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0 UGA hosts 'Eclipse Blackout 2017' at Sanford Stadium CLARKE COUNTY, Ga. - The University of Georgia opened up Sanford Stadium for students and the public to watch the solar eclipse. The Eclipse Blackout 2017 event was hosted by Dr. John Knox and the university's geography department. Monday's eclipse was the first in nearly 100 years to cross the country and, due to its rarity, astronomers are calling it the Great American Eclipse. Students helped hand out 10,000 free solar eclipse glasses. School officials told Channel 2’s Richard Elliot they didn’t think they’d need more than that, but soon after they opened the gates, everyone realized there were going to be a lot more people here to watch the eclipse than they expected. An estimated crowd of more than 20,000 people showed up at the stadium. There were so many people that school officials had to open up the south and west ends of the stadium. I'm at UGA to watch the eclipse. The last time I saw one...I was a student at UGA (a very long time ago). #EclipseOn2 pic.twitter.com/ur3JtWKetN — Richard Elliot (@RElliotWSB) August 21, 2017 “I didn’t think there would be this many people out here, but it’s like a really big event, so I guess it’s to be expected,” student Talliyah Draper told Elliot. Athens was not in the zone of totality, but the eclipse got to more than 99 percent. We were at 99% in Athens but it still got real dark at Sanford Stadium. #EclipseOn2 pic.twitter.com/gq1ed2RcK5 — Richard Elliot (@RElliotWSB) August 21, 2017 Despite not reaching 100 percent totality, everyone was still amazed. “I can see the shadows. I can see where the moon is moving to cover it,” Colin Shamley said as he watched the eclipse. At its peak, the moon’s shadow washed over all of Sanford Stadium, eliciting cheers from everyone there, especially because it cooled everything down. “It was really hot to begin with, but now, it’s cooling down, and it seems like it’s getting really dark fast,” student Lamia Hussein said. UGA junior Sara Benist told Elliot this was something she would never forget. “This is so cool. This is like the most amazing thing I’ve ever seen in my life,” Benist said. © 2019 Cox Media Group.

Flawed software will hobble the first of Lockheed Martin’s F-35 fighters to be called combat-ready, limiting the plane’s ability to drop bombs, share data with other aircraft and track enemy radar, Tony Capaccio of Bloomberg news service writes. He noted that finding is from the Defense Department’s chief weapons tester found. The U.S. Marine Corps plans to declare its version of the F-35 (different from the version Canada hopes to buy) ready for limited combat as soon as July, according to the Bloomberg report. More from Tony Capaccio’s article: The plane “will finish with deficiencies remaining that will affect operational units,” Michael Gilmore, the Pentagon’s director of combat testing, said in an annual report on major weapons that was sent to Congress on Friday and obtained before its public release. Read more here: http://www.star-telegram.com/news/business/article6992399.html#storylink=cpy Meanwhile, Bill Sweetman at Aviation Week writes this on the F-35: “If you don’t follow the defense business closely, then you can be excused for believing that the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) is in trouble,” a Lockheed Martin consultant wrote five years ago, a few weeks before the program office director was fired in disgrace. His replacement found that the published schedule was 3-4 years adrift from reality. Today, you could be excused for thinking that most of the F-35’s troubles are behind it. The schedule set at the end of May 2013 may survive its second anniversary, a first for the program. The Marines will likely declare initial operational capability this year, come hell or high water, and the latter is unlikely to be an issue at Arizona’s MCAS Yuma. Progress reportedly is being made on sorting out the engine problem that caused last June’s runway fire. http://aviationweek.com/defense/opinion-joint-strike-fighter-debate-enters-new-phase?NL=AW-05&Issue=AW-05_20150119_AW-05_831&YM_RID=%27email%27&YM_MID=%27mmid%27&sfvc4enews=42&cl=article_1_b&elq=~~eloqua..type–emailfield..syntax–recipientid~~&elqCampaignId=~~eloqua..type–campaign..campaignid–0..fieldname–id~~

Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney, courtesy of the Smithsonian Institution For years I owned a chain of luxury jewelry stores in one of the wildest, most flamboyant, most duplicitous jewelry markets of them all: Dallas, Texas. I won’t tell you every kind of subterfuge I learned from when I first started in the business at age fifteen (the owners of that notorious store that taught me all I know eventually went to federal prison), but with Valentine's Day coming up, I will tell you what sort of jewelry scams are popular throughout the world now. And just to make it easy, I’ve boiled them down to ten basic maxims. Follow these simple rules, and you will never go wrong in buying luxury jewelry. You’ll even seem like an expert. And that’s rule number one, which I’ll give you for free: If you seem like you’re in the know, if you come off as someone who’s in the business, most jewelers will be hesitant to try to dupe you. Never act like this is your first—or even fifteenth—time in a jewelry store. You cannot be intimidated by your salesperson. You must be confident and in complete control. Better still, tell the salesperson you don’t know much about jewelry at all—and then let slip, through the tricks I teach you below, subtle hints that convince him you’re an expert in disguise. Then the dealer will suspect you are trying to dupe him. And he will fear you. 1. All colored stones are treated. There is simply no such thing as a “natural”-colored gemstone, particularly not in a jewelry store, and certainly not if it’s been set in a piece of finished jewelry. (Incidentally, “finished jewelry” is a term you should remember: It means a piece that has been completely assembled, rather than, say, a ring setting that is still waiting for its center stone.) So if someone is telling you a stone is natural, you can smile and say, “Oh, it hasn’t even been heated?” Now your salesperson must either admit that it’s been heated or lie to you or simply reveal his incompetence. In any event, you have established your superiority. There are natural pearls, but they are so rare that you should insist on a certificate guaranteeing their authenticity (more on such certificates below) and only buy from an established business that specializes in natural pearls. The most respected jewelry stores and auction houses in the world have been fooled into selling cultured pearls as natural and into selling treated colored stones as untreated. What you want to avoid is stones that have been irradiated or injected with colored glass or silicon—currently the most popular treatment techniques, especially for expensive rubies and sapphires. The only way to guarantee that the stone you are buying has not been treated in this way is to be sure that you can return the stone after having it appraised by an independent expert. A friend of mine is one of the leading ruby experts in the US, and he recently paid $300,000 for a large ruby that turned out to be injected with colored glass. He bought it from a private individual, and the stone, after the test to detect treatment, was what he described as a “$300,000 gray paperweight” (the chemical test drains out the colored glass). In the world of colored diamonds, irradiated and entirely synthetic stones are becoming commonplace. In short, when shopping for colored gems and diamonds, insist on full disclosure about how the stone acquired its color, get those disclosures written on paper, and explain that you will have an independent appraiser test the stone to be sure that the disclosures are accurate. If they are not, you will be returning the stone. This will also give you great leverage in price. 2. Any set stone is a suspect stone. Small stones (under half a carat) are generally set in a piece of jewelry, and that’s to be expected. Nevertheless, you should ask for the piece to be cleaned before you inspect it, examine it carefully with your naked eye, and then ask for a loupe—a kind of magnifying glass—with which to appraise it more carefully. Don’t bring your own loupe; that looks silly and amateur. And if the piece is inexpensive—say, $1,000 or less—loupe it only very casually, if at all. The more expensive a piece is, the more time you should spend assessing it. If a stone is large, you should ask to have it pulled so you can inspect it loose. Flaws are hidden under prongs. Pink gold can enhance pink stones. A common trick is to set a brownish diamond in yellow gold prongs to make it appear more like a canary. A bezel-set stone—a stone wrapped entirely in metal—is almost certainly being misrepresented in terms of its color, weight, or proportions. Jewelers use metal to hide or improve the quality of what they are selling. If the jeweler will not pull the stone for you, assume the worst. Use that as part of your bargaining leverage. Again, explain that you will have the stone pulled as part of the appraisal process. If it’s an antique or designer piece, he may protest that removing it would spoil the integrity of the ring. Nonsense. Any expert jeweler can re-inlay a stone that has been set in a bezel. This is an easy way to obscure a chip or even a crack. A client of mine, who had made a fortune in the helicopter business, brought me an oval 15-carat diamond that was bezel-set in a turn-of-the-century ring. He wanted to refashion it as a necklace. When we pulled the stone we discovered that the diamond weighed only about eight and a half carats. It had been cut very shallowly and had been partially hidden by the setting of the ring. Southern Methodist University, Central University Libraries, DeGolyer Library 3. A hallmark—a stamp of karat weight, of metal type, or of a designer’s signature—is easily faked. And always only buy 18-karat gold or platinum. Anyone can make a stamp that says Pt (for platinum, stamped on white gold), 18k (stamped on 14-karat gold), or JAR (for the great jeweler Joel A. Rosenthal). This is very, very easy to do. But you never want to accuse anyone of that—this is the sort of accusation that will make you seem naïve rather than sophisticated. So if it’s platinum, weigh it in your hand. If there’s a similar piece in white gold, ask to hold it, and weigh that one too. The white gold will be lighter, shinier, and usually a little yellower. As for hallmarks, if it’s a dealer—of Elizabeth Gage, for example—you needn’t worry. But if it’s a one-of-a-kind piece, like an alleged Louis Comfort Tiffany, Fabergé, or Cartier, be on your guard. Look at the workmanship very, very carefully under a loupe. If you see imperfections or crudeness, if there is not elaborate attention to tiny details, if there are not unnecessary flourishes—in short, if it doesn’t look like the jeweler was showing off—chances are it is not an original. In any case, ask about “proof of provenance.” That expression alone will carry you a long way. Ask to speak to the owner, and then ask him about the history of the piece. Where did it come from? What is the paper trail? How is he certain it’s original? And of course remind the seller that you will be checking the authenticity with an independent expert. The jeweler himself may be innocent: I once had a craftsman working for me who substituted white gold for platinum whenever making small pieces for our newer salespeople. At that time, the platinum he was taking home was worth more than double the white gold he was replacing it with. Naturally, everything was stamped Pt. 4. Never buy on your first visit to the store. Always leave without buying. Take a card, and do not leave your personal information. Explain that you “may be in touch.” Next visit, have some easy facts in mind about similar pieces you have seen. Feel free to quote lower—but realistic—prices than the those you’ve actually seen. Surf around online. Do your homework on the kind of piece in which you are interested. But do not boast about what you know. Understatement is key here. It is ideal if you bring along a friend. Let’s say you’re seeking an oval two-carat pink diamond. Then you can say to the friend, just loud enough for your salesperson to hear, “The 2.55 vivid pink at Gump’s had richer color saturation, and they quoted me 10,000 less.” Recognize that the salesperson is desperate to close you. And never worry about the money. Never worry about how you are dressed. Do not overdress; if anything, underdress. You should just be comfortable in your clothes. Remember that you are not there to impress anyone. And never, ever wear your best jewelry into the store (unless it is just one piece). Allow the salesperson to do all the work—while letting on, with little remarks, that he’s not working as hard as the jeweler down the street. But never make up a “friend in the business” or “cousin in the business”: The jeweler will immediately think that if you have relations in the business you are either wasting his time or outright lying. Bad for you, either way. And please—bargain, bargain, bargain. The best deals I ever gave to customers were to those who insisted on a low price—too low—and then simply would not leave or kept coming back until I relented. You must be shameless in bargaining. It doesn’t matter whether you’re in Cartier or Neiman Marcus or De Beers or Barneys or Graff; it doesn’t matter whether you’re spending $1,000 or $100,000. Offer less. Offer half. When the jeweler laughs and takes the piece away, ask what his best price is. Look around some more and leave. Then return. Offer slightly more than half. The more time you are willing to invest, the more money you will save. You are not here to make a friend or to impress someone. You are here to buy the piece as close to the jeweler’s cost as you can. For all you know, this jeweler is in a cash-flow crunch or has been sitting on the piece for two years and will take a price under his cost. There’s only one way to find out. And if he says (as he probably will), “That’s below my cost; I have to make a profit,” just reply, “I know what a fair price is. I know what I am willing to pay. Your cost and your profit are your business, not mine. I can pay you…,” and lowball him again. A used-car salesman would regularly buy stainless-and-gold Rolexes from me at my cost, and sometimes below it. How? He’d simply make me an offer and refuse to leave. He’d come back again and again. He’d wear me down. Eventually I’d sell him the damn watch just to get rid of him. Also, you probably shouldn’t buy from “a friend of a friend.” This can be a good idea, but it will often interfere with the killer instincts I am trying to instill in you here. If you are buying from a family friend, you simply must treat that person’s merchandise in the same way you would treat a complete stranger’s. Library of Congress 5. No piece of jewelry is “an investment.” If a jeweler tells you that you are buying any piece of jewelry as an investment, ask him if he will write you a piece of paper guaranteeing to buy the piece back in a year at a 5-percent premium over what you paid. (Make sure it’s the sort of jeweler who will still be in business in twelve months’ time.) The jeweler will be horrified by this suggestion. But if he can’t guarantee you 5 percent in a year, that’s not an investment. A jeweler who tells you that jewelry is an investment is lying to you. Yes, in 50 years it will increase in value if it is a rare, excellent stone or piece. But if you want an investment, learn how to buy real estate, stocks, or art. Not a yellow diamond or a Patek Philippe. I admit it: I often told a client—especially when it was time to revolve our line of credit—that I had “just made a fantastic buy in an estate, the kind of piece you dream of stumbling over. I didn’t realize myself what I’d bought until I was sitting here going through the inventory carefully.” He’d drive up from Waco or down from Oklahoma City, and I’d show him the 100-carat emerald necklace I’d just had my runner pick up from a wholesaler in Dallas. Then the investment pitch would start: “If we tore this into loose stones we could already double our money. But as it is, in a piece this rare….” Why didn’t I wholesale it off for a greater profit instead of selling it to my friend, if it really was such a steal? Customers don’t ask this question as often as you’d expect. When they do, the jeweler will simply say, “If I don’t give the best buy to my best customer once in a while, he won’t stay my best customer.” Or he’ll claim money is tight in the industry right now: “Everyone had a horrible season.” The point of all of which is that jewelry is never an investment. It’s a luxury good. Imagine you are buying Manolo Blahniks, or a Gucci tie, or a Porsche. 6. Never look at a diamond in the sunlight. And don’t trust a jeweler who insists that you should see it in the sun. This is the oldest trick in the book. Every diamond, no matter how poorly cut, sparkles wildly in the sun once it’s clean. Do not trust this jeweler, and, in my opinion, don’t buy from him. Once it’s almost time to close you on a particular stone, he’ll tell you, “Let’s get out from under these halogens—they’re designed to make diamonds sparkle—and see how the diamond really looks.” Lo and behold, the diamond you like best is sparklier still. It’s true that a diamond should shine, but your jeweler shouldn’t be selling you on its luster. 7. Any certificate can be faked—including the Gemological Institute of America (GIA) and the American Gem Society (AGS), as well as “Kimberly Process” papers and conflict-free papers—and any such warranty should always be checked with its issuing agency. The two most recognized diamond- and gem-certifying agencies in the world are both based in the United States: the GIA and the AGS. If you are buying a serious diamond it should have GIA papers; if you are buying a serious colored stone—such as a ruby, sapphire, tsavorite garnet of size, alexandrite, or natural pearls—it should have AGS papers. But the tricky part is, jewelers forge and photocopy these papers all the time. So check your stone against the certificates. Ask for a millimeter gauge and check the measurements. Ask for a scale and check the weight. Use a loupe to make certain that the imperfections shown on the papers match the imperfections you can see in the stone. Ask the jeweler to show you how the proportions of the cut or “make” (another good industry term to know—see rule 9 below) of the stone match what is indicated on the papers. None of this is bad manners: It’s good business. It also increases your prestige and your bargaining power. When I was a kid, we used to show our customers the Rapaport Report—a US industry price book for wholesale diamonds—as a technique to demonstrate that the customer was buying at wholesale. But the report is based on stones with ideal or near-ideal cut, and it takes an expert eye to discriminate the proportions of a stone. As for buying “conflict-free diamonds”—well, the bad news is we simply don’t have reliable ways of tracing a diamond’s origin. People buy diamonds in Africa and then laser-engrave “Mined in Canada” on them. No responsible jeweler can guarantee for you that your stone is not a blood diamond. They are simply too easy to manipulate and too hard to track. Until blood-diamond mines are closed—until all diamonds in every country are mined and cut with ethically responsible, government-regulated processes—this is an unfortunate fact you may as well accept. Paying a premium for a conflict-free diamond is, I am sorry to report, probably a waste of money. When Sotheby’s recently sold a 56-carat pink diamond for $83 million, they admitted that the stone was from Africa and that they had “no information on the exact geographic origin.” Of course not. A wholesaler I know in New York sends all of his stones to a little lab in Vancouver to have the girdles engraved as certified Canadian diamonds. This fellow buys most of his diamonds from other distressed wholesalers here in the US. A diamond may have passed through dozens of hands and changed its “official status” as many times before it winds up on your fiancée’s finger. Nevertheless I hesitate to discourage you from asking for conflict-free diamonds, because there are indeed ethically motivated jewelers and diamond dealers who are doing their best to develop a market without blood diamonds. Southern Methodist University, Central University Libraries, DeGolyer Library 8. Always have a significant purchase appraised by an independent appraiser—and know that person’s name before you buy. If you are buying any piece of jewelry for more than $5,000—even, depending on your means, for more than $1,000—you should spend the $100 it will cost to have that piece examined and tested by a real expert. Do not ask your jeweler to recommend someone. Do your homework online and find out who the best independent jewelry expert in your area is. Only use the best. Then do not tell that person where you bought the piece or what you paid. Give him no information at all. Just ask him for a detailed and comprehensive evaluation of the piece. It doesn’t matter so much what you paid—that’s no longer the issue. The question is: Did you get what you paid for? If a customer told me that he was taking his jewelry purchase straight over to Patti Geolat—at the time I was in the jewelry business, probably the most reputable independent appraiser in the Dallas–Fort Worth market—frankly, the whole transaction would immediately change. I would become exceptionally scrupulous about everything I said and did. Calling Patti after you sold something only made her look at your piece that much more carefully; it put you on the radar. Of all the techniques I am teaching you here, this is the most valuable. 9. It’s not enough to know the Four C’s (cut, color, clarity, and carat). Ask also about the “make,” the proportions, of the diamond. When it comes to significant diamonds—which you should only buy “loose,” or unmounted—you simply must educate yourself. Watch several of the tutorials online. (Here’s a good one.) Do not show off what you’ve learned—it is canny to act like an innocent—but practice using a loupe, practice using tweezers, and practice how to clean a stone with a diamond cloth and how to properly inspect a diamond. You can practice all these simple techniques in any jewelry store, with someone you don’t expect to buy from. A sophisticated diamond buyer understands how important an excellent cut is to the value of a diamond, and it takes patient practice to appreciate the nuances of diamond cutting. Take the time to learn those things. If a customer cleaned the lens of the loupe with the diamond cloth, for example, you’d know he’s not an expert: Diamond dust on the cloth will scratch the glass lens. If he asked for a tissue to clean the loupe, however, I’d immediately wonder. If he knows that, what else does he know? 10. Never buy a Swiss watch used—unless the seller has been in the jewelry business for many, many years. Forgery has become rampant in the Swiss-watch business, and even the experts may be hard-pressed to tell the difference. So if you want to be sure, buy from a registered dealer. Depending on the brand, you should demand a 40-percent discount from the sticker price (on a Bertolucci, say, or a Vacheron Constantin); a 30–35-percent discount on most popular brands (like TAG Heuer, Cartier, and IWC); and a 20–25-percent discount on the most desirable brands (like Rolex and Patek Philippe). I should add that I would only buy a Swiss watch used, because that’s the only way to get a real bargain. But if you are going to do that, make absolutely certain that the person you’re doing business with has been selling used Swiss watches for a very long time—and that you can return the watch, if necessary, for a complete refund, after having had it checked out by another expert. Real Rolex bracelets, buckles, and links are replaced with fake after-market parts: sometimes with the counterfeit stamp, sometimes without. Real Rolex movements are replaced with fake movements. Every authentic part of a Rolex or a Patek is valuable, which means that replacing any part of it with a counterfeit adds a little profit to the jeweler’s bottom line. I’ve made this process sound scarier than it is. If you follow these simple rules, it is almost impossible to be cheated. And most jewelers are honest business people—within reasonable bounds. They often do not fully understand the products they are selling, and that’s where they can—quite innocently—get themselves and you into trouble. So do your due diligence. The more you’ll be spending, the more time and intelligence you should invest in the purchase. And what you’ll find is that, as with any collectible item, the more you learn, the more fun it is to buy. Look at it as a game. It’s you against the jeweler. Use these techniques, and you will win.

Jenson Button has confirmed he will continue racing once he exits F1, with plans to try his hand at Rallycross and possibly make appearances in the Super GT Championship next year. The McLaren-Honda driver announced in September he will take a sabbatical from F1 at the end of the season, though has not fully ruled out a return to the championship in the future. In the meantime, though Button says he won't embark on a full-time racing programme in 2017, he is keen to keep racing sporadically in other disciplines. Revealing he is keen to drive with Honda in the Suzuka 1000kms Super GT endurance race, he says he also wants to try his hand at Rallycross racing in the United States. NEWS: Sergio Perez drops a sponsor after an offensive tweet about Donald Trump & Mexico! "I don't know what I am going to do yet. I might do Suzuka 1000kms in Super GT, it would be nice if that works out. Apart from that I might do some rallycross in America (Global Rallycross Championship) and do some testing in something else "There is lots I can do and I have just got to choose how much I really want to do next year. I want more of a rest. [A full Rallycross programme] won't happen next year. In the future, definitely. I think it is a massively growing sport." Any Rallycross programme would see Button follow in the wheeltracks of his late father John, who was a prominent rallycross driver in the 1970s. Indeed, Button says the idea of racing something other than F1 excites him. "[I'm] so excited. I have raced one thing for 17 years and I want to race something else. I am a racing driving. You don't just want to race one thing for your whole career. Formula 1 is the pinnacle of motorsport, but sometimes you need a change." POINTS: The F1 World Championship standings ahead of the Brazilian Grand Prix Latest Tweets from Crash.net & GPF1rst

Hear the full conversation between Suzanne Hogan and Christopher Strelluf for more examples of the Kansas City accent. There is a general myth that Midwesterners, or even Kansas Citians specifically, speak without an accent. But that is not the case. Linguistic distinctions in Midland speech exist, and have been changing, perhaps without us even noticing, over the past 50 years. Kansas City is in the Midland speech region. It spans from Ohio through Indiana, Illinois and Missouri, then parts of Iowa, Kansas, and Nebraska. It excludes the St. Louis corridor. Christopher Strelluf is a Kansas City native and linguistics graduate student at the University of Missouri. He uses tests and interviews to examines how people in Kansas City talk. His research focuses on white native Kansas City speech, and focuses on a group born between 1955-75, and another born in the 90s. Minimal pairs test One test used by Strelluf is a minimal pairs test. Subjects read word pairs that have one phonological difference. Here I am saying "bull" and "bowl" as part of the test: "Bull" and "bowl" come out sounding the same, as I merge the "O" sound and the "U" sound. "One of the craziest changes in terms of what we should be aware of but somehow aren’t, is that historically the vowel in caught, the vowel in the past tense of catch, and cot, like an army bed, those are completely different vowels," Strelluf says of another set of minimal pairs. "Over the last 50ish years these vowels have been coming closer and closer together and merging, becoming the same sound." Linguists call this the cot/caught merger, it started off in the west and has spread east to Kansas City, and the Midland, it’s becoming more popular with younger generations. Other regionally specific mergers include "pull" and "pool,"' and "pin" and "pen" for men and boys. "People get very concerned about how language is changing," says Strelluf. "Kids have always been ruining language, and you know now they’re texting and 'OMG-ing' everything. And really the stuff that people are worried about as changing the language is really insignificant stuff when you think, we’re losing a vowel!" The Harvard Dialect Survey, conducted by Bert Vaux and Scott Golder in 2003, breaks down mergers, different pronunciations, and regional vocabulary by state. Joshua Katz, took the results from this survey with additional research and created an interactive quiz and map that identifies regional accents for The New York Times. Katz's quiz and Strelluf's research go beyond word pronunciations, tongue position, and regional vocabulary (i.e. sneakers or tennis shoes, pop or soda.) They also identify regionally specific grammatical structures. Kansas City and Midland speech examples "The dog wants out." — as opposed to something like, "The dog wants to go out." "I want off the bus." — as opposed to something like, "I want to get off the bus." "The floor needs swept." "The car needs washed." — "The say 'needs' and the past tense of a verb is a characteristic of midland speech," Strelluf says. "We're going to the mall. Do you wanna come with?" - Is typically considered grammatical among younger generations. "Remember those one kids we saw last week?" - Another acceptable construction with younger generations. Other specific regional examples include putting highway numbers in front of the designation: for example "24 Highway," as opposed to "Highway 24." Strelluf says Midlanders also use 'positive anymore,' or using the word ‘anymore’ which used to be part of a negative, as a positive. "There’s plenty to do downtown anymore.” or "Anymore, movies are too expensive.” These are all very regionally specific things, says Strelluf. "But nobody comments on it anywhere. So we don't realize that's its a very locally specific thing." Which he says is OK. It’s all part of the natural process. And as long as language is alive and vibrant, its going to change. So if you’re worried about being lost in translation or maybe judged when you say "car-ml" or "car-a-mel," "you guys" or "y'all," "Missouri" or "Missoura," just relax. We all know what you mean.

How to Write a Sex Scene by Rebecca Schiff Think about the worst sex you’ve ever had. There’s probably a story there, or at least a detail you can use. Use it. Blow jobs are funnier than vaginal intercourse. Hand jobs are funnier than blow jobs. Masturbation is funniest of all. Don’t be afraid of the solo sex scene. This is the sex scene most of us know best. Once you master onanism, it will be time to try a twosome, a threesome, then an orgy. Your orgy needs lots of dialogue, dialogue unrelated to the proceedings at hand. Where is the orgy taking place? Who are the participants? What are their roles in the community? Are they civic leaders? Godmothers? Avoid candles, scented lubes, and the word “throb.” Avoid the words “member,” “bosom,” “butt,” and “splay.” You should probably skip the word “tight.” If you wind up arousing the reader, that’s okay, but it’s not your number one goal. Your number one goal is to make the reader feel deeply uncomfortable reading your book in public. Your number two goal is to get your book banned in high school libraries. Politicians will brandish your book during debates and say taxpayer money shouldn’t pay for such filth. You’ll make good enemies and you’ll make great friends. Librarians will defend you. Bruce Springsteen will be on your side. But what if I’m not filthy enough? you think. What if Bruce Springsteen is busy? Most sex scenes are read and forgotten. Readers go on with their lives. You’re competing with the entire internet. You’re competing with sex itself. Wouldn’t people rather be watching porn or doing it than reading about doing it? Why does anyone still read at all? They read because you have something to tell them about what you know about blow jobs. What you know may resonate with what they know, and then the two of you, writer and reader, will connect. It’s sexy, connecting. You don’t need to be naked to do it. You don’t need social media. You don’t even need to write a sex scene, just whatever kind of scene interests and excites you. Maybe you want to write about bird watching, or parallel parking, or escalators. Nicholson Baker has written three great books about sex and one equally great book about office supplies. Read them. Read Philip Roth, Rick Moody, Mary Gaitskill, and Matthew Klam. Read Erica Jong. Read James Salter and Sam Lipsyte. Read Leonard Michaels. Read Joyce. For these writers, sex is dirty, complex, embarrassing, more earthbound than transcendent, but the writing is ecstatic, joyful, shameless, as good as any body touching body, as good as the best sex. Don’t write your sex scenes dutifully or rush through them on your way to the serious or “real” writing. Stay a while. Explore sex with curiosity, with humor, sadness, irreverence, compassion, and empathy. At least try. Writing about sex can be as much of a failure as sex itself. Embrace that failure. Or as Diane Williams writes in her story “Stand”: “As a matter of fact, I couldn’t get his penis to do anything... It hung like a mop or it had a life of its own. How it came up in the first place, I don’t know. He couldn’t get my vagina—I wanted to say—to utter a word.” ❦❦❦

Two new reports out of Asia this morning purport to shed light on improvements coming to Apple’s next-generation Apple Watch and the iPhone 6S. According to a report out of Korea (via Naver/Digital Daily), Apple has decided to source flexible OLED screens for the Apple Watch 2 from both Samsung and LG, prioritizing improved outdoor visibility rather than changing the screen size, shape, or resolution. Outdoor screen visibility is a particular issue for the more reflective, sapphire-faced Apple Watch and Edition, which noticeably reduce the underlying screen’s apparent brightness compared with the glass-faced Apple Watch Sport. The report also claims Apple is more concerned about thinning components than reducing weight, in order to make room for a larger battery. A second and more questionable report out of Taiwan, allegedly posted to microblogging site Weibo by a Foxconn employee before being pulled and recirculated by PhoneArena, claims to offer a series of additional details regarding the upcoming iPhone 6S. As detailed below, a new pink color, higher-resolution cameras with Force Touch simultaneous video/photo modes, and a faster Touch ID fingerprint scanner are all said to be on tap… Apple considered a rose gold iPhone 6S to parallel the similarly-colored Apple Watch Edition, but instead has settled on a pink aluminum with a white front. Touch ID has been increased in speed by roughly 30% over the iPhone 6, making fingerprint scanning a less-than-1-second (yet accurate) process. The front FaceTime camera will supposedly have a 5MP sensor. The rear camera will supposedly have a 12MP sensor and again protrude from the back of the iPhone’s chassis. Apple apparently tested a 16MP sensor in early versions of the iPhone 6S, but moved to a 12MP version later in the production cycle. In addition to supporting 4K video and 240FPS slow-motion recording, the iPhone 6S will use Force Touch to let you record bursts of still photos during video recording. [Note: An alternate translation of the report suggests that the Force Touch feature may be used to toggle between Photo and Video modes.] iPhone 6S will have 2GB of RAM, but 16GB of storage will remain the minimum capacity. The alleged details are posted for interest, but as the actual source of the iPhone 6S claims is unclear, it should be taken with a liberal handful of salt for the time being. Reports earlier this year have previously mentioned the new pink color option in testing.

"THIS IS DEFINITELY anonymous, right?" the likely All-American asks. Yes, he is assured. "Okay, because if we're going to talk about Coach's daughter ..." Yep, we went there (please read on before writing the editor) and other uncomfortable places when we rounded up 92 college football players in July. We swore to keep their names under our hat; in return, they let us peek inside their brains. ESPN The Magazine MAC player on who's most overhyped "I don't want to say AJ McCarron has an easy job, but he has an easier job. Best O-line, best receivers, best running backs, best defense -- he just has to not mess it up." MWC player on who's the best "I think Johnny Football is the best player in the country and the most overhyped. He's amazing, but the expectations for him are unattainable. It's just not fair." Big Ten player on postseason preference "Explain to me why we can't do a 16- or 32-team playoff. Division III does it. High schools do it. All of that stuff about injuries and academics is just nonsense. You can't say that you care about D1 players sooooo much and then let hundreds of other players play a 32-team playoff." Pac-12 player on gay teammates "Nobody would really care that much about a guy being gay. It's more that we constantly have distractions -- arrests, suspensions, fights at practice, coaching changes, the whole deal -- and having a player who's gay would just be another huge distraction. We don't need any of that crap." MWC player on dating Coach's daughter "Our coaches dictate our whole lives, decide who's playing and who's not, bench you because they didn't like your attitude during a practice ... You name it, they have total authority. I would love to turn the tables and roll past my coach's house one day on a date, with his daughter in the front seat." AAC player on dealing with gamblers "You have to be really careful, especially on social media now. You never know when a simple tweet question is really so that a guy can bet $50,000 on the other team." SEC player on hiding concussions "I've lied about concussions. It's pretty easy to get away with it -- you just stay away from the team doctors." Follow The Mag on Twitter (@ESPNmag) and like us on Facebook.

Wet weather allows Santa Cruz to end water rationing A bit of drought relief is in sight for one of the communities hit hardest by California’s historic dry spell. The city of Santa Cruz announced Monday that it’s lifting mandatory water restrictions on residents, effective next week, after recent rains poured into creeks and forecasters warned of more wet weather ahead. Santa Cruz, which relies entirely on local streams and wells for its supplies, enacted among the state’s stiffest conservation policies in May after three stubbornly dry years. Most water customers were limited to 249 gallons per household per day. Violators have since paid more than $1.6 million in fines, according to city records. “We just felt that our customers have shown their commitment to conserve. In return, we have to show that we’ll require mandatory rationing only when it’s absolutely necessary,” said water department spokeswoman Eileen Cross. “And it’s not absolutely necessary.” While Cross says the department will return to rationing if need be, rainfall has so far been kind to the 175-acre Loch Lomond Reservoir, raising it to a respectable 62 percent capacity. The area’s watershed has recorded 14 inches of rain since Oct. 1, compared to the 6.7 inches it averages at this point. Meanwhile, the San Lorenzo River and nearby streams are also running higher after the Santa Cruz Mountains received their biggest storm of the year last week, including a 24-hour period with more than 5 inches of rain. The wet weather also means that demand for water has dropped as residents no longer need to irrigate their lawns and gardens, Cross noted. The National Weather Service expects an even bigger wet front to hit California on Wednesday night through Thursday. As much as 8 inches of rain is expected in the Santa Cruz Mountains. Kurtis Alexander is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. E-mail: kalexander@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @kurtisalexander

FILE - In this Friday, Oct. 4, 2013, file photo, Alexander Bradley, right, talks with his attorney Robert Pickering, left, during a court appearance at Hartford Superior Court on in Hartford, Conn. Bradley, who alleges he was shot by former New England Patriots tight end Aaron Hernandez, has been shot again in Connecticut. Hartford police Lt. Brian Foley says Bradley was shot several times in the leg Sunday night, Feb. 2, 2014, at the Vevo Lounge Bar & Grill, and was taken to a hospital. His condition hasn't been released. (AP Photo/The Hartford Courant, Richard Messina, Pool, File) ORG XMIT: CTHAR201 (Photo11: Richard Messina AP) HARTFORD, Conn. — The man who alleges in a lawsuit that he was shot by former New England Patriots tight end Aaron Hernandez in Florida has been shot again in Connecticut. Hartford police Lt. Brian Foley said Alexander Bradley was shot several times in the leg Sunday night at the Vevo Lounge Bar & Grill and was taken to a hospital. His condition hasn't been released. INVESTIGATION: Warrant: Police think Hernandez may have been gunman in 2012 slayings Police haven't announced any arrests or a motive. Bradley claims he lost an eye when Hernandez shot him outside a Miami club last year. Boston police believe Bradley was with Hernandez in an SUV when someone inside fatally shot two people in 2012. No charges have been filed. Hernandez is detained on a murder charge in a killing last June near his North Attleborough, Mass., home. Copyright 2014 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

DC Comics has shared its First Look at February 15th’s Super-Sons #1, a brand new monthly starring Jon Kent as Superboy and Damian Wayne as Robin — the sons of Superman and Batman together again for the first time! Scroll down to view the full size preview images. SUPER-SONS #1 Written by Peter J. Tomasi Art by Jorge Jimenez Published by DC Comics Release Date: February 15, 2017 “When I grow up” part one! The sons of Batman and Superman have graduated to their own monthly comic—but if they want to survive, they’re going to have to share it! Writer Peter J. Tomasi (BATMAN & ROBIN, SUPERMAN) teams with rising-star artist Jorge Jimenez (EARTH 2) to bring you the adventures of the World’s Smallest. This debut issue looks at the lives of Robin and Superboy and their destiny to follow in their fathers’ footsteps, while we meet a new villain whose ascension parallels the boys’ own understanding of their powers—except that he believes it’s his right to rule over every being on the planet! Don’t forget to pick up Volume 1 of Superman: Son of Superman, in stores now, to get the full story on Jon Kent’s move into the Superboy role! Images courtesy DC Comics.

Government officials blame unfair competition from China for the collapse of solar panel manufacturer Solyndra, but such concerns didn’t stop the federal government from breaking stimulus program rules to use Chinese solar panels atop a federal building housing the offices of a senator, congressman and several agencies. Even the contractor questioned whether Chinese-made panels could be used under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, the stimulus program that mandated use of U.S.-made products. His query in early 2010 was dismissed and the General Services Administration moved forward with using the Chinese panels on the Sen. Paul Simon Federal Building in Carbondale, Ill., records show. Questions about the panels, which were assembled overseas, were raised in a four-page advisory memo sent by the inspector general to the GSA in the summer of 2011, but the findings take on added significance as government officials increasingly place blame on Chinese subsidies for troubles in the U.S. solar market. Since last summer, Solyndra LLC and another solar company, Abound Solar, have filed for bankruptcy despite receiving generous federal loan guarantees. After both bankruptcies, government officials were quick to place blame on subsidies from China that allowed foreign solar panel manufactures to sell their products below cost, squeezing U.S. solar companies. Meanwhile, the contractor on the Illinois building project, J.R. Conkey & Associates, initially questioned GSA officials on whether solar panels assembled in China could be used under the stimulus program, but a procurement officer told the company to proceed, according to records. “We did what we were told to do by the federal government,” Jim Conkey, the company’s president, said Monday. According to the inspector general’s memo, Conkey officials asked the GSA contracting official “whether non-ARRA [Recovery Act] compliant solar panels could be used” on Feb. 16, 2010, before the installation of the panels. “The contracting officer directed Conkey to ‘proceed with the panels specified in the schedule contract since they have already been determined as satisfying all applicable contract clauses including the ARRA Buy American Act requirement,’ ” the memo stated. The inspector general’s memo said the overall roof work was performed under a $1.8 million task order awarded to J.R. Conkey & Associates, though Mr. Conkey said a portion of the project involving stimulus funding for the panels at issue involved about $200,000. Dan Cruz, a GSA spokesman, said an agency review found no other instances of GSA projects using solar panels made outside of the U.S. In a written response to the inspector general last year, officials also disagreed with several aspects of the review. The Federal Acquisition Service, an arm of the GSA, said the contract to J.R. Conkey was for a “complex roof mounted electrical grid system” and that the panel in question — the SP205 — was “one component of this overall system.” “Here, the panels themselves are not a contract item” the service’s response stated. “Rather, they are an important part of a solar system, but are integrated along with an inverter, tubes and other components into a system.” And for purchases of such systems, the Trade Agreements Act, not the Buy America Act, applies, according to Federal Acquisition Service officials, who added that only the Bureau of Customs, now a part of the Department of Homeland Security, could make a determination of [Trade Agreements Act] compliance. Still, the inspector general’s memo stated that the panels violated the provisions of the stimulus program, according to the memo. “The photovoltaic panels installed were assembled in and shipped from China,” the memo stated. “Under the ARRA, the Chinese panels cannot be purchased with ARRA funds.” The three-story Simon building houses local offices of the Internal Revenue Service, the Social Security Administration, the Drug Enforcement Administration, and Rep. Jerry F. Costello and Sen. Richard J. Durbin, Illinois Democrats. It’s named after Paul Simon, the late U.S. senator from Illinois. The building project also is profiled on the GSA’s website, though no mention is made of the origin of solar panels. The memo highlighting the expenditures from the inspector general was sent to two GSA officials. The first was Robert Peck, the former Public Buildings Service commissioner who was one of several executives ousted earlier this year when details surfaced about the GSA’s lavish Las Vegas conference in 2010. The second official to receive the memo, Steven J. Kempf, was named commissioner for the GSA’s federal acquisition service in 2010, but he took a two-month medical leave earlier this summer. He came under scrutiny after recent revelations about another roughly quarter-million-dollar employee awards ceremony also held in 2010. Copyright © 2019 The Washington Times, LLC. Click here for reprint permission.

IDEAS Barker is the author of Barking Up The Wrong Tree We all want to be more successful. But everything you read probably sounds like a lot of work. Isn’t there a scientifically proven method that’s a little more… fun? There is. Shawn Achor is the bestselling author of The Happiness Advantage and for years at Harvard he studied exactly that: happiness. He gave an extremely popular (and, in my opinion, the all-time funniest) TED talk. And his ideas even attracted the attention of Oprah Winfrey, who filmed aninterview with him. What’s so special about Shawn’s work? His research shows that success doesn’t bring happiness — happiness brings success. He did what a lot of researchers never do: instead of scrubbing the freak outliers from the data he aggressively studied them. He wanted to know what people with happiness superpowers do that we don’t. Here’s Shawn: Instead of deleting those people that are weirdos in the data what we do is we intentionally study them. We try and find out why it is that while an entire sales force has low numbers, we’re finding three or four people whose sales are skyrocketing. Or we’re looking at a low socioeconomic school in Chicago, where the academic scores are below average, there are a couple students whose grades are skyrocketing. By studying those outliers, what we’re doing is we’re gleaning information not on how to move subpar performers up toward that average point, but how to move people from average to superior. Shawn believes (and his research shows) that you can do things to be happier. And being happier will make you more successful. I gave Shawn a call to find out what he’s learned. Want more joy and success in your life? Here’s what Shawn had to say. 1) Success Brings Happiness? No. Happiness Brings Success. We all chase success hoping it will make us happy: I’ll be happy once I get that promotion. I’ll be happy once I get that raise. I’ll be happy once I lose 15 pounds. But the research shows that isn’t true. You achieve a goal and you’re briefly happier… but then you’re looking toward the next big thing. What Shawn’s research showed was when you flip the formula and focus on increasing happiness, you end up increasing success. Here’s Shawn: If we can get somebody to raise their levels of optimism or deepen their social connection or raise happiness, turns out every single business and educational outcome we know how to test for improves dramatically. You can increase your success rates for the rest of your life and your happiness levels will flatline, but if you raise your level of happiness and deepen optimism it turns out every single one of your success rates rises dramatically compared to what it would have been at negative, neutral, or stressed. MET Life saw such great results among happy salespeople that they tried an experiment: they started hiring people based on optimism. And that was even if those people performed poorly on the standard industry “aptitude test.” What was the result? It turns out that the optimistic group outsold their more pessimistic counterparts by 19% in year one and 57% in year two. How can this be? Shawn explained that intelligence and technical skills only predict 25% of success: If we know the intelligence and technical skills of an employee, we can actually only predict about 25% of their job success. 75% of long term job success is predicted not by intelligence and technical skills, which is normally how we hire, educate and train, but it’s predicted by three other umbrella categories. It’s optimism (which is the belief that your behavior matters in the midst of challenge), your social connection (whether or not you have depth and breadth in your social relationships), and the way that you perceive stress. And students who want success in their future should worry a little less about grades and more about optimism. Shawn found that rolling a pair of dice was as predictive of your future income as your college GPA is. (And millionaires agree.) (For more on how to be more optimistic, click here.) So your attitude has a huge effect on how successful you are. What was the most powerful thing Shawn learned from looking at those happiness outliers? 2) See Problems As Challenges, Not Threats Shawn did a study of bankers right after the huge banking crisis hit. Most of them were incredibly stressed. But a few were happy and resilient. What did those guys have in common? They didn’t see problems as threats; they saw them as challenges to overcome. Here’s Shawn: What these positive outliers do is that when there are changes that occur in the economic landscape or the political landscape or at an educational institution, they see those changes not as threats, but as challenges. So those people are just wired differently and our duty is to envy them, right? Nope. Shawn did an experiment that proved this attitude can belearned. Just by showing the normal bankers a video explaining how to see stress as a challenge, he turned sad bankers into super-bankers. Here’s Shawn: And we watched those groups of people over the next three to six weeks, and what we found was if we could move people to view stress as enhancing, a challenge instead of as a threat, we saw a 23% drop in their stress-related symptoms. It produced a significant increase not only in levels of happiness, but a dramatic improvement in their levels of engagement at work as well. (For more on what the happiest people do every day, click here.) But what about when there’s just too much to do? Maybe there are more “challenges” than you can handle. Should we just give up on any chance of work-life balance? Cancel those plans with friends and spend more hours at the office? Once again the answer is the exact opposite. 3) Twice As Much Work Means You Need Friends Twice As Much After doing his undergraduate work at Harvard, Shawn was a proctor there, helping freshman adapt to the often stressful, competitive environment. Many students would respond to the workload by living in the library and eating meals in their bedrooms so they could keep studying. Did those students perform better? No. Those were the ones who burned out; the ones who ended up wanting to transfer to another school. Shawn would tell them what they had unknowingly done was cut themselves off from the greatest predictor of happiness. Here’s Shawn: The people who survive stress the best are the ones who actually increase their social investments in the middle of stress, which is the opposite of what most of us do. Turns out that social connection is the greatest predictor of happiness we have when I run them in my studies. When we run social support metrics, they trump everything else we do, every time. And what did we just learn about happiness? It predicts success. And it was no different here: We found that social connection is extremely important for predicting academic achievement. Want to resist stress, increase productivity and get a promotion? Then don’t just seek social support — provide it to others. Confirming the research of top Wharton professor Adam Grant, people who provide social support get some of the greatest benefits. Shawn saw this not only with his students at Harvard but he’s since advised over a third of the Fortune 100 companies — and it worked there too. Here’s Shawn: Work altruists were ten times more likely to be engaged than the bottom quartile of that list and the top quartile was significantly happier and 40% more likely to receive a promotion over the next 2-year period of time. (For more on how work altruism can benefit you, click here.) Some of you might be thinking, “Alright already, happiness makes you more successful. I get it. But how do I get happier?” It’s simpler than you think. 4) Send A “Thank You” Email Every Morning You might think happiness only comes from big wins or big achievements. You’re wrong. Research shows little things are more important. So Shawn believes rather than focusing on big boosts like vacations, it’s smarter to build little, consistent habits akin to brushing your teeth. What little habit gives a big happiness boost over time? Send a 2-minute “thank you” email or text as soon as you get into the office. Here’s Shawn: The simplest thing you can do is a two-minute email praising or thanking one person that you know. We’ve done this at Facebook, at US Foods, we’ve done this at Microsoft. We had them write a two-minute email praising or thanking one person they know, and a different person each day for 21 days in a row. That’s it. What we find is this dramatically increases their social connection which is the greatest predictor of happiness we have in organizations. It also improves teamwork. We’ve measured the collective IQ of teams and the collective years of experience of teams but both of those metrics are trumped by social cohesion. What other little daily happiness habits does Shawn recommend? (For more on five emails that can improve your life, click here.) Over 120,000 people receive my weekly email. And it’s sent from my real email address. People can reply. And they do. What’s one of the most common things readers email me to say? Eric, you suggest all these great things. I read them. I agree with them. But I don’t end up doing any of them. How can I follow through? Shawn has a great answer for this too. 5) The 20-Second Rule What stops you from making the changes you know you should? Shawn says it’s “activation energy.” You know, like the activation energy it takes to initially get your butt off the couch and to the gym. The hard part is getting started. If you reduce the amount of activation energy required, tough things become easy. So make new habits 20 seconds easier to start. Shawn would sleep in his gym clothes and put his sneakers next to the bed and it made him much more likely to exercise when he woke up. Here’s Shawn: If you can make the positive habit three to 20 seconds easier to start, you’re likelihood of doing it rises dramatically. And you can do the same thing by flipping it for negative habits. Watching too much television? Merely take out the batteries of the remote control creating a 20 second delay and it dramatically decreases the amount of television people will watch. (For more easy ways to build new habits, click here.) So how do we pull all this together? And what was the most inspiring thing Shawn told me about happiness and success? Sum Up Here’s what we can all learn from Shawn: Success doesn’t bring happiness. Happiness brings success. See problems as challenges, not threats. More work means you need more social support. And giving support is better than receiving. Send a 2-minute “thank you” email every morning. Use the 20-second rule to build the habit. Some people might think it’s too hard to get happier. Maybe they’ve suffered from depression. Or they’ve seen the research that we have a “happiness set point”, and our genetics ultimately decide how happy we can be. You know what the most inspiring thing Shawn told me was? The latest research shows good habits might trump genes. Here’s Shawn: When you look at outliers on the graph, you find people who actually break the tyranny of genes and environment by creating these conscious positive habits that actually cause them to interact with life in a more positive way with higher levels of success, lower levels of stress, and higher levels of resilience. They do it by changing their mindset and changing their habits, and by doing so they actually trump their genes. Most people accept that they’re just born some way and that’s how they’re going to be the rest of their life, and whatever they were last year is what they’re going to be this year. I think positive psychology shows us that that doesn’t actually have to be the case. Send a gratitude email right now. It only takes 2 minutes. And send another one tomorrow. That habit will make you happier. And being happier will make you more successful and deepen your relationships. Happiness. Success. Strong relationships. What else really matters? This piece originally appeared on Barking Up the Wrong Tree. Join over 120,000 readers. Get a free weekly update via email here. Related posts: How To Stop Being Lazy And Get More Done – 5 Expert Tips 6 Things The Most Productive People Do Every Day 8 Things The World’s Most Successful People All Have In Common Contact us at editors@time.com.

Share. “This is not a problem we’re positive we can solve…” “This is not a problem we’re positive we can solve…” Exit Theatre Mode While gamers on Xbox 360 and PC are going to be able to experience all of the DLC Bethesda has planned for The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, it appears PlayStation 3 gamers may indeed be left out in the cold. After noting that the DLC hadn’t necessarily even been announced for PlayStation 3 and admitting that Dawnguard’s performance on PS3 is unsatisfactory, Bethesda’s Global Community Lead posted on the Bethesda forums with some ominous news. Exit Theatre Mode Here’s the post, in full: “Earlier in the month, we provided an update on Dawnguard's status for PS3. “It's been a few weeks, and we wanted to make sure everyone knows where we're at with Dawnguard. Skyrim is a massive and dynamic game that requires a lot of resources, and things get much more complex when you're talking about sizable content like Dawnguard. We have tried a number of things, but none of them solve the issue enough to make Dawnguard good for everyone. The PS3 is a powerful system, and we're working hard to deliver the content you guys want. Dawnguard is obviously not the only DLC we’ve been working on either, so the issues of adding content get even more complicated. This is not a problem we’re positive we can solve, but we are working together with Sony to try to bring you this content. “We wish we had a more definitive answer right now. We understand the frustration when the same content is not available on all platforms. When we have an update, we will certainly let you know. We deeply appreciate all the time and support you have given us, and we’ll keep doing our best to return that.” Bethesda’s seeming inability to get its game to work on PlayStation 3 means that, according to them, the content may never come out at all. “This is not a problem we’re positive we can solve,” they admit, “but we are working together with Sony to try to bring you this content.” And the fact that more and more additions to the game are making the problem even more complicated, as explained in the post, means that things are looking exceptionally dire. We’ll keep our fingers crossed that Skyrim’s DLC does indeed make its way to Sony’s console, but in the meantime, it’s not looking too good. Colin Moriarty is an IGN PlayStation editor. You can follow him on Twitter and IGN and learn just how sad the life of a New York Islanders and New York Jets fan can be.

Recent articles about the nature of the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham (since renamed simply the Islamic State, or ISIS) are harrowing in their description of the group's ferocity, viz. a BBC article contending it regularly executes “those who are foolish enough to stay behind.” A recent New York Times’ story about the advance of this Sunni jihadist army in Iraq makes the point from a slightly different vantage: “Behind the image of savagery that the extremists of the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria present to the world, as casual executioners who kill helpless prisoners and behead even rival jihadis, lies a disciplined organization that employs social media and sophisticated financial strategies in the funding and governance of the areas it has conquered.” In addition, “Its members are better paid, better trained, and better armed than even the national armies of Syria and Iraq,” the leader of an opposing force told the paper. And as Charles P. Blair pointed out in these pages a couple of weeks ago, we should not have been surprised by the appearance of ISIS, as it has been percolating along in the background for a long time, steadily building an infrastructure, gaining adherents, and soliciting all-important financial backers. One of the problems in assessing the Islamic State involves sorting out exactly who is behind it, financially speaking. Clearly, however, a good portion of the funding for the ISIS—and similar terror groups, such as the Al Qaeda-affiliated Jabhat al-Nusra—comes from Sunni elites located in Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, and the Gulf states, countries that are ostensibly US allies. Under-the-radar funding tactics and lax regulations in the region allow fundraisers to set up small religious charities and ask for money in mosques and other public places, in what The Washington Post describes as “terrorist fundraising.” This private funding for terror groups puts the United States in a difficult situation, to say the least. The Gulf states are US allies, and suppliers of oil; like the US, they want a new government in Syria. But the US does not want extreme Sunni terrorists to take over that country or continue expanding into Iraq; however, the Kuwaiti, Saudi, and emirati patrons of the Islamic State do not seem particularly worried about such outcomes. And outside funding for the Islamic State is anything but small potatoes. Hundreds of millions of dollars has flowed into the group's coffers from Kuwaitis, as well as from citizens of Saudi Arabia and other Gulf states solicited from Kuwait. The Saudi case is especially interesting, given the huge volume of arms sales the US has made to the country over the decades, and the seemingly close alignment of US-Saudi interests—at least, on the surface. Saudi Arabia exported almost 10 million barrels of petroleum a day in 2013, according to the US Energy Information Administration; the United States imported about 1.5 million of those barrels daily. Indeed, the original name of what is now the Saudi national oil company was the Arab American Oil Company, or Aramco, back when it started in the 1940s. But the country’s religious leadership, which promotes a strict form of Islam known as Wahhabism, associated religious schools, and the Saudi populace are all sources for the spread of extremist political Islam, and wealthy Saudi individuals fund jihadists worldwide. US-Saudi tensions will be familiar to longtime readers of The Bulletin of Atomic Scientists. As far back as 1966, Bulletin writer John S. Badeau was commenting about the inherent shakiness of the US alliance with Saudi Arabia, saying: “[The United States] is in the position of supporting governments and systems which we do not like and whose activities frequently cause trouble… Although Saudi Arabia is closely bound to us by a mutual interest in petroleum and in general may be considered, at least for the moment, pro-American, no one would maintain that its royal government is the best of all possible political systems or represents what may be most desirable for the advancement of the country.” These were strong words, but Badeau knew what he was talking about: He was US ambassador to the United Arab Republic from 1961 to 1964 (when it was Egypt's official name), former president of the American University in Cairo, and at the time of writing the article, director of the Middle East Institute of Columbia University. His was not the only voice to urge caution. In 1983, Robert Andersen pointed out that “the petrodollars of Libya, Saudi Arabia, and the Gulf states financed Pakistan’s bomb project” in a Bulletin review of the book The Islamic Bomb. And as long ago as the late 1970s, analysts were worried about the Saudi government’s continuous purchase of arms from the United States, “which it intends quite openly to transfer to Arab ‘confrontation states,’” Yair Evron of Tel Aviv University wrote in these pages in his article, “Arms and Security in the Middle East.” It appears that Evron was right to be worried. If it is not yet widely accepted as a nation, the Islamic State's newly announced caliphate over large portions of Syria and Iraq certainly could be considered a confrontation state. Editor’s note: The full archive of Bulletin print issues—from 1945 to 1998, and complete with covers and other illustrations—is available here.

