry of women and children into the labour market, and the development of automation as undermining the wages and working conditions of both men and the working class as a whole. However, she completely rejected male chauvinist attempts to restrict the participation of women in the workplace to preserve high wages, instead pointing out that the only solution to a shorter working day and the full liberation of both men and women was the overthrow of capitalism: Just as the workers are subjugated by the capitalists, women are subjugated by men and they will continue to be in that position as long as they are not economically independent.[..] Women workers are totally convinced that the question of the emancipation of women is not an isolated one but rather constitutes a part of the great social question. They know very clearly that this question in today's society cannot be solved without a basic transformation of society. [...] The capitalist system alone must be blamed for the fact that women's work has the opposite result of its natural tendency; it results in a longer work day instead of a considerably shorter one. [...] If one demands the abolition or limitation of women's work because of the competition it creates, one might just as well use the same logic and abolish machines in order to demand the recreation of the medieval guild system which determined the exact number of workers that were to be employed in each type of work. For the liberation of women (1889) Unsurprisingly, her class analysis of women's issues meant she was scathing in her criticisms of the bourgeios suffragettes, describing in her 1903 text, 'What Women Owe to Karl Marx', that the 'sisterhood' which "supposedly wraps a unifying ribbon around bourgeois ladies and female proletarians" as bursting "like so many scintillating soap bubbles." Her account of discussions with Lenin about the women's question show very effectively the limitations of Lenin's politics in this regard, as he requested German communists focus away from sex worker organising and 'the sex question' towards pure party building. In 1923, Zetkin penned an analysis of the rise of Mussolini in Italy and the nascent fascist movement in Germany. In passages which anticipate Dauvé's work by half a century, she identifies the fascist movement as the last resort of the bourgeiosie to maintain capitalist relations via open violence against the working class and the consequence of the failure of proletarian revolutions internationally, against the reformist socialists who had blamed revolutionary attempts for the rise of fascism. The proletariat must have a well organised apparatus of self-defence. Whenever Fascism uses violence, it must be met with proletarian violence. I do not mean by this individual terrorist acts, but the violence of the organised revolutionary class struggle of the proletariat. (Fascism, 1923) Martin Glaberman's great skill was presenting complex ideas in ways which relate to people's everyday experiences. A worker in Detroit's car factories from the early 1940s to the 1960s, Glaberman started his political life as a Trotskyist, joining the Johnson-Forrest Tendency, founded by (amongst others) legendary Trinidadian Marxist CLR James. By the 1950s, they had broken with Trotskyism, taking a more critical position on the USSR and rejecting the need for a vanguard party to seize power on behalf of the working class, and formed the Correspondence Publishing Committee. Glaberman remained associated with CLR James through the '60s via the Facing Reality Group in Detroit. Glaberman's work is consistently rooted in the concrete experiences of the working class: the relationship of union officials to rank and file workers on the shopfloor, the relative strength of factories dependent on their position in the production process. But his work is never 'dumbed down'; rather, his down-to-earth explanations of complex Marxist concepts lead seamlessly into practical politics. For instance, in his article Unions and workers: limitations and possibilities, he says, Consider these two units of time: 36 seconds, the rest of your life. The job that takes 36 seconds to do that you're going to do for the rest of your life. I don't know a better definition of alienation than that Quote: From here, Glaberman explains that it is that alienation "which is at the root of working class resistance and working class struggle. It is the kind of thing which is virtually impossible to measure [...] Revolutions are made [...] by ordinary people with all the limitations of the society, driven by 36 seconds for the rest of your life". Glaberman also led a Capital reading group in Detroit with black autoworkers forming the executive committee of the League of Revolutionary Black Workers, an experience he mentions in The Workers have to deal with their own reality and that transforms them. He also wrote the fantastic book, Wartime Strikes, about the wave of wildcat strikes by autoworkers following World War Two in defiance of the 'No Strike' pledge signed by their union. An argument often heard in Marxist (and anarchist) circles is that feminism 'distracts' from the 'more important' issues of the class struggle. Dalla Costa shows why this is nonsense, setting out a highly original fusion of Marxism with feminism and engaging in years of class-based feminist activism both in Italy and internationally. Born in Treviso, Northern Italy, Dalla Costa was active for many years with the Autonomist Marxist group Potere Operaio (Workers' Power) before founding Lotta Feminista (Feminist Struggle), who not only challenged the sexism rife in Italian society but also the workers' movement and radical extra-parliamentary left. In 'The door to the garden: feminism and Operaismo', Dalla Costa describes how leaving Potere Operaia was "a matter of dignity" as "the relation between man and woman was, particularly in the environment of intellectual comrades, not sufficiently dignifying". Dalla Costa co-authored (along with Selma James) arguably Lotta Feminista's most significant text outlining their Marxist feminist analysis. In The power of women and the subversion of the community, Dalla Costa demonstrated that, not only did women's domestic labour reduce the cost of reproducing labour but also produced surplus value. As such, Dalla Costa was the first of the Italian operaismo movement to advance the idea that the extraction of surplus value could happen outside the sphere Marx had designated as the direct process of production, an idea which would become central to the extra-parliamentary left in Italy. Dalla Costa's pamphlet would become highly influential within the international women's movement and in Italy she would be involved in numerous feminist groups promoting 'wages for housework' and the newspaper Le operaie della casa (The House Workers). In 2014, Dalla Costa donated a wealth of documents from her decades of activism to the Padua Civic Library, which now holds the 'Archivio di Lotta Feminista per il salario al lavoro domestico' (Archive of Feminist Struggle for the wages for housework struggle). Born in Colombo, Sri Lanka, the son of a Tamil postal worker, Sivanandan left the country after the anti-Tamil riots and pogroms of 1958. Settling in the UK, he trained as a librarian, working in several public libraries before being appointed chief librarian at the Institute of Race Relations (IRR) in 1964. In 1972, a major schism took place at the IRR: until then, the organisation had been moderate and scholarly, attempting to address ‘race relations’ issues and advise government policy. However, a sizable section of IRR staff (including Sivanandan) took issue with this orientation and challenged the board to redress it. The majority of the board resigned and the IRR reoriented itself towards supporting community organisations and building a black-led anti-racist movement in Britain. As Sivanandan, now the new IRR director, explained: We did not want to add to the tomes which spoke in obfuscatory and erudite language to a chosen few, we no longer believed in the goodwill of governments to listen to our reasoned arguments. There was a whole lived experience – often not quantifiable in surveys – of police brutality, racial violence, media distortion, miseducation and marginalisation that it was now our duty to speak, if not to, then certainly from. Quote: Sivanandan took over as editor of the IRR's quarterly theoretical journal, Race, renaming it Race & Class to highlight their interrelationship. The journal was intended to inform activism, to encourage thinking "in order to do", linking "the situation of black workers in Britain and the liberation struggles in the underdeveloped world" with the aim of building an autonomous black working-class politics in Britain (something often neglected in the traditional left and trade union movements). He has also written widely on racism, capitalism, police brutality and black anti-racist struggle in Britain, with many of those essays appearing in his book, Catching History on the Wing.
PoliZette Hillary Opposes Gun Control for Criminals? Clinton bashes Trump for supporting a policy that took thousands of weapons off New York's streets As the New York City Police Department scaled back its controversial stop-and-frisk initiative over the last several years, gun seizures plummeted and the share of killings involving guns rose. The issue took center stage nationally this week when Republican Donald Trump and Democrat Hillary Clinton argued over the initiative’s merits during the first presidential debate Monday. Trump said Mayor Bill de Blasio’s decision to shut it down in the face of a legal challenge is partially to blame for an increase in murders in the city from 2014 to 2015. “How many people were’t carrying firearms because they were deterred from carrying firearms?” Advertisement Clinton objected on two grounds. The first — it is unfair to blacks and Hispanics, who were the targets of a disproportionate share of the stops — is debatable, given that blacks and Hispanics also commit a disproportionate share of crimes and tend to live in high-crime neighborhoods where police concentrate a larger share of resources. But it is Clinton’s second claim — that the program was ineffective — that is more peculiar. The Democratic nominee is a tireless advocate for “commonsense gun safety laws” — not because she wants to disarm law-abiding citizens, she insists — but because she wants to make sure the bad guys don’t have them. This is how she put it during her acceptance speech at the Democratic National Convention: “I’m not here to take away your guns. I just don’t want you to be shot by someone who shouldn’t have a gun in the first place.” [lz_jwplayer video=InoMg3jJ] Under Clinton’s own rationale, she should support a program that gives police the ability to remove guns from people who are not authorized to have them. And there is little doubt that stop-and-frisk did that. Officers seized 7,778 guns during stop-and-frisk searches from 2003 through 2013, according to department data collected by the New York Civil Liberties Union. Advertisement Those guns could have been used by criminals to wreak a lot of havoc — precisely the type of people Clinton said during the convention that she wants to disarm. The objection raised by Clinton and the New York Civil Liberties Union is that police found guns during a minute fraction of the stops. But Michael Cutler, a former federal immigration officer who worked on a drug task force during the heyday of the stop-and-frisk program, said the heavy enforcement had a positive impact in ways that statistics cannot measure. “How many people were’t carrying firearms because they were deterred from carrying firearms?” he asked. “With all the talk and all the rhetoric about guns … If you’re that concerned about getting guns off the street, you ought to be concerned about getting guns away from the people who should not have them.” Cutler added, “Stop-and-frisk goes a long way toward that.” David Weisburd, a criminologist who has studied stop-and-frisk policies, said his research focused the effect of stops on “micro-geographic areas,” a few hundred feet, and seven-day time periods. Advertisement “They seemed to deter crime over small distances and short time periods,” said Weisburd, director of the Center for Evidence-Based Crime Policy at George Mason University. Concentrating enforcement on small crime “hotspots” makes sense, he said, because 1 percent of the city’s intersections are responsible for 25 percent of the crime, and 5 percent produce half of the crime. Weisburd cautioned, though, that the resentment caused by stop-and-frisk programs may outweigh the benefits. Perhaps there are other ways to achieve the same result — for instance, by having a highly visible police presence, where officers tell people there have been a string of crimes in the area and that they will be there in force. “There’s a place for it,” he said. “I don’t think it’s something that can be applied in an extremely broad matter.” Rep. David Cicilline, a Rhode Island Democrat and gun control advocate, tried to get FBI Director James Comey during a congressional hearing Wednesday to blast Trump and stop-and-frisk policies, but the FBI chief would not oblige. He declined to comment on Trump but said stopping a suspect and patting him down “is a very important tool” in certain situations. Advertisement “To my mind, its effectiveness depends upon the conversation that occurs after the stop,” Comey said. “When it’s done well, someone is stopped and they are told, ‘I stopped you because … ‘” Comey disavowed indiscriminate stops and said overuse could poison a police department’s relationship with the community. “It’s an important tool when used right, and what makes the difference between right and wrong is what’s the nature of the conversation with the person you stop,” he said. [lz_related_box id=”213510″] Police told the New York Daily News last summer that 72 percent of the city’s murder victims at that point in the year had been shot; normally, it is about 57 percent. Advertisement Eugene O’Donnell, a professor at John Jay College and a former police officer, told Newsday last year that reducing stops begets fewer gun seizures — which leads to more violence. “If you do more stops, you will get more guns,” he said, later adding, “When you get one less gun [confiscated] chances are one possible life will be lost.”
Bumpity was an American children's television show that aired locally in the Portland, Oregon area on the ABC affiliate KATU, from 1971 to 1985. Bumpity, a green "bump on a lawn" with one pronounced tooth, along with his friend and side-kick, a red and purple striped worm named Fred, hosted the show. Other friends included Digger Mole and Scotty MacThistle. Fred never said a word, but did make squeaks in what he termed "High Worm". An employee of the station named Bob Griggs, came up with an idea to design a puppet as an answer to a call from the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) which had asked local station affiliates around the country to air family friendly and educational morning programming. Bob created the characters with less than three dollars. The concept was approved and quickly became a hit with kids and parents alike due the program's easy, gentle nature. Bumpity's most frequent guests to "Bumpity Park" included the librarians from the Multnomah County Library, who would bring children's books to read. Other times Bumpity welcomed police officers, dentists, clog dancers, and magicians. In 2001 Crispin and Patrick Rosenkranz created a short documentary about Bumpity titled "Bumpity Returns." The video is available through their website or can be checked out from the Multnomah County Library. The documentary includes interviews with Bob Griggs and others involved with the program, and with Bumpity himself, and also features clips from the show.
The actors panel at Star Trek Las Vegas featured members of the cast who were not at San Diego Comic-Con. On stage were Mary Chieffo (Klingon commander L’Rell), Kenneth Mitchell (Klingon commander Kol), Sam Vartholomeos (U.S.S. Shenzhou Junior Officer Connor), and Wilson Cruz (U.S.S. Chief Medical Officer Hugh Culber). Kol revealed – a different Discovery Klingon Much of the panel was dedicated to talking about the Klingons, and included the first reveal of Kenneth Mitchell’s Kol. The actor explained how his character may be more like Klingons we are used to: He is very complicated. He leans more towards some of the Klingons we are familiar with. He is very powerful. He does have a line I can paraphrase which does explain some of these things. He says “All I see is another attempt by humanity to rob us of our identity.” And Mitchell later revealed that Kol is from the house of Kor and Mary joked “you might have heard of that.” Different houses – different Klingons Mitchell got more specific about differences between the Klingon houses during the Q&A. A fan said he felt the Klingons on Discovery look too different from previous iterations and asked for reassurance that “we are not losing the Klingons we know and love.” Mitchell explained we have only seen some of the Klingons from Discovery: The images that you have seen so far are one house led by T’Kumva. Today you just saw the first image of [Kol]. So even in the wardrobe it is starting to venture to the more traditional Klingons. More leather and a different set of armor. And the series itself is going to explore 24 different houses and the leaders among them. And you will find different complexities and different ideologies amongst those houses. And so what you have seen already in these images is mostly just from one house. You are going to start to explore further into the Klingons, and each of those houses has a different set of physical looks and variations as well as ideologies. Mary Chieffo also provided some more detail on her character and her house … or houses: L’Rell is from two houses. She is House T’Kumva and House Mo’Kai [Editor’s note: The one canon reference to House Mo’Kai was in Voyager‘s “The Killing Game Part 1”]. You get a great kind of interesting exploration of what it is to be of two different ideologies. She also weighed in on the design of the Klingons. She used L’Rell as an example: Obviously the hair was the biggest thing people noticed, or the lack thereof. And I will attest to the fact there is a reason my ridge goes back the way it does. There are sensors and pheromones…There is a whole reasoning behind it that is adhering to what has always been true in Klingon canon…So I deeply believe we are in line with what has come before but is also adding a new kind of nuance. Compassion for the Klingons The war with the Klingons is the backdrop for the show, but Mary Chieffo noted how the Klingons are not portrayed simply as bad guys: The compassion we are giving the Klingons – who you could say in this story are bad guys – but the way the writers so beautifully crafted this story we really get a window into who we are, our humanity or Klingonanity…It is not black and white. The world is not that simple. People on both sides do things that they regret and they do things that they are proud of. Both sides have a deep, deep capacity to love and to feel. Speaking Klingon makes a difference One big piece of news that came out of San Diego Comic-Con is that the Klingons will speak in Klingon with subtitles on Star Trek: Discovery. After demonstrating some Klingon speech, Mary announced that the person handling the translations is Robyn Stewart, whom she described as the leading Klingon grammarian in North America. There is also a dialect coach who works with Robyn and is on set every day to work with the Klingon actors. Kenneth gave some more detail on the process: It’s an incredibly complex language. I have a bit of a love/hate relationship with [Klingon language inventor] Marc [Okrand]. But it is complicated for a reason so it feels alien. Because it is incredibly difficult and I don’t speak the language it takes a lot of muscle memory to memorized each separate syllable over and over and over. My kids think I am crazy walking around my house reading out these lines. But at the end of the day it is worth it. It adds such an amazing texture to the show and a real essence to help the audience learn about the culture. Mary noted how using the Klingon language was a way to adhere and expand Trek history. There been much so much discussion about adhering to canon and speaking the language. Sticking to the roots of this series is giving the Klingons a 3-dimensional quality. It makes sense that when we are speaking to each other we are speaking in our native tongue and really adding a fluidity and nuance. Robyn does these great back-translations so you get the meaning of each word. Marc Okrand wanted it to be as alien as possible, as opposite of English as you can make…we don’t take it lightly in taking the amount of time it takes to make sure each word is pronounced correctly. The importance of Hugh and Paul’s relationship Wilson Cruz was asked about the relationship between his character and Lt. Stamets (Anthony Rapp), and he noted why portraying Star Trek’s first gay couple on TV is important: For anyone who doesn’t understand why this is such a big deal, it is because there is a kid out there who is going to turn on his TV sometime in September or October and he is going to be a young little boy or girl who is questioning their sexuality or orientation, and they are going to see two men love each other and be there for each other and support each other and be in awe of each other’s genius. And it isn’t going to an issue. It’s not something we are going to explain to you. It is just going to be what it is. Their Star Trek histories The actors started off talking about their experience with Star Trek. Mary said she started getting into Star Trek with the 2009 movie which lead her to review all the other movies and much of the other TV shows, noting: I have really fallen in love with the franchise as a whole. Sam said that when he was a kid, his dad got him into Star Trek, and he remembers really loving the whales in Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home. He said he really got into the movies and now said it was an honor to be part of it. Kenneth said he was familiar with Trek but didn’t really get into it until getting the job on Discovery. As he is playing a Klingon, he has been reviewing the Klingon-centric episodes, noting “Errand of Mercy” as a standout. Probably the one with the oldest connection to Trek is Wilson Cruz who said his real introduction was with Star Trek: The Next Generation, calling himself “obsessed.” He also relayed this story from after he got hired on the show: I wrote a little note to [showrunners] Aaron [Harberts] and Gretchen [Berg] and to the head of CBS casting saying “Thank you, because as a young Latino kid in Brooklyn and in the Inland Empire [near Los Angeles] in California, all I ever wanted to do is be on Broadway and be on Star Trek.” Stay tuned for more from Star Trek Las Vegas including more coverage of Wednesday Discovery panels and interviews with the actors.
Newt Gingrich said that everything the average American believes about corruption in Washington is about to be validated in an appearance on Sean Hannity's FOX News Channel show Monday about Clinton involvement with Russia and the Uranium One deal. SEAN HANNITY, FOX NEWS: Welcome back to "Hannity." Here with reaction to our opening monologue and the new developments in this massive corruption, Uranium One scandal. The author of, now the bestselling book, "Vengeance." Former speaker of the House, Fox News contributor, Newt Gingrich. Mr. Speaker, you know, I know the Clintons have gotten away with an awful lot in their career. Twenty percent of the foundational material for nuclear weapons. The media has ignored this. Meanwhile, they've had no evidence, Russia, Russia, Russia. The danger of Vladimir Putin, the danger of Russia. What do you make of all of this? NEWT GINGRICH, FOX NEWS CONTRIBUTOR: Well, I think we are on the edge of the greatest corruption scandal in American history. Bigger than the scandal in the 1920s, about the Teapot Dome, bigger than Grant's presidency in the 1870s. I don't know of any occasion that had the scale of scandal this day. And you see it building. You watch Mueller who I've been very critical of. But to his credit, he is now following the Podesta family into their relation with foreigners. He is beginning to follow other cases that are very different. I mean, you know, the great irony here, Sean maybe, that the one person who comes out of this totally exonerated as Donald J. Trump and that the people who did all the attacking, you have to ask yourself, think back to this, you are Hillary Clinton and Bill Clinton. It's election night. You lost. You are john Podesta. You know that Podesta associates had been doing work for the Russians and the Ukrainians. How do you have the chutzpah to decide that it's the Russians who elected Trump? I mean, why did they have no sense of vulnerability that once they open this, it was just going to get sicker and sicker. And I'll tell you, just mark this for tonight, the breaking point will come when the Congress has the courage to demand that every donation to the Clinton Foundation be published and we learn how tremendous the level of foreign influence buying was and how unbelievable it was and what a threat that is to the American democracy. HANNITY: It seems that there could be no longer -- now, finally the House and finally the Senate and I'm kind of assuming and interpreting from the Attorney General's comments that an investigation is here. But I think you are right in this sense, I think this is way beyond Trump-Russia collusion. And I don't like investigative creep, I've been very clear about it. I know that now it's about Paul Manafort's financial dealings from long before he was with Trump and the Podesta group. But I can think of a single circumstance ever -- ever -- to give 20 percent of uranium. Now that we follow the money and now that we see Bill gets double his speaking fee and he wanted to meet with nuclear officials and he met with Putin and in his speech supported the Uranium One deal and his wife had to sign off on this. And then all the Canadians that were involved in the deal kicked back $145 million to the foundation. I'm sorry, Mr. Speaker, this is a sellout, of American national security. GINGRICH: Oh, yes. HANNITY: At the highest level. GINGRICH: Yes. Look, everything the average American is believed about corruption in Washington is about to be validated. Allen Guelzo who was a great historian at Gettysburg College wrote me recently that by the time this is all out, every other presidential scandal in American history will look trivial, that this is the most corrupt, the most unbelievably unlawful administration in American. The Clintons are only a part of this. Wait until you get to Attorney General Lynch. Wait until you get to her predecessor. Wait until you get to Samantha Powers at the U.N. This is going to keep on rolling and I think we will look back a year or two from now. We are going to be stunned at the dishonesty and bankruptcy of the Obama administration. Of which the, if you will that the apex is the Clinton team and I have a very simple challenge for the Congress. Get all of their donations on the record. When you go to the Canadian Clinton foundation, which did not have to report, very clever legal gimmick, but wrong. You start taking these apart. It's horrendous.
Madam President! Dear Secretary General! Dear members of the Assembly! Dear participants! Thank you for the invitation to speak to the Assembly. I am grateful for the opportunity to convey to this respected forum the voice of the Ukrainian people from different parts of Ukraine – eastern and western, northern and southern, free and occupied. Only a month has passed since the completion of the presidential campaign in the course of which I have travelled all over Ukraine. I saw it as a peace-loving, hospitable to everyone and European state – not only by location, but also by vocation. Ukraine has always been a hospitable home for all who came in peace. Unfortunately, today this home is in danger. There is a force that came to Ukraine not in peace. Words like “annexation”, “separatism”, “mercenaries” emerged in our everyday vocabulary again. What can we do to stop violence and prevent its transformation into a full-scale war? Unfortunately, today, this issue concerns not only Ukraine. It concerns the whole Europe. Dear members of the assembly! It all started last November when the previous government deprived Ukrainians of their dream refusing the European integration, not asking Ukrainians and not giving anything except corruption and disregard for human dignity. Ukraine got up and the Revolution of Dignity began. The people gained victory. This victory was gained with blood and numerous victims. Russia, which twenty years ago in exchange for nuclear weapons promised to take care of the sovereignty of Ukraine, contrary to the Great Agreement between Ukraine and Russia, contrary to the Budapest Memorandum which promised peace in exchange for the third largest nuclear arsenal in the world, became the aggressor and destroyed the stability of this region. Ukraine President Petro Poroshenko arrives to deliver a speech to the Council of Europe parliamentary assembly in Strasbourg, eastern France, on June 26, 2014. And alongside it destroyed the system of “checks and balances” in the modern world. In this place, I would like to express gratitude on behalf of all Ukrainians to the Council of Europe and its Parliamentary Assembly in particular for the immediate response to military aggression. Ukraine certainly needs it. The decisions of the Committee of Ministers and the Parliamentary Assembly create a legal basis for further restoration of justice and protection of rights of all people who live on the occupied territories. We must stop the funding and armament of terrorist groups in Donetsk and Luhansk regions by Russia. In fact, it is the second phase of aggression. We saw this in Georgia in 2008. Unfortunately, in 2014, it is taking place at the cost of the sovereignty of Ukraine. And the question “who is next?” is still open. That’s why Europe should demonstrate unity and solidarity today. For the problem of Europe today is the absence of a real mechanism to maintain peace, protect territorial integrity and democracy. For the post-war model has been destroyed and it is our responsibility to create a new model today. Without a sense of reality it is easy to create public ground for aggression. Unfortunately, Russian society is full of aggression today. It is the basis of both policy and public attitude to Ukraine of the Russian Federation. But Ukraine counters it with confidence and moral power. It is apparent, that normalization of our relations is impossible without the return of the Crimea. But we are the men of peace. That’s why the government of Ukraine and I, as President, came forward with an initiative of peace plan. For there should be dialogue and willingness to reach an agreement to save people’s lives. Dear members of the Assembly! Conflicts cause the biggest losses for ordinary citizens. We can definitely see this in the occupied Crimea. We see the violation of political, language and cultural rights of citizens. As always, national minorities suffer the most. Crimean Tatars and ethnical Ukrainians are objects for discrimination today. Every day we receive new complaints on the violation of freedom of speech and media, rights to education, religion, citizenship, residence, labor, land ownership, access to healthcare and education. In problematic regions in the East of Ukraine the situation is even worse. Illegal armed groups are trying to establish the dictatorship of violence. Kidnapping, illegal detainment, murders, tortures, disappearances and persecutions became part of life of the affected areas. With the assistance of the international organizations – the Council of Europe, the United Nations, the OSCE, we are documenting all these violations. Ukraine President Petro Poroshenko delivers a speech to the Council of Europe parliamentary assembly in Strasbourg, eastern France, on June 26, 2014. They must receive an adequate response from the international community. A thorough analysis is essential here, particularly in the context of future court appeals by which Ukraine will protect itself. Presidential elections became an important step towards restoration of peace and order. We hosted a record number of international observers. Having received the support of voters, I presented the primary agenda of my presidency – unity, restoration of peace and security. Peace and security is what Ukrainians in the Donbas are striving for. They dream to return to normal life without people dying and hostages being tortured. Today, there are 174 hostages, almost 150 killed and more than 300 wounded. In less than a week of ceasefire, 18 Ukrainian servicemen were killed, 27 were wounded. Two days ago, a 10 month-old baby was killed by the grenade explosion. But we strive for peace and this simple non-political desire contains the essence of my peace plan. It comes down to the termination of violence, amnesty for those who didn’t commit serious crimes, stabilization of the situation and after that – the implementation of aspirations of residents of the affected regions. We must return the internal processes to a civilized framework. If we do this, we will restore not only peace, but also trust. Then, we will first of all take care of the economy and infrastructure because every day we receive new information on the tasks to be fulfilled and the objects destroyed. Nobody wants people to be killed. The plan provides for the framework of political settlement on the basis of de-escalation, stabilization and dialogue. Its implementation is being discussed in the framework of Trilateral contact group with participation of representatives of Ukraine, Russia, the OSCE and the EU. The necessary precondition is ceasefire. Before my plan was made public, it was discussed with representatives of all local legitimate governmental bodies of the Donbas and business elite representing the biggest industrial production of Donetsk region. They all supported it unanimously. The unilateral cease-fire became effective as of 10 p.m. on 20 June and will last until 10 p.m. tomorrow. Our task has been to switch from military defence of the border to control by peaceful means. Once that is sustainable, we will look to the OSCE to step up its efforts in establishing strict, unbiased monitoring on the ground and at every check point to stop the in-flow of insurgents, tanks and armoured vehicles. We are ready to call officially on the Russian representatives to get involved in monitoring the Ukraine border to ensure that the obligations that we have undertaken are strictly observed. The peace plan was supported by all major countries of the world and Ukraine is extremely grateful to them for that. At the same time, it is clear that the peace plan will work only if Russia plays along. Sadly, so far Moscow’s support has been insufficient. It is good news that the Russian Federation Council is not going to declare war on Ukraine. But, while Russia has not declared war, war is being waged at this very minute because it has not pulled back its mercenaries, so well equipped and highly motivated militants are coming in. During our phone conversation with Chancellor Merkel and President Hollande, President Putin pledged his support for the peace plan. We now hope that real progress will be made. From this podium I urge Russia once again to contribute to resolving the situation. Please support the peace plan with deeds and not just words. With deeds, we can stop the deaths of military and civilian people who uphold and defend the territorial integrity and unity of the country, so we await those actions. Strengthen the border control. Stop the illegal infiltration of military vehicles into Ukraine. Stop recruiting mercenaries and, finally, pull back military forces from the border. The people of Ukraine do not want war or anarchy. We will not permit the ideas of separatism, which have been planted in Ukraine unofficially from outside. Ukraine is solid and unified. It is vital to stop the lies and hatred being spread by Russian media, which do not contribute to the restoration of peace. The regions and local communities strive for more authority at the local level and more autonomy in decision making. They also want the right to speak and sing songs in the languages they choose and to lay wreaths of flowers on monuments as they see fit. All of that will be provided to them by the decentralisation of power programme in my proposed constitutional amendment. The Parliament today registered those draft amendments to the Constitution. Never before in Ukraine has a president who won the election and therefore had the authority to nominate the heads of local districts and regions called to devolve power to the regions. I believe that that idea will be supported by the Ukrainian Parliament now. The early local elections are to be held in Ukraine in connection with the amendments to the Constitution so that the elected leaders of the territorial councils will receive new powers and responsibilities. The elected representatives will establish local councils, which in turn will form executive committees. A separate problem is the restoration of the economy in the Donetsk region. I am pleased that, with our partners from the European Union and the United States of America, we have drawn up a job creation programme that will attract investment and a draft programme on economic reconstruction for the region that will settle the distribution of funds between the centre and the regions. Decentralisation reform will be implemented fully in line with the principles of the European charter of local self-government through my amendments to the Constitution. I support the Council of Europe investigation panel’s view that we should have a discussion with the Secretary General to investigate the use of force at Maidan on 18, 19 and 20 February as well as the tragic events in Odessa on 2 May. We are ready to co-operate so that the world can see that those guilty of those tragedies will be prosecuted. Dear members of the Assembly! Ukraine is going through a time of challenge, but also a time of hope. Our choice is to build a strong democracy that will have a respected place in the family of European nations. Our way is towards the European Union. That is why tomorrow, 27 June, I, as President of Ukraine, will sign the Association Agreement with the European Union. The European Union is a success story for us – a state model and time-tested sequence of reforms. When I was asked about the reforms I would make as President, it was very easy for me to answer. Everything is included in the Association Agreement and we will start implementing it immediately after signing it. The last aspect is especially important as Ukraine embarks on the path of economic integration and political association with the European Union. We will surely seize this historic chance. The reforms are long overdue. Ukraine President Petro Poroshenko delivers a speech to the Council of Europe parliamentary assembly in Strasbourg, eastern France, on June 26, 2014. Ukraine needs a new social contract. It must give Ukraine a viable system of governance that will protect the citizens from external threats and create the necessary basis for social, economic and cultural development. At the same time, I want to make it clear that we do not need change at any cost. Some elements are not subject to discussion – the parliamentary-presidential model, the unitary system, European integration, and the existing language system, with one official language plus multiple regional languages, with a comprehensive guarantee of the development and use of every minority language. Everything else can be subject to wide public debate, and I can assure you that such debates are already under way. I am confident about the parliamentary elections. The lack of a relevant level of representation is felt especially in the East of Ukraine. I am confident that the new Parliament will be elected on a new proportional basis with open lists. Voters need to know each candidate personally. The Government will be formed primarily by the Prime Minister and approved by Parliament. The President should maintain the function of control. The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe has reiterated many times the need for reform of the judicial and legal systems. The last couple of months have shown how critical such reforms are. We need more public control over the appointment and work of the judges. We need practical guarantees of the independence of the judiciary from other branches of power. We have to change the role and functions of the Prosecutor General’s office to transform it from an instrument of persecution to the means of upholding the law and the protection of human rights. The new basis of the judicial system needs to be duly reflected in the amendments to the Constitution. The fight against corruption, the nomination of judges and the overall modernisation of public service will complete the picture of a new judiciary in Ukraine. Ladies and gentlemen! The last couple of months have had a formative effect on our common future. The events in Ukraine are shaping the new Europe, and whether it will be united or split, stable or fragile. The future and spirit of Europe depend on how the situation in Ukraine is settled – based on international law or on the law of power. It is a choice that each and every one of us must make on our own. The turmoil in Ukraine started because the people of our country did not want to say no to democracy and the European approach. It continued because someone decided to punish Ukraine for that choice. It will stop when common sense and European values prevail over aggression. Help us in that struggle, and tomorrow’s Europe will be united, stable and morally strong. Thank you very much for the solidarity with Ukraine that you have demonstrated, because we badly need it. Glory to Ukraine!
Today I posed a question to the good people over in the Browns subreddit over how much Terrelle Pryor’s contract should be worth, below I would like to discuss the contracts people offered up. I want to say a big thank you to everyone who did post a contract up for me! All in all I quite like the majority of these deals that have been proposed, all of them would serve both Pryor and the Browns well. My Contract – 4 Years, $48 Million Starting with my own contract, I think the Browns will hand Terrelle Pryor a contract just a little bit bigger than that of Tavon Austin. Pryor is only coming off one season of production which is why I haven’t pushed him up over $50 million in pure salary, but the contract I propose does have potential to climb up to $60 million if all his incentives are met. I have my contract for Pryor starting out at a slightly lower value but the yearly salary climbing a bit to give him full earning potential further down the line. In terms of guarantees, I would have this contract guarantee $20 million dollars, so just under 50% of the base salary, and 33% of the total possible contract value. Right off the bat I have the contract coming with a $6 million signing bonus, some nice change considering he’s only got an estimated career earnings of $3.8 million. Meaning this bonus allows him to cash in nicely. For the first year he would earn a base salary of $9 million placing him inside the top 15 contracts for wide receivers. This is where I place his true value coming off his first full year as a receiver because we really don’t know if he is going to continue to grow or if he was a one season wonder. The first season is a slightly lower price but if he makes it through it, he’s set up to make a lot more money. On top of this $8 million, there is also $3 million a year on offer in incentives. These could be roster bonuses, workout bonuses or for passing certain milestones. Some specific milestones I would like to see would be increases in yards every year, and achieving at least 10 touchdown catches as he is the clear set #1 receiving option on the team. For the remaining years of the contract I would have the contract pay out yearly salaries of $10 million, $10 million and $13 million. These increases represent the assumed growth in Pryor’s play, and he would continue to be a highly paid receiver as the Browns continue to grow with him. PuppyBowl-XI-MVP’s Contract – 4 Years, $48 Million PuppyBowl suggested a very similar contract to mine that also has Pryor earning $48 million over the course of four years. Mine has a slightly higher signing bonus however this contract has a higher base salary at $11 million per year. With no other deals for this contract provided I would have to assume that the guaranteed money would be somewhat similar to mine, hovering around the 50% mark of the contract. The fact that this contract is similar to mine and so many of the others are also quite close shows how Browns fans all have a fairly similar view of Pryor’s value. VonJaeger’s Contract – 4 Years, $50 Million Again we have a fairly similar contract, adding just another $2 million on to the base salary that has previously been suggested, and with it comes a guaranteed portion of $22 million instead of $20 million. This averages out at $12.5 million a year, which would put Pryor up there in the top 10 paid receivers, because of this I would suggest that the first year be slightly lower (somewhere around the $10.5 million mark) with a higher cap hit in the later years of the contract. This would be a very fair deal for both parties. Beldux’s Contract – 5 Years, $50 Million Beldux’s contract is the longest of all of them, and also provides the highest signing bonus coming in at $10 million. This contract being 5 years off the bat is quite interesting to me, personally I would like a 4 year deal that takes him to 31, leaving room for another 4 year deal on a cheaper price. However, locking him up for this long is hardly going to be a bad thing. This contract also comes with a cool 50% guaranteed and an average base salary of $10 million a year. Nice pile of earnings for a guy who’s only made $3.8 million in his career. Rapownie’s Contract – Franchise Tag This contract is the only one I might not do, however I definitley see the merits behind doing it. Pryor would not refuse to play on the tag at all, he makes $15 million and also gets to stay with the team he wants to be a part of. The problem with giving him the tag is it is a lot of money to pay out, and if he continues balling out in 2017 then the Browns will have to pay up over $15 million a year making him one of the very highest paid receivers in the league. Tour2ma’s Contract – 4 Years, $38 Million This contract was provided with the most level of detail, something I thank you for Tour2ma. The salary starts out at $8 million for the year, and each year it rises one million so Pryor is earning $11 million in the fourth year of the contract. This one also comes with a team 5th year option, I would assume this continues to rise but takes a slight jump up to somewhere like $14 million for the year as he would really have o earn that fifth year option. Like Beldux’s contract, this one comes in at 50% guaranteed ($19 million). Where Pryor really stands to make a lot of money with this contract is with the incentives. This contract came in with loads and loads of different categories for incentives, but the basics of it is in each year he could make $4 million, $4.5 million, $5 million and $5.5 million if he meets the goals set by the team. Again I am going to assume if his fifth year option is picked up he also has another $5.5 million in incentives that he could possibly earn. Time to crunch the numbers on contract + incentives. If he was only kept for the four years he could earn a total of $57 million in contract and incentives, this would raise up to $76.5 million if he played all five years and met all of his incentives. This would be an incredible deal for Pryor considering Antonio Brown’s contract is going to pay out around $78 million. Advertisements
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We knew the NES Classic Edition, with its retro aesthetic and solid game selection, would be hard to get at first, but this is some next level, Tickle Me Elmo-style demand. Amazon, which made its supply of the console available at 2PM Pacific today, sold out in what appeared to be less than a minute. Clearly thousands, if not hundreds of thousands, of gamers were sitting on the product page hammering the F5 key and some random selection thereof got their wish. Traffic on that page in particular was so heavy that either Amazon took it down, or it went down by itself — and considering the resources Amazon has at hand, that’s a pretty amazing feat. There’s no indication of how many consoles Amazon had to sell, but it had to have been a fair few. I can confirm at least one was sold: I and pretty much everyone here at TechCrunch failed to secure one, though. Everywhere else seems to be fresh out, as well. The GameStop near me said it only received 17 units and sold them within half an hour of opening. There were plenty of reports of people waiting outside Targets and Best Buys in order to get theirs. More will be arriving, though: In a series of tweets this morning, Nintendo assured an agitated public that “there will be a steady flow” of the hot gadgets. So don’t buy a $1,000 one on the black market. Yet. The Nintendo Entertainment System: NES Classic Edition system is a hot item, and we are working hard to keep up with consumer demand. 1/3 — Nintendo of America (@NintendoAmerica) November 11, 2016 Thanks Nintendo. Let’s make sure this doesn’t happen with the Switch, though, okay?
