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But it is not so simple. The final weeks in a war zone are often the most dangerous, as weary troops get sloppy or unfocused. Once they arrive home, alcohol abuse , traffic accidents and other measures of mayhem typically rise as they blow off steam. Weeks later, as the joy of return subsides, deep-seated emotional or psychological problems can begin to show. The sleeplessness , anxiety and irritability of post-traumatic stress disorder , for instance, often take months to emerge as combat veterans confront the tensions of home and the recurring memories of war. Photo In their new normal, troops must reconnect with children, adjust to more independent spouses and dial back the hypervigilance that served them well in combat — but that can alienate them from civilians. “The hardest part for me is, I guess, not being on edge,” said Staff Sgt. Francisco Narewski, a father of three who just completed his second deployment. “I feel like I need to do something, like I need to go on mission or I need to check my soldiers. And I’m not.” For the First Battalion, 87th Infantry out of Fort Drum, N.Y., which recently finished a yearlong tour, leaving Afghanistan proved as deadly as fighting in Afghanistan. In the first 11 months of deployment, the battalion lost two soldiers, both to roadside bombs. During the next month, it lost two more, neither in combat. On March 9, the day before he was scheduled to leave Kunduz, Specialist Andrew P. Wade, 22, was accidentally shot and killed by a friend who was practicing a drill with his 9-millimeter pistol inside their tent. Three weeks later, Specialist Jeremiah Pulaski, who had returned from Afghanistan in February, was shot and killed by a police officer after he shot and wounded a man outside a bar in Arizona . He was 24. Advertisement Continue reading the main story Both soldiers were considered among the best in the battalion. Specialist Wade, a whiz with a soccer ball, was a member of the elite scouts platoon and on a fast track to promotion. Specialist Pulaski could be quick to use his fists in an argument but was revered for his fearlessness on the battlefield. Specialist Pulaski was awarded a Bronze Star with Valor for dashing across an open field during an ambush in December, drawing enemy fire away from his platoon. Later that same day, he killed several insurgents as they were trying to ambush his unit near a village called Haruti. Photo Captain Bonenberger, Specialist Pulaski’s company commander, said the soldier saved his life twice that day — and it gnawed at him that he had been unable to return the favor. “When he was in trouble, he was alone,” Captain Bonenberger said. “When we were in trouble, he was there for us. I know it’s not rational or reasonable. There’s nothing logical about it. But I feel responsible.” Final Weeks In Kunduz and Baghlan Provinces, war defied the usual rhythms last winter. American forces typically hunker down in the cold months to await the spring fighting season. But from October to January, American, German and Afghan forces cleared several major insurgent strongholds. By February, the Afghan police were conducting regular patrols alone into places they had refused to visit without American forces just weeks before: Gor Teppa, Chardara and Aliabad in Kunduz, and Dahana-i-Ghori and the Golden Triangle north of Pul-i-Khumri in Baghlan. Even a slice of Dasht-i-Archi, where the stoning of an adulterous couple last year became a worldwide symbol of the Taliban ’s resurgence, was cleared of mines and insurgent checkpoints. American intelligence officers say scores of insurgent fighters were killed and as many as 300 laid down their arms or switched sides. Cellphone towers that had been shut down nightly by the Taliban started running 24 hours a day. A radio station that played rock music returned to the air. Commerce revived along roads once too dangerous to travel. Advertisement Continue reading the main story Through the winter campaign, only a handful of American soldiers were wounded, and none died. “The police are more capable today than they were a year ago,” said Lt. Col. Russell Lewis, the battalion commander. “They are going places they haven’t been in years.” Photo Still, there was much debate among American soldiers over whether the stability would last. Had insurgent forces melted away simply to regroup for a spring offensive? Would the insurgents who switched sides remain allies? Many soldiers had doubts. Then came a series of attacks that made it clear the insurgents were not gone. In early February, the governor of Chardara District was killed by a suicide bomber just hours after a visit with Colonel Lewis. Two weeks later, a bomber detonated a powerful device in Imam Sahib, killing 30 people, most of them civilians. And in early March, another suicide bomber assassinated the police chief of Kunduz Province, Gen. Abdul Rahman Saidkhail, outside his heavily guarded office. General Saidkhail had been aggressive in pursuing Taliban commanders and cajoling their fighters to switch sides. To American officers, his death was a blow to the government of President Hamid Karzai and an ominous indication of what lay ahead for Kunduz Province. “Whatever chapter has been written is now finished,” Captain Bonenberger recalled thinking when he heard about the general’s death. “The book is lying on the table and that’s it. What’s done is done.” Journey Home The string of winter operations against the Taliban had given many soldiers a sense of accomplishment that was missing in the fall, when morale, like the temperature, was sinking. By the end of the tour, spirits were high and pranksters were afoot, hogtying officers in their beds and stealing clothing from showering soldiers. But there was also a more solemn sense among soldiers that they would return home altered by their year away. Specialist Alan Bakula, 22, had seen the exhilarating highs and shattering lows of combat. One of the battalion’s steadiest fighters, he earned two Purple Hearts and an Army Commendation Medal with Valor in several major firefights. Photo But he had also been shot through the ankle and hit by shrapnel in the elbow and the face. He had also seen one good friend, Specialist Matthew Hayes, lose his leg to a mine and another, Specialist Wade, killed in an accident. By the end of the deployment, he had lost his taste for battle and was ready to trade the Army for college. Advertisement Continue reading the main story “Getting injured a few times definitely changes your perspective a little bit, makes you feel a little less bulletproof,” he said in Kunduz. Specialist Billy Moody, 26, wondered whether he could ever talk openly to friends about the close calls he had seen: rocket-propelled grenades that just missed, accurate mortar rounds that somehow failed to explode. He detailed those experiences in a notebook that he planned to share with his wife and family, but no one else. “Some stuff, people just don’t — they wouldn’t really believe or appreciate,” he said. “I hope people don’t ask me that kind of stuff, and then after I tell it to them, they think I’m exaggerating.” Just getting the battalion’s nearly 800 soldiers home was far from simple. It would take a month, along with dozens of helicopters, military cargo planes and commercial jets, to move them the 6,500 miles from Kunduz through Mazar-i-Sharif and Kyrgyzstan to Watertown, N.Y. On his final flight home, Private Stevenson, 20, fantasized about the freedoms he would soon taste again: texting anyone anytime, wearing blue jeans and T-shirts, taking his little brother to the zoo. Being alone. Photo His deployment had been a mixed bag. After getting into an argument with a higher-ranking soldier, whom he half-heartedly threatened to kill, he lost a rank. But he had also performed well under pressure. Advertisement Continue reading the main story While driving his platoon leader on a mission last fall, his truck hit a powerful mine that blew off its rear end and flipped it over. Private Stevenson was the first out and helped the three other passengers, including his lieutenant, escape. He earned a Purple Heart after sustaining a back injury and a possible concussion in the explosion. As the plane approached New York, he was thinking about his next big challenge. His fiancée was pregnant, and he was so excited by the prospect that he planned to buy baby furniture and diapers as soon as he got home. More than ever, he thought he should get out of the Army and try college. He had never known his own father and had lived on the streets of Port Arthur, Tex., as a teenager after his mother died of AIDS . “I know I’m not ready” to be a father, he mused. But he wanted badly to try. Newsletter Sign Up Continue reading the main story Please verify you're not a robot by clicking the box. Invalid email address. Please re-enter. You must select a newsletter to subscribe to. Sign Up You will receive emails containing news content , updates and promotions from The New York Times. You may opt-out at any time. You agree to receive occasional updates and special offers for The New York Times's products and services. Thank you for subscribing. An error has occurred. Please try again later. View all New York Times newsletters. “I want to be there for my kid’s first steps; I want to be there for his first bicycle accident,” he said. “I kind of think the Army is not for me, family-wise.” Reunions A wet snow was falling as Sergeant Narewski’s charter DC-10 touched down at Wheeler-Sack Army Airfield in March. It was just after midnight, and the air was colder than it had been in Afghanistan. But he bounded off the plane beaming like a boy heading into summer vacation. “I love America,” he shouted as he sprinted to the terminal. His unit went through customs, turned in weapons and received safety briefings on base speed limits, malaria pills and mental health counseling. Then they waited. Finally, at 6 a.m., they boarded yellow school buses and headed to the Fort Drum gymnasium. Photo In the bleachers sat his wife, Christina, with their three children. She had risen at 1 a.m. to apply her makeup, shimmy into a tight dress bought just for this occasion and hustle the children into front-row seats. As the soldiers marched into the gym, she craned anxiously in search of her husband, squirming with impatience as they croaked their division’s song out of key. She kicked off her high heels, and as soon as a commander shouted “Dismissed!” she sprinted across the hardwood floor. “Everybody was laughing at me, but I ran,” she said. “That’s all I remember, is running.” For minutes, time enough for some couples to hug and leave, she buried herself in Sergeant Narewski’s broad arms, whimpering. “Just to have him hold you or be in his arms again is just the greatest,” she said. “You think about that not happening while he’s gone.” Advertisement Continue reading the main story This second deployment of his had been harder than she anticipated, and she had begun taking medication to calm her nerves. To her delight, Sergeant Narewski, 31, accepted a drill sergeant assignment at Fort Jackson, S.C., a two- to three-year tour with no deployments. Being a drill sergeant would be good for his career, the sergeant said. But inside, he was still thinking about leading soldiers into combat. “I love it,” he said. “I’m going to miss it. I miss it already.” For Sgt. Tamara Sullivan, 32, there was nothing about Afghanistan she would miss. For days after arriving in Kunduz a year ago, she cried at the thought of not seeing her children, ages 4 and 2. The experience taught her a lesson about emotions, one she learned to apply with iron discipline. “It’s something that you just have to learn how to turn off and on, like a light switch,” she said. “I don’t feel like it made me less of a mother because I learned how to shut it off. I think it made me a better soldier.” Photo Now she was finally home, looking lost as she searched the crowd for her husband, Tim, who had come without the children from North Carolina , where the couple have a home. Suddenly he appeared, and they embraced awkwardly before rushing to find her bags. She had been thinking for days about how this deployment might change their family dynamic. Tim had learned to be a single parent and was so comfortable in the job that she wondered whether he was prepared to give it up. “I’m ready to come back home and jump back in, you know, where I left it, do my mommy role,” she said before leaving Afghanistan. “Just shoo him out of the way. I’m pretty sure he’ll be a little, you know, like, ‘Wait a minute, I used to do it this way.’ ” But she would have to wait to test those waters. She was scheduled to transfer to Fort Gordon, Ga., in October, but until then, Tim and the children would remain in North Carolina. Except for occasional weekends, they would be apart for another six months. Advertisement Continue reading the main story Still in her uniform, she took Tim to the airport and then went shopping at Wal-Mart . On a 3-by-5 card, she had neatly listed items she needed for her new apartment near Fort Drum: linens, a frying pan, food for one. She filled two carts and headed home. In her second-floor home, she began unpacking boxes of paperback books, unused uniforms and crayon drawings from her children. Without the children, it had been a subdued, almost joyless homecoming. But she seemed content in her solitude. The Army is her career, and a good one, she told herself. She just needed to be patient. “As long as my children are happy, as long as I know their education is set for, then I’m good,” she said. “I’ll just keep doing this as long as I have to.” Photo Sergeant Keith’s homecoming was surprisingly boisterous, even without his wife and son. His parents, grandfather, brother, nieces and nephews greeted him at the gymnasium, then accompanied him to a new apartment they had found and furnished for him. But when they left, he was by himself for the first time in practically a year. He took a shower, the longest and hottest in months, then crawled into a bed that felt as large as a swimming pool. “I never felt more alone any time ever in my life,” he recalled. The deployment, his third in six years, had been great, and not because of the adrenaline rush of combat — he saw none of that. A fuel specialist, Sergeant Keith, 29, was responsible for making sure gas tanks were full and generators were running. Sent from the battalion headquarters in Kunduz to an outpost in Baghlan, he had been left alone to do his job and loved the independence. For the first time in years, he felt proud to be a soldier, and ambitious to do more. The deployment had clearly been hard on his wife and made him almost a stranger to his 18-month-old son. “I got to work my way back into his life again,” he said. Advertisement Continue reading the main story And yet, almost to his surprise, he felt a sense of lightness and liberation now that his wife had left him. He went drinking at the American Legion with friends. Maybe he would start dating. And down the line, he felt almost certain he would deploy again. Perhaps it was the clarity of deployed life that he craved. The structured routines seemed so much simpler than the messy realities of home. He could not quite put his finger on it, but he knew that “normal life” no longer meant what it once did. Photo “Once you get stuck into that environment,” he said of deployment, “and you do it every day, it’s very, very hard coming back to the states and living a normal life. I’m just having a real hard time dealing with it.” Healing In the weeks after the battalion got home, Captain Bonenberger, 33, moved into an apartment with two fellow captains and considered his future. Should he accept a teaching position at West Point or get out of the Army? Private Stevenson married and learned that his child, due in August, was a boy. He bought an SAT prep book. Specialist Hayes, undergoing rehabilitation at Walter Reed Army Medical Center , visited his platoon mates at Fort Drum. To celebrate, they drank Guinness from his prosthetic leg. And Sgt. First Class Brian Eisch, 36, struggled to learn how to run again. A machine-gun burst had almost taken off his left leg during a battle in Kunduz last fall, and he had been flown to Walter Reed for treatment. Determined to return to a frontline unit, he would have to prove that he could run with a pack. Doctors told him to go slow, but it was not in his nature. So after returning to Fort Drum in February, he went to the gym almost nightly, working the shreds of muscle still in his calf. When he continued to limp, his doctors suggested that he replace the leg with a prosthetic. No way, he said. Advertisement Continue reading the main story “I’m trying to put on the happy face and the strong guy, but at the end of the day I’m almost in tears in pain, “ he said. “It hurts.” A single father, Sergeant Eisch was also trying to get his sons reacquainted with Fort Drum. They had spent the first half of his deployment in Wisconsin with their uncle. Now back home, Joey, 8, was dodging homework, and Isaac, 12, was having nightmares about bad things happening to his father. “I explained to him, that’s just your body,” said Sergeant Eisch, who was having his own recurring nightmares. “Your body is just trying to get rid of stress.” Though he earned a Bronze Star with Valor for aiding a critically wounded Afghan police officer, Sergeant Eisch was also plagued by self-doubt. “There’s a sense of me that says I failed for getting shot,” he said. Doctors suggested he had post-traumatic stress disorder, but Sergeant Eisch questioned the diagnosis. He also bristled at his assignment to a Warrior Transition Unit, where he felt he was surrounded by unmotivated and overmedicated soldiers. Up and then down. He raged at the Army. Then he bought himself a new boat to go with his new truck. He bemoaned his bad leg. Then he hugged his boys and considered himself lucky. It was like that in the Army. Hero one day, faceless grunt the next. Scout platoon sergeant in November, wounded warrior in March. He had rolled with it for almost 17 years; he hoped he could make it three more to retirement . “Hey, I’m still kicking, and there’s new motivation there,” he said. “I’m going to heal.”

Researchers at Johns Hopkins University will perform the US's first penis transplant in 2016, according to The New York Times. And when they do, they will be helping a soldier who was injured by a bomb blast in Afghanistan. Johns Hopkins has given its doctors permission to perform 60 of the experimental surgeries. It's unclear how high the demand is for this type of transplant, but a lot of people might end up benefitting from these operations if the researchers are successful. Between 2001 and 2013, more than 1,300 men in the US military have suffered injuries to their genitals, according to the Department of Defense Trauma Registry. Most were under the age of 35 at the time, and many lost all or a portion of their penises or testicles. These injuries are "as devastating as anything that our wounded warriors suffer." "These genitourinary injuries are not things we hear about or read about very often," W. P. Andrew Lee, the chairman of plastic and reconstructive surgery at Johns Hopkins, told the Times. But these injuries are "as devastating as anything that our wounded warriors suffer." This won't be the world's first penis transplant. The first successful surgery was performed in December of last year; the recipient was a 21-year-old man in South Africa who lost the organ because of complications related to a traditional circumcision procedure. In June, his doctors announced another success: the recipient's partner is pregnant. There has been another high-profile attempt in 2006, but it ended in failure. Doctors in China spent 15 hours attaching a penis to a 44-year-old patient, only to reverse it two weeks later at the patient's request. At the time, the recipient and his wife said they were suffering from psychological problems. As with any transplant, the risks of this operation are great. Bleeding, infections, rejections, and psychological effects could all arise; and some men may not regain complete function. But for many, the benefits may outweigh the risks. Lee told the Times that fathering children after the operation is a "realistic goal." For now, the transplant will be available only to veterans who were injured during a combat mission. The operation will take 12 hours and cost between $200,000 and $400,000; the university has offered to pay for the first surgery. For all 60 operations, the penis will come from a deceased donor. If the surgeries go well, Johns Hopkins University may decide to make the transplant a standard treatment.

White House Office of Management and Budget Director Mick Mulvaney called the administration's budget proposal a "Taxpayer First Budget," on May 23, and defended its cuts to federal anti-poverty programs. (Reuters) President Trump on Tuesday proposed a new process for closing numerous military bases, the elimination of government funding for public radio and television, and cuts of more than $1 billion to after-school programs. He called to weaken the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), defund several programs that study climate change, cut research on infectious diseases and reduce the Strategic Petroleum Reserve by 50 percent. Much of the focus on Trump's $4.094 trillion budget plan has been on the large reductions in safety net programs such as Medicaid and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, but there are dozens of smaller budget cuts that, in aggregate, would amount to a major realignment of the government’s role in society. Aside from national defense and border security, Trump’s plan would put the onus on states, companies, churches and charities to offer many educational, scientific and social services that have long been provided by the federal government. This was the overriding goal in revamping numerous anti-poverty programs, prodding states to do more to limit the number of people who seek and receive benefits. Top White House advisers said that the government spends too much and that a dramatic reduction is necessary to make the government — and its presence in society — smaller. “We're no longer going to measure compassion by the number of programs or the number of people on those programs, but by the number of people we help get off of those programs,” White House Office of Management and Budget Director Mick Mulvaney said Tuesday. The budget would also cut retirement benefits for federal employees, reduce health-care benefits for low-income children and make it harder to qualify for disability benefits. These changes, the White House said, are necessary to eliminate the deficit over 10 years, though many critics have questioned the budget math used to wipe out the gap between spending and revenue. Because the government spends more than it brings in through revenue, the government runs a deficit, which adds to the federal debt each year. “If I take money from you and I have no intention of ever giving it back, that is not debt, that is theft,” Mulvaney said. “And if we're going to borrow money from people, we have to have a plan for how we are going to pay it back.” White House Office of Management and Budget Director Mick Mulvaney defended the projection of unemployment rates in the administration's 2018 budget proposal on May 23, amid criticism of their assumptions about future economic performance. (Reuters) Under Trump’s plan, a number of the government’s biggest obligations would remain intact. It would continue to fully finance Medicare and Social Security retirement benefits, which combined will account for $1.5 trillion in federal spending next year. But myriad other programs would be structurally changed. The White House proposes reducing the size of the federal workforce (though it doesn’t specify by how much) and trimming regulation in a way that top aides argue will foster more economic growth. Workforce training programs run by the Labor Department would be scaled back. Critics have raised alarms that the changes would cut the government’s investment in future growth, making companies less competitive. “The budget shrinks the core parts of government — the parts that do education, research, infrastructure — to unprecedentedly low levels for a modern economy,” said Jason Furman, who was a top economic adviser during the Obama administration. “In doing so, I think it would make it harder — not easier — to reach the outlandishly high growth target that the administration has set for itself.” The budget would crack down on the CFPB, an agency created after the financial crisis that is designed to ensure that lenders don't rip off consumers. It proposes reducing the CFPB's funding by $6.8 billion between 2018 and 2027. The watchdog agency is an “unaccountable bureaucracy controlled by an independent director with unchecked regulatory authority and punitive power,” the White House said in its budget request. The agency needs to be restructured, it said, and limiting its budget in 2018 would “allow for an efficient transition period.” Supporters of the CFPB, however, believe weakening it will make it easier for lenders to trap borrowers with predatory loans. Similarly, the Trump budget plan would strip some money from the Securities and Exchange Commission. The Trump administration renewed a long-held call by the Pentagon for a new round of base realignments and closures, saying it could save $2 billion per year that could be spent on boosting military readiness. The request asks Congress to authorize the Defense Department to begin studying base realignment, with an eye toward carrying out the plan in 2021. But there could be strong resistance on Capitol Hill, where lawmakers have long been resistant to base closures in their districts. The last round of base realignment was carried out in 2005 by the administration of President George W. Bush. The White House is also proposing to shift the way it delivers some foreign aid programs, replacing grants with loans that must be repaid. Not all of the budget is red ink, though. In its $27.7 billion budget request, the Justice Department asked for $26 million for 300 new prosecutors in U.S. attorney's offices nationwide to support Attorney General Jeff Sessions’s emphasis on targeting violent criminals and prosecuting illegal immigrants. An additional $75 million was requested for 75 more immigration judges to adjudicate removal proceedings for people in the United States illegally. About $80 million was sought to fully open an underused federal prison in Thomson, Ill., which was once considered as a possible facility to hold Guantánamo prisoners and would provide the Bureau of Prisons with 1,500 to 2,000 more beds. And at least one of the cuts the White House had threatened has been pulled back. The budget would retain the Office of National Drug Control Policy, which had been threatened with virtual extinction, with $368.5 million in funding, a small decrease from its 2017 funding. In an email to full-time employees this month, Richard Baum, the acting director of the office, said the administration’s proposal for the fiscal year that begins in October would reflect “a nearly 95 percent” cut in the agency’s budget. That appears to have been largely reversed, and the office’s two major programs — the High Intensity Drug Trafficking Areas Program and the Drug-Free Communities Support Program — have been retained.

This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 Unported, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. Natural products with medicinal value are gradually gaining importance in clinical research due to their well-known property of no side effects as compared to drugs. Tinospora cordifolia commonly named as “Guduchi” is known for its immense application in the treatment of various diseases in the traditional ayurvedic literature. Recently the discovery of active components from the plant and their biological function in disease control has led to active interest in the plant across the globe. Our present study in this review encompasses (i) the genetic diversity of the plant and (ii) active components isolated from the plant and their biological role in disease targeting. The future scope of the review remains in exploiting the biochemical and signaling pathways affected by the compounds isolated from Tinospora so as to enable new and effective formulation in disease eradication. Tinospora cordifolia commonly named as “Guduchi” in Sanskrit belonging to family Menispermaceae is a genetically diverse, large, deciduous climbing shrub with greenish yellow typical flowers, found at higher altitude.[ 1 – 3 ] In racemes or racemose panicles, the male flowers are clustered and female are solitary. The flowering season expands over summers and winters.[ 4 ] A variety of active components derived from the plant like alkaloids, steroids, diterpenoid lactones, aliphatics, and glycosides[ 4 ] have been isolated from the different parts of the plant body, including root, stem, and whole plant. Recently, the plant is of great interest to researchers across the globe because of its reported medicinal properties like anti-diabetic, anti-periodic, anti-spasmodic, anti-inflammatory, anti-arthritic, anti-oxidant, anti-allergic, anti-stress, anti-leprotic, anti-malarial, hepatoprotective, immunomodulatory and anti-neoplastic activities. In this review, we focus our attention to: (i) the reported genetic diversity in the Plant (ii) biological roles reported in humans and animals and active components from the plant. (iii) biological roles reported in humans and animals. All the reports of experiments on different model types (in vitro, ex vivo, and in vivo) were taken varying from animal and human model systems. Reported data was analysed and represented in the form of figures and tables for the current review. ChemDraw Ultra 9.0 Software, Cambridge soft Life Science Enterprise Solutions was used for drawing the figures in the review. The figures of the compounds were obtained as reported in different journal sources. Published literature on recent developments in research in Tinospora cordifolia, including original articles and papers in Pubmed and Pubmed Central Databases were taken into study for the report. Information extracted from a total of 175 published articles of which five review articles and cross references thereof were collected. The search criteria were restricted to the roles of the plant in the field of medical advancements and the effects that has been observed with different experiments. RESULTS (i) Tinospora cordifolia: A genetically diverse plant Reports on studies of morphological and physiological characters of the plant, including plant length, stem diameter, growth habit, floral morphology, flower color, stomatal density, trichomal density, lenticels density, petiole length, plant biomass, and other characteristics of the plant and diversity in the genetic components identified by markers have indicated the diversity in the medicinal plant which has profound importance for efficient and effective management of plant genetic resources. Reports using markers for random amplified polymorphic DNA,[5] and inter-simple sequence repeat primers[1,5] have pointed toward the genetic variation within the population. However, reports on conservation strategies and propagation of the germplasm are few. (ii) Tinospora cordifolia: Biological roles A myriad of biologically active compounds, including alkaloids, diterpenoid lactones, glycosides, steroids, sesquiterpenoid, phenolics, aliphatic compounds, and polysaccharides have been isolated from different parts of the plant body [ [4–39], ]. These compounds have been reported to have different biological roles in disease conditions thus enabling potential application in clinical research. Tinospora cordifolia extracts are extensively used in various herbal preparations for the treatment of different ailments for its anti-periodic, anti-spasmodic, anti-microbial, anti-osteoporotic, anti-inflammatory, anti-arthritic, anti-allergic, and anti-diabetic properties[6] [ ]. Table 1 Open in a separate window Open in a separate window The major biological property of Tinospora cordifolia includes: Immunomodulatory property The immuomodulatory property of Tinospora cordifolia is well documented.[40–42] Active compounds 11-hydroxymustakone, N-methyl-2-pyrrolidone, N-formylannonain, cordifolioside A, magnoflorine, tinocordiside and syringin[6] has been reported to have potential immunomodulatory and cytotoxic effects.[13,40–42] They have been reported to function by boosting the phagocytic activity of macrophages, production of reactive oxygen species (ROS) in human neutrophil cells,[43] enhancement in nitric oxide (NO) production by stimulation of splenocytes and macrophages indicative of anti-tumor effects.[44] Aqueous Tinospora extracts has been also reported to influence the cytokine production, mitogenicity, stimulation and activation of immune effector cells.[44] In mice, Tinospora cordifolia extracts has been shown to result in up-regulation of IL-6 cytokine, resulting in acute reactions to injury, inflammation, activation of cytotoxic T cells, and B cell differentiation.[45] Active compounds in aqueous extracts like alkaloids, di-terpenoid lactones, glycosides, steroids, sesquiterpenoid, phenolics, aliphatic compounds or polysaccharides[19] in experimental rat model have been reported for their cytotoxic action. Dry stem crude extracts of Tinospora cordifolia with a polyclonal B cell mitogen, G1-4A on binding to macrophages have been reported to enhance immune response in mice by inducing secretion of IL-1, together with activation of macrophages. Reports on Tinospora cordifolia in prevention of oxidative damage also exist.[46] The (1,4)-alpha-d-glucan (alpha-d-glucan), derived Tinospora cordifolia have been shown to activate human lymphocytes with downstream synthesis of the pro- and anti-inflammatory cytokines, in vitro.[47] Synergistic effects of compounds in the immunomodulatory activity of Tinospora cordifolia are reported.[6] Anti-diabetes property The stem of Tinospora cordifolia is widely used in the therapy of diabetes by regulating the blood glucose[48] in traditional folk medicine of India. It has been reported to mediate its anti-diabetic potential through mitigating oxidative stress (OS), promoting insulin secretion and also by inhibiting gluconeogenesis and glycogenolysis, thereby regulating blood glucose.[48] Alkaloids, tannins, cardiac glycosides, flavonoids, saponins, and steroids as the major phytoconstituents[49] of Tinospora cordifolia have been reported to play an anti-diabetic role. The isoquinoline alkaloid rich fraction from stem, including, palmatine, jatrorrhizine, and magnoflorine have been reported for insulin-mimicking and insulin-releasing effect both in vitro and in vivo.[10] Oral treatments of root extracts have been reported to regulate blood glucose levels, enhance insulin secretion and suppress OS markers. Initiation and restoration of cellular defence anti-oxidant markers including superoxide dismutase (SOD), glutathione peroxidase (GPx) and glutathione (GSH), inhibition of glucose 6-phosphatase and fructose 1, 6-diphosphatase, restoration of glycogen content in liver was reported in in vitro studies.[10] The crude stem ethyl acetate, dichloromethane (DCM), chloroforms and hexane extracts of Tinospora cordifolia inhibited the enzyme's salivary and pancreatic amylase and glucosidase[50] thus increasing the post-prandial glucose level and finds potential application in treatment of diabetes mellitus. The root extract has been reported to decrease the levels of glycosylated hemoglobin, plasma thiobarbituric acid reactive substances, hydroperoxides, ceruloplasmin and vitamin E diabetic rats.[51] Oral administration of Tinospora cordifolia extract in “Ilogen-Excel” formulation (Ayurvedic herbal formulation) composed of eight medicinal plants including Curcuma longa, Strychnos potatorum, Salacia oblonga, Tinospora cordifolia, Vetivelia zizanioides, Coscinium fenestratum, Andrographis paniculata, and Mimosa pudica is reported to reduce GSH and vitamin C[51] in blood and urine glucose and lipids in the serum and tissues in alloxan diabetic rats with a subsequent decrease in body weight.[52] Decreased concentration of GSH, GPx, and SOD, catalase activity is reported in heart and brain of diabetic rats.[53] T. cardifolia root extract (TCE) has been reported to cause an increase in body weight, total hemoglobin and hepatic hexokinase[54] and lowering hepatic glucose-6-phosphatase, serum acid phosphatase (ACP), alkaline phosphatase (ALP), and lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) in diabetic rats thus having hypoglycemic and hypolipidaemic effect.[54] The protective effects of TCE were reported in presence of higher levels of anti-oxidant molecules and enzymes.[55] TCE has been shown to significantly counterbalance the diabetes-associated OS in the maternal liver by lowering the levels of malondialdehyde and ROS and the increased levels of GSH and total thiols.[56] Anti-toxic effects Tinospora cordifolia extracts have been reported to scavenge free radicals generated during aflatoxicosis.[57] It exhibited protective effects by lowering thiobarbituric acid reactive substances (TBARS) levels and enhancing the GSH, ascorbic acid, protein, and the activities of anti-oxidant enzymes viz., SOD, CAT, GPx, Glutathione S-transferase (GST) and glutathione reductase (GR) in kidney. Alkaloids such as a choline, tinosporin, isocolumbin, palmatine, tetrahydropalmatine, and magnoflorine from Tinospora cordifolia showed protection against aflatoxin-induced nephrotoxicity.[57] Tinospora cordifolia stem and leaves extract has shown hepatoprotective effect in Swiss albino male mice against lead nitrate induced toxicity.[58] Oral administration of plant extracts prevented the occurrence of lead nitrate induced liver damage.[59] Decreased level of SOD, CAT and increased level of aspartate aminotransferase (AST), alanine aminotransferase (ALT), ALP, and ACP were observed in mice suffering from lead toxicity.[59] Synergistic administration of aqueous extract of stem and leaf along with the lead nitrate increased the activities of SOD and CAT and decreased the levels of AST, ALT, ALP, and ACP enzymes.[59] Protective role of aqueous extract of stem and leaves of Tinospora cordifolia overcoming the toxic effects of lead is shown as its effects on the hematological values.[58] Cyclophosphamide (CP) an anti-cancer drug has been reported to reduce the GSH content in both bladder and liver and lowered levels of cytokines Inerferon-γ and IL-2 an increased levels of pro-inflammatory cytokine TNF-α. This effect could be reversed on Tinospora cordifolia treatment indicating the role of Tinospora cordifolia in overcoming CP induced toxicities in cancer treatment.[60] Anti-arthritic, anti-osteoporotic effects Single or synergistic formulations of Tinospora cordifolia with Zingiber officinale has been used in rheumatoid arthritis treatment in traditional medicine.[61] Tinospora cordifolia have been reported to affect the proliferation, differentiation and mineralization of bone like matrix on osteoblast model systems in vitro and hence finds potential application as an anti-osteoporotic agent. Alcoholic extract of Tinospora cordifolia have been shown to stimulate the growth of osteoblasts, increasing the differentiation of cells into osteoblastic lineage and also increasing the mineralization of bone like matrix.[62] Ecdysteroids isolated from the plant have been reported of protein anabolic and anti-osteoporotic effects in mammals. Beta-Ecdysone (Ecd) from Tinospora cordifolia extracts have been reported to induce a significant increase in the thickness of joint cartilage, induce the osteogenic differentiation in mouse mesenchymal stem cells[63] and to relieve osteoporosis in osteoporotic animal models.[63] Further 20-OH-β-Ecd isolated from Tinospora cordifolia has been reported of its anti-osteoporotic effects[62] thus highlighting the role of Tinospora cordifolia in the treatment of osteoporosis and osteoarthritis.[64] Anti-HIV effects TCE has been shown to demonstrate a decrease in the recurrent resistance of HIV virus thus improving the therapeutic outcome.[65] Anti-HIV effects of TCE was revealed by reduction in eosinophil count, stimulation of B lymphocytes, macrophages and polymorphonuclear leucocytes and hemoglobin percentage thus, revealing its promising role of application in management of the disease.[65,66] Anti-cancer effects The anti-cancer effects of Tinospora cordifolia are mostly studied in animal models. TCE have been shown to have a radioprotective role by significantly increase in body weight, tissue weight, testes-body weight ratio and tubular diameter and inhibit the harmful effects of sub-lethal gamma radiation on testes in male Swiss albino mice. In pre-irradiating mice, TCE significantly affected radiation induced rise in lipid peroxidation and resulted in the decline of GSH concentration in testes.[67] Pre-treatment of HeLa cells by TCE have been shown to decrease the cell viability, increase LDH and decrease in GSH S-transferase activity.[68] Dihydrotestosterone (DHT) in TCE has been reported to stimulate the growth and proliferation of Human LNCaP cells (which are androgen-sensitive human prostate adenocarcinoma cells). Androgenic compounds in TCE act via androgen receptor.[69] Newly isolated compounds like (5R, 10R)-4R, 8R-dihydroxy-2S, 3R: 15, 16-diepoxycleroda-13 (16), 17, 12S: 18,1S-dilactone (ECD), a diterpenoid from Tinospora cordifolia has been reported for its chemopreventive potential in diethylnitrosamine (DEN) induced hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) in rats by decreasing anti-oxidant activities via SOD, CAT and detoxification enzymes like GSH, GPx and subsequent increase in the activities of the hepatic markers ((Serum glutamic oxaloacetic transaminase)SGOT, (Serum Glutamic Pyruvate Transaminase) SGPT, LDH) and decreased serum transaminase level thus confirming its anti-tumor effects and promising application as a potent chemo preventive drug for HCC.[26] The radiosensitizing activity of DCM extract of Tinospora cordifolia has been reported in Ehrlich ascites carcinoma (EAC) mice enabling tumor-free survival via depletion of GSH and glutathione-S-transferase by elevated levels of lipid peroxidation and DNA damage to tumor cells.[9,57,70] TCE hexane fraction has been shown to block the G1 phase in EAC mice and cause apoptosis by the formation of apoptotic bodies, nuclear condensation, activation of caspase-3, decreased cell number and ascites volume, increased expression of pro-apoptotic gene, Bax, and decreased expression of anti-apoptotic gene, Bcl-2.[71] TCE could induce a reduction of papillomas, tumor yield, tumor burden, and tumor weight while increase phase II detoxifying enzymes[72] in skin carcinoma animal models. The effect of a hydroalcoholic (80% ethanol: 20% distilled water) extract of aerial roots of Tinospora cordifolia on Swiss albino mice[73] revealed a significant increase in acid-soluble sulfhydryl (-SH), cytochrome P (450) contents, and enzyme activities of cytochrome P (450) reductase, cytochrome b5 reductase, GST, DT-diaphorase (DTD), SOD, catalase, GPX, and GR activity in the liver highlighting the chemopreventive role of Tinospora cordifolia against carcinogenicity.[73] In vivo anti-angiogenic activity of TCE in B16-F10 melanoma was detected by increased levels of pro-inflammatory cytokines, including IL-1 β, IL-6, TNF-α, granulocyte monocyte-colony stimulating factor (GM-CSF) and the vascular endothelial cell growth factor (VEGF), increased production of anti-angiogenic agents IL-2 and tissue inhibitor of metalloprotease-1 (TIMP-1) in the B16-F10 extract-treated animals.[74] The polysaccharide fraction from Tinospora cordifolia was found to be very effective in reducing the metastatic potential of B16-F10 melanoma cells. Markers of neoplastic development were reduced significantly in the treated animals compared with the untreated control animals.[75] Most of the synthetic chemotherapeutic agents suffer from toxic side effects.[76] The effect of Guduchi extracts was comparable or better than doxorubicin treatment.[77] Tinospora cordifolia: Anti-microbial activity The methanol extracts of Tinospora cordifolia have been reported to have potential against microbial infections.[78] The anti-bacterial activity of Tinospora cordifolia extracts has been assayed against Escherichia coli, Staphylococcus aureus, Klebsiella pneumoniae, Proteus vulgaris, Salmonella typhi, Shigella flexneri, Salmonella paratyphi, Salmonella typhimurium, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Enterobacter aerogene, and Serratia marcesenses (Gram-positive bacteria).[78–80] In mice models, TCE has been reported to function in bacterial clearance and improved phagocytic and intracellular bactericidal capacities of neutrophils.[81] TCE has been reported of immunostimulant properties on macrophages.[82] Intra-mammary infusion of hydro-methanolic extracts of Tinospora cordifolia treatment showed enhanced phagocytic activity of polymorphonuclear cells in bovine subclinical mastitis.[39,83] Tinospora cordifolia: Anti-oxidant activity The anti-oxidant capacity of Tinospora cordifolia stem methanol extracts administered orally increased the erythrocytes membrane lipid peroxide and catalase activity. It also decreased the activities of SOD, GPx in alloxan-induced diabetic rats.[52,84,85] Tinospora cordifolia Willd.(Menispermaceae) extracts possess possible inhibitors of aldose reductase and anti-oxidant agents[86] thereby reducing chemotoxicity induced by free radicals.[87] TCE has been reported of its strong free radical scavenging properties against superoxide anion (O 2 -), hydroxyl radicals (OH), NO radical, and peroxynitrite anion (ONOO-).[87] The extract was also found to reduce the toxic side effects of CP in mice by the free radical formation.[88,89] Tinospora cordifolia lowers the levels of malondialdehyde and ROS and the higher levels of GSH and total thiols. The protective effects of Tinospora cordifolia could be observed even in the fetal milieu, with higher levels of anti-oxidant molecules and enzymes.[56] Tinospora cordifolia has the ability to scavenge free radicals generated during aflatoxicosis. Tinospora cordifolia showed protection against aflatoxin-induced nephrotoxicity due to the presence of alkaloids such as a choline, tinosporin, isocolumbin, palmatine, tetrahydropalmatine, and magnoflorine.[8] A significant increase in the concentration of TBARS in brain along with a decrease in heart has been observed in diabetic rats.[53] It also enhanced formation of SOD, GPx, and GSH in liver. Treatment with Tinospora cordifolia also inhibited glucose 6-phosphatase and fructose 1, 6-diphosphatase; and restored glycogen content in liver. Tinospora cordifolia has been shown to regulate blood glucose.[90] (5R, 10R)-4R, 8R-dihydroxy-2S, 3R: 15, 16-diepoxycleroda-13 (16), 17, 12S: 18,1S-dilactone (ECD), a diterpenoid from Tinospora cordifolia has been shown to possess chemo-preventive potential in DEN induced HCC rats. Treatment of ECD in both preventive and curative DEN induced animals increased the level of anti-oxidants and detoxification enzymes.[26] An aqueous extract of Tinospora cordifolia has a radio-protective enhancing the survival of mice against a sub-lethal dose of gamma radiation.[64–65] Tinospora cordifolia was effective in elevating the GSH levels, expression of the gamma-glutamylcysteine ligase and Cu-Zn SOD genes.[91] Aqueous extract of Tinospora cordifolia inhibited radiation mediated 2-deoxyribose degradation by inhibiting the formation of (Fe2+)-bipiridyl complex formation to confer radio-protective effects.[92] The arabinogalactan polysaccharide (TSP) isolated from Tinospora cordifolia showed good protection against iron-mediated lipid peroxidation of rat brain homogenate as revealed by the TBARS and lipid hydroperoxide (LOOH) assays.[42] Tinospora cordifolia also has the components that decrease the recurrent resistance of HIV virus to antiretroviral therapy (ART) and improve the outcome of the therapy.[93] The effect of a hydroalcoholic (80% ethanol: 20% distilled water) extract of aerial roots of Tinospora cordifolia on carcinogen/drug metabolizing phase-I and phase-II enzymes, anti-oxidant enzymes, GSH content, LDH and lipid peroxidation has been shown in liver of Swiss albino mice. The enhanced GSH level and enzyme activities involved in xenobiotic metabolism and maintaining anti-oxidant status of cells are suggestive of a chemo-preventive efficacy of Tinospora cordifolia.[73] Tinospora cordifolia has been reported to contain an alpha-glucosidase inhibitor, characterized as saponarin (apigenin-6-C-glucosyl-7-O-glucoside). The leaf extract had appreciable anti-oxidant and hydroxyl radical scavenging activities.[20] Pepticare, a herbomineral formulation of the Ayurveda medicine consisting of the herbal drugs: Glycyrrhiza glabra, Emblica officinalis and Tinospora cordifolia, has anti-ulcer and anti-oxidant activity in rats.[94] Hyponidd is another herbomineral formulation composed of the extracts of 10 medicinal plants (Momordica charantia, Melia azadirachta, Pterocarpus marsupium, Tinospora cordifolia, Gymnema sylvestre, Enicostemma littorale, Emblica officinalis, Eugenia jambolana, Cassia auriculata and Curcuma longa). Hyponidd administration also decreased levels of glycosylated hemoglobin, plasma thiobarbituric acid reactive substances, hydroperoxides, ceruloplasmin and alpha-tocopherol in diabetic rats.[95] Anti-oxidant activities of Dihar, a polyherbal formulation containing drugs from eight different herbs viz., Syzygium cumini, Momordica charantia, Emblica officinalis, Gymnema sylvestre, Enicostemma littorale, Azadirachta indica, Tinospora cordifolia and Curcuma longa in streptozotocin induced type 1 diabetic rats. Dihar produced a significant decrease in serum creatinine and urea levels in diabetic rats.[7]

KUALA LUMPUR (Reuters) - A missing Malaysian airliner appears to have been deliberately steered off course after someone on board shut down its communications, Prime Minister Najib Razak said on Saturday. A week after the disappearance of flight MH370, Najib said its last transmission of satellite data came nearly seven hours after it disappeared from radar screens. But the new satellite data gave no precise location, and the plane’s altered course could have taken it anywhere from central Asia to the southern Indian Ocean, he said. Minutes after the Malaysian leader outlined investigators’ latest findings, police began searching the house of the aircraft’s 53-year-old captain for any evidence that he could have been involved in foul play. The Malaysia Airlines Boeing 777-200ER vanished en route from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing in the early hours of March 8 with 239 passengers and crew aboard. Najib, giving his first statement at a news conference since then, confirmed reports that investigators believe somebody cut off the plane’s communications reporting system, switched off its transponder and steered it west, far from its scheduled route. “In view of this latest development the Malaysian authorities have refocused their investigation into the crew and passengers on board,” he said. “Despite media reports the plane was hijacked, I wish to be very clear, we are still investigating all possibilities as to what caused MH370 to deviate.” Search operations by navies and aircraft from more than a dozen nations were immediately called off in the Gulf of Thailand and the South China Sea to the east of Malaysia, where the plane dropped off civilian air traffic control screens at 1:22 a.m. last Saturday (1722 GMT on Friday). Malaysia said new data showed the last communication between the missing plane and satellites at 8:11 a.m. (0011 GMT), almost seven hours after it turned back and crossed the Malay peninsula. The data did not show whether the plane was still flying or its location at that time, presenting searchers with a daunting array of possible last locations. Seven hours’ more flying time would likely have taken it to the limit of its fuel load. TWO CORRIDORS Najib said the plane’s final communication with satellites placed it somewhere in one of two corridors: a northern arc stretching from northern Thailand to the border of Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan, or a southern one stretching from Indonesia to the vast southern Indian Ocean. “Clearly, the search for MH370 has entered a new phase,” said Najib, whose government has come under criticism for its slow release of information surrounding one of the most baffling mysteries in aviation history. Related Coverage Malaysian plane saga highlights air defense gaps India stepped up its search in two areas at the request of Malaysia - one around the Andaman and Nicobar Islands and another further west across the Bay of Bengal - but found no evidence that would indicate that the plane had come down in its waters, the Defence Ministry said. A senior military official in Port Blair, capital of the archipelago, said Indian aircraft had combed waters stretching up to 300 nautical miles offshore and overflown all 572 islands in the chain but “we don’t have anything so far”. India’s Eastern Naval Command was investigating a separate rectangular ‘box’ 15 km wide by 600 km long, some 900 km east of Port Blair, but had found nothing. About two-thirds of the passengers on board the flight were Chinese, and Beijing has been showing increasing impatience with the speed and coordination of the Malaysian search effort. On Saturday, China said it had demanded that Malaysia keep providing more thorough and accurate information, and added that it was sending a technical team to Malaysia to help with the investigation. China’s Xinhua state news agency said in a commentary that Najib’s disclosure of the new details was “painfully belated”. “And due to the absence - or at least lack - of timely authoritative information, massive efforts have been squandered, and numerous rumors have been spawned, repeatedly racking the nerves of the awaiting families,” it said. The fate of flight MH370 has been shrouded in mystery since it disappeared off Malaysia’s east coast less than an hour into its scheduled flight from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing on March 8. But investigators have increasingly discounted the possibility of an accident due to the deliberate way it was diverted and had its communications switched off. EXPERIENCED CAPTAIN Investigative sources told Reuters on Friday they believed the plane was following a commonly used navigational route when it was last spotted early on Saturday, northwest of Malaysia. Their suspicion has hardened that it was flown off-course by the pilot or co-pilot, or someone else with detailed knowledge of how to fly and navigate a large commercial aircraft. No details have emerged of any passengers or crew with militant links or psychological problems that could explain a motive for sabotaging the flight. The experienced captain, Zaharie Ahmad Shah, was a flying enthusiast who spent his off days tinkering with a flight simulator of the plane that he had set up at home, current and former co-workers said. Malaysia Airlines officials did not believe he would have sabotaged the flight. Japan Coast Guard pilots look out from the cockpit of their Gulfstream V Jet aircraft, customized for search and rescue operations, as they search for the missing Malaysia Airlines MH370 plane over the waters of the South China Sea March 15, 2014. REUTERS/Edgar Su The 27-year-old co-pilot, Fariq Abdul Hamid, was religious and serious about his career, family and friends said, countering news reports suggesting he was a cockpit Romeo who was reckless on the job. As the search enters its second week, several governments are using imagery satellites - platforms that take high definition photos - while data from private sector communications satellites is also being examined. China alone says it has deployed 10 satellites. “The area is enormous. Finding anything rapidly is going to be very difficult,” said Marc Pircher, director of the French space centre in Toulouse. “The area and scale of the task is such that 99 percent of what you are getting are false alarms.” The corridors given by Najib represent a satellite track, which appears as an arc on a map. The plane did not necessarily follow the corridor, but was at some point along its path at the moment the signal was sent. Officials at Kazakhstan’s state air navigation service were not available for comment while in Turkmenistan, state aviation officials referred queries to the Foreign Ministry. Afghanistan’s ministry of aviation said its controllers were certain the plane had not crossed their airspace. A spokesman for Pakistan’s civilian airspace authority said: “We have not received any requests from Malaysia authorities for help, nor have we any information on the plane’s whereabouts.” SATELLITES Earlier, a source familiar with official U.S. assessments of electronic signals sent to geostationary satellites operated by Britain’s Inmarsat said it appeared most likely the plane had turned south over the Indian Ocean, where it would presumably have run out of fuel and crashed into the sea. If so, just finding the plane - let alone recovering the “black box” data and cockpit voice recorders that hold the key to the mystery - would be a huge challenge. The Indian Ocean has an average depth of more than 12,000 feet, or two miles. This is deeper than the Atlantic, where it took two years to locate wreckage on the seabed from an Air France plane that vanished in 2009, even though floating debris quickly gave an indication of the area of the crash. Any debris would have been widely dispersed by Indian Ocean currents in the week since the plane disappeared. “We have many radar systems operating in the area, but nothing was picked up,” Rear Admiral Sudhir Pillai, Chief of Staff of India’s Andamans and Nicobar Command, told Reuters. “It is possible that the military radars were switched off as we operate on an as-required basis. So perhaps secondary radars were operating, which may not have the required range to detect a flight at an altitude of 35,000 feet.” The other interpretation was that the aircraft continued to fly to the northwest and headed over Indian territory. The source said it was believed unlikely the plane had flown for any length of time over India because it has strong air defence and radar coverage that should have allowed authorities to see the plane and intercept it. Slideshow (16 Images) It is extremely rare for a modern passenger aircraft to disappear once it has reached cruising altitude, as MH370 had. When that does happen, the debris from a crash is usually found relatively quickly, close to its last known position. In this case, there has been no trace of the plane, nor any sign of wreckage. The maximum range of the Boeing 777-200ER is 7,725 nautical miles or 14,305 km. It is not clear how much fuel the aircraft was carrying, though it would have been enough to reach its scheduled destination, Beijing, a flight of five hours and 50 minutes, plus some reserve.

The relentless attacking football implemented by Brendan Rodgers at Anfield has acted as a major inspiration for the Reds' U21s team this season, according to Alex Inglethorpe. On Friday, the coach takes his Academy youngsters into a Barclays U21 Premier League semi-final clash with Manchester United on the back of a campaign which has featured 55 goals in just 21 outings. Kick-off at Anfield is at 7.45pm BST; tickets for the Kop are available to purchase now, while the game will also be broadcast live on LFC TV and LFCTV GO from 7.15pm. Click here for details. Ahead of the encounter, Inglethorpe reflected on how he and his players are inspired by Rodgers' approach and the footballing philosophy the Northern Irishman has installed at the club. "I think it's a very clear philosophy that runs from the top," he explained to Liverpoolfc.com. "We've got incredible mentors and fantastic people to look up to in the first team in the style which they have played all season, irrespective of systems, because the first team have played a few different systems. "The style has been consistent, they want to have the ball, they want to attack, they want to press high on the pitch, they want to entertain and they certainly do that. "They are a side which people will regularly tune in and want to watch a Liverpool match because you are guaranteed excitement and a return to the values that the club was associated with for so many years, and it's our job as an U21s team to do our best to imitate that. "At times we've been able to do that, other times we've tried but not been successful, but that's the nature of youth football and development, but we certainly know what we are trying to do." Watch the video here » The young Reds are now one step away from a final against Chelsea to determine who will be this year's national U21 champions, and Inglethorpe is relishing another date in front of the Kop. This season at Anfield, the U21s have won four games out of five - firing 14 goals in the process - and the coach knows his young charges are keen to impress once more. He added: "We're looking forward to it as a group. We feel as though we've worked hard all season and it's always nice, when you get to the end of the season, to have something to play for. "It's great because the lads have more opportunities to impress and improve and there's no greater chance than at Anfield on Friday. "To get the chance to play at Anfield I think is everything, not just the players but for the staff as well. Anfield generates an incredible atmosphere and there's an incredible ambience about the place. "It's a fantastic place to go and work and it does give the players that lift because it's ultimately where they want to go and play every week. "They want to play at home, they want the ground to be full and they want to contribute to the club, so to have a little dress rehearsal before the future main event is inspirational for all of them."

Clarity is a short film project, estimated at under a half hour run time. It is currently in pre-production, and shoot dates will be in July, 2014 in the Phoenix, AZ area. Dustin Diamond and Lynn Lowry are acting in it! It was written by Jenny Brundage, and will be directed by Brian LaPan. Cover Art Near Future: About one-third of North America's population has either died, or is fatally ill due to side-effects of a commonly-ingested substance. The early symptoms can be mild, and include memory loss, but eventually lead to dementia and a horrible, painful death. Krystal, a young woman, stops off for a bite to eat, on her way to the city, and is reunited with her childhood best friend's older sister, Hope, whom invites her to visit a resort for a few days to catch up. Days pass, and romantic feelings blossom between the women. The resort and its inhabitants seem more and more like home and family. Unfortunately, many of the people are fatally ill, and some of them are not as stable as they initially seem... Everybody is preparing for the punch toast at midnight... but with different drink options, and different reasons behind their choices. Click here for CAST and CREW UPDATES! Cast: Lynn Lowry as Mrs. Diamond Lynn Lowry Dustin Diamond as Dusty Diamond To be clear, Dustin Diamond, best known for his portrayal of Samuel "Screech" Powers on Saved by the Bell, will be portraying a regular, nice, somewhat sarcastic guy. Ever want to see him in something serious, dark and eerie? Back this Kickstarter to get your chance! Dustin Diamond, known mostly to starring in Saved By The Bell, is an actor who has hit most screens in the recent past. He played the role of Samuel Power for almost thirteen years since it began. He played the role so well that he continued the role in the college series where it went by the name, Saved By The Bell: The College Years. Other than appearing on this show, he also appeared in number of games and some reality shows. Some of the reality shows that he appeared in are The Weakest Link, Celebrity Boxing 2, Celebrity Fit Club, and Professional Wrestling. He has also appeared in films like Dickie Roberts: Former Child star in 2003. Dustin has performed stand-up comedy for several years. He has a stage humor which most comedians don’t have. He also commentates on TruTV’s, The Smoking Gun Presents: World’s Dumbest… He has written Behind the Bell, the inside story of the young cast from Saved by the Bell. You can see him in the upcoming film Scavenger Killers (A New Kind of Crazy). E.E. King as Tia... and she's also doing the cover art!!! E.E. King E. E. King is a performer, writer, biologist and painter. Ray Bradbury called her stories “marvelously inventive, wildly funny and deeply thought provoking. I cannot recommend them highly enough.” She is the recipient of various international biology and painting grants. She has murals in Los Angeles and Spain. You might have even seen Meeting of Minds, Mural on Mercado La Paloma, Los Angeles, 2000 121’ x 33’. Also, E.E. King will be Artist in Residence in the Bermuda Museum of Master Artists in 2015. Did I mention she's doing the cover art for Clarity??? Director: Brian LaPan Brian LaPan--Background includes being writer/producer on television shows, including Roseanne, Dinosaurs, Unhappily Ever After, The Sinbad Show, and Parker Lewis Can't Lose. Because of his television background, he is especially suited to skillfully handle our short shoot, work with both novices and seasoned Hollywood actors, and help Clarity become an utterly amazing film.