Chemical Industry is a major sector in India’s economy. India Brand Equity Foundation introduces that “among the most diversified industrial sectors, chemicals cover an array of more than 70,000 commercial products.” India is a large producer country of chemicals which ranks sixth in the world and third in Asia. The relative experts had expected that the national chemical production of India will increase to $226 billion by 2020. As a powerful driven engine of the economy, Indian government provides sufficient support to the chemical industry from investment to license applying. The abundant and stable generation of chemicals provides more possibilities for India to accelerate the pace of chemical exports. And 34% of India’s export earnings come from its chemical industry. The United States and China are the two major destinations or chemical exports from India, which brings a great number of business opportunities to the world. Chemical companies could not only utilize the traditional ways, but also take advantages of e-commerce to broaden business of import and export. E-commerce in India grows rapidly in recent years. According to ASSOCHAM-Forrester study paper, “Indian e-commerce is growing at an annual rate of 51%, the highest in the world, and is expected to jump from $30 billion in 2016 to $120 billion in 2020.” Figure 1 shows the development of Indian e-commerce. Various e-commerce methods are developing in India now, which include domestic and cross-border, B2B and B2C, marketplace and inventory based, dingle brand and multi brand. Both chemical industry and e-commerce grow fast in India, combining the two industries could achieve a common growth because abundant policy support is provided and business opportunities could be found. (Figure 1: E-commerce Industry in India) As we mentioned above, cross-border B2B e-commerce could be an effective tool of chemical industry. Traditionally, suppliers always find business partners through their existing customer network or participate in some industry conferences to introduce their brand and product to the potential customers. While the e-commerce provides a more efficient way to connect your brand with your products. Suppliers could open an online shop on the e-commerce platforms, or build your own website to showcase the products. More global customers may get to know the products as long as the suppliers promote them in a proper way. Companies in the chemical industry could find business opportunities in India. Registering on a professional B2B e-commerce platform is a great choice. JumoreGlobal is such a platform. JumoreChemical, which aims to provide B2B e-commerce services for chemical companies, is the sub platform of JumoreGlobal. Business specialists will help you open an online shop on the platform and assist you to find business opportunities in India if you are interested in Indian chemical market and willing to cooperate with companies there. Besides, JumoreGlobal will provide chemical industry information for you at a regular frequency. In order to fit your requirement, the platform is always ready to provide you all-around services to expand your chemical business.

ACCRA, GHANA—A pair of explosions at a gas station in Ghana that sent a fiery mushroom cloud into the night sky has killed at least seven people and left 68 others hospitalized, authorities said Sunday. Vice-President Mahamudu Bawumia visited the site of the accident early Sunday where he pledged that the government would work to curb such tragedies. The tanker explosion at a gas station late Saturday was followed by a secondary blast. The exact cause of the accident is under investigation. ( RUTH MCDOWALL / AFP / GETTY IMAGES ) “Eight of these explosions in three years is too much,” he said while at the LNG filling station near Legon, a suburb of Accra. Ghana’s Information Ministry confirmed the death toll from late Saturday, and said that dozens of others also had been treated and released for injuries. The tanker explosion at a gas station late Saturday was followed by a secondary blast. The exact cause of the accident is under investigation, Ghana National Fire Service spokesman Billy Anaglatey said. Article Continued Below In May, an explosion at a factory in the Western Regional capital of Takoradi occurred as a tanker was discharging liquefied petroleum gas at the Ghana Household Utilities Manufacturing Company factory. That explosion killed at least six fire service personnel at the scene, and injured at least other 80 people, according to Ghana’s state news agency. A June 2015 explosion killed more than 150 people as many were seeking shelter from a storm at the gas station when that tragedy occurred.

More significantly, there's been no new information that could justify the dramatic decline in their stock prices -- nothing, that is, other than a news leak that the Treasury was preparing some contingency plans in case things started to unwind. That's the kind of news that quickly becomes self-fulfilling in a volatile market. But contrary to what you've heard from gleeful critics, it hardly constitutes proof that Fan and Fred are insolvent or that the public-private model on which they are based is fatally flawed. The lessons of bubbleology also suggest that speculation is a significant factor in the run-up in commodities prices. Yes, we should have expected to see commodities prices rise steadily over a several-year period until supplies could catch up with the increase in demand from emerging countries. But no changes in the fundamentals can possibly explain the sudden and dramatic price increases over the past year. It's also rather suspicious that these price spikes coincide with a big influx of money into commodities futures from pension, endowment and mutual funds. This has all the markings of a self-reinforcing process in which higher prices beget higher prices, a.k.a. a bubble. Suppliers stop worrying about price declines and decide not to sell their commodities forward, while buyers of commodities feel even greater need to buy futures contracts to hedge against price increases. And the more futures prices rise, the more financial speculators pile in. The good news is that Washington has finally acknowledged the serious damage to the real economy that can happen when markets turn irrational. Over the past two days, the mere threat that Congress may authorize regulators to raise margin requirements on futures contracts has triggered the biggest decline in oil prices in more than three years. And the emergency order by the Securities and Exchange Commission outlawing "naked" short-selling of key financial stocks sparked a huge rally in those stocks, as shorts scrambled to buy the shares they never owned but had promised to sell. Don't get me wrong -- there's plenty of bad news ahead, as we learned yesterday from those bubble deniers at Merrill Lynch. But remember that, in economics as on the Shakespearean stage, the only thing more dangerous than assuming the best is for everyone to assume the worst. Steven Pearlstein will host a Web discussion at 11 a.m. today at washingtonpost.com. He can be reached atpearlsteins@washpost.com.

Is it possible that Princess Celestia and the other alicorns are living a life in the “transcendence” stage of Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs? In this article I’ll be taking a look at how humanistic psychology can be used to explore Celestia’s motivations and the nature of alicornhood. In my article “What My Cutie Mark Is Telling Me: Cutie Marks and Self-Actualization” I made comparisons between the concept of Cutie Marks and the humanistic psychology concept of ‘self-actualization’. I will go ahead and suggest you read that article first before reading this one as many of the concepts mentioned there will have relevance here. So in that article, I briefly made a mention about alicorns, noting that I wasn’t exactly sure how they fit within in the self-actualization scheme. In the comments on the article on the MLP Analysis sub-reddit, I was asked about it anyway, particularly in regards to Princess Celestia. As I thought about, I recalled a few aspects of self-actualization that I didn’t address in the original article. One of these concepts was something that my original sources only briefly mentioned. It was a stage of the hierarchy that was theoretically about that of self-actualization; transcendence. As my thoughts then were rather brief, and my knowledge of this idea rather vague at the time, I decided to try and find out a little more about transcendence within the humanistic psychology field. Before I can get into discussing that, however, I need to talk about something else first. Peak Experiences and the Transcendence Stage One of the aspects of humanistic psychology that I didn’t mention in the last article was the experience of what Maslow dubbed “peak experiences.” Peak experiences are moments in life where a person experiences a deeply spiritual or emotional moment, often involving mystical, spiritual, aesthetic, or natural experiences. These moments are defined by the intense feeling of happiness, wonder, and often a sense of knowledge of a higher truth or unity. In the aftermath of these moments, Maslow argued, a person finds themselves uplifted and having greater creative energy, empathy and better understanding of their sense of purpose in life. As grand as it sounds, two things should be emphasized. First, Maslow believed that these experiences were capable of occurring even in the most mundane of moments; listening to music, reading a book, even sitting in the park on a Sunday afternoon. Seconds, while persons who were self-actualized were more likely to have these type of experiences, anyone was able to have them. The question then is, if we want to take a humanistic psychology approach to Friendship is Magic, have we seen any peak experiences. And honestly, I think we can point out to at least three moments or so that may count. 1) Friendship is Magic Part 2. In the moment her battle with Nightmare Moon, Twilight Sparkle heard the sound of the rest of the Mane 6 coming up the stairs. Upon hearing this she finally realized the power and magic of friendship, giving her great joy as well as an understanding of a higher truth. We even got a nice little visual cue with the sparkling in the eyes: 2) Cutie Mark Chronicles Actually, I’m using this as a larger point about the possibility that the moment a pony receives their cutie mark is a peak experience. It seems to fit the description; they receive their cutie mark in a moment of realization and joy, getting a better understanding of their purpose in life. Just the look on, say, Pinkie Pie or Fluttershy’s face when they witness the moment that leads to their getting a cutie mark says it all: 3) Magical Mystery Cure When Twilight realizes the solution to the spell, she gets yet another sparkle in her eye and glows, finishes the spell, and ends up being teleported to some celestial plane where Celestia sings a song before helping Twilight ascend to alicornhood. I think we can probably safely say this was a peak experience. In researching these peak experiences, Maslow began to theorize that these experiences were representative of a stage beyond self-actualization. If self-actualization was a stage marked by a motivation of self-fulfillment, this new stage seemed to be motivated primarily by desires beyond a person’s individual needs. Often times these would be some kind of calling of sorts, to seek out truth or beauty. Whatever that calling may be, in this stage one’s own personal needs are put aside in favor of service to others or some other higher force or cause beyond one’s self. So someone who is motivated by these sort of “trans-personal” motivations would be the kind of person who is a passionate activist of some sort. Princess Celestia and the Transcendence Stage Now that we have these concepts discussed, we can finally begin to take a look at Princess Celestia. One common question regarding the Sun Princess has been ‘What motivates her?’ Looking at the framework of humanistic psychology and the hierarchy of needs, I think we can answer this question by placing her actions within the context of the transcendence stage. Throughout the show, Celestia’s primary role has been as the wise mentor to Twilight Sparkle. Prior to the events of the show, Celestia had been personally tutoring Twilight Sparkle, and her sending Twilight Sparkle to Ponyville was in order to teach her about the value of friendship. Reinforcing these lessons, of course, was her having Twilight and later the others writing letters to her and telling her about the events of the series. Probably the best sign of this motivation is, of course, Celestia’s own song in the show, “Celestia’s Ballad”. In it she explicitly states that she had been watching Twilight Sparkle in hopes of seeing her grow and finds pride in seeing all that she has done. This taking pride in the accomplishments of Twilight Sparkle fits rather well within the transcendence stage of being motivated by something beyond oneself. In this case, she was motivated by helping someone else find their true potential. This motivation is also present with Celestia’s other students, such as Princess Cadence as found out in the Crystal Heart Spell book. In the book, Cadence was born a pegasus, but after defeating a witch who was threatening her town by the power of unconditional love, Celestia took her on as her personal student in a manner very reminiscent of the events of “Magical Mystery Cure”. Will talk more on this later. There is also her other student, Sunset Shimmer. Note this will have spoilers for the Equestria Girls movie. In it we learn that Sunset Shimmer was a former student of Princess Celestia. Sunset Shimmer, frustrated by not learning fast enough, ran away, and Celestia hoped that one day she would return so Celestia could help her. After the events of the movie and Twilight returns, one of the first things Celestia asks about is how Sunset Shimmer is and whether or not she is safe. Again, this fits within what seems to be Celestia’s primary motivation; helping others achieve their potential. Of course the examples of Celestia go beyond just individual students; after all, she is the ruler of all Equestria. As I mentioned in my last article, if we view Cutie Marks as being a manifestation of self-actualization (and being brought on by a peak experience), then Equestrian society is rather odd for having a rather consistently high rate of ponies reaching this stage compared to the theoretical amount in our world. If we take Celestia as being motivated by wanting others to reach their own potential, however, this quirk begins to make some sense. After all, she’s ruled single-handedly for 1000 years, and probably sometime before that alongside her sister. Within that time, she obviously made some marks on Equestrian society, education, government, structure, and culture. With 1000 years to rule, she would have had time to ingrain in Equestrian society a system that was rather conducive to reaching self-actualization. As mentioned, at the transcendence stage the needs of others are placed beyond one’s own personal needs. In ruling Equestria, Celestia already has to sacrifice some level of her Social Needs as ponies have a tendency to treat her distantly and with a crazy level of respect. For example, the Cake’s constant refilling of her teacup if she so much as took a sip, though she did try and correct them in a teasing manner. The biggest example of Celestia giving up her own personal needs for Equestria, however, is her banishment of Nightmare Moon aka her sister Luna. It must have been painful for Celestia to have to banish her own sister, but she was threatening to place Equestria under eternal darkness and therefore the safety and harmony of the kingdom. Of course even then her wanting to help others achieve their potential shone through as the banishment was temporary, and she had begun to plan on how to save her sister from her anger and loneliness. Granted her having not noticed the problem until it was too late is a strike against her, but it must be stated that transcendence does not mean perfection; mistakes will be made and doubts will be had. But even when stumbling, Celestia seems sincerely dedicated to guiding others to become the best they can be. Even a being of chaos like Discord and that had caused great heartache to both Equestria and herself was given a chance by Celestia to redeem himself and become a force of good. Other Alicorns So if we believe that Celestia is existing within the transcendence stage of the hierarchy, what does that have to say about alicorns in general? After all, even if self-actualization is rather common in Equestria, there are at this time only four alicorns, and for a long period only two. This seems to fit much better within Maslow’s belief that self-actualization and transcendence was reached only by a small percentage of persons. Does this suggest then that alicornhood requires one to reach transcendence? I think it is at least a possibility for reaching it being at least a part of it. Let’s consider the other alicorns real quick. 1) Princess Cadence As mentioned earlier, Cadence’s backstory was explained in the book Twilight Sparkle and the Crystal Heart Spell. She was a baby pegasus raised by Earth Ponies in a small village. The moment that lead to her ascension into alicornhood was when she defeated a pony named Prismia who had cast a love-stealing spell. She did this by taking advantage of the pony’s necklace, which amplified emotions, to amplify her love. Now this was most likely a peak experience; amplified love seems to fit the idea of an intense emotional experience. I think it should be stressed that the love in this situation was most likely unconditional love, which is loving someone without putting conditions on that love. The giving of unconditional love is an important aspect of humanistic psychology, having an important role in providing a person with a sense of acceptance, empathy, approval, and the positive view of themselves required by the hierarchy of needs. Giving another person unconditional love, particularly someone who may have hurt you like Prismia did, is of course difficult. The understanding of the power of this love is what most likely brought Cadence to the point of transcendence, as after this point it seemed the motivation of her actions were dedicated to providing love and affection to others (Twilight, Shining Armor, the Crystal Ponies, and random ponies she used her magic on). 2) Twilight Sparkle Twilight Sparkle’s ascension to alicornhood was shown to us in the episode “Magical Mystery Cure”, and like I said earlier, the episode itself was most likely a peak experience for Twilight Sparkle. The question then is what shifted in Twilight Sparkle that moved her from self-actualization to transcendence? Honestly, I think the answer is in the “True True Friend Song.” Prior to this episode, Twilight’s main goal and motivation was trying to learn about friendship. In this song though, and the resolution of the cutie mark switching issue in general, seems to be solved on the basis of Twilight learning how to teach friendship instead. Now, some have criticized the song for being fluffy and meaningless, but looking at I think there is something deeper. Granted yes the lines are rather simple, but even simple lines can have meaning: “A True, True Friend helps a friend in need/A Friend will be there to help them see/A True, True Friend helps a friend in need/To see the light that shines from a True, True Friend” Looking at these lines, and the rest of the song, here is the message that I get: that the meaning of being a true friend lies in helping your friends learn to grow and become better. When your friends are in trouble, you should help them, even if you don’t necessarily understand their troubles or frustration. Doing so will hopefully lead to a better understanding between you and your friends and you will both be better for the experience. In the case of this song, Twilight guided and encouraged her friends to help others. With their switched cutie marks, her friends didn’t realize what exactly their true skills and purpose were and therefore believed they wouldn’t really understand. For example, let’s look at the scene where Twilight convinces Fluttershy to help Rainbow Dash: Twilight Sparkle: Before you go, I was wondering if you might be willing to help Rainbow Dash. She’s really struggling with her animals. Fluttershy: But… I don’t really know anything about animals… Twilight Sparkle: But you do know something about Rainbow Dash. Fluttershy: I… know that she’s a true friend, and I’ll do anything I can to help her. As we can see, Fluttershy doesn’t believe she knows anything about animals, but she does know that Rainbow Dash is her friend and, which is a good enough reason to help her in her time in need. In helping her, Fluttershy is reminded of her true purpose in life, and thereby regaining her understanding of herself, and is then able to join with Twilight in helping the others. This process continues with the rest in the Mane 6 before finally culminating with the entire town singing. And now for more Equestria Girl spoilers. From my watching of the movie, I got the sense one of the main points of it was to demonstrate Twilight’s transition from learning about friendship to teaching friendship. In the movie she helps to reunite the human version of the Mane 6, but she also encourages Sunset Shimmer to befriend them at the end in order to learn about friendship, a move that surprised Sunset Shimmer who was expecting punishment. Between these two events, then, it seems that Celestia was right in saying that “…we’re all your students now…”. 3) Princess Luna Princess Luna provides a rather interesting case, primarily due to the Nightmare Moon incident. As mentioned in the “What My Cutie Mark is Telling Me” article, there is the possibility that Luna may have fallen into the Nightmare Moon persona due to a failure have her Social Needs satisfied. She felt unloved and unappreciated, and that her efforts were not be rewarded. If transcendence is a pinnacle stage, however, then under the hierarchy of needs, she should not have been able to reach the stage until her other needs were met. Which is why Luna works wonderfully as an example of what I said earlier; transcendence is not perfection. At some point in time Luna had reached the stage, but over time she slipped from it as she found herself facing her inner demons. Luna’s situation also helps to remind us of the difficulty reaching transcendence and self-actualization, and also how important it is that a person be surrounded by a support network that is able to provide them with unconditional love. Final Thoughts When looked through the framework of humanistic psychology, it is possible, I believe, to learn quite a bit about the nature of the world of Equestria. The hierarchy of needs and the concept of self-actualization can be used to delve into the meaning of Cutie Marks, while the concept of peak experiences and transcendence can help us learn more about the motivation of Celestia and the other alicorns. Now, I don’t know if everypony who reaches transcendence will become an alicorns, but at the least in this light we may be able to learn more about the nature of alicornhood. Hopefully in Season 4 we will be able to watch more of Twilight and Celestia together and get a better sense of what motivates them as well as seeing both of them helping others to learn and grow. For more on these topics, please feel free to read: http://academic.udayton.edu/jackbauer/Readings%20595/Koltko-Rivera%2006%20trans%20self-act%20copy.pdf http://psychology.about.com/od/humanist-personality/f/peak-experiences.htm http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peak_experience http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unconditional_love#Humanistic_psychology

By Crewman Becky | November 13, 2012 - 7:26 pm Ok, so I would have translated that whole title into Klingon, but my language skills suck so bad that I’m pretty sure a targ could write Klingon better than I. Anyway…how cool is it that we’re one step closer to a real universal translator? And this step…is a doozy. Microsoft recently showed off new technology that, not only translates your spoken word into another language in real time, but also makes the voice of the translated version sound very much like the actual speaker’s voice. Microsoft’s global head of research, Rick Rashid, demonstrated the surprisingly mature technology to a crowd of 2,000 students and teachers on Oct. 25 at the 14th annual Computing in the 21st Century Conference, held in Tianjin, China (the fourth largest city in the country). The video of Rick, onstage, is very impressive and shows just how far the technology has come. Standing onstage with a large screen above him, Rashid’s speech was at first rendered on the screen as English text, the words appearing as spoken with near-perfect accuracy. A “recognizability” percentile in the lower-right-hand corner indicated how identifiable Rashid’s speech patterns were, operating well above 70% for most of the presentation. After walking through a few watershed moments in speech-recognition research, Rashid shifted to live speech translation, explaining that Microsoft’s approach to the process happens in three steps. First, the company converts spoken English word-by-word into Chinese text. Next, the words are rearranged, since the word order of a Chinese sentence is different from its English analogue. Last, the newly translated Chinese text is converted back into speech, and — here’s the really clever part — made to sound as if the original speaker were vocalizing in the translated language (you can hear this yourself, starting around the video’s 7:30 mark). Just think about how handy this would be the next time you’re on Risa. Check out the video: Read the full article here. (Source: Time Tech )

Highlighting the new roster update is Thatcher Demko, one of the top goalie prospects in hockey. Over 550 players were added to the game between the Swedish Hockey League (SHL), Finnish Elite League (Liiga), Deutsche Eishockey Liga (DEL), Extraliga Ledniho Hokeje (ELH), National League (NLA - Hockey Switzerland), Ontario Hockey League (OHL), Quebec Major Junior Hockey League (QMJHL), and Western Hockey League (WHL). The next roster update for NHL 17 is now available to download on Xbox One and PlayStation 4. We have updated the rosters to reflect the current lineups in the American Hockey League (AHL), Canadian Hockey League (CHL), and European leagues. Demko, the 36th overall pick in the 2014 NHL Entry Draft, made his transition to pro hockey this year and is lacing it up with the Utica Comets in the AHL. While the 6’4” goaltender has gotten off to a slow start in the AHL as he transitions to the pro game, he is The Hockey News’ second best NHL goalie prospect and is found near the top in almost every goalie prospect ranking. The young netminder has elite potential and is key cog to the future of the Canucks. If he develops to his full potential, he could be one of the better goaltenders in the game. Roster Update Download Instructions*: In the NHL 17 main menu, select (Customize) In the Customize section, select (Roster) In the Roster section, select (Active Rosters) In the Active Rosters section, select the most recent update organized by 'Date & Time' under EA SPORTS NHL Official Rosters *NOTE: Your console must have an internet connection to download this roster update. NHL 17 Available Now – Pick Up Your Copy Never miss a beat, make sure to follow us on Facebook and Twitter. Sign-up to receive emails about EA SPORTS NHL and EA products, news, events and promotions.

Thinking generationally. Related: Wealth in 1500 AD is largely predictive of national wealth today. Daily Kaos notices NRx. Nick rounds up on William Bradford. A formerly hidden reactionary in West Point. Lies and reaction. A review of left singularities. Related: Where does #BlackLivesMatter go? Two equilibria. Rule by protocol. Ironies of democratic alienation. On the mouse utopia experiment. Zippy doesn’t see the current system falling any time soon. Popular government is active government. New Blog: The Grey Enlightenment. About. Related: The Soviet Men: Ban recess. Ban white men from college. Related: Surviving academia. Part II. Weaponized codes of conduct. Related: Social justice contradictions. The holy insanity of the immigrant invasion. Related: Rotherham: The real migrant crisis. Related: Britain’s Islamic future. Related: Rent-seekers not refugees. Related: The evil of encouraging refugees. Related: The EU reveals its priorities. Related: Refugees in the Roman era. Related: Revenge of the rest against the west. Related: Immigration and absolution. Related: Maybe diversity ain’t so great for Jews. Related: 6 ways to stop the migrant jihad. Related: Orban’s defiance. Diversity means defection. Related: Liberty and ethnicity. Related: 640 million adults want to migrate to first world. White privilege: Cops and courts. Order Force. Pan-secessionism. Entryists in neoreaction. The decline of Darwin. Why do aboriginals have so much Neanderthal DNA? Related: The great Bantu migration. Are liberals more competent than conservatives? The proper role of moderates. A lost military technology. Reproducibility crisis is a crisis of progressivism. Related: Cancer research irreproducibility. The tyranny of preferences. On universals. The Spartan empire. Related: The fall of Sparta. Some amusing videos. The purpose of doxing. Vox interviewed by Counter-Currents. To the manosphere: a Christianity you can respect. Rotten to the common core. Divorce risks. DS on his experiences meeting his gal’s father. Both men and women are to blame for our ills. New campaign in the UK to ban sex robots. Capital campaigns do little to improve student achievement. Surprising. Related: The Kansas City educational experiment. Something not horrible from Vox on post-secondary education. Books on how to fight. Integrated task force experiment. The Sad Puppies 4 website is live. Related: An estimate of Puppy numbers. Related: Winning against Tor. AIPAC is losing its power. Related: The NYT’s Jew tracker. Sodomy is not diverse enough. Scott Alexander reviews Manufacturing Consent. Rhetoric in action. Father of drowned child was a human trafficker. Mexican government arrests vigilante who defeats mob bosses. People respond to incentives: Chinese driver edition. H/T: SSC, SDA, NBS

Share Last week a new web tool was launched by former FBI special agent Clint Watts to track pro-Russian Twitter bots. The new tool, which is able to track 600 different Twitter accounts which are believed to be related to Russian-sponsored influence and disinformation campaigns, has shed a tremendous amount of light on just what the Russians did and continue to do to help President Trump’s agenda, while also influencing American politics. While the repercussions of these bots were most severe during the 2016 presidential election, many of them are still active and still trying to influence President Trump’s actions. To make things even more shocking, however, is the fact that Senior White House Adviser Steve Bannon appears to be following or working in unison with these bots, via his continued ties to the news organization Breitbart. Take for example one of the top trending bot hashtags over the last week, according to Watts’ new tracker, #FireMcMaster. This hashtag was being pushed furiously by the Russian-controlled bots after it was revealed that McMaster had cleared Susan Rice of any wrongdoing related to the possible unmasking of individuals within the Trump campaign. These bots were not the only ones furiously pushing for McMaster to be fired by the President. Bannon’s former news organization, Breitbart, had more than 10 headlines on their homepage attacking McMaster as well — headlines claiming that McMaster was ‘Deeply Hostile to Israel and to Trump,’ along with others that have been a regular sight on the webpage over the last week. It certainly doesn’t seem like a coincidence that 600 of the top known Russian bot accounts on Twitter have furiously pushed the #fireMcMaster hashtag at the same exact time that the former Bannon-run Breitbart was pushing out story after story trying to discredit the 3-star general. Ordinarily, a right wing paper should be able to publish whatever the hell they want, even stories which are being pushed by Russian disinformation campaigns. However, Bannon is still dictating what is done at the news organization, while working as one of the President’s closest advisers. In fact, Trump gave Bannon an ethics waiver to continue working with Breitbart soon after he joined the White House. The ironic thing about all of this, is that it appears as if Bannon and the Russian bots are pushing for the ousting of McMaster, while Trump and General Mattis are pushing back in the opposite direction. The only question that’s left is whether or not Bannon is directly or only indirectly taking orders from the Russians in determining the narrative of the news organization he once ran.