The author and screenwriting guru Syd Field died over the weekend at his home in Beverly Hills. He was 77. Field was not the first person to notice that well-told stories tend to have a beginning, a middle, and an end. But he was the first person to publish a mass-market how-to book for film screenwriters — 1979’s Screenplay — that posited a three-act structure, hinged at key moments by “plot points,” as the essence of a successful movie script. His ideas provided a road map to countless screenwriters, especially first-timers — including everyone from James Cameron to Tina Fey — and informed the way studio executives, critics, and average moviegoers thought and talked about screen stories. Screenplay remains the most influential book ever written about writing for film, even as other approaches (and other gurus) have come in and out of vogue. I bought my first copy of Screenplay at my college bookstore, slipping it into a pile of freshman-year textbooks my parents were paying for. I figured it might behoove me to learn the basics of the form before dropping out to go dethrone Quentin Tarantino. Not long after that a film-snob friend made fun of me for buying it, which was my first introduction to the not-unwidely-held opinion that Field was the worst, a hack whose ideas were also for hacks. I lost that copy of the book the next time I moved. I bought another copy of Screenplay last year. It’s the 1994 edition, which has a picture of a typewriter on the cover along with a blurb that touts a “new chapter on screenwriting and computers.” I bought it at a Goodwill on Sunset Boulevard, along with a twice-remaindered paperback of William Goldman’s Adventures in the Screen Trade that I like to think belonged to the same person. Maybe they canceled each other out. (Books on screenwriting: In Act I, they’re purchased hopefully, optimistically, enterprisingly. In Act II, they’re shoved in the downstairs bookcase, sold for beer money, abandoned at Goodwill, left on the sidewalk when the stoop sale’s over, no less emblematic of ambitions deferred than that set of dumbbells you can tell no one lifted more than twice. There is no Act III.) I’ve still never written a screenplay. Or I’ve never finished writing one, anyway. “You’ve got ten pages to grab your reader,” Field writes, but I’ve never gotten that far. I think I could, though, someday. Maybe you do, too. The fact that so many people now believe this about themselves is due at least in part to Field, whose books don’t technically sell the notion that internalizing a few basic rules of story structure will make you Robert Towne, but don’t actively discourage it, either. You’ve got 10 pages to grab your reader. On page 10 of Chinatown, a farmer rushes the City Council chamber and demands to know who’s paying Hollis Mulwray to steal the water from the Valley. Jake Gittes wants to know the same thing. Per Field, there should be a plot point around the 25th or 27th page of the script that sets up the second act, in which the protagonist encounters obstacles in pursuing a dramatic need, which, if you’re doing this right, you’ve spent Act I establishing. A plot point around page 85-90 sets up the third act, which is about resolution. There’s more to it than that, but the point is the paradigm, and how simple it seems, like an Ikea diagram that says where to put the pegs to build the table. The word “paradigm” is Field’s, as in “The paradigm of a table … is a top with four legs.” He uses the word because a paradigm denotes a form, rather than a formula, although you could certainly treat Field’s paradigm like a formula, and more than a few Field acolytes undoubtedly did. A page of script equals about a minute of screen time. If you know that, and you know where the pivotal plot points are supposed to happen, you start to see movies tagging the bases Field identifies. Or you start to realize that the time you’ve spent watching movies has already trained you to expect those turns at certain moments. Ben Stiller asks God “Who am I?” and then gets the call about Mugatu’s fashion show around the 26-minute mark of Zoolander. There is nothing about Zoolander in my edition of Screenplay. The movies Field holds up and breaks apart (and plot-summarizes at great length) are from the ’70s — Network and Chinatown and An Unmarried Woman and Dog Day Afternoon. If you wanted to be uncharitable, you could say Field’s book took the freewheeling American films of the ’70s and reverse-engineered them into a blueprint that the next generation of filmmakers would use to build formulaic blockbusters. So Field, from this perspective, is like George Lucas, a product of the American New Wave who ended up helping hasten its demise. You could argue, if you wanted to be really uncharitable, that Field’s true influence was on movie-studio script readers and executives, who began measuring a script’s relative seaworthiness by how well it met the conditions of the paradigm. Only once this happened, you could continue to argue, did Field’s principles begin to shape the movies, because writers began putting their plot points where they knew executives would be looking for them. In “D-Girl,” a second-season episode of The Sopranos, Christopher Moltisanti admits to a development executive played by Alicia Witt that he’s having a hard time with the mob-movie spec script he’s been working on. “I hit a fucking wall,” he tells her. “Third-act shit.” “These aren’t third-act problems,” she tells him. “They’re in the second act.” “Get the fuck out of here,” says Christopher. “When you’re in the paradigm,” Field writes, “you can’t see the paradigm.” Field’s own story drags a little in the first act. He’s born Sydney Alvin Field in 1935 and raised in Hollywood, where he has the usual Hollywood-kid encounters with the business. He’s 2 years old when a casting-agent neighbor gets him and his 6-year-old brother roles in Gone With the Wind. They play children running from the Yankee army as it advances on Atlanta, but their scenes get cut. His school band performs in Frank Capra’s State of the Union and Van Johnson teaches him to play checkers on the set. At Hollywood High School, he runs with an informal club called the Athenians, who by today’s standards (at least according to Syd Field) “would probably be referred to as a gang.” Soon a fellow Athenian, Frank Mazzola, befriends a young actor who’s researching a film about juvenile delinquents, and forever after that Syd Field gets to tell people he was in the gang that inspired Rebel Without a Cause. More sequences that don’t advance the plot: He enrolls at USC, planning to become a dentist, acts in a few local theater productions, drops out, wanders the country for two years living off an inheritance from his late mother, finds himself one day on a stretch of road in Arizona he distinctly remembers having driven down two years earlier, realizes that something has to change, and lands at Berkeley in the early ’60s. He takes another shot at acting. Winds up cast in a play called Carola, written by the director Jean Renoir, then an artist-in-residence at Berkeley. Renoir becomes Field’s first mentor. Over and over, Renoir asks his students, “Qu’est-ce que c’est le cinéma?” Or that’s what Field says in his memoirish Going to the Movies: A Personal Journey Through Four Decades of Modern Film. It’s probably true, although it’s also exactly the kind of provocative rhetorical question Syd Field would encourage you to have the Jean Renoir figure in your screenplay ask your future-screenwriting-guru protagonist, so as to propel him into his second act. Field’s costar in Renoir’s play is Deneen Peckinpah, niece of Sam. Later, Field will hang out with Peckinpah as he’s writing The Wild Bunch. “We had long conversations at his home in Malibu about the movies, especially Westerns, as we sat nursing a beer and watching the sun set across the vast expanse of ocean,” Field writes. Is this relevant? Can you picture Peckinpah “nursing” a beer? Field goes to UCLA film school for a while, where he’s a classmate of Jim Morrison’s and an occasional experimental-film collaborator of Ray Manzarek’s. Field pulls cable on one of Francis Ford Coppola’s student films. Field finds a $75-a-week gofer job at David L. Wolper’s production company. Field works on the Mike Wallace–hosted CBS series Biography and the NBC clips-and-interviews show Hollywood and the Stars, which features “entertaining documentaries on the glitter and social influence of Hollywood’s Dream Factory.” As a researcher for the show, Field chases down leads, comes back with gems. Never-before-seen modeling stills of a 17-year-old Grace Kelly. A Union Oil Company industrial film starring one Norma Jean Dougherty in her motion-picture debut. “I was soon promoted,” Field writes with evident pride, “to full-time associate producer.” But he also spends a lot of time in the editing room, watching four or five movies a day, tagging clips that would be of use in future episodes. He begins to see how movies work. He starts to see patterns in everything. At Wolper he writes three episodes of the series Men in Crisis and a documentary feature about Vegas nightlife circa 1962. Apart from a “story concept” credit on a 2002 short film by the Polish actress Beata Pozniak Daniels, who played Lee Harvey Oswald’s wife Marina in JFK, the Wolper productions are his only writing credits on IMDb, although he would allude in subsequent bios to consulting work with major studios and name directors. After that, Field works as a freelance screenwriter, writes nine scripts, none of which seem to have seen the light of day. (In Screenplay, he claims that two of them were produced, four others were optioned, “and three nothing happened with.”) After seven years of this kind of luck, he takes a job at Cinemobile, founded in 1964 by the Egyptian impresario Fouad Said, who while working as a cameraman on I Spy dreamed up the idea of a self-contained van that could transport every piece of necessary film equipment — lights, camera, actors — to a location shoot. By the early ’70s Said is a rich man with a fleet of these movie buses, and he decides to put some scratch together and start cofinancing movies of his own. Cinemobile is instantly deluged with scripts; Field is hired to vet the slush pile. Field reads 2,000 screenplays for Cinemobile. In the years that follow, that number will be his primary credential as a teacher of screenwriting: He has read 2,000 scripts. Of those, he rejects all but 40. His first book is, among other things, an attempt to explain why this happened. Whatever it has to say about art, it’s first and foremost a book about how to engineer a script to get it past a studio script reader. The belief that characters must heal psychic wounds,” wrote David Bordwell in his book The Way Hollywood Tells It: Story and Style in Modern Movies, “may bear traces of the West Coast self-actualization fads of the 1970s, evidenced in therapeutic movements like transcendental meditation, yoga and Primal Scream therapy.” Was the fact that Field never became an in-demand Hollywood screenwriter his psychic wound? Over and above whatever psychic wound caused him to choose writing in the first place? He was a failed screenwriter who sold millions of books as a teacher of screenwriting. He was probably OK with that. I don’t know. I do know that Screenplay is, in a low-key way, as much a self-help book as it is a text on screenwriting. When he died, the Los Angeles Times talked to one of his former students, Anna Hamilton Phelan, whose screenwriting credits include Gorillas in the Mist and Girl, Interrupted. “The most inspirational thing he ever said was, ‘Confusion always comes before clarity,'” Phelan said. “I know people like myself still have moments when nothing makes sense. You remember that and relax.” Screenplay helped beget a whole industry. After Field came Robert McKee’s ruminations on classical structure and the Archplot, Christopher Vogler’s distillations of Joseph Campbell, and whatever’s going on in the works of James Bonnet, an actor turned screenwriter turned mystic whose credits include the Barney Miller teleplay “Voice Analyzer” and the script for the Christmas episode of Adam-12, and whose 1999 book Stealing Fire From the Gods one-ups Field’s paradigm and everyone else’s by postulating an Aristotelian/Jungian/Campbellian dream catcher and calling it the golden paradigm. According to countless other books, you, despite perhaps being a dummy, can in 21 days, or 10 days, or 10-minute bursts, write a screenplay that will sell and doesn’t suck. But the real golden paradigm in Hollywood right now — in the sense that you can watch bad movies and see it being obeyed pretty much to the letter — is the 15-point “beat sheet” from Blake Snyder’s book Save the Cat!, a virtual schematic that tells you not only that your character must experience a “Dark Night of the Soul” but exactly on which page of your script it needs to happen. All the writer has to do is decide what fake job Adam Sandler or Vince Vaughn is going to have. It’s the next-to-last step before the rise of the algorithms. Three-act structure is the best way to conceive your movie, unless five-act structure is better. Field’s approach works except when it doesn’t. All the approaches above that have supplanted or augmented Field work exactly as well. Here’s what I mean by self-help, though: Field advocates thinking of your script in terms of individual sequences, which when combined will add up to a complete story. It’s a fairly obvious point to make about movie scripts, but it’s also a very important Bird by Bird–ish lesson about breaking down a daunting writing project into pieces of manageable size. When you’re in the paradigm, you can’t see the paradigm. At one point, Field writes, “Keep moving forward in your story. If you write a scene and go back to clean it up, to polish it and ‘make it right,’ you’ll find you’ve dried up about page 60, and might shelve the project.” The key to writing anything is quieting the brain-voice that tells you that you’re doing it wrong. Whether or not Screenplay‘s approach is foolproof, whether or not its influence was detrimental to movies as a whole, for more than 30 years it has provided an architecture of reassurance to writers, a class of people not known for bringing vast reserves of inborn assuredness to the table. Demonstrating to yourself that you can follow instructions is one way of tricking yourself into forgetting you suck; only after you’ve done that do any other possibilities open up.
Last week, while still processing the death of Freddie Gray and the unrest in Baltimore that followed, Bob Elder and his bandmates in the local quintet Joy Classic felt — like many here — the need to contribute in some way to the city’s recovery. That’s when the wheels began to turn for the “Be More Benefit” show, which is set to take place May 20 at Metro Gallery. All proceeds — including ticket and merchandise sales — will be donated to the Baltimore Community Foundation, Elder, the show’s organizer, said. He personally reached out to the Baltimore artists on the lineup — bands Wing Dam and Blacksage, along with rappers Eze Jackson and DDm will join Joy Classic — even though he had only played with one act (Wing Dam) previously. It was important to Elder to have a bill that represented different genres and audiences, he said. “I wanted to get a really good mix of what I thought represented the city for music, and would bring out an equally eclectic crowd to support this,” Elder said recently. “Everyone was more than happy to help and do anything they could.” Last Wednesday, a Facebook page was created. Since then, close to 1,100 people have indicated they will attend, even though Metro Gallery’s capacity is 240. Tickets are $10, and currently on sale here. Elder said there are not plans to change venues (booking a smaller location “enables us to give more back in the long run”) but he is currently considering a second show on a different date. The 26-year-old guitarist has been encouraged by the response to the benefit. “There’s definitely a need and desire for people to come out and share their love for the city, and also have fun,” he said. “It’s going to make people feel good and also not forget about what work needs to be done.” Elder is also encouraging other artists — “painters, sculptors, potters, anything” — to donate artwork that can be purchased at the show. Those proceeds, too, will be fully donated to the Baltimore Community Foundation as well, he said. Artists interested in donating can email Elder here.
The Blossoming of Idle No More Ragina Johnson and Brian Ward (RJ, BW): To start with, the U.S. State Department recently released a report whitewashing the environmental impact of the Keystone XL project, which moves the tar sands pipeline closer to being approved by Barack Obama. Can you talk about how the KXL project has highlighted the need to unite across borders and build solidarity – between environmental justice activists and First Nations? Alex Wilson (AW): I think that the report wasn’t shocking, but at the same time, it reminded people of the urgency of the situation. I think people are finally starting to see that we’re entering a state of crisis. People always talk about the tipping point, and I think we’re there. All of these oil pipelines that have been leaking and exploding, and all of the rail cars carrying oil that have been derailing are just symptoms of this bigger sickness. It seems like there’s an increased level of awareness – but at the same time, there is increased ignorance from the Canadian and U.S. governments. This is an indication of just how powerful the energy industry lobbyists are. Solidarity is more important now than ever. RJ, BW: Can you talk about the project to extract more tar sands crude oil from Alberta? What has that meant for people in Canada and First Nations? AW: It’s accelerating everything – the emissions, the impact on the earth, the impact on the wildlife and so on. We’re seeing studies that consistently report how extraction negatively impacts people’s and worker’s health in the local region. People are seeing the effects of environmental racism, and how this connects to the exploitation of women and children, increased violence and the drug trade in surrounding areas where pipelines are built. The Climate Action Network did an important analysis about how the Canadian government is pushing this idea that the Canadian economy is dependent on tar sands oil – that’s what kids are being taught in schools and that’s what the media is telling us. The narrative is that tar sands is so important to our gross domestic product – but in reality, tar sands only accounts for 3.5 per cent of our GDP. It’s not what they’re making it out to be. The government is releasing the First Nations Education Act along with other legislation that will negatively impact First Nations people. So all of these things are happening at the same time. I think that it’s no coincidence that they’re timed like this. It’s done to overwhelm people and make it harder for us to fight back. Then there’s the voter ID component of the Fair Elections Act. This would prohibit vouching for another person and/or using a Voter Identification card as valid if they didn’t have other identification. The people most impacted by this are people who are most marginalized by the mainstream electoral process – including urban aboriginal people, First Nations on reserves, people who don’t have a fixed address, people who are lower socio-economic status. So what’s this going to do? The law will cut out all the people who would vote more progressive or be in opposition to right-wing policies. RJ, BW: We know Idle No More has been doing a lot of work around the First Nations Education Act. Could you say what it is and how it plays into the larger termination policy of the Canadian government under Conservative Party Prime Minister Stephen Harper? AW: In a nutshell, the First Nations Education Act takes away federal responsibility for First Nations education and puts responsibility onto provincial governments. At first, this wouldn’t seem like a big deal, but the act will take away power from First Nations education authorities, and make them more dependent on federal or provincial authorities. There was little to no consultation on an issue that could potentially see First Nations losing sovereignty over their own education. RJ, BW: It seems like this is part of the bigger struggle that Idle No More is fighting. How has Idle No More helped or influenced other struggles that have been happening for years and maybe weren’t well known? AW: That question is really relevant, because sometimes, we think, “Well, we were unable to stop a bill,” and people say, “Idle No More isn’t working, it’s just holding teach-ins.” But I think all the incremental changes do add up, in the way of a groundswell. I think a really great example is the mascot issue. There has been resistance to the Washington football team’s name for decades. But now – and I think Idle No More plays a big part in this – there’s more awareness, and it’s gone beyond the Native community and typical allies into the mainstream. To some, the mascot issue is relatively unimportant in the scheme of things. But in reality, it’s a symptom of larger systemic problems of racism in our educational settings and society in general. We have an issue in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, with Bedford Road Collegiate, a high school that has a racist mascot [they are known as the “Redmen”]. There has been resistance to that for decades, and it’s in a city with an aboriginal population of 14 per cent. But now we’ve started to see some movement, and I think it’s due to Idle No More, and the growing network and support it’s gaining from all over. The other day, someone said, “I’m no Idle No More supporter, but I think this mascot in Saskatoon should change.” I said to myself, we never mentioned Idle No More at these school board meetings or anything, but it’s in people’s heads that social movements and social change is connected to Idle No More. I think that’s great. You don’t have to be apologetic about it – you can join the movement. Hopefully, that school board will make a decision soon, and others in the province and elsewhere will follow suit. I think if we can use our network, with hundreds of thousands of people now, we can have a greater impact. People are really profoundly impacted when they begin to understand and see that this is truly a nonviolent movement and a different kind of social movement. RJ, BW: On the question of nonviolence, it seems like the Canadian media have tried to vilify certain people as violent – in particular, during the struggle of Mi’kmaq people of the Elsipogtog nation and their supporters against seismic testing for natural gas fracking, where they carried out regular blockades of Highway 11 through New Brunswick. How have people in Canada dealt with the smear campaign that Idle No More is a violent movement? AW: I think that would be a great case study for any kind of university class or community group doing analysis of the mainstream media. That one image of the police car on fire in Elsipogtog got more coverage than anything else. It’s interesting – I don’t think Idle No More had to do that much to counter this narrative. It’s just emerged naturally. Again, I would say that’s an indication of a shift in the general public’s awareness about Indigenous issues and environmental concerns, brought on by social media, teach-ins and informal forms of education. The media is really frustrated with Idle No More because they want one or two spokespersons. That doesn’t happen. They want to see hierarchy, and that doesn’t happen. Everything that they want, Idle No More isn’t doing – and so they then say the movement is unorganized, with no leadership. But that’s the beauty of why it’s working. The media want that one good photo or that one person to say the right sound bite so they can attack it and undo it. If they don’t have the one spokesperson to attack, then what are they going to do – attack every person? They can try, but you have 8 year olds popping up and saying something, you have elders, you have educators. The Round Dance Revolution is significant, too, because it’s welcoming and bringing everybody in. For me, that’s a spiritual connection. I think that there is some underlying energetic movement that connects us and keeps us moving forward. In general, there’s a hopefulness. Idle No More is really significant in that it has predominantly been women who have kept the movement on track, even though it has been difficult at times. We have come under some criticism, but we still keep going. Currently, there’s a focus on creating accessible education for transformation. There’s a website being developed that will have educational materials on anti-racism, anti-oppression, sustainability, environmental rights and activism, treaties and more. So basically, it’s bringing everything together so people can share information. RJ, BW: On the question of women, author and activist Andrea Smith has documented how Native women in the U.S. experience some of the highest rates of sexual violence of any group – a consequence, according to Smith, of the deep connection between colonialism, land theft, sexual violence and environmental racism. How has Idle No More highlighted the demands for women’s rights and body sovereignty? AW: There are so many interconnecting issues that Idle No More addresses. One critical issue to focus on and to set up goals around is the issue of missing and murdered Indigenous women in Canada. We know that it’s an important and overlooked issue in the U.S., Mexico, and Central and South America as well. As a strategy, to pick this one thing and push for an inquiry in Canada is one step. People have suggested that the inquiry be designed, developed and implemented by Indigenous people, including the family and community members who have been impacted personally. That way, the federal government will not dictate the methods, the findings and the recommendations, and the process itself has the potential to contribute to healing. We know any governmental report will generally paint missing women as being victims of the sex trade and will blame them for what has happened. So the report isn’t going to be satisfactory to the families of the victims, to us, or to anybody else. If we can get everybody’s efforts behind a community-driven inquiry, we could see some change. The body sovereignty piece is important. If you don’t have rights over your own body, you don’t have rights over anything. Native women’s bodies have been so regulated by legislation, procedures and practices that stripped away that notion of sovereignty. Obviously, residential schools, forced sterilization, the Indian Act, the narrow definition of marriage and property rights have all contributed to that. Our own communities have internalized the damaging message of colonialism – that you can own property, and that women are property. A big part of breaking this is just stating that we have the right to sovereignty over our own bodies. For some people, that’s really empowering, even to say this, because they never thought of it before. Body sovereignty means we have sovereignty over our own bodies and actions, and that extends to our communities and to the land as well. Gender self-determination is important, too. In many of our languages, there has always been a continuum of gender, or an understanding that people can express their gender in whichever way their body sovereign entity desires or wants. Even our sexuality has been so scripted and regulated – the notion that people are free to be happy sexual beings is very foreign for many aboriginal people. The issue of missing and murdered women is not just about addressing some 800 missing and murdered women. It’s also about taking on the whole system that perpetuates women as less than human. RJ, BW: This dehumanization that you’re talking about seems to affect Native and aboriginal people at a very young age – look at the high rates of suicide or attempted suicide for youth, especially on reservations in the U.S. AW: Exactly. just to use queer youth as an example, we’re seeing 10 times the suicide rates in LGBT aboriginal communities in Canada. In a new study that came out on transgender aboriginal youth, almost half of them have attempted suicide. When you talk about oppression, it’s not a competition, of course. But you can see where all these interconnecting factors come together, with transgender aboriginal youth as the intersection point. What would make it so that half of aboriginal trans youth don’t want to be in the world any more? We see them dropping out of school as young as they start identifying as transgender – as early as third grade. It’s appalling. This highlights the necessity for systematic change, because it’s not just individuals creating oppression. Oppression isn’t nature. It’s not innate. It’s not biological. It’s something we’ve done ourselves. There’s a spark of hope there, because that means we can undo it. It’s always hopeful that all these socially constructed forms of oppression can be undone. That’s the spirit of Idle No More that endures and energizes people. We can stand up to something – and if we’re together and united, we can change it. RJ, BW: How has being involved in Idle No More and these longer-term struggles been empowering for activists? Have you seen a rebirth or blossoming of Native pride through the movement? AW: Most definitely. The point of Idle No More is about shifting our understanding and our actions so that we aren’t defined by colonization. We’re ourselves. We have the right to be ourselves. It seems like something simple, but it’s a big concept. For so long, we have been defined and regulated. Now, we’re finally able to present ourselves as who we are. It’s so energizing and exciting. I can’t imagine myself in grade 12, years ago, doing what youth today are doing. Like Andre, a youth activist in Saskatchewan who is part of the resistance to the Bedford Road logo, standing up and speaking out in school board meetings against racist mascots. The amount of pride in him is unbelievable. He’s openly gay and Cree, so he’s got all the “risk factors.” There are youth like him everywhere, and I think it’s encouraging to see him stand up. RJ, BW: Idle No More is just over a year old. How has it changed? What debates and discussions are happening? AW: I think each local community has become focused on their local needs, for one. Groups in certain regions have become more galvanized and have taken on a life of their own. The group in Winnipeg has created its own look and feel that’s unique to its community and the needs of its community – similarly in Hawaii, the Bay Area, Minneapolis and so many other communities. There’s no Idle No More central. This is a misperception that some people have. But there are ways that people unite and stay together, or connect as a vast network – for example, through the website, the database and many Facebook pages. I think the partnership with Defenders of the Land has been really good, and some people don’t know about that. Defenders of the Land is a grassroots movement that’s networking with Idle No More. I think the network is getting bigger. We see the Climate Action Network, the ISO, other activists – not just around environmental issues, but human rights as well – as all becoming part of the Idle No More network. There’s a lot of overlap, I think. Also in Canada, Native people are questioning the formalized structures that are in place, like the Assembly of First Nations. So I think that’s something we will have to figure out how to move forward with. Because the last thing we want is oppressed groups fighting each other. That’s been a bit of a challenge, because the media portrays it that way. They always spin it as two indigenous groups against each other. We have a federal election coming up next year in Canada. I hope a lot of people vote in the election, even though I know a lot of Native people don’t vote and for obvious reasons. RJ, BW: We all know that the U.S. and Canada have broken every treaty they made with Native people. How important is the role of treaties, and how has the idea of sovereignty been highlighted in Idle No More’s work? AW: Treaty alliances are being formed, especially in the Prairie Provinces. There’s a better understanding of treaties today than there was even two years ago. Part of this is because in some places, education about treaties is mandated. But there’s also a general interest in knowing more about treaties. That goes hand in hand with sovereignty and self-determination. Some people don’t agree with treaties because they are agreements with the Crown, so they don’t acknowledge them or honor them. But others do. There’s another important issue of unceded territory – territory that was never ceded to the Crown. These are the gray areas that aren’t covered by treaties. Technically, there’s quite a bit of land still under the reign of First Nations that is categorized as unceded territory. RJ, BW: How are those battles being fought out? We’ve heard of British Columbia going through the courts about this issue. Are people trying to go through these unceded lands? Have there been standoffs between First Nations and corporations? AW: There’s A bit of confusion because if a company has permission from the province to harvest whatever, in the eyes of the courts, that’s legal. From the other point of view, it’s illegal, because the province didn’t have the right to give up the land in the first place. We have our own natural laws that dictate. I think that has caused tension, and it will continue until there’s a way to resolve it. In some First Nations communities, leaders are making agreements for resource extraction. That’s another thing that has been very controversial, because the reality is that many First Nations see resource extraction as the only viable economic solution. Part of Idle No More is to highlight that there are sustainable economic solutions. The webinars are very successful in terms of the number of people who have been engaged with them – there was one with Winona LaDuke on that topic. Native peoples still work in tar sands. We have community members who work in mines. The movement isn’t about vilifying people. The movement is about undoing and addressing the systems and the inequities in wealth distribution, and finding ways to be sustainable as humans that won’t destroy the planet by the turn of the next century. RJ, BW: There are different opinions about extraction mining, even among tribes and nations in the U.S. For example, the Crow Agency, the administrative headquarters of the Crow or Apsaalooke Nation, has moved forward with a project to continue massive coal mining extraction. On the other end of this project, though, there’s resistance from the Lummi Nation and the Cowlitz Indian Tribe, which are against having coal shipped through their Northwest territory by rail. This is why the work of Idle No More is so important – not just to say we shouldn’t have extreme extraction, but for us to understand why tribes and nations are forced to do this. It’s the legacy of hundreds of years of economic inequality. AW: Yes, and it’s a quick solution. People always talk about these seven generations that we should be looking toward. I don’t think too many nations actually do this. But I think we’re at the point now, based on what science – Indigenous science and Western science – is saying and what we’re experiencing in terms of climate change, where we can’t even look forward to seven generations. One generation or two is the rate we’re going, and that will be it. There are so many issues. It’s truly social justice and ecological justice. I think that’s another thing that the movement has helped me and others understand – the interdependence and the relationality of how everything and everyone is connected. •
Nigeria have won the U17 World Cup a record five times and South Africa hosted the World Cup only seven years ago. How did they fall so far so quickly? For the first time since Nelson Mandela broke the shackles of apartheid and brought South Africa back into the international sporting community, the Rainbow Nation and Nigeria, the 2013 champions, are both watching the Cup of Nations from home. Their sporting pedigree, economic dominance – Nigeria and South Africa are the continent’s richest countries in terms of GDP – and combined population of 250m football fans should make them among the favourites at this year’s tournament. After all, as Simon Kuper and Stefan Szymanski suggested in their book Soccernomics, “experience, population and income per capita explain just over a quarter of the variation in goal difference.” But South Africa, who submitted a bid to host the event, and Nigeria, who have won the tournament three times, are not taking part. Football fans from China, England and the US know all too well that economic clout does not necessarily translate into regional hegemony, but Nigeria and South Africa are different from other continental giants. They should be able to dominate. South Africa were one of the first African nations to embrace football and they were one of the confederation’s four founding members in 1956 along with Egypt, Ethiopia and Sudan. They became the first African country to host a World Cup in 2010 but the legacy of that tournament seems, in the words of Kickoff editor Sibusiso Mjikeliso, “a bit of a falsehood”. The infamous empty stadiums and underused infrastructure – principally a high-speed train connecting Johannesburg’s OR Tambo International Airport to the city centre – have become glaring symbols of the naivety that permeated the event. People thought that building a functional public transport system and world class football grounds would weave together the fabric of the city’s disparate townships with rainbow-coloured laces but all that glitters is not gold in Gauteng. The Soccer City stadium – a symbol of African modernity – remains embarrassingly underused and most low income townships are nowhere near the Guatrain’s route. So while many tourists were impressed by the first-world infrastructure that shuttled them between the country’s biggest airport and two of the host stadiums, the train has become a symbol of wastefulness and misallocation of public funds. The 95,000-capacity Soccer City stadium is not the only problem. With other monuments from 2010 attracting tiny crowds for South African Premier League matches, it’s clear that refurbishing existing stadiums would have been a wiser investment. Instead, these publicly funded grounds sit largely empty and the government’s deficit continues to rise. On the pitch, it’s been all downhill for the Bafana since the World Cup. They became the first host country to bow out in the group stage in 2010, failed to qualify for Brazil 2014, and then put in regrettable performances at the Cup of Natiosn in 2013 and 2015. When the Fifa scandal blew up last summer, allegations of vote-buying rocked the government and football association. Add in the stories about match-fixing in the run-up to the tournament and it’s hard not to see 2010 as one big charade. Nigeria’s troubles are just as depressing. And this is also a country whose history is steeped in football. During the second world war Nnamdi Azikiwe, who became Nigeria’s first president when they achieved independence, used football as a means of resistance, taking teams from Lagos on tour around the country to propagate anti-colonial sentiment. Azikiwe gave epic post-match speeches in which he pointed to the purported virtues of Great Britain’s greatest export as the ultimate sign of the Empire’s hypocrisy. How much do you know about the Africa Cup of Nations? – quiz Read more Long regarded as the African powerhouse, the Super Eagles won the Cup of Nations as recently as 2013 and have won more World Cup games than any other African country. Perhaps more impressive is their record five U17 World Cup trophies, including back-to-back titles in 2013 and 2015. They’ve reached eight finals in all, three more than Brazil. But Nigeria’s inability to refine their raw talent into a successful senior squad has made them world football’s greatest underachievers – a microcosm of an oil-rich state that seems to be perpetually on the brink of economic breakthrough. Now in the depth of a deep recession that shows no signs of subsiding, the country’s economic troubles have trickled down into the football federation, whose inner workings are a constant distraction to the players and coaching staff. Last summer, just as the Olympic squad prepared for their opening match in Rio, the federation’s funds were so low they could barely afford to fly the team to Brazil. Arriving just seven hours before kick-off, they beat Japan 5-4 and eventually reached the bronze-medal match, where they were the beneficiaries of an unlikely sponsorship. Katsuya Takasu, a plastic surgeon from Tokyo, heard about their hardship and flew to Brazil to personally hand over a cheque for $390,000 to captain John Obi Mikel. And in September the federation announced it was so broke that it had to suspend player bonuses and seek financial assistance to fly the team to their World Cup qualifier in Zambia. The additional four places on offer for African countries for the World Cup in 2026 comes as a timely windfall to fans desperate for a break but, in the meantime, the two federations need to get their houses in order. Follow Copa90 on YouTube, Facebook and Twitter
> The tactical module includes all the counters, overlays and maps of the game (as well as those of GUISCARD). Additional maps were added to let you play all the scenarios included with these 2 games. The user interface boasts several neat functions, like the ability to move a belfry (overlay) with characters on it as one single piece, or manage several levels (a character under a hoarding for instance). > The campaign module lets you play with the convenience of being able to stop and resume the game at any time, hence getting rid of the hassle to keep the boardgame deployed on a table for an extended time between two tactical games. Counter and settlement management is also vastly simplified as a simple right-click let you access all the parameters and edit them at any time during the game. Default values for the settlements are already preset for faster setup time. To play these modules, you must first download and install the Java software as well as the Vassal engine.
Israeli Druze lawmaker Akram Hasson said Friday that four of the nine men killed in a car bombing in the Syrian village of Hader in the Golan Heights are members of his extended family. Hasson is a member of the Kulanu party and hails from the Druze village of Dalyat el Karmel in northern Israel. He said that there was a lot of anger among the Druze community following the deadly suicide bombing carried out Friday morning by jihadist from the Janhar al Nusra group. Four of the dead were members of the Hasson family, the MK said. “The Hassons are the largest family in the village. There are still dozens of people wounded there.” Get The Times of Israel's Daily Edition by email and never miss our top stories Free Sign Up “You need to understand, these are groups of murderers butchering their own people,” Hasson told Hebrew language website Ynet. “I have said this before to the army and the government. Each of these groups, in which we have believed in the past, eventually turned their barrels toward us.” “We cannot trust them. I know that the Assad army uses the Druze for its own ends. We trust the IDF, it is our country, but the residents in Hader are our brothers, our family. We cannot allow them to be hurt,” the lawmaker added. “The entire Druze community in Israel has arrived in the Golan Heights,” Hasson said. After the attack hundreds of Druze residents of the Israeli Golan Heights gathered near the border fence. A number burst through the separation fence with Syria on Friday afternoon in order to reach Hader Israeli troops chased after the group of approximately 10 Druze men, who had made it dozens of meters past the border fence, and returned them, the military said. Though they breached the fence, the men remained in Israeli territory, never crossing into Syria, the army said. Dozens more rallied near the border fence, also threatening to cross into Syria in order to fight alongside their families and coreligionists. “This behavior is a serious violation of the law, and a life-threatening act,” the IDF said in a statement. “The IDF asks all civilians to refrain from approaching or crossing the fence. Events are [being] monitored and under [the] control of security forces,” the military said. National Security Adviser Meir Ben-Shabbat also met with the head of Israel’s Druze community, Mowafaq Tarif, and assured him that Israel would not allow jihadists to take over the Syrian village. Tarif also met with the head of the IDF’s Northern Command, Maj. Gen. Yoel Strick, in order to hear about the army’s plans to protect Hader, the military said. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, in London on a state visit, released a statement of support for the Druze. “We will safeguard our borders, our southern border and our northern border. And we recognize the amity we feel toward our brothers, the Druze,” he said. Additional IDF troops and police were also called to the Golan Heights in order to prevent further attempts by Druze residents to cross into Syria. Roads in the area were also blocked off. After the suicide bombing on Friday morning, the IDF released a rare statement promising to “support the [Hader] village residents and work to prevent any harm or the occupation of the village, out of a commitment to the Druze population.” IDF Spokesperson Brig. Gen. Ronen Manelis also denied a claim by the Syrian government that Israel was involved in or supported the suicide bombing in Hader.
U.S. Defense Secretary Ash Carter addresses a news conference during a NATO defence ministers meeting at the Alliance headquarters in Brussels, Belgium October 8, 2015. REUTERS/Francois Lenoir BRUSSELS (Reuters) - Russia fired cruise missiles at Syrian targets this week without giving any advanced notice, U.S. Defense Secretary Ash Carter said on Thursday, describing a trend of unpredictable military action that has put the United States and its allies on edge. “We’ve seen increasingly unprofessional behavior from Russian forces. They violated Turkish airspace ... They shot cruise missiles from the Caspian sea without warning,” Carter said after NATO defense talks in Brussels. Moscow said on Wednesday its warships fired a barrage of missiles at Syrian targets from the Caspian Sea, passing a distance of almost 1,500 km (900 miles) over Iran and Iraq to reach their targets. A U.S.-led coalition is carrying out air strikes against Islamic State militants in both Iraq and Syria, a campaign that Washington has vowed will continue despite Russia’s escalating military activity in Syria. The United States has acknowledged that U.S.-led coalition aircraft bombing Islamist militants in Syria were re-routed at least once to avoid a close encounter with Russian planes. Carter said Russian aircraft came within a few miles of a U.S. drone. The United States, which opposes Russia’s backing of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, has ruled out any military cooperation with Russia in Syria. But the Pentagon is seeking to work out an agreement with Moscow on operating procedures to ensure pilot safety.