If you believed the internet, you'd think there's huge debate over whether eggs, coffee, or salt are good or bad for you. In reality, there's significant agreement on diet and health issues among experts, but the general public is conflicted. So why are we so confused when experts agree? Let's clear the air. If you asked most people about foods that are "good" or "bad" for you, you'd get a dozen different answers. You'd find people who vehemently argue that eggs are both good or bad for you, that sodium does and doesn't contribute to hypertension, or that carbs do or don't make you sick. In general, you'll find a lot of laypeople with opinions that may or may not be based in real science. Researchers however, generally have some pretty solid opinions on these issues, and are quick to note where their own shortcomings are. Advertisement So where's the disconnect? In this post, we'll look at where the breakdown happens, who's to blame, and what you can do about it all. We sat down with a number of our own experts to get their input. It's going to be a bumpy ride, so let's get started. The "Health and Diet" Industry Carries Much of the Blame Advertisement Americans spend billions on health and diet products every year. From books and meal plans to prepackaged foods and DVDs, we eat the stuff up (pun intended). It's natural to be attracted to any path that promises big results for little effort, but there's more to it. People who would otherwise consider themselves rational are often duped by marketing and half-truth statements made in the name of science. This is where the diet industry flourishes. By taking advantage of the public's desire for practical health information, so-called "experts" sell us everything from juicers to supplements, convincing us the whole time we'll live forever thanks to their advice. It shouldn't work, but it does. Beth Skwarecki, a science writer and educator, explains why: We respond strongly to warnings about danger, and promises of really awesome stuff (like health, or weight loss)—but only if those warnings or promises are actionable. And with food, that really applies: We can act on a warning to avoid gluten or eat superfoods (or whatever) at our next meal or our next trip to the grocery store. It makes us feel good to have control over ourselves. I'm not a psychologist and this is just my personal opinion, but I'm sure there is research that backs this up. Why this causes confusion: Truth and falsehoods are both presented this way. “Vitamins are magical substances that will make you more healthy if you are deficient!” Well, yeah. That's actually true. “Vitamins are magical substances that will make you more healthy!” Sounds similar, but it's not the same, and it's not true in most cases. Then you can substitute various other chemicals or superfoods for the word "vitamins" in that sentence. True claims and misleading ones sound very similar. People selling diets or exercise programs will latch on to true things that help them sell their product; they'll also latch onto false ones. Just look at Dr. Oz: plenty of what he's pushing is true, but lots of it isn't, or is misleading. Which is which? I don't know that he cares. He just needs a steady stream of things to endorse. Advertisement We don't mean to single out Dr. Oz here. There are a number of physicians and other medical professionals who are highly educated, but have made the decision to "sell health." They may believe they're doing good, or just want to make a living. In all of those cases, the message is similar: "Living healthy doesn't have to be hard, just do this thing/eat this food/buy my book." Selling health is only half of the job. The other half is undermining public trust in science-based medicine and traditional authorities (although they carry blame too—we'll get to that in a moment) so they can swoop in to the rescue. Andy Bellatti, registered dietitian and frequent Lifehacker contributor, explains: The food industry thrives on confusion, and it loves to propagate the notion that "Gee whiz, one day you're told coffee is good for you, the next day you're told it's unhealthy!" By making nutrition advice seem "confusing," they attempt to gain the public's trust. It also doesn't help that, increasingly, food companies are setting up "institutes" (i.e.: Coca-Cola's Beverage Institute for Health and Wellness, General Mills' Bell Institute) that are essentially PR efforts that oh-so-coincidentally frame these companies' products as healthful (or, in the case of soda, in no way problematic from a health standpoint). To make matters more confusing, these institutes have doctors, cardiologists, and dietitians on their payroll—as well as key media contacts—resulting in a health professional talking to media about, say, how soda is "unfairly vilified." Most times, the general public isn't aware that this isn't an objective health professional choosing to say that. Advertisement When we debunked stubborn exercise myths, we ran headlong into one of these groups. The "Gatorade Sports Science Institute" has papers explaining why Gatorade is better than water for exercise—papers we saw copied word-for-word on other sites. In reality, depending on the exercise you do there's either no difference between water or sports drinks, and for most people (and for moderate exercise) there's clear evidence that water is the better option unless you're doing for bouts of prolonged exercise. All of these tactics may seem underhanded, but they're just part of the marketing game. By playing on the public's confusion and presenting their own products as quick fixes they convince us to buy their books, follow their diet plans, and perhaps most dangerously, ignore legitimate advice and real research. Advertisement It's not just companies that do this though. Individuals with a message to sell also do it. Skwarecki's article, Why It's So Easy to Believe Our Food is Toxic, is an exceptional case study in this. She explains how "experts" take good premises—like the need to take your health in your own hands and be critical of the things you eat and buy—and go off the rails when the sales pitch gets involved. She calls out nutrition gurus and health "experts" you've likely seen reposted on Facebook, like Vani Hari (aka The Food Babe,) and Joseph Mercola, among others, who thrive on obfuscating nutrition so much that the only clear thing they do suggest is that you should buy their books, sponsored foods, and DVDs. Food industry marketing firms and "diet guru" salesmen both use the same tactics, and both groups make money from your fear and lack of knowledge about health. You should treat both with the same skeptical eye, even if one's message is more attractive than the other. Advertisement Corporate-Influenced Government Writes the Guidelines The diet industry only shares part of the blame here. Much rests squarely on the shoulders of our government. We're not talking about a political party or person. This problem extends back for over 50 years, and it's not just an American problem. Our dietary guidelines and food industries have far-reaching global impact. People in countries around the world aim to adopt a more luxurious, first-world lifestyle, and that includes all of the food products available in countries like ours. Our industry reps are at the table when writing trade agreements. Nutrition scientists however, are not. Advertisement Dietary guidelines issued by government agencies responsible for food (largely the USDA) have changed over the years. They now focus less on foods and more on nutrients, which has three big problems: A "balanced diet" has transformed from a selection of foods and portion suggestions into a concoction of nutrients that people have to "make sure they're getting enough of," (which they would anyway with a balanced diet.) It's led the public to panic over specific nutrients and ingredients in our foods. So-called "nutritionism" has led to the low-fat craze, the salt-is-evil scare, and the eggs-cause-heart-disease panic, all of which have been largely refuted (with special cases excepted.) The people responsible for dietary guidelines are directly at odds with (and often influenced by) food industry groups, agricultural companies, and other businesses with a massive stake in making sure you eat the food they pack and sell—and they're willing to spend politically to make sure the government recommends their products. Advertisement Just like money can buy influence in politics, it can buy influence in dietary guidelines. Kamal Patel, director at Examine.com, a site that aims to bring relevant studies to nutrition topics, explained the connection this way: The USDA created the food pyramid to encourage a healthy diet, but the USDA also has a mission to encourage agricultural products grown in the US. There can be a LOT of conflict between those two goals. So the food pyramid (ahem, I mean "MyPlate") is not simply an objective summary of the available evidence. In fact, if the dietary guidelines had to go through peer review, I'm not sure it would be accepted for publication. Speaking of the dietary guidelines...some people are of the mindset that they don't really matter. Nobody really reads the whole guidelines document, unless you're a researcher or just really into nutrition. But the guidelines are actually hugely important. Who's the biggest provider of food in the US? It's not McDonald's. It's the US government, by far. They provide food for the school lunch program and for over a million military members, in addition to subsidizing food for people with low incomes and a variety of other groups. And that's outside the indirect effect the guidelines have on physicians, who then inform their patients, who often aren't Lifehacker types who do their own research but rather just do exactly as their doctor directs. Or at least attempt to. Equally important is the huge size of supplement industry and the food lobby. Farmers have little to no power compared to Unilever, General Mills, etc. They made it so that packaged foods are the norm, food and supplement marketing has become insane, and whole foods have lost out big time. In the beginning days of the food pyramid, they were using the slogan "Eat Right". Kraft used that slogan, so they told the government to stop, and they did! Companies always win. A few more examples: Government policy favors packaged foods that can display health claims (e.g. Granola bars, Lunchables) rather than natural foods that come loose or in clear plastic (e.g. strawberries, chicken thighs). Grains were originally 2-3 servings per day until food companies complained and they more than doubled the recommendation. Fruit and veggie manufacturers make very little money compared to General Mills and Unilever, so it took the National Cancer Institute to step in and tell the first-draft writers for the food pyramid that they really need to bump up the fruit and veggie intake. Even the person in charge of the first pyramid, Louise Light, wrote a book about how screwed up the process was by industry and differing interests. She said that the grain-based pyramid would cause obesity and diabetes, and it did. The people in charge told her that fruits and veggies are kind of interchangeable with grains, plus grains are cheaper for food stamps. Although few if any researchers are out to lie to the public, note that for the 2000 Dietary guidelines committee, 6 out of 11 members had financial ties to food and agriculture manufacturers. Researchers have pet projects and advocate for them, and funding and careers are dependent on that. Advertisement When Patel explained this, I asked how the government—probably the closest thing to a trusted resource—could re-shape its recommendations. He explained: A better way to form the guidelines may be to avoid focus on individual nutrients (since few nutrients are categorically good or bad, other than manmade trans-fats which are always bad) and rather encourage whole foods. But if that message was the basis of a more simple guideline, and processed packaged foods were discouraged, where would that leave General Mills, Monsanto, and Unilever? Not that they directly write the guidelines, but they have lobbies and fund studies. And the government allows them to label Fruity Pebbles as healthy, just because they add some sprinkling of vitamins into the sugary mix. One last reason why it's good to focus on foods rather than nutrients for recommendations: single vitamins often fail in trials. Researchers used to think that vitamins E and A may protect against disease if supplemented. Dozens of trials later, it turns out that both may slightly lower lifespan or cause a bit more disease. One reason is that nutrients work in concert — eating a healthy diet where the foods naturally have a variety of nutrients is probably a better idea than relying on supplements to save you from a crappy diet. Indeed, there are no "superfoods" or "supernutrients"...it's probably more important to eat a natural diet that has some of each nutrient in addition to some healthy plant and animal components that aren't classified as essential nutrients (these are good/great for optimal health, but not technically necessary to live). Advertisement Unfortunately, that won't happen as long as major food industry groups play a significant role in drafting nutritional guidelines. This isn't to say they're not at all useful, but they should be viewed with a skeptical eye. Alannah Dibona, frequent Lifehacker contributor, MS in Nutrition Studies and registered dietitian, sums it all up: We humans are experts at changing our minds, issuing inaccurate self-reports, and, well, living. Dr. Walter Willett of the Harvard School of Public Health explains this beautifully alongside other issues with nutrition research in his latest book "Eat, Drink, and Be Healthy: The Harvard Medical School Guide to Healthy Eating." Dr. Willett takes care to point out another major factor: in this country, nutrition research for governing bodies is frequently in direct conflict with agriculture and its stake in the economy. The research that contributes to the USDA food pyramid, for example, is largely funded by grants from the dairy and beef industries. Thus, dietary "recommendations" from different bodies should be examined with a critical, research-oriented eye. The consumer must ask, "Who paid for this?" Advertisement The Media and the Scientific Community Communicates Poorly So we've established that money talks. But surely science-based medicine must offer useful data that we can all use, right? Not quite. When I asked Skwarecki about it, she explained it this way: The other reason there is confusion? Because there really ARE old beliefs that were held as true that are being corrected. Saturated fat is a subject with genuine controversy. Experts have not come to a consensus, but decades of public-health messages are in the process of being potentially overturned. When you hold to something as a foundation (Of course fat is bad for you! Of course stretching prevents injury!) and that belief gets challenged, you're tempted to give up on everything. It's a very reasonable thing to do: My facts were wrong, I need to reevaluate all my facts. Advertisement The truth is, while there's consensus on many things, there's a huge lack of it on others. Epidemiology, or the study of the patterns and causes of disease, is extremely difficult to do. Says Patel: Nutritional epidemiology is a really, really tough thing to study. Harder than most other areas of health. Much harder than it sounds. Some people think "Oh nutrition! I know about food and nutrition! That's much easier than some analyzing some obscure medication that I can't even pronounce." Wrong. Medication effects can be complex, but nutritional epidemiology makes that look like child's play. ... It's easy to see how the public can get mixed messages. Research results are notoriously unpredictable, since only some of the total number of studies get published. Studies have a higher chance of getting published if they show positive results, and food and supplement manufacturers can keep funding trials until one gets published. Nutrients interact with each other, so the effects of any one nutrient are hard to predict, let alone the effect of any one food in the midst of a diet comprised of dozens or hundreds of foods. So while I don't agree with everything Michael Pollen says, his message is generally on point: "nutritionism" is bound to fail. If you obsess about your diet and individual nutrients, you not only lose the benefit of the occasional cronut or thanksgiving dinner, but you lose the forest for the trees. Natural foods are what's healthy, nutrients and the controversies they cause are what keeps research dollars flowing and flip-flops popping up every couple weeks. It's important to get nutrients, but it's wise to get them mostly through food, and only after that supplement what you need in a very targeted manner. Advertisement In short, the science here is complex, difficult, and slow-moving. Patel explained that while there is consensus on some things, everyone's body is different. For every factor where there is agreement, there's another factor that influences everything: There is a rough agreement that a balanced diet is probably a good idea. While there are some regular people who experiment with meat-only diets, macrobiotic diets, etc, most researchers are old dudes who eat normal diets and believe that veggies and fruits and whole grains are good, and red meat is bad, and some other things are in between. I'm just one person who has had the opportunity to make a career out of reading articles and grading their study quality — but I can honestly say that I don't know what is correct for sure. Gluten and wheat is bad for some people, low carb could help certain diabetics but so could a very nutritious diet, and low carb can also cause side effects in some people. Some people live long lives with "healthy" diets, some live long lives eating milk chocolate and fried chicken every day. For any specific nutrient, I can summarize the evidence. And for any type of diet, I can find the totality of observational evidence for it. But there haven't been many (any?) long term randomized trials of low carb, high carb, etc etc. It would be too expensive, deemed unethical, and just not logistically feasible for compliance — the primary researcher for long term observational trials (where they just follow people and collect data, not make them eat certain diets) often die in the middle of the trial, so it's quite an effort to keep a long randomized trial going that costs millions. Especially when food trials are funded at levels so much lower than pharmaceutical trials. This is where the media comes in. Research that you hear about may be just one study designed to tackle a specific angle to a much larger problem. This is where the media (yes, ourselves at Lifehacker included) are at fault. Preliminary results published and popularized as cure-alls, rat cures touted as future human cures, it makes the public believe every miracle is a few trials away, and when it's not, people are frustrated and confused. This kind of poor communication and science reporting is a topic we've covered before in detail, and it plays a huge role in making the public's perception of science and medicine worse. As a result, it sends people running into the arms of diet hucksters and snake oil salesmen, eager to capitalize on that lack of trust. Advertisement We Are Predictable and Easily Influenced Advertisement We're part of the problem too. Our buying habits are predictable and easy to capitalize on. Our psychology is even predictable, and well studied by marketers. The power of the word "natural" to drive sales even though we all know it's meaningless is a good example, as is the fear around the word "processed" without context. The scare over the "yoga mat chemical" (aka azodicarbonamide) is a good example too - we're poorly educated when it comes to science issues, don't read beyond headlines, succumb to confirmation bias, take up sides and arms in specific camps, and carry our message around to anyone who'll listen without listening ourselves. Advertisement Similarly, where we put our money influences who has power and amplifies their message, even if it's not backed by science. We put our money where those opinions are, and those opinions are influenced easily. The industries and companies we support grow, even as we look elsewhere in the world for examples of healthy living. Those companies in turn export our lifestyle into new markets. Unless there's strength in the food traditions in those markets, they become more like us and suffer the same illnesses we do. In the process, they lose the very things we could learn the most from. So What Can We Do? Advertisement By now it may seem like we're pretty screwed. Where can you turn for legitimate advice? I asked our panel for their suggestions, and unfortunately they all agreed that we have to properly calibrate our bullshit detectors, and seek out multiple, trustworthy resources. Be ready for conflicting data—if you find it, it just means the topic isn't settled. The image above, from this pocket guide to bullshit prevention over at io9, is a good starting point. You could ask your doctor, or a nutritionist—but Patel explained that's not always the best route. Most physicians get minimal nutrition training during medical school. A "nutritionist" could be anyone with a range of certifications, some of which can be earned in months without any real science study or knowledge. Even some registered dietitians (RDs) can unflinchingly toe the official government line just because it's easy and the closest thing we have to an evidence-backed recommendation, even though it's far from perfect. When I asked Patel, he suggested everyone take time to learn about nutrition science and empower themselves: It's best to learn a bit of basic nutrition science (like from a free online course or book—online courses from Udemy, Khan, MIT, etc), and then get to finding people who seem logical to discuss things with. These people can be at a local meetup, they could be a doctor or an alternative medicine practitioner or a dietician. Do not rely on Mayo Clinic, WebMD, etc. They are very conservative and go with whatever the government says for the most part. People who like food, who like cooking in particular, often eat healthy even if they don't know everything about nutrition. This is because eating plants and animals is probably the healthiest diet, rather than eating mostly packaged foods comprised of some type of flour, some type of vegetable oil, and a long list of other ingredients. Advertisement Bellatti suggests you be critical, but also don't boil it down to the old adage, "everything in moderation." It oversimplifies things: The basic principles of healthful eating—eat a generous amount of fruits and vegetables, eat as little sugar as possible, prioritize whole foods (i.e.: avocados and chickpeas as opposed to Lucky Charms and Cheetos)—have remained unchanged for decades. The issue of moderation is problematic because it sounds good in theory, but it has been so watered down and so co-opted by the food industry that it now means nothing. The food industry loves to use "everything in moderation" to state that all their offerings—no matter how heinous—"fit in a healthy diet." Alas, a diet that includes frozen pizza, sugary cereal, soda, chips, and fast food all in "moderation" quickly becomes a diet where these foods, "in moderation," take up the most real estate. I urge people to remain curious and open-minded, but also to remember common sense and, whenever possible, read the actual study or seek the opinion of a well-informed individual who is able to understand the studies. Sometimes, a study like "X food lowers diabetes risk by 35%" is based on a study where the servings needed to slash that risk are preposterous. Advertisement At the end of the day, the reason why there's so much confusion is because there's too much to be gained by keeping us all confused and looking for guidance. Similarly, the fact that nutrition and health science is difficult and slow doesn't engender much faith from a quick-fix addicted public. The big lessons here though are ones you probably knew already: Eat smart, cook your own food, and think critically when someone tries to sell you a diet or lifestyle. Think just as critically when someone is trying to sell you fear, uncertainty, and doubt. Do your own research, challenge your confirmation bias, and be willing to change your mind as new evidence arises (don't fall for the "I've done this my whole life and I'm fine" excuse.) Finally, and most importantly, remember that what works for you may not work for someone else. Nutrition is never a one-size-fits-all science. Kamal Patel is the director of Examine.com. He's a nutrition researcher with an MPH and MBA from Johns Hopkins University, and is on hiatus from a PhD in nutrition in which he researched the link between diet and chronic pain. He has published peer-reviewed articles on vitamin D and calcium as well as a variety of clinical research topics. Kamal has also been involved in research on fructose and liver health, mindfulness meditation, and nutrition in low income areas. Examine.com and Kamal are both on facebook. Advertisement Beth Skwarecki is a science writer and educator. Her work has appeared in Scientific American, PLOS Public Health Perspectives, and the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. You can find more of her work in her portfolio here, and you can follow her on Twitter at @BethSkw . Andy Bellatti, MS, RD is a Las Vegas-based dietitan and the author of the nutrition blog Small Bites. You can follow him on Twitter at @andybellatti. Alannah DiBona, MA, MS, is a Boston-based nutritionist and mental health counselor, and the woman behind mindbodysportconsulting.com. Advertisement All four graciously volunteered their expertise for this story, and we thank them.

Tax and spend: Seattle outpaces other governments The City of Seattle's operating budget has increased by 65 percent since 2000, a significantly faster clip than the jumps in spending at King County and the state. But it still hasn't been enough. Seattle faces a $67 million deficit next year, a situation that has led Mayor Mike McGinn to propose broad cuts to next year's city budget -- including the elimination of nearly 300 jobs and reductions to the arts, neighborhoods and human services. Most governments are underwater due to a combination of rising expenses and tax revenues coming in at a slower than expected rate due to the Great Recession. However, Seattle has outpaced others when it comes to taxing and spending, according to a review by seattlepi.com. King County's operating budget has gone up 32 percent during the decade, while its general fund revenues have increased 41 percent. The state's operating budget increased by about 53 percent in 10 years while its revenues rose by about 50 percent. The money the city gets from taxes, fees and other sources to pay for day-to-day services has gone up 67 percent over the past decade . It's tricky to compare governments because they do different things and serve different populations. King County has fewer taxing resources and it's charged with providing services for unincorporated areas that are expensive to cover, for example. And the state's operations dwarf those of cities and counties, while Olympia lawmakers can rewrite tax and spending laws to help deal with downturns. And the state writes its budget on a two-year cycle. Seattle and King County operate on one-year budgets. Seattle, the state's largest city, has a famously tax-friendly electorate. It's rare for Jet City residents to reject a tax hike, so its political leaders are less wary than their counterparts elsewhere to reach for that option. "The vast majority of the differences between growth at the county and the city are the revenue tools allowed by state law. The city has the ability to rely on property taxes, sales taxes, B&O (business) and utility taxes, while the county does not have the B&O or utility tax," said Hall Walker of Seattle's budget office. King County relies on the property tax for the bulk of its funds. In 2001, voters passed Initiative 747, which limits property tax growth to 1 percent plus new construction. It had been 6 percent before that. "King County's general fund revenues are more constrained than either the state's or a city's," said Frank Abe, spokesman for Executive Dow Constantine. Walker said there were other reasons for the discrepancy in government growth. The county removed park funding from its general fund and the Emergency Medical Services levy renewed at a much higher rate in 2007, $630 million over six years. The owner of a $400,000 home is paying $120 a year for the service. The county funnels the EMS monies into a separate account, while Seattle puts its EMS revenue in its general fund. And Seattle has raised its business and occupation tax rates and added more paid, on-street parking spaces to try to bring in more money. In 2000, Seattle's adopted operating budget was $548 million. This year it was just over $905 million. Ten years ago the city took in $542 million from taxes and other sources to pay for its daily operations. This year that figure was about $900 million. In his budget for next year, McGinn proposed no general tax increases. But he did suggest $23 million in higher fees and other revenue-generating proposals. The business community objected to plans to significantly raise the hourly parking rate. Last month McGinn and a coalition of city unions announced they'd tentatively agreed to forgo automatic 2 percent cost-of-living raises in future years. Previously, unions got at least a 2 percent annual bump, regardless of inflation. Going forward through 2013, raises will track the Consumer Price Index. For next year that would mean a 0.6 cost-of-living increase and a $2.3 million savings for the general fund. Labor costs are the biggest chunk of the operating budget, and, since 2000, what the city has paid its workers in salary and benefits has gone up 58 percent -- from $733.8 million to $1.1 billion. On Monday, McGinn, the City Council and labor leaders have scheduled a news conference to discuss potential labor savings.

random schedule, VI Felipe de Bourbon, became at midnight the new King of Spain, one hour after the removal of the national football team, the defending champion, the 2014 World Cup in Brazil. At 46, the young monarch was sworn in Madrid during a simple ceremony, during which he swore allegiance to the Constitution of 1978, the founding base of Spanish democracy.Modern and discreet. he succeeded his father Juan Carlos, who on Wednesday signed his abdication. His wife, Princess Letizia, a former television news presenter, becomes Queen of Spain the same occasion. Study Abroad, military training: “His goal, his only goal is to serve Spain. It was instilled in his heart, he must be the first servant, “said one day his mother, Queen Sofia. Its mission is to ensure the continuity of a parliamentary monarchy gradually introduced with the arrival on the throne in 1975, Juan Carlos, the hero of the democratic transition after the death of dictator Francisco Franco. Contested in the polls by a Spanish two in a country plagued by economic crisis and unemployment. Monarchy 12:05. Royal Parade new king meets a great success The decorated in the colors of Spain, a convertible sedan, a king physique which has just passed his first inauguration speech … Felipe VI through no fault this morning streets handover. The people cheered. 12 hours. Moment of communion with the Spaniards It declared a national holiday in Spain has allowed citizens to travel to attend the handover. Returning to the palace, the new king salutes the crowd during forty minutes to give a strong signal to his country. 11h, 55. Letizia smiling and happy this crazy woman temperament, divorced once, and daughter taxi driver, who has often been described as “ambitious” suggests his happiness to become Queen of Spain through its mine happy and relaxed. 11h 50. Letizia and Felipe VI ride in the convertible Rolls to greet the crowd Felipe VI standing in convertible sedan embodies the crown in sunny Madrid. A beautiful image to create enthusiasm. Favorable to the monarchy polls back for fifteen days.

The story of the ExMoi occupation in Turin, a solution by radicals and refugees to the problems of homelessness amongst migrants in a city full of empty buildings, and the reaction of racist organisations to the project. The story of ExMoi begins with two open wounds: the countless empty buildings in Turin, and the countless refugees living on Italian streets and in Italian train stations. Back in 2006, the Turin municipality and the national government spent over 140 million euros in building a new neighbourhood to host athletes for the Winter Olympic Games. This was in an area that once held the city’s biggest wholesale market (MOI – Mercato Ortofrutticolo all’Ingrosso). Designed by international architects and built according to the latest ecological and sustainable design criteria, the Olympic Village was finished in 20 months. It was used for around 16 days and left mostly empty after the Games ended. Little by little, the regional government has sold off some of the buildings; some have been converted into student housing and a youth hostel. At the same time, serious structural problems have emerged, revealing the poor quality of the buildings: as a consequence, no-one wants to invest in them. The potential for regenerating the deprived Lingotto area has been squandered. Four buildings were sold off to a private holding (35% owned by the city, the rest by Pirelli and the Intesa San Paolo bank) and left empty for seven years. Even though no official investigation has been carried out, many claim that the Mafia was involved in the construction work (as has been proved the case in many other public tenders for public housing and private buildings). Many believe that quick and shoddy building for money laundering purposes is the reason for structural and other problems (the concrete is breaking up, the solar panels have never worked, countless minor pieces of heating insulation and pipework were never finished, and the paint is peeling off). In the meantime, between 2011 and 2013, a steady stream of refugees continued to arrive in Italy. These asylum seekers were able to benefit from the ENA (North Africa Emergency Plan), an Italian government comprehensive integration project to tackle the humanitarian crisis following the turmoil in North Africa and the war in Libya. While actively supporting the Libyan war, the Italian government was unable to host the 30,000 ENA refugees properly. This programme reinforced the SPRAR project (Services for the Protection of Asylum Seekers and Refugees), providing funds to support the refugees’ insertion into training placements and the labour market as well as providing access to public healthcare and to dignified shelter. These projects were lacking in many ways: they failed to teach Italian, many were set in distant locations, no social integration or any understanding of Italian bureaucracy was provided, and job training just did not take place. Some locations were simply hotels or other facilities where the refugees were forced to stay with nothing to do. The ENA ended abruptly and in March 2013 many refugees ended up on the street. Some refugees were in contact with local squatters and housing rights activists. Together, they decided to occupy the ExMoi buildings in the former Olympic Village and on 30 March 2013 about 300 refugees took part in the action. Currently around 800 people of over 26 different nationalities live at the ExMoi, in four different buildings. This is the largest, most stable and important occupation by and for refugees that has ever taken place in Italy. On 23 May 2014 UNHCR reported that “thousands of refugees are forced to live in empty buildings in the main Italian cities like Rome, Milan and Turin, due to the lack and insufficiency of the projects.” The ExMoi is a prime example of this. The Refugees and Migrants Solidarity Committee is a group of volunteers which includes students, migrants, committed citizens and social activists. It is linked politically to two autonomist squats in the city, CSOAs Askatasuna and Gabrio, is also supported by various local associations and the local church, and is connected to the national grassroots housing movement. The Committee has been supporting the ExMoi occupation with the aim of providing refugees with housing after they were abandoned by the government. Since the occupation, the Committee has provided medical, language and legal care, created a school on the premises, and co-ordinated the distribution of food, furniture and other basic supplies. This is a significant development but not without precedent in Turin. Refugees were squatting in the city long before the ExMoi occupation. The movement started in 2007 with refugees from Darfur and there are currently at least eight occupied buildings for refugees (among 27 with other housing or political aims). Together, these buildings are home to more than 1,000 people. An eight-month-long political battle, begun by refugees and the Committee, has included various demonstrations and temporary blockades of public offices in order to get legal permanent residency (Residenza) for the refugees. Permanent residency grants access to all social and health services, and (for children) to school. It is necessary to renew the Permesso di soggiorno (permission to stay) which all refugees require in order to stay in Italy. It allow refugees to have a driving licence and legal job contracts. At long last, the Turin municipality granted all refugees permanent residency which gives them access to public healthcare and allows them to sign up with the employment agency. It does not, though, grant access to social services (which is discriminatory, according to Italian legislation). In early 2014 the Committee supported another occupation. A five-storey building was occupied, following the overcrowding of the ExMoi building complex. It currently hosts around 60 people. The internal yard has been converted into a vegetable garden run by the residents, and there is also a self-managed bike repair workshop. Formerly a nursing home managed by the local Catholic parish, today the building is managed by its residents, who take most decisions via a weekly assembly/meeting. Ownership remains in the hands of the Church, however, which has decided to form a refugee project in order to legalise the building’s status. Meanwhile the ExMoi occupation lives on. Many among the refugees are families (15% of the inhabitants are women and more than 30 children under 10 live there), some have found jobs and continue living there to support their friends. Many people have not been able to find a proper job but survive by selling metal or other materials found in rubbish bins. A community has somehow been created, with a mix of ethnic groups living peacefully together. Although there have been some minor personal clashes, life goes on, even if the structural problems make everyday living challenging: water pours from some ceilings, the electricity system cuts out, and only half of the apartments have hot water, not to mention the lack of any heating system. Despite all this, the refugees and the Committee have managed to keep ExMoi clean and working, repairing the worst problems in three out of four buildings. Unfortunately, a wave of racist reaction from the usual suspects (Lega Nord, Fratelli d’Italia and Forza Italia) has managed to destabilise the situation. These parties have joined together to create a political campaign with the aim of forcing the municipality to evict the residents, who they call “criminals” and “illegal immigrants”. Through contacts in the Turin municipality, they arranged an “institutional visit to check the situation”. Following negotiation with ExMoi, this was cancelled but a right-wing politician decided to come anyway, before being shown the door by the refugees. The far-right groups then held a racist demonstration in the area in December 2013, attended by around 50 people, mostly from Gioventù Nazionale, the youth wing of Fratelli d’Italia. They have now invited the head of Lega Nord, Matteo Salvini, well known for his racist statements and his hatred of social movements and immigrants. Thankfully, nothing has come of this. So far. Finally, in December 2014, a judge signed an authorisation order to evict the residents. It usually takes a long time for an order to lead to an actual eviction but the news made the papers immediately and right-wing parties are exerting pressure for an eviction to take place. It is highly unlikely that the municipality will use the police to evict the refugees, although this has happened in other places. In this case, both police and judges would like a peaceful solution, especially because of the large number of residents involved. It seems that the Mayor of Turin (Fassino, Democratic Party) will ask the national government for exceptional funding. The Mayor is also the president of ANCI, the association of Italian local councils, and has a direct channel to the prime minister, Matteo Renzi. This situation could have serious repercussions for Renzi and the PD. The experience of the 2007 Darfur refugees indicates how the institutions are likely to act: ask for funding, offer a legal temporary solution to those who accept, force out those who do not comply. It is worth mentioning that the police are both the authority that has to perform the eviction and acquire all possible information to perform it, and also the authority in charge of renewing the visas the refugees need (most of those living at ExMoi have humanitarian one-year visas, which are very hard to renew). The solution offered by the local government is quite clear: get millions of euros from national government, perform the eviction by any means, give the money to a well known association already handling refugee projects, give the association some breathing space with the funds, let the projects run for three to 12 months and then, once the money has run out and the story is no longer newsworthy, kick the refugees out again. (The associations which handle refugee projects tend to be linked to political parties or to the Catholic church. They include those recently implicated in the ongoing “Capital Mafia” scandal.) In the end, money comes and goes, not into new solutions but into this well-established system, a system which is certainly not improving matters for refugees. The existence of ExMoi is testament to that. The process will take some time to work through, due to the large size of ExMoi. Meanwhile, the right-wing parties will have an easy target for the next elections and will keep on pushing for the harshest punitive measures. The refugees and the supporting Committee know this, and most are willing to stay and resist. In the months approaching the second anniversary of the occupation the refugees will have to weigh up the offer, if there is one, and make a very difficult decision. For more information, see the original article here.

Thanks to a recent poll from ABC News and the Washington Post, we know that nearly two-thirds of American adults think global warming is “a serious problem facing the country.” And now, thanks to a study published in the journal Nature Climate Change (full study available at this link), we know exactly how many people are out there taking money from dirty energy interests to try and confuse Americans about climate changeto derail overdue action and protect the fossil fuel industries' profits. Justin Farrell, a professor of sociology at Yale’s School of Forestry & Environmental Studies and the author of the report, studied both the institutional and social network structure of the climate denier movement and found that there are some 4,556 individuals with ties to 164 organizations that are involved in pushing anti-climate science views on the public. “The individuals in this bipartite network include interlocking board members, as well as many more informal and overlapping social, political, economic and scientific ties,” Farrell wrote in the report. “The organizations include a complex network of think tanks, foundations, public relations firms, trade associations, and ad hoc groups.” Farrell notes that while funding from ExxonMobil and the Koch family foundations have notoriously played a part in building the climate denial movement, there was very little empirical evidence demonstrating exactly how much influence these corporate benefactors had on the actual output of climate deniers and, in turn, how much they affected what politicians and other decisionmakers were saying about climate change. So Farrell studied all of the written and verbal texts relating to climate change produced between 1993 and 2013 by climate denial organizations (40,785 documents comprising nearly 40 million words), as well as any mention of global warming and climate science by three major news channels (14,943 documents), every US president (1,930 documents) and the US Congress (7,786 documents). He focused on Exxon and the Koch Brothers’ family foundations because, he writes, they are “reliable indicators of a much larger effort of corporate lobbying in the climate change counter-movement.” What Farrell found was that organizations taking funds from “elite” corporate funders of climate denial like Exxon and the Koch Brothers — groups like the CATO Institute, the Heritage Foundation, and the Heartland Institute — “have greater influence over flows of resources, communication, and the production of contrarian information” than other denial groups. After performing a sophisticated semantic analysis, Farrell was able to show that climate denial organizations with ties to those two major funders were more successful at getting their viewpoint echoed in national news media. Presidential speeches and debate on the floor of Congress showed less of an impact. According to Bloomberg, Robert Brulle, a sociology professor at Drexel University who has conducted similar research but was not involved in the Nature Climate Change study, said that Farrell’s findings beg a very obvious question: “Why is the media picking up and promulgating the central themes of climate misinformation?” That is very similar to the questions posed by DeSmog's executive director Brendan DeMelle in his coverage of Justin Farrell's other recent study on this issue: Research Confirms ExxonMobil, Koch-funded Climate Denial Echo Chamber Polluted Mainstream Media. DeMelle listed three questions for media outlets to ponder: Will this study, published in a highly authoritative journal, finally compel the newsrooms and boardrooms of the traditional media to take responsibility to undo some of the damage done by their complicity in spreading fossil fuel industry-funded misinformation? Will false balance — quoting a distinguished climate scientist and then speed-dialing Pat Michaels at the Cato Institute for an opposing quote — finally stop? Will editors commit to serving as referees to ensure the same industry PR pollution isn’t published any longer? Image credit: P.WOLMUTH/REPORT DIGITAL-REA/Redux

By By Andrew Moran Jul 19, 2009 in Health In recent preliminary reports published on the internet, Baxter Healthcare Corporation applied for a patent for the vaccine that would immunize the H1N1 Swine Flu. After the application was leaked on the World Wide Web by a United Kingdom publication, justoneclickgroup, it showed that the company also applied for patents to other diseases: “In particular preferred embodiments the composition orvaccine comprises more than one antigen…..such as influenza A and influenza B in particular selected from of one or more of the human H1N1, H2N2, H3N2, H5N1, H7N7, H1N2, H9N2, H7N2, H7N3, H10N7 subtypes, of the pig flu H1N1, H1N2, H3N1 and H3N2 subtypes, of the dog or horse flu H7N7, H3N8 subtypes or of the avian H5N1, H7N2, H1N7, H7N3, H13N6, H5N9, H11N6, H3N8, H9N2, H5N2, H4N8, H10N7, H2N2, H8N4, H14N5, H6N5, H12N5 subtypes.” Head of Virology at Baxter’s Austrian subsidiary Otfried Kistner was part of the Austrian-based team that applied for the patent for the H1N1 Swine Flu on August 28, 2007. Many countries are ordering vaccinations for the recently declared pandemic. Some countries are even making it In August 2007, Baxter Healthcare Corporation, the company developing the swine flu vaccination, applied for a patent on many vaccines including H1N1 Swine Flu After the application was leaked on the World Wide Web by a United Kingdom publication, justoneclickgroup, it showed that the company also applied for patents to other diseases:“In particular preferred embodiments the composition orvaccine comprises more than one antigen…..such as influenza A and influenza B in particular selected from of one or more of the human H1N1, H2N2, H3N2, H5N1, H7N7, H1N2, H9N2, H7N2, H7N3, H10N7 subtypes, of the pig flu H1N1, H1N2, H3N1 and H3N2 subtypes, of the dog or horse flu H7N7, H3N8 subtypes or of the avian H5N1, H7N2, H1N7, H7N3, H13N6, H5N9, H11N6, H3N8, H9N2, H5N2, H4N8, H10N7, H2N2, H8N4, H14N5, H6N5, H12N5 subtypes.”Head of Virology at Baxter’s Austrian subsidiary Otfried Kistner was part of the Austrian-based team that applied for the patent for the H1N1 Swine Flu on August 28, 2007.Many countries are ordering vaccinations for the recently declared pandemic. Some countries are even making it mandatory now . However, since the fifty countries have ordered the vaccines , Baxter has declared that it cannot accept any more requests. Baxter Spokesman Chris Bona said, "At this time we're not in a position to take additional orders." More about Swine flu, Vaccinations, Baxter healthcare group swine flu vaccinations baxter healthcare gr...

At 2am on a cold winter’s night in London last year I was loitering in the shadows on Furnival Street near Chancery Lane tube station with a veteran urban explorer called Lucy Sparrow. Across the street was a six-storey building with scaffolding haphazardly arranged on its facade, pinioned by a large blue wooden hoarding and an aluminium sign reading: “Caution - deep manhole. Do not enter.” Our fingers were going numb in the cold as we waited for a black cab parked at the end of the street to leave. It looked like he was taking a break, listening to a late-night radio show, but after what felt like hours he finally clicked on his lights and pulled away. We withdrew into the darkness as he drove past. When the street was empty, we sauntered across arm-in-arm – just another pair of late-night lovers out on the piss. Out of sight of a nearby CCTV camera I crouched down, interlaced my fingers and boosted Lucy over the wooden hoarding so she could quietly open an emergency fire door from the other side and let me in. The whole performance was over in a blink. Twenty minutes later, a late-night rambler might pass and have no clue that we were 60m under their feet, running through miles of empty tunnels in what was once Britain’s deepest telephone exchange. Facebook Twitter Pinterest Kingsway Telephone Exchange was built as a second world war air-raid shelter I am a geographer interested in what is not on maps. Over the past six years I have spent much of my time sneaking into places closed to public access as a part of a long-term research project on urban exploration. Urban explorers – who now number in the thousands across the globe – access neglected, forgotten, closed and hidden areas in cities. Tagging along with some of the most dedicated and skilled urban explorers in the world, I have trespassed into countless abandoned buildings and subterranean tunnel systems and scaled prominent skyscrapers in dozens of cities without permission - including the Shard back in 2012, before the far more daring external summit by Greenpeace activists the following year. Explorations behind the scenes show us that a city is a beautifully threaded tapestry of wires, pipes and rails There is attentiveness to time in everything urban explorers do: from a considered historic appreciation of derelict remains, to knowing the window of opportunity when one can scale a construction crane over the City – explorers recognise everything is temporary. Not long into my research, I was told by a French explorer that “ruins are just like construction sites because they reveal the city as it really is – a place of constant change”. Though ruins and construction sites morph at a different rate, he argued, they both hint that the city we pass through every day requires careful and dedicated maintenance to preserve the urban stasis we all take for granted. There is also attentiveness to space. Victorian Londoners used to tour urban infrastructure, including sewage pumping stations, curious to know how it all worked. Far fewer people today think about what happens where they flush the toilet, make a phone call, or throw something in the bin - what kind of process that triggers and what sort of physical spaces are required to make those things possible. As Alan Weisman made clear in his book The World Without Us, the time it would take for the city to begin to break down and deteriorate if we stopped maintaining it is incredibly short. Facebook Twitter Pinterest The River Tyburn flows in underground culverts and sewers for its entire length from Hampstead to the Thames The photography of hidden places that explorers undertake – a practice which is quickly developing its own particular aesthetic sensibility – is an attempt to create a visual mark of the present, with reference to what came before, what will come after, and how it is all connected through us. Explorations behind the scenes show us that a city is not a collection of isolated locations but a beautifully and delicately threaded tapestry of wires, pipes and rails. I’ve experienced many incredible things tagging along on missions into the forbidden city, and as much as I might treasure memories of watching sunsets from the roofs of council blocks or waking up on top of bridges, it is undercity London that most piques my interest. The tangle of tunnels that keeps the city ticking are vast, diverse in function and undoubtedly the most difficult in the world to access, this being the city of paranoia and all. The urban exploration crew I had worked with, the London Consolidation Crew or LCC, had long graduated from ruins and skyscrapers – it was the city in the city they were after, the secrets buried deep underground where the line between construction site and ruin is very thin indeed. The Kingsway Telephone Exchange was the crème de la crème, more coveted even than abandoned Tube stations or possibly even the forgotten Post Office railway we accessed in 2011. Facebook Twitter Pinterest Kingsway Telephone Exchange contained a bar for workers on their off-hours, 60m below the London streets When I walk the city now, I can’t help but imagine it vertically as well as horizontally Kingsway was originally built as a second world war air-raid shelter under Chancery Lane. These deep level shelters were, at one time, connected to the Tube and citizens would have undoubtedly taken refuge here during Luftwaffe bombing runs. In 1949 the tunnels were sold to the General Post Office where they became the termination for the first submarine transatlantic phone cable – the £120m TAT1 project. The system, meant to protect the vital connective tissue of the city in the event of terror-from-the-air (including nuclear attack), stretched for miles. It only had three surface entrances and contained a bar for workers on their off-hours, rumoured to be the deepest in the UK at 60m below the street. Although the government employed a host of people to maintain the tunnels, Kingsway was a spatial secret of state - part a trio of the most secure and sensitive telephone exchanges in Britain, along with the Anchor Exchange in Birmingham and the Guardian Exchange in Manchester. The conversion of the air-raid shelter into the Kingsway Telephone Exchange was undertaken secretly by the government. In 1950 the tunnels suddenly vanished from the map, as did a big chunk of taxpayer money used to retrofit them. However, as the journalist Duncan Campbell wrote in his book War Plan UK, “the secrecy of the new government project did not last long - a report of the ‘Secret Network of Tunnels’ appeared on the front page of the Daily Express in September 1951.” The Express later published a second article suggesting new networks were being dug under Whitehall – what would eventually become subterranean military citadels, connected by tunnels not on any map of underground London, even today. The Cabinet Office called a meeting with MI5, GPO employees and Ministry of Works officials to discuss their options for suppressing the Daily Express or leaking counter-information about the tunnels. Campbell writes: The minutes of the secret committee, known only as MISC 379, observed: ‘It would be embarrassing to the government if the public got the impression that deep shelters were being constructed. Either the public would think that the government were out to protect their own skins and those of their immediate servants; or the public would assume that the shelters were intended for public use in time of war and would be disappointed when they found they were not. Word of these tunnels systematically disappeared from the public eye. Then, incredibly, in 1980 the ever-tenacious Campbell – equipped with a bicycle and a camera - gained access to them and explored the entirety of the system. He published his explorations, including photos, in the New Statesman. The GPO suggested the explorations were fake and that the photos of the tunnels had been made in a studio - which obviously wasn’t the case because Campbell relayed access details for the tunnels which, 30 years later, got us in. Facebook Twitter Pinterest High-voltage electricity cables under central London After climbing 60m down a set of alternating ladders in a long, vertical metal cage, we emerged into a set of tunnels that smelled reassuringly neglected. Like a post-apocalyptic game show, we suddenly had to make a choice between three tunnel entrances to the left, right and straight ahead. It turned out it didn’t really matter which we entered, they all linked back on each other in the end. Once we had circled back, we were sure we were alone and had the run of the tunnels all night. We found the bar, the switchboard, medical facilities, power control panels and more. Two things really struck me while we were in there. First, the electricity was on wherever we went. I couldn’t help but wonder whose job it was to change the bulbs in the (no-longer-so) secret subterranean telephone exchange. Second, the tunnels, in the middle of winter, were a cosy hoodie temperature. It made me think about how all this space was being wasted, space that was built with taxpayer money. I thought about Campbell’s determination over 30 years ago to make clear what was being spent by the government and the lengths he was willing to go to to reveal what was still a state secret and the way he insisted that the government should be held accountable for the construction of this bizarre underworld. Battles over space are nothing new in London of course – urban space is a continually contested place Today, we’ve been so inculcated with fear and distracted by obligations and consumer junk, we can’t even be bothered to ask why numerous miles of warm, fluorescently lit tunnels under Chancery Lane are laying mothballed while people with no homes freeze to death on the streets above them – forced to sleep in hypothermic conditions by anti-homeless spikes installed on ledges outside shops, luxury flats and offices. Many of us have a sense that cities are being closed to us, but we find it difficult to articulate how or why; we simply feel we’re losing control of things in some fundamental way. Battles over space are nothing new in London of course: from private Georgian squares in the 18th century to the South Bank Undercroft in the 21st, urban space is a continually contested place. But these days we seem less inclined to stand up to spatial inequality or obstructive behaviour over the release of information. Facebook Twitter Pinterest A huge disused water reservoir under Finsbury Park in north London There is, perhaps, a sense that the battle is lost; that it is not worth fighting any more in a climate where we are all being monitored. New surveillance technologies or increasing corporate control of space are not the most worrying developments of our time, however – the biggest concern is growing apathy. So before you dismiss urban exploration as a weird fad – or mark it as just another interesting tab in your flooded browser to look at later – be aware that these explorers risked death and imprisonment to bring you these photos and that they insist it was worth it, because if we don’t even know these spaces exist we can hardly have a public conversation about what to do with them. Urban exploration carries on the important work of exploratory journalism; it spreads stories that help us perceive worlds other than the ones presented to us, and it gives us an alternative where one has not been offered. Urban exploration is an apathy killer. As the geographer David Harvey wrote, the freedom to make and remake our cities and ourselves is one of the most precious and neglected of our human rights. I don’t think I’m overstating the case when I say that it’s vital to the maintenance of what few rights to place remain to continually make transparent and subvert the boundaries that are constantly being circumscribed around our bodies and imaginations. Rather than condemning the system, urban explorers will insist that we must simply carry on exploring and imagining, regardless of those constraints. If we want to live in cities replete with citizens rather than inhabitants, we must encourage exploration. Facebook Twitter Pinterest Aldwych Underground station (which opened as the Strand in 1907) closed in 1994 Being an urban explorer has been a wonderful lesson in geography. I’ve learned about how people build relationships to places; how space is surveilled, controlled and regulated; how the city is built to not just influence our behaviour but to actually condition the way we think about what is ethical, right and even possible. Although it was chasing the story of urban exploration that got me involved in the first instance, it is the way urban exploration makes boundaries visible and keeps me sharp, paying attention to everything and continually calling me to action, which holds my interest as a researcher. When I walk the city now, I can’t help but imagine it vertically as well as horizontally. Most of the tourists walking at street level – photographing Parliament and clippers cruising the Thames – haven’t a clue that there is a snarl of tunnels underneath their feet, many of which aren’t on any map. Perhaps it’s right that local knowledge should reside with locals; this is our city after all. We, like Campbell, are engaged citizens acutely aware of what’s going on around us and determined to partake in the conversation about what constitutes the city. Urban explorers want to know what is being built, by whom, with what funds and to what ends; they want to know what has been forgotten and left behind and how that space might be re-imagined with the public interest in mind. These expectations – like the expectation that people will explore whatever environment they happen to live in – are threaded with common sense throughout, unlike many of the policy decisions that have led to our cities increasingly become a sight to be seen rather than a place to participate in. Through these photos of the London you never knew, I invite you to expand your vertical imagination of the city into subterranea: delve into the sewers, utility tunnels, abandoned Tube stations, secret bunkers and finally into the new depths being bored by tunnelling machines at this very moment. Although much of what is here is, I believe, an important piece of documentation, it is also more importantly an invitation for you to increase your understanding of what is happening under your feet right now, because the ongoing conversation about public space does not stop at the manhole cover. Bradley Garrett is a geographer at the University of Southampton and author of Explore Everything: Place Hacking the City. His new book, Subterranean London: Cracking the Capital, was published in October 2014

U.S. Announces Coalition To Fight Against The Islamic State The United States says it has formed a coalition of 10 countries to help in the fight against the Islamic State in Iraq. The group consists of the United States plus Britain, France, Germany, Canada, Australia, Turkey, Italy, Poland and Denmark. The New York Times reports that the coalition will act in two ways: It will support allies fighting against the Islamic State on the ground, and it will continue attacking the Sunni militants using air strikes. Reuters reports that in a meeting on the sidelines of the NATO summit in Wales, Secretary of State John Kerry said the strategy for the coalition was to contain, not destroy, the Islamic State, also known as ISIS or ISIL. "We need to attack them in ways that prevent them from taking over territory, to bolster the Iraqi security forces and others in the region who are prepared to take them on, without committing troops of our own," Kerry said, according to Reuters. "Obviously I think that's a red line for everybody here: no boots on the ground." The Times adds: "American officials are hoping to expand the coalition against ISIS to include as many countries as possible, particularly in the region. Obama administration officials said privately that in addition to the countries that attended the meeting Friday morning, the United States was hoping to get quiet intelligence help about the Sunni militants from Jordan, whose leader, King Abdullah, was participating in the NATO summit. "United States officials said they also expected Saudi Arabia to provide money and aid for moderate Syrian rebel groups. Yousef al-Otaiba, the ambassador of the United Arab Emirates to the United States, said in a statement earlier this week that the United Arab Emirates stood ready to join the fight against ISIS. 'No one has more at stake than the U.A.E. and other moderate countries in the region that have rejected the regressive Islamist creed and embraced a different, forward-looking path,' the ambassador said. The Emiratis, he said, are 'ready to join the international community in an urgent, coordinated and sustained effort to confront a threat that will, if unchecked, have global ramifications for decades to come.' " The Islamic State, if you remember, caught the international community's attention when it began a brazen and lightning-fast attack on Iraq over the summer. Since then, the group has overtaken several Iraqi cities and has taken responsibility for the beheading of two American journalists. As the Islamic State moved further into Iraq, the United States began an air campaign against the group.

Patrick Rothfuss Goodreads Author Born Website Twitter Genre Member Since February 2008 It all began when Pat Rothfuss was born to a marvelous set of parents. Throughout his formative years they encouraged him to do his best, gave him good advice, and were no doubt appropriately dismayed when he failed to live up to his full potential. In high-school Pat was something of a class clown. His hobbies included reading a novel or two a day and giving relationship advice to all his friends despite the fact that he had never so much as kissed a girl. He also role-played and wrote terrible stories about elves. He was pretty much a geek. Most of Pat's adult life has been spent in the University Wisconsin Stevens Point. In 1991 he started college in order to pursue a career in chemical engineering, then he considered clinical psychology. It all began when Pat Rothfuss was born to a marvelous set of parents. Throughout his formative years they encouraged him to do his best, gave him good advice, and were no doubt appropriately dismayed when he failed to live up to his full potential. In high-school Pat was something of a class clown. His hobbies included reading a novel or two a day and giving relationship advice to all his friends despite the fact that he had never so much as kissed a girl. He also role-played and wrote terrible stories about elves. He was pretty much a geek. Most of Pat's adult life has been spent in the University Wisconsin Stevens Point. In 1991 he started college in order to pursue a career in chemical engineering, then he considered clinical psychology. In 1993 he quit pretending he knew what he wanted to do with his life, changed his major to "undecided," and proceeded to study whatever amused him. He also began writing a book.... For the next seven years Pat studied anthropology, philosophy, eastern religions, history, alchemy, parapsychology, literature, and writing. He studied six different martial arts, practiced improv comedy, learned how to pick locks, and became a skilled lover of women. He also began writing a satirical advice column which he continues to this day: The College Survivial Guide. Through all of this he continued to work on his novel. In 2000 Pat went to grad school for English literature. Grad school sucked and Pat hated it. However, Pat learned that he loved to teach. He left in 2002 with his masters degree, shaking the dust from his feet and vowing never to return. During this period of time his novel was rejected by roughly every agent in the known universe. Now Pat teaches half-time at his old school as an assistant-sub-lecturer. He is underpaid but generally left alone to do as he sees fit with his classes. He is advisor for the college feminists, the fencing club, and, oddly enough, a sorority. He still roll-plays occasionally, but now he does it in an extremely sophisticated, debonair way. Through a series of lucky breaks, he has wound up with the best agent and editor imaginable, and the first book of his trilogy has been published under the title "The Name of the Wind." Though it has only been out since April 2007, it has already been sold in 26 foreign countries and won several awards. Pat has been described as "a rough, earthy iconoclast with a pipeline to the divine in everyone's subconscious." But honestly, that person was pretty drunk at the time, so you might want to take it with a grain of salt.

Education Secretary Betsy DeVos on Wednesday announced the Department of Education would pause two rules created by former President Barack Obama's administration that would protect student borrowers and imposed requirements on for-profit colleges. Photo by Erin Schaff/UPI | License Photo June 15 (UPI) -- The Department of Education has paused two rules created by former President Barack Obama's administration to protect student borrowers and impose requirements on for-profit colleges. "The department intends to develop fair, effective and improved regulations to protect individual borrowers from fraud, ensure accountability across institutions of higher education and protect taxpayers," the Department of Education said in a statement on Wednesday. One rule, the Gainful Employment regulation, required for-profit colleges and certificate programs at non-profit colleges -- under the threat of withholding federal aid -- to show that a student's education in those institutions would help those students receive "gainful employment." The second rule, the Borrower Defense to Repayment regulation, clarified how student borrowers who were defrauded or misled by their college could apply for loan forgiveness and also created a fast-track for students who apply for forgiveness in case their college closed. The rules were to take effect July 1 but the Department of Education under Betsy DeVos said it would delay implementation upon further review. The Obama-era rules were first proposed amid the collapse of the Corinthian Colleges Inc. for-profit institution. "My first priority is to protect students," DeVos said. "Fraud, especially fraud committed by a school, is simply unacceptable. Unfortunately, last year's rulemaking effort missed an opportunity to get it right." DeVos said her department would uphold processing claims already filed by 16,000 student borrowers. Some Democratic members of Congress criticized the move by the department. "Delaying this important pathway to debt relief would harm thousands of students, many with crushing levels of student loan debt and few meaningful job prospects," Sens. Elizabeth Warren, Patty Murray, Sherrod Brown and Dick Durbin wrote in a statement.

Barney Frank, long known as America’s crankiest liberal, is actually not feeling too bad. Frank retired from Congress in 2012, after three decades of representing Massachusetts’s Fourth District, then wrote a memoir, became a director of the Signature Bank, and took his curmudgeon act on the road as a lecturer. But the election of Donald Trump has not shattered his confidence about the nation’s political future. “This was not a wipeout. People will tend to overinterpret it. Remember, we got more votes than they did,” he said, in an interview this week. “And there is one silver lining for us. They have succeeded in blaming us for everything that goes wrong in the world. From now on, anything bad that happens is on them. They control the whole government—White House, Senate, House, Supreme Court. Some people think that maybe Trump can somehow evade that responsibility, but I think it will be hard to blame it on some Mexicans when something goes wrong.” Still, Frank believes that politics did change in some fundamental ways with Trump’s victory. “Two major rules of American politics disappeared this year,” he said. “The first was that you had to argue that America has to be strong and assertive worldwide. Trump won while rejecting that view. And the second change was that you should only talk about growth for everyone and avoid talk of class warfare. The fundamental reason that Trump won is the anger in America and other developed countries at the unfairness of the distribution of wealth. It’s been building and building, and all of a sudden it broke through.” In particular, Frank believes that Bernie Sanders’s primary campaign helped Trump’s portrayal of himself as a populist succeed in the fall. “Sanders wounded her badly,” Frank said, referring to Hillary Clinton. “His differing with her on the issues was entirely reasonable, but he’s the one who sold the argument that she was corrupt and bought by Wall Street. He had one ad which I called McCarthyite—where he essentially said Goldman Sachs got off so easy because they paid Clinton for speeches. Sanders helped Trump become the guy who says we are tired of rich guys getting away with everything. Sanders helped persuade people that she is on the wrong side of that issue.” Then, too, of course, there were the e-mails and the last-minute intervention of James Comey, the F.B.I. director. “If she hadn’t been using that e-mail system, she would have won, and Comey exacerbated the problem,” Frank said. Frank is fond of the adage, attributed to Harold Macmillan, the former Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, that the future of politics is determined by “events, my dear boy, events.” The success or failure of Trump’s Presidency will be the critical factor in the future of the Democratic Party. “If he delivers somehow and increases employment among the white working class, and increases prosperity, then we”—the Party, that is—“have a political problem,” Frank said. But since Frank believes that Trump’s program will not yield these kinds of successes, he feels that Democrats will have room to criticize and propose alternatives. In some respects, Frank believes that the Trump campaign may help the Democrats produce an updated and more appealing message. “Obama began to walk away from the idea that we have to be the leader of the free world,” Frank said. “Now it’s clear that we don’t have to be the leader of the free world and we don’t have to pay to be the leader of the free world.” That will open the door, Frank believes, to substantial reductions in military spending—on the order of a hundred and fifty to two hundred billion a year. “We could then use that money to offset some of the inequality in the economy. Reduce the age of access to Medicare to fifty-five. Raise the minimum wage. Put a lot of people to work on infrastructure.” His second idea for Democrats may be more controversial within the Party. “We need to be less absolutist on environmental issues, especially wetlands and endangered species,” he said. “We currently treat those issues as absolute bars to development, and they should not be absolute. They should be balances. I saw in my district how much anger these issues generate. Our current position is bad politics and bad public policy.” Frank does not believe, however, that Democrats should retreat on climate change. “Too much at stake on climate change to give way there,” he said. One part of Trump’s ascendancy reflects the great political success of Frank’s life. During Trump’s campaign, and in a recent interview on “60 Minutes,” the President-elect said that he regarded same-sex marriage as a settled issue, which he would not seek to overturn. As a longtime leader in the gay-rights movement, and the husband of Jim Ready since 2012, Frank, who is now seventy-six, watched the cause of same-sex marriage move from the fringe to the realm of conventional wisdom. Indeed, the subject turns this often cantankerous man downright cheerful. “Sixty years ago, people didn’t talk about being gay,” Frank said. “But now that so many people are out, straight people know they have gay relatives, gay co-workers. Being gay is kind of positive. It’s kind of fun.”