1 3.0 Production Schedule Report 1 3.0 Production Schedule Report 2 Our schedule for the next Star Citizen Alpha releases, up to date. 2 Our schedule for the next Star Citizen Alpha releases, up to date. 3 Welcome, 3 Welcome, 4 4 5 Below you will find the latest roadmap for the development of the Star Citizen Persistent Universe. While the bulk of this schedule outlines our tasks and estimates that you can expect to find in the upcoming 3.0.0 patch (as well as some of the tasks that we’ve already completed) , we are also including projections for the remainder of the year so you can have some visibility into the upcoming Persistent Universe features and content. These are the very same schedules we update daily and circulate internally on our intra-studio hand-offs with a few exceptions: the individual developer names assigned to the tasks will be omitted (for obvious reasons), we’ll remove the JIRA details, and we’ll modify the technical wording to make it readable for a wider audience. Also note, this schedule does not represent everything CIG is working on, but more the functionality and content we feel comfortable committing to at this time. Outside of the work on Squadron 42, we have a few research projects that, once validated, we would move into production and add to this schedule. Otherwise, when something changes, slips or is completed, you will know. 5 Below you will find the latest roadmap for the development of the Star Citizen Persistent Universe. While the bulk of this schedule outlines our tasks and estimates that you can expect to find in the upcoming 3.0.0 patch (as well as some of the tasks that we’ve already completed) , we are also including projections for the remainder of the year so you can have some visibility into the upcoming Persistent Universe features and content. These are the very same schedules we update daily and circulate internally on our intra-studio hand-offs with a few exceptions: the individual developer names assigned to the tasks will be omitted (for obvious reasons), we’ll remove the JIRA details, and we’ll modify the technical wording to make it readable for a wider audience. Also note, this schedule does not represent everything CIG is working on, but more the functionality and content we feel comfortable committing to at this time. Outside of the work on Squadron 42, we have a few research projects that, once validated, we would move into production and add to this schedule. Otherwise, when something changes, slips or is completed, you will know. 6 6 7 What you are seeing here is the result of our scheduling and planning process. We have a high level feature and content set that we want to achieve for Star Citizen and Squadron 42. The first step is to break these features into higher level tasks with which we populate Microsoft Project, JIRA and Shotgun (the three tools we use for project scheduling and tasking). Then, as we approach a task, Production works with the relevant developer(s) to make sure the task is broken up with enough detail to allow completion. Sometimes this means adjusting the initial task estimate, as things tend to come into a clearer focus when coming up on a task, but it almost always means breaking down the big task into a bunch of smaller tasks that have their own individual sub tasks that possibly are distributed to multiple developers. 7 What you are seeing here is the result of our scheduling and planning process. We have a high level feature and content set that we want to achieve for Star Citizen and Squadron 42. The first step is to break these features into higher level tasks with which we populate Microsoft Project, JIRA and Shotgun (the three tools we use for project scheduling and tasking). Then, as we approach a task, Production works with the relevant developer(s) to make sure the task is broken up with enough detail to allow completion. Sometimes this means adjusting the initial task estimate, as things tend to come into a clearer focus when coming up on a task, but it almost always means breaking down the big task into a bunch of smaller tasks that have their own individual sub tasks that possibly are distributed to multiple developers. 8 8 9 Both tasks and sub-tasks get created in JIRA, linked under an Epic (which is a high level task or feature) and are then pulled into Microsoft Project to manage with granular detail providing us global visibility through Gantt charts and visual timelines. No developer works on a task unless it has been created in JIRA, prioritized and assigned by a lead or a member of the Production Team. 9 Both tasks and sub-tasks get created in JIRA, linked under an Epic (which is a high level task or feature) and are then pulled into Microsoft Project to manage with granular detail providing us global visibility through Gantt charts and visual timelines. No developer works on a task unless it has been created in JIRA, prioritized and assigned by a lead or a member of the Production Team. 10 10 11 Then as the developers work on the tasks, Production will adjust the schedule and JIRA tickets to reflect the work being done. 11 Then as the developers work on the tasks, Production will adjust the schedule and JIRA tickets to reflect the work being done. 12 12 13 In the schedule below, you will first find a master schedule that covers the broad departments/disciplines that are being developed. Each department will then have its own dedicated sub-schedule, briefly explaining the various features that are being developed and their current status. 13 In the schedule below, you will first find a master schedule that covers the broad departments/disciplines that are being developed. Each department will then have its own dedicated sub-schedule, briefly explaining the various features that are being developed and their current status. 14 14 15 CAVEATS 15 CAVEATS 16 16 17 But also, we would like to establish some ground rules before proceeding: 17 But also, we would like to establish some ground rules before proceeding: 18 18 19 I.Quality will always be our number one goal. We set out on this journey by looking at the gaming landscape and asking: can we do better? We continue to ask that question about everything we do. As a result, we will ALWAYS extend timelines or re-do features and content if we do not feel they are up to our standards. The freedom to fight for a new level of quality in game development is what crowd funding has allowed us, and we will continue to fight to make sure Star Citizen is the best possible game it can be. 19 I.Quality will always be our number one goal. We set out on this journey by looking at the gaming landscape and asking: can we do better? We continue to ask that question about everything we do. As a result, we will ALWAYS extend timelines or re-do features and content if we do not feel they are up to our standards. The freedom to fight for a new level of quality in game development is what crowd funding has allowed us, and we will continue to fight to make sure Star Citizen is the best possible game it can be. 20 20 21 II.The estimates we provide are just that: estimates. They are based on our knowledge and experience, but there are many aspects of game development that are impossible to predict because they literally cover uncharted territory. You will see the same estimates we use in our internal planning, but it is important to understand that in many cases (especially with groundbreaking engineering tasks) these estimates are often subject to change due to unforeseen complexity in implementing features. 21 II.The estimates we provide are just that: estimates. They are based on our knowledge and experience, but there are many aspects of game development that are impossible to predict because they literally cover uncharted territory. You will see the same estimates we use in our internal planning, but it is important to understand that in many cases (especially with groundbreaking engineering tasks) these estimates are often subject to change due to unforeseen complexity in implementing features. 22 22 23 III.The time expected for bug fixing and polishing is also very hard to estimate, increasingly so in online and multiplayer situations. The complexity and the difficulty in testing at a large scale make it harder to reproduce and isolate bugs in order to fix them. We base our estimates, again, on our experience, but we also know that it’s possible for a single bug to cause a delay of days or weeks when a hundred others might be fixed instantly. 23 III.The time expected for bug fixing and polishing is also very hard to estimate, increasingly so in online and multiplayer situations. The complexity and the difficulty in testing at a large scale make it harder to reproduce and isolate bugs in order to fix them. We base our estimates, again, on our experience, but we also know that it’s possible for a single bug to cause a delay of days or weeks when a hundred others might be fixed instantly. 24 24 25 IV.Internal schedules, the ones you will now be privy to, tend to have aggressive dates to help the team focus and scope their tasks, especially in the case of tech development. Every team, even a team blessed with the kind of support and freedom you have allowed us, needs target dates in order to focus and deliver their work. 25 IV.Internal schedules, the ones you will now be privy to, tend to have aggressive dates to help the team focus and scope their tasks, especially in the case of tech development. Every team, even a team blessed with the kind of support and freedom you have allowed us, needs target dates in order to focus and deliver their work. 26 26 27 V.This schedule doesn’t cover everything being worked on across Cloud Imperium Games, but is meant to highlight our aims for the remainder of the year on the Persistent Universe. 27 V.This schedule doesn’t cover everything being worked on across Cloud Imperium Games, but is meant to highlight our aims for the remainder of the year on the Persistent Universe. 28 28 29 VI.This schedule doesn’t include every audio, vfx, tech art, etc. task. Those are detailed in our departmental sub-schedules. 29 VI.This schedule doesn’t include every audio, vfx, tech art, etc. task. Those are detailed in our departmental sub-schedules. 30 30 31 VIIAlthough technology is shared between the two games, this does not reflect the Squadron 42 schedule. That will be released at a future date. 31 VIIAlthough technology is shared between the two games, this does not reflect the Squadron 42 schedule. That will be released at a future date. 32 32 33 VIII.These aim dates are determined based on our current staff. Additional hiring will potentially allow us to bring in some dates below. 33 VIII.These aim dates are determined based on our current staff. Additional hiring will potentially allow us to bring in some dates below. 34 34 35 WELCOME TO THE PROCESS 35 WELCOME TO THE PROCESS 36 36 37 The community has always been integral to Star Citizen, so we will be updating this page weekly to keep you informed about our development. We hope that this page will not only help explain our latest status, but also provide some explanations in the event that updates are delayed. 37 The community has always been integral to Star Citizen, so we will be updating this page weekly to keep you informed about our development. We hope that this page will not only help explain our latest status, but also provide some explanations in the event that updates are delayed. 38 38 39 Last update : June 9th, 2017 39 Last update : June 16th, 2017 40 40 41 3.0.0 OVERVIEW 41 3.0.0 OVERVIEW 42 42 43 The following lists and charts show our progress towards releasing 3.0.0, with all remaining major tasks listed. 3.0.0 marks the next major step forward in realizing the vision of the Star Citizen Persistent Universe. As you’ll see from the sections below, there’s a lot of new content and underlying tech being worked on for this release which will enhance the experience of our players. 43 The following lists and charts show our progress towards releasing 3.0.0, with all remaining major tasks listed. 3.0.0 marks the next major step forward in realizing the vision of the Star Citizen Persistent Universe. As you’ll see from the sections below, there’s a lot of new content and underlying tech being worked on for this release which will enhance the experience of our players. 44 44 45 Tasks are either feature complete, or have an ETA for completion. It’s important to remember that some tasks may require further QA, bug-fixing and iteration. Tasks that delay beyond our target dates might cause the release of 3.0.0 to be delayed, or might be excluded from 3.0.0 if appropriate to maintain the release date target. 3.0.0 work is separated into Subsections: Persistent Universe Content, FPS / Space Gameplay, Engineering, UI, AI, Graphics, Backend, Network, and Ships & Weapons. 45 Tasks are either feature complete, or have an ETA for completion. It’s important to remember that some tasks may require further QA, bug-fixing and iteration. Tasks that delay beyond our target dates might cause the release of 3.0.0 to be delayed, or might be excluded from 3.0.0 if appropriate to maintain the release date target. 3.0.0 work is separated into Subsections: Persistent Universe Content, FPS / Space Gameplay, Engineering, UI, AI, Graphics, Backend, Network, and Ships & Weapons. 46 46 47 The 3.0.0 Procedural Planet update marks a major advance in the Star Citizen Persistent Universe. As you will see from the various subsections below, there have been quite a few alterations to feature dates to clarify some of the TBD’s left over from the previous week’s update. Discipline leads took a step back this week to fully evaluate the remaining work required to close out 3.0 development to identify further work and blocking issues. Also, after this review, we came to realize that some additional features might be helpful to add to 3.0 to further improve the overall experience, such as a first version of our Hint system. As a result of this, we have adjusted our Live date in order to preserve sufficient testing time with the Evocati and on the PTU, which is invaluable to us in order to properly stress our systems and provide a better experience. 47 The 3.0.0 Procedural Planet update marks a major advance in the Star Citizen Persistent Universe. This week the Rover, the reworked Cutlass Black, Devastator Shotgun and Arrowhead Sniper rifle have all moved to feature complete status. 48 48 49 PLANETARY UPDATE 49 PLANETARY UPDATE 50 YELA 50 YELA 51 51 52 Yela is the most frigid of the Crusader moons. Those bold (or careless) enough to step outside without a spacesuit will be killed instantly by its freezing temperatures. If the cold doesn’t kill you, than any of the treacherous crevasses that crisscross the planet might. Cyrovolcanos have been known to erupt unexpectedly from such crevasses, so be wary when flying at low altitudes. Despite all its danger, there is much beauty to be found on Yela, like the underwater caves hidden beneath the moon’s crust. 52 Yela is the most frigid of the Crusader moons. Those bold (or careless) enough to step outside without a spacesuit will be killed instantly by its freezing temperatures. If the cold doesn’t kill you, than any of the treacherous crevasses that crisscross the planet might. Cyrovolcanos have been known to erupt unexpectedly from such crevasses, so be wary when flying at low altitudes. Despite all its danger, there is much beauty to be found on Yela, like the underwater caves hidden beneath the moon’s crust. 53 53 54 CELLIN 54 CELLIN 55 55 56 56 57 57 58 Burning with volcanic activity, Cellin is the counter to her icy sister. Although the volcanoes have been dormant for hundreds of years, the surface is dotted with thermal geysers that erupt without notice. The largest of such geysers can destroy heavy vehicles. Highly corrosive clouds of gas are regularly released from the moon’s surface, creating low visibility and damaging anything caught outside. 58 Burning with volcanic activity, Cellin is the counter to her icy sister. Although the volcanoes have been dormant for hundreds of years, the surface is dotted with thermal geysers that erupt without notice. The largest of such geysers can destroy heavy vehicles. Highly corrosive clouds of gas are regularly released from the moon’s surface, creating low visibility and damaging anything caught outside. 59 59 60 60 61 DAYMAR 61 DAYMAR 62 62 63 Daymar’s surface is like a harmonic blend of Yela and Cellin. It’s mountainous surface is reminiscent of Cellin’s volcanoes, while its craters share a warm likeness to Yela’s frozen crevessases. Known for its dense atmosphere, thick fog and a loose dirt surface makes travel difficult. Lightning storms can help illuminate the fog, just don’t get struck by their flash. 63 Daymar’s surface is like a harmonic blend of Yela and Cellin. It’s mountainous surface is reminiscent of Cellin’s volcanoes, while its craters share a warm likeness to Yela’s frozen crevessases. Known for its dense atmosphere, thick fog and a loose dirt surface makes travel difficult. Lightning storms can help illuminate the fog, just don’t get struck by their flash. 64 64 65 65 66 66 67 REMAINING AIMS FOR 3.0.0 RELEASE 67 REMAINING AIMS FOR 3.0.0 RELEASE 68 68 69 PERSISTENT UNIVERSE CONTENT 69 PERSISTENT UNIVERSE CONTENT 70 70 71 MOONS 71 MOONS 72 We are adding 3 new moons to the Crusader system; Yela, Cellin, and Daymar. 72 We are adding 3 new moons to the Crusader system; Yela, Cellin, and Daymar. 73 Feature Complete 73 Feature Complete 74 SURFACE OUTPOSTS 74 SURFACE OUTPOSTS 75 The new moons will also have outposts on their surface to explore. 75 The new moons will also have outposts on their surface to explore. 76 Feature Complete 76 Feature Complete 77 SURFACE OUTPOSTS LIGHTING 77 SURFACE OUTPOSTS LIGHTING 78 We have broken out the lighting tasks for the surface outposts into it’s own feature 78 We have broken out the lighting tasks for the surface outposts into it’s own feature 79 ETA is June 26th 79 ETA is June 26th 80 MISSION GIVERS 80 MISSION GIVERS 81 We’re introducing Miles Eckhart (first seen in the Gamescom video) and Ruto to provide missions to players. 81 We’re introducing Miles Eckhart (first seen in the Gamescom video) and Ruto to provide missions to players. 82 Since this mechanic is setup with new technology that is still being developed, this delay is to ensure that our high quality bar is maintained and that our designers are able to properly implement the mission givers. 82 Since this mechanic is setup with new technology that is still being developed, this delay is to ensure that our high quality bar is maintained and that our designers are able to properly implement the mission givers. 83 ETA is 30th June (was 9th June) 83 ETA is 30th June (was 9th June) 84 DERELICT SHIPS 84 BASIC DERELICT SHIPS 85 Derelict ships will be added to the system for extra points of interest and exploration. 85 Feature Complete 86 To improve the immersive experience for players in 3.0.0, some additional art tasks were highlighted during a review to accommodate greater utilization of the derelicts’ mission flow 86 INHABITED DERELICT SHIP SITES 87 ETA is 16th June (was 9th June) 87 The Ship Art team is aiming to create another set of Derelict ships to be used in the Persistent Universe. These exploration rewards will appear to have been used as shelter by somebody rather than just being empty. Unfortunately, we’re still working on AI functioning on the planet surface, so they will looked lived in, but uninhabited. For now… 88 ETA is 30th June 88 DEBRIS FIELDS 89 DEBRIS FIELDS 89 Feature Complete 90 Feature Complete 90 DELAMAR / LEVSKI (STRETCH GOAL) 91 DELAMAR / LEVSKI (STRETCH GOAL) 91 We are adding the planet Delamar and the landing zone, Levski 92 We are adding the planet Delamar and the landing zone, Levski 92 Following meetings on what we could aim to achieve for 3.0.0, we have moved our date out to accommodate this goal. 93 Following meetings on what we could aim to achieve for 3.0.0, we have moved our date out to accommodate this goal. 93 ETA is 30th June (was 1st June) 94 ETA is 30th June (was 1st June) 94 ALREADY COMPLETE IN THE 3.0.0 BRANCH: 95 ALREADY COMPLETE IN THE 3.0.0 BRANCH: 95 Modular Room System for procedural generation of planetary outposts 96 Modular Room System for procedural generation of planetary outposts 96 Official Outpost Spawning System ready for mission designers 97 Official Outpost Spawning System ready for mission designers 97 Integrated Outpost distribution to PlanetEd 98 Integrated Outpost distribution to PlanetEd 98 Single outpost Object Preset 99 Single outpost Object Preset 99 Cluster of Outposts 100 Cluster of Outposts 100 Crash site mission 101 Crash site mission 101 Interface to hand place modules and save to Layer 102 Interface to hand place modules and save to Layer 102 Interface to teleport the camera to the closest outpost 103 Interface to teleport the camera to the closest outpost 103 Area boxes created by artists (all room sizes are now usable in the outpost procedural system) 104 Area boxes created by artists (all room sizes are now usable in the outpost procedural system) 104 Entrance Room system working (stairs and ramps are now available as initial rooms) 105 Entrance Room system working (stairs and ramps are now available as initial rooms) 105 Rooftop Prop system working for Solar panel 106 Rooftop Prop system working for Solar panel 106 Wall prop system working for additional prop variations 107 Wall prop system working for additional prop variations 107 Material Wear/Dirt on props using Layer Blend done and actually working 108 Material Wear/Dirt on props using Layer Blend done and actually working 108 Developed Outpost “feet” system 109 Developed Outpost “feet” system 109 Set random rotation and offset caps on planet editor 110 Set random rotation and offset caps on planet editor 110 Start documenting 3 possible map layouts looping system (using 2 or 4 meters metrics * system; using connection additional corridor pieces; using spline skinned corridors) 111 Start documenting 3 possible map layouts looping system (using 2 or 4 meters metrics * system; using connection additional corridor pieces; using spline skinned corridors) 111 Support Aircon/solar panel system on outposts 112 Support Aircon/solar panel system on outposts 112 Added color tinting to Outposts 113 Added color tinting to Outposts 113 Added color tinting interface to Planet Ed 114 Added color tinting interface to Planet Ed 114 Created material distinction for interior / exteriors 115 Created material distinction for interior / exteriors 115 Group elements offset in Planet Object Preset to be able to offset landing pads 116 Group elements offset in Planet Object Preset to be able to offset landing pads 116 New Assets: 117 New Assets: 117 Heavy Marine Armor 118 Heavy Marine Armor 118 Explorer Suit Armor 119 Explorer Suit Armor 119 Cloth and Clothing simulation on various assets old and new 120 Cloth and Clothing simulation on various assets old and new 120 Updated helmet interiors and exterior for updated art, FOV tech and standardization 121 Updated helmet interiors and exterior for updated art, FOV tech and standardization 121 Armor converted to work within modular customization structure 122 Armor converted to work within modular customization structure 122 Finalized delivery of ALL facial assets from 3lateral. 123 Finalized delivery of ALL facial assets from 3lateral. 123 Ships: 124 Ships: 124 New Skinning and Rigging tools for landing gear on ships. 125 New Skinning and Rigging tools for landing gear on ships. 125 Constellation Cargo Bay/Elevator extensions 126 Constellation Cargo Bay/Elevator extensions 126 Light Group entity optimization 127 Light Group entity optimization 127 GAMEPLAY 128 GAMEPLAY 128 129 129 PLAYER MANNED TURRETS 130 PLAYER MANNED TURRETS 130 Feature Complete 131 Feature Complete 131 PICK UP & CARRY 132 PICK UP & CARRY 132 As we’re introducing cargo with 3.0.0, players will be able to manually interact with their cargo to load and unload it properly on their ships. 133 As we’re introducing cargo with 3.0.0, players will be able to manually interact with their cargo to load and unload it properly on their ships. 133 We have decided to make further improvements to this system that will have better gameplay implications, such as interacting with cargo that is in a ZeroG environment. 134 We have decided to make further improvements to this system that will have better gameplay implications, such as interacting with cargo that is in a ZeroG environment. 134 ETA is 26th June (was 12th June) 135 ETA is 26th June (was 12th June) 135 ITEM 2.0 SHIP CONVERSION – PART 1 136 ITEM 2.0 SHIP CONVERSION – PART 1 136 We are beginning the process of converting our available ships over to the item 2.0 system. This will allow for greater player control of the ship and also allow for expanded gameplay. 137 We are beginning the process of converting our available ships over to the item 2.0 system. This will allow for greater player control of the ship and also allow for expanded gameplay. 137 Feature Complete 138 Feature Complete 138 ITEM 2.0 SHIP CONVERSION – PART 2 139 ITEM 2.0 SHIP CONVERSION – PART 2 139 With Part 1 of this feature (the Engineering side) drawing to a close, and appearing to come in as estimated. We have been properly able to schedule out the Tech Design side of this. 140 With Part 1 of this feature (the Engineering side) drawing to a close, and appearing to come in as estimated. We have been properly able to schedule out the Tech Design side of this. 140 ETA is 23rd June 141 ETA is 23rd June 141 ITEM 2.0 142 ITEM 2.0 142 Operator Seats. 143 Operator Seats. 143 Operator seats replace existing vehicle seats as the new controllers of Item 2.0 based ships. 144 Operator seats replace existing vehicle seats as the new controllers of Item 2.0 based ships. 144 Feature Complete 145 Feature Complete 145 Radar System 146 Radar System 146 Feature Complete 147 Feature Complete 147 Light Control System. 148 Light Control System. 148 Feature Complete 149 Feature Complete 149 Fuel / Refuel. 150 Fuel / Refuel. 150 Feature Complete 151 Feature Complete 151 Power Supply / Pipes. 152 Power Supply / Pipes. 152 Feature Complete 153 Feature Complete 153 Quantum Drive. 154 Quantum Drive. 154 Feature Complete 155 Feature Complete 155 INSURANCE 156 INSURANCE 156 This will be an alpha version of the insurance system where if your current ship becomes damaged beyond repair, you will be able to request a replacement ship (with basic loadout) from the insurance provider. 157 This will be an alpha version of the insurance system where if your current ship becomes damaged beyond repair, you will be able to request a replacement ship (with basic loadout) from the insurance provider. 157 Changes to netcode and persistence resulted in delays to this work 158 Changes to netcode and persistence resulted in delays to this work 158 ETA is 23rd June (was 9th June) 159 ETA is 23rd June (was 9th June) 159 STAMINA 160 STAMINA 160 All 3.0.0 tasks complete. This feature will be developed further for future releases. 161 All 3.0.0 tasks complete. This feature will be developed further for future releases. 161 DOORS & AIRLOCKS 162 DOORS & AIRLOCKS 162 We are starting to update the doors and airlocks within the game to be more intelligent. This would mean that the door would ‘know’ if a room beyond them is depressurized and would stay shut for safety. 163 We are starting to update the doors and airlocks within the game to be more intelligent. This would mean that the door would ‘know’ if a room beyond them is depressurized and would stay shut for safety. 163 Delays on the tech side of this task have impacted the in-game implementation and caused the end date of this feature to move out. 164 Delays on the tech side of this task have impacted the in-game implementation and caused the end date of this feature to move out. 164 ETA is 22nd June (was 31st May) 165 ETA is 22nd June (was 31st May) 165 CARGO 166 CARGO 166 Commodities bought using the kiosk will be transportable in the cargo holds of vehicles, to be sold in another location. 167 Commodities bought using the kiosk will be transportable in the cargo holds of vehicles, to be sold in another location. 167 Work on this is delayed due to a needed task from the Network Engineering team. 168 Work on this is delayed due to a needed task from the Network Engineering team. 168 ETA is 19th June (was 16th June) 169 ETA is 19th June (was 16th June) 169 COMMODITIES 170 COMMODITIES 170 Implementing items to represent units of commodity cargo. 171 Implementing items to represent units of commodity cargo. 171 Integrating commodities with the shop services for buying and selling from ship cargo has added additional tasks 172 Integrating commodities with the shop services for buying and selling from ship cargo has added additional tasks 172 ETA is 23rd June (was 9th June) 173 ETA is 23rd June (was 9th June) 173 KIOSK SUPPORT 174 KIOSK SUPPORT 174 Support UI on kiosks for buying and selling of cargo. 175 Support UI on kiosks for buying and selling of cargo. 175 Delayed to offer the player additional functionality within Kiosks for 3.0.0 176 Delayed to offer the player additional functionality within Kiosks for 3.0.0 176 ETA is 23rd June (was 9th June) 177 ETA is 23rd June (was 9th June) 177 ATMOSPHERIC ENTRY SUPPORT 178 ATMOSPHERIC ENTRY SUPPORT 178 Feature Complete 179 Feature Complete 179 PERSISTENT DAMAGE, AMMO AND MISSILES 180 PERSISTENT DAMAGE, AMMO AND MISSILES 180 Persistence ensures that your vehicle state is saved between sessions. 181 Persistence ensures that your vehicle state is saved between sessions. 181 Work on this is delayed due to waiting on a needed task from the Network Engineering team. 182 Work on this is delayed due to waiting on a needed task from the Network Engineering team. 182 Feature Complete 183 Feature Complete 183 REPAIR 184 REPAIR 184 Critical fault needs to be fixed in the repair system 185 Code Complete Bugfixing to follow as needed. 185 ETA is 16th June (was Feature Complete) 186 INVENTORY SYSTEM SUPPORT 186 INVENTORY SYSTEM SUPPORT 187 The inventory will offer a way to manage the cargo and commodities that are being carried by the ships a player owns. 187 The inventory will offer a way to manage the cargo and commodities that are being carried by the ships a player owns. 188 Work on this is delayed due to a needed task from the Network Engineering team. 188 Work on this is delayed due to a needed task from the Network Engineering team. 189 ETA is 16th June (was 2nd June) 189 ETA is 16th June (was 2nd June) 190 ROVER AND DRAGONFLY IN SHIPS 190 ROVER AND DRAGONFLY IN SHIPS 191 Players will be able to transport the Ursa Rover and the Dragonfly inside ships that are big enough to hold them 191 Players will be able to transport the Ursa Rover and the Dragonfly inside ships that are big enough to hold them 192 Work on this is delayed due to needing ship physics to be altered to allow for vehicles to be placed inside 192 The conversion to the Item 2.0 ships and how they work has introduced unforeseen issues with their physics. This will require a combination of Tech Design and Physics code to address the situation. 193 ETA is 16th June (was 2nd June) 193 ETA is 27th June (was 16th June) 194 IFCS PERFORMANCE IMPROVEMENTS – NEW ADDITION 194 IFCS PERFORMANCE IMPROVEMENTS – NEW ADDITION 195 Changing the IFCS system to work in batch updates for performance improvements 195 Changing the IFCS system to work in batch updates for performance improvements 196 Feature Complete 196 Feature Complete 197 HINT SYSTEM 197 HINT SYSTEM 198 We have decided to include a first iteration of in-game hints to help new players acclimate to the various complex gameplay mechanics in Star Citizen. This is a feature we have worked on in the background and until this week, were unsure if it would be ready in time for 3.0.0. As work on this has progressed better than expected, we have made the decision to include this feature for 3.0.0 198 We have decided to include a first iteration of in-game hints to help new players acclimate to the various complex gameplay mechanics in Star Citizen. This is a feature we have worked on in the background and until this week, were unsure if it would be ready in time for 3.0.0. As work on this has progressed better than expected, we have made the decision to include this feature for 3.0.0 199 ETA is 30th June 199 ETA is 30th June 200 ALREADY COMPLETE IN THE 3.0.0 BRANCH: 200 ALREADY COMPLETE IN THE 3.0.0 BRANCH: 201 Crusader Converted to Object Container Setup 201 Crusader Converted to Object Container Setup 202 With the transition to Object Containers, the Crusader map was completely re-designed. Each Point of Interest is now an object container laid out via the Solar System Editor. This is in preparation for Object Container streaming and seamless transitions from different POI’s and between Star Systems. Mission Flowgraphs are converted over to use Subsumption and the new Mission System. 202 With the transition to Object Containers, the Crusader map was completely re-designed. Each Point of Interest is now an object container laid out via the Solar System Editor. This is in preparation for Object Container streaming and seamless transitions from different POI’s and between Star Systems. Mission Flowgraphs are converted over to use Subsumption and the new Mission System. 203 Mega Map for Persistent Universe 203 Mega Map for Persistent Universe 204 Mega Map tech (also used in Crusader for seamless loading between different gamemodes) is now possible in the new PU map, which is setup in the Solar System Editor. This allows the utilization of Mega Map technology. 204 Mega Map tech (also used in Crusader for seamless loading between different gamemodes) is now possible in the new PU map, which is setup in the Solar System Editor. This allows the utilization of Mega Map technology. 205 Revamp of Power Plants / Shield Generators / Coolers and the Heat & Power System for improved gameplay and conversion to Item 2.0 205 Revamp of Power Plants / Shield Generators / Coolers and the Heat & Power System for improved gameplay and conversion to Item 2.0 206 CORE TECH 206 CORE TECH 207 207 208 PLANETARY TECH 208 PLANETARY TECH 209 Feature Complete 209 Feature Complete 210 SOLAR SYSTEM TOOL 210 SOLAR SYSTEM TOOL 211 Feature Complete 211 Feature Complete 212 ENTITY UPDATE COMPONENT SCHEDULER 212 ENTITY UPDATE COMPONENT SCHEDULER 213 Will allow lower priority entities (i.e. those further away from players) to be updated less frequently, which should improve the overall framerate and allow us to add more content to the universe. 213 Will allow lower priority entities (i.e. those further away from players) to be updated less frequently, which should improve the overall framerate and allow us to add more content to the universe. 214 Intended work on this feature will extend past 3.0.0. This feature will extend past 3.0.0 as the work is ongoing, and continual improvements will be made in the run up to 3.0.0 release. 214 Intended work on this feature will extend past 3.0.0. This feature will extend past 3.0.0 as the work is ongoing, and continual improvements will be made in the run up to 3.0.0 release. 215 ETA is 30th June (was 31st May) 215 ETA is 30th June (was 31st May) 216 ENTITY OWNER MANAGER 216 ENTITY OWNER MANAGER 217 The Entity Owner Manager will track entities that are moved around the universe, making sure we spawn and unspawn them at the correct time 217 The Entity Owner Manager will track entities that are moved around the universe, making sure we spawn and unspawn them at the correct time 218 Feature on hold temporarily due to network system persistence dependencies. 218 Feature on hold temporarily due to network system persistence dependencies. 219 ETA is 12th June (was 31st May) 219 ETA is 12th June (was 31st May) 220 ALREADY COMPLETE IN THE 3.0.0 BRANCH: 220 ALREADY COMPLETE IN THE 3.0.0 BRANCH: 221 New Radar Databank 221 New Radar Databank 222 Subsumption Base Functionality 222 Subsumption Base Functionality 223 This is the initial release of the foundation technology that drives all of the AI, mission, dynamic content, and conversation logic. The mission content previously created with FlowGraph has been replaced and the implementation time to achieve a desired effect has been cut dramatically. 223 This is the initial release of the foundation technology that drives all of the AI, mission, dynamic content, and conversation logic. The mission content previously created with FlowGraph has been replaced and the implementation time to achieve a desired effect has been cut dramatically. 224 Various Performance improvements 224 Various Performance improvements 225 Planetary Physics Grid to support orbiting and rotating planets 225 Planetary Physics Grid to support orbiting and rotating planets 226 Multi-Function Display implementation for Item 2.0 Components on ships 226 Multi-Function Display implementation for Item 2.0 Components on ships 227 IFCS improvements to support AI & Takeoff System 227 IFCS improvements to support AI & Takeoff System 228 Unified Visor for seamless Ship 2.0 / FPS transition 228 Unified Visor for seamless Ship 2.0 / FPS transition 229 HUD/Visor integration for new Radar Databank 229 HUD/Visor integration for new Radar Databank 230 Object Distribution 230 Object Distribution 231 Terrain / Object blending for soft natural transition of objects intersecting with the ground 231 Terrain / Object blending for soft natural transition of objects intersecting with the ground 232 Video codec updated to Bink2, providing higher fidelity at lower bitrate 232 Video codec updated to Bink2, providing higher fidelity at lower bitrate 233 Vehicles no longer use Lua 233 Vehicles no longer use Lua 234 This is a huge step forward on the code side. 234 This is a huge step forward on the code side. 235 Skeleton Extension support for Item Port Offset overrides per item 235 Skeleton Extension support for Item Port Offset overrides per item 236 Numerous types of physics simulation for all Item 2.0 attachments including hair, weapons, grenades and more. 236 Numerous types of physics simulation for all Item 2.0 attachments including hair, weapons, grenades and more. 237 Destructible component for items, props and environment assets 237 Destructible component for items, props and environment assets 238 Nested Physics Grids support for vehicle transportation inside large ships, i.e. DragonFly & Rover 238 Nested Physics Grids support for vehicle transportation inside large ships, i.e. DragonFly & Rover 239 Physics simulation gravity vector now respects planetary gravity 239 Physics simulation gravity vector now respects planetary gravity 240 Modular loadouts rule sets and support for up to five loadouts 240 Modular loadouts rule sets and support for up to five loadouts 241 Animation driven facial audio implemented 241 Animation driven facial audio implemented 242 Updated Sandbox Editor Python integration. 242 Updated Sandbox Editor Python integration. 243 Zone culling on all character assets and layers, system complete and mesh markup complete supplemented with tools to easily support new assets. 243 Zone culling on all character assets and layers, system complete and mesh markup complete supplemented with tools to easily support new assets. 244 Solar System Editor 244 Solar System Editor 245 A tool that will layout entire solar system with their astral objects (sun, planets moons) as well as space stations, etc. 245 A tool that will layout entire solar system with their astral objects (sun, planets moons) as well as space stations, etc. 246 New Light Controller for runtime light switches 246 New Light Controller for runtime light switches 247 New network message queue (current in QATR) to reduce network bandwidth and network thread time. 247 New network message queue (current in QATR) to reduce network bandwidth and network thread time. 248 Light Entity Render node merging. 248 Light Entity Render node merging. 249 Dynamic Physics Grid to support sparse space areas vs. dense areas like space stations. 249 Dynamic Physics Grid to support sparse space areas vs. dense areas like space stations. 250 Highly optimized vertex and position format for all geometry 250 Highly optimized vertex and position format for all geometry 251 Texture memory usage reduced across the project 251 Texture memory usage reduced across the project 252 Unified material libraries for use across all departments 252 Unified material libraries for use across all departments 253 Comparing and finding all duplicated normal maps and albedo maps in the LayerBlend texture library 253 Comparing and finding all duplicated normal maps and albedo maps in the LayerBlend texture library 254 Clean up LayerBlend Material Libraries, Resolution Adjustments, Renames to Lower Case 254 Clean up LayerBlend Material Libraries, Resolution Adjustments, Renames to Lower Case 255 Follow-ups on list of unused textures and materials 255 Follow-ups on list of unused textures and materials 256 Massively improved LOD computation and average face sizes for ships 256 Massively improved LOD computation and average face sizes for ships 257 Shared hair assets (instead of bespoke asset per head) for character creation 257 Shared hair assets (instead of bespoke asset per head) for character creation 258 Automated facial asset LODs, skinning algorithm per LOD updated. 258 Automated facial asset LODs, skinning algorithm per LOD updated. 259 Reworked mesh setup of facial assets for optimal performance and reduced drawcalls. 259 Reworked mesh setup of facial assets for optimal performance and reduced drawcalls. 260 Unified helmet and character mesh into singular render proxy for better performance and visuals. 260 Unified helmet and character mesh into singular render proxy for better performance and visuals. 261 Various portal and culling improvements. 261 Various portal and culling improvements. 262 Improved Animation Data Base collection and build process for optimized animation data streaming also added external tools to manage this. 262 Improved Animation Data Base collection and build process for optimized animation data streaming also added external tools to manage this. 263 Deprecated thousands of legacy and test assets including animations, geometry, libraries and more for reduced build size. 263 Deprecated thousands of legacy and test assets including animations, geometry, libraries and more for reduced build size. 264 Automatic Asset Error collection and tracking. 264 Automatic Asset Error collection and tracking. 265 Reworked itemport layout for characters and character items 265 Reworked itemport layout for characters and character items 266 Updated all assets using HumanSkin to highly optimized HumanSkinv2 shader. This saves upwards of a 100 megs of texture memory per face. 266 Updated all assets using HumanSkin to highly optimized HumanSkinv2 shader. This saves upwards of a 100 megs of texture memory per face. 267 Vastly improved memory allocator which allowed massive reduction in runtime allocation count 267 Vastly improved memory allocator which allowed massive reduction in runtime allocation count 268 Several significant optimizations to entity update code 268 Several significant optimizations to entity update code 269 UI 269 UI 270 270 271 As you will see, the UI schedule has undergone some significant changes to accommodate some new features designed to enhance the player experience. The following schedule and dates will be used as the new baseline for the UI schedule, the previous completion dates have been included to indicate the change. 271 As you will see, the UI schedule has undergone some significant changes to accommodate some new features designed to enhance the player experience. The following schedule and dates will be used as the new baseline for the UI schedule, the previous completion dates have been included to indicate the change. 272 272 273 273 274 KIOSK UI 274 KIOSK UI 275 Kiosk shopping will allow players to buy and sell commodities. 275 Kiosk shopping will allow players to buy and sell commodities. 276 Delayed to offer the player additional functionality within Kiosks for 3.0.0 276 Delayed to offer the player additional functionality within Kiosks for 3.0.0 277 ETA is 23rd June (was 7th June) 277 ETA is 23rd June (was 7th June) 278 ITEM 2.0 MULTI FUNCTION DISPLAYS 278 ITEM 2.0 MULTI FUNCTION DISPLAYS 279 MFDs are being converted to work in the new item 2.0 system to give pilots even more control of their ships. 279 MFDs are being converted to work in the new item 2.0 system to give pilots even more control of their ships. 280 Delayed after a recent review where additional work has been brought forward to 3.0.0 to ensure players have more control over their ships 280 Delayed after a recent review where additional work has been brought forward to 3.0.0 to ensure players have more control over their ships 281 ETA is 27th June (was 5th June) 281 ETA is 27th June (was 5th June) 282 FIELD OF VIEW SLIDER 282 FIELD OF VIEW SLIDER 283 Feature Complete 283 Feature Complete 284 CHARACTER CUSTOMIZATION 284 CHARACTER CUSTOMIZATION 285 *Players will now be able to customize their characters’ heads, hair, eye color, and skin color. 285 *Players will now be able to customize their characters’ heads, hair, eye color, and skin color. 286 Character customization has been delayed due to the additional work that Engineering needed to address for StarMap. 286 Character customization has been delayed due to the additional work that Engineering needed to address for StarMap. 287 ETA is 4th July (was 22nd June) 287 ETA is 4th July (was 22nd June) 288 288 289 PERSONAL MANAGER APP 289 PERSONAL MANAGER APP 290 This App will allow players to review their inventory and customize various aspects of their suit and weapons. 290 This App will allow players to review their inventory and customize various aspects of their suit and weapons. 291 Starting work for the Personal Manager App was delayed because of additional engineering work for the StarMap. 291 Starting work for the Personal Manager App was delayed because of additional engineering work for the StarMap. 292 ETA is 21st June (was 8th June) 292 ETA is 21st June (was 8th June) 293 MISSION MANAGER APP 293 MISSION MANAGER APP 294 This is a redesign of the Mission App that is currently available within mobiGlas and is the next step to allow players more control over their mission tracking. 294 This is a redesign of the Mission App that is currently available within mobiGlas and is the next step to allow players more control over their mission tracking. 295 Mission Manager has been delayed in order to provide additional control to players for 3.0.0. 295 Mission Manager has been delayed in order to provide additional control to players for 3.0.0. 296 ETA is 21st June (was 2nd June) 296 ETA is 21st June (was 2nd June) 297 CARGO MANIFEST APP 297 CARGO MANIFEST APP 298 After buying items at a Kiosk, players will be able to head to their ship and check their cargo manifest This incorporates the work that was previously accounted for in the “Cargo UI” task 298 After buying items at a Kiosk, players will be able to head to their ship and check their cargo manifest This incorporates the work that was previously accounted for in the “Cargo UI” task 299 Cargo has been delayed in order to create some portable filtering selections that can be used across kiosks, cargo and inventory. 299 Cargo has been delayed in order to create some portable filtering selections that can be used across kiosks, cargo and inventory. 300 ETA is 19th June (was 6th June) 300 ETA is 19th June (was 6th June) 301 VEHICLE CUSTOMIZER APP 301 VEHICLE CUSTOMIZER APP 302 This app will allow players to customize their ship via the ship customization screen, so edits can be done without locating the exact port on the ship. 302 This app will allow players to customize their ship via the ship customization screen, so edits can be done without locating the exact port on the ship. 303 Delayed due to the additional work needed for the StarMap. 303 Delayed due to the additional work needed for the StarMap. 304 ETA is 6th July (was 28th June) 304 ETA is 6th July (was 28th June) 305 SHIP SELECTOR APP & INSURANCE CLAIM 305 SHIP SELECTOR APP & INSURANCE CLAIM 306 This app would exist alongside the Ship Selection Terminals in the Persistent Universe, allowing players more freedom to spawn ships at designated locations. 306 This app would exist alongside the Ship Selection Terminals in the Persistent Universe, allowing players more freedom to spawn ships at designated locations. 307 We are incorporating the Insurance Claim process, so we have one app that will serve two functions. 307 We are incorporating the Insurance Claim process, so we have one app that will serve two functions. 308 Ship selector and insurance has been re-prioritized within the schedule to accurately reflect the intended goals of the UI team 308 Ship selector and insurance has been re-prioritized within the schedule to accurately reflect the intended goals of the UI team 309 ETA is 3rd July (was 15th June) 309 ETA is 3rd July (was 15th June) 310 HEAVY ARMOR FOR STAR MARINE 310 HEAVY ARMOR FOR STAR MARINE 311 Heavy armor will be enabled for selection within the Star Marine loadout customization menu. 311 Heavy armor will be enabled for selection within the Star Marine loadout customization menu. 312 Feature Complete 312 Feature Complete 313 INVENTORY SYSTEM 313 INVENTORY SYSTEM 314 Very closely linked to the cargo manifest App. This will be the place to look for you personal inventory. 314 Very closely linked to the cargo manifest App. This will be the place to look for you personal inventory. 315 Inventory has been delayed in order to create some portable filtering selections that can be used across kiosks, cargo and inventory. 315 Inventory has been delayed in order to create some portable filtering selections that can be used across kiosks, cargo and inventory. 316 ETA is 19th June (was 6th June) 316 ETA is 19th June (was 6th June) 317 MISSION BOARD APP 317 MISSION BOARD APP 318 The mission board allows players to see the service beacons that have been set up around the universe by other players calling for assistance. 318 The mission board allows players to see the service beacons that have been set up around the universe by other players calling for assistance. 319 Mission Board has been delayed in order to support some additional features. 319 Mission Board has been delayed in order to support some additional features. 320 ETA is 21st June (was 1st June) 320 ETA is 21st June (was 1st June) 321 STARMAP APP 321 STARMAP APP 322 The StarMap will be introduced to allow players to view the PU at large and select planets to QT to. 322 The StarMap will be introduced to allow players to view the PU at large and select planets to QT to. 323 After a recent review, additional art and engineering tasks have been called out to ensure the StarMap is as polished as it can be for 3.0.0. 323 After a recent review, additional art and engineering tasks have been called out to ensure the StarMap is as polished as it can be for 3.0.0. 324 ETA is 26th June (was 24th May) 324 ETA is 26th June (was 24th May) 325 UI OWNER COMPONENT 325 UI OWNER COMPONENT 326 Feature Complete 326 Feature Complete 327 MOBIGLAS OVERHAUL 327 MOBIGLAS OVERHAUL 328 The UI team doing an overhaul of the mobiGlas system so that it better reads what the gamecode is doing. This change will make the mobiGlas system easier to maintain for the UI team and has become a necessity as 3.0.0 work has progressed further. 328 Feature Complete 329 mobiGlas overhaul has been re-prioritized within the schedule in order to accurately reflect the intended planned work following a recent review. 330 ETA is 12th June (was 2nd June) 331 COMMS SYSTEM UI 329 COMMS SYSTEM UI 332 We are adding the initial implementation of the Comms System in to 3.0.0 which will allow players to hail in order to request landing while at the various space stations in the PU. 330 We are adding the initial implementation of the Comms System in to 3.0.0 which will allow players to hail in order to request landing while at the various space stations in the PU. 333 ETA is 30th June 331 ETA is 30th June 334 AI 332 AI 335 333 336 MISSION SYSTEM 334 MISSION SYSTEM 337 The overall system that will be used to create mission flows when we start building missions like Patrol, Assassination, Smuggling, etc. 335 The overall system that will be used to create mission flows when we start building missions like Patrol, Assassination, Smuggling, etc. 338 Bugfixing issues in the mission system have caused this date to move out 336 Bugfixing issues in the mission system have caused this date to move out 339 ETA is 30th June (was 12th June) 337 ETA is 30th June (was 12th June) 340 AI TURRETS 338 AI TURRETS 341 We are adding the ability for AI to operate turrets in Crusader, so we are working to make sure that they track and fire upon the correct targets. 339 We are adding the ability for AI to operate turrets in Crusader, so we are working to make sure that they track and fire upon the correct targets. 342 The issues that the AI team were having with the ship archetypes have now been fixed. Unfortunately, more issues have arisen that are stopping further progress being made. These new issues have been divided between AI Engineering and the LA Engineering team. 340 The issues that the AI team were having with the ship archetypes have now been fixed. Unfortunately, more issues have arisen that are stopping further progress being made. These new issues have been divided between AI Engineering and the LA Engineering team. 343 ETA is 23rd June (was 9th June) 341 ETA is 23rd June (was 9th June) 344 GRAPHICS 342 GRAPHICS 345 343 346 RENDER TO TEXTURE 344 RENDER TO TEXTURE 347 This will have many uses going forwards, but our focus for now is to improve UI rendering and to introduce live rendering of video communications. We’re aiming to improve rendering performance by rendering as much of the UI ahead of a frame. For video communications, this will mean that we don’t have to pre-render the comms and store those files on the hard drive, as is the case with most games, allowing us to maintain fidelity and save hard drive space. 345 This will have many uses going forwards, but our focus for now is to improve UI rendering and to introduce live rendering of video communications. We’re aiming to improve rendering performance by rendering as much of the UI ahead of a frame. For video communications, this will mean that we don’t have to pre-render the comms and store those files on the hard drive, as is the case with most games, allowing us to maintain fidelity and save hard drive space. 348 This has moved out due to additional needs to the feature in order to achieve our 3.0.0 goals. 346 This has moved out due to additional needs to the feature in order to achieve our 3.0.0 goals. 349 ETA is 29th June (was 15th June) 347 ETA is 29th June (was 15th June) 350 ENVIRONMENT PROBE 348 ENVIRONMENT PROBE 351 This allows for bounced lighting and reflections to be updated dynamically and will result in better lighting visuals. 349 This allows for bounced lighting and reflections to be updated dynamically and will result in better lighting visuals. 352 This has been quite an in-depth task for the Graphics team whose work revealed a variety of unknown issues causing a delay. 350 This has been quite an in-depth task for the Graphics team whose work revealed a variety of unknown issues causing a delay. 353 Feature Complete 351 Feature Complete 354 ATMOSPHERIC ENTRY 352 ATMOSPHERIC ENTRY 355 Feature Complete 353 Feature Complete 356 VOLUMETRIC FOG 354 VOLUMETRIC FOG 357 The completion date has moved back due to unexpected issues with implementing the Volumetric fog away from Lumberyard to work correctly with our systems. 355 The completion date has moved back due to unexpected issues with implementing the Volumetric fog away from Lumberyard to work correctly with our systems. 358 Completion of required tasks are taking a bit more time than expected. 356 Completion of required tasks are taking a bit more time than expected. 359 ETA is 9th June (was 30th May) 357 ETA is 9th June (was 30th May) 360 GPU PARTICLES 358 GPU PARTICLES 361 Feature Complete 359 Feature Complete 362 ENGINE TRAILS & CONTRAILS 360 ENGINE TRAILS & CONTRAILS 363 Build issues and developer illness have had quite an impact on the delivery date for this work. 361 Build issues and developer illness have had quite an impact on the delivery date for this work. 364 ETA is 23rd June (was 26th May) 362 ETA is 23rd June (was 26th May) 365 ASTEROID PHYSICS 363 ASTEROID PHYSICS 366 We are making the switch to move the asteroid system to the new “Physics on Demand” system to allow the server and clients to dynamically create and simulate any portion of the asteroid field rather than just the area near the player. 364 We are making the switch to move the asteroid system to the new “Physics on Demand” system to allow the server and clients to dynamically create and simulate any portion of the asteroid field rather than just the area near the player. 367 ETA is 19th June 365 There has been a slight delay in the start date for this feature, which has consequently pushed out the end date. The delay was due to the Graphics team integrating a new piece of debugging software that will help the team investigating GPU crashes, something that has been greatly needed. 366 ETA is 23rd June (was 19th June) 368 EXPOSURE IMPROVEMENTS 367 EXPOSURE IMPROVEMENTS 369 We are adding support for peripheral vision to be taken into account, not just what is onscreen. This will avoid situations when looking into a space when there is something very bright (such as a planet surface so space station) just off screen. 368 We are adding support for peripheral vision to be taken into account when calculating exposure, rather than just what is onscreen. This will avoid situations like looking into a space when there is something very bright (such as a planet surface or space station) just off-screen. 370 ETA is 26th June 369 The task has been delayed as a result of the Asteroid Physics being delayed. 370 ETA is 30th June (was 26th June) 371 ALREADY COMPLETE IN THE 3.0.0 BRANCH: 371 ALREADY COMPLETE IN THE 3.0.0 BRANCH: 372 RenderTarget refactor 372 RenderTarget refactor 373 This saves over 50% of the video memory previously used for dynamic textures. 373 This saves over 50% of the video memory previously used for dynamic textures. 374 Physically-based area lights 374 Physically-based area lights 375 Shadow map caching system 375 Shadow map caching system 376 This allows for many more shadow casting lights at once and avoids the need for baking shadows. 376 This allows for many more shadow casting lights at once and avoids the need for baking shadows. 377 Revamped decal rendering system which renders fully deferred, instanced decals with aggressive overdraw optimizations 377 Revamped decal rendering system which renders fully deferred, instanced decals with aggressive overdraw optimizations 378 BACKEND 378 BACKEND 379 379 380 DIFFUSION SUBSET FOR 3.0.0 380 DIFFUSION SUBSET FOR 3.0.0 381 Diffusion is our second-generation cloud-oriented back-end service architecture. It dramatically simplifies the effort required to implement, maintain, and interact with services, while simultaneously providing major enhancements in the areas of scalability and redundancy. 381 Feature Complete 382 ETA is 16th June 383 SOLAR SYSTEM SHOP SERVICE 382 SOLAR SYSTEM SHOP SERVICE 384 During a recent review, some additional work was highlighted that could be achieved for 3.0.0 383 During a recent review, some additional work was highlighted that could be achieved for 3.0.0 385 ETA is 16th June (was Feature Complete) 384 ETA is 23rd June (was 16th June) 386 SOLAR SYSTEM MISSION SERVICE V1 “MISSION BROKER” 385 SOLAR SYSTEM MISSION SERVICE V1 “MISSION BROKER” 387 The Solar System Mission Service dictates what missions are being offered at various locations and at what price. It is also responsible for specifying when and where dynamic content should be instantiated and how it should be customized. That way, the reality that the player sees matches what is in that area, based upon hints provided by the back end simulation/rule set. This service will split into two for 3.1, with the latter functionality becoming the responsibility of a dedicated Dynamic Content Service. 386 The Solar System Mission Service dictates what missions are being offered at various locations and at what price. It is also responsible for specifying when and where dynamic content should be instantiated and how it should be customized. That way, the reality that the player sees matches what is in that area, based upon hints provided by the back end simulation/rule set. This service will split into two for 3.1, with the latter functionality becoming the responsibility of a dedicated Dynamic Content Service. 388 We are making making further improvements to the Mission Broker and how it ties in to the Mission System to further aid the player experience and make the missions flow better for the player. These new additions are still being fully scoped out and we aim to have a new ETA next week 387 We are making making further improvements to the Mission Broker and how it ties in to the Mission System to further aid the player experience and make the missions flow better for the player. These new additions are still being fully scoped out and we aim to have a new ETA next week 389 ETA is 28th June (was 25th May) 388 ETA is 28th June (was 25th May) 390 NETWORK 389 NETWORK 391 390 392 NEW MESSAGE QUEUE 391 NEW MESSAGE QUEUE 393 Now that all our messages are strictly ordered we’ve been able to streamline the processing, allowing us to send and receive messages with less overhead. The new message queue also has extra features to handle packet loss and jitter, which helps reduce average bandwidth and latency. 392 Now that all our messages are strictly ordered we’ve been able to streamline the processing, allowing us to send and receive messages with less overhead. The new message queue also has extra features to handle packet loss and jitter, which helps reduce average bandwidth 394 There were also some bugs we felt critical enough to sort out before this feature could enter the build, so this feature was delayed until the additional work is done to ensure the absolute smoothest integration into the game. 393 There have been a number of issues supporting the old aspect system and bugs related to the integration of this functionality. QA is currently performing tests to find any further issues. 395 ETA is 14th June (was 9th June) 396 PHYSICS SERIALIZATION 394 PHYSICS SERIALIZATION 397 This will fix a few long standing threading issues between the network and physics code which will improve separation of physics and netcode for better maintainability. 395 This will fix a few long standing threading issues between the network and physics code which will improve separation of physics and netcode for better maintainability. 398 This feature has been delayed due to the complexity of integration with our current system 396 This feature has been delayed due to the complexity of integration with our current system 399 ETA is 20th June (was 9th June) 397 ETA is 20th June (was 9th June) 400 PERSISTENT DATA REFACTOR 398 PERSISTENT DATA REFACTOR 401 The expanding capabilities of persistent data to support gameplay features in 3.0.0 has required the Network team to work on this refactor 399 The expanding capabilities of persistent data to support gameplay features in 3.0.0 has required the Network team to work on this refactor 402 ETA is 19th June 400 ETA is 19th June 403 SHIPS & WEAPONS 401 SHIPS & WEAPONS 404 402 405 DRAKE DRAGONFLY 403 DRAKE DRAGONFLY 406 Feature Complete. Some code bugs remain 404 Feature Complete. Some code bugs remain 407 DRAKE CUTLASS BLACK 405 DRAKE CUTLASS BLACK 408 Rework of the legacy ship 406 Feature Complete 409 Delayed due to Art requiring more time, and also some of our internal software being updated causing some down time. This has had an impact for the disciplines further down the pipeline. 410 ETA is 16th June (was 26th May) 411 RSI CONSTELLATION AQUILA 407 RSI CONSTELLATION AQUILA 412 Feature Complete. Some code bugs remain 408 Feature Complete. Some code bugs remain 413 RSI URSA ROVER 409 RSI URSA ROVER 414 Ground exploration vehichle. 410 Feature Complete 415 Additional tech art and code time required due to support smooth interaction with the Constellation Aquila 416 ETA is 16th June (was 9th June) 417 MISC PROSPECTOR 411 MISC PROSPECTOR 418 Feature Complete. Some code bugs remain. 412 Feature Complete. Some code bugs remain. 419 BEHRING P8-SC 413 BEHRING P8-SC 420 Feature Complete 414 Feature Complete 421 APOCALYPSE ARMS SCOURGE RAIL GUN 415 APOCALYPSE ARMS SCOURGE RAIL GUN 422 A shoulder mounted railgun capable of providing high levels of damage at a long range. 416 A shoulder mounted railgun capable of providing high levels of damage at a long range. 423 Completion on UI tech has slightly pushed the completion date for this weapon. 417 Completion on UI tech has slightly pushed the completion date for this weapon. 424 ETA is 9th June (was 8th June) 418 ETA is 9th June (was 8th June) 425 KLAUS AND WERNER GALLANT RIFLE 419 KLAUS AND WERNER GALLANT RIFLE 426 Feature Complete 420 Feature Complete 427 ARROWHEAD SNIPER RIFLE 421 ARROWHEAD SNIPER RIFLE 428 Rework of the legacy weapon. 422 Rework of the legacy weapon. 429 Complex VFX for the Railgun has pushed the completion of this back 423 Feature Complete Some minor polish remains. 430 The review for this weapons has brought up some additional issues to solve 431 ETA is 16th June (was 9th June) 432 KSAR DEVASTATOR-12 SHOTGUN 424 KSAR DEVASTATOR-12 SHOTGUN 433 Rework of the legacy weapon. 425 Rework of the legacy weapon. 434 Complex VFX for the Railgun has pushed the completion of this back 426 Feature Complete Some minor polish remains. 435 ETA is 9th June (was 8th June) 436 BEYOND 3.0.0 - OVERVIEW 427 BEYOND 3.0.0 - OVERVIEW 437 428 438 Click Here to Download. 429 Click Here to Download. 439 430 440 3.1.0 Goals 431 3.1.0 Goals 441 432 442 433 443 PERSISTENT UNIVERSE CONTENT 434 PERSISTENT UNIVERSE CONTENT 444 New Additions: 435 New Additions: 445 436 446 Modular Space Station – Truckstop 437 Modular Space Station – Truckstop 447 Arc Corp / Area 18 438 Arc Corp / Area 18 448 FPS / SPACE GAMEPLAY 439 FPS / SPACE GAMEPLAY 449 New Additions: 440 New Additions: 450 441 451 Female Player Locomotion 442 Female Player Locomotion 452 AI Locomotion 443 AI Locomotion 453 Shouldered Weapons 444 Shouldered Weapons 454 Throwable Weapons 445 Throwable Weapons 455 Armed (FPS Weapon Equipped) 446 Armed (FPS Weapon Equipped) 456 Fists 447 Fists 457 Knife 448 Knife 458 Take down (Front, Sides, Rear) 449 Take down (Front, Sides, Rear) 459 Knockdown and Knockbacks 450 Knockdown and Knockbacks 460 CORE DEV TECH AND SYSTEMS 451 CORE DEV TECH AND SYSTEMS 461 New Additions: 452 New Additions: 462 453 463 Fuel (Item 2.0) 454 Fuel (Item 2.0) 464 Criminality System 455 Criminality System 465 Room System v2 (Physical Depressurization) 456 Room System v2 (Physical Depressurization) 466 Item 2.0 Elevators v2 457 Item 2.0 Elevators v2 467 Item 2.0 Airlocks v2 458 Item 2.0 Airlocks v2 468 Diffusion Refactor 459 Diffusion Refactor 469 Item Degradation/Failure/Luck 460 Item Degradation/Failure/Luck 470 Service Beacon v1 461 Service Beacon v1 471 Parties and Orgs(Group Entity Component) 462 Parties and Orgs(Group Entity Component) 472 Game persistence 463 Game persistence 473 Spectrum Integration in game 464 Spectrum Integration in game 474 Repair and Restock System 465 Repair and Restock System 475 Elevators v2 466 Elevators v2 476 Bind / Unbinding 467 Bind / Unbinding 477 Object Container Streaming Core Engine Support 468 Object Container Streaming Core Engine Support 478 SHIPS: 469 SHIPS: 479 MISC Razor 470 MISC Razor 480 RSI Aurora (Update) 471 RSI Aurora (Update) 481 ANVIL Terrapin 472 ANVIL Terrapin 482 MISC Hull C 473 MISC Hull C 483 DRAKE Cutlass Red 474 DRAKE Cutlass Red 484 DRAKE Cutlass Blue 475 DRAKE Cutlass Blue 485 AEGIS Vanguard Harbinger (Variant) 476 AEGIS Vanguard Harbinger (Variant) 486 3.2.0 Goals 477 3.2.0 Goals 487 478 488 479 489 PERSISTENT UNIVERSE CONTENT 480 PERSISTENT UNIVERSE CONTENT 490 New Additions: 481 New Additions: 491 482 492 Crusader 483 Crusader 493 Hurston 484 Hurston 494 MicroTech (Stretch Goal) 485 MicroTech (Stretch Goal) 495 FPS / SPACE GAMEPLAY 486 FPS / SPACE GAMEPLAY 496 New Additions: 487 New Additions: 497 488 498 New Ammo Types 489 New Ammo Types 499 Gadgets (drones / shields) 490 Gadgets (drones / shields) 500 Bumps 491 Bumps 501 Coperative Avoidance 492 Coperative Avoidance 502 Downed 493 Downed 503 Drowning 494 Drowning 504 Item Inspection 495 Item Inspection 505 Looting IK / Permissions 496 Looting IK / Permissions 506 CORE DEV TECH AND SYSTEMS 497 CORE DEV TECH AND SYSTEMS 507 New Additions: 498 New Additions: 508 499 509 NPC Generation (Archetype) 500 NPC Generation (Archetype) 510 Interaction System – Useables 501 Interaction System – Useables 511 Radar System (Item 2.0) 502 Radar System (Item 2.0) 512 Cargo v2 503 Cargo v2 513 Service Beacon v2 504 Service Beacon v2 514 StarMap v2 505 StarMap v2 515 Gas Giant Tech 506 Gas Giant Tech 516 Ship to Ship Refuel System 507 Ship to Ship Refuel System 517 Breaching 508 Breaching 518 Security / Access Control 509 Security / Access Control 519 Object Container Streaming 510 Object Container Streaming 520 SHIPS: 511 SHIPS: 521 RSI Constellation Pheonix 512 RSI Constellation Pheonix 522 RSI Constellation Taurus 513 RSI Constellation Taurus 523 MISC Freelancer MAX 514 MISC Freelancer MAX 524 AEGIS Vanguard Sentinel (Variant) 515 AEGIS Vanguard Sentinel (Variant)

The owners insisted they had no plans to move the team. That's what the Maloofs swore, raising their right hand as their left hand worked deals with buyers first from Anaheim, then Virginia Beach, then Seattle. And that's what the owners of the Kansas City Kings maintained 30 years ago, even as they did everything in their power to relocate to Sacramento. These things are cyclical, and if Sonics fans know this dance from both sides, so do Sacramentans. It's never about one city "stealing" a basketball team from another. In both Kansas City and Sacramento, the prime movers were not the fans, but the ownership groups that had soured on their investments and were willing to cash out even if it meant that the city would lose its team. In each case, a new arena with a favorable lease was a prerequisite for the league to sign off on the move. In each case, no overgenerous concession from the soon-to-be-abandoned city would ever have been enough to get the team to stay. Every unhappy franchise is unhappy in its own way, but every relocation plays out in almost exactly the same fashion. It always will, at least until America runs out of suckers. The Kings have been vagabonds for longer than the NBA has existed. Twelve years in Rochester. Fifteen years in Cincinnati. Six seasons split between Kansas City and Omaha, and then seven more in just K.C. On June 8, 1983, an investment group from Sacramento purchased the Kings. The same people had tried, and failed, to buy the Pacers the previous year. Any struggling franchise would do. But from the start, the new owners insisted they had no designs on moving the team. ''These people are making it possible for this team to remain in Kansas City,'' [outgoing owner Leon] Karosen said. ''It's just that simple. I want to emphasize that we are not selling the team with the idea that it be moved. They have assured us that their goal is to provide a quality NBA operation in Kansas City with continued improvement on the playing floor as their primary goal.'' Gregg Lukinbill, who would serve as the new owners' spokesperson, hammered the point home. They would turn the team around, he promised. ''We're looking for an improved record,'' he said, ''we're looking for improved attendance and an improvement financially.'' Advertisement (It should go without saying that in 2011 one of those owners would recall that the plan to move a team to Sacramento came well before the purchase of the Kings.) A month after the purchase, a Kansas City councilman named Frank Palermo claimed that the Kings owners were formulating plans to build a temporary arena in Sacramento, so the Kings could move as soon as their Kemper Arena lease ran out after the 1984-85 season. Kings executives vehemently denied the report, with president and GM Joe Axelson offering to the Associated Press what could have been taken as a threat: "It's unfortunate that someone who shoots from the hip as Palermo does would be the City Council's sports committee chairman. I am disappointed that I am forced to refute irresponsible statements made by Palermo in this secondhanded way. People like Palermo who sit back and say the Kings are leaving will find it a self-fulfilling prophecy if they don't wise up and try to help us instead of hurt us." Advertisement Two weeks before the start of the 1984-85 season—the Kings' last in Kansas City—the Sacramento Bee reported that Lukenbill had obtained a building permit to put up warehouse in Sacramento. The warehouse was designed so that it could be turned into a 10,000-seat arena. Lukenbill again denied plans to move the team, but for the first time he tied the Kings' future to their attendance, saying there would be specific targets to meet. "Our commitment to the people of Kansas City remains the same," Lukenbill said. "Our primary goal right now is to make the team succeed in Kansas City." Lukenbill said the owners would announce those attendance targets—if the Kings could average a certain number of fans per game, the team would break even and there'd be no need to move. This attendance figure was supposed to be announced by opening day, but opening day came and went. The front office continued to promise a hard target, even as the Kings sold more tickets than they had in years. Finally, they picked Nov. 21 as the day to set the bar. Advertisement The Kings did issue a statement on Nov. 21, but no target attendance was mentioned. No attendance or income figures would be forthcoming, Lukenbill and Axelson said. Instead, the Kings would not renew their lease with the Kemper Arena, citing unfair terms. There would be no future discussions about keeping the Kings in Kansas City unless a new, more favorable lease was offered. "If this occurs it will restore our confidence that the powers that be in Kansas City would like to retain NBA basketball," Managing Partner Gregg Lukenbill said in the statement. "We will then sit down to negotiate an extension of the lease." A new lease would come. Kansas City offered a "generous, perhaps unprecedented" lease to keep the Kings at Kemper Arena for five more seasons. According to the Kansas City Times, it would charge the Kings just $1 a year and give them percentages of concessions and parking. Advertisement The lease offer was officially extended on Jan. 21, 1985. That very same day, the Kings filed paperwork with the NBA to move the team. Lukenbill called it "a joyous day in Sacramento." Second-year commissioner David Stern said he had "no qualms" with the announcement. In their new home, the Kings were treated like, well, Kings. On a West Coast road trip in April, the Kings took a detour to Sacramento to see their new city. The Los Angeles Times describes the scene. A fleet of five white limousines carried them to a practice session, where 1,800 fans were packed inside a 1,200-seat gym. All five local television stations were there, along with dozens of radio and newspaper reporters, who busily recorded every precious moment. The players began practice by running wind sprints while the spectators clapped in unison. During shooting drills, the fans cheered wildly. Afterward, there was an autograph session, which guard Reggie Theus interrupted when he had to go outside for some fresh air. "They were coming over the tables at me," Theus said. That night, the lead story on the television newscasts was that the Kings had been in town for a day. Forward Eddie Johnson was interviewed as he took a helicopter ride over the city. Guards Larry Drew and Mike Woodson were interviewed as they dined at Burger King. LaSalle Thompson talked to a television reporter while he shopped for clothes. Advertisement Back in Kansas City, the reaction was more muted. In the first game after the Sacramento deal had been completed, just 6,228 fans showed up to Kemper Arena. The AP game story reports that "there were occasional shouts of 'Stay here' and 'We don't want to lose you,' but the crowd was otherwise quiet." The season finale saw more venom, directly largely at GM Joe Axelson, who had repeatedly said, "I don't know what else we could have done [to stay] in Kansas City." The AP again: 11,371 people who gave a standing ovation to every player, starter and reserve, during pre-game introductions. Several hundred wore masks that were obvious and unflattering portrayals of Axelson. A dummy made up to look like Axelson was passed around to be kicked and pummeled. "We want fat Axe," one section shouted for several minutes. There were signs reading, "Nuke Sacramento," "Thanks for the Memories," and "Kill Axelson." Advertisement The day after the season ended, the NBA's owners voted unanimously to approve the Kings' move to Sacramento—on the condition that a new, full-sized arena be built, or the team would be relocated again. (The ARCO Arena, now Sleep Train Arena, would open in 1988.) David Stern said he was "delighted." Sacramento Kings T-shirts went on sale that morning. "I like Kansas City, but I have no great feeling of guilt about what we did," Axelson said. "I have a great feeling for the city, but Kansas City didn't support us—for whatever reason." It was the rich old suit's equivalent of slapping the backboard after a dunk. The saga ended as these things always do, with one city heartbroken and another city elated. But two quotes during the sale's dénouement stand out as being particularly telling. Anne Rudin, then-mayor of Sacramento, was happy to have the Kings, but she had seen enough of the process to realize there was no guarantee it wouldn't happen again. She told the Christian Science Monitor: "I've seen so much movement by teams. How long will they stay? Two years? Six years? And I've seen cities that have had to offer bribes, to put it bluntly, and blackmail to get teams to stay.'' Advertisement Then there's Joe Axelson, who had been instrumental in moving the Kings first from Cincinnati and then from Kansas City. Axelson, who retired in 1988 and died in 2008, was convinced that Sacramento was the last stop for a nomadic franchise. "We have a new building and a new team in a city that never had one. It can't miss." In 1985, spurred by the Kings deal—and the Clippers leaving San Diego, and the Colts leaving Baltimore, and the Cardinals considering a move to Arizona—Congress sought to address the issue of franchise movement. Twin bills were submitted before the House and the Senate that would require all professional sports franchises to gain the approval of a federal arbitration board before relocating. Executives from the NBA, the NFL, and MLB appeared before a Senate committee to argue against the bills. Advertisement David Stern was one of those testifying. "It is the leagues themselves," Stern said, "and not the federal government or a regulatory board, that are best suited to weigh the variety of competing considerations and balance the numerous relevant factors involved in a proposed relocation." The bill never made it to a vote.

A tree's leaf, a blade of grass, a single algal cell: all make fuel from the simple combination of water, sunlight and carbon dioxide through the miracle of photosynthesis. Now scientists say they have replicated—and improved—that trick by combining chemistry and biology in a "bionic" leaf. Chemist Daniel Nocera of Harvard University and his team joined forces with synthetic biologist Pamela Silver of Harvard Medical School and her team to craft a kind of living battery, which they call a bionic leaf for its melding of biology and technology. The device uses solar electricity from a photovoltaic panel to power the chemistry that splits water into oxygen and hydrogen, then adds pre-starved microbes to feed on the hydrogen and convert CO2 in the air into alcohol fuels. The team’s first artificial photosynthesis device appeared in 2015—pumping out 216 milligrams of alcohol fuel per liter of water—but the nickel-molybdenum-zinc catalyst that made its water-splitting chemistry possible had the unfortunate side effect of poisoning the microbes. So the team set out in search of a better catalyst, one that would play well with living organisms while effectively splitting water. As the team reports in Science on June 2, they found it in an alloy of cobalt and phosphorus, an amalgam already in use as an anticorrosion coating for plastic and metal parts found in everything from faucets to circuit boards. With a little charge, this new catalyst can assemble itself out of a solution of regular water, cobalt and phosphate—and phosphate in water actually is good for living things like the Ralstonia eutropha bacteria that make up the back half of the bionic leaf. Run an electric current from a photovoltaic device through this solution at a high enough voltage and it splits water. That voltage is also higher than what is needed to induce the cobalt to precipitate out of the solution and form the cobalt phosphide catalyst, which means when the bionic leaf is running there are always enough electrons around to induce the catalyst's formation—and therefore no excess metal left to poison the microbes or bring the bionic leaf's water-splitting to a halt. "The catalyst can never die as it's functioning," Nocera says, noting that the new artificial leaf has been able to run for up to 16 days at a stretch. The new cobalt catalyst also splits water into hydrogen and oxygen without creating the kind of reactive oxygen molecules that can damage DNA or other processes essential to continuing life. "I don't know why yet," Nocera says. "That will be fun to figure out." With this new catalyst in the bionic leaf, the team boosted version 2.0's efficiency at producing alcohol fuels like isopropanol and isobutanol to roughly 10 percent. In other words, for every kilowatt-hour of electricity used the microbes could scrub 130 grams of CO2 out of 230,000 liters of air to make 60 grams of isopropanol fuel. That is better than the efficiency of natural photosynthesis at converting water, sunlight and air into stored energy. And there is no reason to think that the R. eutropha could not be made to generate other products—perhaps complex hydrocarbon molecules like those found in fossil fuels or even the whole range of chemicals currently synthesized from polluting resources, such as fertilizers. "You have bugs that eat hydrogen as their only food source, and the hydrogen came from solar energy water splitting. So you have renewable bugs and the synthetic biology to make them do anything," Nocera says. "You can start thinking about a renewable chemicals industry." The hybrid team reports in the Science paper that they have already induced R. eutropha to make a molecule that can ultimately be transformed into plastics. The fundamental idea is to reverse combustion and use a remnant of fossil fuel burning—the CO2 piling up in the atmosphere—to build renewable fuels, just as plants do. But the bionic leaf will not compete on price anytime soon with the fossil fuels dug out of the ground, especially because the microbes do not yet make a lot of fuel quickly. The largest bionic leaf to date is in a one-liter pot, although the team has not discovered any limits to making it bigger. By knitting fuels out of the excess CO2 in the air, this new bioreactor could help mitigate planet-warming pollution problems while bringing cleaner fuels to people who do not currently have access to modern energy. "This science you can do in your backyard. You don't need a multi-billion dollar massive infrastructure," Nocera says. "By integrating the technology of biology and organic chemistry there is a very powerful path forward where you take the best of both worlds," he adds. "I took air plus sunlight plus water and I made stuff out of it, and I did it 10 times better than nature. That makes me feel good."

The saga never seems to end, ladies and gentlemen… Milan vice-president Adriano Galliani has held transfer talks with Real Madrid president Florentino Perez. Corriere dello Sport says the pair met in the Netherlands yesterday ahead of tonight’s Europa League final in Amsterdam. Galliani is interested in several Real players, including Angel Di Maria, Luka Modric, Pepe, Jose Callejon and sensational ‘keeper Diego Lopez. The return of Kaka was also discussed between the two powerbrokers. Speaking of the endless river of Kaka speculation, rumor has it that he is finally ready to return to Milan and significantly reduce his salary to any term. It is now Quotidiano Sportivo who have revealed this, although we are all familiar with the story. The Italian source claims that the 31-year-old midfielder, who has recently been left out of Brazil’s squad, has doubts about playing time and knows the risk of being benched even if the Madrid giant gets a new coach, Carlo Ancelotti. Is this undying tale going to reach its borderline once and for good… ? 41.720000 21.793333

Cincinnati doom legends BENEATH OBLIVION have something special in the works, and today we’re bringing you a sneak peek! The have a series of splits in the pipeline, including bands like Fister and Before the Eyewall, and we’re stoked to be premiering a track off the Fister split here and now, “Savior Nemesis Redeemer.” This song will have the black clouds broiling overhead, ready to pour the acid fires of hell on your unsuspecting head! Beneath Oblivion are currently on a US tour with Fister until November 16th (dates below) and need some love! They’ve had that tour nightmare of expensive van problems right off the bat, but they’re soldiering on to a town near you, so make sure to represent! Enjoy the cement tsunami that is “Savior Nemesis Redeemer”!

When I walk past a well-staged storefront, it's easy to feel like I'm part of the story. Like I'm the one on the boardwalk enjoying the sunshine, sipping lemonade, and giving a side wink to the boys playing beach volleyball. Like Isla Fisher in Confessions of a Shopaholic, the clothes begin to speak to me. It's a powerful connection. But recently, it's been different. My awareness has shifted a bit. I now catch myself digging a bit deeper. My thoughts carry beyond the surface-level emotions and into the story of the people involved in making those clothes. Fashion has always been a way for someone to express themselves, but what if clothes could talk? What would they say? Lucy Siegle, a journalist and expert in the textile industry, gave a TEDx talk about the numbers behind the fashion industry. Siegle says that there are approximately 80 billion articles of clothing manufactured each year - many by "fast fashion" giants (H&M, Zara). She knows first-hand how much time it takes to produce quality clothing, and reasons that paying $10 for a pair of pants should be impossible. But it’s not. Because the reality is there are warehouses of people making enough clothing in unsuitable, dangerous and impoverished areas to keep production costs low. If your clothes could talk, what story would they tell? If you're not sure, maybe it's time to shift your perspective a bit. Ethical clothing isn't a fad. It's an enlightenment. An evolution. An empathetic gesture to our brothers and sisters in under-developed parts of the world. We should always be thinking, always growing, and striving to help usher in a better tomorrow. Join the fight to bring more ethical fashion awareness by commenting and sharing this. Your shares help more than you might realize! For more thought provoking updates, subscribe here.

Washington (CNN) The US and Russia are exchanging ever harsher rhetorical barbs amid growing charges of war crimes in Syria following a brutal attack on a Syrian school. More than 20 children were among the dead in the attack on the school compound in the rebel-held village of Hass in Idlib province Wednesday. UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said he was "appalled" at repeated bombings of the school compound. "If deliberate, this attack may amount to a war crime," he said in a statement. Idlib, a main opposition stronghold is regularly hit by both Syrian and Russian airstrikes, as well as the US-led collation hitting ISIS targets. The US, France and international monitors have said either the Syrian regime or its Russian backers carried out Wednesday's attacks, but Moscow has denied flying in the area. Russian President Vladimir Putin blamed President Barack Obama Thursday for failing to reach an agreement to end the bloodshed, saying the Americans are "shooting themselves in the foot." "Our personal agreements with the US president have not worked," Putin said, referring to aborted efforts to negotiate a cease-fire in Syria, which would have included some humanitarian relief. "There were forces in Washington that did everything possible to fail to implement these agreements," Putin continued. "This shows an inexplicable -- I would say an irrational -- desire of Western countries to repeat their mistakes over and over again." Russia and Syria claim to have implemented a "humanitarian pause" in rebel-held areas in Eastern Syria, including Aleppo, where UN officials are trying to evacuate hundreds of wounded and attempt to deliver medical and food aid into besieged areas. "What Russia really wants from the UN is credit," US Ambassador to the United Nations Samantha Power said Wednesday in a blistering attack on Russia before the UN Security Council. But she told them, "You don't get congratulations and get credit for not committing war crimes for a day, or a week." UNICEF executive director Anthony Lake said Wednesday's attack "may be the deadliest attack on a school since the war began more than five years ago." JUST WATCHED Bombs fall on Aleppo as ceasefire ends Replay More Videos ... MUST WATCH Bombs fall on Aleppo as ceasefire ends 00:55 The Obama administration has not made a formal determination that any war crimes have been committed in Syria. But earlier this month Secretary of State John Kerry said Russia and the regime's targeting of civilians and medical facilities "beg for an appropriate investigation of war crimes." He did not say what type of investigation he wanted to see or who would lead it. "He recognizes that 'war crimes' has a very legalistic definition, and that, and that's why he wants it to be investigated," State Department spokesman John Kirby said Thursday. "He wants it to be looked at, he wants there to be a determination by the international community one way or another." Kirby added that discussions are taking place among the international community about "next steps." Last month, Ban called on the UN Security Council to refer the situation in Syria to the International Criminal Court, which many countries have endorsed. French Foreign Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault and British Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson have also said Russian and Syrian actions may constitute war crimes. International rights groups and others have documented Russian and Syrian crimes, including alleged attacks on civilians and medical facilities, starvation as a tool of war, torture and use of chemical weapons on the battlefield. But neither Syria nor Russia has ratified the ICC's founding Rome Statue, limiting the court's power without Security Council action. Russia would undoubtedly veto any action by that body.

A peek at the sets for 30 Rock‘s upcoming live show inspires great confidence that the show’s sophomore live performance will prove to be a memorable one. And as crews put finishing touches on the sets this morning, EW caught up with Tina Fey during a visit to show’s set at Rockefeller Center to talk about what’s in store for the big episode and chat about the end of the season. ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY: Another live show. Is it easier going into the second one? TINA FEY: It’s still a lot of work, and I’m sure we’ll have some moments in the next couple of days that are harrowing of like, “Wait, how long is it?” But I think we’re definitely excited to be asked to do it again. NBC asked us if we would consider doing another one and we were like, “Yeah. Sure.” [Any] fears going into it for a second time? No — just dumb enough to say yes. During the last live episode, we saw some many great cameos. Any hints as to who might pop up? No Liz Banks. No James Marsden — that I can tell you. [But] there will be some very exciting cameos, some friends of comedy, some friends of 30 Rock. Also, you’ll get to see our people do some things they don’t usually get to do. Speaking of friends of 30 Rock, we are going to see flashbacks to young Tracy Morgan with Donald Glover. That’s going to be amazing. Well, Donald started right out of college as a writer at 30 Rock. He was actually still, I believe, living in an NYU dorm. He was an RA, and he would work and go home to a dorm. [Snickers] And he was on the show once a million years ago at the last minute. We had cast some teenager, and then we got [on set] and the kid didn’t show up, and Donald filled in as a gay teenager in a high school graduation scene. Tracy said something like, “There you are obviously gay kid” and Donald improvised the line, “Who told?” And we also knew that Donald could sound like Tracy because we did an extended version of “Werewolf Bar Mitzvah,” and by the time we finished it, we were wrapped and didn’t have Tracy. So half of it is just Donald imitating Tracy. But yeah, he’s super busy performing at Coachella, so he’s coming in for a hot second to do this. We’re very lucky. In the episode, we take a bit of a trip through time. Tell me about that. The basic premise of the episode is that Kabletown has decided that they don’t want to do TGS live anymore. They want to do it more on a sort of syndicated, Tyler Perry-model where they just make a hundred of them in two days. Liz is like, ‘Alright.’ Basically, everyone is like, ‘Okay. Great.’ — except for Kenneth because he is pure of heart and pure of television. So he spends the episode trying to convince us that live TV is important and that the studio, itself, has a history that has to be respected. That’s obviously a subject that’s very close to you. Did you like that about that episode? I liked the idea for the episode a lot because I think it makes sense for an episode that you’re doing live and to do it here in 8H which does have kind of an amazing history back from Toscanini through Saturday Night Live. It seems to make sense and it is at a time when people are always asking if broadcast TV is dying. The one thing that does seem to matter to people are things that are events — like the live results show of The Voice. People do still do want that communal experience. Switching gears, the season finale is coming up. We shot it already. What can you tell me about it? Will we be seeing some baby news for Liz? Well, we’ll keep going in that track, yes. We’ll see the return of Liz Banks and the return of Mary Steenburgen. That’s awkward because Jack tried to bone both of them. James Marsden’s back. Hopefully, what we’ll be seeing is some good stuff to set our characters up for next year. Is there a cliffhanger? It’s not a cliffhanger. We leave them where we leave them, but it’s not a cliffhanger. Related: ’30 Rock’: Murphy Brown lied to us! ’30 Rock’: Where can a girl wear a Princess Leia outfit? Let Liz Lemon count the ways — EXCLUSIVE VIDEO Alec Baldwin says he’s staying on ’30 Rock’… and that the show is ending next season

It was definitely a case of puppy love when Tony Conway took to the skies with his pampered pooch. The canny collie cross-breed, called Harry, was strapped into a paraglider and enjoyed a tandem flight with his owner down Slieve Donard mountain. It took about 20 minutes to glide the 2,700 feet from the top of the peak to the beach in Newcastle, County Down. So was it a case of the dog being barking mad or did man's best friend enjoy the ride? "He was really comfortable, he just sat there," said the Craigavon man. "I think if a dog could smile he would have been smiling up at me. The way the harness attaches he ended up sitting on my knee. He wasn't trembling or anything. "When I was petting him, he was looking up at me as if to say: 'This is great'. Image caption Tony Conway has been paragliding for nine years "He seemed to just love it. There was no issue with him at all. He never made a whimper. Even when we landed, he was quite happy... When I unhooked him from the harness he started running around the beach." Tony, who has been a member of the Ulster Hand gliding and paragliding club for nine years, said it was quite unusual to have a canine companion along for the ride. "We walk up the mountain and fly off it regularly," he laughed, "but I don't know anyone else at the club who has a dog harness." Tony said he had been inspired by pictures of other dogs 'flying". So, with the help of his wife, Donna, and a seamstress in Lurgan, they set about making a harness for Harry. "I hooked him into the harness and walked about in the garden to make sure that he was okay and got him comfortable with it," said Tony. "And he showed no signs of distress at all. He seemed quite happy; I think he was happy to be close." So although a dog may not be the usual passenger on a paraglider, it may not be Harry's last adventure in the sky. His fur was certainly not ruffled by his maiden flight - or maybe it was the cooked ham treat when they landed that had him smitten. "Now when I lift the harness and hold it up and show him it, he starts barking and gets excited because he associates the harness with getting out for a walk," he said. "Any time I do Slieve Donard I'll certainly take him up with me. It'll be a bit of exercise for him, exercise for me and a nice bit of company on the way down."