The "White Entrepreneurial Detroit Guy" meme has touched a nerve, diagnosing exhaustion with a media infatuation with altruistic entrepreneurs. Many of the captions that have appeared thus far -- "Let them drink pourovers" -- are funny, but all of them are laced with much more bitterness than your average Internet joke. (Bitter, like an Ethiopian pourover gone cold?) It's worth considering what is actually behind the venom: It's not just mockery of "hipsters," or business owners, or non-native Detroiters, or God forbid, a case of "reverse racism." The unfortunate subject of the meme, Jason Lorimer, set it all off with a tone-deaf article, "Detroit is the Opportunity of a Generation," in Model D, a local booster publication. Lorimer's article had big ambitions: to lay out a generational vision for Detroit while promoting his consulting company, Dandelion. "Cities advertise they are open for business," Lorimer writes, "but Detroit is open for changemakers. Cities advertise tax incentives, but Detroit is an opportunity to iterate alongside a community of doers and define the model for the post-industrial American city." The article is so ridden with jargon that it reads like it was written by someone who has learned English entirely by watching TEDTalks. The lack of self-awareness was striking -- the absent sense that a little humility and dues-paying go a long way, especially for a white person of means in this city -- and the audacity of misappropriating the anti-colonial revolutionary Frantz Fanon as a consulting guru didn't help. Consider this befuddling description from Dandelion's homepage, in a poster unhelpfully titled "Dandelion Does," promising as it does to explain what Dandelion, in fact, does: "A civic or social-issue investor comes to Dandelion with systemic issues that need measurable solutions. For example, homelessness in the community, truancy in the schools or a lack of a vibrant main street. Out entire tactical team studies the issue from all angles, for as long as it takes to make your problem our own." Note the grand ambitions here: A little consulting firm will address homelessness or truancy "for as long as it takes to make your problem our own" (shouldn't homelessness already be "our" problem?). There's the recognition that such problems are "systemic" -- that is, they are symptoms of deeper societal failings with complex structures. Yet the solution to such systemic problems not in political activism but individual "innovation," not in social change but rather in heroic "changemakers." But it would be unfair to pick on Dandelion exclusively. I, too, feel implicated by the meme, since I move easily in these same gentrifying precincts around Wayne State and downtown. The city's profound racial and neighborhood segregation, as persistent as ever, is in some ways the biggest problem signaled by the " entrepreneurial guy." But what the meme also mocks is a way of thinking about social change as an individual, technocratic, and even profitable affair. The Silicon Valley critic Evgeny Morozov, in his excellent new book To Save Everything, Click Here has a term for this way of thinking: "Recasting all complex social situations either as neatly defined problems with definite, computable solutions or as transparent and self-evident processes that can be easily optimized -- if only the right algorithms are in place!...I call the ideology that legitimizes and sanctions such aspirations 'solutionism.'" Solutionism, in the context of the media-friendly Detroit of Midtown, Corktown, and the Dan Gilbert-controlled area of downtown, combines a utopian idealism with the technocratic fantasy that systemic problems can be managed away with the right experts and right digital tools. You can see why this appeals to austerity-minded politicians -- "turnkeying" (this is apparently now a transitive verb) truancy is cheaper and gets better press than the apparently impossible task of funding urban public schools. Perpetually summoning "doers" to "innovate" "solutions" to urban unemployment is easier than actually doing so. If only we could mass-produce buzzwords in one of our vacant factories. Another example of solutionism is a recent project of Corktown's LOVELAND Technologies. As reported by Michigan Radio, the group has developed a tool in response to Detroit failure to collect taxes on 50 percent of properties held in the city: a website that makes it easier to pay property taxes. A cynic might point out that of all the reasons that the city fails to collect property taxes, the technical difficulty of paying them surely ranks far, far down the list. Alas, there's no iPhone app that can rehire laid-off city tax assessors or battle speculators, like the notorious Grosse Pointe Woods investor Mike Kelly, the largest private landowner in Detroit. According to a 2007 University of Michigan study cited by the Detroit News, Kelly's company failed to pay taxes on one-third of its Detroit purchases over a two-year period. The lure of technocratic solutionism also lends itself easily to defenses of Kevyn Orr, the city's Emergency Manager charged with settling the city's debts to Wall Street bondholders. In his case, a systemic problem, the city's impoverishment and indebtedness, is redefined as "fiscal instability" or "financial mismanagement" -- an elegant reframing of a structural problem as a management problem. See? All we need are new people, presumably with some better calculators and faster Internet connection.
There's only one thing wrong with store-bought bullet lubeit's store-bought. Anything you can make yourself is better because . . . well, because. If I have to explain that fact to you, click here. I've been making my own bullet lube for my blackpowder rifles and pistols since I read somewhere that natural, animal fat based bullet and patch lubes produced much less fouling and required much less bore cleaning. I tried it, and it worked. I could literally shoot both my .50 caliber Lyman Great Plains Hunter and my .32 caliber Traditions Crockett Rifle all afternoon without cleaning the bores. Iron sights, 3 shots Group size = 13/16" Range = 30 yards 18 grs Pyrodex P .310 Hornady round ball .015" patch Velocity = 1500 fps est Lard lube Iron sights, 3 shots Group size = 3/8" Range = 25 yards 11 grs Pyrodex P .310 Hornady round ball .015" patch Velocity = 1063 fps Ex. Spread = 87 Stan. Dev. = 36 Lard lube My .32 caliber Traditions Crockett Rifle shoots patched round balls only. I put 100 dry patches in a zip sandwich bag and pour about 1/2 fluid oz of melted, 100% hog lard in the bag with the patches. Knead the bag for a couple of minutes, and all of the patches will fully absorb the lard/lube. As you can see from the photos on the right, the little rifle shoots like a dream using round balls and lard-lubed patches. Groups like those are common from my little .32 muzzleloader. Tell the truthwill your high-dollar .22 rimfire shoot a 3 shot, 1-hole group at 25 yards with iron sights? Some brands of store bought lard contain added salt and even citric acid. You can render your own lard, and if you want to know how to do that click here. But even home-rendered lard contains a small amount of salt due to the natural occurrence of salt in animal blood and tissue. So clean your barrel when you're through shootingwhich you would do anyway, right? Below is a recent photo of a lard-rendering session over my front yard campfire. There's nothing but lard in my Junior Lube lard! The green object on the left is a piece of an old t-shirt used as a filter. Making a homemade lube for my .50 caliber Great Plains Hunter wasn't so easy. I shoot the Lee 320 gr R.E.A.L. conical bullet in that rifle. The bullet has three lube grooves, and on normal, cool Louisiana winter days, the air temperature wasn't cold enough to solidify lard so that it could be easily applied to the bullet's grooves with just a finger. It was too soft. I needed to add a little beeswax to the lard. The melting point of lard is about 75° F to 80° F. The melting point of beeswax is exactly 145° F. I needed a mixure with a melting point slightly above that of lard. At the time I had no beeswax, but I did have a tube of Hodgdon Alox lube for use in my lubrisizer on hard-cast pistol and rifle bullets. Alox bullet lube consists of 50% beeswax and 50% Alox 2138F liquid lube, which is made from calcium and mineral spirits, a petroleum product. Now, I realized, I needed to carefully measure every ingredient of my lube mixture for repeatability if it was ok and for further refinement if it was not ok. I had on hand some empty medicine bottles that looked like they would make perfect lube containerswide-mouthed for ease of digging inside with my finger and not too big and not too small, holding about 5 fluid ozs. Perfect. So I arbitrarily decided on exactly 4 fluid ozs of lard, or, exactly 1/2 cup of lard. I cut about 1/2 inch off the end of the tube of Alox bullet lube, put it in my powder scale, and added Alox shavings until it weighed exactly 100 grs, deciding upon that weight via an educated guess. In other words, that amount looked about right and 100 was easy to remember. My final mixture would then have only 50 grs at the most of a petroleum product, the "mineral spirits." That's about 1/2 tsp or about 2%. In a glass container, I then melted a glob of lard in my microwave2 minutes on high. I then measured exactly 4 fluid ozs of that melted lard into another glass container. To that container I then added the 100 gr chunk of Alox bullet lube and stirred the mixture until the chunk melted, having to microwave again for 1 minute. Iron sights, 5 shots Group vertical size = 2 3/8" Group horizontal size = 1 1/8" Range = 95 yards 53 grs Pyrodex RS, measured 320 gr Lee R.E.A.L. bullet Velocity = 1262 fps Ex. Spread = 36 Stan. Dev. = 15 Junior Lube The Alox blended perfectly with the lard, turning it a uniform brown. I poured the resulting mixture into a medicine bottle. After cooling, the mixture turned a uniform tan. I soon headed for my front yard shooting range. As you can see from the group on the right, my lard/Alox lube mixture worked perfectly. Shot #2 loaded as easily as shot #50. I was a happy fellow. I even christened my concoction Junior Lube and had visions of selling it by the case and getting filthy rich. But a couple of months passed and cool weather turned warm, then hot. One bright, hot day I got out my .50 caliber and its shooting accoutermentsincluding the prized and valuable bottle of Junior Lubeand headed outside to pop some caps and make some smoke and noise and send some 320 gr chunks of lead downrange. Lo and behold after being outside a few minutes, the Junior Lube liquified. Back to the drawing board. . . . I needed to add beeswax to the mixtureno paraffin wax in my lube! By surfing the Internet I found beeswax for $3.50 a lb and for $8.00 a lb. Both prices sounded high to me. A few days later while surfing down a country road in the Bluesmobile and headed for a fishing hole, I saw a sign that read HONEY and that had a crude arrow pointing to a narrow road. After following the road for a mile or so, I found a house with beehives in various stages of disrepair out front. I stopped and got out and holleredin the country it ain't polite to blow your horn at somebody's house. Out came an elderly gentleman. I said I was after beeswax, and he said he had some for sale. Then he started asking about my momma and daddyin the country you got to know who's hollering at your house. Ten lbs of beeswax or about 175 4 oz bottles of hot weather bullet lube. And a cat named Scaredy Cat. Neither the beeswax nor the cat are for sale. Turned out the old fellow was my daddy's first cousin! While talking about kinfolks, mostly my daddy and the old man's and my daddy's common uncle, "Limber" Jim Bradford, we walked around his house to a little building containing his honey-processing equipment. He pulled the chunk of beeswax you see in the photo on the right out of a bucket-looking container beneath a vat-like machine that melts the honeycomb. I saw no active beehives around so I asked him about the locations of his hives. He informed me that he had about 100 hives scattered for about 50 miles across the Mississippi Delta, Louisiana side. To me, that beeswax suddenly became special because I'm nuts about anything to do with the Mississippi Delta. Still talking about kinfolks, he went looking for an axe and soon returned, wiping dirt from the blade. "How much o' that chunk o' wax you want?" he asked me. "Gimme about $5 worth," I answered. "Hell, if you want that much," he said, "you can have the whole damn chunk." It weighed exactly 10 lbs. In the full size version of the above photo, you can see black specks of impurities, mostly scorched honey. They don't matter because when the wax melts, they settle to the bottom. Meanwhile, back at the drawing board. . . . I decided that I: needed to keep the total volume of this new (and marvelous) Junior Lube to about 4 fluid ozs so it would fit in a medicine bottle to about 4 fluid ozs so it would fit in a medicine bottle ought to use exactly 3 fluid ozs of liquid lard and the equivalent of about 1 fluid oz of liquid beeswax should keep using exactly 100 grs of Alox bullet lube for consistency and because it's expensive. Based on the weight of water, a fluid oz (slightly more or slightly less because it was hard to pour into the pan of my scale) weighs in the neighborhood of 375 grs. I decided to use 400 grs of solid beeswax because 400 was easy to remember. From left to right in this photo, we see: exactly 3 fluid ozs of melted lard exactly 400 grs of solid beeswax exactly 100 grs of Alox solid bullet lube. Note: Lard washes easily from glass. Not so beeswax or a beeswax mixture. If you have a wife, I'd suggest a trip to Walmart for a small funnel and a couple of glass bowls of your own. I put those ingredients into a slightly larger microwave-safe glass bowl and heated it in the microwave on "High" for 2 minutes. Then I stirred it with the spoon you see, helping the beeswax to completely melt. Then I waited maybe 30 seconds for the impurities that were in the beeswax to settle to the bottom of the mixture. Then I slowly and carefully poured the mixture through a small funnel and into a medicine bottle, leaving the dregs/impurities in the bottom of the glass bowl. After several minutes of cooling, there before my eyes sat a bottle of new Junior Lube. When it had solidified sufficiently (and turned tan), I took it outside and set it in the shade on my front porch. The thermometer on the porch read 95° F. I left the bottle there and went back inside to the air conditioner. An hour later, I went out and checked the lube. It was solid. I stuck my finger in it and dug around. The consistency was perfect for finger-applying to a bullet. Junior Lube works great for hot and cold weather lubrication on my .50 caliber 320 gr Lee R.E.A.L. bullet. It also works great on black powder cartridge bullets. Here's a 5 shot, 1 5/8", 100 yard group with the Lee 457-450-F lubed with Junior Lube. The load was 4.3 cc Pyrodex RS and a cookie. The rifle was a 45-70 Handi Rifle. Here's a 3 shot, 1 1/2", 100 yard group from the Lyman 480 SP #457658. Again, the load was 4.3 cc RS and a cookie, and the rifle was a 45-70 Handi Rifle. The lube of course = Junior Lube. Using your finger, just daub Junior Lube in the bullet's lube grooves and seat like normal. In cold weather, warm the bottle a little before using. I have fired Pyrodex-propelled bullets lubed with Junior Lube through my 45-70 all afternoon without once cleaning the barrel. The fouling behind shot #1 looks exactly like the fouling behind shot #50. That's in high humidity Louisiana. Results in Arizona might be different. I also use Junior Lube as outside neck lube for 45-70 and 30-30 cases neck-sized in Lee Loaders. Using my finger, I wipe a very thin smear around the case neck. I wouldn't use it for full-length sizing, but it works fine for neck sizing. Made with home rendered lard. No additives!! If you don't want to make your own Junior Lube or BPCR cookie mix you can buy them from me. One 32 oz bag of cookie mix will make several hundred cookies. Cookie mix is made to order so allow extra delivery time. Note on the table below that you can buy 100% pure lard for making your own lube or cookie mix at home. About the only way to get pure lard is to render it yourself or buy it here. Store-bought lard contains preservatives including citric acid! There's nothing in this lard but lard. Note! Even pure lard contains a trace of salt. It's an animal product. Use this pure lard for: Making Junior Lube at home. Directions above ↑ Making 1 : 2 ratio beeswax : lard cookies for your BPCR. Directions here 2 ratio beeswax lard cookies for your BPCR. Directions here Heat my pure lard and use it as-is for lubing muzzleloader patches. My 4 oz bottle of Junior Lube is the by-volume equivalent of 2 2/3 tubes of factory-made lube. Do the math. Junior Lube is less than 1/2 the price of factory-made lube, and it works as well or better. Click the proper PayPal icon in the tables below, and you can securely pay with a credit card. Or send a check or money order to: Kim Doughty-Ganey 3306 Big Oak Drive Tyler, TX 75707 I AM CURRENTLY COMPLETELY OUT OF JUNIOR LUBE! Junior Lube, 1:2 Cookie Mix and Pure Lard + USPS Shipping Table 1 @ $2.00 + $2.90 = $4.90 One 1 oz bottle of Junior Lube 1 @ $6.00 + $2.90 = $8.90 One 4 oz bottle of Junior Lube In The Door cost per oz = $2.22 2 @ $6.00 + $4.60 = $16.60 Two 4 oz bottles of Junior Lube ITD cost per oz = $2.07 3 @ $5.50 + $5.80 = $22.30 Three 4 oz bottles of Junior Lube ITD cost per oz = $1.85 4 @ $5.50 + $5.80 = $27.80 Four 4 oz bottles of Junior Lube ITD cost per oz = $1.73 32 oz = $26.00 + $5.80 = $31.80 32 oz of Junior Lube in a 6-mil zip bag ITD cost per oz = 99¢ 32 oz BPCR 1:2 cookie mix @ $20.00 + $5.80 = $25.80 32 oz Cookie Mix in a 6-mil zip bag ITD cost per oz = 81¢ Allow extra delivery time 32 oz pure lard = $11.75 + $5.80 = $17.55 32 oz of pure lard in a 6-mil zip bag ITD cost per oz = 55¢ For the 32 oz sizes of lube or lard, store box and all in a refrigerator or freezer and dip out with a spoon as needed.
Former fnatic member Andreas "MODDII" Fridh has announced that he is part of a new Danish team that have signed for madjicK. Andreas "MODDII" Fridh returned to activity in July when he joined FlipSid3 Tactics together with players like Jacob "pyth" Mourujärvi and Andreas "znajder" Lindberg, but the project quickly fell apart following a series of mixed online results. After being out of action for the last six months, the Swedish veteran, who is currently living in Denmark, has surprisingly joined a new Danish team with players who are relatively unknown outside of the country. MODDII joins a new Danish roster Supporting this team, who are currently taking part in the online qualifiers for Gfinity Spring Masters, will be madjicK, a Portuguese organisation that will bet of foreign talent for the first time. madjicK's international CS:GO division consists of:
Ozzy Osbourne Talks Sobriety "I hear all the time people say that they have another drink in them but they may not have another sobriety in them. I don’t want to put myself in that situation." As the lead singer of Black Sabbath and as a solo artist, Ozzy Osbourne is a legend of heavy metal. He’s also infamous for his loony rock star behavior, along with his well-documented addictions to alcohol and drugs. As Black Sabbath wind their way through their final tour, and as Ozzy launches his latest TV series, Ozzy & Jack's World Detour (this time for the History Channel), Osbourne spoke candidly to Goldmine about his struggles with staying sober. Osbourne claims he’s getting close to three years sober, and that he’s “reached a really weird place with it. I am not really happy being sober, but I don’t want to get drunk. Someone told me that at three years sober they felt exactly the same.” Osbourne has reportedly been attending meetings, where he says, “you’re never alone with your thoughts. My disease will go, ‘You can take this, or you can do this’ when I spend too much time alone with my thoughts … I hear all the time people say that they have another drink in them but they may not have another sobriety in them. I don’t want to put myself in that situation.” He said in a 2014 interview, “I don’t like going to the meetings, but if I don’t go, I know I will drink again.” Ozzy said that he doesn’t regret his past drug abuse “because it was my destiny. I am lucky enough to have seen the errors of my way and wanted to do something about it … To be honest with you, I will think to myself, ‘What the fuck was wrong with me when I thought a good night was getting a belly full of booze and bag of fucking cocaine?' … When we discovered that fucking marching powder, it was beginning of the end.” While Osbourne is aware that he is a hero to many fans, he added somberly, “I wish I was a hero to me, sometimes. I do a good job of beating myself up.” When asked how Black Sabbath will celebrate their very last gig, he said, “We will have a grin on our face. We will probably shake hands and have a cup of tea. None of us drink anymore. None of us do drugs.”
Jeremy Corbyn will use a speech in London on Thursday to announce that Labour will research the radical policy of universal basic income, which would replace means-tested benefits with a flat-rate payment. Why Silicon Valley is embracing universal basic income Read more Some on the left see the idea, which would guarantee every citizen a taxpayer-funded income, as the best way to protect low-paid workers against the insecurity of today’s labour market. Corbyn will say: “Technological changes and the so-called ‘gig economy’ can mean increased insecurity and uncertainty across our society. It is one of the reasons I am looking at policies that can help provide more security for working households. “One such possible answer may be the often-discussed suggestion of a universal basic income.” He said the party would research and test the policy, which has won the backing of Labour MPs from different wings of the party, including former shadow transport minister Jonathan Reynolds. The shadow chancellor, John McDonnell, has already said he is examining the idea, which seeks to tackle inequality. Corbyn, who will speak at the London headquarters of Bloomberg, the news organisation, as the hard-fought Labour leadership race enters its final days, will argue that the existing economic model fails to deliver for many in Britain. “The responsibility of government is to protect citizens from these growing uncertainties in our economy, not exacerbate them as the Conservative government have done,” he will say. He will also highlight McDonnell’s pledge of a £500bn boost to public investment. Since winning the leadership a year ago, Corbyn has repeatedly promised to rebuild Britain’s economic model to make it fairer, but few details have emerged about how he would change the welfare system. Basic income is also regarded as a potential solution to the risk that many lower-paid workers find themselves out of a job as a growing number of tasks can be performed by robots. Neal Lawson of Compass, a thinktank, which has championed the idea, said: “Even if the robots don’t come, our labour market is so precarious that as it is, it isn’t working. That’s why we need basic income.” A full-blown basic income is regarded by most economists as prohibitively expensive; but a recent Compass report on the issue argued that a transitional system could be created at an annual cost of £8bn a year, which would leave many means-tested benefits in place. The tax-free personal allowance, currently worth £11,000, would be abolished, and tax rates would rise; but every adult would receive a payment of £71 a week – or £51 for pensioners – and £59 for children. The authors claim such a system would cut child poverty by 45%, and that 60% of those in the bottom fifth of the income distribution would gain more than 20%. Corbyn’s challenger, Owen Smith, will accuse him of putting more than half a million jobs at risk in defence, manufacturing and energy industries, in a final pitch for trade union votes in the party leadership election. Corbyn’s aim to end fossil fuel extraction and decommission Trident would risk many hundreds of thousands of jobs, Smith will argue. “For all of Jeremy Corbyn’s claims, his policies would put hundreds of thousands of union members’ jobs at risk and lead to a devastating decline in the UK’s industrial base,” Smith will say on Thursday. The former shadow work and pensions secretary will visit defence and energy industry workers across the UK, starting in Scotland at the Rosyth Naval Dockyard, where the final assembly of the Royal Navy’s two new £6bn flagship aircraft carriers is taking place.
The most popular producers of Germany’s national dish have been handed an unprecedented half a billion-dollar fine for conning meat-lovers in a great 21st-century sausage swindle. A bratwurst cartel has been meeting in secret for years to force up prices and ensure maximum profits for their products, according to the authorities who said someone had squealed on the pork industry. Nothing, it seems, is sacred. Germans have a special bond with their wurst; like pizza and Italians; sushi and the Japanese; or beer and, well, the Germans. In the eyes of commerce, however, cultural heritage be damned. Perhaps Adam Smith had it right in 1776: “People of the same trade seldom meet together, even for merriment and diversion, but the conversation ends in a conspiracy against the public, or in some contrivance to raise prices.” More than two hundred years later, the titans of reconstituted pork would gather in secret at the Hotel Atlantic Kempinski in Hamburg to hatch a dastardly plot. The landmark hotel, with its green copper roof, was previously known as the site of James Bond’s battle against villainy in Tomorrow Never Dies. It has now leant its name to a shadowy cabal known within the German meat-processing industry as the Atlantic group. According to Germany’s Federal Cartel Office, the Atlantic group has been holding clandestine meetings since 2003 to fix the price supermarkets will have to pay to restock their shelves. Keeping up with demand is no easy feat in a country where people eat more than a Bratwurst a day (380 per person per year, according to the meat industry association). The competition watchdog has imposed a fine of $460 million on 21 manufacturers including the country's biggest producer, Zur-Mühlen-Gruppe. "The price-fixing agreements were practiced over many years," said Andreas Mund of the Federal Cartel Office. "The overall amount of fines seems high at first glance but has to be seen in perspective in view of the large number of companies involved, the duration of the cartel, and the billions in turnover achieved in this market." Lawyers involved in the case said they could not comment on the ongoing dispute, but Zur-Mühlen-Gruppe denied the allegations. Nestlé, the Swiss owner of sausage-making subsidiary Herta, told The Daily Beast they would launch an appeal. “We do not believe that the Federal Cartel Office’s allegations are justified,” a spokesman said. “Neither Herta Germany nor any of its employees were involved in any conduct cited in the investigation by the Federal Cartel Office.” The cartel office said they received an anonymous tip-off about the price-fixing, which affected cooked and cured meats including salami, Frankfurters, Bratwurst and ham. Eleven companies cooperated with the investigation and had their fines reduced. That’s little comfort to millions of Germans who have been paying over the odds for their sausage supply since the turn of the century. And there’s no point turning to beer for solace: the industry catering for Germany’s other great love has been caught ripping off the nation in exactly the same way. Earlier this year, the Federal Cartel Office handed out fines worth $320 million to five German brewers and the Danish beer producer Carlsberg for colluding to fix prices.
Action citoyenne Urbanisme tactique: le débouchoir à ventouse, arme d’action massive Partager Les adeptes de l’urbanisme tactique viennent d’ajouter un nouvel outil à leur arsenal : les débouchoirs à ventouse utilisés comme délinéateurs de pistes cyclables. Pour de nombreux cyclistes, délimiter des pistes cyclables simplement par de la peinture au sol, dans les zones où le trafic est dense, ne suffit pas. Depuis quelques années, des groupes de citoyens ont donc voulu attirer l’attention des autorités en disposant, de leur propre chef, des cônes orange pour mieux délimiter une piste cyclable que les automobilistes avaient tendance à empiéter. Gestes symboliques que, souvent, il fallait répéter plusieurs fois, puisque les cônes sont faciles à retirer, mais qui ont parfois conduit à une reconnaissance officielle. Un effet de succès En mars dernier, des citoyens de Wichita, au Kansas, ont repoussé les limites de l’imagination pour faire preuve d’autant d’ingéniosité que d’humour. Ils ont collé clandestinement sur la chaussée des débouchoirs à ventouse préalablement ornés de bandes réfléchissantes. Ces délinéateurs de fortune ont ainsi permis de mieux baliser une piste cyclable jugée trop peu sécuritaire par ses utilisateurs. Et la Ville a vite compris le message en les remplaçant par des délinéateurs officiels. Un peu plus à l’Est Cette fois, c’est à Providence, au Rhodes Island que les débouchoirs-délinéateurs viennent de faire leur apparition. Et le maire de la Ville ne semble pas les voir d’un mauvais œil. Il a même déclaré qu’ils ne seraient pas retirés de la chaussée, à moins qu’on ne fasse la preuve qu’ils nuisent à la fluidité du trafic. Par ailleurs, la Ville s’est engagée à trouver de meilleures solutions, durant l’été, afin de mieux délimiter la voie cyclable en utilisant soit des bacs à fleurs soit des délinéateurs plus standards. Quant aux auteurs de cet acte d’urbanisme tactique, ils prétendent, avec le plus grand sérieux, que les débouchoirs à ventouse sont vraiment très efficaces pour débloquer les voies cyclables ! Source : Bicycling
First responders hurried to Kiryat Gat's King David Street after receiving a report of a stabbing attack. Four people were wounded in the attack: A 51-year-old man, a 56-year-old woman, a 44-year-old woman, and a 13-year-old girl. All were treated at the scene and evacuated to nearby hospitals in stable condition. Authorities believe that the perpetrator may currently be trapped in an apartment building. Police have released a statement, reading: "Suspected stabbing attack in Kiryat Gat. A few minutes ago police received a report of a suspect stabbing people on King David Street in Kiryat Gat, near the Dor Alon gas station. Police forces at the scene are searching the area for the perpetrator. It appears there are a number of victims. At this time it is too early to say if the incident was criminal or terror." During their searches, security forces have found and arrested about 10 illegal squatters, most of whom are Eritreans. David Overland, a United Hatzalah volunteer, said, "When we arrived at the scene I came across a Haredi man who had been stabbed in the upper body and his tzitzit were stained with blood. Together with other volunteers from United Hatzalah's motorcycle unit, I provided him first aid and then he was taken by an MDA ambulance to the hospital."
The nature versus nurture argument over aptitude for science and math seems to resurface every few years, but recent studies are providing strong support for the argument that any gender gap is cultural rather than biological. A new report looks beyond standardized tests of mathematical skills to see what happens in the world of exceptional mathematical ability, and it finds that the same thing applies there. The report's authors, reasoning that we could use any talent that's out there, make some suggestions as to how to eliminate the people who get lost due to this cultural math gap. The study (PDF) is published in the Notices of the American Mathematical Society, which is an open access publication, meaning anyone can read the paper. The authors start by reinforcing the general conclusion that advanced math skills do not exhibit a biological gender gap. Administering the SAT math test to 13-year-olds 25 years ago resulted in top scores skewed thirteenfold in favor of boys. By 2005, males outperformed females by less than threefold, and the rate was still dropping. But the bulk of the report focuses on exceptional achievement, examining performance in tests like the Putnam Mathematical Competition and the International Mathematical Olympiad. For these competitions, mathematical problem skills are nowhere near sufficient; students are tested on the ability to generate elaborate proofs of complex mathematical concepts. Most students who attempt the Putnam, for example, fail to handle any of its dozen problems within the six hours allotted. Those who excel here are, in the authors' view, literally one in a million. Unfortunately, given their rarity, it's hard to do a robust statistical analysis of these exceptional talents. Still, the authors can detect a number of trends when it comes to gender, ethnicity, and social factors, and their connections to mathematical achievement. Their first point is that people from Asian nations and Central Europe do extraordinarily well, and this often includes the women from these nations. This isn't uniform, however; Japan has only put a single woman on its team in recent decades. However, she happened to be an exception that supported the authors' contention that gender has nothing to do with it, since she was that team's top scorer. Money and a large starting pool of talent also seem to have little impact. Bulgaria and Romania consistently did well, despite their small populations and economies. Meanwhile, none of the Western European nations were able to consistently score well over the last few decades. The US was an informative exception; it frequently did reasonably well, and the teams it sent often included women. But those women were often from Asian or Central European countries and, in many cases, had received much of their mathematical training overseas. The authors conclude that the scarcity of women at the highest levels of math "is due, in significant part, to changeable factors that vary with time, country, and ethnic group." They estimate that, globally, the lower bound for female achievement would see them account for somewhere in the neighborhood of 20 percent of the highest honors, even without compensating for the cultural issues they face. With that in mind, they attempted to identify the cultural issues that were holding women back in the US. For both males and females, family culture played a big role, as the children of first-generation immigrants from Asia and Central Europe did well; so did Jewish students. Since the gender gap first appears on math tests in middle school, the authors examined factors that might protect students form social pressures at this age. They found that high achievers often came from towns populated by the faculty of nearby academic centers; several of them were also home schooled, which isolates them from social pressures. Finally, many of them engaged in extracurricular mathematical education, such as programs hosted at local colleges, and some even engaged private tutors. The authors argue that we can't afford to have social factors rob us as a society of the people who have the most to contribute to math, either directly or through its application to science and technology. To foster a better environment, they provide a list of recommendations. Some of these are fairly standard—improve early math education and foster a better public image for math. But they also argue that we need to expand access to high schools dedicated to high achievers in math and science and provide greater access to programs that place advanced public school students at local universities. Due to the small population of high achievers, a lot of the information in the study appears somewhat anecdotal. Still, its authors present a compelling case that, even at the highest level, mathematical achievement is largely a matter of cultural priorities.
Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton spoke about the rule of law in the United States, and professed her love on the Constitution, during a campaign rally in Pittsburg. “Boy, do I care a lot about our Constitution,” she said, citing her experience traveling the world as Secretary of State. “I met a lot of people who envy us because we’ve been so steady and so committed to our constitutional system and our values,” she said. During her campaign, Clinton has vowed repeatedly to use executive action to institute more gun control laws and go above Congress to grant amnesty to millions of illegal aliens. Clinton suggested that Donald Trump was trying to act outside of the independent court system, by repeatedly calling for her to go to jail. “Every time Donald Trump says he wants to jail his opponent, meaning me – I think to myself, we don’t do that in America,” she said. “We actually have laws and courts and an independent judiciary.” She suggested that Trump was threatening the First Amendment by challenging the press. “I get criticized by the press. I know that’s part of our democratic system,” she said. “We believe in a free press, and boy, if you go to countries where there isn’t one, you will understand why that is so important.”
City students have compared the manic process of finding a flat in Edinburgh with fight-to-the-death film The Hunger Games. Stressed-out students face a “cut-throat” race to secure accommodation in some of the Capital’s most popular student areas, with as many as 30 said to be battling it out for a single flat. And property bosses admitted the soaring number of students choosing to study in Edinburgh had placed an unprecedented strain on the rental market close to university campuses. As many as one in eight Edinburgh residents is a student, with areas such as the Southside – where around 59 per cent of the population are undergraduates – bearing the brunt of the boom. First-year students Jennifer Fingland, Molly Bean and Abigail Dimelow secured their three-bed flat in Marchmont Crescent last week after pre-booking a taxi during the compulsory mass viewing so that they could rush down to Cullen Property on Rutland Square and sign the lease before anyone else managed to get there first. And the crafty group of friends arrived just minutes before peers Louise McPhillips, Kirsty Trail and Laura Cunningham, who had enlisted a friend to drive them down to the property company after attending the same viewing. Molly, 18, originally from North Yorkshire, described the race to claim a flat as “really brutal and cut-throat”. She said: “We got handed the viewing sheet and then everyone just ran out the door to try to get to the letting agency first. There were 20 people at the viewing – and at the other two we had this week there were 30.” Neuroscience student Kirsty, 18, said: “It’s ridiculous and a bit manic. It’s like The Hunger Games. It’s also quite dangerous. I wasn’t even looking out for traffic.” Last week it was revealed £30 million proposals to build a massive student housing block on the site of the current Homebase store in St Leonard’s Street had been knocked back amid fears it would push the Southside’s student population above 61 per cent. Steve Coyle, operations director at Cullen Property, said the company could expect all 120 of its student flats to be snapped up in a matter of weeks. He added: “The whole thing is a bit mad. The university keeps putting more and more courses on, which is fantastic. But there’s not the places for these students to live.” FIGHT TO THE FINISH The Hunger Games is a best-selling novel and film series created by US author Suzanne Collins. It depicts a fictional country where teenage boys and girls from poor areas are selected to battle to the death on live television by the rich citizens of the wealthy capital city.
"Take him to Detroit," was a fearful command. As the FBI's most recent statistics show, in many ways, it still is. Back in the 1980s, when you told people you were from Detroit, their face froze in this exact expression. According to newly released statistics from the FBI , Detroit is, once again, the Murder Capital of the United States. It stirs a collection of unusual feelings to be so distinguished. I recall that, in my childhood in the 1980s, we used to joke about it, saying that our city won "The Murder Cup," as if the city were awarded some actual trophy for having the most bloodshed per resident. I know it's wholly inappropriate and tasteless, but we chose not to despair over it but turn it into something that suggested toughness instead of violence and stupidity. I think it was Dostoevsky who said children joke about things that would turn soldiers pale.But, nationally speaking, murder was something that, back in the 1980s, Detroit was synonymous with. I recall that when I lived briefly in New York in the late 1980s, I heard a joke about a fight brewing in a bar that went something like this:Belligerent No. 1: I don't have to take this from you. I'll shoot you where you stand. I'm from the SOUTH BRONX! Where the hell are you from?Belligerent No. 2: I'm from Detroit.Belligerent No. 1: [pause] Mexican standoff. Buy you a beer?Truth be told, humor is a way to deal with such dubious honors, although it's fine and dandy to joke about your own problems, and less so when other people are laughing. As Detroiters, we've had to deal with comic barbs from Zucker, Abrahams and Zucker ( again and again and again ) to the South Park guys to even the Simpsons . Sometimes, it can get a little hard to take.But what are we supposed to take away from earning this dubious honor again? Maybe it's just that I'm older or that I'm more embedded in the city than ever, but it's hard to flip this kind of news into something irreverently upbeat.Maybe instead of just reporting the grim facts and moving on, we should ask how it's even possible that Detroit has the highest murder rate and the highest violent crime rate in the nation, even as surrounding communities, such as Sterling Heights and Ann Arbor ( as pointed out by The Detroit News ), can have some of the lowest crime rates? Look deeper into the statistics and you'll see why.It's poverty. Areas with high concentrations of poverty breed the conditions that lead to high rates of murder and other violent crime. And poverty is something our development policies leave in their wake. For going on 70 years, our local solution to social ills has been to move away from them. Having a tough time in the old neighborhood? Developers are building new homes for you just five miles away. Sell your old home and move to a brand-new home with all your neighbors and take your money with you. It will be very profitably flipped to a poorer family. The real estate agents profit, the developers profit, and the new exurbs see their revenues rise.Unfortunately, the old neighborhood will have to be discarded, much like the same way a bank draws a line around bad assets and writes them off. The people there will be the most likely to shoot it out with each other, and the people who left may conveniently blame the poor for "ruining the old neighborhood."Until that cycle is stopped, you may expect the "Murder Cup" to return here year after year. Why? Metro Detroit didn't just win it.Metro Detroit earned it.
Che Guevara played revolutionary until the people treated him as one. Fifty years ago today, Bolivians executed the Argentine as though some rich interloper. They understood him better than he understood himself. Che Guevara grew up the eldest son of a privileged Argentine family. He excelled at chess, read from his family’s 3,000-volume library, and competed in rugby, golf, and other sports. After years of study, he became a medical doctor in 1953. The man who once healed people of their bodily maladies then turned to healing them of their ideological defects. He did this with the gun as his surgical instrument as a Hessian revolutionary in Cuba. “In the resistance, Guevara soon became commander of a detachment,” The Black Book of Communism reports, “quickly gaining a reputation for ruthlessness: a child in his guerilla unit who had stolen a little food was immediately shot without trial.” Once in power, Guevara started the island nation’s first “corrective work camp,” presided over mass, summary executions, and established “voluntary” labor on Sundays. Though the bearded, bereted motorcyclist wins a romantic portrayal in history, he lived as a joyless ideologue. He named a son after Lenin and regarded Marxism as a scientific truth on par with Newtonian physics. He called marathon meetings that started after midnight. He did not tolerate disagreement. He remarked, “I can’t be the friend of anyone who doesn’t share my ideas.” Even Regis Debray described him as “an authoritarian through and through.” The Bolivians did not line up to follow such a man as he had expected when he traveled there in 1966 to overthrow the government. Guevara ultimately reflected in his diary that “the peasants do not give us any help, and they are turning into informers.” If Guevara hoped to realize the start of “two, three, many Vietnams” in Bolivia, events overruled his words. “While Guevara was known around the world, his fame did little to endear him to Bolivia’s peasants,” Nicholas Casey writes in the New York Times. “And the country had already undergone a revolution the decade before, instituting universal suffrage, land reform and expanded education. During Guevara’s time fighting in Bolivia, not a single peasant was documented to have joined him.” On October 8, 1967, the locals captured the wounded, foreign troublemaker in a mountain village of about 100 people. “Don’t shoot! I am Che Guevara,” he announced in do-you-know-who-I-am fashion, “and I’m worth more to you alive than dead.” But the locals disagreed. The Bolivians took him to a classroom, where Guevara spat on soldiers and lectured a teacher about how using such a dilapidated schoolhouse to instruct children represented a backward, “anti-pedagogical” mentality. Guevara himself, dirty, wounded, and tired, looked dilapidated after almost a year in Bolivia. After the nation’s president gave the go-ahead, an enlisted man, chugging beers celebrating the previous day’s victory, volunteered to execute the wealthier, better-educated executioner in an event not unlike Robespierre on the guillotine. He shot Guevara nine times in a classroom, imparting the hard lesson that when you presume to speak for someone else expect that someone to offer a loud rebuttal on his own behalf.