CNN has set a September 1 premiere date for Holy Hell, an inside look at Buddhafield, a secretive, spiritual cult formed in 1980s West Hollywood. The pic will air at 9 PM ET and repeat at 11. Director Will Allen joined the group just after graduating from film school and eventually became its unofficial documentarian. As he got more deeply involved, he began filming his experiences as the group’s unofficial videographer. It wasn’t until after Allen left the cult that he understood the film he’d been making for more than 20 years. The close-knit Buddhafield aspired to an artistic utopian communal life. Led by enigmatic and charismatic guru, Michel. Buddhafield members pursued his vision for fulfillment while living together, exploring nature, and performing together. Gradually, several came to grow disenchanted with Michel and alleged emotional manipulation and even physical abuse. Holy Hell had its world premiere at Sundance in January, followed by a May 27 theatrical self-release via Allen’s WRA Productions. He produced the film along with Tracey Harnish and Alexandra Johnes. Michael C. Donaldson, Julian Goldstein, Jared Leto, and Cheryl Wheeler Sanders are the executive producers. Check out the newly released key art for the film:

CTV.ca News Staff For the first time there are more single Canadian adults than married Canadians, a new report says. Canadians are also working longer hours, and spending less time with their families -- and the families they have are less likely to be the traditional nuclear family. Those are just some of the findings in Families Count: Profiling Canada's Families IV, a new report released Monday by the Vanier Institute of the Family. Using information from the 2006 census, the report said that only 47.9 per cent of adults were married. The highest amount of married people by province was in Newfoundland and Labrador with 54.3 per cent and the lowest was in Quebec, with 37.5 per cent. Among the territories, only 31 per cent of adults were married in Nunavut. The number of married couples without children also outnumbered married couples with children for the first time. Married-with-children families now represent 39 per cent of families, compared to 55 per cent in 1981. Common-law families are the fastest-growing family type in Canada, from 5.6 per of families in 1981 to 15.5 per cent in 2006. Two decades ago, 81 per cent of children under the age of 15 lived with legally married parents, but in 2006, only 66 per cent of children under 15 did. Kathy Buckworth, the author of several books on motherhood, said the rising proportion of common law relationships may be due to the fact that "we're dealing with people who grew up in the divorce generation." "If they grew up in that situation, perhaps they're thinking, ‘If I can't get married, I can't get divorced,'" she told CTV News Channel. Buckworth also said that financial factors may play a role, with many couples opting to keep their finances separate. "Weddings can cost a lot of money, and with less pressure to have that traditional relationship, or marriage certificate, maybe that's being bypassed," she added. The 2006 census was the first to record data on same-sex marriages. The data said 16.5 per cent of same-sex couples were married. Economic impact on families Clarence Lochhead, the executive director of the Vanier Institute of the Family, said modern economic realities have had a serious impact on the makeup of the Canadian family. More adult children are living with their families, especially young men. Some 60 per cent of men between 20-24 were living at home, as were 26 per cent of men between the ages of 25 to 29. "If you think about the education required to be successful in the labour markets . . . people are waiting much longer to leave home . . . it's a reflection of the economic reality of the labour market," Lochhead told CTV News Channel. Aging parents are also an additional stress on families, as 4.7 million Canadians were providing care for a senior. "It's one of the big challenges we have as a society," Lochhead said. Families are responding by working more. In 82 per cent of two-parent families, each parent is earning some income and in 32 per cent of two-parent families, each parent is working full time. Men are working longer hours, up to 8.8 a day in 2005 compared to 8.2 hours in 1986. That extra work is coming at the expense of the family, with men now spending 3.4 hours a day with family, compared to 4.2 hours in 1986. Women are now more likely to be the breadwinner in a two-parent family, with 28 per cent being the primary earner in their family. That is up from 12 per cent in 1976.

Adapted from a recent online discussion. Hi Carolyn: I live on a street with a large number of young children (under age 6). One family recently bought a new puppy, and we were surprised to learn that it is a pit bull. Now several of us are worried about letting our children play freely on the street, since pit bulls are known as an aggressive breed that can attack without provocation. Any advice on what we can do? Neighbors bought a pit bull Yes: Inform yourselves about pit bulls. Heck, about dogs: Just about any dog can hurt a small child, badly. Dogs don’t “attack without provocation” unless they have temperament problems, and those problems are quite visible in other circumstances. Otherwise, dogs who bite give all kinds of signs that they’re going to defend themselves or their people. Many people ignore/are ignorant of those signs and so they continue the behavior that provokes the dog — or, the owners don’t know anything about dogs and don’t train or handle them safely. Again, this is all dogs, not just pit bulls. Unfortunately, pit bulls became a look-at-how-cool-I-am accessory and fell in disproportionate numbers into the hands of idiots, posers and thugs — people who have no business having pets, much less powerful dogs. The pit bull is not the most dangerous breed out there. What is? Trick question: The most dangerous dog is one that has irresponsible owners and is big enough to kill. Meanwhile, “cute” little dogs, like dachshunds and Jack Russells, are much more likely to bite the neighborhood 6-and-unders. Pits historically have been bred to be responsive to their humans, and they’re actually far less likely to bite if a kid, say, tugs an ear (it just makes the news if they do). Tugging not recommended, by the way, with any dog, which responsible parents teach their kids. Ever see “Our Gang/Little Rascals”? The dog, Petey, is a pit. Pit bulls’ nickname in the past has been “the nanny” because they were known as great family dogs. Still are, by a dedicated population of defenders. So. Do not fear this dog unless you have cause to fear the neighbors. Is the dog spayed or neutered, trained, never chained, walked/exercised regularly and otherwise supervised — all just as good for dogs as for neighbors? Are the neighborhood kids taught how to interact with dogs? Hysteria is no way to protect children from anything. When you feel threatened by something, seek knowledge first, then seek a remedy, if you even need one after you have the facts. Re: Pit bull bullies: It took a conscious effort on my part to learn about pit bulls when a roommate decided to get not one but two! These dogs ended up being the kindest, most well-behaved dogs I’ve ever been around. My roommate also had a 3-year-old daughter. “Neighbors” needs to teach her children about how to approach a dog and what a dog means by its body languages. Anonymous Absolutely. Abundant resources are a browser away. Type “dog stress signs.” Anyone curious about pit bulls should also check out what became of the Michael Vick pit bulls. Educational and inspiring. Write to Tell Me About It, Style, 1150 15th St. NW, Washington, D.C. 20071, or tellme@washpost.com.

Image: wireless sensor microchip/UCL The IEEE Computer Society released a report this week detailing its predictions for the state of computing technology in 2022. No, the Singularity is not part of it: no downloaded personalities or post-human artificial intelligence. It nonetheless sounds a lot like "the future" should, with wearable, implantable nanotechnology and batteries that hold charges for months on end, just a more comprehensible future, one that doesn't involve sudden innovative inflationary periods or out-of-the-blue discoveries. Technology follows a trajectory. "Predicting the future in the computer industry is even harder and riskier due to dramatic changes in technology and limitless challenges to innovation," the IEEE CS report begins. "Only a small fraction of innovations truly disrupt the state of the art." "Some [innovations] not practical or cost-effective, some are ahead of their time, and some simply do not have a market," the report continues. "There are numerous examples of superior technologies that were never adopted because others arrived on time or fared better n the market. Therefore this document is only an attempt to better understand where technologies are going." The report is the product of nine technical leaders within the IEEE Computer Society surveying the current states and progressions of 23 different technologies, including, 3D printing, big data and analytics, open intellectual property movement, massively online open courses, security cross-cutting issues, universal memory, 3D integrated circuits, photonics, cloud computing, computational biology and bioinformatics, device and nanotechnology, sustainability, high-performance computing, the Internet of Things, life sciences, machine learning and intelligent systems, natural user interfaces, networking and inter-connectivity, quantum computing, software-defined networks, multicore, and robotics for medical care. This authors took the above listed technologies and examined them in light of different drivers and disruptors. The relative weights of technological drivers there were able to determine are indicated in the chart below. Disruptors: So, what does it all add up to? A key projection of the IEEE report is the "seamless intelligence scenario. Computing devices—from the very small, such as wearable devices and chips embedded under the skin, to the computers inside our mobile devices, laptops, desktops, home servers, TV sets, and refrigerators, to the computing cloud that we reach via the Internet—are interconnected via different communication and networking technologies," the report explains. "Together, they form an intelligent mesh," the authors continue, "a computing and communication ecosystem that augments reality with information and intelligence gathered from our fingertips, eyes, ears, and other senses, and even directly interfaced to our brain waves." It's the internet of things, where we ourselves become a thing. The report is really a series of reports, each one examining each of the aforementioned 23 technologies in great detail. It's open-access and worth a deep dive. Some other highlights include a worrisome note about the looming limits of classical computer systems, as they shrink to their absolute minimum and effectively put the brakes on Moore's law. Computers as we know them will stop getting faster and smaller—soon. The authors seem hopeful that quantum computing can save the day, but as to whether practical QC will be ready in time is unsettled. Advances in computer memory will help stave off this Moore's wall, at least. I've written here before about the profound limits current memory systems are putting on computing power. Computers may get faster, but they're not gaining memory access speed nearly as fast. The hope is for a "universal memory" system to save the day, in which SRAM, DRAM, hard-drive, and flash memory are all integrated into one quickly accessible and extremely small system. In the future, hard-drive access could be as quick as it is for an actual logic unit to access its own registers (the slivers of memory within the unit itself). "We expect at least one NVM [non-volitile universal memory] technology to reach maturity and volume manufacturing capabilities within the next three to five years," the IEEE team predicts. By 2022, it's reasonable to expect a "collapsing" of the memory hierarchy into a single (or near to it) uniform technology. There will still be organization, of course, but all within the same basic superfast device. Fortunately, medicine seems less likely to hit a fundamental limit than computers. "Imagine your life being saved by a custom-designed medical machine made from particles 50,000 times as small as a single strand of your hair," the report offers. You might be living with a fleet of diagnostic bots just cruising around inside your body, looking for trouble and fixing it. A proper auxiliary immune system. In Wired, the IEEE's Dejan Milojicic, makes a valiant effort at summarizing the report's other key findings, which are extensive. "With energy consumption increasing along with the world's population, electric cars, LEDs, smart grids, smart cities, dark silicon, new battery technology, and new ways of cooling data centers are some areas where advances in sustainability are expected," he writes. "Silicon photonics will address bandwidth, latency, and energy challenges, and developments at all levels of the network stack will continue to drive research and the Internet economy," Milojicic continues. "In the area of software-defined networks, OpenFlow and SDN will make networks more secure, transparent, flexible, and functional." Fortunately, predicting the future isn't solely the realm of futurists, but of scientists too. In some ways that's just as hopeful.

Gun rally to end permits for concealed weapons Grassroots NC pressures Republican Senators to pass gun bill Share Shares Copy Link Copy Hide Transcript Show Transcript WEBVTT THE STATE CAPITOL TODAY, INHOPES OF DOING AWAY WITH PERMITSFOR CONCEALED WEAPONS.BILL O'NEIL TAKES US THERE.BILL: GUN RIGHTS ADVOCATES CAMEUP SHORT THIS PAST SESSION.THEIR EFFORTS TO ELIMINATECONCEAL CARRY PERMITS PASSED THEHOUSE, BUT NEVER CAME TO A VOTEIN THE SENATE.>> WE ARE TELLING THEM TO DOWHAT THEY SENT YOU HERE FOR.THEY SEEM TO HAVE FORGOTTEN WHOBROUGHT THEM TO THE DANCE.BILL: TODAY'S RALLY TARGETSSENATE REPUBLICANS.THE GUN RIGHTS GROUP CALLEDGRASSROOTS NORTH CAROLINA SAYSIT WANTS TO SHAME THEM INTOACTION.THEY USED A MASCOT NAMED SQUISHYTHE MAGIC RINO TO CALL OUT WHATGUN SUPPORTERS SAY ARE RINOS,REPUBLICANS IN NAME ONLY.>> THE FACT IS VOTERS SENT THEMHERE, GUN VOTERS SENT THEM HERETO DO A JOB, AND WE WANT THEM TODO T JOB WE SENT THEM TO DO.BILL: GUN SUPPORTERS DELIVERTHEIR MESSAGE TO THE OFFICE OFTHE SENATE'S TOP REPUBLICAN,PHIL BERGER, WHO WASN'T IN.BUT A NUMBER OF REPUBLICANSOPPOSE ELIMINATING PERMITS FORCONCEALED WEAPONS, INCLUDINGGUILFORD COUNTY LAWMAKER JOHNFAIRCLOTH.>> LOOK AT HOW MANY KILLINGS WEHAVE HAD IN NORTH CAROLINA INTHE LAST SIX MONTHS.IT IS GETTING TO BE AN EPIDEMIC,ALMOST.BILL: GUN RIGHTS ADVOCATES SAYSSENATE REPUBLICANS CAN EXPECT TOSEE THEIR RINO MASCOT NOT ONLYAT THE LEGISLATURE, BUT AT GOPCAMPAIGN EVENTS AS WEL

Image copyright Reuters Image caption Northern Ireland has effectively been without a devolved government for almost six months Sinn Féin has called on the British and Irish governments to intervene to help break the deadlock in Stormont's power-sharing negotiations. John O'Dowd said they must inject "leadership and energy" into the talks. But the DUP's Edwin Poots said that "one party cannot deliver this process on its own". Talks to restore Northern Ireland's devolved government are going down to the wire, with the parties having until 16:00 BST on Thursday to reach a deal. If agreement is not reached by the deadline, which is set down in law, Northern Ireland faces the prospect of a return of direct rule from London. 'Expect very late night' The negotiations involve the five main Northern Ireland parties and the UK and Irish governments, although a deal is dependent on whether the two biggest parties, the DUP and Sinn Féin, can resolve their differences. These include republican demands for a stand-alone Irish Language Act and rights for the LGBT (gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender) community. The DUP has criticised the Irish government for supporting Sinn Féin's demand for an Irish Language Act. In a statement, the party said: "Only last week the Irish government lectured our United Kingdom government on the importance of observing neutrality when dealing with Northern Ireland parties. "Yet by publicly declaring its support for Sinn Féin's position in negotiations, the Irish government has undermined its own credibility as being neutral." Round-table talks involving the five party leaders were due to take place on Wednesday but the BBC understands the DUP and Sinn Féin did not show up. Irish Foreign Minister Simon Coveney tweeted: "Stormont talks continuing - efforts intensified to find agreement on outstanding issues before tomorrow's deadline. Expect very late night." Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption What are the options if no deal is reached? Shortly after 17:00 BST on Wednesday, Sinn Féin's John O'Dowd said no compromise had been reached and he called on the governments to become more involved in the efforts to reach a deal. "With less than 24 hours to go in these talks, the DUP have not moved to resolve the issues which brought down the institutions in January," Mr O'Dowd said. Image caption Sinn Féin's John O'Dowd called on the British and Irish governments to help break the deadlock "Rights, equality and respect need to be resolved, they need to be implemented in legislation and we need to get to that position. "There is now clearly an onus on the two governments to inject energy into these talks, to inject leadership into these talks and ensure that the outstanding issues are resolved in the timescale we have left to us." However, the DUP's Edwin Poots said the party wanted to show "absolute respect for other people's language and culture" in respect of Sinn Féin's demand of an Irish Language Act. Mr Poots also said that talks had been a "slow grind". "We're trying to get to people's bottom lines so decisions can be made as to how we can move forward. We would like to do that tomorrow but that's up to others. "Ultimately, one party can't deliver on this process on its own, it's going to be an engagement." He added that the DUP were ready to establish government before the deadline and "if there's issues outstanding that we need to continue to work on, then we're happy to do that". With no breakthrough reached by Wednesday evening, it would be very difficult to meet Thursday's deadline, according to BBC NI political correspondent Enda McClafferty. "It appears there has been little or no progress made on the key issue which is emerging - the Irish Language Act," he told the BBC's Evening Extra programme. 'Real Madrid star' Earlier, Northern Ireland Secretary James Brokenshire said that there would be serious implications if the Stormont parties could not agree a deal by Thursday's deadline. Mr Brokenshire would not go into detail about any alternatives he might be considering if the talks fail. He also denied the Tory-DUP confidence and supply deal would make it impossible for the government to maintain their impartiality in Northern Ireland. He said he had not been part of those talks. Speaking at Northern Ireland Questions in Westminster, Mr Brokenshire said he would not be on a liaison committee being set up by the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) and the Conservatives. Image copyright Reuters Image caption DUP MP Sir Jeffrey Donaldson and Tory Chief Whip Gavin Williamson signed the deal agreed this week Under the "confidence and supply" arrangement, the DUP guarantees that its 10 MPs will vote with the government on the Queen's Speech, the Budget, and legislation relating to Brexit and national security - while Northern Ireland will receive an extra £1bn over the next two years. While rival Stormont parties have largely welcomed the additional funding, concerns have been raised that the deal could undermine the peace process and devolution negotiations, with the UK government dependent on the support of the DUP. The Scottish National Party said the DUP was holding a "sword of Damocles" over the government's head. SNP MP Alison Thewliss joked that the £1bn deal meant each DUP MP was now worth more than the Real Madrid footballer Cristiano Ronaldo. The new Shadow Northern Ireland Secretary Owen Smith said there was a danger that trust in the perception of the government's impartiality would be eroded. He called on the government to publish the minutes of any meetings of the new liaison committee. Image caption If parties cannot agree a deal by Thursday, then direct rule could be implemented Northern Ireland has effectively been without a devolved government for almost six months. Its institutions collapsed amid a bitter row between the DUP and Sinn Féin about a botched green energy scheme. The late deputy first minister, Martin McGuinness, stood down in protest over the DUP's handling of an investigation into the scandal, in a move that triggered a snap election in March.

David Cameron is “living in cloud cuckoo land” when he suggests a new Tory government would ban messaging apps that use encryption, security experts have told the Guardian. The prime minister has pledged anti-terror laws to give the security services the ability to read encrypted communications in extreme circumstances. But experts say such access would mean changing the way internet-based messaging services such as Apple’s iMessage or Facebook’s WhatsApp work. Independent computer security expert Graham Cluley said: “It’s crazy. Cameron is living in cloud cuckoo land if he thinks that this is a sensible idea, and no it wouldn’t be possible to implement properly.” Other security experts echo Cluley, describing the approach as “idiocy” and saying Cameron’s plans are “ill-thought out and scary”. The UK’s data watchdog has also spoken out against “knee-jerk reactions”, saying moves could undermine consumer security. Meanwhile a start-up has warned on the possible effect on Britain’s nascent technology sector of Cameron’s plans. Eris Industries, which uses open-source cryptography, has said it is already making plans to leave the UK if the Conservative party is re-elected with this policy in its programme. On Monday, Cameron made a speech in which he decried the ability of ordinary people to have conversations on which the security services were unable to eavesdrop. “In extremis, it has been possible to read someone’s letter, to listen to someone’s call, to mobile communications,” Cameron said. “The question remains: are we going to allow a means of communications where it simply is not possible to do that? My answer to that question is: no, we must not.” Cluley said either tech companies would have to work with UK government and build backdoors into their software to allow the authorities to intercept messages, or the apps themselves will have to be banned. “If there are backdoors in the apps, or if weak encryption is used, then you are only opening up opportunities for hackers to break in and steal information too. That’s not going to go down well with businesses or consumers,” Cluley said. Ross Anderson, professor of security engineering at the University of Cambridge, said: “This is just what the agencies pushed in the late 1990s, after Al Gore persuaded Tony Blair to go back on his pre-election promise not to ban encryption. “Industry fought back, along with civil society, and the outcome was the Rip Act, which gives a chief constable the power to demand decryption.” Peter Sommer, professor of cybersecurity and digital evidence at de Montfort and the Open Universities, said: “The National Crime Agency and the people there understand that relationships with people and the companies like Google are important, as they will help you, but passing laws and badmouthing in public is simply not going to work,” “But at the top there’s been the kind of idiocy exemplified by what happened in the basement of the Guardian, where there were obviously lots of copies of the Snowden material but they insisted on the destruction of a computer that might have been used for storing them.” “Yes you can pass laws in Westminster until you’re blue in the face but you can’t enforce them,” said Sommer. The UK’s data watchdog, the Information Commissioner Christopher Graham and data privacy campaigners were equally worried by Cameron’s comments and the implications it could have on data security and privacy. “We must avoid knee jerk reactions,” said Graham. “In particular, I am concerned about any compromising of effective encryption for consumers of online services.” “Citizens, businesses, and nation states need to protect themselves. Internet companies are understandably offering their customers online services that are better encrypted following recent security incidents,” said Graham. “Cameron’s plans appear dangerous, ill-thought out and scary,” said Jim Killock, director of the Open Rights Group. “Having the power to undermine encryption will have consequences for everyone’s personal security. It could affect not only our personal communications but also the security of sensitive information such as bank records, making us all more vulnerable to criminal attacks.” “The only practicable way forward is a new international treaty on access to communications data and content, which must involve safeguards that will be acceptable to all,” said Anderson. Preston Byrne, the chief operating officer of Eris Industries, warns that his company will be forced to leave the UK if Cameron’s comments on the technology become policy, and move to “more liberal climes such as Germany, the U.S., the People’s Republic of China, Zimbabwe, or Iraq.” Byrne, who is also a fellow at the London-based free-market think tank ASI, told the Guardian that “secure open-source cryptography is at the core of our business… so we were able to make the decision more or less immediately.” Eris Industries uses technology loosely based on the bitcoin cryptocurrency to build a decentralised network, with potential applications in communications, social networking and community governance. But, Byrne warns, “none of these benefits can be realised without secure cryptography, including end-to-end encryption. “David Cameron has said this measure is designed to ‘modernise’ the law. He fails to understand the full extent of how out of date the law is. The only way you can shut down cryptographic distributed networks today is to either arrest the vast majority of (or in the case of a blockchain database, all) persons running a node and ensure that every single data store containing a copy of that application database is destroyed; or shut down the Internet.” As a result, he tells the Guardian, “I’d be very surprised if the Conservatives stick to their guns on this.” One insider at a major US technology firm told the Guardian that “politicians are fond of asking why it is that tech companies don’t base themselves in the UK”. “I think if you’re saying that encryption is the problem, at a time when consumers and businesses see encryption as a very necessary part of trust online, that’s a very indicative point of view.”

PROVIDENCE, R.I. — Four men are in custody after a shooting Thursday morning just a block away from the Garrahy Judicial Complex in downtown Providence. A report of shots fired came in to Providence police at 10:48 a.m., after a possibly gang-related dispute broke out inside the courthouse and moved outside after deputy sheriffs ejected the participants, Providence Police Chief Hugh Clements Jr. said. Detectives converged on the downtown area and quickly took four young males into custody. The suspect who was believed to have fired the gun was picked up behind the Coro Center, Clements said. There were no reported victims, but detectives will check with the hospitals, Clements said. Detectives recovered a handgun, according to Commander Thomas Verdi. "Everyone is safe," Clements said. The suspect "clearly had an intended target." Lawyer Nick Obolensky was inside the fourth-floor court hallway when he saw several young men get into a fight and the deputy sheriffs eject them, he said. The young men went outside, where the fight continued and gravitated on to Pine Street. Garrahy courthouse was placed on lockdown for about a half-hour, with no one allowed to go in or out, Amanda Lysikatos, who'd been in court on a matter, said as she watched detectives work the scene. Beverly Berard, of North Providence, said she saw about 10 young people fighting and cursing in the center of Pine Street. "All of a sudden a gun went off," said Berard, who works at the Pierce Atwood law firm. Four to five people scattered in one direction on foot. Four to five others ran in the opposite direction, she said. One of the people involved had a ponytail and wore red shorts. "You hear fighting at the courthouse, but never a gun shot," she said. A suspect was seen sprinting down Fountain Street moments later. The scene drew the attention of criminal justice majors at Johnson and Wales University as police and prosecutors questioned witnesses. Several left the homeland security class after hearing gunfire and checking Providence police scanner activity. "I wanted to go so bad," said Michael Clark, a senior who plans to go to law school. Alexis Pollack, also a senior and budding cop, documented the scene on Facebook Live. It is the second shooting outside a courthouse in less than a year. A 22-year-old Pawtucket man was critically injured after a noontime drive-by shooting in January near the Licht Judicial Complex. Discussions are afoot in the state judiciary about changing the policy that bars deputy sheriffs from carrying guns. Since 2015, some deputy sheriffs have carried Tasers in addition to batons, pepper spray and handcuffs. Craig Berke, spokesman for the judiciary, said the deputy sheriffs armed themselves during the incident and security was enhanced at the courthouse. Surveillance video taken in and outside the courthouse is being reviewed, he said. Berke released this statement late Thursday: "Court security procedures are constantly under review and the Judiciary's administration is certainly looking at this event. We are always looking at measures that will further enhance the safety of litigants, the public, judges and staff within our courthouses. Our security protocols worked today. There was no breach within the courthouse or on the courthouse grounds, not even when one of the subjects involved sought refuge from the shooting by returning to the courthouse, where he was screened and detained for the police." This story was updated multiple times, most recently at 11:46 a.m., 12:43 p.m. and 3:59 p.m.

You really can’t make up how ludicrous things have gotten at campuses in the United States. Here’s the latest via the University of Michigan: Delicate snowflakes. Univ. of Michigan cancels ‘American Sniper’ screening: ‘Made students feel unsafe’ http://t.co/NJ8SH4cGPI — JWF (@JammieWF) April 8, 2015 Oh, COME ON! I'm disgusted by the Univ of Michigan, it cancelled the campus screening of American Sniper http://t.co/sBixroYm0p #ChrisKyleAmericanHero — Dave Melin (@Schneider_F3) April 8, 2015 Gutless display by my alma mater. University cancels ‘American Sniper’ screening: ’Made students feel unsafe’… http://t.co/SwS3TfT4xF — Steve (@evetsgnaw) April 8, 2015 Are U of Mich students delusional, thinking campus was in Iraq or just wussies? American Sniper canceled. http://t.co/tu7h69ES3s — Michael R Shannon (@ReluctantUser2) April 8, 2015 And instead of “American Sniper,” the vicious, killer Wolverines of Michigan will see… Win for the precious snowflakes. Univ of Michigan pulls "American Sniper" screening, replaces w/ "Paddington Bear". http://t.co/r6JPc3Pzbg — CamEdwards (@CamEdwards) April 8, 2015 @Mashon45 Paddington will be shown instead. — Campus Involvement (@UMInvolvement) April 7, 2015 Ha! Here’s the official statement from UM’s Center for Campus Involvement on the cancellation: A statement from the Center for Campus Involvement regarding the screening of American Sniper at UMix this Friday. pic.twitter.com/uClDigpd4w — Campus Involvement (@UMInvolvement) April 7, 2015 Update: The university has decided to go ahead and screen the film, but with these safeguards. *** Related: Twitchy coverage of American Sniper

Sean Spicer, the White House press secretary, quit his position on Friday after telling President Donald Trump he disagreed with the hiring of Anthony Scaramucci as communications director. Trump offered Scaramucci, a New York financier, the job on Friday morning and reportedly requested that Spicer stay on. Scaramucci said at a White House briefing that “Sean decided that he thought it would be better to go.” Sarah Huckabee Sanders, who had been Spicer’s deputy, will take over for Spicer as White House press secretary. See live blog of White House press briefing. Scaramucci founded the investment firm SkyBridge Capital, and the SALT hedge-fund conference. He regularly defended Trump on television during the campaign and was a campaign fundraiser. AFP/Getty Images Anthony Scaramucci Spicer was communications director at the Republican National Committee before joining the Trump team. The 45-year-old was known for being combative with White House reporters and the subject of lampoons by comedian Melissa McCarthy on “Saturday Night Live.” See: Sean Spicer on Melissa McCarthy’s ‘SNL’ performance: Cute, funny but ‘dial it back.’ Sanders read a statement from Trump at the briefing, saying he was “grateful” for Spicer’s White House service and that he wished him well. “Just look at his great television ratings,” Trump said in the statement. Scaramucci said he loved Spicer and that “I hope he goes on to make a tremendous amount of money.” Spicer’s tenure got off to a controversial start when he said Trump’s inauguration was “the most watched ever,” a statement that was later debunked. In recent weeks, Spicer had briefed the press less regularly. Sanders has instead frequently taken the podium at the White House briefings, which have often been held off camera. Before Friday, there had not been an on-camera briefing since June 29. Spicer said in a tweet on Friday that it had been an “honor” to serve Trump and that he would work through August. It's been an honor & a privilege to serve @POTUS @realDonaldTrump & this amazing country. I will continue my service through August — Sarah Sanders (@PressSec) July 21, 2017 In May, Trump blamed his press team, including Spicer, for failing to put out the public firestorm that erupted after Trump fired James Comey as director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation. As USA Today wrote, the strain in the Trump-Spicer relationship was on display when Trump did not invite the devout Catholic to a meeting with Pope Francis at the Vatican in late May. In another memorable episode involving Spicer and the media, a Washington Post story in May said he was hiding in bushes at the White House. The Post later said he was “among” the bushes. The story prompted mocked-up pictures of Spicer in bushes, including one on Friday.

Two of the longer term concerns entering the 2013-14 season for the Toronto Maple Leafs were the contract statuses of their star players Phil Kessel and Dion Phaneuf. GM Dave Nonis made good on Kessel’s desire to negotiate before the season, and now the Leafs leading scorer will be in the fold until 2022. Having taken care of the time sensitive work, now Nonis’ sights will be set on re-signing the Leafs captain to a long term deal. But what’s it going to cost? Let’s take a look. For his part, Phaneuf has said he’s open to negotiating a new deal midseason, having done so in Calgary back in 2008. And why not? The Flames overpaid to lock up a young, budding star defender that had already reached the 20-goal and 60-point plateau by the age of 23. He’s never managed to repeat either feat since, and was shipped to Toronto two years later as a high-priced disappointment. Since coming to Toronto, he’s lost and re-found some measure of his scoring touch, while regularly lining up in the toughest defensive assignments. His role has changed, the cap has risen, the rules have changed, but his paycheque has remained static since then. To look at what Phaneuf should get, I looked into the last four seasons of data on defensemen (2009-10 through 2012-13). Amusingly, these happen to be the four worst years of Phaneuf’s career from a statistical standpoint, but probably better reflect his scoring output as the seasons roll on. Yes, in an eight-year career, two Phaneuf’s worst individual seasons saw him feature 10th and 12th in league scoring among defenders. So please understand that I used the word ‘worst’ in a relative sense here. In 277 games over the last four seasons, Phaneuf ranks 23rd in points scored with 134, good for .48 points per game. More impressively, he ranks 8th in goals (41), power play goals (18) and time on ice (6916 minutes). It is in that last category where there’s some interesting salary correlations, as six of the seven players ahead of him in TOI over the last four seasons also have higher cap hits (Weber, Chara, Bouwmeester, Doughty, Suter and Boyle). Only Duncan Keith, signed to a phony 13-year, $72-million deal that pays just 5% of his total salary over his final two seasons, has a lower annual cap hit and has played more hockey than Phaneuf. Now, ice time is hardly a perfect measure of Phaneuf’s worth, and I think most would agree that at least five of the seven players ahead of Phaneuf on that list are better defensemen than the Leafs captain. But what we can extrapolate is that is that defensemen who play as much as Phaneuf does tend to get paid as much as Phaneuf does. They also tend to have both a leadership role and a ‘play in all situations’ role with their club, much like Phaneuf does. So while I’d be hesitant to say that Phaneuf is the league’s 8th best defenseman, he’s certainly in the top 20. But one of the greatest difficulties in projecting Phaneuf’s future cap hit is understanding the vast shift in his playing style since coming to Toronto. As alluded to above, he has been tasked with defensive zone starts and top lines every shift he’s skated in Toronto. In his early days, Phaneuf saw over 5 minutes a night on the power play, and was given sheltered minutes at even strength. This season, Phaneuf finds himself in an elite pair of defenders (the other being Phoenix Coyotes defenseman Oliver Ekman-Larsson) who average at least 3:30 in ice time on both the penalty kill and power play per game while facing the league’s best forwards. At this point, I’d like to remind Leafs fans of Phaneuf’s idol and potential career model, Scott Stevens. While known for punishing hits and staunch defensive play for the New Jersey Devils, it’s sometimes hard to remember that he was once a pure scorer. While never among the ranks of Larry Murphy or Paul Coffey offensively, Stevens still tallied 900 points in his career. His best season was 1993-94 when he finished with 78 points. Then came the first of Gary Bettman’s lockouts and a new game format that encouraged stifling defensive play. In 10 more seasons, Stevens would only crack 30 points once more, yet he became the most notable defensive presence of the “Dead Puck Era.” Similarly for Phaneuf, the offensive dynamism that made him rich seems to have been replaced by defensive prowess. It’s not that Phaneuf has lost that offensive side to his game, it’s that his role and usage limit his overall number of offensive chances for in favour of limiting offensive chances against. Phaneuf could never score 40 points again, but he’s significantly more reliable, responsible and positionally sound than he was in his halcyon days as a scorer. As both James Mirtle and I said on Monday, Phaneuf is without a doubt the most irreplaceable player in the line up. Many have argued that Phaneuf’s current cap number looks out of place citing his capgeek comparables, and have been using Jay Bouwmeester when forecasting Phaneuf’s next deal. The St. Louis Blues defender and former linemate of Phaneuf’s is in the last year of a deal that pays him $6.68-million annually. He also recently signed a five-year extension with the Blues that will pay him a mere $5.4-million. And for seemingly little reason, that’s what Phaneuf should get. Or so the thinking goes. But there’s several factors that make me believe there’s no chance that Phaneuf can be re-signed for JayBo’s modest number. Firstly, there’s little similarity in their game, beyond the fact that both log a tonne of minutes. Over the past four seasons, Bouwmeester has 30 fewer points than Phaneuf; 22 fewer goals. While a top defenseman in his own right, Bouwmeester has to fight for third billing behind standouts Alex Pietrangelo and Kevin Shattenkirk. It’s hard to ask for a raise when there are two other guys at your work who do your job better than you. Phaneuf does not have to suffer that workplace competition, and might never in a Leaf uniform. Also, George W. Bush was still president at the start of the last season where Bouwmeester recorded 40 points. Finally, Phaneuf is also a year younger than Bouwmeester, still closer to his prime and still able to crack 40 points. So what does it all mean? What is Phaneuf worth? Most would agree that he’s not worthy of Ryan Suter’s $7.4-million paycheque, despite Phaneuf having 59 more points over 600-game careers. He’s also worth more than Jay Bouwmeester’s future cap hit of $5.4-million. If I had to stake a guess, I’d actually say that Phaneuf will see a slight raise ahead of next season. He’s still only 28, and has been healthy most of his career. He’s proven capable of playing 25-minutes a night and more likely than not to score 40 points a season. There’s a dearth of options internally or externally that the Leafs could acquire to immediately replace and improve upon what Phaneuf does. The only way I could see him re-signing at his current price tag or for less money is if the Leafs are willing to offer Phaneuf an eight-year deal. But if I had to give a more accurate range, I’d say that the Leafs and Phaneuf will probably end up coming to terms on a deal in the 7-8 year, $47-56-million deal. That would put his annual cap hit at a reasonable, $6.7 to $7-million cap hit on a deal that would expire when Phaneuf was 36 or 37 years of age. Should the Leafs want shorter term, expect the AAV to go up accordingly. While it might sound unreasonable, nothing about NHL player’s paydays are ever reasonable. And ask yourself, what would you rather have? Phaneuf at 6.9 million, or to spend the next few seasons trying to replace him? Highest Scoring NHL Defenseman For combined seasons, from 2005-06 to 2013-14, playing defenseman, sorted by descending goals scored.

Buy Photo Domestic abuse victims who call the police often won’t have to worry about being kicked out of their rental properties under a bill approved by the Legislature and sent to the governor Wednesday, April 27, 2016. (Photo: William Petroski/The Register)Buy Photo Iowa lawmakers voted Monday to advance Gov. Terry Branstad's controversial water quality proposal with assurances from his staff that they will offer amendments to address the concerns of various stakeholders. A three-person House subcommittee voted to 2-1 to advance the bill to a full committee. It was the first time lawmakers had a chance to publicly consider the bill. "I’ve seen two proposals for water quality in our state over the last year. One was a lawsuit," said Rep. Peter Cownie, R-West Des Moines, referencing a suit brought by the Des Moines Water Works against three northwest Iowa counties over water quality. He credited that action with drawing state attention to the issue, but said "I like this way of doing things better." The governor's proposal, which he has said is his top priority for the session, would extend for another 20 years a one-cent sales tax currently earmarked for education infrastructure spending. That tax currently is set to expire in 2029. Schools would be guaranteed everything they currently receive through the tax plus an additional $10 million annually. The proposal would capture revenue growth beyond that cap and direct it to water quality projects. The Department of Revenue projects the plan would create $4.7 billion to support water quality over 32 years and maintain $21 billion for schools. But so far, the proposal has been met with skepticism, with some arguing that it pits water quality against education — two high-priority issues in the state. Many people who spoke at the subcommittee meeting said they appreciate that the governor has attempted to tackle the issue, but most said they are reserving judgment before choosing to support or oppose the legislation. Ted Stopulos, a legislative liaison for the governor, said the bill was designed to be a starting "framework" for discussions. He said Branstad has been meeting with stakeholders in the weeks since announcing his plan and his administration plans to bring amendments to address a number of issues that have caused some concern. He said there will be an amendment forthcoming that would allow school districts to use revenue generated by the tax to support not just infrastructure needs, but also transportation, per pupil spending and property tax relief. But it would prevent districts from using the money to build new sports stadiums. NEWSLETTERS Get the Breaking News Alert newsletter delivered to your inbox We're sorry, but something went wrong Alerts on breaking news delivered straight to your inbox. Please try again soon, or contact Customer Service at 1-877-424-0225. Delivery: Varies Invalid email address Thank you! You're almost signed up for Breaking News Alert Keep an eye out for an email to confirm your newsletter registration. More newsletters Stopulos said there also would be an amendment to require that any school infrastructure project worth than more than $1 million would require a vote to move forward. Finally, he said, they will support a provision promoting accountability, such as requiring some form of annual report to the Legislature. Rep. Lee Hein, R-Monticello, who chaired the committee, said he believes this is the first step in what will likely be a long process. But he said he's glad to see the conversation continuing and believes the issue is worthy of being discussed at the committee level. Read or Share this story: http://dmreg.co/1XtMtNw

A former South Carolina police officer has been sentenced to 20 years in prison for fatally shooting an unarmed African-American motorist. Michael Slager committed second-degree murder when he shot Walter Scott, 50, in the back as he fled arrest after a traffic stop, a judge ruled. "I forgive you," relatives of Scott told Slager, 36, in court, as they spoke about the death's impact on them. A bystander recorded mobile phone video of the April 2015 shooting. Experts say that without a video of the shooting, the former officer probably would not have been fired from the force nor have faced murder charges. Video caption The dash cam footage shows Walter Scott's car being pulled over and Officer Michael Slager asking for his paperwork before Mr Scott runs away Judge David Norton told the court that Slager, who is white, had "lived a spotless life" before the shooting. "Regardless, this is a tragedy that shouldn't have happened," he added. Lawyers for Slager had argued in court that he opened fire on Scott because he thought he had taken his police-issued stun gun during their scuffle. The case ended in a mistrial in 2016, and rather than face another jury, the former North Charleston officer pleaded guilty in May to a federal charge of violating the victim's civil rights. Image copyright Reuters Image caption The dead man's mother, Judy Scott, forgave Slager in court In Thursday's sentencing, the judge ruled that Slager had acted with malice and "willful intent to provide false testimony". The judge also had the option of sentencing him for a lesser crime of voluntary manslaughter, which would have carried a sentence of 12 to 15 years. The dead man's mother, Judy Scott, told Slager in court on Thursday that she forgave him. She said she hoped he would repent and allow Jesus into his heart. Scott's brother, Anthony, said it had taken him a long time to overcome his depression and forgive Slager. Image copyright Reuters Image caption Michael Slager gestures as he testifies in his murder trial last year "I'm not angry at you, Michael," he told Slager. "I pray for you." Members of the family thanked onlooker Feidin Santana for filming the encounter. The City of North Charleston paid a $6.5m (£4.8m) settlement to the Scotts. Slager told the court on Thursday: "I wish this never would have happened. "I wish I could go back and change events, but I can't and I am very sorry for that." Slager chased Scott after pulling him over for a broken brake light. Scott, who was wanted for unpaid child support, fled the vehicle, police dashcam footage shows. Video caption Racism in the US: Is there a single step that can bring equality? A bystander's video captured Scott breaking free from Slager's grasp and running directly away from him, with his back to the officer. Slager draws his pistol and fires from about 15ft (4.5m) away, hitting Scott five times. The death took place amid US media scrutiny of police treatment of African Americans, and provoked protests by the Black Lives Matter movement. US Attorney General Jeff Sessions said in a statement: "Officers who violate anyone's rights also violate their oaths of honour. "And they tarnish the names of the vast majority of officers, who do incredible work."

House OKs small biz jobs bill NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- One week after the Senate passed a $42 billion bill aimed at helping small businesses, the House voted Thursday to send the bill to President Obama's desk. The measure, which passed the House in a 237 to 187 vote, is aimed at creating 500,000 jobs, according to a Senate summary of the bill. The Small Business Jobs Act also is intended to make credit more available for Main Street and enacts about $12 billion in tax breaks. The president will sign the bill into law on Monday. "The small business jobs bill passed today will help provide loans and cut taxes for millions of small business owners without adding a dime to our nation's deficit," said Obama in a statement. Not only is Obama under pressure to create jobs, but he started talking about getting cheap capital to small businesses nearly a year ago. The House first passed a version of the legislation about 3 months ago, but the bill met stiff Republican opposition in the Senate. After months of debate and significant pressure from the White House, the Senate finally passed the bill in a 61 to 38 vote last week. The president chided Congress for the politicking even as he celebrated the passage. "After months of partisan obstruction and needless delay, I'm grateful that Democrats and a few Republicans came together to support this common-sense plan to put Americans back to work," he said. The Financial Services Roundtable, a group of the nation's largest financial institutions, supports the bill. "Small businesses are the linchpin of our nation's economic growth and well-being," said Steve Bartlett, president of the Roundtable. Republicans have largely opposed the bill: The votes in both the House and the Senate have fallen nearly on party lines. "Unfortunately, this bill does nothing to help end the uncertainty that is crippling job creation and hurting small businesses," said House Republican Leader John Boehner, R-Ohio. "Instead it puts taxpayers on the hook for even more bailouts." What is in the bill: The Small Business Jobs Act authorizes the creation of a $30 billion fund run by the Treasury Department that would deliver ultra-cheap capital to banks with less than $10 billion in assets. The idea is that community banks do the lion's share of lending to small businesses, and pumping capital into them will get money in the hands of Main Street businesses. Another provision aims to increase the flow of capital by providing $1.5 billion in grants to state lending programs that in turn support loans to small businesses. The state programs have proven themselves to be efficient, targeted and effective, but with many states struggling to balance their budgets, the programs are going broke. The bill would also provide a slew of tax breaks that will cost $12 billion over a decade, according to a preliminary estimate from the Joint Committee on Taxation. The breaks aim to encourage small businesses to purchase new equipment, to incentivize venture capital firms to invest in small businesses, and to motivate entrepreneurs to start their own business. Another provision of the legislation increases the loan limits on government-backed loans. It also extends the popular loan sweeteners for Small Business Administration loans through the end of the year. The sweeteners, initiated with the 2009 Recovery Act, have been a ,stimulus success story, and small businesses have been in line waiting for more funding. There are quite a few tax breaks, but here is a rundown of five that have the potential to be game changers for the small businesses that are affected: 100% exclusion of capital gains: The bill would eliminate capital gains taxes on investments in qualifying small businesses. To qualify for the tax break, a small business needs to be a C corporation - sorry, LLCs and S-corps - with assets of less than $50 million. The investor must buy the stock at "original issue," meaning it's purchased directly from the company, and has to hold it for at least five years. Carry back provision extended to 5 years: When a business books a profit, it pays income tax on its earnings. But if the business then turns a loss in later years, tax rules allow the business to "carry back" its loss and deduct the money from earlier profits. By filing an amended tax return for the earlier, profitable year, the business can claim an immediate refund on the taxes it paid. The bill allows certain small businesses to extend the carryback for 5 years. Increase of Section 179: To motivate companies to go spend money on equipment, "Section 179" of the tax code allows businesses to write off capital expenditures immediately, putting cash in a company's pocket quickly. Thanks to the Recovery Act, businesses can write off up to $250,000 worth of equipment through 2009. This bill extends the benefit through 2011 and the maximum increases to $500,000. Bonus depreciation extension: Businesses can also opt to recover the cost of capital expenditures by writing off a bit of the cost of the purchase over a number of years, following a depreciation schedule. Temporarily, businesses can front-load that deduction by writing off 50% of capital expenditures made in 2008 and 2009. This bill extends that first-year depreciation for qualifying property that is put in service in 2010. Help for start-ups: Currently, entrepreneurs can deduct up to $5,000 in start-up expenses. That amount is reduced by the amount that the start-up's expenses exceed $50,000. The bill would increase the deduction to $10,000 for 2010, and the deduction would be reduced by the amount that an entrepreneur exceeds $60,000.

Blue Bunny, one of the biggest ice cream makers, is testing a line of nondairy vegan ice cream in five cities, and Dallas and Houston are on the list. The line includes four flavors — vanilla, chocolate, mint chocolate chip and mocha fudge — and can be found at all Kroger stores in Dallas and Houston. It's also being sold in Denver, Omaha and Des Moines. Company spokeswoman Deanna Dugo says the new ice cream reflects a nationwide trend. "In the current climate, nondairy alternatives are huge, whether it's a sensitivity or with more people becoming vegan," she says. The ice creams are made with almond milk, and they are cholesterol- and lactose-free. "Almond milk has become a big trend," Dugo says. "This means you can eat ice cream even if you don't do dairy." They run from 150 to 180 calories per serving — typical for supermarket-style ice cream — with 6 to 8 grams of fat, also typical. They provide 20 percent of the recommended daily allotment of calcium, which is higher than most regular ice cream. Nondairy ice cream is common at natural-food stores like Sprouts and Whole Foods Markets, who devote half their freezer case to nondairy, but it says something when it's a mainstream company like Blue Bunny. Ben & Jerry's also recently announced that it will start selling vegan ice cream in 2016. With Texas-based Blue Bell still downed following a recall of its products in April after an outbreak of listeria, the timing is good for Blue Bunny to add something new to the freezer case, especially in these parts, says Gary Huddleston, spokesman for Kroger. "Dallas-Fort Worth is a huge ice cream market, and as of a couple of weeks ago, the Blue Bunny ice creams are at all of our stores," he says.

The myth of 'mum and dad' property investors Updated Property groups want us to believe that average income earners dominate property investment and negative gearing - a closer look at the statistics shows that's a furphy, writes Michael Janda. There's no doubt that a lot of ordinary, average-income Australians own investment properties, many of which are negatively geared. If you aren't a property investor yourself, then there's a good chance you know plenty of them, and run into them incessantly at weekend barbeques, weddings, on the golf course, or at a range of other social functions. That's not surprising, because Tax Office statistics show there are almost 1.9 million individuals who declare rental income or, more typically, make rental losses. What is surprising is that, according to the Housing Industry Association, nearly three quarters of them earn a taxable income of $80,000 or less. That's one of the key justifications trotted out for maintaining the current negative gearing regime - that it overwhelmingly benefits ordinary, average-income 'mum and dad' investors. When the HIA made that claim again this week upon releasing an economic report in defence of negative gearing, it set off my bull-dust detectors big time. So I went to the source, the ATO's tax stats, to find out the truth. For those who argue that negative gearing isn't overwhelmingly the domain of society's better-off, the truth hurts. When I crunched the raw numbers, I did find that 72 per cent of investors indeed earned $80,000 or less in the latest 2011-12 figures (the discrepancy with the HIA figures being that their report used the 2010-11 stats). But this just didn't tally up with Melbourne University's widely respected Household Income and Labour Dynamics in Australia (HILDA) survey taken every four years that examines the nation's household finances in depth. Figures compiled by the Reserve Bank from that survey show that investment housing loans are, unsurprisingly, more than twice as common amongst the top fifth of highest-earning households than amongst any other income group. In its latest Financial Stability Report, the RBA's analysis of HILDA also shows that a whopping 60 per cent of investment housing debt is held by the top fifth of income earners. That got me thinking about the apparent discrepancy between the RBA data and the tax stats - such a large survey as HILDA surely couldn't have got it that wrong. An obvious issue with the HIA's use of the ATO data was that it looked at taxable income - after people take out various deductions to lower their tax bills. When I crunched the numbers, over 60,000 people with investment properties whose taxable income was $80,000 or less had total incomes above that $80,000 threshold. That takes the HIA's claimed 74 per cent, which is 72 per cent on the latest data, further down to 68 per cent. But more than two thirds of landlords earning under $80,000 a year still seemed way too high in light of other evidence. That's when I found the ATO's Excel tables that look at what taxable and total incomes people have declared who collect rent from investment properties. Almost 74,000 people who declare rental income or losses have a total income of less than $0 - that's right, they either live on nothing or have other means of paying the bills that don't have to be declared to the ATO. Speaking to tax experts, including Chartered Accountants Australia and New Zealand's Michael Croker and UNSW's Professor Peter Swan, there are a few unverifiable possibilities as to who these people might be. They could be people who own a property, are losing money on it, but are living off their partners' incomes; they could be people living off savings whose rental losses outweigh any investment income they earn; they could be superannuants drawing on now non-taxed drawdowns and pension streams; maybe they have some sophisticated trust structures which mean they can pay the bills while apparently earning no money. Or they could be foreign investors. Rental income or losses are the only earnings that non-resident foreign property investors are likely to have to declare to the Australian Tax Office, as their wages, profits or other investment earnings are likely to be sourced overseas. Separate ATO data show 50,600 non-residents declared rental income in 2011-12, of which almost all (49,520) earned $80,000 or less in Australia. So take them out of the HIA figures and you are now down to 65.7 per cent. That's already a fair bit less than three-quarters, but still more than the HILDA figures would seem to suggest. However, on top of the 74,000 negative income earners, there are another quarter of a million people declaring rental income or losses who have total incomes below $20,000. Again, it is highly unlikely that these people could survive if that was their genuine income level, let alone service the mortgages that the 116,000 of them who are negatively geared have. Completely removing all double counting, if we exclude these people as well, that takes the proportion of landlords earning $80,000 or less down to around 60 per cent - certainly closer to the truth, but probably still overstating the true situation. The very reason that many housing investors fall below the $80,000 threshold is because they have used negative gearing to slash their tax bill. That's because the ATO's measure of "total income" includes net, not gross, rent - that is, rental earnings or losses after deductions such as interest payments have already been removed. The very reason that many housing investors fall below the $80,000 threshold is because they have used negative gearing to slash their tax bill. The net result of all these calculations could be boiled down to a 'fact check' of the HIA's statement, and the outcome would be 'massively overstated'. The vagaries of what is counted as income for tax purposes, and of tax deductibility, mean that it is impossible to be sure exactly how many landlords really earn less than $80,000 per year. One other interesting fact from the ATO's figures is that the average 'total income' of Australian taxpayers was $55,000. That means that on the way the tax office calculates 'total income' - looking at net rent and net capital gains, and excluding non-taxable items - someone on $80,000 is already a relatively high income earner. Income by itself is also an incomplete measure of whether these are 'average' Australians - wealth is just as important as income when considering the equality of tax measures. Many of the sub-$80,000 income earners are self-funded retirees who may own several investment properties, and possibly have a substantial share portfolio or bank balance as well. Their incomes may be below $80,000 in any given year, but they have the option to liquidate those assets at will to fund their retirement lifestyle. Given that superannuation drawdowns aren't counted either, it is certain that many of these superannuants are exactly the "so-called wealthy investors" that the HIA claims the tax figures show are so few in number. A lot of this group may no longer be utilising negative gearing, but it will have undoubtedly assisted them in building up the assets that will give them a comfortable retirement. For all these reasons, the HILDA data - used extensively by the Reserve Bank - is a much more reliable measure than the Tax Office data on what type of household gets by far the biggest benefit from negative gearing, and it ain't the poor. Michael Janda is an online business reporter with the ABC. View his full profile here. Topics: housing, housing-industry, tax First posted