Spread the love Montgomery County, TX – An off-duty police officer was recently accused of brutally assaulting 3 dogs with a large wooden board while visiting an animal shelter with his family to adopt a dog. Staff members at Montgomery County Animal Shelter said that they were not involved in the incident, but allegedly, the officer let at least three different dogs out of their pens and into an exercise area where the animals began to fight. The officer has not been officially named by the media or the police department. According to the staff, fights sometimes do occur, but they usually avoid having the dogs in the same area so they can bypass that problem. Also, staff members with the shelter said that fights rarely result in deaths or severe injury, and many times are just involving minor scratches. They are also fairly easy to break up. However, this officer took it upon himself to grab a nearby 2×4 board and begin to beat the animals senseless with it, killing one of them and inflicting major life-threatening damage to the others. A second dog was later euthanized due to the severity of his injuries. “We are aware of allegations of animal cruelty against a customer or client at the Montgomery County Animal Shelter that was involved where he allegedly struck one or more dogs requiring at least one of the dogs to be euthanized,” District Attorney Brett Ligon said. MCAS Director Dr. Todd Hayden said that the case was under investigation. “There was a dog fight and he had a 2×4 and hit one of them hard enough to cause neurological damage. We are working with the DA and the dog is going to Texas A&M tomorrow (Monday) for a necropsy,” Hayden said. By beating the animals in the way that he did, the officer had proven that he was not fit to be responsible or care for any animals. However, despite his violent outburst, the officer was actually able to adopt a different dog. “It’s breeding season, so fights are more common but the dogs are rarely seriously injured. They are not usually euthanized. It’s a really unfortunate thing to happen. I expected a lot of things to happen as [the] new director, but I didn’t expect this to happen,” Hayden said. The only dog to survive the incident, named Rock, had been at the shelter for three months and had never gotten in any other fights or had any other disciplinary problems. The fact that this officer was sent home with an animal after his display of violence is nearly as disturbing as the act itself. Cruelty to animals is part of The MacDonald Triad, traits that often are demonstrated in sociopaths from a young age. It says an individual who is able to engage in cruelty to animals may have no conscience and no remorse for their behavior. If we look into the history of police and dog killings, we can see a frightening pattern. According to an unofficial count done by an independent research group, Ozymandias Media, a dog is shot by law enforcement every 98 minutes. The Free Thought Project has reported on a slew of tragic dog shootings, including one department in Buffalo, NY whose officers shot 92 dogs from Jan. 1, 2011 through Sept. 2014. Buffalo is hardly an isolated incident either. In Southwest Florida, the News-Press discovered 111 instances of dog shootings among multiple agencies between 2009 and 2012, representing about 37 per year. According to the Chicago Tribune, Chicago Police shot approximately 90 dogs per year between 2008 and 2013. John Vibes is an author and researcher who organizes a number of large events including the Free Your Mind Conference. He also has a publishing company where he offers a censorship free platform for both fiction and non-fiction writers. You can contact him and stay connected to his work at his Facebook page. You can purchase his books, or get your own book published at his website www.JohnVibes.com.[/author]

Tesla Store - Portland OR Tesla Motors and its supporters have rallied numerous times against attacks on the electric-car maker's company-owned stores, but a Michigan bill banning its online direct-sales model has made it into law--almost. HB 5606 was passed early this month by the state legislature, with late language added that prevents Tesla from selling cars directly to consumers in the home state of the three U.S. carmakers. ALSO SEE: Dumb Laws From States Banning Tesla Sales Michigan Governor Rick Snyder has less than a week, until October 21, to sign the bill into law. [UPDATE: Very late on Thursday, October 16, Tesla published a blog post on the Michigan legislation, highlighting the appearance of conflict between the legislator who altered the bill at the last minute. State Senator Joe Hune, who has received campaign contributions from the Michigan Automobile Dealers Assocation, is the architect of the late edits. His wife's firm lobbies for those same dealers. The blog post urges Tesla advocates to contact Governor Synder's office and includes contact information.] The loss for Tesla resulted from minor changes to the bill's language, swiftly implemented without any opportunity for public comment. Tesla Store - Portland OR HB 5606 was originally intended to offer added protection to franchised dealers and consumers from price gouging by carmakers, and was passed by the Michigan House in September without any anti-Tesla language. However, in the Senate, any wording that might imply the legality of a manufacturer-owned dealership was removed. For example, the phrase "manufacturer's new motor vehicle dealers" found in the original House version was changed to "franchised dealers." The modified version of the bill was passed unanimously by the Senate October 2, and then sent back to the House later the same day, where it passed with only a single dissenting vote. Tesla Store - Portland OR Tesla regulatory chief James Chen told The Wall Street Journal last week that the carmaker will fight this legislation , saying he has met with state officials in Lansing. Anti-Tesla legislation has already been defeated in Massachusetts, Minnesota, and New York. Nevada explicitly legalized Tesla's company-owned stores as part of the incentives package lawmakers created to land the carmaker's massive battery Gigafactory. If Gov. Snyder signs the bill, Michigan will join Arizona, Texas, and Virginia in banning direct sales entirely. Tesla is limited to one location in Colorado, and legislation that would decide the fate of two stores in New Jersey is still pending. _______________________________________________ Follow GreenCarReports on Facebook, Twitter, and Google+.

6 years ago Washington (CNN) - President Barack Obama named one of his closest and most trusted advisers as his chief of staff Friday, the fifth man to hold the job since Obama first took office in 2009. Denis McDonough, who served as Obama's deputy national security adviser since 2010, was announced to the post at a White House event Friday. Obama told a packed East Room that McDonough is a "great friend to me and to everyone who works here in the White House." "Nobody outworks Denis McDonough," Obama said later - an important trait for the person responsible for a White House staff of hundreds and for controlling access to the president. Before becoming deputy national security adviser, McDonough served on the national security staff in other capacities. He was also a senior foreign policy adviser for Obama's 2008 presidential campaign. Before that, McDonough worked as a foreign policy adviser for Senate Democratic Leader Tom Daschle. He's been one of the president's "closest and most trusted advisors for nearly a decade," a White House official said Friday, pointing to McDonough's service in Obama's U.S. Senate office before he ran for president. Obama has "relied on his intellect and good judgment ever since," the official said. Originally from Stillwater, Minnesota, McDonough graduated from St. John's University in Collegeville, Minnesota, and has a master's degree from Georgetown University. He's 43, making him one of the youngest White House chiefs of staff in recent decades. In the immediate aftermath of the 2010 earthquake in Haiti, McDonough acted as the White House's coordinator on the ground, ensuring that U.S. aid was being effectively used in the devastated nation. He also played a role in the U.S. withdrawal of troops from Iraq, and the drawdown of America's military presence in Afghanistan. McDonough's role in the 2011 raid on Osama bin Laden's compound in Pakistan was immortalized in a now-famous photo from the White House situation room, which shows him seated next to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton as top Obama aides watched the raid in real time. McDonough will be Obama's fifth chief of staff since he took office in January 2009. Rahm Emanuel, who went on to become Chicago mayor, was the first to hold the position, followed by Bill Daley, then Jack Lew. Pete Rouse, a former senior adviser and now counselor to the president, served as interim chief of staff for three months between Emanuel and Daley. Other top White House aides also received promotions at Friday, including communications director Dan Pfeiffer and deputy communications director Jennifer Palmieri. In total, four women were announced in new senior-level positions at the White House Friday, a move that comes as Obama comes under scrutiny for the perceived lack of diversity in his second term Cabinet picks.

The head of one of the world's largest bitcoin exchanges told CNBC that the ban on the virtual currency by Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba won't affect his business. Chinese e-commerce group Alibaba said Tuesday it would note accept bitcoins on its online marketplace, Taobao. It also banned the sale of the equipment, merchandise and software used to mine the virtual currency. "We've found other methods to allow our customers to deposit money into our exchanges to buy and sell bitcoins so our business is unaffected by the recent Taobao decision today," Bobby Lee, chief executive of bitcoin exchange BTC China, told CNBC. Alibaba's actions are seen as a response to the People's Bank of China (PBoC) warning against the use of Bitcoin last month as it looks to IPO this year and attempts to rid its marketplace site of fake goods. In mid-December, the price of bitcoin plummeted by 50 percent since record highs of $1,200 in late November after reports that the PBoC had ordered third-party payment providers -- which provide clearing services for bitcoin exchanges -- to stop any "custody, trading and other services" related to the virtual currency. (Read more: Bitcoin price halves as China clampdown escalates). At the moment the the currency was trading at $920 on major exchange Mt Gox and $856 on CoinDesk's index, which measures a basket of prices around the world.

His observations of the recent changes in climate match forecasts for the region: In East Africa, climate change is expected to reduce the productivity of maize – Malawi’s main subsistence crop – by more than 20 percent by 2030, according to a recent analysis by Oxfam International I looked out the window at dusty fields and tried to imagine what Malawi might look like in 2030. For one thing, it will be more crowded. A lot more crowded. According to UN population projections , by 2030, Malawi’s population will have grown from about 15 million today to somewhere between 26.9 and 28.4 million. With climate change dampening agricultural productivity and population growth increasing food demand, how will Malawians – many of whom don’t have enough to eat– have enough to eat in the future?It gets quiet in the taxi as the driver and I both ponder this question. Malawi is not alone in being a climate-vulnerable country with a rapidly growing population dependent on rain-fed agriculture. Population Action International’s Mapping Population and Climate Change tool shows us that many “hotspot” countries – scattered across Latin America, Africa, and Asia – face the triple challenge of low climate change resilience, projected decline in agricultural productivity, and rapid population growth.Agricultural trade, government safety net programs, and foreign assistance will no doubt continue to play an important role in the quest for food security in Malawi and other “hotspot” countries in the future. And climate change adaptation projects will, hopefully, reshape agricultural practices and technologies in ways that can boost yields and enable crops to better withstand temperature and precipitation fluctuations.These interventions will be critical in addressing the supply side of future food security challenges. But what about growing demand?Juxtaposing population growth with food production does, of course, bring us back to Thomas Robert Malthus’ original (and by now somewhat infamous) dire warning: that population growth would eventually outrun food supply. But seeing the scale of the challenges in Malawi firsthand, I must admit that my inner Malthus sat up and took notice.It is true that technological advances have enabled astounding growth in agricultural yields that have enabled us to feed the world in ways the doom-filled Malthus could never have imagined in the early 19th century. But it is also true that the agricultural productivity gains that helped us keep pace with population growth for so long are beginning to slow: According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture , aggregate agricultural yields averaged 2.0 percent growth annually between 1970 and 1990, but that growth in yields declined to 1.1 percent between 1990 and 2007, and is projected to decline to less than 1.0 percent in the years to come.This comes at a time when the Food and Agriculture Organization reports that food production will need to increase by 70 percent by 2050 in order to adequately feed a larger, wealthier, and more urbanized population.To dismiss any talk of population growth as outmoded Malthusian hand-wringing misses an opportunity to embrace interventions that can contribute significantly to prospects for future food security – namely, empowering women with information and services that enable them to determine the timing and spacing of their children.In Malawi and many of the “hotspot” countries around the world, high proportions of women remain disempowered in this regard. Meaningful access to family planning and reproductive health services results in smaller, healthier families that will be better equipped to cope with the food security challenges that are headed their way.Not only does a smaller family mean that limited household resources go further, but access to family planning and reproductive health services is connected to other important education and economic outcomes.A new Population Reference Bureau policy brief , for example, highlights how improving women’s reproductive health will not only lead to declining fertility and slower population growth in sub-Saharan Africa, but can also contribute to balancing a woman’s many roles (agricultural producer, worker, mother, caregiver, etc.) in ways that support greater food security for her family. And research by the International Food Policy Research Institute shows that in developing countries, women’s education and per capita food availability are the most important underlying determinants of child malnutrition – with women’s education having the strongest beneficial impact. Access to family planning paves the way for these outcomes – and by slowing population growth, can help to slow the growth in food demand.The scale of potential benefits of meeting women’s family planning needs is significant when thinking about future food demand, both globally and especially in food insecure, climate-vulnerable countries. As we have seen in Malawi, there is a range of possible future population sizes and that range grows even wider when the projections are extended to 2050: According to the UN, Malawi’s 15 million today will grow to somewhere between 45 million and 55 million by 2050 That span of 10 million people embodies assumptions about declining fertility in Malawi. To reach 55 million, the average number of children per woman would need to drop from 5.7 today to 4.5 by 2050. If fertility drops further, to 3.5 children per woman, Malawi’s population would grow to (only) 45 million. Where Malawi ends up in that 10-million-person population spread will have deep implications for per capita food availability, not to mention other important development outcomes.Fertility declines of this kind do not require coercion or “population control.” As we have seen time and again , when women are empowered with information and services that enable them to determine the timing and spacing of their children, smaller, healthier families are the inevitable result.Meeting women’s needs for reproductive health and family planning services is not – and never should be – about reducing population size. Universal access to reproductive health is recognized as a basic human right and central development goal (embodied in Millennium Development Goal 5 ) because of its vital connections to women’s and children’s health, education and employment opportunities, and poverty alleviation. And yet, too many women remain without the ability to effectively plan their families. In Malawi, one in four married women would like to delay their next birth or end child-bearing all together but aren’t using contraception; globally, 215 million have this unmet need As global efforts ramp up to address interlinked challenges of food security and climate change adaptation, assessing the role of population growth is more important than ever. And in designing strategies to address these challenges – strategies like the U.S. Government’s Feed the Future Initiative and UN-supported National Adaptation Plans – we should not pass over opportunities to incorporate interventions to close the remaining gap in universal access to family planning, especially in places like Malawi and other “hotspot” countries (such as Haiti, Nigeria, and Nepal), where women’s unmet family planning needs are high and population growth is rapid.

Please enable Javascript to watch this video A suspected DUI driver who led police on a high-speed pursuit ended up crashing into several vehicles at a busy North Hollywood intersection Thursday night. Two motor officers initially attempted to stop the driver, who was traveling in a Jaguar, after noticing the vehicle was speeding down Lankershim Boulevard with its lights off at about 9:30 p.m., Los Angeles Police Department Lt. David Ferry said. The driver did not stop and led officers on a high-speed pursuit, which only lasted about one minute before the Jaguar crashed into three other vehicles at the intersection of Vineland Avenue and Victory Boulevard, Officer Sal Ramirez said. The investigation showed the Jaguar ran a red light and struck a vehicle that was passing legally through the intersection, Ferry said. The Jaguar then careened into two more cars that were stopped at the red light. Two people were taken by ambulance from the scene, including a woman who suffered a broken clavicle and the pursuit driver, who had internal injuries, Ferry said. Kristy Orellana, who was also in one of the vehicles struck by the Jaguar, said she initially had no idea it was a pursuit suspect who hit her. “Luckily we’re all alive,” she said. The suspected DUI driver was taken into custody on suspicion of DUI and evading police.

The folks behind popular game chat app Discord have begun testing video chat and screen-sharing functionality with a small subsection of desktop Discord users (~5 percent) ahead of a full rollout later this year. Of course, there are already a number of tools that let you do video calls and screen-sharing, but Discord's game industry focus and booming userbase (which surpassed 45 million in May) makes this notable. If you're a dev who uses Discord to interact with your community of players, this opens up new ways for you to communicate with them and share what you're working on. These sorts of game-focused chat apps aren't only valuable to devs with live games, either; earlier this summer a number of devs shared handy tips for how to use Discord to build up your community of players before your game is released.

As we pause to take a breath after Congress failed to approve an alternative to the Affordable Care Act, it’s a good time to reconsider what we really want to pay for in health care. U.S. health care is the most expensive in the world, and we don’t get our bang for the buck. The U.S. ranked dead last in a 2014 study by the Commonwealth Fund that compared health system performance in the U.S., Australia, Canada, France, Germany, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland and the U.K. Health care accounted for 17.8 percent of the U.S. GDP in 2015. Many experts agree that at least one-fourth of our spending on health care in the U.S. is “wasted,” meaning it adds no value for patients. A major contributor to such poor performance is the fact that our payment systems aren’t designed to incent or reward what we really want from health care. We want high quality care from compassionate providers with technical expertise. We want care that honors the values and preferences of each individual and is convenient, affordable and cost efficient. We also want care based on the best available evidence and we need all the providers for any given patient to know what the others are doing. Our payment systems aren’t designed to incent or reward what we really want from health care. Most of the payment models used by commercial insurers and state and federal government don’t pay providers based on whether or not they deliver this type of value. Instead, they simply pay for units of service such as office visits, tests, procedures and hospital admissions. Happily, this is starting to change. Physicians, health care executives and policy experts are increasingly focused on pursuit of the Triple Aim of better health and better care at a lower cost. The Triple Aim was formulated by Don Berwick, Tom Nolan and John Whittington at the Institute for Healthcare Improvement in 2008, and is now embraced worldwide as a framework for improving the performance of health care systems. Several programs created by the Affordable Care Act are also driving achievement of the Triple Aim. One such program, the Medicare Shared Savings Program, offers groups of Medicare providers the opportunity to earn a new type of payment if high quality care is provided, patients report positively on their experiences and total cost of care is less than expected. Coastal Medical, the physician group in Rhode Island where I serve as chief executive, saved $24 million on the total cost of care for 11,000 Medicare beneficiaries from 2012-2015, while earning high marks for quality and patient experience of care. Based on those results, Coastal received $11.6 million in payments from the federal government as its share of those savings. Much of the savings came from keeping people with chronic illness at home rather than in hospitals or nursing homes. This was accomplished by offering new services such as urgent primary care visits in the evening and on weekends, team-based care for patients with chronic illnesses like diabetes and heart failure, coordination of care with specialists and hospitals and special attention and services for the sickest five percent of patients. Under a fee for service model, there would have been no source of funding to cover the additional cost of these valuable services to patients. In the conversation about health care between policy makers, the press and the public, a common frame of reference is needed as we struggle to decide what we really want to pay for. The Triple Aim ― better health and better care at a lower cost ― provides a useful measuring stick for value.

Two women are now wanted in Washington, DC for sexual assault because they twerked on a man they didn't know.Surveillance cameras at a convenience store caught the entire crime on video, which happened around 4:00 in the afternoon.The male victim was talking on his cell phone when the first woman backs up and attempts to grind or twerk on him. The man quickly moves away.When he does, a second woman in a pink dress then starts touching the man repeatedly. She's even seen trying to kiss him.Police are still trying to locate both women in the video. They released video of the crime and several photos of the two suspects. $1,000 reward is being offered for information leading to their arrests. Once captured, both women will face third degree sexual abuse charges which carries a maximum fine of $100,000 and up to 10 years in prison.

MELBOURNE (Reuters) - World tennis was rocked on Monday by allegations that the game’s authorities have failed to deal with widespread match-fixing, just as the Australian Open, the first grand slam tournament of the year, kicked off in Melbourne. Tennis authorities rejected reports by the BBC and online BuzzFeed News, which said 16 players who have been ranked in the top 50 had been repeatedly flagged to the Tennis Integrity Unit (TIU) over suspicions they had thrown matches in the past decade. Eight of those players were taking part in the Australian Open, the BBC and BuzzFeed News said. The media reports, which follow corruption scandals in world soccer and athletics, created a stir at the event at Melbourne Park, with players expressing surprise at the allegations. “When I’m playing, I can only answer for me, I play very hard, and every player I play seems to play hard,” women’s world number one Serena Williams told reporters. “If that’s going on, I don’t know about it.” Men’s world number seven Kei Nishikori of Japan said he had not heard of any incidence of match-fixing. The BBC and BuzzFeed News said the TIU, set up to police illegal activities in tennis, either failed to act upon information that identified suspicious behaviour amongst players, or impose any sanctions. All of the 16 players, including winners of grand slam titles, were allowed to continue competing, the media reports added. TIU director of integrity Nigel Willerton told reporters in Melbourne he would not comment on whether any players on the pro tour were under investigation, saying it would be inappropriate to do so. Reuters was unable to independently verify the findings by the BBC and BuzzFeed News, which said they had obtained documents that included the findings of an investigation set up in 2007 by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP), the governing body of men’s professional tennis. The BBC and BuzzFeed News said they had not named any players because without access to their phone, bank and computer records it was not possible to determine whether they took part in match-fixing. “The Tennis Integrity Unit and the tennis authorities absolutely reject any suggestion that evidence of match fixing has been suppressed for any reason or isn’t being thoroughly investigated,” said ATP chairman Chris Kermode. “While the BBC and BuzzFeed reports mainly refer to events from about 10 years ago, we will investigate any new information,” Kermode told a hastily arranged media conference at Melbourne Park. BETTING SYNDICATES The media reports said the 2007 ATP inquiry found betting syndicates in Russia, northern Italy and Sicily making hundreds of thousands of pounds betting on games which investigators thought to be fixed. Three of these games were at Wimbledon. In a confidential report for tennis authorities in 2008, the inquiry team said 28 players involved in those games should be investigated but the findings were never followed up, the news organisations said. Tennis authorities introduced a new anti-corruption code in 2009 but after taking legal advice were told previous corruption offences could not be pursued, they added. Craig Tiley, Tennis Australia chief executive and Australian Open tournament director, said the Melbourne event had robust anti-corruption systems place. “All involved in the administration of the Australian Open will not tolerate any deviations from our values and rules at any level,” Tiley said. Kermode added he was disappointed the story had taken attention away from the tournament. “We are confident that the Tennis Integrity Unit is doing what it can and tackles this issue very, very seriously,” Kermode said. TIU investigations had resulted in sanctions against 18 players, with six issued life bans, he added. Kermode also rejected suggestions the TIU was under-resourced and did not have necessary enforcement powers. Tennis authorities have pumped about $14 million into anti-corruption programmes, Kermode added. REPRESENTATIVE IMAGE: Czech Republic's Karolina Pliskova prepares to serve to Russia's Maria Sharapova during their final match of the Fed Cup tennis tournament in Prague, Czech Republic, November 14, 2015. REUTERS/David W Cerny/Files TIU’s Willerton said they could ask for players’ electronic communication devices, though those requests could be refused. “If they don’t then consent ... that’s called non-cooperation, and they can be reported and sanctioned for non-cooperation,” Willerton said. Independent Australian Senator Nick Xenophon said sports regulators were not rigorous enough and that the very nature of tennis made it possible to engage in spot fixing, where single events are manipulated to affect live betting odds.

LG 43MU79-B - LED monitor - 4K - 43" is rated 5.0 out of 5 by 5 . Rated 5 out of 5 by deathbiscuit from Amazing quad screen monitor Santa brought me this monitor for my work/home computers. This thing works amazing! beautiful display, sturdy and heavy base, works exactly as described. I'm displaying 4 computers on one monitor. Rated 5 out of 5 by RodgerD from Awesome replacement for dual monitor set-up I wanted a better way to have multiple screens and this is a great solution. I can have up to 4 screens going configured multiple ways (PIP or PBP in several configurations). I'm looking at buying another for the office. Rated 5 out of 5 by CrankyGeezer from It's like having 4 1080p monitors without the bezels... It was a sad day when they stopped making aperture grill CRTs. Because equivalent resolution flat panel displays cost more than a decent car. Accounting for inflation and chiropractor co-pays this display cost the same as my last CRT and gets 66% more vertical real-estate. And I'll save a bundle on chiropractor co-pays when I have to move it.Linux was able to use it at full resolution immediately after unplugging the old monitors and plugging in this beast.Downside... the cats can't sleep on it and say hi while I'm using it.Upside... no crazy arcing when cat fur provides a better conductor. Rated 5 out of 5 by MTScincy from So Far So Good - I Really like the LG 43MU79-B 30-year computer user with multi-monitor rigs for last 10 years. Driving the LG 43 with an nVidia 510 2GB 4-monitor display card in a Dell Precision T3610 workstation. Using the LG 43 as a single-source viewport at 2560x1440, replacing two 27" monitors. Primary apps are video and photo editing, cinema, Word, Excel, PS, PPT and email. Not using the LG multi-source/multi-screen software, instead dragging apps to actual position needed. Not using for sophisticated gaming.PROS: 1. Sharp, bright, consistent color, edge-to-edge.2. Picture Mode settings are wonderful - can quickly change to suit the application in use. Great for text, movies and video editing. No eye fatigue when using for 10+ hours per day.3. Viewing the full screen at 2560 provides desired text and image legibility from normal 36" distance. (For me, 3840 res is too small for text work but fine for selected visuals.)4. Virtually no heat output from the unit - a very nice change from previous monitors.5. Rapid delivery, no damage. Setup is idiot-proof, took less than ten minutes.6. Excellent cost-benefit value. Would purchase again and recommend to others.CONS:(Inconveniences, not deal breakers. Minus 1 star for Ease of Use)1. LG IR codes are the same as Visio. Have a Visio TV 15' away in my office and both remotes turn both devices on/off -- driving me crazy. I do not use the LG audio at all, for the same reason.2. Have to move the sound bar in front of monitor to reach LG external controls, PITA.3. Wish config tools would allow for 3 viewports - 1 portrait and 2 stacked landscape. Maybe there is a custom mode I haven't found yet.

The 2008 Olympic silver medallist who is making the case for a female Tour de France has no faith in the men hoping to be president of the UCI For a woman who has scaled back her involvement in international cycling this year, Emma Pooley has been pretty active in recent weeks. Since launching a petition during the Tour de France to call for parity for women in the event, along with the world and Olympic champion Marianne Vos, the world triathlon champion, Chrissie Wellington, and the American athlete and writer Kathryn Bertine, the 2008 Olympic silver medallist has found herself at the forefront of the campaign to give women cyclists the calendar, the media coverage and the money they merit. The petition, for a women's Tour de France to be run simultaneously with the men's race – as it was briefly in the 1980s – has garnered more than 80,000 signatures and pushed the issue centre stage, drawing support from many quarters, most notably from Harriet Harman: the Labour deputy leader produced an open letter to the Tour organisers asking that they consider the idea alongside next year's Grand Départ in Yorkshire. The case put by Vos, Pooley, Wellington and Bertine for women to ride the same stages in the Tour as the men was straightforward – the roads are already closed, the spectators are there and would get to see two races for the price of one instead of spending hours watching a largely empty road. The current rules put the Tour well over the maximum distance for women but the case there was compelling: "In the late 1960s people assumed that women couldn't run the marathon," read the petition. "Thirty years on we can look back and see how erroneous this was. Hopefully 30 years from now, we will see 2014 as the year that opened people's eyes to true equality in the sport of cycling." Over the years there has been a convergence between the distances men and women race, as men's professional races are becoming progressively shorter, and women's gradually longer. "I am surprised it took off so well," says Pooley of the petition. "The media interest has surprised me but we launched it at the right moment, during the Tour." The 31-year-old has raised the issue before, most notably in these pages before last year's Olympics, while the London silver medallist Lizzie Armitstead was damning about the UCI hierarchy immediately after taking her medal. However, Pooley has always seemed unwilling to push her head over the parapet for fear of being dismissed. "I'm perceived by the cycling hierarchy as a whingeing woman but I'm not the only one who has noticed." The issue may not be new but its recent profile suggests that a tipping point has been reached. "The Olympics showed that women's sport is good entertainment," she says, "but elite sport and hosting the Olympics was supposed to help the public get into sport but 80% of British women don't do enough sport to be healthy. Plenty of women watch sport, plenty of men want to watch women's sport and not just because they want to leer at women in bikinis. It frustrates me when they say people don't want to watch it on television because it's not on television for them to watch in the first place." "It was a daring leap," she says of the petition. "People say that [the Tour organisers] ASO are probably upset but if I thought that [the Tour organiser] Christian Prudhomme would answer the phone I'd call him. The point about the petition is that it showed people want a women's Tour de France. It would bring something to the race, the spectators are there, the media are there. Apparently there are logistical challenges but what we were trying to do was show ASO the commercial potential for them." Messages from the Tour organisers have been mixed. There were hints that a meeting might take place, but Prudhomme has dismissed the idea on the grounds that the Tour is big enough as it is. But the Tour's gigantisme was a concern a quarter of a century ago and nothing has been done to check it, so it seems a shallow excuse at best. "We had contact via a third party about a meeting," says Pooley. "I'm hopeful but sceptical." Pooley is more positive about the campaign by the organisers of the Tour of Britain to put on a women's Tour that will push health and fitness and will be, the organisers hope, equal in terms of prize money and backup for the competitors. "I would like to see it on the same roads as the men's race but I understand about the road closure situation. I know Guy Elliott [of Sweetspot, the Tour of Britain organisers] is really passionate about women's cycling and I'm sure it will be a huge success." Pooley is damning about the candidates for the presidency of the UCI, the incumbent, Pat MacQuaid, and the challenger, Brian Cookson, who have espoused the cause of women's cycling only recently after many years involvement at the highest level. "They are doing it to save face because they don't want to be seen as old-fashioned bigots," said Pooley. "They've been on the UCI commissions for many years in which women's cycling has gone downhill. There are people at the UCI who are really pro-women's cycling but fine words butter no parsnips. What they are saying sounds great but it's all talk. I haven't heard a specific suggestion from either of them." With good reason she seems sceptical about the government conjuring £10m to help fund the Tour de France's visit to Yorkshire, and equally so about this weekend's RideLondon event, in which Peter Sagan and David Millar, among others, will race through Surrey. The point about the disparity in what is held up as an Olympic legacy event is simply made by Pooley: "They will close the roads for RideLondon [on Sunday] but the women will get a criterium on Saturday evening."

Bernie Ecclestone has advised Ferrari to sign-up Fernando Alonso should it have a vacancy to fill for 2018. With each passing race, Alonso's prospects of remaining at McLarelen next season appear to fade, but reasonable opportunities for the Spaniard may prove few and far between. Asked last weekend in Baku who Ferrari should sign if the team has a vacancy for 2018, former F1 supremo Ecclestone answered: "Alonso, of course. "He is one of the best F1 drivers of all time," he told the Spanish newspaper ABC. Flavio Briatore, who handles Alonso's affairs along with business manager Luis Garcia Abad, would not rule out a return of Alonso to the House of Maranello. "He always got along with everyone and only had problems with Mattiacci," Briatore, referring to the now-departed former Ferrari boss, told Italian radio Rai. "In this life you cannot exclude anything. Fernando is a bit like Senna, who had no problem with any team -- he only needs a car capable of winning." "In Formula 1 there are only two teams racing to win -- Ferrari and Mercedes. "McLaren can only be a top team if they change engines," he added. "We'll see. Red Bull and Force India can have good races, as we saw in Baku." GALLERY: F1 drivers' wives and girlfriends Keep up to date with all the F1 news via Facebook and Twitter LAST CHANCE to enter our ULTIMATE TRACKDAY competition! FREE ENTRY HERE!

Theresa May as PM – What Will the Impact be on UK Prisons? After the EU referendum, the UK was plunged into relative chaos, with David Cameron resigning as Prime Minister in the wake of the results. Under a month later, the country has a new PM; in the shape of former Home Secretary, Theresa May. Female PM Whilst it’s good to see a woman taking the helm of the government (only the second in British history), some people are confused about her political stance on certain issues. In this article, we’ll explore some of May’s previous opinions on matters to do with UK prisons; and predict how they might affect her decisions in the future. Police and Crime In 2010, May announced significant cuts to the Home Office budget, which resulted in a reduction of police officers. This wasn’t a popular decision. However, three years later, she announced that crime had fallen by over 10% in the country, despite the budget cuts. She expressed the belief that this was due to the government scrapping targets and removing unnecessary red tape – thus allowing police officers to get on with their jobs. In the past, May has been outspoken in her concern about ‘stop-and-search’ police checks. At a Conservative Party speech in 2014, she highlighted the fact that black people were six times more likely to be stopped than white people, and commented: “This is hugely damaging to public confidence in the police. It’s a dreadful waste of police time.” Human Rights In 2011, May called for the Human Rights Act to be axed, a suggestion that was backed by David Cameron. Her reason for suggesting it was due to the ‘problems’ the act caused the Home Office; and she also highlighted “the sort of problems we have in being unable to deport people who perhaps are terrorist suspects. Obviously, we’ve seen it with some foreign criminals who are here in the UK.” There was outcry over the suggestion, with Sadiq Khan (then Shadow justice minister) referring to it as “another fantasy policy from Theresa May” and adding that “when Tory ministers blame the Human Rights Act, it’s usually an excuse not to sort out the problem or a cover for their own failing policies.” Shami Chakrabarti, director for the Human Rights organisation Liberty, added: “Only a pretty ‘nasty party’ would promote human rights in the Middle East whilst scrapping them at home.” Conflict with Gove? It’s recently been announced that Gove has been sacked from his position as Minister of Justice. However, as yet, no-one knows what the implications are for his prison reform scheme – and whether it will still go ahead as planned. Some people doubt May’s commitment to the reform plans. Chris Grayling (former Minister for Justice) is a close ally of hers, and during his time overseeing prisons, was known for his tough attitude of ‘punishment over rehabilitation’. Back in 2010, when Ken Clarke was Minister for Justice, May openly distanced herself from his proposals for a ‘rehabilitation revolution’ – and stated that “prison works”. However, she also admitted that it could “work better”. The Future of Prisons Under Theresa May? At present, the UK’s political future is still uncertain. With parties calling for another general referendum, and Brexit negotiations looming on the horizon, it’s difficult to see how May could devote time to focusing on UK prisons. Her attitudes to crime, human rights and prisons in the past have been conflicting – and at present, it’s difficult to predict what her decisions will be in the future. References: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theresa_May http://press.conservatives.com/post/98799073410/theresa-may-speech-to-conservative-party http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-15140742 http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2010/dec/14/prison-works-says-theresa-may

Welcome to the 4th Industrial Revolution An interesting read about the future… In 1998, Kodak had 170,000 employees and sold 85% of all photo paper worldwide. Within just a few years, their business model disappeared and they went bankrupt.What happened to Kodak will happen in a lot of industries in the next 10 years and, most people won’t see it coming. Did you think in 1998 that 3 years later you would never take pictures on film again? Yet digital cameras were invented in 1975. The first ones only had 10,000 pixels, but followed Moore’s law. So as with all exponential technologies, it was a disappointment for a time, before it became way superior and became mainstream in only a few short years. It will now happen again with Artificial Intelligence, health, autonomous and electric cars, education, 3D printing, agriculture, and jobs. Welcome to the 4th Industrial Revolution. Welcome to the Exponential Age. Software will disrupt most traditional industries in the next 5-10 years.

United States Attorney General Jeff Sessions vows medical cannabis has no medicinal value and science still contradicts his stance By Michael Bachara Hemp News Attorney General Jeff Sessions, the ever outspoken cannabis prohibitionist, has been pushing for Congressional permission to prosecute medical cannabis providers in states that have legalized the drug for medical use. AG Sessions, who points to America’s “historic drug epidemic” to justify the crackdown, denies extensive research showing medical cannabis access lowers rates of opioid-related overdose. In a recent study, which analyzed hospitalization records from 1997 to 2014 in 27 states, researchers from the University of California San Diego found hospitalization rates of people suffering from painkiller abuse and addiction dropped on average 23 percent in states that offered medical cannabis. “Medical marijuana laws may have reduced hospitalizations related to opioid pain relievers," Yuyan Shi, the study’s author and University of California San Diego public health professor, said. “This study and a few others provided some evidence regarding the potential positive benefits of legalizing marijuana to reduce opioid use and abuse, but they are still preliminary.” There have been other studies that have analyzed the connection between medical marijuana and reduced opioid prescriptions, including one published n the journal JAMA Internal Medicine in 2014 that found a 25 percent decrease in opioid overdose deaths in states with legal medical marijuana. Tom Angell, chairman of the national advocacy group Marijuana Majority, thinks, “If Sessions is planning a crackdown, it’s going to create even more political problems for an already beleaguered administration.” “The President promised repeatedly during the campaign to respect local marijuana policies, and huge majorities of voters—across party lines—support letting states implement their own laws without federal interference. This is a fight that the administration should not want to pick," Angell said. “I have been waiting for the other shoe to drop,” says Keith Stroup, founder of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML), in Washington D.C. He feels that Sessions, who once declared that “good people don’t smoke marijuana,” will find ways to “throw a monkey wrench into the regulatory systems in place in the full legalization states.” Recently, a Quinnipiac poll found that 94 percent of Americans now favor legalizing medical cannabis under a doctor’s care, and 61 percent support legalizing recreational use. Photo Source: Google Images

Australian governments heavily subsidise car, bus and train commuting, but not cycling. Yet a new survey shows many workers would consider riding to work if they got paid for it, and most would even support it if they didn't participate, because of the wider benefits for cutting road congestion. The list of existing transport subsidies is long. Fuel tax receipts have fallen so low that they now fail to pay for road-building programs as they once did. Company car concessions remain one of the largest distortions in the Australian tax code and a severe hit to the federal budget. Many employers provide free car parking at great cost, and few jurisdictions impose parking levies. Fare subsidies on Australian public transport are very high relative to other countries, especially considering how poorly our rail networks perform. Would cash help get Australians out of their cars and onto their bikes? Credit:Glenn Hunt The welcome rise of bicycle commuting seen in all our major central business districts over the past two decades is helping save all city workers from congestion on the roads and crushes on trains and buses. Getting more Australians cycling to work provides considerable health, economic and environmental advantages for government, society and the riders themselves, and the infrastructure to provide for it is, relatively speaking, extremely cheap. The question is: how do we get more people to do it? Car comforts

Update: Stretch Goal So we've hit our initial goal, which is absolutely amazing! I've got another challenge for everyone. If we can get to 200 total backers by the end of our project, Monday April 14 at 10 pm, then Rocket 88 will throw a private party at the shop for all our Kickstarter backers. This will be an event not to be missed only open to our awesome backers. If you haven't donated, make it happen. If you have already donated, continue to spread the word. Who We Are Rocket 88 Doughnuts is a brand new doughnut shop opening in the Fountain Square/downtown area of Indianapolis in the fall of 2014. We are a craft doughnut shop striving to create a unique doughnut customer experience within the Indianapolis market. Rocket 88 is looking to fill a void in the current doughnut and bakery marketplace in Indianapolis. Patrick Burtch will serve as the primary owner of Rocket 88 Doughnuts. Patrick is currently a business educator at an Indianapolis high school. He brings experience running a student cafe at his school as well as a background in a wide array of business ventures. Patrick is passionate about the local food scene in Indianapolis and helping to foster relationships within this community. Rachel Layne will serve as the head baker for Rocket 88 Doughnuts. Rachel is currently working towards her Pastry Arts degree from the Chef's Academy. Rachel also has experience working in a coffee shop. Rachel brings enthusiasm and creativity to Rocket 88, and she is excited to serve her doughnut goodies to the community. Unique, Local, and Natural Unique, local, and natural are the cornerstones of Rocket 88's mission. We will be serving our customers with a doughnut experience that they will not have the opportunity to get anywhere else in Indianapolis. Our focus will be on both perfecting the doughnut classics but also bringing truly unique and innovative flavors to our customers. We want to explore the tremendous flavor possibilities that doughnuts encompass. Flavors could range from carrot cake to espresso to sweet potato to lemon poppyseed and anything else our creativity can envision. We will also provide our vegan and gluten free friends with consistent offerings to allow them to enjoy our doughnuts. Our other major focus will be on sourcing our products from local suppliers/farms as much as possible. We want to support the tremendous local food community in Indianapolis as this is very close to our heart. We will also source products that our organic and natural to minimize our impact on the planet. Environmental stewardship and sustainability is very important to Rocket 88, and it will guide many of our daily decisions. Customer Experience Rocket 88 wants to create a vibrant and welcoming environment for our customers. Whether you are picking up a couple dozen doughnuts for your office or grabbing a doughnut and coffee while hanging out with a friend, Rocket 88 will strive to be a comfortable and inviting space for all our customers. We are very much committed to our local community, and we look forward to the opportunities within the community our shop will afford us. We view our customers like close friends and family, and we want our customers to feel the same way about us. Why We Need Your Help Rocket 88 is using Kickstarter to raise money for our doughnut equipment needs. We are currently looking to purchase a deep fryer, refrigeration units, and other doughnut specific equipment including: dough sheeter, work tables, doughnut glazer, doughnut depositor, and other smaller items. All of this equipment will make our baking experience much more organized and efficient. With the proper equipment, Rocket 88 will be better able to provide our customers with the best possible doughnut experience. We Love Our Supporters Check out our awesome rewards that we will be offering our amazing supporters. We greatly appreciate all your help and support. Because of our appreciation, we are providing our backers with some really unique reward opportunities. How about a doughnut party at the shop? Check. How about designing a doughnut yourself for the shop? Check. How about getting a doughnut named after you? Check. All of these rewards are within your grasp. Timeline We are working diligently to get Rocket 88 launched by this fall (no pun intended). Here's our timeline for the next few months: April - Finalize financing and wrap up Kickstarter project May - Secure a retail space in Fountain Square/downtown area June - Purchase equipment to outfit shop and design the interior of the shop Summer 2014 - Set up at local festivals and fairs to sell our doughnuts to customers to begin to spread the word about Rocket 88 July/August - Obtain proper permits with the state and city and begin build out of the interior of the space August/September - Finalize and perfect our initial menu offerings September/October - Official grand opening of Rocket 88 Social Media

Copyright by WPRI - All rights reserved Photo by Stan Sniezyk Copyright by WPRI - All rights reserved Photo by Stan Sniezyk Shaun Towne; Reporting by Susan Campbell - EXETER, R.I. (WPRI) -- "It just broke my heart because everyone in this cemetery fought under that banner and every fiber of that flag is their blood, sweat, and tears." Stan Sniezyk visits his father's grave every week at the Rhode Island Veterans Cemetery, and that was his reaction when he saw piles of torn and tattered American flags at the cemetery in Exeter last weekend. The photos Sniezyk submitted to Call 12 for Action showed two piles of flags: one by a dumpster and the other by an open storage shed. His photos were shared thousands of times on social media within a couple of days and sparked fury, especially among veterans and their families. "I've been getting messages from California, Texas, Connecticut, Florida," he said. "People are absolutely outraged at what they've done, how they've disgraced the American flag in a veterans cemetery of all places." Kasim Yarn, the state's new director of Veterans Affairs, was one of the people who saw the photos online and said he went right to the cemetery. "I was speechless when I saw," he recalled. "Flags were not stowed properly and prepared for proper disposal. Flags were in bags, on the ground. The place was a mess, totally. Procedures weren't being followed." Yarn said he's implementing updated policies to make sure flags are properly folded and stored, as well as starting a new inspection process at the cemetery. "At very minimum, I will go there weekly and walk around," he said. "I will open up all those doors, every facility, to ensure things are being placed in a proper manner." The flags seen in the photos were properly burned after the cemetery got a permit from the Exeter Fire Department.

My colleague Moritz of EclipseSource recently came across Google Auto, a collection of Java code generators. AutoValue is one of them and generates Java code for immutable objects. It provides an annotation and an annotation processor to generate Java code for immutable value objects. The current version is labelled RC1 and a 1.0 release is soon to come. The idea is to have an abstract class that defines the outside behavior, and the annotation processor will do the rest. For each desired field, an abstract accessor method is defined. Finally, a factory method is needed to create instances of the generated class. @AutoValue abstract class Person { static Person create( String name, int age ) { return new AutoValue_Person( name, age ); } abstract String name(); abstract int age(); } After running the processor, you will also have an AutoValue_Person class that lives in the same package and implements the accessor methods to return the field values. It also implements equals, hashCode and toString. This is how the generated code looks like: final class AutoValue_Person extends Person { private final String name; private final int age; AutoValue_Person(String name, int age) { if (name == null) throw new NullPointerException("Null name"); this.name = name; this.age = age; } String name() { return name; } ... public String toString() { ... } public boolean equals(Object o) { ... } public int hashCode() { ... } } As you can see, there is no magic involved. The processor generates readable and debug-steppable code without any runtime-dependencies. Aspects of nullability, serialization, custom implementations of equals, hashCode and toString and more can be customized. Follow the link in the project’s readme for all the details. I quite like the idea of a small tool that does one thing and does it well. A good share of writing EqualsTester was motivated through testing equals and hashCode for – you guess it – immutable value objects. If AutoValue had been around then, it might have saved some effort. However, this tool would be of limited practical use if it didn’t integrate well into your IDE of choice. Integrate AutoValue into Eclipse When using AutoValue in an IDE, you will likely want to have the code generated as soon as you save the source file. My IDE of choice is Eclipse, and thus I took these steps to integrate the annotation processor in Eclipse. Rules for annotation processing in Eclipse must be specified per project. Hence, the first thing is to enable annotation processing for the project that uses the processor (Project properties > Java Compiler > Annotation Processing). By default, the generated code is written to a separate source folder (Generated source directory setting) so that it can be excluded from version control. Next, I told Eclipse where to find the annotation processor for @AutoValue annotations. The processor is packaged together with the annotation itself in the auto-value-1.0-rc1.jar. Starting with this jar and going along its dependency chain, I ended up with these libraries that are necessary to run the processor (all available from Maven Central): auto-service-1.0-rc1.jar guava-16.0.1.jar jsr-305-2.0.3.jar auto-value-1.0-rc1.jar Well, everything comes at a price. However, adding these jars to the Factory Path is sufficient. The processor (re-)generates code for every @AutoValue annotated class within the project whenever I hit Ctrl+S – very sleek… What is left, is to make the setup easily consumable for other team members. The problem here is to place the jars in a location that is portable across different developer computers. I didn’t find a solution other than checking the settings and the ~2MB of jars into the source code repository. While having binaries in a repository certainly isn’t desirable, having every team member pull the jars from someplace is as bad. Please share your thoughts if you know a way out of this dilemma.

Upon the liberation of Kobane, Kurdistan Region Prime Minister, Nechirvan Barzani, congratulated Syrian Kurdish fighters and the Peshmerga, and all defenders of freedom around the world. He also expressed his gratitude to Turkey and other allies for their support and participation. The following is the text of the message: On the occasion of the liberation of the town of Kobane we offer our heartfelt congratulations to the Syrian Kurdish fighters, our Peshmerga, people of Kobane, and all the people of Kurdistan and those who support freedom around the world. We especially congratulate President of the Kurdistan Region Masoud Barzani who treated Kobane the same as Sinjar and other parts of Kurdistan. He tirelessly worked to ensure our allies would provide critical assistance and secure access for our Peshmerga forces. I offer my gratitude to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu who were key to our Peshmerga securely reaching Kobane. Critical to the liberation of Kobane was the assistance of the United States and allies with air support and arms and ammunition. And I offer profound gratitude to the Government of Turkey for welcoming and helping thousands of refugees from Kobane. Kobane became a strong symbol of resistance and defiance to ISIS terrorist organisation. All of Kurdistan’s people including political parties were united in one voice to help Kobane. Today on the occasion of its liberation by young Syrian Kurdish men and women fighters as well as our Peshmerga, I congratulate all political parties in this part of Kurdistan and every single Kurdistani. I hope very soon all villages and towns of Kobane will also be liberated along with all Kurdistani lands occupied by ISIS terrorists. This victory was achieved due to the undaunted efforts and sacrifices on the ground of Syrian Kurdish fighters and our Peshmerga. We should never forget the many martyrs of Kobane and other parts of Kurdistan. The Kurdistan Regional Government is doing its utmost to assist refugees from Kobane and will continue to provide whatever assistance needed to this steadfast city.\ Nechirvan Barzani Prime Minister Kurdistan Regional Government 26 January 2015

The International Program Dance Club (IPDC) of the Indonesia Islamic University (UII) in Yogyakarta has won numerous awards at the 9th International Folklore Festival (Interfolk) in Saint Petersburg, Russia. The competition was held at the city's Concert Hall and Kaskad Cultural Center from Nov. 11 to 15. During the five-day competition, the group showcased three Acehnese dances, namely Rapai Geleng, Tarek Pukat and Ratoh Jaroe. (Read also: Eko Supriyanto's 'Cry Jailolo' dazzles in Paris festival) Antara news agency reported that the IPDC had brought home a total of six trophies and six prizes, including First Prize for Folk Dance in the 18 to 45-year-old category, Star of Interfolk 2016, Jury Prize for Best Accompaniment Music, Jury Prize for Best Artistry, Jury Prize for Performance Mastery and Gold Diploma for Music Accompaniment, Performance Mastery and Best Artistry. These achievements have given the dance group the opportunity to participate in next year's international cultural festival in Armenia. Indonesian Ambassador to Russia and Republic of Belarus, Wahid Supriyadi, congratulated the team. “We’re proud to see UII Yogyakarta’s achievement in the competition, particularly seeing Indonesia represented by students who come from different backgrounds. Hopefully, this achievement will motivate UII’s students to compete in other international festivals, as well as become a role model for other Indonesian dance groups,” said Wahid. (jes/kes)

Bryce's alarm goes off at 4:40am. His gym clothes are already laid out - the daily routine is set: a workout, followed by the first of his six meals - carefully weighed and packaged, to be eaten at exact intervals through the day. After work, it's back to the gym. He's in bed early - ready to repeat the process the next day, and every day. This gruelling regime has transformed Bryce from a self described runt to a physique competitor with a supplements sponsorship, on the brink of starting steroids. He documents his "transformation" on Instagram - tan soaked abs, food prep and dozens of photos in front of the mirror, phone in hand, flexing and smiling through gritted teeth. Every day you just wake up and want to be that little better, little bit bigger, little bit more cut," he says ahead of the TV special Hack Live on Body Obsession. Bryce is not alone - Australians spend a massive $8.5 billion each year on gym memberships, sports equipment and the latest fitness trends. About a thousand new gyms - mostly cheap, 24 hour operations - have opened in the past 5 years. And while protein shakes, pre-workout pick-me-ups and creatine supplements used to belong to the world of bodybuilders, now everyday gym members are getting onboard. According to market research company Euromonitor International, Australians will spend $860 million on sports nutrition products this year. Muscle dysmorphia researcher Scott Griffiths says the names of some supplements - including "Anabolic Injection" and "Testosteroid" - are deliberately designed to blur the lines with steroids. "You'd be naive if you think the marketers aren't mimicking the extreme efficacy of steroids," he says. He suggests supplements can become like a gateway drug for anabolic steroids - synthetic variants of the male sex hormone testosterone. While anabolic steroids have therapeutic purposes, they're also used illegally to enhance muscle size and performance. "The pathway to steroid use for a lot of guys starts off with protein powder here, maybe they put some creatine with it, maybe then they think 'God it'd be good to try testosterone booster'... That familiarisation with using powders and pills to achieve your goals makes it more comfortable for you to eventually use steroids." According to the Australian Crime Commission's 2012-2013 Illicit Drug Data Report, the number of performance and image enhancing drugs detected at the Australian border has increased a staggering 750 per cent over the past decade. The number of steroid seizures and arrests has also continued to increase nationally and is at its highest number on record. Skip Instagram Post FireFox NVDA users - To access the following content, press 'M' to enter the iFrame. A video posted by triplejHack (@triplejhack) on Mar 13, 2016 at 2:25pm PDT In a 2013 University of Sydney survey of 127 amateur bodybuilders, close to 50 per cent admitted to using anabolic steroids. "There's probably a large proportion that don't admit it," says survey author Dr Daniel Hackett. He says even in so-called natural associations, many competitors will run the risk of using steroids by hoping their random drug check comes at the right time. Dr Hackett agrees that steroids are making their way out of the realms of high pressure competitions and into local gyms. There is a strong culture towards the use of anabolic steroids. When you go down to your local gym you'd be quite blind if you'd didn't see that there are people that look a little bit unnatural." Often sourced on the black market, the quality and strength of anabolic steroids can be questionable. Twenty-two year old Clay*, who started using steroids two years ago, was hospitalised after taking a dodgy batch. "I couldn't breathe, I kept coughing - it was like a whooping cough almost - and then after four hours I went to stand up, got lightheaded, coughed, passed out on the floor. "There was fluid in the bottom of my lungs so for four days I had to make sure the fluid was out because I couldn't get a proper breath in," he says. The health risks don't stop there. According to Dr Daniel Hackett, about 25 per cent of users will become addicted. There are documented links between the use of steroids and complications with the heart, liver and kidneys. Skip Instagram Post FireFox NVDA users - To access the following content, press 'M' to enter the iFrame. A photo posted by Bryce Whatley (@bryce_whatley_fit) on Mar 3, 2016 at 11:03pm PST The body will try to adapt to the increased testosterone by scaling back its natural production, leading to testicular atrophy, or shrunken balls. "Over time the body will get used to having something injected or orally taken to increase the levels of hormones. Your body will stop producing it normally," says Dr Hackett. "It is one of those cracker joke kind of things that the bigger the guy, the smaller his balls are," says Clay. If you've already got a small set they probably would get down to the size of grapes, maybe even raisins if you're unfortunate." There's also the much contested link between rage and steroids - or 'roid rage'. While the science doesn't tell us steroids cause anger - researchers say there appears to be a link. Dr Hackett says it's not known if that's just because people likely to use steroids may be more likely to lose their temper already. Clay says he's felt 'roid rage' - just once. After an altercation in traffic he got out of his car and started a fight with someone he says was driving dangerously. "I saw red," he says. After it was over, he was so stunned by his own behaviour, which he says was completely out of character, that he called the police to tell them what he had done. He's also felt another much documented side effect - depression. "I had a bad break up with a partner... it was a combination of a really, really f***ed up situation that happened and on top of that the only reason I felt as bad as I did was steroid related," he says. It's like playing Russian roulette." The health risks weighed heavily on Bryce's mind as he considered whether to pursue his first ever steroid cycle. He manages his depression with medication but it still overwhelms him at times and he knows steroids can make it worse. "From a health point of view it's crazy, it doesn't make sense. But from a muscle point of view - it's the number one option." He's hesitant to get professional advice, because he doesn't want to follow it. "I have thought about seeing a counsellor and a doctor before I start steroids but I know the last time I went in for a checkup at the doctor I wanted to talk to him about my medication... and he gave me the talk on how bad steroids are for you... particularly for mental health. "That doesn't encourage me to go and seek professional advice because they're going to turn around and say no - straight out - and that's not the answer you're looking for... I can't deal with just a no," he says. Skip Instagram Post FireFox NVDA users - To access the following content, press 'M' to enter the iFrame. A photo posted by Bryce Whatley (@bryce_whatley_fit) on Jan 29, 2016 at 12:53am PST He hopes that in becoming bigger, he'll be happier and the immense sacrifice will be worth it. "It looks like I'm becoming more desperate to be bigger. I'm getting to that stage where I'd almost do anything. I already do so much and there's still the need to get bigger." The day you started lifting is the day you became forever small." "It's pretty common to see all over Facebook 'the day you started lifting is the day you became forever small'," says Bryce. It's a sentiment he shares. For Bryce, the goalposts keep shifting. There doesn't seem to be such a thing as 'big enough'. Clinical psychologist Ben Buchanan says 50 per cent of weight lifters have some sort of body image problem, and around 17 per cent are at risk of having muscle dysmorphia - a form of body disorder related to obsessing over muscle size. Bryce has spent a lot of time wondering if he might have it, given he's willing to put so much on the line in order to achieve his ideal body. "The battle between mental health versus physical health is so blurred for me most of the time. It's gone from a healthy lifestyle to one where I'm really fit but it's not healthy. My lifestyle isn't healthy. It was," he says. "I've struggled long enough with body image that now it's like maybe it's going to be worth it if I have the physical results I think I deserve." If you're struggling with steroids or thinking about taking them yourself, advice is available from DrugInfo: 1800 85 85 84. If you're struggling with body image or an eating disorder, there's always someone you can talk to at the Butterfly Foundation - 1800 ED HOPE // 1800 33 4673 or Lifeline - 13 11 14. *Name has been changed Check out Hack Live on Body Obsession tomorrow at 9:35pm AEST on ABC2, or stream live on iview.