The more that I learn about testing, the more suspicious of Robolectric I get. I’m honestly starting to think that many of the heros of unit testing (e.g., Kent Beck, Michael Feathers, Steve Freeman, and Nat Pryce) would be pretty suspicious of Robolectric. Here are my concerns: Robolectric is largely1 a set of mocks for a set of types we don’t own. Mocking types we don’t own is not recommended by the folks who invented mocks. Robolectric turns TDD on its head by allowing us to ignore something our standard unit tests are trying to tell us: our logic is tightly coupled and muddled with Android-SDK-related implementation details. That’s why we have such a hard time writing standard unit tests. Instead of listening to the design feedback of standard unit tests, Robolectric asks us to use a giant mock instead. These concerns lead me to believe that Robolectric should be used sparingly, if at all. Let’s look at the concerns in detail. Along the way, I’ll be pulling in quotes from Feathers, Freeman, and Pryce to bolster my claim that the folks who are largely responsible for our practices of unit testing today would be suspicious of Robolectric. Mocking Types We Don’t Own I’ve already talked about how mocking types we don’t own can be a problem in my post on how we misuse mocks for Android development, so I won’t repeat those points in detail here. The gist of this worry is twofold: According to Steve Freeman and Nat Pryce, the folks who really popularized mocks, mocking types we don’t own partially defeats the purpose of mocking and testing because the process of testing is supposed to tell us something about the design of the code we’re mocking. Because we don’t own the types, we can’t actually do anything with the design feedback our tests are giving us. Secondly, and perhaps more importantly, mocking types we don’t own forces us to ensure that the mocked versions of the types our tests depend on actually match the behavior of their un-mocked counterparts. This is a concern that’s shared both by Freeman and Pryce and by Jake Wharton. Robolectric turns TDD on its head Obviously, Android developers aren’t the first ones who have tried testing code that relies on a framework. Typically, when folks outside the Android community are test driving code that depends on a framework, TDD encourages them to add a layer of abstraction between the framework and their code. This keeps the code loosely coupled and highly cohesive. The framework code stays at a layer below the application code. Here’s Freeman and Pryce on this: …we grow our systems a slice of functionality at a time. As the code scales up…we use two principal heuristics to guide this structuring: Separation of Concerns…[and] Higher Levels of Abstraction…Applied consistently, these two forces will push the structure of an application towards something like Cockburn’s “ports and adapters” architecture [Cockburn08] , in which the code for the business domain is isolated from its dependencies on technical infrastructure, such as databases and user interfaces.2 Higher levels of abstraction make our code more understandable and maintainable, and in order to achieve this in our design, we need to make sure our objects are “Context Independent,” which means that “each object has no build-in knowledge of the system in which it executes.”3 A few pages later in the next chapter, they go on to talk about how TDD specifically helps them drive towards this goal: …to construct an object for a unit test, we have to pass its dependencies to it, which means that we have to know what they are. This encourages context independence, since we have to be able to set up the target object’s environment before we can unit-test it—a unit test is just another context. We’ll notice that an object with implicit (or just too many) dependencies is painful to prepare for testing—and make a point of cleaning it up.4 Many of the difficulties we have as Android developers in testing (and otherwise) arise because our systems don’t exhibit separation of concerns and higher levels of abstraction. Freeman and Pryce are saying that there’s a direct link between these properties and testability, a link that Feathers echos in his book: one pervasive problem in legacy code bases is that there often aren’t any layers of abstraction; the most important code in the system often sits intermingled with low-level API calls. We’ve already seen how this can make testing difficult, but the problems go beyond testing. Code is harder to understand when it is littered with wide interfaces containing dozens of unused methods.5 The emphasis on the last sentence is mine. It’s meant to highlight that Feathers and Freeman and Pryce are in agreement on the link between testability, abstraction, and understandable code. So, outside the Android community, its widely recognized that writing tests without any layers of abstraction between our application code and a framework is often impossible, so TDD exerts a positive influence on us to create layers of abstraction and because of this, we wind up with cleaner code. Hopefully, now we can start to see why Robolectric actually turns TDD on its head. Let’s start by remembering something I noted at the outset of this post: unfortunately, most Android apps are written in a way that muddles and couples application code with Android-SDK-related implementation details. The natural direction TDD with pure unit tests is pushing us in is to move the code we want to test OUT of Android framework classes like Activities, Fragments, and Services; its pushing us in a cleaner direction of separating our application-specific logic from the Android SDK.6 Robolectric, on the other hand, allows us to test our apps while leaving our application code mixed in with the Android SDK. Robolectric does this by “defanging the Android SDK” by mocking types we don’t own to make testing easier, but if we take traditional TDD seriously, this is exactly backwards. We don’t need to make testing easier by leaving our app code the same and changing the way we do testing. Instead, we need to make testing easier by listening to the tests and moving our application specific logic to a layer that’s higher than the Android SDK. Conclusion So, there you have it. Those are the biggest reasons why I don’t use robolectric. If you’ve got some ideas on where robolectric may be appropriate, I’d love to hear them. Notes:
A SLOW start, a drastic mid-season change, an upturn in form and new hope. It feels like we’ve been here before, doesn’t it? Déjà vu isn’t just a banging Beyonce joint, it’s also something the Anfield faithful have experienced over many a season and, as the Reds find themselves ending the season strongly with a European final on the horizon, yet another “crucial summer” awaits, writes MATT KENNY. Every summer should be “crucial” if you are a big club and every summer should be even more crucial if you are Liverpool. But we’ve had false dawns before and it seems every time the club are on the cusp, someone comes in and decides to buy El-Hadji Diouf or Alberto Aquilani. You see, we’re only ever two or three players away. Always two or three players. Finish second? Just need to add two or three players. Scrape fifth? Not too much to change, just two or three players. Scrape seventh or eighth? Focus on quality, two or three top players. Unfortunately, the Reds have for so long dealt in sixes and sevens, stocking up and opting for squad player multi-packs. Get you anything whilst we’re there? Workhorse midfielders lacking quality are buy one get one free! The most infamous example of this came in the summer of 2001. Liverpool had won a treble of trophies under Gerard Houllier with its strongest squad in years and were seen as clear favourites to claim the title in 2002 if they got their summer signings right. A Diouf, a Diao and a Cheyrou later and we were right back where we started. One step forward, all of the steps back and yet another “crucial summer” confirmed for the following season. Following the superb 2013-14 title challenge, 84 points and a second-placed finish, Brendan Rodgers was tasked with signing the players to help the club finally push on and win the league for the first time since 1990. Losing Luis Suarez obviously didn’t make things any easier, but you’d think having £117million to play with would help somewhat. The arrivals of Balotelli, Markovic, Lambert, et al, proved otherwise and another Liverpool season was defined by a manager’s summer dealings. Groundhog Day without Bill Murray to give you a laugh. Midway through the 2012 season, Liverpool experienced the rare sensation of positive recruitment turning round a campaign, with the January signings of Daniel Sturridge and Philippe Coutinho. The addition of two quality players transformed a meandering, possession-obsessed Rodgers team into a real attacking force with the momentum gained providing the platform for the following season’s title charge. Fast forward to the present day and positivity is slowly creeping into the air again, with a mid-season change once again giving the team a much-needed boost and the impetus to finish strongly. This time however it was the appointment of a new manager, Jürgen Klopp, rather than a signing that has changed the club’s fortunes. In fact, all Klopp’s good work since coming to the club has been done with the same players who were barely treading water under Rodgers. With the club into the top eight of the league, a League Cup Final and a Europa League Final, progress has definitely been made and once business has been dealt with, attention will once again turn to a summer that is sure to be CRUCIAL for the Reds. Klopp has shown that he achieve great performances with his current set of players and he may feel only a few additions are needed. He told Sky Sports today: “In the end I hope I have a team together who likes working together and who likes working for Liverpool and who feels the responsibility about the club and the power of this club. “If we can do this then we can be really strong and we can win something – but I don’t know what.” Bringing in eight players would mean another season of transition while they settle (or don’t settle) in, and the club don’t have time to wait around and watch the likes of Leicester and Spurs compete for titles. It’s worth remembering that next season Klopp should be able to call upon the services of Danny Ings, Joe Gomez and Lazar Markovic should he choose to do so. One win in Basel next week and a trophy and Champions League football will be back at Anfield, along with a renewed sense of optimism and hope that, yes, next year can be our year. But any progress will hinge on the business the club do in the transfer window. Rafa Benitez showed in the summer of 2005 that a few shrewd signings that fix obvious problems is often preferable to a complete overhaul, as Pepe Reina, Momo Sissoko and Peter Crouch probed to be all he needed to transform an underperforming league side into a team collecting 82 points come May 2006. If Klopp can work similarly this summer and plug the gaps he will be more aware of than anyone, then maybe this time next year we will be celebrating number 19. Then again, we could be just two or three players away. Only time will tell. A “crucial summer” awaits. Again. @mattpkenny
BEIJING — China launched the world’s first quantum communications satellite from the Gobi Desert early Tuesday, a major step in the country’s bid to be at the forefront of quantum research, which could lead to new, completely secure methods of transmitting information. Researchers hope to use the satellite to beam communications from space to earth with quantum technology, which employs photons, or particles of light. That type of communication could prove to be the most secure in the world, invulnerable to hacking. Scientists and security experts in many countries are studying the technology. The satellite is expected to circle the earth every 90 minutes after entering orbit at an altitude of about 310 miles, according to a report by Xinhua, the state news agency. China’s many high-tech scientific endeavors, including its ambitious space program, have enormous backing from the central government. The country’s 13th Five-Year Plan, an economic blueprint that was announced in March, listed quantum technology as a focal point for research and development.
Drew Barrymore Has Tongue Bling (Video, Photos) has been making the rounds while promoting her latest film, He's Just Not That Into You. At the L.A. premiere, she graced the red carpet and debuted a well kept secret...her tongue piercing. It seems Drew has always wanted to have some tongue bling and finally took the plunge last summer. She reports that it didn't hurt much at first but the pain intensified afterward to the point where she couldn't eat or drink for two weeks. She proclaimed it a very effective "sick, sadistic and weird diet." The actress sat down with Ellen DeGeneres and chatted it up about the experience. Ellen presented her with an assortment of tongue bling - see video below. The downside of her new piercing is that it seems to be scaring the guys away. She said, "I got it and then I've been single ever since. I did it for myself. I always wanted to get one." We've also got photos and video of Barrymore with Jessica Lange at the Golden Globes. The two, who starred together in Grey Gardens, appear to be inseparable. Is it just us or do they seem like more than just friends? In the second video, Barrymore says, "we fell in love" during the filming of the movie. Check out photos and video below. See Barrymore on Marie Claire cover with Jennifer Aniston and Ginnifer Goodwin. Photo: Agape/WENN
A group of civil rights organizations sued Georgia on Thursday, accusing the state of violating federal voting rights law by requiring voters to register three months in advance of a federal runoff election. The lawsuit claims that the state’s policy will prevent “untold numbers of people from voting” in the state’s hotly contested runoff in June between Democrat Jon Ossoff and Republican Karen Handel in Georgia’s 6th Congressional District. The National Voter Registration Act bars states from cutting off voter registration for federal elections—including runoff elections—more than 30 days before the election takes place. Yet under Georgia’s three-month deadline for runoff elections, those who didn’t register before March 22 will be barred from participation this summer. The lawsuit, filed by the Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, Asian Americans Advancing Justice, and the Georgia chapter of the NAACP, is demanding the state allow voters to register until May 22. “Citizens of Georgia are being unlawfully blocked from registering to vote,” Ezra Rosenberg, an attorney Lawyers’ Committee, said on a conference call with reporters Thursday. “We are taking up their cause to make sure people who want to vote can vote in the June 20th election.” Francys Johnson, the president of the Georgia NAACP, said the policy is part of the state’s pattern “to make voting difficult, to make voting that something all Georgians cannot participate in.” “We don’t expect Georgia to drop their longstanding practice of disenfranchising voters, so we have to go to court yet again,” he said. “We will fight them every step of the way, because this is a serious election with serious implications that go beyond Georgia.” On Tuesday, fueled by donations from around the country and a groundswell of anti-Trump fervor, Ossoff came within a few points of flipping a seat held by Republicans since the Carter administration. Increasing turnout this summer, including registering new voters, could tip the balance in one of the country’s closest-watched races, triggered when Rep. Tom Price (R-GA) vacated the seat to run the Department of Health and Human Services. As the plaintiffs seek an emergency injunction of the registration cutoff, the office of Georgia’s Secretary of State Brian Kemp (R) told the Atlanta Journal Constitution the lawsuit is a “completely political effort to attack Secretary Kemp” and promised, “We will fight it in court.” Read the complaint:
Icelandic orthography is the way in which Icelandic words are spelled and how their spelling corresponds with their pronunciation. The Icelandic alphabet is a Latin-script alphabet including some letters duplicated with acute accents; in addition, it includes the letter eth (Ðð), transliterated as d, and the runic letter thorn (Þþ), transliterated as th (see picture); Ææ and Öö are considered letters in their own right and not a ligature or diacritical version of their respective letters. Icelanders call the ten extra letters (not in the English alphabet), especially thorn and eth, séríslenskur ("specifically Icelandic" or "uniquely Icelandic"), although they are not. Eth is also used in Faroese, and while thorn is no longer used in any other living language, it was used in many historical languages, including Old English. Icelandic words never start with ð, which means the capital version Ð is mainly just used when words are spelled using all capitals. Sometimes the glyphs are simplified when handwritten, for example æ (considered a separate letter, originally a ligature) may be written as ae, which can make it easier to write cursively. The alphabet consists of the following 32 letters. Icelandic alphabet An Icelandic speaker reciting the alphabet in Icelandic Problems playing this file? See media help. Deleted letter Letter Name IPA Zz seta [ˈsɛːta] The letters a, á, e, é, i, í, o, ó, u, ú, y, ý, æ and ö are considered vowels, and the remainder are consonants. The letters C (sé, [sjɛː]), Q (kú, [kʰuː]) and W (tvöfalt vaff, [ˈtʰvœːfal̥t ˌvafː]) are only used in Icelandic in words of foreign origin and some proper names that are also of foreign origin. Otherwise, c, qu, and w are replaced by k/s/ts, hv, and v respectively. (In fact, hv etymologically corresponds to Latin qu and English wh in words inherited from Proto-Indo-European: Icelandic hvað, Latin quod, English what.) The letter Z (seta, [ˈsɛːta]) was used until 1973, when it was abolished, as it was only an etymological detail. It originally represented an affricate [t͡s], which arose from the combinations t+s, d+s, ð+s; however, in modern Icelandic it came to be pronounced [s], and as it was a rare letter anyway it was decided in 1973 to replace all instances of z with s.[2] However, one of the most important newspapers in Iceland, Morgunblaðið, still uses it sometimes (although very rarely), and a secondary school, Verzlunarskóli Íslands has it in its name. It is also found in some proper names, and loanwords such as pizza. Older people, who were educated before the abolition of the z sometimes also use it. While the letters C, Q, W, and Z are found on the Icelandic keyboard, they are rarely used in Icelandic; they are used in some proper names of Icelanders, mainly family names (family names are the exception in Iceland). Many believe these letters should be included in the alphabet, as its purpose is a tool to collate. The alphabet as taught in schools up to about 1980 has these 36 letters (and computers still order this way): a, á, b, c, d, ð, e, é, f, g, h, i, í, j, k, l, m, n, o, ó, p, q, r, s, t, u, ú, v, w, x, y, ý, z, þ, æ, ö. History Edit The modern Icelandic alphabet has developed from a standard established in the 19th century, by the Danish linguist Rasmus Rask primarily. It is ultimately based heavily on an orthographic standard created in the early 12th century by a document referred to as The First Grammatical Treatise, author unknown. The standard was intended for the common North Germanic language, Old Norse. It did not have much influence, however, at the time. The most defining characteristics of the alphabet were established in the old treatise: Use of the acute accent (originally to signify vowel length). Use of þ, also used in the Old English alphabet as the letter thorn. The later Rasmus Rask standard was basically a re-enactment of the old treatise, with some changes to fit concurrent North Germanic conventions, such as the exclusive use of k rather than c. Various old features, like ð, had actually not seen much use in the later centuries, so Rask's standard constituted a major change in practice. Later 20th century changes are most notably the adoption of é, which had previously been written as je (reflecting the modern pronunciation), and the replacement of z with s in 1973.[3]
(CNN) One of the most popular herbicides in the world can cause cancer, California health officials say, and they might demand warnings saying so. That herbicide, glyphosate, will be added to California's list of chemicals that can cause cancer , the state's Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment said this week. Glyphosate is the key ingredient in weed killers such as Roundup. California keeps a list of carcinogenic chemicals because of a law commonly called Proposition 65 , which "requires businesses to provide warnings to Californians about significant exposures to chemicals that cause cancer, birth defects or other reproductive harm." Monsanto, the maker of Roundup, insists glyphosate is not carcinogenic. The decision to add glyphosate to that list stemmed from the International Agency for Research on Cancer's assessment that glyphosate is " probably carcinogenic to humans ," said Sam Delson, deputy director of OEHHA. But Monsanto, the maker of Roundup, is fighting back. "Glyphosate is not carcinogenic, and the listing of glyphosate under Prop 65 is unwarranted on the basis of science and the law," said Scott Partridge, Monsanto's vice president of global strategy. The company sued California's OEHHA to stop the listing, but last week the California Supreme Court rejected Monsanto's request for a stay. "That led us to move forward," Delson said Wednesday. Hundreds claim they got cancer from Roundup As CNN reported last month, more than 800 non-Hodgkin's lymphoma patients are suing Monsanto , claiming Roundup gave them cancer. And an internal Monsanto company email said an EPA official had offered to "kill" a separate investigation into glyphosate . That official, who was the head of the EPA's Cancer Assessment Review Committee, has since retired. Monsanto has consistently maintained that the herbicide is safe. "California's sole reason for listing glyphosate under Prop 65 is the fatally flawed classification by IARC, which ignored crucial scientific data that undermines its conclusion," Partridge said. Monsanto said more than 800 studies have demonstrated glyphosate's safety, including studies conducted internationally "In fact, since IARC classified glyphosate, regulatory authorities in the United States, Europe, Canada, Japan, New Zealand and Australia have publicly reaffirmed that glyphosate does not cause cancer," Monsanto spokeswoman Charla Lord said in April. In March, the European Chemicals Agency ruled glyphosate is " not classified as a carcinogen ." But Christine Sheppard, one of the cancer patients suing Monsanto, said she's thrilled by California's decision to list glyphosate as carcinogenic. "I thank all the powers that be that I live in California, a state that actually looks after its citizens," she said Wednesday. "It is a great start, and let's hope that others follow California's wise leadership." To label, or not to label? Despite California's ruling, it's not certain whether Monsanto will have to issue cancer warnings for its glyphosate products sold in the state. Under California law, "a warning must be given for listed chemicals unless the exposure is low enough to pose no significant risk of cancer or is significantly below levels observed to cause birth defects or other reproductive harm." That leaves one big question: Is the amount of glyphosate exposure from using Roundup enough to pose a "significant risk"? Regulatory authorities in the United States, Canada, Japan, New Zealand and Australia have publicly reaffirmed that glyphosate does not cause cancer. Charla Lord, Monsanto spokeswoman "As for Roundup itself, we're not sure," Delson said. Delson said his agency is trying to establish a level for how much glyphosate exposure would equal a significant risk. He said the current proposal is 1.1 milligrams a day, though a final answer might not be ready until July 2018. It's unclear how much exposure a user might have, given the wide variation in how glyphosate products are used. Join the conversation See the latest news and share your comments with CNN Health on Facebook and Twitter. And if a certain product is deemed to pose a significant risk, the manufacturer doesn't have to put a warning label on each container, Delson said. It could instead have a warning sign next to the product in stores. If makers of glyphosate products have to issue cancer warnings in California, they would have a year before that requirement would be enforced. "That year gives them time to either change their labeling or ... hopefully modify their products to make them safer," Delson said. Meanwhile, Monsanto says it will keep appealing California's decision. "This is not the final step in the process, and it has no bearing on the merits of the case," Partridge said. "We will continue to aggressively challenge this improper decision."
An image of the proposed North East Link tunnel, released by the government. Credit:North East Link Authority The route of North East Link. The government's biggest public transport project, the Metro rail tunnel, is budgeted at $11.03 billion. When Labor promised from opposition to build the nine-kilometre twin tunnel between South Yarra and South Kensington it estimated the project would cost $9 billion. Its signature project – the removal of 50 level crossings across Melbourne – had an initial cost estimate of $5 billion to $6 billion. This has since risen to $7.9 billion, including $1 billion in extras such as new stations, cycling and walking paths under a "metropolitan network modernisation program". In all, the three mega-projects are currently projected to cost about $35.4 billion, after being pledged with an initial price tag of between $19 billion and $25 billion. Premier Daniel Andrews toured City Square as a consortium led by Lendlease won the bidding process to build the Metro Rail tunnel. Credit:Darrian Traynor Grattan Institute Transport Program Director Marion Terrill said the cost overruns were in keeping with regular government failures in Australia to keep major transport projects under control. "It's an absolute classic of the genre, which is once there's a commitment [by government] to do something they'll go ahead regardless and the numbers bear no real relationship," Ms Terrill said. The Grattan Institute has released a report arguing governments should hold off on making big transport promises until a business case has been completed that confirms a project's cost and its benefit-cost ratio. Ms Terrill said that the North East Link appeared to be a good project for improving productivity and cutting congestion, but the government should make sure it is financially positive before committing to spend such a vast amount of taxpayers' money. "It would be better for the citizens of Victoria if the state government did a business case and then sought a Commonwealth contribution by going through the Infrastructure Australia assessment process," Ms Terrill said. Shadow minister for cost of living Ryan Smith said the government didn't appear to care that taxpayers would ultimately pay the difference. "These cost blowouts on Labor's projects are measured in the billions, and could pay for any number of essential services that are being overlooked because Labor can't get its sums right," Mr Smith said. Mr Andrews promised in April that the government would build the North East Link if it wins the 2018 state election. He said at the time it would cost $5 billion to $10 billion, based on advice from Infrastructure Victoria. In August, Mr Andrews predicted the road would cost "around $10 billion". Infrastructure Victoria found the benefits of the toll road would outweigh the costs but this assessment was based on the estimated cost of up to $10 billion. A final cost estimate for the road has not been made, but Mr Andrews insisted last week that the road would have a positive benefit-cost ratio. "We are absolutely confident that this project will have a positive benefit-cost ratio," Mr Andrews said. "Not spend a dollar and lose 55 cents. This will be spend a dollar and get at least that much back in benefit, potentially more." One of the chief justifications of Labor's decision to kill the East West Link was its negative benefit-cost ratio of 0.45, meaning the project would have returned just 45 cents for every dollar spent on it. Fairfax Media asked Mr Andrews' office how he knew the North East Link would have a positive benefit-cost ratio, but received no answer to the question. Roads Minister Luke Donnellan said the North East Link would be the longest road tunnel in the state, travelling deep beneath the Yarra River. "As part of the project we'll double the capacity of the Eastern Freeway, removing dozens of bottlenecks and we'll build the long awaited Doncaster Busway," Mr Donnellan said. "The chosen route will cost more because it's been designed to protect homes and sensitive parkland and to deliver even greater benefits to drivers and public transport passengers." In parliament on Tuesday, in response to questions by the Opposition, Mr Donnellan said the government was "going through the process of developing a business case". "We believe this project is a winner," he said. North East Link Authority chief executive Duncan Elliott said the $16.5 billion cost was an early estimate and the final cost would be determined in the business case. "The direct build cost in today's dollars would be far less but for transparency and budgeting purposes the final costs to be confirmed in the business case need to reflect whole-of-project costs out to project completion," Mr Elliott said.
'Lights Out': A Total Knockout Of A Boxing Drama Enlarge this image toggle caption Frank Ockenfels III /FX Frank Ockenfels III /FX I'm not sure what's going on here, but I definitely approve. In the first week of 2011, the Showtime cable network gave us the premiere of Episodes, the Matt LeBlanc comedy that may end up being the best new comedy series of the year. And now, in the second week of 2011, FX gives us Lights Out -- which may well end up, 50 weeks from now, as the best new drama series of the year. This much fresh quality television, so early in the year -- I've never seen anything like it. But I love what I'm seeing. Lights Out, on the surface, has the same basic template as The Fighter, the recent movie starring Mark Wahlberg. That film is about a boxer, his chance at a title shot, and the tough-as-nails, hot-tempered, loose-cannon family that's in his corner -- for good and for bad. It's the same premise in Lights Out, except this time there are other issues involved -- like money and mobsters. Lights Out is created by Warren Leight, who ran season two of In Treatment for HBO. His more significant credit -- and one that applies more directly -- is that he wrote the fabulous Tony Award-winning play Side Man, about a jazz musician and his son. That play really dived into family dynamics in a big way, while also exploring -- and explaining -- an intense type of artistic dedication. And what Side Man did for jazz, Lights Out does for boxing. The star of the TV series is Holt McCallany, playing heavyweight champ Patrick Leary. In the opening scene, his wife Theresa (Catherine McCormack) begs him to retire after a brutal loss in the ring. He does, and the series cuts to five years later. Patrick's ex-boxer brother, played by Pablo Schreiber, is now his business manager, and their father runs a local boxing gym that Patrick bought with his prize money. But that money -- as Patrick admits to his dad, played by a perfectly crusty Stacy Keach -- has all dried up. Enlarge this image toggle caption Greg Gorman/FX Greg Gorman/FX McCallany is totally believable as the former heavyweight; the actor has real experience as a boxer, which is obvious, but he's also got the weary credibility of someone who's been through a lot. For the same reason, I love that Keach was cast as the father. He played a washed-up boxer in Fat City, a movie made way back in 1972, and every line in his face seems to be acting the part. The rest of the supporting cast -- the unsavory characters who help, hurt or tempt along the way -- is just as good. Some of the actors are from The Wire or Oz. Others -- like Bill Irwin, who's usually clowning around, but plays it menacingly straight here as a white-collar mobster -- are impeccably, inventively cast. FX sent out all 13 episodes of this first season for review, and it's obvious why. They keep getting better and better, and the path to the hoped-for comeback bout is anything but straightforward. Each episode ends, at the closing credits, with a boxing-ring bell going off, like it's signaling the end of another round. And often, based on what you've just watched, it feels that way. You'll want to head back to your neutral corner and take a rest. Not only after the scenes that take place inside the ropes, but all of them. Lights Out is that intense -- and that good. David Bianculli is founder and editor of TVWorthWatching.com. He teaches TV and film history at Rowan University in New Jersey.
505 SHARES Facebook Twitter Christ on a Triscuit, PETA! Crap like this is why most people look at you as delusional wackjobs at best, and dangerous fanatics at worst! So here’s the deal: According to some released images of the upcoming Assassin’s Creed 4 for the also upcoming Playstation 4 (specifically, the image above), it seems that at some point or another there is whaling involved. Now, whether this is merely a cut-scene, or a minigame or actual part of the central plot which requires you to engage in virtual whaling is unclear, but the fact that the practice is depicted at all is enough to get PETA’s collective knickers in a twist (for all we know, these could be the game’s VILLAINS doing the whaling!) I suppose this is a step up from two years ago, when they protested Mario’s Tanooki suit under the “Fur Is Murder” doctrine (I swear, that mess was surreal enough to be an Onion article). At least the Assassin’s Creed franchise takes place in the “normal” world (albeit in the past), rather than a fanciful Kingdom of mushroom people and killer turtles. And yes, whaling IS very real, both in the era of Assassin’s Creed 4 and today, and it is a reprehensible, largely prohibited practice. Do not mistake my ridicule of PETA’s batshit insanity for anything resembling the support of whaling. But let’s hear straight from the Equine-American’s mouth, shall we? Whaling—that is, shooting whales with harpoons and leaving them to struggle for an hour or more before they die or are hacked apart while they are still alive—may seem like something out of the history books, but this bloody industry still goes on today in the face of international condemnation, and it’s disgraceful for any game to glorify it. PETA encourages video game companies to create games that celebrate animals—not games that promote hurting and killing them. You know what else is disgraceful? The despicable practice of accepting money, goods, or other compensation in exchange for committing cold-blooded murder–also known as being an assassin….y’know–the thing THE ENTIRE SERIES IS ABOUT!!! But this doesn’t seem to bother PETA in the least. Oh, and before you say it’s because only humans are killed, what about the scores of games that involve killing animals for sport, food, profit, or survival? I can’t count how many wolves I’ve brutally slaughtered in Skyrim, or how many deer and bears I’ve blown away in Red Dead Redemption….where were the champions of animal rights then? Assassin’s Creed 4 is a period game. And during the era it is set, whaling was commonplace and unregulated. If parts of the game featuring seafaring in the northern hemisphere DIDN’T touch upon the subject at least a little, it would be an inaccurate portrait of life on the seas at the time. The idea that whaling in a video game will lead to desensitization to the practice in the real world is as absurd and demonstrably wrong as the repeatedly disproved notion that video game violence encourages players to commit acts of real violence. Source: Blastr Related 505 SHARES Facebook Twitter Category: Videogames, WTF?