The partition of Quebec refers to the secession of regions of the province of Quebec, rather than to partitions in a strict political sense. It is usually discussed as a possibility in the event of Quebec secession from Canada. It was not a key issue in either the 1980 Referendum on Quebec Sovereignty or the 1995 Referendum on Quebec Sovereignty, but dominated the politics of national unity for about two years in the aftermath of the second referendum. Since then, the issue has occasionally resurfaced (for example in the 2007 provincial election). Partition proposals [ edit ] What area would an independent Quebec occupy? That of the Province as it is today without any territorial waters? That of 1867 i.e., the territory without the 1898 and 1912 annexes? That of 1984 with the addition of Newfoundland's Labrador? A.-L. Sanguin, 1984[1] Broadly speaking, partition proposals have tended to fall into three categories: 1. New borders based on a return to historical boundaries that predate the Confederation of 1867. Provinces of Canada at Confederation in 1867 The logic here is that the separation of Quebec would represent an end to a constitutional deal in which Quebec was granted stewardship over certain lands which would revert to their former sovereign owners if Quebec were to leave Canada. For example, in his 1991 book Who Gets Ungava?, David Varty notes that the northern two-thirds of Quebec’s current territory had formerly been a part of the lands owned by the Hudson's Bay Company, and that it had been transferred to Quebec by means of two Acts of the Canadian Parliament, in 1898 and 1912 respectively. For this reason, if Quebec were to secede, the transfer would be legally void: Quebec was a province of Canada at the time that the Ungava territory was transferred to Quebec’s jurisdiction... Had Quebec been moving to become an independent country, the transfer of jurisdiction would not have taken place. There was an implied condition that the Province of Quebec was going to remain part of Canada. Any attempt to move to independence would constitute a breach of that implied condition attached to the transfer.[2] 2. New borders that would create a ‘land bridge’ between New Brunswick and Ontario This could be set up to prevent Canada’s remaining nine provinces from being split into two non-contiguous chunks of territory separated by about 300 miles (480 km) of foreign (Quebec) soil. The term sometimes used for this eventuality is "Pakistanisation",[1] in reference to the way in which East Pakistan and West Pakistan were separated by hundreds of miles of foreign soil, following independence in 1947, with East Pakistan eventually separating and becoming its own country, Bangladesh, in 1971. The fear is that Canada would be unworkable if its four Atlantic provinces were to become an exclave. 3. New borders based on the preferences of local populations. The logic of this approach is that, if Quebecers as a whole have the right to determine by majority vote whether to separate from Canada, then by extension the residents of regions within Quebec ought to be accorded the same right to separate from Quebec and to remain within Canada. The areas of Quebec that have been mentioned as likely to choose to remain in Canada include predominantly English-speaking municipalities on the western part of the Island of Montreal, Northern Quebec, the Eastern Townships and the Pontiac region in the Outaouais.[ citation needed ] In his 1992 book Canada Remapped: How the Partition of Quebec Will Reshape the Nation, Scott Reid argues in favour of partition as determined by local populations and largely dismisses the first two lines of thought on partition listed above. History of the Partition debate [ edit ] The partition movement dates from May 1976, when William Shaw, a candidate for the leadership of the Union Nationale, proposed the idea in a series of interviews with journalists. Writing several years later, Shaw recounted one of these interviews: "I said to the journalist at that time, ‘I want to introduce a new word into the lexicon of Canadian politics—PARTITION. The threat of partition will prevent separation.’"[3] In December 1976, an organization called the "Preparatory Committee for an Eleventh Province" was formed in Montreal. This group contained some individuals who believed, along with Shaw, that the threat of a partition in which some parts of Quebec would remain within Canada would weaken support for separation. Other members of the Preparatory Committee sought to create a new province out of the linguistically mixed parts of Quebec even if Quebec were to remain in Canada, in order to create a new, bilingual province.[4] This faction within the early partition movement bears some resemblance to the movements that have arisen from time to time in parts of some Canadian provinces to break away and form new provinces. For example, also in the 1970s, there was a movement, led by the Parti Acadien, to create a new Acadian province out of northern New Brunswick. Shortly before the 1980 referendum on Quebec secession, Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau remarked, "Si le Canada est divisible, le Québec doit être aussi divisible."[5] (This translates as, "If Canada is divisible, Quebec must also be divisible.") Apparently taking their inspiration from this statement,[6] Shaw and co-author Lionel Albert had published a book on the subject by the end of the year. Partition: The Price of Quebec’s Independence outlined a plan for the excision of three slices of territory from a newly independent Quebec republic: Shaw and Albert calculated that the resulting independent Quebec republic would contain somewhat less than one-quarter of the province’s total landmass, have a population of around 2.9 million, and would be about 97% French-speaking. The parts remaining in Canada would contain over three million residents, of whom about two-thirds would be French-speaking. But they also seem to have believed that their scenario would never play out. As they put it, "Such a country will not be proclaimed—ever. The French-Canadian people would not have it. They would rather have a large province than a small country. That is why separation will not happen."[10] The Grand Council of the Crees and the Inuit of Nunavik in Northern Quebec have both expressed that they will keep their lands in Canada should Quebec secede, invoking international laws that guarantee their right to self-determination. In 1995, a Cree referendum voted 95% in favour of staying in Canada should Quebec secede. Following the narrow loss by the separatist side in the October 1995 referendum on secession, there was a widespread belief that another referendum would be held in the near future. For this reason, potential players began to take actions that would strengthen their positions in the coming unity crisis.[11] Forty-three municipal councils in Quebec, including many on the western part of the Island of Montreal, passed resolutions expressing their will to stay in Canada.[12] In 1997, Denzil Spence, the mayor of Allumette Island, a small west Quebec municipality on the Ontario border, approached the county councils in several nearby Ontario counties with the following pro-partition resolution which had previously been endorsed by Quebec's Equality Party: Resolved: Regardless of the outcome of any referendum on the independence of Quebec conducted by the government of the province of Quebec, the Government of Canada guarantee forthwith the rights of loyal citizens of Canada, where they form the majority in any provincial riding in Quebec, to remain citizens of Canada, territorially part of the Canadian nation and people, one and indivisible.[13] Between March and August 1997, the resolution was endorsed by county councils in Renfrew County, Frontenac County, Lanark County, and Stormont, Dundas and Glengarry United Counties, but it was rejected by the council of Prescott-Russell County.[14] A similar resolution, circulated by a group called the Quebec Committee for Canada, was endorsed by New Brunswick premier Frank McKenna in early summer 1997, and shortly afterwards by New Brunswick's Union of Municipalities, representing about 40 predominantly anglophone municipal councils. However the parallel francophone organization, the Association of New Brunswick Municipalities, rejected the partition resolution.[15] Quebec Premier Lucien Bouchard responded to Premier McKenna's letter of endorsement with a letter of his own, defending Quebec's right to secede with its territory intact. This in turn provoked an open letter from federal Intergovernmental Affairs Minister Stéphane Dion, arguing that partition was a legitimate option. Finally, on August 14, Quebec's deputy premier, Bernard Landry, responded with an open letter in Le Droit, accusing partitionists of being anti-democratic. Shortly after these events, the sovereigntist provincial government of Premier Bouchard enacted a law forcing many of Quebec's municipalities to merge — and in particular, forcing all of the small non-francophone municipalities on the Island of Montreal to become part of a single francophone-majority municipality covering the entire island. Montreal Gazette columnist Henry Aubin observed shortly afterwards that "many sovereigntists hoped that the merger would boost French and stymie partition.", ignoring the fact that municipalities have no constitutional powers and belong to the province.[16] Arguments against partition [ edit ] Quebec sovereigntists and federalist Quebec nationalists generally oppose partition. Partition is chiefly supported by the argument of the right of territorial integrity (intégrité térritoriale) of Quebec. A number of arguments have been advanced in defence of this position. 1. International law guarantees the territorial integrity of Quebec. The most precise expression of the argument that international law would guarantee a sovereign Quebec’s right to its current boundaries was given, in 1992, from the Bélanger-Campeau Commission, by a panel of international law experts (Thomas Franck, Rosalyn Higgins, Alain Pellet, Malcolm Shaw, Christian Tomuschat) commissioned by the government of Quebec in the aftermath of the failed Meech Lake Accord. They responded to the following two questions on the territorial integrity and the potential partition of an independent Quebec, which were posed by a special commission of the Quebec National Assembly: Question No. 1: “Assuming that Quebec were to attain sovereignty, would the boundaries of a sovereign Quebec remain the same as its present boundaries, including the territories attributed to Quebec under the federal legislation of 1898 and 1912, or would they be those of the Province of Quebec at the time of the creation of the Canadian Federation in 1867?” Question No 2: “Assuming that Quebec were to attain sovereignty, would international law enforce the principle of territorial integrity (or uti possidetis) over any claims aiming to dismember the territory of Quebec, and more particularly: “(a) claims of the Natives of Quebec invoking the right to self-determination within the meaning of international law; “(b) claims of the anglophone minority, particularly in respect of those regions of Quebec in which this minority is concentrated; “(c) claims of the inhabitants of certain border regions of Quebec, regardless of ethnic origin?" The panelists answered with their opinions as follows: Answer No. 1: “If Quebec were to attain independence, the borders of a sovereign Quebec would be its present boundaries and would include the territories attributed to Quebec by the federal legislation of 1898 and 1912, unless otherwise agreed to by the province before independence, or as between the two States thereafter.” Answer No. 2: “If Quebec were to attain independence, the principle of legal continuity (absence of a vacuum juris) would allow the territorial integrity of Quebec, guaranteed both by Canadian constitutional law and public international law, to be asserted over any claims aimed at dismembering the territory of Quebec, whether they stem from: “- the Natives of Quebec, who enjoy all the rights belonging to minorities, in addition to those recognized in indigenous peoples by present-day international law, but without giving rise to the right to secede; “- the anglophone minority for whom the protection provided by international law has no territorial effect; or “- persons residing in certain border regions of Quebec, who, as such, enjoy no particular protection under international law." “These conclusions are reinforced by the applicability of the principle of the succession to the existing territorial limits at the time of independence.”[17] This line of argumentation is supported by "Uti possidetis juris" which states, as per customary international law, that newly formed sovereign states should have the same borders that their preceding dependent area had before their independence.[18] 2. Quebec is a nation, and therefore it has the collective right to be an independent nation-state, and also a collective right not to be partitioned or divided. There may be corollaries to this argument. First, Canada including French-speaking and English-speaking Canadians would be considered not to be a nation, and hence its territorial integrity does not warrant the protection given under international law to the existing borders of nation-states. Second, the fact that English-speaking Canadians living in Quebec are linked by language to another nation (the rest of Canada) does not mean that they have the right to remain within Canada in their homes if the province secedes. This was the argument presented by Premier Lucien Bouchard when he stated, on January 27, 1996, that "Canada is not a real country." This argument is also based in international law, more specifically Section b. of Article XI of the Charter of the United Nations, stating: "Members of the United Nations which have or assume responsibilities for the administration of territories whose peoples have not yet attained a full measure of self-government recognize the principle that the interests of the inhabitants of these territories are paramount, and accept as a sacred trust the obligation to promote to the utmost, within the system of international peace and security established by the present Charter, the well-being of the inhabitants of these territories, and, to this end: [...] b. to develop self-government, to take due account of the political aspirations of the peoples, and to assist them in the progressive development of their free political institutions, according to the particular circumstances of each territory and its peoples and their varying stages of advancement; [...]"[19] Worded otherwise, this means that Quebec, as a distinct nation, has the right to aspirations to form a sovereign state, as well as the right to be supported by the Federal government in this endeavor. Gérald Larose, the president of the Confederation of National Trade Unions, used this argument to explain why he referred to partition proposals as "racist": "Asked why he calls the partition movement racist, Larose said, 'cutting up a territory, wherever it's done in the world, is a racist project. They cut according to the backyard and the sidewalks of people, according to their race. This is a racist project.' Asked why this does not apply to the sovereigntist project and Canada, he said, 'There is not one people in Canada. There are two peoples. Quebec is a people and Canada is another people and we have our territory. That is why Canada is divisible, Quebec un-divisible.'"[20] This argument has also been supported by francophones in provinces outside of Quebec. In the two-year period following the 1995 referendum, when many municipal councils in Ontario and New Brunswick were passing resolutions endorsing the right of individual municipalities within Quebec to leave the province and rejoin Canada, the "partition resolution" was rejected by almost all French-majority municipalities in the two provinces. In the mostly French-speaking Ottawa suburb of Vanier, the council approved the resolution, and later rescinded its approval. Mayor Guy Cousineau explained this reversal to a newspaper reporter by stating "I had letters and calls from many francophones in Nepean, Gloucester, and on the Quebec side." He went on to explain, "We must show solidarity for 'la francophonie' from one ocean to the other. Not just here in Ontario, not just in Quebec, but everywhere in Canada…. Now, it's very clear and certain that we're not in favour of Quebec separation, but there are better ways to encourage Quebecers to remain in Canada."[21] 3. Partition is based on the undemocratic assumption that Quebec is not divisible as long as it is voting "No" to secession, but that it is divisible as soon as it votes "Yes." In 1997, future Parti Québécois leader Bernard Landry expressed this point of view when he wrote, "The partitionists argue that 'No' voters should have more rights than 'Yes' voters. In 1980 and again in 1995, sovereigntist voters accepted with good grace the majority decision. According to the partitionists, some 'No' voters could ignore democracy, refuse the verdict and change the rules of the game. This would be an intolerable injustice…. [Do] you think that the towns or the regions that voted 'Yes' in 1980 and in 1995 also have the right to break themselves away from Canada? Surely not."[22] As an example of what ex-premier Bernard Landry explained, it can be established that after the Quebec Referendum of 1995 where the Yes vote lost by a margin of about 0.5% (49.42% Yes, 50.58% No), no attempts to partition were made by the "Yes" voter base, in respect of the referendum. It is an argument based less on legal grounds, and more on moral grounds. 4. Partition is an impractical solution, or is being proposed insincerely even by its advocates. This argument has been advanced by Raymond Villeneuve, a founding member of the FLQ and leader of the Mouvement de libération nationale du Québec (MLNQ), who says, "They're always threatening us, always, always. Whether it's Brent Tyler, Stephen Scott, William Johnson, William Shaw or whoever. And they're very subtle about it. They say that if we want to divide Canada, then they'll divide Quebec. And they make it sound as though people will accept it. Their real objective is to scare people, but they say, 'We don't want violence. We just won't pay our taxes. We'll use civil disobedience.' " There is merit in Villeneuve's characterization of partition as being primarily an argument designed to encourage Quebecers to vote against separation in any future referendum on separation. Trudeau's 1980 observation that if Canada is divisible, Quebec is also divisible, was made on the eve of a referendum in which he was attempting to encourage voters to cast their ballots against secession. The first book on the subject, and the one which gave its name to the movement, was 1980's Partition, the Price of Quebec's Independence, by Lionel Albert and William Shaw. The title of this book makes clear its intention to use the threat of territorial losses to dissuade Quebecers from voting in favour of secession. Stephen Scott was even more direct about his intention to use the threat of partition as a means of preventing separation altogether: "Partition is to Quebec nationalists like rats for Winston Smith in George Orwell's novel 1984 — it is the ultimate fear. That is the only thing they have ever been afraid of: the disintegration of their territory."[23] By the time of the second referendum on secession, in 1995, not all partition arguments were designed with the intention of causing Quebecers to vote against independence. The referendums by Quebec's Cree and Inuit populations in the days prior to the province's referendum seem to have been designed not to serve as a threat, but rather to provide a clear basis on which to actually carry out the separation of these territories from Quebec, in the event of a provincewide majority in favour of secession. 5. Partition is illegal due to municipalities being entities created by the Quebec National Assembly and therefore, the municipalities cannot hold referendum on separations, because they don't have any constitutional powers. The fact that municipalities don't have constitutional powers is recognised by the constitution act: "The Constitution Act, 1867 established the parameters of current federal and provincial relationships with municipalities. Section 92 of the Act sets out the exclusive powers of provincial legislatures in 16 areas, with section 92(8) giving the legislature of each province exclusive responsibility for making laws relating to that province’s municipal institutions. [...] Because local governments are legally subordinate to provincial governments, the only sources of authority and revenue available to municipalities are those that are specifically granted by provincial legislation."[24] 6. Partition is not allowed without the consent of the affected provinces. Section 43 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms explicitly states that “any alterations to boundaries between provinces […] only where so authorized by resolutions […] of the legislative assembly of each province to which the amendment applies”[25] Popular support / opposition [ edit ] No polling was done on the subject of partition prior to the 1995 referendum on secession, so it is difficult to guess at levels of support. However, during the years following the referendum, a number of polls were conducted, asking Canadians their views on the subject. Different questions sometimes elicited different responses, but certain patterns could nevertheless be distinguished: Support for partition was relatively low when people were asked, simply, if they favoured “partition” as a concept, but rose rapidly when the pollsters asked whether people or regions should be allowed to choose whether to remain in Canada. For example, one poll published in late September 1997 reported that when Quebecers were asked, “Are you for or against partition?” only 34.4% supported the idea. In another poll conducted at almost the same time, 60% of Quebecers answered “yes” when asked, “Do you believe that any regions of Quebec which want to remain part of Canada have the right to do so?”[26] Within Quebec, opinion was about evenly divided as to whether parts of the province that wish to remain within Canada should be permitted to do so. However, outside Quebec, a decisive majority believed that parts of Quebec which wish to remain Canadian should be permitted to do so. In a poll conducted five months after the referendum, 48% of Quebecers responded “yes”, and 45% “no” to the question, “If Quebec becomes sovereign, do you think regions of Quebec should have the right to remain part of Canada?” In the rest of Canada, 75% answered “yes” and only 23% answered “no.”[27] In a 1997 poll, 56% of Quebecers and 80% of non-Quebecers felt that “regions” of Quebec should “have the right to stay in Canada” if Quebec were to secede.[28] Both inside and outside Quebec, there tended to be opposition to any option that hinted of the use of force to settle territorial issues. The strongest opposition to partition came in the answers to a 1996 poll in which respondents were asked whether it would be acceptable “for groups within Quebec to partition the territory and separate from Quebec.” Only 66% of non-Quebecers said this option was acceptable (about 10 - 15% below support levels in other polls), and it was supported by only 25% of Quebecers. Significantly, survey respondents had first been asked whether they agreed with the statement, “If Quebec votes to leave Canada, the federal government should use force to make it stay,” and it seems likely that many survey respondents associated partition with the use of force.[29] Among both Quebecers and non-Quebecers, support was higher for giving the right to self-determination to Quebec’s aboriginals, than it was for giving the same right to non-aboriginals who might want to remain within Canada. For example, in a 1997 poll, 75% of Quebecers and 92% of non-Quebecers agreed that the Cree and Inuit regions of northern Quebec “have the right to stay in Canada.”[30] A 1999 poll showed that 72% of Quebecers found it reasonable that “northern regions with an aboriginal majority could stay in Canada”, while only 49% were willing to accord the same right to regions where a majority had voted No to separation.[31] No major political party in Quebec supports partition, including federalist parties. Provincial election of 2007 [ edit ] During the Quebec provincial election of 2007, Liberal Premier Jean Charest stated that while he personally was opposed to partition, it would emerge as an issue if Quebec voted to secede from Canada.[32] Political rivals Mario Dumont (Action démocratique du Québec) and Andre Boisclair (Parti Québécois) criticized this. Pierre-Karl Péladeau 2015 [ edit ] On 26 November 2015, PQ leader Pierre-Karl Péladeau created controversy when he implied First Nations and other groups could negotiate succession from an independent Quebec. This went against his party's longstanding position than an independent Quebec's borders would remain the same. He later retracted his statement, saying negotiations with First Nations would take place within the context of Quebec's current territory.[33] See also [ edit ] References [ edit ]

An Iqaluit man has taken advantage of Amazon's free shipping to the city to make food donations to local schools. Now he wants to expand his giving to other schools throughout Nunavut's Baffin Island region. "The need's not going away," said Michael Murphy of the high local food prices that have driven him to ditch his shopping cart for his computer mouse. 'At the post office ... there was a section that was called 'Michael's Section'' says Murphy. (CBC) Since November Murphy has shipped $7,000 worth of food to several schools in Iqaluit. He started in November 2015 by asking for donations to help pay for breakfast and lunch programs and food hampers at the schools. He bought all the food — peanut butter, cereal, soup, breakfast bars — on Amazon.ca or Amazon.com. "That's where you get the best buying power," Murphy said. Free shipping key to program Amazon.ca charges substantial shipping fees to shoppers living outside of the Nunavut capital. What it costs on Amazon to ship 12 cans of Campbell's chicken noodle soup to Pond Inlet, Nunavut. The same order can be shipped for free to Iqaluit. (CBC) Someone from Pond Inlet ordering a dozen 284-millilitre cans of Campbell's chicken noodle soup would have to pay $121 in shipping and handling fees — 12 times the cost of the soup. But someone placing the same order from Iqaluit has the option of choosing free shipping or slightly faster free shipping using a $79-a-year Amazon Prime account, which is what Murphy has. "If Amazon ever changes the shipping to Iqaluit, we would be hurting up here," he said. "Our dollar doesn't go very far." Expanding to other communities Murphy's next goal is to ship food to other Baffin Island communities — like Pond Inlet, which is a two-and-a-half hour plane ride from Iqaluit — where free Amazon shipping is not an option. But he knows that, once the items arrive in Iqaluit, shipping them himself to the other communities will be pricey. "I'm exploring other avenues for when I start up in the fall to see if I can get it on gratis on a plane to go up there," he said. Sylvain Charlebois, professor of agriculture at Dalhousie University. (CBC) Murphy is also talking to schools in the Toronto District School Board about auctioning off art depicting life in the North made by Nunavut schoolchildren, as a way to raise money for shipping outside of Iqaluit. "If anything the need has just gotten worse and it's not going to go away," he said of those communities. Sylvain Charlebois, a professor at Dalhousie University's Faculty of Agriculture, says Amazon has the potential to fight food insecurity in the North thanks to the company's sheer size and its ability to keep food prices low and stable. "Amazon could actually allow many people to have access to not only good food, but many people up North could actually have access to affordable food as well," he said.

FORMER Brisbane Lions captain Jed Adcock is determined to extend his career at another club, believing he has at least three years of football left in him. The Lions informed the 29-year-old last month they would not renew his contract beyond this season after 12 years and more than 200 games with the club. But a match-winning four-goal and 21-disposal effort in the Lions' surprise victory over the Western Bulldogs has left Adcock even more certain he can play on for several more years. "I was pretty confident throughout the whole year that my future next year was going to be pretty good, so it came as a fair shock when I got told at the end of the year that I'd be moving on," Adcock told AFL.com.au. "I felt like my form as a defender was really good, and I definitely felt that I'd done enough. "I still feel like I've got three or four really good years of footy left in me. I'm only 29. I'm excited by the opportunity to move on and see what's next for me." Adcock was the longest serving Lion on the club's list in 2015, was co-captain with Jonathan Brown in 2013 and took on the reins solely in 2014 before the role was handed to teammate Tom Rockliff. Adcock said he spoke with coach Justin Leppitsch about two weeks before the end of the season and was delivered the news he would not be at the club in 2016. "It was a weird meeting. It was just me and 'Leppa', and Leppa felt that my form had dropped a little bit," he said. "But it was more that he was worried that my body had given way more than anything and that my pace was down and change of direction not as good. I found that a bit hard to believe." Adcock said the ensuing final rounds of the season were difficult knowing he would soon be packing up his locker and departing, describing it as "a kick in the guts". "But it was really important for me to play well, because I've not got to go out and prove to other teams they should be picking me up and that I do have three good years left in me," he said. "I'm hoping on the weekend some teams were able to see that." Adcock's credentials are strong. He has been durable – playing 20 or more games in the past five seasons – and will be able to start next pre-season on day one after not requiring off-season surgery. He has had two top-three finishes in the club's best and fairest (in 2005 and 2007) and was an All Australian nominee in 2007. He will also be eligible as a delisted free agent, allowing clubs to consider signing him without having to go through the trade process. "They know me as a defender but having that flexibility and going both ends of the ground is only going to help me find a club next year," Adcock said. "Hopefully it's not a hard sell but I imagine what will happen is there's probably bigger priorities they're trying to get at the moment and I'll fall through after that." Adcock and his young family are prepared to move anywhere for another AFL opportunity, having already considered it likely they would leave Queensland after his career at the Lions ended. He has been developing his skills as part of the Next Coach Program run by respected football assistant coach David Wheadon, and hopes to get into a position as soon as his playing career ends. "It's probably made me think about footy in a few different ways, but in a lot of ways my beliefs about coaching are the same as his," Adcock said. "The more I've done it the more I've enjoyed it. There as aspects I've got to do a bit more work on but there are other aspects which I feel right across." While speculation had dogged the Lions in recent weeks about unrest with some players and their coach – including midfielder Jack Redden who wants to be traded out of the club – Adcock said he had a good relationship with Leppitsch. "It was never going to be an easy conversation with a 12-year player who has captained the side. It was never going to be easy for him," he said. "I respect that he was able to tell me face-to-face where he thought my footy was at. It's fine, that's footy and I understand it's a business and sometimes you have to make the tough calls. "This opens another opportunity for me and we're really excited to find out what that will be and I can play some good footy at another club."

Arena South District redevelopment 8 Gallery: Arena South District redevelopment GRAND RAPIDS, MI – The parking lots south of the Van Andel Arena need more pedestrian connections, green spaces and buildings for people to work, live and shop in, according to a “visioning plan” presented to the Downtown Development Authority Wednesday, April 10. The seven-week study yielded a series of drawings that propose replacing freeway exits and parking lots in the Arena South District with new buildings, some of which would wrap around parking structures. Tom Nemitz, an architect who led the “visioning” effort, said the suggestions gained from meeting with residents and stakeholders in the area, concluded the “South Arena District” should establish “street grids” that end the US-131 off ramp at Cherry Street rather than Oakes Street. One option called for a tree-lined boulevard leading to Oakes Street while another option called for the creation of a park-like plaza connected to Oakes Street. While the DDA did not act on any of the plans, it voted to approve the five priorities established by the study. Those goals included: • Growing business and economic opportunities • Greening streets, buildings and public spaces • Building compact urban blocks that are densely developed and designed for people • Connecting transit, shops, restaurants, hotels, schools and the Grand River • Living and engaging in a multi-season inclusive environment. Mayor George Heartwell urged the planners to consider the needs of low-income residents in the neighborhood. Heartwell also encouraged the planners to consider mass transit options as an alternative to replacing the parking spots that will be lost with redevelopment. em>E-mail Jim Harger: and follow him on Twitter at

Live concert I recorded and released on tape years ago. Original pressing was limited to 25 and they were all given out at Brattfest. For sale now is a copy from my personal archives. Very rare cover songs and one unreleased song. Won't find these recordings anywhere else! Please note the sound quality isn't the greatest as it was recorded live straight to cassette. Track listing: 1. New Mexico song (part) 2. Free as the rent we don't pay (part) 3. Whiskey is my kind of lullaby 4. DIY orgasms 5. Where is my coffee 6. Green St. 7. Wagon wheel 8. Harmony parking lot song 9. Acid song 10. Color in your cheeks 11. Going to Georgia 12. This year 13. Tampa Bay song 14. Fuck cops intro, into Skaggy 15. No trespassing waltz 16. Crackhouse song 17. Sellout song

Canberra's proposed lockout laws ditched by ACT Government Updated The ACT Government has scrapped its proposed bar and nightclub lockout laws in the face of opposition from the Greens, businesses and the community. The Government was considering enforcing a 3:00am closing time or increasing fees for businesses selling alcohol after that time. The proposal was aimed at reducing the amount of alcohol-fuelled violence in Canberra. But similar changes introduced in Sydney have been widely condemned by business owners and patrons. On Tuesday the Greens announced they would not support the changes, effectively blocking the proposal. "The Greens didn't support restrictions on trading hours because we want Canberra to have a thriving night time economy," ACT Greens MLA Shane Rattenbury said. "It would shut down opportunities for nightlife and entertainment in Canberra, when in fact we should be moving in the other direction. "Dealing with alcohol-related harms is important, but we don't need to do it by curbing Canberra's nightlife. "We can have safety and entertainment at the same time." Emphasise on smaller venues and transport: Rattenbury Mr Rattenbury said he believed there were other ways to reduce street violence. "We believe an emphasise on smaller bars, restaurants and live music is one of the key issues to addressing alcohol-fuelled violence," he said. "So there are options for people to go out and be entertained without having to just drink alcohol. "Certainly having good transport options for people to get home at the end of the night safely is another important part of maximising the ability for people to go out without getting involved in alcohol-related violence." Chief Minister Andrew Barr denied he had been "rolled" by the Greens. "Well without me it wasn't going to get up and I didn't support it and that was the most important factor in the decision," he told 666 ABC Canberra. "I'm not going to go through in great detail the position of each individual Cabinet minister, but suffice to say the Attorney-General [Simon Corbell] put forward a discussion paper and it had the support of all of his colleagues." But Mr Barr said community and Cabinet response to a possible 3:00am closing time was mixed. "The issue here is to what extent does the poor behaviour of a very small number of people dictate a response that impacts very negatively on a much larger number of people," he said. Attorney-General Simon Corbell said the Government would continue to work with police and venues to reduce street violence. "There is no place in our city for alcohol-fuelled violence and we will continue to work to keep our streets safe," he said. The Government will continue to introduce legislation later this year that will include initiative to "lower licence fees for lower risk venues and red tape reduction for cafes". Topics: music, health, alcohol, community-and-society, states-and-territories, canberra-2600, act First posted

Ribbon Profile Blog Joined April 2010 United States 5278 Posts Last Edited: 2011-07-19 08:06:12 #1 Are you a nerd? Are you a slob? Do you have a girly screen name on Team Liquid? If you answered any of these questions, there's only one thing can salvage your life BUFFCRAFT! HUAH! You see, I know a lotta y'all wanna spread the word of e-sports, but how you gonna get taken seriously if you look like the sterotypical gaming nerd. Y'aint, t's how. In order for our fandom to be taken seriously by today's materialist culture, we must be more than devoted, funny, and all around cool people. The Starcraft 2 fandom must be known o'er the land as the fandom with the ROCK! HARD! ABS! Huah! Rules When you're a real man (or real woman, as they case may be. Muscles are not a patriarchy, they're a pec-riachry), you make your own rules. Here's what they are: 1. You gotta ladder, bro. How you gonna be taken serious as a Starcraft 2 player if you don't ladder. That's common sense. 2. When you win a game, reward yourself by doing a manly act of your choice. Flex! Punch something! Headbutt a tree! What matters is that you stay pumped 3. But when you LOOOOOSE, that's when you need to earn back the right to play. 3a. If you lose a macro game, you need to do 10 crunches OR 10 jumping jacks OR ten push-ups 3b. If you lose to cheese, you need to do 25 crunches, jumping jacks, OR push-ups 3c. If you yourself are the cheeser and still you lose, you must do 30 crunches, jumping jacks, or push-ups 4. After payin' your dues, you can rest if you feel you feel you need to. Play when you're ready, don't actually hurt yourself. We don't judge you...out loud. 5. If you wanna keep track of your weight-loss and share the results with the thread, fucking go for it, bro. If you want to keep it to yourself, that is also dude. The goal is self-improvement through self-indudement. 6. Buffcraft is not a substitute for an actual exercise regime. I'm not a doctah. Go see one before starting this program if you feel the need, due a medical condition, pregnancy, or anything like that. Remember, the most important rule is to get a little healthier and manlier (or womanlier!) while having fun playing Starcraft 2. Anything in accordance with that rule is not only allowed, but encouraged. You think you can have more fun adding "flex and then yell" at 50 food in your build order. Fucking do it. You wanna ladder dressed as David Coverdale from the band Whitesnake? Huah! And if you get flex and crunch your way to Masters, then you're just goddamn winning at everything. EDITED: A lot of y'all in the thread thing that the Buffcraft regime is insufficiently masculine. I'm proud of you for recognizing that more can be done. You wanna participate, and you think you can handle MORE than the vanilla pansy-ass version of Buffcraft. Post your alternative regimen in the thread, and keep us updated as you step up further. But remember, lying causes your secondary sexual organs to shrink to the size of raisins. And nobody likes raisins. Ribbon Win: Having crushed my enemy and seeing him driven before me, I imagine the lamentations of his women. Lose a macro game: 25 crunches. 25 jumping jacks Lose to cheese: 25 crunches, 25 jumping jacks, 10 push-ups Fail at committing cheese: 25 crunches, 25 jumping jacks, 20 push-ups. However, Ribbon does not cheese, and thus never has to face this punishment. Are you a nerd?Are you a slob?Do you have a girly screen name on Team Liquid?If you answered any of these questions, there's only one thing can salvage your lifeYou see, I know a lotta y'all wanna spread the word of e-sports, but how you gonna get taken seriously if you look like the sterotypical gaming nerd. Y'aint, t's how.In order for our fandom to be taken seriously by today's materialist culture, we must be more than devoted, funny, and all around cool people. The Starcraft 2 fandom must be known o'er the land as the fandom with theHuah!When you're a(or, as they case may be. Muscles are not a patriarchy, they're a pec-riachry), you make your own rules. Here's what they are:1. You gotta ladder, bro. How you gonna be taken serious as a Starcraft 2 player if you don't ladder. That's common sense.2. When you win a game, reward yourself by doing a manly act of your choice. Flex! Punch something! Headbutt a tree! What matters is that you stay3. But when you, that's when you need toback the right to play.3a. If you lose a macro game, you need to do 10 crunches OR 10 jumping jacks OR ten push-ups3b. If you lose to cheese, you need to do 25 crunches, jumping jacks, OR push-ups3c. If you yourself are the cheeser and still you lose, you must do 30 crunches, jumping jacks, or push-ups4. After payin' your dues, you can rest if you feel you feel you need to. Play when you're ready, don't actually hurt yourself. We don't judge you...out loud.5. If you wanna keep track of your weight-loss and share the results with the thread, fucking go for it, bro. If you want to keep it to yourself, that is also dude. The goal is self-improvement through self-indudement.6. Buffcraft is not a substitute for an actual exercise regime. I'm not a doctah. Go see one before starting this program if you feel the need, due a medical condition, pregnancy, or anything like that.Remember, the most important rule is to get a little healthier and manlier (or womanlier!) while having fun playing Starcraft 2. Anything in accordance with that rule is not only allowed, but encouraged. You think you can have more fun adding "flex and then yell" at 50 food in your build order. Fucking do it. You wanna ladder dressed as David Coverdale from the band Whitesnake? Huah!And if you get flex and crunch your way to Masters, then you're just goddamn winning at everything.EDITED:A lot of y'all in the thread thing that the Buffcraft regime is insufficiently masculine. I'm proud of you for recognizing that more can be done. You wanna participate, and you think you can handle MORE than the vanilla pansy-ass version of Buffcraft. Post your alternative regimen in the thread, and keep us updated as you step up further. But remember, lying causes your secondary sexual organs to shrink to the size of raisins. And nobody likes raisins.: Having crushed my enemy and seeing him driven before me, I imagine the lamentations of his women.: 25 crunches. 25 jumping jacks: 25 crunches, 25 jumping jacks, 10 push-ups: 25 crunches, 25 jumping jacks, 20 push-ups. However, Ribbon does not cheese, and thus never has to face this punishment.

Washington (CNN) It was their last, best chance at a big, bipartisan deal: President Barack Obama and congressional Republican leaders all agreed on free trade. Just a little more than a year ago, that philosophical alignment looked like enough for Obama's signature trade deal and centerpiece of his Asian pivot policy -- the 12-nation Trans-Pacific Partnership -- to clear Congress. Then the 2016 presidential campaign intervened. Now, as Obama participates in his last Southeast Asian summit to promote the pivot and its massive trade pact, the TPP looks like it's headed to the political graveyard. Obama tried to sound optimistic Wednesday about the deal's future, while also conveying to leaders in Asia the reality of the obstacles. "I believe that we'll get it done but it's always going to be hard," Obama said at a news conference in Laos, suggesting the deal's path might be easier after the US election. "Nothing is easy in the US Congress right now. Maybe there was a time when it was but I haven't seen it." Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump roused a populist base with his strident anti-trade message, declaring the Pacific Rim deal "terrible" and a "rape" of American workers. Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton, seeking to minimize the threat of primary opponent Bernie Sanders, announced that she, too, opposes the TPP. And, sensing the political risk of supporting a controversial deal both presidential nominees oppose, several lawmakers changed their positions. Trump is expected to call Wednesday for eliminating the sequester on defense spending and bolstering the US' defenses by proposing a "major investment" in US military spending. As Obama tries to cajole last concessions from partner countries on his final trip to Asia, the same congressional leaders who'd nudged him along on the TPP now say it's unlikely to be ratified. "The current agreement, the Trans-Pacific agreement, which has some serious flaws, will not be acted upon this year," Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell flatly declared at a Kentucky Farm Bureau event last week. Right now, with even pro-trade stalwarts like McConnell opposed to ratification during Obama's term, advocates of the TPP admit that they don't have the votes necessary to clear the House and the Senate. The summer has featured a rush of Republicans -- particularly those in competitive races -- bolting from the trade deal. Sen. Pat Toomey, a Pennsylvania Republican and long-time trade supporter, wrote in August in a Pittsburgh Post-Gazette op-ed : "We should dump the TPP and return to the negotiating table to get an agreement that would create jobs and economic growth here at home." Missouri Republican Sen. Roy Blunt told reporters he's having second thoughts about the deal . Florida Sen. Marco Rubio, once a Trump challenger, hasn't taken an official position, but he stripped mention of trade -- and his support for earlier steps greasing the wheels for TPP -- from his website, RealClearPolitics recently reported And Sen. Rob Portman, an Ohio Republican who once negotiated pacts as the US trade representative under George W. Bush, opposes the TPP. Conservative activists who waged a battle to deny Obama trade promotion authority in the first place, meanwhile, say they believe Trump awakened a party that had been ignoring its loyalists on trade. "I think this will last. Every time an issue comes to the forefront, I've never seen the activists forget about it. Once that issue is in the quiver and activists are paying attention to it, it stays there and activists will fight it forever," said Tea Party Patriots co-founder Mark Meckler. "The stain is here to stay." The deal's supporters -- including the US Chamber of Commerce and the National Association of Manufacturers -- aren't giving up. But they acknowledge the uphill battle on Capitol Hill. Linda Dempsey, the National Association of Manufacturers' vice president of international economic affairs, said that, "additional leadership is needed in Washington to forge a viable path forward." The US manufacturing sector "continues to lose foreign sales and access to new customers in some of the fastest-growing markets in the world," Dempsey warned about the deal falling through. Obama and TPP advocates have a problem with the president's typical allies on the left, too. Only a small group of Democrats -- mostly members of the centrist New Democrat Coalition -- backed trade promotion authority in the first place, making for the unusual coalition of Obama and congressional Republicans. Since then, those Democrats have been under pressure from labor unions that argue the TPP, which they've dubbed "NAFTA on steroids," would siphon more manufacturing jobs away from the United States. Sanders stoked opposition to the TPP among unions and progressives during the primaries, making it a mainstay of his stump speech and his go-to answer about what differentiated him from Obama and Clinton. That forced Clinton -- who'd declared the TPP a "gold standard" trade deal in 2012 while serving as Obama's secretary of state -- to the left. Her announcement in the fall of 2015 that she opposes the deal made Obama's task of getting Democrats on board even tougher. Opponents, meanwhile, are declaring victory -- at least for now. "It won't come up because the votes aren't there," Richard Trumka, the head of the AFL-CIO, a labor union that opposes TPP, said at a Christian Science Monitor Breakfast Thursday. "The candidates running will have to declare where they stand on TPP and the chips will fall where they may." Republican House Speaker Paul Ryan has maintained the deal would need substantial renegotiation -- a tough task since each of the other 11 participating nations have their own political sensitivities and Obama has less than five months remaining in office. "They have to fix this agreement and renegotiate some pieces of it if they have any hope or chance of passing it," Ryan said in an early August interview with Wisconsin Public Radio. "I don't see how they'll ever get the votes for it." But McConnell made clear last week that the path to the TPP's passage isn't totally closed. "It will still be around. It can be massaged, changed, worked on during the next administration," he said. Even if Congress ultimately does approve the Trans-Pacific Partnership, the next president will have ways of blocking its implementation -- such as procedural steps like refusing to officially notify other countries of the United States' implementation of the deal or not verifying that those countries have satisfied their TPP commitments. The hope of trade supporters is that a President Clinton or Trump would drop their resistance to the trade deal once in office. If they did, they'd be following a path similar to Obama, who pledged as a presidential candidate to renegotiate the North American Free Trade Agreement but governed as a trade supporter who entered new negotiations with the European Union and Asia-Pacific countries. But trade was less of a driving issue in the 2008 race, and neither Clinton nor Trump has left much wiggle room for a post-election reversal. "I will stop any trade deal that kills jobs or holds down wages -- including the Trans-Pacific Partnership," Clinton said in August in Warren, Michigan. "I oppose it now, I'll oppose it after the election, and I'll oppose it as president." Trump -- whose strident rejection of the TPP and other trade deals is a staple of his campaign events -- denounced the pact again on conservative radio host Laura Ingraham's show Thursday. "It's a terrible deal for the United States," he said. "It's a terrible deal for our workers."

The wide scar that runs the length of Vivi Lozoya’s abdomen is a daily reminder of the brutal attack that almost took her life. She constantly replays the incident in her mind. It was May 2011, and Lozoya, a transgender prostitute, had recently run away from the pimp she says had abused her and held her captive for two years. One day while she was out with friends, Lozoya says a man working for her pimp and his associates came up to her on the street, tapped her on the shoulder, and stabbed her in the stomach - she can't remember if it was three or four times. She does remember what the man said before sticking the knife in: "They sent me to wish you sweet dreams." The recovery was grueling. To this day, Lozoya says, when she drinks water, it sometimes feels as if it’s seeping out of her digestive tract. "And I still dream about being chased," she recounts one recent afternoon, sitting in her apartment in a working-class Los Angeles neighborhood. She says she doesn’t know if her attacker was ever caught. Violence is common Lozoya’s experience was extreme in its brutality. But advocates say violence against transgender women, specifically transgender immigrants like Lozoya who are in the U.S. illegally, is all too common. In response, immigrant rights groups are beginning to expand the scope of their work to raise awareness about the discrimination and abuse that gay, and specifically transgender, immigrants often face. Zizi Bandera, an organizer with the Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights of Los Angeles, says the impetus to address these issues was the realization that the broader LGBT movement - with its emphasis on marriage equality - has not embraced the cause of gay immigrants. "It’s led by gay white men and it hasn’t centered the lives of immigrants that are also LGBT, and particularly transgender," Bandera maintains. A 2011 study by the National Center for Transgender Equality found that 26 percent of transgender people had experienced either physical or sexual abuse. But advocates believe the number is much higher among transgender immigrants, because of intolerant families or because those in the country illegally are much more likely to engage in prostitution to survive, or both. What drives those high rates of abuse, Bandera asserts, is the belief by some people that transgender lives are expendable. Abuse from an early age For Lozoya, the abuse began early, even before she arrived in the U.S. at 19 and began the transition from man to woman. She says it began when Vivi Lozoya was Jose Lozoya, a 12-year-old gay boy living in the Mexican state of Guanajuato. Beatings from homophobic family members were common, Lozoya remembers. Once in the U.S., Lozoya decided to become a woman physically, and paid for the surgeries with the money earned from prostitution. Always trusting and, she admits, a bit naïve, Lozoya says she welcomed an offer by a man she met on the street to help her earn more money by placing ads for her services. Before long, she says, the man was driving her from one hotel to another across northern California, beating her and forcing her to have sex with up to 30 men a day. When she finally ran away, she filed a restraining order against him, she recalls. She thought that would keep him away; she hadn’t expected him to send someone to kill her. Lozoya only recently started sharing her story. One afternoon in mid-April, she stands before a crowd of people near downtown L.A. and lifts her blouse to show the gruesome scar. The first "Day of Transgender Survivors" The event, called the First International Day of Transgender Survivors, is a resource fair organized by the Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights. About 200 transgender people and their allies show up to tell stories of violence and survival. When Banderas began working with transgender immigrants about two years ago, she noticed that many of those who came to the Coalition for immigration help - especially the transgender women - had stories of being attacked. "I can’t think of one transgender woman here that I’ve worked with that hasn’t faced some kind of severe physical violence in her life," she says. And yet many of the women no longer seem fazed by the violence, as if they are used to it, she adds. Banderas says she’s spending a lot of time trying to get transgender women to understand that such violence isn’t normal - and that it should be reported to the police. Those in the country illegally resist going to the authorities "out of fear of deportation," Bandera says. Others hesitate "out of fear that their abuser or the person that attacked them will find them later on if the police [don't] follow up the way they should." The Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights is beginning to work with police to sensitize them to the issues that transgender people face and to encourage them to investigate attacks against transgender people as hate crimes, Bandera says. Though she acknowledges that a hate motive isn’t always apparent in such crimes, she's convinced that "their transgender identity has everything to do with the violence they experience." A stark reminder The resource fair culminates with a noisy march to nearby MacArthur Park, with transgender men and women and their supporters chanting and carrying signs declaring, "Trans Lives Matter" and "Trans Lives Are Beautiful." As she marches, Vivi Lozoya says being so visible and open about her story gives her a sense of empowerment unlike any she’s felt before. But that mood is quickly spoiled. As the rally’s participants head back to their cars, three transgender women are assaulted in two separate attacks. Organizer Zizi Bandera says the attacks are a reminder: While transgender people want to make themselves more visible to the world, doing so still isn’t completely safe. She says the coalition plans to increase security at next year’s event.

I’m conflicted. As a front-end web developer, I should be excited about the advancements in HTML5: the new HTML tags that correct all the hacks and self-replicating div s; the correctly cross-browser rendered styles which have finally caught up to modern web design; and the new Javascript API’s that make the browser into a semi-legitimate – albeit Frankensteinian – app environment. Then I read this presentation on HTML5, and suddenly, I’m a lot less excited. It’s one thing to formalize the hacks developers have come up with over the years and standardize them into a cohesive spec, but with the renewal of the browser wars, it feels like an escalating feature war all over again. Google has taught us, over the years, that it’s possible but difficult to build complex applications completely in the browser. Google+, Gmail, Google Docs are written with many millions lines of carefully hand-crafted front-end code[1]. Careful coding, because the development environment is markedly unfriendly: loose HTML parsing, undefined and silently-failing CSS styling, and ironically unforgiving Javascript interpretation. For a while, this was the accepted state of the web development world: the pieces didn’t really fit together, but with enough brute force you could make things work, even across browsers if you really put in that 50% extra effort. When that wasn’t good enough, browser vendors raced to introduce new features, knowing the spec would take a decade or more to be ratified. The new API’s were great, but they necessitated defensive coding in languages not suited for it (e.g., enabling the styling of HTML5 tags in IE’s not recognizing HTML5 with the appropriately-named html5shiv). It also brought about the idea of graceful degradation, where you not only have to worry about getting the functionality to work properly as it is coded, but also somewhat work when functions, features and entire languages are ripped away via browser incompatibilities and user preferences. Nowadays it seems like we’re just going full-steam-ahead, damn the compatibility issues. With the pace of browser releases picking up – Google’s at the forefront with rapid Chrome releases, Firefox following suit – it’s nice to have new API’s to play with, but it reeks of the Microsoft-style, proprietary add-ons to an already-crowded and piecemeal coding “ecosystem”. Having to support 3-4 major browser was already a pain, but supporting 7-8 various browser versions is impossible. Even worse, only Chrome is really set up for rapid client releases; Firefox, for instance, is trying to release more often, but has already claimed its first casualties with a legacy plugin system[2] that wasn’t designed for malleable software versioning. In other words, a lot of add-ons just stopped working with the upgrade, despite how similar FF5 was to FF4. Adding even more features that is basically implemented in the 3rd-place browser further bifurcates web development: either make full use of new technologies and create cool demos that target a small subset of platforms, or work across all modern platforms targeting a wide audience while sticking with more mundane design and coding techniques. I think most of us who have to work on the web fall into the latter camp by business necessity; it’s only in our spare time that we can try out the new stuff, but with no real hope to transfer what we learn back work-related tasks. Although…now that I think about it, there is a platform for the former group of adventurous web coders. Chrome OS. It suddenly makes a little more sense.

Market expectations for an interest-rate hike before the end of 2015 have fallen sharply this autumn, following weaker-than-expected economic data and rising fears of a global growth slowdown. The Fed-funds futures market is now pricing in a 5% probability of a rate increase in October and a 30% probability of a rate increase in December The first fully priced-in rate hike has now been pushed out to March 2016, according to the CME Group’s Fed Watch Tool. But if history serves as a guide, the market is probably still getting it wrong, according to Torsten Slok, chief international economist at Deutsche Bank. Since 2009, the market has continuously overestimated the Fed’s rate-hike intentions, getting caught in continuous cycles of anticipating a rate rise and readjusting as the Fed subsequently stayed put, Slok said, in a note late last week. As the following chart shows, Fed-funds futures have been predicting a Fed liftoff for the past six years—and have been proven wrong every time. The dotted lines represent the projected Fed-funds rate, based on Fed-funds futures prices, while the red line shows the actual Fed-funds rate. Deutsche Bank The market’s rate-hike expectations (dotted lines) have overestimated the Fed’s actions (red line). Forecasts by Wall Street economists about the benchmark 10-year rate have also been too optimistic for a very long time, the Deutsche Bank report showed. For more than a decade, as the following chart shows, forecasts for the 10-year rate from the Fed’s quarterly survey of professional forecasters came in consistently about 60 basis points higher than the actual 10-year yield. Deutsche Bank The projected 10-year rate (dotted lines) has constantly overestimated the actual 10-year yield (blue line) by about 60 basis points. Currently, the Philly Fed survey projects a 2.5% yield by the end of 2015, according to the report. That’s about 46 basis points above the current 10-year yield TMUBMUSD10Y, -0.98% which on Monday hovered around 2.037%, according to Tradeweb. Making an accurate prediction about future interest rates might become even more difficult as Fed policy makers—in the name of transparency—express conflicting opinions on monetary policy. When Stanford University economist John Taylor, a well-known expert on monetary policy, told New York Fed President William Dudley on Thursday that the Fed is creating confusion in the market, he echoed the views of many interest-rate strategists. “It has recently become cloudier as Fed officials have been taking diverging views,” said Ninh Chung, head of investment strategy at SVB Asset Management. “The data remain uneven and inconsistent, so you can see an argument to support both sides. Fed officials’ conflicting views just cause more volatility,” said Michael Arone, chief investment strategist at State Street Global Advisors. Providing critical information for the U.S. trading day. Subscribe to MarketWatch's free Need to Know newsletter. Sign up here.

Sometimes lost in the contentious discussion around fighters receiving a Therapeutic Use Exemption for Testosterone Replacement Therapy is that some fighters unequivocally need it for medical reasons. While many fans are cynical over Vitor Belfort's use of TRT, the case of Antonio “Bigfoot” is another matter. Silva engaged in a battle for the ages with Mark Hunt at UFN 33, but tested positive for elevated levels of testosterone afterwards. Although he had been granted a TUE, he let his levels get too high, so the fight was declared a no contest, Silva was suspended for nine months, and he was denied his Fight of the Night bonus. Silva's manager Alex Davis appeared recently on The MMA Hour and explained that Silva's case is a medical necessity. “This is one of the guys that really have authentic technical reasons to be on TRT,” said Davis as transcribed by MMA Fighting. “He has acromegaly. His pituitary gland overproduces GH (growth hormone) and that unbalances all his other hormones.” “When I started managing him, he was actually lactating. He has extreme low testosterone. He has extremely low testosterone, so he has a real reason to be on TRT.” “I didn’t really take part on the TRT process. There was a miscommunication between him and his doctor. If I was in the middle of it maybe we would have avoided it. I didn’t realize I needed to be involved.” “He took the instructions wrong, but he did not try to cheat. What happened was, there was a miscommunication with the doctor and he ended up taking injections at the wrong time. He was taking a month then started taking a week. He took one a week before the fight and one at the week of the fight, which wasn’t supposed to. It got mixed up.”

Patrick Stokes, Deakin University Dear Mr Briggs, We haven’t met. But I’ve been following your ministerial career with some interest, since just before the last election. As you’ll recall you were the then-opposition’s spokesperson on “government waste,” a role that involved attending a surprising amount of sport. And in that capacity, you launched a broadside against what you saw as: those ridiculous research grants that leave taxpayers scratching their heads wondering just what the Government was thinking. You gave four examples of ARC funded “projects that do little, if anything, to advance Australians [sic] research needs.” As I discussed on this site at the time, two of those four were projects in my field, philosophy. Of course, ARC funding is insanely competitive, so those projects were more or less by definition world class contributions to the discipline. Yet you chose to ridicule them – and, by extension, the life’s work of people like me – all the same. Can you believe that was only two years ago? My, what a roller coaster it’s been for you: winning the election, becoming Assistant Minister (not, as you insisted to Raphael Epstein that time, a ‘junior minister’ even though that’s a common and well-understood term) for Infrastructure and Regional Development, busting a leg tackling the newly deposed PM, being made Minister for Cities and the Built Environment. As your new boss might have said, surely there was never a more exciting time to be Jamie Briggs. And then, seemingly out of nowhere, you had to resign after inappropriate behaviour towards a public servant in a bar in Hong Kong. So clearly you’ve been busy, and I doubt you’ve had much time to revisit the question of what does and doesn’t count as a valid area of research. But what I’d urge you to do, now that you’re back to constituency business and maybe have a little time on your hands, is to find out a bit more about what you knocked back then. Perhaps, in your enthusiasm to win the election, you were a bit too hasty. Perhaps philosophy was the answer all along. There’s certainly precedent for those in your profession. Plato, after all, insisted the rulers of the ideal state should be trained philosophers. The likes of Cicero, Seneca, and the philosopher-king Marcus Aurelius all managed to meld the life of the mind and the affairs of state, to the benefit of both. As a Liberal, you’ll surely appreciate the Harm Principle - the cornerstone of modern liberalism - formulated by J.S. Mill, who served one term as an MP. But as you can confirm, politics is also brutal and full of setbacks. Philosophy can help there, too. The philosopher Boethius was a powerful official under the reign of Theodoric the Ostrogoth, until he was accused of treason. While awaiting execution, he wrote The Consolation of Philosophy (523), one of the most influential books of the Middle Ages. As my Cogito colleague Laura D'Olimpio has described, Boethius imagines being visited by a personification of philosophy, who explains that love of wisdom is the only true balm for the sufferings of his soul. The Stoics, too, might offer you some resources for overcoming your recent loss of rank. But perhaps that won’t be won’t be enough, and you’ll find you can’t shake it off that easily (as another noted philosopher urges). Politics is a game built for the ambitious, and there’s little so painful as frustrated ambition. Perhaps you’ll find yourself in the position William James describes: The paradox of a man shamed to death because he is only the second pugilist or the second oarsman in the world. That he is able to beat the whole population of the globe minus one is nothing; he has ‘pitted’ himself to beat that one; and as long as he doesn’t do that nothing else counts. He is to his own regard as if he were not, indeed he is not. Fifty years earlier, Kierkegaard too had diagnosed this particular form of despair: Thus when the ambitious man, whose slogan was ‘Either Caesar or nothing’, does not become Caesar, he is in despair over it. But this signifies something else, namely, that precisely because he did not become Caesar he now cannot bear to be himself. Consequently he is not in despair over the fact that he did not become Caesar, but he is in despair over himself for the fact that he did not become Caesar. That’s a bad place to be. We’ve already seen what how corrosive that form of despair can be with one ousted PM and it looks ominously like we might be seeing it with another. If philosophy can help you avoid that fate, surely it’s worth taking a second look? Best regards, Patrick PS: Do let me know if I can offer any reading suggestions. Always happy to help.

Sen. John Cornyn said Tuesday, he viewed “four large binders full of classified information that’s been made available to the committee to conduct” its wide-ranging investigation. | Getty CIA providing raw intelligence as Trump-Russia probes heat up Congress has entered a new phase in its investigation. Lawmakers are trekking to CIA headquarters in Langley, Virginia, to review classified evidence on Russia’s involvement in the presidential election. The House has scheduled its first public hearing on the issue. And the Senate is preparing to interview witnesses. The congressional investigations into ties between President Donald Trump's campaign and Russian officials are in full swing. Story Continued Below For months, the leaders of the House and Senate intelligence committees said their investigations into Russia’s meddling in the 2016 presidential election were in their “initial” stages. On Tuesday, it became clear that the probes had moved into a new phase. The CIA is now providing raw intelligence documents to committee members, according to multiple senators. Senate Intelligence Chairman Richard Burr (R-N.C.) and Majority Whip John Cornyn (R-Texas) visited CIA headquarters on Monday to view the documents underlying the intelligence community’s unclassified assessment that Russia sought to sway the election in favor of Trump. At Langley, Cornyn said Tuesday, he viewed “four large binders full of classified information that’s been made available to the committee to conduct” its wide-ranging investigation. House Intelligence Chairman Devin Nunes (R-Calif.) said members of his panel had also made visits to CIA headquarters and that there will be “more trips out there.” He said he was close to reaching an agreement with the intelligence community on whether evidence would be turned over to Congress or continue to be housed within the agencies. Nunes also said Tuesday that his panel’s first public hearing on the issue would be held March 20 and that former members of the Obama administration had been asked to testify — including former CIA Director John Brennan, former Director of National Intelligence James Clapper and former acting Attorney General Sally Yates, who was fired by Trump in January after refusing to defend his travel ban executive order in court. The Senate Intelligence Committee, meanwhile, is expected to begin questioning witnesses behind closed doors “in the coming days and weeks,” according to a congressional source who spoke on the condition of anonymity. These formal interviews are expected to take place on Capitol Hill, the source said, and will likely be with officials from the agencies that contributed to the assessment that concluded Moscow was trying to aid Trump in November — the CIA, the FBI and the National Security Agency. The panel’s top Democrat, Sen. Mark Warner, said he planned to travel to Langley on Wednesday to view the raw intelligence documents. Warner emphasized that the documents were “not the extent of the information we'll need” to conduct the Intelligence Committee’s Russia investigation, which will include looking into contacts between the Trump campaign and Russian officials. The Virginia senator said he and Burr were in discussions about which people should be interviewed as part of the probe. He declined to say whether the committee would seek testimony from Attorney General Jeff Sessions, a top Trump backer, who did not disclose two meetings he had with Russia’s ambassador last year during his January confirmation hearing. The Associated Press reported Monday that the Intelligence Committee had reached out to former Trump foreign policy adviser Carter Page and that Page had responded to the panel that he would "provide any information" that might be needed. Morning Cybersecurity A daily briefing on politics and cybersecurity — weekday mornings, in your inbox. Email Sign Up By signing up you agree to receive email newsletters or alerts from POLITICO. You can unsubscribe at any time. Warner also indicated Tuesday he was happy with the cooperation the Intelligence Committee has gotten so far from the FBI. The top Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee, Rep. Adam Schiff of California, has accused the FBI of withholding information from his panel. “I have regular conversations with [FBI] Director [James] Comey,” Warner said Tuesday. “I am confident that we're going to get all the information we need to get to the bottom of this in a way that we can let the American people know what happened or didn't happen.” Nunes also suggested Tuesday the intelligence community might not have shared information about potential counterintelligence investigations with top lawmakers — called the Gang of Eight — who are supposed to be briefed on such matters. The congressman noted that multiple news reports have indicated that people associated with the Trump campaign were being investigated for potential ties to Russia, but that Congress was not made aware of any such investigations. “If Trump or any other political campaign, anybody associated with Trump, was under some kind of investigation, that clearly should have risen to the Gang of Eight level,” Nunes said. “Clearly we have some questions about whether or not last year we were read into everything that we should have been read into.” Josh Gerstein contributed to this report.

An Ocean’s Eleven or Dirty Dozen-style caper series with time travel? That’s DC’s Legends of Tomorrow which started filming its series today on Vancouver’s waterfront near Crab Tree Park with most of the cast on set except for the Big Bad — Vandal Savage. Doctor Who’s Arthur Darvill is time-master Rip Hunter who assembles a squabbling group of DC super heroes and villains — Victor Garber as Dr. Martin Stein, Wentworth Miller as Leonard Snart/Captain Cold, Caity Lotz as resurrected Sara Lance/the White Canary, Brandon Routh as Ray Palmer/ the A.T.O.M, Dominic Purcell as Mick Rory/Heatwave, Ciara Renee as Kendra/Hawkgirl, Falk Hentschel as Carter Hall/Hawkman and Franz Drameh as Jax Jackson — to try to stop Vandal Savage (Casper Crump), who threatens the planet and time itself. It could be a suicide mission but they’ll trade quips along the way. The two-part pilot is directed by Glen Winter. Legends of Tomorrow showrunner Phil Klemmer is on set too. Day one of #LegendsofTomorrow with our amazing director!! I think this show is going to be ________! pic.twitter.com/KAbftRP0xw — Caity Lotz (@caitylotz) September 9, 2015 Ciara Renee, Caity Lotz and Falk Hentschel. Arthur Darvill as Rip Hunter. And looking like David Tennant’s Doctor Who with the big brown coat. Wentworth Miller. Prison Break reunion: Dominic Purcell and Wentworth Miller. Brandon Routh and Caity Lotz soak up the sun waiting for the next take. Victor Garber as Dr. Martin Stein. And Franz Drameh as Jay Jackson in the passenger seat. Dancing in the streets like a proper time master….tick tick tick Boom A photo posted by Caity Lotz (@caitylotz) on Sep 10, 2015 at 2:54pm PDT Got to meet the lovely Caity Lotz at DC’s ‘Legends of Tomorrow’ filming in Downtown Vancouver today! @olv @yvrshoots pic.twitter.com/9ZgT0KvXHd — Rachel Short (@RackkShort) September 9, 2015 After production wrapped on the waterfront it moved into Gastown’s Bourbon Bar. DC’s Legends of Tomorrow debuts mid-season on The CW.