FPS-Booster v3! [Pre-Release] Last Update: February 10th, 2015. PLEASE READ Known Bugs Listed Bellow Before Downloading/Using! This Is A Pre-Release I really wanted to just get this out there to people, This edition. ill be fixing the rest of it soon! but this is what i have for now. enjoy Welcome to the New And Improved FPS-Booster mod page! FPS-Booster's main purpose is to boost your game performance. Not your skills ofcourse, But your framerate! What is "Framerate"? Well the simple version is, All games have something in common, And thats called "Frames Per Second". The Preferred/Desired framerate is either 30, Or 60. However, Some peoples computers, Just can't run this game at 30, Or 60 fps. So what aimed to do, is make it so people with computers who can't reach that 60 fps, Reach atleast 30! How does this mod improve my Framerate? Well in starbound, Backgrounds cause large amounts of lag, on your graphics card[Or otherwise known as GPU]. What FPS-Booster does is for those low end computers out there, is removes them so players can still play. So playing on things such as labtops with poor graphics chips can still play, Provided they got processing power & arn't on power saving mode! ] Why do i need this mod? Well, Not everyone does! But there are a select few who need it and i aim to target that specific audience, So they can enjoy this wonderful game with the rest of us. I know exactly how it feels when i buy a game, and i can't run it, It just blows. Granted since your reading this, I mean you! [More than likely anyways How to install: -Delete the old FPSBooster mod! Very important you do! -Extract mod into mods folder. Heres on how to install mods now: Basically it just says drop extracted mod into Starbound\VersionNameHere\mods\ [This version is starbound\giraffe\mods\] -IMPORTANT: Make sure within the folder you extracted, has several folders & a file called fpsbooster.modinfo (.modinfo may or may not appear depending on your OS type[Windows/Mac/Linux/Other], just make sure the fpsbooster file is present!) -Done And Enjoy. Modpack Permsisions: Feel free to modify, Distribute, Re-Distribute anywhere you feel like! Aslong as your not claiming its all done by you, Feel free to do whatever you wish with this mod. Its really up to you on what you do with this mod. Want to make it compatible with others? Go ahead! Want to re-release a "light" version of it? Go for it! Just make sure you add me(Bert John) into the credits! Bugs! For V3 Sometimes after death, And returning to a planet will cause the game to make big colourful circles in the sky Weird shapes appear in the sky, Still unknown what this is, Trying to find it/remove it! Using this mod seems to slow down the game, But increase framerate, i suspect the integration of my mod changes to the game assets is at fault here, probably doesnt like that these are still raw files. But hey, beta! Compatibility: -Still incompatible with mods like Spacebound & Various other graphics altering mods. Specifically vannila parallaxs. Aswell as mods that use vanilla starbound assets. Like My W o r k? Please Give It A Like Below! Or comment.

News By John Jalsevac Canada, August 15, 2006 (LifeSiteNews.com) – To celebrate communist dictator Fidel Castro’s 80th birthday, this past Sunday the Star newspaper printed a lengthy piece by Alexandre (Sacha) Trudeau, in which the young man lovingly describes the Cuban dictator as a benevolent disciplinarian father figure, calling him “something of a superman.” Castro, writes Trudeau, is “more in the vein of a great adventurer or a great scientific mind.”“He lives to learn and to put his knowledge in the service of the revolution.” He is, Sacha continues with increasingly ornate and passionate rhetoric, “a visionary statesman in a world where his kind have long since been replaced by mere managers, a 20th-century icon still present in the 21st century.” In his piece, entitled “the last days of the patriarch”, Sacha recognizes the controversy that surrounds the statesman, but gently dismisses the cries of Cubans struggling under the weight of a totalitarian government and abject poverty as the complaints of restless children under the eyes of a disciplinarian father figure. “Castro’s leadership can be something of a burden, too,” he writes. “[Cubans] do occasionally complain, often as an adolescent might complain about a too strict and demanding father.” And it is true, he admits, that the people are given little or no freedom, and that the country is abjectly poor. That, however, is because the tyrannical United States tormented the small island state, forcing Castro into choosing totalitarianism as the surest means to defend his country from America’s mercilessÂimperialism. It is not, suggests Trudeau, Castro’s fault that he is a dictator. Fidel is so charismatic, strong, and ambitious in the quest for what is right and just that even his death, concludes Sacha, could never wipe out the memory and the influence of the dictator. Even after his death “Cubans will continue to be subjected to Castro’s influence. Whether they like it or not, they will continue to be called out by his voice, by his questions, by his inescapable rationality, which, whether they heed its call or not, demands they defend the integrity of Cuba and urges them to seek justice and excellence in all things.” Although the fond friendship that existed between Alexandre’s father, former Canadian Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau, and Fidel Castro, is no secret, the extent to which the younger Trudeau himself idolizes the Cuban dictator, not only as an astute politician, but as a man and an ideal, is striking many as nothing short of ridiculous, as well as disturbing. “Hopefully none of Trudeau’s children have any interest in getting involved in politics,” wryly commented Jim Hughes, president of Campaign life Coalition. “It is sick that this young man would have the gall to defend a mass murderer whose actions and ideals go against everything that a sane democratic society believes in. Is this what Pierre taught his son?” Some would argue that Sacha Trudeau’s defence of the virtues of totalitarianism and the totalitarian Cuban dictator, echo his father’s political leanings. In LifeSiteNews.com managing director Steve Jalsevac’s report on the life and influence of Castro,ÂJalsevac points out that Pierre Trudeau himself “reported favorably on Stalin’s totalitarianism in the magazine Cite Libre. He frequently expressed enthusiasm for Mao Tse Tung and China’s Communist regime… He greatly admired Cuba’s marxist despot Fidel Castro…Trudeau’s shout of ‘Vive Castro!’ at a large public event during the trip was broadcast around the world. Link Byfield, in a September 30, 2000 Globe and Mail column, stated Trudeau ‘was once overheard by reporters remarking to Fidel Castro how much quicker and easier it would be to run things the Cuban way’.” Post columnist Jonathon Kay, writing in today’s edition of the National Post, responded incredulously to Sacha’s glowing rhetoric about Castro. “What Sacha has written here is so ludicrous,” writes Kay, “that it puts into question everything he’s said or will say. Now that he’s written this glowing tribute to a dictator with blood on his hands, for instance, why should we believe his repeated claims that this or that Arab terrorism suspect is innocent? Why should we believe his reporting from Iraq, for that matter? If the romantic glory of ‘revolution’ is all that matters in Sacha’s political universe, surely jihadis are ‘supermen,’ too, no?” Kay juxtaposes Trudeau’s comments about the Cuban dictator against a recent report by Human Rights Watch. “Cuba,” reads that report, “remains a Latin American anomaly: an undemocratic government that represses nearly all forms of political dissent. President Fidel Castro, now in his 47th year in power ... continues to enforce political conformity using criminal prosecutions, long- and short-term detentions[and] mob harassment ... The end result is that Cubans are systematically denied basic rights to free expression, association, assembly, privacy, movement, and due process of law.” Read The Real Pierre Trudeau: Father of Canada’s Permissive Society, a special report by Steve Jalsevac: https://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2000/oct/001003a.html

The so-called BeyHive swarmed Tuesday afternoon around the social-media profiles of Trump surrogate Betsy McCaughey. The former New York lieutenant governor appeared on CNN the previous evening and quoted Beyoncé lyrics in an effort to absolve Trump of his crude words caught on leaked Access Hollywood audio tapes. “Hillary Clinton expresses that she finds the language on that bus ‘horrific,’ but in fact, she likes language like this: ‘I came to slay, bitch. When he F me good I take his ass to Red Lobster,’” McCaughey said, quoting Beyoncé’s hit song “Formation.” CNN host Don Lemon noted that despite this line of attack, musicians like Beyoncé are not currently running for president (also: the quoted lyrics are about consensual sex, while Trump’s hot mic words hinted at unsolicited sexual advances). Within hours, McCaughey felt the wrath of the pop star’s notoriously loyal fans, with her Facebook fan page becoming littered with bee emojis and jokes about Red Lobster.

In an aggressive exchange on Fox News, the former House speaker Newt Gingrich accused conservative TV host Megyn Kelly of bias against Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump as well as a “fascination with sex”. The row on Tuesday night between Kelly and one of Trump’s most stalwart supporters began when the host brought up the multiple sexual assault and misconduct allegations against the candidate. During the ensuing debate, which bordered on personal attacks, Gingrich said the host was “fascinated with sex” and Kelly urged him to “take your anger issues and spend some time working on them”. Dan Scavino, Trump’s director of social media, later responded on Twitter, saying Kelly had “made a total fool out of herself” and warning: “Watch what happens to her after this election is over.” The tiff marked the latest chapter in the back and forth between Kelly and the Trump campaign. It started in August 2015 when Trump suggested tough questioning from the Fox News host in the first debate of the Republican presidential primary was because she was menstruating. She “had blood coming out of her eyes, blood coming out of her wherever”, Trump said on CNN. Trump has since continued to make Kelly a target. The Republican nominee called her “crazy Megyn” in March and even tweeted at her during Tuesday’s vice-presidential debate. On Tuesday night, after Kelly listed off a series of events on the campaign trail that negatively affected Trump’s standing with female voters – a late-night tweet rampage against a former beauty queen, a leaked tape showing him bragging about sexually assaulting women – Gingrich protested that the amount of media attention focused on the allegations was not commensurate with other campaign issues. “I’m sick and tired of people like you using language that’s inflammatory that’s not true!” Gingrich shouted, adding. “I think that is exactly the bias that people are upset by!” Kelly replied: “I think that your defensiveness on this may speak volumes, sir. “What I said is,” she continued, “if Donald Trump is a sexual predator, then it’s a big story. And what we saw on that tape was Trump himself saying that he likes to grab women by the genitals and kiss them against their will. “That’s what we saw. Then we saw 10 women come forward after he actually denied doing it at a debate, to say: ‘That was untrue; he did it to me; he did it to me.’ We saw reporters, we saw people who had worked with him, people from Apprentice, and so on and so forth. He denies it it all, which is his right – we don’t know what the truth is.” “My point to you is, as a media story, we don’t get to say the 10 women are lying,” Kelly concluded. “We have to cover that story, sir.” Gingrich dismissed this and decried the amount of attention paid to sexual misconduct accusations against Trump. “You are fascinated with sex and you don’t care about public policy!” Gingrich responded. “And that’s what I get out of watching you tonight.” Kelly retorted: “I’m not fascinated by sex, but I am fascinated by protection of women and understanding what we’re getting in the Oval Office. “It’s not about me – it’s about the women and men of America, and the poll numbers show us that the women of America, in particular, are very concerned about these allegations.” The former speaker of the House of Representatives responded by “daring” Kelly to call former president Bill Clinton a “sexual predator”. She replied that her show had covered those issues at length and concluded the segment. “We’re gonna have to leave it at that, and you can take your anger issues and spend some time working on them, Mr Speaker.” “And you too,” Gingrich responded.

A woman who Transit Police say was "victimized by a sexual offender for over 30 minutes on the SkyTrain" helped police catch the suspect. The incident happened on May 23 around 4 p.m. PT after the woman boarded a train at King George Station in Surrey and sat down next to the window. At the Surrey Central Station a man got on and sat down right next to her, even though the train was nearly empty, according to a statement issued by police spokeswoman Anne Drennan on Thursday morning. "He allegedly placed his hand on the woman's bare thigh and although she tried to move away and pushed at his arm, he continued to touch her for the duration of the trip to Burrard Station," said the statement. "The young woman texted her mother but was too afraid of the man to do anything further." Victim tracks suspect Police say the sexual assault lasted for about 30 minutes. Then — at the Burrard Station — both of them got off the train and the woman followed the man out of the station and watched him board a bus as she called Transit Police. A 60-year-old Surrey man — who has record of similar sex offences — was arrested a short while later on a bus on Arbutus Street, said Drennan. Police have recommended he be charged with sexual assault. The suspect was released on a promise to appear in court in August, and under the condition that he not contact the woman or be on any SkyTrain or Canada Line property. Investigators are crediting the quick thinking of the woman and the excellent suspect description she provided for the arrest. 'She did everything right' Drennan praised the young woman's actions and said she did everything right. "It was very traumatizing for her. She felt trapped up against the window and she tried to stop him, but he didn't stop. She was scared by what he might do if she did something more overt," she said. Police recommend anyone travelling on transit add the Transit Police text number to their phones so they can alert police immediately without drawing attention to themselves. "We encourage anyone who is a victim or witness to this type of behaviour to text us directly and discreetly at 87 77 77," she said. "Everyone is texting all the time. You can text us in real time if you are being assaulted, and we can get officers to the next station."

(CNN) The shores of Hobart, Tasmania, have been twinkling a bright, neon blue the past few days, turning the water's surface into a scene that looks out of this world. Photographers have flocked to the glowing waters to witness the bioluminescent phenomenon firsthand. Jo Malcomson, owner of Blackpaw Photography , splashed in the water Monday while capturing the bright display at South Arm, a town on the outskirts of Hobart. "It was very much like entering into a magical wonderland. It's a childlike wondrous experience, which completely absorbs one's attention and captures one's imagination," she said. The bioluminescence is caused by blooms of large single-cell organisms called dinoflagellates. The particular dinoflagellate glowing in the Australian waters is the Noctiluca scintillans species. Dinoflagellates are very common in the ocean, explained Michael Latz, marine biologist and bioluminescence expert at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography in San Diego, California. JUST WATCHED Photographer captures bioluminescence Replay More Videos ... MUST WATCH Photographer captures bioluminescence 03:17 "For reasons we don't understand, they become very abundant and we call those blooms. During the night time, we get these fantastic displays," he said. These displays are fairly common and happened on coastlines in Australia, California, the Caribbean, as well as other locations. Malcomson said the blooms were a regular occurrence in this area, but the high concentration is fairly uncommon. The bigger the group of blooms, the bigger the potential for a light display in the water. The intense display of light occurs when the dinoflagellates are stimulated by external forces. These forces can be anything from a boat passing by, a wave breaking or someone throwing rocks into the water. The dinoflagellates on the coast of Tasmania are probably on their last leg, Latz said. Noctilucas create blooms that eventually burst and die. In the meantime, people can enjoy the breathtaking display. Malcomson said the past few days have been like stepping into a scene from the sci-fi adventure movie "Avatar" and that her family loves it. "The kids just go utterly crazy," she said. "My kids loved it so much I had to take them back the next night fully prepared with water pistols and buckets."

Tweet Cu riscul de a părea un bunic plicticos care repetă amintiri din armată, mă văd nevoit să reiau studiul de caz al celebrei Transalpina, drumul inutil şi exorbitant de scump care suie în Parâng la 2150m şi coboară apoi în Valea Lotrului, in the middle of nowhere, cum se zice. Nu de alta, dar cazul pare că va exploda zilele astea în freza unor liberali ca Orban şi Vosganian, care au făcut presiuni ca miniştri pentru aprobarea acestui proiect absurd. Şi în freza cine mai ştie cui, care a continuat cuminte investiţia după aceea, deşi ştia ce hram poartă contractorul Romstrade, recte Nelu Iordache, omul cu avionul şi probabil bidon transpartinic de fonduri. http://www.contributors.ro/dezbatere/transalpina/ Parcă văd că se vor consuma zilele astea zeci de ore de emisie TV, cu moderatori isterici sau în poziţia ficus, cu sau fără Orban şi Vosganian prin studiouri, cu atârnători de-ai lui Ponta trimişi să facă garagaţă politică – deci o mare pierdere de timp cu strigături confuze unii peste alţii, adică ceea ce trece la noi drept dezbatere, dar cu pierderea completă a fondului problemei: anume că înainte de execuţia proastă sau neregulile financiare, această investiţie nu trebuia să existe în primul rând, după orice logică a bunului simţ. Cu alte cuvinte, marea ei problemă e chiar oportunitatea, înainte de proasta execuţie şi mânărelile survenite ulterior. Şi ne întoarcem la vechea întrebare, discutată cu ocazia celuilalt dosar Vosganian, cel cu gazul ieftin pentru Ioan Niculae: cât de departe putem merge cu acceptarea prostiei guvernamentale ca apărare contra inculpării penale, dacă lucrurile s-au derulat procedural corect? Până unde putem spune, “a fost decizie politică a unui guvern legal ales, deci bună-proastă, asta e”, când inoportunitatea deciziei respective sare în ochi, se vede din avionul lui Nelu, să zic aşa, iar neglijenţa şi fuşereala în alocarea unor sume importante sunt uluitoare şi documentate negru pe alb? In cazul de faţă, cât de cretin să fii ca să spui că o investiţie de 400 milioane euro “permite accesul la domeniul schiabil X…” din moment ce drumul stă închis din toamnă şi până în primăvară, exact ca Transfăgărăşanul, din cauza condiţiilor meteo la acele altitudini? Adică, e asta o gogomănie de oportunitate suficient de mare ca să devină penală? In plus, un elev de clasa a Va care se uită pe harta de mai jos vede că accesul la Obârşia Lotrului şi noua pârtie de schi de lângă lacul Vidra, una foarte ok (când vor fi gata amenajările) există dintotdeauna pe DN7A (cu verde), vechiul drum care merge pe vale şi deci e deschis traficului şi peste iarnă. Pentru ce să traversezi un munte de 2200m ca să ajungi într-o vale unde există deja un drum? In caz că se dorea o investiţie utilă în zonă, putea fi reabilitat chiar DN7A, cu maxim 10% din costurile Transalpina, mai ales că iese la Brezoi, în Valea Oltului, deci se va lega cu viitoarea autostradă Piteşti-Sibiu. Iată deci că, departe de a fi o răzbunare politică, aşa cum spun liberalii şi precis se va dezbate nesfârşit zilele astea, chestiunea trebuie discutată în public în extenso pe fond, pentru că e un exemplu flangrant de decizie guvernamentală păguboasă, cuplată eventual cu proastă execuţie şi sifonare de bani. Dacă e să reproşăm ceva lui Ponta ar fi tocmai faptul că a întârziat prea mult spargerea buboiului: un raport public şi detaliat al Curţii de Conturi pe chestiune există şi e datat ianuarie 2013, deci probabil a fost întocmit în 2012, anul de maximă glorie USL-istă, cand nimeni nu făcea scheme anti-PNL prin instituţii. Mai important, raportul e scris neobişnuit de clar şi inteligent şi nu seamănă deloc a făcătură politică la comandă, aşa cum sunt unele rapoarte de acest fel. Dacă îl parcurgi, te iei cu mâinile de cap, pentru că este o radiografie precisă a catastrofei de management public numită CNADNR, sub toate aspectele sale. Il găsiţi aici. Raportul indică inclusiv mari presiuni de jos în sus, din partea unor “grupuri de interese regionale şi locale”, ceea ce e interesant de reţinut, fiind vorba de judeţul Gorj. De asemenea, e imposibil să nu observi că o investiţie majoră care a calamitat o întreagă zonă alpină cu trafic auto inutil, lângă o rezervaţie naturală, nu a provocat din 2009 şi până azi nici măcar un geamăt de protest din partea numeroaselor organizaţii ecologiste, care altfel suflă şi în iaurturi care nu există. Anunţarea, proiectarea şi execuţia a 40 km de drum s-au derulat perfect netulburate, inclusiv atunci când excavatoarele trimise de notre cher Ludovic şi Neluţu au intrat în păşunea alpină fără documentaţie de mediu, după cum arată Curtea de Conturi. Când interesele liberale au cerut-o, nu s-au mai găsit nici melci unicat mondial, nici monede dacice pe traseu, ca în cazul autostrăzilor. Remarcabil. Aşa, ca teasing, luaţi de aici câteva pasaje suculente privind oportunitatea investiţiei Transalpina, unde Curtea de Conturi doar că nu spune explicit, “băi, acest proiect poartă toate semnele de corupţie la nivel înalt”, dar o sugerează transparent ici colo. 2.5.1 Referitor la prioritatea obiectivului Nu au existat suficiente elemente credibile, reale şi fundamentate care să justifice demararea obiectivului de investiii, iar după ce opţiunea a fost făcută, derularea investiţiei a cumulat in practică, in mod inexplicabil, aproape toate tipurile de vulnerabilităţi, disfuncţionalităţi şi deficienţe constate de audit in activitatea specifică a companiei. „Transalpina” nu se regăseşte printre obiectivele naţionale prioritare, reglementate prin Legislaţia primară (OG 16/1999/ LG nr.1/2002, LG 203/2003 şi LG 363/2006), fiind o iniţiativă a conducerii MTI şi a celei a CNADNR, din anul 2008. Iniţierea şi aprobarea proiectului au fost făcute in condiţiile in care, aşa cum a fost prezentat anterior, numeroase obiective cuprinse in programele şi proiectele prioritare şi de interes public naţional şi in programele anuale de investiiţi ale companiei nu fuseseră demarate sau inregistrau restanţe semnificative – in majoritatea cazurilor motivaţia fiind aceeaşi, adică insuficienţa surselor de finanare. Necesitatea proiectului de investiţii nu a fost in mod real fundamentată, din punctul de vedere al importanţei, al economicităţii, eficienţei şi eficacităţii activităţii şi a utilizării fondurilor publice, avand in vedere că CNADNR nu a efectuat şi nu deţine o fundamentare formalizată, bazată pe date, analize comparative şi studii de impact credibile. Principalele argumente prin care s-a incercat justificarea demarării proiectului sunt cele inserate, la modul general, in studiul de fezabilitate, referitoare la: - imbunătăţirea condiţiilor de trafic şi creşterea vitezei de deplasare. - amplificarea turismului montan şi de agrement in zonele de interes turistic aflate in dezvoltare (staţiunea Ranca, Lacul Oaşa, lacurile glaciale Galbenul şi Petriman, localitatea Şugag din judeţul Alba). - facilitarea unor viitoare proiecte cu impact major asupra dezvoltării locale, atragerea investitorilor, sprijinirea creării de microintreprinderi ş.a. Argumentele invocate nu s-au bazat pe date, analize şi studii comparative cu privire la: - costurile semnificative ale investiţiei, de cca. 400 mil € – printre cele mai mari de pană atunci, cu excepţia autostrăzii „Transilvania”. - existenţa unor variante alternative pentru traversarea Carpaţilor Meridionali relativ apropiate şi viabile in timpul iernii (Valea Jiului şi Valea Oltului). - perioada anuală limitată, aprox. 6-7 luni, in care poate fi utilizat intregul traseu, ca urmare a căderilor de zăpadă şi a condiţiilor meteorologice aspre. - parcurgerea unor arii protejate şi a unor rezervaţii naturale aflate in zona traseului. - numărul semnificativ, la nivel naţional, al obiectivelor de investiţii, DN şi autostrăzi, neincepute sau incepute şi nefinalizate din cauza finanţării insuficiente. - exemplul oferit de DN 7C „Transfăgărăşan”: traseu care nu poate fi utilizat in intregime iarna, fiind inchis anual in perioada 1 noiembrie – 30 iunie, in zona de creastă (cca. 30 Km, intre Piscu Negru / Cabana Capra şi Cabana Balea Cascadă), ca urmare a căderilor masive de zăpadă şi a producerii avalanşelor; cheltuieli semnificative pentru intreţinere şi reparaţii; traseu utilizat in special pentru traficul uşor, relativ redus ş.a. … Managementul CNADNR nu s-a preocupat şi nici nu s-a implicat indeajuns pentru atribuirea şi pentru gestionarea performantă a contractului de proiectare şi execuţie lucrări, a avut o conduită neclară, uneori duplicitară, concretizată in decizii ineficiente pentru companie şi cel puţin discutabile prin inconsecvenţă, incoerenţă şi dezinteres. …. Auditul nu poate exclude posibilitatea ca, la baza disfuncţionalităţilor şi deficienţelor constatate, a inacţiunii in realizarea unor obligaţii şi atribuţii legale privind protecţia mediului, să se fi situat o anumită presiune, extrinsecă entităţilor respective, generată ascendent de anumite interese regionale, locale şi/sau de grup şi exercitată descendent prin parghii administrativ-ierarhice de la nivel central. Ai informatii despre tema de mai sus? Poti contribui la o mai buna intelegere a subiectului? Scrie articolul tau si trimite-l la editor[at]contributors.ro

Here is the 2016 version of this column. In that one, I wrote extensively about how MLS had begun its evolution from a tactically monochromatic league in the first part of the decade, one that relied primarily upon counterattacks before skewing strongly in the direction of "compact, robust 4-2-3-1 or death." It had evolved, I wrote at that point, to a generally and genuinely diverse collection of teams and talent. In 2016 that meant a few teams applying more high pressure, a few others stashing their playmaker in unusual spots, and one very notable team swapping to three at the back on something close to a full-time basis. In 2017, the league jumped out of the "innovators" part of the curve and rushed headlong into the "early adopters" segment. Almost everybody tinkered with a three- or five-man backline at least once or twice, and since coaches are copycats, let's all just tip our hats to Greg Vanney and Toronto FC for that. Vanney's team dominated down the stretch in 2016 once he switched up to a 3-5-2, and then dominated the bulk of this season while playing about 85 percent of their minutes out of that formation en route to their first Supporters' Shield win. So around the league there was a good chunk of emulation. But there was also a good chunk of teams going well outside the box. Jesse Marsch imagineered a formation and approach in Harrison that I'd literally never seen before, and his Red Bulls became the league's most tactically interesting team before nearly beating TFC in the playoffs. Was it a 3-6-1? A 5-4-1? I was most comfortable calling it a 3-3-3-1 since there were pretty obviously four lines of attack out there, but just putting numbers on it does it a real disservice. Gregg Berhalter, meanwhile, flipped his group into more of a true 3-6-1 for a stretch in the middle of the season before reverting back to the 4-2-3-1 for the stretch run. Tata Martino tinkered a little bit before settling on a 4-2-3-1 that was fast and intricate and direct and an utter joy to watch. Veljko Paunovic occasionally tried Bastian Schweinsteiger at sweeper, which was fun. Patrick Vieira resisted his tinkering impulses and kept his team in a 4-3-3 for the vast majority of the season, which resulted in a tighter defense, a more engaged high press, and the league's second-best record. The Western Conference tended to be a little more cookie-cutter. The Sounders stayed in their 4-2-3-1, which was sometimes dynamic and sometimes lethargic, and Sporting stayed in their 4-3-3 with their high press. Portland were actually the most direct team sweeping from back-to-front, always aiming to attack space, while Houston and Vancouver bunkered and countered their way into the playoffs. Ten of the top 12 possession teams in the league made the postseason, and you can see what tremendous outliers those last two were: Team Possession Atlanta United FC 57.76 Sporting Kansas City 57.57 New York Red Bulls 55.78 New York City FC 55.2 Seattle Sounders FC 53.34 Real Salt Lake 52.2 Chicago Fire 52.1 Columbus Crew SC 51.94 Toronto FC 51.78 Portland Timbers 50.81 Minnesota United FC 50.6 San Jose Earthquakes 49.87 FC Dallas 49.64 LA Galaxy 49.12 Orlando City SC 47.85 Montreal Impact 47.83 Philadelphia Union 45.57 New England Revolution 45.24 D.C. United 44.96 Colorado Rapids 44.26 Houston Dynamo 43.95 Vancouver Whitecaps FC 41.48 Still, this year was about the Reds. Both their top-end stars and their 1-through-30 depth led them to the best season in league history, and if it's fair to say that coaches are copycats (it is), it's probably also fair to say that general managers are as well. Will teams follow the TFC ethos of not just spending big on the Sebastian Giovincos of the world, but also of valuing the SuperDraft, of promoting players out of their USL affiliate, of investing in their academy? Some already have. Others are lagging. But it's that flexibility that led the Reds to their first MLS Cup, one in which utterly, entirely, ruthlessly dominated a very good Seattle team; took them apart; played them off the field; put together as comprehensive a Cup win as any team's had since the 2008 Crew, or maybe ever. That they did so by going away from the 3-5-2 and into a 4-4-2 diamond (one they'd played out of a bit here and there during the previous 24 months) just reinforces the point that roster flexibility leads to formational flexibility leads to tactical flexibility leads to wins. That all leads to championships. Thus, if the lesson of 2016 was, "Hey, we don't all have to do everything mostly the same way on the field," then the takeaway from 2017 was, "You know, maybe we should do more stuff the same way off the field." One other note: Atlanta were devastatingly fast in their transitions this year, and that straight murdered unprepared teams. TFC and NYCFC, meanwhile, were both better – cleaner distributing and receiving the ball – when they played fast rather than when they played slow. Same with RSL out West. I will guarantee you the 2018 season is gonna be about that. "Attack the defense before it can set" is going to replace "attack the pack" and "attack space" as the dominant approach for most of the top teams in the league. If you're not ready for it, then you're gonna have a bad time. You've all seen the official awards for the 2018 season, so I'm not gonna double up. Instead it's time for my own personal awards show. • Player Of The Year: Diego Valeri, Portland Timbers Want five minutes of magic? Here you go: I factor the whole year (regular season, playoffs, US Open Cup/Canadian Championship) into the equation, and I feel a touch awkward about giving this to a guy whose team won none of the above. But the Timbers, ravaged as they were by injury throughout the season, had no business being at the top of the Western Conference, and had no business putting together a late-season run that got them there. That they did so is a testament to Valeri. They basically would not have had a season if not for him. He was phenomenal, and LeBronned this team all the way to home field advantage while posting just the second 20/10 regular season in league history. There will be a statue of him outside Providence Park someday. Other arguments I'll listen to: Michael Bradley, Jozy Altidore, David Villa Bradley was the best, most consistent player on the best team Altidore had 15g/6a in the regular season, a road goal in the Canadian Championship, then game-winners in the Eastern Conference Championship & MLS Cup Villa's 22g/9a regular season was followed up by two goals in two games in the playoffs • Young Player Of The Year: Justen Glad, RSL RSL with Glad: 9-5-3, +13 goal differential. RSL without Glad: 4-10-3, -19 goal differential. He wasn't flawless – his momentary nap against LA cost his team a Bradford Jamieson goal, and that was part of what eventually cost them a playoff spot. But when Glad was on the field RSL were, by the numbers, the very best team in the Western Conference this season, and I'm happy to buy in 100 percent on correlation/causality there. He passed the eye test, and if he stays healthy he'll be in the running for Defender of the Year in 2018. Enjoy him while you've got him, Utahns (and hey, at least you know he won't be signing with the Celtics). For clarity: This award is for players born on/after January 1, 1995. Other arguments I'll listen to: Cristian Roldan, Yangel Herrera, Tyler Adams, Marky Delgado, Alberth Elis Roldan was always essential and often decisive for Seattle Herrera was my gut pick for this at first, but he just didn't play enough minutes due to injury and interational absence By July Adams was the league's best right back/wingback, then outplayed Bradley head-to-head at CM in RBNY's 1-0 playoff win at BMO Field Everything Roldan brought to Seattle over the past two years, Delgado brought to TFC in a treble-winning season On a per-minute basis Elis was one of the most productive wide attackers in the league • D-Mid of the Year: Bradley, TFC In MLS Cup he was the best player on the field. In the Canadian Championship he had the primary assist on the equalizer, then forced the turnover out of high pressure on the game-winner (and once again, folks, the Canadian Championship second leg was the most dramatic MLS-related game of the year). How many other d-mids hit this ball? In the regular season he led TFC in minutes and in the four games he didn't play, they were 1-1-2 with a -1 goal differential. In the 30 he did, they were 19-4-7, +38. It's utterly scandalous that he didn't make the Best XI this season. The voters should be ashamed of themselves. Other arguments I'll listen to: literally none (though Alex Ring was great through the end of July) • Fullback of the Year: Justin Morrow, TFC Ok and now I'm cheating. In the past it's been easy to give out this award (which is necessary, since fullbacks never get love for either Defender of the Year voting or Best XI) since just about everybody played with a back four. But now, with back threes becoming more prominent, we're seeing many guys who are wingbacks rather than fullbacks, and Morrow is at the head of that list. Nonetheless, the positions and responsibilities are similar enough for me to feel comfortable lumping them together. And Morrow, whether he was playing fullback or wingback, was superb for the Reds. Other arguments I'll listen to: Adams, Matt Polster, Kelvin Leerdam, Brandon Vincent, Greg Garza, Graham Zusi Polster's on/off splits were nearly as gaudy as Glad's Seattle's second-half defensive clampdown dovetailed nicely with Leerdam's arrival Vincent took a huge step forward in his second year, and his crossing is excellent Garza is probably the smartest attacking fullback in the league I understand that some folks are tired of Zusi, but he was a major part of the league's best defense while constantly pushing forward • Breakout Player of the Year: C.J. Sapong, Philadelphia Union This award is given to a player in his third year or beyond who evolves from "hey he's a pretty good player with potential and his hometown fans love him" to "wow, maybe everybody in the league should pay at least some attention here, because he's doing work." Given the year Sapong had – 16g/5a despite starting the year as a backup, and despite playing for a team devoid of creative midfielders – across 2800 minutes, this is a no-brainer. Sapong was their go-to scorer, their release valve in possession, their most creative passer of the ball in the final third, and a constant threat to draw fouls around the area. He'll never be a Villa-esque finisher, but his 2017 was a "Brian McBride in his prime"-style performance, and it was nice to see that translate to the friendly vs. Portugal as well. Sapong just turned 29, but remember that US attackers have a history of developing late. We could probably just name this award after Chris Wondolowski, after all, and he didn't have his breakout season (2010) until he was 27. Other arguments I'll listen to: Ike Opara, Joevin Jones Opara finally stayed (mostly) healthy for a full season, and won Defender of the Year. Maybe I should make Sapong 1A and Ike 1B Seattle ended up looking better with Jones as a winger, but regardless he lived up to his potential at two spots • Acquisition of the Year: Tata Martino, Atlanta United I could also just write "the entire Atlanta United attack" or any number of things bigging up the Five Stripes, and they'd all have validity. Miguel Almiron was exceptional, as were the other attackers, as were the veterans in central midfield, as was Garza at left back, as was Julian Gressel out of the SuperDraft, Josef Martinez broke MLS, etc etc etc. And now teams are tripping all over themselves to try to copy this team's blueprint, and I think it's going to make the league better and more exciting. But none of the above happens if they don't go out and hire a renowned manager with a global profile, then provide him with the resources he needs to put together a high-scoring juggernaut. Getting a guy whose two most recent jobs were Argentina and Barcelona changed the paradigm for this league. Note that doesn't mean he was the best manager in MLS this year – that was Vanney. But getting Tata was a coup. Other arguments I'll listen to: Victor Vazquez, Nemanja Nikolic, Dax McCarty, Schweinsteiger Vazquez the difference between TFC being MLS Cup favorites and the greatest team in MLS history The Fire trio elevated the team on the field of play, but also elevated the entire franchise. Just as it's hard to pick one Atlanta United player from the bunch, it's impossible for me to separate these three • Best Coaching Adjustment of the Year: The forward destroyer As I mentioned above, Adams outplayed Bradley head-to-head in the second leg of the Eastern Conference semifinals at BMO Field. He did so while playing at the point of a 4-4-2 diamond – the No. 10 spot, usually reserved for playmakers. Adams, however, played it as a frenetic, all-energy and all-action destroyer, and he gave both Bradley and TFC fits. RBNY never let them get into their rhythm and were able to take completely deserved 1-0 win out of that game (though TFC advanced 2-2 on away goals). Adams is a special talent. I still think his ceiling is higher as a wide player because he's not great at receiving the ball in traffic, but I have a suspicion he'll be slotted into the middle next season. Given what he did on that November afternoon in Toronto, that may not be a bad decision. Other arguments I'll listen to: Portland's use of Valeri, Vanney in MLS Cup, RBNY's 3-3-3-1, RSL's adoption of the False 9 The Timbers played something much closer to a 4-4-2 this season, with Valeri in a free poacher's role TFC's diamond caught Seattle unprepared as the Reds were able to assert total control of the game for the full 90 minutes I love the high-risk/high-reward nature of the 3-3-3-1, and hope we get to see it again RSL's attack came alive by having a mobile, playmaking center forward who'd pull off the line and open up space for their wingers to shoot the gaps Best XI and Beyond As usual I have a different take on the Best XI than the official one, largely because I take "could this be an actual team?" into consideration. I also factor in performance in domestic cups and the playoffs. FIRST XI GK: Tim Melia CB: Opara CB: Alex Callens CB: Morrow DM: Bradley CM: Schweinsteiger LM: Justin Meram AM: Valeri RM: Almiron FW: Villa FW: Nikolic SECOND XI GK: Stefan Frei RB: Adams CB: Chad Marshall CB: Leandro Gonzalez Pirez LB: Garza DM: Ring CM: Sacha Kljestan AM: Vazquez LW: Ignacio Piatti FW: Giovinco FW: Altidore THIRD XI GK: Bill Hamid RB: Polster CB: Kendall Waston CB: Chris Mavinga LB: Jones DM: Diego Chara CM: Roldan AM: Lee Nguyen RW: Hector Villalba FW: Martinez LW: Nicolas Lodeiro A few quick notes on the above: And now I've had my say. Head to the comments section below to have yours, and I'll pop in from time to time over the next few days for some back-and-forth. Happy holidays, everybody!

This post is about a Man in the Middle (MitM) vulnerability in KeePass 2’s automatic update check. KeePass – the free and open source password manager – uses, in all versions up to the current 2.33, unencrypted HTTP requests to check for new software versions. An attacker can abuse this automatic update check – if enabled – to “release” a new version and redirect the user to a malicious download page. Update: At the first start the users is asked if he wishes to enable the recommended update checks. During a recent traffic analysis I stumbled upon an interesting request to http://keepass.info/update/version2x.txt.gz. As I had a few hours spare over the last weekend I took a closer look. It turned out that KeePass 2’s automatic update check uses HTTP to request the current version information. For that purpose it downloads the following text file from http://keepass.info/update/version2x.txt.gz : KeePass:2.31 ArcFour Cipher Plugin:2.0.9 CodeWallet3ImportPlugin:1 DataBaseBackup:2.0.8.6 DataBaseReorder:2.0.8 EnableGridLines:1.1 eWallet Liberated Data Importer:0.12 IOProtocolExt:1.11 ITanMaster:2.28.0.2 KdbxLite:1.1 KeeAutoExec:1.8 KeeOldFormatExport:1 KeeResize:1.7 KPScript - Scripting KeePass:2.31 OnScreenKeyboard2:1.2 OtpKeyProv:2.4 PwGen8U:1 PwGenBaliktad:1.2 QR Code Generator:2.0.12 QualityColumn:1.2 Sample Plugin for Developers:2.0.9 SpmImport:1.2 WinKee:2.28.0.1 : If a new version is available the following dialog is shown to the user. An attacker can modify – thought for example ARP spoofing or by providing a malicious Wifi Hotspot – the server response to introduce a new version and thereby force the following dialog to be shown. (Already heard about the new KeePass 9 release?) If the user now clicks within the update dialog to download the new version, the URL http://keepass.info/ is opened to manually download the new release. Guess what, we can also intercept that traffic as it again uses HTTP. Thereby an attacker can even indirectly control the downloaded “update”. The following video shows the attack in all it’s glory: Suggested solution For any security centric tool – like a password manager – it is essential to not expose its users to any additional risks. Hence, I strongly recommend that all requests should be switch to encrypted HTTPS communication – especially version checks and updates! This should be fairly easy to implement and should not introduce any compatibility issues. Furthermore a valid certificate should be used for https://keepass.info and all unencrypted HTTP requests should be redirected to the encrypted version of the site. To provide even more security it is recommended to add the HTTP Strict Transport Security (HSTS) headers. As an alternative the update check feature could be removed. Workaround Until the version check has been switched to HTTPS update notifications should be taken with a grain of salt. To be on the safe side, new releases should be downloaded only directly from Keepass’s secured Sourceforge page: https://sourceforge.net/projects/keepass/ Changelog

A state in north-eastern India has moved one step closer to implementing a population control policy which would enact stiff penalties for government employees who have more than two children. The Indian state of Assam is considering a proposal to introduce a two-child policy for government employees. If adopted, the measure would make Assam the twelfth state to have enacted such a policy. The proposal was released by the Assam Health and Family Welfare Department earlier this year. On August 31st, the state Cabinet approved the draft proposal. The fate of the measure now lies in the hands of Assam’s unicameral state legislature where the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) enjoys a wide-margin majority. The Assam Legislative Assembly is expected to take up the proposal sometime during the ongoing legislative session which began last Monday. While certain provisions are expected to be contested by lawmakers, it appears unlikely that the two-child policy will be struck entirely from the bill. The proposal seeks to prohibit anyone who has more than two children from being considered as a candidate for a government job or office. The proposal would allow the government to pass restrictions barring persons with more than two children from running in local, municipal, or state elections, and would automatically disqualify candidates nominated for government bodies and committees. For Members of the Legislative Assembly (MLAs), elected representatives in Assam’s highest legislative body, the policy would further authorize removal from office upon the birth of a third child. “Persons will not be eligible to apply for government jobs, and for that matter any kind of government service including that of becoming members of the Panchayat and civic bodies,” said Assam Finance, Planning and Development, Health, and Education Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, according to the Indian Express. Sarma, a high-ranking MLA and Cabinet member, has been responsible for spearheading the initiative. “Assam is facing a dangerous population explosion, and this is one of the several measures we have proposed in the draft population policy,” Sarma claims, using language popularized in the 1960’s by “population bomber” Paul Ehrlich whose predictions of demographic doom have long been debunked. While several districts bordering Bangladesh and along the Brahmaputra River have seen a large influx of migrants in recent years, the decades-long decline in the total fertility rate in Assam may have otherwise provided a demographic challenge for the state. According to the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare’s 2015-2016 National Family Health Survey (NFHS-4), Assam’s total fertility rate is 2.2 children per woman, which sits slightly below the replacement fertility rate for India as a whole (2.6 for the period 2015-220), according to the most recent data from the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UNDESA).[1] In Assam’s urban areas, the situation is even more dire. According to NFHS-4 data, total fertility in Assam’s urban areas is 1.5, far below the replacement rate. Local government positions in the Panchayats and municipal bodies are not only crucial local democratic institutions in India, they can also provide important career opportunities to certain segments of the population. Indian law requires a certain percentage of Panchayat seats be filled by women and members of protected Scheduled Castes (SCs) and Tribes (STs). According to the Government of Assam, the state employs over 25,000 men and women elected to a Panchayat office. The two-child policy would not only affect government employees, however. The proposal would also seek to tie development aid and government-subsidized local credit lending to meeting population targets and quotas. Panchayats that meet or exceed their targets in implementing the proposed population policy could be eligible to receive grants or other awards. Local “self help groups,” community-based committees in India consisting of local business leaders and entrepreneurs that operate as private investors and credit lenders on the local level, would be eligible for special government grants if their members have no more than two children each. Keep up with the latest pro-life news and information on Twitter. Follow @LifeNewsHQ “The two-children [sic] norms will be applicable for also [sic] in employment generation schemes like giving tractors, proving homes and other government benefits,” Sarma said according to NTA Post. “Families with more than two children will also not be eligible for various benefits under different government schemes,” the Indian Express quoted Sarma saying. The policy further proposes to set aside 10% of government funding for Panchayats to be used for performance-based disbursement for a number of project areas, including in the area of reproductive health. Rural health care workers active in providing contraceptives in India such as Accredited Social Health Activists (ASHAs) and Anganwadi workers would also be provided with “incentives” to “encourage adoption of family planning and spacing methods by eligible couples.” “Districts will be judged and awarded performance award [sic] with grants on effective implementation of this policy,” the draft proposal reads. The setting of quotas or targets to meet population goals, however, is a violation of the international consensus agreed to by 179 nations in the Program of Action at the International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD) in Cairo which stated: demographic goals, while legitimately the subject of government development strategies, should not be imposed on family-planning providers in the form of targets or quotas for the recruitment of clients.[2] The ICPD firmly established that family planning programs must be free of coercion and must allow couples to free decide for themselves their fertility goals without the threat of government interference. An initial draft of the Assam population policy proposal was released to the public for comments and feedback on March 27th. After receiving input from citizens, NGOs, and the media, the Assam state Cabinet revised the proposal, releasing a new draft on May 11th, but with only minor modifications to the original draft, retaining the two-child policy. Several other states across India have adopted two-child policies for government employees including Rajasthan, Andhra Pradesh, Orissa, Maharashtra, Gujarat, Uttarakhand, and Bihar. Other states including Himachal Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Haryana, and Chhattisgarh have since repealed two-child policy laws. Two-child policies in India have had a wide impact on couples’ right to freely strive for their fertility goals. According to a recent study by S Anukriti of Boston College and Abhishek Chakravarty of the University of Essex, at least 2% of couples in states where a two-child policy was implemented changed their fertility intentions in order to remain eligible for possible future election to a Panchayat post.[3] The implementation of two-child policies in other states has given way to coercion as women seek to retain eligibility for themselves or their spouses for government employment. The policies have also encouraged some men to abandon their wives when they have exceeded their birth quota.[4] To retain eligibility, many women resort to abortion. And as studies have shown, states where two-child policies are implemented are significantly more likely to see an increase in sex-selective abortion among upper-caste women.[5] Menka, a woman elected to a gram panchayat in Orissa, was interviewed by Nirmala Buch in her study “Law of the Two-Child Norm in Panchayats: Implications, Consequences and Experiences.”[6] For Menka, the two-child policy was a potent motivator for seeking out a sex-selective abortion. When the doctors told her that she was pregnant with a boy, she decided to keep the pregnancy, but when she gave birth to a daughter instead, she lamented. “If I had known, I would have aborted,” Menka told Buch, “Now I have lost my position and there is no son.”[7] [1] ] United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs, Population Division (2017). World Population Prospects: The 2017 Revision. [2] International Conference on Population and Development, September 5-13, 1994, Report of the International Conference on Population and Development, “Programme of Action of the International Conference on Population and Development,” ¶ 7.12, U.N. Doc. A/CONF.171/13/Rev.1, Sales No. 95.XIII.18 (1995). [3] Anukriti S, Chakravarty A. Political aspirations in India: evidence from fertility limits on local leaders. IZA Discussion Paper No. 9023; 2015. Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2604386. [4] See Buch N. Law of the two-child norm in panchayats: implications, consequences and experiences. Economic and Political Weekly 2005; 40(24), 2421-2429. [5] Anukriti (2015). [6] Buch (2005). [7] Ibid. LifeNews Note: Jonathan Abbamonte writes for the Population Research Institute.

Austria intends to build a fence along its border with fellow European Union member Slovenia to slow down the entry of refugees, Interior Minister Johanna Mikl-Leitner said Wednesday. Both countries are part of the passport-free Schengen zone and have been key transit countries for tens of thousands of people desperately seeking to reach northern Europe via the Balkans. “This is about ensuring an orderly, controlled entry into our country, not about shutting down the border,” Mikl-Leitner told public broadcaster Oe1. The politician of the conservative OeVP party added that the situation risked escalating as people were forced to wait in freezing temperatures for hours before being allowed to cross from one nation into another. “We know that in recent days and weeks individual groups of migrants have become more impatient, aggressive and emotional. If groups of people push from behind, with children and women stuck in-between, you need stable, massive measures,” she said. On Tuesday, the minister had already hinted at the construction of the fence during a visit to the Spielfeld border crossing, saying that she was considering “structural measures” to be implemented at the checkpoint. Last week, she drew strong criticism from opposition members for saying that it was time for the EU to “build fortress Europe.” But the Socialist Democrats (SPOe), who are in a ruling national coalition with the Conservatives, on Wednesday appeared to side with Mikl-Leitner. SPOe Defense Minister Gerald Klug said he could imagine barriers and containers at the Spielfeld border “to be able to control the migrants in an orderly manner.” Slovenia on Tuesday also hinted that it was considering fences on its border with Croatia. The movement of people into Europe over the west Balkans land route has shifted from Hungary to Slovenia since Hungary erected a fence along its border with Serbia last month. More than 700,000 people fleeing war and misery have reached Europe's Mediterranean shores so far this year, with a majority coming from Syria, Afghanistan and Iraq. From Greece, they begin a grueling trek through the western Balkans and central Europe in the hope of reaching the EU's economic powerhouse Germany, the preferred destination for many people. Wire services

Brewers Blog The Journal Sentinel sports staff brings fans the latest news and inside information on the Brewers SHARE By of the Phoenix - Left-hander Chris Narveson threw his first live batting practice session of the spring Wednesday in the Brewers camp, and you'd never know it has been less than 10 months since he had rotator cuff surgery. Narveson commanded his pitches well, had good life on them and threw smoothly with no signs of hesitation. "It felt real good," said Narveson. "I was excited. In the bullpen, you can only see so much. When you get out there and see hitters, it's amazing how much more focused you and how much more intense it gets. Now you're starting to compete, which is the fun part about it. It's good to throw pitches and see reactions (from hitters). Narveson made only two starts last season before being shut down and undergoing surgery. If he continues to progress as he has thus far, there's no reason he can't regain his spot in the starting rotation. And it's to his benefit that he would be the only lefty. "Everything was down (in the strike zone), which is what I was focusing on today," he said. "It's easier to make adjustments if you're missing down. I tried to make sure I stayed in the bottom of the zone. "My surgery was May 1, so we're coming up on 10 months. It's a huge blessing. When you get done and you still feel fresh, that's the best part about it. I don't feel like there's anything holding me back. I feel normal again. I had some life (on his pitches). That's always good to see." Pitching coach Rick Kranitz, who monitored Narveson's session, also came away feeling positive about what he saw. "After a guy has surgery, I like to watch him play catch next to somebody that's been healthy," said Kranitz. "You don't want him to be apprehensive, and he's not. "He looked good out there today. He needed this. He needed to see hitters. It's been almost a year. That's a long time. He's been playing catch and rehabbing. It's part of the process. His next one we're going to treat a little different, more game-like. Let him get up and down (simulating innings) and move forward." Asked if Narveson would be ready to pitch in an exhibition game after that, Kranitz said, "I don't see why not. We'll see where he's at."

Robbie Keane is on his way to India according to a report this morning. Robbie Keane is on his way to India according to a report this morning. ROBBIE KEANE COULD be about to join Indian Super League side Atletico de Kolkata. According to a report in The Irish Sun this morning, the 37-year old spoke with club officials about a move last week. The club did not immediately respond to a request for a statement from The42 this morning. Atletico de Kolkata are managed by Keane’s former Spurs strike partner Teddy Sheringham and take their name from the fact they were part owned by Atletico Madrid when they were founded. They are twice winners of the ten-team Indian Super League. Keane would not be the first Irish player to ply his trade in India; former Kilkenny City player Colin Falvey had a stint with the Kerala Blasters when the Super League was founded. 37-year old Keane had previously been linked with moves to both the SSE Airtricity League and the Championship. The42 is on Instagram! Tap the button below on your phone to follow us!

THE HEAVENS—Saying this was by far the realm’s most hectic time of year, angelic sources told reporters Monday that the Eternal Paradise of Heaven is in a frenzy of activity due to preparations for the massive influx of college students expected over the spring break holidays. “In the coming three weeks, we’re going to get slammed with literally thousands of 18- to 22-year-olds, so we have to be ready,” said the archangel Raphael, who was tasked with drilling other Heavenly beings on special intake procedures for the new souls, who generally arrive in paradise extremely drunk and disoriented. “We’ll need to clear out at least a quarter of the first celestial sphere to make room for the Ohio State kids alone.” Sources added that Heaven’s preparations paled in comparison to Hell’s, where demons are projecting a sharp uptick of date rapists from South Padre Island. Advertisement

Pollster, political advisor and pundit provocateur Allan Gregg believes Canadians have yet to grasp just how radical Harper and his Conservatives really are. In a recent interview he told me the Prime Minister should be thought of as a “revolutionary realist.” Radicalism might not be the first thing we associate with the Harper government, especially when the administration has been known to throw around the label ‘radical’ like a scarlet letter, using the term to blacklist environmental groups and First Nations across the country. Yet, despite how jarring the description, Gregg says Harper Conservatives are “radical to the extent that [they] aren’t incrementalists.” “Harper is a realist and knows he can't get to where he wants to go in one fell swoop, and so he’ll try to get there by tacking,” said Gregg. This is Conservatism of a whole new kind, Gregg adds, and Canadians don’t really seem to know what they’re dealing with. The Elites Harper, says Gregg, “has a clear agenda” and at its core is a strong “anti-elite bias. “He and many other Conservatives believe that public discourse in this country has been dominated by elites: largely urban, small “L” liberal elites. University professors, symphony conductors, environmentalists and even bank presidents fall into this group. [The Harper Conservatives] believe this group does not reflect the views of the people, their constituency, that they want to represent.”[view:in_this_series=block_1] The ‘people’ of Harper are the average Canadians taking their kids to hockey on a Saturday morning, says Gregg, They shop at Canadian Tire and drink Tim Horton’s coffee. Harper’s efforts to find strong support with his constituency have a worrisome downside for those who don’t fall into that target audience, according to Gregg. As a consequence of Harper’s fidelity to his chosen people, his government “mean[s] to basically silence those traditional elites.” The Worldview What is difficult, when dealing with this particular brand of conservatives, is trying to understand their motivation. “A lot of their actions,” Gregg says, “seem incomprehensible against a template or a yardstick that we’d normally use to judge our government.” Gregg uses the Harper government’s recent cuts to science positions to illustrate his point: “Why would they make such massive cuts to Parks Canada? And then within Parks Canada, why would 70 percent of all employees cut be … social scientists, and natural scientists? To the average bystander, Harper’s dramatic cuts to science positions and programs look like overreach. And yet, says Gregg, to understand it you’ve got to get into Harper’s worldview. For Harper and his constituency parks are meant for human recreation, for camping and hunting. To the “natural scientists and those traditional elites,” however “parks are part of our natural ecosystem that is connected to everything, that is part of the planet, and that we must do everything in order to preserve.” In this sense, scientists and elites represent an obstacle to the average person’s ability to enjoy parks. “You have to get rid of the scientists who might otherwise stand in their way and say this kind of camping, this kind of hunting is bad.” But for Gregg, dismissing the Conservatives as “ crazy, right wing ideologues” is a mistake. “They are very, very revolutionary. They are radicals … but their agenda is actually rooted in thinking that makes sense – at least to them – and if you don't understand that as a starting point, it's very, very hard to deal with them,” he noted. The Attack When I interviewed Gregg I explained one of the things that really surprised me was that this government seems to be attacking environmental and First Nations groups in the very areas that they are vulnerable. We hear the Prime Minister, the Minister of Natural Resources, senators and representatives of industry talking about “foreign funded radicals” who oppose the Northern Gateway Pipeline, yet many of the companies involved in the pipeline are foreign owned. Another example is the government’s praise of Canada’s “ethical oil,” when Chinese oil companies – that have some of the worst human rights records on the planet — are part of Canada’s oil production and export. As someone with years of public relations experience, it seems very strange for one party to attack in an area were they are vulnerable. Is the government simply not aware of how this might backfire on them? According to Gregg, who is an expert in public opinion and the founder of Decima Research, the Harper government is not concerned with these kinds of inconsistencies and how they might play out publicly. “Quite frankly, these guys do not care what the media says because they start from the impression that the media are part of those elites. So, they don't care if that very fact is thrown back against them.” They believe that “Political discourse in this country, public policy discourse in this country, is at such a low level that they can get away with [it].” “First of all, says Gregg, “they want to go over the heads of the elites.” Secondly, “they believe the average person isn't tuned-in anyway, doesn't care, and isn't going to react in any kind of negative way.” The Cynicism Harper’s attitude towards environmentalists and First Nations is akin to his apparent disdain for Parliament. Just consider Harper’s willingness to prorogue Parliament when under pressure, Gregg says. “That's something that Robert Mugabe does, Gregg laughs, “not something that Canadian Prime Ministers have done. We prorogue Parliament as an administrative procedure, not as a means of avoiding getting defeated in the House of Commons.” Gregg sees Harper’s behavior in Parliament as part of this government’s pattern of “assumption that the Canadian population is unthinking and ignorant.” He added this “the friend of tyranny is ignorance, and the enemy of tyranny is reason and thinking” and said the government is working on the assumption that the Canadian population is unthinking and ignorant, and that gives them full license. “ I suggested that the public has come to expect this kind of behavior from politicians, so they let it pass. He agreed, saying, “The byproduct of partisanship and attack ads and everything else is that you have this cascading kind of cynicism among the population. If you believe that all politicians are crooks, what difference does it make if you find one stealing?” And so, he concluded, when it comes to public cynicism there are two things working in tandem. On the one hand we have “a political class” – the Conservatives – “that is systematically destroying” the character of politics. On the other we have “a general electorate that is so cynical that they aren’t holding [the government] to account.” The Divide Though the Harper government is losing face with a portion of the population, this matters little their constituency, which still, by and large, supports the Prime Minister. “These guys don't care about that. They are quite happy to be in the minority of public opinion. As long as they've got 35%, they can split the other 65% between more than two alternatives. That leaves them in a position of plurality support.” That’s another thing that makes this government unique. Most political parties seek popularity, to gain more supporters. Not the Harper government, says Gregg. The Harper government – knowing conservative votes will not come from the elites, is “not afraid of alienating people who they believe that, left to their own instincts, aren’t their supporters anyway,” Gregg says. The result is an increasingly divided population: “I don’t know what you’d call it – culture wars? But it really is a much more polarized electorate than we have ever seen in the past.” Gregg doesn’t think this necessarily has to be a permanent condition. Solutions are possible, he says, but they might not be simple. The answer lies in the middle ground, and the way you find that is by using science, facts and reason. “That has been the cornerstone of progress” and “reason, at the end of the day, reason will march us forward.”