For other ships with the same name, see HMS Hawke HMS Hawke, launched in 1891, was the seventh British warship to be named Hawke. She was an Edgar-class protected cruiser. Construction [ edit ] Hawke was laid down at Chatham Dockyard on 17 June 1889, one of nine Edgar-class cruisers ordered for the Royal Navy under the Naval Defence Act 1889, and launched on 11 March 1891.[1] Sea trials in March 1892 were satisfactory, with her engines reaching the required power,[2] and the ship was completed on 16 May 1893.[1] Hawke was 387 feet 6 inches (118.11 m) long overall and 360 feet (109.73 m) between perpendiculars, with a beam of 60 feet (18.29 m) and a draught of 23 feet 9 inches (7.24 m). She displaced 7,350 long tons (7,470 t).[1] Armament consisted of two 9.2 inch guns, on the ships centreline, backed up by ten six-inch guns, of which four were in casemates on the main deck and the remainder behind open shields. Twelve 6-pounder and four 3-pounder guns provided anti-torpedo-boat defences, while four 18 inch torpedo tubes were fitted.[1] The Edgars were protected cruisers, with an arched, armoured deck 5–3 inches (127–76 mm) thick at about waterline level. The casemate armour was 6 inches (152 mm) thick, with 3 inches (76 mm) thick shields for the 9.2 inch guns and 10 inches (254 mm) armour on the ship's conning tower.[1][3] Hawke's machinery was built by Fairfields, with four double-ended cylindrical boilers feeding steam at 150 pounds per square inch (1,000 kPa) to 2 three-cylinder triple expansion engines,[2] which drove two shafts. This gave 12,000 indicated horsepower (8,900 kW) under forced draught, giving a speed of 20 knots (37 km/h; 23 mph).[1] Service [ edit ] On commissioning, Hawke joined the Mediterranean Fleet, remaining on that station for most of the rest of the decade.[4] In early 1897, Hawke deployed to Crete to serve in the International Squadron, a multinational force made up of ships of the Austro-Hungarian Navy, French Navy, Imperial German Navy, Italian Royal Navy (Regia Marina), Imperial Russian Navy, and Royal Navy that intervened in the 1897-1898 Greek uprising on Crete against rule by the Ottoman Empire. The uprising prompted Greece to land a Greek Army expeditionary force of 1,500 men on Crete to support the Cretan insurgency, which in turn precipitated the outbreak of the Greco-Turkish War of 1897, also known as the Thirty Days War, in April 1897. The war ended in a quick and disastrous Greek defeat, and the ceasefire agreement required the Greek Army to withdraw from Crete. Accordingly, the Greek expeditionary force embarked aboard Hawke on 23 May 1897 for transportation to Greece.[5][6] The uprising on Crete continued, however, and the International Squadron continued to operate off Crete until December 1898. In August 1901 Hawke was paid off at Chatham and placed in the Fleet Reserve.[7] In February 1902 she received orders to prepare to convey relief crews to the Cape of Good Hope Station,[8] and she was commissioned for this duty by Captain Algernon Horatio Anson on 1 April.[9] She left Chatham the following week with new crews for the British vessels Forte, Dwarf and Partridge,[10] and arrived at Simon's Town on 10 May.[11] She left South Africa ten days later,[12] stopping at Saint Helena, Ascension, Sierra Leone, Las Palmas and Madeira before she arrived at Plymouth on 16 June 1902.[13] Captain Julian Charles Allix Wilkinson was appointed to the ship on 23 July,[14] but Anson remained in command when she took part in the fleet review held at Spithead on 16 August 1902 for the coronation of King Edward VII.[15] Following the review Anson was still in command when she left Chatham to convey relief crews for the vessels HMS Vulcan, HMS Foam, HMS Bruizer, HMS Dragon, and HMS Boxer, all serving on the Mediterranean Station.[16] She arrived at the station head quarter at Malta on 27 August.[17] Wilkinson had taken the command when she returned to Chatham the following month with the relieved crews of the Vulcan, Boxer, Bruiser, and Foam.[18] She paid off into the A division of the Fleet Reserve at Chatham on 4 October 1902.[19] In November 1904, Hawke became Boy's Training Ship as part of the 4th Cruiser Squadron, serving in that role until August 1906, when she joined the torpedo school at Sheerness. In 1907, Hawke joined the Home Fleet.[4][20] Collision with the liner Olympic [ edit ] Olympic (left) and Hawke (right) following their collision Drawings documenting the damage to(left) and(right) following their collision On 20 September 1911, Hawke, under command of Commander W.F. Blunt, collided in the Solent with the White Star ocean liner RMS Olympic. In the course of the collision, Hawke lost her bow. (This was replaced by a straight bow). The subsequent trial pronounced Hawke to be free from any blame. During the trial, a theory was advanced that the large amount of water displaced by Olympic had generated a suction that had drawn Hawke off course. The White Star Line lost on appeal.[21] Sinking [ edit ] In February 1913, Hawke joined the training squadron based at Queenstown, Ireland (now known as Cobh), where she served along with most of the rest of the Edgar class. In August 1914, on the outbreak of the First World War, Hawke, together with the other Edgars from Queenstown, formed the 10th Cruiser Squadron, operating on blockade duties between the Shetland Islands and Norway.[22][23][24] In October 1914, the 10th Cruiser Squadron was deployed further south in the North Sea as part of efforts to stop German warships from attacking a troop convoy from Canada. On 15 October, the squadron was on patrol off Aberdeen, deployed in line abreast at intervals of about 10 miles. Hawke stopped at 9:30 am to pick up mail from sister ship Endymion. After recovering her boat with the mail, Hawke proceeded at 13 knots (24 km/h; 15 mph) without zig-zagging to regain her station, and was out of sight of the rest of the Squadron when at 10:30 a single torpedo from the German submarine U-9 (which had sunk three British cruisers on 22 September), struck Hawke, which quickly capsized. The remainder of the squadron only realised anything was amiss, when, after a further, unsuccessful attack on Theseus, the squadron was ordered to retreat at high speed to the northwest, and no response to the order was received from Hawke. The destroyer Swift was dispatched from Scapa Flow to search for Hawke and found a raft carrying one officer and twenty-one men, while a boat with a further forty-nine survivors was rescued by a Norwegian steamer.[25][26][27] 524 officers and men died,[20] including the ship's captain, Hugh P. E. T. Williams, with only 70 survivors (one man died of his wounds on 16 October).[25][28] Citations [ edit ] References [ edit ] Coordinates:
Key points DLC is not directly accessible from the main menu. Editing .ini files prevents Dunwall City Trials scores to be posted to the leaderboards[1] Generally regarded as a high-quality PC port.[2][3] General information Availability [ edit ] All versions require Steam DRM . Version differences [ edit ] Definitive Edition (formerly Game of the Year Edition) includes the base game and all DLC. Downloadable content (DLC) and expansions Name Notes Dunwall City Trials The Brigmore Witches The Knife of Dunwall Void Walker Arsenal Essential improvements [ edit ] Skip intro videos [ edit ] Use the -nostartupmovies command line argument[4] Use the Display/Hide HUD [ edit ] Instructions [citation needed] Instructions Go to the configuration file(s) location. Open DishonoredInput.ini . Add this line m_PCBindings=(Name="F6",Command="ShowHUD true") Press F6 to hide or display HUD. Removing the HUD also eliminates the letterbox in cutscenes.[5] Increase texture detail at larger distances (disable mipmapping) [ edit ] Instructions [citation needed] Instructions Go to the configuration file(s) location. Open DishonoredEngine.ini . To disable mipmapping for world-textures (which should be most noticable), find the line TEXTUREGROUP_World=(MinLODSize=256,MaxLODSize=2048,LODBias=0) and replace it with TEXTUREGROUP_World=(MinLODSize=256,MaxLODSize=2048,LODBias=0,NumStreamedMips=0) Similarly, to disable mipmapping for any other texture group, simply append NumStreamedMips=0 inside the parentheses, making sure to add the needed comma(s). Stop bodies from disappearing [ edit ] Increase Default Number of Bodies In Areas [citation needed] Increase Default Number of Bodies In Areas Open <path-to-game> \DishonoredGame\Config\DefaultAI.ini Modify the values of m_CorpseAbsoluteMaximumCount=10 and m_CorpseIdealMaximumCount=5 as necessary. Mute Note/Book Reading Ambient Sound Effect [ edit ] Mute Note/Book Reading SE [citation needed] Mute Note/Book Reading SE Go to <path-to-game> \DishonoredGame\CookedPCConsole\ To mute the sound effect simply rename the file Bank_UI_Ingame_Note.pck to something else, such as Bank_UI_Ingame_Note.backup Mute all Powers Sound Effects [ edit ] Mute Powers SFX [citation needed] Mute Powers SFX Go to <path-to-game> \DishonoredGame\CookedPCConsole\ To mute the sound effect simply rename the file Bank_Power_Player.pck to something else, such as Bank_Power_Player.backup Change sprint/run from hold to toggle [ edit ] Change default sprint/run behavior from a hold to a toggle, activated while moving, no need to hold down button [citation needed] Change default sprint/run behavior from a hold to a toggle, activated while moving, no need to hold down button Go to the configuration file(s) location. Open DishonoredInput.ini . Find a line that resembles m_PCBindings=(Name="LeftShift",Command="GBA_Sprint") Alter the line so that it reads m_PCBindings=(Name="LeftShift",Command="GBA_Sprint \| DisToggleSprint TRUE") Save the file, it is recommended to make it read-only to prevent the game from resetting it. Game data [ edit ] In-game general settings. Configuration file(s) location [ edit ] Editing any of the .ini files prevents Dunwall City Trials scores to be posted to the leaderboards.[1] Save game data location [ edit ] The normal version uses 205100 ; the RHCP (Russian, Hungarian, Czech, Polish) version uses 217980 Maximum of 40 manual save slots + 9 automatic mission saves + 2 autosave slots + 1 quicksave slot. DLCs have a separate save slot limit. System Native Notes Steam Cloud Syncs save games and settings. Video settings [ edit ] In-game video settings. In-game resolution settings. Use FOV Hack[10] Use FOV Hack Download Dishonored FOV Hack. Put version.dll and fov.ini in <path-to-game> \Binaries\Win32\ . Edit fov.ini to your preference. Add FOV hotkey[5] Add FOV hotkey Go to the configuration file(s) location. Open DishonoredInput.ini . Go down to the line m_PCBindings=(Name="Zero",Command="GBA_Shortcut_9") Add a new line below it: m_PCBindings=(Name="F4",Command="FOV 120") Change 120 to the FOV you want and save your changes. Press F4 during gameplay to use the new FOV. Changing Anisotropic Filtering level [citation needed] Changing Anisotropic Filtering level Go to the configuration file(s) location. Open DishonoredEngine.ini . Change MaxAnisotropy=4 to MaxAnisotropy=16 Save your changes. Change frame rate smoothing [citation needed] Change frame rate smoothing Go to the configuration file(s) location. Open DishonoredEngine.ini . Search and change bSmoothFrameRate to FALSE or raise MaxSmoothedFrameRate value. Save file. For more information, see the Unreal Engine 3 page. Ambient Occlusion [ edit ] HBAO+[11][12] HBAO+ This method only works on Nvidia graphics cards. Open the Dishonored Nvidia profile with NVIDIA Profile Inspector. Change Ambient Occlusion compatibility value to 0x0000002F . Change Ambient Occlusion setting to Quality . Change Ambient Occlusion usage to Enabled . Press "Apply Changes" in the top-right corner. Input settings [ edit ] Dishonored's keyboard shortcuts. In-game key map settings. In-game gamepad layout settings. In-game gamepad settings. Audio settings [ edit ] In-game audio settings. Audio options Native Notes Separate volume controls Surround sound 5.1 but center channel is flaky[13] Subtitles Closed captions Mute on focus lost Localizations Language UI Audio Sub Notes English Czech French German Hungarian Italian Polish Russian Available here. Spanish Independent UI and dubbing/captioning [ edit ] Instructions[14] Instructions Make sure the actual game language is that you want the interface to be in (for ease XXX) Go to <path-to-game> \DishonoredGame\Localization\ Copy language-code folder to %USERPROFILE% \ Documents \My Games\Dishonored\DishonoredGame\Localization\ Go to <path-to-game> \Engine\Localization\ Copy language-code folder to %USERPROFILE% \ Documents \My Games\Dishonored\Engine\Localization\ Set the game in the language you want the voices and the captions to be in (for ease YYY) Change both the previous folders names from original XXX to your new language code YYY Do the same with the extensions of every file inside each of them. Notes Allowed language codes are: CZE , DEU , ESN , FRA , HUN , INT , ITA , POL and RUS . To batch rename every file inside a folder open cmd into that folder and type ren .XXX .YYY VR support [ edit ] Issues unresolved [ edit ] Knife of Dunwall: Crashing during the third act [ edit ] The DLC appears to crash a lot for people in the third act, no solution. Possible solution: Crash during third act [citation needed] Crash during third act Go to the end of the act and talk to Billie Lurk. When Billie Lurk ask you to exit the level...you say "NO". Save the game. Go and talk to Billie Lurk again. Say "Yes" and exit the level. Knife of Dunwall: Low resolution textures on butchers [ edit ] The game is using the low detail textures on butchers instead of the high detail textures. Knife of Dunwall: Missing 2D image files [ edit ] Generic placeholder images are replacing some 2D icons and images in-game.[15] Game crash at startup [ edit ] Some users report that turning Steam Cloud off and on again solves the problem. Game crash at startup [citation needed] Game crash at startup Go to the save game data location. Delete remotecache.vdf . Disable Steam Cloud (close settings window). Enable Steam Cloud (close settings window). Let Steam sync your saved games. Launch Dishonored. Issues fixed [ edit ] Screen turns white or very bright randomly during gameplay [ edit ] Bright screen bug Fix white/bright screen [citation needed] Fix white/bright screen Right-click on Dishonored in the Steam client and click Properties. Uncheck Enable the Steam Overlay while in-game. "First time setup" runs every time game is started [ edit ] Instructions [citation needed] Instructions Run the following from the command line: reg add HKLM\SOFTWARE\ Wow6432Node \Valve\Steam\Apps\205100 /v PhysXRedist /t REG_DWORD /d 1 /f Or simply run Steam as administrator and start the game. Accept all installation requests. After closing and restarting the game without running as an administrator, the dialogs will be gone. Texture Pop-in When Switching Weapons [ edit ] Instructions [citation needed] Instructions Go to the configuration file(s) location. Open DishonoredEngine.ini . Change the values of both MipFadeInSpeed0 and MipFadeInSpeed1 to 0 Please note that unless the high quality texture can be loaded right away by your computer, this can make the texture pop-in even more noticeable, since it only disable the fade that is meant to hide the transition from low to high quality texture. Controller hotplugging does not work [ edit ] Run the game as an administrator, as detailed here. Game options cannot be saved or loaded when using a controller [ edit ] The game forces you to pick either keyboard/mouse or controller when you first open the main menu. Everything works fine with keyboard and mouse; however, with a controller, while the settings can be changed, they will never be saved and the game will reload the default settings every time a save file is loaded. Run the game executable as an administrator once [citation needed] Run the game executable as an administrator once Go to <path-to-game> \Binaries\Win32\ . Right click Dishonored.exe and hit "Run as Administrator". Steam should install some DirectX files, then the game will launch. Use a controller to enter the main menu and set your options. When you've changed your options and backed out, it should save them. From now on you should be able to save and load your options with a controller, even without running the game as adminstrator. Other information [ edit ] API [ edit ] Technical specs Supported Notes Direct3D 9 Shader Model support 3 64-bit executable Middleware [ edit ] Middleware Notes Physics PhysX Audio Wwise Interface Scaleform Cutscenes Bink Video System requirements [ edit ] Windows Minimum Recommended Operating system (OS) Vista, 7 32-bit Vista, 7 64-bit Processor (CPU) Dual Core 3.0 GHz Quad Core 2.4 GHz System memory (RAM) 3 GB 4 GB Hard disk drive (HDD) 9 GB Video card (GPU) AMD Radeon HD 5850 Nvidia GeForce GTX 460 512 MB of VRAM DirectX 9.0c compatible AMD Radeon HD 5850 Nvidia GeForce GTX 460 768 MB of VRAM Although official system requirements show Windows Vista as a minimum, the game does run on Windows XP.[16] Notes
Israeli forces demolished two Palestinian homes on Tuesday in an East Jerusalem neighborhood that has been at the heart of clashes between Israeli police and Palestinian protesters, a move likely to exacerbate weeks of tension in the holy city. Authorities knocked down the buildings near the district of Abu Tor, southeast of the Old City, in the early hours, saying they had been built without construction permits. “At 5 o’clock this morning, around 90 policemen and two bulldozers kicked us out of the house and started destroying it without letting us take any of our belongings,” Hamza Abu Rajab, owner of one of the buildings, told Reuters. He said his extended family of 17 was now homeless. Jerusalem’s municipality said it had carried out two demolition orders on partially-built structures put up without permits in an area where building is banned. “The municipality enforces the law against illegal building equally, in all parts of the city,” it said. Tension has deepened in the Silwan and Abu Tor districts in recent months, with almost nightly clashes between Palestinians throwing rocks and setting off firecrackers and heavily armed Israeli police firing stun grenades and tear gas. The unrest has grown since the July-August war in Gaza and the movement of dozens of Jewish settlers into Silwan in recent weeks. A push by Orthodox Jews to be allowed to pray at an Old City site that is holy to both Muslims and Jews, in defiance of a decades-long ban agreed by Israel, has also fueled anger. In Abu Tor, clashes escalated last week after Israeli police killed a local man suspected of having shot and seriously wounded a right-wing Israeli activist who has called for Jews to be allowed to pray at the contested holy site, known to Muslims as the Noble Sanctuary and to Jews as Temple Mount. A Palestinian official responsible for Jerusalem said the difficulty in getting housing permits applied unfairly to East Jerusalem’s mainly Arab residents. Locals frequently tell of years of struggle to secure a permit that takes a few weeks for Jewish residents in the western side of the city. “This incident is part of an attempt to punish Arab Jerusalemites in various ways,” Ahmed Rwaidi said. “Why else are there building permits available in West Jerusalem and no demolitions there?” Palestinians seek Jerusalem, the West Bank and Gaza - lands captured and occupied by Israel after the 1967 war - for their future state. Citing historical and Biblical roots, Israel regards all of Jerusalem as its capital and has annexed it in a move that is not accepted internationally. This story "Israel Demolishes Palestinian Homes in Flashpoint East Jerusalem Neighborhood" was written by Reuters.
Sydney University's Faculty of Architecture and Design is showcasing students' work with a bartending cocktail robot. As it whirrs and spins in a noisy bar setting in the faculty's labs, the robot's arm flies from one liquor dispenser to the next along a rack of 20 bottles. Whether it's following a cocktail recipe or not seems irrelevant to the throng of student patrons waiting 10-deep for a drink. They're a thirsty mob and the drinks are free. The bow tie around the "hand" of the robotic arm adds that little bit of class as it steadily pours eight drinks in a row without spilling a drop. Recent graduate Samantha Horlyck twitches as she recalls the hours of tedious programming and tweaking. "The most difficult thing was getting the pour right which involved a lot of tweaking with the degrees of the pour and also the timing." That's a skill that should hold a young architect in good stead for the future. Just replace Long Island Iced Tea with pouring a concrete slab at Australia's next Pritzker prize-winning construction.
Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption Alexandra Deutsch, from the Maryland Historical Society, tells the BBC how America got its national anthem On the bicentennial of America's declaration of war against the United Kingdom, the BBC's Joan Soley says the War of 1812 still resonates today. If someone stopped you on the street at this exact moment and asked you to explain what the War of 1812 was about, could you explain? You would not be alone if you couldn't. When asked, my father said: "I have a hunch it involved men in red coats, American Indians and Daniel Day-Lewis." (He had two out of three.) While generally being relegated to history books and classrooms, the War of 1812, also known as America's second war for independence, was important - and it still matters. An audacious declaration Two hundred years ago this Monday, American President James Madison signed a declaration of war against Great Britain. The first time the United States had declared war against another nation, it was not an action that enjoyed unanimous support in Congress. Image caption Enthusiasts in Maryland reenact a skirmish from the War of 1812 The reasons for war included the British habit of forcing American merchant sailors into the Royal Navy, as well as trade restrictions on the US as a side-effect of Britain's seemingly endless war with France. Another factor was British support for Native Americans as they fought against the US government's westward expansion. In short, the United States had had enough of British meddling in North America - and for the young nation, national pride was at stake. So the US went to war, and over the course of the two-and-a-half-year conflict, they fought Canadian colonists, Native American tribes, and the British - an audacious move against the world's largest navy at the time. From a US perspective, what made the war "important" is readily visible today. Internally, the American national anthem and flag got their beginnings from the attack on Fort McHenry during the Battle of Baltimore in 1814. Externally, the mutually beneficial "special relationship" that has grown between Great Britain and the United States since that period developed in the aftermath of the war that pitted those nations against one another. Star-spangled story The Battle of Baltimore stands out as a turning point during the War of 1812. Weeks before the attack, the British had burned most of the buildings in Washington, DC - including the White House and the Capitol building. At Fort McHenry, a few miles to the north, about 1,000 soldiers under the command of Major George Armistead prepared for a British naval attack. As part of their preparation, they sank some of their own merchant ships near Baltimore Harbour to limit the sailing abilities of their attackers. Once underway, the British naval attack on the fort lasted 25 hours. But the fort held. This was an enormous accomplishment, as Alexandra Deutsch from the Maryland Historical Society told me this past week. Not only was it a crucial military victory, it also helped develop an American anthem: the flag above the fort inspired a lawyer by the name of Francis Scott Key to write a poem in tribute. Set to the tune of an old drinking song, his words became an anthem - The Star-Spangled Banner. In Baltimore, the War of 1812 still has a special meaning. This year, international ships travelled to the city's port as part of an event called the "Sailabration", which marked Baltimore's place in the war. During the singing of the national anthem, Martha, an 82-year-old from outside of Baltimore, was visibly moved. "I feel it every time. I have lived here all my life and I am proud of where I'm from," she says. "When I see the news and think about everything I've seen in my lifetime, the world is so complicated. But I'm part of something big and bold, and we may not always agree but we are all Americans." Friendship forged in fire Speaking volumes about the modern relationship between the US and Great Britain, Prime Minister David Cameron and his wife made their first official foreign trip this year in March, and it was to the United States. As President Barack Obama joked during his public welcoming remarks: "It's now been 200 years since the British came here to the White House under somewhat different circumstances. They made quite an impression, they really lit up the place!" Jokes aside, the two countries have come a long way from the War of 1812. Even after the conflict ended, tensions continued between the two nations in the 19th Century, but by the 20th Century they had established a valuable partnership of trust and support. From the occupation of Europe during World War II to today in Afghanistan, Great Britain and the US tend to globally present a united front. As Martha from Baltimore said as she watched the anniversary "Sailabration", the world is complicated. Simply put, the importance of an international friendship such as this looks as vital now as it ever was.
My SS sent me a message telling me to expect a package from Amazon, so I had envisaged the atypical brown amazon parcel. So when the postie dropped of a blue wrapped package on Saturday, I thought something i'd ordered had arrived. After opening the package and wondering 'when did i order a bacon press?.. wait i don't even know what a bacon press is' it struck me, that this was my SS gift! After reading the box and realising how awesome this present was, I had to try it. Unfortunately, I was busy on Saturday, so I rushed out to get some fry-up ingredients on Sunday morning and proceeded to cook some fantastic bacon. The press stops the bacon curling whilst it's frying, and the 'cast iron' nature of it, means it cooks the top whilst the frying pan cooks the bottom resulting in perfectly formed, perfectly cooked bacon! Thanks to my anonymous secret santa, for the most unusual, and most awesome christmas gift!
So that's big news. Very big. Robert Cruickshank, author of the California High Speed Rail Blog, calls it "perhaps the best news California HSR has had in over five years," and he would know. Now it's done just that. The state's new budget secures high-speed rail 25 percent of California cap-and-trade revenue each year moving forward — revenue described by the Sacramento Bee as "money polluters pay to offset carbon emissions." Reports estimate the deal could eventually deliver between $3 billion and $5 billion in annual funding to the country's most ambitious transportation project. It's been clear for some time that California would have to find another way to pay for its high-speed rail line between Los Angeles and San Francisco. Federal funding dried up after the 2010 midterm elections, when conservative opposition overwhelmed President Obama's national high-speed rail plan. When a court questioned the project's funding plan last fall, many observers felt California would need to put up even more of its own money . What makes the deal so significant is that the rail authority now has a steady funding source to borrow against. The project can take out a federal loan, for instance, or see if the prospect of future public money encourages private investors to put up their own cash. The Associated Press reports that nine "major engineering and construction firms" have written letters supporting the deal: AECOM, a Los Angeles-based engineering firm, wrote that multiyear funding "sufficient to move the project forward on a more aggressive timeline, would attract our firm and private sector competitors from around the world." This being the California high-speed rail project, not everyone is happy. Republican lawmakers are certainly no fans of the deal, and Congressman Kevin McCarthy — who appears poised to become U.S. House Majority Leader — has vowed not to give the project "one dollar" of federal money. Some Democrats and environmentalists oppose the deal, too. One Democratic state senator who helped author the state's greenhouse gas legislation told the AP the high-speed rail project doesn't have enough short-term environmental benefit to deserve so much cap-and-trade funding. The Sierra Club voiced a similar sentiment to Stephen Smith of Next City in January, when rumors of budget deal surfaced, saying it felt "irresponsible" not to devote emissions revenue to programs that fight climate change right now. These points are well-taken; the quicker California (and everyone) can reduce emissions, the better. But short-term transportation fixes won't mean as much without the long-term plans to back them up. It's important to keep in mind that if California high-speed rail lives up to its potential it won't just offer people another travel option in the L.A.-S.F. corridor, it will change the way many people in that region think about transportation in the first place. That's a long way off. For now it's enough to know that, for the first time in a long time, what's clear is not the need for the project to take a new direction but rather the need to follow the current one.
Why Would a Distributor Buy a Movie Without Seeing It? Kino Lorber’s acquisition of Bruno Dumont’s Cannes entry “Slack Bay” last week was in many ways a typical purchase for the distributor (which previously released Dumont’s “Flanders” and “Humanité”), with one major exception: nobody from the company had actually seen the film. The deal marks the first time Kino Lorber has pre-bought a movie in many years and signals just how competitive the environment has become for independent distributors looking for films out of Cannes. READ MORE: Cannes Wish List: 44 Films We Hope Make the Festival’s 2016 Lineup “It was something we wouldn’t do in the ordinary course of business, but with our long relationship with Bruno and appreciation for his talent, I just felt it was a risk worth taking,” said Kino Lorber president and CEO Richard Lorber. “We didn’t anticipate that it would be such a competitive frenzy over the competition films, which was unprecedented.” Amazon has the rights to five titles on this year’s list, while IFC Films and sister company Sundance Selects nabbed a combined four. Lorber purchased all North American rights to the offbeat comedy “Slack Bay” having read the script and seen a few select clips. So what gave him the confidence to acquire the movie at such an early stage? “The script was a blast,” Lorber said, adding that he was falling down laughing while also being fascinated by the political and philosophical messages of the story. “Bruno has been able to transform a very dark and almost malevolent vision into something that has become even more profound as he tuned it with comedy.” One of the advantages to pre-buying the film is having the opportunity to drive the promotional awareness earlier in the film’s lifecycle, Lorber said. “We’ll have the eyes of the world on this film and that will echo powerfully,” he explained, adding that the spike in competition is also creating a new set of conditions for independent distributors. “We’ll have to buy earlier in the cycle now because of how crowded theaters are and the requirement to set up at least six months in advance.” Because of the dearth of available films in the official sections at Cannes, Lorber said he expects a strong level activity around titles being shopped in the marketplace, which he said should have a plentiful selection of quality films. “Sometimes they weren’t selected for Cannes just because they had a premiere in Berlin or Sundance or another festival,” he said. Though none of Dumont’s previous films have been major hits at the box office — including Cannes Grand Jury Prize winners “Flanders” and “Humanité” — “Slack Bay” represents a different commercial opportunity for the director due to its comedic sensibility, according to Lorber. “We think this will generate a lot of interest,” he said, “and hopefully some revenues.” Stay on top of the latest out of Cannes! Sign up for our festival email newsletter here. Sign Up: Stay on top of the latest breaking film and TV news! Sign up for our Email Newsletters here.
WikiLeaks resumed its “October surprise” email releases targeting Hillary Clinton’s inner circle on Wednesday. The controversial organization released a fourth round of Clinton campaign chairman John Podesta’s private emails. One of the big mysteries to emerge out of the latest email dump is the identity of an apparent CNN source that was caught leaking internal information about the network to a top Clinton Foundation official In March of 2015, Craig Minassian, chief communications officer at the Clinton Foundation, wrote to Hillary Clinton’s traveling press secretary Nick Merrill to pass along some inside information from “our favorite CNN source.” https://twitter.com/jason_howerton/status/786217474316390400 He ended the email with a warning: “Now she obviously shouldn’t be telling me this so please don’t burn the source or Madre may pay the price.” “This is nuts,” Merrill replied. The disclosure, that CNN was looking into speculation of Clinton’s secret upcoming interview with MSNBC’s Andrea Mitchell, is certainly not groundbreaking. However, the bigger issue here is the fact that CNN appears to have had more than one leak aimed at helping Hillary Clinton in the lead up to the 2016 election, according to the emails. So who exactly is Madre? At first glance, it could be a codename, possibly of the CNN source. But could it be a nickname for Clinton or someone else? Anything is possible. Previously released emails showed that then-CNN contributor Donna Brazile appeared to tip off the Clinton campaign to a death penalty question that was set to be asked during a CNN town hall earlier this year. Politico reported on Wednesday that Brazile somehow obtained the exact wording of the question before even CNN: 19 states and the District of Columbia have banned the death penalty. 31 states, including Ohio, still have the death penalty. According to the National Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty, since 1973, 156 people have been on death row and later set free. Since 1976, 1,414 people have been executed in the U.S. That’s 11% of Americans who were sentenced to die, but later exonerated and freed. Should Ohio and the 30 other states join the current list and abolish the death penalty? “Yes, it is one she gets asked about,” Clinton campaign communications director Jennifer Palmieri wrote. “Not everyone likes her answer but can share it. Betsaida – can you send her answer on death penalty?” It’s also noteworthy that Clinton officials even have a “favorite” CNN source in the first place. Journalists are supposed to have sources — they aren’t supposed to be sources for presidential campaigns.
Iraqi counterterrorism service vehicles advance toward the Yabasat neighborhood on Thursday during their ongoing offensive to push Islamic State jihadis out of Mosul. Ahmad al-Rubaye/AFP/Getty Images The U.S.–led military coalition in Iraq is investigating reports that as many as 200 civilians were killed in recent airstrikes it carried out in Mosul. In the meantime, Iraqi military leaders have called for a pause in the push to retake Mosul from ISIS as things get clerared up. For now, the Pentagon has said that an initial review confirmed that airstrikes did take place on March 17 at locations where lots of civilians were reportedly killed when buildings collapsed. Investigators are now trying to determine whether the buildings collapsed because of the airstrikes or whether ISIS used the airstrikes “as an opportunity to detonate an explosive in the building,” reports the New York Times. A local lawmaker and two residents claim the airstrikes may have detonated an ISIS truck filled with explosives that was in the area, and that’s what caused several surrounding buildings to collapse. The U.S.–led coalition said on Saturday that it had carried out the airstrikes at the request of Iraqi forces. “The Coalition respects human life, which is why we are assisting our Iraqi partner forces in their effort to liberate their lands from ISIS brutality,” according to a statement. “Our goal has always been for zero civilian casualties, but the Coalition will not abandon our commitment to our Iraqi partners because of ISIS’s inhuman tactics terrorizing civilians, using human shields, and fighting from protected sites such as schools, hospitals, religious sites and civilian neighborhoods.” Rescue workers have pulled more than 140 bodies from the rubble of three buildings that collapsed in the aftermath of the airstrikes, and dozens more are thought to remain buried. If confirmed, it could mean the March 17 airstrikes were among the deadliest for civilians since the United States first invaded Iraq in 2003. The increasing concern about casualties in Mosul comes as senior military leaders are also investigating claims of large numbers of civilian deaths in two separate airstrikes in Syria. In total, as many as 350 civilians may have been killed, according to NBC News.
Woohoo! Welcome to the first give away on my page! I will be giving away a copy of Everything Everything by Nicola Yoon Blurb My disease is as rare as it is famous. Basically, I’m allergic to the world. I don’t leave my house, have not left my house in seventeen years. The only people I ever see are my mom and my nurse, Carla. But then one day, a moving truck arrives next door. I look out my window, and I see him. He’s tall, lean and wearing all black—black T-shirt, black jeans, black sneakers, and a black knit cap that covers his hair completely. He catches me looking and stares at me. I stare right back. His name is Olly. Maybe we can’t predict the future, but we can predict some things. For example, I am certainly going to fall in love with Olly. It’s almost certainly going to be a disaster. Win Win WIN! a Rafflecopter giveaway >
Coming Soon Avatar The Last Airbender Long ago, the four nations lived in harmony. Then, everything changed. The animated show's original creators helm a live-action take on Aang's story. Guillermo Del Toro Presents 10 After Midnight Acclaimed Academy Award-winning filmmaker Guillermo del Toro curates this collection of sinister stories, each more horrifying than the next. Chip & Potato A loveable pug and her mouse BFF start kindergarten, welcome new siblings and learn to become part of their community in this series for preschoolers. Juanita Burdened by troubles in life and love, a mother of three grown children searches for hope and healing on an impromptu trip to Paper Moon, Montana. Special A gay man with mild cerebral palsy decides to rewrite his identity as an accident victim and finally go after the life he wants. Beats An agoraphobic hip-hop prodigy and a disgraced former music manager cross paths in Chicago’s South Side and help each other face demons of their pasts. SAINT SEIYA: Knights of the Zodiac Seiya and the Knights of the Zodiac vow to protect the reincarnated Greek goddess Athena in her battle against evil forces bent on destroying humanity. Rilakkuma and Kaoru Kaoru's unexpected new roommate is Rilakkuma, a bear with a zipper on its back that spends each day just lazing around -- but is impossible to hate.
Darian Grubb knows that as long as he doesn't have a job for 2015, his name will be among those speculated for the Dale Earnhardt Jr. crew-chief opening at Hendrick Motorsports. Grubb worked at Hendrick for six years, winning the 2006 Daytona 500 as interim crew chief for Jimmie Johnson, who went on to win the Cup title that year with Grubb as his lead engineer. Grubb won another Cup race as a crew chief with Casey Mears at Hendrick and eventually moved to Stewart-Haas Racing, which has a technical alliance with Hendrick, to crew chief Tony Stewart. Stewart won the Cup title in 2011 with Grubb calling the shots — and with Grubb already having been informed that his contract wasn't being renewed. Since then, Grubb has been crew chief for Denny Hamlin. They had success their first year together with five wins but last year was a struggle after Hamlin missed four races with a broken back and the team seemed a little out of sync. Grubb is in the final year of his JGR contract, and Hendrick needs a crew chief for Earnhardt when Steve Letarte leaves for the NBC booth after this season. "I'm sure my name will come up (in the rumor mill) at some point because I have a lot of friends there and worked with those guys for nine years," Grubb said Thursday. "I'm sure it will get tossed around a few times. "But the Joe Gibbs Racing organization has been really good to me, and I had a lot of fun working with Denny, so I've got to see how everything plays out for the season." Joe Gibbs Racing president J.D. Gibbs dismissed the speculation of Grubb reunion at Hendrick. "We definitely want Darian to stay at JGR," Gibbs said. "I don't see that happening. Winning at the end of the season at Homestead was great and they're both really excited for 2014." One name that can be taken off the table is Brad Keselowski crew chief Paul Wolfe, who signed a contract extension through 2017 with Penske Racing earlier this month, FoxSports.com reported and the team confirmed.
John McCain’s statement adds to the air of inevitability on Capitol Hill surrounding the 9/11 bill. \| Getty McCain will vote to override veto of 9/11 bill Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman John McCain will vote to override President Barack Obama’s veto of legislation that would allow families of the victims of the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks to sue Saudi Arabia — defying warnings from military officials that it could put U.S. troops at risk. McCain’s decision to back the Justice Against Sponsors of Terrorism Act is also a notable break from his usual hawkish allies on the Capitol. House Armed Services Committee Chairman Mac Thornberry of Texas has circulated a letter urging Republicans to sustain Obama’s veto, while close friend Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) has also voiced concerns and worked behind the scenes on potential tweaks to the bill — but with little success. Story Continued Below “I plan to vote to override the president’s veto of the Justice Against Sponsors of Terrorism Act,” McCain said in a statement to POLITICO. “Going forward, I will continue to work with my colleagues in the Senate to ensure that American military, intelligence, and diplomatic personnel are protected from any potential retaliatory lawsuits and that the implementation of this law is true to its narrow intent.” Earlier Tuesday, McCain had declined to say where he could come down on the JASTA vote scheduled in the Senate for Wednesday, noting: “I have got to look at what the alternatives are.” McCain’s statement adds to the air of inevitability on Capitol Hill surrounding the 9/11 bill, which was formally vetoed by Obama last week but is expected to easily clinch the two-thirds support from Congress needed to override a presidential veto. It would be Obama’s first veto successfully overridden by Congress. Still, top Obama administration officials have tried to exert last-minute pressure on lawmakers to help sustain Obama’s veto. For instance, Secretary of State John Kerry has had several conversations with Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Bob Corker (R-Tenn.), who has been one of the senators most skeptical of the bill. Gen. Joe Dunford, the top U.S. military official, weighed in Tuesday with a letter, obtained by POLITICO, outlining his concerns for U.S. service members and “risks to the close security cooperation relationships” with allies. And Defense Secretary Ash Carter fired off another warning to Congress, arguing that legislation has “potentially harmful consequences for the Department of Defense and its personnel.” "While we are sympathetic to the intent of JASTA, its potential second- and third-order consequences could be devastating to the department and its service members and could undermine our important counterterrorism efforts abroad," Carter wrote in the letter, obtained by POLITICO. On Tuesday, McCain’s Democratic counterpart on the Armed Services Committee, Sen. Jack Reed of Rhode Island, acknowledged the administration's concerns. “I’m looking closely at two significant issues,” Reed said. “One is that the families are looking not for any type of award, they’re looking for accountability as much as anything else. On the other side, is the real possibility this will be used against us and our troops and servicemen, and I’m trying to balance that.” McCain’s Democratic opponent, Rep. Ann Kirkpatrick, also plans to vote to override Obama’s veto, she said in a statement earlier this month. Kirkpatrick’s campaign has also raised Saudi Arabia as a campaign issue. As the Senate debated a vote to block a Saudi arms sale last week, her campaign accused McCain of having ties to the Saudi government through a donation to the McCain Institute. Even lawmakers who have voiced concerns say there is little question the Senate is set to easily override Obama’s veto. Corker and Graham had started to discuss a potential change to the legislation that would narrow its scope to just the families of the victims of the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks, according to congressional sources. Right now, JASTA applies to any foreign government found liable for terrorism conducted on U.S. soil – although the main target of the legislation has largely been viewed as Saudi Arabia and its alleged role in the terror attacks 15 years ago. Fifteen of the 19 hijackers were Saudi nationals. Speaking with reporters, Corker said limiting JASTA to just Sept. 11 victims was the “easiest” way to narrow the legislation, but it was still facing opposition from JASTA supporters. He predicted that lawmakers may push to pass a legislative fix to the 9/11 bill in the lame-duck session, after observing any potential “blowback” the United States ends up facing from foreign governments over the next several weeks. “This isn’t to me about Saudi Arabia,” Corker said. “It’s the blowback to us because we’re the most involved in the world. You end up exporting your foreign policy to trial lawyers, right? … What you’re really doing here is potentially exporting big issues to trial lawyers away from our own abilities as a government to conduct foreign policy. That’s an issue.” Though the veto override appears like a done deal, there was a clear and palpable sense of buyer’s remorse percolating among key lawmakers as the Senate barreled toward the key vote on Wednesday. Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah), a senior member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, noted that he himself was a co-sponsor of JASTA. Still, that wasn’t stopping him from having second thoughts as the prospect of the legislation turning into law became a reality. “I’m worried about getting into a tremendous legal morass that can really cost this country, not just locally but by other countries across the world,” Hatch said. “I have to say, I don’t think we had enough time to consider all the ramifications. There are a lot of ramifications.” Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), the top Democrat on the Senate Intelligence Committee, also reiterated her concerns: “The more I think from an intelligence perspective, it’s the wrong thing to do.” Still, other senators appeared to have little change of heart ahead of the high-profile vote on Wednesday. “The vote passed overwhelmingly here in the Senate and the House,” said Sen. Deb Fischer (R-Neb.). “I supported it at the time. I haven’t seen anything that would change my mind.”
They say two wrongs don't make a right, and consumers are about to get proof of that with the merger of Comcast and Time Warner Cable. The $45 billion merger announced Thursday might be a win for both companies, but it will be no victory for their combined 30 million customers, who are already among the least-happy customers in all of Corporate America. The two companies last year were the lowest-scoring cable companies in the American Customer Satisfaction Index, mainly because of the weakness of their customer service. That made them the least-loved companies in one of the least-loved industries for customer satisfaction. The only two industries with worse customer-satisfaction ratings, according to Consumerist, are newspapers and internet providers. By the way, Comcast and Time Warner Cable are also internet providers. Little wonder, then, that the two companies were near the top of Consumerist's Worst Company In America contest last year, based on unscientific online polling. Comcast, which took home the title of Worst Company in 2010, reached the Final Four in 2013, after beating Time Warner Cable in the Elite Eight. The companies, naturally, are putting the best face on the merger. “The combination of Time Warner Cable and Comcast creates an exciting opportunity for our company, for our customers, and for our shareholders,” Comcast CEO Brian Roberts said in a press release. The company did not immediately respond to a request for further comment. "When you consider Comcast’s accomplishments in delivering cutting edge television and broadband services in their markets, bringing their innovations on an accelerated basis to Time Warner Cable markets is a big win for consumers," Time Warner Cable spokesperson Bobby Amirshahi said in an email to the Huffington Post. The history of mergers suggests customer service might only get worse for these two companies. Coupling companies typically struggle to knit together their massive systems, and customers get lost in the process. When Comcast bought AT&T Broadband for $50 billion in 2002, customer billing problems led to such a backlash that the company ultimately launched a "Think Customer First" training program. A BusinessWeek study of 28 mergers between 1997 and 2002 found that customer-satisfaction ratings dropped significantly after the unions, with the effect lasting for years. Cable companies suffered some of the biggest drops in that study. (Strangely, a more recent study, focusing on nearly the same time period as BusinessWeek, came to a different, completely counterintuitive, conclusion.) More recently, customer ratings for BMO Harris Bank, United Continental and Exelon tumbled after their big mergers, Joe Cahill of Crain's Chicago Business noted last April. "So much can go wrong — computer integration snafus, recordkeeping glitches, you name it," Cahill wrote, "and almost all of it affects customers." Satisfaction ratings do tend to snap back eventually, as companies scramble to keep customers from fleeing. But after a long history of industry consolidation, Comcast and Time Warner Cable have so little competition that their customers might have nowhere to flee. "[I]f this deal goes through, customers...will probably see prices rise, with no corresponding improvement in service," Harvard Law School professor Susan Crawford wrote last month, when the merger was still just a rumor.
TORONTO – Despite promises of a more open and transparent government, Ontario’s Liberals have no plans to close what’s becoming a gaping loophole for partisan advertising. Online advertising has ballooned in recent years, but it doesn’t fall under a law which requires all taxpayer-funded government ads to be screened by the auditor general to ensure they’re non-partisan. About a quarter of all government spending on ads is online, totalling $10 million in 2012-13. The Liberals spent another $30 million on print, radio and television ads, which must be pre-approved. They spent $34.8 million on ads in 2011-12 and $50 million in 2010-11 — the lead-up to the provincial election. But in the last year, the government spent more on Internet advertising than it did for print, auditor general Bonnie Lysyk noted in her latest annual report released earlier this month. It’s second only to TV ads, which cost $12 million. The time has come to close this “significant” loophole, she said. “At the time the legislation came into play, there wasn’t a lot of Internet advertising,” Lysyk said Dec. 10, after delivering her report. “It’s changed.” Ontario’s auditors have repeatedly called for the Liberals to close the loophole in the law they created in 2004. But it’s fallen on deaf ears. Premier Kathleen Wynne said “it’s something we obviously will have to take into consideration.” “We will absolutely look at it,” she said recently. “As the balance of advertising shifts, it’s important that we make sure that we’re providing the information that people need.” Advertising in the public realm should be informative, Wynne added. Yet the Liberals have refused to support legislation that would tighten the rules and expand the law to apply to the broader public sector, not just the government, said New Democrat Gilles Bisson. Lysyk noted in her report that her office rejected three ad campaigns the government voluntarily submitted for “pre-review” — which takes place in the ad’s early stages of development and before large sums of money are spent —over concerns that they were partisan. Two were about this year’s provincial budget and one about the Liberals’ efforts to slay their nearly $12-billion deficit. Some of the ads were revised and one was abandoned, the report said. Bisson said the Liberals have big problems: the economy’s hurting, hydro bills are going up and now they’re looking at raising the gas tax to expand public transit in the Toronto-Hamilton region. “The government is trying to find ways to make people look at the government in a positive way,” he said. “So they’re doing that type of advertising at the taxpayers’ expense in order to try to bolster themselves when it comes to getting some votes from the public,” he said. “I think in the end, people see that for what it is.” Progressive Conservative Leader Tim Hudak said he would close the loophole for online ads. Taxpayer dollars should be used to help people, not wasted on political advertising, he said. “We should put a stop to that,” Hudak said. “I don’t care if it’s newspaper, TV or online. It’s all the same.” There are many advantages to web advertising, said Jonathan Rose, a political science professor at Queen’s University who sits on a panel that helps the auditor vet ads. A viewer has to record or be in front of a television to see a TV ad, but they can call up many government ads on YouTube or a website, he said. “Whereas the TV and radio and print ads used to be the product, they are now a teaser to direct viewers or listeners or readers to a website,” said Rose. “The reason why that is better is not only that’s where the traffic is flowing, but also the cost is cheaper and has the ability to be recalled at any time.” Ontario’s law is unique in the world because it allows an independent office of parliament to review government ads, said Rose. Liberal MP David McGuinty, former premier Dalton McGuinty’s brother, has proposed similar legislation to prescreen federal government ads. Ontario’s law also doesn’t apply to brochures, newsletters, consultation documents, report or similar materials or publications, unless they’re a paid insert in a magazine or newspaper, or distributed by bulk mail. The Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care spent $5.4 million on ads, while the Ministry of Finance spent $9 million, more than any other ministry. The government’s biggest ad spend was $4.8 million on a tax credit that allows seniors to retrofit their homes to make them more accessible. They also spent $3.9 million promoting another budget goodie — 30 per cent off tuition for some university and college students. By comparison, they spent $3 million on Foodland Ontario, $1.6 million on ads about the seasonal flu and $1.4 million on full-day kindergarten. The Liberals have co-operated in allowing some ads to be reviewed by the auditor even though the law doesn’t technically apply to them. For example, the first page or “click” of a website cited in a government ad is included in the auditor’s review. The use of social media has grown exponentially since the law came into force in 2006, the auditor’s report said. Their office is getting more ads for approval with icons pointing to the government’s presence on social media sites, it said. They’ve reached an agreement with the government that the auditor will do an initial scan of any social media channel cited in an ad to ensure there are no partisan references.