SAŽETAK: Istraživanja pokazuju da postoji pozitivna povezanost među predrasudama prema različitim društvenim skupinama, kao i određena vremenska stabilnost te stabilnost rang poretka u izraženosti predrasuda. Sukladno tome, opravdano je pretpostaviti da, osim nestalnih, kontekstualnih faktora, antecedente izraženosti predrasuda mogu predstavljati i neke trajnije dispozicije pojedinca. Cilj doktorskog rada je produbiti razumijevanje dispozicijskih osnova za sklonost predrasudama prema različitim društvenim skupinama, odnosno pobliže istražiti odnos osobina ličnosti i kognitivnih sposobnosti s generaliziranim predrasudama. Istraživanje na kojem se rad temelji provedeno je na reprezentativnom uzorku maturanata iz Grada Zagreba i Zagrebačke županije (N = 1034). Istraživanjem su prikupljeni kvantitativni podaci o kognitivnim sposobnostima, osobinama ličnosti, desnoj autoritarnosti, orijentaciji na socijalnu dominaciju te predrasudama prema starijim osobama, pretilim osobama, psihički oboljelim osobama, ateistima, gej muškarcima i imigrantima. Rezultati istraživanja pokazali su da je pozitivne interkorelacije izraženosti predrasuda prema pretilima, psihički oboljelima, ateistima, gej muškarcima i imigrantima moguće objasniti latentnim g faktorom predrasuda koji upućuje na sklonost generaliziranim predrasudama. Najvažniji korelati generaliziranih predrasuda su orijentacija na socijalnu dominaciju, desna autoritarnost, otvorenost prema iskustvu i kognitivne sposobnosti. Zajedno s ostalim dimenzijama ličnosti iz petofaktorskog modela, ove varijable objašnjavaju tri četvrtine varijance latentnog konstrukta generaliziranih predrasuda. Kognitivne sposobnosti i pored otvorenosti prema iskustvu imaju jedinstven doprinos predikciji kriterija. Analiza mehanizama djelovanja dispozicijskih varijabli na generalizirane predrasude pokazala je da: (1.) otvorenost prema iskustvu i kognitivne sposobnosti imaju na generalizirane predrasude izravne i neizravne negativne efekte posredovane desnom autoritarnosti i orijentacijom na socijalnu dominaciju; (2.) ugodnost ima neizravni pozitivni efekt posredovan desnom autoritarnosti i neizravni negativni efekt posredovan orijentacijom na socijalnu dominaciju; (3.) neuroticizam ima izravni i neizravni negativni efekt posredovan orijentacijom na socijalnu dominaciju; (4.) ekstraverzija i savjesnost imaju isključivo neizravne pozitivne efekte posredovane desnom autoritarnosti. Primarni doprinos istraživanja ogleda se u činjenici da pruža uvid u, ranije nedovoljno istražen, međuodnos osobina ličnosti i kognitivnih sposobnosti u kontekstu predikcije predrasuda. _____________________________________________________________________________________EXTENDED SUMMARY: Introduction. Prejudice most often denotes negative attitude towards a social group or its members. Previous studies revealed a positive correlation between prejudices towards different social groups, as well as certain time stability and rank-order stability of prejudice. This suggests that individual's dispositions, along with contextual factors, may play a significant role as antecedents of prejudice. This thesis focuses on personality and cognitive ability as possible precursors of prejudice. Three theories seem to be especially relevant when examining the relationship between dispositions and prejudice: McCrae and Costa’s (2008) meta-theoretical framework of the Five-Factor Theory (FFT) of personality, Duckitt’s (2001) Dual-process motivational model of ideology and prejudice (DPM) and Dhont and Hodson’s (2014) Cognitive Ability and Style to Evaluation (CASE) model. According to the FFT, dispositions (as basic tendencies) should relate to the ideological attitudes (as characteristic adaptations), which should further relate to prejudice, ethnocentrism or discrimination (as objective biography). This is in line with the postulates of the other two relevant theoretical frameworks. As stated in the DPM, the exposure to threatening and competitive social surroundings results in the development of social conformity (i.e. low openness and high conscientiousness) and toughmindedness (i.e. low agreeableness). A person characterized by high social conformity reacts sensitively to signs of threat within society and is eager to protect the established norms at any cost. Individuals characterized by high toughmindedness perceive the world as a competitive jungle and tend to be unattached and interpersonally aversive. These characteristics bring forward the motivational goals for security and power (embodied in the right-wing authoritarianism and social dominance orientation), which ultimately lead to prejudice. Finally, according to the CASE model, lower cognitive ability and higher need for structure, order and predictability enhance the perception of changing social environment as threatening. This leads to the activation of the prevention focus, aimed at keeping the status quo. Perceived threat and prevention focus can further lead to the right-wing, socially conservative attitudes that are related to the resistance to change, and consequently, stereotypes, prejudice and discrimination. The causal order of these models’ components was supported both experimentally and longitudinally. Although this thesis did not comprehensively test any of the above-mentioned theoretical models, it largely aligned with the FFT, the DPM and the CASE model predictions when building its hypotheses. The aim of the study. The aim of the study is to deepen the understanding of the dispositional basis of proneness to prejudice. Empirical study was conducted examining the relationship of personality traits and cognitive ability with generalized prejudice. It also explored the mechanisms underlying the effects of dispositions on generalized prejudice and analyzed the interdependence of dispositional predictors of generalized prejudice. Methodology and data analysis. The study was conducted on a representative sample of secondary school students from the City of Zagreb, Croatia and the Zagreb County. Participants were 17-20 years old and were attending their final year of secondary education (N = 1034). The measures encompassed dispositional variables - Big Five personality traits and cognitive ability, ideological variables - right-wing authoritarianism and social dominance orientation, as well as different measures of prejudice - prejudice towards elderly people, prejudice towards overweight people, prejudice towards individuals with mental illnesses, prejudice towards atheists, prejudice towards gay men and prejudice towards immigrants. The data was analyzed using exploratory factor analysis and series of regression analyses. In addition, structural equation modelling with latent variables was performed. Results and discussion. Results revealed that positive correlation between the measures of prejudice towards overweight people, individuals with mental illnesses, atheists, gay men and immigrants can be explained by the latent g factor of prejudice. Prejudice towards elderly people shared less variance with other measures of prejudice and appeared to be somewhat sub-optimal indicator of the g factor of prejudice. Therefore, this indicator was not included in the definition of the generalized prejudice construct. The lower correlation of this specific prejudice measure with the g factor was discussed with respect to the following: the peculiarity of this group as an untypical out-group; the prevailing norm of nurturance of traditional values in contemporary Croatian society; and the opposite direction of its relations to the ideological variables of right-wing authoritarianism [-] and social dominance orientation [+]. Generalized prejudice was strongly positively correlated to right-wing authoritarianism and social dominance orientation and moderately negatively correlated to openness to experience and cognitive ability. There was a low negative correlation of generalized prejudice with neuroticism and low positive correlation of generalized prejudice with extraversion and conscientiousness. The correlation of generalized prejudice with agreeableness was low and statistically insignificant. The ideological variables, followed by openness to experience and cognitive ability, appeared to be the most pertinent correlates of generalized prejudice. The latter is in accordance with the theoretical background and previous empirical evidence about these relationships. In the thesis, only tentative interpretations of the relationships of extraversion, conscientiousness and neuroticism with generalized prejudice were given, since the correlations were low and the earlier findings were incongruent or inconsistent. The unexpected finding revealing the non-significant relationship of agreeableness and generalized prejudice was discussed in regard to the opposing direction of the correlations of agreeableness with right-wing authoritarianism [+] and social dominance orientation [-], as well as regarding the fact that the Big Five Inventory was used as a measure of personality traits. A set of dispositional and ideological variables explained about three quarters of the variance of the generalized prejudice latent variable. The dispositional predictors appeared to be as useful in explaining the variance of generalized prejudice as the ideological variables (with contribution shared with dispositional variables accounted for). The results indicated a statistically significant contribution to the prediction of generalized prejudice by all the individual predictors. The most important predictors were social dominance orientation, right-wing authoritarianism and openness to experience. Importantly, cognitive ability and openness to experience had non-redundant contributions to the explanation of the variance of the generalized prejudice. The present study also investigated the mechanisms underlying the effects of dispositional variables on generalized prejudice. The analysis of direct and indirect effects resulted in several notable conclusions. Firstly, the effect of the openness to experience and cognitive ability on generalized prejudice was threefold: (1.) direct negative effects of these variables suggested that higher openness to experience and higher cognitive ability were associated with lower generalized prejudice; (2.) indirect negative effects via right-wing authoritarianism suggested that individuals with higher openness to experience and higher cognitive ability were more inclined to reject right-wing attitudes and thus had lower generalized prejudice; and (3.) indirect negative effects via social dominance orientation indicated that individuals who were more open to new experiences and had higher cognitive ability were less focused on establishing hierarchy in social relations and thus less inclined to generalized prejudice. Secondly, agreeableness had a dual contrasting effect on generalized prejudice via right-wing authoritarianism and social dominance orientation: (1.) an indirect positive effect via right-wing authoritarianism suggested that more agreeable individuals were more inclined to adhere to right-wing ideology and thus more inclined to generalized prejudice, while (2.) an indirect negative effect via social dominance orientation suggested that the more agreeable individuals were less supportive of social domination and thus, indirectly, less prone to generalized prejudice. Thirdly, the effect of neuroticism on generalized prejudice was twofold: (1.) a direct negative effect suggested that higher neuroticism (trait more characteristic of female compared to male participants) was associated with lower generalized prejudice, while (2.) an indirect negative effect via social dominance orientation suggested that the individuals with higher neuroticism preferred egalitarian social relations and thus demonstrated lower generalized prejudice. Finally, extraversion and conscientiousness had positive effects on generalized prejudice, mediated by the right-wing authoritarianism - more extroverted and conscientious individuals were more inclined to favor right-wing authoritarian tendencies and thus, indirectly, were more inclined to generalized prejudice. Comparing the magnitude of indirect effects of dispositions for which both ideological variables served as mediators of the effect on generalized prejudice, right-wing authoritarianism was found to be more important mediator in the case of openness to experience, and social dominance orientation was found to be more important mediator in the case of agreeableness and cognitive ability. In sum, both right-wing authoritarianism and social dominance orientation appeared to be of vital importance in ensuring the mechanism through which the dispositions exerted its effects to prejudice, since the former mediated the effects of five, and the latter mediated the effects of four (out of six examined) dispositional variables to generalized prejudice. In addition, none of the dispositional variables had exclusively direct effect on generalized prejudice. Rather, indirect effects always followed the identified direct effects. However, it should be borne in mind that the robustness of some (unforeseen) mechanisms might be brought into question by the upcoming research, since the significance of some of the effects may well be influenced by the fact that the analysis was performed on a large sample. Conclusion. The present research contributes to better understanding of the role of personality traits and cognitive ability as precursors of (generalized) prejudice, especially with respect to their interdependence. A deeper understanding of the dispositional basis of proneness to prejudice serves as one of the preconditions for the integration of these constructs into the models that include a wider spectrum of prejudice antecedents. Indirectly, the research fuels further advancement in the study of nature and determinants of prejudice and provides a basis for the development of more effective interventions for prejudice reduction.

FORT COLLINS, Colo. - Colorado State, in conjunction with the University of Arkansas, announced on Wednesday that the two teams will play each other on Sept. 8, 2018 in Fort Collins. It will mark the second time that an SEC school has ever visited Fort Collins, joining Mississippi State in 1981. "This is exciting for our football program and for our fans," said head coach Mike Bobo . "Being able to bring an SEC opponent to Fort Collins speaks to the growth of our program and also speaks to the impact our new on-campus stadium is already making. We want to challenge ourselves in our non-conference schedule and also bring those quality opponents to our home field and our fans." The addition to the schedule completes the Rams' 2018 non-conference slate, which will feature three Power-5 opponents for the second year in a row. The season will begin Sept. 1 with the annual Rocky Mountain Showdown vs. Colorado in Denver. The following week, Sept. 8, the Razorbacks will visit Fort Collins, followed by a trip to another SEC school, Florida, on Sept. 15. The Rams will close the non-conference portion of their schedule on Sept. 22 vs. Illinois State before opening up Mountain West action. CSU will host Hawai`i, New Mexico, Utah State and Wyoming in conference play while travel to Air Force, Boise State, Nevada and San Jose State. Tuesday's announcement with Arkansas is the second in the past year. In April, it was announced that the two schools will face each other in Fayetteville during the 2019 season. Additionally, the two schools signed a home-and-home deal to play in basketball over the next two seasons, which was also announced in April. "Arkansas is a wonderful addition to our home schedule in 2018 and reinforces our trend of securing high-profile non-conference opponents," said athletics director Joe Parker . "We are thrilled to have the Razorbacks in Fort Collins as we transition an originally agreed-upon guarantee game into a home-and-home series." The Rams and Razorbacks have met three times in football. All three contests - in 1974, 1979 and 1990 - were played in Little Rock and won by Arkansas. Between 2018-2028, CSU now has 18 non-conference dates scheduled, 15 of which are against Power-5 teams. The Rams will also play three Power-5 opponents in 2017, facing Colorado (Denver), hosting Oregon State and traveling to Alabama. From 2008-14, CSU did not host a Power-5 school once, but from 2015-2021, at least one will visit Fort Collins in six of the seven years, plus other dates already scheduled for 2025, 2026 and 2027. The Rams are preparing for their highly anticipated 2017 season and opening of the new on-campus stadium. New season ticket commitments are now being accepted by contacting the Rams Sales Team at 800-491-RAMS (7267) or visiting www.CSURams.com/tickets. Current season-ticketholders will have first priority to select their seats during appointed times set to begin March 22. In preparation for the inaugural season of the on-campus stadium, the Colorado State athletics department has launched a special football gameday website, which provides in-depth information on everything from tickets to parking, tailgating, gameday logistics and much more. The website can be found at www.CSURams.com/footballgameday. FUTURE COLORADO STATE NON-CONFERENCE FOOTBALL SCHEDULES 2017 Sept. 1 - vs. Colorado (in Denver) Sept. 9 - ABILENE CHRISTIAN Sept. 16 - at Alabama Sept. 23 - OREGON STATE 2018 Sept. 1 - vs. Colorado (in Denver) Sept. 8 - ARKANSAS Sept. 15 - at Florida Sept. 22 - ILLINOIS STATE 2019 Aug. 31 - vs. Colorado (in Denver) Sept. 14 - at Arkansas Sept. 21 - TOLEDO 2020 Sept. 5 - COLORADO Sept. 12 - at Oregon State Sept. 26 - at Vanderbilt 2021 Sept. 11 - VANDERBILT Sept. 25 - at Toledo 2025 Sept. 6 - TEXAS TECH Sept. 27 - at Vanderbilt 2026 Sept. 12 - at Texas Tech Sept. 26 - VANDERBILT 2027 Sept. 4 - ARIZONA 2028 Sept. 2 - at Arizona

Leyton Orient are understood to have offered the head coach role to Kevin Nugent. The O's are looking for a replacement to Russell Slade following his resignation last week. Nugent stepped in as caretaker boss for Saturday's 3-2 home defeat to Rochdale and is expected to take charge again at home to Swindon this weekend. Nugent is believed to have accepted the offer in principle although it has not yet been confirmed by the club. Speaking at the weekend, Nugent said: "I'm sure there will be people interested because it's a fantastic job for someone. I'm sure there will be interest in it but I don't know. "I've obviously worked here a long time and I've done the youth team, scouting and all sorts. Changing the role to head coach is something that would certainly excite me but we'll have to wait and see."

We’ve been hearing for years that the NFL is a quarterback-driven league. We’ve assumed this means you need a star QB in order to compete for a title. But what if the other end is also true? What if competing for a title can turn a modest quarterback into a star? With the rules and nature of the pro game favoring passing attacks, coaches can now tailor their systems to highlight a quarterback’s strengths and/or hide his weaknesses. The square-peg, round-hole thing has become borderline moot; the holes are now so large that anyone can fit in. So in this quarterback-driven league, wouldn’t that mean more opportunities for all quarterbacks to succeed, including the mediocre ones? Look at the quarterbacks likely to be in this year’s AFC playoff bracket: Ryan Fitzpatrick; Alex Smith; Brandon Weeden (or journeyman Brian Hoyer, depending on his health); AJ McCarron (assuming his wrist is healthy enough, he’s in for an injured Andy Dalton, who had been the poster child of “decent but limited” quarterbacking); Brock Osweiler; Tom Brady (the exception to this group, though as we’ll see shortly, much less of an exception than you might guess). The quarterbacks likely out of this AFC postseason: Philip Rivers, Ben Roethlisberger, Andrew Luck, Joe Flacco (the latter two were on the fringe even before injuries). Star passers did not carry the show this year. There will always be a place for big-bodied, strong-armed passers who make full-field progression reads from the pocket. Each NFL game still presents multiple scenarios that demand this type of play. But the game has opened up and evolved to the point where this classic style of quarterbacking is no longer mandatory on every series. There are numerous ways to tailor an offense for a quarterback. Let’s go through the prime example from each of this year’s likely AFC playoff teams. • THE FINE FIFTEEN: A new team sits atop Peter King’s power rankings, plus what the Broncos’ Monday night defeat of the Bengals means for the playoff picture * * * New York Jets (No. 6 seed) When Chan Gailey coached Ryan Fitzpatrick in Buffalo, he quickly understood what the journeyman QB was and what he was not. Fitzpatrick had an OK arm that he at times treated like a great arm, rifling balls into too-tight windows. With erratic mechanics, Fitzpatrick’s ball could also get away at times—all the more problematic when you consider the defensive traffic surrounding those “too-tight windows.” Instead of trying to change his quarterback’s makeup (which almost never works in the NFL), Gailey structured a system that would minimize Fitzpatrick’s damages. The Bills spread out. This spread the defense as well, minimizing the traffic and better clarifying the passing lanes. Because of the spacing, your route combinations from a spread can be limited. But that was not a huge problem because Fitzpatrick didn’t always play within the timing and structure of route combinations anyway. Reunited with Gailey in New York, the 33-year-old Fitzpatrick has been tamed into less of a wild stallion, though not enough for Gailey to change his approach. The Jets are a bona fide spread offense. To capitalize on this (and also hide the fact that they have nothing at tight end), they instill as much receiving speed and athleticism into their spreads as possible. More than 30 percent of their snaps this season have come with four wide receivers on the field—by far the highest margin in the NFL. Here’s an illustration of their template. Another benefit for Fitzpatrick in a four-receiver spread is that it leaves minimal bodies in pass protection. This compels the QB to get rid of the ball quickly. That’s why the Jets, despite an average offensive line, have given up only 21 sacks this season, second fewest in the league. • MAKING TODD BOWLES: Bruce Arians, Joe Gibbs and Bill Parcells each had a hand in molding Todd Bowles, who is now remaking the Jets in his own image * * * Kansas City Chiefs (No. 5 seed) Not everyone likes to hear this, but it’s true: Alex Smith is the consummate game manager. He doesn’t throw interceptions because he doesn’t take chances. In the system Andy Reid has built for him, that’s fine. The Chiefs manufacture a passing game through pre-snap motion and shifts, and intertwined route combinations that create defined reads for the quarterback, usually at the shorter intermediate levels. Here’s a classic example: • Q&A WITH JAMAAL CHARLES: The Chiefs star on his rehab, his status for 2016 and what it’s been like to watch his team’s hot streak * * * Houston Texans (No. 4 seed) Brandon Weeden has been stellar if not spectacular in his six quarters as Houston’s signal-caller. Bill O’Brien, one of the trendier offensive innovators in football, has not asked Weeden to do too much. It helps that O’Brien wasn’t asking Weeden’s predecessor, Brian Hoyer, to do too much either. (Hoyer will likely be healthy for the Wild-Card Round.) The Texans this season have not had to amend much of their system despite starting four different quarterbacks. Here’s an illustration of that system. • Q&A WITH CECIL SHORTS: The Texans receiver (and sometimes quarterback) on how Houston turned things around * * * Cincinnati Bengals (No. 3 seed) The Andy Dalton injury was a critical blow to the Bengals. Dalton had become very adroit in Hue Jackson’s scheme, which took advantage of the quarterback’s high pre-snap awareness. That said, Dalton’s injury was not a death blow. Jackson’s scheme can also simplify things in the post-snap phase, as long as the QB reads the safeties properly. Two things the Bengals have done well with Dalton: attacking the seams in the red zone and stretching the field outside, often with A.J. Green. Two weeks ago at San Francisco, in AJ McCarron’s first NFL start, Cincy still got huge plays from these concepts. • WATCHING FILM WITH… A.J. GREEN: The Bengals superstar wideout breaks down the nuances of his game * * * Denver Broncos (No. 2 seed) Since leading the Broncos to a snowy Sunday night upset over the Patriots, Brock Osweiler has been asked to mostly just manage games. Many of Osweiler’s throws have been on simplified route concepts at the short-intermediate levels. The results have been good and bad. Ultimately, if Denver is to advance this postseason, Gary Kubiak will have to lengthen his 25-year-old quarterback’s leash. Fortunately, Kubiak’s system is already equipped to do that, thanks to its heavy emphasis on zone play action. This approach naturally slices the field in half, which helps any QB. * * * New England Patriots (No. 1 seed) Tom Brady is the obvious outlier among this year’s AFC playoff quarterbacks. Fans marvel at the way he wins no matter how bland his supporting cast might be. What’s not asked often enough is how does he win? Brady has full power to adjust plays at the line of scrimmage, and his pocket mobility, pinpoint accuracy and underrated arm strength make him a lethal full-field progression passer. But with a makeshift offensive line, average wide receivers and a mediocre ground game, Brady lacks the surrounding resources to play this way down in and down out. So he and offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels have constructed a quick-strike passing attack that sustains drives through small chunks and yards-after-catch. * * * Big-time quarterbacking still carries the day in the NFL. This year’s NFC playoff bracket shows as much. Carson Palmer has been the prototype. Cam Newton has evolved into an elite pocket passer (among other things). Aaron Rodgers has kept Green Bay’s utterly ineffective aerial attack above water. And in Seattle, Russell Wilson has learned to play from the pocket without sacrificing his sandlot prowess. The other two playoff teams, however, Minnesota and Washington, both fit in the AFC mold. That means seven of this year’s 12 finalists have quarterbacks who must be aided and camouflaged by their offensive system. With the nature of today’s pro game, those seven teams all still have a shot.

This post is about making functional decomposition from perspective of Aspect Oriented Programming using C++11. If you are not familiar with ideas of AOP don’t be afraid – it’s rather simple concept, and by the end of this post you will understand the benefits of it. You also can treat this post just as example how to use high-order functions in C++11. In short – AOP tries to perform decomposition of every business function into orthogonal parts called aspects such as security, logging, error handling, etc. The separation of crosscutting concerns. It looks like: Since C++11 supports high-order functions now we can implement factorization without any additional tools and frameworks (like PostSharp for C#). You can scroll down to ‘what for’ chapter to check out the result to get more motivated. PART 1 – TRIVIAL SAMPLE Let’s start from something simple – one aspect and one function. Here is simple lambda with trivial computation inside: auto plus = [](int a, int b) { LOG << a + b << NL; }; 1 auto plus = [ ] ( int a , int b ) { LOG << a + b << NL ; } ; I want to add some logging before and after computation. Instead of just adding this boilerplate code into function body let’s go other way. In C++11 we just can write high-order function which will take function as argument and return new function as result: template <typename ...Args> std::function<void(Args...)> wrapLog(std::function<void(Args...)> f) { return [f](Args... args){ LOG << "start" << NL; f(args...); LOG << "finish" << NL; }; } 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 template < typename . . . Args > std :: function < void ( Args . . . ) > wrapLog ( std :: function < void ( Args . . . ) > f ) { return [ f ] ( Args . . . args ) { LOG << "start" << NL ; f ( args . . . ) ; LOG << "finish" << NL ; } ; } Here we used std::function, variadic templates and lambda as result. (LOG, NL – my own logging stream and you can just change it with std::cout , std::endl or your another logging lib). As i hoped to achieve the most simple and compact solution, i expected to use it like this: auto loggedPlus = wrapLog(plus); 1 auto loggedPlus = wrapLog ( plus ) ; Unfortunately this will not compile. ‘no matching function to call ….’ The reason is that lambda is not std::function and automatic type conversion can’t be done. Of cause we can write something like this: auto loggedPlus = wrapLog(static_cast<std::function<void(int,int)>>(plus)); 1 auto loggedPlus = wrapLog ( static_cast < std :: function < void ( int , int ) >> ( plus ) ) ; This line will compile, but this is ugly… I hope cpp committee will fix this casting issue. Meanwhile, the best solution i found so far is the following: template <typename Function> struct function_traits : public function_traits<decltype(&Function::operator())> {}; template <typename ClassType, typename ReturnType, typename... Args> struct function_traits<ReturnType(ClassType::*)(Args...) const> { typedef ReturnType (*pointer)(Args...); typedef std::function<ReturnType(Args...)> function; }; template <typename Function> typename function_traits<Function>::function to_function (Function& lambda) { return typename function_traits<Function>::function(lambda); } 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 template < typename Function > struct function_traits : public function_traits < decltype ( & Function :: operator ( ) ) > { } ; template < typename ClassType , typename ReturnType , typename . . . Args > struct function_traits < ReturnType ( ClassType :: * ) ( Args . . . ) const > { typedef ReturnType ( * pointer ) ( Args . . . ) ; typedef std :: function < ReturnType ( Args . . . ) > function ; } ; template < typename Function > typename function_traits < Function > :: function to_function ( Function & lambda ) { return typename function_traits < Function > :: function ( lambda ) ; } This code is using type traits to convert anonymous lambda into std::function of same type. We can use it like this: auto loggedPlus = wrapLog(to_function(plus)); 1 auto loggedPlus = wrapLog ( to_function ( plus ) ) ; Not perfect but much better. Finally we can call functional composition and get the result. loggedPlus(2,3); // Result: // start // 5 // finish 1 2 3 4 5 6 loggedPlus ( 2 , 3 ) ; // Result: // start // 5 // finish Note: if we had declared aspect function without variadic template we could compose functions without to_function() conversion, but this would kill the benefit from writing universal aspects discussed further. PART 2 – REALISTIC EXAMPLE Introduction is over, let’s start some more real-life coding here. Let’s assume we want to find some user inside database by id. And while doing that we also want log the process duration, check that requesting party is authorised to perform such request (security check), check for database request fail, and, finally, check in local cache for instant results. And one more thing – i don’t want to rewrite such additional aspects for every function type. So let’s write them using variadic templates and get as universal methods as possible. Ok, let’s start. I will create some dummy implementation for additional classes like User, etc. Such classes are only for example and actual production classes might be completely different, like user id should not be int, etc. Sample User class as immutable data: // Simple immutable data class UserData { public: const int id; const string name; UserData(int id, string name) : id(id), name(name) {} }; // Shared pointer to immutable data using User = std::shared_ptr<UserData>; 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 // Simple immutable data class UserData { public : const int id ; const string name ; UserData ( int id , string name ) : id ( id ) , name ( name ) { } } ; // Shared pointer to immutable data using User = std :: shared_ptr < UserData > ; Let’s emulate database as simple vector of users and create one method to work with it (find user by id): vector<User> users {make<User>(1, "John"), make<User>(2, "Bob"), make<User>(3, "Max")}; auto findUser = [&users](int id) -> Maybe<User> { for (User user : users) { if (user->id == id) return user; } return nullptr; }; 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 vector < User > users { make < User > ( 1 , "John" ) , make < User > ( 2 , "Bob" ) , make < User > ( 3 , "Max" ) } ; auto findUser = [ & users ] ( int id ) -> Maybe < User > { for ( User user : users ) { if ( user -> id == id ) return user ; } return nullptr ; } ; make<> here is just shortcut for make_shared<>, nothing special. Maybe<> monad You, probably, noticed that return type of request function contains something called Maybe<T>. This class is inspired by Haskell maybe monad, with one major addition. Instead of just saving Nothing state and Content state, it also might contain Error state. At first, here is sample type for error description: /// Error type - int code + description class Error { public: Error(int code, string message) : code(code), message(message) {} Error(const Error& e) : code(e.code), message(e.message) {} const int code; const string message; }; 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 /// Error type - int code + description class Error { public : Error ( int code , string message ) : code ( code ) , message ( message ) { } Error ( const Error & e ) : code ( e . code ) , message ( e . message ) { } const int code ; const string message ; } ; Here is minimalistic implementation of Maybe: template < typename T > class Maybe { private: const T data; const shared_ptr<Error> error; public: Maybe(T data) : data(std::forward<T>(data)), error(nullptr) {} Maybe() : data(nullptr), error(nullptr) {} Maybe(decltype(nullptr) nothing) : data(nullptr), error(nullptr) {} Maybe(Error&& error) : data(nullptr), error(make_shared<Error>(error)) {} bool isEmpty() { return (data == nullptr); }; bool hasError() { return (error != nullptr); }; T operator()(){ return data; }; shared_ptr<Error> getError(){ return error; }; }; template <class T> Maybe<T> just(T t) { return Maybe<T>(t); } 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 template < typename T > class Maybe { private : const T data ; const shared_ptr < Error > error ; public : Maybe ( T data ) : data ( std :: forward < T > ( data ) ) , error ( nullptr ) { } Maybe ( ) : data ( nullptr ) , error ( nullptr ) { } Maybe ( decltype ( nullptr ) nothing ) : data ( nullptr ) , error ( nullptr ) { } Maybe ( Error && error ) : data ( nullptr ) , error ( make_shared < Error > ( error ) ) { } bool isEmpty ( ) { return ( data == nullptr ) ; } ; bool hasError ( ) { return ( error != nullptr ) ; } ; T operator ( ) ( ) { return data ; } ; shared_ptr < Error > getError ( ) { return error ; } ; } ; template < class T > Maybe < T > just ( T t ) { return Maybe < T > ( t ) ; } Note, that you don’t have to use Maybe<> and here it’s used only for example. Here we also use the fact that nullptr in C++11 has it’s own type. Maybe has defined constructor from that type producing nothing state. So when you return result from findUser function, there is no need for explicit conversion into Maybe<> – you can just return User or nullptr, and proper constructor will be called. Operator () returns possible value without any checks, and getError() returns possible error. Function just() is used for explicit Maybe<T> construction (this is standard name). Logging aspect First, let’s rewrite log aspect so it will calculate execution time using std::chrono. Also let’s add new string parameter as name for called function which will be printed to log. template <typename R, typename ...Args> std::function<R(Args...)> logged(string name, std::function<R(Args...)> f) { return [f,name](Args... args){ LOG << name << " start" << NL; auto start = std::chrono::high_resolution_clock::now(); R result = f(std::forward<Args>(args)...); auto end = std::chrono::high_resolution_clock::now(); auto total = std::chrono::duration_cast<std::chrono::microseconds>(end - start).count(); LOG << "Elapsed: " << total << "us" << NL; return result; }; } 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 template < typename R , typename . . . Args > std :: function < R ( Args . . . ) > logged ( string name , std :: function < R ( Args . . . ) > f ) { return [ f , name ] ( Args . . . args ) { LOG << name << " start" << NL ; auto start = std :: chrono :: high_resolution_clock :: now ( ) ; R result = f ( std :: forward < Args > ( args ) . . . ) ; auto end = std :: chrono :: high_resolution_clock :: now ( ) ; auto total = std :: chrono :: duration_cast < std :: chrono :: microseconds > ( end - start ) . count ( ) ; LOG << "Elapsed: " << total << "us" << NL ; return result ; } ; } Note std::forward here for passing arguments more clean way. We don’t need to specify return type as Maybe<R> because we don’t need to perform any specific action like error checking here. ‘Try again’ aspect What if we have failed to get data (for example, in case of disconnect). Let’s create aspect which will in case of error perform same query one more time to be sure. // If there was error - try again template <typename R, typename ...Args> std::function<Maybe<R>(Args...)> triesTwice(std::function<Maybe<R>(Args...)> f) { return [f](Args... args){ Maybe<R> result = f(std::forward<Args>(args)...); if (result.hasError()) return f(std::forward<Args>(args)...); return result; }; } 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 // If there was error - try again template < typename R , typename . . . Args > std :: function < Maybe < R > ( Args . . . ) > triesTwice ( std :: function < Maybe < R > ( Args . . . ) > f ) { return [ f ] ( Args . . . args ) { Maybe < R > result = f ( std :: forward < Args > ( args ) . . . ) ; if ( result . hasError ( ) ) return f ( std :: forward < Args > ( args ) . . . ) ; return result ; } ; } Maybe<> is used here to identify error state. This method can be extended – we could check error code and decide is there any sense to perform second request (was it network problem or database reported some format error). Cache aspect Next thing – let’s add client side cache and check inside it before performing actual server-side request (in functional world this is called memoization). To emulate cache here we can just use std::map: map<int,User> userCache; // Use local cache (memoize) template <typename R, typename C, typename K, typename ...Args> std::function<Maybe<R>(K,Args...)> cached(C & cache, std::function<Maybe<R>(K,Args...)> f) { return [f,&cache](K key, Args... args){ // get key as first argument if (cache.count(key) > 0) return just(cache[key]); else { Maybe<R> result = f(std::forward<K>(key), std::forward<Args>(args)...); if (!result.hasError()) cache.insert(std::pair<int, R>(key, result())); //add to cache return result; } }; } 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 map < int , User > userCache ; // Use local cache (memoize) template < typename R , typename C , typename K , typename . . . Args > std :: function < Maybe < R > ( K , Args . . . ) > cached ( C & cache , std :: function < Maybe < R > ( K , Args . . . ) > f ) { return [ f , & cache ] ( K key , Args . . . args ) { // get key as first argument if ( cache . count ( key ) > 0 ) return just ( cache [ key ] ) ; else { Maybe < R > result = f ( std :: forward < K > ( key ) , std :: forward < Args > ( args ) . . . ) ; if ( ! result . hasError ( ) ) cache . insert ( std :: pair < int , R > ( key , result ( ) ) ) ; //add to cache return result ; } } ; } This function will insert element into cache if it was not there. Here we used that knowledge that cache is std::map, but it can be changed to any key-value container hidden behind some interface. Second important part, we used only first function argument here as key. If you have complex request where all parameters should act as composite key – what to do? It’s still possible and there are a lot of ways to make it. First way is just to use std::tuple as key (see below). Second way is to create cache class which will allow several key parameters. Third way is to combine arguments into single string cache using variadic templates. Using tuple approach we can rewrite it like this: map<tuple<int>,User> userCache; // Use local cache (memoize) template <typename R, typename C, typename ...Args> std::function<Maybe<R>(Args...)> cached(C & cache, std::function<Maybe<R>(Args...)> f) { return [f,&cache](Args... args){ // get key as tuple of arguments auto key = make_tuple(args...); if (cache.count(key) > 0) return just(cache[key]); else { Maybe<R> result = f(std::forward<Args>(args)...); if (!result.hasError()) cache.insert(std::pair<decltype(key), R>(key, result())); //add to cache return result; } }; } 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 map < tuple < int > , User > userCache ; // Use local cache (memoize) template < typename R , typename C , typename . . . Args > std :: function < Maybe < R > ( Args . . . ) > cached ( C & cache , std :: function < Maybe < R > ( Args . . . ) > f ) { return [ f , & cache ] ( Args . . . args ) { // get key as tuple of arguments auto key = make_tuple ( args . . . ) ; if ( cache . count ( key ) > 0 ) return just ( cache [ key ] ) ; else { Maybe < R > result = f ( std :: forward < Args > ( args ) . . . ) ; if ( ! result . hasError ( ) ) cache . insert ( std :: pair < decltype ( key ) , R > ( key , result ( ) ) ) ; //add to cache return result ; } } ; } Now it’s much more universal. Security aspect Never forget about security. Let’s emulate user session with some dummy class – class Session { public: bool isValid() { return true; } } session; 1 2 3 4 class Session { public : bool isValid ( ) { return true ; } } session ; Security checking high-order function will have additional parameter – session. Checking will only verify that isValid() field is true: // Security checking template <typename R, typename ...Args, typename S> std::function<Maybe<R>(Args...)> secured(S session, std::function<Maybe<R>(Args...)> f) { // if user is not valid - return nothing return [f, &session](Args... args) -> Maybe<R> { if (session.isValid()) return f(std::forward<Args>(args)...); else return Error(403, "Forbidden"); }; } 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 // Security checking template < typename R , typename . . . Args , typename S > std :: function < Maybe < R > ( Args . . . ) > secured ( S session , std :: function < Maybe < R > ( Args . . . ) > f ) { // if user is not valid - return nothing return [ f , & session ] ( Args . . . args ) -> Maybe < R > { if ( session . isValid ( ) ) return f ( std :: forward < Args > ( args ) . . . ) ; else return Error ( 403 , "Forbidden" ) ; } ; } ‘Not empty’ aspect Last thing in this example – let’s treat not found user as error. // Treat empty state as error template <typename R, typename ...Args> std::function<Maybe<R>(Args...)> notEmpty(std::function<Maybe<R>(Args...)> f) { return [f](Args... args) -> Maybe<R> { Maybe<R> result = f(std::forward<Args>(args)...); if ((!result.hasError()) && (result.isEmpty())) return Error(404, "Not Found"); return result; }; } 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 // Treat empty state as error template < typename R , typename . . . Args > std :: function < Maybe < R > ( Args . . . ) > notEmpty ( std :: function < Maybe < R > ( Args . . . ) > f ) { return [ f ] ( Args . . . args ) -> Maybe < R > { Maybe < R > result = f ( std :: forward < Args > ( args ) . . . ) ; if ( ( ! result . hasError ( ) ) && ( result . isEmpty ( ) ) ) return Error ( 404 , "Not Found" ) ; return result ; } ; } Im not writing here about error handling aspect, but it’s also can be implemented via same approach. Note that using error propagation inside Maybe<> monad you can avoid using exceptions and define your error processing logic different way. Multithread lock aspect template <typename R, typename ...Args> std::function<R(Args...)> locked(std::mutex& m, std::function<R(Args...)> f) { return [f,&m](Args... args){ std::unique_lock<std::mutex> lock(m); return f(std::forward<Args>(args)...); }; } 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 template < typename R , typename . . . Args > std :: function < R ( Args . . . ) > locked ( std :: mutex & m , std :: function < R ( Args . . . ) > f ) { return [ f , & m ] ( Args . . . args ) { std :: unique_lock < std :: mutex > lock ( m ) ; return f ( std :: forward < Args > ( args ) . . . ) ; } ; } No comments. FINALLY Finally, what for was all this madness? FOR THIS LINE: // Aspect factorization auto findUserFinal = secured(session, notEmpty( cached(userCache, triesTwice( logged("findUser", to_function(findUser)))))); 1 2 3 // Aspect factorization auto findUserFinal = secured ( session , notEmpty ( cached ( userCache , triesTwice ( logged ( "findUser" , to_function ( findUser ) ) ) ) ) ) ; Checking (let’s find user with id 2): auto user = findUserFinal(2); LOG << (user.hasError() ? user.getError()->message : user()->name) << NL; // output: // 2015-02-02 18:11:52.025 [83151:10571630] findUser start // 2015-02-02 18:11:52.025 [83151:10571630] Elapsed: 0us // 2015-02-02 18:11:52.025 [83151:10571630] Bob 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 auto user = findUserFinal ( 2 ) ; LOG << ( user . hasError ( ) ? user . getError ( ) -> message : user ( ) -> name ) << NL ; // output: // 2015-02-02 18:11:52.025 [83151:10571630] findUser start // 2015-02-02 18:11:52.025 [83151:10571630] Elapsed: 0us // 2015-02-02 18:11:52.025 [83151:10571630] Bob Ok, let’s perform tests for several users ( here we will request same user twice and one non-existing user ): auto testUser = [&](int id) { auto user = findUserFinal(id); LOG << (user.hasError() ? "ERROR: " + user.getError()->message : "NAME:" + user()->name) << NL; }; for_each_argument(testUser, 2, 30, 2, 1); //2015-02-02 18:32:41.283 [83858:10583917] findUser start //2015-02-02 18:32:41.284 [83858:10583917] Elapsed: 0us //2015-02-02 18:32:41.284 [83858:10583917] NAME:Bob //2015-02-02 18:32:41.284 [83858:10583917] findUser start //2015-02-02 18:32:41.284 [83858:10583917] Elapsed: 0us // error: //2015-02-02 18:32:41.284 [83858:10583917] ERROR: Not Found // from cache: //2015-02-02 18:32:41.284 [83858:10583917] NAME:Bob //2015-02-02 18:32:41.284 [83858:10583917] findUser start //2015-02-02 18:32:41.284 [83858:10583917] Elapsed: 0us //2015-02-02 18:32:41.284 [83858:10583917] NAME:John 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 auto testUser = [ & ] ( int id ) { auto user = findUserFinal ( id ) ; LOG << ( user . hasError ( ) ? "ERROR: " + user . getError ( ) -> message : "NAME:" + user ( ) -> name ) << NL ; } ; for_each_argument ( testUser , 2 , 30 , 2 , 1 ) ; //2015-02-02 18:32:41.283 [83858:10583917] findUser start //2015-02-02 18:32:41.284 [83858:10583917] Elapsed: 0us //2015-02-02 18:32:41.284 [83858:10583917] NAME:Bob //2015-02-02 18:32:41.284 [83858:10583917] findUser start //2015-02-02 18:32:41.284 [83858:10583917] Elapsed: 0us // error: //2015-02-02 18:32:41.284 [83858:10583917] ERROR: Not Found // from cache: //2015-02-02 18:32:41.284 [83858:10583917] NAME:Bob //2015-02-02 18:32:41.284 [83858:10583917] findUser start //2015-02-02 18:32:41.284 [83858:10583917] Elapsed: 0us //2015-02-02 18:32:41.284 [83858:10583917] NAME:John As you can see it’s working as intended. It’s obvious that we got a lot of benefits from such decomposition. Factorisation leads to decoupling of functionality, more modular structure and so on. You gain more focus on actual business logic as result. We can change order of aspects as we like. And as we made aspect functions rather universal we can reuse them avoiding a lot of code duplication. Instead of functions we can use more sophisticated functors (with inheritance), and instead of Maybe<> also could be more complex structure to hold some additional info. So whole scheme is extendable. Note also, that you can pass lambdas as additional aspect parameters. Working sample to play with: github gist or ideone Ps. BONUS:

The actual Great Canyon features probably the most polarized climate extreme conditions associated with all over the world. The actual Northern edge rests in a hill height associated with 8, 000 ft, the actual Southern Edge from 7, 000 ft, and also the base from the Great Canyon and also the Co Water rests in a low-desert height associated with simply two, 000 in order to two, 500 ft. Due to these types of extreme conditions within height, the actual temps within the Canyon also provide high levels and incredibly reduced levels. Individuals possess each freezing in order to passing away as well as already been warmed in order to passing away, just about all within places which are just a couple of kilometers through one another. Because it is breakthrough through Europeans within the middle 1500s (actually through The spanish language explorer Coronado as well as their men), the actual Great Canyon offers stated the actual life associated with countless individuals. Within the guide “Over the actual Advantage: Passing away within the Great Canyon” the actual writers discover all the numerous ways individuals give up on within the Canyon. Heating system in order to passing away, or even more precisely perishing associated with dehydration- as well as warmth stroke-induced heart police arrest, is actually the most typical method individuals end within the Canyon. The actual wheels, becoming hill conditions, tend to be awesome within the summer time as well as lower correct chilly within the winter season. In the wheels, typical levels within the summer time remain eighty levels, along with levels within the 50s. Typical levels within the winter season in the wheels remain forty levels, levels close to eighteen levels. Therefore beginning in the Edge points feel at ease sufficient, however as soon as lower within the Canyon the actual landscape as well as climate alter significantly! Typical levels in the Co Water within the summer time float close to 110 levels, and that is within the tone, along with levels just within the reduced 80s. Within the winter season, the actual Co Water offers levels around sixty levels, along with levels close to forty levels. Lots of people begin OKAY in the wheels, considering the actual Canyon isn’t actually which large of the offer. These people begin without having sufficient drinking water as well as without having sufficient of the mind start heat from the day time. As soon as lower within the Great Canyon, they are devoted to possibly dealing with drinking water or even obtaining back again away. Once the warmth strikes, most of them have not managed to get in order to possibly. Within the winter season, walkers tend to be departing the actual Co Water along with levels close to sixty as well as seventy levels — fairly comfy. However through the period they are in the wheels they may be the sub-zero level blizzard. You will find walkers who’ve really succumbed towards the chilly close to the wheels as well as already been hidden within the snowfall, just found days later on once the snowfall dissolved away. Difficult to assume whenever the first is departing the heat from the canyon base. An additional main element in Great Canyon climate may be the monsoon period, that endures through middle 06 in order to middle Sept, and may usher within damaging thunderstorms. Walkers as well as boaters have to be cautious associated with large container canyons whenever there is ANY KIND OF climate in the region. The thunderstorm in the Northern Edge can make the expensive ton within Phantom Creek sixteen kilometers aside, as well as you will find individuals that have passed away presently there along with other locations along with apparently absolutely no pre-warning. In the event that there is any kind of possibility of rainfall inside 50 kilometers in a path, prevent container canyons. The actual Great Canyon is a good spot to go to, however be ready as well as understand what you are engaging in. It might simply save your valuable existence!

Image caption Thomas Hadley said 11 lambs were still missing and 33 have been killed A young farmer has spoken of his shock after most of his flock of 56 lambs were killed by two dogs. Thomas Hadley was telephoned on Friday to say two dogs were attacking his sheep in Risbury, Leominster. Mr Hadley, 23, said when he arrived the field was "scattered" with dead and injured lambs and the dogs were still attacking other sheep. Police sent armed officers and seized the dogs. A 64-year-old man has been arrested and bailed. The man, from Leominster, has been bailed until October on suspicion of allowing a dog to be out of control and allowing a dog to kill or maim livestock. A police spokesman said the firearms officers were deployed as a "matter of precaution". 'Can't trust any dog' Mr Hadley said 33 of the lambs, who were born in April, died from their injuries or shock or had to be destroyed. "I haven't slept at all," he said. "We are still missing 11 lambs and these could be fatally injured lying somewhere and we have searched a two-mile radius of this place and haven't found them." Mr Hadley, who also works as an sheep shearer and livestock agent, has been breeding sheep for three years and said the incident had cost at least £10,000. "I have lost the breed lines and will have to start from scratch," he said. "People don't realise that their dogs can do this," he said. "You can't trust any dog around livestock."

LONDON (Reuters) - Gold rose on Wednesday, recovering from its lowest in nearly two weeks, as prospects for further economic stimulus helped to bolster investor appetite whil the dollar remained flat. Accommodative monetary policies favour gold as well as equities because low interest rates encourage investors to opt for assets that do not rely on interest yields. Spot gold was up 0.7 percent at $1,340.90 an ounce by 1417 GMT, having earlier touched $1,327.30, its lowest since July 1. Bullion had fallen by 1.7 percent on Tuesday, its biggest one-day drop since May 24. U.S. gold rose 0.5 percent to $1,341.50. “Gold prices can continue to benefit from an uncertain economic picture for the UK and Europe after the Brexit vote and also from any quantitative easing, which also means low interest rates,” Natixis analyst Bernard Dahdah said. Gold has gained about $100 an ounce since Britain voted to leave the European Union, with worried investors piling their cash into safe-haven assets. Global shares came within reach of testing their 2016 peak on Wednesday, also bolstered by prospects of economic stimulus. [MKTS/GLOB] The dollar, in which gold is priced, fell 0.2 percent against a basket of six currencies. After five weeks of gains, gold had come under some pressure following strong U.S. non-farm payrolls data on Friday. Despite better than expected jobs data, the Federal Reserve should be in no rush to raise interest rates, two senior Fed officials said. “Gold thrives in an environment of negative rates, low government bond yields ...obviously the unknown is the probability of a Fed rate increase, which could however no happen this year, helping the metal’s price ascent,” Societe Generale analyst Robin Bhar said. Holdings of SPDR Gold Trust, the world’s largest gold-backed exchange-traded fund, fell 1.63 percent to 965.22 tonnes on Tuesday, its biggest one-day decline since Dec. 2. [GOL/] Palladium touched an eight-month high of $645 an ounce. Platinum, which fell for the first time in two weeks in the previous session, rebounded 0.1 percent to $1,087.50. Silver, meanwhile, gained 0.7 percent to $20.27.

Breaking News Emails Get breaking news alerts and special reports. The news and stories that matter, delivered weekday mornings. June 21, 2017, 2:48 PM GMT / Updated June 21, 2017, 3:21 PM GMT By Alex Seitz-Wald SANDY SPRINGS, Georgia — Democrats are tired of losing and the accusations are flying. After going all in and coming up short in Georgia's special election Tuesday, Democratic lawmakers and political operatives are venting their frustration at losing every competitive special congressional election so far this year. Many were upset that Democrat Jon Ossoff blunted what was arguably his greatest asset — antipathy toward President Donald Trump — by going relatively easy on the president and avoiding controversy at all cost. Others, however, countered that Ossoff was a fine candidate who was the victim of a party that is too cautious and has lost its ability to connect with voters. Sen. Chris Murphy (D-CT), one of the party’s rising stars, said Democrats have been distracted by the investigation in Trump’s alleged ties to Russia and need to focus more on making a concrete impact on voters' lives. “We’ve been hyper-confused for the past five years," he said on MSNBC’s "Morning Joe." "Some of the time we’re talking about economic growth, some of the time we’re talking about economic fairness.” "We need to be hyper-focused on this issue of wage growth and job growth — I think Democrats are scared of this message because it’s what Republicans have been talking about," he added. Rep. Bill Pascrell (D-NJ) said, "Close is only good in horse shoes. A loss is a loss...We can't just dismiss it. We need to review it together." RELATED: Five Lessons From the Georgia Special Election Democrats also have an "authenticity" problem, he said, noting, “I think that there are a lot of people who look at the Democratic party and aren’t sure that we aren’t also captive by special interest — and that’s not true." On her path to victory, Republican Karen Handel returned to the GOP playbook of tying Democratic candidates in purple-to-red districts to the party's liberal wing, and especially to House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi. Ossoff presented himself as squeaky clean alternative with uncontroversial plans like cutting government spending. Republican candidate for Georgia's 6th District Congressional seat Karen Handel celebrates with her husband Steve as she declares victory Tuesday, June 20, 2017, in Atlanta. John Bazemore / AP “One important lesson is that when they go low, going high doesn't f**king work,” tweeted Neera Tanden, the president of the liberal Center for American Progress think tank, referring to Michelle Obama's maxim from the 2016 campaign. Rep. Seth Moulton (D-MA), a former Marine with three degrees from Harvard and one of the party's up-and-comers, said the defeat should be a “wake up call for Democrats.” Rep. Ro Khanna (D-CA), a progressive who represents Silicon Valley, said Democrats have failed to appreciate how massive changes in the economy are impacting voters. “We have to figure out how we are going to speak to people’s economic anxiety,” he told NBC News. “We’ve failed at doing that.” “Our politics are still conventional, incremental, are not very different, frankly, from our proposals from 10 years ago,” he added. And when Democrats don’t run on bold economic ideas, Khanna added, “These elections will end up being about what party people are from or more trivial issues like that." Jeff Weaver, Bernie Sanders’ former presidential campaign manager, said that while Ossoff ran a good campaign, Democrats should not have made that race their only cause. Instead, Weaver argued, the party should have offered more help to its candidates in the Montana and Kansas special elections earlier this year. “In the Montana race, the one I’m most familiar with, with a fraction of the investment that was made in Georgia 6 we likely could have sworn in a Democratic congressperson,” Weaver told NBC News. “Should we as Democrats compete in economically conservative districts like Georgia 6? Absolutely. We should compete everywhere. But the more likely road to a Democratic U.S. House majority runs through places like Kansas, Montana and South Carolina,” he added. Democratic candidate for 6th congressional district Jon Ossoff, left, waves to the crowd while stepping offstage with his fiancee Alisha Kramer after conceding to Republican Karen Handel at his election night party on June 20, 2017 in Atlanta. David Goldman / AP The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee quickly sought to move past the Georgia debacle by distributing a memo to staff and Democratic lawmakers officially declaring — for the first time — that Chairman Rep. Ben Ray Luján (D-NM) believes "the House is in play." "I don’t make this statement lightly — I’ve never said it before," Luján said. "This is about much more than one race: the national environment, unprecedented grassroots energy and impressive Democratic candidates stepping up to run deep into the battlefield leave no doubt that Democrats can take back the House next fall." And former Obama White House Senior Adviser Dan Pfeiffer warned Democrats to avoid yet another round of self-flagellating recriminations. But Anna Galland, the executive director of MoveOn.org, said the Georgia race shows “Democrats will not win back power merely by serving as an alternative to Trump and Republicans.” “In the closing weeks of the race, Ossoff and the [Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee] missed an opportunity to make Republicans’ attack on health care the key issue, and instead attempted to portray Ossoff as a centrist, focusing on cutting spending and coming out in opposition to Medicare for All,” she said. Some of the toughest criticism came from the Sanders wing of the party. RoseAnn DeMoro‏, the president of National Nurses Union, suggested the Democratic party’s current strategy was "insanity." But Stacey Abrams, the minority leader of the Georgia House and a 2018 gubernatorial candidate, said Democrats need to take a breath and focus on the long game. “I’m a red state Democrat in the South," she told NBC News. "We understand that we have to make incremental progress, that we don’t win in one fell swoop."

Ben Simmons Expects To Go First Overall, Prepares To Play For Sixers Share ! tweet LSU’s Ben Simmons expects nothing less than being picked No. 1 overall in the coming 2016 NBA Draft and according to a report, his camp is already preparing the multi-faceted forward to suit up with the Philadelphia 76ers. The story was supported with the fact that Simmons has already signed a shoe deal with Nike, cancelling out the rumor about the Australian forcing his way to Los Angeles in search of better endorsement opportunities. Tom Moore of Burlington County Times wrote: Agent Rich Paul, who represents LeBron James, John Wall and others, “has been preparing for his client to go to Philadelphia from the moment the Sixers got the” top selection in the May 17 draft lottery, according to the source. Neither Simmons nor Paul has apparently made any public comments about draft preference and the Sixers since the lottery. Simmons has a connection to the area in that his trainer lives in Drexel Hill. He’s also known Sixers coach Brett Brown, who coached Simmons’ dad in Melbourne, Australia, since birth. According to most experts, the draft is a two-horse race between Simmons and Duke’s Brandon Ingram but all indications point to the Sixers selecting the former by a landslide. It seems the feeling is now mutual. Mandatory Credit: Derick E. Hingle-USA TODAY Sports Comments comments

Each weekday during the minor-league season, FanGraphs is providing a status update on multiple rookie-eligible players. Note that Age denotes the relevant prospect’s baseball age (i.e. as of July 1st of the current year); Top-15, the prospect’s place on Marc Hulet’s preseason organizational list; and Top-100, that same prospect’s rank on Hulet’s overall top-100 list. *** Orlando Castro, LHP, Pittsburgh Pirates (Profile) High-A: 22N/AN/A55.2 IP, 46 H, 18 R, 41/7 K/BB, 2.91 ERA, 2.77 FIP Summary While he’s not remotely physically imposing, this little lefthander knows what he’s doing. Notes Last year, Orlando Castro emerged on the fringes of the prospect scene with a stellar first half with Low-A West Virginia, putting up a 1.93 ERA and 63/6 K/BB ratio in 74.2 innings. He was basically a complete nobody before that, so his performance didn’t get him noticed by many other than Pirates diehards and K/BB leaderboard sorters, and a mediocre second half with High-A Bradenton did nothing to further his ascent up prospect lists. Now, though, Castro’s doing it again, dominating High-A hitters by filling the zone and missing enough bats to stay interesting, and this second successful run commands a bit more attention. After all, Castro’s just 22 and he throws with his left hand. Castro’s listed at 5’11” and 190 pounds, and size is certainly not a positive for him. As you might expect from a small lefty control artist, he’s not an especially hard thrower, though he works consistently at 88-91 mph, which isn’t particularly poor for a lefthanded starter. Castro throws both a four-seam and a two-seam fastball, the latter of which helps him get groundballs. The Pirates tend to heavily emphasize changeup development over that of breaking pitches in the low minors, and so when I saw him in 2013, Castro used his 83-84 mph changeup far more than his big-breaking 73-76 mph curveball, but both pitches should end up average or better. The changeup is so advanced that he’s limited righties to just a .214/.245/.328 line this year, while his fellow southpaws have hit .257/.301/.314. It all comes out of an extremely simple, eminently repeatable motion that allows Castro to hit his spots consistently. He’s not just a guy going out there and aiming for the plate–he moves and mixes his pitches and locations adeptly. There’s certainly precedent out there for guys with this sort of approach succeeding in the bigs–take Tommy Milone, Jason Vargas, Dallas Keuchel, Jon Niese, and Travis Wood as a few examples of sub-90 southpaws with good pitchability and offspeed pitches. How he adjusts to Double-A hitters will be a big indicator of whether Castro will ascend to that status or become merely another organizational control pitcher. He’s probably about ready for that test, though, and I have a feeling he’ll do better on it than many think. *** James Dykstra, RHP, Chicago White Sox (Profile) Low-A: 23N/AN/A51.2 IP, 59 H, 22 R, 44/7 K/BB, 3.83 ERA, 2.64 FIP Summary This sixth-round find has a polished arsenal and good control. Notes The brother of former first-rounder and current Triple-A slugger Allan Dykstra, James Dykstra became the highest-drafted player ever out of Cal State San Marcos last year, with his sixth-round selection trumping Johnny Omahen’s 35th-round slot quite handily. While his brother has walked more than he’s struck out this year, James has posted an eye-catching K/BB ratio of his own in his first extended minor league action, tacking on a 61% groundball rate as well. Above-average strikeouts, minimal walks, and an extreme groundball rate comprise a great statistical platform to build from, but Dykstra is 23, so he’ll need to move quickly to be taken seriously. He has the stuff to make that jump, though, with a polished three-pitch mix that includes an 89-93 mph running fastball, a 72-76 mph big-breaking curveball, and an 80-84 mph sinking changeup. His fastball/changeup combination is solid, and both are solid-average pitches; the curveball flashes higher than both of them and could be a plus offering, but he’s not consistent with his usage of it. Sometimes he’ll fall in love with the pitch and throw it 50% of the time for an inning, while others he’ll abandon it altogether. Here’s a look at the pitch flummoxing touted Red Sox prospect Manuel Margot: And here’s a look at a strikeout on the changeup: With good size and athleticism, an easy delivery, and an interesting set of pitches, Dykstra has the upside of a good innings-eater at the big-league level. He’s not always consistent with his stuff and approach, which is both an obvious negative–consistency is, well, good–and a positive–he’s already pitching extremely well without consistency, so if he can tighten the screws further on his stuff, mechanics, and approach, he’ll adjust to new levels very well. He will need to move quickly due to his age, but this isn’t just a random college finesse pitcher beating up on inexperienced bats–the all-around excellent numbers are backed up by across-the-board solid attributes. *** Antonio Senzatela, RHP, Colorado Rockies (Profile) Level: Low-A Age: 19 Top-15: N/A Top-100: N/A Line: 55.1 IP, 57 H, 28 R, 27/13 K/BB, 3.90 ERA, 5.40 FIP Summary A teenager with easy velocity, Senzatela doesn’t have exciting numbers, but his upside is high if his offspeed pitches come around. Notes Antonio Senzatela has the highest walk rate of the three pitchers discussed in this piece, at (a still very good) 5.5%. He also has easily the lowest strikeout rate, a worrisome 11.5%. His FIP is an ugly 5.40, roughly double Dykstra’s and Castro’s. So why should we care about him? There are several reasons. First, Senzatela turned 19 in January, roughly two months after Dykstra–who, mind you, is in the same league–turned 23. Comparing their performances doesn’t mean a whole lot–one would hope that Dykstra’s the more advanced guy, and he is. Senzatela has at least a couple of years before he needs to really get moving performance-wise; at this stage, the question is stuff. And he has stuff. Or, at least, he has a fastball. Three things about the above video: 1.) He hit 95 mph. 2.) He hit 95 easy. 3.) He hit 95 easy in the sixth inning. When Senzatela first came out for warmups in the start I saw, I wasn’t expecting much. He looks shorter than his listed 6’1″ and heavier than his listed 180, maybe 5’11” 205 or so, and he employs a low-effort motion that doesn’t look like it should generate a whole lot of velocity, especially from a pitcher of that size. And yet, there it is. Senzatela works mostly at 90-94 mph and projects for above-average command due to the easy motion, which is a heck of a pair of building blocks for a teenager. Everything else is a work in progress, which is why Senzatela doesn’t miss many bats. He throws a slider, curve, and changeup, all of which grade out as 30 or 35-grade pitches on the 20-80 scouting scale. The 71-75 mph curve is very soft and doesn’t have the big break required to make a pitch that slow work, the slider lacks bite, and the changeup doesn’t have good movement either, though it does have good velocity separation at 77-82 mph. Every now and then, Senzatela will flash up to fringe-average with his offspeed pitches, lending hope that he’ll take some steps forward in that department as time goes on. The curve, in particular, has some potential if he can tighten it up some, an adjustment that is quite common for pitchers at this developmental stage. All he needs is one of his secondary pitches to come around to profile as a good relief pitcher, and if the whole set can come up to average, he’ll be a good #4 starter. There’s some risk involved here because of the inadequacy of his current offspeed arsenal, but Senzatela’s easy velocity can’t be taught, and he has time to figure everything else out.