PostgreSQL Modeling Polymorphic Associations in a Relational Database Polymorphic associations can be difficult to correctly represent in a relational database. In this post I will compare and contrast four different ways to model these challenging relationships. Imagine you are tasked with designing a fine-grained access control system for a large system. There are many resources across multiple types with permissions such as read, write, and admin. Permissions can be granted to users or user groups. A good first step is to introduce an access control list entity. This ACL entity will be responsible for the entire process or determining whether a user has a permission on a resource. Every access controlled resource should have its own ACL. The ACL concept itself would be rather complicated, probably composed of several tables. But for this example we won't concern ourselves with the implementation of the ACL, instead we will use a stub acl table and focus on the challenge of how to relate an acl to arbitrary resource types. For this example, the resource types we want to access control will be document , image , file , and report . Polymorphic Joins A simple approach to connect an acl to a resource is to use two columns on the acl table: resource_type and resource_id . This approach was popularized by Ruby on Rails. The acl table could be defined as follows: create table acl ( id serial primary key , resource_type varchar not null , resource_id integer not null , -- other fields omitted unique ( resource_id , resource_type ) ); The query for retrieving an acl for document id:42 would be like the following: select * from acl where resource_type = 'document' and resource_id = 42 ; A serious problem with this approach is the database is very limited in the data integrity it can enforce due to the lack of foreign key constraints. It can ensure a resource has no more that one acl , but that is all. A resource can be missing an acl and an acl can point to a missing resource. Join Table Per Relationship Type Another approach is to use a join table for each relationship type. create table acl_document ( acl_id integer not null unique references acl , document_id integer not unique null references document ); create table acl_image ( acl_id integer not null unique references acl , image_id integer not null unique references image ); -- and so on for each resource type The query for retrieving an acl for document id:42 would be like the following: select acl . * from acl join acl_document on acl_document . acl_id = acl . id where document_id = 42 ; This approach does use foreign key constraints, so the database can ensure that any connections between an acl and a resource are valid. However, it has no way to require that a resource has an acl . And while the uniqueness constraints ensure that an acl cannot be connected to multiple records of the same type (e.g. two document rows) it has no way to prevent an acl from being connected to resources of different types (e.g. one acl could be incorrectly connected to both a document and an image ). Reverse Belongs-To Even though the acl logically belongs to the resource, this relationship can be reversed by including an acl_id on the resource. This is similar in implementation to class table inheritance, but the relationship is more of inclusion rather than is-a. create table document ( id serial primary key , acl_id integer not null unique references acl , --- other fields omitted ); With this design, all resources are guaranteed to have valid references to an acl . However, there is no way to prevent orphan acl records. As with the previous technique there is no way to prevent different types of resources from pointing to the same acl . Exclusive Belongs To (AKA Exclusive Arc) In this model, the acl has foreign keys to all tables to which it can belong. create table acl ( id serial primary key , document_id integer references document , image_id integer references image , file_id integer references file , report_id integer references report , -- other fields omitted check ( ( ( document_id is not null ):: integer + ( image_id is not null ):: integer + ( file_id is not null ):: integer + ( report_id is not null ):: integer ) = 1 ) ); create unique index on acl ( document_id ) where document_id is not null ; create unique index on acl ( image_id ) where image_id is not null ; create unique index on acl ( file_id ) where file_id is not null ; create unique index on acl ( report_id ) where report_id is not null ; Take note of the check constraint. This ensures that an acl belongs to exactly one resource of any type. With this design an acl cannot be orphaned, but there is no way to enforce that a resource has an acl . Also important are the partial unique indexes. Limiting the unique indexes to only not null values dramatically saves space as well as reducing write operations on insert. How to Choose I usually dismiss a polymorphic join immediately due to its lack of data integrity guarantees. The only advantage it has is an ORM such as Rails' ActiveRecord may make it very easy to use. Join table per relationship type is an improvement over polymorphic joins, but at the cost of an extra table per relationship. In addition, it doesn't do anything that either of the belongs-to models can't do better. Both belongs-to models are nearly equivalent in their data integrity and performance characteristics. The major difference is whether the acl or the resource has to exist first to satisfy the foreign key constraint. As a resource is naturally the master record it is usually more convenient and intuitive to insert the resource first. This leads me to slightly slightly prefer exclusive belongs-to. But there are a few concerns with exclusive belongs-to. First, multiple null fields offends traditional relational design sensibilities. However, data integrity is maintained via the check constraint. Second, wide tables may cause performance to suffer. But in the case of PostgreSQL, null values are almost free. A nullable field has a 1-bit per row overhead rounded up to the nearest byte (e.g. 30 nullable fields have 4 bytes of overhead). Combine that with partial indexes ignoring null values and the performance is not an issue. Third, adding a new table requires adding a column to the exclusive belongs-to table. If this was a large, heavily used table there might be an issue with how long the table would be locked. With PostgreSQL, this is not a problem. Nullable fields can be added quickly regardless of table size. The updated check constraint can also be added without blocking concurrent usage. In conclusion, I suggest using an exclusive belongs-to model to represent a polymorphic association. If situation or developer sensibilities preclude this, then use a reverse belongs-to model. It has nearly the same characteristics.

1 In 5 Teens Reports A Concussion Diagnosis Enlarge this image toggle caption Krista Long/Getty Images Krista Long/Getty Images Concussions have gotten a lot of attention in recent years, especially as professional football players' brains have shown signs of degenerative brain disease linked with repeated blows to the head. Now, a new analysis confirms what many doctors fear — that concussions start showing up at a high rate in teens who are active in contact sports. About 20 percent of teens said they have been diagnosed with at least one concussion. And nearly 6 percent said they've been diagnosed with more than one, according to a research letter published Tuesday in the Journal of the American Medical Association. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says concussions can result in headaches, nausea and irritability. While most people do not suffer from long-term impacts from a concussion, between 10 percent and 20 percent may experience symptoms like depression, headaches or difficulty concentrating. Some people experience sleep problems, and multiple concussions are one way to cause chronic traumatic encephalopathy, a degenerative brain disease notably found in some NFL players. The letter's authors looked at 13,000 questionnaire responses from the 2016 version of Monitoring the Future. Each year since 1975, the study, run by the University of Michigan Survey Research Center, has surveyed high school students all over the country about their behaviors and attitudes. According to Philip Veliz, an author of the JAMA letter and an assistant research professor at the University of Michigan's Institute for Research on Women & Gender, in 2016, the survey added a question asking whether students had ever had a concussion. Veliz explains that while there is research on adolescent concussions, there is not much information available on simple prevalence rates and factors that correlate with the injury. Knowing this information, the letter explains, will help address the issue and track progress. Dr. Dennis Cardone, co-director of the Concussion Center at NYU Langone Health, agrees that knowing the prevalence rate is vital in tracking safety efforts. "Now everybody is geared towards making sports safer, but ... with the changes we are making, are we really making them safer? We need to look at the prevalence rates going forward." MTF survey data was collected from students in grades eight, 10 and 12. Also, 47 percent of responders were white, 13 percent were black, 19 percent were Hispanic and 21 percent reported their race as "other." About half the respondents were female. The concussion rate analysis is consistent with a Canadian study that found a similar prevalence in teens in that country. Similarly, a 2016 NPR-Truven Health Analytics Health Poll found that nearly 1 in 4 adults reported having had a concussion in their lifetime. Based on CDC reports, only between 4 percent and 5 percent of young adults go to the emergency room for head injuries, Veliz says many people visit their regular doctor instead when they suspect a concussion. The authors also looked at survey respondents' participation in sports. Unsurprisingly, those who competed in contact sports like football, ice hockey, and wrestling were more likely to report more than one concussion in their lifetime. Other factors that were linked with higher rates of reported concussions include being white, male and in a higher grade. The survey relies on students to self-report — there was no way to verify whether students had actually had concussions. Cardone says that is the main limitation of this research, "It's a retrospective survey study of high school students, and who knows what their definition of concussion or how much education they have about concussion, and just how serious they are taking the responses?" Despite the limitation, Cardone says the research is important as it reinforces the need to make sports safer. Cardone says he would like to see athletic trainers present in high school sports to help collect data and making proper concussion diagnoses. Veliz says that if researchers know who is suffering from these injuries, they will be able to focus on solutions. "For instance," he says, "there should be greater awareness among parents and coaches regarding the risk of concussion [in] those activities." Veliz is also hoping the information helps athletes make better choices for themselves — not just deciding to tough it out or walk it off.

TONY JONES: Good evening and welcome to Q&A. I'm Tony Jones. The former Liberal leader John Hewson unfortunately can't join us tonight. To answer your questions in his place Former Liberal MP and Head of the Christian Schools Australia, Stephen O'Doherty; Finance Minister Penny Wong; the inspiration for the ABC TV series RAKE, barrister Charles Waterstreet; the head of the Museum of Contemporary Art, Liz Ann Macgregor and West Australian Senator and Assistant Treasurer Mathias Cormann. Please welcome our panel. Q&A is live from 9.35 pm Eastern Time and simulcast on ABC News 24, News Radio and Australia Network and you can go to our website to send your questions in now and you can join the Twitter conversation using the hash tag that's just appearing on your screen. Well, Sydney City Council recently decided to describe the First Fleet as an invasion, rather than a European arrival. Our first question tonight is on that subject. It comes from Jakomi Matthews. INVASION JAKOMI MATTHEWS: Yes. It is a historical fact that we invaded and dispossessed the Aboriginals from their land. In some cases we actually committed what is regarded as genocide when it comes to Tasmanian Aboriginals. So how can Sydney City Council be criticised for its decision to term the arrival of Europeans in Australia as an invasion?" TONY JONES: Liz Ann Macgregor, let's start with you on that. ELIZABETH ANN MACGREGOR: Well, "invasion" is always a difficult word but we have invasions of plants, which is somehow more benign. So my point really is that terminology is something we can all argue about. This is NAIDOC week. I'll far rather see the focus on the fantastic things that are happening within Aboriginal communities. Because I do think that when we focus on words, we're all just going to end up arguing about it and I'd like to move forward. TONY JONES: Do you think it's a semantic argument, nothing more than that? There's nothing to the symbolism? ELIZABETH ANN MACGREGOR: I think it's symbol. It's symbolic, and symbols are important and I know many Aboriginal people that feel very strongly about it but I still feel that perhaps this one really should be laid to rest and we should move on and look at more positive things. TONY JONES: Charles Waterstreet? CHARLES WATERSTREET: Well, I think it's a bit of a joke, really, because I think although it carries great significance as a concept, I would have thought that the way we're selling our land to international companies and international nations that we're really only caretakers of it for a little while, so it's hardly an invasion. We're really just sitting on the land, waiting for it to rise in value before we sell it off. TONY JONES: What do you think about the idea - I'm sure we'll come to that question later, because I know that people are very interested in that, but what do you think of the idea that it was an invasion, as opposed to a settlement? CHARLES WATERSTREET: Well, it was peaceful invasion of sorts but there wasn't all that much resistance but ... JAKOMI MATTHEWS: How was it peaceful though, if they actually went and actually killed every pureblood Aboriginal in Tasmania? CHARLES WATERSTREET: Without a doubt - without a doubt the Tasmania incident was disgraceful, as was the rest of the incident. But how does one historically deal with it by calling it "Invasion Day"? I'm still getting over the loss of Empire Day, which I grew up with. It suddenly disappeared and there was one less holiday and then it became Commonwealth Day and that disappeared and it was Guy Fawkes Day before all that. So there is a symbol but it can be made by other means. I think it focuses on a negative rather than fostering a positive. TONY JONES: You're missing the opportunity to let off explosives in your front yard, are you, Charles? CHARLES WATERSTREET: I still admire fireworks. TONY JONES: Let's go to Stephen O'Doherty. The question was really about whether Sydney City Council deserves to be criticised for this. STEPHEN O'DOHERTY: Well, I think it's good to have the debate, Tony. It's very good that now that they've raised the matter we're able to discuss the very question. What's someone's invasion was colonisation for somebody else. Look, in schools we've actually been discussing this for 20 years. It's nothing new that the council has suddenly discovered the word "Invasion". This is about what happened in Farm Cove in 1788. The were a lot of things going on there and with the hindsight of history, you can call it an invasion. You can call it a lot of things but the important thing now is that we move forward together. Even in those early days in 1788, there was at some level down there at Farm Cove a degree of sharing. The Aboriginal people showed the white settlers where the water holes were. There was a degree of co-stewardship of the land. It didn't go well and we were in very different times. Don't mishear me. But I think the council has done this way too late. It's now only a matter of creating greater division rather than bringing our cultures together. TONY JONES: Penny Wong? PENNY WONG: I think the question is what the purpose of it is. Obviously it's a matter for the Council what it wants to use in its documents and so forth but, you know, what are we trying to do here? Are we trying to recognise what has gone before and is this the best way to do it? Are we trying to reconcile and does this contribute to that? You know, I think this is a debate where I'd been keen for us to focus less on the words than on what we're actually trying to achieve. JAKOMI MATTHEWS: I agree but I think it's more the shock jocks and the right-wing sort of media who have been actually pushing the negativity line on it and creating the furore more than the actual - the issue actually warrants. TONY JONES: Let's go to Mathias Cormann? MATHIAS CORMANN: Well, I think it is an unfortunate and divisive term to use. I mean I think that what is important is that we all move forward together and I don't think that the cause of Aboriginal people and that the issues and challenges faced by Aboriginal people is helped by using that divisive and unfortunate language like this. So, really, it's a matter of going past the symbolism and actually focusing on practical issues that are going to make a real different. TONY JONES: Let's move forward together to a different subject. You're watching Q&A, where you ask the questions. The next question comes from Frank Kaiser. CARBON TAX / JOBS FRANK KAISER: Directed for Penny Wong. As a manufacturer and an employer of 23 people, we're confronted with the costs of the carbon tax or proposed carbon tax. We've got raw materials in steel increasing. Fuel costs, electricity and then on top of that a proposed 3% increase in the superannuation. What compensation are we going to get as an employer and if there is none, can you recommend a good liquidator? PENNY WONG: Well, first, there are many reasons, some of which you've alluded to, that manufacturing is under pressure and obviously the high dollar is amongst them, which I assume is impacting on your business, just as it is on many others. One of the reasons we want to put a mining tax in places is to fund a range of things, such as a reduction in the company tax rate, because we recognise we've got a lot of investment in mining that's having an effect on things like the dollar, which obviously, for people who are not in the mining boom, creates some pressures. So this is about how you try and use the resources from that boom and put it into sectors like yours. Look, I understand there's a lot of fear out there about pricing pollution and I understand that it's very easy for us to find a reason each time to not do it. What I'd say is this: it's quite clear that climate change is real. It's quite clear that it is being contributed to by what we put into the atmosphere. As long as pollution is free we will continue to pollute and unless we start to put a price on pollution that gives the signal across the economy to move to cleaners ways of doing business, cleaner ways of generating energy, then we'll simply continue to be one of the world's highest polluting countries on the face of the earth. TONY JONES: Penny Wong, Cabinet has decided to release details of the carbon pricing deal this coming Sunday. PENNY WONG: That's right. TONY JONES: We know that big trade exposed industries are going to get compensation. The question here is whether small industries facing a range of flow on extra costs are going to be compensated? PENNY WONG: Well, I will say first that obviously we have said that Sunday we will be announcing the policy that has been put together through a pretty exhaustive process of negotiation and obviously you'll be able to see then how we have looked at all the different issues. You mentioned the emissions intensive trade exposed sector. That is, you know, companies who are operating in world markets and can't pass the price on and that's obviously been something we're very clear about, that we need to support jobs. I mean the whole way in which we're approaching this is you have to price pollution but you also have to support jobs and you have to protect household budgets. They're the priorities and that's what we'll be putting out on Sunday. TONY JONES: Well, let's go back to our questioner. Are you satisfied with what you're hearing? I mean, you're going to get the details on Sunday but are you satisfied with what you're hearing now? FRANK KAISER: There's nothing that I'm hearing is giving any confidence in the marketplace for people to come and buy from us. Everyone is sitting on their money waiting to see. PENNY WONG: And I think that ending - there's a lot of uncertainty out there. There was uncertainty also because we were unable in the last parliament to put a price on carbon and that has really meant various investors have not continued to invest. The power industry is an obvious example. There has been an investment pause there in terms of base load power because of the uncertainty that the lack of a price on carbon provided. So what I'd say to you is I understand people are concerned. I'd invite you to look at the package which is announced but I'd also say this to you: if we continue to say this is too hard, it ain't going to get any easier because we'll wait. FRANK KAISER: But how can you offer compensation to family households and not businesses? PENNY WONG: Well, as I said, I'd invite you to wait till we set out the policy and the reasons we want to support household budgets, as well as jobs, is we do recognise there is a cost. There's always a cost to doing something like this. There's a cost because we are saying something that was free, polluting, is no longer going to be free. I mean there's a cost in Tony Abbott's policy of $720 per household. You can't deal with climate change without imposing a cost. The actual question is how do you do it most fairly and that's what we're focussed on. TONY JONES: Let's hear from the Coalition before we come back to more detail on this. MATHIAS CORMANN: What we've had tonight, of course, is announcement that on Sunday there will be an announcement and it's good that we're finally going to get some detail. I mean the problem with all of this is, of course, that the government is proposing to impose a price on carbon through a carbon tax and then an emissions trading scheme, when most of our overseas competitor countries - trade competitors - are not going down the same path. So what the government is proposing to do is to make overseas polluters more competitive than even the most environmentally efficient equivalent business in Australia. So what that will see happen is we will shift emissions overseas. We will shift jobs overseas and all of that without actually helping to reduce global greenhouse gas emissions and to ask people, to ask businesses, to ask households and to make a sacrifice without it actually making a difference in terms of reducing global greenhouse gas emissions is just completely inappropriate. And, I mean, the minister talks about our direct action policy. Our direct action policy will actually reduce emissions in Australia in a way that delivers a net reduction in global emissions for the world. PENNY WONG: (Indistinct), Mathias. MATHIAS CORMANN: The Government's policy will just shift emissions to other parts of the world where overseas businesses stand ready to take market share from businesses like yours. TONY JONES: A quick question. If you win government in two years you'll - as we now know there's a deal been struck, so you'll inherit the whole box and dice. You'll inherit a carbon price and probably an incipient emissions trading scheme. Are you just simply going to dismantle it? MATHIAS CORMANN: Well, we've said that we will oppose the carbon tax in Opposition and let's not take anything for granted. There's still a long debate to go through the parliament and we will rescind it in government and, you know, that's our very, very firm commitment. TONY JONES: And if you can't rescind it because politically the Greens will not let you do it, what will you do with all the revenue that's coming in? MATHIAS CORMANN: I know that Bob Brown is assuming that he will have the balance of power for the next 20 years but the reality is there is going to be an election. We will be putting our proposal to rescind the carbon tax front and centre of our policy going to the next election. TONY JONES: Let's assume you can't do it. What will you do with the revenue? MATHIAS CORMANN: Well, I'm not going to... TONY JONES: What Finance Minister or Assistant Finance Minister or Assistant Treasurer will suggest he's going to just leave the revenue in a pool sitting there? MATHIAS CORMANN: We will be putting to the Australian people a very clear policy in the lead up to the next election. We will have a mandate. If the Australian people vote for us, if the Australian people vote us into government, we will have a mandate to rescind the carbon tax and we would expect that the Parliament would respect the demand of the incoming Australian Government. PENNY WONG: What was... MATHIAS CORMANN: This government doesn't have a mandate. PENNY WONG: Hang on, Mathias. MATHIAS CORMANN: Because, of course, we've got a Prime Minister who went to the last election saying "There will be no carbon tax under the government I lead. Today she's telling us there will be no carbon tax on petrol under the government I lead. PENNY WONG: When you've finished waving your hands around Mathias, if I could respond. MATHIAS CORMANN: Well, Penny, you know, it's my migrant way. I talk with my hands, Penny. PENNY WONG: I'd make this point about mandates, Mathias: I put an emissions trading scheme into the senate on at least three occasions. We had gone to the 2007 election, as had you, with a policy for an emissions trading scheme and you were one of the people who led the mutiny against Malcolm Turnbull voting for it. So if you want to talk about mandates, why don't we talk about how often you have turned your back on the thing you told the Australian people previously you would do with it. The second point I... MATHIAS CORMANN: Okay. I'm very happy (indistinct)... PENNY WONG: No, I just want to make a very - you've made two points, which are just wrong. First, the assertion that the Coalition to continue to participate in that internationally nothing is happening and we're on our own is just wrong and it is irresponsible to keep saying it, frankly, because it just makes the debate at a far lower level than it ought be. That is incorrect. MATHIAS CORMANN: (Indistinct) TONY JONES: I'm just going to interrupt you for a minute. Those of you who have your hands up, keep your hands up. Before I bring in the rest of the panellist, we've got a question on a related topic. It's from Joe Dore. We'll bring in Joe Dore first. CARBON TAX / PETROL JOE DORE: Penny Wong said a moment ago that it's important to price pollution across the economy. In light of this is the decision to exempt petrol from the carbon tax a purely political response to Tony Abbot's effective scare campaigning on price pressures, rather than a substantive policy response to climate change? TONY JONES: Let's hear from Stephen O'Doherty on this first. STEPHEN O'DOHERTY: It is undeniably. I mean the problem that the Prime Minister has now is that because of the previous problem that Mathias referred to, no one will believe her when she talks about petrol. She has now lost the position of credibility on the issue and that's not just a problem for the Labor Party, it's a problem for the country. I mean what we're just witnessed, Tony, is a perfect example of why this questioner over here is worried about his business, because we've been in a policy stall for several years. We know that Penny and Kevin Rudd worked hard at Copenhagen. We know that that didn't work. We know that this is an issue that won't go away. If Mathias is elected with his colleagues, it won't go away. I mean, I think reasonable people are convinced... TONY JONES: So given it won't go away in your view, are you happy with the way Tony Abbott has been handling this? STEPHEN O'DOHERTY: No, I'm not happy with the way either side is handling it at the moment and I actually think, you know, with due respect to my former Liberal colleagues that the political role being played by the Opposition at the moment, the spoiling role, is not making it easier to settle something that has to be settled in due course. It's making the environment, the economy for business much, much worse. It's causing this massive slow down in confidence. It's the reason we won't have an interest rate rise, which is a good thing, by the way, but it's actually stalled reform. It's stalled confidence. It's stalled the economy. That's what's causing the trouble and surely just to have seen a demonstration of how it is, we need to get two sides together to find a reasonable position that we can all agree on as people to take the country forward. TONY JONES: Why do you think that's not happening though? Because, I mean, it's pretty clear, isn't it, that Tony Abbott has decided to stake his future on opposing this tax. STEPHEN O'DOHERTY: Yeah, it is. Yeah. Well, I tell you (indistinct)... MATHIAS CORMANN: Which is a responsible way, for our record. It's not a spoiling way. It's a responsible way. STEPHEN O'DOHERTY: Okay. Well, I mean, I was a shadow minister for seven years and I just know the discussions that go around the shadow cabinet table. Will we engage in the debate and find a way through and assist in a good policy process or will we just say no and promise to repeal it. Now, clearly the shadow cabinet said the latter. We know that several people within the Liberal Party federally, including Malcolm Turnbull, had a different way of approaching it that would have eventually led Australia to a point where we had a solution for this problem. It's not a problem that's going to go away and sticking your head in the sand is not going to help. So the political process itself, Tony, has let us down. TONY JONES: I want to hear from our other panellists before I bring the politicians back. Charles Waterstreet? CHARLES WATERSTREET: I know so little on this that it won't take me long. I consulted the collective knowledge of the world on Wikipedia and I discovered, to my horror, that climate change is real and universal and after that I just glazed over and I was thoroughly convinced when Penny put the position. I was thoroughly convinced when Mathias put the position and now I'm in a quandary now that Stephen's put the position. TONY JONES: Well, if, thanks to Wikipedia, you now believe that climate change is real, do you think that a carbon price should be put on petrol, which is the original question we were asking? CHARLES WATERSTREET: Well, yes, but not on sniffing it. No, any tax is bad. We were told when GST came in that income tax would go down. Now, we're told... MATHIAS CORMANN: And it did. CHARLES WATERSTREET: It did? Speak for yourself. But, no, I think obviously the scheme that's going to come into effect, which is not a carbon tax but an emissions trading scheme, is going to be much better but I know so little on it that I can hardly contribute. TONY JONES: Let's go to Liz Ann Macgregor. Are you listening to this debate acutely as well? ELIZABETH ANN MACGREGOR: Well, you just shake your head, don't you? I mean, this is such a complex problem and in a way I feel it's too important to be left to politicians. We've somehow got to get back to some kind of bipartisan agreement on it, whether you think it's been caused by people or whether it's been caused by natural causes, there is definitely something happening, that is absolutely clear and there needs to be some way forward here. And we have gone into this incredibly negative cycle and we're in this situation where we take opinion polls and we say are you for it, are you against it, yes or no, quick grab and then somebody has to kind of respond to that. So I think it is actually one of the worst examples and when you say things like scientists are getting death threats. I mean we have got ourselves into a real mess when that kind of thing is happening, that people feel so angry about this issue, understandably if they think it's going to affect their livelihoods, but it is not being put into the position of what is for the greater good, what is the public policy that is necessary to deal with this issue and I think it's a failure on all sides right now. TONY JONES: Let's hear from Mathias Cormann and I'll come to some of our questioners in the audience who have got their hands up after that. But you hear a fellow Liberal there basically saying why on earth can't the two parties get their heads together? After all, not so long ago you did agree to an emissions trading scheme so and you do believe in climate change. MATHIAS CORMANN: Well, we went through a very thorough process internally, actually, in thinking this issue through and I mean, just to make the point, we voted against Labor's carbon pollution reduction scheme, both when Malcolm Turnbull was the leader in August 2009 and when Tony Abbott was the leader in December 2009 and the reason we said - the reason we said... PENNY WONG: (Indistinct) STEPHEN O'DOHERTY: (Indistinct) MATHIAS CORMANN: The reason we said to the government... PENNY WONG: Mathias, tell the truth. MATHIAS CORMANN: The basis for our position was that we said to the parliament we should not be voting on this before Copenhagen, when countries from around the world came together to decide what they would do about pricing carbon and, of course, Kevin Rudd has described very colourfully what a failure the Copenhagen conference was. There was no agreement. So that changed the debate. In the absence of an appropriately comprehensive global agreement to price emissions, to put a price on carbon in Australia will make Australian businesses less competitive. It will push up the cost of everything in Australia without actually helping to reduce global greenhouse gas emissions. So we can talk about reform. Reform is only good if you actually make the situation better and the government can't actually tell you by how much its carbon price will reduce global greenhouse gas emissions. They can't tell you. ELIZABETH ANN MACGREGOR: So why have the conservative leader of the British Government, the conservative leader, set some of the highest targets for a reduction in emissions? So other countries in Europe are working together to make this, on all side of politics. It is not a party political discussion. PENNY WONG: And if I can... MATHIAS CORMANN: Well, I'm happy to talk about the European situation. PENNY WONG: If I could make a point. There's been a call for bipartisanship. I agree with that. I spend a lot of... MATHIAS CORMANN: I'm sure you do. PENNY WONG: Well, I do. STEPHEN O'DOHERTY: You do tripartisanship now, by the way. PENNY WONG: Yes. No, I mean, I spent a long period sitting down with Malcolm Turnbull to negotiate a bipartisan agreement and there were a number of reasons why we did that and one of them was I do actually think a reform of this scale should be bipartisan between both parties of government. But as Tony Abbott on 7.30 report tonight made clear, when it comes to the Abbott leadership, when it comes to the Abbott leadership he will take pragmatism over policy every time. Politics over policy every time. You cannot negotiate with someone who simply wants to put forward slogans and stunts when presented with this very, very significant challenge. And what I'd say to people is this: if you think about five or ten or 15 or 20 years from now, and that's always a good thing to do, I think, in politics, as in life, and think about whether you would look back on this debate and think, gee, we should have done something, that really tells you something about what we should do. MATHIAS CORMANN: Doing something is only better if the something you do makes things better. Reform should make things better. Reform... STEPHEN O'DOHERTY: Mathias, we used to ... TONY JONES: Okay. Can I... STEPHEN O'DOHERTY: ...pump sludge into the ocean and in Sydney Harbour you still can't catch fish because of the dioxins that were put there by previous generations. Now, there was an economic and policy fix that everybody agreed on in the 80s that prevented that from happening so maybe my grandchildren can finally go fishing in Sydney Harbour. Are we going to look back on that, you know, in the same way in terms of air pollution and the carbon dioxide and nitrous oxide and so on that goes into the atmosphere? I think we will. MATHIAS CORMANN: Well, there's a very simple point... STEPHEN O'DOHERTY: Why is it different from clean water? MATHIAS CORMANN: If you would (indistinct)... TONY JONES: Okay. Sorry, no, I'm going to stop that argument there because we've got people with their hands up and I'd like to hear what our audience are thinking. You can make a comment or a quick question. AUDIENCE MEMBER: If the issue is global greenhouse gases, then wouldn't the best way to reduce it as a country which has a small population and doesn't contribute a great deal to global emissions. Wouldn't the best way forward be to have direct action and research to decrease the supply curve? I'm an economics student, by the way. TONY JONES: Okay. AUDIENCE MEMBER: And to increase our GDP and have a green economy at the same time? TONY JONES: All right. Well, I'm going to actually put that to Mathias Cormann. You have a direct action policy, which is set to, well, attempt to reduce Greenhouse emissions in Australia by 5%. It's going to cost $10 billion of taxpayers' money. What happens if you have to increase the percentage to let's say 10%? How much will that cost? MATHIAS CORMANN: I mean, the great benefit of the direct action policy that it will actually reduce emissions in Australia in a way that decreases emissions around the world. The government's policy will reduce emissions in Australia in a way that will increase them, arguably by more in other parts of the world. Our policy is fully funded, is fully costed. It is obviously focussed on better soil management, more trees, better technology, cleaning up our coal fired power stations, for example. There has hardly been any investment in cleaning up coal fired power stations in recent years because everybody is just completely frozen now because the Government has created so much uncertainty with the way they've handled this debate for the last three or four years. TONY JONES: All right, but let me just interrupt for a quick question because direct action does require taxpayers money be used to purchase credits and so the question is if it costs $10 billion to cut by 5%, what will it cost to cut higher? PENNY WONG: Well, actually it will cost 30. 30 billion is the actual cost. MATHIAS CORMANN: Well, direct action will not push up the cost of electricity. It will not make Australian businesses less competitive internationally. TONY JONES: But what will it cost? MATHIAS CORMANN: Well, under the direct action policy, I mean, we've got the costing there. It's 3.2 billion. TONY JONES: Malcolm Turnbull, who used to be your leader, says it will bankrupt the economy? MATHIAS CORMANN: Well, I don't think that he said that and I know that Malcolm Turnbull is not in favour of a carbon tax incidentally either. You know, Malcolm Turnbull very clearly is on record as not supporting what the government is putting forward so, I mean, I don't think that... TONY JONES: But he's on record also of not supporting your policy. MATHIAS CORMANN: I think you'll find - I think you'll find that Malcolm Turnbull supports our policy. TONY JONES: Well... PENNY WONG: I just wanted very quickly - the direct action doesn't work. That is why not a single... MATHIAS CORMANN: How do you know? Try it? PENNY WONG: Not a single... MATHIAS CORMANN: Everybody else - China does it. USA. PENNY WONG: Hang on. I did listen to you Mathias. AUDIENCE MEMBER: The reason why Europe is pushing for a carbon tax is because they import carbon. We export it. It's beneficial for us to make it cheaper. It's beneficial for them to make it more expensive. PENNY WONG: What I was going to say was direct action doesn't work, which is why here is not a single economist - you're an economics student... MATHIAS CORMANN: You should try it. Don't be so negative. PENNY WONG: There's not a single economist who actually backs their policy. It is... MATHIAS CORMANN: Well, there's one. PENNY WONG: He hasn't finished his studies. He'll learn the error of his ways at some point. The second point I'd make is the costings that the same - the Department of Climate Change has done indicate that their policy will cost $30 billion. Not 10 but $30 billion. There isn't... MATHIAS CORMANN: Well, that's just not true. PENNY WONG: Well, these are the same people, were you ever to win government, that would advise you, Mathias, and, you know, these are public servants. They're not political people. MATHIAS CORMANN: Yeah, depends on your assumptions. PENNY WONG: So $30 billion of taxpayers' funds that magically appears without you paying more tax that is then given to polluters in the hope that they might do something to reduce their pollution. STEPHEN O'DOHERTY: Tony, we need a lever, you know. This student is right. We need an economic lever and I reckon one way or another within five years we're into an ETS, which is where we ought to be, where we should have been at Copenhagen and, you know, the idea about petrol is nonsense because it's got to be factored in otherwise you don't get the structural adjustment that's required. Direct action won't work on its own. Carbon price on its won't work. We need to find a tripartite agreement on a proper ETS. We need to research things that work, like carbon sequestration and alternatives to the base load power problem so we've got to find a way to fund that research but then you've got to let the market forces, you know, which is the modern... TONY JONES: Okay. All right. STEPHEN O'DOHERTY: ...the modern way of mediating things is through economics and (indistinct). TONY JONES: Just a quick question for Penny Wong, because I'm sure there are an awful lot of journalists and others who'd be very interested to hear what you're going to do about this. Stephen O'Doherty says you need a lever. The lever you're choosing is a carbon price. We're going to find out what that is on Sunday. Here's a question I have for you. Are you going to take the pragmatic approach and set it very low so that no one feels any pain or are you going to take the idealistic approach and set it very high so that it actually achieves something? AUDIENCE MEMBER: (Indistinct) Bob Brown anyway, isn't it, not you? PENNY WONG: We're the government and we'll put forward the government's legislation and, well, look, this has always been about a transition and it's always been about how you shift the economy over time to producing less pollution per person than we do and the reality is if you think the world is moving as it is to lower carbon goods and services then we've actually also got an economic interest, not just the environmental interest in being able to compete in that world. TONY JONES: But are you going to set it very low... PENNY WONG: Well, I think we'll have to have... TONY JONES: ...so that no one feels any pain or are you going to set it high so that it achieves something? That was the question. PENNY WONG: Yeah, and I've said it's about a transition and so there's obviously... TONY JONES: That sort of indicates... PENNY WONG: No. No. No. TONY JONES: That sort of indicates it may start very low and then transition upwards over years. PENNY WONG: Well, I'm obviously not going to make the announcement that the Prime Minister is proposing to make on Sunday today. STEPHEN O'DOHERTY: Oh, go on. PENNY WONG: I know that you would like me to do that but the point I was trying to make was that it isn't just what the price is in the first year or the second year or the third year. It's about having a mechanism in place that gives the signal to business to do business with less pollution. It's about a signal to the whole of the economy that we can do more in terms of clean energy and do less in terms of pollution. That's what this is about. So it is, you know, you can talk about the first year and you might have a go about that from either the two perspectives that you just outlined but I think the key is over time to make sure you make sure that transition occurs. TONY JONES: So we'll start low and then move up. PENNY WONG: Tony, I'm trying to help out here but I'm hardly going to talk to you about that. TONY JONES: Okay. We might move on to other subjects. Sorry for those people who still have their hands up. You're watching Q&A. Remember you can send your web or video questions to our website. The address is on the screen. Our next question is a video on a very different subject and it comes from Sarah Taylor in Newcastle, New South Wales. MISOGYNIST LOVERS SARAH TAYLOR: This one's for you Charles. Some men masquerade a love for women for their own benefit, including sexual. Their fraud is revealed when they then want to control our minds and bodies. In my experience the best lovers are those men who like and respect women in all our shapes and sizes and varieties. I put you in this category with your well documented respect for such women as Germaine Greer. Can a misogynist ever be a great lover? PENNY WONG: Good one. CHARLES WATERSTREET: I'll have to eat my words, if nothing else. I find the best lovers, and I have no experience on this, are those who recognise that real pleasure is the giving of pleasure, rather than the receiving of it. So once you've recognised that, then I think you've got the key to the way ahead. TONY JONES: I appreciate we've made a large... CHARLES WATERSTREET: That's a large gap but there's... TONY JONES: No, I appreciate we've made a large jump from carbon tax to this. CHARLES WATERSTREET: This is carbon dating. This is about the only dating I'm doing lately. TONY JONES: What about the formulation that some men make a masquerade out of love because what they really want to do is control the bodies and minds of women? CHARLES WATERSTREET: That's undoubtedly true and I've been cashing in on that masquerading, as one who sees through that, for a long time. TONY JONES: All right. We'll take you off the hook. I'll go to Liz Ann Macgregor. What do you think? ELIZABETH ANN MACGREGOR: Goodness, what a question. TONY JONES: Can a misogynist be a great lover, I think was the final question? ELIZABETH ANN MACGREGOR: I wouldn't know. I don't normally hang out with misogynists, I'm afraid, so I'm afraid I don't... TONY JONES: Not even accidentally from time to time? ELIZABETH ANN MACGREGOR: Not even accidentally from time to time. No, I mean, I think this is one of these generational questions, isn't it? Aren't we kind of over all that? Aren't we able to talk about men and women in a more equal sense now rather than thinking about misogyny? They do exist, of course. I come across them from time to time, but, no, I think relations between men and women have come on a long way. TONY JONES: Steven O'Doherty, I know we're taking you into strange territory here but... STEPHEN O'DOHERTY: Like the government, I like to start low and then... TONY JONES: Look, we could just perhaps contemplate the nature of love, if you like. STEPHEN O'DOHERTY: Well, I tell you, I mean, there's a serious edge to it. I read a fascinating article in the weekend's press about young women - men and women who - and I'm talking about, you know, 16 to like 25, who will go out and get plastered in a nightclub and sexual conquests are then what they talk about on Facebook the next day. There's a distinct lack of respect that's being shown there. Now, I don't know that it's misogyny per se but it's just a lack of respect for the other sex or for their partner, a lack of respect for themselves in the end, and I think it's a very serious issue that's emerging for our young people. TONY JONES: Penny Wong, you're off the hook. You're not talking about climate change. You're not talking about carbon tax. PENNY WONG: You want me to talk about that? You reckon this is easier? I think you should ask me another question. TONY JONES: The question was: can a misogynist ever make a great lover? PENNY WONG: I have no idea. TONY JONES: No thoughts on the subject whatsoever? PENNY WONG: No, really, I'm not qualified. TONY JONES: I'm not sure that misogyny necessarily takes sexual preference into account. PENNY WONG: Well, I don't know how to answer this question. I wish someone from... MATHIAS CORMANN: (Indistinct) approach to this. PENNY WONG: Yes, I'm waiting for Mathias to jump in. He's not going to interrupt me on this one, I don't think. MATHIAS CORMANN: (Indistinct). PENNY WONG: I don't think. Look, I would hope that respect is - respect for the other is a part of how we interact in our most intimate relationships as in the rest of our lives. TONY JONES: Mathias Cormann? MATHIAS CORMANN: Way beyond my area of expertise, Tony, so there's... TONY JONES: Yes, everyone wants to say that but funnily enough humans are quite common among people. MATHIAS CORMANN: Yeah. PENNY WONG: (Indistinct) sex with misogynists. TONY JONES: We're going beyond the political now, Mathias. MATHIAS CORMANN: Yes, indeed. TONY JONES: Delve into your own personal experience to answer this one. MATHIAS CORMANN: And the answer, I guess, would be no. TONY JONES: Okay. We've got another question that comes from Cassandra Giudice. WATERSTREET / 'RAKE' CASSANDRA GIUDICE: Thanks, Tony. I've got a question for Charles Waterstreet. How much was the boozing, womanising and drug-taking of the protagonist in Rake based upon your own misdeeds? CHARLES WATERSTREET: Well, that sounds very much like a question my son asked me when the character was snorting something off a toilet seat and I've never been near a toilet seat that close, I told him. But, no, it was all myth. It was observations I made while at a bar of barristers who were doing things and up to things and up to no good. So it's all not person experience but observation. TONY JONES: Charles, people do want to know, having seen the series, whether you are, in fact, a mythological creature. Now they've got you hear in real life, so you could perhaps reflect on what the character got right and wrong? CHARLES WATERSTREET: I know. Richard plays a character not unlike me but he's much shorter and that doesn't cross as well as I wanted it to. TONY JONES: Okay, let's move on. Our next question comes from Gregory Abbott. GAY MARRIAGE GREGORY ABBOTT: My question is for Penny Wong. If the ALP National Conference in December changes the party's stance against same-sex marriage, how quickly can we expect to have a bill that amends the Marriage Act accordingly? PENNY WONG: Well, we first have to have the National Conference and I've made clear what I'll be advocating for at that conference but that's obviously going to be a debate that has to occur so I wouldn't... TONY JONES: Just remind the audience here what you'll be advocating for? PENNY WONG: Well, I told the state conference in South Australia that I'd be advocating for a change to the platform to enable equality in all things, including marriage. But I also said that I'd be ensuring that I did that, as I always do, through party forum, which includes the National Conference and the Prime Minister has made clear we will have that discussion then. It's obviously an issue on which people in our party and people in the community have a range of different views so I wouldn't want to be talking about what might happen after that. I think that debate is going to have to occur. TONY JONES: It's a hypothetical question, yes, but it's a serious one and that is if the party changes its position, how quickly could we see legislation? PENNY WONG: And I've said I don't think I can answer that because I think we've got to go through the party processes and I wouldn't want to pre-empt that. People know that what the party has done in government in terms of same-sex law reform. I think it's some 80-plus laws which now recognise same-sex relationships that never did previously and I think that has been a very important set of reforms but this is obviously that's going to be debated within the party at the end of the year. TONY JONES: Mathias, would you like to see a change to these laws? MATHIAS CORMANN: I support the current definition of marriage in the Marriage Act, which is that marriage is a union between a man and a woman entered into to the exclusion of all others for life. TONY JONES: Why is that, by the way? MATHIAS CORMANN: Well, that's just - that's my view. That's my belief as... TONY JONES: Yes, but what's it based on. Is it based on reading of the bible? Is it based on some other view? MATHIAS CORMANN: No, it's based on a view that marriage is special and that it's something that it's a union between a man and a woman. So obviously different people have got different views. That's my view. That's the view of the Coalition and it's, at present, the view of the Government so obviously don't know what the Governor is going to do in the months ahead but that's very much my view. TONY JONES: I'll bring in Liz Ann Macgregor but first we've got a questioner with his hand up. AUDIENCE MEMBER: My question is for Penny Wong. How much will the carbon tax be on a gay wedding cake? TONY JONES: Well, we'll take that as a comment. PENNY WONG: Where's Hewson when you need him? Sorry. STEPHEN O'DOHERTY: He sent me and I can't answer that. ELIZABETH ANN MACGREGOR: Well, wouldn't it be wonderful if we had a policy that went through without 100 opinion polls telling the government why they shouldn't pass it? I mean it would be wonderful to have a bit of leadership from our current government on this one and the greens and get it over with. Because I think once it happens it happens and we'll see people around the country will adapt and embrace it and if people chose not to take it up, well, that's fine but I don't really see why we should deny gay people that possibility in this day and age. It seems to be ridiculous. TONY JONES: Steven O'Doherty, (indistinct) hearing mentions of opinion polls there because if the government followed the opinion polls, they would actually legislate for gay marriage. STEPHEN O'DOHERTY: Maybe they would maybe they're not. It depends what question you ask, Tony. Marriage has a very specific meaning in law and I agree with Mathias. The meaning is quite plain to me and I don't see the need for it to include same-sex unions. We recognise same sex-sex couples. We recognise same-sex unions. There's been substantial law reform. I was involved in some of it when I was a member of parliament back in the 90s, you know. This is not a new thing but marriage specifically has a particular meaning and I don't think the community in general supports changing that. TONY JONES: Charles? CHARLES WATERSTREET: Marriage has a meaning in law? I mean you change laws. It has no meaning in law except what you pin to it. You can change the meaning immediately to absorb gay marriages. I think it's a boon for lawyers: gay divorces. Who gets the Kylie Minogue collection? TONY JONES: I'm just thinking about the gay divorcee. We've already heard that phrase, haven't we? CHARLES WATERSTREET: Yes. TONY JONES: Okay, we'll move on again. You're watching Q&A where you ask the questions. Our next question comes from John Shin. FOREIGN OWNERSHIP JOHN SHIN: In an article from last week's Economist they showed the results of a poll by the BBC World Service where people around the world, including Australia, were becoming increasingly worried about the eastward shift in economic activity. The Chinese Investment Corporation (CIC) are reportedly investing another $100-200 billion dollars in reserves to invest. Should Australia be worried about these movements, such as the recent buyout of the 43 farms in Gunnedah by a Chinese firm? TONY JONES: Let's start with Mathias Cormann? MATHIAS CORMANN: Well, I mean foreign investment is very important for Australia. I mean we can't generate enough capital domestically in Australia to really grow our economy to its full potential so that's the first point I would make. Clearly there are national interest considerations that come into play and there are process in place to assess those. In relation specifically to the issue that you raise around farms and so on, I mean there is obviously the additional issue around food security. There are questions as to whether we do have enough information, whether there is enough transparency around the investments that are made at present, so that is something that we are currently looking at, as the Coalition, to make sure that there are better processes in place to track more transparently some of the activity that goes on, however as a general point and in particular there were some comments last week around foreign investment in the mining industry, for example. If we want to maximise the opportunities from a mining industry, if we want to maximise the opportunities across a whole range of economic sectors, obviously foreign investment is going to be very important for us. It has been important for ever and it will continue to be important into the future and, no, we shouldn't be scared of it. TONY JONES: Penny Wong? PENNY WONG: Well, two issues. First in terms of the eastward shift that you referenced, that actually holds enormous opportunities for us. If we think about where we are in the world and what we sell and what we can additionally sell, we are living through a shift in market power east towards Asia that is enormous. We will see not only is this going to mean people will pay more for our resources. We're already seeing that. But we will also see in the decade to come hundreds of millions of people in China and India moving into the middle classes, which has never happened before and there are enormous economic opportunities for Australia if we can grasp them. In terms of foreign investment, yes, I actually agree with Mathias. Foreign investment is very important to our country. It would hurt our economy very significantly if foreign investment were not allowed. There are always national interest issues. There is a process through the FIRB, the Foreign Investment Review Board and that's as it should be but we do need to keep this in perspective that, in fact, investment by foreigners in Australia has meant Australian jobs and has meant more economic activity in Australia than we would otherwise have had. TONY JONES: Charles Waterstreet? CHARLES WATERSTREET: Well, I was brought up with the map of the world and the Chinese coming to invade us but now they're coming to buy us and I think we could sell to the highest bidder but I noted that the farms around Gunnedah were being sold to, I think, Chinese interests and they're renaming it Gunshin instead of Gunnedah but I think it's a very serious topic if it's taken out of proportion. The Foreign Investment has a level where under which you can buy one farm at a time so I think that's what happened in Gunnedah, so I think it has to be watched very carefully, otherwise we just become a bucket for the rest of the world, rather than an exploiter of our own resources. PENNY WONG: Can I just make this point? I do understand the concerns that some people have raised but I would just say this: the vast majority of our farms are owned by Australians, are owned by families. There's a very small proportions which are owned by either, you know, institutional investors or an even smaller proportion which are owned by foreign investors and, you know, we have said we do think we need to keep better track of it and Bill Shorten, I think, has spoken on this program before about the need to get a better database so that we can see, you know, who is buying what and we're in the process of developing that. But I think we just need to keep it in perspective. TONY JONES: The database doesn't exist at the moment, so you really don't know the answer. Is that right? PENNY WONG: Well, I think that's true. I think... MATHIAS CORMANN: It's something we suggested some time ago and the government is finally following up on it, yeah. PENNY WONG: You always have to make a political point, don't you Mathias? I could say, 11 years in government and you never did it but I'll try not to. Oops. Sorry. Yes. CHARLES WATERSTREET: That was before he came. PENNY WONG: But we have asked the ABS and the rural R&D Corporation to try and do a bit of work on putting a better set of data together on this because it is true. TONY JONES: Because you said we don't know the answer. PENNY WONG: It's true. It is true because a lot of these titles are held by state governments or possibly by local governments so you don't necessarily have a national database and we should get that done. TONY JONES: Stephen O'Doherty. STEPHEN O'DOHERTY: I think the state government in New South Wales is doing a similar thing and it's a bit scary to think that we don't have that information. Foreign Investment is absolutely essential in Australia. We know that. The question is whether we can still guarantee the security of our food, the security of our clean water and so on, the agricultural assets that we need to feed this nation. But I worry that this issue becomes a dog whistle issue for a Xenophobia that's driving a lot of policy debate in Australia at the moment, including, ironically, you know, linking into the carbon debate itself. I'm just worried about the tone of the national debate and we've got to keep it on sensible issues but not just become, you know, afraid and go back to the days of the White Australia Policy. TONY JONES: Let's hear from Liz Ann Macgregor. ELIZABETH ANN MACGREGOR: I think looking at it in a wider sense, we've talked about the carbon pollution reduction necessity but also the necessity to have more sustainable lives and land is clearly going to be a very important part of that and we should be going back to growing things closer to home rather than importing, you know, green beans from Kenya or whatever, you know, and polluting the atmosphere. So this is going to become a bigger issue. I suspect it's not huge yet and I agree that the discussion of it around, you know, the Chinese are coming is very unhelpful but I think we need to make sure that we do continue to have control over our land, because the supply of food is going to become one of the most critical issues (indistinct)... TONY JONES: Okay, let's go to another question. You're watching Q&A. You can go to our website if you want to send in a question but many of our questions come from the studio audience, like this one, which is also related to problems farmers are facing at the moment. It comes from Emma Watts. CATTLE BAN EMMA WATTS: To Penny Wong. So if the livelihood of your family and surrounding community depended on the live cattle export trade, would you be happy with the way the government has handled the indefinite banning of live exports and the compensation you have been promised that, in many cases, does not even cover a week's worth of work? Why is the government suddenly penalising Australians for Indonesia's lack of regulation of this trade and why does the government believe that the welfare of Australian people is second to those of the cattle they were exporting? PENNY WONG: Well, we don't believe that. What we do believe is that the sort of footage that we saw, that Australian's saw, is not something we can accept and we need to put in place the mechanisms, the supply chain insurance, to make sure that isn't what happens when Australian cattle are exported. So we have announced a suspension, we have announced some assistance and we are working as quickly as we can to put those supply chain insurances in place so that we can restart the trade as soon as we can say to Australians, "We believe we have agreements with Indonesia which will ensure that what was publicised on Four Corners doesn't happen again." TONY JONES: Mathias Cormann? MATHIAS CORMANN: I mean the government's handling of this live cattle export, the export issue has been just completely appalling. I mean they've essentially shut down overnight a $700 million industry through a blanket ban and, of course, what should have happened is they should have targeted those abattoirs in Indonesia where there were clearly problems. All of us agree that the footage on the Four Corners show was terrible but you don't impose a blanket ban and shut down a whole industry, a legitimate industry overnight and, of course, like, the real question here is Kevin Rudd has been travelling five continents over the last month but yet he hasn't been able to find his way to Indonesia to deal with the serious diplomatic problems that have been caused by the way the government has handled... TONY JONES: He was speaking to the Indonesia foreign minister at one of those meetings only a few days ago. MATHIAS CORMANN: Well, it's very little too late, quite frankly. I mean the government - this is an important industry. This is a legitimate trade and, of course, this whole market in Indonesia is at serious risk now for the long term. TONY JONES: Can I just go back to Penny Wong on this. Tony Abbott made this point again tonight: why didn't the government simply use the abattoirs which are operating under international standards, keep them going and therefore keep a flow in this trade, not shut it all down. PENNY WONG: Because if you don't have supply chain assurances you don't know - you can't say to Australians "We are sure that the cattle that go to Indonesia are being dealt with in this way. I mean, I don't know anybody who could condone the sort of footage we saw. I thought it was quite horrific and so the question is how do you try and ensure that you put the right policies in place, the right agreements in place to make sure that doesn't happen again. TONY JONES: Okay, we've got time for just one more question. It comes from Anna Kovacs. MENTAL ILLNESS / LAWYERS ANNA KOVACS: We have heard a lot of public debate recently around the law and mental illness and more specifically, whether a judge with depression can fairly adjudicate on a consistent basis. Do you think that judges and magistrates with existing mental health issues should be allowed on the bench? TONY JONES: Charles Waterstreet? CHARLES WATERSTREET: I have a dog in this race because I've suffered depression myself and if we were going to ban judges and magistrates from sitting then there'd be no one left on bench because it's a very depressing job. I go nearly every day to a place called "The Drowning Centre". There is no good news - there's very little good news in criminal law, which I practice in, so it does attract a certain amount of depression and a certain amount of self observation so it's little wonder that it has a high toll. But with medication et cetera, why should anyone who suffers from depression be in any different position than someone who suffers from diabetes? It's a matter of control and I do think that the last two candidates who had the disgraceful object of having to go before parliament to plead their jobs is just nothing short of horrific on any way of dealing with this sort of matter and it just makes us look like middle ages. TONY JONES: Let's hear from Stephen O'Doherty. You were in that parliament. STEPHEN O'DOHERTY: I was, yeah. TONY JONES: How did you feel watching those two magistrates be dragged in front of the parliament as if it were a sort of giant court? STEPHEN O'DOHERTY: Well, I mean, in a sense it is the - it's the biggest court. It makes the laws, as Charles has reminded us, but it's demeaning, isn't it, in these days. They shouldn't be in that position and I think we need to ask ourselves why are they in that position? As I understand it there is no legitimate or easy way that doesn't jeopardise themselves that a magistrate or a judge can actually declare that they have depression and that they're being treated for it. So the system itself mitigates against them seeking assistance. There's a process of disclosure of other things but once they disclose there's almost a self-fulfilling prophecy that they have to be prevented from continuing to work in that role. So we need serious law reform in that area. I mean we understand that so many people in our communities suffer depression and the worst thing that you can do if you have depression is to not seek assistance and what we've done is create a system where these people making, you know, really important life decisions are not able to themselves seek assistance and then just get on with doing their job, which they do well. TONY JONES: Does that actually create a fundamental problem for judgment? STEPHEN O'DOHERTY: Well, it does, if you've... TONY JONES: If people are too frightened, in fact, to actually explain to the world and to go and seek treatment they might be making critical decisions while they are mentally ill. STEPHEN O'DOHERTY: Yes, they may well because the system doesn't allow them to disclose, treat it and deal with it and move on. We've got to do that Tony. TONY JONES: Liz Ann Macgregor? ELIZABETH ANN MACGREGOR: Isn't it part of the wider problem about the stigma that is attached to mental illness within society and that is a bit problem we have to face and if people don't feel able to talk about it and share it - it is an illness. It's not a behaviour so they can't modify it themselves. It's not about choice so to say that somehow magistrates have to behave in a different way if they have a mental illness I think is completely wrong and we really need to be having more of a debate about what we can do about people in important positions who are dealing with these terrible situations. TONY JONES: We're nearly out of time. We'll just quickly hear from our two politicians. Mathias? MATHIAS CORMANN: Well, it's obviously a significant issue and one that needs to be addressed sensitively. The Law Society in Western Australia actually released a very significant report a couple of months ago with a whole series of recommendations on how the processes and the support mechanisms can be improved. It is quite concerning that across the legal profession it does appear to be the case that there is a disproportionate amount of professionals that do actually suffer depression and we do need to make sure governments, policy makers, law societies that there are proper support mechanisms in place to deal with the matter better than what we're doing. TONY JONES: Finally, Penny Wong. PENNY WONG: I don't think there's any person in Australia who hasn't been touched by mental illness in some way, either, you know, because they, you know, have one themselves or have friend or family who has suffered and, you know, I think it was really good - I was really proud of the fact that we funded a mental health package in the budget. On this issue, what I'd say is I don't profess to be across the detail of how this came to pass. I think we should try and not be punitive in how we approach people with mental illness and each workplace will work out, you know, how we deal with it, some better than others. But we need to try and manage this far better as a society than we have to date. TONY JONES: I'm sorry to those who have got their hands up we haven't been able to get to but that is all we have time for. Please thank our panel: Stephen O'Doherty, Penny Wong, Charles Waterstreet, Liz Ann Macgregor and Mathias Cormann. Thank you very much. Next week on Q&A Prime Minister Julia Gillard, she'll face your questions the day after announcing her carbon pricing policy. Lack of action on climate change brought down Kevin Rudd. Now, it's defining Julia Gillard's Prime Ministership. With the details on the table, will she be seen as a liar who misled the electorate on the carbon tax or a skilled negotiator leading Australia to the most significant economic and environmental reform for a generation? Well, next Monday night on Q&A you'll get the chance to ask questions and form your own judgment. Join us on Thursday too, at 8.30, for the Leaky Boat Documentary, followed by a special Q&A debate. Until then goodnight.