Plastic Passion Custom Toys recently posted an action figure of Steve Ignorant, singer of the band Crass, to their Facebook page. As far as we can tell, this appears to be a one-off and not for sale to the general public. There’s also no word on whether or not Penny Rimbaud or Eve Libertine figures are forthcoming. Crass, arguably the most important of the ‘80s UK “anarcho” or “peace punk” bands, excelled at “branding”—as evidenced by the ubiquitous “Crass symbol” which still adorns spray-stenciled leather jackets and squats almost four decades on. It’s unlikely, however, that the band would have ever chosen to brand themselves in this way, in action figure form, though they weren’t completely opposed to novelty. Plastic Passion Custom Toys creates new figures by sculpting and painting over repurposed old figures. Check their page for more, including their terrifying Pope Ratzinger “Vintage Villain” figure.
The pundits, the media, the bloggers are all obsessed with polls. Every day, a new poll comes out, and they pounce on the percentages for each Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton. And those numbers ebb and flow. But one thing has been consistent for months in all that polling. The real majority of voters today consists of those who are not satisfied with either of the two "major" party candidates. That is hardly shocking. My former party, the Republicans, have put forth an authoritarian nativist who spends his days attacking Mexicans, women, Muslims and anyone else he can find to blame for America's problems — or his own. The Democrats? Well, their candidate can't seem to find a problem that can't be solved by spending more money on it, while laughably claiming her plans "won't increase the debt by a penny." Americans deserve another choice, and that's why I'm running for president. I was governor of New Mexico from 1995 to 2003. I ran as a Republican in a state where Democrats outnumber Republicans — and I won re-election by a comfortable margin. Ditto for my running mate Gov. Bill Weld of Massachusetts. We did this by governing as fiscal conservatives and civil libertarians. We view government's job to be protecting and promoting the freedom of individuals to live their lives without interference and manipulation by Washington, D.C. That's what most Americans want their government to be: Leadership that is neither bullying nor self-indulgent. Alaskans understand that better than most. Not only do Bill Weld and I share similar electoral records, but long before the possibility of running on a national ticket together even arose, we were called the "most libertarian" governors in America. I was an entrepreneur. I started a construction firm in New Mexico and grew it to employ more than 1,000 workers. I have lived the American dream, and in a nutshell, I ran for governor because I saw that state government had grown too large and too intrusive — and was endangering the opportunity for others to succeed as I had. And that's why I'm running for president. Government should protect freedom, not be a threat to it. Bill Weld and I both succeeded in reducing the size of government in our states. We can do it in Washington, D.C. Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump? The one thing they have in common is that their plans for America would mean more government, less freedom, and a lot more debt. Ms. Clinton thinks too many Americans have guns, and wants to make it harder for us to own them. When the Supreme Court confirmed the 2nd Amendment right of individuals to keep and bear arms, she disagreed. Me? I believe the 2nd Amendment means what it says. On foreign policy, she's traveled far from opposing the Vietnam War in the 1970s. As Secretary of State, she was responsible for promoting counter-productive policies in Iraq, Libya, Egypt and Syria. These should not be America's wars. Instead, our nation needs the confidence that it has a commander-in-chief who will act predictably and responsibly to defend America — and not to aggress elsewhere in our name. And when it comes to the size and scope of government here at home, Hillary Clinton's only differences with President Barack Obama boil down to a belief that he hasn't gone far enough in his growth of government. Donald Trump? A Republican Party that finds itself carrying a banner of protectionism, thinly-veiled bigotry, and nativism isn't a party I recognize, or by which I governed. I feel the pain of Republicans who are shaking their heads in disbelief at their party's leader. I'm a Westerner. I'm an adventurer and an athlete. I understand the common sense, self-reliance and independence that are found in abundance in Alaska. In a couple of weeks, I invite you to join me in sending a message of real independence to the nation. Join me in saying, "These aren't your only choices for president. There is a third way, an independent way. There is a dignified, honest and rational alternative to Trump and Clinton." I'm Gary Johnson, and I'm asking for your vote. Gov. Gary Johnson (@GovGaryJohnson) is the Libertarian Party's presidential nominee. His running mate is former Massachusetts Gov. Bill Weld. Learn more at www.johnsonweld.com.
While the most discussed and potentially salacious details in the court documents released last week focus on alleged drug transactions and that intriguing spike in calls between Mayor Rob Ford and Alexander Lisi on the day of Anthony Smith’s death last spring, I found myself dwelling on the episodes of drinking observed by police during the surveillance. On two occasions, the police recovered discarded vodka bottles – Iceberg and Russian Prince – after Ford and Lisi met surreptitiously in an Etobicoke parking lot and later in a wooded area in a park named after Doug Ford Sr. Based on the retrieved garbage, Lisi appeared to have consumed a Subway sandwich. Ford’s meal: something from McDonald’s, perhaps washed down with vodka and O-J. Afterwards, the documents say, they drove off in their respective vehicles. The mayor and his enabling brother Doug Ford have long claimed that Rob doesn’t drink and drive. The surveillance released Thursday suggests otherwise, although none of this has yet been proven in a court and may never be, considering that Ford has not been charged with anything. Did he apologize yesterday to Torontonians for possibly getting behind the wheel of a massive SUV while under the influence? Don’t think so. Not even close. Rather, we were told that the brothers are “working” on getting a driver or, ahem, a customer service person, as Doug took pains to note. (“Help wanted: self-starter with a Class G license and the discretion of a Secret Service agent.”) But needless to say, this gesture — like the non-apology apology — is meaningless unless Ford confronts his apparent addiction, which, as those who’ve dealt with addicts well know, can only begin once the denials end. And the denials haven’t ended. Many councillors, publicly and privately, have urged Ford to take a leave of absence to deal with his suspected substance abuse, and the chorus continued loudly following his radio show. Others have taken issue with his dishonesty. But I am perplexed why critics haven’t focused more intensively on the outrageous public safety risk posed by Ford’s alleged behaviour. After all, this is the same guy who pled no contest on his 1999 DWI arrest in Miami. It seems to me that we should carefully parse the impact of Ford’s conduct as this bizarre case continues to unfold. If he’s smoking a lot of dope, Ford is breaking possession laws that are observed, in this day and age, mainly in the breach. If his drinking or alleged drug use has caused him to behave in public in ways that run counter to the decorum we expect from elected officials, Ford is abusing the institutions of the office of the mayor and city council, and disgracing himself. But from where I sit, the real crimes occur when his behaviour has the potential to physically or psychologically harm others — i.e., the general public and his family — in ways that aren’t merely political. We don’t yet know whether the mayor’s involvement with Lisi or the other thugs who parade through the court documents will add up to something nefarious. As for the DWI, it’s possible that the mayor drank the vodka (or smoked his dope) when he wasn’t behind the wheel, happened to have the empties in his car and then remembered to get rid of them during his meetings with Lisi. But the evidence in the documents strongly suggests that Ford does get behind the wheel when he shouldn’t be anywhere close to the driver’s side. And the fact that he may get a chauffeur during work hours hardly guarantees that he won’t drive himself home after downing a few at a buddy’s house late one night. So imagine if we were all talking about a hit-and-run incident or a traffic fatality instead of a lurid video allegedly showing the mayor stoned out of his tree. Or imagine if the upshot of his excessive drinking was a dead child, struck as the mayor careened through the streets of Toronto in the Escalade that figures so prominently in the court documents. Or say Ford has his own Michael Bryant moment with a cyclist in the wrong place at the wrong time. At that point, no one will care about unpacking his lies and excuses and evasions. By then, it will be too late to do anything but weep.
The latest issue of Time magazine has a cute Pug on the cover. Underneath the headline reads: "What animals think. New science reveals they're smarter than we realize." It's an interesting piece that raises some important questions about how we treat animals as a society. Among the new discoveries we're making is scientific evidence that animals are conscious, meaning they are aware that they are alive. They experience life. They feel fear, pain, joy and love -- maybe not exactly as we do -- but the point is, they are not merely automatons that react to stimuli, they are individuals with their own unique personalities, characteristics, and quirks. Now, for those of us who live with dogs or cats, this comes as no surprise. But what about the animals we eat? Does it change our perception to think of them -- the cows, the turkeys, the pigs, the chickens - not just as dinner, but as individuals, billions of individuals that are slaughtered each year? When I became vegan a few years ago, I learned some pretty startling things about how the animals we eat become food. One of the nastiest things I became privy to is how hamburger is made. I think most of us have the perception that when we bite into a burger, it's just the meat from one cow, but the truth is, it's actually meat from hundreds of cows. That's right, there may be pieces of 100-400 (sources differ) cows stuffed in one hamburger. When cows are "processed" the less desirable cuts and scraps of meat are all thrown together into a texturizer, fat is added (up to 30% of hamburger is fat) and voila! Still lovin' it? Now, if you go to the USDA's website on how to properly handle ground beef, you'll literally feel like you're reading a report from a CDC investigation. Listeria, E. coli, and Salmonella are just a handful of the pathogens that can live in hamburger. And just so we're clear, infected meat from just one cow can contaminate up to 16 tons of beef! But aside from the health issue, I just find something creepy about eating 100 animals at once -- 100 individuals at once. Imagine someone taking 100 dogs or cats and mushing them all together to make a burger for you. I wonder how many turkeys are in a turkey burger, or how many pieces of different animals are in, dare I even imagine it, a hot dog. I know this stuff may actually taste good to some of us, but where, might I ask, do we draw the line? And why do we accept these Frankenfoods as American trademarks? I don't know about you, but I don't find any particular pride in hamburgers. Seriously, it's time to update this traditional American staple, peeps. A local restaurant in Los Angeles, Hugo's, has an item on their menu called "The New American Burger," here is how they describe it: An outstanding combination of organic sprouted mung beans, organic brown rice, assorted fresh vegetables, mushrooms, pumpkin & sunflower seeds, herbs and spices fried crispy. Served with onion, lettuce, tomato, Vegenaise and your choice of any burger toppings. This burger is "new", because it is more nutritious than meat and is a positive use of our agricultural resources. And most importantly, it's delicious. Go ahead, read those last two sentences again. I'd like to add that Hugo's is not a vegetarian or vegan restaurant. They serve meat, but they acknowledge the benefits of reinventing the American classic. I realize that a majority of Americans, at this time, are not willing to give up their meat. But I'd like to humbly request that we at least think about the animals we eat as the individuals they are. That may become slightly overwhelming when eating a hamburger.
Got a scoop request? An anonymous tip you’re dying to share? Send any/all of the above to askausiello@tvline.com Question: Do you have any scoop or casting news on Brooklyn Nine-Nine? I can hardly wait to find out who the new captain will be. —Addie Ausiello: Prepare not to be disappointed. “Everyone is going to be really happy with who the new captain is,” assures exec producer Mike Schur. “And the way that the [Sept. 27 Season 3 premiere] is conceived, that is far from the final surprise. It takes a lot of fun story twists and turns, in very rapid succession, once the new captain is announced. It’s going to be a really funny and good episode.” Question: I would love some scoop on Supernatural. —Frances Ausiello: Later in the season, a two-part “bottle” episode will find Sam and Dean “in the same location, building off the same case,” shares EP Andrew Dabb, adding that the arc will “create a little bit of serialization we don’t do a lot of.” Question: My wife and I just finished binge-watching all five seasons of Shameless. What a fantastic show, but now we are going through some serious withdrawal. Any inside info on Season 6? —Chris Ausiello: The Showtime drama comedy will introduce Sammi’s (Emily Bergl) never-before-seen mom, Queen — AKA the “earthy, sensual, flouncy, flamboyant and joyous” woman Frank (William H. Macy) had a one-night stand with decades ago. Casting is underway for a “zaftig” actress in her 50s who is comfortable with nudity and sexual situations and doesn’t mind being called zaftig. Question: Bridget Regan tweeted a photo of her on the Good Wife set — any intel on her character? —Samantha Ausiello: The Jane the Virgin villainess guest-stars in the Season 7 premiere as Madeline Smulders, a plaintiff in an estate case. I’m guessing she’s a client of Alicia’s, based on the below photo, which Julianna Margulies posted on Facebook (that’s Regan sitting in Alicia’s new office). Question: I recently read that the new Twin Peaks has been increased to 18 episodes now —how true is this? —Nathan Ausiello: It’s a fluid situation (isn’t it always with David Lynch?), but I’m hearing the same number being batted around. Although a source cautions that “it may be 18 total hours” as opposed to 18 episodes (meaning a few of the installments could be super-sized). Question: Do you have any scoop regarding Liv’s love life on iZombie? —Muriel Ausiello: If you’re carrying a torch for Liv and Major, you should probably toss it in the nearest wastebasket. “They have no chance,” exec producer Rob Thomas declared at Comic-Con. Was he being facetious? All is revealed in the video below! BONUS SCOOP: iZombie is casting Blaine’s polished, articulate, sardonic, wealthy and, most importantly, disapproving father Angus. Expect a very strained family reunion. Question: Any scoop yet on what’s in store for Supergirl? —Stefanie Ausiello: A whole world of hurt around Episode 3. That’s when infamous DC villain Reactron is poised to take aim at Kara. The nuclear-powered, exoskeletal chest-plated madman has a long-held grudge against Superman, but, for some reason, it’s his cousin he’s striking out against (possibly because she has her own TV series and Superman doesn’t). Fun bonus fact, free of charge: In the Superman: New Krypton comic, Reactron is responsible for the deaths of Kara’s parents. Question: Does Jeffrey Dean Morgan’s casting on The Good Wife make him unavailable for a third season of Extant? He’s been a great addition to the show. —Josh Ausiello: You’re assuming there will be a third season of Extant. (Have you seen those ratings?) If by some miracle the show does live beyond Season 2, the chances are good that Morgan will be involved. “They have approached and wouid like me to come back,” Morgan tells me. “And I would be hard-pressed to not go back and work with Halle [Berry] again.” Question: Huge fan of Bates Motel — any scoop? —Sal Ausiello: Word around the ice machine is that there will not be a time jump between the Season 3 finale and the Season 4 premiere, which I’m fairly certain would be a first for the show. Question: Anything on Beauty and the Beast Season 4? —Maria Ausiello: Max Brown — AKA Cat’s morgue crush Evan Marks — is returning for an episode. Which is notable mostly because the character is, you know, dead. Question: Any more new faces coming to The Originals in Season 3? –Jess Ausiello: How about two more faces, Jess? The show is currently casting for Van, a male witch in his early 20s, who reluctantly becomes involved in New Orleans’ supernatural politics when a loved one is murdered. Then there’s Tristan, a vampire who shares a “long and complicated history” with the Mikaelsons. Tristan is loyal to a fault and ruthless against his enemies; as for whom he takes to bed, let’s just say he might not discriminate. This AAnd That… ♦ Did I already mention that a pivotal CSI character is getting killed off in the upcoming two-hour finale? (Technically, he/she will already be dead when the episode begins.) ♦ Scandal scoop: I’m hearing OPA’s first Season 5 client will be British royalty. ♦ Virginia’s demon spawn of a teenage daughter is taking all the joy out of Masters of Sex. ♦ Robert Patrick confirmed to me at Comic-Con that Agent Doggett will not turn up in Fox’s forthcoming X-Files revival. I’m going to assume the same is true for Annabeth Gish’s Reyes. That’s a wrap! Please send questions, comments and anonymous tips to askausiello@tvline.com. (Additional reporting by Vlada Gelman, Rebecca Iannucci, Kim Roots and Andy Swift)
A transcription of Air Rally in Rhythm Heaven Fever (known as "みんなのリズム天国" in Japan and "Beat the Beat: Rhythm Paradise" in Europe), later also remade in Rhythm Heaven Megamix (known as "リズム天国ザ・ベスト+" in Japan and "Rhythm Paradise Megamix" in Europe). Original music by Tsunku♂, Masami Yone, Shinji Ushiroda and Asuka Ito, published by Nintendo. みんなのリズム天国バドミントン Rhythm Heaven Fever Air Rally Original VGM only: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1MBM0ndrpB8 VGM with in-game sfx: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0aamhyNJ5NQ In-game footage: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HtC8uHKDLm0 == Changelog == 2016-10-16 - Initial 2016-10-17 - Minor fixes 2017-01-02 - Some changes to note durations - Change instruments for bars 25 to 34 (might have made it worse) Pages 17 Duration 01:40 Measures 76 Key signature 3 flats Parts 12 Part names Privacy Everyone can see this score License None (All rights reserved)
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump said on Monday he would review a report that his nominee for drug czar championed a law that weakened the government’s ability to fight the nation’s opioid epidemic, and said he could consider jettisoning the pick. U.S. President Donald Trump walks to Air Force One as he departs for Greenville, South Carolina, from Joint Base Andrews, Maryland, U.S., October 16, 2017. REUTERS/Joshua Roberts “We’re going to look into the report,” Trump told reporters at the White House. Asked if the report had undercut his confidence in his nominee to head the Office of National Drug Control Policy, Representative Tom Marino, Trump said: “I have not spoken to him, but I will speak to him, and I’ll make that determination. “If I think it’s 1 percent negative to doing what we want to do, I will make a change, yes,” he added. Marino’s office did not immediately return a request for comment. The report by the Washington Post and CBS described how Marino introduced and helped push through industry-backed legislation that undercut the Drug Enforcement Administration’s ability to freeze suspicious shipments of pain pills from drug companies. A number of Democrats called for Trump to abandon his nominee in the wake of the report. “Congressman Marino no longer has my trust or that of the public that he will aggressively pursue the fight against opioid abuse,” Democratic Senator Joe Manchin said in a statement. Manchin’s state of West Virginia has been hit hard by the opioid crisis. In his remarks to reporters, Trump suggested he would be open to changing the law that Marino, a fellow Republican, helped push through and said he would make good on an earlier promise to declare the opioid epidemic a national emergency. “We are going to be doing that next week,” he said, calling the crisis a “massive problem.” Opioids were involved in more than 33,000 deaths in the United States in 2015, the last year of publicly available data, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Overdoses from the category of drugs nearly quadrupled between 1999 and 2015, the CDC said.
Ataro 2600, Atari 5200, Atari 7800, Atari Jaguar, and now, it’s time for the Ataribox. Ataribox is Atari’s newest innovation and their very first console of the 21st century. It will be a classic console that will play both old games and new ones too. We’ll discuss the console in a follow-up article, but let us not get off-track and just provide you with the pre-order date and the deal we’re talking about in our headline. The brand new Atari console, “Ataribox will be available for pre-order on December 14th.” Those are the exact words used in the mail. I wonder why they used “on” instead of “from”. Oh! There’s more. “These deals will be extremely limited. We’ll tell you everything you need to know to get the best deal soon.” You heard it right. The pre-order deals will be extremely limited, which means “first come, first served.” Additionally, if you subscribe to their official waitlist, you can access the launch-day deal of up to 33% off. Make sure to subscribe to our push-notifications and allow us to send you a “buzz” whenever there’s some new information regarding the new Ataribox. Until next time, Happy Gaming!
India launched the GSAT-9 communications satellite this morning. The Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV) Mark 2 rocket lifted off from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre at 7:27 a.m.Eastern. The Indian space agency ISRO declared the launch a success. GSAT-9 carries 12 Ku-band transponders that India is offering to neighboring South Asian nations. [PTI] More News An Ariane 5 successfully launched two communications satellites Thursday. The Ariane 5 lifted off at 5:50 p.m. Eastern, more than an hour into the launch window after dealing with technical issues. The launch placed into orbit the SDGC communications satellite for Brazil’s Visiona Tecnologia Espacial and the Koreasat-7 satellite for South Korea’s KTSat. The launch was the 78th consecutive successful Ariane 5 mission. [SpaceNews] The second reuse of a Falcon 9 first stage will launch a Bulgarian communications satellite. BulgariaSat said Friday that its BulgariaSat 1 satellite, built by Space Systems Loral, will launch in mid-June on an Falcon 9 whose first stage launched 10 Iridium Next satellites in January. The mission will be the second time SpaceX has reflown a Falcon 9 first stage, after the launch of the SES 10 satellite in March. [Spaceflight Now] As Congress passes an omnibus spending bill, NASA is examining the effects it will have on its science programs. The Senate passed the fiscal year 2017 spending bill Thursday, a day after the House, and the president is expected to sign the bill today. That bill provides $19.65 billion for NASA overall, and $5.765 billion for agency science programs, including a record level for planetary science. Astrophysics, by contrast, is facing an effective 20 percent cut in programs whose spending is not specified in the bill. Rep. John Culberson (R-Texas), who chairs the appropriations subcommittee that funds NASA, said he would seek higher levels than the administration requested for NASA in a 2018 spending bill. [SpaceNews] The Senate is expected to vote Monday to confirm Heather Wilson to be Secretary of the Air Force after a hold was lifted. The Senate Armed Services Committee advanced her nomination to the full Senate last month, but an unnamed senator placed a hold on the nomination, reportedly seeking information on a base in that senator’s state. The senator removed the hold Wednesday, and the Senate is scheduled to vote on her nomination Monday. [DOD Buzz / Senate Democrats] Space executives have the right stuff to become government leaders in China. Four aerospace engineers have become provincial governors in the last four years, including former heads of the country’s space program and managers of state-owned aerospace companies. Those engineers have developed a “cocktail of traits” that appeal to the leadership style of Xi Jinping, including willingness to provide accurate data. “We don’t cook the books. The satellites and rockets won’t work if we do,” said one engineer. [South China Morning Post] Construction has started on a new engine development center in the United Kingdom. The new facility at Westcott will be used for tests of the Synergistic Air-Breathing Rocket Engine (SABRE), being developed by British company Reaction Engines Ltd. with financial support from ESA and the U.K. Space Agency. The facility should be ready to support tests of the core of the SABRE engine within three years. [ESA] NASA is working to increase the number of women involved in planetary science missions. Over the last 15 years women have made up just 15 percent of planetary science mission teams, despite the fact that a quarter of planetary scientists are women. NASA has no plans to implement quotas, but in its latest call for proposals for the New Frontiers program the agency included language encouraging diversity in mission teams, and “fully expects that such values will be reflected in the composition of all proposal teams.” [Science] Astrobotic and Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) have won a NASA award to start development a small lunar rover. The Small Business Innovation Research award covers initial development of CubeRover, a rover weighing just two kilograms. That team has developed similar designs for larger rovers, weighing from 4 to 10 kilograms. William “Red” Whittaker, the CMU professor who is also chairman of Astrobotic, said such rovers could be used as scouts to travel on terrain that is considered too risky for larger, more expensive rovers. [Pittsburgh TribLIVE] Jeff Bezos, who said last month he sells a billion dollars in Amazon.com stock a year to fund Blue Origin, just sold nearly a billion dollars in stock. Bezos sold one million shares in Amazon.com this week at prices ranging from $930 to $950 per share. He did not disclose the reason for the sale, but said in April that he sells a billion dollars a year in stock to fund Blue Origin’s activities. Even with the sale, Bezos still owns about 17 percent of Amazon.com. [Bloomberg] The Canadarm robotic arm will be on a new Canadian stamp. The robotic arm, developed for the space shuttle, is featured on the latest in a series of stamps issued by Canada Post to mark Canada’s 150th anniversary. The arm has been been included on two previous Canadian stamps, and the Canadarm2 system on the International Space Station is on the back of the Canadian five dollar bill. [collectSPACE]
An Israeli human rights group accused the army on Thursday of illegally detaining a 5-year-old Palestinian boy for throwing a stone in a flashpoint city in the occupied West Bank. Video footage taken by the group B'Tselem of Tuesday's incident showed Wadi Maswadeh crying as he was surrounded by soldiers on a street in Hebron. He was then made to board a military jeep accompanied by a Palestinian adult. The images, aired on Israeli media, looked likely to stoke debate about policy in the West Bank, where the army guards Jewish settlers. There is often friction with Palestinians, who have limited self-government but have been frustrated in their hopes of gaining statehood. B'Tselem said troops took Maswadeh home, picking up his father and holding them both for another half-hour, during which the father was bound and blindfolded. The two were then handed over to Palestinian police, who questioned and released them. In a later television interview, Maswadeh admitted throwing a stone, saying he had aimed at a dog but hit a car instead. B'Tselem said Maswadeh's handling by the troops was illegal as the age of criminal responsibility in Israel and its West Bank jurisdiction is 12. “The security forces are not allowed to arrest or detain children under that age, even when they are suspected of having committed criminal offenses, and the authorities must deal with the law-breaking in other ways,” said group director Jessica Montell. In a statement, the army said Maswadeh's stone-throwing had endangered passers-by. More than 150 Israelis were hurt in similar West Bank incidents between January and May, it said. “Soldiers intervened on the spot and accompanied the minor to his parents. From there he was passed on to the care of the Palestinian Security Forces, all the while accompanied by his parents. The child was not arrested and no charges were filed,” the statement said. Last Update: Friday, 12 July 2013 KSA 00:39 - GMT 21:39
Green Party Presidential Candidates Are Arrested Outside Debate Venue YouTube The presidential and vice presidential candidates on the Green Party ticket were arrested yesterday when they tried to get into the site of the second presidential debate. Jill Stein and her running mate, Cheri Honkala, showed up holding an American flag at Hofstra University on Long Island. For more than 15 minutes, they tussled with police officers and a university representative. "We are here to stand up for the millions of American people who have been left out of the system," Stein is seen saying on a video posted by the Green Party. Enlarge this image toggle caption Paul J. Richards/AFP/Getty Images Paul J. Richards/AFP/Getty Images Stein asked the university official why the Commission on Presidential Debates had refused to let them participate in the debate. She pointed out that both of them were on enough ballots across the country that they could theoretically win enough electoral college votes to win the presidency. In this case, the candidates didn't meet one of the thresholds set for by the Commission for participation. The Commission says that presidential candidates require "a level of support of at least 15% of the national electorate as determined by five selected national public opinion polling organizations." "This commission," said Stein, "is entirely illegitimate." "Where are the young people in this debate?" she asked calmly. She then went on to explain one of the issues central to the party's platform: She said instead of bailing out the banks, the U.S. should be providing free higher education for everyone. The university official simply told them that they had to be credentialed to be allowed into the venue. Eventually, Stein and her running mate sat on the asphalt with an American flag on their laps. Police officers told them they had to move or be arrested. Stein and Honkala refused to move and they were peacefully escorted out by police. In a press release, the Green Party said both candidates will be charged with "obstructing traffic."
Greetings Readers, It’s been a long time since we’ve posted here, and we have some news going into the new year. About halfway into this next year in 2019, we expect to have our first chapter to our original story posted. Not here, but in a new website we’re looking to dedicate to this story. Featured in the image above, the one above the Manchu fighting Santa, is a feature of many of the characters that will be present in this story. We’re looking to strive for new grounds, and make this story as good as we possibly can. We’ll post the link to this comic and the new website around the midpoint of 2019, so look for a link to the website come June 2019, and we hope to have a truly spectacular comic that we will be proud to share with any and all of you interested. Until then, wish us luck, and hopefully we’ll be seeing many of you and keeping you posted throughout the year as we march on to that glorious day. I wish you all a Happy New Year, and hope that each and every one of you is working towards those great goals you have your eyes set on for this year!
Oakville, Ont.-based Terrestrial Energy Inc. took a step toward commercial deployment of its molten-salt small nuclear reactor Wednesday as the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission (CNSC) concluded its reactor design broadly complies with regulatory standards. Terrestrial is one of a host of global companies racing to commercialize a new generation of reactors – smaller with modular components making it more affordable, and with safety features that address at least some of the concerns over nuclear accidents. Clearing the first regulatory hurdle at the nuclear safety commission will help Terrestrial to attract customers and investors, with the aim of having a commercial project up and running late in the next decade. Terrestrial has now completed the first phase of a prelicensing review, which provides a regulatory opinion that, given its design features, the company could obtain a licence to construct such a reactor. Story continues below advertisement "License-ability is the principle risk for a vendor in commercializing its reactor system," Terrestrial chief executive Simon Irish said in an interview from Oakville. "A customer utility will only agree to buy, build and operate a reactor system if license-ability risk is viewed as acceptably low." The CNSC does not license a reactor design until there is a specific project to be assessed. The regulator, however, has agreed to do "prelicensing reviews" for several developers of next-generation technology to provide guidance on whether the company would be able to win project approval for a new type of reactor. Terrestrial will now move on to a Phase 2 review, in which the CNSC makes a detailed assessment of design features to determine whether there would be an fundamental barriers to licensing. In the Phase 1 review, the regulator concluded Terrestrial has substantial work to do to improve its analysis of design and safety issues. The company – which has received funding from Sustainable Development Technology Canada – is in early-stage discussions with Canadian Nuclear Laboratories (CNL) about locating a commercial reactor at the government-owned, privately managed Chalk River site, 185 kilometres up the Ottawa River from the capital. CNL also recently invited expressions of interest from numerous developers to locate a prototype small modular reactor at the site. The new-generation reactors are being touted as the future of the nuclear industry, which is looking to reinvent itself and win its share of the low-carbon-energy markets that is developing in response to climate change. One Terrestrial competitor is TerraPower LLC, a Bellevue, Wash.-based company chaired by Microsoft Corp. founder Bill Gates. TerraPower is partnering with China National Nuclear Power Co. to build a next-generation plant in Hebei province. Mr. Irish said one 190-megawatt reactor would cost less than $1-billion to build while current ones are typically 1,000-MW and cost closer to $10-billion. Since it does not rely on power to cool down, the molten salt reactor is impervious to the kind of catastrophic meltdown that occurred at Japan's Fukushima Daiichi site after an earthquake and tidal wave in 2011, he said. Story continues below advertisement However, critics argue the industry's bet on small modular reactors will likely fizzle, as have past attempts to introduce new technology such as the Advanced Candu Reactor. "Small modular reactors are just another expensive distraction away from the global transition to renewable-based energy system," said Shawn-Patrick Stensil, energy analyst with Greenpeace Canada. "Winning an approval from the industry-friendly CNSC isn't difficult. The real test for these untested designs is to win social acceptance and compete against the declining cost of renewables."
Without a search warrant, federal agents entered Robert Moser’s California home and seized $28,000 in currency. Under civil forfeiture, someone does not have to be convicted or charged with a crime to lose their property. But rather remarkably for a civil forfeiture case, Moser won his money back. According to Judge Larry Alan Burns, who presided over the case, police committed “serial constitutional violations… [that] were purposeful and flagrant.” Moser was not informed of his Miranda rights nor did police obtain a warrant or his consent when they first entered his house. Due to this unlawful search and seizure, that $28,000 was returned to Moser. Thanks to the Civil Asset Forfeiture Reform Act (CAFRA), which Congress overwhelmingly passed in 2000, when a property owner “substantially prevails” in a federal civil forfeiture case, by law, “the United States shall be liable for reasonable attorney fees.” So after he won, Moser asked for $50,775 in an attorney’s fees award. Instead, Moser and his attorney were egregiously lowballed. The same judge who heard Moser’s earlier case awarded only 60 percent of the billable hours sought and at a much lower rate too. In the end, his lawyer was awarded a mere $14,000, a 70 percent cut. Moser appealed and the case is pending before the U.S. Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals. Sensing how this case could impact forfeiture victims beyond Robert Moser, Americans for Forfeiture Reform (AFR), a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization, filed an amicus brief. In their brief, they urge the Appellate Court to reverse the fee cuts, arguing the lower court’s ruling is troubling for two reasons. First, this decision “threatens to deprive property owners of the ability to make themselves whole after wrongful seizures.” After the government unjustly seizes someone’s property, the least they can do is ensure the owner isn’t crushed by staggering legal fees. As AFR correctly points out, Congress intended to rehabilitate innocent owners when they enacted CAFRA. Second, by awarding fees, this helps compensate attorneys, thereby providing an incentive for property owners to attract quality counsel. Civil forfeiture law is fiendishly complex and requires skilled lawyers to navigate. That doesn’t come cheap. Sadly, many victims of civil forfeiture simply don’t have the resources to defend themselves in court. Since litigation can cost more than the property that was taken, many seizures aren’t even contested. According to a memo by the U.S. Department of Justice, before CAFRA was enacted, “Eighty-five percent of the FBI and DEA cases, and nearly 99 percent of the INS [Immigration and Naturalization Service] cases are uncontested.” Meanwhile, back then, U.S. attorneys filed between 2,000 and 5,000 civil forfeiture cases a year. In these cases, the government won 96 percent of all cases that went to judgment and 98 percent of cases that were filed. More recently, the Wall Street Journal reported that of 11,000 noncriminal forfeiture cases in 2010, there were only 1,800 challenges to civil forfeiture actions. So like the Kobayashi Maru test, civil forfeiture can be a no-win scenario for property owners. In fact, the lower court acknowledged this even as it slashed Moser’s attorney’s fees award: “…the government’s unnecessarily aggressive posture forced Moser to choose whether to expend effort to continue litigating or cut his losses and forfeit the $28,000.” Even though the court readily recognized the “government’s obstinacy and aggressive litigation,” it still blamed Moser’s attorney for giving “the government’s litigation work more respect than it deserved.” Hence the reduction in hours. But as AFR argues in their amicus brief, the district court went against precedent in other circuits, which defer to the winning counsel’s professional judgment. Instead, this court created an impermissible “Rodney-Dangerfield-factor:” “fees cannot be recovered for time spent opposing government positions that deserve little or no respect.” Since the government can be relentless in pursuing forfeiture cases, innocent owners need diligent counsel to better protect them. The amount of time Moser’s attorney thoroughly spent on the case was not unreasonable. This aggressive litigation of civil forfeiture cases is not an isolated incident either. One of the better known cases involved a Massachusetts motel that has been run by the Caswell family since 1955. (The case is elaborated in the video below.) For more than three years, the Caswells had to battle the government from seizing their motel. To defend themselves in court, Russ Caswell and his family were forced to spend and borrow $100,000 on counsel. According to Caswell, they were completely “tapped out.” Fortunately, the Institute for Justice (IJ) took their case pro bono. In January, a federal district court dismissed the case and lambasted the government for “stretching the evidence.” As Caswell himself later said before a congressional briefing, “If it weren’t for IJ, I would have lost my motel.” Access to quality counsel is crucial to defending property owners from government overreach. The government’s attack on CAFRA fee awards is undermining one of the few protections for owners. As Caswell and Moser’s cases clearly demonstrate, skilled lawyers can make all the difference for forfeiture victims. A victory for Moser and his attorney would set an important precedent for civil liberties and property rights.