Enter Shadar Logoth. There are some really nice descriptions of the architecture of this ruined city. How do you picture the characters? The boys slip out the back of the warded shelter without permission to explore the empty city. As night approaches, they encounter Mordeth. We get into the motivations of this dangerous character. Matt picks up the ruby hilted dagger during their flight, but tells no one. After they return Rand has a dream. Is the old man in it Ishmael? The approach of Tollocs forces the party to flee. WoTSpoilers is a twice weekly book-club, you can join the conversation on Discord Remember, we're two nerds in a basement who would rather be creating content full time, than working our 9-5s. You can help us create the content you love, by donating on Patreon

A weird ‘metal butterfly’ which buzzed a father and son as they left a restaurant in Ohio this week is among the clearest UFO pictures ever taken. But some UFO fans say it’s a fake - possibly created using CGI software. Local men Tom and Christopher claim that the weird, butterfly-like craft buzzed them - then they saw two black, military helicopters following it. It was shown off by paranormal-themed YouTube channel Secure Team - whose creator, Tyler Glockner, swears it is real. Glockner says, ‘The reason I am calling this an alien craft rather than just a UFO…is in the stunning detail, where we can see the true structural characteristics of this ship. ‘And guys you take a look and tell me with a straight face this has anything to do with humans. ‘The features on this thing don't make any sense.’ Glockner claims that the duo who filmed the clip were unable to photograph the military helicopters which tailed the craft, as they were ‘going the other way’. Nigel Watson, author of the UFO Investigations Manual, is more sceptical, saying, ‘It looks like it was produced using a model and CGI. It is a very distinctive looking object, it reminds me of the Millennium Falcon spacecraft in the Star Wars films with a bite taken out of it. ‘Alarm bells ring when the witnesses are only known as Tom and Christopher, and we might also wonder why other people in the area didn't see it.

Yesterday was brutal for NC State fans. First they learned that Trevor Lacey was going pro, then they find out Kyle Washington is transferring. So for all of you toeing the ledge right now, we have some recruiting news that will hopefully put you in a better mood. According to Adam Zagoria of ZagsBlog, Mark Gottfried is in Greece looking for a commitment from 7 foot center Georgios Papagiannis. N.C. State coach @Mark_Gottfried left for Greece today where he will see 7-footer Georgios Papagiannis. More here: http://t.co/QvTZ5Ywtcr — Adam Zagoria (@AdamZagoria) April 17, 2015 Now, I’m not going to act like I’ve seen anything more than a few videos, but this kid is legit. In fact, there are a few coaches that think he’s a potential one and done type guy (From the videos I’m not buying that). He’s 7’1, has a good frame, is bouncy, coordinated, can handle it a bit and can shoot it. Gott is trying to lock him up and is likey the first coach to go over to visit him. He is also looking at St. John’s, Temple, Oregon, Kentucky and UConn. He is expected to make a decision by June but Gottfried is surely hoping to come home with one in a few days.

Dear President Obama: Before you decide to attack Syria, yet another Arab or Islamic country that does not threaten U.S. security, there are certain constitutional “niceties” that you should observe. Chronically violating the Constitution overturns the rule of law and can produce costly blowbacks. On August 28, you stated that bombing Syria “is not about war, it’s about accountability,” obviously referring to the brutal gassing of neighborhoods outside of Damascus. What about your accountability to receive authorization from Congress which, under Article 1, Section 8, has the sole and exclusive power to declare war? Spare Americans the casuistry of your lawyers who “legalized” your war on Libya, with no declaration, authorization or appropriation of funds from Congress, and pushed the envelope of the “unitary presidency” beyond the unlawful and brazen extremes advocated by George W. Bush and his lawyers. Nearly 200 members of both parties of Congress – now on its August recess – demanded there be no attack on Syria without Congressional authorization. These signers have so far included 72 Democrats. Merely secretly consulting with some lawmakers on the Intelligence Committees does not substitute for formal Congressional authorization. The framers of our Constitution – whatever their other differences – were unanimous in writing Article 1, Section 8, so that no president could go to war on his own. To do so, as you have already done in the past, would be a major impeachable offense. The media have reported that your lawyers are searching for legal justification for Tomahawk Missiling Syria. They need look no more – the Constitution clearly rests the power to engage in war with Congress and Congress only. You cannot start another war! You cannot continue to be the prosecutor, judge, jury and executioner anywhere, and at any time. You may think the foregoing cautious and mere formalities. But the framers held the war-making power in Congress for another reason than just thwarting a latter-day King George III tyranny. They wanted a deliberative open process to avoid reckless presidential decisions that were bad for our country and produced entanglements with warring foreign nations. Remember George Washington’s farewell address on this point – truer today than in his day. Remember what the nearly 200 members of Congress said to you – “engaging our military in Syria with no direct threat to the United States and without prior Congressional authorization would violate the separation of powers that is clearly delineated in the Constitution.” Congressional deliberations would ask the following questions in the open: Assuming the veracity of the regime as the cause, how could a U.S. attack not make a horrible situation even more horrible, both inside Syria and in the volatile region? Why are so many in the U.S. military privately opposed to such an action – though they defer to civilian authority? Could it be due to the lack of any strategic purpose and the violent plethora of uncontrollable consequences? See the oppositional stands, reported in the August 30th Washington Post, “from captains to a four-star general.” How are you going to avoid the kind of awful continual civilian casualties that were produced in the first Iraq war in 1991? U.S. bombings broke chemical warfare containers and led to sickness (called the Gulf War Syndrome) for tens of thousands of U.S. soldiers – many continue to suffer to this day. How are you going to deal with the overwhelming majority of Muslims in the Middle East and at least 70 percent of Americans here who are opposed to you bombing Syria? Do you think that lack of domestic public support and even deeper hatred abroad are inconsequential? Your empire mentality seems to say yes. One would think that House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio), of all people, who just sent you a detailed letter of inquiry and caution, citing Congressional authority, should give you pause. Increasingly, you are coming across, even to your hardcore political supporters, as impulsively aggressive, too quick to order killing operations and too slow to contemplate waging of peace. The Syrian civil war – riven by fighting rebel factions, sectarian revenge cycles, outside arms suppliers and provocations, and a spreading al-Qaeda force fighting the dictatorial Assad regime – can only get worse following a violent attack by your Administration. Listen to Hans Blix, the former United Nations head of the weapons inspection team in Iraq during 2002-2003 that was aborted by George W. Bush’s criminal invasion that led to the continuing loss of over a million Iraqis, many more injuries, five thousand U.S. soldiers and tens of thousands of injured Americans. SCROLL TO CONTINUE WITH CONTENT Help Keep Common Dreams Alive Our progressive news model only survives if those informed and inspired by this work support our efforts Mr. Blix, former Swedish minister for foreign affairs, urges an international peace conference under the UN Security Council’s auspices attended by all governments supporting the various sides in Syria’s civil war. Since all fighters in Syria are receiving their weapons from outside nations, these “supplier countries have leverage,” Blix writes, to support the demand “that their clients accept a ceasefire – or risk losing further support.” Achieving this goal will require strong leadership. While it is difficult for you to move from waging war to waging peace, history documents that the latter brings better outcomes and forestalls worse slaughter and blowbacks that security experts fear could reach our country. When your own military believes you are moving into dangerous terrain and possible points of no return, you’d better start to rethink. You’d better reread the warnings in the measured memoranda given to you by Secretary of Defense, Chuck Hagel, and the chief of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Martin Dempsey. More publically, retired Lt. Gen. Gregory S. Newbold, who directed operations for the Joint Chiefs during the run-up to the Iraq war, told the Washington Post: “There’s a broad naiveté in the political class about America’s obligations in foreign policy issues, and scary simplicity about the effects that employing American military power can achieve.” He said that many of his fellow officers share his views. General Newbold’s words seem like a rebuke not just to the Bush Neocons (pro-Vietnam war, draft dodgers) who pushed the Iraq invasion, but also to you and your immediate circle of hawkish civilian advisors. All weapons of violence – chemical, biological, nuclear, drones, conventional munitions – are used to destroy lives and habitats. The fact that using some weapons constitutes international war crimes per se is hardly consoling to the victims of other mass weapons systems. Aggressive arms controls should be the priority of the leading superpower in the world. Why haven’t you made U.S. ratification of the small arms, the landmines, and the cluster munitions treaties, adhered to by most nations, a priority? Before you violently embroil our country into yet another Mid-East country’s tragic turmoil, visit the government supported U.S. Institute of Peace for intensive tutorials. Then read again Article 1, Section 8, and its originating history, which says that going to war is not your decision but the exclusive decision of the Congress. That may help you accept the imperative of your moral and legal accountability. Sincerely, Ralph Nader

Government spending cuts could cause growth only if they increase the other components by more than spending was cut. There's a common argument that this could happen in the long term. Less federal spending allows the government to take in fewer tax dollars. If you believe that the private sector better promotes economic growth than the government, then it makes sense that smaller government paired with lower taxes will lead to higher growth. But that's not the situation we're talking about here. We're trying to pay down the enormous government debt, so we can't lower taxes in proportion to the spending cuts. Doing so would leave the debt level unchanged. In order for spending cuts in a vacuum to stimulate the economy, they must have some intangible positive effect on one or more of the other components of GDP. Let's think through this. Consumption : Less government spending will not provide consumers with more money to spend. So to spend more, they would need to save less or incur more personal debt. These options seem somewhat unlikely, as less government spending probably means the impact of entitlements softens -- so Americans will need to save more, not less.* : Less government spending will not provide consumers with more money to spend. So to spend more, they would need to save less or incur more personal debt. These options seem somewhat unlikely, as less government spending probably means the impact of entitlements softens -- so Americans will need to save more, not less.* Investment : Less government spending will not provide firms with more money to invest. So they would either need to pay shareholders less or borrow to invest more of their revenue for growth. It's hard to see why cutting government spending would encourage either of these options. At best, you could see the private sector attempt to provide some of the services that government cut, but most of the government's functions tend not to be potential profit centers for firms. More importantly, this would just replace the services the government already provided, so growth would remain flat. Economic activity would remain unchanged: some would just shift from government to firms. : Less government spending will not provide firms with more money to invest. So they would either need to pay shareholders less or borrow to invest more of their revenue for growth. It's hard to see why cutting government spending would encourage either of these options. At best, you could see the private sector attempt to provide some of the services that government cut, but most of the government's functions tend not to be potential profit centers for firms. More importantly, this would just replace the services the government already provided, so growth would remain flat. Economic activity would remain unchanged: some would just shift from government to firms. Net Exports: Less government spending could actually reduce net exports. If the deficit declines, then the dollar should strengthen. While that might sound great, it means that our goods and services will appear more expensive to those overseas. That will make it more difficult to convince them to buy U.S. exports. You can quibble that government spending shouldn't be a part of the definition of GDP. That position isn't crazy, but it also doesn't change anything. As just shown, those other components will not reflect new economic activity boosting growth if government spending is cut. Remember, cutting spending takes money out of the economy. That money isn't being replaced. Any further growth will have to occur by draining savings or by taking on more credit. Will less government produce stronger economic sentiment to induce such behavior? It could if the government borrowing was having an adverse negative effect on the economy in some way. Currently, that doesn't appear to be the case. U.S. debt is still being issued relatively cheaply.

This story is a further continuation of “Playing a Story in a Believable World” and “Playing a Story in a Believable World 2”. I highly recommend reading both of those articles before continuing. Play on Assumptions Adventures can be inspired from anything. In the campaign I mentioned last article, one particularly nasty antagonist that the party set out to destroy was almost completely based on H.P. Lovecraft’s “Pickman’s Model”. It’s a story that hardly lends itself to high combat, but with a little modification I was able to pay it homage while making something unique and fun that Lovecraft fans could make a few guesses about along the way. Another adventure, to hunt a sewer dwelling urban legend called Croc-Man, led the party to call up thoughts and stories of Killer Croc from the Batman cartoon/comics. The story hardly had anything to do with the DC character, but it allowed me to direct the investigation because I knew what assumptions the party had made. As my campaign evolved, the story called for higher action and less intrigue. Though I never stated that a genre change was impending, I did allude to it repeatedly. A war was brewing in my plot, a battle to epitomize Good vs. Evil on a mass scale. The players could feel the danger growing larger session by session, NPCs spoke of an end to the battles they faced, and prophecy warned of the final confrontation. To prepare for the massive combat, I watched movies like 300, Gladiator, and other violent action flicks. I noted their soundtracks and during my battles, played those coupled with other powerful songs; music that I knew (knowing my group’s tastes) would pump some adrenaline into the room. I can’t say I recommend Metallica’s Battery covered by acoustic metal group Van Canto for every game, but with my group is was the perfect choice. Battles truly felt like epic moments of intense rage directed at an irredeemable enemy, exactly what I hoped to convey. Afterword Every group is different; I cannot tell you specifically how to lead every player to the assumptions you want from them. However, I do feel that being aware of the mood you are crafting will help you figure out how to guide your particular group. Here are a few starter ideas to help you establish a Continuity of Theme, Tone, and Mood. Choose and communicate a genre style. Every genre comes with its own set list of assumptions on the types of characters, adventures, and so much more. Use this to quickly explain the feelings your story is trying to create. Watch movies or read books that capture the chosen genre. Anything that well illustrates the given tone you want to recreate can serve as inspiration. Don’t be afraid to make references to the genre directly or indirectly in your campaign. I don’t recommend taking your plot straight from Mass Effect for your Sci-Fi RPG, but if your group is familiar with the game and it has elements that blend well, use them. Spend some time with Thesaurus.com (or a real thesaurus! Advice I could use myself). Look up descriptors for the mood you are establishing and find similar words, then use these in your descriptions for locations, artifacts, or characters. Try to stay consistent from the outset. This is probably the most difficult tip to master, if such a thing is possible. In the event you are forced to change your mind about your genre due to disinterest or dramatic plot change, be sure to review this list of tips, choose a new genre, and communicate it to the players. I think it is very important to mention here not place yourself in a box. Your chosen genre should serve only as a baseline, a point from which assumptions can be made. How you twist and direct those assumptions is entirely up to you as the writer and GM. Lastly, crafting a believable world to tell your story in doesn’t end here, these are only steps along the path. Experiment, read on game theory, and decide what works for you. I’m working on more articles regarding NPC Relationships, Time Use, and Equipment that all tie your series of adventures into a story world your players can really get into. [tag]Game Mastering, Pen and Paper RPG, role playing, Role Playing Games, roleplaying, rpg[/tag]

As the Los Angeles Clippers propose guard Jamal Crawford in possible trade scenarios, the NBA's Sixth Man of the Year has a message for the Clippers and potential future teams: Wherever Crawford's playing, he wants a contract extension next summer. "Our intention is to get an extension with the Clippers or anywhere else that he may be traded based on the fact that he's undervalued for the production he's providing," his agent Andy Miller told Yahoo Sports on Wednesday night. Crawford has become a subject of sign-and-trade discussions with the Clippers, who have inquired about working deals for several potential free agents, including Cleveland's Luol Deng and Spencer Hawes, sources told Yahoo. Scroll to continue with content Ad Crawford has two years, $11 million left on his deal, including a team option for the 2015-16 season. Crawford is eligible for an extension in the summer of 2015, and believes he's out-performed his deal. Crawford had a tremendously productive season for the Clippers, averaging 18.6 points in 30 minutes per game on his way to his second Sixth Man of the Year award in four seasons. Crawford averaged 15.5 points in 24 minutes per game in the 2014 Western Conference playoffs. In 14 NBA seasons, Crawford has averaged 15.5 points. He's played with Chicago, New York, Golden State, Atlanta, Portland and the Clippers.

New Datamined Patch - Class Changes, Passive Effects, Rift Keystones, Item Set Names, Bounty Scrolls, New Banners, Warlords of Draenor Buff, Lots of Graphics Warning - all things below should NOT be considered as a confirmation or anything close to it. This is datamining and not everything is a representation of what would be in the game. Update 4: Added Set Item bonuses. There are quite some changes! Update 3: Added portraits. Faces are as follows: Enchanted Soul Fragment, Lord Wynton, Spirit Barbarian, Spirit Crusader, Spirit Crusader Male, Westmarch Boy, Adria Boss, Cow King, Zayl, Common Angel, BSmith Apprentice, Sophia. Looks like this might be it for the patch! Update 2: Added buff icons from items, Warlords of Draenor "flag" buff, new Bounty target Health Bar and Legendary Reagents. Fixed incorrect Pool of Reflection string. Update: Added a lot more pictures. Made Warlords of Draenor Buff more obvious in the notes below. New Graphics - Icons, Items, Portraits, UI Set Item Bonuses DiabloFans Quote: Krelm's Buff Bulwark (New) 2 pieces: [+500 Vitality] Chantodo's Resolve 2 pieces: [Your shields heal for 25% of their remaining amount when they expire.] (New) Legacy of Nightmares 2 pieces: [This ring sometimes summons a Skeleton when you attack.] (Seems like it was missing from the tooltip the last few builds) Born's Command 2 pieces: [+15% Life] (Down from 20%) 3 pieces: [Increases experience rewarded per kill by 20%] (Moved from 2 pieces) 3 pieces: [Reduces cooldown of all skills by [{VALUE1}*100|1|]%.] (New) Cain's Destiny 3 pieces: [50% Better Chance of Finding Magical Items] (Down from 100%) Captain Crimson's Trimmings 2 pieces: [Reduces cooldown of all skills by [{VALUE1}*100|1|]%.] (New) 2 pieces: [Regenerates 2000 Life per Second] (Up from 1945) 3 pieces: [Reduces all resource costs by 10%.] (New) 3 pieces: [+50 Resistance to all elements] (Down from 100) Aughild's Authority 2 pieces: [Reduces damage from ranged attacks by 0.07%] (Moved from 3 pieces) 3 pieces: [Reduces damage from Elites by 15%] [Increases damage versus Elites by 15%] (New) Asheara's Vestments 3 pieces: [Melee attackers take 3498 Holy Damage per hit] (Removed) Guardian's Jeopardy 2 pieces: [+250 Vitality] (Down from 975 2 pieces: [Regenerates 2000 Life per Second] (Up from 1945) 3 pieces: [+15% Movement Speed] (New) Demon's Hide 2 pieces: [Melee attackers take 6000 Fire Damage per hit] (Up from 3498) 3 pieces: [Chance to Deal 25% Splash Damage on Hit.] (Changed from 5.1% chance to Fear on Hit) Sage's Journey 2 pieces: [+250 Intelligence] [+250 Strength] [+250 Dexterity] [+250 Vitality] (All values down from 975) Hallowed Protectors 2 pieces: [Attack Speed increased by 10%] (Up from 8%) The Shadow's Mantle (Ninja Set) 2 pieces: [Automatically cast Smoke Screen when you fall below 25% Life. This effect may occur once every 30 seconds.] (Moved from 4 pieces. Replaces: Your Spike Traps lure enemies to them) 4 pieces: [Reduce all cooldowns by 1 second every time you kill a demon.] (New) Helltooth Harness (Witch_Doctor_Set_x1) 4 pieces: [ Reduces cooldown of Wall of Zombies by 2 seconds. ] (Previously 500 Intelligence) 6 pieces: [NYI] (Previously 500 Intelligence) Item Passive Effects DiabloFans Quote: New ItemPassive_Unique_Ring_739_x1 - Elemental skills have a chance to trigger a powerful attack that deals [{VALUE1}*100]% weapon damage: *Cold skills trigger Freezing Skull *Poison skills trigger Poison Nova *Lightning skills trigger Charged Bolt ItemPassive_Unique_Bow_008_x1 - Ravens flock to your side. ItemPassive_Unique_Ring_586_x1 - Wall of Zombies spews acid, dealing [{VALUE1}*100]% weapon damage every second for its entire duration. (Was NYI till now) ItemPassive_Unique_Ring_587_x1 - All damage taken is split between wearers of this item. (Was NYI till now) Changed ItemPassive_Unique_Ring_533_x1 - Strafe gains the effect of the Drifting Shadow rune. (Previously removed Hatred cost) ItemPassive_Unique_Ring_602_x1 - Your Spike Traps lure enemies to them. Enemies may be taunted once every {VALUE1} seconds. (Added taunt mechanic description) ItemPassive_Unique_Ring_600_x1 - Summons shadow clones to your aid when you Stun an enemy. This effect may occur once every {VALUE1} seconds. (Added occurrence limitation) ItemPassive_Unique_Ring_615_x1 - Healing wells replenish all resources and reduce all cooldowns by {VALUE1} seconds. (Now also reduces cooldowns) ItemPassive_Unique_Ring_621_x1 - Fan of Knives gains the effect of the Fan of Daggers rune. (Changed from having a knock back effect) ItemPassive_Unique_Ring_626_x1 - Grasp of the Dead gains the effect of the Rain of Corpses rune. (Changed from having no cooldown) ItemPassive_Unique_Ring_643_x1 - Blocks have a chance of summoning a charging wolf that deals [{VALUE1}*100]% weapon damage to all enemies it passes through. (Added creature details, changed from hell hound) ItemPassive_Unique_Mighty_1H_011_x1 - Chance on attack to Whirlwind furiously for 325% weapon damage as Physical every second for 6 seconds. (Finally added actual numbers!) Warlords of Draenor Buff NOTE that Blizzard uses QUAD DAMAGE as a placeholder for CE stuff. DiabloFans Quote: WoDFlagBuff_name - Collectors Edition Buff WoDFlagBuff_desc - QUAD DAMAGE Rift Keystones, Item Set Names, Bounty Scrolls, New Banners DiabloFans Quote: Bnet_EscapeMenu.txt RaiseDifficulty - Raise Difficulty Errors.txt NephalemRiftWarning_PlayerNeedsKey - Five Rift Keystone Fragments are needed to conjure a Nephalem Rift. PowerUnusableInDifficulty - You can't do that in this difficulty level. DifficultyTooLow - You must be in a higher game difficulty for that. ItemCannotBeEnchantedLegacy - The mystic cannot enchant legacy items. ItemCannotBeEnchantedMysticLevelRequired - The mystic needs to be level {s1} to enchant this item type. General.txt LootRunClosesWarning - Nephalem Rift closes in: QuestUpdateNewBountyChatMessage - {s1}, {s2} StatAbbr - {s1}k HeroDetails.txt SplashDamage - Area Damage (Renamed from Splash Damage) ItemSets.txt Ninja_Set_x1 - The Shadow’s Mantle Thorns_Set_x1 - Thorns of the Invoker Earthquake_Set_x1 - Might of the Earth Golden_Oxen_Set_x1 - The Legacy of Raekor Dot_Set_x1 - Raiment of the Jade Harvester Monkey_King_Set_x1 - Monkey King's Garb Arcane_Wraps_Set_x1 - Vyr's Amazing Arcana Witch_Doctor_Set_x1 - Helltooth Harness War_Harness_Set_x1 - Krelm’s Buff Bulwark BuffTooltips.txt X1_Passive_BountyScroll_DemonDamage_0 - Bounty Scroll X1_Passive_BountyScroll_DemonDamage_0_desc - 25% increased damage to Demons. X1_Passive_BountyScroll_UndeadDamage_0 - Bounty Scroll X1_Passive_BountyScroll_UndeadDamage_0_desc - 25% increased damage to Undead. X1_Passive_BountyScroll_BeastDamage_0 - Bounty Scroll X1_Passive_BountyScroll_BeastDamage_0_desc - 25% increased damage to Beasts. X1_Passive_BountyScroll_TeddyBear_0 - Cuddle Bear! X1_Passive_BountyScroll_TeddyBear_0_desc - You feel more cuddly. X1_Passive_BountyScroll_RunSpeed_0 - Bounty Scroll X1_Passive_BountyScroll_RunSpeed_0_desc - 30% increased movement speed. Powers.txt X1_Passive_BountyScroll_DemonDamage_name - Bounty Scroll X1_Passive_BountyScroll_UndeadDamage_name - Bounty Scroll X1_Passive_BountyScroll_BeastDamage_name - Bounty Scroll X1_Passive_BountyScroll_RunSpeed_name - Bounty Scroll Tutorials.txt X1_PoolsOfreflection_2 - You now have a pool of bonus experience which will persist between games. Dying will remove this bonus. X1_PoolsOfreflection_2_title - Pools of Reflection Bonus X1_RiftKeystone_title - Rift Keystone Fragments X1_RiftKeystoneInventory - Use 5 Rift Keystone Fragments to open a Nephalem Rift at the Nephalem Obelisk in town. X1_RiftKeystoneInventory_title - Rift Keystone Fragments X1_RiftKeystoneComplete - You now have 5 Rift Keystone Fragments. You can go back to the Nephalem Obelisk in town and open a Nephalem Rift. X1_RiftKeystoneComplete_title - Rift Keystone Fragments X1_LoadscreenTips.txt TIP056 - Primary or secondary properties proceeded by an orange bullet icon {icon:bullet2} are not factored into item comparisons. TIP057 - Shift-click on player names to link them. TIP058 - Holding down the SHIFT key while assigning paragon points will speed up the process by assigning them ten at a time. BannerAccents.txt banner_basic_sigilAccent_BatWings_01 - Wings banner_basic_sigilAccent_Goblet_01 - Goblet banner_basic_sigilAccent_MoonStar_01 - Moon & Sun banner_basic_sigilAccent_Orb_01 - Orb banner_basic_sigilAccent_Rose_01 - Roses banner_basic_sigilAccent_Serpent_01 - Serpent banner_basic_sigilAccent_Snakes_01 - Snakes banner_basic_sigilAccent_Leaves_02 - Vines banner_basic_sigilAccent_Rays_01 - Rays banner_basic_sigilAccent_Sun_01 - Evenstar BannerPatterns.txt banner_basic_pattern_wave_04 - Wind banner_basic_pattern_cross_05 - Cruces banner_basic_pattern_cross_06 - Crucifix banner_basic_pattern_drip_03 - Scalloped banner_basic_pattern_fire_02 - Flares banner_basic_pattern_fire_03 - Fire banner_basic_pattern_starburst_01 - Infinity banner_basic_pattern_starburst_02 - Starburst banner_basic_pattern_starburst_03 - Sunburst BannerShapes.txt banner_basic_shape_chevron004 - Highborn banner_basic_shape_chevron005 - Royal banner_basic_shape_chevron006 - Imperial banner_basic_shape_goth004 - Exultant banner_basic_shape_point006 - Hallowed banner_basic_shape_point007 - Glorious banner_basic_shape_point008 - Westmarch banner_basic_shape_rectangle002 - Reserved banner_basic_shape_rectangle003 - August BannerSigils.txt banner_basic_sigilMain_Axe_01 - Axe banner_basic_sigilMain_Bird_01 - Ascendance banner_basic_sigilMain_Crus_01 - Crusader banner_basic_sigilMain_Hood_01 - Malthael's Hood banner_basic_sigilMain_Orb_01 - Crucible banner_basic_sigilMain_Rose_01 - Thorny Rose banner_basic_sigilMain_Scythe_02 - Scythes banner_basic_sigilMain_Shield_03 - Crusader Shield banner_basic_sigilMain_Sickle_01 - Sickles banner_basic_sigilMain_Soulstone_01 - Black Soulstone banner_basic_sigilMain_Malskull_01 - Reaper banner_basic_sigilMain_Axe_01_alt_01 - Axe banner_basic_sigilMain_Bird_01_alt_01 - Ascendance banner_basic_sigilMain_Crus_01_alt_01 - Crusader banner_basic_sigilMain_Flail_01 - Flails banner_basic_sigilMain_Flail_01_alt_01 - Flails banner_basic_sigilMain_Hood_01_alt_01 - Malthael's Hood banner_basic_sigilMain_Malskull_01_Alt_01 - Reaper banner_basic_sigilMain_Orb_01_alt_01 - Crucible banner_basic_sigilMain_Rose_01_alt_01 - Thorny Rose banner_basic_sigilMain_Scythe_02_alt_01 - Scythes banner_basic_sigilMain_Shield_03_alt_01 - Crusader Shield banner_basic_sigilMain_Sickle_01_alt_01 - Sickles banner_basic_sigilMain_Soulstone_01_alt_01 - Black Soulstone Class Changes

A white supremacist group will rally on the steps of the Pennsylvania State Capitol on Nov. 5, within days of the presidential election. The National Socialist Movement's announcement of a rally in the "heart of Democracy" spurred local social service groups to organize their own event across town in the hope of averting a potentially violent protest. "One of our goals is to show that equality and nonviolence will be spoken louder than hate that day in Harrisburg," said Ann Van Dyke, who's helping to organize a unity event as white supremacists converge on the Capitol. "The other is to encourage young people to stay away from the rally -- to give them something better to do that day." According to the Southern Poverty Law Center, the NSM is "one of the largest and most prominent neo-Nazi groups in the United States." The center reported that the number of hate groups nationwide has increased 14 percent since 2014. "They have 46 chapters in 40 different states," said Mark Potok, a senior fellow at the SPLC. "That makes them far larger than other groups in terms of chapters." Potok said their protests typically center around 10 or 20 members of the group but can draw dozens of police officers and as many as 500 demonstrators. "There's always the threat of violence because anti-racists are so provoked and infuriated by the Nazis," he said. "The police have a tough jog in these situations. They have to keep the neo-Nazis and their opponents apart." Troy Thompson, a spokesman for the state Department of General Services, confirmed that the NSM obtained a permit for its rally at the Capitol. "Everyone has the right to free speech and freedom of expression," Thompson said. "While we may not agree with the content of the message, as long as it's delivered in a peaceful manner, every individual has the right to express themselves." Messages left with the NSM rally's organizers were not returned Wednesday, but in a press release the group said it chose Harrisburg because of its status as "one of the birthplaces of American democracy." On its website, the NSM emphasized the timing of the rally within days of the presidential election although it does not explicitly endorse either candidate. "We chose Harrisburg because of its living history," said Jeff Schoep, an NSM leader, in a written statement, "a history so poignant in its remembrance during these turbulent social and political times." http://www.pennlive.com/news/2016/02/the_hateful_state_pennsylvania.html Van Dyke said the counter-demonstration, which will likely be held at a school far from the Capitol, will be apolitical. Amanda Arbour, racial justice coordinator for YWCA Greater Harrisburg, said the best response to a hate group is to shift focus away from their activities. "Whenever there's a hate group having a rally, it's not as productive to have a counter-protest at the rally," she said. "It draws more attention to their efforts." Van Dyke said the counter-event will include music, poetry and other activities designed to attract young people. Its organizers, she said, include Christian Churches United, the Community Responders Network, the Mayor's Interfaith Advisory Council, and the World Affairs Council. Van Dyke said it's important to keep protesters -- and particularly young people -- away from the white supremacist rally in order to protect them. "Hate groups say such venomous things in their public rallies that sometimes protestors, particularly young people, lose control and end up breaking the law," she said. "They're usually the ones that end up getting arrested." Hate groups want protesters -- and the media coverage that follows -- at their events, she said, because it helps spread their message. Furthermore, any failure by local authorities to control the crowd could result in more favorable coverage or lawsuits against the city or state. "Another goal, which is really important to keep in mind, is that they seek to inflame existing tensions in that town between the community and police," she said. "For so, so many reasons, we need to have an alternative unity event." The organizers are still finalizing the location of the alternate event, which will run concurrently with the rally at 2 p.m. on Nov. 5. Those interested in assisting the counter-event can call the YWCA at 717-234-7931. http://www.pennlive.com/politics/index.ssf/2016/06/donald_trump_10_political_fire.html

NewsFaith SANTA PAULA, California, December 1, 2017 (LifeSiteNews) — There will be a mass rosary service throughout the United States on December 12, the feast day of Our Lady of Guadalupe, inspired “100 percent” by the Rosary on the Borders in Poland. The “Rosary on the Coasts and Borders” is the initiative of a group of Church Militant fans who proposed — and then began planning — the event in its website comments box. “I am in constant admiration of Poland,” Patricia Lemmon, who is one of the organizers, told LifeSiteNews. “Over and over again, (the Poles) show their allegiance to reality. Their pro-life laws and initiatives encouraging families to have children, supporting families when a Down syndrome child is expected, welcoming Christian refugees but barring (jihadist) incomers, these are a beacon of intelligence coupled with goodness in the midst of so much truly dark news out of dying secular western Europe.” Lemmon also praised the rosary events in Italy and Ireland. The intention of the prayers will be “to ask Our Lady to save the USA from Islamic jihad, from the denial of the Christian faith, and for an end of abortion.” The USA Rosary on the Coasts and Borders will not literally surround the nation’s massive territory. Instead, Lemmon said, it will put up “a prayer shield by representation.” “Here in the States we do things state by state, and we believe in representation,” she told LifeSiteNews. “So (we need as representatives) one person or group from each of the 50 States, plus D.C., plus Puerto Rico, plus Guam or other territory. By December 12, that will be all 53 of us, representing the whole USA to Our Lady of Guadalupe.” In this way, the organizers hope to match a state or protectorate to each of the Hail Marys in a five-decade rosary. The Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe was chosen for a few reasons. First, the only Marian apparition in the New World pronounced authentic by the Catholic Church was witnessed in Villa de Guadalupe in 1531. Next, Pius XII named Our Lady of Guadalupe the Patroness of the Americas in 1946. Finally, an image of Our Lady of Guadalupe was taken by Don Juan of Austria’s Christian army into the Battle of Lepanto in 1571. The Battle of Lepanto represented a major defeat to the Ottoman Empire. “The New World’s Lady sailed to confront jihad in the Old World,” Lemmon said. “Is this not mind-blowing? That battle, against all odds, saved Europe from imminent invasion. … As Don Juan fought under that banner, the pope prayed the rosary.” The anniversary of the Battle of Lepanto on October 7 is also the Feast of the Holy Rosary and the date chosen by the organizers of the Polish Rosary to the Borders. “So the Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe, victor of Lepanto, seems the ordained date for America to link with Poland … ” said Lemmon. “Thus we will jointly block jihad and embrace faith and life.” The Rosary On the Coasts and Borders currently has representatives in 30 states and Puerto Rico. The organizers are still looking for representatives in Alabama, Arkansas, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Montana, New Mexico, North Dakota, Oregon, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Tennessee, Vermont, West Virginia, the District of Columbia, and Guam, or some other protectorate. Canadians, too, are invited to join in. Lemmon addressed them through LifeSiteNews, saying, “Turn to your south on December 12 and join us in throwing up to heaven a bubble of protection across these vast lands. … And when you do your own Canadian rosary, we will turn to our north … and join you in storming heaven for Canada!” Lemmon described the lay-led event as “a Wild West Rosary.” “We didn't wait for the U.S. bishops to do anything,” she told LifeSiteNews. “As a group, they don't seem cut from the same cloth as the great Polish bishops who are so busy (being bishops), protecting and leading their flock among real dangers (although the U.S. does have a few sterling bishops). We here in the States can springboard off of the American do-it-yourself spirit.” Those interested in joining can register on the Disqus link here.

Preface Terminology for 18650 batteries can be very confusing. In this blog post I will clear five common myths. Myth #1 - You have individual 18650 batteries Myth #2 - What is better, Li-Po or Li-ion? Myth #3 - When you charge a cell, its capacity increases Myth #4 - 18650 batteries can be either Primary or Secondary cells Myth #5 - Impedance and Resistance are interchangeable terms I decided to go into some detail for each point so that readers may fully appreciate what lies behind each myth. With detail also lies some complexity. Admittedly I'm worried. I want this post to clear up 18650 battery myths, not confuse even more. For that reason I added as many metaphors for phenomenon as possible. When you come across these, really take a moment to think about what is going on. I find these metaphors are really the best way to quickly grasp complicated concepts. And lastly, if you come across any mistakes, have any questions, or disagree with something I've written, please let me know in the comments! Myth #1 - You have individual 18650 batteries Answer: Technically, you have individual 18650 cells, not batteries The terminology problem here arises because of the difference between consumers and engineers. 1 - Cell Technically speaking, an individual 18650 battery is actually a cell. A cell is the smallest packaged form a battery can take (and for 18650 batteries a cell is normally 4.2V). 2 - Module The next step up in the hierarchy is a module, which can consist of several 18650 cells connected in either parallel or series. Modules can range in size from several cells to several hundred cells depending on energy requirements. A BMW i3 lithium-ion battery pack, with viewable individual battery modules 3 - Battery (or Battery Pack) A battery is a group of cells or modules connected together in either parallel or series, commonly referred to as a battery pack. Both engineers and consumers refer to the final package as a battery pack. However, only engineers typically refer to the pack with the single world “battery” in the context of lithium-ion 18650 batteries. 18650 battery packs almost always contain a BMS (battery management system), which is circuitry that regulates the cells and modules. If needed to distinguish between a pack and a battery, the “pack” is often smaller, while the “battery” is larger Do I really have to start calling them cells and not batteries? Well it depends who you are and what you’re doing. Calling an individual 18650 cell a battery, is completely acceptable for most people. We do it frequently on Battery Bro. This is because for most consumers, an 18650 is a battery just like an AA is a battery. It a little cylinder thing that gives us power - it’s easy to communicate. But nomenclature for engineers is different. Concerns for efficiency dictate an adherence to standards and depending on their work philosophy, some engineers can take this quite personally. I have come across such, and do not disagree with them. That is because typically a battery is a self-contained system capable of powering a device safely. The key point is battery safety. An 18650 cell on the other hand, needs additional regulation circuitry to operate safely because lithium is so chemically reactive. The addition of a BMS is also critical to maintaining a li-ions expected long cycle life. Individual cells do not have a BMS, that is the job of the pack. Remember the three tier system used in building battery packs - cells, modules, and battery. Each category has a different set of rules so they can’t share their names. So in some cases the distinction between cell and battery is necessary. To recap, an individual 18650 is a cell, and a group of 18650s is a battery. Consumers say: 18650 Battery Engineers say: 18650 Cell Consumers say: 18650 Battery Pack Engineers say: 18650 Battery (or 18650 Battery Pack) Myth #2 - What is better, Li-Po or Li-ion? Answer: You can not actually compare the two. There are two uses for the word LiPo (lithium polymer). (Uncommon) The original meaning, referring to a “polymer electrolyte” (Common) The new meaning, a cell with a “pouch format” In this new meaning, cells do not have a different electrochemistry than li-ion (lithium ion) Usage #1 - (Uncommon) Polymer Electrolyte Many years ago, there was development of a chemistry dubbed LiPo. It never really was applied, and is not often menioned. In this type of cell actual polymer electrolytes are used - but it has not reached commercialization and is very much a prototype research cell. Usage #2 - (Common) Polymer Casing or Pouch Format Today, the word LiPo means Lithium Polymer. Polymer being a malleable, soft material that creates the external shell of the battery. This is a bulging (decomposing) lipo cell (usually from age). Note an 18650 could never bulge like this. Lithium Polymer (LiPo, LiPoly, etc.) is used for mobile phone and tablet batteries; think of their varying shapes and easy-to-puncture material. Contrast that with the steel-shelled 18650 cylindrical battery - which is standardized, hard, and cylindrical. 18650 (18mm by 65mm) batteries never share the characteristic of using a soft, malleable polymer pouch casing. If we take a step back we can then see, that both the hard-shelled, and soft-shelled batteries use the same fundamental electrochemistry. They are both lithium-ion (li-ion, liion, etc.) batteries. That is, they both give us usable energy by shunting lithium ions between the cathode and anode sheets. The ions move in one direction during charge, and in the other direction during discharge. This fundamental movement is present in both the hard 18650 and the soft LiPo type batteries. Both are lithium ion batteries. Awesome, aren't all these different polymer architectures nice? Confusion - All cells contain a little polymer, but it’s not reactive So what is polymer exactly? In ancient Greek, polus had the meaning “many, much” and meros “parts”. A polymer is a large molecule composed of many repeating subunits. This broad definition means there are many types of polymers - notably synthetic plastics, and other natural biopolymers like DNA. That means even an 18650 cell without a polymer separator, or any electrolyte may still contain “polymer”. In fact lithium ion cells do have internal polymer but it accounts for less than 5% of the total weight and does not provide any electrochemical reactions. This polymer is often a binding agent. It may be poly(vinylidene fluoride) or PVdF - which helps the mix of chemicals stick to the copper and aluminium foils inside the battery. This binding agent shouldn’t be confused with the true meaning of lipo. Lip means “pouch format”. Myth #3 - When you charge a cell, its capacity increases Answer: When you charge a cell, its charge increases and not its capacity. The distinction between charge and capacity is not intuitively clear so this myth arises. The fuel gauge is a great way to think about battery charge The “Fuel Gage” The easiest way to explain the charge is with an analogy to a fuel or gas gauge of a car. With this gauge you can easily compare the energy left in your car with the energy you had when it was full. The fuel gauge quickly lets you see how much energy you have left, until you need to recharge. For batteries, this condition is called the State of Charge (SOC)(%), also known as the “Fuel Gauge” function. Now think about holding your battery and asking “How charged is it?” It’s the same type of answer you expect if you ask “How much fuel is in my car?” That means when you are talking about charge of a battery, what you really want to know is its SOC (state of charge) - not its capacity. To recap: When you want to see something like a fuel-gauge for your battery, you are asking about its charge, and not its capacity. In contrast with the fuel gauge, buckets are a great way to think about battery capacity Capacity The best way to understand capacity is to think of it as a bucket. A bucket in the middle of a sandstorm. Every day you can see how much water is in the bucket, and how much can be refilled. However, every time you open the lid, sand gets in and builds up at the bottom of the bucket. Gradually your capacity decreases as sand increases. The bucket is capacity, and the water is energy. The sand is battery degradation (due to cell oxidation) which is a naturally occurring and irreversible process. Jump to France in the 1780’s - a man named Charles-Augustin de Coulomb invented the SI unit of electric charge - which is now named after him. The coulomb unit is equal to the amount of electricity produced or consumed in exactly one second by one amp. When we are talking about battery capacity, we are talking about its coulometric capacity which is derived from discharging the battery. Coulometric capacity is calculated with the following formula: (Discharge Current in Amps) x (Discharge Time*) *Discharge time is the range between its fully charged SOC to the cut-off voltage. For example: (2 A) x (2 Hours) = 4Ah or 4000mAh (20 A) x (6 Minutes) = 2Ah or 2000mAh The resulting coulometric capacity is expressed in amp hours, or often translated to milliamp hours. That is the equivalent of “I know how much space is in my bucket, if I drink it with a 2mm straw and it takes me 2 hours, I can say I have 4 millimeter hours left in my bucket.” If you take this measurement when your bucket is brand new (no sand, no degradation) it is called rated capacity. If you take the measurement after some use, it is called current or actual capacity. Environmental conditions like temperature and variations in amperage during charge and discharge can significantly alter the useable capacity of a cell. Think of the bucket analogy - if the water is too hot you can’t sip it at full speed. Likewise with brainfreeze on the other end of the spectrum. You can’t measure the bucket well unless the water is at or near its optimal temperature. Furthermore, SOC depends on capacity The SOC reference can be either the current capacity or the rated capacity. Remember current capacity is what the cell or battery can hold, while the rated capacity is what it can hold when it’s brand new, in optimal conditions. Using the rated capacity can be very misleading because of cell degradation over time. Without accounting for the loss of performance from degradation, the fuel meter would always read 100% when charged, even if it could only hold half as much fuel as it could in the beginning of its life. Imagine if your fuel tank slowly shrunk over time, and car manufacturers did not tell you. During high amp continuous discharge or high amp pulses, the cell is used too fast and inefficiencies occur hence the loss of capacity. This is because chemical reactions take a finite time, and more energy can be put in than can be reacted to. The best analogy I have heard to explain this is with the pouring of beer. You have to pour it in slowly to fill it. Pouring it too fast leads to froth and annoyingly little beer. Discharging at high rates removes more power in an exponential way, and reversely, discharging at low rates increases the run-time significantly. This is dealt with by using Peukert’s equation (I n T = C). Overview Charge is like a fuel gauge - it’s easy to see how much you have left. Capacity is the total amount of fuel you can carry. You can measure the capacity for any given SOC (state of charge) but it is only an estimation. Myth #4 - 18650 batteries can be either Primary or Secondary cells Answer: All 18650 batteries are secondary cells. A primary cell is one that is not rechargeable (or can not be easily recharged) after it is discharged. Primary cells are like disposable plates - used once and then discarded. A secondary cell is one that is rechargeable. Note: a rechargeable alkaline battery like a rechargeable AA is considered a rechargeable primary cell rather than a secondary cell, adding to confusion Secondary cells have become more and more popular and have replaced primary cells in many applications. However, in some use-cases like smoke detectors it still makes sense to use primary cells because their self-discharge rate is much lower. Lithium-ion batteries are secondary cells, but they are used as primary cells were used in the past - for example when they direct power in laptops, mobile phones, and electric bikes. Even though li-ion is often used as primary cells have been in the past - liion is still considered a secondary cell. Myth #5 - Impedance and Resistance are interchangeable terms Answer: There is little relationship between the two, and while they both function with the same purpose - the output (in Ohms) is always different. To understand the difference between DC resistance and AC impedance you should understand that electrical loads have both resistive, and reactive phenomenon. So keep these two things in mind: Resistive phenomenon Reactive phenomenon Know these interchangeable terms: DC Approach / load = Internal Resistance AC Approach / signal = Internal Impedance Ohmic resistance (Ro) Measuring internal resistance disregards the reactive elements. This is the inside view of an internal heating element Looking at the internal resistance of a cell or battery from a purely resistive value (ohms) disregards reactive elements. The best analogy I have heard for this is that of a heating element that produces heat by the friction (resistance) of current passing through. The more internal resistance, the more heat is generated. In this scenario there are no reactive components, only one resistive one determining the output. When your voltage drops from use, this is because the battery current is flowing through its internal resistance. The older DC approach The DC approach is dubbed: Internal Resistance The first and most common approach is to load-stress the battery. You apply a certain number of amps for a certain given time (eg. 20 amps for 5 seconds) and measure the resulting drop in voltage. This is like adding friction to the heating element from the previous analogy, and measuring its resulting increase in heat. How difficult would it be to hear someone from across this room? A note should be made regarding signal-to-noise ratio. Early DC tests required high-amperage for this reason. Imagine being at a cocktail party and trying to listen to a conversation across the room. It is only possible to do if the person is screaming. The AC approach The AC approach is dubbed: Internal Impedance A newer, improved approach to measuring resistance came after the DC approach. Using AC power, battery scientists were able to send an AC signal through the battery at a very specific frequency. The frequency here is the key point. If we go back to the cocktail party. Now imagine we are a dog, and the person across the room has a dog-whistle. This is what using a specific AC frequency can do - it can allow us to very accurately discern the signal from the noise with a unique signature. The problem is that this AC ripple will interact with other elements of the battery (inductive reactance from coil, and capacitance reactive from capacitor) which will degrade the signal quality. This is akin to the dog whistle bouncing off the walls and people. Impedance is used by manufacturers who frequently test 18650 cells at an AC of 1 kHz. The newer DC approach There are newer approaches where high amperage is no longer required, and tiny amounts of pulsed current can be applied to accurately discern the signal. This is akin to now being able to clearly hear a butterfly flap its wings across the room at the cocktail party. The capacity and SOC (state of charge) of lithium-ion is not correlated with its internal resistance (measured by the DC approach) Reactions As we can see, the DC approach to measure internal resistance does not measure anything reactive. It is like a heater, you have more friction and you have more heat - there is nothing else. On the other hand,- the AC ripple reacts with coils and capacitors. One utilizes a DC load, the other an AC signal. When measuring an 18650 battery or cell, it’s important to note which approach you are using because the resulting ohm values will be different. A new, fully charged 18650 cell tested with the AC approach (1kHz) may yield between 30 and 60 milliOhms. While with the equivalent DC approach it may yield 100 to 130 milliOhms. Comparing resistance to impedance is not comparing apples to oranges - they are different non-interchangeable terms. Finish And that is the end of these five battery myths. Here is a recap of the myths and their answers: Myth #1 - You have individual 18650 batteries Answer: Technically, you have individual 18650 cells, not batteries Myth #2 - What is better, Li-Po or Li-ion? Answer: You can not compare the two. Myth #3 - When you charge a cell, its capacity increases Answer: When you charge a cell, its charge increases and not its capacity. Myth #4 - 18650 batteries can be either Primary or Secondary cells Answer: All 18650 batteries are secondary cells. Myth #5 - Impedance and Resistance are interchangeable terms Answer: There is little relationship between the two, and while they both function with the same purpose - the output (in Ohms) is always different.

Jamie Vardy scored his first hat-trick since his three goals for Fleetwood against Ebbsfleet on 21 February 2012 Jamie Vardy scored a hat-trick as Leicester City pulled off a stunning victory over an out-of-sorts Manchester City. The Foxes were 2-0 up in five minutes as Vardy ended his 10-game run without a Premier League goal by slotting home, and Andy King curled in moments later. It was 3-0 within 20 minutes as Vardy added another after skipping past visiting keeper Claudio Bravo, and he completed his hat-trick by intercepting a misplaced John Stones pass and finishing from a narrow angle. Aleksandar Kolarov, with a free-kick, and Nolito scored late consolation goals for the away side. They have now lost back-to-back league games for the first time since Pep Guardiola took over in the summer, and are four points adrift of leaders Arsenal. For defending champions Leicester, victory ended a five-game run without a league win and moved them up to 14th. Man City pay for chaotic defending Guardiola said this week he wanted a new rule to allow teams to use up to six substitutes - and after five minutes he may have hoped his wish was a reality. Manchester City have kept just two Premier League clean sheets this season, and Guardiola reshuffled his formation to start with a back three of Pablo Zabaleta, John Stones and Bacary Sagna. That strategy was swiftly scrapped, though, when his side fell 2-0 down after just 255 seconds - Kolarov was hauled out of midfield and into a hastily created back four. Only Islam Slimani (19) averaged most of his playing time in the opposition half for Leicester - eight Manchester City outfield players spent most of the game in Leicester territory The visitors, looking marginally better for the change, still managed to get caught on the break for Leicester's third and frequently put themselves under pressure by trying to play out from the back - Stones' misplaced backpass for Vardy's third the costliest example. Their fragility could well be a result of their lack of a consistent starting XI, with Guardiola never having kept the same line-up for two consecutive games during his time at Etihad Stadium. Suspensions for Sergio Aguero, Fernandinho and Nicolas Otamendi had forced the Spaniard to make changes here, and his side were devoid of cohesion. For all their possession, they did not have their first shot on target until Kolarov scored a well-placed free-kick in the 82nd minute, and only salvaged further respectability when Nolito tapped in the Serb's low cross late on. Foxes show championship charm again Leicester, who were a point above the relegation zone when they kicked off, were superb and, for perhaps the first time this season, showed all the hallmarks of last term's incredible title-winning campaign. That most unlikely of championships was built on resolute defending, lightning-quick counter-attacking, Vardy's goals and Riyad Mahrez's magic - all of which were on show. Mahrez pulled off a superb first touch to direct a high ball to Islam Slimani, who in turn slid in Vardy for the opener, and the Algerian repeated the feat when he redirected a long ball into the path of Vardy for Leicester's third. Vardy, who scored 24 Premier League goals last season, had endured a 741-minute goal drought in the league, but took his tally for this term to five when he capitalised on Stones' error and somehow threaded a finish from the tightest of angles. Man of the match - Jamie Vardy A first hat-trick for Leicester in a performance reminiscent of his best displays last season - the confidence poured back into him after his first goal 'Welcome back Jamie' - what they said Media playback is not supported on this device Leicester City 4-2 Manchester City: Ranieri praises "true" Leicester Leicester boss Claudio Ranieri told BBC Sport: "It was the true Leicester, maybe because we have played so badly in our last few matches, but today we were so strong. "We played smart, slowed down the tempo. "I am very pleased for Jamie. When he finished, I said 'welcome back'." Former Leicester defender Matt Elliott on BBC Radio Leicester: "There was a spark and zip about Leicester's play from the off. You could sense it, a freshness in the air. "That's their best performance by some distance this season and that might just reignite their season, certainly in domestic terms." Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola told BBC Sport: "Leicester won the second balls and scored fantastic goals. Media playback is not supported on this device Leicester 4-2 Manchester City: Guardiola will 'look inside' himself after defeat "Football is a game with mistakes, especially today. I would never complain to my players and I will look inside myself and analyse the reason why we have problems with the second balls when they arrive. "Our game is not bad, but in the box we have a lot of problems." Match of the Day pundit Danny Murphy: "That's as good as I've seen Leicester this season, it was like the Leicester of last season. But City didn't half help them. "Kolarov was supposed to be playing as a third centre-half but he played so far forward, he left Stones isolated. Zabaleta was playing in a weird in-between position and it didn't look like he knew what he was doing. "Kevin de Bruyne appeared to be at left-wing-back. The communication and lack of line was pretty bad. Kolarov was playing his own game going forward so often. They gave Leicester so many opportunities to attack them. It could have been more. "Fifty changes, they've made this season. It's nice to build relationships and have some familiarity. You can't keep changing players." Defensive numbers make bad reading for Guardiola Guardiola has seen his side concede three or more goals in back-to-back league games for the first time as a manager. A Guardiola side conceded four goals in a league for only the third time (Atletico Madrid 4-3 Barcelona in 2009, Wolfsburg 4-1 Bayern Munich in 2015). Only Crystal Palace, Hull and Sunderland (one) have kept fewer clean sheets than Manchester City in the Premier League this season. Claudio Ranieri has won eight of his nine Premier League matches as a manager against Manchester City, drawing the other. Manchester City conceded twice in the opening five minutes of a Premier League game for the first time since October 2006 against Wigan. What's next? On Monday, both sides find out who they will face in the last 16 of the Champions League. Manchester City will be drawn against one of Atletico Madrid, Borussia Dortmund, Juventus, Monaco or Napoli. Leicester City will meet Bayer Leverkusen, Bayern Munich, Benfica, Paris St-Germain, Real Madrid or Sevilla. On Tuesday, Leicester travel to Bournemouth (19:45 GMT). Manchester City host Watford the following day (20:00).

The English city of Norwich is an undeniably small place, even by European standards. With a population of just 210,000 (including its suburbs), it’s not surprising that Norwich is largely unknown in global terms. But for lovers of beer and ale, there’s no better place to experience England’s rich drinking heritage. “Brewing has taken place in Norwich since before 1249. The brewing of beer was a way to purify water, which was often unsafe to drink,” says Philip Cutter, Landlord at The Murderers, a pub that has operated in the city since 1696. “During the construction of the Norwich Anglican Cathedral, Franciscan monks brewed beer for the workmen at The Adam and Eve Pub, which still trades in the Cathedral grounds today.” Both The Murderers and The Adam and Eve are what’s known as “real ale” pubs, meaning they stock high-quality, natural ales that have gone through secondary fermentation – a process that involves the ale being left to mature in the cask it’s served from. The trend for this method of traditional production took off around 40 years ago, and has been growing ever since. “It’s the process of secondary fermentation which makes real ale unique and develops the wonderful tastes and aromas which processed beers can never provide,” says Rob Whitmore, Norwich and Norfolk Branch Secretary of the Campaign for Real Ale (CAMRA), a non-profit organization dedicated to preserving and promoting traditional “real” ales. CAMRA began its work in the 1970s as a response to a rut in the UK beer market. Concerned that the availability of traditional, flavorful English ales was becoming a thing of the past, four ale lovers from the north-west of England came together to campaign against the domination of the industry by big companies producing large quantities of low quality ale. Today, CAMRA is known as one of the most successful consumer campaigns in European history. The organization itself now boasts 200 branches in the UK and more than 160,000 members from across the world. Fur & Feather Inn is recognized in CAMRA's Good Beer Guide. In Norwich, the city once said to have a pub for every day of the year, real ale has become a significant part of the urban architecture; a defining point in where and what you choose to drink. “We’ve developed a strong bank of local brewers who have helped Norwich pubs not only survive, but become better and stronger,” Whitmore explains. “If you did a tour of all the pubs in Norwich on any given day, it would not be uncommon to see over 250 different real ales for sale. This is one of the biggest, if not the biggest, ratio per head in the country.” The pubs themselves view real ale as a crucial part of their identity, and one that offers benefits to their business as much as it does to the city’s reputation as a standout destination for beer. “Being recognized as a ‘real ale’ pub is enormously important to us, and certainly brings in many customers locally, and attracts out of town visitors,” Cutter says. “Being part of a successful and vibrant real ale city makes us extremely fortunate – but being recognized as an award winning real ale pub put our establishment in the forefront, ahead of many others.” Dawn Leeder is chair of the City of Ale Festival, a 10-day celebration of Norwich’s ale and pub scene every May, and she has seen enormous growth and renewed interest in the real ale scene over recent years. “The real ale renaissance of the 21st century has allowed many microbreweries to open in Norwich and Norfolk. Over 40 breweries took part in last year’s festival and several more have opened since then,” she says. “Norfolk also produces some of the finest malting barley in the world – the maritime microclimate of our county’s north coast gives rise to cooling harsh frosts which slow the ripening of the grain, intensifying the flavors to make very fine beer indeed.” It’s this stellar combination of real ale production and availability that led Tim Hampson, Chairman of the British Guild of Beer Writers, to declare that Norwich’s status as a city of ale is “no longer a question, but a fact” earlier this year. A lot may have changed since the monks started brewing here in the 13th century, but Norwich is definitely still the heartland of England’s brewing culture.