Image caption Students will have accrued £5,800 in interest charges before they graduate, says the IFS Students in England are going to graduate with average debts of £50,800, after interest rates are raised on student loans to 6.1%, according to the Institute for Fiscal Studies. Those from the poorest backgrounds, with more loans available to support them, will graduate with debts of over £57,000 says the think tank. Interest charges are levied as soon as courses begin and the IFS says students on average will have accrued £5,800 in interest charges by the time they have graduated from university. Report author Chris Belfield describes the interest as "very high", but the Department for Education declined to comment on the increase in charges. Universities Minister Jo Johnson says that more disadvantaged students than ever are going to university. The study from the IFS compares England's current student finance system introduced in 2012, where fees were raised to £9,000, with the previous system introduced in 2006, when fees were about £3,000. Because the level at which graduates have to repay also increased, to £21,000, it meant that those with low incomes were initially better off, says the IFS. Rising charges But the repayment threshold has been frozen since 2012 - and the IFS report says that graduates on all income levels are now worse off than under the previous fee regime. Students from disadvantaged backgrounds can borrow more in maintenance support - but because these are now loans rather than grants, it means that the poorest students will leave with the highest debts. The increase in interest rates and tuition fees going up to £9,250 per year will push up the cost of loans for all graduates - and higher earners will pay interest of £40,000 on top of the amount borrowed. Mr Belfield says the 6.1% being charged on loans is "very high compared with current market rates". But if loans are not repaid after 30 years, they are written off - and the IFS forecasts that about three-quarters of students will not pay off all their debt, despite making payments from their earnings into their 50s. The government also wants to sell off student loans to private investors - with some pre-2012 loans having already been put up for sale. Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption Universities minister refuses to say on Today whether student loan interest rates will go down The report says there have been two main beneficiaries from the current fee system - universities and the government's finances. Universities have increased per-student funding by 25% since fees rose to £9,000, says the IFS, after taking into account the money they no longer receive directly from the government. Last week, Mr Johnson warned against university leaders being paid excessive salaries - with some vice-chancellors earning over £400,000. Election battleground Replacing grants with loans and freezing the earnings threshold for repayment has made the system less expensive for the government. The IFS says that the lowest-earning third of graduates are paying 30% more than in 2012, when the £21,000 threshold was introduced. The switch in costs to students will mean cutting government borrowing by £3bn in the long term. Tuition fees became a high-profile issue during the general election - with Labour promising to scrap tuition fees. The big swing to Labour in university seats was seen as suggesting that young people were concerned about tuition fees - and plans for them to begin rising each year. Senior Conservative minister Damian Green, speaking last week, recognised that fees had become a big issue, particular for young voters, and that universities needed to show they were providing value for money. The IFS analysis says scrapping tuition fees would cost £11bn per year. But it also warns that continuing on the current trajectory of "high debts, high interest rates and low repayment rates" would mean problems both for "graduates and the public finances". The report says that the overall trend has been to increase university funding, reduce government spending on higher education, "while substantially increasing payments by graduates, especially high-earning graduates". Labour's shadow education minister, Gordon Marsden, said: "This report shows that any argument that the current fee system is progressive is absolute nonsense. "From scrapping the maintenance grant to freezing the repayment threshold, this government has increased the debt burden of students from disadvantaged backgrounds, who will graduate with debts in excess of £57,000." "Under the Tories, student debt continues to rise with no end in sight, and students in the UK will now graduate with a shocking average of over £50,000 in debt." Mr Johnson said: "The government consciously subsidises the studies of those who for a variety of reasons, including family responsibilities, may not repay their loans in full. "This is a vital and deliberate investment in the skills base of this country, not a symptom of a broken student finance system. "And the evidence bears this out: young people from poorer backgrounds are now going to university at a record rate - up 43% since 2009." Get news from the BBC in your inbox, each weekday morning

Are electric cars really good enough to take four adults and a week’s worth of luggage from London to the Loire? Samuel Gibbs finds out The alarm went off at 6am to kickstart our journey, and I was full of trepidation. Driving 706 km (439 miles) in a car with three other adults and enough luggage for a week’s holiday might already feel like a modern labour of Hercules for some, but this trip had an extra challenge: the car would be all electric. The chariot to take us from the south of London to the middle of France would be a Tesla Model S 90D. Fortunately, unlike most other electric cars, the Model S is not a small car, so fitting everyone and everything in wouldn’t be an issue. But a quoted range of just under 350 miles per charge, though one of the longest available, left me a little worried. Would we really get anything like that much milage, with a fully laden car, and at motorway speeds? Would there be enough chargers along the way? And after the fourth recharging stop, would my passengers mutiny? A map showing the journey from London to the Loire Valley via Folkestone, Calais, Paris and Tours. From London to the Loire Valley via Folkestone, Calais, Paris and Tours. I put those fears aside as we plugged the destination into the large 17in touchscreen that sits in the middle of the dashboard, tapping out Eurotunnel on the keyboard and setting a course for the nearest electric charger – something that would be an all-too-familiar sight as the journey progressed. London to Folkstone (7.02am GMT to 8.05am GMT) London to Folkestone London to Folkestone As the clock struck 7am on a bright spring morning we were off, silently accelerating away with only the noise of the tyres and a quiet whoosh from the electric engine to indicate we were moving. You’d not get such a quiet start in a petrol- or diesel-powered vehicle – but then with an internal combustion engine, the French leg of the trip would only take six and a half hours including stopping for fuel once. In the Tesla it would take almost 11 hours, not that we knew that yet, as we cruised happily down the M20 to the Eurotunnel. And it was on the M20 that I had my first experience of the Model S’s perks. It’s a big car – powered by a massive battery that forms the whole of the underside of the car – but it’s very, very quick. The 90D hits 60mph in 4.2 seconds, which is faster than most sports cars. Admittedly, this sends everything in the back flying because there are no cubbyholes or even magazine holders in the back of the seats, but on motorways you don’t have to worry about joining the carriageway. Find the gap, slam your foot on the accelerator and zoom into lane – no run up, high revving or dodging lorries needed. Doing so drains the battery of course, but the car would get a full charge at one of what Tesla calls a “Supercharger”. Super in both name and power: a full charge of the Model S takes only 70 minutes, which is a whole six hours quicker than most other chargers. Only Teslas can use them, which really makes you feel for Nissan Leaf drivers. Facebook Twitter Pinterest Plugging in the car at the Eurotunnel was easy, as there were two charging points right in front of the terminal – and the electricity from Tesla’s Superchargers is free. Photograph: Samuel Gibbs for the Guardian We arrived at the Channel tunnel just after 8am and ran into our first conundrum. The first Supercharger we’d reach in France would be just north of Paris, some 244km (152 miles) away, so we needed to fully charge before taking the Eurotunnel. But what if all the charging slots at Folkestone were taken? How long should we allow? We decided to be conservative and book a Eurotunnel slot for two hours’ time, and make the most of the wait with breakfast. Finding the Folkestone charger was easy. We pulled up right in front of the terminal, reversed in, hooked up, shoved everything in the boot for safe keeping and went in for a full English. An hour later I came back to discover to my horror the boot wide open. The powered tailgate had tried to shut on a bag strap and re-opened without me noticing. Panic set in as I ran over to the vehicle, but thankfully nothing was missing except my faith in my own faculties. At least the car was fully charged. England to France (10.40am GMT to 12.30pm CET) Facebook Twitter Pinterest Heading into the Eurotunnel trains felt like a very tight squeeze. Photograph: Ben Smith for the Guardian As the time came to board, another challenge presented itself. While getting on to the Eurotunnel train was fine – breathe in a bit and fold in the wing mirrors – once parked we were instructed to do something that sounds so very simple: turn off all lights. In most cars this just means turning off the ignition, but in the Tesla there is no way to fully turn the car off. Well, there is a way, but it’s marked with big scary letters saying “only in an emergency” and I didn’t know if we’d be able to turn the car back on if I pressed it. I pushed every other button I could see. I turned the headlights from auto to fully off, turned off the mood lighting, turned off headlights after exit, but the daytime running lights – a small line of LEDs that light up accents around the headlights, which is the fashion in cars these days – just wouldn’t turn off. Getting out of the car and shutting the doors didn’t help either. The attendant said that he’d had this problem with every Tesla that’s been through the tunnel, and that LEDs mess with the fire detection system of the train. Still we could find no way to turn them off. Fortunately the attendant had moved on, and thankfully as the train started to move the car went silent and everything turned off, including the lights. Tapping the touchscreen kickstarted the music again, but the lights stayed off. Facebook Twitter Pinterest The lights finally went off on their own when the train started moving. Photograph: Samuel Gibbs for the Guardian I later found out that Tesla’s official advice for Eurotunnel-goers is to hit that “only in an emergency” button, which will power the car off the completely. Tapping on the touchscreen will then restart it. Calais to Senlis (12.30pm CET to 2.40pm CET) Calais to Senlis Calais to Senlis Half an hour later, we drove straight off the train and on to the open French motorways, en route to our next stop, the Supercharger in Senlis, just north of Paris. The French motorways and toll roads are a cut above the bumpy, grainy surface of British motorways. The Model S flew along in comfortable cruise, happy at pretty much any speed. The speed limit on the motorway in France is 130kmph (81mph) when it’s dry, 110kmph (68mph) when it’s raining. It was a bright sunny day so we set off at the upper cap, matching what little traffic joined us on the roads. Driving off the Eurotunnel train and into France. The Model S has a quoted range of 557km (346 miles), which should have made the 244km jaunt trivial. What we didn’t take into account was that the mileage figure was calculated in line with the industry standard New European Driving Cycle (NEDC) guidelines, which are meant to simulate typical usage of a car in Europe. They were first introduced in 1970, last updated in 1997 and are continually criticised for producing wholly unrealistic range or efficiency statistics. To say 346 miles per charge was unrealistic for French motorway driving at 130kmph would be an understatement. With regular driving – think average family driving, not boy-racer-in-a-pocket-rocket driving – we made it to the charger in Senlis with just 25km projected range to spare, but not without a scare first. Range anxiety is nothing to be sniffed at. The car comes with some very detailed electricity consumption graphs, one of which we had on-screen at all times indicating typical and projected range, which of course decreases at a worrying pace as you tear up the miles. The likelihood of running out of battery is probably quite low, but the consequences of doing so are great, which means the perceived risk of a dead battery leaving you stranded feels quite high. What do you do if you ran out of battery in the middle of nowhere? It’s not like you can nip down to the nearest petrol station, fill up a jerrycan and put some emergency fuel in the car. If you found someone kind enough to lend you a plug socket with a massive extension cable you could charge it, but is that likely? Coming up to the turning off to Senlis we reached a toll booth – which are frequent either side of Paris – and in the fumble to find change we failed to realise that we had to immediately turn off the motorway to head for the Supercharger. On what was now the wrong road, and with 40km of projected range left, we were suddenly faced with the realisation that we would have to travel another eight or so kilometres before being able to come off, do a loop at a roundabout and come back on to head back up the motorway for another 8km. Panic was beginning to set in as the remaining range fluctuated and the risk of running out really dawned on us. We switched off everything non-essential – the climate control, the music and the mood lighting: it all had to go – and drove as close to the optimum speed as we could without getting overtaken by lorries. Facebook Twitter Pinterest The view of the Ibis Budget from the car on charge a the Senlis Supercharger. Photograph: Samuel Gibbs for the Guardian We made it to the charging point, a lovely six-slot Supercharger. The relief was palpable, as was the sweat in the 25C non-air conditioned cabin. We weren’t the only Tesla drivers at the Senil Supercharger, which is one of just three north of Paris. We saw two Dutch Model Ss, one Belgian one and one French, which made us feel slightly better; other people were driving significant distances in their all-electric cars, so we couldn’t be that daft. It was also reassuring to walk up and be able to hear what the other Teslas sounded like as they charged. As 400v, and almost as many amps, are pumped into the battery, the car sounds like it is about to take off as its fan goes into overdrive. After about 20 minutes and around half a charge it calms down a bit. Reassured the charging noise was normal, we made a break for a nearby McDonald’s. Facebook Twitter Pinterest Tesla Model Ss from Belgium, the Netherlands and France pulled up at the Senlis Supercharger. Photograph: Ben Smith for the Guardian The car was fully charged in around 70 minutes, so we plugged in the next destination – a Supercharger in Tours 286km (178 miles) away. The navigation system plotted us a route that took us around Paris on one of the French capital’s ring roads. It’s worth noting we only came this close to Paris because of the location of the Senil Supercharger, in a petrol car you would avoid the city entirely. Senlis to Orly (3.52pm CET to 5.17pm CET) Senlis to Orly Senlis to Orly We set off down another toll road, heading for Paris traffic. On the motorway the car is big, powerful and comfortable, but what about on the cramped streets of Paris? Predictably we hit a queue of cars, which was very stop-start, cars nipping in and out, cutting each other up and breaking hard. Thankfully, the Model S performed very well for such a large car. It felt nimble, its instant acceleration came in handy for quick jumps through gaps and it was much more efficient at lower speeds. Having fought through Paris, crawling at 70kmph around the city’s ring road, we approached the turning for the Orly Supercharger. Although we were meant to be going stop-free to Tours, with one-third of the battery gone and after our previous panic, we decided it would be best to stop. Facebook Twitter Pinterest It would be a while before we saw the open road again. Photograph: Ben Smith for the Guardian The Orly Supercharger was hidden behind a Novotel and took a bit of finding, particularly as Tesla’s built in turn-by-turn navigation system is sometimes not quite detailed enough to reliably tell which junction it’s trying to get you to take when two or three are tightly packed together. What makes it worse is that the large map on the 17in centre screen means everyone in the car can see it, making everyone backseat drivers. Sometimes that’s useful, particularly if it’s difficult to tell where precisely you have to turn, but often it is terribly irritating. On the upside though, it nullifies the incessant “are we there yet” bleats you get from your passengers on long car journeys. After a couple of wrong turns, we found the Novatel, parked at its gates and went in to ask precisely where the charger was. Right at the back of the car park, invisible from the road, the six-car charger had one black French Tesla taxi parked in it, so we pulled in beside it and started the charging routine – pop the flap by the rear light cluster on the passenger’s side, plug in the thick cable and let the car do its thing. A quick trip into the Novatel bar, an orange juice for the designated driver, and something stronger for the somewhat frustrated passengers, and we were topped up and ready to go. Orly to Tours (5.56pm CET to 8.36pm CET) Orly to Tours Orly to Tours So the next stop on our electrical mystery tour would be Tours, a medium-size town with the nearest Supercharger to our final designation just outside of the small village of La Celle-Guenand. The route would take us back out onto the open road where the Model S’s newest party trick came into its own. Tesla caused quite a stir when it released its so-called Autopilot advanced cruise control system as an over-the-air update in October last year. It’s about as close as you can legally get to a self-driving car at the moment. When activated – pull the cruise control stick back twice, once to activate speed control and a second time to activate automatic steering with a cute beep-boop sound – and the car will basically do the driving for you. Facebook Twitter Pinterest The two icons either side of the speed indicate appear when cruise control and auto-steering are available, and turn blue to indicate when they are active. The car’s position on the virtual road mirrors the physical world, and images of cars and lorries appear on screen when they are detected by the car’s sensors. Photograph: Samuel Gibbs for the Guardian It tracks the white lines and the cars around you, controls speed recognising speed limit signs, your distance to other cars, which I set to seven car lengths, and keeps the car in the middle of the lane. It’s a surreal experience at first, but you quickly gain confidence in it and, like cruise control, it becomes second nature. It’s even intelligent enough to differentiate between someone overtaking and pulling away, which it doesn’t need to brake for, and those that pull in and slow down for which it does brake to maintain your set distance to the car in front. The only slightly unnerving thing is that on French roads the white lines peel off to the right at motorway junctions to create the slip lane, causing the car to gently meander, drifting to the right in the inside lane before correcting itself. The passengers didn’t seem to notice, and you quickly come to anticipate it as a driver, but the first time was a bit of a shock. Autopilot makes the process of driving, particularly on the other side of the road, a much more relaxing experience. You become the car’s long-range scanner, making sure idiot drivers don’t crash into you. It will even change lanes for you if you indicate one way or the other, which works fine when there’s plenty of time and space, but I found myself taking control more often than not to move around cars. To do so you just manually steer, overriding the system and deactivating the steering control with a boop-boop sound. In fact, I used it so much one of the passengers in the back started humming the beeps and boops in synchrony with the car. You can turn them off, but no one objected. Facebook Twitter Pinterest The Model S hooked up to the final Supercharger on our journey, behind the Art Hotel in Tours. Photograph: Ben Smith for the Guardian Many toll booths later, we pulled off the motorway and headed for the Tours Supercharger. This one was the nicest of the lot, in a new gravel car park out the back of the very swank-looking modern Art Hotel in a old chateaux on the banks of the Loire. A full charge was needed, partly because we weren’t entirely confident that we would be able to charge the car at our destination. You can charge the Tesla pretty much anywhere, and there are quite a few public charging stations dotted about in villages and towns around our final destination, but we felt we needed to make sure we could get back to Tours as a worse-case scenario backup plan. It gave us time for what was, apparently, a very nice gin and tonic, some excellent local white wine and yet another orange juice for the driver, none of which was cheap but then we were on holiday. We all agreed that if the gîte didn’t work out we’d be back here pronto. Another Model S turned up as we were returning to the car, which would be the last we’d see until our voyage back to the UK. We didn’t wave or anything, this time. Tours to La Celle-Guenand (9.32pm CET to 10.46pm CET) Tours to La Richardière Tours to La Richardière As we set off on our final leg, at 9.30pm local time, we needed the headlights - another thing to drain the battery - but given the car was full to the brim I wasn’t worried. A quick stretch of the A10, a short stop at a supermarket to stock up on provisions and a jaunt along the D50 took us to single-lane country roads. Here we discovered that the “save” feature in Spotify, built in to the Model S, didn’t actually save the tracks offline, just added them to your library, so when the 3G ran out, so did the music. It also crashed at one point, stuck in some sort of loop playing an awful ticking racket. A soft reboot of the touchscreen panel sorted it when parked up later. Facebook Twitter Pinterest Plotting the route to our destination on the 17in touchscreen. Photograph: Ben Smith for the Guardian The now music-free car handled the winding roads admirably, although you needed every bit of the automatic full beams to see where you were going. The streets were more-or-less deserted. We saw several very nice but narrow villages, inching our way through them over cobbles and around 90-degree brick turns. We drove past one older lady, who gave us a curious look – what was this thing crawling silently through the night – shook her head and disappeared in through a tiny door. It was a reaction we would grow accustomed to in rural France, which was quite different to the looks, questions and kids hanging out of minibuses waving and trying to take photos that the car had garnered in the UK and through French toll booths to Paris. Journeying down a single-track road banked by fields as far as the eye could see we finally reached our destination, La Richardière, which the satellite navigation predictably butchered in half English, half machine-broken French. After 11 hours on the road in France, we pulled up at just before 11pm local time, almost drove over the septic tank and parked up for the night with half the battery left. Charging could wait for the morning. La Richardière The beauty of an electric car is that you can charge it just about anywhere that’s got an electrical socket. It might look mean, but you can plug the big thick cable into a standard wall socket with the right adaptor on the end. If it can take a kettle, it can take a Tesla. We were planning to use a caravan power hookup to charge the car, but like everything else there are two sizes of three-pin blue utility connector. We had the big one, the shed outside the gîte had the smaller one. Luckily the other side of the wall had a standard European two-pin plug socket. I took the Tesla mobile connector, changed the adaptor on the end and plugged it straight into the wall. Facebook Twitter Pinterest Charging the Model S straight from a standard plug at the destination was surprisingly easy using the included mobile charging cable. Photograph: Samuel Gibbs for the Guardian A click, a locking sound and some flashing lights later we were charging. The touchscreen said we had 15 hours until it was full, so we just left it to do its thing. Once full, the car will stop charging automatically and can be left plugged in day and night. On subsequent days we took the car out for a couple of shorter jaunts that would require only an overnight charge to fill back up, as well as a trip to a châteaux near Tours, which required another 15-or-so hour charge. For the shorter charge times I scheduled charging so that it would start from midnight, when the cost of electricity was lower. It’s worth noting that for the gîte owner it was as much a voyage of discovery as it was for us. On seeking a place to stay and charge the car many owners had no idea what we were talking about and flat out said no or were totally unaware of the cost involved, presuming it was like charging a smartphone. Facebook Twitter Pinterest Charging from a 13amp socket is easy, but takes a long time. Photograph: Samuel Gibbs for the Guardian We worked out that it would cost around €70 for a couple of full charges at the local electricity rate, and so paid extra, but should you attempt similar it is worth making sure that the owners know precisely what’s going to happen. If we had not been able to charge at our destination we would have had to charge in the local village, leaving the car overnight on multiple occasions. It is a lot easier than you might think, but takes some planning and potentially a very long extension cable. Out and about Facebook Twitter Pinterest Short trips to small towns, villages and tourist attractions were simple, quick and easy in the Model S, with an overnight charge. Photograph: Ben Smith for the Guardian Most of the places we visited, including the château Chenonceau, had public electric charging stations, which would have fully charged the car in 17 hours. Useful for a top-up or for an emergency overnight stay. Using the car during the week was generally trouble free, even though it rained a lot. It was comfortable, stable on all road surfaces and could be as quick or as slow as needed. There is no rear windscreen wiper we could find, but there is a rear camera if needs must. At speeds under 50kmph it was very quiet, with only a slight electric whine from the engine; great for those in the car, but not for the animals around it. We found that birds were utterly confounded by this rolling thing without the engine noise, while cats simply refused to move until we were literally centimetres from them. It meant you had to drive very slowly anywhere near any animals, or attempt to use the horn, which in a small village seemed a bit rude. The Model S is also quite a big, modern car with thick doors. Attempting to park in an inner-city underground car park on a day trip to Tours was quite stressful. The car only just fitted into one space, but I couldn’t open the driver’s door. Tesla’s Summon feature allows you to move the car forward or backward to get into or out of tight spaces without having to be in the car using an app, but in this case the car parked next to it wouldn’t have had a chance. In the end we decided to park really badly, taking up one and a half spaces, and to hope for the best. The journey back As the week drew to a close, we made sure the car had a full charge before setting out at 7am on Saturday. We drove the same route we took coming down in reverse, first stopping at the Art Hotel in Tours for a full charge and a coffee, which only took 30 minutes. From there we decided to see what kind of range we could get at 110kmph on the motorway, which was fast enough not to be overtaken by lorries while cruising in the inside. After some careful driving up from Tours to Paris we did some quick, back-of-an-envelope calculations and worked out that we could just about make a straight shot to the Supercharger north of Paris in Senlis and skip one stop. Facebook Twitter Pinterest As long as the projected range was a larger figure than the distance to our destination, we knew we would be fine, although that did nothing to alleviate range anxiety. Photograph: Samuel Gibbs for the Guardian We headed into a massive traffic jam in Paris, which unlike a gasoline-powered car actually helped our range. Plus, Autopilot also works in traffic, if you enable it before coming to a complete stop, which made sitting in traffic slightly more bearable. Once out the other side of the city we made the correct turning for the Senlis charger, on first attempt, with plenty of charge. Pulling in behind the Ibis Budget and parking up with a projected 68km range left the car threw up a low-battery warning saying that “there will be significantly less energy available from your battery if it gets colder” and to charge it now. We obeyed, hooked the car up next to a fellow British Model S and headed off to the local McDonald’s to kill some time. A full charge later, feeling disgusting from the burgers - the cuisine near Superchargers often seems rather lacking - and having had enough of being surrounded by screaming kids, we set off on the final stretch to Calais via the nearest supermarket. Facebook Twitter Pinterest One last charge at the UK-bound Eurotunnel terminal. Photograph: Samuel Gibbs for the Guardian After our 10-hour journey through France, we made it to the terminal at 5pm with plenty of range left, parked up in Calais and, stepping out to some terrible pop music being piped out of a PA system, hooked the car up for a full charge to see us home to London. There were only two Supercharger points on the French side of the Chunnel, but there were no cars currently charging. A quick trip on the train with the same faffing over the lights and we were driving on the left on British roads again, which instantly reminded us of how smooth French motorways are compared to our pothole-ridden carriage ways. An hour up the M20 and we were home. From London to the Loire valley and back again using nothing but electricity It’s remarkable, when you think about it. Until June 2014 and the launch of the Model S and Tesla’s Supercharger network it simply wouldn’t have been possible to drive to the Loire valley from London in under a day on electricity only, with rivals such as the Nissan Leaf running dry at around 100 miles and taking four hours to charge. But the Model S is more than just an electric car. It is very fast, comfortable at any speed and with plenty of space for the family, even if there is a decided dearth of in-cabin storage. Perhaps it is Tesla’s Autopilot that really points to the future of driving. It takes the hard work out of concentrating on long drives, and if you didn’t have to stop and charge every 300km, it would almost make the 706km journey do-able in one shot. Facebook Twitter Pinterest Range and battery charge varies according to ambient conditions, which brought up this worrying message. Thankfully we were parked and about to charge when it popped up. Photograph: Samuel Gibbs for the Guardian Despite range being an issue, it is a lot easier to drive and charge than you might expect, which is a good thing; commercially available batteries aren’t going to make any massive leaps any time soon. Electric cars that can drive themselves are obviously the future, and you can buy into that future right now, as long as you have time on your side.

“We the Coders”: White House commits open source code on Github One small step for humans, one giant commit for mankind. The White House has open sourced its e-petitions platform on Github, fulfilling a commitment to the Open Government Partnership that the President of the United States made last September. “…we’re launching a new online tool – called “We the People” – to allow Americans to directly petition the White House, and we’ll share that technology so any government in the world can enable its citizens to do the same.” – President Barack Obama, September 20, 2011 Macon Phillips, the White House director of digital, explained the move at the White House blog, below. In the post, Phillips indicated that the roadmap for We the People includes creating an API for third party clients and more integration of social media. In the larger sense, it’s notable that the White House is releasing software code developed for the people, back to the people, with the hopes that with the people that code base will be improved upon. That’s a big deal, and while the White House has been making open source part of open government for some time now, from open sourcing Data.gov to the IT Dashboard to contributing to Drupal, moving onto Github is a notable move. Open source is now playing an important role in open government, although it’s hardly a precondition for it. Whether it’s Energy.gov or House.gov moving to Drupal, middleware for open government data or codesharing with CivicCommons, open source matters more than ever. After reading the post embedded below, you can watch an interview on open source and open government with Chris Wanstrath, co-founder of Github. Here’s Phillips: UPDATE: Dries Buytaert, the founder of Drupal, blogged about the release and welcomed the White House contributing to Drupal code. In October of 2009, WhiteHouse.gov was relaunched on Drupal. Two years later, the White House launched We the People on Drupal, a big step forward for Open Government. While governments haven’t traditionally recognized the importance of the grassroots, word of mouth organizing that thrives on the Internet, We the People encourages grassroots citizen engagement. Even more exciting is that if you are an Open Source developer, you can get involved with improving how your government actually works. Needless to say, I’m thrilled to see Open Source and Drupal changing the world in a positive, powerful way. The newly released code is packaged as a Drupal install profile. The profile is currently tailored to the White House’s website but every Github member can issue pull requests to make it more generally useful. The Petition install profile can be cloned, forked or downloaded from the White House’s Github repository.

Big Money for CAP from Cos? From:swartell@americanprogress.org To: john.podesta@gmail.com, swartell@americanprogress.org CC: JPalmieri@americanprogress.org, DFine@americanprogress.org, pogden@americanprogress.org Date: 2008-11-19 12:08 Subject: Big Money for CAP from Cos? John: Owings-Corning wants to give CAP a large contribution (up to 500k) thru their FOUNDATION. Bracken has met with then a few times. General support. In business alliance and dinner sponsor. No strings attached. Following Pickens -- excited by the green energy agenda, etc. Bracken argues this is green manufacturing of fiberglass, big recycler, union firm, etc. Hard to find a whiter corporation whose interests are more aligned with our agenda. My instinct is to say (tactifully)that we' d' be pleased to receive 100k in 2008 for bus alliance so no bigger than others in alliance. After transition we would be pleased to receive a larger contribution from them under same no strings attached groundrules. Deb proposed limiting 09 gift to same size but that leaves up to 300k on the table, so i think we could decide to accept it all after your return in context of dinner etc. Any concerns? Similar issue: Debby followed up with Margaret McKenna of Walmart FOUNDATION after you made introduction. She came in and met with education team and campus. Her office then followed up asking for short concept papers on health care, campus energy work, and teacher retention. Though it's unclear what size grants she had in mind." Deb sent three proposals I learned after the fact -- if all funded -- worth 700-800k. These look like more traditional foundation grants related to our existing agenda. Education, given Mc'enna's history with cap should be ok. Re healthcare we are in BHCT with Walmart proper but that's tricky Campus is a new direction for partnership with them. If they come back eager to fund a significant portion of the ask, I would be inclined to do as with Owens: not to get more than a small amunt in 2008 before your return. While this would help us close funding gap this year, other outstanding asks also could do so. My proposal reduces risk of optics problems for you. If different view pls advise. For the long term, i propose a discussion re corporate and labor fundraising with board at january board call. Whole new world. Business alliance booming with larger gifts. I have asked Debbie Fine to draft a proposed policy for us to consider. We have heard from reporters that brookings was "better" cause they had written corp gift policy even tho has holes so large could drive a mac truck thru. We should consider options. Is there a limit on how much we want? Etc. -------------------------- Sent from my BlackBerry Wireless Handheld

James Mattis said in an interview broadcast Sunday that he defended the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) during his earliest talks with President Trump about serving as secretary of Defense. “In my initial job interview with the president, he brought up his questions about NATO. And my response was — that I thought that if we didn't have NATO that he would want to create it because it's a defense of our values, it's a defense of democracy,” Mattis told host John Dickerson on CBS News's "Face the Nation." The Defense secretary added that Trump was “open” at the time to the idea of supporting the international organization. “Obviously, he had to make a decision about whether or not he was going to nominate me to be the secretary of Defense,” he said. ADVERTISEMENT “And although I immediately showed him that my view on that was rather profoundly in support of NATO, he at that point nominated me.” Mattis, who has said Russia is trying to break NATO apart, stressed that the alliance is "clearly not a threat" to Russia, and that Russia's future depends on Europe and NATO. "Right now, Russia's future should be wedded to Europe. Why they see NATO as a threat is beyond me," he said. Mattis’s comments come just days after Trump scolded his fellow NATO allies at a summit in Brussels, saying member nations “must finally contribute their fair share and meet their financial obligations. Trump claimed that his stance on NATO had improved the financial state of the organization, tweeting that “money was beginning to pour” into NATO. Member nations fund their own defense spending under the NATO umbrella, however, instead of paying the alliance. The president during the summit noticeably did not address Article 5 of the NATO treaty, which states if one member nation is attacked, NATO’s other member nations would come to its defense. But Mattis said Trump’s presence in Brussels was a strong affirmation of his administration’s support of the alliance. “I think when President Trump chooses to go to NATO personally and stand there alongside the other more than two dozen nations in NATO, that was his statement, not words, actions,” he told CBS News.

MSNBC political analyst Karen Finney blasted House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) for keeping Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-MN) on the House Intelligence Committee. Bachmann will remain on the committee that oversees intelligence operations, even though Boehner admitted last year it was “pretty dangerous” for her to accuse Huma Abedin, deputy chief of staff for Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, of infiltrating the U.S. government on behalf of Islamic radicals. “She can’t be trusted, she has already proven she can’t be trusted,” Finney said. “That is what the situation with Huma proved. I think with regards to Speaker Boehner it shows that he is weak and feels he has to appease the right-wing, but also this is an embarrassment to the United States of America.” “Remember that in other countries when they see a person that is like Michele Bachmann who is part of the American government, they don’t necessarily always make the distinction between the Congress and the Administration and all that,” she continued. “They see someone who is an instrument of the American government on a witch-hunt against Muslims. Now how do you think that impacts the way people think and feel about this country in other parts of the world?” Watch video, courtesy of MSNBC, below: Visit NBCNews.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

We are developing a program which receives and forwards "messages", while keeping a temporary history of those messages, so that it can tell you the message history if requested. Messages are identified numerically, are typically around 1 kilobyte in size, and we need to keep hundreds of thousands of these messages. We wish to optimize this program for latency: the time between sending and receiving a message must be below 10 milliseconds. The program is written in Haskell and compiled with GHC. However, we have found that garbage collection pauses are far too long for our latency requirements: over 100 milliseconds in our real-world program. The following program is a simplified version of our application. It uses a Data.Map.Strict to store messages. Messages are ByteString s identified by an Int . 1,000,000 messages are inserted in increasing numeric order, and the oldest messages are continually removed to keep the history at a maximum of 200,000 messages. module Main (main) where import qualified Control.Exception as Exception import qualified Control.Monad as Monad import qualified Data.ByteString as ByteString import qualified Data.Map.Strict as Map data Msg = Msg !Int !ByteString.ByteString type Chan = Map.Map Int ByteString.ByteString message :: Int -> Msg message n = Msg n (ByteString.replicate 1024 (fromIntegral n)) pushMsg :: Chan -> Msg -> IO Chan pushMsg chan (Msg msgId msgContent) = Exception.evaluate $ let inserted = Map.insert msgId msgContent chan in if 200000 < Map.size inserted then Map.deleteMin inserted else inserted main :: IO () main = Monad.foldM_ pushMsg Map.empty (map message [1..1000000]) We compiled and ran this program using: $ ghc --version The Glorious Glasgow Haskell Compilation System, version 7.10.3 $ ghc -O2 -optc-O3 Main.hs $ ./Main +RTS -s 3,116,460,096 bytes allocated in the heap 385,101,600 bytes copied during GC 235,234,800 bytes maximum residency (14 sample(s)) 124,137,808 bytes maximum slop 600 MB total memory in use (0 MB lost due to fragmentation) Tot time (elapsed) Avg pause Max pause Gen 0 6558 colls, 0 par 0.238s 0.280s 0.0000s 0.0012s Gen 1 14 colls, 0 par 0.179s 0.250s 0.0179s 0.0515s INIT time 0.000s ( 0.000s elapsed) MUT time 0.652s ( 0.745s elapsed) GC time 0.417s ( 0.530s elapsed) EXIT time 0.010s ( 0.052s elapsed) Total time 1.079s ( 1.326s elapsed) %GC time 38.6% (40.0% elapsed) Alloc rate 4,780,213,353 bytes per MUT second Productivity 61.4% of total user, 49.9% of total elapsed The important metric here is the "max pause" of 0.0515s, or 51 milliseconds. We wish to reduce this by at least an order of magnitude. Experimentation shows that the length of a GC pause is determined by the number of messages in the history. The relationship is roughly linear, or perhaps super-linear. The following table shows this relationship. (You can see our benchmarking tests here, and some charts here.) msgs history length max GC pause (ms) =================== ================= 12500 3 25000 6 50000 13 100000 30 200000 56 400000 104 800000 199 1600000 487 3200000 1957 6400000 5378 We have experimented with several other variables to find whether they can reduce this latency, none of which make a big difference. Among these unimportant variables are: optimization ( -O , -O2 ); RTS GC options ( -G , -H , -A , -c ), number of cores ( -N ), different data structures ( Data.Sequence ), the size of messages, and the amount of generated short-lived garbage. The overwhelming determining factor is the number of messages in the history. Our working theory is that the pauses are linear in the number of messages because each GC cycle has to walk over all the working accessible memory and copy it, which are clearly linear operations. Questions:

How to Not to Be Evil Google is not the web but one of the possible interpretations of it. DuckDuckGo offers a fresh perspective on the future of the internet. Help me build a better web! 2662 views Copy and paste the embed code on your website, blog post or article. Make sure Javascript is enabled. Business Technology Lazio, Italy 55,000 words 25% complete 8 publishers interested View publishers • Express interest Synopsis Early this year I joined a startup that operates at the cutting edge of semantic technologies. There I had the chance to be exposed to the brightest minds in the industry. As a side project, I also write for my blog FourWeekMBA.com At that time I started to see that DuckDuckGo was bringing organic traffic to my site. That is how I began to investigate more. From that research, I found out many interesting facts and an incredible entrepreneurial story. From that story, I built a long post of over 5,000 words. The post went viral, and about a hundred thousand people loved it. That is how the articles stayed on the top page for a day on Hacker News, From there I understood the time was right to create an extended version of that post, which could become an inspiring book for anyone that believes that a better web is possible. Today when searching the web most people use Google, which is the dominant player in the industry. That also made us used to the way it works and less imaginative about alternative scenarios. I asked myself why do people prefer Google over DuckDuckGo? Initially, I thought it was mainly due to the superior results Google gave. But the more I dived into the workings of DuckDuckGo, the more I found out that the difference wasn't such to justify Google's dominance. Why then do people still prefer Google? I figured that one of the biggest challenges a startup faces when launching - in a market already dominated by others - is to convince people to switch to your product or service. Therefore, one of the reasons why other players have not been successful yet to take over the market may be due to how Google got wired into our brains. Yet things may change faster than we think. DDG managed to survive and thrive after almost ten years in the business. Part of its success was due to the ability to create supportive communities that made it grow steadily. The book will cover one of the most compelling stories of our time. A story that intersects the future of the web; the entrepreneurial vision of a former solopreneur, and the many other ordinary yet extraordinary people that are helping to build a better web. We are all protagonists of this story. Through this book, my wish for you is to gain awareness around a theme which will influence the future of humanity in the centuries to come. Outline Keep in mind that the outline is temporary and may be extended to cover also other compelling topics of interest to you Why DuckDuckGo? What is DuckDuckGo? DuckDuckGo at the time of this writing Before DuckDuckGo: Who is Gabriel Weinberg? The Solopreneur’s Way Time for some more tinkering: what did Gabriel Weinberg do after selling his first successful startup? Flipping the switch: The Solo-launch Challenge the Status Quo: How do you make people switch to your service when you’re the last to enter the market? How did DuckDuckGo grow The 19 Channels of Growth: how did DuckDuckGo start to get traction? What is the Bullseye Framework? DuckDuckGo Growth, Explained Myths about search engines How do you make money if you don’t track users? Why our privacy is your most important asset Stories of DuckDuckGo users A set of interviews to the people that contributed to DDG success Inside DuckDuckGo: How does DuckDuckGo make money? Search Leakage: How does DuckDuckGo work? Search: DuckDuckGo vs. Google Instant Answers vs. Featured Snippets Google vs. DuckDuckGo: Who’s the winner? Can you optimize for DuckDuckGo? How will the web look like in fifty years? How leading experts will see the web evolving Audience Alex-Alexandra is in his/her 30s. A startup founder, which created a venture operating on the internet. He/she is a digital entrepreneur, passionate about technology and how it can affect the future of humanity. Although he/she makes a living through the web, he/she also cares about building a better web. In fact, he/she's concerned about his/her privacy. At the same time being passionate about entrepreneurship he/she looks for inspiring stories and role models that can help him/her find a compass through daily life. My book will speak to Alex and Alexandra Author Formed as a lawyer in Italy. Since a kid, I loved history and business. One thing I learned through history is that entrepreneurs are often those who ventured into the unknown to build things, driven by a big vision. I loved the idea. That is also why I earned an International MBA that brought me from Italy to California, where I completed my studies. Even before the completion of my MBA I already had landed a job as a financial analyst for a real estate investing firm in San Diego, CA. I lived in the beautiful and sunny San Diego for three years. There I learned that if I wanted to be successful in the real world, I had to unlearn many of the theories I learned in school. I figured that much simpler strategies work better in reality. What matters is consistency and the implementation of those strategies. That process of unlearning brought me to become a digital entrepreneur. In Fact, in 2015, I resigned and went back to Italy. The day I left I did not have a backup plan. I only knew I wanted to build something on my own. That is what I did. I created a blog, started to teach and write online. That is how I made a living for two years. That is also how I started learning how the web worked. Then at the end of 2016, I found out about an exciting project, taking place in Rome, the city where I live. I felt it was it. Applying semantic technologies to the web, to build a better and smarter web. I joined in with no hesitation. That is why besides being a digital entrepreneur I'm also Business Developer for WordLift. Promotion The marketing activity will be based on the following channels: Email marketing: Sequence of emails to about a thousand targeted people Three articles on FourWeekMBA.com related to DuckDuckGo or SEO, which will be notified to over 800 users One guest post on a big websites which covers topics related to SEO and digital marketing Answering related questions on Quora Repurposing on Medium, beBee, Quora Blog, LinkedIn Publish a related article for a major publication on Medium Share it to Facebook, Twitter page which overall have over six thousand followers Outreach: let 50 people from close circle about the book launch Competition - How Google Works, by Eric Schmidt and Jonathan Rosenberg, 2014 Seasoned Google execs Eric Schmidt and Jonathan Rosenberg provide an insider's guide to Google-from the business history and corporate strategy to developing a new management philosophy and creating a workplace culture where innovation and creativity thrive. My book is different from "How Google Works" because it describes the web from another angle. This time we look at things from DuckDuckGo perspective. - DuckDuckGo by João Dinaldo Kzam Gama: o Ganso vestido de pato - uma Experiência Coletiva! (Portuguese Edition) This book is a portuguese edition, which focuses more on how DDG works. My book focuses on the entrepreneurial story, the community that contributed to its growth and how the web will evolve. - Traction, by Gabriel Weinberg, Justin Mares (Author): How Any Startup Can Achieve Explosive Customer Growth: Most startups don’t fail because they can’t build a product. Most startups fail because they can’t get traction Fascinating read focused on the growth and commercial side of getting traction for a startup. My book will be about the stories behind it, by interviewing the protagonists of this story. - David and Goliath, by Malcolm Gladwell: Underdogs, Misfits, and the Art of Battling Giants Kindle Edition In some ways, the theme of the book is similar to mine. The main difference is that this is focused on search engines, the web and how they evolved. - The Inevitable, by Kevin Kelly: Understanding the 12 Technological Forces That Will Shape Our Future In some ways, my book will get inspiration by Kevin Kelly's style and writings. It will be way more focused though. It will be all about search engines and more in particular from how the web will evolve through the lenses of DDG Sample Extract from the book: Why DuckDuckGo? It all started when one day I was checking the referral traffic of my blog. This is something I do often to see what are the channels beyond Google that are bringing qualified traffic to my website. Yet that day it was different. Down the list, I saw something I’ve never seen before. A website called duckduckgo.com brought me some traffic. By investigating into the issue, I found out a compelling story that it is worth knowing for anyone interested in Startups, Entrepreneurship, Solopreneurship, SEO, Growth Hacking and much more. In fact, the story of DuckDuckGo is inspiring from several perspectives. That is why I decided to cover it in its utmost details. What is DuckDuckGo? is a general purpose search engine, which focuses on privacy. Although I will call it a search engine DuckDuckGo is more of a hybrid engine. In short, it uses proprietary crawlers on the one hand. And APIs from other websites on the other hand. The mission is clear, DuckDuckGo doesn’t store your personal information. Therefore, your personal details won’t be shared either. In short, they address a felt issue, which is privacy. However this was not DuckDuckGo primary mission at the beginning but an adjustment made along the way, which made it get traction (we’ll see that down the road). As a general purpose engine DuckDuckGo mission is to provide instant answers to as many questions a user has. Before we dive into technical matters, let’s answer a question that I had as soon as I started to find out more: How did it all start? DuckDuckGo at the time of this writing DuckDuckGo is far from being a top player in the search engine industry. In fact, just to give you some raw data, the major player in the sector is still Google. If I had to use a metaphor, Google would be an elephant while DuckDuckGo is a mosquito (this is not to emphasize; I’m actually making things better for DuckDuckGo). Google is number one. However, we tend to forget that search engines are de facto websites. Their main purpose is to make us find other websites, pages or in any case anything we’re looking for! As we know history is written by the victors and so far Google is shaping the future of the web, therefore, of humankind. Yet if there’s one thing that history teaches us and that technology reinforced is that often what seems unexpected happen. Thus, a question that popped into my mind as soon as I started to dive into the DuckDuckGo story was “what if instead of Google, DuckDuckGo conquered the web? How would have the net looked like?” My romantic side tries to make me believe that another web was possible. That we weren’t supposed to have the internet where ads took over, fake news spread at the speed of light and social media went mainstream! On the other hand, my rational side kicks in with a few interesting points. First, who said we were supposed to have the web after all? So why don’t look with amazement what we managed to build? And even if social media was a creation of the web so it was blogging. If blogging didn’t exist I wouldn’t be here telling you my side of the story (it all started from my blog FourWeekMBA.com). So after all things don’t look as bad as my romantic side wants me to believe. That is why I’m going to treat this story as it is, trying to be as neutral as possible. In short, let’s begin by saying this is a story of a company that is trying to build a different web. A story of a businessman that mastered the art of traction. The story of a shrewd solopreneur that challenged the status quo. If ancient people got inspired by the accounts of mythological characters, like Ulysses or Aeneas. We moderns like to hear the lives of people like Ford, Buffett, and Jobs. We like to listen to their courage and willingness to take risks. Yet Gabriel Weinberg’s story is more than that. It is the account of a 27 years old man, sitting in his room, alone. Figuring out what to do next. A man freed from financial needs left with boredom, the mother of all inventions! Before DuckDuckGo: Who is Gabriel Weinberg? Born in 1979, Gabriel Weinberg studied at the MIT. As soon as out from MIT (it was in 2000) he started an educational software company called Learnection. The aim was to make parents more involved in their kids’ school life. In other words, a proto-social network. As Gabriel Weinberg himself reports in an interview with Forbes I finished school in three years. But I was lucky and my grandmother had left me tuition money for four years of college. I used that and I raised some friends and family money. I lost all of it, between $30,000 and $45,000. The beginnings as an entrepreneur weren’t very bright. Asked what caused that failure, Gabriel Weinberg stressed he did many things wrong, comprised hiring his friends, which turned out not to be the best choice.What did he do next? From Forbes interview he replied, I started another four to six companies of various kinds. One was a success. It was an early social networking company. The product was called NamesDatabase. It was a way to find old classmates and friends. It’s a completely anachronistic concept now, given Facebook, but this was between 2003 and 2006. I sold it to classmates.com in 2006 for $10 million. According to Gabriel Weinberg what made NamesDatabase – the company that would set the stage for DuckDuckGo – successful, was the focus on getting users before he even had a product! He likes to call it traction. In short, to make an enterprise successful you have to split half of your time on product and the other half on getting customers. From the combination of business and product development, there’s traction. Although NamesDatabase was a successful enterprise there was something missing. Gabriel Weinberg as he admitted was not a social networker . In short, he was short of passion for what he was doing. Therefore, the next question that came naturally to him was “what can I do that would keep me passionate for at least ten years?” In fact, that is the minimum amount of time Gabriel Weinberg believes an enterprise will take to be successful and gain the right amount of traction to scale up. The answer to this question came shortly. The Solopreneur’s Way Gabriel Weinberg was sitting alone in his new home in Philadelphia, doing nothing for the first time in his life. In March 2006 he had sold a company he had co-founded, called Opobox (dba The Names Database.) It was a social networking service sold for $10 million dollars to Classmates.com . At the time of the successful exit, Gabriel and his wife were moving from an 865-square-foot apartment near Boston to a country house outside Philadelphia. At that time still 27 years old, Gabriel Weinberg was too young to retire. Alone, with nothing to do and no one he knew for hundreds of miles of radius from his house he started to tinker. What to do next with all that money? He had nothing to lose so he started a bunch of side-projects. From crawling Wikipedia to finding answers to any question; to identifying spam and classification analyses to community building. As Gabriel Weinberg also recalls in the preface of his book, Traction and a series of interviews for FounderFilms he reached the point where he would undertake dozens of side-projects simultaneously. His objective was quite simple: identify the projects he didn’t like, while keep going with the ones he felt passionate about. That is how he ended up starting thousands of side-projects. The side projects that he found most interesting were those that revolved on search. His point of view on search was peculiar. In fact, in the era in which AI was at its embryonic stage, Gabriel Weinberg took an unusual view. He always believed that the most interesting information was in people’s heads. Algorithms’ job was to identify that information and give the answer that other humans were looking for. What today Google calls featured snippet, as an attempt to find users’ questions, DuckDuckGo called them instant answers since day one. In other words, one of the primary mission from which DuckDuckGo started was the attempt to answer as many questions as possible. Rather than having an algorithm manufacture the answer, the search engine would be the intermediary bridging the gap from people’s minds to share what they knew. Two other things are peculiar I believe in this story. First, DuckDuckGo didn’t start as a nerd attempt to find the ultimate algorithm. Instead, he just wanted to make search less spammy, more focused on privacy and able to find more instant answers. Second, even though Gabriel Weinberg was not a lover of social networks (though he became financially free through the sale of a social network) he understood the value of communities. In fact, an online community called Hacker News will be the first to see DuckDuckGo in action and help it gain some traction. Time for some more tinkering: what did Gabriel Weinberg do after selling his first successful startup? After all that tinkering Gabriel Weinberg had noticed two things. First, Google was often giving back sites with a bunch of spammy ads. Let’s not forget that Google is an advertising company, and most of its revenues are coming from advertising. In 2016, 79 billion of dollars of Google‘s earnings come from advertising. It represents almost 88% of the total revenues. Even though the revenues coming from ads in 2014 were higher (over 90%), Google is definitely an advertising company and nothing makes us believe things will change in the next future. Why am I telling you this? As a company that makes most of its money from advertising Google might be biased toward maximising the profits coming from ads independently from users’ interests What about DuckDuckGo Business Model? How does DuckDuckGo make money? We’ll see it more in detail later on.Second, when looking for something, Google did not provide answers. Which made Gabriel Weinberg go on the main sites like Wikipedia and IMDb to look for answers. Those two things alone made him realize there was still space to create a search engine able to provide what he would later call instant answers based on the information provided by communities around the web. That is how a year and a half later he realized he was on to something. That something was about to become a search engine with a duck as a logo. Flipping the switch: The Solo-launch One day when Gabriel Weinberg was walking with his wife had a name popping in his head . Almost like those things that get incepted into your mind Gabriel Weinberg could hear “DuckDuckGo.”That is how he decided that whatever would his next company be he would have called it DuckDuckGo! Then the year 2008 arrived. He had put together the pieces of the puzzle to create a viable version of the search engine he had in mind. Ready to launch Gabriel Weinberg started to talk about the project he was about to launch. Rather than getting excited, most people that heard him talk about that project found him crazy. How could a young man in his 30s compete against a giant like Google? At the time Google was already worth about a hundred billion dollars. Why would anyone switch to other search engines when Google was proving quite reliable. Not only its algorithms gave to users what they were looking for (or least what they thought they were looking for) but there was also the rise of an entire industry based on the fight between Google and online marketers trying to figure out how Google’s algorithms worked: the SEO industry. Would a new search engine bring the attention of that industry? It probably wouldn’t and in fact, it didn’t. Gabriel Weinberg solo-launched on September 25th, 2008. On the international newspapers, there wasn’t a trace of DuckDuckGo‘s launch. That didn’t happen because it was not what Gabriel Weinberg was looking for. He just wanted to know whether he was on the right track to building the kind of search engine he had in mind. That is how that day he launched DuckDuckGo on a forum called Hacker New. Feedbacks arrived quite soon. From the “horrible name” to people blown away by how effective DuckDuckGo was for a solo-development and launch; after all Gabriel Weinberg understood he was into something. It was time to start focusing on getting traction

This is so amazing and exciting! I remember my mom starting avocados this way when I was a kid. It’s the ultimate reuse/recycle project! If you can grow some of your own food, you control what’s in it, you know there are no chemicals in there. I am accumulating several pots and small dishes for my own mini-garden, just because I no longer have a yard doesn’t mean I can’t eat things that I grow myself! Apples- http://www.ehow.com/how_2135774_grow-apple-seeds.html Coconut- How to Grow a Coconut Palm from a Dehusked Coconut: Tomatoes- http://www.ehow.com/how_5581958_grow-tomatoes-fresh-tomato-seeds.html Mango Tree: How to grow a mango tree from seeds: Potatoes/Sweet Potatoes- HOW TO GROW 100 POUNDS OF POTATOES IN A BARREL Green Onions- http://www.17apart.com/2012/02/how-to-grow-green-onions-indefinitely.html http://tipnut.com/nifty-food-plants/ Leeks- http://www.alifeenchanted.com/2012/05/02/regrow-leeks-too/ Carrot Tops- http://www.gardeningknowhow.com/children-in-the-garden/grow-carrot-tops.htm Pineapple- http://www.rickswoodshopcreations.com/Pineapple/pineapple.htm Romaine Lettuce- Same technique as celery Cabbage- Same technique as celery Celery- http://www.17apart.com/2012/02/growing-celery-indoors-never-buy-celery.html Avocado – Watch how to grow an avocado tree in this video: Lentils- http://foodstoragemadeeasy.net/2009/02/19/how-to-grow-sprouts/ Pumpkin- http://pinterest.com/pin/98375573080950437/ Ginger- To regrow gingers in a container watch this useful video! You can also use the same technic for many other herbs and spices: Garlic- http://www.gardenswag.com/2011/12/5-foods-you-can-grow-from-kitchen-scraps/ Bonus: Bok Choy – http://www.17apart.com/2012/02/how-to-regrowing-bok-choy.html