"DynDNS" redirects here. For the method of automatically updating a name server in the Domain Name System, see Dynamic DNS Dyn, Inc. () is an Internet performance management and web application security company, offering products to monitor, control, and optimize online infrastructure, and also domain registration services and email products. The company was acquired by Oracle Corporation in 2016[1] and has operated as a global business unit of Oracle since 2017.[2] History [ edit ] Dyn was created as a community-led student project by Jeremy Hitchcock, Tom Daly, Tim Wilde and Chris Reinhardt during their undergraduate studies at Worcester Polytechnic Institute.[3] Originally, Dyn enabled students to access lab computers and print documents remotely. The project then moved towards domain name system (DNS) services. The first iteration was a free dynamic DNS service known as DynDNS.[4] The project required $25,000 to stay open, and raised over $40,000.[4] The donation based model continued until 2002, and stopped with a launch of "donator-only" DNS services.[5] Later, a premium service called the DynECT Managed DNS Platform became available in 2008.,[6] with the hiring of Kyle York, Gray Chynoweth and Cory von Wallenstein, as the business began to scale. In 2011, Dyn opened an office in London, and it eventually moved its EMEA headquarters to Brighton.[7] In the same year, Dyn opened its new headquarters in Manchester, New Hampshire, United States.[8] In October 2012, Dyn completed a Series A round of venture capital funding totaling US$ 38 million from North Bridge Venture Partners.[9] Prior to the investment from North Bridge, the company had been self funded.[10] In August 2013, Dyn launched its annual geek summer camp event, a business conference for the Internet performance industry.[11] In April 2014, Dyn announced the discontinuation of its free hostname services effective May 7.[12][13] In September 2014, Dyn launched Dyn Internet Intelligence, a SaaS-based product.[14] In May 2016, Dyn obtained further equity funding of US$50 million from Pamplona Capital Management.[15] Also in May 2016, Dyn launched its platform for internet performance management.[15] Total funding of $100M. In October 2016, Colin Doherty was appointed the company’s CEO.[16] The company scaled to approximately $100M in annual recurring revenue (ARR) prior to exit.[17] On November 21, 2016, Dyn announced that it had agreed to be acquired by Oracle Corporation for 600 million USD.[18][19] In June 2018, Oracle released the Internet Intelligence Map, a free tool that provides data about worldwide Internet traffic and disruptions.[20] The map uses the Internet Intelligence technology Oracle acquired from Dyn.[21] Oracle and Oracle Dyn continue to be a technology leader in the New Hampshire economy.[22] 2016 attack [ edit ] On October 21, 2016, Dyn's networks were attacked three times with a distributed denial-of-service attack, causing major sites including Twitter, Reddit, GitHub, Amazon.com, Netflix, Spotify, Runescape, Quora, and Dyn's own website to become unreachable via the Uniform Resource Locator (although most sites may have been available via IP address manually or through a maintained /etc/hosts file).[23][24][25] Dyn Acquisitions [ edit ] Dyn acquired three companies during 2010: EveryDNS, [26] EditDNS, [27] and SendLabs. [28] EditDNS, and SendLabs. In September 2012, Dyn acquired the SEO/SEM & Ecommerce Development parts of Incutio LTD. [29] They also acquired long time DNS provider TZO. [30] They also acquired long time DNS provider TZO. On January 2, 2013, Dyn acquired Web performance monitoring company Verelo. [31] On May 13, 2013, Dyn acquired mobile dashboard app startup Trendslide. [32] On December 23, 2013, Dyn acquired ReadyStatus, a tool that notifies customers of planned and unplanned service interruptions. [33] On March 26, 2014 Dyn acquired Nettica, a US-based managed DNS provider. [34] On May 20, 2014, Dyn acquired Renesys, specialist in monitoring the Internet to provide data about cloud services, connectivity and potential performance issues. [35] On February 15, 2018, Oracle announced an agreement to acquire Zenedge, a Florida-based web application security company.[36] The acquisition closed on March 5, 2018, and Zenedge became part of the Oracle Dyn Global Business Unit.[37] See also [ edit ]
SPANISH FIRM iUnika has shown off four new netbooks at a Free Knowledge Foundation sponsored LibreMeeting in Madrid, including a couple of super eco-friendly models sporting solar panels and made from bioplastic. The little eco warriors costing between 130-160 Euros (about $180-$220), weigh in at just 700 grams, boast a 400MHz processor and run Linux. Iunika has bestowed 64GB of flash memory on its little crotchtops, along with 128MB of RAM, WiFi and a 10/100 Ethernet card to pack under the bonnet of their eight inch, 800 X 480 resolution screens. A couple of the netbooks carry solar panels on their bioplastic, biodegradable, starch and cellulose casings, although from the pictures these seem a little too small to produce more than about 4 Watts of power. With the netbooks likely in the 3-4 Watt power range, this means the panels should just about keep the devices topped up when switched off. Still, the effort is laudable and the netbooks will make their way to shelves sometime in late June. µ
I am happy to announce that I am going to giveaway a $100 Amazon.com Gift Certificate to one lucky individual! This giveaway is for one $100 Gift Card to Amazon.com. This contest will end July 18th, 2016 at 11:59 PM CST and is open World Wide. The drawing will take place on July 23, 2016. The Giveaway Geek is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com. Other than my participation in their associates program, Amazon.com is not affiliated with and does not endorse this site; this giveaway is sponsored by The Giveaway Geek directly. As an Amazon Associate, for any purchases you make at Amazon.com through any of the affiliate links, such as the Deals and Discounts posts made on this site, I get a commission, even if, in the same session you purchase something other than the product that was linked to. The money I make off this site is what allows me to do a lot of these giveaway contests, so if you have some shopping to do… wink Please make sure you read the official Giveaway Geek rules before entering. For any questions, thoughts or feedback leave a comment using the form at the bottom of this post or use the form on my contact page to shoot me an email. The winner will be contacted via email upon which the individual will be required to respond with 48 hours or a runner-up winner will be selected. $100 Gift Card Giveaway
The pygmy marmoset (Cebuella pygmaea) is a small species of New World monkey native to rainforests of the western Amazon Basin in South America. The species is notable for being the smallest monkey and one of the smallest primates in the world, at just over 100 grams (3.5 oz) (Madame Berthe's mouse lemur is smaller). It is generally found in evergreen and river-edge forests and is a gum-feeding specialist, or a gummivore. About 83% of the pygmy marmoset population lives in stable troops of two to nine individuals, including a dominant male, a breeding female, and up to four successive litters of offspring. The modal size of a standard stable troop would be six individuals.[4] Although most groups consist of family members, some may also include one or two additional adult members. Members of the group communicate using a complex system including vocal, chemical, and visual signals. Three main calling signals depend on the distance the call needs to travel. These monkeys may also make visual displays when threatened or to show dominance. Chemical signaling using secretions from glands on the chest and genital area allow the female to indicate to the male when she is able to reproduce. The female gives birth to twins twice a year and the parental care is shared between the group. The pygmy marmoset has been viewed as somewhat different from typical marmosets, most of which are classified in the genera Callithrix and Mico, and thus is accorded its own genus, Cebuella, within the family Callitrichidae. It is listed as Least Concern by the International Union for Conservation of Nature as it is common across its wide range and not at immediate risk of widespread decline. The biggest threats to the species are habitat loss and the pet trade.[5] Evolution and taxonomy [ edit ] There has been debate among primatologists concerning the proper genus in which to place the pygmy marmoset. An examination of the interstitial retinol binding protein nuclear gene (IRBP) in three marmoset species showed that Callithrix as constructed in the 1990s also needed to include C. pygmaea to be monophyletic, and that the times of separation of pygmaea and the argentata and jacchus species groups from one another are less than 5 million years ago, as might be expected for species of the same genus.[6] However, subsequent separation of the argentata and jacchus species groups into different genera (the argentata group having been moved to Mico) justifies maintaining a separate genus for the pygmy marmoset, as Callithrix is no longer paraphyletic.[3] There are two subspecies described by Colin Groves of the pygmy marmoset:[1][2] Cebuella pygmaea pygmaea – Northern/Western pygmy marmoset – Northern/Western pygmy marmoset Cebuella pygmaea niveiventris – Eastern pygmy marmoset There are few morphological differences between these subspecies, as they may only differ slightly in color, and they are only separated by geographical barriers, including large rivers in Central and South America.[7] The evolution of this species diverged in terms of body-mass from typical primates, with a high rate of body-mass reduction. This involves large decreases in pre-natal and post-natal growth rates, furthering the thought that pro-genesis played a role in the evolution of this animal.[8] Physical description [ edit ] The pygmy marmoset is the world's smallest monkey. The pygmy marmoset is one of the world's smallest primates, being the smallest true monkey, with a head-body length ranging from 117 to 152 mm (4.6 to 6.0 in) and a tail of 172 to 229 mm (6.8 to 9.0 in). The average adult body weight is just over 100 grams (3.5 oz) with the only sexual dimorphism of females being a little heavier.[9][10] The fur colour is a mixture of brownish-gold, grey, and black on its back and head and yellow, orange, and tawny on its underparts. Its tail has black rings and its face has flecks of white on its cheeks and a white vertical line between its eyes.[10] It has many adaptations for arboreal living including the ability to rotate its head 180 degrees and sharp claw-like nails used to cling to branches and trees.[11][12] Its dental morphology is adapted to feeding on gum, with specialised incisors that are used to gouge trees and stimulate sap flow. Its cecum is larger than usual to allow for the greater period of time gum takes to break down in the stomach.[12] The pygmy marmoset walks on all four limbs and can leap up to 5 m (16 ft) between branches.[11][13] Ecology [ edit ] Geographic range and habitat [ edit ] The pygmy marmoset can be found in much of the western Amazon Basin, in Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, and Bolivia. The western pygmy marmoset, Cebuella pygmaea pygmaea, occurs in the state of Amazonas, Brazil, eastern Peru, southern Colombia, and north-eastern Ecuador. The eastern pygmy marmoset, C. p. niveiventris, is also found in Amazonas, but also in Acre, Brazil, eastern Peru, and northern Bolivia. The distribution of both subspecies is often limited by rivers. It typically lives in the understory of the mature evergreen forests and often near rivers.[3] Population density is correlated with food tree availability. It can be found between ground level and about 20 metres (66 ft) into the trees but generally does not enter the top of the canopy. It is often found in areas with standing water for more than three months of the year.[10] Diet [ edit ] Specialised claws allow the pygmy marmoset to cling to trees while feeding. This monkey has a specialized diet of tree gum. It gnaws holes in the bark of appropriate trees and vines with its specialized dentition to elicit the production of gum. When the sap puddles up in the hole, it laps it up with its tongue. It also lies in wait for insects, especially butterflies, which are attracted to the sap holes. It supplements its diet with nectar and fruit.[14] A group's home range is 0.1 to 0.4 hectares (0.25 to 0.99 acres), and feeding is usually concentrated on one or two trees at a time. When those become depleted, a group moves to a new home range. Brown-mantled tamarins are generally sympatric with pygmy marmosets and often raid pygmy marmosets' gum holes.[3] Pygmy marmosets have adapted insect-like claws, known as tegulae, to engage in a high degree of claw-clinging behaviors associated with plant exudate exploitation. Exudate is any material that oozes out of a plant, including gum, sap, resin, and latex.[15] Claw-clinging is primarily used during feeding, but also during plant exudate foraging.[13] Behaviour [ edit ] A pygmy marmoset group, ranging from two to nine members, contains one or two adult males and one or two adult females, including a single breeding female and her offspring.[16] Interbirth interval ranges from 149–746 days.[17] In contrast to other callitrichines, there is no relationship between the number of adult males and the number of infants and offspring. However, there is a significant positive relationship between the number of juveniles and the number of adult and subadult group members.[18] Young marmosets typically remain in the group for two consecutive birth cycles. The pygmy marmoset uses special types of communication to give alerts and warning to its family members. These include chemical, vocal, and visual types of communication.[19] It is believed to serve to promote group cohesion and avoidance of other groups.[20] Social systems [ edit ] Infant pygmy marmosets, along with their parents, twin, and other siblings, form cooperative care groups. Babbling, or vocalizing, by the infant marmoset is a key part of its relationships with its family members and is a major part of its development. As the infant develops, the babbling gradually changes to resemble and eventually become adult vocalization. There are many similarities between the development of vocalization in infant pygmy marmosets and speech in infant humans. Vocalizing gives the infant advantages such as increased care and allows the entire family to coordinate their activities without seeing each other.[21] Pygmy marmosets live in groups of two to nine individuals. Siblings also participate in infant care. Infant marmosets require the most attention, so having more family members participating in the care decreases the cost for any individual and also teaches parenting skills to the juvenile marmosets. Members of the group, usually female, may even put off their own reproduction through a temporary cessation of ovulation in order to care for the offspring of others in the group. The ideal number of caregivers for an infant marmoset has been shown to be around five individuals. Caregivers are responsible for finding food for the infants as well as helping the father watch for predators.[22] The pygmy marmoset is a non-seasonal breeder and usually gives birth to twins once or twice a year.[23] However, single births occur 16% of the time and triplet births 8% of the time.[17] The pygmy marmoset is usually monogamous though there is some variation within the species in terms of breeding systems. Polyandry also occurs as male marmosets are responsible for carrying the infants on their backs. Having a second male to carry the offspring can be beneficial as marmoset litters are often twins and decreases the cost to any particular male. The daily range of the pygmy marmoset, however, is relatively small, which decreases the rate of polyandry.[24] Male and female pygmy marmosets show differences in foraging and feeding behavior, although male and female dominance and aggressive behavior varies within the species. Males have less time to search out food sources and forage due to the constraints of their infant caring responsibilities and predator vigilance. Without an infant to carry, female pygmy marmosets have greater freedom to forage, giving them an apparent feeding priority. This priority may serve to compensate mothers for the energetic costs of carrying and lactating for two offspring at a time. However, the fact that feeding priority is also given to females without offspring weakens the argument. Instead, female feeding priority may have evolved through sexual selection. Females may choose mates who invest more time in infant care and predator vigilance. Such males have less time to look for food, allowing the female feeding priority.[25] Communication [ edit ] Groups use contact calls to stay together when foraging, feeding, and travelling. The pygmy marmoset is well known for its communication abilities including an intricate system of calls. The trill is used during feeding, foraging, and when travelling and the group is close together. The J-call is a series of fast notes repeated by the caller and is used at medium distances. Both calls are used as contact calls. The long call is used when the group is spread out over distances greater than ten meters or in response to a neighboring group.[19] The pygmy marmoset uses the trill for short distance communication, J-calls for intermediate distances, and long calls for long distances; these have respectively decreasing frequencies. It is capable of distinguishing both the type of call and the individual making the call. Research based on audio playback tests shows that calls recorded from different individuals in captivity varied significantly in all seven auditory parameters analyzed for each type of call. Behavioral responses to trills were greatest when the caller was the dominant male of the group. Responses to J-calls were greatest when the caller was the monkey's mate or a same-sex monkey from outside the group. Varying responses to individual callers were only observed when the call was given spontaneously from another animal rather than being played back from a recording, with one exception. That exception was that male monkeys responded to playbacks of their own calls differently from those of other monkeys, when the call was played back from a familiar location. It is thought the pygmy marmoset reacts at first to the type of call that is being made and then adjusts its behavior slightly to react to the specific individual that is making the call. This allows the marmoset to react appropriately to all calls but show some variation when the call gives extra information.[20] Environmental factors play a role in communication by affecting the frequency of the signal and how far the signal can travel and still be audible to communicate the desired message. Since the pygmy marmoset is often found in the rain forest, plant life and the humid atmosphere add to the normal absorption and scattering of sound. Because low frequency calls are affected less by the disturbances than their high frequency counterparts, they are used for communication across longer distances.[19] The pygmy marmoset changes the characteristics of its calls when its social environment is changed. Adult marmosets will show modifications in the structure of their calls which mimic that of their group members. In addition to changes of existing calls, novel calls may be heard from marmosets after pairing.[26] The pygmy marmoset has other ways to communicate information about matters such as the female's ovulatory state. New World monkeys do not show genital swelling during ovulation as female Old World monkeys do. Instead, a lack of female aggression towards males can serve as a signal of ovulation. Scent glands on its chest, anus, and genitals are also rubbed on surfaces which leave chemical signals about the reproductive state of the female.[27] The pygmy marmoset also performs visual displays such as strutting, back-arching, and piloerection when it feels threatened or to show dominance.[28] Conservation [ edit ] The pygmy marmoset, due to its extensive population size, is not thought to be at risk of large population declines. As a result, it is listed as a species of Least Concern by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. The species was originally listed on Appendix I by CITES due to wildlife trade but has since been downgraded to Appendix II. It is threatened by habitat loss in some areas of its range, and by the pet trade in others (i.e. Ecuador).[3] Interaction between humans and the pygmy marmoset is associated with a number of behavioral changes in the animal including social play and vocalization, both of which are important to communication between animals in the species. Particularly in areas of heavy tourism, pygmy marmosets have a tendency to be less noisy, less aggressive, and less playful with other individuals. They are also pushed into higher strata of the rainforest than they would normally prefer. Tourism in areas native to the pygmy marmoset is also correlated with increased capture of the animal. Due to its small size and relatively docile nature, captured pygmy marmosets are often found in exotic pet trades.[29] Capture causes even more behavioral variations, including a decrease in both the number and the sound level of vocalizations.[30] Pygmy marmosets can also be found at local zoos, where they exist in groups.[31] In popular culture [ edit ] Fingerlings, the hit toy of Christmas 2017 produced by WowWee, are based on pygmy marmosets.[32] In an episode of Dora The Explorer, a pygmy marmoset was mentioned. As pets [ edit ] Finger monkeys’ (pygmy marmoset) value is associated with them being the smallest primate in the world. New-born pygmy marmosets are usually 5–6 inches (130–150 mm) tall, and weigh from 100 grams (3.5 oz)[33]. Although these primates are not in danger of extinction, they are rare to find in the market for purchase. Prices range from $1,000 to $4,000 [33]. Generally, a Pygmy Marmoset’s life-span is from 15 to 20 years, they are known to have a shorter life in the wild mainly because they fall off of trees [34]. Another expense for these creatures as pets is the necessary essentials in order to maintain them. Creating an environment similar to that of where they are from is important [35]. For food, these creatures as pets are often fed fruits, insects, and smaller lizards[36]. As pets, a baby pygmy marmoset needs to be fed every two hours for at least two weeks [33]. Understanding their natural diet is also important because it helps maintain their good health from the necessary protein, calcium and other nutritional sources they need in order to survive. In the United States, each state has different regulations when it comes to owning one of these creatures[33]. Another factor that needs to be considered is that a regular veterinarian might not be able to help provide medical evaluations or care; one would need to seek out a veterinarian with a primate specialization[37]. In South America it is illegal to either import or export these creatures. Understanding the laws within those countries is important when it comes to considering owning or taking care of a pygmy marmoset. Many people do not agree that pygmy marmosets should be pets.[35] The argument is usually that they have a longer life-span when they are in good care from a human[36].
Over the past decade, stereotypes that video games were a popular medium intended only for youths have been eroded. It is clear that video games are also a popular medium for adults. The rapid growth of ever-older audiences playing games on mobile phones and on consoles has been brought about by easier and more intuitive user interfaces, repeated stories about the health benefits of play for older players as well as demography. The average age of Australians who play video games is now 33 years. They play for an hour-and-a-half, and between three and four times a day. Video games are played by 49% of those over 50 years of age and 39% of those over 65: primarily, they say, to keep their mind active. These are the latest results from a series of studies I have conducted since 2005 for the Interactive Games and Entertainment Association. The report entitled Digital Australia 2016 is the sixth iteration of empirical studies about demographics, self-report behaviours and attitudes around digital games. The current research is based on 1,274 households and 3,398 individuals of all ages living in those households. Adult participants responded to 80 questions about themselves and on behalf of all members of their households. Participants were drawn from an online national sample using the Nielsen Your Voice panel in May. Mapping age and game play In the current study, age bands used by the Australian Bureau of Statistics were mapped onto player status. The operational definition of a player was any person in the household, self or participant-reported, for whom the answer was simply “yes” to “Do you…” and “Does [household member]… play computer or video games on any device including a PC, console, handheld, social network, mobile phone or tablet computer?” The result reveals that 68% of the Australian population plays, although the proportion varies by age group. Predictably, 91% of children aged five to 14 play. However, the proportion of older adults aged 65 and over who play is as great as young children between ages of one and four. Author provided Women and girls play for 75 minutes a day on average, while men and boys play for 100 minutes on average. Casual play is nearly identical for females and males at 25 minutes a day. However, males spend considerably more time on in-depth play than females: 75 minutes a day compared with 50 minutes on average. Playing is heaviest in the late teens and early twenties. Adapting a model of motivations for media use called uses and gratifications, survey participants responded to questions about why they play. Naturally, having fun and filling in time to alleviate boredom top the uses and gratifications list of most players. However, drilling down by age group produces a compelling if simple finding: for those aged 50 years and over, fun is replaced by keeping the mind active as the main reason for playing. Participants were also asked to nominate whether “positive ageing” benefits might be realised by older Australians playing video games: 76% said they felt video games could increase mental stimulation, 61% said they may help fight dementia, 55% said they could help maintain social connections. When asked about general health benefits of game play, participants nominated improved thinking skills first, followed by coordination and dexterity. Despite limited evidence for games improving thinking skills in short-term studies, longitudinal evidence will likely emerge in coming years as big data from many “brain games” comes to light. Results of this survey research are limited. Nevertheless, I believe they suggest games are transforming as a medium. While games will continue to be played for entertainment by players of all ages, they will increasingly serve other purposes. Interest continues to grow for the potential of games to reinvigorate education, enhance workplace training, and stimulate social and political conversation. Living longer, playing smarter I see games changing most in response to an ageing population. We live longer on average today than at any other time in human history. According to the ABS, the median age of Australians today is 37 years, and a third of Australians are aged 50 years or more – extraordinary as it sounds, 33% of Australians are over the age of 50. Within 20 years, the median age will be 39 years on mid-band predictions from the ABS. By 2035, 20% of the population will be 65 years or older and nearly 40% will aged 50 years or older. As Treasury’s 2015 Intergenerational Report argues, working life will be extended in coming years because human life has been extended dramatically in the past century. However, the skills needed and the inclusion required for older workers will centre on knowledge worker literacies, including those of interactive digital media. I believe older adults are up to the challenge. Longevity is a result of innovation and technology: for people and for media. The review of funding and the Australian games development industry championed by Senator Scott Ludlam is propitious in this regard. Why shouldn’t Australia lead the charge on designing more games for more audiences and to innovate particularly around serious games for our seriously ageing population?
A twofer is a cabling device used in theatrical stage lighting. It allows two stage lighting instruments to be connected to one circuit. It is wired in parallel, such that voltage is unchanged in the twofer, and current is split and divided over two connectors. Twofers are used in conjunction with cables with the same types of connectors.[1] The name is a corruption of the phrase "Two For One". UK terminology [ edit ] The UK equivalent of the twofer is a Grelco. The name derives from the manufacturer of the original examples, but is now generally adopted for all examples regardless of manufacturer. It typically relates to a splitter for the UK 15 A power connections commonly used for stage lighting. It is usually an integral block rather than a plug with two cables leading to two sockets. Where a single plug goes to three or more sockets it is sometimes known as a Trelco.[2] Typically for most other power connector types used in theatre, the term (2-way) splitter is used. Australian terminology [ edit ] For several decades, much rock-and-roll and other lighting used "Par Cans", each containing a 120-volt PAR 64 lamp. As the mains supply is 240 volts these must be connected in series, via an adapter lead or box featuring two sockets. Notes [ edit ]
dtshyk Offline Joined: Feb 2008 Posts: 4384 OfflineJoined: Feb 2008Posts: 4384 On the official twitter account of Key, one of the staff explained the production policy of the Little Busters anime. Although the order of the events might be different from the original game, there won't be alterations in the story nor anime original characters. He said the length of the TV series is significantly long, but still it was necessary to shorten the original story to adapt it to the limited number of episodes. He added that the relationships among Rin, Komari, and other new members of the Little Busters team might be described more in detail than in the game. Sources: Key's official Twitter account Updated on Apr 10th According to the official blog of Visual Arts, the OP and ED themes of Little Busters anime were announced to be "Little Busters!" and "Alicemagic", same as the original game. Source: Baba Takahiro, the President of Visual Arts, tweeted on his Twitter account that he and the staff of Visual Arts shared the anxieties and expectations among the fans over the production studio of the Little Busters! anime. However, he made a decision when he saw the enthusiasm of J.C. Staff and Warner Bros. Japan for producing the TV anime. He said J.C. Staff and Warner were great companies and asked the fans to trust them.On the official twitter account of Key, one of the staff explained the production policy of the Little Busters anime. Although the order of the events might be different from the original game, there won't be alterations in the story nor anime original characters. He said the length of the TV series is significantly long, but still it was necessary to shorten the original story to adapt it to the limited number of episodes. He added that the relationships among Rin, Komari, and other new members of the Little Busters team might be described more in detail than in the game.Sources: Baba's tweet According to the official blog of Visual Arts, the OP and ED themes of Little Busters anime were announced to be "Little Busters!" and "Alicemagic", same as the original game.Source: Visual Arts Staff Diary BBCode Modified by dtshyk, Apr 10, 2012 5:59 AM
Mitsuyasu Hasebe Any insect unlucky enough to land on the mouth-like leaves of an Australian pitcher plant will meet a grisly end. The plant's prey is drawn into a vessel-like ‘pitcher’ organ where a specialized cocktail of enzymes digests the victim. Now, by studying the pitcher plant's genome — and comparing its insect-eating fluids to those of other carnivorous plants — researchers have found that meat-eating plants the world over have hit on the same deadly molecular recipe, even though they are separated by millions of years of evolution. “We’re really looking at a classic case of convergent evolution,” says Victor Albert, a plant-genome scientist at the University of Buffalo, New York, who co-led the study1, published in Nature Ecology and Evolution on 6 February. Carnivorous plants occur across the flowering-plant family tree. The Australian pitcher plant (Cephalotus follicularis) — native to a sliver of coastline in Southwest Australia — is closer kin to the starfruit (Averrhoa carambola) than to other species of pitcher plants found in the Americas and southeast Asia. This suggests that carnivory has evolved repeatedly in plants, probably to cope with the nutrient-scarce soils in which they grow, Albert says. “What they’re trying to do is capture nitrogen and phosphorus from their prey.” Deadly recipe Australian pitcher plants produce deadly ‘pitcher’ leaves — which resemble a toothy grin — as well as flat leaves. After sequencing the species’ genome, Albert’s team identified genes that are activated differently between the pitcher-like leaves and the plant's other, non-carnivorous, leaves. These included genes involved in making starches and sugars that may help to produce the nectar that lures insects to their deaths, as well as genes encoding waxy substances that may make it hard to escape from the pitcher. To determine how pitchers eat their prey, the researchers sampled the digestive cocktail from Cephalotus and several other unrelated carnivorous plants and identified a total of 35 proteins, using mass spectrometry. Many of the proteins are related to those that other flowering plants use to fend off pathogens2–5. For instance, plants typically produce enzymes that break down a polymer called chitin as a defence against fungi, which make their cell walls out of the chemical. But Albert suspects that Australian pitchers and other carnivorous plants have repurposed the enzyme to digest insect exoskeletons, which are also made of chitin. In the new analysis, Albert and his colleagues also found that in distantly related carnivorous plants, including species of pitcher plants, the genes deployed to make the digestive-fluid proteins have a common evolutionary origin. What’s more, some of these genes have independently evolved to change the shape of the enzymes they encode in similar ways in the different species. The researchers don't have proof yet, but they think that the mutations might help to stabilize the enzymes when they are present together in digestive fluid. While researchers already appreciated the importance of convergent evolution for carnivorous plants, says Aaron Ellison, an ecologist at Harvard Forest in Petersham, Massachusetts, the new study is important because it demonstrates how this convergence can occur down to the molecular level, he says. Gaining the ability to eat an insect is of little use if a plant cannot first entrap one, and here evolution has come up with more diverse solutions, Albert notes. Venus fly-traps ensnare their prey, whereas bladderworts immobilize their victims using tiny suction cups. In his 1875 book Insectivorous Plants, Charles Darwin included detailed drawings of the tentacles that sundews use to pin insects to their leaves. "It's no wonder Darwin wrote an entire book on carnivorous plants,” Albert says.
The Strangest Secret: Why You Should Run Away One of the more instructive experiences of my life occurred when was when I was a teenager, barely sixteen years old. My dad, whom I had previously considered to be incredibly over-protective, put me on a cross-country bus and sent me, alone, to visit my grandmother, some two thousand miles away. For two straight days I was on my own, surrounded by people I had never met, in places I’d never been, and thrown into situations that I could never have expected. The experience did something to me: I learned about a strange world and how to get along in it, alone, with no one to run to. The benefits I felt from this trip didn’t have to do with traveling. This wasn’t about getting from point A to point B – this was about wandering through the unknown. And that was an idea that rather bothered me. During my youth, there was a common idea that moving around was a bad thing. You were supposed to stay in your place unless you had a good reason to do otherwise. People who moved around were considered suspicious and even dangerous. The benefit that I felt from wandering clashed with what I had been taught. When I returned home from this journey, I returned to the regular American distractions of sports, school, and all the other shiny objects that grab at young people’s minds. But I never forgot the strange feeling that stuck with me from that journey. Sometime later, I came across a passage in Shakespeare’s Two Gentlemen of Verona: I rather would entreat you to see the wonders of the world abroad, than, living dully, sluggardized at home, wear out your youth in shapeless idleness. That wasn’t precisely what I had felt on my adventure, but it was close. It would be some years before I would travel seriously, but I decided right then and there that I would make it my life’s goal to see the world. That experience, which I’ve come to call The Strangest Secret, is not unlike Earl Nightingale’s message of the same name. Both concepts lead to a rich and fulfilling life. Defining the Strangest Secret At some point after I finished school, my intellectual curiosity bloomed and I began reading in earnest. And as I did, I found out that other people had discovered value in wandering, much like I had. Soon enough I discovered that I had only seen half of the picture – the actual virtue I had felt was about much more than wandering. Eventually, as my mind matured through study and experience, I began to understand what this strange virtue really was. And then, to my deep surprise, I began to find this odd virtue – commonly considered to be an undesirable trait in my youth – was present in the lives of the greatest men and women of all time. The first people I found it in were the great spiritual leaders: Abraham, Moses, Buddha, Jesus, the Apostles and Confucius. I found it fascinating that all of them partook of the same ritual. Later I found more religious leaders that had done the same thing: Martin Luther, Jan Hus, Thomas Aquinas, and others. Over time I learned that the world’s great philosophers and poets had also been initiated into this strange rite; people like Diogenes, Pythagoras, Sappho, Cicero, and the great John Locke. The great men that shaped Western Civilization also shared in it: Peter Abelard (the founder of modern learning), John of Salisbury (who defined the rule of law), Stephan Langton (the author of Magna Carta), Christopher Columbus, Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Paine, and others. If you keep looking, you even find that many of the world’s greatest authors, musicians and inventors make the same list: Victor Hugo, Daniel Defoe, Frederic Chopin, Leo Tolstoy, John Dos Passos, George Orwell, Albert Einstein and Nikola Tesla. Exactly what is this transforming, empowering and strange secret? It is this: The virtue of running away. “Running Away” as a Path to an Exceptional Life If you were raised at all like I was, the idea that running away is a virtue will trouble you. I’m sorry about that, but when you find one thing that the greatest men and women of history have in common, you might want to examine it, regardless of how it makes you feel. None of us lives entirely by ourselves (nor should we), but living with others inevitably leads to a web of expectations imposed upon us, a web that quickly engulfs every aspect of our lives. These people aren’t necessarily doing anything wrong; this is simply what happens among groups of people: they learn to expect things of you, and you learn to expect things of them. But this web of expectations also locks us in place, and because of it, we too-easily come to see ourselves as playing a certain type of role in life. And this is what the great men and women broke out of. Do you remember how many times Jesus criticized people for being “hypocrites”? What he really called these people was actors – as in playing a role on a stage. Separation frees us from the roles we’ve grown accustomed to. By running away, you strip off the accumulations of your lifetime and find yourself underneath. Break Away from the “Web of Expectations” I’m not telling you to abandon your family, of course; obligations to spouses and children are not things to be tossed aside. But I am telling you that at some point in your personal development, breaking away from your web of expectations is critical. If Moses and Buddha and Abelard and Sappho and Franklin couldn’t release their talents without it, you probably won’t either. Beside, once you get over the terror of it, you’ll be forever glad that you did. You will reclaim the real you from the expectations – even demands – of the people who have surrounded you. And in time, even those people will probably be glad you ran away. They’ll more than likely freak out at first, but if you come back a better person, they may get to like him or her better than the old, fits-our-expectations you. I have a friend I’ll call Pete, who desperately wanted to expand his life, but just wasn’t getting any traction. After multiple frustrations, he decided to move himself and his young family – for an indefinite time – from the American Midwest to a small town in the southern US… somewhere entirely different and a thousand miles distant. He contacted an acquaintance at the destination, and asked for some help finding arrangements. He and his wife took a brief scouting trip, and they just moved, without even a clear job offer. Years later, my friend recounted that it was a frightening adventure, but that without it he never would have clarified his understanding of himself – too much of what he had been doing and thinking was intertwined with the desires and opinions of others. He needed to be someplace where, in the words of an old bluesman, he was “nuthin’ to nobody.” And within a few years the man’s life had indeed changed, and very much to the better. Somehow, sometime, you need to face the world as “nuthin’ to nobody,” and re-assess who you are. Maybe the idea of running away still troubles you. If so, that will be your issue to work through – I can’t do it for you and I wouldn’t try. All I am telling you is that there is something very important here, something of pivotal importance to the best men and women of history. What you do with it is your choice. What places do you want to see in your lifetime? Paul Rosenberg FreemansPerspective.com “The Strangest Secret: Why You Should Run Away” was originally published at EarlyToRise.com
There's stuff for both the casual and hardcore players When I met with with Rocket League creative director Corey Davis at PAX earlier this month to talk about the upcoming update, I knew it was going to be a big one. Developers rarely schedule appointments to talk about patches. It's too granular. Davis had a whole PowerPoint presentation ready to go. The biggest news to come out of this meeting was the reveal that Rocket League was beginning to work on cross-platform parties (which I exhaustively detailed in this piece). However, there was a ton of stuff that the Rocket League community will also take interest in. Since there's so much, let's tackle them one at a time along with Davis' commentary about each: Transparent Goalposts: The Fall Update will introduce transparent goalposts. "The big deal is that it's toggleable," Davis says. "There's a ton of games that do transparent walls but in our case, not only do you have to be able to see any curvature but also any boundaries, so you don't just like drive off the side trying to Spider-Man clear the ball." There are a couple reasons they can be turned on or off. First, Davis predicts that a lot of seasoned players will probably leave things as they are because they've gotten so good at knowing how to handle the opaque goalposts. But, he also adds that "technically, there's a very small performance hit. So people on a 10-year old PC (which we definitely have), they can turn it off if they feel like it's hurting the performance. In our profiling, it has almost no impact unless you're really on a potato PC." LAN Support: Although RLCS has had LAN support from the very beginning, Psyonix is releasing it for everyone. Davis comments "So you can host a LAN server in the game client. It's on all the consoles, and we actually developed a lot of it for Switch to do local Wi-Fi play like Mario Kart. But it extends to LAN pretty naturally. It's a bigger deal for tournaments like the Universal Open or whatever where they want to play on 0 ping." (Somewhat embarrassingly, a late-stage Universal Open match was hit with a network error while it was being broadcast on NBC Sports.) "We've had it for RLCS for a long time. There's security concerns with releasing a server build essentially. Since this is packaged into the normal client, there's no additional risks for people finding stuff that we don't want them to find." Standardized Maps: As we noted last month, Rocket League is doing away with alternate maps in competitive and casual online play. Good riddance. Director Mode and Smurfs: Psyonix has been working on a new spectator camera called Director Mode, and this update will put the feature in beta. Davis explains it as "An AI that can predict based on what it knows of the players in the match. It'll predict shots and saves and if you hit the ball in the way that thinks is going to create an epic goal or save, it will cut to the perfect person so that it frames the action correctly. The nice thing about it is that it can follow certain rules so that these guys don't always have time to think about. Like in broadcasts, you try not to 180 the camera. There's a bunch of rules in sports broadcasting that we're trying to subtly include. If you're constantly inverting, people sort of lose context." However, Director Mode has a more interesting application: Detecting smurfs. Davis' laments are the same as those of most developers of competitive online multiplayer games. "It's a really tough problem," he says. "What we're looking at is similar to what I hear other people that I talk to are looking at is metrics. It's easier on a shooter because you can look at mouse movement and say 'this person is super accurate compared to everyone else in the game.' So I know games like Overwatch are starting to look at this where they can do processing on your input and say 'this guy's playing like a Diamond player, so let's nudge him upwards into the correct ranking.' This is our first step from 'Can we from an AI or programming standpoint detect what a diamond player looks like?'" Davis continues "Our middle range of Gold which is like the peak of our bell curve, is marked not by people not knowing how to do crazy stuff, it's that they're incredibly inconsistent. So one game you play like a Platinum player and the next you play like a Silver. That's going to be a challenge for us: Not misidentifying people because they over-performed for a couple games." Season 5 Rewards: For the first time ever, Rocket League's competitive season reward won't be an item for your car. Instead, it'll be an animated banner. Davis elaborates "It's kind of like a kill card in Call of Duty or something. It'll show up on the main menu under your name, then whenever you score, people will see not just your name and title but an animated banner. They get crazier and more animated and more ornate the higher rank you are. We're also going to include a bunch of freebies for people who a) don't play competitive and b) don't like the look of these. Part of it is that we had feedback in the past that people didn't like that they would grind for a season reward and they'd get like wheels and then they'd get new wheels out of a crate and they'd be like 'Aww, now I can't show off that I was a Champion because I have to pick between my season reward and my cosmetic preference.' This is sort of our first stab at a prestige award that shows off how high ranked you were but doesn't necessarily preclude you from customizing your car." Seasonal Arenas: Rocket League's going to start experimenting with seasonal arenas. The first one is a rural farmstead map. I can't get over how cute the cow is. Then, when fall passes, Psyonix will move onto some snowy winter-themed maps. New Items: Davis comments: "The last thing for this update in particular is that there are over 90 new free items. They're all going to be totally free and they try to fill in some gaps in our item catalog. There are cute things like bunnies that animate or like a taco boost. There's animated dragon wings for the top of your car, there's an avocado with a face on it. It's a ton of stuff that's a little bit different than what we've done before, and all are completely free. There's a silent majority of players who want stuff like this and aren't necessarily posting on reddit about it. I would say that the online competitive community definitely skews toward crates, but some of this is just us trying to pad out stuff for maybe younger players who don't like the type of items that are in the game now, but they would like a cute animal for the top of their car. We think there's value [in the added free items]. We just put out the expansion to trade-up, so we're trying to bring more content to that system." ---- Apart from the cross-platform parties, Psyonix is looking at two other notable features that will go in beta soon after the Fall Update. They are: Events: Psyonix is going to lean harder into events, and one way to do that is to give away earnable keys. "Now we're going full-on event stuff. One of the things we're talking about it is a new type of item you'll be able to get from events is a Decryptor. That's basically a free key that you can open any crate with. So you can get like three of them per event by [playing enough]," Davis says. Why is this the first time Psyonix has skewed toward giving away its microtransactions? "For a long time, we wanted to be very clear that keys are paid for and you don't grind for them. Because then it creates this weird psychology of 'This is unfairly difficult' and people think that they should be able to farm this stuff. It was very clear from us that this is paid content. This is really just a way in very limited quantities to sample or get that crate item you wanted but without paying for a key. The caveat is that because these are earnable, the items that you get are untradeable. That's something we kind of have to do to protect the economy because otherwise people could farm with bots." Tournaments: Lastly, Psyonix is going to introduce bracketed tournaments to Rocket League. Davis' full comments on this: "This is something that we've been working toward for a long time. The big thing for us is that we see how cool it is to go to a LAN and compete in a bracketed tournament. We'd like to bring that to everybody because we think that even if you're a Bronze player, it's cool to play in a tournament. It's just a different experience from matchmaking. Creating one is really just like making a private match in some sense. You can pick a date for up to two weeks out right now. You can pick any game mode, selection of what arenas you want in the map rotation, everything from standard stuff to Labs. 1v1 to 4v4. Bracket size in the beta is going to be anywhere from 8 to 128 people or teams. You can pick format for standard and finals, so it can be anything from best of 1 to best of 7, and if you want finals to be a longer series, that's supported as well. We had to build in series support for this, so basically you load into a server and it'll say 'Game 2 of 3' and show an indicator or who has won how many games. And it'll do this seamlessly. You can also turn cross-play on or off, and you can set rank requirements. We're expecting a lot of people to say like 'This tournament is Diamond only.' If I set the minimum rank to Silver 1, the whole team has to have at least one player at that rank or higher, or else they won't be allowed to check in. We have long-term goals with this. One is attaching items to a tournament from both our perspective and the community's. A feature that we're working on but aren't going to turn on initially until we're sure that everything is super solid is community item rewards. If you're a tournament organizer and you want to pull in the best of the best, you attach a really valuable item to first place. We'll hold it in escrow, and it'll automatically transfer to whoever wins. Our original focus and we ended up flipping it to focus on community stuff because it's something that we could get out and tested sooner is Psyonix-run automated ranked tournaments. The idea would be that there are a couple time slots per day to funnel people into bigger brackets. If you're like a Diamond player, there's a Diamond tournament at 4pm and there are rewards attached to it. If you really love tournaments, there's a whole type of progression, ranking, and item rewards attached. Since we're heading toward this automated ranked play, part of the reason we're going to focus tournaments around certain time slots is so that there's not ongoing drain from matchmaking. There's like two tournaments per day in your time zone, you play those and then you go back to ranked. We're really excited about the idea of seasons of tournament play with exclusive rewards. If you win enough tournaments, you can earn this really cool cosmetic item that you can only get from doing that." ---- Rocket League's Fall Update is currently scheduled to release on September 28. LAN support will go live for PC players then, and on other platforms at a later date. Cross-platform parties will go into beta on PC sometime later this fall and on consoles early next year. 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From Scribus Wiki The Scribus Team is very pleased to announce the release of the development version Scribus 1.5.1, which is another major step onto the next fully-featured version 1.6.0. In terms of stability, 1.5.1 can be already be regarded as robust. The Scribus Team encourages the wide-spread use and testing of version 1.5.1 in as many environments as possible. User feedback will help us to release a rock-solid version 1.6.0. Most Important Changes An instantly visible improvement is a new and modern icon set, which almost exclusively uses grayscale variants. Scribus 1.5.1 also provides some exciting new features, the most important of which are: Support for the CIE Lab* and CIE HLC color models, which are also available in the color editor; Support for SwatchBooker's SBZ file format, which means, among others, that all color palettes from the Open Colour Systems Collection (http://dtpstudio.de/downloads/OCSC_1_0.zip) can be used inside Scribus with their original colour model (CIE Lab) intact. Moreover, Scribus 1.5.1 can now use Adobe Color Book files (ACO), as well as Adobe Swatch Exchange files (ASE). The import filter for XPress Tags is finally working as expected (some minor glitches notwithstanding) and has been tested with XTG files from XPress 3 to 2015; Two oft-requested text import filters have finally made their way into Scribus, namely RTF and DOCX; Scribus 1.5.1 enables applying a background color for selected text and also offers this option for character and paragraph styles; The ODT importer has been rewritten from scratch and now not only supports more ODT features, but is also much more tolerant with ODT files written by programs other than LibreOffice or OpenOffice. An experimental version of an import filter for FreeHand files has been added; PDF import has been massively improved; The font embedding code, as well as the related user interface, has been completely rewritten; The Resource Manager for online resources provides a new option to show the licence for the respective resource before downloading. As of version 1.5.1, Scribus includes two new color palettes, namely CIE LAB and CIE HLC. They are the first palettes in Scribus to use CIE Lab color values, and they refer to affordable color fans that use an open and non-proprietary color model. We plan to use CIE Lab* for all of our palettes (where possible) in the future. In addition, Scribus 1.5.1 includes many bugfixes, most of which are related to newly introduced features in 1.5.0. The Scribus Team also subjected version 1.5.1svn to a Coverity scan to detect potential security and stability issues. Many of these have already been addressed in this release. An overview is available here: http://bugs.scribus.net/view_all_set.php?type=1&temporary=y&project_id=1&fixed_in_version=1.5.1svn (reported bugs and feature requests) and here: http://lists.scribus.net/pipermail/scribus-commit/ (actual changes, including unreported bugs). Caveats Please note that the online help system hasn't been completely updated yet, and it probably be won't be until the final release of Scribus 1.6.0. Some newly introduced features since 1.5.0, like footnotes, are "program-stable", i.e., they won't crash Scribus 1.5.1, but not "feature-stable", which means they may sometimes not work as expected for the time being. Primary Download Locations Installation packages for Windows, Mac OS X, a Linux AppImage and the source code are available here: https://sourceforge.net/projects/scribus/files/scribus-devel/1.5.1/ Fedora and CentOS RPMs: http://download.opensuse.org/repositories/home:/mrdocs OpenSUSE, SLED, and SLES RPMs: http://download.opensuse.org/repositories/home:/mrdocs Packaging for other Linux distributions, *BSD, Solaris and OpenIndiana is beyond our influence. We recommend updating the respective repository data on a regular basis. Download Verification Description File Name Sha256sum Sha1sum Source scribus-1.5.1.tar.xz 1882e68713d91c2ab9d6ec7a251dbbe31a4438ee68e63e62d36770541e6f4a38 d4fbf4601af8b24868fbda5208f707a45083e50b Source scribus-1.5.1.7z f8b0ef04585622ebb45ed89cd1f0d6513883e34eb8cf20d2ec539402c09abee3 04569967fe33c104bcd443f16f2f514f2d29a6ea OS X 10.9/Mavericks or higher, Intel x64 scribus-1.5.1.dmg 41a6d4ab831b1744cc84d91e05f63a20d6ae62bb916cf808641ead5e76343ced 0d6143f6b619a94c0dc6e9805193c72b8e0bf991 Windows 32/64 Bit scribus-1.5.1-windows-r2.exe dc3568cb7f29d19a62dc93914c3550ed5bbc59db5577c17c63d78e61a2743ddb 95fe842e3b26f5ec19f48ea47431f7fe8525b425 Windows 64 Bit scribus-1.5.1-windows-x64-r2.exe e175b18dfd9bc47841fb9915f3e4571ea64e5e73316999946fa86758dcaf3f22 65996202452fc253b5a3955ff33699d1313b9767 Windows PortableApps.com Format ScribusPortableTest_1.5.1.paf.exe aa8ec26c8297d8e006eb31d9f65da8ecff8bd24fc9fb716bd074f7ab748b5130 cec6f6f9983bd34a81a137649ea2f1d0567648b9 Linux AppImage [1] scribus-1.5.1-linux-x86_64.AppImage 0a4fb4f3336456dc708d47e25dff2c17ed62b9b1372d09dcdda129ffdb8680bb c8ada38414e8e1c0b91f1439cf0282df48ab8da8 Credits The Scribus Team would like to thank Anduin.net and Modirum for their continued hosting of all of the Scribus websites. We are grateful to the Organisation Internationale de la Francophonie and Linux New Media (Germany) for sponsoring. The Scribus Team is also honored to have Resene Colours (New Zealand), dtp studio Oldenburg (Germany), Scientific Illustration Services Corp. (USA), the Newspaper Association of America (USA), Software Consulting Services (USA) and freieFarbe (Germany) as Special Supporters and donors of color palettes and other content since the 1.4.x release, just like we are grateful to the owner of Vector Portal for the permission to distribute some of his work as Scribus Templates. Porting Scribus to OS/2 and eComStation is being supported by Mensys BV (The Netherlands) and Serenity Systems (USA). For this release, the Scribus Team takes a deep bow to Dezso Markon for his wonderful artwork. Finally, the Scribus Team would like to thank the many end users, translators, testers and contributors who helped us with this release.