Toys M.A.S.K. Toys M.A.S.K. toys accompanied the cartoon that was first released in 1985 and went on to spawn toys, video games and comics. There were four series of toys released between 1985 and 1988 in the USA, however, in Europe a fifth series was released in 1986 which contained smaller toys that came in blister packs. As with most toy-lines in the 1980’s the toys were split between the good guys M.A.S.K. (Mobile Armoured Strike Kommand) and the bad guys V.E.N.O.M. (Viscous Evil Network of Mayhem), however, far more M.A.S.K. toys were released over the four series. M.A.S.K. Toys Series 1 (1985) The first wave of toys was released in 1985 and featured all the major characters and vehicles from the first season of the TV show. M.A.S.K. Boulder Hill Condor Firecracker Gator Rhino T-Bob Thunderhawk Boulder Hill – Service Station play-set, home of M.A.S.K. – Service Station play-set, home of M.A.S.K. Brad Turner and Condor – A green motorcycle than can change into a helicopter. – A green motorcycle than can change into a helicopter. Hondo MacLean and Firecracker – An orange pickup which elevates into a mobile weapon platform. – An orange pickup which elevates into a mobile weapon platform. Dusty Hayes and Gator – An orange Jeep CJ7 with releasable boat. – An orange Jeep CJ7 with releasable boat. Matt Tracker, Bruce Sato and Rhino – A Kenworth semi tractor that converts into a mobile defence platform and command centre. – A Kenworth semi tractor that converts into a mobile defence platform and command centre. Matt Tracker and Thunderhawk – A Chevrolet Camaro which transforms into a jet airplane. – A Chevrolet Camaro which transforms into a jet airplane. Scott Tracker – Comes with his robot T-Bob V.E.N.O.M. Jackhammer Piranha Switchblade Cliff Dagger and Jackhammer – A Ford Bronco which turns into an assault vehicle. – A Ford Bronco which turns into an assault vehicle. Sly Rax and Piranha – Motorcycle with releasable submarine side-car. – Motorcycle with releasable submarine side-car. Miles Mayhem and Switchblade – A helicopter which can transform into a jet airplane. Series 2 (1986) The second series of toys tied in with the second season of the show apart from Hurricane, which appeared at the end of season one under the name “Nightstalker”. M.A.S.K. Firefly Hurricane Raven Slingshot Volcano Julio Lopez and Firefly – An orange dune buggy that turns into a jet. – An orange dune buggy that turns into a jet. Hondo MacLean and Hurricane – A 1957 Chevy which turns into a six-wheeled tank. – A 1957 Chevy which turns into a six-wheeled tank. Calhoun Burns and Raven – A black Chevrolet Corvette which turns into a seaplane. – A black Chevrolet Corvette which turns into a seaplane. Ace Riker and Slingshot – A van which transforms into a jet and launch ramp. – A van which transforms into a jet and launch ramp. Matt Tracker, Jacques LaFleur and Volcano – A blue monster truck which converts into an attack station. V.E.N.O.M. Outlaw Stinger Vampire Miles Mayhem, Nash Gorey and Outlaw – A tanker truck which transforms into an assault station and mobile command centre. – A tanker truck which transforms into an assault station and mobile command centre. Bruno Sheppard and Stinger – An orange Pontiac GTO that turns into a tank. – An orange Pontiac GTO that turns into a tank. Floyd Malloy and Vampire – A red motorbike that turns into a jet. Series 3 (1987) “Racing Series” The third wave of toys was the largest release and were all centred around a racing theme, hence the name “Racing Series”. M.A.S.K. Billboard Blast Bulldog Bullet Goliath Meteor Razorback The Collector Wildcat Dusty Hayes and Billboard Blast – A billboard which opens up to reveal a gun emplacement. – A billboard which opens up to reveal a gun emplacement. Boris Bushkin and Bulldog – A white semi tractor truck which turns into a half-track tank. – A white semi tractor truck which turns into a half-track tank. Ali Bombay and Bullet – A blue and white racing motorcycle which turns into a hovercraft. – A blue and white racing motorcycle which turns into a hovercraft. Matt Trakker, Nevada Rushmore and Goliath – A purple race car that becomes a jet. – A purple race car that becomes a jet. Ace Riker and Meteor – A white jet that splits into an aerial fighter and a missile launching tank. – A white jet that splits into an aerial fighter and a missile launching tank. Brad Turner and Razorback – A red and white Ford Thunderbird which turns into an elevated platform. – A red and white Ford Thunderbird which turns into an elevated platform. Alex Sector and The Collector – A toll booth that transforms into an attack installation. – A toll booth that transforms into an attack installation. Buddy Hawks and Wildcat – A red truck which turns into a tall tank. V.E.N.O.M Buzzard Iguana Manta Pit Stop Catapult Miles Mayehm, Maximum Mayhem and Buzzard – A Formula 1 race car which splits into a drone pilot-controlled jet and two smaller assault motorcycles. – A Formula 1 race car which splits into a drone pilot-controlled jet and two smaller assault motorcycles. Lester Sludge and Iguana – An off-road vehicle which turns into a mobile buzz-saw. – An off-road vehicle which turns into a mobile buzz-saw. Vanessa Warfield and Manta – A Nissan 300 ZX which turns into a plane. – A Nissan 300 ZX which turns into a plane. Sly Rax and Pitstop Catapult – An armoured gasoline stand. M.A.S.K. Laser Command (1987) Hornet Ratfang Hornet – A M.A.S.K. packing crate that opens to reveal an attack vehicle. Ratfang – A V.E.N.O.M. truck with limited transforming capabilities, its doors, wheels and hood burst off when triggered by infra-red beams from Hornet. Series 4 (1987-1988) “Split Seconds” The fourth and final series of M.A.S.K toys was called “Split Seconds” as each vehicle could split into two separate parts, most of theses toys never appeared in the cartoon. M.A.S.K. The Collector Wildcat Afterburner Detonator Dynamo Fireforce Skybolt Stiletto Dusty Hayes and Afterburner – A dragster that splits into a small jet plane and an elevated turret. – A dragster that splits into a small jet plane and an elevated turret. Jacques LaFleur and Detonator – A VW Beetle that separates into an attack boat and an assault quad bike. – A VW Beetle that separates into an attack boat and an assault quad bike. Bruce Sato and Dynamo – A dune buggy that splits into a helicopter and assault car. – A dune buggy that splits into a helicopter and assault car. Julio Lopez and Fireforce – A Pontiac Fiero that splits into a jet plane and an assault quad bike. – A Pontiac Fiero that splits into a jet plane and an assault quad bike. Matt Tracker and Skybolt – A jet fighter plane that splits into an assault rocket car and an aerial attack craft. – A jet fighter plane that splits into an assault rocket car and an aerial attack craft. Gloria Baker and Stiletto – A Lamborghini Countach that split into a helicopter and assault plane. V.E.N.O.M Barracuda Vandal Wolfbeast Bruno Sheppard and Barracuda – A motorbike that turns into a rocket glider and armed cycle. – A motorbike that turns into a rocket glider and armed cycle. Floyd Malloy and Vandal – A front-end loader which splits into an aircraft and tank. – A front-end loader which splits into an aircraft and tank. Miles Mayhem and Wolfbeast – A Corvette Stingray which splits into a tank and jet plane. Check out this collection of M.A.S.K. commercials from the 1980’s below!

What you should know about a new law that will make it tougher for consumers to clear their debts. More on bankruptcy • • • • QUICK VOTE Do you think people abuse the bankruptcy laws? Yes No View results Video More video President Bush talks about what the new bankruptcy law will require. Play video NEW YORK (CNN/Money) � President Bush on Wednesday signed into law a bankruptcy reform bill that will make it harder for individuals to clear their debts through bankruptcy. So, experts say, if you were thinking about filing for bankruptcy, you might think twice -- or act twice as quickly, since major provisions of the law will go into effect six months from the day the law is signed. Individuals filing for bankruptcy usually do so either under Chapter 7 or under Chapter 13. In a Chapter 7 bankruptcy, your assets (minus those exempted by your state) are liquidated and given to creditors, and many of your remaining debts are cancelled, giving you what's known as a "fresh start." In 2004, over 1.1 million people filed for Chapter 7, accounting for roughly 72 percent of non-business bankruptcies. Since many Chapter 7 filers don't have assets that qualify for liquidation, credit card companies and other creditors sometimes get nothing. In a Chapter 13 bankruptcy, you're put on a repayment plan of up to five years. Any debts not addressed by the repayment plan don't have to be paid. Last year, there were 445,574 Chapter 13 filings. Under the new law, fewer people will be allowed to file under Chapter 7; more will be forced to file under Chapter 13. Lawmakers who favor the legislation argue that it will prevent consumers from abusing the bankruptcy laws � using them to clear debts that they can afford to pay. But consumer advocates argue that the new law is a gift to creditors � particularly the credit card industry, which may receive $1 billion or more from repayment plans due to the expected increase in Chapter 13 filings, according to Robert McKinley, CEO of CardWeb.com. "The bill simply doesn't balance responsibility between families in debt trouble and the creditors whose practices have contributed to the rise in bankruptcies," said Travis Plunkett of the Consumer Federation of America in a written statement. Key changes Here are some of the major changes for consumers under the new law: A qualifying test: Currently, it's up to the court to determine if your case qualifies for Chapter 7 bankruptcy. Under the new law, your income will be subject to a two-part means test. First, it will be subject to a formula that exempts certain expenses (rent, food, etc.) to determine whether you can afford to pay 25 percent of your "nonpriority unsecured debt" such as your credit card bills. Second, your income would be compared to your state's median income. You won't be allowed to file for Chapter 7 if your income is above your state's median and you can afford to pay 25 percent of your unsecured debt, said California-based bankruptcy attorney Stephen Elias, who is coauthor of the book "How to File for Chapter 7 Bankruptcy." But, he said, you may be allowed to file for Chapter 13. If your income is below the state's median but you can pay 25 percent of your unsecured debt, you may be able to file Chapter 7, but the court can still require you to file Chapter 13 instead if it believes that you would be abusing the system by filing for Chapter 7, Elias said. Under current law, the court has great latitude in deciding whether debtors may file for bankruptcy in consideration of their personal circumstances. Under the new law, there will be few if any exceptions made to the means test, no matter how sympathetic your case, said Leon Bayer, a bankruptcy attorney in Los Angeles. Determining what you can afford to pay: Currently, if you file for Chapter 13 today, the court determines what you can afford to pay based on what you and the court deem to be reasonable and necessary expenses. Under the new law, the court will apply living standards derived by the IRS to determine what is reasonable to pay for rent, food and other expenses to figure out how much you have available to pay your debts. The IRS regulations are more stringent, and to contest them means asking for a hearing from a judge, which can mean more time and expense, Elias said. Tougher homestead exemptions: Currently, if you declare bankruptcy, the state where you file may allow you to protect from creditors some or all of your home equity. In Florida, for instance, your home may be entirely exempt, even if you bought it soon before filing. In Nevada, you may exempt up to $200,000. The new law, however, places more stringent restrictions on the homestead exemption. For instance, if filers haven't lived in a state for at least two years, they may only take the state exemption of the state where they lived for the majority of the time for the 180 days before the two-year period. Filers may only exempt up to $125,000, regardless of a state's exemption allowance, if their home was acquired less than 40 months before filing or if the filer has violated securities laws or been found guilty of certain criminal conduct. Unlike most of the other provisions, the new homestead exemption rules go into effect immediately. Lawyer liability: Under the new law, if information about a client's case is found to be inaccurate, the bankruptcy attorney may be subject to various fees and fines. What that means for consumers is it will be harder to find a bankruptcy attorney willing to file because of the liability and the additional work required to verify a client's information, Elias said. Those who are willing are likely to charge more. Credit counseling and money management: Under provisions of the new law you must meet with a credit counselor in the six months prior to applying for bankruptcy. And before debts are discharged, you must attend money management classes at your expense. What should you do? For those people who have considered bankruptcy, the time to act may be now, consumer advocates say. Talk to a good bankruptcy lawyer, Plunkett said. If together you decide bankruptcy is the right call, you might consider speeding up your plans to file since most of the main provisions of the new law won't go into effect until six months from now. Typically, it can take a couple of weeks to file for bankruptcy, said Bayer. See Money magazine's 9-step program for tackling your debt problem. Money 101: Controlling debt Debt reduction planner

The comments section might be set ablaze but, believe it or not, the Daily News Autos is here to tell you that the iconic BMW logo does not represent a stylized airplane propeller. That’s right BMW fans, everything you thought you knew about the blue and white logo on your beloved M3 or hybrid-powered i8 is wrong. FOLLOW DAILY NEWS AUTOS ON FACEBOOK. ‘LIKE’ US HERE. Don’t feel bad, the idea that the famous BMW Roundel has roots in aviation stretches back almost to the very founding of Bayerische Motoren Werke AG, which happened way back on March 7, 1916. Car logo origins: From the Ferrari horse to the Lamborghini bull And yes, the firm’s first technical creations happened to be aircraft engines. So wait a minute, how the heck can we be so smug about the BMW logo not having something to do with airplanes? You can blame the world of marketing and advertising for this Bavarian-themed level of miscommunication. The blue and white logo is borrowed from the colors in the Bavarian flag, nothing more. Go ahead and Google search “Bavarian flag,” we’ll wait while you do. Here is the advertisement that ignited years of controversy surrounding the origins of BMW's iconic logo. (BMW AG) While it’s true that BMW got its start in aircraft engines, the close of World War I and the Treaty of Versailles forbade the company from continuing down its original path. After the conclusion of WWI, BMW moved into motorcycle manufacturing. Eventually, the company was also allowed to restart the aviation side of its business. It was an advertisement used in the late-1920s, in which the BMW logo cleverly represented the spinning propellers of an airplane, that we encounter the foundation of the famous Roundel/propeller controversy. Yes, the logo represented plane propellers - but only in the ad, not the logo in general. The advertisement must have been popular, because for decades since, most people assume design and colors of the BMW Roundel are firmly rooted in aviation. BMW Car Club of America E30 M3 showcase Around the same time this ad apperared, so did the first BMW motorcar. The thin-tired and dainty-looking BMW Dixi 3/15 PS was powered by a small 4-cylinder engine that produced a grand total of 15-horsepower. Small, simple, and quite cheap; the little Dixi helped BMW survive the Great Depression, which arrived only months after the car first went on sale. Somewhat ironically, this first BMW automobile owed nearly all of its design to the Austin 7, a huge sales hit that was originally designed and engineered entirely...in Britain! LEARN MORE ABOUT BMW HERE. Sign up for BREAKING NEWS Emails privacy policy Thanks for subscribing! Did you find this article helpful? If so, please share it using the "Join the Conversation" buttons below, and thank you for visiting Daily News Autos.

Turn to the nation's most objective and informative daily environmental news resource to learn how the United States and key players around the world are responding to the environmental... By Rachel Leven Sept. 10 — The Clean Power Plan presents a unique opportunity to shift how states and companies think about energy, but it won't be a “silver bullet” for all environmental justice issues related to power plants, an Environmental Protection Agency official said Sept. 10. The EPA's landmark rule is intended to reduce carbon dioxide emissions, meaning that other pollutant emissions aren't required to be reduced under the rule, Kevin Culligan, an EPA associate division director, told justice advocates. But as states and companies think about how to comply with the rule, it provides them a “real opportunity” to look at their actions in “a larger energy-planning kind of way,” alongside other environmental mandates, he said during the National Environmental Justice Advisory Council's meeting in Arlington, Va. “There isn't a single silver bullet” for resolving environmental justice concerns, Culligan said, urging justice advocates to harness all parts of the Clean Air Act and other laws to resolve these overburdened communities' other pollutant concerns. “The real opportunity here is not that the Clean Power Plan itself can solve all of the concerns about all of the power plants … but in many ways, [the opportunity is] that it changed the dialogue” to think holistically, Culligan said. The EPA released on Aug. 3 its final Clean Power Plan rule (RIN 2060-AR33), which sets state-specific power sector carbon dioxide emissions rates or alternatively mass-based targets. States must develop their own plans to meet these goals, which are phased in between 2022 and 2030. In order to receive an extension to develop and submit those plans, the states must demonstrate they have addressed overburdened communities as part of the planning process. Benefits for EJ Communities Culligan made his remarks following—and in response to—comments from several environmental justice advocates on the final rule, some of whom called for the EPA to do more to protect overburdened communities. While council member Vernice Miller-Travis praised both the agency and justice advocates for their involvement in developing a rule that culminated in a strong environmental justice focus, council member Nicky Sheats and others said that the rule didn't ensure that overburdened communities received the benefits. Justice advocates have expressed concern that actions such as carbon trading could result in increased activity at certain power plants, resulting in higher emissions for those communities, and the EPA moved to address those issues in its final rule. “The rule does a good job of saying ‘we don’t want disproportionate impacts in overburdened communities,' ” Sheats said. “But what we really want is [an emissions] reduction in [environmental justice] communities.” Several members of the council called for the EPA to encourage states to ensure that these communities saw reduced emissions locally, to establish clear investment and outcome metrics for state plans and to ensure that communities have the knowledge to engage with industry and states effectively on state plans as they are developed. To contact the reporter on this story: Rachel Leven in Washington at rleven@bna.com To contact the editor responsible for this story: Larry Pearl at lpearl@bna.com

“When Europeans entered North America," writes Arthur Remillard of the Saint Francis University, “there were approximately 500 independent Indian cultures, each with its own unique spiritual world view." By Indians, Remillard here means the native Americans. The games that the natives played “also carried an air of sacredness". But the Europeans saw the games or “bodies in motion" as “an affront to Christianity, and a barrier to conversion". These bodies in motion were taken as evidence of “superstition"—an indication that Western Christianity’s “civilizing" role had yet to begin. The complex relationship that sport and religion have had over the centuries continues to this day. Last week, the International Basketball Federation or Fiba, the world governing body for basketball, ratified a new rule allowing players to wear headgear. The decision has been welcomed by many Islamic and Sikh groups as the new rule will allow players to wear hijab and turbans during the game. The demand to change the rules in various sports to accommodate different cultures has been growing for some years now. An impetus to such demands was provided by Ibtihaj Muhammad, the US fencer who became the first American athlete in Olympic history to wear a hijab in the Rio games of 2016. The media also splashed images of female beach volleyball players from Egypt—some of them in hijab and all of them in full sleeves and long pants. This was in sharp contrast to their opponents, who were attired in the bikini-style apparel one would normally associate with beach volleyball. Following these developments, Nike, one of the top global sportswear brands, has announced that it will be coming out with a “Pro Hijab" for Muslim athletes. Sports should indeed embrace more diversity. If an innocuous change in a rule or two will enable competitors from culturally different parts of the world to exhibit their skills, then those changes should be made. But changing rules cannot solve all the problems. Take the case of Heena Sidhu, the Indian shooter, for instance. She decided to pull out of the Asian Airgun Shooting Championship in Iran last year because of the compulsory hijab rule for women participants. The matter, as it can be seen, boils down to choice. And if some choice has to be taken away, which of the two—sport or religion—will be the final arbiter? Sports is the ultimate celebration of merit over identity. The story of Jesse Owens is the best example: The African-American athlete single-handedly dismantled Nazi propaganda of Aryan superiority in the 1936 Berlin Olympics. When two players or teams battle it out against each other, the rules create the level playing field required for a black individual to contest against a white, or the underprivileged to challenge the wealthy. In other words, sport, unlike politics, is a great equalizer. Sometimes in the quest for enforcing this equality, the sport can end up stifling diversity. Therefore, periodic review of rules is a good practice. But religion can be far more stifling—and the process of any change there can be far more cumbersome and protracted. While interpreting religious texts is a tricky business, more often than not the ambiguities of the text are exploited to cover for patriarchy and parochial politics. What else would explain the Taliban giving a go-ahead to men’s cricket in Afghanistan but not to women’s? Even the green-lighting of men’s cricket had more to do with the sheer popularity of the sport in Afghanistan than the fact that the gentleman’s game, unlike football, which the Taliban disapproves of, doesn’t let the knees show because of full-length trousers, as the Taliban would argue. The Taliban wanted to use cricket to boost their domestic popularity and increase the acceptability of their regime worldwide. The Taliban government which was recognized internationally by just three countries—Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates—thought an affiliate membership for the Afghanistan Cricket Federation (now Afghanistan Cricket Board) in the International Cricket Council would only serve to shore up its legitimacy. Sport and religion, however, have not always been on a collision course. Christianity’s initial problems with sports, as shown in Remillard’s account, dissolved with time as sports became more popular and the idea of “Muscular Christianity" gained ground. While a patriarchal concept, Muscular Christianity’s emphasis on physical activity and good health would slowly win over the evangelicals. And although the domain of sports was not immune to anti-Semitism and unfortunately isn’t even today, Jewish minorities often found sports to be a good way of integrating with the mainstream. In Hinduism too, sports like wrestling have served as vehicles for social and caste mobility. Outside religion, sports would provide a platform of protest against racism—the champion boxer Muhammad Ali being the most recognized exponent of this crusade. The impact of sports on human history has overwhelmingly been for the better. The sport-governing bodies should, however, realize that a quest for equality on the field of play should not end up imposing uniformity to the extent of throttling diversity. Hijabs, turbans and kippahs are non-threatening additions and can be embraced. To be fair, sport has shown the ability to respond to democratic demands. The performance of religion on this count has been slightly less encouraging, to put it mildly. Is religion incompatible with sports? Tell us at views@livemint.com

We owe a hat tip to Aleister at Progressives Today for this one because the debate over Second Amendment rights may have just hit a new low. You may recall that we previously covered the release of some Second Amendment friendly reboots of Grimm’s Fairy Tales for the NRA, created by our friend Amelia Hamilton. That clearly didn’t sit well with anti-gun groups, particularly the Brady Campaign. As the Washington Free Beacon reports, they responded with a frank, well researched argument about how these portrayals are unproductive and offered alternate suggestions for crafting a more nuanced, accurate argument. Naw… I’m just kidding. They produced their own fairy tale which features Alice of Wonderland fame shooting herself in the face. A new ad from a prominent gun control group features the main character from Alice in Wonderland shooting herself in the face with a handgun. The Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence published the ad titled Alice PSA to its YouTube page Thursday. In it, Alice can be seen following the white rabbit through wonderland when she comes upon a room with a cabinet. In the cabinet she finds a gun, which she then shoots herself in the face with. “Over one-third of all American households have a gun,” a voiceover says as Alice pulls the trigger. “Ask your neighbor: Is there a gun where they play? Asking saves kids.” That likely sounds so implausible as to border on science fiction so you should probably take a look for yourself. Don’t worry… it’s pretty short. As you can imagine, Amelia wasn’t thrilled with their take on it. Me: what if fairy tale characters were safe? Brady campaign: what if they shot themselves in the face? — Amelia (@AmeliaHammy) April 12, 2016 What is it with these anti-gun groups? The original fairy tales – as I’m sure most people would agree – are pretty horrific and filled with violence as it is. But the violence is generally directed at the heroes and heroines of the story or innocent bystanders and supporting characters. In Amelia’s version, the characters have the chance to defend themselves and actually resolve some conflicts through intimidation rather than actually having to kill, skin or burn the evil-doer. The Brady Campaign clearly chooses to go a different route. They’re so desperate to have some violence, preferably at the hands of someone with a gun, that they portray a young child unloading a handgun into her face. As if the original fairy tales weren’t scarring enough for kids who are trying to get some sleep! This is just sick. There’s really no other way to describe it.

Meet the lesbian Atlanta Police officers suing for the right to legally marry in Georgia Meet the lesbian Atlanta Police officers suing for the right to legally marry in Georgia One Tuesday morning late last month, Rayshawn Chandler and her wife Avery Chandler pulled into the parking lot at the 730 Midtown building and began walking towards the entrance. “Baby, you see the news trucks?” Rayshawn asked Avery. Avery looked over, then back to Rayshawn. “Why would you say that?!” she asked, laughing, since Rayshawn was well aware that Avery was nervous. They continued on into the building and the reason for Avery’s nerves—they were heading for the Southern Regional office of Lambda Legal, and about to step out of the shadows and in front of a horde of local and national press to be introduced to the world alongside their five fellow plaintiffs in Inniss v. Aderhold, the federal class-action lawsuit attempting to strike down Georgia’s 2004 same-sex marriage ban. Avery recalls talking “a million miles a second” on the way to the press conference. “I was freaking out,” she says. However, her wife balanced her out. “I used that time to just think about the success of what’s going to happen,” Rayshawn says. “I’m really positive that things are going to come around for us.” ‘THE SKY JUST OPENED UP’ Rayshawn, 29 and a Miami native, and Avery, 30 and an Atlanta native, are both officers with the Atlanta Police Department. Avery is also in the Army Reserves. They met at the police academy in 2010 and occasionally worked out or went on runs together. It was strictly a colleague relationship until the following March, when they worked a few extra jobs together and began to talk and learn more about each other. And it was clear who was chasing whom. “I thought I was going to have to go get a rope and tie her down,” Rayshawn says laughing. “Oh my God, she was running.” Avery thought Rayshawn was straight and told her she “didn’t need another straight friend.” “My gaydar was broken,” Avery says. She finally picked up on Rayshawn’s intentions and ended up accepting an invitation to Rayshawn’s June graduation from the police academy. “She surprised me and came and I just thought that it was the sweetest thing,” Rayshawn says. “She went out to dinner with my family and I after graduation and it was wonderful.” They consider that graduation day, June 26, their anniversary and have been dating ever since. They moved in together the following October, then were married the following June in West Hartford, Connecticut, on their two-year anniversary. The ceremony occurred in a rose garden in Elizabeth Park. “It seemed like it blossomed just for us because we were told that prior to our wedding day, it had rained the entire week,” Rayshawn says. “The sky just opened up on our wedding day.” FIGHTING FOR THEIR FAMILY Like many of the other plaintiffs involved in Inniss v. Aderhold, neither Rayshawn nor Avery, who call themselves “Team Chandler,” have any background in LGBT activism. They live a quiet life together in Jonesboro, getting together with friends and family for the occasional barbecue or bowling night. So how did they get from there to walking through Lambda Legal’s doors on April 22 and telling their story to the world? The decision to join the suit didn’t come without concerns, with Rayshawn mentioning having their “life on a platter for everyone to look at and pick at and make their assumptions and put their opinions on,” and Avery was worried about “being vulnerable and exposed for everybody to look at.” But the Chandlers want kids, and they were more concerned about moving forward with that plan without the legal protections afforded to straight families throughout Georgia than they were concerned about the intrusion a lawsuit would bring on their private lives. “We want a family dynamic that’s fair and that receives the same respect that others get,” Rayshawn says. “That’s a pet peeve of mine. We don’t want to be tagged as ‘that lesbian couple.’ We’re just a couple. We just want to be normal.” The perils of their jobs also factored into the decision, since their choice to protect the city of Atlanta (and in Avery’s case, the nation) increases the risk to their personal safety. Avery says that they want to ensure that “if anything were to happen to Ray or to me, we wouldn’t have to worry about having to fight anyone for our child,” she explains. “Or fight for the right to see my wife in the hospital.” They’re in the planning phase of becoming parents and hope to take that step in the next year or so. “This is a really important issue and it’s near and dear to my heart,” Avery continues. “And if it’s near and dear to your heart then you want to fight for it and make things right.” ‘SHOCK AND AWE’ The press conference ended up being an emotional scene, with several plaintiffs and even an attorney or two wiping away tears as each of the plaintiffs’ stories were told. “To finally know the background of everybody and that we’re all fighting for the same mission, it meant so much,” Rayshawn says. “All of us have our own individual reasons for why [we’re joining the suit], so it was kind of like an ‘ah-ha’ moment. They all make sense. Look at that. They’re all valid reasons why this thing should be recognized.” Following the press conference, and especially after segments on the lawsuit ran on the 12 o’clock news that day, came what Rayshawn called “shock and awe”—a barrage of phone calls, text messages and Facebook messages and friend requests from people far and wide trying to make a connection with this suddenly public couple. Although well prepared for the attention the lawsuit would bring, the size of the initial onslaught still surprised them. “The support was amazing,” Rayshawn says. “When we went into it, we didn’t look at how big it would be and how it would impact so many people. We were in a bubble. In our eyes we were just looking at our situation.” Things have quieted down since then and gotten back to normal as Lambda Legal and the rest of the legal team await a response from the defendants in the lawsuit. The couple posts the occasional video to their YouTube channel, OurNormalLifeAtlanta, giving an update on their lives and fielding questions from viewers. They’ve also bonded with the other plaintiffs, meeting up for the occasional bite to eat and they’re planning a group outing soon. “It’s like a little family,” Avery says. If the lawsuit goes as they hope it to, Rayshawn, Avery and the rest of Georgia’s LGBT community will be able to rest easier knowing each of their little families will have the same rights and protections, no matter whom they love. • Visit Rayshawn and Avery Chandler’s YouTube channel OurNormalLifeAtlanta at www.youtube.com/channel/UCWKT-wBeguIu-qrGk2-c1GA psaunders@thegavoice.com | @patricksaunders

Microsoft is bringing its classic Hover! game back to life, on the web. The game combines bumper cars and capture the flag, and originally shipped on Windows 95 CDs in a special folder called fun stuff. Microsoft has worked with Dan Church, an independent developer, to bring Hover! to the web. It took around eight weeks to get it ready in time for the launch today, and Hover! fans will be able to play the PC classic in retro and modern modes. "Dan actually approached Microsoft when he read about IE11 and WebGL," says Microsoft's senior director of IE marketing, Roger Capriotti, in an interview with The Verge. The partnership led to a new Hover! version built using the latest WebGL technologies, and it looks very different than the original game. However, the gameplay, physics engine, and original levels are all still in place so while there's a modern twist on a PC classic, it will feel all too familiar. Microsoft has also built in a new multiplayer option and touch support for its Hover! web version, allowing Internet Explorer 11 users on Windows 8.1 to make use of a touchscreen to play the game. The most impressive part, at least for fans of the classic Hover! version, is that Microsoft has also built in a "secret" retro mode to activate a web version of Windows 95 complete with the original. If you visit the site and type bambi at the main screen, the original codename for the Windows 95 game release and a nod to an old Easter egg, it will activate the retro mode. While it's not a full version of Windows 95, you can also double click on share_fb.exe and tweet.exe from the desktop and Windows 95-style setup wizards will appear allowing you to share the site to Facebook and Twitter. It's all very retro and executed perfectly for those who remember using Windows 18 years ago. For Microsoft, the project is mainly about reviving a classic game to showcase WebGL and IE11. "We build these experiences to showcase what the web can be," says Capriotti. While it's promoting Internet Explorer, the new Hover! web version will work with any browser that supports WebGL. Microsoft thinks the new site will highlight its work with WebGL, but also generate some nostalgia amongst fans. "There's over 10 unofficial versions of it [Hover!] floating around the web," says Capriotti, noting that it has a cult following. Hundreds of Hover! fans took to Reddit recently in a nostalgic thread to highlight the game. "There's a big fan base and we think folks are gonna share the game and talk about what the game was like in the '90s."

In addition to the iPhone used by one of the San Bernardino shooters, the US government is pursuing court orders to force Apple to help bypass the security passcodes of "about a dozen" other iPhones, the Wall Street Journal reports. The other cases don't involve terror charges, the Journal's sources say, but prosecutors involved have also sought to use the same 220-year-old law — the All Writs Act of 1789 — to access the phones in question. The FBI has argued that it only wants Apple to allow it to "guess" the passcode for the San Bernardino iPhone, but that innocuous-sounding process involves Apple performing a rewrite of the phone's iOS software, allowing the Bureau to use brute-force techniques to crack the passcode that might otherwise take years. The agency says it only wants this process performed on this one specific iPhone, but privacy advocates could see the additional cases as the US government already attempting to overreach this mandate. It's not clear yet what the other cases involve At this point, however, it's not clear what the dozen-or-so cases actually entail, nor what prosecutors are asking Apple to do exactly, or why Apple is pushing back. The FBI has complained that Apple is simply resisting its demand to unlock the phone so as not to "tarnish the Apple brand," but the company says if it gives in and allows the FBI to access the phone with "absent clear legal authority to do so," it would breach its consumers' trust. Apple regularly assists law enforcement by helping authorities extract information from both on and off the device — from iCloud backups, for example — but it has pushed back in the San Bernardino case because the FBI is attempting to breach encryption methods introduced in newer versions of its iOS software. In cases involving phones running iOS 7 and earlier, Apple can pull out information without actively unlocking the phone for law enforcement, but iOS 8 introduced encryption linked to the passcode that made this impossible. We don't yet know which operating system the dozen other iPhones were running, but the WSJ says that many of them are using older software than iOS 9.

As I age, I get a feeling that I am becoming more and more nostalgic about the simple life, limited number of options and opportunities that were present, good food, clean environment, closer interactions with people and less of noise and emissions that electronic-mechanical machines cause. The recent trip to my hometown has already made me even more wistful, in fact. However, ‘change’ is must for the humanity to progress and… sigh… I have to live with the present. As for my childhood to college life, I have so many things to share some of which was mentioned in a recent post on this blog. Today’s post is about some of those great old brands and products that have been part of our lives during the 70s and 80s. Of course, some of them are still being produced and sold but have transformed for good while many of them have been discontinued. Here are the things that I am talking about: 1. Parry’s Green hard candy Unfortunately I do not have a picture of this but I am sure anybody in their 30s and 40s must have eaten whole lot of them during their childhood. These candies – known as ‘Green Parry’ (‘Paccha pyaari’ in Malayalam) – was among the four or five wrapped candy options that we had at that time apart from those local made ‘uncovered’ ones. I remember, Parry’s competitor Nutrine introducing an imitation of the same several years later. The Parry’s Confectionery ltd company was taken over by ‘Lotte ’several years back and this particular product has been discontinued since then, I believe. 2. Hero Pens As far as I am concerned, this is the ONLY Made in China product that I have ever liked in my whole life and it was my first Chinese experience as well. Unlike today’s children, we never got to use the ball point pen s until the age of 12 (or sixth grade) on account of ‘bad hand writing’ resulting from ball point pens. Most of us started our writing with cheaper ‘Bismi’ or ‘Jubilee’ fountain pens and then progressed to using the Hero Pens (fondly called ‘Heero pena’ In Malayalam. Many of us in fact get to use it only for exams – for some not until the SSLC examination – and it was indeed a super smooth experience to use them. Mostly people used to get these pens as gifts from those who worked in the Gulf countries but later on they were available in shops for Rs.25 or so in stationery shops. The hero pens were cool due to their smooth quality of writing and the ability to fill ink via a cool press-suction operation. Old time pens had to be filled via direct pouring of the ink and we used to end up having the ink spilled on the floor as well as on our shirts. As I moved to college, the Hero pen gave way to Pilots, Parkers and Sheaffers but the Hero fountain pen was always my hero! 3. Happy T-shirts Now, this one is tricky and probably only Malayalis will understand what I am talking about. During those days mostly there would be at least one Keralite from every other household working in the Gulf countries (Generalized as ‘Persia’) and they make a visit once in every four or five years. At that time, everyone in the family – to the n’th relationship level – neighborhood and the village need to be gifted something or other. Cigarettes, cheap perfume sprays and synthetic clothe material or saris that will last beyond five generations were some of the cheaper options to keep everyone happy. Among these gifts, the kids usually gets the so-called “Happy T-shirt” which is nothing but a round neck T-shirt made of cheap synthetic fabric and a big H A P P Y written on it in a semi circle. We kids were, indeed, very happy to get them as gifts and would proudly wear them till they wore out. Those who wear Happy Tees were identified as the Gulf fellow’s son or relative. (Several years later somebody revealed to me that a dozen of them would cost only something like 5 Dirhams or so and that’s how the poor Gulf Malayali could afford to buy them for everyone of our age group in that village. By the way, I do not know the actual the brand name of this T-shirt but it was always known as Happy shirt) 4. Chelpark Ink Of course, the usage of fountain pen would mean daily refill of ink in the same. When we were in fourth or fifth grade, we used cheaper “Brill” or “Camel” brand of ink. At that time my father was using a Sheaffer’s pen and he used to buy this blue-black ink by Chelpark. It was super quality ink for the Indian standards and I believe it’s still being produced in India. However, the original wide-bottom glass bottle is missing now. I used the Chelpark ink for several years, I would say till I got my first job but had totally forgotten about it until my co-brother Manoj reminded me of that brand last week. In fact, that was the inspiration behind this post. 5. Camel instrument box The camel brand of math instrument box is no brainer. Camel is still a leading brand in India for stationery and art-craft supplies. However, during our school days it was something big and getting a Camel box was an ultimate achievement in one’s otherwise limited wish list. Some of us get them during fifth or sixth grade and had to use the same till you pass out of 10th standard. Many times, the original paper sleeve wrapper around the box would be preserved intact for many years in order to protect the precious box from losing any of its print work on the surface. For those who couldn’t afford to spend two rupees more, there were brands like ‘Nataraj’ and the twin-brother of Camel was the ‘Camlin’ brand of instrument boxes. 6. Premier rubber slippers Lungis and Dhotis were the perfect clothing (and it still is for many) for Malayalis due to the sultry climate conditions and rains aplenty. The perfect footwear that goes with them was a pair of ‘Premier’ rubber slippers. I believe, I am recalling the name right because before brands like ‘Paragon’, ‘Fisher’ etc surfaced, it was all about Premier Hawai chappals. I am attaching a picture of the currently available Paragon slippers to give you an idea of how Premier looked like. But I guess, Premier brand is not available any more. Talking about these Hawai chappals, most Malayalis wore them to school, colleges or even to work. And like their ultra white dhotis (Mundu), these slippers used to be maintained ultra clean was well. The jobless and educated mallu’s main hobby – apart from discussing international politics and Hartal or Bandh opportunities – those days was cleaning own slippers not just from the top but from sides and bottom as well. I have used this brand of slippers for many years and I still have a pair of Paragon at home. 7. Murphy radios Now, this should ring the bell for all because many Indian families must have had one such Murphy or Philips vintage radio until recently. These were known as ‘valve sets’ which requires quite some skill to tune it to the right frequency and several precautions for proper maintenance. Many of the featured a green dancing light valve that can be seen outside and moves according to the tuning procedure. The frequency needle – mostly sitting at a centimeter or two away from the actual frequency numbers and usually dangling – had to be carefully positioned to get the right radio station and its position usually is not the same when you tune from left as compared to the right. Basically only the owner of the radio and most likely only the elder male member of the family could tune it to perfection. These radios also had external antenna fittings and sometimes sporting a long mesh antenna – stretching from one end of the house to the other – was considered something royal. Due to issues in tuning or reception, most of the radio stations then used to sound like the distant Ceylon station. The cold starts used to be almost impossible and needed some heating via incandescent bulbs and occasional taps (out of frustration as well) on its wooden cabinet. Usually to listen to the 12:50 noon news (called Delhi news), one had to start preparing at around 12:30 itself. Despite all the above issues, it was fun to see and listen to such a Murphy radio. And I almost forgot to mention the Murphy logo which had a sweet baby’s face. Does anyone still have a vintage radio at your home? 8. Dyanora TV sets Now, these are not really very old entities but it was the first Indian television brand that I got to watch (at my neighbour’s place). I believe it was in 1980 or so? These Dyanora TVs (black and white) used to be thrice as big as its picture tube itself with two speakers on either side and sliding shutters that would close from both sides. It had pathetic design aesthetics but who cares when the transmission itself is available for only one or two hours per day – that too in black and white and with full of interruptions (Rukaavat ke liye khed hai!) Though I never ever liked Dyanora as a brand, I think it was one of the household names during those days and I remember it as the first TV I ever watched. 9. Vijay Super Scooter Well, in a comment within my post about the Bajaj Chetak Scooter, I had mentioned about the Vijay super scooter. I learned riding on a Vijay super which is a discontinued model for years now. It was in fact something that looked like a Lamby and would run on a half-petrol half-kerosene mix. Though, this combination meant starting trouble and occasional ‘fut-phut’ sounds, I always remember it as the first geared two-wheeler I have ridden in my life not to forget the Luna moped which I had tried prior to that. 10. Tinopal Now, how many of you can guess what it was? Tinopal (later it became Ranipal) was one of the clothe whitening agents (like Ujala) that I have seen my mother using during my childhood. It always amazed me because a drop of it was good enough for a bucketful of white clothes to make it surprisingly sparkling and smelling good. Its fragrance was similar to that of the modern fabric conditioners but I believe it was far superior. Sometimes, I just don’t understand why such brands were discontinued. By the way, I managed to Google out this newspaper ad announcing the brand name change – Tinopal to Ranipal Over to you I am sure all of you have plenty to talk about those retro brands. I still have many in my list but some of them that I haven’t directly consumed or experienced. Let me know if you have any pleasant memories to share about those products or old brands that you have seen, used or experienced 20 or 30 years (or even before) back!

Forms of address used in the United Kingdom are given below. For further information on Courtesy Titles see Courtesy titles in the United Kingdom. Abbreviations [ edit ] Several terms have been abbreviated in the table below. The forms used in the table are given first, followed by alternative acceptable abbreviations in parentheses. Royalty [ edit ] A formal announcement in The London Gazette reads: "The Queen has been pleased by Letters Patent under the Great Seal of the Realm dated 31 December 2012 to declare that all the children of the eldest son of the Prince of Wales should have and enjoy the style, title and attribute of Royal Highness with the titular dignity of Prince or Princess prefixed to their Christian names or with such other titles of honour." This refers to any children of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge. Nobility [ edit ] Peers, peeresses and non-peerage [ edit ] Eldest sons, grandsons and great-grandsons of dukes, marquesses and earls [ edit ] Eldest sons of dukes, marquesses and earls use their father's most senior subsidiary title as courtesy titles: note the absence of "The" before the title.[Note 8] If applicable, eldest sons of courtesy marquesses or courtesy earls also use a subsidiary title from their (great) grandfather, which is lower ranking than the one used by their father. Eldest daughters do not have courtesy titles; all courtesy peeresses are wives of courtesy peers.[Note 9] Position On envelopes Salutation in letter Oral address Courtesy marquess Marquess of London My Lord or Dear Lord London My Lord or Lord London Courtesy marquess's wife Marchioness of London Madam or Dear Lady London My Lady or Lady London Courtesy earl Earl of London My Lord or Dear Lord London My Lord or Lord London Courtesy earl's wife Countess of London Madam or Dear Lady London My Lady or Lady London Courtesy viscount Viscount London My Lord or Dear Lord London My Lord or Lord London Courtesy viscount's wife Viscountess London Madam or Dear Lady London My Lady or Lady London Courtesy baron Courtesy Lord of Parliament Lord London My Lord or Dear Lord London My Lord or Lord London Courtesy baron's wife Wife of courtesy Lord of Parliament Lady London Madam or Dear Lady London My Lady or Lady London Heirs-apparent and heirs-presumptive of Scottish peers [ edit ] (Heirs-apparent and heirs-presumptive of Scottish peers use the titles "Master" and "Mistress"; these are substantive, not courtesy titles. If, however, the individual is the eldest son of a Duke, Marquess or Earl, then he uses the appropriate courtesy title, as noted above.) Position On envelopes Salutation in letter Oral address Scottish peer's heir-apparent or heir-presumptive The Master of Edinburgh Sir or Dear Master of Edinburgh Sir or Master Scottish peer's heiress-apparent or heiress-presumptive The Mistress of Edinburgh Madam or Dear Mistress of Edinburgh Madam or Mistress Sons, grandsons and great-grandsons of peers [ edit ] Position On envelopes Salutation in letter Oral address Duke's younger son (Courtesy) Marquess's younger son The Lord John Smith My Lord or Dear Lord John (Smith) My Lord or Lord John Duke's younger son's wife (Courtesy) Marquess's younger son's wife The Lady John Smith Madam or Dear Lady John My Lady or Lady John (Courtesy) Earl's younger son (Courtesy) Viscount's son (Courtesy) Baron's son (Courtesy) Lord of Parliament's son The Hon John Smith Sir or Dear Mr Smith Sir or Mr Smith (Courtesy) Earl's younger son's wife (Courtesy) Viscount's son's wife (Courtesy) Baron's son's wife (Courtesy) Lord of Parliament's son's wife The Hon Mrs John Smith Madam or Dear Mrs Smith Madam or Mrs Smith Daughters, granddaughters and great-granddaughters of peers [ edit ] (If a daughter of a peer or courtesy peer marries another peer or courtesy peer, she takes her husband's rank. If she marries anyone else, she keeps her rank and title, using her husband's surname instead of her maiden name.) Position On envelopes Salutation in letter Oral address Duke's daughter (Courtesy) Marquess's daughter (Courtesy) Earl's daughter (unmarried or married to a commoner) The Lady Mary Smith (if unmarried), The Lady Mary Brown (husband's surname, if married) Madam or Dear Lady Mary My Lady or Lady Mary (Courtesy) Viscount's daughter (Courtesy) Baron's daughter (Courtesy) Lord of parliament's daughter (unmarried) The Hon Mary Smith Madam or Dear Miss Smith Madam or Miss Smith (Courtesy) Viscount's daughter (Courtesy) Baron's daughter (Courtesy) Lord of Parliament's daughter (married to a commoner) The Hon Mrs Brown (husband's surname) Madam or Dear Mrs Brown Madam or Mrs Brown [10] Gentry and minor nobility [ edit ] Baronets [ edit ] Position On envelopes Salutation in letter Oral address Baronet Sir John Smith, Bt (or Bart)[Note 5] Sir or Dear Sir John (Smith) Sir or Sir John Baronetess in her own right Dame Mary Smith, Btss Madam or Dear Dame Mary (Smith) Madam or Dame Mary Baronet's wife Lady Smith Madam or Dear Lady Smith My Lady or Lady Smith Baronet's divorced wife Mary, Lady Smith Baronet's widow Mary, Lady Smith Dowager Lady Smith, or Lady Smith if the heir incumbent is unmarried Knights [ edit ] Position On envelopes Salutation in letter Oral address Knight (of any order) Sir John Smith[Note 5] Sir or Dear Sir John (Smith) Sir or Sir John Lady (of the Order of the Garter or the Thistle) Lady Mary Smith Madam or Dear Lady Mary (Smith) My Lady or Lady Mary Dame (of an order other than the Garter or the Thistle) Dame Mary Smith Madam or Dear Dame Mary (Smith) Madam or Dame Mary Knight's wife Lady Smith Madam or Dear Lady Smith My Lady or Lady Smith Scottish barons (non-peerage nobility) [ edit ] Position On envelopes Salutation in letter Oral address Feudal baron The Much Hon John Smith of Edinburgh or The Much Hon John Smith, Baron of Edinburgh or The Much Hon The Baron of Edinburgh[8] Sir or Dear Edinburgh or Dear Baron Edinburgh or Baron Female feudal baroness or Feudal baron's wife As feudal baron, substituting "Madam" for first name and substituting "Baroness" for "Baron", or Lady Edinburgh[9] Madam or Dear Baroness or Dear Lady Edinburgh Madam or Baroness or Lady Edinburgh Chiefs, chieftains and lairds [ edit ] Position On envelopes Salutation in letter Oral address Chief, chieftain or laird (Only lairds recognised in a territorial designation by the Lord Lyon) John Smith of Smith or John Smith of Edinburgh or John Smith of that Ilk or The Smith of Smith or The Smith of Edinburgh or The Smith[Note 10] (only the 2nd form of address above applies to lairds) Sir or Dear Edinburgh (if placename in title) or Dear Smith (otherwise) Edinburgh (if placename in title) or Smith (otherwise) Female Chief, chieftain or laird or Chief, chieftain or laird's wife Chief, chieftain or laird's wife, substituting "Madam" or "Mrs" for first name or "The" or Lady Edinburgh[11][12][13] Madam or as on envelope Madam or as on envelope Chief (etc.)'s heir-apparent John Smith of Edinburgh, yr or John Smith, yr of Edinburgh or John Smith of Edinburgh (last only if different first name to father) Sir or Dear Younger of Edinburgh or Dear Mr Smith of Edinburgh Sir or Young Edinburgh or The Younger of Edinburgh Chief (etc.)'s heir-apparent's wife Mrs Smith of Edinburgh, yr or Mrs Smith, yr of Edinburgh Madam or Dear Mrs Smith of Edinburgh the Younger Madam or Mrs Smith of Edinburgh Chief (etc.)'s eldest daughter (if none senior) Miss Smith of Edinburgh or Jane Smith, Maid of Edinburgh Madam or Dear Miss Smith of Edinburgh or Dear Maid of Edinburgh Madam or Miss Smith of Edinburgh or Maid of Edinburgh Chief (etc.)'s younger daughter Miss Mary Smith of Edinburgh Madam or Dear Miss Smith of Edinburgh Madam or Miss Smith of Edinburgh Clergy [ edit ] Church of England [ edit ] Similar styles are also applied to clergy of equivalent status in other religious organisations. The words clergy and cleric/clerk are derived from the proper term for bishops, priests and deacons still used in legal documents: Clerk in Holy Orders (e.g. "Vivienne Frances Faull, Clerk in Holy Orders"). Position On envelopes Salutation in letter Oral address Archbishop The Most Revd and Rt Hon The Lord Archbishop of Canterbury/York Dear Archbishop Your Grace or Archbishop Archbishop that is not in Privy Council The Most Revd The Lord Archbishop of Wales Dear Archbishop Your Grace or Archbishop Diocesan bishop in Privy Council The Rt Revd and Rt Hon The Lord Bishop of London Dear Bishop My Lord or Bishop Bishop, diocesan or suffragan The Rt Revd The Lord Bishop of Durham Dear Bishop My Lord or Bishop Dean The Very Revd The Dean of York Dear Mr/Madam Dean Dean or Mr/Madam Dean Archdeacon The Ven The Archdeacon of London Dear Archdeacon Archdeacon Prebendary The Revd Prebendary Smith Dear Prebendary Smith Prebend Canon The Revd Canon John Smith Dear Canon Canon Priest The Revd John Smith Dear Mr/Mrs/Ms Smith Mr/Mrs/Ms Smith or Vicar/Rector/Prebendary/Curate/Chaplain etc. as applicable Deacon The Revd Deacon John Smith or The Revd John Smith Dear Mr/Mrs/Ms Smith or Dear Deacon Smith Deacon Smith or Mr/Mrs/Ms Smith The usage 'Lord' as applied to a bishop pre-dates the United Kingdom, and is a well-established convention. It is more usual to abbreviate Reverend (if at all) to Rev'd rather than Rev. Where a personal name is not used for a priest or deacon, the manner of address is Rev Mr etc., i.e. the Rev is used with the usual title. Without this title, the use of Rev with a surname should not be used in the United Kingdom for any ordained person, whether Anglican or not - it is a solecism. Catholic (and Anglo-Catholic) clergy favour Fr (Father) {or Mthr (Mother)}. For further details see Crockford's Guide to addressing the Clergy. Clergy: 'introduce as Mr Pike or Father Pike according to his preference' (Debrett's Etiquette and Modern Manners 1981 pg230) Church of Scotland [ edit ] It should be noted that the Church of Scotland as a Presbyterian Church recognizes state-awarded titles only as courtesy. In court (Assembly, Presbytery and Session) one may only be addressed as Mr, Mrs, Miss, Dr, Prof, etc. depending on academic achievement. Thus ministers are correctly addressed as, for example Mr Smith or Mrs Smith unless they have a higher degree or academic appointment e.g. Dr Smith or Prof. Smith. It is 'infra dig' to use the title 'Rev' and even the use of 'the Rev Mr' requires sensitivity to official style. Position On envelopes Salutation in letter Oral address Lord High Commissioner to the General Assembly His Grace The Lord High Commissioner Your Grace Your Grace or Sir/Ma'am Clergy The Rev John Smith Dear Mr Smith Mr Smith/Dr Smith etc. Current Moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland The Right Rev John Smith Dear Mr Smith Mr Smith/Dr Smith etc. Former Moderators of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland The Very Rev John Smith Dear Mr Smith Mr Smith/Dr Smith etc. Judiciary [ edit ] United Kingdom [ edit ] Position On envelopes Salutation in letter Oral address In court Male Justice of the Supreme Court The Lord Smith, PC Lord Smith Lord Smith My Lord[14] Female Justice of the Supreme Court The Lady Smith, PC Lady Smith Lady Smith My Lady[14] England and Wales [ edit ] Scotland [ edit ] A judge's first name only forms part of their judicial style if, at the time of their appointment, there is a senior judge with the same or a similar surname. Thus, if there is a "Mr Justice Smith", subsequent judges will be "Mr Justice John Smith", "Mrs Justice Mary Smith", etc. A member of the Bar (but not a solicitor) addresses a circuit judge or higher, out of court, as "Judge". Academics [ edit ] The forms of address used for academics can, in most cases, be either formal or social.[18][19] Position On envelopes Salutation in letter Oral address In conversation Chancellor (formal) The Chancellor of [university name] Dear Chancellor Chancellor (if on a platform) or by name and title The Chancellor or by name Chancellor (social) [Name],[Note 13] Chancellor of [university name] By name By name or Chancellor The Chancellor or by name Vice-Chancellor (formal) The Vice-Chancellor of [university name][Note 14] Dear Sir/Madam/Vice-Chancellor Vice-Chancellor (if on a platform) or by name The Vice-Chancellor or by name Vice-Chancellor (social) [Name],[Note 13] Vice-Chancellor of [university name] By name or Dear Vice-Chancellor Vice-Chancellor (if on a platform) or by name The Vice-Chancellor or by name Professor (formal) Professor Jane Smith[Note 15] Dear Sir/Madam Professor Smith Professor Smith Professor (social) Professor Jane Smith Dear Professor Smith Professor Smith Professor Smith Doctor (formal)[Note 16] Dr Jane Smith or The Revd John Smith DD or Susan Brown MD or Tom Brown PhD, etc.[Note 17] Dear Sir/Madam Dr Smith Dr Smith Doctor (social)[Note 16] Dr Jane Smith Dear Dr Smith Dr Smith Dr Smith See also [ edit ] Notes [ edit ] ^ "London" represents any peerage title. ^ The forms given under "Salutation in Letter" are for use in social correspondence only. In formal letters, "Sir" or "Madam" would be used instead. ^ [3] and [4] The definite article "the" in the middle of two or more titles is sometimes capitalized, as in these tables. However this is controversial: traditional British guides use the lower-case "the". As a single example, Debrett's gives "Major-General the Lord……",and Pears' Cyclopaedia in the section on Modes of Address gives several examples where the definite article interior to a list of honours is lower case. a b c d "of" may be omitted in the form of Marquessates and Earldoms and included in the form of Scottish Viscountcies. It is never present in peerage Baronies and Lordships of Parliament and always present in Dukedoms and Scottish feudal Baronies. a b c d e f g h i Some styles that could represent more than one class of person are clarified by the use of post-nominal letters. For instance: Knights and Baronets are distinguished by the use of "Bt" (or, archaically, "Bart") after the latter's names (and by the use of the appropriate post-nominal letters if the former are members of an Order of Chivalry). Knights bachelor have no post-nominal letters. Substantive peers below the rank of Marquess and courtesy peers who are Privy Counsellors (both of whose titles are preceded by "The Rt Hon") are distinguished by the use of "PC" after the former's names. ^ "Smith" represents any surname. ^ "Edinburgh" represents any Scottish place name. ^ Some sources do not recommend the use of the definite article before certain courtesy titles (particularly those who have prospects of promotion within the family's titles), but it is used by official Court publications such as the Court Circular ^ If the definite article is not used before courtesy peerages and The Hon Elizabeth Smith marries Sir William Brown, she becomes The Hon Lady Brown, but if she marries the higher-ranked Lord Brown, a courtesy Baron, she becomes only Lady Brown. If this Sir William Brown's father is created Earl of London and Baron Brown, as a result of this ennoblement his wife's style will actually change, from "The Hon Lady Brown" to "Lady Brown". It is important to note that while the style may appear diminished, the precedence taken increases from that of a wife of a knight to that of a wife of an earl's eldest son. ^ The exact form of a Scottish chief's style varies from family to family, and is generally based on tradition rather than formal rules. ^ Some circuit judges – for example, the Recorder of Liverpool or circuit judges sitting in the Central Criminal Court – are addressed in court as "My Lord" or "My Lady". a b "Master" is used as the form of address whether the High Court Master is male or female. a b This is the full name and title as it would be according to the rules elsewhere on this page, e.g. The Viscount London, Sir John Smith, KBE, Professor Jane Doe, Dr Tom Brown. ^ Check official title for the university concerned: The Reverend the Vice-Chancellor (Oxford) The Right Worshipful the Vice-Chancellor (Cambridge), The Vice-Chancellor and Warden (Durham), The President and Provost (UCL), etc. ^ If a professor holds an ecclesiastical rank this, strictly speaking, supersedes the academic rank. However, the academic style may still be used within academia and the two can be combined, e.g. as The Reverend Professor Jane Smith. If a professor holds a peerage or a knighthood, this title can be combined, e.g. Professor Lord Smith, Professor Sir John Smith, Professor Dame Jane Smith. a b The forms off address for a doctor applies to "the recipient of a doctorate conferred by a university or other body, such as the Council for National Academic Awards", not just those working in academia. The exception is surgeons, who are never addressed as Doctor even if they hold a doctorate. ^ Doctorates in divinity and medicine are always given as letters after the name, and this form may optionally be used for doctorates in other faculties. If "Dr" is used before the name, degrees are not given after it.