Economy Print This There is a better way to do business, even in the heartland of rapacious capitalism By Cat Johnson, Shareable Resilience.org Editor's Commentary: Cooperatives are a civilized way to operate an economy. They allow for everyone to do well, instead of just a few immoral or lucky individuals to grab it all and keep it for themselves. To be sure, there are decent people who work in the capitalist system but they are readily corrupted and generally don't stay decent for very long. Where I live, in Canada, cooperatives have been here almost as long as the country. They are still only a small part of our economy, but I and others have been working long and hard to change that. Here's some good news stories around the world. Editor's Commentary:Cooperatives are a civilized way to operate an economy. They allow for everyone to do well, instead of just a few immoral or lucky individuals to grab it all and keep it for themselves. To be sure, there are decent people who work in the capitalist system but they are readily corrupted and generally don't stay decent for very long.Where I live, in Canada, cooperatives have been here almost as long as the country. They are still only a small part of our economy, but I and others have been working long and hard to change that.Here's some good news stories around the world. - prh, Editor Axis of Logic The worker cooperative movement has hit a new stride. Re-emerging in the 1960s, cooperatives tend to elicit thoughts of natural food stores and specialty bookshops but the movement has grown to include tech companies, coworking spaces, international businesses, large factories and much more. In an effort to find some of the most interesting and innovative worker cooperatives around, Shareable turned to the crowd. We asked our friends at the Sustainable Economies Law Center, the U.S. Federation of Worker Cooperatives, the P2P Foundation, the Democracy at Work Network, and our own Sharing Cities Network for their favorites. Here’s what we found. 1. Enspiral A “virtual and physical network of companies and professionals working together to create a thriving society,” Enspiral is a three-part collective consisting of a foundation; services including web design, communications, accounting and legal; and a startup support venture. Based in New Zealand, the collective has members around the world and operates on the principles of collaboration and decentralized decision-making. One of the coops standout projects is Loomio, a free, open source platform that enables people to collaborate in decision-making. 2. Seikatsu A network of buying clubs with over 300,000 members, the Seikatsu Club in Japan originated in 1965 as a way for families to get a bulk rate on milk. Over the last 50 years, it has expanded to include thousands of organic, non-GMO foods and environmentally-safe household products. In 1995, Seikatsu formed its first worker coop. It now has 600 of them, employing over 17,000 people in food distribution, food preparation, catering, recycling, childcare, education and more. 3. OpenSpace Cooperative OpenSpace is a cooperatively-owned and operated coworking space in Manchester, England. Like other coworking spaces, OpenSpace is a place for freelancers, independent professionals and small business owners to work in a collaborative environment. But unlike other coworking spaces, OpenSpace members have the perks of being owners including lower rent and having a say in governance and membership issues. 4. gcoop Based in Buenos Aires, gcoop Development Company is a cooperative that develops free software under the guiding principle that knowledge is built with contributions from many and that software, like knowledge, should be free. 5. Arizmendi Association of Cooperatives An association of six cooperative bakeries and a development and support collective, Arizmendi is itself a worker cooperative located in the Bay Area. The cooperative’s mission includes ensuring opportunities for workers’ control of their livelihood; developing as many dignified, decently paid work opportunities as possible; and promoting cooperative economic democracy as a sustainable and humane option for our society. 6. Si Se Puede Women's Coop Based in Sunset Park, Brooklyn, Se Se Puede is a women-run, women-owned, eco-friendly housecleaning cooperative made up of immigrant women. Designed to create living wage jobs done in a safe and healthy environment, Si Se Puede also provides social supports and educational opportunities for its members. 7. CoLab Using lean startup philosophy and “deep collaboration” CoLab Cooperative builds technology solutions for social enterprises. With team members around the world, the coops headquarters are the CoLab Hive, a coworking space in Ithaca, New York. 8. Argentina’s Recovered Factories Following the Argentine economic collapse of 2001, numerous factories were closed down, leaving employees out of work. The solution to this problem came when thousands of employees occupied their factories, demanded the right to work, and restarted production as worker cooperatives. 9. Mondragon Corporation Often held up as an example of the potential of worker cooperatives, the Mondragon Corporation is an enormous cooperative federation that employees over 80,000 people and operates in four areas: finance, industry, retail, and knowledge. Based in the Basque region of Spain, Mondragon is the seventh largest Spanish company and a presence on the international market, with 97 locations worldwide and distribution of products to 150 countries. 10. Cooperative Home Care Associates A cooperative of home care workers, the Cooperative Home Associates organization started in the Bronx in New York in 1985 with 12 home health aides. It now has over 2,000 workers, making it the largest worker cooperative in the U.S. The organization trains hundreds of low-income and unemployed women annually and is a driving force for local employment. 11. Deca Stories A cooperative of journalists from around the world, Deca Stories brings “deeply reported” stories directly to readers via ebooks and the platform’s app. 12. Suma Started in 1975, Suma is the UK’s largest independent wholefood wholesaler/distributor. Owned and managed by the workers, who are all paid the same amount, the company specializes in vegetarian, fairly traded, organic, ethical and natural products. 13. Ginger Moon A mother-owned worker cooperative, Ginger Moon provides “emotional, mental and culinary support to pregnant women, women that had just given birth and women that are nursing.” Through meal preparation education, workshops, in-home cooking and more, the New York-based Ginger Moon supports families in giving babies (and moms) a healthy start. Environmentally and socially aware, the coop sources organic, local and fair trade food and is working toward a goal of zero waste. 14. New Era Windows and Doors In 2008, the owners of Republic Windows and Doors in Chicago announced that they were closing the factory. In 2012, the employees joined forces to buy the company. The result is New Era Windows and Doors, a worker cooperative that builds and sells top-quality doors and windows and models the power and potential of worker cooperatives. 15. Sustainable Economies Law Center The Bay Area-based Sustainable Economies Law Center is a multi-faceted organization working to bridge the gap between existing legal framework and healthy, equitable, resilient communities. Committed to supporting developing and existing cooperatives, SELC is itself a worker coop based on equal pay and cooperative governance. 16. CERO Coop A worker cooperative in Massachusetts, CERO works toward zero waste by partnering with companies for source separation, waste removal and composting. The coops long-term vision includes complete cycles of food production, waste reduction, reuse and recycling, environmental stewardship, meaningful jobs and sustainable communities. Source URL A “virtual and physical network of companies and professionals working together to create a thriving society,” Enspiral is a three-part collective consisting of a foundation; services including web design, communications, accounting and legal; and a startup support venture. Based in New Zealand, the collective has members around the world and operates on the principles of collaboration and decentralized decision-making. One of the coops standout projects is Loomio, a free, open source platform that enables people to collaborate in decision-making.A network of buying clubs with over 300,000 members, the Seikatsu Club in Japan originated in 1965 as a way for families to get a bulk rate on milk. Over the last 50 years, it has expanded to include thousands of organic, non-GMO foods and environmentally-safe household products. In 1995, Seikatsu formed its first worker coop. It now has 600 of them, employing over 17,000 people in food distribution, food preparation, catering, recycling, childcare, education and more.OpenSpace is a cooperatively-owned and operated coworking space in Manchester, England. Like other coworking spaces, OpenSpace is a place for freelancers, independent professionals and small business owners to work in a collaborative environment. But unlike other coworking spaces, OpenSpace members have the perks of being owners including lower rent and having a say in governance and membership issues.Based in Buenos Aires, gcoop Development Company is a cooperative that develops free software under the guiding principle that knowledge is built with contributions from many and that software, like knowledge, should be free.An association of six cooperative bakeries and a development and support collective, Arizmendi is itself a worker cooperative located in the Bay Area. The cooperative’s mission includes ensuring opportunities for workers’ control of their livelihood; developing as many dignified, decently paid work opportunities as possible; and promoting cooperative economic democracy as a sustainable and humane option for our society.Based in Sunset Park, Brooklyn, Se Se Puede is a women-run, women-owned, eco-friendly housecleaning cooperative made up of immigrant women. Designed to create living wage jobs done in a safe and healthy environment, Si Se Puede also provides social supports and educational opportunities for its members.Using lean startup philosophy and “deep collaboration” CoLab Cooperative builds technology solutions for social enterprises. With team members around the world, the coops headquarters are the CoLab Hive, a coworking space in Ithaca, New York.Following the Argentine economic collapse of 2001, numerous factories were closed down, leaving employees out of work. The solution to this problem came when thousands of employees occupied their factories, demanded the right to work, and restarted production as worker cooperatives.Often held up as an example of the potential of worker cooperatives, the Mondragon Corporation is an enormous cooperative federation that employees over 80,000 people and operates in four areas: finance, industry, retail, and knowledge. Based in the Basque region of Spain, Mondragon is the seventh largest Spanish company and a presence on the international market, with 97 locations worldwide and distribution of products to 150 countries.A cooperative of home care workers, the Cooperative Home Associates organization started in the Bronx in New York in 1985 with 12 home health aides. It now has over 2,000 workers, making it the largest worker cooperative in the U.S. The organization trains hundreds of low-income and unemployed women annually and is a driving force for local employment.A cooperative of journalists from around the world, Deca Stories brings “deeply reported” stories directly to readers via ebooks and the platform’s app.Started in 1975, Suma is the UK’s largest independent wholefood wholesaler/distributor. Owned and managed by the workers, who are all paid the same amount, the company specializes in vegetarian, fairly traded, organic, ethical and natural products.A mother-owned worker cooperative, Ginger Moon provides “emotional, mental and culinary support to pregnant women, women that had just given birth and women that are nursing.” Through meal preparation education, workshops, in-home cooking and more, the New York-based Ginger Moon supports families in giving babies (and moms) a healthy start. Environmentally and socially aware, the coop sources organic, local and fair trade food and is working toward a goal of zero waste.In 2008, the owners of Republic Windows and Doors in Chicago announced that they were closing the factory. In 2012, the employees joined forces to buy the company. The result is New Era Windows and Doors, a worker cooperative that builds and sells top-quality doors and windows and models the power and potential of worker cooperatives.The Bay Area-based Sustainable Economies Law Center is a multi-faceted organization working to bridge the gap between existing legal framework and healthy, equitable, resilient communities. Committed to supporting developing and existing cooperatives, SELC is itself a worker coop based on equal pay and cooperative governance.A worker cooperative in Massachusetts, CERO works toward zero waste by partnering with companies for source separation, waste removal and composting. The coops long-term vision includes complete cycles of food production, waste reduction, reuse and recycling, environmental stewardship, meaningful jobs and sustainable communities. Print This Make a Donation! Donate here If you appreciated this article, please consider making a donation to Axis of Logic. We do not use commercial advertising or corporate funding. We depend solely upon you, the reader, to continue providing quality news and opinion on world affairs. ---

"Justice is truth in action." These words spoken in 1851 by Benjamin Disraeli encapsulate the ultimate objective. The moment justice is partisan, truth becomes a victim, and a core element of any democratic society is fatally undermined. Miscarriages of justice provide prime examples of how easily individual errors and misdemeanours translate into systemic abuse unless there is constant awareness and scrutiny. Such vulnerabilities have to be identified and circumscribed by a regularly reviewed and effective process of checks and balances. It is tempting to believe that the infamous miscarriages of the 80s are a thing of the past, and that the incorporation of various legislative instruments and organisations have eliminated the risk of repetition. Unfortunately it never works like this and each generation has to relearn the lessons of the past and build on the earlier remedies. While wrongful convictions based on confession evidence are now rare to nonexistent, the focus of evidential attention has become forensic science. The problem in both instances is the same: the growth of a culture in which there is an arrogance of unquestioned presumption and assumption. The UK is one of the few major nations not to have a national forensic science institute and, in the wake of government market-based policy, no longer has a national forensic science service. The main repercussion of these deficiencies is fragmentation and creeping deregulation. Unless standards are unified, certified and monitored, unprofessional practices arise as do unprofessional practitioners.A recent series of events exemplify the urgent need for re-appraisal. This month Dr Freddy Patel, a pathologist who had provided the initial opinion following the death of Ian Tomlinson in the 2009 G20 protest, was stuck off by the Medical Practitioners Tribunal Service. The panel found that he had an arrogant mindset that generated an unwarranted confidence in his own ability. He had committed 68 errors in his examination and had wrongly attributed Tomlinson's death to cardiac arrest. The panel also found that he had lied about his status in order to remain on a Home Office register. If this were an exceptional aberration by a novice that slipped through the net it would be serious enough, but the malaise runs much deeper. Patel had been qualified for 35 years. Significant concerns about him had been voiced before 2009. These had seen him removed from the Metropolitan police panel of pathologists offered contracts in 2004. The following year other complaints were presented to the GMC. After 2006 it was a prerequisite to qualify for the Home Office register that the practitioner be part of a group practice of pathologists. Patel concealed the fact that he was not part of a group from the National Policing Improvement Agency. Somewhere along the line someone is not applying strict scrutiny. A pathologist told BBC News on 23 August that it was well known among some of the profession that Patel had been routinely giving the cause of death as natural causes when this cannot have been the case. Other cases dating back to 2002 have surfaced which saw three- and four-month suspensions for Patel in 2010 and 2011, one of which concerned dishonestly omitting key findings in relation to a murder victim. I trust there will be a thorough review of all cases he has handled over the last decade. The coroner has explained his appointment of Patel in the first place on the basis that the only requirement under the coronial regime was that the person was a registered medical practitioner. These systemic deficiencies are unacceptable and jeopardise the search for truth. For Tomlinson's family it meant a prolonged and painful struggle to undo the damage done. There was delay while other pathologists were engaged who ultimately came to a different and unanimous conclusion that the death resulted from injury to the liver which caused internal bleeding and finally cardiac arrest. But with conflicting medical opinion, the director of public prosecutions was unwilling to mount a prosecution against the police officer concerned. An inquest followed and the jury declared that Tomlinson had been unlawfully killed. More delay ensued while the decision to prosecute was reconsidered and a prosecution for manslaughter instigated. This cannot have been straightforward in the light of Patel's original opinion, one which he was unwilling to change. Alongside this unfolding saga is an equally unpalatable tale of systemic fault within the police. Initially a statement of denial and non-involvement was issued. The City of London police also withheld details of Tomlinson's injuries from his family. When the police account was contradicted by the pictures recorded by a tourist, it was claimed Tomlinson was pushed out of the way for his own safety and later rumours were peddled that some protesters dressed up as police might be responsible. The trial this year of PC Simon Harwood was successfully defended on the basis that he had only used reasonable force when he struck Tomlinson on the leg and pushed him to the ground. What the jury was unaware of was the background of this officer. In 2001 he had quit the Met on health grounds just prior to a disciplinary hearing. He subsequently rejoined the Surrey police and re-entered the Met in 2005. There were a series of allegations being investigated involving suspects being threatened, throttled, punched, and kneed, one of which was upheld. By the time of the G20 protest Harwood was a member of the so-called elite TSG squad. The Independent Police Complaints Commission regarded this re-employment as "simply staggering". They recommended an internal investigation in public which is to be held on 17 September. They also revealed that the statements of three police witnesses who had seen an assault on Tomlinson with a baton had not originally been disclosed by police to the IPCC investigators charged with the duty of looking into allegations of deaths occurring at the hands of the police. On the same day as Tomlinson's death, Harwood had already had altercations with protestors and bystanders as well as pushing a BBC cameraman to the ground. It could be regarded as the understatement of the century to wonder where quality control of evidential sources has gone. This has immediate ramifications for the overall integrity of our system of justice and should ring alarm bells in all quarters. The whole sullied picture is exacerbated by the iniquitous cuts in public funding which have already hit forensic science resources but are also impacting upon the quality and numbers of personnel who are willing to engage in the system at all levels. If market forces are to be the determinative factor in the quest for truth then, just like most economies, we will be heading for irretrievable meltdown. Justice is not a business enterprise, still less a commodity. It is "truth in action".

This unruly Giants fan, spotted using the Giants World Series win as an excuse to act out every Muni commuters not-so-secret fantasy, was arrested Tuesday night around 7 p.m. in San Francisco. Thanks to the tireless efforts of the Internet meme machine and countless "dislikes" on Facebook, the fan/vandal (fandal?) was identified as one 22-year-old Gregory Tyler Graniss. Graniss was booked into S.F. County Jail on two felony charges of vandalism and destroying a passenger transit vehicle according to the SFPD. In a statement, Police Chief Greg Suhr made sure to make an example of Graniss, while also noting that those who set the bus on fire are still at large: “This was a senseless act of destruction and there is no tolerance for such criminal behavior in San Francisco... With assistance from the public, investigators moved swiftly to identify this suspect and make an arrest. Investigators are also working tirelessly to identify those responsible for setting the bus on fire and to bring them to justice.” Elsewhere, Mayor Lee called the vandals "knuckleheads" in that oh-so-muppet-like voice of his. District Attorney Gascón and City Attorney Herrera also vowed to work together to prosecute and sue any of those "knuckleheads" that the police manage to track down. Although we have the Internet to thank for helping the SFPD nab the testosterone-fueled sports fan, there was some confusion around his actual identity. Tony Lukezic of San Francisco unwittingly became San Francisco's public enemy No. 1 when he used the Chronicle's photo for his Facebook profile picture after some of his friends told him, "Hey, this guy looks like you." When his personal information was threateningly spread around the comments section on the Red Devil Lounge's facebook post, Lukezic told Wired, "it sucks for 15 minutes of fame. Lesson Learned." Previously: All Giants World Series coverage. [Chron] [BCN/Appeal] [Wired]

For a bonafide heavy metal band, it’s interesting that many first discovered Avenged Sevenfold through video games. Anybody gaming in 2005 heard the band’s hit song “Bat Country,” as it was featured in NHL 06, Madden NFL 06, SSX on Tour, Saints Row 2 and Guitar Hero: Warriors of Rock, just to name a few. Instead of straying away from the video game scene, the band shrewdly embraced it, going on to write an original song for the first two Call of Duty: Black Ops games. As such, it’s no surprise that Activision is working so closely with the band on the launch of Guitar Hero Live. After spending some major hands-on time with the game, we were able to catch up with Avenged Sevenfold lead singer, M. Shadows, on his role in the upcoming game as well as his thoughts on the current state of the relationship between the video game and record industry. [Hardcore Gamer] Can you talk about how Avenged Sevenfold’s relationship started with Activision — you did some work with them in the past with Black Ops II — did that help transition you to Guitar Hero Live? [M. Shadows] Yeah it did, we have a really good relationship with a lot of the people at Activision and as you know Treyarch is an internal company and we’re close with them. Through that we met a lot of people on the other side of Activision and people that run the music stuff and when we heard that they were going to reboot this series, we definitely wanted to be involved. We’ve had a lot of success with other Guitar Hero games and fans coming to our shows and bringing controllers to sign instead of real guitars and when we ask our fans “how did you hear about Avenged Sevenfold?” the answer is Need for Speed, Guitar Hero or Call of Duty. So that’s pretty telling that a lot of young people are hearing new music through video games. We have a really good relationship with them because we understand the importance of trying to get our music out there to fans and they find it through video games. How does it feel playing your own songs in Guitar Hero Live? It feels humbling because we play music with different instruments and triyng to play this is a lot harder because we’re not used to it, especially when they change the necks and you have to reconfigure your brain to go almost to chords instead of the five up and down vertical notes. So that’s one big challenge because we got pretty good at playing on the other guitar and now they’ve changed it which is a needed evolution. But it’s fun because it’s a game that’s always evolving and you have to evolve with it. Guitar Hero Live lets you virtually take the stage with a band; how does that compare to reality? It’s pretty brutal because the band gets in your face when you’re messing up and starts giving you thumbs down and stuff. I haven’t really experienced that in real life because we all like each other and if something’s going on you almost feel bad for the guy; if the guitar is out of tune or somebody messes a part up, we’re not really yelling at you. But on stage in Guitar Hero you definitely get yelled at which is pretty fun because the crowd instantly starts booing you which in a real concert you get a little more leeway because your fans wouldn’t just start doing that. It’s pretty humbling. There’s three Avenged Sevenfold songs in the game that you recently announced. Considering you narrowed the final tracks down from seven, what made you decide on these three finally? There’s a bunch of things: technicality. We wanted stuff that went through some progressive moments so that the true hardcore gamers had some cool solos to play through instead of playing the same beat over and over. You look at a lot of songs and you’re going to get three-and-a-half minutes of the same repetition. I think songs like Buried Alive and Nightmare take big altering movements which should be fun for real musicians or players in this game. Also, crowd participation; those are crowd-pleasers, so I think that people who aren’t necessarily really familiar with the band have probably heard one or all of those songs. And then also those songs have been really able to bring people into our fanbase, so I feel like if we’re going to put something out, we’re not going to try to go over everybody’s head and put on an eleven minute song, we’re going to put on something that is not only fun, but that can draw people in to the band. Considering you love all your songs, what was that process like? I’ve got a heart of pure cold stone, I don’t even care at this point, I just do what I think is best and for those songs. Most people like these songs in a live environment, they’re technically pretty cool, so it’s pretty easy. Would I want some weirder stuff on there? You can’t change the world and sometimes some of the most out there music I think is brilliant, I play for people and it goes right over their heads. I want to put stuff out there that people already like and I know is going to do well and like I said, technically I wanted cool things so that when people put their performances on YouTube and they’re shredding on something, I want it to look like they’re shredding and there’s actually a challenge to it. So these three songs kind of fit the bill. Are the tracks in the game live versions? 100% live versions. There’s no fooling around; we didn’t go into the studio and clean anything up, it’s exactly how if you watch the show on YouTube except mixed better for this. We obviously mixed the songs, but it’s 100% live. What’s your favorite new thing about the game? The way the guitar feels, because even though it’s a learning curve to get out of the old Guitar Hero guitar, it’s more like a real guitar now where you can play chords and you’re leaving your hands in the same spot. Most of the things you can do on your guitar you can do right here on a real guitar, except for some nuances. You can also sit here and shred without having to go up and down which is cool. Once you get past the learning curve, I think it will be pretty badass. Are there any bands or songs you’re a fan of in the game besides your own? I’m definitely a fan of Epic by Faith No More. Bullet For My Valentine, Rage Against the Machine, System of a Down; there’s some stuff in there that’s a little different. I’m really glad they put Faith No More in there because they’re one of my favorite bands, so hopefully they’ll do some downloadable content with the new record because it’s awesome. There’s a bunch of stuff I like in it. Are you very good at the game? Not this one because of the guitar. I’ve only had a chance to play it at E3 and that’s just not long enough to really get it. My brain was going to the wrong place at that point and especially with the black and white notes where it’s so different. So yeah, I can’t say I’m very good. You mentioned earlier how a lot of younger people are now discovering music through video games. Would you ever consider releasing music or debuting songs through Guitar Hero Live? Absolutely. We brought it up — everything is on the table right now in terms of releasing music. [Doing things] the same old way is just the old world, so we absolutely would. We have a lot of aspirations to do things in video games that have definitely been in the forefronts of those discussions. GHTV is a cool enough platform to us. As an artist right now, you have to be completely open to new ways and whatever the fans want.

They lead double lives. Born into poverty in the Bangladeshi district of Cox’s Bazar, Johanara, Aisha, Shumi, Rifa, Suma, Shobe Majaraz, Mayasha and Nargis wake up early each morning to go to work hawking snacks and handcrafted jewelry on their local beach down in the southern reaches of the country, along the Bay of Bengal. They work late into the night, earning as much as they can to support their families. Shumi, 11, is the only one among this group of eight friends ranging from 10 to 13 who goes to school. She wishes to become a doctor when she grows up. But the odds are stacked against her in what, despite making significant strides in recent years to improve the position of its women and girls, remains a deeply patriarchal society—between 2005 and 2013, 29% of Bangladeshi girls were married before the age of 15. By the time they reached 18 years of age, 65% were married, according to UNICEF. As they grow up, Shumi and her friends are facing pressure to get married. In some cases, their parents want them to take up work as domestic helps. “They’re up against so much, these women in Cox’s Bazaar,” says Allison Joyce, the American photographer who first travelled to the region in 2013. It was during that first trip that she heard about Shumi and her friends, and how, in between their daily commitments, they’d begun to pick up English literacy skills and grow in confidence, despite the many societal and family pressures heaped upon them. Their vehicle: the surfboard. Beginning last year, the girls began taking surfing lessons offered by 25-year-old lifeguard Rashed Alam and his local surf club. Soon, his wife, Venessa Rude, an American expat, began pitching in with English lessons. “They love it. It’s really given them a sense of community,” says Joyce, who captured these images of the Cox’s Bazaar surf girls over multiple trips earlier this year. As they grow up, Rashed wants to give them the opportunity to become lifeguards. Currently, they participate in junior lifeguard training every Thursdays. “They get to see Rashed and the rest of the boys in the surf club respecting them. It’s made them more confident.” Above all, the girls’ engagement with the surf club has given Shumi and her friends a new space to grow up away from the pressures of a working childhood. As Joyce puts it, the surfboard has become more than a source of enjoyment for these girls—it’s “given them an opportunity to dream a little bit more than they otherwise would’ve.” This article was first published in Time. This article was first published in the Guardian

Dear Reader, As you can imagine, more people are reading The Jerusalem Post than ever before. Nevertheless, traditional business models are no longer sustainable and high-quality publications, like ours, are being forced to look for new ways to keep going. Unlike many other news organizations, we have not put up a paywall. We want to keep our journalism open and accessible and be able to keep providing you with news and analysis from the frontlines of Israel, the Middle East and the Jewish World. Justice Minister Ayelet Shaked on Thursday made a major departure from a past position she has held, telling Israel Radio that “if there will be more terror attacks by Jews, we will also do house demolitions of Jews.” Until now, when Shaked has repeatedly been asked, including by The Jerusalem Post, about why it is legal for the state to demolish Palestinian terrorists’ houses, but not Jewish terrorists houses, she has answered there are not enough Jewish terrorists to justify the step, and stopped there. On Thursday, Shaked echoed similar sentiments, but went a big step further in a way that might anger her right-wing constituency, in volunteering that theoretically the state might start to demolish Jewish terrorists’ houses in the future.Shaked stated, "the justice system does not discriminate between blood and blood. The story of house demolitions is different because it's not a punishment, it's a step toward deterrence.”“If there will be more terror attacks by Jews, we will also do house demolitions of Jews. If we are lucky and hopefully it continues that Jews only perpetrate terror attacks very rarely so there is no need for this deterrent effect, but if the situation changes, then definitely" the state would demolish Jewish terrorists’ houses, she said.Even as house demolitions of Palestinian terrorists are popular domestically in many sectors, the government has taken hard criticism internationally for the demolitions.The High Court of Justice has approved most demolitions, though it has blocked two in recent months and in one case Justice Menahem Mazuz questioned whether the general legality of the demolitions should be revisited.Since the infamous murder of Muhammed Abu Khdeir in 2014 and the Duma murders in late July, there have also been rising calls from critics to demolish Jewish terrorists’ houses if the house demolition policy is to continue. Join Jerusalem Post Premium Plus now for just $5 and upgrade your experience with an ads-free website and exclusive content. Click here>>

Three: "the Spiderman" A shadow overcomes Astrid as she soars through the dragons of the sanctuary. Toothless and Hiccup glide overhead… upside down. "Show offs," she mutters. She can just imagine the grin Hiccup sports beneath his helmet. She nudges her heels against Stormfly’s sides. Her dragon zips forward and doubles back so that she comes face-to-upsidedown-face with Hiccup. Toothless’s wings are steady, Hiccup’s arms are occupied in holding onto his saddle. Stormfly—trained through the obstacle races to anticipate Astrid’s acrobatics—flaps backwards to keep stride as Astrid reaches up and shifts Hiccup helmet down just so that his mouth is exposed. She lays a quick, chaste kiss to his lips. Then dives away before they both crash. **click link at top to read the rest of the kissesHiccup, Astrid, Toothless, Stormfly © DreamworksSpiderman Kiss © … Marvel????Perfect timing © Astrid

I’m sorry to report that comedian Robin Williams has committed suicide, an event of great import and grief to his family. But his sacrifice has been a great boon to the the news cycle and the electoral machinery — thank God that we have a tragedy involving a wealthy white man to drag us away from the depressing news about brown people. I mean, really: young 18 year old black man gunned down for walking in the street vs. 63 year old white comedian killing himself? Which of those two stories gives you an excuse to play heart-warming and funny video clips non-stop on your 24 hour news channel? Besides, the real story in Missouri is that businesses have been damaged by angry black people — no one is going to trash the Family Dollar in rage over the death of a popular comedian. Mike Brown’s death is confusing — the police say he was a shoplifter struggling to get a gun, while no stores reported a shoplifting event, and Brown was unarmed and shot while raising his hands in surrender. Where’s the moral clarity? We’re supposed to want to believe the police, you know, yet all the evidence points to their status as a gang of militarized thugs. That’s very uncomfortable. Boy, I hate to say it, but it sure was nice of Robin Williams to create such a spectacular distraction. No one wants to think the police might be untrustworthy. And think of the politicians! Midterm elections are coming up. Those are important! So people like Barack Obama need to be able to show their human side and connect with the real concerns of the American people by immediately issuing a safe, kind statement about Robin Williams, while navigating the dangerous shoals of police brutality and black oppression by avoiding them. Wouldn’t want to antagonize those lovely law-and-order folks before an election, you see. Lovely folks like this white lady: She seems nice. She looks like the kind of person who would have laughed at “nanu-nanu” and cried at What Dreams May Come. She is a Real American whose opinions deserve the attention of the powers that be.

A joint survey from O’Reilly and Ruxit says that container monitoring (including Docker monitoring) is an important issue and a challenge for Docker users, according to Ruxit. Sponsored surveys seem to provide only results the vendor finds useful for marketing. You would probably benefit as much from asking yourself whether YOU see Docker container monitoring as challenging as you would from reading the survey. If you agree that monitoring containers is more difficult than predicting what GOP candidate is going to earn the privilege of standing in the center during the next Presidential debate, Ruxit has a container monitoring solution (obviously) and it works something like this. Ruxit’s Approach to Docker Transparency Ruxit’s offering attempts to use a single agent (as many monitoring vendors such as Scout and Datadog do). The Ruxit agent works on the OS without disrupting automated, plug and play container operation or the tools such as Marathon that manage containers. Ruxit determines what containers are running and monitors the infrastructure using its agents. According to Alois Reitbauer, Chief Evangelist, Ruxit, the Ruxit agent is “hands free” in its approach to installation and management using a single wget-based install. “We instrument at the OS level and automatically detect processes and trigger deeper instrumentation like Java byte code, node.js, and JavaScript. We instrument web servers and inject a JavaScript agent into the delivered web content. Usually agents only cover one aspect in an automated fashion and do not collect information on all application levels automatically,” says Reitbauer. The agent can self-diagnose and the customer can turn it off in real-time if needed, to avoid creating technical issues. Ruxit monitors the Docker runtime and each newly started container through the underlying OS (again, this sounds similar to how other monitoring solutions work). “We monitor Java, nginx, and other technologies running inside the container. For application environments we instrument the code and see actual code execution details. For the web server we instrument the delivered HTML. We also use the Docker API to get CPU metrics for the container,” says Reitbauer. According to Ruxit, people expect APM and monitoring solutions to serve multiple purposes. “Sharing metrics and health metrics is kind of the basis for everything. We get some of the greatest feedback about how we’re able to visualize all the dependencies amongst containers,” says Reitbauer. Ruxit also scales up with Docker containers. “One of the reasons you might use Docker is that you eventually want to scale up and you need to scale up your monitoring infrastructure to the same level of scale,” says Reitbauer. Ruxit Customer Cases “One customer used to run about 100 JVMs and each one hosted about 20 services,” says Reitbauer; “they moved to Docker to separate all the individual services for the obvious reasons, including better isolation.” In the transition, the Ruxit customer’s infrastructure scaled up from 100 JVMs to 2K. Ruxit provided them with a solution including a micro-service based view that helped them understand the dependencies in their application and find problems despite the very high infrastructure complexity, according to Reitbauer. “A customer that runs a large ecommerce environment on Docker is monitoring the Docker infrastructure as well. They run Marathon and Marathon crashed,” says Reitbauer. Ruxit instrumented Marathon and helped them to discover that they had an issue where the task queue was slowing down; they discovered that their newer version of Marathon was keeping old tasks in the queue by default, causing them to pile up, so-to-speak. Final Thoughts No matter what a vendor says, no one container monitoring solution is right for everyone’s needs, if it is a fit for anyone’s needs. Selecting a container monitoring solution or any solution is about knowing where any existing products or approaches fail and how, and then knowing how to investigate and properly vet potential solutions. You should certainly look at many solutions, ask for references, and ask about trials, track records, and customer support options.

We all heard the news yesterday that Zelda has been delayed and won’t be shown at this year’s E3 event in June. A Nintendo of America spokesperson has clarified to IGN that the company is only focussing on showing 2015 titles at E3 this year. We still don’t know if it’s going to be an E3 themed Nintendo Direct or alternatively a traditional stage conference. Anyway, here’s what the representative told the publication. “As Mr. Aonuma announced, The Legend of Zelda game for Wii U is no longer targeted as a 2015 release. Rather than sticking to a specific schedule, the team wants to make this the most complete and the best game it can possibly be. The new launch timing has not yet been determined. Because we’d like to focus on developing the game, we aren’t planning on showing it at this year’s E3, where we will be highlighting games launching in 2015. We will let you know when we’re ready to share more specifics.”

Background <2yr old (peak 2-6mo age) Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV) causes ~70% of cases [1] Preemies, neonates, congenital heart disease are at risk for serious disease Peaks in winter Duration = 7-14d (worst during days 3-5) Inflammation, edema, and epithelial necrosis of bronchioles Clinical Features Symptoms Rhinorrhea, cough, irritability, apnea (neonates) Signs Tachypnea, cyanosis, wheezing, retractions Fever is usually low-grade or absent If high-grade fever consider Otitis Media, UTI Assess for dehydration (tachypnea may interfere with feeding) Differential Diagnosis Evaluation Consider rapid RSV testing However, RSV is NOT linked apnea or acute severity (compared to other causes of bronchiolitis) [2] [3] You should NOT use RSV status to drive admission decisions and admission locations (eg, ward, step-down unit, ICU) [4] </ref> [5] CXR Not routinely necessary May lead to unnecessary use ofantibiotics (atelectasis mimics infiltrate) Consider if Diagnosis unclear Critically ill Concurrent infection risk Infants <60 days with RSV bronchiolitis and fever Low risk of bacteremia and meningitis in RSV+, still appreciable UTI risk UTI 5.4% in RSV+, 10.1% RSV- Bacteremia 1.1% RSV+, 2.3% RSV- Meningitis 0% RSV+, 0.9% RSV- Management Hydration for all infants It is reasonable to not perform continuous oximetry on infants and children with bronchiolitis[6] O2 (maintain SaO2 >90%) oxygen saturation alone should not dictate admission [7] High flow nasal canula multicenter randomized trial showed infants with bronchiolitis and hypoxemia required less escalation of therapy than standard oxygen [8] Suctioning There is insufficient data to make an evidence-based recommendation about suctioning. Nasopharyngeal suctioning may temporarily relieve symptoms The use of routine “deep” suctioning may lead to increased length of stay based on one small study [6] Hypertonic Saline AAP recommends as a possible intervention, but 2014 SABRE trial found no change in discharge or adverse events with nebulised HS.[9] No decrease in hospital admission using 3% HS in 2017 multi-center, RCT for moderate-severe bronchiolitis, with mild adverse events such as worsening of cough were significantly higher in the HS group [10] Only consider administering to infants who require hospitalization [6] (Class B)) Suction nares / nasal saline drops (Class B)) Not Indicated Randomized controlled trials of bronchodilator or corticosteroid therapy have shown mixed results. Bronchodilators could aggravate the symptoms.[11][12][13] Disposition Consider Admission Age <3months Preterm (<34wks) Underlying heart/lung disease Initial SaO2 <90% Sa02 alone should not be used as the only factor for admission [15] Unable to tolerate PO Tachypnea with accessory muscle use See Also References

President Trump tweeted on Monday that Congress had better get that repeal and replace bill passed, or they can forget about those "bailouts" they enjoy, clearly frustrated that his party has so far failed to get any cohesion on this critical issue. Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT), seeing the setbacks up close, has accused Trump and the GOP of trying to "sabotage" health care in America. (Side note: did he forget the disaster caused by Obamacare?) Anyway, after berating the president and the Republicans, Sanders offered his suggestion. "Single payer would save the average family significant amounts of money," he said on CNN. Host Jake Tapper was not so sure Sanders was the best salesman for single payer, reminding his guest that it didn't work in his own state. “Why couldn’t this happen in Vermont, then?” Tapper asked. “What’s the issue in Vermont? Vermont would be a perfect test case.” It sure would. Although the Vermont legislature passed single payer in 2011, they soon gave it up after it failed miserably. The governor admitted he couldn't pay for it. Sanders, however, blamed the failure on politics. “Politically this is difficult,” Sanders said. “Look, taking on the insurance companies and the drug companies, taking on Wall Street, taking on a lot of very powerful forces that make millions of dollars a year from the current health care system is not going to be easy.” He went on to cite a few studies from Canada and the UK, noting that people pay "substantially less per capita." Of course, he left out the part where the health care systems in Europe can be awfully cruel. Charlie Gard, a baby who was dying from a rare disease, was forced to remain in the UK despite his parents' wishes to send him to the United States for experimental treatment. He died just a few days ago. Still, Sanders and other liberals are gung ho about single payer. Good luck. As Guy detailed earlier today, Democrats and progressives can't afford to tick off working class voters any more than they already have.

Advance warning: I’m super pleased with this idea. I apologise if I’m unnecessarily smug about it as a result. My extremely basic benchmark for intmap is inserting 10 million integers counting down and then printing out its length. I’ve been trying to get it to beat a similar benchmark on Haskell code. I was doing pretty well getting incremental improvements with custom memory allocators (I’m about 80% sure the main benefit Haskell has here is its garbage collector) and would probably have eventually got it down to about the same speed as Haskell by more or less emulating its memory allocation patterns (and yes I’m aware of the humour of trying to optimise C code to be as fast as Haskell code) Then I had a clever idea. Screw “If you can’t beat ’em, join ’em”. If you can’t beat ’em, cheat. Fundamentally the problem with this benchmark is that building up an intmap through progressive insertions is the wrong evaluation order (note though that it’s the evaluation order of IntMap.fromList in Haskell, so this isn’t as contrived as it sounds). Ideally what you want to do is always be merging small maps together. I decided to steal a merge strategy from timsort. The way timsort handles merges is that it maintains a stack of things to merge, x1 through xn, which maintain the following two invariants: \(|x_i| \geq |x_{i+1}|\) \(|x_i| \leq |x_{i+1}| + |x_{i+2}|\) Whenever pushing something onto the stack would violate these rules we perform stack collapsing operations by merging the head (if the first is violated we merge the head into its predecessor. If the second is violated we merge the 2nd and 3rd element together and move the head up one). This means that the size of the largest element is at least the Fibonacci number of the stack height, which means that you only need quite a small sized stack to have more than you can possibly fit. I use a stack of size 128, which is excessive (this could fit an intmap of size up to \(2^88\) and intmap only supports 64-bit keys), but that’s partly because I want to be able to build up larger intermediate stacks. I’ve introduced an intmap_builder type which basically maintains this stack so you can build up a whole bunch of unions like this without worrying about the evaluation order. Changing my performance benchmark so that it used this strategy immediately blew the Haskell implementation out of the water by a factor of 2 (I was previously about 60% slower). But that’s properly cheating. I’m now winning the benchmark because I’m not executing the same program! That’s not remotely reasonable. But… what if I could make it so that when I do execute the same program, behind the scenes it executes the faster version with intmap_builder. How could I perform this black magic? It turns out that I have an advantage that the Haskell version doesn’t: I can tell when I don’t care about intermediate results. There are two features of the intmap API which are quite nice: Firstly, everything is reference counted. Secondly, all union operations implicitly decref their result (the way you’re supposed to treat this is that every intmap has a uniqueness type which is absorbed by arithmetic operations and that if you want to reuse a value you must pass it to copy. The abstraction is a little leakier than this). Why is this relevant? Because it means that if an intmap with a refcount of 1 is passed to a union operation we know that we do not care about this intmap for any other reason than the result of this union. In particular we are free to mutate it arbitrarily because any other references to it are now invalid. Woo! And this means that if we can disguise an intmap_builder as an intmap then when we know that it’s an owned argument of a union we can just push the right hand side onto it and the evaluation order would be sorted out. That’s pretty cool. We then need to make sure that as soon as you incref it or need to do anything to it that observes its actual value it turns into a real intmap and not a stack of intmaps, but that’s not too bad. There’s a bunch of book-keeping to do around copying and redirects (we can’t always replace an intmap with the result of its union, because we might not own the result of its union). If you care about the details you can read the commit. It works, too. It’s not quite as fast as just using the intmap_builder directly, mainly because there’s a lot of additional checking that has to be performed (I expect to be able to optimise this somewhat, though it will always be slower), but it’s still significantly faster than the Haskell version. But details aside, this is I think an instance of a very powerful general technique: When you have a uniqueness type system and a bunch of algebraic rules, you can tell when you don’t care about the result of a sub-expression and then you can use your algebraic rules to massively rearrange the expression for a more efficient evaluation order. This is essentially a query optimiser: We have an algebraic expression which we want to evaluate in the most efficient way possible and we apply a bunch of rules to achieve this effect. The neat thing is that because of the way the API is structured we can apply this query optimiser without the user having to know about it: Every intmap value can be either a (somewhat reduced) abstract set of operations for combining intmaps, or it can be a concrete intmap with all the benefits thereof. It remains the former until you need it to be the latter, at which point the query is fully and transparently evaluated. I’m not sure this idea works without a great deal of low-level access to the your implementation of laziness. If every operation is destructive and the copy operation returns a pair rather than leaving the original untouched then you can make it work, but the fact that you can force within a non-destructive function like size or equal is quite powerful and makes the API much nicer to use. I’d very much like to see an implementation of this sort of idea in a more functional language, as I’m currently not really sure how it could work. In this case the algebraic rule I used was the associativity of union (note that order is preserved: intmap unions are not commutative because they have values and the union is right biased), but there are other ones. In particular I plan to implement similar strategies for intersection and difference: Intersection is associative, but additionally in a collection of n things being intersected, all but the left hand most one can be commuted (because we don’t care about their values, but we do care about the values of the left hand most one). This in particular lets us do intersection by adopting a smallest first evaluation order – we always intersect the left hand item with the smallest of the remaining items. This is both intrinsically more efficient and potentially lets us shortcut much earlier because the smallest one may reduce the left hand item to empty at which point we just release the remaining values, return empty, and delight in our O(lots) speed-up. I haven’t thought through the consequences of this in detail yet, but I’m pretty excited about this idea. It’s essentially a general purpose query optimiser for a certain class of purely functional datastructures, and I think it might have the potential to be a seriously good one.

WASHINGTON, DC - OCTOBER 10: U.S. President Donald Trump answers questions from the press during a meeting with former U.S. Secretary of State Henry Kissinger in the Oval Office October 10, 2017 in Wa Israel was surprised by the U.S. decision on Thursday to quit UNESCO. Four senior Israeli and American officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, said there was no coordination with Israel in the days before the decision was announced and that the Trump administration did not tell Israel beforehand. The senior Israeli officials said that in recent months the possibility of the United States leaving the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization had come up in talks between Israeli and U.S. diplomats in New York and Paris. They said the issue was also brought up during the June visit to Israel of U.S. Ambassador to the UN Nikki Haley. But the Israeli sources said that at no point did the Americans tell Israel a decision had been made to withdraw. Despite the generally close relations between Israel and the administration of President Donald Trump, the affair exposed a grave lack of coordination between the two countries. WASHINGTON, DC - OCTOBER 13: U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson walks towards cameras at the State Department October 13, 2017 in Washington, DC. ALEX WONG/AFP Senior officials in Jerusalem confirmed that Israel learned of U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson’s decision to quit UNESCO from a report posted on the website of Foreign Policy very late Wednesday night. In its wake, Israeli diplomats at the embassy in Washington, the UN and at UNESCO’s Paris headquarters asked their American counterparts for clarification. Only late Thursday morning was Israel told that in a few hours the State Department would announce the U.S. departure from UNESCO. Senior U.S. officials confirmed that Washington was not proactive about informing Israel of its decision. “The deliberative process that led to the decision to withdraw was an internal U.S. government process and was not discussed with any non-USG entities prior to the secretary’s decision,” a senior official said, using an abbreviation for the U.S. government. In fact, the State Department did not inform Israel even after Tillerson made the decision. The only official to whom Tillerson reported the decision was UNESCO Director General Irina Bokova. Only after the announcement was published in the media did the United States inform its allies, including Israel. The surprise in Jerusalem, in addition to the fact that the decision was made during the Simhat Torah holiday, was the main reason for Israel’s rather odd announcement on Thursday night that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had directed the Foreign Ministry “to begin to prepare” for the possibility that Israel would leave UNESCO together with the United Sates. Since Israel had no information about the timing of the U.S. decision, there had been no real discussion with the prime minister on the subject. Netanyahu’s “directive” was the result of a conference call of a few minutes that Netanyahu held Thursday night with a few of his advisers and senior Foreign Ministry officials.

The tax cut effort is an exercise in greed and arrogance. The nation faces a fiscal crisis (rising debt, large deficits, and major budget needs such as infrastructure), a social crisis (falling incomes for the bottom half), and a political crisis (a collapse of trust in public institutions). The public is against Donald Trump’s tax proposals. Yet the unstoppable mode of the Republican Party is to cut taxes for the rich. This is greed fueled by the arrogance of power. The Senate version of the tax cut hasn’t yet been agreed on by key Republican senators, but Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell will try this week to move it almost instantaneously from its unveiling to a floor vote. The Congressional Budget Office has just shown that, under this bill, the poorest Americans actually pay for the richest. Yet if McConnell has his way, there will be no hearings and no expert debate on a piece of legislation that will affect trillions of dollars and all Americans. Authoritarian regimes are more transparent than Washington. The United States has become a plutocracy, a government of the rich, by the rich, and for the rich. Every branch of government is dangerously affected. Advertisement President Donald Trump has an estimated net worth of $3.1 billion and a trail of corporate bankruptcies, swindles, money laundering, and defaults associated with his business dealings. He owes his net worth to his daddy. He now aims to secure the Trump family billions by eliminating the estate tax. Get Today in Opinion in your inbox: Globe Opinion's must-reads, delivered to you every Sunday-Friday. Sign Up Thank you for signing up! Sign up for more newsletters here Meanwhile, Trump’s cabinet is a haven of multimillionaires and billionaires, and at least seven of the nine Supreme Court justices are millionaires. Roughly 300 members of Congress (out of 535) are millionaires. They don’t need the goading of lobbyists to vote for corporate tax cuts. They have their personal financial balances firmly in mind. Then of course come the campaign donors of the Republican majority in Congress, led by billionaires David and Charles Koch, Robert Mercer, and Sheldon Adelson. The Koch Brothers have long peddled the noxious ideology of Ayn Rand, which holds that the rich owe nothing to society. A few congressmen have made clear that the tax bill is about meeting the expectation of the Republican Party donors, not about the will or need of the public. If they don’t pass the tax cut, the donors won’t come back. Still worse, the big donors threaten to run ads and primary-election opponents against those who dare to speak the truth. Those Republican congressmen who aren’t operating for their personal wealth live in fear of the party’s mega-donors. All of this passes for normal in 21st-century America. Advertisement Of course, Democrats also have their well-heeled donors, though Democratic Party mega-donors are much more likely to favor tax increases on the rich. Still, there’s no doubt that donors and lobbyists for Wall Street, the health care industry, and other major sectors disproportionately influence the policies of both parties. Supported by advisors from Wall Street, Bill Clinton deregulated the banks, George W. Bush led us into the 2008 financial crisis, and Barack Obama bailed out and coddled the bankers. And now Trump seeks to reward them with a new round of tax cuts. Plutocracies are self-feeding. Wealth feeds power and power feeds wealth. Yet eventually the runaway greed, unless checked early enough, will lead to a mega-crisis. The United States seems to be on such a path, with growing risks of another financial bubble or a future fiscal crisis. The timing is especially inopportune, since America is challenged as never before by the global shifts of economic, diplomatic, and military power. The long-term hope for America is a new political movement by the poor and working class, as occurred in the populist-progressive era at the end of the 1800s, the union organizing of the 1930s, and the civil rights movement of the 1960s. If history is a guide, the plutocrats are overplaying their hand and will reap the consequences, albeit with the risk of a very serious national crisis. If we are fortunate, America may yet escape a grievous self-inflicted wound in the coming weeks, if just a few Republican Senators put country over greed and vote down the egregious tax-cut proposals. Jeffrey D. Sachs is university professor and director of the Center for Sustainable Development at Columbia University, and author of “The Age of Sustainable Development.”

The Camp is located at Gracie Humaita St. Louis in Weldon Springs, MO. 1070 Wolfrum Rd.Weldon Springs, MO 63304 Reccomended Camp Hotel: Holiday Inn Use the contact camp page to request more information about the camp location. All ability levels, affiliations, and ages are welcome and encouraged to attend. The camp will include instruction from Jena Bishop on Saturday. Instruction will include everything from the most up-to-date tournament jiu jitsu movements to practical self-defense. The camp will begin with a warm-up usually followed by some kind of drilling or fundamental movement improvement exercise. Afterwards, Jena will conduct instruction followed by a question and answer session. All days of the camp will end with live sparring for all who are interested. Jena will make it her goal to roll with everyone interested inside of the camp. Last time Jena rolled with all 30+ girls at the camp! For more information regarding the daily camp activities please see the itinerary on the front page. All participants will receive snacks at the camp, snacks, and a chance to win gear, supplements, and more. For those that will be traveling to the camp, we are recommending Holiday Inn as the official camp hotel. The event is being sponsored by Fuji Sports, NeoCell Collagen Sport, and Smoothie King STL. Food will be provided in the form of snacks and beverages on everyday of the camp. Camp shirts will be available for purchase (preorder only – details to come). Women are encouraged to pack a fresh gi for everyday of the camp. We are expecting a lot of pictures, so feel free to bring any other items that you’d like to have on hand to freshen up. We will do a group picture after everyday of class. The camp will not be supplying breakfast or dinner. Additional camp questions can be directed using the contact form below… Advertisements

A new Haifa University, Israel, project, defeated 60 other international proposals and won a $6 million funding for the establishment of an integration system that will provide patients and doctors on-time and online information about their medical status through mobile phones and computers. This new system will help patients and medical staff receive and give efficient treatment that is based on full online information, thereby reducing the need to receive treatment in the hospital. Get our weekly newsletter directly in your inbox! Sign up Ben-Gurion University is the technological partner of Haifa University in this project. According to Prof. Mor Peleg, the scientific coordinator of the project, this new system is a combination of existing technologies and a unique and new integration system that will improve the quality of care of patients dramatically and help reduce a high demand for doctors. The first part of the project is meant to provide care for two specific populations: Spanish patients who suffer from pregnancy complications due to high blood pressure and diabetes and Italian patients who suffer from Heart arrhythmia. The goal of the new project is to create a system that will provide patients and doctors the opportunity to supervise and give the best medical care while monitoring in actual time changes in blood pressure, heart rhythm, blood sugar level etc. The data collected through the new system will be sent to mobile phones and computers that will process it and allow patients and doctors will decide how to treat the condition and whether to go to a hospital. … To continue reading this article in Hebrew, click here Translated by Sivan Kriboshe, NoCamels Via Hadoctor Photo courtesy of alumroot

Mondale promised to raise taxes. Dukakis was in the tank. Kerry was for the war before he was against it. All mistakes, mistakes that should never have been made and errors that turn the course of an election. We hear about them all the time. But now, just as the memory of Bill Buckner's error took a backseat for Red Sox fans when their team finally won the World Series, John McCain has made the biggest mistake in politics, an error of such magnitude that he has probably cost himself a shot at the White House. Senator McCain, knowing that he held an edge on Barack Obama on the "Commander in Chief" question, badly overplayed his hand. He taunted Senator Obama on his lack of foreign policy experience and he challenged Obama to go to Iraq. He sneered at Obama for formulating an Iraq policy prior to traveling to the war zone. He even offered to go with him to Iraq, as if Obama needed his hand held by the man with military experience. McCain wanted the public to believe that Obama was a novice, a whipper-snapper who would jeopardize our nation's security. Obama listened to McCain's attempted bullying and said, "You know what? I'll go to Iraq. And Afghanistan, Israel, Germany -- I'll make this a big foreign policy trip abroad. I'll show the voters back home that the world still really does love the United States, they just don't love President Bush or John McCain." And Obama went abroad, with the world's press following him, clinging to his every word, oohing and aahing at his every jump shot, hoping to catch a glimpse of his every smile. The trip: the biggest success of the campaign. The Commander in Chief question: negated. Heck of job, McCain. In the meantime, with all of press following Senator Obama's tour, John McCain has been getting almost no coverage at all. When he does get coverage, he's zipping around in a golf cart with George Bush 41. Not exactly the message of change this nation longs for. McCain, the former press darling who once referred to the media as "my base," is so upset that press is following Obama, he's become whining and petulant about it. It's as if McCain and Obama both had a party, and everyone went to the Obama party, while McCain found out he's no longer the most popular guy in school. But perhaps, in one way, the lack of coverage of McCain is a positive. McCain keeps screwing up. His commercials are unbelievably bad. He frequently makes erroneous statements, often about Iraq. To date, he has been wrong about Iraq's geographical location (it does not border Pakistan), wrong about the alliances of Iran (Shiite Iran does not supply Sunni Al-Qaeda with weapons), wrong about the timeline of the Anbar Awakening (occurred months before the surge). The question has to be asked: Does McCain have a firm grasp of what's going on in Iraq? McCain, of course, has been to Iraq, many times. But while McCain has gone off on Obama for not being there before stating a policy, McCain should remember one thing: he didn't visit Iraq before he voted for the war. He didn't go firsthand to talk to the military. He didn't go firsthand to check out whether or not there would be an insurgency. He didn't go firsthand to talk to see whether the people would support our invasion. Perhaps that why McCain had it all so wrong, and thought we would be greeted as liberators, and that the war would be short. He hadn't gone to Iraq. Perhaps McCain learned a lesson from his lack of time in Iraq, and perhaps his recent visits did help him learn more. He was correct that the surge has had a positive impact. But it matters not at this point. Iraq is more stable than it was, and we are going to withdraw troops, whether it is on Obama's specific timeline, or on a more general "horizon," as the Bush Administration likes to say. Iraq doesn't want us there for much longer, and besides, bin Laden is not there. And it's bin Laden who is responsible for the death of the thousands of Americans and thousands more people worldwide. It's bin Laden and his supporters that we need to get. All John McCain has done, with his childish taunting of Obama, is create a situation where Obama has now gone overseas; been seen with General Petraeus smiling, looking Presidential; been photographed with world leaders who seem excited by the prospect of an Obama Presidency, and shown, by images, that he fits in just fine on the world stage; and, of course, Obama has taken all the media attention with him when McCain is desperate for media coverage.