When Modi cudn't handle me politically, he resorts to this cowardice — Arvind Kejriwal (@ArvindKejriwal) December 15, 2015 Modi is a coward and a psycopath — Arvind Kejriwal (@ArvindKejriwal) December 15, 2015 FM lied in Parliament. My own office files are being looked into to get some evidence against me. Rajender is an excuse — Arvind Kejriwal (@ArvindKejriwal) December 15, 2015 CBI lying. My own office raided. Files of CM office are being looked into. Let Modi say which file he wants? — Arvind Kejriwal (@ArvindKejriwal) December 15, 2015 NEW DELHI: Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal on Tuesday claimed the CBI has raided his office in central Delhi and launched a no-holds barred attack on Prime Minister Narendra Modi , saying he was resorting to "cowardice".The chief minister, who is involved in a prolonged tussle with the Centre, accused the Modi government of resorting to vendetta politics and came down heavily on the agency for the raids at Players Building."CBI raids my office," Kejriwal tweeted."When Modi could not handle me politically, he resorts to this cowardice. Modi is a coward and psychopath," he said in another tweet expressing his anguish over the raids.However, finance minister Arun Jaitley denied the Delhi CM's claims. "The CBI raid has nothing to do with Arvind Kejriwal and his office. The raid is in relation to corruption case against an officer," Jaitley informed the Rajya Sabha.A CBI spokesperson said the searches were being conducted at the office of the principal secretary Rajendra Kumar. Searches were being conducted at 14 locations, the spokesperson said, but did not give details.The BJP also hit back at Kejriwal with Union minister Prakash Javadekar saying the CBI was only probing a complaint of corruption against an officer and maintained it has nothing to do with Kejriwal's office.CBI sources said that a team of its officials went to the Delhi Secretariat, which houses office of Kejriwal and other ministers in the morning and conducted the search in the third floor of the building.The CBI said it has registered a case against Rajendra Kumar on allegations of abusing his official position by "favouring a particular firm in the last few years in getting tenders from Delhi government departments.""After taking warrants, searches are being conducted in the office and residence of Rajendra Kumar. The allegations against Rajendra Kumar were raised by Ashish Joshi, former member secretary, Delhi Dialogue Commission," the agency said.The third floor of the secretariat also houses Kejriwal's office.The AAP government has been locked in a running feud with the Centre over the control of important functions like law and order, police and land.Delhi government and AAP reacted angrily to the "raid". calling it a "darkest" day and "undeclared emergency" in the history of Indian democracy.Deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia claimed the Centre was controlling the CBI and claimed the raid at Rajendra Kumar's office was aimed at sending message to officials "if they worked with Kejriwal honestly, they will be troubled.""If Modiji wants to send a message amongst officials who are working that if you work along with Kejriwal honestly, then they will be targeted, then it is a very dangerous message. This will have opposite effect," he warned.Another AAP leader Ashutosh said CBI is "lying to the teeth" for saying that the office of the chief minister was raided and attacked Modi.BJP condemned Kejriwal for the kind of language used to criticise Modi and said it was "absolutely unacceptable"."Does he want to protect the corrupt?," Javedekar asked, adding, "Instead of taking action against the corrupt, he is accusing the prime minister. This is absolutely unacceptable."
MARK KARLIN, EDITOR OF BUZZFLASH AT TRUTHOUT (Photo: bws front)All this talk of a new cold war is just a lot of political blather coming out of DC due to the re-emergence of the neocons. The reality is that there will be no war with the Russian Federation because Russia is now a raffish capitalist nation. Let us just remember Vladimir Putin was a lieutenant colonel in the KGB (for 16 years) at a time that they might have surpassed the CIA for lacking scruples, although probably not by much. Since Putin assumed power in Russia in 2000, he has served as either president or prime minister of the Russian Federation, effectively being the most powerful man in the nation for the past 13 years. Truthout and BuzzFlash are able to confront the forces of greed and regression only because we don’t take corporate funding. Support us in this fight: make a tax-deductible donation today by clicking here! There is no ideological conflict with Russia now, no wall to bring to down, no communism to overthrow. Under Putin, the Russian Federation has become a full-fledged member of the global capitalist system, only with the sleight variation that the Russian mafia plays an open role in the free market system. Instead of bankers crushing people with financial maneuverings, the Russian oligarchs allegedly prefer using their friends "Smith and Wesson" to resolve business disputes. Who better to oversee the full emergence of Russian capitalism -- mafia style -- than the shirtless former KGB agent, Vladimir Putin? There is much speculation that Putin assumed control of Crimea (where it is speculated that most residents identify with Russia more than the Ukraine) after NATO overreached by offering Ukraine membership in 2008. Ukraine never became a NATO member due to internal political upheaval. Yet, with the latest unrest and overthrow of pro-Russian leadership in Ukraine, Putin no doubt assumed that new Ukrainian leadership might turn to NATO as a way to intidimidate Putin. During the confusion over the power shift in Ukraine this year, Putin sent Russian troops into the Crimea as a likely warning to the US and NATO that he was not going to let US and Europe get any closer to the Russian border. He was, in essence, protecting his turf, just as a drug dealer might do. This is not a confrontation over ideology; it is a turf war for hegemony. Russia isn't reversing its global capitalism course, but there are natural resources, economic markets and the fear of further encroachment by US-Europe into Russia's backyard. As an example of how capitalism is entrenched by both sides in this standoff, the website Wall Street on Parade reports an unprecedented warning by White House Press Secretaty Jay Carney to try and discourage investment in Russian equities: Now, once again, it seems that common sense has escaped the Masters of the Universe on Wall Street. Last Tuesday, Jay Carney, the Press Secretary of the Commander in Chief of the United States, told an assembly of reporters that he would not recommend investing in Russian equities right now, unless they were going to short them.... Carney was responding to a question from a reporter about the fact that the Russian stock market had seen a bounce over the past few days. Carney responded: “I think it’s down for the year, and I think the ruble has lost its value, and I think that the long-term effect of actions taken by the Russian government in clear violation of the United Nations charter, in clear violation of its treaty commitments, that are destabilizing — and illegal — will have an impact on their economy all by themselves. They will also incur costs because of the sanctions that we and the EU have imposed, and there will be more actions taken under the authorities that exist with the two executive orders that the president has signed. So I wouldn’t — I wouldn’t, if I were you, invest in Russian equities right now, I think the… unless you’re going short.” It’s pretty much unprecedented for White House Press Secretaries to gratuitously dole out stock advice and likely violates a whole raft of securities laws to recommend the dangerous idea of shorting stock to a room full of strangers, some of whom may be late on their mortgage payment — especially when you don’t even hold a securities license. But US capitalist masters of the universe struck back at Carney's attempted intervention in the global equity market, according to Wall Street on Parade: Exactly one week later, Morgan Stanley, which boasts of “$1.7 trillion in client assets, nearly 17,000 Financial Advisors and 740 locations,” reinstated its “Buy” rating on Russian equities.... What could possibly account for Morgan Stanley taking such a radical position against the world’s only super power? According to Morgan Stanley’s web site, since 1994 the company has been “building relationships and expanding its product offerings in Russia. Morgan Stanley did not leave Russia after the 1998 financial crisis, and its uninterrupted presence has fostered trust and credibility with key governmental and corporate decision makers.” In addition, says the company, it has recently established “a local trading platform and opened a Russian subsidiary bank in October 2005 allowing it to provide a full suite of financial services to its clients in Russia” and it has “managed most of the highest profile and most successful transactions in equity, mergers and acquisitions and debt in the Russian market.” Perhaps unbeknownst to Press Secretary Carney, when one recommends shorting Russian equities, one may be imperiling a chunk of the U.S. stock market as a goodly number of Russian ETFs (Exchange Traded Funds) and outright Russian equities have been afforded entrance to our stock markets by our own Federal regulators. In short, Russian capitalism is so integrated into world capitalism, including investors in the US, that Carney is suggesting - if you accept the Wall Street outlook - that financiers bite off their nose to spite their face. I was visiting the Bill Moyers office and studios last summer and my host took me out for lunch. He pointed to a very tall skyscraper being erected midtown and told me it is nicknamed the "Russian mafia tower" because it was being built with investment funds from the Putin-affiliated Russian oligarchy. So with Russia investing in real estate in Manhattan, and Wall Street barons investing in Russia despite clumsy White House warnings, don't expect a military war with Russia anytime soon. It is one big capitalist family now. The US and Europe just have to remember that Putin has a thuggish ego and doesn't like the Russian Federation feeling cramped or bulllied. Once that is settled, capitalism will continue blooming between US-Europe and Russia. It hasn't effectively stopped. Russia isn't an adversary; it is a growing partner with the crooks on Wall Street.
The official Pokemon Card website has just launched a mini-site celebrating the 20th anniversary of the Pokemon Trading Card Game! The website shows many classic cards from Base Set, Jungle, Fossil, Team Rocket, Gym Heroes, Gym Challenge, and the Vending Sets that were unfortunately never released in America. There are 76 days until October 20th, which is the original release date of Base Set in Japan. As I posted several times over the past month or so, Japan’s CP6 “20th Anniversary Set” will be released in Japan on September 16th and will feature “modern” reprints from Base Set as well as many modern cards like M Venusaur-EX, M Charizard-EX, M Blastoise-EX, Dragonite-EX, Ninetales BREAK, and Machamp BREAK. The set will be released in America on November 2nd as Evolutions. The 20th anniversary website has now revealed Charizard (#011/087), Pikachu (#033/087), and Professor Oak (#084/087) from Base Set will be reinvented in the new set! They will have similar card templates as the original cards, but the card effects will be updated to modern day standards with new wording, higher HP, and higher attack power. Professor Oak is now named Professor Oak’s Hint, its artwork features a different background, and it’s now a Supporter card with a completely different effect resembling Tropical Beach.
There’s no shortage of keyboard designs out there appealing to everyone from the gamer to the aesthete, but coders and writers are a particularly picky lot. Just ask Jeff Atwood, the creator of and developer behind Stack Overflow and Coding Horror. In his quest to find the ideal backlit, mechanical instrument for building blog posts and web apps, Atwood decided to take matters into his own hands, collaborating with WASD to produce the CODE Keyboard. Named after Charles Petzold’s seminal book on the structure of computers and the language that talks to them, Atwood says his keyboard is "the only simple, clean, beautiful backlit keyboard" he's ever found. WASD says that the keys are quiet and un-clicky, although they do have a "distinct tactile bump." You can also switch between Windows, Mac, Dvorak, and Colemak arrangements at a hardware level thanks to a switch under the keyboard, and there are media shortcuts built in, so holding the Fn key turns Insert into Play / Pause, for example. The keyboard sells for $149.99 in 87- and 104-key varieties, but it's backordered until September 16th.
TORONTO — Canadian cable television provider Shaw Communications Inc reported an 8 per cent fall in third-quarter profit on Thursday and said it would likely reach the lower end of its full-year operating income target. Calgary-based Shaw, which competes with Telus Corp for customers in Canada’s West, said it lost more than 27,000 television subscribers across cable and satellite and almost 21,000 landline telephone accounts. It added around 7,200 new Internet customers. “We view these results as neutral-to-slightly negative for the shares,” RBC Capital Markets analyst Drew McReynolds wrote in a note, pointing to the weak subscriber metrics. Shaw decided several years ago against building a wireless business to go with its landline phone, Internet and television products, which hurt the company as mobile data use exploded. On Wednesday a multicompany deal was announced, with Shaw receiving $100 million for its wireless airwaves. Chief Executive Officer Brad Shaw said the company should hit its full-year targets, with operating income before restructuring costs and amortization expected at the lower end of its 5 per cent to 7 per cent forecast and free cash flow expected to exceed $650 million. Shaw’s net income slipped to $209 million, or 42 cents per share, from $228 million, or 47 cents per share, a year earlier. Revenue rose almost 6 per cent to $1.42 billion, which the company ascribed mostly to its new business services division. Analysts, on average, expected profit of 50 cents a share on revenue of $1.42 billion, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S. Revenue for consumer services slipped as the company offered more promotions but also lost customers, while its media unit suffered from a weak advertising market and the sale of two channels earlier in the year. Shaw wrote down $55 million for an Internet-based TV platform it has abandoned. It has since decided on a trial of a cloud-based platform from Comcast Corp. © Thomson Reuters 2015
As the not-so-proud owner of several shitty Target bookshelves made of what I’m certain is dust glued together with pixie snot, I like to stare at pictures of nice bookshelves on the internet. Like these. And also these. But sometimes in my digital bookshelf window shopping, I stumble upon bookshelves that are just…strange. In a beautiful, non-functional, someone-is-using-these-to-mock-modern-design-in-a-sitcom-somewhere kind of way. I believe these are bookshelves for people who aren’t so much interested in storing actual books for easy access, but are more interested in, say, living inside an M.C. Escher drawing. Let’s take a gander: Each book gets its own shelf! Because of reasons! This shelf expands with your book collection. Just pull it out! This is strange and M.C. Escher-y AND I totally want it, and is only questionably functional because I would be too lazy to ever actual pull on anything. The “Neverending” Bookshelf is quite squiggly and you’d have to shove your books in there all willy-nilly, which would look neat but would drive me batty. This…this hurts my brain. It’s called “Bias of Thoughts” bookshelving, and it’s based on an optical illusion! I would just stand under this pipe bookshelf all the time, terrified that the books would fall out. A rope bridge shelf! See again: standing under shelf, terrified of collapse. But it looks neat! Beautiful, but I would spill coffee ALL OVER that shiz. When you take the book off the shelf, a butterfly appears! Am I the only one who would store, say, Helter Skelter on it? Bookshelves created in the ceiling with plywood! Looks great, hope you walk very softly so nothing ever shifts…ONTO YOUR DOME PIECE. What do you think, guys? Would you use these bookshelves? ____________________ We run a pretty sweet little bookish Instagram account, if we do say so ourselves (and we do). Come check it out.
On Friday, July 10, the Electronic Frontier Foundation celebrated its 25th anniversary. The San Francisco-based group has been a stalwart of tech and legal advocacy since its founding and has played a key role in a number of seminal cases. To celebrate, Ars interviewed Executive Director Cindy Cohn, who mentioned that, within the list of cases that the organization has worked on, she had a number of favorites. Here’s a quick summary of those cases, in chronological order. Case name: Bernstein v. Department of Justice Filed: February 21, 1995 Highest court reached: Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals Decided: May 6, 1999 Result: Court ruled that computer code is speech, and is protected by the Constitution. This was one of EFF’s first significant cases, and it won big. Back in 1995, Daniel Bernstein, then a doctoral student at the University of California, Berkeley, wanted to be able to publish “Snuffle.” This program converted a one-way hash into a private-key encryption system. He wanted to publish not only the algorithm involved, but a mathematical paper explaining it, and the relevant source code. However, federal arms regulations forbade him from doing so. He and the EFF challenged this interpretation of the law on First Amendment grounds. The initial district court decision (1996) stated: This court can find no meaningful difference between computer language, particularly high-level languages as defined above, and German or French....Like music and mathematical equations, computer language is just that, language, and it communicates information either to a computer or to those who can read it....Thus, even if Snuffle source code, which is easily compiled into object code for the computer to read and easily used for encryption, is essentially functional, that does not remove it from the realm of speech....For the purposes of First Amendment analysis, this court finds that source code is speech. Three years later, the Ninth Circuit ruled along similar lines, and took the time to discuss the relationship between encryption and privacy: Whether we are surveilled by our government, by criminals, or by our neighbors, it is fair to say that never has our ability to shield our affairs from prying eyes been at such a low ebb. The availability and use of secure encryption may offer an opportunity to reclaim some portion of the privacy we have lost. Government efforts to control encryption thus may well implicate not only the First Amendment rights of cryptographers intent on pushing the boundaries of their science, but also the constitutional rights of each of us as potential recipients of encryption's bounty. Viewed from this perspective, the government's efforts to retard progress in cryptography may implicate the Fourth Amendment, as well as the right to speak anonymously, see McIntyre v. Ohio Elections Comm'n, 115 S. Ct. 1511, 1524 (1995) , the right against compelled speech, see Wooley v. Maynard, 430 U.S. 705, 714 (1977), and the right to informational privacy, see Whalen v. Roe, 429 U.S. 589, 599-600 (1977). While we leave for another day the resolution of these difficult issues, it is important to point out that Bernstein's is a suit not merely concerning a small group of scientists laboring in an esoteric field, but also touches on the public interest broadly defined. Case name: MGM v. Grokster Filed: October 2, 2001 Highest court reached: Supreme Court of the United States Decided: June 23, 2005 Result: Court unanimously ruled that Grokster and Streamcast (both file-sharing companies) could be sued for inducing copyright infringement. In this case, EFF defended StreamCast Networks, which made the Morpheus file-sharing software. While the defendants ended up losing the case, the EFF portrayed it both then and now as a partial win as the Supreme Court did not go as far as the entertainment industry wanted it to. Crucially, the court declined to overturn the 1984 "Betamax doctrine,” which came from the case of Sony v. Universal City Studios. That case established that a technology cannot be stifled if it has “substantial non-infringing uses.” As Justice Steven Breyer wrote in his concurring opinion: Sony's rule is strongly technology protecting. The rule deliberately makes it difficult for courts to find secondary liability where new technology is at issue. It establishes that the law will not impose copyright liability upon the distributors of dual-use technologies (who do not themselves engage in unauthorized copying) unless the product in question will be used almost exclusively to infringe copyrights (or unless they actively induce infringements as we today describe). Sony thereby recognizes that the copyright laws are not intended to discourage or to control the emergence of new technologies, including (perhaps especially) those that help disseminate information and ideas more broadly or more efficiently. Thus Sony's rule shelters VCRs, typewriters, tape recorders, photocopiers, computers, cassette players, compact disc burners, digital video recorders, MP3 players, Internet search engines, and peer-to-peer software. But Sony's rule does not shelter descramblers, even if one could theoretically use a descrambler in a noninfringing way. 464 U. S., at 441-442; Compare Cable/Home Communication Corp., supra, at 837-850 (developer liable for advertising television signal descrambler), with Vault Corp., supra, at 262 (primary use infringing but a substantial noninfringing use). Case name: Hepting v. AT&T Filed: January 31, 2006 Highest court reached: Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals Decided: Dismissed in 2009 Status: While the Ninth Circuit heard oral arguments in August 2007, Congress eventually passed a law the following year granting retroactive immunity from such lawsuits under the FISA Amendment Act (FAA). The case was dismissed in 2009, and while the EFF appealed unsuccessfully all the way up to the Supreme Court (which declined to hear the case), the dismissal stood. This was a monster of a case that originated from a former AT&T technician, Mark Klein. He eventually approached the EFF in person with the story that he had discovered a “secret room” at an AT&T facility in San Francisco. Klein testified that he was told that this room was designed to split off traffic and capture it on behalf of the National Security Agency. Within months of Hepting being filed, dozens of other similar suits were filed against telecommunications companies as the press began to confirm Klein’s testimony. Those cases were consolidated into a larger case called “In re NSA,” for which EFF was the lead counsel. As this case began to gain steam, Congress took up the issue in the FISA Amendment Act, granting a retroactive protection for all telecom companies that helped the government. So the case became moot. Case name: Jewel v. NSA Filed: September 18, 2008 Highest court reached: United States District Court, Northern California Decided: Not yet Status: Although the EFF lost a key partial summary judgment in February 2015, the case continues. Later, in May 2015, US District Judge Jeffrey White ruled that Carolyn Jewel’s Fourth Amendment rights had not been violated, and therefore that element of the case could not proceed. The EFF has since appealed to the Ninth Circuit. In the 2008 original complaint [PDF], Jewel and the other plaintiffs alleged that the government and AT&T were engaged in an "illegal and unconstitutional program of dragnet communications surveillance conducted by the National Security Agency and other Defendants in concert with major telecommunications companies." The evidence stemmed from materials leaked by former San Francisco AT&T technician Mark Klein in 2006. As Jewel was and remains an AT&T customer, her communications were intercepted by the company on behalf of the NSA, her attorneys argued. The court was unmoved by Klein’s testimony, as Judge White wrote in his order: However, the Court finds that Klein cannot establish the content, function, or purpose of the secure room at the AT&T site based on his own independent knowledge. See Fed. R. Civ. P. 56(c)(4). The limited knowledge that Klein does possess firsthand does not support Plaintiffs’ contention about the actual operation of the Upstream data collection process. Klein can only speculate about what data were actually processed and by whom in the secure room and how and for what purpose, as he was never involved in its operation. Case name: In re National Security Letters Filed: March 14, 2013 Highest court reached: Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals Decided: Not yet Status: The Ninth Circuit heard oral arguments on October 8, 2014—the EFF is awaiting the court's ruling. The lower District Court initially set aside a National Security Letter (NSL) declaring that the relevant law, 18 U.S.C. § 2709 and parts of 18 U.S.C. § 3511, were unconstitutional. While nearly all of this case remains sealed, here's what we do know: someone received two NSLs. These letters, which typically come with a gag order that prevents the recipient from talking about them, require the production of telecom and financial records without any court approval. It is a strong type of secret subpoena that by the Department of Justice's own count has been used nearly 200,000 times between 2003 and 2006 alone. Here, in its initial brief, the EFF wrote: Petitioner respectfully requests that the gag provisions of the NSLs be set aside and that the NSL Statute be declared unconstitutional as it allows the FBI to impose a prior restraint without prior judicial review, as well as an injunction prohibiting the FBI from seeking to enforce the gag provisions. The EFF is currently arguing two more NSL-related cases.
Few are as intrenched in RVA’s music scene like local man Shannon Cleary, so who better to put on a weekend shows featuring some of the best our town has to offer? Few are as intrenched in RVA’s music scene like local man Shannon Cleary, so who better to put on a weekend shows featuring some of the best our town has to offer? To that end, WRIR, Richmond’s Independent Radio at 97.3 FM, and Commonwealth of Notions will Volume Six, a 2-night music festival to benefit WRIR on July 22nd at Gallery 5 and July 23rd at Strange Matter. Shannon Cleary is the host of “The Commonwealth of Notions,” the weekly radio show on WRIR which specializes in showcasing local and emerging musical artists. The annual live music festival is an extension of his show and WRIR’s commitment to providing opportunities to local musicians, while at the same time giving local artists a chance to give back to WRIR for promoting their work. The festival was created six years ago by Cleary while he was acting as co-coordinator of the WRIR Events Committee. “For the first three years, I think I really set out to try to make sure that I would get a different set of bands each time and thought that there was enough of an eclectic feel to the Richmond music scene that I didn’t need to always bounce back and forth and have the same people show up,” said Cleary. “After I got to year four I started realizing that three years is a long time when it comes to the music scene, bands can transform into a whole different entity that doesn’t necessarily represent who they were when they started out.” In the past, the festival has spanned as many as four days, but according to Cleary it was shortened this year in an effort to avoid overtaxing the organizers, performers and hosts. With limited space and time available, Cleary had to be more selective this year about which artists would be invited to represent the Richmond art scene. “I wanted to branch around and think about other artists that had been doing things in different sectors of the Richmond music scene,” Cleary said. “I’m looking forward to the idea that there can be something as atmospheric as Shy Low or something as straightforward as the rock of Imaginary Sons.” Hiraeth by Shy, Low The itinerary for the festival is deliberately diverse and features 13 distinct bands including the otherworldly beats of Nelly Kate, punk rock by Get In The Car, and indie rock by Cleary’s own band, Clair Morgan. Clair Morgan has played Volumes 3 and 4 of the festival, and are returning to showcase their new band member and their new album “New Lions and The Not Good Night”. WOODSHEDDING // Tour Demo by Nelly Kate “Maybe the entire reason I’m in the band is me and Clair reconnecting through this festival ” said Cleary. “This year is commemorating the whole idea that we have this new record so we have a whole new set of songs and even the way the band feels and the way that we operate is completely different. Brian Dove is the creator, vocalist and guitar player for The Antiphons, a soft rock band that will be performing at Commonwealth of Notions for the first time this year. The Antiphons were originally a solo project by Dove and was transformed into a band in 2013. They recently became popular after releasing an EP called “demos” last spring. demos by Antiphons “We just finished recording our first full-length album, it’s called ‘Groan’, and we’ll be playing stuff off of that,” Dove said. “We’ve been kind of using the phrase half-rock [to describe ‘Groan’] jokingly in the sense that we’re getting kind of loud but not quite hard rock by any means. It’s emotional and dramatic, but also self-aware.” The Commonwealth of Notions festival series not only benefits WRIR, it also fosters connections and a sense of community amongst the Richmond musical community. “The whole lineup is pretty diverse and that in it of itself is bringing together bands that might now play together on a normal Friday or Saturday and also a larger quantity of bands that normally play,” Dove said. The festival is free, but there will be a suggested door donation of $5 at Gallery 5 and $7 at Strange Matter. The money collected from the event will go to support WRIR, the nonprofit and listener-supported low frequency radio station that is hosting the event. Find out more details via the event’s facebook page here. Friday, July 22nd – Gallery 5, 200 West Marshall Street Doors: 6:30PM, Show: 7:30PM. Music Line-up: IMAGINARY SONS CLAIR MORGAN NELLY KATE ANTIPHONS THE WIMPS Saturday, July 23rd – Strange Matter, 929 West Grace Street Doors: 6PM, Show: 7M. Music Line-up: ● SHY, LOW ● THE VEINS ● DADMOBILE ● NAKED PICTURES ● RECLUSE RACCOON ● SMOKE BREAK ● GET IN THE CAR ● K.A. PEDERS
BOSTON, MA - Boston Bruins General Manager Don Sweeney announced today, March 24, that with the conclusion of his Western Hockey League season with the Tri-City Americans, defenseman Brandon Carlo has been reassigned to the Providence Bruins of the American Hockey League. Carlo is expected to begin practicing with the P-Bruins Thursday, March 24. Carlo skated in 52 games with the Tri-City Americans of the Western Hockey League (WHL) in 2015-16, recording five goals and 22 assists for 27 points with 94 penalty minutes. Last season, he played in 63 games with the Americans, compiling four goals and 21 assists for 25 points with 90 penalty minutes, and was selected to play in the CHL/NHL Top Prospects Game. In 2013-14, his first season with Tri-City, Carlo skated in 71 games and produced three goals and 10 assists for 13 points with 66 penalty minutes. The 6’5”, 203-pound defenseman has twice represented the United States in international play at the World Junior Championships in 2015 and 2016. He skated in five games for the U.S. at the 2015 World Junior Championships and recorded one assist. At the 2016 World Junior Championships, Carlo played in seven games and tallied two goals and two assists for four points with a plus-nine rating to help the U.S. earn the bronze medal. The 19-year-old native of Colorado Springs, Colorado was originally drafted by the Bruins in the second round (37th overall) of the 2015 NHL Entry Draft. He was then signed by the Bruins to an entry-level contract on September 25, 2015.
You just won't believe some of the names on this list of prominent conservatives and Republicans who want same-sex couples to have the legal right to marriage. Let's be honest. The Republican Party has been home to almost if not all of the most anti-gay politicians, religious leaders, activists, and power brokers in America. Which is not to say all Republicans are anti-gay, but when being anti-gay is embedded in the actual text of your party's platform, there's little room to claim your party supports equality. So it should come as both a huge surprise and be viewed as a monumental event that over 300 prominent Republicans, some of whom have publicly spoken out against same-sex marriage or LGBT civil rights, have signed on to an amicus brief sent to the U.S. Supreme Court today. As TIME points out, the brief states its signers "share the view that laws that bar same-sex couples from the institution of civil marriage, with all its attendant profoundly important rights and responsibilities, are inconsistent with the United States Constitution's dual promises of equal protection and due process." Who's on that list? Here are a few of the more than 300 names: Ken Mehlman, whose name is listed as the person behind the group of conservatives. Rudy Giuliani Charles Koch Former EBay CEO and GOP nominee for California Governor Meg Whitman Retired Gen. Stanley McChrystal Former Bush Dep. Sec. of Defense Paul Wolfowitz Former U.S. Senator of Missouri and ordained Episcopal priest John C. Danforth Ronald Reagan White House Chief of Staff Kenneth M. Duberstein Mitt Romney presidential campaign Political Director and former RNC Political Director Rich Beeson Sen. John McCain's former Press Secretary Crystal Benton Sen. John McCain's former National Spokesman Tucker Bounds Gov. Scott Walker's former Deputy Campaign Manager Dan Blum Former U.S. Congresswoman Mary Bono Komen for the Cure founder and former US Ambassador to Hungary under George W. Bush Nancy Brinker Alex Castellanos, CNN contributor and GOP strategist Mary Cheney U.S Senator Susan Collins (Maine) S.E. Cupp Bush National Security Advisor Stephen Hadley Abby Huntsman John Huntsman U.S. Senator Mark Kirk (Illinois) CNN's Ana Navarro Former Pennsylvania Gov. and Homeland Security Dir. Tom Ridge Congresswoman Ileana Ros-Lehtinen Mitt Romney Press Sec. Andrea Saul Perhaps one of the most interesting signatories is Ben Domenech, co-founder of RedState, now run by anti-gay religious right radical Erick Erickson, and co-founder of The Federalist, a conservative website that has published extremely anti-gay articles. The one take away from the list is it includes many people behind leading anti-gay politicians, like Mitt Romney and John McCain. But it also includes many old guard Republicans, who grew up in a GOP decades before the politics of ignorance were embraced by the Tea Party. And it includes many younger Republicans, 61 percent of whom support same-sex marriage. One final note about the list: It is extensive and there are many on it who likely deserve to be listed above. We opted to include some of the more surprising names, along with some of the better-known names. There are others who deserve recognition, and we offer our sincere thanks to each and every one. Image by Pen Waggener via Flickr and a CC license See a mistake? Email corrections to: [email protected]

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