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Back in the 1990s, Steve Rambam posed as a university researcher to get war criminals to tell him their stories. In Hope, B.C., he interviewed Antanas Kenstavicius. “He was a police chief in Lithuania and his unit, under supervision of Germans, rounded up 5,000 Jews. They were locked up for a week, the women raped, their belongings looted. Then they lined them up naked in the ditch… it took them six days to kill them all by gunfire. This guy was telling me all this matter-of-factly. He told me: ‘Then on Nov. 19, no more Jews.’” It took them six days to kill them all by gunfire. This guy was telling me all this matter-of-factly Proceedings to deport Mr. Kenstavicius began in 1997; the 90-year-old died the same day. The case was not the first, or last, Canadian failure to bring suspected Nazi war criminals to justice. Nazi hunter @StevenRambam to speak in Toronto, June 24. Fundraiser for United Chesed unitedchesed.com/store/c1/Featu… http://t.co/j7ePBd2mr0 — Dave Gordon (@davegordonwrite) May 13, 2014 It is estimated that between 2,000 and 5,000 war criminals fled to Canada after the Second World War, but not one Nazi has ever been successfully prosecuted in this country. “It is to the Canadian government’s great and eternal shame that more was not done,” said Mr. Rambam, the renowned “Nazi hunter” who will be in Toronto on Tuesday for a charity event. Activists say it’s not too late for Canada to act. A handful of cases are still actionable. Looking back, a key problem was that for decades Canada did not actively pursue suspected war criminals, and when it did decide to launch proceedings they were done badly and ineffectively, said David Matas, senior legal counsel of B’nai Brith Canada. “Canada started too late; there were just too many perpetrators; too much evidence had been destroyed or lost. The effort was more an attempt to construct a justice legacy for the victims of the Holocaust,” said Mr. Matas. The seeds of Canada’s inaction were sown three years after the end of the war. The allied powers decided that prosecuting war criminals would end and the British Commonwealth Relations Office wrote to the dominions explaining the policy. The punishment of war criminals is more a matter of discouraging future generations, than of meting out retribution “In our view, the punishment of war criminals is more a matter of discouraging future generations, than of meting out retribution to every guilty individual,” wrote the department, as revealed by Franklin Bialystok in his book Delayed Impact: The Holocaust and the Canadian Jewish Community. The letter went on to say it was “now necessary to dispose of the past as soon as possible.” In 1985, pressure from the Jewish community led Brian Mulroney to set up a Commission of Inquiry on War Criminals, headed by Jules Deschênes. The Deschênes Commission put forward the names of 883 suspects. From 1987 to 1992 just 26 cases were filed before the justice system; charges were laid under the Criminal Code in four cases. The man in the dock in 1987 was Imre Finta, the first suspect to be accused under new laws on war crimes. Mr. Finta, who came to Canada in 1948 and died here in 2003, was accused of being a key official in the rounding up of Jews in Szeged, Hungary, in 1944 and sending them to Auschwitz and to Strasshof. His acquittal in 1990 shut down any hope of winning criminal proceedings against Nazi war criminals. “Finta presented no evidence to answer the charges against him,” Mr. Matas said. “When asked if he wanted to call evidence on his own behalf at his criminal trial he declined. Yet he was acquitted.” Why? The courts allowed a defence that said believing Jews to be the enemy was a legitimate reason for killing them. Two appeal courts agreed. Parliament later legislated to overturn the reasoning in the Finta case in 2005. But by then it was too late to recommence prosecutions, Mr. Matas said. After the failure of criminal prosecutions, the government in 1995 announced it would use such administrative measures as revoking citizenship and ordering deportation. Under this new course of action, two men were extradited and five deported. Bernie Farber, former head of the Canadian Jewish Congress, calls a 90-year-old Kitchener, Ont., man, Helmut Oberlander, the “final symbol” of Canada’s failure on this issue. In fact, three cases could still be acted on: those of Mr. Oberlander, Vladimir Katriuk, and Wasyl Odynsky. Mr. Oberlander was part of a Nazi killing squad, Einsatzkommando 10a, which operated in the eastern occupied territories during the Second World War. Mr. Oberlander admits to serving with the “German armed forces” but says he never subscribed to the Nazi ideology or participated in any killings. A judge ruled in 2000 that Mr. Oberlander worked, lived, and travelled as an interpreter for a Nazi mobile death squad and, although there was no evidence he participated in atrocities, he must have been aware of them. Mr. Oberlander has been fighting attempts to strip him of his citizenship and deport him since 1995. There is no justification for continuing to give him a haven In 2008, he was stripped of his citizenship for a second time, but in 2009, the Federal Court of Appeal instructed the federal cabinet to reconsider because of Mr. Oberlander’s assertion that he joined the squad as an interpreter under duress. In 2012, Mr. Oberlander, a Ukrainian Canadian, was again stripped of his citizenship and immediately mounted a counter challenge. The Federal Court heard the appeal in February this year, but has not yet released a decision. Mr. Oberlander could not be contacted for comment. Vladimir Katriuk, ranked No. 4 on the Simon Wiesenthal Center’s most-wanted list, came to Canada under a false name in 1951. In 1999, the Federal Court ruled he had obtained his Canadian citizenship by misrepresentation, but found there was no evidence he had committed atrocities. The cabinet decided in 2007 not to revoke his citizenship New evidence in the case came when declassified records released in 2008 documented that a man with the same name as Mr. Katriuk, currently in his 90s and living on a farm in Ormstown, outside of Montreal, was a commander of a platoon in a battalion that perpetrated a massacre in a Belarusian village in 1943, and that he personally opened fire with a machine gun. B’nai Brith wrote to the government in 2011 urging that the government reverse the Katriuk decision. “The information we now know about Mr. Katriuk makes it unconscionable for the existing decision … to stand. There is no justification for continuing to give him a haven in Canada,” it said. The organization never got a response. Mr. Katruik has consistently refused to talk publicly about his past. His wife told the National Post on Thursday that he would not be answering any questions. Wasyl Odynsky came to Canada in 1949. Mr. Odynsky, 90, who had been living in Toronto but whose whereabouts are not known, was accused of serving as a guard at two forced labour camps and in an SS battalion. While a Federal Court ruled in 2001 that he had lied to gain entry to Canada, it also found that he was unlikely to have participated in a massacre of Jewish captives. In 2007 the government decided not to take away his citizenship. B’nai B’rith is also challenging that decision. Mr. Rambam, the U.S. private investigator who will speak at an event for impoverished Jews in Toronto on Tuesday, believes scores of war criminals are still living in Canada. “Entire units came en masse into Canada through Halifax in the 1940s,” he said. “Canada knew at that time who they were. “If there are a few cases that can still be brought, just for the sake of doing the right thing, then that should happen.” “None will live long enough to make it to trial, they will hire excellent lawyers. … They’ll delay and throw legal roadblocks in the way until they have died safely in their beds, but it’s the point of doing it.” It was the justice system itself that in the end let us down Mr. Rambam interviewed 72 out of a list of 1,000 suspected Nazis living in Canada. His work was sent to the authorities, but he said little was done. “It’s a stain on the history of Canada,” he said. Mr. Farber views things slightly differently. “The government did look at this matter with laser focus, so I think we have to give them credit … they tried. It was the justice system itself that in the end let us down.” Paloma Aguilar, a spokeswoman for the Department of Justice, said individuals who have been involved in war crimes or crimes against humanity would find no haven in Canada. “The Deschênes Commission put forward the names of 883 suspects. To this day, federal authorities have investigated upward of 2,000 files,” she said. “The government continues to receive allegations, all of which are examined.” National Post

Sausage Party has become the surprise hit of a summer sorely lacking in them, making almost $37 million on a $19 million budget. Well, now animators are speaking out about how the film kept costs down. Stories about horrible working conditions first started coming out in the comments of a Cartoon Brew interview with directors Greg Tiernan and Conrad Vernon. Anonymous commenters claiming to have worked on the film flooded the article with complaints about working for Nitrogen Studios. Here are a few examples: The production cost were kept low because Greg would demand people work overtime for free. If you wouldn’t work late for free your work would be assigned to someone who would stay late or come in on the weekend. Some artist were even threatened with termination for not staying late to hit a deadline. Almost half the animation team was not credited. The team believed in this film and poured their hearts and souls into it. Despite this, more than half of it was not credited. You can see the full team on IMDB, which contains 83 people (and I am certain there are some missing). The film’s credits, however, contains 47. All of the comments are truth or maybe rather written too lightly. I personally know & witnessed many other incidents during the production; such as an “Open Letter” to the clients, and how Greg threatened artists for it. I cannot put more details because I’m scared of revealing my identity.. and *I really want to keep working in this industry* Sickening how one can brag about production cost, when he was the one who demanded artists to work for free, otherwise get fired. Advertisement It made sense that the commenters were anonymous: everyone was afraid of reprisals, especially since the stories included Tiernan threatening to ruin people’s careers. But, of course, that also made it hard to verify. Now Variety has talked to the animators while keeping their names out of the story. And it all sounds true. The “Open Letter” referenced above was a petition sent to Annapurna Pictures—the production company behind the film—by the animators telling them about the conditions. According an animator, one of the reasons they had to send a letter to the clients was because the person that received the complaints about Nitrogen was Nicole Stine, Tiernan’s wife. “There was no one you could go to,” the animator told Variety. “It was uncomfortable.” Advertisement Nitrogen Studios is based in Vancouver, and conditions similar to these are apparently the norm in non-US-based animation studios. It’s a combination of an overabundance worldwide of animators, making it hard to rock the boat when you know it’s easy to be replaced, and Canada providing tax incentives for productions. In Los Angeles, animators are unionized and have protections workers in other countries just don’t have. Sony, which distributed the film, and Annapurna didn’t comment on the Variety story, while Tiernan told Variety that the complaints were “without merit” and wouldn’t explain why they existed, if they weren’t true. “We take these things seriously and don’t want to ignore these claims,” he said. Now that complaints been made public, they can’t. [Variety]

This week's edition of Critical Reception examines online reaction to People Can Fly's first-person shooter, which reviews describe as "an intelligent, nuanced design with fathoms of depth."currently earns a score of 86 out of 100 at Metacritic.com.David Houghton at Games Radar scoresat 10 out of 10 . "," he begins, "is a very intelligent, highly intricate, and sumptuously nuanced design masquerading as a big dumb action game. In fact it's such an evolution of the FPS experience that it's very probably destined for that pantheon of rare games to be deemed worthy of the word 'important' in a couple of years time."is not just a shooter," Houghton explains. "In fact, once you've taken the time to really explore its depths, you'll realise that being a shooter is just one small part of what it's about. It's just as much a 3D puzzle game, high-speed strategy game, and even, if you really get into it, a bit of a maths challenge too."'s combo system proves to be a compelling mechanic. "You're constantly judged on the complexity and inventiveness of your kills, and scores decrease with repetition," Houghton says."The points you score for clever killing are the currency you use to buy new weapons, as well as functionality upgrades for your existing ones. Every gun and additional perk is meticulously designed to integrate with and balance against the others, opening up a pantheon of new options with each one that's added to the mix."These options make up's comprehensive list of Skill Shots, a line-up of circumstantial kills and stacked combos detailed in the pause menu, which comprise every possible violent interaction you'll concoct and plenty you won't. We're talking well over a hundred individual 'moves' here, with an accessible freedom of blendability that evokes the glory days of's combo system."This ultimately defines the experience, according to Houghton. "None of this creative killing is any mere gimmick. It all serves serious purpose," Houghton says. "The kind of interactions most games save for their most inventive Achievements or Trophies,builds its core game around. And when you really start plumbing its depths you'll discover a sense of personal involvement and purpose within its world that genuinely is groundbreaking.""Forget your preconceptions ofas a foul-mouthed big dumb action game," Houghton writes. "It's an intelligent, nuanced design with fathoms of depth, which marks a return to the importance of player creativity in shooters and simultaneously evolves the concept of interactivity in an FPS world. And with two cleverly complimentary secondary modes, it will have serious legs for a good long while to come."IGN's Arthur Gies ratesat 8 out of 10 . "At face value I shouldn't like," he begins. "It comes off as obnoxious and crass, full of toilet humor, emphasizing a sort of dickish boldness and attitude that's been driven into the ground by countless shooters over the last few years.""So it's a surprise then thatis actually something kind of special," Gies says. "Sure, it's still brash, and it's still full of toilet humor, but with context,is a violently charming popcorn shooter that plays well with some great design."Gies praises's Leash weapon, in particular. "The Leash allows Grayson to snag enemies and fling them into the air in slow motion, and its AI has been designed to evaluate combat performance � it rewards balls-out combat bravado in the form of points that can be redeemed at Confederate resupply pods scattered around the planet," he explains. "By combining shots to specific appendages and/or bathing suit areas with standing and sliding kicks, the Leash, and various environmental hazards, you'll discover a variety of named kill combos that reward more points than standard shots."Gies continues: "The Leash AI takes all of's unique and genre-defying mechanical elements and makes sense of them within its own particular reality. It's... smart. Who'd have thought, particularly given the throwback nature of's first person shooting? There's no cover, enemies aren't especially smart, and levels are a straight shot from A to B, butstill impresses. In tandem with shooting that feels responsive and meaty, with powerful, interesting weapons, the combo system makes's combat a success."disappoints with its omission of cooperative play, however. "The time-and-score-attack Echo mode is a nice enough inclusion with its online-enabled leaderboards, but why isn't there leaderboard-enabled campaign scoring in the main game?" Gies asks. "Campaign co-op also seems like a missed opportunity; you have at least one AI partner at all times in, which makes the solo-only nature of the main game that much more jarring. Campaign leaderboards would help give replay value to a main game that I finished in less than six hours, and Echo just didn't hold my attention."demonstrates the value of 'why' for action games," Gies asserts. "Taken out of the context of its fiction, People Can Fly would have something fun but forgettable on their hands, but the wayfits together results in something cool and memorable. Multiplayer failings notwithstanding,shines as a single-player shooter."Taylor Cocke at 1UP.com gives a B- grade . "Billed as the 'antidote' to the modern shooter,is certainly on a much higher level of ridiculousness than, say, thefranchise or the recent reboot of," he notes. "Even its sister series,, which is over-the-top in its own right, can't keep up with's old school, hyper masculine tendencies. And yet, it doesn't go quite far enough."Cocke finds that's limp narrative is one of its greatest shortcomings. "Unfortunately,doesn't manage to escape the pitfalls of those it seemingly attempts to lampoon," he explains. "The story revolves around Grayson's obsession with taking down his former commanding officer Serrano for a past deception that caused Grayson and his covert operations unit, Dead Echo, to assassinate various innocent citizens under the pretense that they were enemies of the state. Of course, upon discovering that fact, Grayson declares that he'll have his revenge. Sound too serious? It really is."Cocke continues: "All the game needed to was a simple excuse to go on a rampage, not a deep motivation to appease some sort of indignant revenge desire. For a game ostensibly based around absurd violence and 'killing with skill', the seriousness of the plot feels like a misstep."This softens the impact of's over-the-top gameplay. "There's a discrepancy between the Skillshot-heavy gameplay and the overtly serious plot that drags the campaign down," Cocke writes. "While I attempted to have a good time with action and vulgar jokes, the plot intruded. All I wanted to do was kick fools into massive cactus spikes (for the Pricked Skillshot, of course), but I the generic, all too serious plot points simply took my maniacal murderous rage, previously aimed at the on-screen enemies, and redirected it right back at the unnecessarily humorless plot."is a game unsure of what it wants to achieve," Cocke concludes. "When it lets itself, it's a fantastic adrenaline rush through well-constructed set-pieces and gloriously fun-to-watch violence. But it too often drags itself down with overly structured situations and restrictive, strategy-heavy gameplay."It feels like if chaos had been allowed to take the design process over, this could have had one of the most fun shooters of our generation, but as it stands,is a mechanically enjoyable game that's missing what it needed to be great."

Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders were asked directly if Donald Trump is a racist at Wednesday’s Democratic debate in Miami. “Secretary Clinton, you have known Donald Trump a long time. You have seen what kind of campaign he’s running,” the Washington Post’s Karen Tumulty said 20 minutes into the debate. “Secretary Clinton, is Donald Trump a racist?” Clinton first said she prefers to keep the Democratic primary about Democrats, then reiterated her criticisms of Trump’s xenophobic and anti-immigrant rhetoric — and added a splash of spanish. “I was the first one to call him out. I called him out when he was calling Mexicans rapists, when he was engaging in rhetoric that I found deeply offensive. I said basta,” she said, drawing applause from the room. “And I am pleased that others are also joining in making clear that his rhetoric, his demagoguery, his trafficking in prejudice and paranoia has no place in our political system. Especially from somebody running for president who couldn’t decide whether or not to disavow the Ku Klux Klan and David Duke.” Advertisement Pressed by Tumulty, she again demurred from the journalist’s label but said the Democratic nominee “can make the case against him, if he is the nominee, by pointing out what he has said, what he claims to believe in, the values he’s promoting. I think that’s a better way for the American people to draw their conclusions.” Tumulty put the question differently to Sanders, asking if it was fair to say Trump is racist. Sanders also declined to provide a direct yes-or-no. After saying that Americans will never elect someone who insults Mexicans, Muslims, women, and African-Americans, Sanders pointed out Trump’s prominent role in a racist smear of Barack Obama. “And let us not forget that several years ago Trump was in the middle of the so-called Birther movement trying to delegitimize the President of the United States of America,” Sanders continued, to applause. “My dad was born in Poland and I know a little bit about the immigrant experience. Nobody has ever asked me for my birth certificate. Maybe it has something to do with the color of my skin.” Meanwhile on the right, Trump’s rise has helped reinvigorate avowed white supremacist groups. “Demoralization has been the biggest enemy and Trump is changing all that,” Stormfront founder Don Black recently told Politico. Advertisement The Southern Poverty Law Center’s recent report on white nationalist activity in 2015 found a 14 percent rise in the number of hate groups, and cites other research finding more people were killed by domestic terrorists in 2015 than in any year since 1995. According to the group, this moment is comparable in radical white racist activity to 1968, the year Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated. In a sense, then, the Grand Old Party is coming full circle on its long-running strategic deployment of coded racism that prominent Republican strategist Lee Atwater described at the dawn of the Reagan era.

Fireworks black market: Experts struggle to halt sale of illegal crackers Posted Pyrotechnics experts are warning it will be difficult to stop Australia's dangerous underground market of illegal professional-grade fireworks. Police are urging people to hand in their stashes of illegal fireworks before Australia Day, as they investigate two deaths from accidents with the devices. A 52-year-old man on the NSW Central Coast and a 46-year-old man in Victoria's Gippsland died after they attempted to set off illegal crackers on New Year's Eve. Australia's fireworks industry is made up of between 250 to 300 companies. Christian Howard, the president of the Pyrotechnics Industry Association, said the black market fireworks were sourced from legal suppliers in Australia, rather than imported from overseas. "I think the legal market of suppliers sell to the legal users, that they potentially on-sell them to the illegal market," he said. "So there's a supply chain that's all legal and then at some point people start selling them to the public. "I think there is a small amount of direct import but I think that's actually been slowed down in the last 10 years. It's very difficult to export them and import them into the country." Mr Howard admits it will be difficult to stop the black market in illegal fireworks. "There was a person selling fireworks out of a white van in Western Sydney and one of my colleagues who worked in the area just advised me that they were there. "We alerted the authorities. "They worked out he'd sold several hundred cartons of fireworks per year, just as a one person driving around in a van making a lot of cash on the side." That person was linked back to a legal supply chain. "In actual fact, he had a licence to use pyrotechnics but he would buy them and not use them, he would buy them and sell them, which is illegal because you need a licence to sell." Fireworks are also freely for sale on the internet, including on Facebook. "We take a lot of time and energy to make sure as an industry that we are safe with storage, handling, using, transporting and then the fact that then anyone can then buy them or sell them online and the general public is then using fireworks," Mr Howard said. "And probably most of the time they are not low-level fireworks, they are probably the professional-grade, high-altitude aerial shells, which are very dangerous." 'Hand them in', police warn The sale of fireworks is banned in Australia, except on a single day in the Northern Territory, and under tight controls in Tasmania. The deaths of two men on New Year's Eve are believed to be the first deaths from illegal crackers in four years. Victoria's Deputy Commissioner Andrew Crisp has urged people who may be holding onto illegal fireworks for Australia Day to hand them in. "If you have illegal fireworks hand them in, report to Victoria police report to Worksafe, if you know of someone whose got illegal fireworks, similarly report it. "How would you feel if you knew someone was about to let off illegal fireworks and it resulted in serious injury or the death of another person?" Topics: accidents---other, accidents, disasters-and-accidents, law-crime-and-justice, crime, australia, nsw, vic

Watergate veterans have seen this movie before about a president firing his attorney general to stop an investigation. It didn’t work back then, and the consensus among three Watergate insiders interviewed by The Daily Beast is that it won’t work now. Just as the Saturday Night Massacre in October 1973 marked the beginning of the end for President Nixon, who resigned in August 1974, President Trump would grease the skids for himself if he tries to replace Attorney General Jeff Sessions with someone who would fire special counsel Robert Mueller. “Mueller is the kind of guy who would say, ‘Fire me without cause, and I’m going to Court.’ And that could end up strengthening the Special Counsel,” says John Dean, Nixon’s White House counsel during much of Watergate. “They can’t just cook up a PR campaign. It’s like the Muslim ban. You just can’t do it and pretend there’s cause. The courts could come in and play havoc with Trump. It’s amazing the institutions are working exactly the way they should. It’s a pleasant surprise.” Conservative backing for the embattled Sessions appears to have scared Trump off Sessions, at least for now, as some Republicans are beginning to show some backbone. Senate Judiciary Chairman Chuck Grassley tweeted that there is no room on the committee’s schedule to confirm a new AG—and if Trump tried to slip one in while the Senate was in recess, it would almost certainly trigger a constitutional crisis. Public outrage forced Nixon to name a second special prosecutor to replace the fired Archibald Cox. The White House thought Texas lawyer Leon Jaworski wouldn’t be overly aggressive. After he heard the tape of Dean telling Nixon there is a “cancer on the presidency,” Jaworski told Dean he knew the president was “guilty as sin.” I asked Dean if he thought we could get that kind of clarity today. After all, as Trump likes to point out, the FBI has been investigating the Russia connection for a year, and no one has been charged with a crime. “We’re in a different technical era,” Dean replied. “Who knows what’s out there today. Who knows what the NSA is sitting on. None of us have seen this intelligence.” As news has poured in over the less than 200 days that Trump has served as president, people have forgotten how “agonizingly slow Watergate was,” says Dean. Nixon’s resignation on Aug. 8, 1974 came 782 days after the June 17, 1972, break-in. It was 920 days after the break-in that a jury found former Attorney General John Mitchell and aides H.R. Haldeman and John Ehrlichman guilty of conspiracy to obstruct justice. Elizabeth Holtzman was a member then of the House Judiciary Committee, chaired by Democrat Peter Rodino in the Democratic controlled House, and in her telling, the Democrats took no action even as the taping system in the White House was disclosed, along with Dean’s “cancer on the presidency” and reports of the Watergate burglars being paid off with hush money (PDF). There were serious abuses of power, if not criminality by the president. In July of 1973, Father Drinan, a Democratic congressman from Massachusetts, filed an article of impeachment based on Nixon’s secret bombing of Cambodia. “And nobody paid attention,” she says, even as Nixon was trying to dismantle a signature Great Society program, the Office of Economic Opportunity. “So you had the president thumbing his nose at limitations of power, but none of that moved anybody in the leadership of the House. Peter Rodino had no interest in impeachment. It was really forced by the American people.” The trigger event was the Saturday Night Massacre. Members of the House were inundated with phone calls and telegrams. “The American people were outraged. It was an amazing shift in public opinion,” says Holtzman. “My office was flooded with messages. That’s what started the process [of impeachment]. It was not a partisan process. “The lesson for Trump is if the American people realize that he’s threatening our democracy, and they don’t want to be a banana republic, the president can’t pick his prosecutor. They can force the Congress into action. Nixon had a huge landslide victory in 1972 and 11 months later, the Saturday Night Massacre was the beginning of the end. We expect our president to obey the law.” When the Senate Judiciary Committee confirmed Elliot Richardson as Richard Kleindienst’s successor in May ’73, they made him name a special prosecutor to their liking, Archibald Cox, and pledge that he would not fire Cox except for “extraordinary improprieties,” a Justice Department regulation that Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein has adopted in saying he would not fire special counsel Robert Mueller except for “cause.” Richard Ben-Veniste was one of the lead Watergate prosecutors, “following money to find a motive,” he recalled to The Daily Beast, from the Committee to Re-elect the President (CREEP) and then ultimately the White House. He explains that here, investigators are probing Trump’s financial dealings to determine whether they provide a motive for Trump asking Comey to go easy. Ben-Veniste reminds those impatient with the pace of the Russia investigation that for a long period after the break-in, the White House was successful at deflecting investigative efforts to determine who sponsored it. Those efforts to deflect turned out to be obstruction of justice, so a separate crime was committed. As today’s investigation unfolds, he cautions that “we are drifting into what may be uncharted waters if Trump makes good on his threat to fire Mueller. That would create a constitutional crisis.” Asked how that might play out, he says it’s “unclear whether Trump would find anyone” to fire Mueller if Rosenstein refused. Asked how far down in the Justice Department Trump could go, Ben-Veniste said, “I don’t know if the elevator goes down that far.” He concluded our conversation saying that if Trump does what everybody is advising him not to do, and one way or another, gets rid of Mueller, it will come down to “whether Republicans in Congress can put country above party. Our system will be severely tested, and we will find out whether we are a government of laws, where the rule of law is respected, or whether an outrage like firing a person lawfully appointed is acceptable to one political party.” If Trump understood Watergate, he’d be having second thoughts about trying to push out Sessions, says Dean. Unlike Sessions, who has significant support both in the Senate and in the conservative media, Kleindienst was easy to toss overboard. During marathon confirmation hearings over a record 22 days, he repeatedly perjured himself on his knowledge of an antitrust case that involved a $400,000 payoff to the 1972 Republican convention. The case had nothing to do with Watergate, but Kleindienst resigned under fire the same day (April 30, 1973) that Nixon announced the resignations of Haldeman and Ehrlichman, and fired Dean. At least Nixon didn’t trash Kleindienst in public, I ventured in my conversation with Dean. “Nixon did that in private,” he said, before there was Twitter. “There’s no one who worked for Nixon he hadn’t trashed on the tapes.” Dean calls the break-in of Daniel Ellsberg’s psychiatrist’s office in September of 1971 the reason the White House was so concerned about the Watergate break-in. Gordon Liddy, who headed the White House Plumbers unit (named for its initial mission of plugging leaks), had used two of the same guys, who were now in jail and could tie the break-ins to the White House. “Otherwise we would have cut the Re-Elect loose,” says Dean. Liddy’s plan had gotten shot down twice before Mitchell signed off, saying, “give them $250,000 and see what they come up with.” The casual straying from dirty tricks to criminal behavior is striking. “We wrote the book on what not to do, and Trump doesn’t seem to have any knowledge of what’s in that book,” says Dean. “A lot of Watergate is just bungling—it’s pure bungling—stupid things, like not hiring a lawyer. I tried to get Ehrlichman to agree to a criminal lawyer on my staff after Liddy confessed to me the same people were used in the Ellsberg break-in—the first I heard of the Ellsberg break-in. Ehrlichman shot me down.” After he left the White House, Dean learned of a handwritten memo signed by Ehrlichman authorizing the Ellsberg break-in “as long as it is not traceable to the White House.” It was an options memo on how to deal with Ellsberg, who had released the Pentagon Papers, and one of the options suggested by the Plumbers was to enter his psychiatrist’s office, take his files and use them to discredit him. Nixon launched into the cover-up very early, not because anybody told him about the Ellsberg situation, but because he was concerned about Mitchell, says Dean. “But for John Mitchell, he never would have become president. Mitchell is to Nixon what Trump’s family is to him—you can’t get any closer.” When Nixon came to New York from California, Mitchell set him up as a partner in a prestigious law firm, put money in his pocket, and when Nixon decided to run again in 1968, Mitchell ran the campaign. Mitchell didn’t want to be attorney general, according to Dean, but Nixon insisted, and the president was very worried on a personal level about Mitchell. “And that comes through on the tapes,” says Dean. “Four days after the arrest of the Watergate burglars, there’s a conversation where Nixon says, ‘Let’s just put all the facts out, put this thing behind us—but if that’s going to hurt Mitchell, we can’t do it. “That was a bungle,” says Dean. At every point where they could have cut their losses, they dug in deeper, and the crimes piled up under the heading conspiracy to obstruct justice. There was also the cover-up Nixon got away with, says Dean, by intentionally disrupting President Johnson’s efforts to get peace in 1968. Nixon biographer John Farrell found the evidence in Haldeman’s notes, “and if that isn’t treason it sure does look, feel and smell like it,” says Dean. “It was long suspected that Nixon wanted to break into the Brookings Institution when he heard they had ‘bombing halt’ papers. He might have been worried they had papers somehow showing what he had done with South Vietnam.” The Republic survived Watergate and people thought the safeguards put in place afterward ensured that a scandal of that magnitude could never happen again. Forty government officials were indicted or went to jail. One Senate investigator who did not want to give his name told The Daily Beast, “In retrospect, everyone in the administration who got anywhere near Watergate, even tangentially, lied or sat still while other people lied. It was a lesson in an administration going absolutely wild. My whole generation of lawyers and politicians feel this is history repeating itself—the same personal characteristics, personal weaknesses, the same personal desire to acquire and embrace power.” Some people saved their reputation then, notably Attorney General Richardson and his deputy, William Ruckelshaus, who defied Nixon’s order to fire the special prosecutor. We’re waiting for today’s profiles in courage. There should be ample opportunity.

China’s Digging Since the industrialization of coal, the world has sourced much of its energy from fossil fuels. While the global energy landscape has started to change again over the past several years, with the introduction of more renewable and cleaner sources, fossil fuels are still the main source of much of today’s energy. However, it looks like China has now found a way to access a previously elusive source of energy. Reports from China’s Ministry of Land and Resources claim that the country has successfully extracted methane hydrate — also known as “flammable ice” — from beneath the South China Sea, just 300 kilometers (186 miles) southeast of Hong Kong. “We brought the gas to the surface and have lit it up since May 10. By now, the drill has been running continually for eight days,” project leader and deputy chief engineer at the China Geological Survey Ye Jianliang told the South China Morning Post. “The daily output [of gas] exceeds 10,000 cubic meters. The best day recorded 35,000 cubic meters.” Not Clean Enough Though methane hydrate is not a new discovery, researchers have had difficulty putting it to practical use. The substance is called “flammable ice” because it looks like ice, but it’s actually methane trapped inside water molecule lattices. Deposits of methane hydrate are usually found in areas with low temperatures and moderate pressure, such as the bottom of the ocean, making them difficult to access.

CNET Yahoo.com visitors over the last few days may have been served with malware via the Yahoo ad network, according to Fox IT, a security firm in the Netherlands. Users visiting pages with the malicious ads were redirected to sites armed with code that exploits vulnerabilities in Java and installs a variety of different malware. Correction:This story previously stated that the ads required a click to trigger the exploit. According to Maarten van Dantzig of Fox IT, the ad being displayed is enough to redirect users to the malware injection site. We are checking with Yahoo for further explanation. In a blog post, Fox IT estimated that, based on sample traffic, the number of visits to the site carrying the malicious code was visited around 300,000 times per hour. "Given a typical infection rate of 9% this would result in around 27,000 infections every hour. Based on the same sample, the countries most affected by the exploit kit are Romania, Britain, and France. At this time it's unclear why those countries are most affected, it is likely due to the configuration of the malicious advertisements on Yahoo," Fox IT said on its blog. The security firm found evidence that the redirects go to domains hosted in the Netherlands, but was unable to identity the perpetrators. Traffic has slowed to the exploit, Fox IT noted, suggesting that Yahoo is addressing the vulnerability. Yahoo confirmed the presence of malware on its servers and said it had taken steps to combat the issue. "We recently identified an ad designed to spread malware to some of our users," Yahoo said Saturday in a statement. "We immediately removed it and will continue to monitor and block any ads being used for this activity." In a further statement issued Sunday, a Yahoo spokesperson said: On Friday, January 3, on our European sites, we served some advertisements that did not meet our editorial guidelines, specifically, they were designed to spread malware. We promptly removed these advertisements. Users in North America, Asia Pacific and Latin America were not served these advertisements and were not affected. Additionally, users using Macs and mobile devices were not affected. Yahoo subsequently modified its statement, adding that malicious ads were served between December 31 and January 3, not just Jan. 3. The spokesperson added that the company plans to post more information on the malware incident for its users. Updated January 5, 2014, with additional information from Yahoo. [Via ZDNet and the Washington Post]

David Zalubowski/Associated Press Nate Jackson was a tight end and wide receiver with the Denver Broncos from 2003-08. In April, he wrote about the draft from a player’s perspective. Your body says No, but your brain says Yes. Yes, you will get out of bed. Yes, you will try to eat breakfast. And Yes, you will put on your pads and run out on that field. Despite the pain, the doubt, and the fear, you will say Yes. You always say Yes. Training camp is hell. Some players adapt to hell well, some burn up quickly. But there is no way around the psychological and physical warfare that players will endure this month. In a strictly physical analysis, training camp brutalizes the body. The N.F.L. is home to the strongest, most explosive athletes on the planet. Being hit over and over again by these men is a painful ordeal, not so much as it’s happening, but after the fact: after practice, late at night, early in the morning. Morning is the worst. About three or four days into training camp is when the soreness starts to peak, and it sticks around for about a week and a half until your body starts to desensitize itself to misery. During my six seasons with the Denver Broncos, there were days when getting out of bed was so difficult I was sure there was no way I could practice. Of course I was wrong. I found a way to get it done. Football players learn how to push down the pain and make a play. But it hurts later. It hurts a lot. Compounding the physical pain is the strange dichotomy between players and coaches. Coaches expect mathematic perfection from their players, so most often, whatever a player does is not quite right. There is always something to improve, even when you get the job done. As my friend Stefan Fatsis eloquently describes it in his book A Few Seconds of Panic, about the summer he spent on the field with me and my Denver teammates (as a kicker), different coaches communicate in different ways. But in the N.F.L., the militaristic approach usually dominates: veiny-foreheaded dopplegangers berating players daily. The longer you’re around, the more the cackle becomes background noise, which you learn to accept as an industry standard. But it’s unproductive, because the aim begins to be, “Don’t make a mistake, don’t get yelled at.” That’s an awful way to play football, especially when the dudes doing the yelling are or were inferior athletes to you. The verbal haranguing isn’t exclusive to the field. In meetings every day and night, it continues. The decibel level decreases, but it’s no less biting. Every play of every practice is watched on film by the whole team that same day. Morning practice is watched in the afternoon before the afternoon practice, and the afternoon practice is watched at night before going home. Practices are watched on huge screens with high quality projectors. When a player makes a mistake, it is pointed out and discussed. Nothing slips through the cracks. Depending on the severity of the mistake, and the frequency of mistakes being made by the player, the reaction from the coaches will vary, but the feeling for the player is always horrible. Being called out in meetings and having everyone in the room watching you fail in slow motion — often with a laser pointer on your two-dimensional body — is demoralizing, and only intensifies the pain. This scrutiny is well intentioned, but often falls flat from overkill, the message trampled by the messenger. Teams will go through their training-camp schedule for about eight days before a day off. Eight straight days is bad enough, but the length of each day makes it feel much longer. Each day feels like three days. Players arrive at the facility at roughly 7:30 a.m. The first practice is at 8:30 and lasts until around 11. After that comes lunch and a bit of down time, when players relax however they can: napping, video games, reading, crying. A special-teams meeting at around 1:30 p.m. is followed by offense/defense meetings, then back on the field around 4 for a slightly shorter practice than in the morning. After practice is dinner, then meetings from 7 p.m. until 10 p.m. The meetings drag on more than one would imagine. N.F.L. players spend typically twice as much time in meeting rooms as they do on the field. The attention to detail and robotic application of minute coaching points become an obsession, so there’s always something to fix. This drains the brain. It’s not uncommon to see a rookie make mistake after mistake as he mopes around the field on one day or another, simply because his brain is filled to the brim with detailed coaching points. The players who end up making the team and having a sustained career in the N.F.L. are the ones who can process these details and apply them quickly. It’s one thing to understand what you’re supposed to do, but to actually do it, at 100 miles an hour against the best in the world, is another thing entirely. Adding to the general feelings of blah and barf are cuts that must be made as August progresses. Realistically, of the 80 guys on each roster, 15 are already cut. Coaches have a pretty good idea of what the final roster will look like. There’s a little bit of wiggle room in the middle of the depth chart. At every position, there are usually two guys competing for one spot. This is usually where I found myself, fighting for my professional life on a daily basis, battling with another good football player who was often my friend. I learned how to win that daily battle, but it never came easy, and someone was always left in its wake. But this is in the middle of the depth chart, meaning that if a team is carrying 10 receivers in camp, receivers Nos. 5 and 6 are battling for a job. Nos. 7 through 10 are camp bodies, there to bolster the numbers, to take punishment, to give veterans an occasional rest, to serve as verbal punching bags for position coaches trying to make a point. This happens at every position, even quarterback. Players see this happening to them, and there is nothing they can do about it. At the bottom of the depth chart, guys get very few quality “reps” — repetitions, turns to play in practice. Coaches often encourage these players, saying things like, “Don’t count your reps, make your reps count!” But reality sets in. For many, this will be the last football they will ever play. Yes, there is much to worry about this month for players on N.F.L. teams. For every superstar, there are 10 blue-collar players who fear their job security is in danger. This fear makes them anxious and paranoid. If you know someone in the N.F.L., leave him alone this month. If he survives, he will be better for the experience. Just wait until September to ask him about it.

Khao Yai National Park, Thailand Thailand’s not known for its wine; you’re much more likely to think of beer when you think of this South-east Asian nation. But at Khao Yai National Park, around two hours by road from Bangkok, you’ll find a cluster of wineries, producing an array of reds and whites. The locally run Thailand Wine Tours (thailandwinetour.com) take visitors on a tour of the national park where they can spot the huge white Buddha statue on a hilltop, as well as visiting two wineries. Prices start from 7,850 baht (£169) for two people including transport from Bangkok, lunch, wine and English speaking guides. Join Independent Minds For exclusive articles, events and an advertising-free read for just £5.99 €6.99 $9.99 a month Get the best of The Independent With an Independent Minds subscription for just £5.99 €6.99 $9.99 a month Get the best of The Independent Without the ads – for just £5.99 €6.99 $9.99 a month Lastminute.com has a week in Bangkok from £377pp including flights and two-star room-only accommodation. Kefalonia, Greece The Ionian island of Kefalonia, off the west coast of mainland Greece, has a beautiful landscapes and exceptional wines – some of which can’t be exported, so a trip here is the only way you’ll get to taste them. The Robola Wine Cooperative, in the Omala valley, is around an hour from all of the main resorts, and half an hour from the capital, Argostoli. Thomson (thomson.co.uk) offers packages to Kefalonia from £534pp in October including flights and self-catering accommodation in Skala, and for an additional €45pp you can book a day trip to Argostoli and the Robola vineyards, where you can try a selection of whites, reds, and a very strong dessert wine – which I would describe as half way between a port and a sherry. In addition to the wine, the views of the valley are worth the visit alone. Jeruzalem, Slovenia Ljubljana markets itself as a "City of Vine and Wine"; this despite there being no vineyards in or around the city. But if you’re not satisfied with the Slovenian capital’s numerous wineries, take a two-hour trip to the north-eastern village of Jeruzalem. It’s renowned for its white wines and great views, which can be experienced in tandem on a walking wine tour. The Ljubljana tourist board runs a Wine Routes of Jeruzalem tour (visitljubljana.com) in which you’ll visit Prlekija, a Slovenian region known for its wine, food and thermal springs, before heading to the wine hills of Jeruzalem. The tour costs €102 including wine tasting, lunch and transfers. The tour is available from the beginning of March – 30 October. Expedia (expedia.co.uk) offers four nights in Ljubljana from £220pp including flights. Oahu, Hawaii Hawaii conjures imagery of fresh fruit, bright cocktails and exotic flavours, yet you’ll also find wine produced here. Island Mana Wines (islandmanawines.com), in Honolulu’s beachside Waikiki neighbourhood, on the isle of Oahu, is a wine tasting experience with a difference. The tipples here are not made with grapes, but instead include varieties produced from guava, mango, passion fruit and pineapple– all sourced from organic fruit native to the island. Reservations must be made in advance; entry is free, you just pay for the wine you drink. Virgin Holidays (virginholidays.co.uk) offers a week in Waikiki from £1470pp in October, including flights and room-only accommodation. Skane, Sweden Skane, the region known for producing Absolut vodka, started to make a name for itself in the wine world during the 1990s. The main grapes of the region are solaris and rondo, which produce fruity whites and full-bodied reds. The Hallakra Vingard (hallakra.com), however, is renowned for its pinor noir. Groups of eight or more can book tours and tastings on request all year round (it’s open to the general public over the summer); prices available on request. The vineyard is half an hour from the city of Malmo, or around an hour from Copenhagen – across the bridge in Denmark. easyJet Holidays (easyjet.com/holidays) has three nights in Copenhagen from £290pp including flights and hotel, room only.

British society needs modernisation but instead Brits will be busy rebuilding bridges they are about to tear down I love British humour. When something goes fundamentally wrong, the British laugh at it. Brexit? The EU now has 1GB of free space. If that gives you a wry smile, better jokes will be along soon – Brexit has a lot of potential to go wrong. Travelling for two months around Britain and Ireland, visiting Birmingham, Hull, Grimsby, York, Edinburgh, Belfast, Newry and Dundalk, I got an idea of why so many people voted for Brexit and how difficult it will be. For Britain, Europe and the rest of the world. Guardian readers gave me inspiration for where to go and who to meet, sending nearly 100 emails after I asked for tips in my first article. “You should visit my 76-year-old mum in Grimsby. In a Brexit heartland, she was the one swearing at our bridge club players, telling them not to betray their grandchildren,” wrote Paul. It was a pleasure to meet the resolute Mary Randall and her friends Margaret and Beat Haessig in Grimsby, and it helped me understand people’s anxieties and challenges in an area that has suffered a long period of economic decline. When Margaret was growing up in the 1950s and 60s, Grimsby was thriving. By the time Mary moved to the town in 1983, the decline had already begun. “But when the fish industry went downhill there was no investment at all,” she said. “The young people went away because there were no jobs for them.” They showed me around once-busy shopping areas, now run-down, and pointed out shops and businesses that had closed. Travelling to Hull the next day, practically a stone’s throw away on the other side of the river Humber, took almost two hours because there is no proper train connection. Local entrepreneurs told me how fed up they were with the bad infrastructure and the lack of investment from Westminster. I heard “you in London” a lot, even though I was only a temporary Londoner for two months. The people I spoke to who had voted for Brexit and claimed to be fed up with Europe really had more specific concerns: sinking living standards, a lack of affordable housing, rising poverty and an inefficient NHS. All good reasons to be disgruntled, though Brussels is hardly to blame. The morning I left Grimsby was the day the world learned that Donald Trump had won the US election. The outsider had beaten the establishment. Plenty of people, including me, felt that Brexit had happened again. Frank Stauss, a political consultant who has organised several election campaigns for the Social Democrats in Germany, said Trump’s biggest asset was “that he didn’t stand for going on with business as usual”. Trump’s voters in the US wanted a change, and so did leave voters in Britain. They were fed up with an establishment that promised wealth and prosperity in the EU when they were experiencing the opposite. When I came to Britain I had a picture in my mind of a divided society in which young, urban and well-educated people had voted for remain, while elderly and working-class people, and xenophobic ones, had voted to leave. But it isn’t that simple. I met a shipowner who employs only Polish people on his trawlers but voted to leave. (If the Poles left, he said, he would hire Russians instead.) I talked to a porter who was proud to have voted remain. British society as I experienced it has more and deeper faultlines than any other country I have lived in – namely Poland, Sweden, Germany and Italy. According to research by Poverty and Social Exclusion, 30 million people in the UK suffer from financial insecurity, 4 million people are not properly fed and 2.3m households cannot afford to heat the living areas of their homes. On the other hand, more billionaires live here than in many other countries, and the economy has grown over the last six years. “Privileged” young Londoners with good jobs told me that starting a family was out of the question because they could not afford flats with enough space. “Our parents live in houses we could never afford,” say the millennials. The Northern Irish and Scottish complain that they are neglected by decision-makers in London. Some Britons claim Polish people are taking their jobs, but the Poles say they were welcomed at first as cheap labour, then treated with mistrust when they took on better jobs and homes. “The British liked us in these cheap jobs and became concerned when they improved,” my friend Ania Faluta, with whom I studied in Poland, told me. She started her career in London 11 years ago as a cleaner and is now a project manager. It struck me sometimes that the British are so occupied with competing – in their jobs, dancing, baking, with other nations – that they miss the bigger picture. An education system that provides chances for everybody irrespective of social background? Well, has there ever been a Guardian editor from a comprehensive school? A modern childcare system that is affordable and adapted to the needs of families? Women told me how they jeopardised their careers by staying at home with their toddlers because it was cheaper than sending them to nursery. An efficient healthcare system? I spent hours listening to my housemate’s enraged reports about his experiences in waiting rooms. With every week I spent in Britain, I grew fonder of the German federal system that allows states to set their own key issues, independent of the government in Berlin, and of a social system that allows me to have four children, a full-time job and to afford a two-month break abroad. British society could do with modernisation, in my view. It’s so 1980s. But I doubt if Brexit will bring that about. Instead, the British will be occupied with rebuilding the bridges to the EU that they are just about to tear down. That’s what the negotiations are aimed at, aren’t they? To leave Europe and the European single market, and at the same time guarantee access to the latter. Norway, which could serve as an example, is not a member of the EU but of the European Economic Area, and has 70% of EU directives and 17% of EU regulations in force. Brexit seems like a big waste of time and money, but nevertheless I’d prefer the British to be as close as possible to the EU. When Theresa May sets off to embrace the autocrats in Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Bahrain and the other Gulf countries, the democratic opposition in these countries will be even less heard. But the EU is also far from perfect. Its harshest critics should not be easily dismissed. And we Germans could do with a good deal more of the politeness, consideration and respect that people in Britain show to their fellow humans. And, of course, with some British humour. How many Germans do you need to change a lightbulb? One! They are so efficient and have no sense of humour. You see?

When Massachusetts voters legalized recreational marijuana in November, it sparked a war in the legislature, where some lawmakers are bent on limiting the sale, use and cultivation of the intoxicating plant. Pro-pot advocates have accused lawmakers of trampling on the will of the voters as bill after bill — 37 to be exact — has been filed to scale back the legalization rollout. One bill, filed by Sen. William Brownsberger, D-Belmont, on behalf of a constituent, seeks wholesale repeal of the referendum that legalized pot. Recommended Slideshows 4 Pictures PHOTOS: Singapore's treasures star in NY Botanical Garden's 2019 Orchid Show 4 Pictures 36 Pictures Oscars 2019: Red carpet looks and full list of winners 36 Pictures 36 Pictures All of these celebrities have had their nudes leaked 36 Pictures More picture galleries 16 Pictures These photos of Trump and Ivanka will make you deeply uncomfortable 16 Pictures 4 Pictures Inside Brooklyn's Teknopolis is tech that makes us more human 4 Pictures 4 Pictures Inside The Strand's Fight Against Being Named a New York City Landmark 4 Pictures “What we are worried about is bills that would really eviscerate what was passed in November,” said Jim Borghesani, spokesman for the Yes on 4 campaign that lobbied for legalization. “It goes completely against the will of the people. You can’t say you pledged to uphold the will of the people while at the same time filing bills that gut the very measure the people approved.” The referendum to legalize retail pot sales and possession and growing the plant for adults over 21 passed by more than 53 percent of those who voted. Among other things, the bills would: Slash the amount of pot people over 21 can possess in their homes from 10 ounces to 2 ounces; Cut the number of plants people could grow from 12 down to six per household; Impose a two-year moratorium on the sale of marijuana-infused products at retail dispensaries; Give regulators the power to outright ban any product other than the leafy plant matter itself. In Colorado, where recreational pot was legalized in 2012, infusedproducts account for more than 50 percent of the market, state data shows . Related Articles Melting pot simmers Oakland legalizes pot growth Fruity One-Pot Lamb Fourteen of these bills were filed by Sen. Jason Lewis, D-Winchester, a leader in the failed crusade to stop legalization, who has said the specifics should be left to the legislature to “responsibly, thoughtfully and safely implement a legal marijuana market in Massachusetts.” The legislature has already successfully pushed back the opening of retail dispensaries and the establishment of a Cannabis Control Commission by six months, something Borghesani also opposes. “Lewis is a prohibitionist and his bills are reflecting his position,” Borghesani said. “During the campaign, he opposed legalization just like he opposed med marijuana and just like he opposed the decriminalization of marijuana. Now he is doing his best to undo what voters approved overwhelmingly in November.”

Ciaran Clark scored in Newcastle's 6-0 win at QPR in September, but his own goal denied the Magpies victory at St James' Park Ciaran Clark's last-minute headed own goal handed Queens Park Rangers a draw at St James' Park and denied Newcastle United top spot in the Championship. Jonjo Shelvey's superb half-volley put the hosts ahead inside 37 seconds, but it was Rangers who created by far the better of the first-half chances and equalised through Conor Washington. Newcastle, beaten by Oxford in the FA Cup on Saturday, then edged back in front thanks to Matt Ritchie's header. But Clark's error earned QPR a point. The 27-year-old defender was stretching back in an attempt to clear Kazenga LuaLua's cross, but could only loop his header from the edge of the area over stranded goalkeeper Karl Darlow. It means Rafael Benitez's side remain in second, one point behind leaders Brighton & Hove Albion and only four clear of Reading in third. On the overall balance of play it was no more than QPR deserved, having carved out several opportunities in the first half before looking dangerous on the break in the second. The visitors wasted numerous chances to equalise even before Washington eventually poked them level from close range, with Massimo Luongo twice failing to beat Darlow when well placed. Newcastle wrested their advantage back early in the second half through Ritchie's smart finish - his 11th goal of the season - and looked on course for a return to the summit of the Championship table. However, Clark's mistake in the final minute of normal time gave QPR a valuable point to move them up to 18th, nine points clear of the relegation zone. Newcastle manager Rafael Benitez: "We had a lot of chances but we didn't take our chances and we conceded with an own goal which is the worst thing that can happen. "We didn't take the chances that we had. We needed to score the third goal but we didn't do it. "We're all disappointed that we couldn't get three points." QPR boss Ian Holloway: "Would I have taken this after 45 seconds? Yeah. "We took a punch on the chin, shook ourselves down and managed to go. We've got to learn to be a bit more clinical but I'm delighted for everybody. "I've brought a whole load of new people in. That group has done us all proud."

The British Obsession with Parliamentary Sovereignty Gerry Hassan The Scotsman, January 15th 2011 The curse of the European issue has been slowly re-emerging for the Tory led government after a period of relative quiet and calm. Right-wing voices have stated that the European Union Bill with its Clause 18 defining parliamentary sovereignty is not clear and powerful enough to block the continued encroachment of Brussels into British public life. What then is this thing called parliamentary sovereignty, why are our political classes obsessed with it, and what does this tell us about the health of our democracy? Britain’s parliamentary sovereignty is based on the Diceyian notion that no Parliament can legally bind its successor. It is of course a myth, fraud, and part of the folklore which makes up how the British constitution has evolved over time. The actual reality is that Britain stopped being governed by parliamentary sovereignty in the pure sense a long time ago. The rise of party and cabinet government was one factor in the early 20th century bemoaned by Dicey. Another was the creation of dominion status for Canada and Australia in the Empire, limiting the powers of Parliament. A significant moment in all of this was the accession of the UK to the then Common Market in 1973. Related to this has been the emergence of a more politicised judiciary, the increased use of judicial review and the passing of the Human Rights Act. Then there is Scotland. Long before devolution we had MacCormick versus the Lord Advocate in 1953 – a complicated judgement which in many eyes qualified parliamentary sovereignty in Scotland. More crucially do our elected politicians really believe the people out there hold on to the idea of parliamentary sovereignty? Have they learned nothing from the expenses scandal and the private welfare state they built to cocoon themselves from the harsh winds they inflicted on the rest of us? The public rage on this showed a sentiment that was shaped by popular, not parliamentary sovereignty. Political power now stems from the people, not Parliament. The confused Conservative Eurosceptic response to this is shown by the fact that their suggested ultimate defence of parliamentary sovereignty in the European Union Bill is the holding of a referendum whenever the European Union proposes a significant extension of its powers into UK domestic life. As any constitutional student at even A Level would know – a referendum – a device once frowned upon by the defenders of the British constitution as being ‘unBritish’ and the sort of thing ‘continental dictatorships’ used such as Hitler and Stalin – undermines parliamentary sovereignty. The reason being it is an expression of popular sovereignty. Some of the Tory discontent in this is admittedly with the party’s backbench frustration with the Cameroons and David Cameron himself. There is a feeling which strays far beyond the Tory right that David Cameron isn’t exactly ‘a Tory’ and that this is not a Conservative enough administration. The toxic distrust on the Tory right takes them into a surreal world of the land of make believe where a more full-blooded Conservative Party would be rapturously received by the voters; it is the kind of Walter Mitty fantasyland which the Labour left used to inhabit in the 1980s and which did such damage to the Labour Party. Strangely one of the paradoxes of this is that as parliamentary sovereignty has weakened in practice, our political classes have become more obsessed by it. One explanation for this is that it is one of the tales told of which makes Westminster and its politicians feel special and unique. Parliamentary sovereignty is one of the last stories of British exceptionalism; a kind of British version of the American dream but just for our political elites. Then there is the story of British democracy and liberty, which has by modern times been reduced to a Whig style caricature and set of clichés whereby all the Westminster classes sign up to the special importance of Britishness. Parliamentary sovereignty has a special place in this story, for it is the conventional account of how Britain became a democracy, its politicians stood up to despots, and overthrew arbitrary power. All of this was then given validation through British democracy surviving the Second World War when as the phrase goes ‘we kept the lights on in Europe’ and then built a welfare state and civilised society. Our democracy and Parliament was meant to be the envy of the world at the end of Second World War, but this fed into a British complacency and conceit. One British expert on politics responded to an American academic by stating that ‘the British constitution’ was ‘as nearly perfect as any human institution could be’. Now only two other democracies in the world have parliamentary sovereignty, New Zealand and Finland, while the First Past the Post electoral system is only rarely used in places such as the USA, Canada and India. British democracy is increasingly an anachronism in the world. There is more to it than that. The old system of parliamentary sovereignty was shaped by a carefully constructed system of checks and balances which gave Britain relatively representative and responsible government. However, as Britain faced huge economic and social challenges and decline this system began to fall apart. From Thatcher on governments have chosen to interpret a literal version of parliamentary sovereignty to do what they like: be partisan, centralise powers, reward groups of supporters, and abolish tiers of government as they fancy, and much worse. Thatcherism and New Labour drove through their revolutions on minority votes, aided by our truncated democracy and the ethos of parliamentary sovereignty. This allowed them to mount in Chris Mullin’s words ‘a very British coup’, using the cloak of time old precedent to push through far-reaching change. Still to this day the dusty, rarefied, ancient corridors of Westminster are filled not only with the ghosts and tales of old, but with present day worship and deference to the voodoo myth that is parliamentary sovereignty. It is a fiction, but the worst, most damaging kind of fiction, one which our political classes believe to be true, and act accordingly. It is a mantra which animates and holds prison our politics, political system and ourselves, the people. It has long outserved its usefulness, and should be carted away to some special museum or made the subject of a David Starkey TV special on the mumbo-jumbo which people used to believe in the bad old days. It is time for Britain to enter the modern age, become a fully-fledged democracy, and dispense with the idea that parliamentary sovereignty protects us.

Tony Gentile, POOL, AFP | Pope Francis (pictured centre) with Rwandan President Paul Kagame and his wife, Jeannette, at the Vatican on March 20, 2017 Pope Francis asked for forgiveness on Monday for the “sins and failings of the Church” during Rwanda’s 1994 genocide, saying he hoped his apology would help heal the African state’s wounds. ADVERTISING Read more But Rwanda’s government indicated it felt the apology did not go far enough, saying the local Church was still complicit in protecting the perpetrators of the genocide. At a meeting with Rwandan President Paul Kagame, Pope Francis said that priests and Roman Catholic faithful had taken part in the slaughter of some 800,000 people from the ethnic Tutsi minority as well as moderates from the Hutu majority. “(The pope) implored anew God’s forgiveness for the sins and failings of the Church and its members, among whom priests, and religious men and women who succumbed to hatred and violence,” the Vatican said in a statement. An official Rwandan statement repeated the government’s long-standing accusation of Catholic complicity in the massacres. “Today, genocide denial and trivialisation continue to flourish in certain groups within the Church and genocide suspects have been shielded from justice within Catholic institutions,” said a government statement. Kagame, a Tutsi, led a rebel force to halt the slaughter in 1994 and accusations immediately surfaced that some priests and nuns had taken part in the killings. Some of the ugliest massacres were committed in churches, missions and parishes where Tutsis who took shelter were hunted down by extremist Hutu militias. A U.N. court in 2006 jailed a former Catholic priest for 15 years for ordering bulldozers to level a church, killing 2,000 people who were hiding inside. Rwandan authorities have said other clergy implicated in the killings were allowed to start new lives in Europe and were protected by the Church. A Rwandan military court sentenced a missing priest in absentia to life in prison on charges of rape and delivering Tutsi refugees from his church to militias who killed them. Later arrested in France, where he was a popular priest in a rural parish, his case was eventually dropped and he was allowed to remain working at the parish. He has denied the charges. The Catholic Church in Rwanda last year offered an apology, saying some of its members had fanned the ethnic hatred that led to the killings, but Kagame said at the time that he wanted the pope himself to say sorry. “Why doesn’t he apologise like he does with other cases where more minor crimes were committed by comparison with here?,” he said, referring to sexual abuse cases where the pope has regularly apologised to victims and their families. Francis said on Monday he hoped his “humble recognition of the failings of that period, which, unfortunately, disfigured the face of the Church, may contribute to a ‘purification of memory’ and may promote, in hope and renewed trust, a future of peace”. (REUTERS)